Local Lit

Audrey arrived in the living room carrying a tray with two large glasses of ice tea.

“You’ll have to excuse my daughter,” she said to Paul. “She’s not much of a hostess these days. I brought you some ice tea. Here’s sweet tea for you, Paul, and the herbal kind for Claudia.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Paul said.

“Thanks momma.” Claudia ignored Audrey’s jab, refusing to let her mother irritate her.

Paul took a large sip then placed the glass on a coaster on the coffee table. He leaned forward and put his hands on his knees. Claudia had been waiting anxiously since his call an hour earlier telling her that he had another offer from the government. He sighed deeply then pulled out a piece of paper from a file in his briefcase. She couldn’t tell from his body language if the news was good or bad. Just get on with it. A naturally impatient person, she hated to wait and it seemed like that’s about all she did these days.

“I’ve got good news,” Paul said finally. Claudia relaxed. “At least I think it’s good news.” He paused and took another sip. Claudia stiffened again. “But I thought the last offer was good news, too, and you didn’t agree with me.”

“Yes,” Claudia said trying to keep the impatience out of her voice.

“They’re willing to dismiss the case. Outright. You don’t need to sign any affidavits.”

Claudia felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders, but knowing prosecutors as she did she asked, “What’s the catch?”

“I’m getting to that,” Paul said. “The only condition is that you agree that you will not have any more contact with Emad until this case is resolved.”

Claudia started to say something but Paul stopped her. “I know what you’re likely to say. You’re going to say that this is outrageous and you didn’t do anything wrong and he didn’t do anything wrong, and that you should be able to return to representing him, blah, blah, blah. But Emad is in good hands with his new lawyers and you’ll be busy with your baby soon. You won’t have much time to work on his case or see him.”

“But he’s my friend.” Claudia protested.

“Before you say no, I want you to promise me you’ll do one thing.”

“What’s that?” she asked suspiciously.

“Talk to Emad.”

“Of course he’ll tell me to take the deal,” Claudia said. “That’s not fair to him. I can’t put him in that position.”

“Look, you want my honest opinion? You’re about a month away from giving birth. You don’t need any more stress in your life. You should stay away from this case. You should probably stop working altogether. You’re hardly working now anyway. Maybe you should just stop altogether. You’ll at least want to take time off after the baby arrives.”

“Stop working,” Claudia fumed. “You’re out of your mind. I’d go crazy. Besides, I can’t afford to stop working.”

Paul looked at her dubiously.

Claudia felt the tears coming again and scorned her lack of self-control. “I’m beginning to think this was a big mistake,” she said, unsure exactly what she was referring to.

Paul reached over and squeezed her hand. “I don’t know what you’re upset about. Things are looking great. The protests outside the U.S. Attorneys office are continuing and the numbers are growing everyday. We finally got an editorial in the Washington Times, and even the National Journal published editorials in your favor. Most of the other media coverage is going your way, with the exception of Fox News and the religious channels. And now Weymouth has scheduled oversight hearings. In the last week I’ve been on PBS News Hour, Cross Fire, NPR, MSNBC and C-SPAN, plus a whole host of other shows I can’t keep track of.”

“I know — my mother has watched all of them. I can’t bear to. She says you’re great — very telegenic.”

“So what’s bothering you?” Paul asked kindly but with a bit of impatience in his voice.

“I don’t want to stop working. I don’t want to be a stay-at-home mom. This was the biggest case of my career and I’ll be damned if I’m going to drop it because of pregnancy or because some unethical prosecutor brings a bogus charge against me.”

Paul nodded sympathetically. “Under the circumstances, I can understand why you feel that way,” he said kindly. “But you have other considerations now besides yourself. And frankly, other things that are more important than representing Emad Khadonry. He’s already got a big firm representing him and there are several more that would love to step in if they want out.”

His words stung but she knew that he was right and it made her sad. She had spent her life fighting to be taken seriously as a woman, believing with every fiber of her being that women could be as successful as men in their chosen careers, and here she was losing out on the biggest case of her career because she was pregnant. It seemed like a personal failure somehow.

“Is this new offer because of the hearings?” Claudia asked.

“In part, but I think the daily protests have been effective, too. They’re just getting too much bad press for going after you. Let’s face it, the fact that you’re pregnant, whether you like it or not, makes you more sympathetic.”

She groaned. He took a long drink of the tea, draining the glass. “Even if you take the deal, Weymouth is going to hold the hearings. Unless they dismiss Emad’s case, which I don’t think they’ll do. Not yet anyway.”

Suddenly Claudia wanted nothing more than to take a nap. Talking about the case always made her sleepy. Her head raced with all the possible outcomes. She wanted Paul to go. He must have sensed her distress because he said, “I should get going.” As he stood to leave he said, “Do I have your word that you’ll at least discuss it with Emad.”

Claudia didn’t say anything. “Claudia,” he said, “I want you to promise me.”

“Okay, alright,” she said. “If I’m going to say no, I’ll talk to him first.”

“Thank you,” he said, giving her a quick hug before leaving.