Who’s a wanker?
“This reality is completely insane,” Rachel complained to the mirror. Her reflection just stared at her, waiting for…what? Rachel wasn’t certain. She sighed and continued. “I never in a million years would have pictured myself working in the courthouse. That was my dad’s thing. Never my dream.”
“But in this reality it was your dream. You do work there. And do a pretty bang up job of it as well.”
Rachel smiled thinly. “I guess. But at what cost? Half the people I thought were my friends have turned on me. All because I wouldn’t keep my mouth shut about James in that fight…which I don’t remember, by the way, since you so kindly dropped me in the middle of this mess without any background info.”
The reflection shrugged, dismissing Rachel’s complaint. Rachel glowered at her. “Don’t you get it? My position on this entire situation has divided us. I’m left with only Amy as a friend…and she’s such a slut I’m not even sure if I can stomach being around her. That benefit we went to tonight was sickening. She basically abandoned me to flirt with some CEO of a rival consulting firm. And then she disappeared. And THEN she reappeared in complete disarray. No doubt what she’d been up to.”
Rachel flopped on her bed and kicked off the heels , her feet throbbing in relief. “I tried to talk to some other people, people I knew in high school and from around town. Most of them ignored me or reamed me out over this stupid court case. This reality sucks.”
“More important, did you see Nathan at all? That is the point of you being here after all.”
“No. No sign of him. No one has heard from him in years. How am I supposed to make him fall in love with me, if I can’t even find him?”
“He’ll show up.” The reflection soothed. “He has to show up eventually, that’s how it works. And until then, just go about your day, putting the wankers in gaol with your quick legal mind.”
Rachel threw her shoe at her. “I’m not the one doing it, Marion is. I’m just her lackey. It’s this particular case that’s causing so much trouble in my life.” She rolled over, propping her chin in her hands. “I read the evidence. It looks straightforward enough; they didn’t even need my testimony, there are so many witnesses. This is good because technically I can still help Marion with the trial. But none of that matters to anyone else. As far as THEY are concerned, the fact that I didn’t speak up in defense of James’ actions makes me the guilty one. He’s the one who killed that guy, self-defense or not. And really, I don’t think it was self-defense…but I’m sure as hell not saying that aloud.”
Rachel slid into bed, still wearing her dress. She was too exhausted, physically and mentally to bother getting changed. The mirror dimmed her light in response and let Rachel slip into an uneasy sleep.
From Carrie:
I’m not sure if I actually answered the prompt…but the quote did inspire another little piece of Rachel‘s tale. This comes near the beginning of the story, on one of Rachel’s first leaps after Lunch with a Friend and Physical and Mental Collisions. Marion is Rachel’s boss, a prosecutor for the State (in case you care).
For the IndieInk Writing Challenge this week, Sir challenged me with “‘If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.’ — Charlotte Bronte from ‘Jane Eyre’ Write about what this means to you, whether or not you believe it, and why or why not.” and I challenged Mare with “Ignore the rules! Doubt everything! Some rules are meant to be broken.”
