“Let me take care of you.”
I can’t argue with that, so I lean my head back and close my eyes. He runs his hands through my hair, soaking the strands. Neither of us speaks; I savor the feel of his fingers as they run over my scalp and down the length of the wet strands.
He works the shampoo through first, rinsing and repeating before smoothing the conditioner through the ends. My lips part on a sigh as he washes every inch of my body, massaging my muscles as he works the soap into every dip and curve.
“You keep making sounds like that, and we’ll never make it out of here.”
“I can’t help it. You’re too good at this.”
He chuckles and kisses my temple. “Go get dressed while I finish up.”
I slip into my Abby-approved little black dress and black chunky heels, giving myself one last look in the full-length mirror. My hair is pulled into a low bun with a few messy strands framing my face, and I’m wearing a deep red lipstick that feels like a giant middle finger to the patriarchy.
When I look up, Liam is standing behind me, fixing the cuff of his white dress shirt with the two top buttons undone, his tattoos peeking out of the collar, and a grey suit coat and matching slacks. He runs his hand through his slicked-back hair, one strand escaping over his forehead. He looks dangerously handsome, and it’s not good for my heart.
He glides his palms up and down my shoulders in a soothing motion just below my dress’s puff sleeve. “You ready to give ‘em hell?”
I inhale a deep breath through my nose and blow it out through my mouth. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
Liam
The courtroom looks just like a scene from the movies, with dark wood benches and a raised platform at the front of the room where the judge will take their place. Ruby, looking like a badass woman ready to take down an entire industry, sits behind a desk. She’s flanked by her lawyer, Adam, on one side, and Abby on the other. I find my place in the row directly behind her, wishing I could be by her side for this.
Across the aisle, a lawyer digs through a briefcase, and a smug-looking bigwig in a suit that I assume is someone from the label. He’s tall and slender, and if I had to guess, I’d say he’s in his late fifties, but it’s hard to tell with the amount of shit he’s injected into his expressionless face. His blank stare is fixed on Ruby, but she’s deep in conversation with Abby, unbothered by the attention.
“Please rise. Court is now in session. Honorable Judge Henderson presiding.”
The judge enters the chambers in a black robe with a white lace collar and a chunky green necklace underneath. She’s an older woman with a greying bob and tortoiseshell glasses. Her face is completely neutral, giving nothing away. Once she’s seated, we’re given the go-ahead to retake our seats. She riffles through some papers on her desk and folds her hands on the surface.
“Good morning. My name is Judge Henderson, and I will be presiding over the case today. This is the case of C&L Entertainment v. Ruby Lynn Hayes. We are here today for a bench trial, meaning that I, as the judge, will be the sole arbiter of fact and law.”
The judge lays out the rules and procedures for the trial,promising impartiality and explaining how the day will go. Then she asks the plaintiff to start with their opening statements. The lawyer for the label gets up, and Ruby fidgets with a pen between her fingers. Abby notices and takes one of her hands, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
After a long rant about contractual obligations that I’m only half listening to, I tune back into the last minute of the opposition’s opening remarks. “We intend to prove that Miss Hayes willfully breached her contract by playing an unreleased song at the close of her tour, thereby nullifying the NDA and exclusivity clauses. After you have heard all the evidence, we will ask you to return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff.”
The lawyer retakes his seat beside the record label executive, looking pleased with what they’ve presented.
“Defendant, you may begin your opening statement,” the judge says.
Adam squeezes Ruby’s shoulder and stands. He takes a measured step to the center of the floor, slowly buttoning his suit jacket.
“The plaintiff would have you believe that this case is about a simple breach of contract, but that is far from the truth. Your Honor, this case is about the willful abuse and neglect this record label has perpetuated over a span of five years. The label will convince you that Ruby got up on that stage, fueled by spite and indignation, to play a song that they had previously kept in their archive. We do not dispute that fact. We do, however, dispute that this act was a breach of contract. We contend that the label had already committed a prior material breach long before this incident. We ask that you return a verdict in favor of the defendant, for all of the women who are mistreated in this industry. For up-and-coming artists like a young Ruby Lynn Hayes, who was sucked into a predatory contract by an uncaring label, and mistreated and abused until she finally stood up and saidenough.”
At the conclusion of Adam’s opening statement, Ruby swipes at her face. When she glances over her shoulder, I mouth the words, “You ok?” and she gives me a tear-filled smile and a nod.
I have to admit, I’m impressed with Adam’s choice to appeal to the judge not only as a person with empathy, but also as a woman who has likely experienced gender-bias in her career.
The label only calls a few witnesses to the stand, and they play a video clip from the concert with a time and date stamp.
Their final witness is Stacy, Ruby’s former tour manager from the record label. She’s dressed head to toe in a crisp white suit that screams money, and she takes the stand with a severe expression on her face.
The label’s lawyer approaches the witness stand, leaning his elbow on the surface so he’s facing the judge. “Miss Jones. You were at the concert in question, were you not?”
“I was.” Her abrasive voice is what you’d expect from someone arrogant and self-serving. From what little I’ve heard about this woman, she is both.
“And you witnessed the defendant play her unreleased song ‘Heaven-sent and Hellbound’, correct?”
That song.
