Paul rose from his seat and headed towards Elena walking confidently before the court. He had been involved in many cases in his professional career and had only lost three of the seventy-plus. He was hoping to add another victory to his shelf.
"Good morning, Elena." He called out to her, his voice so warm and calm. The Vice President watched on.
"Good morning, sir." She greeted back affording some matching courage.
"You've known Ethan for a long time, as you have said, right?" He asked. She nodded.
"When you went to his house, was it your decision, or did he force you to?"
"No, I had agreed to myself. I trusted him after all."
"And you were drunk right?"
"No, I wasn't."
"Okay, good. So there you were, sober in mind that you could make your own decision, and you decided to accompany him. And so the two of you went. While there, you allowed him to show you around his house before you stopped in his bedroom, right?"
"Yeah?" She answered, but it appeared more of a question.
"And he said that you flirted with him. At your own will, you did it. From the sweet words you had told him in his car to his bedroom. You, flirted him while you were still sober… didn't you?"
Elena rolled her eyes. Was this part really necessary for the whole court to hear? She kept quiet looking at him longingly.
"I'm sorry I need an answer." Paul grinned slightly. Elena wanted to vomit on him.
"Yes," She finally said a gust of cold breath escaping her parted lips.
"Good, good. And what were you wearing that day?"
Elena looked at Att. Paul, eyes knitted in confusion. He was grinning at her and she felt infuriated by his guff. What kind of question was that? He kept looking at her, eyes stabbing through her fears. She and Paul were never on bad terms, not once in their lives, but today was a different genre. He was willing to throw everything away to save his son.
"I was wearing my red short dress. It was a party and people dress in whatever clothes they see fit for themselves, right? Or is there a problem with that?"
"No, no. It was a party, after all, Elena." Paul walked away from her. "So what you wore 'exposed' you and to add to your flirting with him, what makes you not to say that you didn't want to have consensual sex with him?"
"No, it wasn't like that, he forced himself on me!" She sneered.
"I know you knew him well and trusted him enough that you decided to go with him to his home. You weren't drunk meaning that you could have denied the request. But you went either way. You wore what you wore and when you started flirting with him, one thing led to another and you involved yourself in intimate relations with him." Paul cohered at her.
Elena's heart dropped. She wanted to cry. Tears pooled inside her eyes, threatening to break loose. How could he be even telling her those harsh words? Paul had twisted the whole story on her. DA Kenya just smiled on. She didn't smile easily in courts. Paul wasn't so bad after all; he would provide a tough experience for her. She had a few tricks up her sleeve too. She wouldn't let Paul win that easily.
"Do you need some time?" Paul asked as he handed a tissue to Elena. She dried the tears that were already snaking her cheeks.
"No, I'm good. I'm okay." Elena answered as she snuffed.
"And Elena, if I may ask, did you hate the thought of whatever your little make-out session with Ethan would result to?"
She felt so giddy. It was the shame or the trauma perhaps. Or maybe it was the way that Paul was so conniving to the story as he corkscrewed the whole tale around to his own beneficial résumé.
"Um… not actually." She stammered.
"And we can say that you actually wanted it to lead to that, right?" he smutted at her.
DA Kenya called out, "Objection, speculation."
Paul grinned at Judge Freeman. "Your honor we need to know whether she was expecting something lesser from what she was anticipating. After all, she was the one who came up to him. "
Judge Freeman spoke so calmly. "Sustained."
Att. Paul got the green light. He asked the question again. Elena exhaled so loudly.
"Yes," she answered involuntary blinks accompanying her answer.
"Then what makes it rape if you wanted to have intimate relations with him? From what we know it seems like you just didn't want to tell him to but were actually for the idea."
"No, it's not like that!" She stressed out. "He- he…"
"That will be all your honor."
"No, I- I…" She ran out of words. Paul had won one on her.
Paul walked to his seat leaving the lady somber and broken. It was easily visible by the way tears were running down her cheeks once again. Ethan had been watching Elena all along and he could decipher that she was hurt inside. Very, very, hurt.
"Your honor, the prosecution would like for a reexamination with the first witness." DA Kenya spoke up confidently, her short black hair flapping against her head as she looked at the judge, Elena, and Paul.
"Granted…"
She got up from her seat and walked towards her, head held high.
"Elena, you're saying that you were the one who flirted with him right?" She nodded.
"And when you did, how did he take it?"
"Umm… we started kissing at first. I mean he was okay with it. I was okay with it too… I won't lie. But then he started to force himself on me, in a bad kinda way. I wasn't totally prepared for that nor was I expecting it to lead to there. After all, it was our first time. I told him to stop what he was doing. But he just didn't listen. I tried to escape, but he was too strong and fast… so he got me, tied me up, tore my dress, and had his way with me. That's how it ended."
"Thank you for your words. I know this is difficult for you." She soothed her up, "And Elena, did you try to offer any resistance?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"There was this time that he took a break to the bathroom. It must have been after an hour or so because..." she heaved, "it was so bad I had lost track of time initially. So in that little window, I decide to untie myself after I felt one of my hands lose. I was hoping to call the police but my purse was so far away… I could not reach my phone. It had fallen to the floor and I still had one leg tied to one of the beds. He however found me midway and got on me again."
DA Kenya turned and looked at the jury, at the defense attorney, the vice president, the judge, and lastly at Elena.
"I know from the tests done at the hospital that your alcohol level in your body was low." The DA said. "It's true you were not intoxicated and that you couldn't get away too because of your shear strength in comparison to his. But it's possible that you experienced orgasm too. Right, Elena?"