Late nights

XIV

Lola gave Tom some more books right as he was leaving. He was walking home through the beach and saw Emily laying on the sand.

- What are you doing here? - Tom said.

Emily took a moment to take a breath and sit up:

- I was just laying here, but I think I snoozed off accidentally.

- It's 2 AM, Emily, - Tom laughed.

- Oh, - Emily also laughed, - what are you doing here?

- I was just going home until I saw you here.

- The beach isn't on the way to your house.

- It's not, but I like the beach so I thought I'd take the longer route around. Besides, who doesn't like a nice walk?

- Sure, sure, - Emily looked into the horizon, - the sea is wonderful during the night, isn't it?

- Yeah, it almost seems like it's waving just for us, you know?

- Yup, I understand exactly what you mean. Anyway, I'm gonna go home, and that's the complete opposite way you're going. - Emily stood up. 

- Okay, get home safe. Meet you Monday?

- Only Monday? - Emily turned around.

- Yeah, I have to get ready and then I'm going to court.

- Oh yeah, that...Best of luck, go get them.

- Thanks.

Tom headed home, threw the books on his table, and went to sleep. A couple of days later, he got out his nice clothes, met his lawyer, and headed to court. He was ready to keep silent and let the lawyer do the whole talking. They had made plans and talking points for the case. 

Tom sat down in the chair, eyeing the people on the other side. Suing multiple people at once was difficult, but he managed to get them all together.

The court case started and Tom's lawyer was the first one to invite Harry up for questioning.

- Mr. Jones, where were you on June 19th, 10:33 PM?

- I was with my friends. - He confidently said.

- What was the weather like?

- Objection, relevance. - Harry's lawyer said.

- Sustained.

Tom's lawyer predicted this would happen.

- How would you describe your relationship with Tom Miller? - He asked.

- We've been classmates for quite some time now.

- Classmates. What is your relationship with Emilia Taylor?

- She is my ex-girlfriend.

- Coincidently, she had also been working/cooperating with Mr. Miller.

Tom's lawyer slowly broke down the case and showed everyone evidence. Harry and his lawyer couldn't win - the only one they could hope for is a smaller punishment. 

- Ladies and gentleman, this was simply a teenage fight where a person made some mistakes. - Harry's lawyer continued to blabber until it was Tom's lawyer's turn.

- Battery and assault, that's what we're dealing with. This was not a fight - this was assault. Mr. Miller has bruizes, marks, a black eye and his body were severely damaged...While Harry Jones's and every other attacker's bodies are completely perfectly fine. Jail time is not what we ask for. We ask for five thousand dollars for each assailant.

Harry and his friends tried to object, but they were immediately silenced. Tom also gave a second choice to come and work for him until they pay off the fine.

The jury quickly made the verdict - Harry and his 4 friends have a choice to pay 5K dollars immediately or work for Tom until they are able to pay it off.

Surprisingly, everyone had enough money to pay the fine, except Harry himself. Tom couldn't have been happier with the result. He shook his lawyer's hand and went home. He immediately called Emily to tell her:

- We won Emily, we won. I'm getting twenty thousand combined and Harry will work for me until he has the money.

- That's incredible, I literally have no words. How is he gonna work for you?

- I'm gonna send him boring documents and stuff. Step one of our plan is complete, moving on to step two.

- Feels good.

Step one was to put Harry in a position, where either Emily or Tom can control his actions. With Harry working for Tom, he had him exactly where he wanted. Step two was much harder than much one, since it required for Harry to cooperate - either with him knowing or not.