DAVE

Dave glanced over at Stafford, who was heading for the Federal Court coffee shop with opposing counsel Graham Goetze. The two of them had just waved their dicks at each other in court like alpha teenagers in a playground, but Dave was prepared to give Goetze a pass because he’d won the village of Efoki in PNG millions of bucks in that famous case against Attwood Industries. So Graham Goetze had a social conscience. Did Stafford? Dave wasn’t sure, but he supposed it didn’t strictly matter. As they disappeared around a corner with their robes flapping behind them, Vanessa answered his call at the other end.

‘Hello? Dave?’

‘Hi, yeah, it’s me,’ he said politely. ‘How are you, Vanessa?’

‘I’m good, thanks. How about you? Are you at court?’ She sounded anxious.

‘Yeah.’

‘Is it finished?’

‘Yeah, that’s why I’m calling.’

‘Oh. Um, is Marcus there?’

Dave tried not to feel slapped. ‘No, he’s gone.’

‘Oh.’ She sounded crestfallen. ‘I was kind of expecting him to ring.’

Of course she was. Why would she want Dave to call when Loverboy was in the vicinity? Bitterness bit at him. ‘I think he’s been called off on another case. But I knew you’d be waiting to hear, so I thought I’d ring.’

‘Thanks, Dave, that’s thoughtful of you.’ Her tone shifted and he sensed that she’d decided to make the most of her consolation prize. ‘How did it go?’

‘We won. They have to hand over the documents.’

‘Oh my God, that’s great! So Marcus talked the judge into it?’

‘Yeah.’

The truth was, Stafford had just spoken to Dave’s exhaustive research and preparation. He’d spent about ten minutes skimming Dave’s work before prancing around in front of Justice Haultain, but there was no doubt that he was a quick study and a brilliant courtroom operator.

‘That’s so fantastic! I knew he’d do it.’

Did she have to sound so personally invested in Stafford’s performance?

‘And thank you too, Dave. I really appreciate all your hard work.’

It was nice to get a crumb of praise, because Dave was actually feeling pretty pumped. He wanted to tell her how Justice Haultain had singled him out after proceedings and complimented him on his well-prepared brief, but the sound of her voice was messing with his head, so he wound up the call instead.

As he turned to leave, Charlotte Lancaster’s lawyer Mike Schwartz sauntered over. They exchanged professional smiles; no dick-waving here.

‘Dave.’

‘Mike.’

They shook hands. Mike seemed like a good bloke—as obstructive as he’d been, Dave knew he was only following instructions, and he was pretty impressed with the way Mike conducted himself. It seemed the feeling was mutual.

‘It’s a pleasure to go into battle with someone so professional. When this is all over, let’s have a beer.’

Dave was chuffed but he played it cool. ‘You bet. Your shout.’

Mike laughed. ‘We’ll see. We’re still going to wipe the floor with you.’

‘In your dreams. You blokes are done like a dinner.’

Mike chuckled and headed off, leaving Dave alone outside Federal Courtroom 8F with a growing sense of accomplishment. If you took his feelings for Vanessa out of the equation, things were looking up. Not only had he steered her case towards this positive turn, he’d also steered the Redbacks into their first semi-final match in seven years. He felt a buzz of anticipation as he thought about Saturday. The kids had worked their arses off to get here, but their opponents—the Western Tigers—were a nifty little unit, so Dave was trying to manage the Redbacks’ expectations.

‘If we lose, it won’t be the end of the world,’ he was saying.

‘There’s always next year,’ he kept pointing out.

‘It’s just a game,’ he was trying to remind them.

But who was he kidding? This semi-final felt like life and death to the kids—and to some of their parents, he suspected. He was pretty sure that Vanessa wouldn’t fall into that category, but he knew she’d be there, as supportive as ever. He imagined her laughing with Kiri on the sidelines and waving her go redbacks! sign. Why hadn’t Stafford thought to ring and fill her in before taking a coffee break? After all, she was both his client and his girlfriend. Not that Dave was supposed to know that because, apparently, they both thought he was an idiot.