The Christmas Elf (Jenlisa)

Chapter 11

~~ Arlington County Courthouse, Arlington, Virginia, August ~~

Jennie sat alone at the table in Courtroom H, with a pitiful little stack of papers in front of her.

She'd spent the three weeks reading the lawsuit that Jongin had served her with over and over, surfing the Internet, trying to research the best way to respond.

She had no idea how this was going to go today. All she felt she could do was tell the judge her side of the story. She'd tried to assemble a financial plan, so she could show the judge how she might finish school without any help from Soomin should it come to that.

It wasn't a plan so much as the very definition of wishful thinking.

She looked up as Jongin and Soomin walked in, accompanied by a man with a briefcase and a suit that probably cost more than her car was worth. Obviously, their lawyer. Jongin wouldn't look at her as he took his seat at the opposite table. Soomin sat in the front row of the gallery, giving her an icy stare.

Jennie shuffled through her papers for what must have been the tenth time, then checked her watch. Five minutes to go. She wanted to get this over with. She wanted it to not happen at all.

She thought of Ella, playing happily at the daycare without any clue of what was happening. She wondered if the judge ordered her taken away from her, how would it happen? Would she just have to hand her over to Jongin that afternoon? Would she get a few days to say goodbye? She started to tear up.

Suddenly, someone touched her arm. She jumped, and looked up to find a woman who seemed slightly younger than her with shoulder-length blonde hair and a business suit standing next to her table.

"Jennie Kim?" the woman asked.

"Y-yes. Who are you?" Jennie pulled a tissue from her purse and quickly dabbed at her eyes.

The woman sat in the chair next to her, setting her briefcase on the table. "I'm Chaeyoung Park. You can call me Chaeng for short. This is going to be a little rushed, but we got stuck in traffic. I meant to be here a half-hour ago."

"What? What are you talking about?"

She pulled a sheet of paper out of her briefcase and set it in front of Jennie. "I'm an attorney with Lampedo Women's Legal Services. I'm here to help you, if you'll let me. I just need you to sign this form authorizing me to represent you."

"But how...? Where did you...? Wait... Lampedo?" She turned in her seat to find Lisa sitting in the back row of the gallery, the lone spectator besides Soomin. She was in a suit herself, but her hair was more mussed than normal and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her face was expressionless as she met Jennie's gaze.

Jennie turned back to the woman sitting next to her. "You can just step in and do this? You don't know anything about my case."

"I know more than you think, I-" She paused and looked up as the bailiff entered the room. "I'm sorry, we're out of time. Jennie, I need you to trust me and sign this paper so I can help you. I won't let them take Ella away from you." She held out a pen toward her.

Jennie teared up again, then grabbed the pen and quickly scrawled her signature on the form just as the bailiff loudly intoned, "All rise! The honorable Judge Oscar Hodges presiding."