Gabriel didn't know what to make of this.

He had been told that his new client was a twenty-year-old delinquent, but the person sitting in front of him couldn't be older than twelve.

It was a small, slight girl with unnaturally pale skin, café noir brown, wavy hair and dark rims around bilious green eyes. She was wearing a grey hoodie and brown tracksuit trousers. Her clothes were ragged and actually belonged to the waste, but she didn't seem to care.

She was shifting around in her chair and her eyes were wild and wary and looked around frenetically, as if she was expecting to be arrested for another crime and be locked up again.

"Well?", she snarled menacingly. Her voice was husky and aggressive.

He checked the file again, looking over the details.

Then he looked at the woman in front of him, who was obviously getting agitated.

"So, you're Miss Edwina Aloise Hyde?", he inquired, just to be save.

Her eye twitched.

"That's my name", she responded coolly, "No thanks to my arsehole parents. Why am I here again?"

"You're here, because you're my new client. I'm Mr. Utterson, your new lawyer. It's nice to-"

"Don't give me that 'Nice to meet you'-bullshit!", she snapped, "Just tell me what you want from me!"

The lawyer remained unimpressed. Rude clients were nothing new to him.

"You're here", he continued calmly, "because you have been released on parole and need a job and a place to stay."

"And how am I supposed to find either of those?!", she blew up, "Do you think anyone would take someone like me in?! Have you seen my criminal record?! And I don't have a single penny!"

"That's what we're going to talk about."

She scoffed: "You're not telling me that you actually found a place that would accept me?!"

He folded his hands on his desk. "As a matter of fact, I did find a living community that's willing to take you in for free. They would provide for everything, lodging, food and whatever else you might want or need. You also would get free medical attention."

She stared at him. "You're fucking joking."

"I'm not."

The brunette's green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "There's a catch."

The lawyer nodded. "I'm afraid so, Miss."

"What is it?"

"I'm part of that living community. So you would be your lawyer's flatmate. And you'd be the youngest by far. Needless to say, we'd expect you to behave. No drugs, no smoking, no drinking and no criminal acts in general. One of my flatmates is a control freak, she does not stand for nonsense."

Edwina remained silent for a while, deep in thought.

The offer of free shelter and lodging was extremely tempting.

She knew that no one else would want her, not with her criminal record and with no money to boot. It wasn't only theft and drug abuse, it also included burglary, assault, even manslaughter. If she refused the offer, she would have to go back to her old life on the streets, with all the shit that went with it. Even though Edwina was a tough girl, sooner or later she would definitely die a miserable death. That, or she'd get convicted again and rot in prison.

But now someone offered her a real home, maintenance for all of her basic needs and all of this for free! She was offered the chance to live a life worth of that name.

Who cared about the stupid rules and the old, boring people; she would just work around them, like she always had.

She grinned and stretched out her hand. "Bring it on!"

The black-haired lawyer smiled for the first time. "That's what I thought. I promise you won't regret it, Miss Hyde. We're more interesting company than most would expect of people in their fifties. It isn't far from here, I will introduce you, we'll settle the matters of your contract and then get your things from the police station."

At that she chuckled bitterly: "Don't bother. What I have on me is everything I own."

She pointed at her baggy, ragged clothes and the small bag in her lap.