Chapter 1
Freedom. How do you define it? Freedom of thought, freedom to do as you please? Whatever it is, she wasn't feeling it now. She was simply waiting for the bomb to drop. For the wolves to come and get her and take her to prison. Possibly for good.
Lying in bed she kept replaying the day before in her head. It seemed unreal. It felt like it. But it wasn't. Then man that she had once considered to be the center of her world was now gone. Forever.
Flashback 23 hours earlier…
Waking up had never been one of her strong suits. Anyone who knew her knew better than to wake her up in the mornings. Yet, that didn't stop someone from calling her at 7.30 in the morning. At first she didn't realize where the sound was coming from. A song by The Fray was playing and she soon realized it was her phone ringing.
Disoriented with her eyes still closed, she rolled over once in her bed so she could get closer to her nightstand where the phone was. She picked up her, what felt like her really heavy hand, and not so subtly tried to find the damn thing. Successfully she both found and picked up the phone, but not before she managed to knock down her very new, very expensive table lamp that ended up on the floor with a loud crash. Shit!
Ignoring the part of her who wanted to clean up the mess she'd made, she instead hastily and not so kindly, answered the phone without looking at the caller id.
"What?!"
"Good morning to you too."
She immediately recognized the voice. Normally she would've been happy about the call, but not this morning.
"Look, whatever it is, I don't have time. It is too early in the morning, I haven't had my early morning sugar rush, and my bedroom's a mess and you know how I feel about messes," she told the caller.
"I was just wondering if you were available for an early breakfast."
"How early?"
"Around 9, the usual place?"
"Fine."
"Don't sound too excited."
"Don't worry, I won't." She sighed. Maybe she had been a little bit too harsh, especially considering that since her last reply, she hadn't gotten one back. She decided to apologize. "Look, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. You know I want to see you, I'm just tired that's all. I promise that I'll be in a better mood when we meet."
"Don't worry, I'm not mad. I just wanted you to admit that you wanted to see me."
"Jerk."
"But the hot, fun loving kind, right? So 9?"
"See you then!" She said and then hung up.
She knew that there was no point trying to go back to sleep, so she chose to clean up instead. She had one hour before she had be ready so she knew that there was no rush. Taking a nice, hot long shower would be just what she needed after all the cleaning. Feeling the warm water against her body made her feel like she could've stayed there forever. It wasn't until 35 minutes later that she realized that she had to be out the door in less than 15 minutes.
Quickly she turned the water off and wrapped on a towel. She almost slipped when she went to stand on the cold, wet floor but luckily steadied herself on the sink before she did. As she looked at her reflection through the mirror she couldn't help but feel the feeling of relief wash over her. Today was the day that the divorce would be final and she would be free. A smile came upon her face.
Don't take it the wrong way, her marriage hadn't been awful. Not ever. It was just that in the last year or so, things had started to go south. They hardly ever saw each other because of his job and when they did see each other, they usually fought. She guessed that the easy explanation was that they had grown apart. People do it all the time. Right? But they were both good people and they were right for somebody, just not for each other. Another problem might have been that they had known each other since the beginning of junior high. They had since then been best friends and they had known each other inside and out. Maybe even too well, considering that they knew exactly how to push each other's buttons and they used it against each other often.
Okay, enough with going down the memory lane, she had places to be and people to see. She quickly blow-dried and brushed her hair. Not happy with the result she decided to get dressed first and then come back and fix her hair since it was mostly likely going to look even more ridicules than it already did after she had put her clothes on.
She walked over to her closet and scammed through all of her clothing. Dressy or casual? She hated picking out clothes for herself, she had never been very good at it. And it didn't exactly help that she was always second guessing herself. Finally she decided on a pair of her finest jeans and a nice top to go along with it. After that she went back into the bathroom and tried to fix her hair again, unsuccessfully I might add. Up or down, she still couldn't get it right. Finally she decided to just leave it as it was, she could just blame the wind or something if somebody were to ask.
Last but not least she put on some makeup. Maybe if she wore it then maybe nobody would notice the hair? Or was that just wishful thinking? Probably. Then she went back into her bedroom to take one more look at herself. The clothes were fine and so was the makeup. She decided to go with the more natural look since she preferred it that way. Then was the situation with the hair…Never mind. Just accept it and move on. She looked at the clock and realized that it was already 8.45. She was so late!
She grabbed her purse and her keys. She didn't need her jacket since it was in the middle of the summer and the sun was shining. She locked the door tightly behind her and then she was finally on the way.
Luckily for her, the ride over had gone fast. Sure, she was still late but not as late as she could've been. She ran across the street, almost getting run over by a cab in the process. Did I mention that she was also known as a huge klutz? No? Well, now you know.
She stopped a few feet away from the place they were supposed to meet. He looked good even though he was just sitting there by a table in his lonesome, looking over the menu. He must have sensed that she was there since he looked up from the menu right at her. He smiled, for real, not with one of his famous smirks that he usually like to use. She smiled back and walked over to him.
"I am so sorry I'm late," she immediately apologized and kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're here now," he said and smiled again."I hope you don't mind but I already ordered for the both of us."
"That's fine. What did you get?"
"You'll see when it gets here."
"As long it has sugar in it, I don't care what it is."
"You still haven't had your sugar rush, huh?"
"Nope. Didn't have the time."
"Well, it nice to know that you are willing to give up your very important sugar rush to come and see me. It truly means a lot."
"Hey! I'll have you know that it was a very difficult decision for me."
"You're absolutely right. I mean, how important is war and world hunger compared to you choosing between your daily sugar rush or your boyfriend?"
"Don't mock me! And besides, who has said anything about you being my boyfriend?"
"I thought that was a given. Now that your divorce is finally being finalized and I'm about to break up with my girlfriend, we are all set and clear."
"Oh, really? What if I don't want to?"
"I'll bet I can change your mind…" he said, taking her hand and pulling her closer.
"Mr. Scott, are you trying to seduce me?" she teased.
"That depends, is it working?"
"Not yet…"
He then pulled her even closer, so close that they were almost as one. He kissed her on the side of her neck, again and again…Then kissing her on the lips she felt like a dose of electricity had run through her entire body. So passionately, so…right. When she finally pulled away from him, she was completely out of breath.
"You shouldn't have done that.
"Yeah? Why is that?" he asked, looking at her longingly.
"You know that this is a café, right? With people? With eyes?"
"No one told them to look."
"Nathan…"
"Well, it's true. Besides, I should be allowed to kiss my girlfriend whenever I feel like it," he said and tried to pull her in for another kiss.
She giggled. "Nathan! I'm trying to be serious here!"
"So am I! I seriously want to kiss my girlfriend!"
"I swear, you are even worse than my cousin!"
"So?"
"He's five."
"Oh."
She went to sit in her own chair once again. Reluctantly, but still.
"You're no fun," Nathan complained.
"Don't be a baby. But I promise you that when the divorce if officially over later today and you have finally broken up with the pain in the ass girlfriend of yours, we are going to celebrate."
"Really? How?"
"You're going to have to wait to find out…"
"Come on, just give me a hint," he pleaded.
"Well, let's see…It involves you and it involves me…"
"There's a shocker…" he said sarcastically.
"Well, that's all you're getting."
"But I already knew that!" he argued.
"Too bad. But I can tell you that I think you will be very pleased."
"I'm sure I will be. Especially if it involves you."
She smiled. "So how do you think she will take it?"
"Who?"
"Rachel. When you break up with her. Which you will do, right?"
"Of course I will. Right after I come home from work, you know that."
"Yeah, I know. Just…making sure."
"Well, you've got nothing to worry about. You are the only one I want to be with."
"I kind of feel bad for her in a way…"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, even though I think she's mean and manipulative, rude, not to mention inconsiderate…Oh, and as stuck up as you can possibly be of course…"
"After all that you still feel bad for her?" he said, interrupting.
"It's just that…You know, she has like the best boyfriend in the world and he's about to break up with her and she has no idea that's it even happening…It's just makes me feel a little bit guilty because he, I mean you, are doing it for me," she confessed.
"I'm doing it for us. For you and for me. I can't be with her anymore. It doesn't feel right, not like it does with you."
"But still…"
"But nothing. And to tell you the truth, I have a feeling that she knows that it's coming. Not that it's coming today but that it's happening. We've been fighting so much lately that we can barely even be in the same room anymore. I mean, we have our good days sometimes but usually we can't even be around each other without getting involved in some kind of argument. I don't want to live like that and I don't think she wants to either."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Which part?"
"That she doesn't want to be with you anymore."
"I'm sure, knowing her like I do that, she's probably going to get angry at first but then she's probably going to realize that it is for the best."
"Rachel? Somehow I doubt that. She's more of the vengeful type. My advice is for you to stay at least ten feet from her when you tell her," she joked.
"If I do that I might as well just send her an email."
"Works for me."
She leaned forward to kiss him once again, and being the guy that he was he quickly deepened it. Unfortunately for them, the ringing of a cell phone interrupted the pair.
"Uh…Do you have to take it?"
"Sorry, babe. It's the office, I've got to take it,"
"Scott?" he said, answering the phone. "Yes, sir. I can be there in 20 minutes. Yeah. Okay, bye."
"What was that all about?"
"I'm sorry, Hales. I know I promised you a nice breakfast with me but I have to go. There is some kind of emergency at work and apparently they need me to fix it," he explained apologetically.
She sighed. She knew that this kind of things happened a lot at his work, especially by working at the prosecutor's office and all, but she still couldn't help feeling disappointed.
"Fine. Go do what you have to do. Save some innocents, put away some bad guys…Just call me after you have talked to Rachel, okay?"
"You'll be my first call."
"Glad to hear it."
"I gotta go. I will see you tonight."
"You better," she said and gave him one more kiss before he had to leave.
He pulled away resistantly."Do you have any idea what you do to me, woman?" he joked.
"I hope it's something good."
"You have no idea." He turned to leave. One more look her way he told her "Hales? You know I love you, right?"
She smiled. "I love you too," she told him as she watched him walk away.
End flashback
How could such a wonderful morning turn into such a nightmare? Had somebody set her up? Why would anyone want to kill him anyway? Too many questions with very few answers.
Later today she was being brought in for more questioning. What was she going to tell them? She didn't know any more today than she did the day before. Maybe she should call Nathan? He might know what to do. She didn't get the chance to talk to him last night, much less see him. What if he didn't know anything about what happened yet? She wanted to be the one to tell him herself. Things were already bad enough and it would just get worse if he found it out from some stranger.
He probably wondered where she was or why she hadn't called. Well, at least she had a good reason. Not that that is much comfort. What was she going to tell him? 'Hey! In case you don't already know, the police think that I killed my husband! Surprise! By the way, how was work?' Yeah…Probably not the way to go.
Maybe he could be her lawyer? Nah, that would be a conflict of interest. But maybe he could give her some advice or tell her if…She was startled by a loud banging on the door. The sound was getting louder and more frequent with every passing second.
She didn't know what to do. Should she open the door? It couldn't be the police, right? They would either knock normally until she opened or they would simply kick the door down. No, this was someone else.
"Haley! I know you're in there, open the door!" she heard someone say from the other side of the door. It couldn't be, could it?
"Nathan?" she yelled as she climbed out of bed.
"Yeah, it's me. Just please open the door!" he pleaded from the other side.
She did as she was told. As soon as she did he came flying into her arms.
"Thank God you're okay," he said and held her close.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you," he told her and pulled away so she could look him in the eye.
"Okay. It's actually good that you're here because I have something to tell you too and it's not exactly good news," she told him, not sure of how she was going to do this.
"Just let me go first…" he started.
"No, let me," she said interrupting him. "There is no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it," she continued and pulled away from him and instead started to pace around the room. "Something's happened…I…Well…The police think that I killed my husband," she finished, not daring to look at him.
There was silence between the two for several moments, but then he said something she definitely did not expect to hear.
"I know. I've been assigned to your case as the prosecutor."
"What?" she asked, not knowing what else to say.
"Haley, it's my job to prove that you're guilty. I'm supposed to send you to prison."
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