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Date Posted: 16:17:49 05/03/02 Fri
Author: Repost Fairy
Author Host/IP: 64.193.19.25
Subject: Chapter 58
In reply to: Genevieve 's message, "Burden of Proof - Chapter 55 onwards..." on 16:10:02 05/03/02 Fri

~*~*~*~*~

“How did it go, Sugar?” Walter looked up as his niece walked slowly into the library.

Nikita put down her briefcase, dropped into the chair next to him, and tossed a small piece of scrunched up paper onto the conference table. “I’m not sure.” As Walter watched, she released her subdued hairstyle, dropping bobby pins onto the table and running her hands through the blonde cascade with what looked like great relief. She flashed him a quick smile. “Nothing like a prim and proper hairdo to give you a headache.”

Walter gave her a sympathetic smile, and pointed to the small yellow piece of paper she’d scrunched up and dropped onto the table. “What’s that?”

His niece rolled her eyes. “A diary note from Hazel – another reminder about that bloody Law Ball.” Nikita eyed the piece of paper with distaste. “She wouldn’t let me go past her desk until I’d taken the wretched thing.”

“Now, Sugar, you know she means well.”

Nikita raised her eyebrows at him. “Excuse me while I laugh in disbelief.”

Well, someone’s certainly put her knickers in a twist, Walter thought irreverently. “I think it’s just her way of trying to help. You know, to take your mind off things.”

She stared at him, puzzled, then suspicion flickered in her eyes. “Did you tell Hazel that I broke up with Gray?”

Uh-oh. Walter hesitated, suddenly feeling as though he was standing in the middle of a minefield, and had just zigged when he should have zagged. “Uh, well. The thing is Sugar, we were talking about her niece Harriet, and how she’s just split from her fiancé, and I’m afraid it just slipped out.” He said the last few words very quickly, in the vain hope of rushing the confession past her.

Nikita groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Great. Just great. Walter, Hazel thinks that the annual Law Ball is the upper crust equivalent of Blind Date. She just wants me to go and snare myself a suitable young man so I can get down to the business of having babies.”

At the thought of a tiny version of Nikita running around the place, Walter couldn’t help smiling. “And what would be so terrible about that?”

His niece seemed to be startled into silence for a few seconds, and then shook her head. “Nothing, I suppose. But it’s not what I want to be doing at this point in my life.” She jerked her head in the vague direction of the reception area. “But that’s beside the point. It’s Hazel’s sinister motives I don’t really appreciate.”

“What do you mean?”

Nikita shot him a dark look. “If I’m busy having babies, then you could save the firm from all this modern nonsense of mine, and all would be well.” She scowled unhappily at the offending piece of paper.

“Hazel’s motives aside, Sugar, it would be a good chance for you to let your hair down.” He grinned at the mass of blonde hair that spilled over her shoulders. “Figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Walter, it’s been a bad day. Don’t push your luck, okay?”

Walter hid a smile and quickly changed the subject, hoping to get away from the volatile topic of Hazel. “Where’s Joe?”

“He headed straight home.” Nikita undid the top button of her high-collared jacket, and slumped a little lower in her seat.

When she didn’t offer anything more, Walter prompted her gently. “So, what happened?”

Nikita gave him a rueful look. “You were right about Vachek. He is not the mild-mannered businessman he appears to be.” She shuddered slightly. “He gave me the creeps.”

Walter pushed aside the voice-activated dictaphone he had been modifying, and looked carefully at his niece. “In what way?”

She shrugged. “Nothing I could put my finger on. He didn’t actually do or say anything the mediator could have pulled him up for, but…” She shook her head. “You should have seen the look in his eyes when he thought no one was watching…as though he was imagining different ways to bump me off.” She grinned weakly. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t make an impression on him.”

That’s just what I was afraid of, Walter thought apprehensively. Not wanting her to see his concern, he merely nodded. “So, I take it you didn’t reach settlement?”

Nikita shook her head. “Nope.” She reached for her briefcase and extracted the Duskovic file from its depths. She slid the folder across the table to him. “They made an offer. We asked for a certain condition to be met. They said ‘no’. We said ‘thanks but no thanks’, and then we all left. End of story.”

Walter quickly read through the settlement offer, his lips pursed in a silent whistle. “Quite a generous offer, Sugar.”

Propping her elbows up on the table, Nikita sighed heavily and dropped her head into her hands. “Yes, it’s a substantial sum, but you and I both know that money wouldn’t have solved Joe’s problems, not in the long run. He’s become virtually unemployable, and I just know it’s because Vachek Holdings is giving out misleading character references.”

“So, what did you ask for when you went in?”

“Just one condition of settlement. I wanted Vachek to sign an undertaking that he and his company would fairly represent Joe’s abilities and work performance to any potential employers.”

Walter raised his eyebrows. “I bet that went down well.”

She grimaced. “Like a lead balloon, as my mother would say.”

“So, it’s going to be heard at the Industrial Tribunal?”

“Uh-huh. I probably won’t know the date of the hearing until some time next week.” She stared morosely at the file sitting on the table between them. “I know I made the right decision, but…”

He reached over and patted her gently on the shoulder. “Now you can’t help wondering if you should have gone the other way?”

“Yes.”

“That’s only natural, Sugar. It happens to the best of us.”

A reluctant grin tugged at Nikita’s mouth. “You don’t say. And when’s the last time you actually set foot in a mediation?”

Relieved to see a smile on her pretty face, Walter feigned outrage. “I’ll have you know I was renowned for my negotiating skills in my day.”

She laughed. “Too bad you weren’t there today. I could have used a bit of moral support. I admit it. When it comes to mediations, Vachek’s barrister is too much of a smooth operator for a raw recruit like me.” There was a faint hint of colour in her face.

Walter eyed her carefully. “So Monsieur Samuelle was everything his reputation claimed him to be, hey?”

“You could say that.” To his dismay, her blush deepened as she bit her bottom lip, then looked away.

Walter knew very well the look of someone in the throes of infatuation, and it was staring him in the face. Surely, she has more sense than to…He shook his head in despair. “Oh, Sugar…you haven’t…”

Without looking at him, Nikita held up a warning hand. “If you finish that sentence, I will fire you.”

He saw the stubborn set of her jaw, and sighed to himself. “Fine. I’ll just tell you one thing. Michael Samuelle is bad news, Sugar.” She pressed her lips together in a tight line, but didn’t argue. Walter reached over and took her hand. “You’ve just been through the wringer with Gray. Don’t go letting some legal glamour boy turn your head.”

Nikita looked at him with too-bright eyes. “I’ll take that under advisement.” She gave his hand a squeeze, then rose to her feet, gathering up the file. “Right now, however, I have a lot of work to do.” After picking up her briefcase, she bent to press a quick kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll be okay. But thanks for caring.”

~*~*~*~*~

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Replies:

  • Chapter 59 -- Repost Fairy, 16:19:00 05/03/02 Fri
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