The Final Chapter
The judge looked at Beck. “Do you have any further witnesses?”
Beck stood and stated, “No, your honor.”
She looked at Carlson. “Defense, you may call your first witness.
Elise felt her heart flutter and begin to pound as she handed Jaden to Sarah.
Carlson called her to the stand. She stood up and straightened her dress, looking for a moment at David who smiled at her with loving encouragement, and then she lifted her chin and walked to the witness stand and took her oath.
Carlson looked at her and she felt like she was back in their practice sessions. He gave her the same expressions he had when he had practiced simulated testimony with her and it eased her nerves and tension somewhat.
He began as they had practiced. “What is your occupation?”
“I’m a small business owner,” she answered.
“What type of business do you own?” he asked.
“I own six cafés in this city.” Elise felt that she was coming off as confident, which gave her more confidence. She focused on Carlson, as he had taught her to do.
“When you met my client, how many cafés did you own?” Carlson asked, looking at her with steady eyes.
“One,” she said, thinking back to the days when she had worked so hard to see that one shop grow and succeed.
“How is it that you increased your business from one café to six cafés?” Carlson took another step back from her and she raised the volume of her voice slightly.
“David loaned me the funds to open five more shops, which I did, and now all of them are doing very well.” She smiled at David and he smiled back at her.
“What is your relationship to my client?” Carlson asked her.
“I am his wife,” Elise answered with a smile.
“Was his involvement in the expansion of your business in any way related to your marriage to my client?” Carlson stood a short distance from her and she knew that he wanted her to speak louder, so she raised her voice slightly.
“No. He didn’t help me because we were married. He helped me because he reviewed all of the information about my business and believed it could expand successfully,” she answered.
Carlson tilted his head slightly and asked, “How could we know that his involvement in your business had nothing to do with your marriage to him?”
Elise lifted her chin proudly. “Because the money he loaned me for my businesses was a contracted deal and I have paid him back in full with the profits from my businesses.”
Carlson walked over to the desk and picked up another stack of papers. He handed them to Elise where she sat on the stand. “Would you agree that these are records of his loan to you and of your payments back to him, satisfying that loan?” Carlson asked.
She looked briefly through them, having done so in practice several times, and looked up at him. “Yes, they are,” she answered.
Carlson handed the forms to the judge. “Defense submits exhibit D, financial records of the loan my client made to the witness for her business and the documentation of her payments to him which reimbursed him for that loan with interest.”
The judge took the documents and looked over them briefly.
“What is your ethnic background?” Carlson asked, looking at Elise.
“I’m black, or African-American,” Elise answered matter-of-factly.
Carlson nodded. “Did the subject of your ethnicity ever come up during your business dealings with my client?” he asked, looking at her.
She shook her head. “No, it has never come up.”
He slid his hands into his pockets. “Was your ethnicity ever a factor, whether for good or bad, in your business dealings with my client?”
Elise shook her head again. “No, it was never a factor. It never came up once.”
Carlson walked a few steps away from her. “Has your ethnicity affected your marriage in any way?”
“No, it hasn’t,” she answered.
Carlson indicated Jaden, sleeping in Sarah’s arms. “Do you have any children with my client?” he asked.
Elise smiled widely at Sarah and Jaden. “I do. We have a daughter, that’s her right there.” Elise pointed toward Sarah.
“Has your daughter’s ethnicity ever been a subject of issue in your marriage?” he asked.
“No, it hasn’t,” she answered again.
“In your experience of receiving money from my client for your small business, in order to improve your business, do you believe that he acted with fairness and equality in his business dealings with you?” Carlson looked at her again.
“Yes, he was extremely fair during the entire transaction,” she answered him.
“Did you ever feel as though your ethnicity was a problem for my client?” Carlson asked.
She shook her head. “No. I believe that it wouldn’t have mattered what color my skin was, I think he would have treated me the same way no matter what my ethnicity was.”
He nodded. “Thank you, no further questions.”
She waited as Carlson took his seat and Beck stood up and walked toward her with an obvious glare on his face.
“How long have you been married to the defendant?” he asked, giving her a piercing gaze.
“About ten months,” she answered, keeping her response short and to the point, as Carlson had instructed her.
“So you married him after he was aware that he was coming to court for this situation.” Beck stood in front of her with his hands on his hips.
“Objection!” Carlson stood and called out. “Speculation.”
The judge nodded. “Sustained.”
He shook his head at her. “I’ll rephrase it for you. Why did you marry him?”
“He wanted me to be his wife,” she replied. That was the truth. Keep it short and simple she told herself and don’t lie.
Beck turned and paced a little, watching her intently the whole time. He reminded her of a panther on the prowl, trying to make her feel like his prey. “Did you marry him because of this court proceeding?” he asked her, coming to the meat of it.
“I wasn’t aware of any court proceeding until almost two months ago,” she answered.
He balked at her. “You expect this court to believe that you didn’t know your husband was involved in this situation and was facing court until two months ago?” he retorted.
She nodded her head. “Yes, I do expect the court to believe that because it’s the truth.”
He snapped his head away from her and paced the floor for a few seconds and then looked back up at her again. “You’re a black woman. Why are you married to a white man?” he glared at her again as if she had betrayed her own race by marrying David.
She narrowed her eyes at him slightly, but maintained her demeanor. “His color had nothing whatsoever to do with the reasons why I married him. I love him.” Although she hadn’t loved him when she married him, she had grown to love him and that love was the reason she would stay married to him. She was still speaking truth.
“Did the fact that your marriage to him have anything to do with him helping you with your business?” he peered at her coldly.
She shook her head again. “No, it had nothing to do with it.”
Beck paced around again and then looked up at her. “No further questions,” he snapped at her and went back to his chair. Jackson glared at her and shook his head as if she should be ashamed of herself.
Elise stepped down from the stand and walked back to Sarah, her heart pounding in her chest as she looked over at David and smiled. She took her seat and her baby, and Jaden nuzzled her in her sleep.
Carlson stood and called David to the stand. David drew a deep breath to try to calm himself and then he walked up, took his oath and sat down before the judge. Carlson stood closer to their table than he did to the stand, and he raised his chin and looked at David intently.
“What was your initial agreement with Mr. Jackson?” he asked.
David took a deep breath and tried to keep himself calm on the surface. “When we met the first time, he showed me his financial records and I agreed that it may be possible for me to absorb his company into mine and keep his employees on at their current wage, with their current benefits.”
“Why did you tell him that?” Carlson asked.
“I told him that because I believed he had been upfront and honest with me about the financial health of his company, and I like to support small businesses. I wanted to help him.” David recalled that first meeting and felt as though he should have been able to see through Jackson’s façade. It was one of the rare times in his life when he had been wrong about the person he was dealing with.
Carlson nodded. “What changed your mind about the business you were willing to do with him?”
“Discovery during a routine background check on him uncovered his recent loan, which he had neglected to tell me about, and which shifted the numbers enough to tell me that it was a financially sound decision to absorb his company. It also told me that he was dishonest in his business dealings.” David took another breath and cleared his throat.
Carlson took at step toward him, keeping his eyes on him. “You discovered he was being dishonest with you and yet you made him a counteroffer?”
“I did,” David said.
“What was that counteroffer?” Carlson asked, while walking toward the table they had been sitting at.
“I offered to buy him out and dissolve his company.” David answered.
Carlson picked up a stack of papers on the table and turned toward David. “Why would you do that?” he asked.
David shrugged. “I still wanted to help him.”
Carlson handed him the stack of papers. “Would you agree that these are copies the first offer of absorption and the second offer of a buyout that you gave to Mr. Jackson?”
“They are,” answered David.
Carlson handed the papers to the judge. “Defense submits exhibit E, the initial offer my client made to Mr. Jackson and the subsequent offer made by him after learning that Mr. Jackson had withheld vital financial information.”
The judge took the paperwork from him and reviewed it momentarily.
“Where did your meetings with Mr. Jackson take place?” Carlson asked.
David looked back at Carlson. “All four of our meetings took place in my office.”
Carlson took a step backward and slid his hands into his pockets. “What happened at the last meeting, when you made your counteroffer?”
The memories flashed through David’s mind. “I gave him the offer and explained that I had discovered the loan he had hidden from me and I told him that I was willing to buy him out. He asked what I would do with the company and I told him I would dissolve it. He grew angry and threw the paperwork at me, telling me that I was only turning him down for his initial offer because I was a racist. I argued with him, I said I wasn’t racist at all and that he hadn’t been truthful with me, so he ought to be glad I was doing anything for him at all. He jumped up out of his chair and said that I was killing his company because he was black and rich white men never want to see poor black people succeed. He lunged at me and I dodged him, but he punched me in the stomach, so I belted him in the eye. He tried to punch me again but I ducked and hit him in the mouth. He grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and threw it at me, but missed, and I called security to come take him from the building.”
Carlson nodded his head and pursed his lips. “Did you have any opinions about his ethnicity?”
David shook his head. “No. I never cared what color his skin was.”
Carlson stepped away from him. “Did you ever make mention of the color of his skin?’
“No, never,” David answered.
“Did you ever insult Mr. Jackson with remarks derogatory toward his ethnic heritage?” Carlson kept his gaze steady on David.
“No, not even a single time,” he replied.
“How many successful business projects have you worked on with people of ethnic backgrounds different than your own since you started your business?” Carlson was as far back as he could possibly stand.
“Easily well over a hundred,” David answered.
“How many successful business dealings have you made with people of the same ethnicity as Mr. Jackson, since you began your corporation?” he continued.
“More than fifty,” David replied.
Carlson nodded. “What is the ethnic background of your daughter?” he asked with a softer tone.
“She is half black and half white,” David said with a smile that he couldn’t hold back. “She’s beautiful.”
“How do you feel about having a child of mixed ethnic backgrounds?” Carlson asked.
David shrugged his shoulders. “I feel blessed to have her, no matter what color her skin is or what ethnic background she has. She’s incredible, and I wouldn’t trade her for the whole wide world.”
Carlson smiled at him. “No further questions.”
He walked to the defense table and sat down as Beck stood up and walked over to the witness stand. Beck stood and regarded David for a long minute, glaring at him, and then he lifted his chin and spoke.
“You knew this court proceeding was coming up. Were you involved with your wife before you knew about this situation?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
David felt his heart skip a beat. He was terrified that Beck would ask him a question about how he had come to marry Elise and he wouldn’t be able to answer it with anything other than the fact that he had hired her to marry him.
“No, I wasn’t. I met her afterward,” he said shortly.
Beck’s eyes glittered darkly at him. “What was it about her that made you want to marry her?”
David took a deep breath. He could answer that honestly without damaging his testimony.
“She is intelligent and driven. She’s a hard worker and an honest woman. She’s beautiful, dedicated, kind and thoughtful and she has a good sense of humor. I love her.” He looked over Beck’s shoulder at Elise and smiled at her and she smiled back. It warmed his heart and he felt encouraged by her support.
Beck leaned toward him menacingly. “Why did you help her with her business?”
David had landed another safe question. “I helped her with her business because she was a good businesswoman and I could see the mutual benefit of loaning her the money to expand her shops.”
“Did you help her to make yourself look good here in court?” Beck asked with a sneer.
“No,” David answered, trying to hold back his disgust for the way that Beck was behaving.
Beck paced the floor and looked up David again. “Do you deny that you physically assaulted my client?”
“I defended myself against Mr. Jackson when he attacked me,” David said seriously.
Beck looked as though he was going to say something else, but then thought better of it. He shook his head at David. “Are you married to your wife because she is black?” he asked.
David’s heart skipped another beat. It was one of the reasons he had married her in the beginning, but now he was married to her with every intention of staying married to her for the rest of his life because he loved her, and it had nothing at all to do with the color of her skin.
“I am married to her because I love her,” he said simply.
Beck grumbled and turned his head away from David. “No further questions,” he snapped.
The relief David felt rushed through him. He stood up and stepped down from the witness stand, walking toward the defense table with his eyes on his wife.
The judge asked if there were more witnesses, and both sides declined further action. Both Beck and Carlson made their closing statements, and then the judge stated that she would deliberate the case and call them back in when she had made her decision.
As Elise and David left the courtroom, they gasped with relief as they walked out of the doors of the building. They hugged each other tightly and took Carlson and Sarah out to dinner with them.
“Well, the hard part is over,” Carlson said as they discussed the day over dinner in the restaurant. “You’ve both done very well. Now, we just have to wait for the verdict.”
David smiled at Carlson. “You were really good in there today, Carlson. If we make it through this, I’m giving you a raise. You’ve earned it!”
Elise shook her head. “I can’t believe Beck and Jackson! They were something else coming up with all of those lies!”
Carlson nodded. “Well, they had to come up with something to substantiate their case. They just didn’t know we had video of the meetings until right before court and I don’t think they watched them. It looked to me as if they were both caught by surprise. I know Jackson didn’t have much money for legal counsel and it looks like he may have gotten what he paid for.”
David shook his head in relief. “Well, no matter what happens, we did our best and we are done.” He held up his glass to the rest of them. “A toast to Carlson for guiding us through this mess. May it be a success.” They all raised their glasses and toasted Carlson with David.
***
Elise and David went home that night. After they had put Jaden to bed, they collapsed in their own bed together with David taking Elise’s hand in his, looking into her eyes.
“You were so brilliant today. I was so proud of you. Thank you for helping me and getting up there on that stand. I know that couldn’t have been easy for you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.” He spoke softly and kissed her fingertips.
She grinned at him. “I’m so glad that I was able to do it. Jackson has no business going after you the way he is, after you tried to help him. Just because he didn’t get your help the way he wanted it, he had to go and try to pull a stunt like this. It’s going to come back and bite him.” She lowered her lashes and then looked back up at David slyly. “I can’t wait to hear him make a public apology to you. I hope the judge makes him do that.”
David sighed. “I just hope the judge finds the case in our favor. I will say this, though, I wasn’t glad that any of this happened until I looked out at you today, sitting out in that courtroom supporting me like you were, holding our daughter. If he hadn’t come after me, I probably never would have met you, and I would be missing out on a lifetime with you and our beautiful little Jaden. I can’t imagine my life without either of you now. You two are my life, and you always will be.” He leaned over and kissed her lips softly.
She touched his face and leaned toward him. “You’re my life, too.” She kissed him and he opened up his mouth to taste her sweetness. Heat began to grow in them and their kisses warmed the need in them for one another. He ran his hands down her back and her hips, pulling her body on top of him and then slipping her nightgown up over her head.
As she sat up to help him take it off of her, he looked at her body, running his fingers over her breasts and her eager nipples. She smiled down at him and leaned toward him to kiss him again as he caressed her, loving the smooth feel of her skin beneath his hands.
Elise’s mouth moved slowly from his mouth down his neck to his chest where she kissed him and bit at his skin teasingly before moving her mouth gradually over his stomach to his thighs. He was fully aroused and she taunted him by kissing him everywhere around his fullness without touching it, giving him agonizing pleasure, until he called out her name in need, and she moved her lips to his erection, kissing it and running her tongue over it firmly.
He slid his fingers into the long curls of her hair and she rubbed and stroked him, making him moan with need, and she flicked the strong tip of her tongue over the head of him, as he lifted his pelvis toward her. When she had brought him to the edge of hunger, she closed her full lips around him and lowered her mouth over him until he was embedded in her mouth and throat. She sucked at him and tasted him, tormenting him with dizzying pleasure until he began to pump his hips upward to her in a swift rhythm, and then she raised her mouth from him and moved her body over him, straddling his body and she slowly descended herself on his erection as his hands clung to her hips and his head was pushed back into the pillows, so lost was he in the feel of her becoming one with him.
Elise began to sway her hips over his, almost in a dance of love, swallowing him with her body and burying him deep inside of her. They held tightly to each other as their momentum began to increase and her hips rocked more adamantly against his. She burned with overwhelming ecstasy as he filled her time and again, thrusting himself up into her body and grasping at her in passionate touches. Their lips moved hungrily over each other, kissing, tasting, and teasing, until the heat in them built up to an inferno, and his hands that had clenched her dark thighs moved to her hips, pulling her down sharply to him as their orgasms met and they climaxed together in blissful release.
She cried out with him, and then, as her excitement abated, she laid herself down on his chest and they caught their breath together, holding one another in pure love.
She picked her head up and kissed his chest softly, followed by his lips, so tender and hot, and then she moved to his side and their bodies disconnected. She looked at him and shook her head. “There is no one in the world that I love, like I love you,” she whispered.
David looked at her and smiled, touching her face gently in his serenity. “I feel exactly the same way about you, my lady. I love you with everything in me.” He kissed her lips and her forehead, and they held each other as they fell asleep.
***By the time breakfast was finished the next morning, they still hadn't heard from Carlson. Elise decided that the best thing they could do would be to get their minds off of the case and the courtroom, so they loaded Jaden up in the car and drove to each of her cafés to introduce their daughter to her staff and customers. They were received with excitement and love at each stop, and everyone adored their beautiful baby girl, who smiled at the attention she was getting.
Elise checked on the records at each store and the progress of sales, and by the time they left the last store and went out to eat, she was glowing with happiness.
“I was looking at everything today and you won’t believe this, but I have enough profit to open at least three more stores! I was thinking we could expand south into Silicon Valley, north into Mill Valley, and across the Bay into Berkley. What do you think?” she asked with anticipation and excitement in her voice.
David nodded in agreement. “I just love your little shops and I think if you find the right locations, you would be just as successful in other cities. Let’s go scouting for locations as soon as this mess is over with, okay? We’ll take Jaden along and see what she thinks, too!”
Elise was thrilled with the idea. Her heart swelled at the knowledge that her little fledgling shop had done so well, and that her husband had believed in her idea so much that with his assistance, she was able to grow so much so quickly. The communities, it seemed, just loved chocolate and coffee, especially together. She told David that it was all about indulgence.
They walked with Jaden through Golden Gate Park that afternoon and took in the beauty of the day. They knew how blessed they were, and they were grateful for it. That night, as they were falling asleep, Elise and David were sure that nothing in their lives could be better than what they had.
The next morning after breakfast, Carlson called David and told him that the judge had asked them to return to the courtroom that afternoon. He said he would meet them there.
David hung up the phone and looked at Elise. “It’s time to go back in. The judge wants to see us this afternoon.”
They dressed and readied themselves and Jaden for their court appearance. They picked Sarah up along the way, since she had been with them for their time in court. Sarah, Elise and Jaden remained in the bench seats behind the railing while Carlson and David took their places at the defense table and Beck and Jackson took their places at the plaintiff's table.
David turned and looked over his shoulder at his wife once, and she nodded and smiled to him encouragingly. The bailiff stood up and announced the judge. “All rise,” he called out, bringing the court into session. The judge walked in as she had two days before, with her robe billowing and her hair pulled up into a tight bun. She took her seat and everyone in the courtroom sat down.
“Please rise for the verdict,” she said firmly. The four men stood up and faced her. She looked down through the glasses perched on the edge of her nose and read out, “This court finds the defendant not guilty of any of the charges.”
Elise could not hold in the gasp of relief that escaped her. She turned and grinned at Sarah and Sarah smiled back happily at her. The judge continued. “There was sufficient evidence submitted to show that the defendant acted within the scope of the law and in accordance with good morals. There was also sufficient evidence submitted that showed the plaintiff as having acted with little or no moral code and with dishonesty in business.” She looked up at Beck and Jackson and glared at Jackson over the top of her glasses.
“Mr. Jackson, I would strongly urge you to put your business and morality first and your ethnicity second when you act. There is no excuse for the way that you have handled yourself or your business in this situation. It is the opinion of this court that you intended to misuse and swindle the defendant out of funds, which you may have used toward your business.
“I understand that your final goal was to save your business but your actions toward that goal were abhorrent. In future business dealings, Mr. Jackson, it is the advice of this court that if at first you do not succeed, try, try again, with another investor, rather than dragging the one person who was willing to help you through slanderous mud on the way to a courtroom. Legal intervention is expensive and time consuming, as I’m sure you are now aware, and it would have been to your greater benefit to use that time and money to either repair your failing company or to find another investor who was interested in working with you the way that you wanted to work.”
She looked back down at her desk and continued to read. “I have seen for myself the public damage that the plaintiff and his attorney have inflicted upon the defendant, and it is the ruling of this court that Mr. Jackson and Mr. Beck both make public apologies for their slanderous lies, and admit the truth to the public. Which is that the defendant never attacked you, Mr. Jackson, and was only trying to help you with your company. You will both have that public admittance and apology made within one week or you will be held in contempt of court.”
She banged her gavel and the bailiff commanded those in the courtroom to rise as the judge stood up and exited the room to retire to her chambers. David had felt as though he could barely breathe all the way through her verdict and her speech afterward. He looked at Carlson and Carlson gave him a rare grin. David reached his arms out and hugged Carlson, who hugged him back for a moment and then let him go.
“You are an excellent attorney, Carlson. You’re getting that raise, immediately,” David told him, his face flushed with happiness.
Carlson nodded. “Thank you, David,” He said humbly, looking down at the desk to gather his paperwork.
Beck and Jackson swept up their briefcases and walked out of the room without a word to anyone. David watched them leaving for a moment before turning his attention to Elise as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. At the first mention of the verdict, she had handed Jaden to Sarah, aching for the moment when she could hug her husband and share the happy conclusion of their tribulation. He wrapped his arms around her as well, holding her close to him and whispering in her ear.
“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you so much, my beautiful lady, thank you so much. I love you!” He kissed her cheek, and then he kissed her mouth, holding her there for a long moment before letting her go. She took the baby and then even Sarah leaned over to hug him, congratulating him on his success.
It was only a matter of three days before Beck and Jackson called a press conference in which both of them stated that by order of the judge they were repealing all of their former statements and offering a public apology to David. They also announced that Jackson’s company had gone under and would be filing for bankruptcy immediately.
In the months that followed, Elise was able to open the three new cafés that she had spoken of, after she and David had found just the right locations for each one. Those stores thrived, and within a year, she had new shops open all up and down the coast from California to Oregon and Washington, and she had plans in the works to move eastward from the coast across the country, and within three years, into an international market.
One year after their court date, David and Elise welcomed a son into the world. He was born healthy and strong after nine months of pregnancy, and his older sister was happy and delighted to have him around.
David and Elise spent all the years of their lives in love, raising their children and enjoying their grandchildren, always grateful that they were somehow brought together. Though neither of them was searching for a love, they found a real and true love as well as a best friend, forever.