AN: Here is the next chapter. I am enjoying writing this story and the few reviews I have gotten. I apologize because I do not have a law background and am not sure how the court scene seems in the chapter. I hope its okay. Please continue to read and review.
I wake up the next morning to my alarm blaring and find the bed next to me empty. I run my hand over the cool sheets on Ashley's side of the bed. I let my head fall back into the pillows and let out a big frustrated sigh.
I go about getting ready for my day. When I walk down into the kitchen, Ashley is there, getting herself breakfast.
"Hey" I tentatively say walking up to give her a kiss as a purse my lips expecting her to meet me half way
She breezes past me avoiding eye contact and disregards my attempt to kiss her. She continues going about getting her breakfast while simultaneously getting her paperwork into her briefcase. I watch her from the corner of my eye as I start getting the things from the fridge to make myself some eggs. She didn't even make me coffee. Ugh.
I see Ashley gathering her stuff and throwing her briefcase over her shoulder. I choose to speak again "Hey babe, are we still good for dinner at my parents tonight?" She looks up quickly and then returns her attention to gather her stuff before grabbing her to go coffee and heading towards the door. Instincts take over and I beat her to the door so she can't get past.
"Are you seriously ignoring me? How mature of you" She responds to my words with a piercing look that she holds for a few seconds before attempting to move past me. I again block her. Putting my chest to hers and pushing her back slightly.
"Spencer, seriously, Im not in the mood for this right now." The annoyance and irritation are so present in her voice.
"Well I am. Are you seriously not even going to acknowledge me?" I hold her gaze. "All because of last night?" I throw my hands up in the air. "I told you we could talk about it this weekend and then you bring it up last night. You just had to push it last night and didn't get the response you wanted and now you're pissed! How typical, Ashley!"
She gets a few inches from me before speaking. "You keep putting the conversation off every time that I even try and bring it up. You've been doing it for a year and half Spencer." She glares back at me. "So how am I supposed to act? I mean, we talked about this. We both want, or well, wanted kids, so why are you being like this?" she says moving her eyes from mine. "First you didn't want to be pregnant for Chelsea's wedding. Great, I totally understood that. Then you wanted to have one last summer, just the two of us. We did that. We went on vacations, were a little wild, had a great time. Then you didn't want be pregnant for the holidays. Then it was 'We will try over summer break this year'." Ashley looks up to avoid the tears from spilling because I can see the water welling in her eyes. "Summer is here and gone, Spence, so I guess it's just not happening anytime soon. Im done talking about it… I cant do this right now, I have a really big case at work today. My mind needs to be there." she pulls her ray bans down and moves past me. I stand there in sort of shock and allow her to move past me with ease.
"Ash? You good?" Aiden, my co-worker says to me as he catches me staring off. We have been working together for 3 years now. We started at the firm together and have been each others partners on all of our cases. He really is a good friend and we work well together. We have a 97% success rate on winning our cases.
"wha- oh, yeah, Im good. Just thinking about the case today." I say giving him a weak but reassuring smile.
"You are totally ready for this case, we looked it up and down so many times and have come at it from every angle. You got this!"
It's not that I feel like I don't have the case in the bag. My mind just isn't in it today. I feel so heartbroken about how Spencer has been acting. I have let it go for so long. It just hurts so much to think that she really doesn't want to have a baby with me. I can feel my heart constricting in pain. I had to avert my attention before I started to cry. Maybe we are in different places in our lives.
"Your honor, I would like to call the next witness, my client "Miss. Burnett".
"Miss Burnett, is the man that attacked and raped you after a party on Rose and 27th street on the night of January 17th, 2016, in the court room today?" I ask my client as she sits in the witness chair.
"Yes he is".
"Can you please point him out to the court."
She slowly brings her finger up to point at the man accused of raping her. "That's him" she says as she looks down.
"Miss Burnett, is it true that on the night of January 17th, as you were walking back to your apartment, he attacked you, drug you behind a dumpster in a side alley and proceeded to rape you?"
"Yes" she whispers our, tears straining from her eyes.
"Thats all the questioning at this time your honor, thank you Miss Burnett."
The Judge calls the defendant to the stand and he swears in.
"Mr. Trigs, does my client look familiar to you?" I ask as he takes the stand
"Yes" he responds
"Did you force my client against her will to have sex with you on January 17th, 2016 resulting in rape charges being filed against you."
"It wasn't like that." He quickly responds "It was mutual."
"Mutual?" I scoff "Mr. Trigs, are you aware of the rape kit records we have? The results are conducive with internal trauma as well as the bruises that were documented by the hospital the morning of January 18th." I continue "Your semen was also found on my client, not that you denied your relations with her that night." I turn towards the jury and back "Mr. Trigs, can you explain to me how the trauma results would've come back if it was mutual?"
"Look, we were both drunk, it was after a party." He quickly stated
"And by being drunk, you thought that meant you could have sex without her consent?!"
"OBJECTION!"
"Overruled" I nod at the judge and continue
"Mr. Trigs, please answer the question" the judge steps in.
"NO! I thought she wanted to have sex with me… I didn't realize."
"So you drag her to an empty alley behind a trash can? Is that how you usually treat your sexual partners Mr. Trigs?" I shoot back at him
"Yes, I mean no, no. Its not. Look, she was stumbling around. I thought it was okay."
"You THOUGHT it was okay to continue sexual relations with someone who could not even stand on their own?" I raise my eyebrow at him. "I have no further questions your honor."
"Mr. Trigs, you may be seated."
The judge speaks "To jury, how do you find the defendant?"
"We find, Michael A. Trigs guilty of rape in the first degree."
The court room gasps and my client begins to cry as she hugs her parents.
"I hear by sentence Michale A. Trigs to 15 years to state corrections institution with no early chance of parole. Court is dismissed."
"Oh my god, that was amazing. Thank you so much Mrs. Davies, Rachel Burnett says as she hugs me. I can't thank you enough. We can't thank you enough."
"You're welcome. It was wonderful working with you and I hope you are all able to have some peace of mind after the sentencing." I smile at them as I turn to walk out of the court room.
I meet up with Arden outside of the building
"That went great! Should we go get some drinks to celebrate?"
"Absolutely. This case has been weighing on me for months."
—
Work is terrible today and all I can think about is my interaction with Ashley this morning. I feel bad because they are just young 6 year old students, and I am not engaging them as I should be on only their second day in school. I guess life happens.
I send a text to Ashely right before lunch break ends
'Hey baby. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and Im sorry for this morning. Are we still on for dinner at my parents tonight?' I send to Ashely.
I get back to the classroom with the students and read to them for their story time before allowing them to have their second recess session of the day. I check my phone to see if Ashley responded, I have no texts from her.
—-
'Hey baby. I just wanted to tell you that I love you and Im sorry for this morning. Are we still on for dinner at my parents tonight?' I read the text that Spencer sent me as I am working on my second beer of the afternoon. I put my phone down and do not respond to her text.
" I am honestly just relieved that the case is over. I feel like I can breathe again." I tell Aiden as we are sitting down at the bar at one of the local spots, 'The Double Deuce'. We come here often after big court cases (as long as we win).
"I bet! It was really good win for the firm today Ash. You did great." I puts his beer down and speaks again. "I think you and I as a team are gonna get a pretty decent bonus coming up this quarter." He smiles
"Yeah well that'll be nice." I take a few more drinks of my beer. "So how are Madison and the baby?"
"Aww Ash, they are doing so good. I can't believe how big my little boy is getting. He will be 8 months in a week! Time flies."
"Spencer has been talking about wanting to have a get together soon with our friends. I would love to see Madison and the little guy."
"Oh you know we never miss out on the Davies parties." He excitedly says. "You haven't had one since the beginning of the summer!"
"I know right. Life has just been crazy busy."
We sit at the bar having several more drinks. I am not even sure what time I leave.
—-
"Why isn't Ashley joining us again?" my mom asks. "she never misses Tuesday dinner night!"
"Well thats a shame to." My dad buts in "I even made her favorite tonight, homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes."
"I think she just got caught up at work is all." I say not letting on about our fight and that we haven't spoken all day.
"well you'll have to tell her we missed her tonight and that she better be here next Tuesday." My mom finishes up the conversation before taking the food out to set on the table.
We eat dinner with light conversation about how school is going since I started back. We catch up on each others lives like we do every Tuesday. I enjoy our time together, I always do, but I found myself wishing Ashley was there too.
"Mom" I say as we are washing the dishes from dinner. "mhmm?" she responds.
"Ashley and I are kind of, well I don't know if I would say fighting, but… just not seeing eye to eye right now. She won't even talk to me" She stops washing dishes and encourages me to continue before slowing her pace as she twirls a dish around the washcloth.
"She has been really wanting to try for a baby for awhile, but more so the past 6 months. And I just don't know if Im ready for it, but its driving a wedge between us." I say as I stop and look at my mom.
"well honey, is there a reason you don't want to get pregnant?" my mom eyes me waiting for my answer
"I don't know. I just don't want things to change. I like how things are now between Ash and I. It's just the two of us and we spend our time how we want to and we don't have the financial burden of a child. I just don't want things to change."
"Honey, honestly, Ashley is one of the best up and coming lawyers in the city, so I don't think you have to worry about the 'financial burden' of a child." She stops and puts her hand on my shoulder. "But I can understand why you don't want things to change. It has always just been you and Ashley. Do you think you're worried about not having all of her attention like you're used to?"
"Ugh!" I groan. "I just don't know. Believe me mom, I do want a to have a family with her. We have always talked about it, but I've just been putting it off." I sigh " I feel like the worst wife. Ashley literally does everything for me and is so wonderful. She's just, well she's the best. I just love her." As I am talking with my mom, a realization is beginning to wash over me. "Ya know, I think we are ready for this Mom, we are totally ready." I smile inwardly. "Ashely would be the best mom to our baby, I know it."
"Well I'm glad that is settled" my mom winks at me. I give her a big hug " I love you moommmmm" I draw out and give her a soundly kiss on the cheek.
—-
I drive home with a smile on my face excited to talk to Ashley. She is going to be so thrilled. I can't hardly wait.
I get home but Ashley's car isn't in the driveway. It might be in the Garage. I walk into the house in search of Ashley but the lights are all out. I continue making my way through the house before I see headlights coming through the windows. I look out and see Ashley pulling up in her Porsche.
She gets out and I watch as she stumbles to the door.
Im waiting by the door when she opens it.
"ohhhh, hey Spence." she says as she is caught off guard by my presence at the door.
"Did you seriously drive home this drunk?!" I hate drunk driving and Ashley knows that.
"What? babe, Im not drunk!" she says in her defense.
"Whatever Ashley. Im going to bed." I walk up the stairs to our room leaving Ashley behind. Upset that this revelation did not go as planned.
I get ready for bed before crawling in and going to sleep.