NEGOTIATION II
Monica stepped into Attorney Olsen's office. Olsen pulled up a seat for Monica, and fetched a mug of tea for her. She sipped daintily on the mug, drumming her fingers anxiously on Olsen's table.
"Mrs Bing, I called you in to inform you that your husband has agreed to a plea of guilt, on the charge of aggravated assault, in exchange for the prosecutor dropping the attempted murder charge."
Monica choked on her tea in shock. She spluttered, "What!" she demanded in horror. "Plea? Of guilt? What? What are you talking about?"
Olsen passed Monica a tissue. "Your husband stabbed the child on purpose ma'am, in a moment of stress."
"No, no, no, did he actually say this? Or are you just surmising?" Monica demanded, incredulously.
"He didn't have to, ma'am, he-"
"Ohhh! So you just surmised? You're throwing an innocent man into jail because of a guess? An assumption? The hell's the matter with you!" Monica yelled at her lawyer in rage.
"Look, calm down, Mrs Bing. What I meant to say, is that when I repeatedly asked him if he stabbed the girl, he remained silent, and started crying. An innocent man would undoubtedly immediately protest. Your husband consistently refused to make eye-contact with me, and refused to answer my very simple question. He burst into tears when I asked if he's guilty. I can only assume that-"
"The only thing you can assume, Mr Olsen, is that Chandler is innocent! He never confessed, you just assumed from his behaviour! Who the hell do you think you are? A psychologist? You're a lawyer, you should assume a man is innocent until proven guilty! Your cheap backwater psycho-analysis of my husband doesn't mean a Goddamned thing!" Monica shrieked.
Olsen glared coldly at Monica through narrow eyes. "Look, Ma'am, at the end of the day, it is Mr Bing's choice on how we proceed. He has given me his verbal consent to plead guilty to aggravated assault. In any case, I've already confirmed with the Prosecutor, and he has accepted this plea-bargain, so really, your husband's guilty plea is a done deal."
With blue eyes blazing, Monica leaned into Olsen, "I don't give a shit what the prosecutor agreed with. I will not have my husband go down for a crime he didn't commit. If you insist on pleading anything less than complete innocence, I will sue you for negligence. I will drag your reputation as a defence lawyer through the mud, till nobody in the legal profession has any shred of respect for you left. You will spend the next 5 years in court as a defendant. Don't think I won't do it, I will mortgage my house if I have to, because I am a woman with nothing left to lose."
Olsen felt his forehead bead with sweat. This woman was frightening, and hearing her venomous words, he had no doubt she could and would do it. This was not a woman to fuck with. Wringing his hands nervously, Olsen replied uncertainly.
"Right, okay, well look, like I said, at the end of the day, the pleadings are your husband's choice, and I have done nothing wrong, given that your husband verbally consented to guilty pleadings. You'll have to discuss this with him if you seek to cancel the guilty pleadings."
Monica remained mute, staring fiercely at Olsen. Staring at the woman who looked, in his opinion, to be slightly unhinged, he added reluctantly, "Fine, ok, I'll call Prosecutor Gupta and tell him we haven't yet decided on the appropriate pleadings yet."
"Good." Monica stood up abruptly, marching out of the lawyer's office, adding, "By the way, we won't be needing your services any more. You'll find your last pay cheque in the mail."
Monica shut the door behind her. Olsen sat rooted to the spot, bewildered. Dialling Phoebe's number, Monica paced up and down her living room, feeling keyed-up and anxious. She hoped to God, Phoebe would do this enormous favour for her. She wasn't sure if it would happen, as it involved taking sides between her and Chandler; or Ross and Rachel.
"Hi, Pheebs, it's me."
"Mon, are you ok? You sound pretty upset…"
"I'm fine, Pheebs. I need you to persuade Mike to represent Chandler."
"What? My Mike?"