Bang
The men's room door opened with a violent crash, hitting against the wall tiles.
Kevin entered like a hurricane, fingers digging into the lapel of Lloyd's jacket, dragging him inside, he kicked the door shut with a sharp movement and shoved his client against the sinks.
"Kevin! Have you lost your damn mind?!" Lloyd shrieked, trying to regain his balance while adjusting his wrinkled jacket. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"I'm going to ask you one single question...," Kevin hissed, his voice trembling with fury. "In the courtroom... what exactly were you doing?"
Upon hearing this question, a flash of panic crossed Lloyd's eyes for a fraction of a second, but he quickly recovered his composure and raised his chin.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was sitting, listening to the lies of that unhinged girl."
"Lies?"
Kevin stepped closer, invading his space until their noses almost touched.
"You were touching yourself!" he roared, unable to contain his disgust. "I saw your hand under the table. I saw you rubbing your leg. I saw the look of pleasure you had when she described how you locked the door! Are you really stupid enough to believe that no one would notice!?"
Lloyd's pupils contracted upon being found out.
"..."
For a second, he seemed to calculate his options. But then, realizing there was no one else in the bathroom, the mask fell.
There was no more fear.
Lloyd Gettys, the veteran educator, relaxed completely. His shoulders dropped and a crooked, genuinely repulsive smile appeared on his lips.
"So what if you saw it?"
"And now what, lawyer? Are you going to run and tell the judge? The jury?" Laughing dryly, he shook his head. "Don't forget where you stand, Kevin. You are my defense attorney. Everything you just saw, everything you know now, falls under the sacred protection of attorney-client privilege. If you open your mouth to say a single word against me, you'll be disbarred before you finish the sentence."
He stepped closer to Kevin, reversing the roles, and tapped him on the chest with his index finger.
"Your job isn't to judge me. That's for God, or whoever. Your job is to use that brilliant brain of yours to prove that I'm a saint. I paid you a fortune, not to be my confessor or my moral compass, but to be my attack dog."
"You... are a monster!" Kevin whispered, trembling with pure rage, raising his right fist, ready to smash his face in.
"You want to hit me?"
But Lloyd didn't even blink. On the contrary, he opened his arms in an inviting gesture.
"Go ahead. Do it. Hit me," he urged him with a poisonous smile. "The moment your fist touches my face, it's over. I'll ask for a mistrial, sue you for assault, and file a formal complaint with the Bar Association. You won't just lose this case, Kevin. You'll be finished. That precious record of sixty-four undefeated victories you're so in love with will end today, here, in a dirty bathroom, in the most pathetic way possible. Is it worth it? Come on, 'genius', decide."
"..."
Kevin's fist froze.
He looked at Lloyd's smug face and felt the world crashing down on him.
A deep sensation of helplessness and self-loathing flooded his chest like acid.
'He's right...'
His muscles lost all tension and he lowered his arm in defeat.
He was a lawyer. He held in his hands society's most powerful weapon: the law. But in this instant, he realized with horror that the weapon had become a shield to protect human filth.
The image of Barbara on the stand, heartbroken and crying, shattered by reliving her trauma, flashed through his mind.
He remembered her parents' pleading eyes, clinging to Sarah Connor like castaways.
And he... he was on the other side.
He was the wall standing between that girl and justice.
He was the mercenary hired by the depraved man.
'If I win... I unleash a beast. If I lose... I destroy my career.'
The bile of nausea rose violently up his throat as he took several steps back, stumbling clumsily to get away from Lloyd as if he were emitting lethal and contaminating radiation.
His skin itched and he felt a desperate need to get under a shower of boiling water to try to tear off that layer of filth that now covered him completely.
Lloyd laughed with satisfaction upon seeing the defeat in his eyes and turned toward the sink mirror and began to fix the knot of his tie with meticulous vanity, humming, as if nothing had happened.
"Think it over, Kevin," he said, looking at Kevin's reflection in the mirror. "We are in the same boat now. If I sink, you sink with me. My freedom is your record. Don't let a little moral sentimentality ruin 'our' bright future."
He took one last look at himself, smoothed his hair, and headed for the door.
"The recess is almost over. I'll go back in first. The rest... depends on your wonderful performance."
With a final wink, he opened the door and strutted out into the hallway, ready to play his role of innocent victim again.
"..."
Silence fell over the men's room as soon as the door closed, leaving Kevin alone with the humming of the pipes.
He ran to the sink, turned the faucet on full blast, and splashed ice-cold water on his face again and again.
The cold numbed his skin and gave him a second of clarity, but he couldn't wash away the filth he felt inside.
The nausea was still there...
He looked up and the mirror reflected the image of a fractured man back at him.
Lose?...
The mere word tasted like ash to him.
He could barely think of that concept.
From the first day he set foot in law school, 'victory' hadn't been just a goal, it had been his religion. He lived for the adrenaline of the verdict, for the glint of fear in his opponents' eyes, for that feeling of having absolute control over everything.
Sixty-four consecutive victories. Zero losses!
That number was the glory he had forged brick by brick, sacrificing mental health to build his throne.
But the price to keep that throne today was too high.
To win, he would have to destroy Barbara... He would have to take that broken girl and tear her credibility to shreds until no one believed her.
He would have to allow Lloyd, that beast, to walk free to search for his next victim.
His conscience and his vanity were on opposite ends of a scale that threatened to break.
No matter which path he chose, a part of him was going to die in that courtroom.
"Plip... plip..."
The poorly closed faucet dripped rhythmically.
Just at that moment, the squeak of a hinge broke his isolation.
The door of a stall at the back of the room opened slowly and a short man emerged.
He wore an impeccable old-fashioned suit and projected a strange presence, as a subtle mist seemed to envelop his features, making his traits blurry and indistinguishable, defying any attempt to focus.
The stranger completely ignored Kevin's presence and kept his attention fixed on his own routine.
He walked to the adjacent sink, turned on the faucet, and proceeded to wash his hands with calm. He took a paper towel and spent several seconds drying his skin with exasperating patience, cleaning finger by finger with precision while the water dripped rhythmically.
Upon finishing, he crumpled the paper and dropped it into the trash can.
He resumed walking, passing by Kevin, and stopped just as his hand grazed the doorframe of the exit.
He kept his gaze fixed on the door, with his back to the lawyer, and his voice resonated clearly in the empty bathroom.
"Maybe it's your time to lose."
The phrase landed in Kevin's brain, breaking the chaos of his thoughts.
'Yes... maybe it is time...'
The idea blossomed in his mind with a seductive logic.
It is common sense. No one wins forever. Failing once is not the end of the world. Furthermore... losing this trial on purpose, sacrificing his record for the greater good, for justice, sounded poetic.
Tragic and noble.
His shoulders dropped and the tension in his neck dissipated.
It was an easy way out. He just had to go back in there and let Sarah Connor win.
But then... something ignited in the darkness of his mind.
A spark of pure indignation that instantly devoured that trace of "sense" that had just been born.
'...Lose?'
The word bounced around his skull, and this time, it brought no relief.
It brought anger.
'Why...? Why should I lose?'
'Why should I sacrifice everything I have built, my name, my reputation for a girl I don't even know? Why should I pay the price for Lloyd's sins?'
'It's my career! IT'S MY LIFE!'
An inner voice, arrogant and furious, roared over his conscience:
'I don't lose! That is what others do! I win! I WIN! I am a lawyer, damn it. That is my job. That is who I am.'
He looked up at the mirror again.
The struggle, the confusion, the moral doubt... everything evaporated from his eyes, replaced by a terrifying determination.
"I win."
He told his reflection, moving his lips without making a sound.
He wins.
He always wins.
He turned off the faucet with a sharp movement, pulled out a paper towel, and dried his face carefully, wiping away any trace of weakness.
He adjusted the knot of his tie until it was perfect and smoothed the lapels of his suit.
When he turned around, Kevin Lomax, the man with a conscience, had disappeared.
________
Time: If you're craving more (and I know you are!), I have just what you need. On my Patreon, you'll find exclusive chapters. Join our community and be the first to discover what happens next!
👉 [patreon.com/Athome790]
Your support fuels me. Thank you for the support! 💖