Read Indicted (Bad Judgment #1) for Free Online

work up a proposal for that super sexy merger you’ve got.”Andrew stood up and pushed past Alexa with as much dignity as he could muster.
    “Have fun,”she said, meanly, and I felt bad for him, even though he’d been rude to me only moments before. A common enemy could make anybody your friend.
    Alexa looked back at us. “Nicole, did you see yourself on TV?” she asked. I shook my head warily, no .“You should watch it. You looked like shit.”
    “Alexa!” Mandy said, horrified. “Don’t be such a bitch!”
    “I’m trying to be a friend, actually,” Alexa said and shrugged. “Bargain Basement Barbie here looked fluorescent orange, with over-sprayed hair and a bad suit. Here. See for yourself,” she said, and shoved her smartphone in front of me.
    Mandy came over, too, and the three of us peered at the screen in interest. The footage was from the local news website. I watched in horror as it showed first a shot of us trying to enter the courthouse while being swarmed by reporters, with Walker looking smooth and unruffled, David looking jostled and pissed and me looking completely petrified — with orangey skin, a cheap suit and oily roots. I cringed. Next the video cut to Marnie Edmonds, who looked impeccable, and then David again, looking more relaxed and in his element as he made his comments. The last shot was of me and Walker, standing on the stairs: he looked stoic and completely gorgeous, and I looked like someone on her way to a Giant Nerd Convention.
    The other girls sighed when it ended, and I clasped my head in my hands. “I. Am. So. Embarrassed,” I said. It came out muffled, as if I was speaking from far away, and that was fine with me.
    “Nicole, you looked fine. You didn’t have any time to get ready. You’d slept here two nights in a row. David didn’t even give you any notice,” Mandy said.
    “I was there with our gorgeous client and I looked like Orange-ish Bargain Basement Barbie,” I wailed into my hands.
    “Well, it wasn’t a good look for you. But now you know. And at least your hair’s clean, now,” said Alexa, in what was meant to be an encouraging tone. “Look at the bright side. All you need to fix the problem is to go shopping. Like, definitely before the next hearing,” she said.
    I sniffled from behind my hands.
    “Okay, Slutty Barbie — that’s you, Mandy. And Bargain Basement Barbie — you already know who you are, Nicole. Time to stop your sniffling. Let’s get to this meeting with our hot client.”
    I stopped sniffling and huffily walked with them down the hall. “At least I don’t have to show my boobs at work to get attention here, unlike you two. No offense, Mandy,”I said. Mandy shrugged and flipped her hair over her shoulder, which was probably going to be her new hot-girl signature move. “My brain gets me all the attention I need.”
    Alexa snorted at me. “Um, yourbrain’s not as exciting as you like to think it is,”she said. “Remember that I went to Harvard,”she said, pointing to her chest. “And you went to Boston College,”she said, and pointed to mine. “And we all know that Harvard beats Boston College every single time.” She pointed from her chest to mine, and I had to ball my hands into fists to keep myself from smacking her. “So therefore,” she said, “it follows that my brain is more exciting than yours.”
    “Your logic is as flawed as your choice in eye makeup,” I said, glaring at her sparkly pink eyeshadow.“I may beBargain Basement Barbie, but don’t forget that Igrew up in Somerville and I can still kick your boarding-school ass.” Mandy laughed, obviously forgiving me for my comment about her boobs, and smiled at me: Don’t let her get under your skin, her look said, but that was easier said than done.
    “You’re Trust Fund Stripper Barbie,”I said to Alexa, as I pushed past her into the conference room. “Little Barbie who has it all, but still wants to take it all off.”
    Someone coughed and I