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When Yelena was gone, Ari glared at Sloane, her arms crossed over her chest. “What the hell is your problem?”
Sloane looked up from where she was pulling the laptop’s power cord out of the plug on the ground. “Excuse you?”
Ari darted around the conference table to the opposi
te side where Sloane sat. “Why do you always have to embarrass people? What about that brings you so much happiness?”
Sloane stood, forcing Ari to either take a step back, or crane her neck up a little to maintain eye contact. She took a small step back.
“Frodo, I don’t actually give a shit here, but I’m guessing you were trying to give her some pep talk or teach her how not to be an abysmal orator.” Sloane packed her laptop into her bag. “But think about whether anyone had to teach you that, at the very least, if you’re speaking in a courtroom you need to project your voice above a whisper.”
Ari tightened her jaw. She wasn’t sure what Sloane was trying to say, so she challenged her with her silence.
Sloane sighed as if utterly exhausted. “Some things can’t be taught. It’s better she realizes here that she can’t do this before she has to walk into a real courtroom.”
Ari’s lip curled in disgust. “You’re so heartless,” she spat as Sloane strode toward the door.
Sloane reached for the handle “Am I? Or would sparing her unnecessary pain be a kindness? Like I said, I really don’t care, but you seem to, so think about exactly what you’re prolonging.” She shrugged. “Or don’t.”
Gathering her things, Ari had a thousand imaginary conversations with Sloane. Of all the things she wished she’d said, one question echoed over and over in her mind.
How exactly did you come to be raised by a reptile?
CHAPTER 9
WHEN ARI PULLED into her parking spot, she groaned. For the last two weeks she’d had the privilege of driving to work, but it was about to be over. Driving took longer than the Metro, thanks to tra c, but not having to walk in the su ocating heat was an easy trade-o . When they returned to the main building on Monday and morphed back into the enormous group of sixty-two for the last part of training, it would be back to public transportation.
As she grabbed the gray jacket that matched her pencil skirt from the hanger in the backseat, she reminded herself that it was only for two weeks. After that, training would finally be over, and they’d be back in the DV building full-time. The excitement was short lived, as thoughts of the future inevitably included thoughts of bar results.
Once inside the conference room they’d been training in, Ari was greeted by the smell of co ee and bagels.
“What’s all this?” she asked Dave, one of the few others who’d arrived early.
“A little tradition,” one of the relatively older prosecutors said as she set out cream and sugar for the co ee assembled
on a table at the front of the room. “Come help yourself.”
After dropping her bags o on her chair, Ari did just that.
“Thanks so much for this,” she said to the woman, jumping in to help her finish setting up while trying not to judge the others in the room just sitting there.
“Hey, I remember being in your exact same spot last year and being scared shitless,” she replied with a laugh. “I’m Keisha,” she added, extending her hand.
“Ari,” she replied, o ering a firm shake.
“I’m heading o to Juvenile next week, so our paths might not cross again for a bit, but hopefully I can answer some questions for y’all today.”
Ari smiled as she poured herself some co ee. “Thank you.
That’s really generous.”
Keisha was joined by a handful of other prosecutors, and when the rest of the newbies arrived, she made good on the promise to answer their questions. Despite being told the conversation was o the record, Ari didn’t dare ask anything that made her look worried or weak.
Sloane didn’t ask anything at all. She wasn’t even polite enough to eat something despite the fact that the prosecutors had paid out of their own limited pockets to buy them food.
“My best advice,” Keisha said before sipping co ee out of a University of Texas mug, “get plenty of rest this weekend.
Next week will be grueling. You’ll spend the first four hours of your day observing court and after lunch, another four hours doing more training.” She quirked an eyebrow. “And if you’re paying attention, that means no time during the day to prepare for your moot courts on Thursday and Friday.”
