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I don’t know if the surprise registered on my face, but if it were possible, my panties would have melted entirely off my body. His baritone voice was deep and rich. He sounded like he was recording commercials forAllstate, the insurance company.
“Good morning, Mr. Valentine.”
“Please have a seat, Ms. Patterson,” Xavier directed.
I took a seat across from the three men. Raymond left right after the introductions.
“Ms. Patterson, we contacted you because we have a case we would like to partner with you on. In the email we sent, we outlined some of the details of this case. In the opinion of Morris and me, we feel we need a female representing the female of this couple.”
“Yes, we ran the numbers and did the research. We found a female representing our female client would be in her best interest,” Morris explained.
Xavier and Morris went into detail about the case and the charges against their clients. The male client was being charged with drug trafficking, weapon possession, and child endangerment because children were in the house when they both were arrested. The female was also being accused of the same crimes and a host of other charges stemming from her fighting with the police officers who arrested her.
The men continued to give me the details of the case without revealing the names of the clients, which was standard protocol. They wanted to make sure I was on board before sharing client information. Mr. Valentine didn’t say anything. He didn’t add anything to the details of the case. Instead, he busied himself with doodling on a notepad or looking at me like he smelled something foul. His mood irritated me because I was here to potentially help him win a case.
“Do you have any questions, Ms. Patterson?” Xavier asked after he and Morris completed their presentation of the case.
“About the case, no. Your briefing was thorough and answered every question I had. However, Mr. Valentine, are you mute?” I looked at him waiting for a response.
An award-winning scowl contorted his beautiful face.
“Excuse me?” He locked eyes with me.
“Oh, just hard of hearing?” I shook my head like I understood.
“I’m neither, Ms. Patterson!”
Damn voice…
“You didn’t say a word during this entire briefing, and if I am not mistaken, you are number one on this case.”
“I assure you, I am neither mute nor hard of hearing. I didn’t need to say anything because my associates presented a thorough briefing, in your words. So, did you need something from me or just my attention?”
“Attent…” I started, but he cut me off and continued.
“I don’t need or want you on this case, but since I was advised by these gentlemen that a female counsellorrepresenting our female client would play well with the jury, I reluctantly agreed.”
“It took these two gentlemen to tell you something you should have already known? I guess the rumors of your intelligence are greatly exaggerated.”
“Ms. Patt…”
I cut him off and continued, “Your firm’s win percentage with male clients is approximately ninety-five percent. Your firm’s win percentage with female clients is approximately seventy-five percent. That tells me you are clueless when it comes to what a woman wants, needs or even requires. Therefore, you lose. My win percentage with female and male clients is ninety-eight percent. That means I don’t lose. There is nothing worse than an ignorant fool. First, you have to make the fool aware before you can stop them from being a fool. It never works because fools can’t handle too many steps. I don’t have enough time, patience or energy to help you. Mr. Belle, Mr. Owens, thank you for your time, but you will need to find someone else to help you with your clients. Have a great day.”
I stood from my seat. Xavier and Morris both scurried to stand from theirs. I turned and walked out of the room. I followed the path I’d taken with Raymond, trying my best not to look as pissed off as I felt. I was so irritated I didn’t even call for my car. I needed the walk back to my office to cool off.
Samuel
“El! Come on man! Did you really have to act that like with her?” Xavier looked at me after the door closed behind Ms. Patterson.
“We need her! We are not going to win this case without her!”
“I told you before this meeting that I didn’t want to work with anyone outside of this firm!” I shot back. “This is family. Family takes care of family!”
“El, with all due respect…”
A person usually prefaces a statement using, with all due respect,’ when the statement is going to be disrespectful.
“I don’t give a damn what you said! No one here will play well with the jury. We need a female, not just any female but one who can hold her own. The females that work here are good lawyers, but they don’t have the record Ms. Patterson has. Did you look her up like I told you to?”
