Chapter 37
"Cheria, listen to me, Jon is not going to jail. Money can talk all it wants, but Hussey would have to buy off an entire jury, not just the judge. And with one judge already recusing himself, there's going to be talk about this case, if it ever even progresses to an actual trial. Jon hasn't even been seen for an opening hearing, has he?" When Cheria shook her head, Monique continued with a smirk on her lips. "Jon needs to start gathering up people who know him, who can give statements about his character. He's not a violent man." Unless Cheria was attacked and, as far as she was concerned, that didn't count.
Curtis Hussey had EARNED that beating.
"Come to think of it, you're right. He hasn't had an opening hearing. They keep saying it's going to happen, but…nothing has come of it." Monique made several valid points. If they truly wanted to try accusing Jon of the beating and sending him to jail, at the very least the opening trial would've happened by now.
"You know what I think? I think that son of a bitch doesn't have evidence to prove Jon did it or the fact you and Jon were together back then. I think he's running scared and his Daddy is bailing his ass out. Curtis is purposely baiting you, Cheri, just like he did at the grocery store. Because he's scared and he has no idea what else to do besides forcing you the truth out of you. And you didn't so far, which is good. You've kept your cool and it's frustrating him. His Daddy is probably demanding him to get some kind of proof or the entire 'case' will be tossed out."
"You'd make a damn good lawyer, Moni."
Monique smiled slightly. "Maybe. I watch a lot of crime shows." She joked, then the smile faded and she contemplated taking a sip from her bottle of vitamin water since her mouth felt like a dessert. Deciding against it, Cheria would kill her if they had to do another bathroom break stop in less than an hour after the last one. "Honestly, I think Curtis is hoping something will come up, or maybe he'll try to provoke Jon into something. But Jon should make sure to have his bases covered, just in case. Of course, if they keep postponing this, the judicial system will get pissed and throw it out. Daddy would not risk his reputation over Curtis being a douchebag, not on this scale."
"I already told Jon to maintain his temper around Curtis. The little asshole has come into the shop a few times since the grocery store incident to pick up his father's vehicle. Somehow, they keep 'finding' things wrong with it. Jon is getting pretty pissed and already plans on billing Curtis's father. And if he doesn't pay the bill, it'll go against his credit score and screw him over."
Her boyfriend could be vindictive when he wanted to be and she'd actually taught him that little business savvy when one of his longtime customers tried pulling a fast one on them. It was one of her first days at the shop and Cheria refused to let Jon's business get screwed because the man didn't feel the price was right, even though it was. She smiled at the memory, not able to wait to get home to Jon.
"Keep drinking, you need to keep the baby hydrated as well as yourself. We'll stop as many times as you need to."
Since she had been given permission, Monique opened the bottle and took a long swallow. She was always so thirsty lately and couldn't imagine what it would be like if she got food cravings. Monique had read some women suffered from something called pica, where they would want to eat things that were not food. Like dirt. Or paint shavings. She shuddered at the thought of having a craving for any of those.
"Jon needs to refuse service to Hussey. At this point, with there being a sort of active case against him, the fact that they keep coming in is them..." She trailed off, grinning faintly. "You log it when they come in, right? Each and every time? In the computer, where it is actually time stamped when you create invoices and stuff?" Cheria nodded and Monique began laughing. "How stupid can they be? Seriously? I got to pee again!" She was laughing that hard. "Even though there hasn't been a trial or hearing set, this is still in the court system and Curtis and his Daddy are coming in the shop of the man they're accusing of violence? Jon needs to take all this down to the courthouse and countersue them for harassment."
"Really? You think that's possible, even though Curtis's Dad is claiming they keep screwing up his car?" When Monique nodded, an evil simper stretched across Cheria's lips. "I think I know the perfect way to get rid of Curtis Hussey once and for all. Hopefully, Jon will go along with your plan to take all the records down to the courthouse. Once they see how many times Mr. Hussey has come into the shop demanding service, for free I might add, it'll be their turn to squirm. And I know Jon won't have an issue suing them, especially after what happened to me." Apart, Monique and Cheria were smart, but together they were diabolically brilliant. "Oh my god, I can't wait to get home!"
"Okay, me either, but bathroom first, Cheri. I have to pee!" Monique giggled, trying not to squirm in her seat and mockingly growled at Cheria reaching out to rub her stomach. That was a first and she smiled. "Aww, Aunt Cheri is already trying to rile up her little niece... I will hurt you, seriously." She watched as another sign for a rest stop rolled by. Monique could hold it for 20 more minutes, no problem, she hoped. "But back to Jon, it's like when someone gets a restraining order. Say you got one against me, but you kept coming around me anyway. You're basically violating your own restraining order. This is sort of like that. They're going after Jon for beating up Curtis, but instead of staying away from Jon like any reasonably sane person would, they're going out of their way to provoke him. We need to open up our own law firm, Cheri. We would be so awesome at this."
"Hell, you'd be the one taking all the cases and I'd be your sexy secretary with the too tight blouses and short skirts escorting people to your office." They both giggled harder and Cheria nearly swerved off the road, jolting both of them out of their giggling fit. "Oh my god, I'm going to kill us if we don't stop laughing!" It didn't faze them a bit, both starting to laugh again. "You need to open your own law firm once you graduate and become a lawyer, Moni. Do that and I'll be your partner or something, even though I know jack about the law. You'd have to teach me a thing or two. Or hell, maybe I can just deliver papers to the sorry bastards going against you in court." Pulling into a rest stop, Cheria watched Monique hightail it to the bathroom and shook her head, deciding to give Jon a quick call to let him know she'd be home sometime tonight.
"Where you at, darlin'?"
Jon wasn't sure if he had enjoyed having time away from her or not. It was nice, being able to be as gross as he wanted, but at the same time, he had missed crawling into bed and holding her. He was definitely over Joe's moody attitude, the man currently passed out on his couch after they had stayed up drinking and playing video games on the PS4 Joe brought over.
"And for fuck's sake, please tell me Monique is coming back to this idiot because I can't take another day of his... male PMS."
"Tell Joe to keep his panties on and chill out. Monique isn't breaking up with him or anything like that. She just…needed a little time to sort some shit out in her head and she's ready to talk to him when we get back. He better not stress her out though. She needs plenty of rest and relaxation, so if she doesn't want to have the talk tonight, he better respect her wishes." Or else Cheria would pop him in the nose and the back of his stubborn Samoan head. "Now then, miss me yet?" She asked cheekily, chuckling at Jon's growl in her ear and felt shivers course throughout her body. "I can't wait to see you tonight either, baby. I miss you so much."
Why the hell would Monique need rest and relaxation? Not like they had spent the weekend partying, checking out college could not be that tiring... and Jon frowned slightly. What if they had spent the weekend partying? Colleges had that stuff, right? Frat parties and whatnot? Cheria and Monique were very easy on the eyes; they'd be targeted for sure by horny men…he stopped that line of thought immediately.
"I miss you enough." Jon teased, looking around the living room. He would have to get Joe up so he could clean and prepare, deciding it was her turn to walk in on something sweet and romantic. "More than I should probably."
"That makes two of us then. We're a pathetic bunch, aren't we?" Cheria closed her eyes and listened to his voice, not wanting to hang up with him. The sooner Monique finished peeing for the millionth time – or so it seemed – the sooner they could get back on the road. "I will be home tonight, no matter what." She promised, glancing out the window when Monique came toward the truck and heaved a sigh. "Just relay the message to Joe and tell him to pick Monique up at our place." They reluctantly hung up with each other and a few minutes after that, the girls were on the road again headed back to Tampa to be with the love of their lives. "Joe is really worried about you and I think you need to tell him tonight, just so you know. He's been driving my man crazy and…having male PMS apparently."
"Men don't get PMS." Monique argued flatly, then got the joke and facepalmmed herself. "Sorry, had a blonde moment there. So, how crazy is crazy? Like, he's moody because he misses me or he's moody because he's just Joe?"
"Well, he's been staying at our place since our departure and playing a lot of PlayStation 4 with Jon. Drinking – no titty bars – just a lot of drinking and gaming. And he's been a complete bear at the shop. Jon almost knocked him out with a tire iron yesterday." Cheria cringed at the thought of that happening, wondering just how hard the Samoan's head was. "I told Jon to inform Joe he better be nice to you and let you tell him what's going on. No pressuring whatsoever. If he does pressure you, I will personally make him regret it. So when you're ready to talk to him about what's going on, do it. Don't force yourself though. And you are more than welcome to tell him to take a flying leap, if you want."
"No, I'm not going to do that. I've been so focused on me and what I'm going to do, I didn't really think about how basically up and leaving would affect him." Monique said thoughtfully, then smiled in satisfaction. "He missed me. I'm glad he was miserable."
Pregnancy hormones was to blame for her absurdity.
"Get your ass up, shower and have some coffee. Then help me clean up this mess." Jon ripped the blanket off Joe's head after opening the curtains wide, letting in all the beautiful Florida sunshine. "Our women are on their way back and you'll be picking up Monique here."
"She's actually talking to me now?"
"I'm supposed to warn you to be nice or die."
"Shut up." Joe was so hungover right now, his head pounding a beating drum against his skull. He was wearing sunglasses inside, not caring the only people who did that were usually douchebags.
"I don't know what you did to piss her off, but don't do it again. I like you a lot less when you're... moping... over a woman..."
Around 9 PM that night, Cheria finally pulled the truck into the parking spot of the apartment building, putting it in park. Both girls looked at each other apprehensively, each worried about how their men would react when they found out where they'd actually gone. Jon would blow a gasket and probably end the relationship with Cheria while Joe would demand a DNA test from Monique.
"This is it. We're home."
Flashing hesitant smiles at each other, they slipped out of the truck, closing the doors. Suddenly, the door to the apartment building flew open and Cheria smiled at the sight of Joe making a beeline for Monique, taking her in his arms spinning her around in circles. If she threw up on the Samoan, it was his fault, though Joe had no idea about the pregnancy yet.
"Get a room, you two!"
That was very tempting for several reasons. One: Monique missed Joe and she was ready to make amends with him. Two: If they left now and got that room, they wouldn't have to be here when Cheria came clean about the trip to Cincinnati. Monique didn't think she'd be in as much trouble as Cheria simply because she wasn't the one banging Jon. She bit her lower lip, wondering if Jon would think Cheria betrayed his trust or something, then glanced up at Joe. Hadn't she done the same thing?
Jon came strolling out more casually and draped an arm around Cheria's shoulders, dropping a kiss on her forehead. "I'm glad you're home, darlin'." He greeted softly, eyeballing the other couple and shook his head. "They need to get a room." He had no idea he repeated what Cheria shouted prior to him coming outside.
Joe flipped them both off.
This was not how she wanted her homecoming to be, but it was just like Jon to be casual about everything. "Come here and show me how much you're glad I'm home."
Yanking on his t-shirt, Cheria squealed when she was lifted off the ground by her backside and wrapped her legs instinctively around Jon's waist, her back colliding with the truck door moments later. Their mouths descended on each other's like vultures, each ravenous for the other since they'd been apart for 3 days. It was the longest Jon and Cheria had gone without being with each other. Cheria pushed the bandana off his head to grip the soft curls beneath and moaned unashamed as their tongues tasted each other again, familiarizing themselves.
"Upstairs. Now." Cheria ordered breathlessly once Jon broke the kiss, caressing every inch of skin not covered. "They can handle their shit, but I need you inside of me now, baby."
Joe shook his head, watching Jon cart Cheria up to their apartment and didn't let go of Monique, refusing to let her leave his sight again. "Come on, I'm taking you back to my place and we're having a talk." He rumbled, grabbing her bag while still keeping her locked around him and lead her to his vehicle.