Chapter 18

I always thought I was the insane one. Then I met Ms. Bernadette Bunny.

To be fair, Blaze had also recently purchased a ticket for the cuckoo train, but this woman was drinking wine at 10 am. She wasn't drunk (yet), but I revisited the idea when she offered me some. And because I was still insane, I almost considered it. Then I remembered I was pre-expecting.

"Isn't anyone fun anymore?" The woman pouted before taking a huge gulp. She didn't even wince. "I guess you pass the test."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "You do realize how serious this situation is? Your final divorce hearing is in a few weeks."

"Then where is my lawyer?"

"She'll be here," I said, readjusting my jacket. "She just wanted some new eyes on the case to make sure she didn't miss anything."

"New eyes," she scoffed. "I wonder if that's why my husband left me..."

I raised a brow. "But you didn't accuse him of adultery before." I tapped my chin, tried to think through her sudden (okay, not sudden, just dramatic), depressing spiral. Why would she refrain from telling something vital to her case? My eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to protect him?"

She shrugged.

"Don't you want your alimony?"

She shrugged again; her cloud blue eyes shifted to the floor. "I don't know what I want anymore."

My heart fell. Here I was, looking at a woman who had everything she wanted at one point—still technically had it. Yet she couldn't even bring herself to defend it.

"Then why are you going through with this?" I sighed. Although I was pretty sure sighing was unprofessional. But then again, I was an intern.

"Because you're not supposed to give up without a fight." Just then, the yellow bunny rose from her feet, walked into a very fancy looking kitchen. "He's trying to get the house back. Custody of the kids as well." She poured herself a glass of what I could only hope wasn't vodka. "I mean, he's a psychiatrist, for Pete's sake. I'm surprised he hasn't made some BS about me being mentally unstable."

I didn't know if he would have to bullshit. I took the glass from the woman, poured it down the sink drain.

"It was just water."

"Then why were you drinking it from a wine glass?"

"You lawyers and your rules." She scoffed lightly. "Next you'll say I have to act civil toward a man who isn't even man enough to tell me the truth."

At this point I wanted to kill myself as much as she did.

I had been here for almost an hour and had gotten nowhere. It was just like yesterday, only then I had a desk to bang my head against.

"So is it dishonesty?" I said, but my voice was practically pleading for her to do something other than shrug or go on a spiel. I knew life was unfair when she shrugged and started mumbling about how much she hated hating her husband.

"You're wasting your time," I thought this was my subconscious, but when I spun around I saw another bunny. This one the younger, more rebellious version of the melodramatic housewife. The girl pouted her electric blue lips. "No wonder Dad is leaving her."

"Good to know my own daughter's on my side." The woman seemed to sober up in a second. She took her purse from the counter. "I have a listing at noon. Thank you for your company, Ms. Rose."

"But—" Before I could get another word out, the woman had fled from view. And I was left with Miss Teen Aggression.

"Um, shouldn't you be in school?"

"I'm in college."

"Right."

"I'm serious." She folded her arms. "Just because I'm sixteen doesn't mean that I'm not smart enough to get a higher education."

"I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it."

"I was thinking something, alright," I said, eying her septum piercing. "But since I have you, do you care to tell me the deal with your mom? It's sort of important that the firm knows why she chooses to request alimony for no reason."

The girl shrugged. I almost strangled her. "I can guarantee that you already have your answer. Just piece together everything. I'm sure your little lawyer brain can make sense of something."

I scoffed. "What's with you and your mom with lawyers? Last I checked, some of us are trying to help her." My eyes hit hers, but she was sort of overwhelming to look at. I tried to look optimistic. "And you."

She strapped her backpack over her shoulder. "I've been helped enough by you people." With a smirk, she also left the space.

And like usual, the only thing that seemed certain was my confusion.

At this rate I was probably going to get fired. Again.

Female President Ferret gave me a simple job, make sense of crazy. But days had gone by, and my boss was expecting something. But what if this was a test?

Maybe she just wanted to see that I had enough balls to admit I was confused. I nodded—that had to be it.

"You're going to want to give what you have to Ms. Ferret by the afternoon," one of the associates said, a porcupine probably in her mid 30's. Name was Phoebe? "And if you don't have anything, she's definitely not going to be happy."

"Have you seen this case?" I said, waving the folder in the air. "The judge isn't going to make it happen. Especially not with how disinterested Ms. Bunny is." I sighed. "Has she always been like this?"

The woman shot me a look. Not like she wanted to kill the conversation (or me), but like I was some dumb kid she got stuck babysitting. "What do you think?"

"I honestly don't know if my brain is capable of thinking anymore." I said, placing my head on the cool counter. I was stressed out, but I couldn't be stressed out-Blaze's order. I fought the urge to beat my head against the desk. Great, another thing to worry about...

When I finally rose my head, my co-worker had disappeared, leaving me with virtually nothing to go off of. It seemed like that was what everyone was doing. Giving me sticks to build a house or something.

The only reasonable explanation was that every straightforward explanation wasn't applicable. So yes, there was a time that Ms. Bunny wanted alimony. That's why we were in this situation. But why didn't she care anymore?

Her rebel daughter said I had everything I needed. But it was sort of hard to trust someone who wore neon lipstick. Still, there was something about the girl as well. But what?

I shook my head. Back to the mom. So she didn't want alimony anymore. Why? I could sense that she wasn't unfaithful. If she were, her husband's defense would have blasted her on it. The same had to go for him as well. But infidelity had to play a role, whether it was direct or discrete.

So maybe there was an affair. But no one was going to prove it. Then what could?

A knock on my door disconnected my thoughts. I hissed.

"Show me what you have," Ms. Ferret said, motioning toward the direction of her office. "Let's see if hiring you was a mistake."

My stomach flopped. Was this how my law career was going to end? All because I couldn't solve one case? My eyes widened. But that was my job. If I couldn't solve cases, what good was I?

As I walked to toward Ms. Ferret's office (aka the gates of hell), I saw the fox guy from earlier come into view. He looked just as impatient and irritated as he did before, only he was sporting a cocky grin on his stupid, smug face. Did he find something important? I couldn't help but glare at him as he conversed with the secretary/receptionist. He didn't see me.

But my eyes widened when I saw it.

"Are you sure about this?" Ms. Ferret didn't look particularity convinced or impressed. But strangely, I didn't feel deterred. I slid her the file.

"I've never been more sure about anything." Okay, that was a lie at its finest. I only sort of knew what I was doing. Truthfully, if I were wrong about this, I would be tarnishing Ms. Ferret's perfect reputation. Then I would lose my job. Again.

"Fine," she said through her teeth, before rising from her seat. She nodded at the judge. The hippo woman didn't so much as blink. And I thought Ms. Ferret could be dry...

"Your honor, I'd like to call Dr. Barnes Bunny to the stand."

"Motion accepted."

The older doctor approached the bench. Ms. Ferret proceeded to pull out some papers from the file. Her glance then hit the man. "Dr. Bunny, for how long have you been blackmailing your wife?"

"Objection!" Erickson Fox called out. "Ms. Ferret is merely conjuring an unsupported accusation to further distraught my client."

The judge pursed her lips in contemplation before shrugging lightly. "I think a psychiatrist is capable of handling a simple allegation. Overruled."

But the judge was right, the man looked unfazed, if not bored. "I have never blackmailed my wife. She's the only one that would stand to gain anything by such means. I'm making sure that she has everything she needs. But alimony is taking it too far."

"Tell me," Ms. Ferret began, "do you have access to your wife's medical records?"

He wrinkled his nose. "I'm a psychiatrist. Considering the fact she isn't crazy, and she isn't one of my patients, I think the question practically answers itself."

"But I'm asking you to answer it."

"I have never pried into my wife's medical records." He folded his arms. "Could I request them from her primary care physician? Yes. But I would need her permission, which I haven't had for years now."

"Thank you. That's all I have for now."

"What are you getting at, Ms. Ferret?" the judge asked suspiciously. But she looked more interested, if that was possible.

"That's what I would like to know," I whispered to my boss. But she merely sat down with a coy expression on her face. I frowned. "You're not helping."

"Don't lose focus now," the woman said, pulling another paper from her stack. "When Erickson finishes cross examining Ms. Bunny, this will all be over."

"I hope so."

"Come on now. Negativity will get you nowhere."

Which was true. After prodding Miss Bemused Bunny for ten minutes, Erickson started pulling some bull about how her disinterest made her unworthy of alimony.

"Not only does her behavior warrant psychological evaluation, it also warrants a revaluation as to who should maintain chief custody of the children," he went on, "with that, I rest my case."

The judge was nodding, and I could feel my heart swell and threaten to explode. And not in a good way. I turned to my boss.

"Your final point, Ms. Ferret?" The judge said.

"I'll make this quick."

"Best words I've heard all day."

Ms. Ferret smiled before clearing her throat. "I have to admit that Mr. Fox does make some good points. Ms. Bunny is in need of psychological evaluation." She rose up a hand. "However, all of her psychological trauma was caused by her husband. And yes, he is also right about not accessing his wife's medical files." She slide a paper to the judge. "Because his daughter did."

Judge Hippo's brows narrowed as she read the document. She turned to Ms. Bunny. "How long have you known that you have syphilis?"

The woman sighed. "It was confirmed a year ago, although I was supposedly infected ten years prior."

"Her husband has been removing the files, which is why he technically did not "access" or review the contents for a few years now. But their daughter, who was volunteering with Ms. Bunny's gynecologist, thought it be fun to mess with her mother's records. And we recovered some of the missing files from her possession.

"For the past few months, Ms. Bunny has been taking a drug that interferes with serotonin production to control her disease, causing a mild depression. And as to how this relates to her husband…one of the medical records he also removed last year confirmed that he was the one who gave her the disease, as he carries a dormant form of the same bacterium. Which he got from his affair thirteen years ago."

Ms. Ferret clasped her hands. "So why does my client deserve alimony? Well, for starters, her quality of life will forever be compromised because her husband—who is a doctor—neglected her health, and neglected her right to the truth by altering her medical records, which is a federal offense. And it is possible that he even recruited his daughter, who is a minor, to do his bidding. Now, I hope you can spare the poor girl for what she has done. But Ms. Bunny is entitled to a better life, and I think you know what will guarantee that." The woman smirked in Erickson's direction. "I rest my case."

"Way to save your client at the final second." The judge actually looked pleased. "Although I request an additional evaluation of the child custody aspect of the case, I award permanent alimony to Ms. Bernadette Bunny." She smacked her gavel. "Court adjourned."

As the two men marched out of the space, with bitter looks of failure and humiliation, my heart beamed with joy. Yes, I know it wasn't right to revel in someone else's defeat, but it felt so good. And nothing had for a long time.

"Thank you." The woman pulled Ms. Ferret into a bear hug. "Thank you for believing me when I wasn't even in the mood to believe in myself." She shook her head. "Stupid medication."

"Stupid husband." Ms. Ferret laughed. "All they're good for is children, am I right?" As the two started going on about how horrible their husbands were, I took it as my cue to leave.

"Where the hell are you going?" Ms. Ferret said.

I stopped in my tracks.

"Home?" Ms. Bunny and Ms. Ferret exchanged glances before pulling me out of the courtroom.

"And they call us old women."

President Ferret said it wasn't a real victory until someone got drunk. And they kept trying to get me drunk.

"I know I'm your boss, but you don't have to be such a square all the time," the ferret woman said, before downing another bottle of beer. I lost track of how many she had.

"Don't worry, Fran. She wouldn't even drink at my house," Bernadette slurred. "And it was free there." The two burst into laughter.

"Here's that 'beer' you ordered," Phil said with a wink. If I forgot to mention, we were at Avalon Tavern. I smiled before downing the ginger ale. "But seriously, you could stand to have a little fun yourself."

I jigged my keys in the air. "Can't. Driver duty." That was a lie, but I couldn't exactly tell him the news. Not that there were any, technically.

"Alright," he said. "I'll take it that these two are your associates?"

I scoffed. "Try my boss and client. But we won our case. Although they're acting like they never win. Ms. Ferret has supposedly never lost a case."

"You got that right." The woman smiled smugly before extending her hand to Phil. "Call me Fran."

Phil took it. "Phil. And I happen to be a fan of Fran."

She giggled more than the situation called.

"Ah crap, my daughter's here," Bernadette said, sliding her phone in her purse. She patted Ms. Ferret's shoulder. I was surprised she didn't collapse. "Stay in contact so we can do something else fun." She turned to me, grinning. "Only next time, we'll leave Madam Buzzkill at home."

"Hey."

"Despite everything, I think the change in scenery is good for you." Phil nodded. "There's a different glow to you. I like it."

"Thanks," I replied. But my heart fell a little bit. Could he tell I was...you know?

"No, thank you." Ms. Ferret still sounded sober, but too optimistic for her own good. Which meant it was time to go home. "You're so intuitive, Amy. I'm surprised my idiot brother fired you."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Time to go."

"But I want to stay..." She pouted before winking at Phil. "Handsome over here is taking care of me."

Even in the dim lighting, I could see Phil blushing.

The idea made me happy, but I was too exhausted to show it. I rose to my feet. "Suit yourself." I gave Phil a stern look. He blinked at me.

"Make sure you don't take advantage of her."

"But what if I want him to take advantage of me?" Ms. Ferret shot back. I smirked before leaving the bar.

At least love was working out for some of us.

I'd say that this was a nice filler-ish chapter. Don't worry, things will get REALLY interesting in the next set.

Also, I really want to set up a update schedule (Cozy Shadow has one for their awesome story, which you should totally check out btw). For now it's fair to say that I'll be updating twice a week (Wednesday and Saturday) but I may update on Thursday or Sunday if I'm too busy those days. But I should have a more formal schedule next week.

Until later,

Kosma Bandra