"Ayden I'm sorry," She wiped her tears with her handkerchief. "I'm bad, I'm not fair to you and all and I get it! I can't speak for myself on that. I am many things but I am not a murderer!" She spoke up to him with her voice shaking. "If you won't do this with me, it's okay. I get it. But the baby is staying. So you can get up and leave if you truly don't love or care about me."
"Abortion is not illegal in the state Ingrid. Please! Think carefully of what you're about to do."
"The baby is staying. Either you stay too or leave!" She sounded affirmative. Ingrid stood up and looked at the slightly shorter Ayden.
Ayden looked terrified by her remarks. His dark eyes turned to worry from concern for her. He leaned closer to her as if to get her into his arms. He hugged her and whispered to her in her right ear.
"I'm staying, I'm staying." He said and released her from his comfort. Ingrid smiled at him. She snuffed a bit as he wiped the tears off her face that had been attempting to come out. She felt warmed by his answer.
"I'm staying… but the baby has to go. Even if I will have to carve it out of your belly myself!" He gave a weak smirk, shoved her back on the bench, and walked away slowly.
Ingrid felt the sudden outburst of emotions and she broke down in tears…Was he really being serious? The good guy that she had known him for. How he had loved her since they started dating. He had to be bluffing. Was he? Probably not. Probably yeah. That was just not Ayden. Tears soaked her handkerchief to some degree of wetness. She shook terribly as the words from him came back again.
Even if I will have to carve it out of your belly myself…
She looked up and saw Paul and the Vice President arguing from afar. She knew that they had some misunderstanding between them. Paul's firm had sued Mrs. Jenna in court in charges relating to fraud and money laundering, and the case was in its second year. Mrs. Jenna and Paul had been close friends and had even dated while in college twenty-seven years ago before they part their ways. But it seemed that the feud that they had between them hadn't died even as the years passed by. Due to his own reasons, Paul sued her and was he to win the case, well the benefits would be tenfold. He believed in his cause and that she was guilty and he wouldn't let her get away.
"Clara, what are you doing here?" Paul shrugged at her, his warm voice surfing in the cold snowy wind. The frost bit through the exposed parts of their face. The warm jumpers they had on saved them from the chills as the wind made some eerie sounds as it blew across.
Mrs. Jenna chuckled. The dark of her hair created a silhouette against the snowy background. Her grey pupils contrasted with the haze around them and her sleek dark eyebrows wallowed. "When I heard that your son was involved in an outrageous crime of sexual assault, I couldn't just sit back and wait for it to happen out while I was missing all the action Paul." Her red lips stretched from ear to ear.
"Hmm..." Paul snuffed at her. "I don't know what plans you have, Clara. I don't know what you want from me. But my son is innocent. A man's mind is the most powerful weapon. It's powerful because of his knowledge. And knowledge is power. If I convince the jury and the judge… he will be a free man when this is over. "
"Will he?" Jenna teased him, "Is that what you tell yourself every night you go to sleep? Between me and you, we all know that the evidence is truly overwhelming. You know he's guilty. You're just embarrassing yourself Paul." She stopped in her movement and looked at him. Some puff of snow was on his eyebrows. She brushed them off. "'Oh your dress was exposing you to him, oh you flirted with him…' Ha!" She imitated him, laughing out so hard that she brought her palms to her knees. They were age mates, had their own level of understanding and so could relate with each other in their unique sarcastic ways. "Do you know how stupid you looked while asking those stupid questions?" She asked gaining back her upright posture.
"Go on, mock me woman… but when I'm done with this case, I'll come for you!" He held her hand firmly in his grasp.
"Paul, whatever happened between us, I just hope that it's not the reason why you have the whole supreme judiciary on my ass. I forgive you for whatever you did to me, forgive me for what I did to you. It's been twenty six - seven years now?" She talked to him in a calm voice as she took his hand away from hers in a choreographed manner. "We can clearly let bygones be bygones, can't we?" She smiled.
"But your son is going to prison. And I'm going to make sure that happens myself!" Her face turned.
"You wouldn't!" He hissed at her.
"Bribe him? The judge? And why not?" She scoffed. "Look at me Paul. I'm the second most powerful person in the country. Power is power."
"Clara I swear if you…"
"If I what?! You wouldn't do anything to me. If I whisper to the right ears trust me your son is a goner even before this trial ends."
"Clara please… whatever you're about to do, do not interfere with this case."
She kept quiet as she studied him. Hot steamy breath danced before her face in the cold January snow. "My battle isn't with your son, Paul. Let's not punish a son for the mistakes of his father, right? You have my word. Let the jury and the judge decide who's guilty and whose not. I won't take part whatsoever in this case. You have my word."
"Thank you..." Paul breathed softly.
"But Paul, I know you. And you know your son. You know he's guilty. Cut yourself some slack. Go home and plan on how the coming years will be hard without him." She sounded serious.
Paul was lost of words. He knew the truth. But he also had a plan. He would foresee it to work. Everything had been going on smoothly before Mrs. Jenna came to interrupt his peace of mind. He trusted that she wouldn't interfere with the case; something about her and their past relationship made him not to believe that she would do otherwise. Mrs. Jenna on the other hand was true to her word. It wasn't a scam that she was pulling on him. Unless…
"Oh, time is up!" Cried out Mrs. Jenna as she looked at her diamond watch coated with some gold plates. "We should be getting back now." They turned back and headed towards the building, walking in tow with each other with her security behind her. The cold hazy wind brushed against them.
***************
Ethan was handed the Bible, and swore by it. "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…so help me God." He looked so huge from the stand and yet shook like a brittle stick, dressed in a blue jumper and an orange jumpsuit beneath it. He handed the Bible back.
"Okay, so Ethan Purcell… in your own words tell us what happened chronologically on that night." Paul told him. His voice cut through the warm room. Ethan looked at Elena. Her face was full of rage and he could siphon the hate that she gave away. He turned to Jenna. She looked like she was paying attention a whole to the proceedings. She smiled at him. He felt that it was weird so he took his eyes away and looked at the judge. He gave out a sigh in the end before he turned to the jury at last.
"Well, it all happened like this…"