38. Preparation for Court Pt. 2
Waiting rooms outside of lawyer offices smelt strange. It was somewhere that Elliot had to admit, he hadn't been very often. But sitting here now, with Olivia, he could notice a distinct smell in the air. Despite having to deal with legal matters from time to time, considering he runs a business, Elliot never found himself in legal offices – his legal team always came to him. But here he was now, sitting next to Olivia and gazing off into space thinking about things, and this was an interesting experience for him. Elliot was glad that he came though, he was glad that Olivia had agreed to have him come with her for this.
"Olivia?" A man appeared at the doorway in front of where they were sitting. Both Olivia and Elliot stood up and Elliot knew this had to be her lawyer. The man stood to the side of the doorway and invited the pair inside, before closing the door again, providing privacy for their meeting.
"Lewis, this is Elliot, my partner. Elliot, this is my lawyer Lewis" Olivia was quick to introduce the pair and Elliot had to admit, hearing her say "partner" was a nice experience. It was the first time that he'd heard her call him her partner and he liked it.
"Nice to meet you" Lewis smiled as he extended his hand to shake.
"You too" Elliot returned the gesture before taking the seat next to Olivia. He subconsciously reached for her hand across the arm rest and gave it a small squeeze when she took his. Olivia just smiled back/
"Alright, so…there have been a few updates that we need to discuss, especially in preparation for next week" Lewis started as he glanced down at the notes on his desk. Olivia took a deep breath, hoping the news Lewis was about to give her was just as good as what Elliot had told her yesterday.
Olivia listened closely as Lewis explained how given there is an order of protection in play, Brian wouldn't be in the court room but he would be tuning in through video link. Lewis explained that Brian would be able to see her but he could not have any proper interaction with her. He would really only be in attendance via video link due to the case being his claim to custody. Lewis continued to explain how he had managed to get the request for visitation with Chloe thrown out, which was a huge relief to Olivia. Although she'd already known this as Elliot told her, it was nice to hear it from her lawyer as well, to know it was real. They would meet again the day before court, to go over how everything is going to go, just so Olivia was familiar with the layout and everything. But Lewis had to admit he was feeling confident on how this was all going to go. He had even explained he was feeling pretty confident in terms of winning the case in court and Chloe never having to know who Brian was unless she wanted to when she was older. But Olivia was still on the fence, she had this feeling that Brian was going to pull something out at the last minute and things were not going to go as planned.
Elliot remained quiet during most of the meeting but he had been making mental notes of things to get his team to look into and different things to ask them. He didn't necessarily, not trust this lawyer, as the guy seemed to be doing things well so far. Elliot just wanted to make sure that there was nothing else this lawyer could possibly miss and where he had to get more information, Elliot was going to. He was going to get his team to look into the chances of winning this case next week, and whether there were any other little things that Brain could use to his advantage in the case. He also wanted more information on what the possible outcomes for the case could be, he knew that Lewis was adamant they were going to win, Elliot just wanted to be prepared for all outcomes.
"What are we looking at if we don't get a victory though? What are the possible outcomes here?" Elliot asked, verbalizing what he was thinking as Olivia looked over at him. She knew he was just trying to get the whole picture and she had to admit she wanted to know as well. Elliot wanted to get Lewis's perspective on the possible outcomes before he approached his team, so he could see if things matched up.
"Well, there are three possible ways this could go and before I tell you them, I want to confirm that I'm confident that when we go to court next week, we will get the best outcome. Now, the first outcome is that we win the case completely, Olivia remains the sole custodian of Chloe and things just carry on the way they have been. The second outcome, is that we partially win the case, Brian doesn't get custody or maybe partial custody but he does get allocated visitation and permission to see his daughter. Olivia is not around when this happens, Chloe would go with an court appointed guardian to these visits every time" Lewis explained and Elliot looked over to Olivia who had gone white in the face, he could tell she was scared for that outcome.
"The final outcome, is that Brian wins the case and is given sole custody of Chloe, but not until he is out of prison. Now that, I've heard could be sooner rather than later as he has a parole hearing coming up" Lewis concluded.
"Bri-He could get out?" Olivia asked, suddenly rather scared for what she was hearing.
"Maybe, but let's not think about that too much right now, our main concern here is this case next week and I just want to reiterate, that I don't see either of the last 2 results happening. I believe with everything you've told me and we've worked through – you have a strong case" Lewis tried to encourage but Olivia felt sick to her stomach. She didn't trust that this was all going to go very well in her favour, she knew the charm Brian could just turn on when he needed to.
Olivia's meeting with Lewis had brought up a lot, as they always seemed to do. She had honestly never thought about the possibility that Brian could get out of prison or that it could be soon. But of course he could, as he'd probably had the perfect behaviour in his time in prison and no-one would believe anything different or what he'd even been convicted for that put him away. Olivia knew otherwise though, and she hoped that if the day did come that Brian would be walking free, he would just leave her alone. Olivia was building a life now with Elliot, and it was the kind of life that she was sure could be ruined in an instant if Brian decided to take a stand, which was always a worry of hers. Olivia loved Elliot and while she knew that he knew everything about her past now and loved her regardless, Olivia still worried that Brian could do something to ruin this all.
After their meeting with Lewis was over, Elliot and Olivia took a stroll to a small café, a couple of blocks down the street. It was one Olivia had been to a couple of times before and quite liked. Elliot placed their order at the counter, whilst Olivia found them a table. Elliot could tell on the walk to café that Olivia was lost in her thoughts after the meeting with Lewis. He took a seat opposite her and she smiled softly at him as he grabbed her hand in his. They were out of the immediate area of the school or where anyone might know them, so Elliot was prepared to do subtle PDA with her.
"Sorry, miles away there" Olivia apologised as she just smiled at Elliot.
"That's ok, I know things said in that meeting would have brought up some things" Elliot tried to comfort.
"It did, but it sounds somewhat positive and I'm glad you were there. I'm also glad that Chloe doesn't have to go and see Brian" Olivia breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"She never will either, if we have anything to do with it" Elliot encouraged. He was going to do anything that he could to make sure that Brian never made it anywhere near his girls and he meant it. Olivia and Chloe were his girls now and he was going to do anything in the world to protect them.
"So, I was thinking…When the court case is over, we should get away" Elliot suggested once the coffees had arrived.
"Are you forgetting we have another court case?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"I know, but we don't know when that will be just yet and I think after all of this drama so far, when the case with Brian is over, we should take the kids and get away from the city for a little while. I have a beautiful lake house, a couple of hours north from here and I have already promised the twins that we'll go sometime soon. So, after this case, why don't we all escape to there for a little while?" Elliot suggested.
"That sounds wonderful, but I think we should wait till we've got through both cases first. I agree that we should do something celebratory for getting through this case with Brian – as I want to celebrate when we do. But I just think we need to leave your big getaway, to when we've done both and we can really celebrate" Olivia explained. This wasn't a no answer, it was quite simply a 'lets wait to have a bigger celebration'.
"I like your thinking…But you and I are still going to do something to celebrate when Brian is done and dusted with" Elliot confirmed. He wasn't entirely sure what they would do just et, but he was going to do something to celebrate this occasion and finally having her past out of her life. Elliot knew that Olivia would always have a part of her past with her, but that was the best part – as it was Choe. But he was ready to move forward and forget about Brian or that he ever existed, they could properly start being together.
A/N: Don't worry, I've got something planned already for when the case is all over and done with, our favourite couple are going to celebrate in quite the style. But let me know what you think that might be or what you want it to be? Also let me know what you thought of this chapter? I apologise for the delay in updates, I've had this chapter ready to go for a while, but my house has been without internet for 2 weeks and we only recently got it back. I'm on holidays now, so hopefully with the internet back, I can update again soon with the next chapter – the next few chapters are going to be quite interesting, so strap yourselves in!
Leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter? I love to read them all and I love you all.
Until Next Time ;)
