Good At What I Do

                                    

                                          
Stella has a hard day in Court.....but  Kelly assurances of his commitment are hijacked by Stella's concerns in another direction....
                 
                        ************
A hush settled in the courtroom as she took the stand. It was the first time she was coming face to face with him. Of course, she had seen him in Court already but she had always been behind him, and although a couple of times their eyes had met it had only been fleetingly. Now she could see him sitting in front of her to her right even though she avoided looking in his direction. His orange state prison jumpsuit kept taunting her and in the end, she gave in and looked across at him. The same watery pale blue eyes that had haunted her nightmares for months stared steadfastly back at her without any discernable emotion.    
Conrad Butler's questions were purposefully designed to draw out as much detail of her kidnapping and subsequent confinement as possible. He probed gently but effectively, maximizing Stella's answers to drive home the horrific experience to the jurors.  The examination was difficult for her and as much as she had prepared herself for this, when it came to it, each question transported her back to a place where her brain objected.
"Miss Kidd, do you believe that Frank Starmer intended to kill you?"
The state attorney stood in front of Stella, waiting patiently for her to answer.
"Objection." Paige Blake got up quickly from her seat. "What Miss Kidd thinks is neither here nor there, your honor. "
"I merely wished to establish what Mr Starmer's actions towards Miss Kidd had been up until that time." Conrad countered.<
"The witness may answer." The judge looked down his spectacles at Conrad.
"Miss Kidd....did you believe Frank Starmer intended to kill you?"
Stella looked up at Frank Starmer and she thought she saw a flicker of something across his face. Resentment. Or worse.
"Yes. I did." She replied while still looking at him.
              ***************
Paige smoothed down her jade green skirt, before getting up to address Stella, every movement almost exaggerated.
" Can you tell us about your experience at High school, Miss Kidd?"
There's nothing much to tell." Stella sat up straight in her seat, meeting Paige's smiling stare unflinchingly.
"Did you do well in class? Were you a model student?"
Stella shrugged. "No, I didn't do well in class. I didn't enjoy school much."
"You skipped classes regularly according to your report card?
Stella nodded. "I did."
"How old were you when you started taking drugs?"
"Objection, your honor. Relevance." Conrad stood up.
"I am trying to establish Miss Kidd's history and how we ended up here, Judge Klein."
"Overruled."
 Conrad sat down with a frown.
" Fifteen" Stella's hands clenched into first in her lap but other than that she displayed no outward sign of discomfit.
Paige's eyes widened in mock shock. "That's very young. You were very heavily into drugs I believe. Often skipping school and sometimes even high at school?"
"Yes." Stella remained impassive.
Paige nodded, seeming to consider Stella's answer. In reality, she was just letting the jury absorb her admission that she had been a user.