All Free Novel
10
Jessie’s POV
I didn’t know why I was here, but for some reason I had to be. I entered the courtroom and took a seat near the back. He was five rows ahead of me in the seats.
I could see he was nervous, he was gripping the arms of his chair tight enough his knuckles were white. He took a couple deep breaths and calmed down just as his case was called. I didn’t know what to expect, actual justice was more like McDonald’s than a fancy restaurant. Pleas were entered, lives forever changed, all in a few minutes then it was on to the next person.
“The People versus John Pearson, step forward and be recognized by the Court.” John and his lawyer stood and walked through the swinging gate to the defense table.
He was bigger than I remembered, more handsome too. “He’s obsessed with you,” I thought to myself. “Don’t encourage him.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
“I understand there is a plea agreement,” Judge Larson said from her bench.
“Yes your honor,” his lawyer said.
“Mr. Pearson, you understand that by signing this plea agreement you are pleading guilty to Felony Assault, and accepting a six-month jail sentence followed by deportation from the United States of America?”
“Yes, your honor,” he said.
“Do you have anything to say before I pass sentence?”
“I deeply regret my loss of control and the unintentional injuries to Miss Donato. I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
She nodded at him. “Very well. The guilty plea is accepted, sentence is six months incarceration, after which he will be turned over to Immigration for deportation as a convicted felon. Baliff, take Mr. Pearson into custody.” The officer came over, handcuffing him before leading him out.
Just before he left, he looked back and his eyes met mine. He mouthed “I love you” and then was pulled out the door.
I got up and left the courtroom, heading for the elevator. “MISS DONATO,” a man said from behind me. I turned to see his lawyer, a handsome black man in his thirties, hurrying out of the courtroom after me.
“Yes, Mr…”
“Thompson. Charles Thompson. May I have a quick word with you?”
“Certainly, the elevator isn’t here yet.”
“I wanted to pass along John’s deep regret for hurting you that night. It meant a lot for him to see you here in the courtroom today.” He seemed sincere, but there was something he wasn’t saying, I could feel it.
“I could have been here to make sure he was going to jail for a long time,” I said.
“I don’t think he’s the one you blame for what happened.” The elevator opened, and we went in. “He overreacted, but he only wanted to protect you.”
“Why? Why would a guy I’d just met, who had been in my section for less than five minutes, nearly beat a guy to death for pinching my ass?” He didn’t say anything. “It doesn’t make any sense, no one is that obsessed with someone they just met.”
He just smiled. “I don’t think that is true at all. Love at first sight? He believes that is what he had with you.”
The door opened on the parking level. “Here’s what I believe. A handsome, but big and dangerous guy takes one look a me, decides I’m his, and would probably knock me out, toss me over his shoulder and take me back to his house in Scotland and handcuff me to his bed until I accept him. He needs therapy, Mr. Thompson. Make sure he gets it, and keep him the hell away from me,” I said.
I walked out, leaving him behind as I walked to my beat-up Focus. At least it ran better now, since I had money to get it repaired. I paid for parking and headed towards my old house. Now that my shoulder was better, I was going through stuff and bringing what I wanted to keep home. I had already made a couple trips to Goodwill for the stuff I wasn’t.
I grabbed the mail out of the box, then opened the door to the house that Mom and I had shared for the past ten years. The smell of her perfume and her baking was long gone, now it was dust and cleaning products. I walked through, I had already gone through my room, her bedroom, and the kitchen. The furniture being donated was near the door, since Patrick and some of his buddies were stopping by later with trucks to help move the big stuff. I went into the office, where the two boxes I was going to keep were waiting for me. One contained the records and papers I would need to finish executing my mother’s estate, the other had everything I could find on my past- the letters, the adoption papers, all the photographs of my family, anything that I might want later. I made two trips, setting them in the back seat of my car, before arranging things for donation and trash.
I had been working for three hours when I heard the trucks pull up. The three guys made short work of the piles, taking one to the recycling center and another truckload to Goodwill. I liked the furnishings in my cabin, and there was nothing sentimental about the old furniture we had in the house. Both trucks took the remaining stuff to the dump.
I ordered pizza while they were gone, and the timing was perfect. They had done me a huge favor, and Patrick, Brian and Larry deserved at least to eat. We sat on the carpet in the now-empty room, eating pizza and drinking Coke. “I can’t thank you enough,” I told them as I packed up yet another empty pizza box to go to the garbage.
“It’s our pleasure,” Brian said. “Just remember how nice a guy I am when you have parties with all your hot friends from work.”
I laughed. “I don’t work at Hooter’s anymore, they let me go. Dumping beer on customers isn’t what they are looking for in a server.”
“What are you going to do?” Patrick looked worried, I hadn’t told anyone I had no job to go back to.
“I’m going to get a job to pay the bills, something a little higher class, and go back to school,” I said. “The settlement gave me enough to finish my degree if I manage things right. I want a real job, these legs aren’t going to last forever.”
Larry snorted into his Coke. “They’ll last long enough,” he said.