"Convict Me, Attorney." (Law Series #2)

PART EIGHT: HE WHO SEES DEATH

Ano maipagmamalaki ko?

Na umalis ako para maging ganito?

I gulped.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO THAT CLIENT?!"

I immediately looked at the man standing in front me, as he exclaimed with face so intimidating.

"Sinong client, boss?" tanong ko.

"Aba, sa sobrang dami na ata ng naitalo mong kaso hindi mo na sila matandaan?"

I bit my lower lip.

"Baka nakakalimutan mo, Avery, tinanggap lang kita rito dahil akala ko—scratch that—akala namin magaling ka!"

"Don't meddle with my work, boss," I said.

"Don't meddle?!" he exclaimed. "You never won a single case ever since you went here! You keep on dragging down our name!"

Beat.

He's right, though. I never won a single case I handled ever since I went here.

I ended up pleading them guilty, or eventually losing in court. I don't know, I have no will to fight tooth and nail.

Pakiramdam ko nga ay nawala na ang talinong mayroon ako noon. Kung saan na napunta ay wala akong ideya.

I never liked being like this and being like this had never been my choice. I just woke up one fine day, tired, and no longer good at things I was so passionate about.

"That's—"

But then my phone beeped and it was my alarm.

"Ooops," I said. I stood up and get my bag. "Saved by the alarm!"

"W-Where are you going?!" he asked.

I smiled. "I'm a professor, sir, remember?"

The next thing I knew, I was inside the University President's office, facing him.

"What can you say, Professor Heimsworth?"

But then, nothing was coming out from my mouth.

Tiningnan kong muli ang 'poor' na evaluation sa teaching performance ko at ang mga statements ng mga estudyante ko na wala silang natutuhan.

"Do you think you even deserve to be a professor at all?" he then asked. "The school has been receiving bad reviews about the quality of teaching the professors give, and you're on top of them. On top of the poor performers, to be exact."

"So what are you trying to say?" I asked.

"I'm afraid, Ms. Avery. Maybe we overlooked your capabilities. To be honest, we are disappointed. Your popularity didn't match your performance."

"But I was the most paid prosecutor," I reasoned out.

"Notice the word, Avery," he said. "Was. A past tense."

"What do you mean?"

"That you're not as good as you were before."

I felt a massive pain on my chest.

Then, he handed me a paper. As I read it, my heart almost skipped a beat.

They're firing me.

"We've got no choice," he said.

I closed my eyes hardly.

What should I do?

I opened my eyes and forced a smile.

"You don't have to kick me out," I said. "I'm resigning."

In a blink, I went out of his office and went to a nearby rest room and locked myself in a cubicle.