I'm staying in this Halloween -- me, chocolate, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Be aware that anyone who disturbs me shall suffer a penalty of death. Never get between a woman and her chocolate.

I go away for two weeks, and not only are public defenders going on strike, they're getting mowed down in the street. What kind of an insane world are we living in?

All I know about the case is that it's not Riley, for which I'm immensely relieved, and that I'm not laying a finger on defending the guy. Defense attorneys don't take it well when people start mowing down other defense attorneys, whether they're on the public payroll or not.

But yes, I am back. Cabo was fantastic. You really should have been there.

Tuesday Night, after seeing Larry and before she boards the red eye down to Cabo San Lucas, Cora changes her voicemail to reflect the following.

You've reached Caroline Parker. I'm in Cabo. If you're calling me on this phone, that means you, clearly, are not. I am not dealing with any work matters whatsoever until I return on the second, which means that if I see that you called, you probably won't be hearing from me till then. However, if I'm in a better mood than I am now, I may check my messages at night, so if you really wish to hear from me, leave me a message, and I may or may not call you back.

BEEP!

"Come away with me," Kevin said, resting his chin on his hand as he watched her eat. Cora looked up at him disbelievingly, before tilting her head to the side slightly.

"You want me to what?"

"You look exhausted. You're stressed and snappy. You need a break, Caroline, and I want to help you do that."

"I can't right now, Kevin," she sighed, leaning back in her chair. "I have this huge case that I can't just skip town on. This kid is on trial for murder."

"Yes, I know that, and I'm not asking you to just bail on your job, but I'm worried about you. You need a little time to yourself." He sighed heavily, before leaning back in his own chair and tilting his head to the side as he studied her slightly. "I'm doing business dealings in Cabo for the next month and a half. If your trial ends within that time, why don't you give me a call and I'll fly you down?"

She bit her lip slightly as she did, thinking about that for a moment, before replying. "And if it doesn't?"

"Then I'll find somewhere else to take you. Consider it an open invitation, okay?"

She hesitated again, trying to figure out exactly what to think before nodding. "Okay."

Cora had been ignoring her ringing cell phone for the past hour. The caller ID was clearly telling her who the call belonged to, but since he never left a message so she could find out what he wanted before actually speaking to him, she had no choice but to ignore him. She didn't really have time for Kevin's antics at the moment, even though she could certainly use him. A little bit of sunshine in her life certainly wouldn't be rejected if she didn't need to spend every possible moment she had preparing for the cross-defense of the prosecution's witnesses.

Eventually, however, the ringing got to be too much, and she sighed heavily before flipping open the phone and answering. "You know, the polite thing to do is to leave a voicemail and wait for the other person to call you back -- not blow up her phone for an hour, waiting for her to answer."

"Since when have I ever been polite?"

She rolled her eyes slightly, before leaning back in her seat. Kevin Townsend was one of her favorite people from her college years, and while she was always happy to hear from him, his timing could have been better on this one. "What do you want, Kevin?"

"I'm in town for a few days. I'd like to see you."

Hesitating for a minute, she bit her lip slightly. "I don't know if I can, Kevin. I have this huge case -- "

"Is it already on trial?"

"Well, yes -- "

"So you're out by four-fifteen. We'll have a quick dinner, see a few sights, I'll put you right back in your office where I found you."

"I don't know, Kevin. I have a lot of work to do."

"Then I'll bring you take-out. I'll sit in your office, we'll have some sweet and sour chicken, you'll work, I'll watch you work -- "

"Kevin -- "

"Please, Cora. I miss you. It feels like ages since I've seen you."

She sighed heavily for a moment, before closing her eyes. "You better take me somewhere fantastic."

His voice instantly brightened and she couldn't help but grin. "Oh, for you, I wouldn't do anything less."

When this case is over, I'm so going on vacation. I hear Cabo is beautiful this time of year.

Cora sighed heavily as she locked the door behind her. When she inherited the Grossmans as a client she was anticipating a caseload of malpractice suits and your typical Park Avenue plastic surgeon fare -- not actual criminal charges. Plus the Grossmans were being particularly uncooperative on this front and not telling her anything, which was only making her job harder. She was completely blanking on how to handle this, and the only person she could think of to talk to was the lawyer who had handled them before, now comfortably retired somewhere on Park Avenue himself.

Picking up her phone, she dialed a quick number into the phone, and placed the receiver to her ear. She listened to the phone ring for several minutes, before there was a click! and a mechanized voice came over the line.

"You've reached Lawrence and Marie Hellbeck. We're in the Bahamas, which you're clearly not if you're trying to call us here. I happen to have my cell phone on me, but please only use that for emergencies -- and old cases or clients I used to handle is not an emergency. I am checking my messages regularly, however, so if you leave me a message I will get back to you as soon as I can."

Cora pinched the bridge of her nose slightly, before shaking her head and waiting for the beep! in order for her to leave her message, once it came she was sure she was sounding exasperated and tired.

"Larry, it's Cora Parker, from Hawthorne and Milton? I inherited Elliot Grossman from you, and he's -- he's being rather uncooperative. If you could get back to me on this, that would be great, and the sooner the better. Thanks."

She hung up and buried her face in her hands, closing her eyes and trying to get herself to relax. This was going to be a long case, she could feel it already.

It's a sad, sad sight when Jim Steele gets desperate during a motion to suppress hearing. A pretty sight, but a sad sight nonetheless.

When I Walters and I win this case (a fourteen year-old girl, killing her parents for money? Are you serious?), I think I might just unnecessarily rub it in his face. Just for kicks.

( Private )

( E-mail to Larry Paul )

Going out of town for the weekend -- a family thing in Martha's Vineyard. If it's an absolute emergency, text me, if not -- sorry.

Anyone who calls me this weekend for something work related? I will seriously hurt you.

As in physical pain. ¿Comprende?


[Also? Cora has a pretty new layout.]

Am I the only one who thoroughly despises night court? Or rather, being told that I volunteered for it when -- I really didn't?

( Private )

Ben has been abnormally proud of himself lately. It's a bit -- weird. It's like he nailed me all over again, except, well -- without me being the one getting nailed. I've heard there was a model involved, but since he won't talk about it, I can't be sure.

He's way too happy. He's supposed to be miserable in New York, and that would in turn, cause him to leave. But -- I guess not.

( Private )