Chapter 1.
My name is Ian McCormitch.
Profession? I'm a federal judge in the state of New York. No kids? It's just that I never had time for them. I was focused on my career and nothing else. I lost sight of my parents since I was 5 years old. Since then, I've relied on my work to fill the emotional void. And I don't trust anyone. I expect everything and nothing at the same time.
"Ian, you don't have a heart," my ex-girlfriend from high school once told me.
She found me too serious and would say every time we made love with a torrid frenzy that I would end up a priest. Thankfully, that didn't happen.
On my 21st birthday, she dumped me. As if that wasn't enough, she did it with my best friend. In response, I got drunk on rum, brandy, and cognac to forget. First, my parents, then the one I loved. I thought life was too hard to live. Compared to a heavy burden that crushes the one who carries it. But I survived. A warrior can change armor but not his heart.
My adoptive family, since I have one, has always been good to me. But it wasn't enough, I think. Each thing has its right place, like the right man at the right place. Chase away the natural, it will come back at a gallop.
I had a vision that transformed me. In the vision, I was alone, contemplating all space, the universe, far from everything and everyone. I was suspended without being able to fall, like an electron orbiting an atom. I saw deep fears, total despair, the smallness of human life, and I doubted this world. Learning to doubt makes us philosophers, that's what I learned in high school.
28 years old. I had become a lawyer. Not out of passion but out of conviction that it was my fight. The one that would give meaning to my life. In life, there are the strong and the weak, the powerful and the rich. I belong to the middle category. Those who fight for their dreams, deciding to go all the way with their ideas. A fighter. I realized that life is a fight. The strong survive, the poor pay the price, and I move forward.
44 years old. It's been 18 years that I've been practicing my profession. I've rubbed shoulders with bandits, gangsters, murderers in trials, and those whom society put in the dock. About my love life, nothing to say. It's a blank book that I don't open. Never. I console myself with many and gallant mistresses.
51 years old. Due to circumstances, I became a magistrate.
Chapter 2.
"Mr. Ian McCormitch, it is with great pleasure that we announce your eligibility as an independent federal judge to preside over this historic trial."
These words still resonate in my memories. I wasn't part of any political party. Not really. Yet, the Democratic and Republican senators led by Republican leader Ronan Dobbs designated me as an independent judge unanimously.
The impeachment proceedings had been launched against President Mickalan Finch. So, someone outside the world of politics was needed. Someone who would lead the trial in an impartial and final manner. Someone who had always been neutral. In some way.
Putting aside all their political differences, the senators agreed on the appointment of an independent judge. And that's how fate chose me.
At that moment, I didn't really know if I was happy or not, but I must say that my prestige and career were reinforced. All my loved ones called to express their joy and congratulations.
"I came to congratulate you," she said.
"Since you're always dealing with court cases, I thought it would be better if you presided over my case tonight."
She? Hannah Eira , my office secretary.
Intelligent, sexy, and intoxicating. In any case, she did a great job. Nothing to complain about. I had hired her for my firm when I was still a lawyer.
"Is the case that delicate?" I asked.
A white camisole adorned the top of her body, and underneath, a light transparent plunging neckline supported perfectly shaped breasts. Specifically, she wasn't wearing a bra. It was just one sign among many others. The calm before the storm.
I had spotted her through the fluorinated windows of my house in her Ford. A car I had bought for her birthday. She got out with her handbag hung in one hand and the other holding a pizza.
There was always something that drew me to her. She had a particular sensitivity and always treated me like someone ordinary, despite my social position being superior to hers. But with respect. Not always when she domineers me when it comes to sex affairs. Damn it!
From the beginning of my rise to my current position, she was there. My beginnings as a lawyer were dark. I crossed paths with wolves, lions, and snakes. But I didn't give up. Not easily. Hannah's simplicity and complicity strengthened our bond. Especially me, because I was interested in her without knowing it.
"You have no idea how much..." she replied after putting the pizza on my beautiful coffee table with floral patterns.