Chapter Thirty-Three
That morning almost felt as if they had been reliving the past. The family ate breakfast together and all of them got into the same car to take the kids to the nursery and to school. Neither of them had to leave early, they didn't have to take separate cars, because they were both heading in the same direction.
"Are you going to fight against each other in the courtroom today?" Em asked with excitement in her voice and Diane was wondering why she used that particular verb.
"No, we are not going to fight," she chuckled, "We'll be on opposite sides, that's all. It's very peaceful in there."
"Well, most of the time," Will interfered and he got an eye roll from her right away.
"Oh, I want to see!" Em got even more excited.
"Look what you've done! Could you please not encourage her?" Diane gave Will another look before she replied to her daughter, "I'm sorry sweetie, but children under 14 are not allowed in a courtroom, unless they are testifying or are there to learn, but only if the court allows."
"Could you get me in, pretty please? I promise to be a very good girl!"
The mere thought of having her not yet 7-year-old in the courtroom made Diane nervous, although it was just a civil case. She was too young to experience the real world even in a more peaceful form, she wanted to protect her from it as long as she could.
"We'll talk about it once you're twelve," she suggested and didn't miss the disappointment on her face.
"But that's more than 5 years from now," she calculated quickly and it made Diane smile.
"It will be worth the wait," Will said in a cheering voice and not even an eye roll could express Diane's disapproval. It was really time for her husband to finally grow up.
o-o-o
They entered the courtroom together and only parted at the beginning of the row to occupy their seats on opposite sides. In this early stage of the trial, they had neither their co-councils nor the clients with them and the room was empty too, except for the clerk. They were only there to support the few motions they'd filed earlier. She sat down and opened her notebook to check something when a piece of paper appeared in front of her. She opened the folded paper and read the sentences written on it: 'May the best man win. Don't forget that I love you'. She turned her head to his direction with a smile and her lips formed a silent I love you, right in time before the judge entered the courtroom.
They both stood up facing the bench where Judge Patrick Morgan seemed definitely surprised looking from one lawyer to the other.
"Mr. and Mrs. Gardner, on opposite sides. How did this happen?" he asked, obviously waiting for an answer from one or the other.
Hearing herself addressed like that caused Diane to smirk. She'd kept her name after the marriage, because recognizability was important in her job, not to mentioned she loved her name and Will hadn't insisted on her taking up his either. She was only ever called Mrs. Gardner in hotels, restaurants, never in the courtroom. It was obviously an inside joke from the judge, who knew both of them too well, which explained his sudden astonishment as well.
After a couple of seconds he motioned for them to step closer, meaning he wanted to have a conversation with them off the record.
"Is it the first time you are on opposite sides?" he asked and even though the question was a bit weird under those circumstances, Diane knew they had to answer nevertheless.
"Yes," she replied and was waiting for his next question already.
"Are you sure about this? Attorneys are usually at each other's throat, especially in cases like this one. "
"We will take our chances," she said, not liking that he wanted to dive into their personal life in the courtroom. Had he asked this some place else, she would have been fine with it, not to mention could have reacted differently than there in that moment. She couldn't just joke it off, which she wanted to do. It was more than enough that they had their own concerns about going up against each other, there was no reason for him to interfere with that.
"We'll be fine," Will reassured him as well and he obviously had no chance but to believe them.
He let them go and they walked back to their places side by side. They looked at each other shortly when they parted again, this was it then, there was no way back.
"I understand you have a motion, Miss Lockhart," the judge addressed her properly this time, which made her smile.
"Yes, Your Honor. We'd like the court to dismiss the case."