Hallway Encounter

Andrea tried to project confidence to Adams as the bailiff came to escort him back to his cell. She wasn't sure how successful she was. It would be no surprise if he didn't believe her when she didn't believe herself.

She looked up to the gallery to try to catch sight of Adams' wife and son. Andrea felt like she needed to talk to them, to help prepare them for the worst if the verdict didn't go their way. She couldn't see them anywhere, they must have already left the courtroom. Andrea knew she would need to be quick if she wanted to catch them.

The hallway of the courthouse was bustling. Another trial from an adjoining courtroom must have also ended recently because there were so many people pushing past one another or talking in groups that Andrea could barely see ten feet. Even with her heels, she still wasn't tall enough to see over most of the crowd.

There were at least two main exits to the courthouse, and Andrea didn't know which way they might have gone. She pushed through the crowd as quickly as she could to the nearby corner to check one direction, but there was no sight of them. Andrea spun to hurry in the other direction and was nearly knocked off her feet as she ran straight into someone.

Before she could lose her balance, the other person caught her arm and helped her to steady herself. She looked up to apologize and thank them for catching her to discover Kyle grinning down at her.

Andrea almost slapped his hand away. He was the last person she wanted to talk right now.

The last person she wanted to SEE right now.

The last person she wanted to see EVER if she was honest.

She went to push past him while muttering something about needing to hurry. 'Just don't engage,' she thought, 'you know he's going to bait you, don't give him the chance, don't give him the satisfaction, just keep moving…'

"Hey Andi, you having a little trouble staying on top of those heels?"

'...keep moving, don't respond, don't respond, don't…' she thought.

"Why do you ask, Kyle, are you looking for some pointers? You like wearing heels on the weekend?"

'...Why?' Andrea thought, 'Why do I let myself get drawn in?' Kyle wasn't just frustrating, he brought out the worst, most petty and childish behavior from Andrea. She didn't like Kyle, but she also didn't like the person she was around him.

Kyle grinned, twisting as though posing to show off his shoes. "Oh, do you think I have the legs for it?"

Andrea couldn't stop herself from picturing Kyle in high heels and stockings. It was like a psychic attack! He shouldn't be allowed to say things like that.

"Sure," she said. "I'd bet there are some farmers upstate who could do with a good scarecrow."

"Ouch…" Kyle said, miming as though he had been shot in the chest. "Sounds like I should leave it to the experts, eh? I gotta say Blondie, I could definitely get used to your new look."

"Of course, Kyle, because that's what I was thinking this morning when I was picking out my shoes. I thought 'What would that insufferable idiot State Prosecutor Wynn think of these heels?'" It wasn't just that Kyle brought out the worst side of Andrea, he somehow provoked her into childish schoolyard insults.

"You know, Ms Mason, it's not very professional to be thinking about your opposing counsel while you're getting dressed…"

"I was being—" Andrea noticed that their discussion was drawing some attention from nearby members of the crowd, so she lowered her voice to a hiss. "I was being sarcastic, you ass!"

"Speaking of, you might not have been thinking of me when you chose those heels, but how about when you chose that skirt?" Kyle leaned in closer so he wouldn't be overheard. "I gotta say, Freckles, it made listening to your closing argument a whole lot more enthralling… I was disappointed when you had to sit back down."

'WHY! THAT…!'

'HE…!'

'I COULD JUST…!'

Andrea fought down her emotion with iron will and hard earned practice.

Yes, she had freckles. And they were subtle. And most people didn't notice them, but they were always more obvious when she was angry or embarrassed or started blushing or got flushed and they would show up more. But Kyle, he had noticed them, and she'd gone so bright red the first time he'd called her "Freckles" that it probably showed off every freckle she had, and now every time he called her that she just wanted to punch him—but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction, and he always seemed to save it for when he knew he was going to say something that would make her angry and embarrassed in equal measure, and the more she thought about it the more worked up she would get so she just needed to try not to think about it because if she started blushing right now she might just die…

…all rushed through her head in a moment.

'Change the subject! NOW!' she thought.

"What the hell was that closing argument?" she said, jabbing a finger at him. "Truth and facts and evidence, and don't be swayed by emotion?! You're all about swaying people by emotion—you think it's some kind of award when you manage to make one of the jury cry!" Andrea was raising her voice again, but she didn't mind so much being overheard when it was a PROFESSIONAL argument rather than a personal one.

Kyle shrugged. "What can I say, I guess I've heard you make arguments like that so many times it's won me over to your way of thinking."

"Bull!" accused Andrea. "You knew I was going to make an emotional argument in my closing so you switched tactics! Didn't you?"

"Yeah, that was an interesting direction for YOU to take, Blondie." Kyle cocked his head and gave a crooked smile that would have been charming on someone less thoroughly slappable. "Has my bad influence been rubbing off on you?"

Andrea lifted her chin haughty. "If I have to lower myself to your level to defend my clients, then maybe that's what I need to start doing."

"Oh really?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. "Miss High-and-Mighty reducing herself to rolling around in the mud with the rest of us. Is our next rematch going to be a mud fight, Freckles? That's something I would like to see." By now his grin was positively wicked.

"Couldn't be any dirtier than your mind!" Andrea snapped back before she had too much time to think about her and Kyle covered in mud together. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Oh yes, objection, this line of enquiry is irrelevant and will be stricken from the record!" Kyle laughed. "What question was I supposed to be evading again?"

"You knew, didn't you!" Andrea insisted. "You knew my angle for closing and prepared yours to counter it."

"And how exactly was I supposed to have found that out? I just changed my closing after I heard yours. It's called improvisation, Blondie." Kyle took up a boxer's stance, weaving his shoulders and shuffling his feet. "Rolling with the punches? Thinking on your feet? Speaking off the cuff? You know, winging it!"

Andrea scoffed.

"You don't believe me?" asked Kyle. "Why, because YOU have to practice your closing in the mirror twice before you go to bed?"

…Actually, Andrea usually ran through her closing argument three times the night before and once again in the morning... But she would have died before admitting that to Kyle.

…She even hated thinking of him as 'Kyle.' She had no trouble staying professional with the other prosecutors she had to deal with. They would call her 'Ms Mason' and she would call them by their last names, too, and everyone could get along… but on top of everything else, Andrea just couldn't bring herself to call Kyle 'Mr Wynn' unless she was mocking him. She wouldn't put it past him to have changed his name at some point in his past.

"You know what, I don't have time to waste on you right now, Kyle," she said. There was virtually no chance that she would be able to find Adams' family at this point, but even fruitlessly searching the streets around the courthouse would be a better use of her time than arguing with Kyle. She pushed past him and made her way toward the exit.

"I'll see you back in court, Ms Mason!" Kyle called after her.

Andrea was decidedly not looking forward to it.