Abbie had done it. With Miranda's testimony and the evidence connecting all the crimes together she had managed to prove to the jury that Anderson, the defendant, was indeed guilty of four counts of rape in the first degree and he was to be sentenced a fifteen year imprisonment on each count, to be served consecutively. If it was up to her, the bastard would have had a needle and a cold grave in his future, but it wasn't.
She felt so relieved that he would no longer be able to ever lay a hand on another girl, she physically felt a weight lift off her shoulders when she heard the verdict. Then came the "Good job" and "Nicely done" comments and then the always politely declined invitation for drinks with the detectives. She needed some space and time to unwind. She had not slept well since the beginning of this trial, nightmares of what the consequences would have been had she failed to get a conviction plagued her dreams. Nightmares of him and all his bragging for getting into the pants of the hot freshman. Nightmares of how she had become the campus slut.
She hoped that at the end of this trial she would finally be able to put everything behind her and that this first case without McCoy would soon be forgotten, pushed in the neat little compartments of her brain so that she could finally move on. No such luck. As she was making her way towards her car, Olivia appeared next to her. "Hey, Abbie…" Good, Abbie thought, being called by her first name was a good sign with Olivia. "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to apologise."
She couldn't understand. "For what?"
"I misjudged you, but the way you fought in there…" Olivia didn't know where she was going with this, but the need to apologise and to understand the woman in front of her was overwhelming. Ever since her character judging skills had failed her with Abbie she wanted to know everything about the woman, about the mystery and sense of familiarity that surrounded her, the routine and unpredictability she was practically buried in.
"No, Olivia, I should be the one apologising. Really, I was terrible to that girl and…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, you just put her monster away, you just gave her, and three others a chance to continue with their lives without having to face him ever again." At that Abbie could no longer control her emotions as a single tear made its way down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, this case has been hard. I think I need to just sleep all this out", she said while wiping her tear with her hand. "And Liv…"
"Thank you" she added as she spun around got in her car and left.