"Ensign Wilkins," I state, looking over the petite woman on the stand. She sits up straighter. "State your relationship with Petty Officer Cloak."
"We've been friends for about a year and a half. She's my roomate on the USS Patrick Henry," Wilkins states, her eyes wide with innocence. She can't be older than twenty.
"Then it's safe to say that the Petty Officer talked to you often," I ask.
"Yes, ma'am," she replies. "Nan - Petty Officer Cloak and I are close. We tell each other almost everything."
"Did Petty Officer Cloak ever tell you about her relationship with Lieutenant Edwards?"
"Oh," Wilkins said, brightening. "Yes ma'am. She talked about him a lot."
"With a positive attitude?"
"Not always," Wilkins says. "In fact, most times she was annoyed with his antics. She said that he was ivading her space." Wilkins glances past me to where Cloak is sitting.
"Do you recall the day that Lieutenant Edwards allegedly proposed to the Petty Officer?"
"Like yesterday," Wilkins says, beaming. "She - Petty Officer Cloak - came into our room, dropped on her bed, and was clearly upset. I tried to comfort her, and when I found out that she had been proposed to, I asked what the problem was. She told me that Lieutenant Edwards is already married."
"Thank you, Enisgn. No furthur questions," I say, then return to my chair next to Whipple. From the corner of my eye, I watch Harm think about something, then stand up. If it hadn't been that he and I were arguing, I would have enjoyed the view of his six immensly. Well, I still do enjoy it, but it's not as much fun knowing that we're not speaking.
Harm stands in front of Ensign Wilkins with his hands clasped behind his back. "Enisign, did Petty Officer Cloak ever mention a ring that she received from Lieutenant Edwards?"
"Yes, sir," Wilkins replies.
"Did you ever see it?"
Wilkins opens her mouth, then stops, and changes her mind. She looks warily at Cloak, then answers. "No."
"Did Petty Officer Cloak ever give you proof of the marriage proposal?"
"Only her word," Wilkins says honestly.
"And you're taking her word?"
"Petty Officer Cloak doesn't give me reason not to trust her."
"Are you aware that Petty Officer Cloak has shown jealousy towards Lieutenant Edwards and his wife?"
"Objection; relevance?" I say, frowning.
"Overruled," the judge replies, looking at Harm with rapt attention. I glare at Harm's back. "Answer the question, Ensign."
Wilkins looks uncomfortable. "Well, Petty Officer Cloak sometimes mentioned that she was less than fond of Mrs. Edwards."
"Did the Petty Officer ever mention ways of getting revenge on Mrs. Edwards?" Harm asks, turning away from Wilkins and slowly walking toward Rivera. I keep my eyes trained on Wilkins. Harm turns and slowly walks back. I'm going to choke that man after court today. He's put me through three days of skirting each other; being annoyingly formal, not having lunch together, not laughing about Singer.... Basically, he put me through hell.
I guess it's my fault, in part, for expecting so much from him. I mean, this is Harm I'm talking about. He's not one who suddenly drops to his knees and tells me that he loves me.
But he could have told me that he wanted us to be more than platonic. I sigh, thinking that maybe I've read everything wrong, and that Harm isn't interested in me at all.
"You should be flattered, Sarah."
Who the hell is he kidding? Whipple suddenly nudges me, throwing me out of my other world and back into the court room. I look around, and everyone is getting up to head out. Court has been recessed, and I didn't hear the end of Wilkins' testimony. Dammit. I've got to pull myself out of my personal problems. I stand, get my papers together, place them into my briefcase and walk, almost robotically, from the courtroom.
****
"How do you think our case is going?" Lieutenant Edwards asks me nervously Friday morning.
"We've established that there's no solid proof of you proposing, and that's a good foundation. We'll have to see where it goes from there. The prosecution is going to put Petty Officer Cloak on the stand," I tell him.
"Closing arguments are this afternoon," Rivera adds.
"Which you'll be doing," I say. Rivera gives me a surprised look.
"Me? You're not serious."
"Yes, I am," I say. "This is for experience, so get your closing together."
"What if I mess this up? Lieutenant Edwards deserves the best defense!" Rivera protests.
"I have complete trust in you," I reply. I really do trust Rivera. He's not the kind of man who would use this opportunity to his own advantage, unlike Whipple. I look up from my papers and, speak of the devil, Whipple stands at the edge of my office.
"Excuse me, Commander," she starts sweetly. "Can I have a word with you?"
What do you want? "Of course," I say, standing up. We leave my office and stand in front of my closed door. She smiles at me, and I raise an eyebrow. "Is there something you wanted?"
"I was wondering, Commander, if you'd like to join me in a celebratory dinner this evening?" Whipple asks.
"Celebratory? For who?"
"For whoever wins," she replies, smiling again. Yikes, she's ten years younger than me, and she's inviting me to dinner. Of course, I could be reading signals wrong here, but it's kind of hard to miss the look in her eyes. Whipple seems to read my thoughts. "Don't worry, the Colonel and Louis will be invited, too."
She tells me the time and place, then places her hand on my arm and smiles at me. Where's my bug spray?
Yikes, sorry that was so short. I've had terrible writer's block for JAG, so I kind of put this up here. And it's not all that good. But the next chapter will be longer and will be better, don't worry.