So...It's been awhile. It's nice to be back, readers and writers alike. I'm glad to be here.
Disclaimer: I don't own Phoenix Wright or anything associated with it, only my characters.
Chapter 1:
Sunday, 12:15 pm.
The sun shines brightly, but thankfully for me, the cafe table umbrella blocks the harsh rays from hitting me. I drink a Diet Coke, wishing it wasn't so hot, but the weather gives me an excuse to go to the beach later. My name is Anna Ramone, and though I may look like your average 27 year old, I actually just got my degree in law today. While my family has plans to take me out to a celebratory dinner tonight, I just want to relax and be thankful that I am completely and totally done with any and all classes. The only thing I need to do next is either join a law firm, hopefully a non-corrupt one, or just represent a client right away.
"You can't do this to me!" I hear a voice yell and look up to see a burly man escorting a young woman out of the inside of the cafe forcibly. "I'll sue! I'll get a lawyer!"
"You're too poor to afford one, sugarlips." The man huffs, an amused smirk playing at his mouth as he pushes the girl away from him.
"Excuse me." I interrupt, folding my napkin and placing it next to my empty Coke can before getting up and walking over to where the woman had fallen to the ground after the man pushed her. Helping her to her feet, I turn and glare at the man, looking like a pissed-off homeless person in my ratty hoodie and frizzy ponytail. "Would you care to tell me why you're physically assaulting a young girl in a public space?"
"None a' your business, hobo. Step off before I make you."
"Is that a death threat?" I ask passively, pausing to adjust my glasses and push the woman behind me, where she curls a hand into the material of my hoodie.
"You know what?" The man walks forward suddenly, getting in my face and baring his teeth at me. His breath is hot, smells like Italian food and makes me want to gag. "Yeah. Now get outta my way."
"'Fraid not. I'm representing my client as she sues you for physical assault and verbal threats. I also have a feeling we'll be tacking a few more charges on there as well." I smile coldly and my glasses flash in the sunlight before reaching behind me and grabbing the woman's arm. In the small crowd that gathered, I see a man in a blue suit with spiky black hair and a gold pin watching me from the depths of the crowd. My eyes meet his and he lifts an eyebrow as I shoot him a friendly smile before the woman and I disappear down a street.
A little while later, we head into a Doughnut Stop and I purchase the woman a cup of coffee and a chocolate doughnut while I get a chocolate milk and chocolate glazed one. We sit at a table with our orders and her hands shake as she sips her coffee.
"Th-thank you." She murmurs, so quietly I don't know if she really said it.
"Nonsense." I wave a hand and stuff half my doughnut into my mouth and she giggles quietly as I swallow it. "He was being an ass, so naturally I had to stop him. The question is, can you hold up in court?"
"Wait…" The woman's smile dies slowly and she looks nervous again. "You were serious about that?"
"Of course! You're my first official client! I passed my bar test last week, so I am a fully-certified defender and prosecutor! I'll file a report with the police and the earliest we can get this case into the courts as early as the end of the month!" I grin and she sighs.
"I don't want to take it to court, Miss…"
"Anna Ramone. Why not, miss…?"
"Chris Jewell. I used to work for Antonio, the man. He fired me after... I threatened to report him for attempted sexual assault." She gulps and wrings her hands together nervously. Sighing, I reach out and grip one of her hands with one of mine.
"Listen, Chris." She gulps quietly, probably fighting back tears, and looks at me. I smile reassuringly and pull back my blonde bangs so that she can see the rough, jagged scar running underneath. "When I was in school, elementary school, just to inform you, I suffered from a hit-and-run. They never caught the driver, but his erratic driving on a security camera tells us that he was either extremely drunk or higher than a kite. But he got away scot-free and I got issues. I have memory problems, and this results in a lot of problems for me. GPS on my phone is always turned on in case I forget where I am. I have scheduled hourly calls from my family, who call the authorities immediately if I don't pick up. In a court of law, I'll be allowed to ask the transcriptor to read back the proceedings at any time. I'll probably also have to be reminded what the case is actually about…" I muse quietly and look up to see Chris looking worried. "What's wrong? Do you not want me to represent you or something?"
"It's not that!" Chris protests, shaking her head fiercely. "I'd be honored for you to represent me. It's just...How do you function everyday? Doesn't it get hard some days?"
"Life is occasionally hard for everyone, Chris." Shrugging, I slowly chew on the rest of my doughnut. "Sure, sometimes the going gets tough, but that's when the tough get going!" I point my thumb at myself with a reassuring smile. "And I happen to think that I'm pretty darn tough."
"Okay." Chris grins timidly and I ruffle her hair as we both stand to throw away our trash and leave. "Where do you live? I'm not sure I want to go home tonight."
"Well, first we have to go to the police department and file a complaint, then I need to buy some groceries. Are you willing to run a few errands with me?"
"As long as we don't have to walk." Chris jokes lightly and I smile.
"Oh, I think you'll like what I have." We walk outside and I pull a set of keys and click a button on one of them. A beep comes from a cherry-red Mercedes parked down the street and Chris turns to me with star-struck eyes as I grin and nod. We hop into my car and she runs her hand over the black leather she currently sits on.
"How'd you afford this?"
"Gift from the family. It actually used to belong to my dad." I rev the engine, but still drive responsibly to the front of the police station, parking on the side of the road and hopping out. The old lady who's been a receptionist since I was a child smiles when I come in.
"Hello, Anna. Lost again?" I stick my tongue out at her and she chuckles before coming out from behind her desk to give me a hug.
"Not at all, Νανα Helen. How are you today?" Helen Nikolaidis was an immigrant from Greece I met as a young girl when she moved in next door. After my accident, while my parents were at work, she and I would spend days quizzing each other about American facts. I did it to help her get her green card and continue living next to me, but she did it so that my memory would get better. At first, I had to wear a name tag just so I could remember my own name, but now that's the one thing I never forget.
"I'm good, sweetheart. Your parents were telling me you finally passed the bar test! We're all just so proud of you!" She pinches my cheek with a warm smile and Chris stifles her giggles behind her fist.
"How are the cops, Helen?"
"Good, dear, but why are you asking?" I sigh and take my hoodie off, tying it around my waist and re-doing my ponytail so it looks a little less frizzy.
"My friend and I are here to file a report against a man by the name of Antonio...I never got a last name. Chris?"
"Antonio Vila." She swallows nervously, probably because it's finally occurring to her that she'll actually be taking a man she knows personally down. "But we don't have to do this… Anna, maybe we should just go."
"No, Chris. You can't let this man hold you back. He deserves to pay for what he's done to you and if we take him to court, you'll actually be able to do something about what he did to you." I gently take her hand and grip it. She stares at me for a couple of seconds before exhaling shakily and nodding once.
"Okay. But can you do it for me? I don't know what I'm doing." We both turn to Helen, who motions for us to follow her. Together, we walk into a conference room, where Helen tells us she's going to go get a detective. I pull out my phone and check the time, nodding to myself before putting it away.
"What was that about?" Chris asks and I glance up before shrugging.
"We've got enough time to file the report before I need to run my errands. I'm renting an office to start my firm, which you're my first client at!" She grins nervously and I chuckle. "Don't worry, this is a fairly open and shut case."
The door opens to allow a portly middle-aged Caucasian man to enter. His brown combover clings to his head with sweat and he carries a brown clipboard and pen.
"Sorry about the wait." The officer sounds breathless and sits heavily in the chair across from us at the table in the center of the room. "I was working out in the gym. If I ever want to get back in the field, I'll have to lose some of this weight." The man slaps his belly and chuckles as Chris and I take our seats. Chris just smiles and I slip into my serious expression usually reserved for the court.
"I am here today representing Miss Chris Jewell and my name is Attorney Anna Ramone. My client and I are here to file a complaint about physical and sexual harassment from her employer. If we could please leave the pleasantries until after that has been taken care of?" The man looks a little surprised and nods slowly.
"Of course. I'm Officer Hughes. So who harassed your client?"
"We told this to Helen. He's a restaurant owner by the name of Antonio Vila. We'd like this to be cleared up as soon as possible, so if we could get this going."
"O-of course, ma'am. There's just a few forms your client can fill out, and if she could provide us with some hard evidence of said harassment, that would definitely strengthen her case." I nod and pull out a sticky note and two pens, handing one to Chris before uncapping the other and scribbling out an address on the sticky note before handing it to Officer Hughes.
"If you could access the traffic camera positioned across the street from this address, I'm sure you'll find a recording of the event itself. Have you finished filling those papers out yet?" Chris looks up when I address her and nods once, sharply, before handing me my pen back. I nod in thanks and put the two pens back in my purse before getting to my feet and motioning to her to do the same. "Now, in some cases, the city or state prosecutor would go up against the harasser in court, but I think I am fully within my legal parameters to take care of the prosecuting myself. And you may inform Mr Vila as soon as you take him into custody that we will be pressing charges. It was nice meeting you, but my client and I must be going now." We each shake Officer Hughes' hand, though he seems slightly wary about shaking mine, say farewell to Helen and leave the precinct, getting into my car and driving away.