ONE LAST TIME

"Life goes on" (pt 2)

The police directed me to where Mr Arthur was. He was cuffed. Two officers were standing outside, guarding us. Mr Arthur looked like any middle aged man with black hair, brown eyes and a close-trimmed mustache. He was short, fit and most importantly, looked like a hard working man. 

In what I hoped was a calm voice I said "Hello Mr Arthur, I'm Emma, your lawyer. As much as I tried to veil my anxiety, I suspect it had shone through my weakly built facade, for he seemed to look a bit disheartened at my hesitation. "Hi dear, come sit" he said with a disappointing tone. I took a deep breath and spoke with my heart, " Sir, I want you to tell me honestly. Are you aware of any acts that may have inflicted mental or physical harm on your colleague Miss Zhoe, who has filed a case against you?". He replied with a straight no. He claimed that he treated Ms Zhoe like his own daughter and never assaulted her as she stated. "Miss Emma please trust me, I would never do something like that" he requested. I smiled softly and said, " I believe you Mr Arthur, that's why I took up your case and please feel free to call me Emma." He heaved a sigh of relief as we proceeded with the session.

"Your colleague has claimed that on 29th of April 2019, you had sexually abused her. Did you notice anything unusual that day ?" I inquired

"I was sick, yet I went to work," he answered.

"You were sick, yet you went to work?" I repeated.

"I'm a workaholic, I don't like missing work," he explained.

"I see. Did you have any encounters with Miss Zhoe that day?" I asked.

"I don't remember". He replied. What else could I have expected from Mr Arthur, a 40 year old man.That brought us to the end of the session. I said bye while assuring him that I would definitely get him out of the case. I knew this was going to be complex then I could've expected.

As I left the police station, I got a message from the court and it stated "Mr Arthur vs the state of California- The first trial's going to be held on 12th of May 2019 11:30am". That was tomorrow!. I cursed under my breath, no way, tomorrow was way too early. I sighed as realization hit me, I needed to burn the midnight oil today. Camile and I went to Mr Arthur's office. After inquiring his teammates we concluded that he and Ms Zhoe had a perfect work relationship and that Mr Arthur was a great colleague. Camile then suggested we would check the CCTV footage. After checking the footage, I heaved a sigh of relief since we had strong evidence to prove that Mr Arthur was innocent. 

Camile had left home earlier then I thought because her mom was very sick. I had to stay here, for getting the attendance registry which can be pretty useful to the case. By the time I got the record, it was 11:45 pm. I rushed out of the building and began to look for cabs. I had a panic attack as I learned that no cabs were available and there sure wasn't any way to go home. Calling Hannah, my life saver was my only option. Though Hannah was very mad at me for interrupting her beauty sleep,  she would never let her best friend roam alone in the dark. I was in my own world, when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to see a man following me, I can't believe It took me long enough to realize that. I was panic stricken. I started walking towards a convenience store which seemed kilometers away. Every time I took a step, I turned around only to learn that he was still behind me. I had lost all my hope when a masked man pulled me closer to him and pushed me against the wall.