Perri O’Shaughnessy - Breach Of Promise

“She’s going to be tough for us,” Nina said. “I already told you I think she’s very convincing. According to her, Mike makes every major decision.”

“Naturally, she says that. She’s his girlfriend.”

“But she sounds so reasonable,” Nina said. “She’s full of facts and figures. She remembers specifics the rest of them have forgotten all about. She’s very personable and very professional, once she starts testifying. And she also comes across as being so understanding of Lindy’s situation. I hated the way she so magnanimously excused Lindy for attacking her the night of Mike’s party.”

“She ought to get that plane ticket early.”

“Plane ticket? For what?”

“The Oscars,” said Genevieve, and they both laughed. “She’s got a lock on Best Actress for next year.”

“Her believability makes our job harder.”

“I’m watchin’ her,” Genevieve said. “I’m studyin’ every eyelash on that gal. I’m going to help you prepare for her testimony at trial. And when we get done, Miss Rachel’s going to look like a ten dollar hooker at the Tailhook convention.”

“Well,” Nina said. “I don’t know. That kind of approach might backfire. I don’t feel comfortable with all these stereotypes. Like-Mike’s the man, so he ran the company and Lindy helped. Or Lindy’s the greedy, cast-off mistress. Let Riesner rely on those old stereotypes. I don’t want to sink to that.”

Genevieve rolled her eyes. “Nina, I know it’s a temptation. I’ve seen it a thousand times. The lawyer wants to state the logical, honest truth of the matter. But that’s all head stuff. You don’t win the heart of the jury appealing to their reason. And if you don’t win the heart of the jury, you go home with a hole in your pocket.”

This statement made Nina stop and turn to face Genevieve. “That’s all I know how to do, Genevieve. I don’t want the jury to decide based on sentiment. I want them to decide based on the-”

“Oh, honey, you have so much to learn. You want to make that big fee or not?”

“Of course I do. I just-”

“Well, I’m going to make sure you do. Now let’s go back to that primped-up thing and wipe the fifty dollar lipstick off that smart mouth of hers.”

Over the weekend, Lindy had holed up in her trailer, tying up personal business, paying bills, lying on the couch, and gazing out the window at the cloudless sky. She expected Rachel to accuse her. She expected to be arrested.

Tuesday afternoon, when no one had come, she broke down and rode Comanche to the little store. There, she changed a few bills for quarters and went to the phone to call George Demetrios at the plant. He wasn’t there anymore, a coworker told her, but she had a number at home which Lindy tried.

She hated having to call George. He had a crush on her, and she didn’t like to encourage him. Still, it was lucky George had come along when he did out there on the snowy hillside. Or had it been luck?

“Hey, Lindy. How are you?” George asked with real concern.

“Fine, George. But why aren’t you at work?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“I got canned.”

“What? You’ve been with us for five years! Mike has lost his marbles. How can they fire you?”

“Oh, he had nothing to do with it. It was Pembroke got me fired.”

“But… she doesn’t have a lot to do with manufacturing directly, does she?”

“I don’t know what she does. I just know she talked with my boss, and the next thing I knew I was out on my… fired.”

Picturing his thick lips and olive skin, she thought for a moment. “You think they did this because of what happened on the road?”

She could almost hear his brain chugging around the idea. “Maybe, so,” he said.

“How is Rachel?”

“She’s okay.”

“George, how is it you happened along when you did? Were you following me?”

“I guess I was,” he said.

“Why?”

There was a long silence. “I saw you at the plant,” he said. “I saw you take off after Rachel.”

“Oh.”

“I just didn’t want you to get into any stupid kind of trouble.”

Although the scene had been the cause of several sleepless nights, the idea of her following Rachel and George following her up the snowy road suddenly struck her as terribly comical. She stifled an urge to laugh. You just never knew what people were going to do, did you? “What happened after I left?”

“They hauled her off to the hospital. She had a few cuts and bruises, nothing big. Then the police came to interview me because she said you were stalking her.”

“She did? Wow.” Could just one time be called stalking?

“She starts in on this story that you were in the car with her and told her to pull over. That you pulled a knife on her.”

“In the car with her? But I wasn’t!”

“Yeah. Said she drove off the road because she was scared to death and hit her head on the steering wheel. But she looked okay.”

“What did you tell them?”

“I set them straight, told them I saw it happen and there wasn’t no one there but her.”

“Oh, George.”

“Everyone knows things aren’t so hot between you and her. I didn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. I knew it wasn’t you. You left in that Jeep you were driving. How could you have been in the car with her?”

“You lied for me, George. You shouldn’t have done that. What do the police think?”

“They didn’t believe her. She’s got her picture in the newspaper all the time. They thought maybe she just wanted to get back in the paper and wanted to make you look bad. Anyhow, that’s how I got fired.”

“I’m so sorry,” said Lindy.

“The place is a mess without you and Mike running things, anyway. Maybe it was time for me to move on. But I should tell you… people’ve been saying things. You know how they are. They don’t mean you any harm.”

Lindy felt touched. You could never buy George’s kind of loyalty.

“But I did hear one guy swearing he saw you in the parking lot by the plant,” George went on, “just sitting there like you was waiting for someone to come out. So I fixed that.”

“You didn’t hurt him?”

“Lindy, I don’t do that anymore since you got me into that program,” he said, pained. “I just talk to people, like the counselor taught us to do. I told him he must be dreaming and made sure he believed me. You got better things to do than come round here harassing somebody.”

“George… thank you. I’m so sorry about your job.”

“Oh, I’m working with my brother at his cabinet shop, learning a few things, having a pretty good time.”

“I’m glad.”

“Say, maybe you and I could… I don’t know. Hit the slots one night? Go ice-skating? Would you like that?”

“You’re so nice, trying to buck me up. But, no, George.”

“I thought it might be that way,” he said. “Well, I hope somehow things work out with you and Mike. Meanwhile, you just let me know if you need anything, ’cause I’m your man.”

“Promise me you won’t follow me anymore, not even for my own good. I don’t need a protector.”

“If you say so.”

She could tell from the tone of his voice he didn’t believe her. What a sweetheart.

A mechanical voice came on the line, demanding more coins. Lindy searched her pockets, but before she could insert another quarter, she heard George hanging up.

As she climbed into the saddle and steered Comanche up the slushy road, she recalled meeting George. One windy day after he’d first been hired, he’d thrown a punch at the foreman, Bill Henderson. Henderson wanted him fired, and the resulting in-house investigation turned up a record on George. He had served two years for assaulting his sister’s husband.