Finally back

I didn't come that much these times. Of course, it's my fault, but some excuses plea in my favour. I can't describe them all, but some are worth the story.

I left you on October, the 18th. The next day was very busy : at 8.30, I had an appointment with my dentist for a broken tooth (never eat something called "glue waffles" and coming from Holland if the pack is opened for more than two days ; they become very, very hard and sticky), and at the same time, I was due to an audience before the Police Tribunal. My adversary was advised of my lateness, but I still had to run, because at 9.00 I had another audience, before the Criminal Tribunal this time. I arrived in the Seventh Criminal Chamber at 9.17, panting, but found no one but the judges, happily chatting of their weekends. I entered shyly the room, looking for some other lawyer to present me to the judge, but she asked me what I was doing here before I could find someone in the corridor.
"- Maître, can I help you?
- Erm, I'm looking for some lawyer to present me, Madam.
- Don't be silly, I already saw you hanging around the Law Courts last year, I don't need someone to present you. Come on, What case are you here for?"
This was one of those mornings when you are sure things will go wrong, because you barely prepared yourself. But, fortunately, when I told the number of the case, the judge looked like my matter really wasn't important.
"- Ooh, that one? Actually, I've already postponed the audience. As you certainly know, the expert still hasn't given her conclusions."
Of course, I knew, but I couldn't believe she would have done that without even hearing me, just because I was there seventeen minutes late. I suddenly understood why the room was empty this early. I thanked them, noted the next audience date (I hadn't any pen, of course, so I had to borrow one) and left, running to the other room.

I didn't find it at the first attempt ; fortunately (again), some lawyer saw I was lost and guided me to the good audience. When I arrived, my adversary directly knew it was me (how could she, I have no idea, for we are 500 lawyers here ; my suspicion is that she saw the horrible pictures of the junior lawyers in the Parloir, where they all can admire us, laughing of our scared faces). We had our turn directly after my arrival, and I found myself out of the Law Courts at 9.38. I just can't imagine how my horrible morning happened to be such a piece of cake.

The rest of the week went very calm, except for the Friday, which was the day of the Junior Lawyers Supper. Each year, they organise a big reception with all lawyers who want to come, with a very nice supper and a dance floor that lasts until dawn. The special thing about the evening is that each boss has to present his or her junior lawyer.
We were going with my boss in his car, and I was due to drive it when coming home. All juniors were scared and stressed about their presentation, but I found myself very calm for once. Except that my boss drank a little too much... My presentation wasn't that bad, for someone who hadn't prepared anything. I enjoyed the reception, the supper and the dance, but when we decided to go back (I had stopped drinking an hour ago), he refused to give me the keys. Torn between fear, law principles and my skin freezing, I jumped into the car at the moment he started the motor. Three miles after, we were stopped by the police, and it took hours to get rid of them. My boss was drunk, I wasn't, so I finally could take him home, take my car and go to sleep.
Now, the end of this story was happy, but it could have turned very badly. Anyway, the police took off his license, what makes me his official chauffeur for two weeks.

Everything is going well. Last week, I had to plea for a divorce (I was so sad! How could a divorce be so formal? "You both want to divorce, okay, it will be done within three weeks, next"), a drunk woman (ha, ha) and a case at the Peace Justice. This last tribunal is actually a local one, that treats only proximity cases, which explains you have one Peace Judge in every neighbourhood. My adversary hadn't any lawyer, so we postponed the case to let her see one. As a lawyer, we have an obligation of information and explanation to the citizens that haven't any lawyer, so I told the lady where to find a lawyer and what she should do. It was curious, giving good ideas to my adversary, but for the first time, when she told me "Thanks, Maître", I felt I could enjoy this job of helping people.

My chauffeur part-time job gave me the privilege of going to different places. For example, I went to another town (their Law Courts are nice from the street, but when you're in it's just ugly) for a father who wants to see her baby daughter at least once a week, while the mother disagrees. Today, I saw five cases in the Law Courts, but this afternoon, we even went to the studios of the national television to speak of an old case of my boss (an old man had set dangerous traps everywhere in the house, hoping to kill some of his hated fourteen kids after his death, when they would come looking for hidden papers and money).

But the work wasn't really my only concern. I discovered that my landlord had lied to me ; the studio I occupied wasn't agreed by the authorities. So I had to leave, but where? I found within three days a solution : I'm renting an appartment, in the same avenue than the office, for the same price as my tiny studio. This can be explained by the fact that my mother's cousin, the owner, haven't rented the place since a year, because the precedent persons destroyed the most of it they could. Of course, it's like camping and I will have to paint, repair, wash,... but it's so big! And he doesn't ask an expensive rent, so I took it.

It's been almost a month I've been a lawyer ; I think I'm beginning to appreciate all this.