Standing suddenly, which pulled her hand from Corrine's, Aphrodite said, "I knew that you would take his side..."She didn't wait for a response but simply stormed away from a shocked Corrine Justice, still seated on the bench in the courthouse hallway.Too riled to return to the office, from both the lost case and from speaking with Corrine Justice, Aphrodite decided not to return to the office that day. She would share the details of the case with Lana some other time.Glad that the condo was well north of the area impacted by the traffic loop, Aphrodite ignored the barricades and other traffic control devices being staged along her route. She would remind her parents to stay away from the affected areas over the weekend since they had historically avoided Myrtle Beach during peak tourist season and had little experience with the challenges they would face if they ventured into the heart of the entertainment area."How'd it go?" her mother, Pandora asked as soon as Aphrodite entered
"No," her mother said, "Nothing. I do remember talking with her about what she was going to put on the baby's birth certificate under the father's name. All she said was that she was going to leave it blank for the time being. Not that she didn't know who it was or anything, just that she wasn't ready to do it yet. Do you understand what I mean?"Aphrodite's mind was drifting, but she paused it and said, "I think so."Pandora asked, "Why the sudden interest in who the father was, or is?"Ignoring the question, Aphrodite asked, "Tell me this, Mom. If you knew who Alexander's father was and you met him, what would you say or do?""Before or after slapping his face?" Pandora growled.Aphrodite smiled and said, "You would have to get in line behind me. I'm going to go change and maybe go sit by the pool for a while Will you text me when Dad and Alex get back?"The condo property where her parents had bought their unit years ago was not designed as a resort, but rather a residential commun
Cara was busy making some lunch for herself and for Xavier as well when he was going to come back to the apartment. He had said in the morning that he had a meeting with his brother which he could not be postponed and started cutting up all the veggies that she knew would be required to make some pasta. It was the one dish that she could manage and could be called restaurant quality. Of course she could not cook like Rosa but she could do something. After going around in Madrid and walking for so long she had been in so much pain that she needed that rest today.But what she did not expect was the doorbell ringing. Xavier had his own key and would not ring the bell and she knew that no one would come to his apartment unless they knew that he had an apartment here. She was wearing a loose fitted pants and crop top and her hair was a mess. But she anyway opened the door and came across a beautiful and elegant woman. From her research of Xavier and his family Cara knew that this woman wa
Aphrodite watched Alex crawling in and out of dinosaur eggs with other kids and felt somewhat sorry about the struggles that his larger size was creating for him. He was already a head taller than most boys his age, and while this served him well in most of his athletic pursuits, it proved to be a disadvantage when rides and other objects designed for a child his age came into play.She was glad that her parents had decided not to accompany her and Alex to the DinoLand Café for dinner. Although, it likely wouldn't have mattered since the place was too noisy for them to have continued telling her about their day at the beach. She had a pretty good understanding of the events just from listening to Alex extolling the knowledge and generosity of the man he had met. A man who from her mother's description could have been none other than Devon Justice.Aphrodite had spent six hours that day going over statements from employees at Coastline Multimedia related to Devon Justice, and she didn'
Aphrodite turned and made her own assessment of the crowd. This was the first time since the trial had begun that she had bothered to see who might be in attendance to watch the spectacle unfold besides the players themselves. The one person that she recognized who was worth noting was Corrine Justice. She was chatting animatedly with Emily Willis. It appeared that they were waiting for Devon, or someone else, to join them for lunch."Come on," Aphrodite urged, "Let's get out of here and find something to eat real quick. We only have forty-five minutes and a lot to discuss before we turn things over to the defense."TREY joined Aphrodite in packing up their files and other items on the table as he asked, "You don't intend to call Dr. Henry?""That's one of the things that we can discuss over lunch," Aphrodite said.Dr. Melvin Henry was a professor at Spelman College in Atlanta. He was a renowned authority on the subject of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equality. Aphrodite had asked Dr. He
Cara could not help as the tears rolled down her face and Selena could see that and she said, “I don’t know what would I say to you right now so that you might be able to feel slightly better. I have really nothing to say….I know that you have suffered a loss like no other.”“Can I talk to you about her for a bit?” asked Cara.“Of course you can, querida. Of course you can…I am here to talk to you…ask me anything that your heart desires.”“I did not think that I would get the chance to talk to anyone who would actually know how she was. I mean, she definitely was my stepmother but I always knew her to be my mother. She is the one who helped me grow up without any trouble. And she made my dad very happy.”“How is your father coping up with her loss right now? It must be really difficult for him?”“It would have been difficult for him if he was here but he is not. He passed away four years back from heart attack in his sleep. No one got a chance to do anything at all.”“I am really sorr
"Mrs. Willis, did Athena Hart work at Coastline Multimedia for three consecutive summers?""Yes, she did.""Please share with the court in what capacity Miss Hart worked at Coastline during those three summers."Emily had a neutral expression on her face when she replied, "The summer between Athena's freshman and sophomore years at Clemson University, she was a participant in our summer internship program. The following two summers, she was a contract employee."Glancing back at Aphrodite, TREY could tell that she was as confused as he was over this answer. Thinking quickly while waiting for Aphrodite to finish writing the note that she was feverishly scribbling on her legal pad, he turned back to Emily."Can you explain what this contract employee position that Athena Hart held entailed?"Emily thought for a second and said, "It entailed mostly special projects, typically related to cross-collaboration between Marketing and the various production teams.""Special projects," TREY repe
“Please don’t cry…I should not have asked you to talk about her. It is my fault. Please…” Cara insisted as she brought out a box of tissues and offered to Selena.Selena de la Velga wiped her eyes and said,” I never thought that there would be a day that I would be upset about the fact that Xavier did not get the chance to know his mother or his father. I mean, I always thought that I would never have thought that she would leave us so soon. I always thought that maybe there would be a day when Xavier would be interested to know about his mother and I would be able to tell him everything. Maybe I would even ask him to find out about Matilda and then meet her. It was my mistake that I could not tell him and I did not even think of…”“Please don’t say that…please…I am sure that Mom did not even think like that once. She never said anything about Xavier until the last day but she had a picture of him. The picture that had been clicked when he was a newborn baby and it is still with me. I