"Leave us."
Rafael announced to his secretary as soon as he walked into his office with his assistant right behind him, walking briskly in her red suit that blended well with her light skin, light makeup and red lipstick. The sound of her heels knocking themselves loudly as they came in contact with the ground. The lady didn't even have to wait for him to say it twice before she scurried out of the room right in time for Rafael to throw his bag on his sofa without thinking.

He hurried to his table. He needed a seat, and a drink. He could have sworn he never saw Phillip's scheme to create new evidence using a new witness. Everything that had happened felt so overwhelming and out of control.

He could remember the look of disappointment on Olivia's face as they walked her out of the courtroom and every step she took with those policemen surrounding her reminded him of how much he had failed and failure was a feeling he wasn't really good at accepting.

"I did what you asked."
At least some good news. Rafael watched his assistant get a large brown envelope out of her bag. She slowly dropped it on the table where he could see it.

"You were right. We have a corrupt judge under our noses."

Rafael slowly reached for the envelope and opened it. He got out a couple of pictures from it, looking at them carefully. He could see a black car and in that car he could see two figures. He recognized the women in the car.

"These pictures were taken today, at the parking lot, immediately after the hearing. That's a photo of judge Taiwo secretly meeting with Ms Victoria Silver. It can't be a coincidence is it?"

Rafael exhaled

"Of course it's not. There was a reason this case was shoved under the carpet six years ago when she was the presiding judge. I can smell the Silvers everywhere around this."

He threw the photos back on the table,

"Just say the word sir, what would you like me to do with it?"

Rafael shut his eyes for a minute . He needed time to think, to figure his next actions out. The more he thought about it, the more the air in the room became so thin. It was almost as it he was suffocating.

He gently placed a hand on his chest and squeezed a little bit like it could stop the stabbing pain he felt in his heart. That was his stress level rising.

"Sir, " Susan said almost in a yell. She rushed to him as soon as she could to help him. Rafael stretched out a hand to stop her. He didn't need her alerting the entire building.

"I just need a minute." He managed to say, shutting his eyes again for another minute while he took deep breaths. He didn't stop for a second till he was sure he could feel the pain fade away.

"Sir?" Susan bent over. She  had to make sure he was fine, a look of worry and fear written all over her face.

Rafael forced a smile on his face as he slowly raised his head to meet hers.

"I'm fine." He confirmed so she didn't have to worry anymore, nodding his head so she believed him. Susan needed a minute to be sure and when she had it, she exhaled in relief.

"Take those pictures to SAN Peters."  He said quickly as she sat straight again, pretending like he didn't just have a mild Angina attack. "He'd know what to do with it once he sees them."

Susan exhaled

"And also, ask my driver to head home first. I won't be going home today, none of us will. Talk to everyone else. No one is allowed to leave this building until we've found a way to prove Ms. Silver's innocence."

"But sir, you need to rest-"

Rafael slowly raised his head to meet hers, forcing her to swallow her words. He didn't stutter.

"Alright sir." She bowed and picked the pictures from the table. He looked away just as She walked away without asking anything else.

Rafael waited. He had to make sure he was alone now. He slouched into his chair the moment he realized he was. No matter how he tried to shake it off, he just couldn't shake off memories of the last hour of the court case. He couldn't shake off the look on Olivia's face when Philip had asked her all those hurtful questions about her past or when Amanda took that stand.

He threw his pen on his table and took a deep breath as he drew his fingers towards his forehead, rubbing it gently.

What on earth was he dealing with? Who on earth was he dealing with? Who murdered Andrew Silver?

༛༛ ༛ ༛༺༻༛ ༛ ༛༛

"Just Amazing!" Amarachi was going on and on, the whole hour she had stopped by to visit. "Hey, sis."
She quickly turned to Olivia who had her eyes glued into hers. "It's wasn't just me right? I wasn't the only one that noticed how amazing professor Rafael was.

"Barrister Rafael." Olivia corrected
Amarachi scoffed

"So what? He's a professor too." She shrugged her shoulders, eyeing Olivia playfully.  "Professor Barrister Rafael." Her dark cheeks almost showed how red they went in embarrassment all of a sudden as she shook her legs in excitement till they were hitting the metal table. Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You're so transparent." She said almost forcing a smile on her face

" 'Objection my lord' " she demonstrated, raising her hand gently in the air. She chuckled "Oh my Gosh, he's just like an angel. So courageous and sexy and smart. " she cleared her throat as she placed her hands on her hips and then sat straight, broadening her shoulders so she could imitate Rafael in the courtroom. 'The plaintiff's lawyer is battering my client your honor." She pouted her lips just so her voice could come out just as deep as his.

"Hey God." She chuckled. She couldn't even help herself.

Olivia exhaled. She wished she could relate with the joke but whenever she tried to see how good that day's case was, she couldn't help but be reminded that a lot of things could go wrong with Amanda's testimony.

"But wait o," Amarachi frowned and then quickly turned to Olivia who slowly turned to her too "That lady that took the witness stand, Amara-"

Olivia sighed

"Amanda." She corrected

"I honestly don't care what she's called. How could you let her humiliate you like that? No, wait- why did she do what she did? Why did she lie like that? I thought you two used to be really close in the past? So let me get this straight, first she pretends like you didn't exist the past few years and now she shows up in court to testify against you?"
Amarachi scoffed

"Unbelievable. Anyone would turn their backs on anyone just for some cash and a promotion. She had better prayed I don't catch her outside or I swear to God-"

"What are you still doing here Amy?" Olivia blinked at her

"W-huh?"

"Visiting hours are over, it's getting really late, you should head home while you still can."
Amarachi exhaled.  She slowly nodded

"Fine then, I'd come see you tomorrow."
Olivia sat straight

"We'd see during my next trial."

"Huh? Next trial? But that's next week."

"Exactly."

"But who is going to keep you company before then?"
Olivia got up slowly.

"Go home Amy."

"Come on sister Olivia,"

Amarachi got up so She could try to get Olivia to change her mind before she got to the door.

"I'm coming to see you tomorrow o, I mean it. I'm not joking."
Olivia didn't turn a second or say a word.

"I'm really serious! Don't get upset when you see me. This one you're not saying anything."
Olivia slowly knocked on the door with a smile finding its way to her face. The door opened.

"Make sure you eat and stay away from trouble!" Amy yelled after her as she watched the policeman wear the handcuffs back on her and lead her out of the room.

Amy exhaled. She knew there was no point yelling from that point on. The room was soundproof and no one was going to hear a word she said.

She let a warm smile spread itself on her face the moment images from the courtroom came flashing through her mind, images of Rafael in action.

She gently threw herself on the bench.

"Really?" She talked to herself, chuckling uncontrollably. "Snap out of it Amarachi." she gave herself a soft slap on her cheek

She slowly placed her elbow on the table and rested her head on it.

It was time.
Time to fantasize about him again.

She chuckled to herself.

"Mrs Amarachi Okonkwo." She whispered to herself and then chuckled loudly again, she loved how it sounded, how her name sounded with his last name behind it.

She had lost it.
She threw herself gently on the bench till she was laying on it and swinging her legs, kicking them in the air in excitement before she shut her eyes for a second.
It was him.
The man in her dreams, of her dreams, her greatest fantasy and he was perfect.