CONTINUANCE

There is someone in my apartment. What the fuck? Everything around me turned to slow motion. As they walked past me, Sergei and his bald lawyer stared at me, somewhat amused by the discomfort I was probably showing.

I took my phone back out of my pocket, found a name in my "Favorites" list and touched it. The call went straight to voice mail. I hit "Redial"...

Voice mail yet again.

Dammit! What's the point of having cell phone if you don't answer?

I hit "Redial" frenetically again. I felt someone's eyes weighing on me; I looked up. Anna was staring at me, visibly pissed.

"What the hell are you doing???"
"Just a second, Anna, please."
"Philippe!!! They're gonna start!!!"
"I need to call someone, " I pleaded as I hit "Redial" again.
"Give me your phone!" she snapped, trying to grab it.

A voice came out of it.
"Allo?"
Thank God!
"Thierry, it's Philippe. Listen, I think someone broke into my apartment. They may still be in there right now."
"What? What makes you believe that?"
"Trust me I know. Please, call the cops."
"Philippe!!!" Anne shouted. "Dammit, they are starting!!!"
She grabbed my arm and dragged me in the court room.
"Please, Thierry, " I tried to say as quietly as possible, "Call the cops and be careful."
I hang up and tried to regroup myself as I crossed the courtroom to sit at the front.
"Counselor!" mused the sitting judge, "Good of you to join us!"
"Yes, your Honor, my apologies."
"Shall we proceed with this, then?" 

Less than a half hour later, this had taken quite an unexpected turn. We were leaving the courthouse empty handed. Well, not so much leaving but rather storming out, with me running after Anna. I don't think I had ever seen her so furious; it actually made her ugly.

She had reasons to be, though. That sleaze ball of Sergei had managed to present a rather creative vision of his situation and assets. According to his lawyer, the guy was close to penniless, with pretty much nothing to show for as far as income was concerned. Even though the bastard ran three restaurants, none of them were seemingly in his name and he was not making enough money with neither of them to pay himself a salary. So he said.

And to top it all, he had actually ask the court to grant him alimony. I could not believe it when I heard it. I had to physically hold Anna down for her not to jump at her ex's and rip his throat with her perfectly manicured claws. In view of this major new piece of information, I had no problem obtaining a continuance. But that much needed time to regroup and find a new approach to the case did not calm Anna down.

When I managed to catch up with her, she was already in her car.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him!" she muttered through her clenched teeth. "I swear to God, I'm going to find a way to make him beg for his life and then I'll take it away from him."
"Anna, please, calm down. We'll find a way to fight this off."
"HOW??? There's no way out of this shit!"
"There's always a way," I tried to say convincingly.

She looked ahead of her, vacantly for a what seems to be endless seconds.
"He's turning ten in four days."
"Leo."
She nodded. "Ten. I've taken care of him, on my own, since he was eighteen months old. And now, his father wantsme to pay..."
She slammed both her hands on her steering wheel so hard it made me jump.
She faced back to me as she turned the key in the ignition.
"I should never have let you handle this case, Philippe."
Before I could answer, she threw a last "Don't call me." before she sped out of view in her Mini. 

I stood there for a minute or so, feeling anger rising. Towards her, obviously. Who the hell did she think she was? The fucking Grand Duchess Anastasia? Wasting countless hours of my time and leaving me on the curb like trash? She could take her case, her mini and everything else and shove it wherever she wanted, for all I cared.

My phone vibrated in my pant pocket. When I took it out, its screen informed me of 4 missed calls by Thierry. I picked up immediately.

"Finally," he sighed at the other end.
"I was in court."
"Court? What the hell are you doing in court?"
"Doesn't matter. What did the police say?"
"Nothing. I didn't call them"
"Wh... why? I told you to call them!"

People walking by were staring at me as I was yelling on the phone. So I gave them the finger.

"Calm down, Philippe, " Thierry answered. "I went by your place. Your door was locked, no one was inside. And there was no sign of forced entry."
Behind him, I heard the very distinctive low creaking of the building front door again.
"Morning, Mrs V.!" I heard Thierry say.
"Good morning dear, " the oldest tenant of the building answered back. "Would you help with these groceries and be a dear?"
"Listen, Philippe, I gotta go. But believe me: nobody visited your apartment this morning. You can be sure of that."
He hung up. 

This whole thing didn't make any sense. Why would somebody call me and have me listen to the sound of them breaking in my apartment? That must have been a mistake. Someone whose phone had dial a random number from the bottom of their pocket.

But I had heard the sound of my building door, I was sure of it.

I decided to walk back to my office in the 8th district. Not a short walk but I needed to clear my head a bit. This day was not at all turning out to be what I had expected. As I walked through the Tuileries' Gardens, enjoying the winter sun on my face on this rather cold morning, I was far from imagining that this day was actually just starting. And that it would change my life forever.

[To be continued]