Primping her hair so every strand was meticulously in place, Elizabeth paused to examine her reflection in the full length mirror.  After tugging down on the black pencil skirt, she smoothed out any wrinkles that might have been there by running her hands over the fabric.  Turning to the side to double-check her profile, she was satisfied by how professional her appearance was and hoped to make a good first impression with the judge.  Approving herself with a confident nod, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

The last thing she'd needed was to give her ex yet another reason to deny her the rights to see their son, but here she was getting ready to go to the court house to plead no contest for DUI.  As much as she wanted to fight the charge, she couldn't even remember the night in question.  Her friend had given her the card of a local attorney who'd walked her through the best course of action even if she could barely understand the reasoning.  She was supposed to be meeting him at the courthouse soon.

Unfortunately, with her license temporarily suspended, she failed to account the extra time it would take for the bus to reach her destination.  Luck was not on her side today as they hit every stoplight and had to wait at every stop.  By the time she finally reached the courthouse she was running late.  Removing her high heels there at the bus stop, Elizabeth ran down the sidewalk as fast as she could.  Ignoring the funny looks she received from the people walking down the street on their cell phones with their cups of coffee in their hands, she expertly dodged her way through the crowd as she raced up the steps to the large glass building.

Thanking the person holding the door open as she hopped on one foot trying to put her shoes back on and hoping that the new runs in her hose weren't as noticeable indoors as they were out in the sun, she stood feeling completely lost in the middle of the entry way.  She'd been to the courthouse before, but it was to renew the tags on her car or update her driver's license picture--not to stand in front of a judge.  

Puffing her cheeks and blowing air from her mouth, she made her way over to the plaque to read the floor numbers and somehow figure out where the hell she was supposed to go next.