Disclaimer: I do not own Phoenix Wright or its characters, but I do own my Original Character in this story, Valerie Knight.
I remember the first time I ever tried a drink. That moment is almost as vivid as the first time I opened a book, almost. It was at a party. I remember trying one and then another and two lead to four and four made me completely inebriated. Being drunk was like having your senses mixed. It was like I could forget everything.
That first time I had a drink was also the first time I had sex. I got taken advantage of. It's a shame, but I don't feel that bad about it. It was completely and totally my fault. Sex with someone you don't love was just like I read. Boring, painful and over-all unpleasant. Then again, I'm a very hard person to please.
I remember when I returned home that night. My mum was furious. She was in tears and her eyes looked red and swollen. Looking back at it now, I feel sorry that I did that to her. My mum yelled at me, but I feel like she could have yelled at me worse. I then realized the reason she didn't yell at me more, though. She waited and waited for my father to yell the words she couldn't, but he wasn't there.
Now, don't mis-interpret my words. My mum and father weren't divorced. My father wasn't dead, either. My father simply had a really tough mistress and that mistress called herself his job. My dad was the police chief of London and thus, he was always busy. I rarely was able to see him.
I wanted to tell my mum everything that night, but I couldn't. I just sat in my room and cried. I think I cried so much that all the alcohol came out of me in the form of tears, but then I realized it didn't. When I woke up the next morning, I was in so much pain. It's funny, but to me the morning after always seemed better than the night before. At least then, I had that feeling of pain that I could substitute for my heart.
Episode 2: Turnabout Mornings
"Oh my God. Wh-What time is it?"
I hazily opened my eyes to find myself in a room. I couldn't be sure if it was my own house, but decided it was either mine or Chad's because I still had my clothes on. If I didn't, well, it could've been anyone's house.
"Miss Valerie, It's good to see you're awake."
Chad called over from a table. He looked to be working on some stack of documents. I was thankful because I was familiar with the table he was working at. This was my room and I was in my bed. I was about to thank the heavens, but then the infamous hangover headache came rushing in. It bombarded my head all at once.
"Right now, It is 2:00 pm, Miss Valerie. I attempted waking you up earlier so you could go to work, but I failed. You didn't wake up and I assumed you would have a hangover from bloody hell so I called in sick for you."
Good. He called in sick for me. I mean, I had a very important job as Chief Prosecutor, but I knew that even if Chad had successfully woken me up, I wouldn't have even tried getting out of bed. You know, I really hope that as I get older I can hold my alcohol better. That would get me out of a lot of trouble.
"Chad? What's today? What case file are you looking through?"
The poor guy had been doing my work, the least I could do was try to help him. I personally think I gave my assistant too much work to do and not enough time to do it.
"It's February fourteenth, 2012."
I laughed at how Chad insisted that he had to state every syllable of the entire date. Seriously, who does that?
"The case file I'm reading through is one for a case that is set to go to trial in two days. It is the case of Fawles vs State. Ms. Mia Fey will be on the defense for the very first time and Mr. Miles Edgeworth will experience his first time prosecuting."
Oh, I almost forgot. Mia Fey? She would be handling her very first case, hm? How interesting. It reminded me of a good quote from the classic children's novel The Wizard of Oz, "A baby has brains, but it doesn't know much. Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more you experience." It made me wonder if I could watch her first trial or not. I was sure Diego would be there, too, and I wouldn't mind seeing little Edgey's first case either.
"Chad, do I have a case scheduled for the sixteenth? Because if I don't I would like to-"
"I'm afraid you have a case scheduled for that afternoon. Smith vs State, I believe is the name of the case. You will be prosecuting and Mr. Armando has taken up defense. I'm afraid that as Chief Prosecutor you will have no time to visit the trial of Mr. Fawles and still prepare the trial of Mr. Smith."
I decided that at this point that my long-overdue cup of hangover coffee was needed so I left for a good three minutes and returned shortly after with my glittery red coffee mug in my hand. Nothing was like a good cup of coffee, two sugars, when you woke up after a long night. It was so revitalizing.
"Really? Smith vs State? Oh yeah, that's right! I begin investigating that case personally tomorrow. I sort of forgot what it was about actually. Something about a gang war and a nightclub?"
I took a sip of my coffee, tasting the sweet sugary flavor of it. I wasn't like Diego who could take his coffee black and say it was the best cup ever. No, I needed sugar in mine or it tasted dull and uninteresting. I hate dull things. They bore me.
"Yes, Miss Valerie, the defendant stands accused of murdering the victim in the parking lot in front of Chuck's Nightclub in some sort of "gang war." The nightclub owners were lucky that a riot did not break out before the police arrived."
This case sounded seriously dull. I wasn't looking forward to it. I wanted to see Mia and little Edgey's first go-around badly. I wanted to see that case, but I couldn't disappoint Diego by not being prepared for my case, could I?
"Hey, Chad. How about you take a break and we go out to lunch? I sure as hell am not going to cook and we can discuss the case over food."
Actually, it was more of a breakfast to me, but I said what sounded more politically correct. I still had a very painful headache and didn't want to stand over a pan and scramble myself some eggs. Chad had been working hard also so I couldn't ask him to make me breakfast.
"Sure, Miss Valerie. Pick wherever you want to go."
I knew exactly where I wanted to go. It was a new French place called Goûter Amour. I heard the lunch special was real tasty and I knew Chad could definitely afford it. I mean, most people could afford it, but Chad was real frugal when it came to money, despite how he always carried around so much. I didn't want him to make me breakfast, but I didn't mind him buying it for me. That's what I enjoyed about having a rich assistant. I could get whatever I want.
"Table for two, please. Non-smoking."
I heard Chad say. My headache had gone down quite a bit since we got into the restaurant, but I still felt dreadful. I personally think I probably looked dreadful too, but I don't think anyone wanted to tell me. I think most people got the impression from me that if they said something bad about the way I looked, that I'd punch them in the face. Most of the time, that was true, but I knew I had serious faults with my appearance. I was overly tan, had bright blue-turquoise hair and constantly wore a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses, all of which are negatives in my book. I was short for a woman of my age, making me look eight years younger than I really am. Most people would say that's good, but for my profession it wasn't. Looking twenty when I'm really twenty-eight, almost turning twenty-nine, was a bad thing in court. It made me look inexperienced and I was definitely no rookie. I was the bloody Chief Prosecutor!
"Hey, Miss Valerie? Are you all right?"
I heard Chad ask. We had just sat down at our table and I was looking through the menu even though I already knew exactly what I wanted.
"Of course I'm not all right. May I remind you that I had a night from hell?"
Chad sighed and closed his menu. Personally, I think everybody looks at Chad when he walks into a room. That's just how much he stands out. With his bright blue and turquoise suit and his incredibly unnatural bright and spiky orange and red highlighted hair, who wouldn't stare at him? Oh, I almost forgot. He also had the strangest eyes alive. They looked to be a combination of light blue and seafoam green, but then again, I never was too good with colors. Usually when I go places I'm the center of attention, but when Chad's at my side, people can't help but look at him more than me!
"Excuse me, but what would you two like to drink?"
A waitress came. I looked at her for a while and then decided that since both Chad and I had picked out what we would like to eat, we might as well order too.
"I would like a Glass of Iced Tea."
"And I would like a cup of coffee. While we're at it, can we order too? We've both made up our minds."
The waitress nodded and poised herself to make more notes on her notepad.
"I would like the Lunch Special."
"I'll have the same thing as her."
It was that simple. I heard the waitress make some sort of "Aw" sound as she scribbled more notes on the notepad and left our table. She was lucky I was hungover or I probably would have punched her in the face for even thinking that Chad and I could ever be together on a real "date." I mean, come on! I'm ten years his senior for Christ's sake!
"Anyways, in the case of Smith vs State, the defendant doesn't look too be very bright. I think we can use that to our advantage..."
Chad and I trailed on about various subjects from there on, not just about my upcoming case. Our food came and we still discussed things like books, politics and even though we both tried really hard not to, Diego Armando.
"So, you miss him, right? Why did you two break up again? Wait, I'm sorry, Miss Valerie! I forgot that you don't like talking about that."
"It's fine, Chad. I actually was the one who broke up with him. I was a fool and made one little mistake. That one mistake made me want him to never look at me again."
I hoped to dear god that a change of topic would arise soon. I didn't want to think about that moment again. It was the moment that ruined my relationship with Diego. Our relationship that was so close to becoming something big, ended up crashing right before both our eyes. I liked the fact that Diego was smug. I liked the fact that he was messy. I liked the fact that he was arrogant and overtly cocky. Nothing was wrong with him, but plenty was wrong with me.
"Miss Valerie, if it makes you feel any better, I think he was the real fool. I mean, letting a wonderful woman like you go had to be the biggest mistake of his life!"
"Ha! You're wrong there, boy. Getting involved with a wonderful woman like me was the biggest mistake of his life."
Our check came almost immediately after I said that. It was as if it was a sign that the topic needed to be changed badly. It did too when Chad saw the check.
"Y-You didn't really drink this many cups of coffee, did you?!"
Chad yelled. I laughed softly. Unlike him, I didn't get free refills and through all our talking, I had drank fifteen cups of coffee. I still would make him pay, though. It was the gentleman-like thing to do. Not only was I training Chad to become a prosecutor, but I was also training him to become a gentleman and thus, he had to pay the check.
"Yes, I did. You don't mind, do you?"
He sighed and placed his credit card on the check. We waited for a few minutes and then our waitress came and picked it up. You know, someday I swear I'm going to make Chad take me to one of those really fancy places. I want him to take me to the type of place where you have to schedule your visit four weeks in advance. Too bad he was such a cheapskate.
"Here you go. Thank you for dining at Goûter Amour! We hope you come again real soon!"
Chad took his credit card again as the waitress smiled and handed the check to him. I insisted that he leave a fifteen dollar tip on the table and then we left our seats.
"Table for two, please. Non-smoking."
And then I heard his voice. I looked around to see none other than Diego and his kitten, Mia Fey. Now I knew that was a real "date," unlike the outing Chad and I had. It was obvious that Diego cared for her and it was obvious that Mia cared for him. I didn't want to believe it, but I was jealous.
"Um, Mr. Armando, isn't that Miss Knight over there?"
Mia asked innocently. I looked over at Chad who was rather shocked that those two were there. I was jealous and I didn't want to look at Diego, I wanted him to look at me. I wanted him to say something to me.
"Kitten, you know I prefer it when you call me 'Diego.' And those two?"
I knew he was looking at me and I started to fake talk to Chad. I wanted it to look like I was doing something besides listening to him and Mia speak. I wanted it to look like I didn't care what he was saying, even though I did.
"Obviously that's Valerie. You know, I would have thought she'd still be in bed right now. By the way that boy called me last night, I thought she got completely wasted."
Chad and I walked right by Diego and Mia, not even speaking. I heard them continue talking as we walked out the door.
"Diego, shouldn't you have said something to her?"
Mia asked shyly. The sheer innocence that still resided in her heart made it clear to me, the experienced professional, that her first case would turn out horrible. I personally don't think she would be ready for that case in two days.
"No, Kitten. I think she heard me good enough."
And again, Diego was acting like the number one arsehole in America, but I was already used to it by now.
"Hey, Diego? I need to go to the station to pick up some papers. I have a very important case tomorrow."
I lay there next to him. I felt his arm drape over my bare stomach as we rested comfortably in his bed. It was 2pm and I needed to work on my upcoming case, but he wasn't letting me.
"Mr. Defense Attorney, I bet you want me to lose my case tomorrow, don't you?"
I felt him bury his face in my hair, not responding to me. I decided to get up, I needed to get to the station or I would surely lose my case tomorrow.
"You bet, my lioness. I like keeping you busy."
His hand wrapped
around my wrist and he quickly pulled me down. He kissed me like he always
did and then I felt his grip loosen and he let me go.
"Go to the station. Work on your case. I don't care. Just know, when you come back that I'll be waiting."
How could I believe him?
"Hey, Miss Valerie? Is everything all right? You said you needed to come to the station to pick up some papers."
I heard Chad ask me. After we departed Goûter Amour I said that I needed to go to the police station. I sort of forgot why I needed to go there in the first place. I just remembered that time that Diego wouldn't let me go. That next day I lost my case because I never made it out to the police station and the defense got the evidence I had there before me. I never left because I was too scared that Diego wouldn't be there when I got back. I lost that case because of that jerk.
"Miss Valerie, why are we here?"
I knew why we were here. I had a case against Diego in two days and I sure as hell would never let him beat me. After all, my pride as a woman and Chief Prosecutor was at stake. I also loved seeing Diego lose.
To be continued.
A/N: Hm, interesting. We learned from this chapter that Valerie was Chief Prosecutor five years before PW Case 1. "So she was Chief Prosecutor before Lana?" Yes, she was Chief Prosecutor before Lana. Fawles vs State is coming up and in the next chapter I'll personally give you Smith vs State. Let' see, Goûter Amour is supposed to be French for "Taste of Love." I'm not sure, though. The foreign language I'm taking is German so yeah. I don't know French. You know, I like reading this story aloud in a British accent. It' s fun. I think I want to incorporate more British slang into it, but Valerie doesn't seem the type to use slang. How sad. Chad doesn't seem the type either. Next chapter is going to be hilariously sad. Sorry if this took long. I'm working on my Bleach story right now and It's finally getting to a dramatic point. My leg hurts. I wonder what's wrong with it? I'm going to stick the motif of "waiting" into a lot of the chapters just to tie into the whole "Waiting for Godot" thing, which we be expanded on in later chapters. Anyways, Reviews, please?
