I'll fight your fight

Summer love

"I am so angry at you now. Kahit boss pa kita..." Jema said while they were walking from the elevator towards the conference room.

The four other attorneys heard the scuffle and snapped their heads towards them.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Bea said and followed her enter the conference room.

"What happened?" Jia asked worriedly.

Jema and Bea had a stare down before the latter gave up and answered her team. "We had a conflict of interest."

"What? I thought it was already filed?" Ced asked.

"Not me and Deanna. Her and Maddie!!" Jema clarified to the team, screaming with anger.

"What?!" The other three except Jho exclaimed.

"Anong meron?" Alyssa asked and Jho rolled her eyes and turned around from them.

"Can we go inside your office?" Bea asked.

"We are team here. Explain." Jema ordered.

Bea looked at her before giving up and sat to explain. "Maddie and I were partners before."

"Partners like business partners? Or partners..." Ced asked.

"Partners like me and Jhoana-partners. Girlfriend." She answered and Ced mouthed "oh".

"It was only a summer love. These text messages, this is the extent of it." Bea said as she raised the paper that was shown at the court earlier.

Jia tried to read the messages but Bea caught her and put the paper back at the folder.

"I swear my relationship with Maddie, started and ended last summer of 2012."

"Okay." Jema sighed cause to be honest she don't have any other choice but to defend this conflict of interest to the court tomorrow. "File this COI."

She asked the other four and walked back to the office and Bea followed suit.

"I'm sorry okay?"

"Get out." She acted like she was finding a paper but in honesty, she's pissed.

"Listen, okay? Just listen first." Bea walked towards her.

"Why? In months that we have been together, why not tell me? Huh?"

"I didn't have the chance."

"Come on, Bea." She scoffed and continue to pretend finding a file. "You don't want to free Deanna, you want to get back at Maddie."

"No. That's not true!" Bea defended.

"Who ended the relationship?" Jema snapped at the her.

"Her."

"See? Revenge." Jema said.

"No! I want my friend out of the jail."

"Why drag me into this?"

"Because she's my friend too!!" Jema froze. "But Maddie.... I'm too afraid to loose again with her. I lost to her because she played me. I was nothing for her. She's my first, everything. So imagine what I felt when she said that she was just using me."

"Using?"

She sighed. "I used to work as a barista in Starbucks near their residence. She was there everyday. She was using me so that she won't get in line and sometimes free coffee. Mababaw, yes. But I was young, and idiot, and in love. It was marked in my mind and my heart. She was my first. Tell me you didn't felt like this with your first or with Deanna."

Jema sat down and washed her face using her hands. "Shit. Why does love has to be this complicated? I'd rather go up against murderers and rapists than this."

"I'm sorry okay?"

"Yeah. Nothing really we can do. They caught us red handed."

"We have something we can do." Jema looked at her. "We defend." Bea continued.

--

"So the defense have already filed the COI."

"Yes your Honor. The defense want..." Jema said.

"Sit down Ms. Galanza." Judge Gervacio said and interrupted her.

"Uhmm." Jema said confusingly.

"I want to hear from your co-counsel." She nodded at Bea and Nico smirked.

Jema looked at Bea and the latter nodded. She stood up and walked towards the middle.

She took a deep breath before starting. "Good morning, your Honor." She nodded to her.

"It started the summer of 2008, when I had to find a job to get me through summer. I was bored. So I got a job at a Starbucks as a barista. Little did I know, that Ms. Madayag was a regular customer there. She's pretty, she's smart, she's everything that you... hoped." She smiled at the memory.

"Everything was going perfectly fine, until one day she went there and broke up with me. Because stupid Bea de Leon, fell in love with the mayor's daughter. I fell in love with her, your Honor. "

"Yes, Maddie.. uhmmm.. Ms. Madayag and I had a past. But I was actually surprised that she admitted it."

She remained on her ground cause her knees were fucking wiggling in nervousness.

'The fuck, I'm professional and I have been doing this for years, why am I nervous?!' She whispered to herself.

She cleared her throat before continuing. "She rejected me in front of many people that witnessed our summer love. She don't want to be the gay mayor's daughter. She wanted to be perfect."

"Now, to your understanding, this is revenge, this is why I am standing here, defending my side, but no. Ms. Madayag and I were long gone. I have moved on and found a purpose in my life." She looked at Jhoana and smiled sweetly.

"I am standing in front of you, your Honor, cause I want to defend my client Deanna, who we believe is innocent. We want to clear her name. We want her to not to look over her shoulder for her entire life. We want her to sleep without keeping an eye open."

"This isn't about a lame revenge of love. This is about giving justice to an innocent person. Thank you!" She smiled at the judge and gave Nico a glare.

She slowly walked back to her chair and sat down beside Jema. "Do you think it's enough?" Bea asked.

"No." Jema said plainly and the other had to roll her eyes. She didn't even made her feel confident.

Judge Gervacio read the paper that contains the texts of Maddie and Bea.

"So you are saying to me that this is the extent of the conversation the whole relationship?"

"Yes, your Honor. We barely talk cause I was working and we don't usually meet outside of my work."

She nodded and read the file one more time.

Bea has sending little prayers from her seat.

"We're proceeding." The judge declared.

"Your honor..." Nico said worriedly.

"I have made my decision. Court is adjourned." She banged her gavel.

Bea and Jema contained their happiness to maintain professional look.

Nico stood up to talk to both of them. "Do you think this is a good idea?"

"Oh, yeah." Bea said. "And by the way, this is also the idea of loosing. You might want to get a hang of it."

Nico looked at both of them before speaking. "Deanna is as good as dead. Better take note of that."

Jema's lips parted as she gasped for air subtly. Bea gritted her teeth on Nico's threat.