Beauty And The Beasts

CHAPTER 18

Ava
Emily's text kinda threw me off all weekend and throughout the week. She was one person I wanted to avoid. I can count the number of times I have changed my contact because of her but somehow she always finds me.

The week was smooth but I couldn't concentrate. We always have daily meetings about Ali's trial with my team. But this week I have been off.

The number of times I have zoned out was countless. They kept snapping me back to reality. Emily was a past I avoided. I just didn't want her to hurt me like Aisha did.

After I moved, I dated other women and men to forget her but she still got to me. Talk about one clingy ex. Why can't she just move on. I mean I did!

"Are you even listening Ava?" Charlie asked. He was an intern but he was fucking good at his job. I have had him as my second for quite sometime now.

"Sorry, what? I kinda spaced out." I said and he rolled his eyes. He had an attitude too.

"I was saying, we have to play dirty but safe at the same time. I kinda made contact with another witness who was also assaulted by Miss Cage."

"This might be our ticket out coz he has hard proof evidence. But we don't wanna let her team know that because they'll cover it up."

"I also looked into her team and turns out they don't know about the witness we have. Miss Cage is still standing on her ground that she hasn't assaulted anyone like ever." Anna said.

"Miss Cage is an important member on the rally board. Obviously they're gonna want to cover it up. Our aim is for her to be exposed and for Ali not to lose everything." I argued.

"So how about we look at this like the Mitsubishi motors case from the 90's. Ali gets paid lots of money, Miss Cage looses. It's a win for us." Sam argued.

"Of course wining matters but so does Ali's image. Right now his whole image is being dragged all over the mad for something he didn't do. So we have to restore his image."

"67.54% think Ali is telling the truth. We need to have at least 73.5% of the public support. What should we do Ava?" Charlie asked.

Of course they would ask me when my mind isn't even processing anything, hasn't been processing since the weekend. I can't even think of what to say.

"Sam and Charlie, keep digging into the Mitsubishi case, see if you guys can get something we can use. Anna and lance, you're in charge of the socials, keep me updated. Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get some help somewhere else. See you all tomorrow."

And with that, I gathered everything I had brought and left the conference room. I need to get my head back in the game before we loose everything.

I took the elevator to my office and smiled while I passed by some co-workers to my office. I sank down on the couch and groaned loudly.

"What werewolf broke in here?" Phoebe Sarcastically asked as she walked in with files and water on one hand.

"I can't focus. That's what's happening. The trial is on Friday and the meetings have been shit." I told her as I ran a hand through my hair.

"Well, here are all the files about Mitsubishi. Sam asked me to pass them on to you. Something about you helping him."

I groaned even loudly. Of course he would want me to check in on everything especially when I'm absent minded.

"I asked him to look into it not me." I said as I drank my water.

"He is one lazy lawyer. I wonder how he even ended up on your team. Don't get me started on how I question how he even became a lawyer in the first place."

It's true. Sam was one lazy ass. But he had the perfect grades, confidence and everything that Andrew saw in him and hired him.

As for ending up on my team, I still don't know how that happened. I choose a few and Andrew choose the rest and somehow he saw Sam as a good fit.

"Alright then. I'll have to get to work. And once Andrew is back, please tell him I would like to see him it's important."

I said as I sank into my chair behind my desk and got to work. Phoebe nodded and left. Being a lawyer is tiresome. I still remember the sleepless nights in Havard while we studied.

Law is all fun and games. It feels nice and it has some kind of thrill to stand and argue with other lawyers and defend the innocent but it's draining.

Especially if you end up being the best and people look up at you every now and then when you're leading a trial. I sometimes compare myself to Annalise Keating.

I know it's just a show but damn, after a long day of work, I can understand why she always downed that bottle of vodka and turned into an alcoholic.

By the time the day was over, I was drained and felt like I would throw myself in a ditch and never be found. Once I got home, surprisingly, Ali had cooked.

I showered and we ate in silence. I catched him up about his trial and he helped a bit. One, by telling me he knew who the witness was and he would get him to talk to us and help him too since they were friends.

It hurt me that even after him being innocent, they still fired him and treated him like he didn't matter because of his skin color and his religion.

Even though our dad is christian, Ali never converted and still participates in all Muslim events. Him and Paris have that one thing in common even though she doesn't identify with any religion.

I just pray that miraculously that he gets to go back to racing, what he loves most.