Claire felt like she was drowning. Her voice was submerged amongst the ever-growing noise in drama room three. She could hear the whispers amongst the girls. Poor Claire. Attack. Got here just in time. And then more adults arrived, and Paul was led away, still calling out her name beseechingly. It was only when she felt a blanket being put tenderly around her shoulders, that she started to sob but not even her tears could soften the cold hard accusation of attempted rape.

October 2017

27

Claire closed her office door gratefully, drawn to her desk as if the huge solid slab of wood could act as a barrier against the memories. The desk was meticulously organised, with files and documents all neatly laid out in order of priority. A single photo sat on it, a close-up landscape shot taken the year before of her, Chris and the boys on a skiing holiday. Claire was the only one in the photo wearing her skiing goggles. Joshua and Jamie stood next to each other laughing, delighted to be out in the snow. Chris looked happy as well. He’d always loved skiing and she’d only got into it after she met him.

Outside in the corridor, she could hear the hum of the office and was glad of the privacy. She’d just spent a gruelling few hours in the meeting room working on the Rose Aiker case. Rose had come into the office for the last hour and Claire was only supposed to spend a few minutes with her, making sure Rose was confident with her representation, but of course, Claire had ended up staying for the whole meeting. And not just that; she had got involved.

Claire had seen the look pass between Greg and Chloe as she took charge of the case. She’d even heard Greg’s not-so-subtle suggestion that perhaps Claire had other cases to be working on and Claire had wanted to excuse herself then. As a partner, Claire was the most senior counsel in the room so of course she was allowed to oversee the meeting, she justified to herself. But that wasn’t the agreement and she knew it. So, what had compelled her to stay?

It was Rose. Each time, Claire had tried to excuse herself from the proceedings Rose had chosen those very moments to ask a question or seek reassurance and Claire’s professional courtesy wouldn’t let her leave the room. And who could blame Rose? She was still a child, just shy of twenty years old. What was Claire supposed to do? This was exactly why she didn’t want to be involved in the case in the first place – it was impossible to do the half measures that Julia was suggesting.