Irreconcilable differences
Chapter Two:
Annabeth awoke with a start. Woken by the; shrill chirping of two robins. To an observer it would have seemed like a typical morning, except for the fact that she was on the couch. She had spent the night there, too hurt by Jack's words to join him. Nor had he made any attempt to apologize. Now it appeared that he had left to drop Haley to daycare early. Wait a minute, the sun was way too high for it to be early; but that meant.
"Oh god I'm late", as if on cue her phone rang. After a punctual record, this late would be out of character. She could all but hear the questions. Struggling to her feet, she gasped at the sharp pain in her lower back. Why hadn't they bought a foldout? 'Because you never though you would need one.' Thoroughly depressed, she hobbled to the phone.
"Hello", she did her best to sound, strong and confident.
"Annabeth… are you alright", it was Maureen.
"Yeah I'm fine, just slept in, I… got home late, I'm on my in". Indeed even as she spoke, she was running upstairs to the shower.
"Good we need you, a case has come in, a typical murder case, oh and I'll give you half an hour". Click. 'Well that was abrupt' she grinned. Good old Maureen, always, so understanding. Peeling off her clothes, she stepped into the shower, and let the warm waters caress her. She should call Jack, she knew she should, or at least leave him a note; so he wouldn't just come home, and find her gone. Too soon, she had to step out of the shower, choose a new suit. Grey with a white blouse, no frills, they were too gaudy for her line of work. She snorted nearly everything was. It took her less then twenty minutes to get ready.
As she dashed out the door, her eyes searched, furtively, for a note anything that signified that Jack had been thinking of her. Nothing the tears that had flowed so freely the night before, welled up forming a lump in her throat. Her days just weren't the same if she didn't get to say goodbye to Haley. Haley reminded her why she went into work everyday, to make sure that nothing happened to her beautiful baby girl. Maybe she had lost sight of that; by working, so hard that Jack hadn't seen that. She would call him and apologize, after all life was too short to spend it sweating the small stuff. Feeling slightly better, Annabeth headed out the door.
The ride to work was uneventful, despite the uncharacteristic traffic jam, just five blocks from her work. Groaning she weighed her options. "I could park, get out and walk, or call Jack". She opted for the second one, even though it made her slightly nervous. Picking up her cell phone she called home.
Two rings, three, he should be home, was he ignoring her; five, six. "Hello", he sounded calm; but not particularly glad to hear from her.
"Did Haley go off ok?" She figured that was a good place to start, common ground.
"Yeah she was fine, missed seeing you thought"; his tone had lightened immensely.
"I missed seeing her too, hey how about I pick her up tonight and we have dinner together." She hated how hopeful she sounded, especially when he had gone off on her.
"That would be fine Annabeth". "Fine", she made an effort and got a fine. "Jack I'm sorry, about last night about the whole week actually, I just haven't been myself lately".
"Yeah that's for sure", the voice was as scathing as the words. What had happened to her kind supportive Jack? "Jack I love you don't forget that ok", he sighed.
"I love you too, it's just been so…", he sounded so resigned, was he having second thoughts about her working.
"Been so what?"
" Nothing, we'll talk later". With that, the line went dead. What was he, on about? God calling him; hadn't alleviated anything. Confusion made the ride to work, go that much faster.
Hurrying to the elevator, Annabeth braced herself for her next case.
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"Seven year old, Steven Bailey", Maureen handed her a photo, "was murdered this mourning by his father". Annabeth's heart lurched; the boy was so cute. Dark hair, green eyes, and a beautiful smile; he looked like an angel.
"Why would his father do that?" "Was there marital discord?" She was just so stunned; this could be her Haley. " No it couldn't because Jack adores Haley…and me."
"None that we can spot, but I've got the wife in the interrogation room; you can go talk to her when were done here." Annabeth gave a quick nod.
"Wait why am I talking to her, if you haven't got the..?"
" The husband", Maureen sighed, "he's in custody."
"But then why is she in the interrogation room?" Maureen cut her off, with a wave of her hand.
"She was a suspect until we found the note her husband". Annabeth scoffed, what an idiot.
"Go see her, then see him." Feeling slightly un-easy, she rose to go meet Mrs. Bailey.
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"This is a broken woman", was Annabeth's first though. Indeed Mrs. Bailey was the poster girl for pathetic; but of course that was understandable under the circumstances. Her hair was not done, but it was the same color as the sons'. Her eyes were gray, and glazed. She looked up slowly as; she entered.
"Mrs. Bailey, I'm Ms. Chase." Putting down her folder, she sat across from the distraught woman. "Mrs. Bailey". "Sarah", came the victims voice. So rundown
"Sarah I need to talk to you about what happened last night." Last night, the night she had fought with Jack.
"Well, I was working late, it's been happening more and more often", she broke off sobbing, "if only I'd made an effort; come home early". Annabeth fidgeted the story struck an uncomfortable chord.
"It's not your fault"; she said trying to be reassuring.
"No it is, I should have seen something, I though he didn't mind me working." "It's what he said, sobs wracked her frame, "but then all of a sudden it was how can you manage a classroom when you can't manage your home." Annabeth's blood ran cold. They were Jack's words, Jack's actions. "No Jack's not like that, he loves me, or at least he did". She stood abruptly, the room feeling smaller by the minute.
"Thank you for your time, you can go now." Sarah gave a bitter laugh "go where?" Grabbing Sarah's file, Annabeth fled the room. Once outside, she leaned against the wall, taking calming breathes. She couldn't fall apart, over something so silly. She was probably overreacting; because Jack was her rock, and it was disturbing to see him fall apart. With a trembling hand, she pushed off from the wall. It was time to see Mr. Bailey.
Striding purposefully down the hall, she waited for clearance. A cute guard young came to check her i.d. He flashed her a toothy grin, "another lawyer huh". Giving him a confused look, she entered. "Maureen must have come down." However, it wasn't the face of her friend that greeted her, it was a smirk.
"Ms. Chase, I assume you're here to talk to my client." "Hellman", Annabeth's mouth dried out, he had lawyered up. "When?" "How?" At a loss for words, she nodded dumbly, sitting down at the table.
She winced at how cold the metal felt, against her skin. These tables had always, struck more fear in her, than any policeman. She looked up to see Hellman regarding her oddly. Clearing her throat, she began.
"Mr. Bailey, did you kill your son", it was cold question for a cold man, he deserved even less.
"You don't have to answer that". Annabeth glared, at the defense lawyer diagonal from her.
"Oh but I want to", Mr. Bailey's voice was nasally and high. Hellman gave an impatient sigh, as his client leaned forward. "You see I was saving my son, Joey deserved better, now he is getting it".
"Deserved better than what?" She asked, even though she knew she wasn't going to like the answer. "Better than a deadbeat mother, who forgot her priorities, who let her work consume her." "She was so busy helping other people, she forgot about us, he snorted, "I bet she doesn't even care that he's gone." Annabeth started at the last statement, how could he have lost sight of the most obvious facts. Like his wife's love for him, for their son. The blood drained from her face her stomach lurched, it was too like her, it scared her.
"Are you alright Ms. Chase", how dare this monster ask her that how could he kill his own son. Gasping, she pushed back the chair so quickly it toppled over, she ran out of the room. She didn't know where to go, she couldn't face Jack now, she couldn't go back to the office, they'd ask what was wrong. Therefore, she just stopped, and stood in the middle of the hallway, absently watching the people brush past her. Slowly she became aware that someone was coming up behind her and stopping.
"Are you all right, Ms. Chase?" Hellman again, sighing she turned to face him. Of all the people here, including her friends, he always seemed to find her at her worst.
"Yes!" it sounded horrible even to here.
"I've already told you that you're a terrible liar", he stated harshly, handing her, her file. Annabeth glanced up sharply.
"You didn't look at it did you?"
"What do you take me for?" He snapped obviously offended.
"I…I don't know", her voice cracked all control lost. "YOU SEEM TO LIKE DEFENDING SCUM, THEY DO SAY GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION". By this point, people were stopping to look.
"You're causing a scene", he chided with an under-laying tone of anger, laying a hand on her arm.
"DON'T PATRONIZE ME, she snapped, I KNOW I'M cAUsing a scene." She petered out by the end, feeling mortified; here she was airing her dirty laundry. "I'm sorry, I haven't been myself lately". Why was she explaining herself to him? More importantly, why was that the only excuse she could think of? Jack had bought it; but she could already tell that Hellman didn't. However he decided to let it slide, after all they weren't close. He looked down at her clearly concerned.
"Perhaps you should go home, I could tell your office that you're…not well". She looked into his eyes, he seemed sincere, and she had to see Jack. Just to prove that her fears were ungrounded.
"Yes I think I will, my family needs me." To that he gave his trademark smirk.
"Do you need me to walk you to your car?" For the first time that day, Annabeth laughed.
"No I think I can make it", taking the file from him, she headed to pick up Haley. It was only when she was outside, that she realized that not only had she shared an inside joke with him; but that he also hadn't said no to reading her file.
A.N
This Chap was a bit slow; more action next chapter, please review. Thanks for the input.