From a Table Away ✓

Eleven

"Oh you've gotta be shitting me." I say as I flip through my mail, noticing the jury duty summons. It wasn't any real surprise what the case would be. There was only one thing rocking the Newton judicial world right now.

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"So am I supposed to go? Like it's his kid, that's gotta disqualify me." I ask Allie that night. Since the bombshell that was my pregnancy, she'd been coming around a lot more.

"What're you gonna do, out yourself right there in front of everyone?"

"No but I can't in good conscience serve on that jury. I don't think Jacob did it. I haven't from the beginning." I tell her. She doesn't look too convinced but before I can respond to that my phone dings with a text message.

Andy:
How're you feeling this morning?

Me:
I'm fine Andy. You need to stop texting me

Andy:
Are you still pregnant with my child?

I roll my eyes before responding.

Me:
Yes, I'm still pregnant

Andy:
Then I'll continue to text you

Me:
Please don't. You need to focus on Jacob. Especially this morning

Andy:
You're right. Can we please try talking this out again tonight?

Me:
I don't know what good it is going to do. I think we said plenty the other night

I lock my phone and turn off notifications. "What was all that about?"

"That would be the baby daddy, checking in."

"Well... that's sweet... I think."

"It would be if we hadn't gotten into it the other night."

"What happened? You never did say."

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*Flashback to 2 nights ago*

"I think we need to talk." Andy says when I open the door.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

"How could you not tell me? The way Laurie was describing the photos you're months along."

"I literally found out today. I've been under more stress than normal these days. And I've been irregular in the past, so I didn't assume anything until I started getting sick. I never vomit so..."

He rubs his hands up and down his face and I could see just how exhausted he was. "What do you plan on doing?"

I take a step back. "I plan on having a baby. Whatever you decide is up to you." I say before turning to leave him in the foyer.

"You don't get to just walk away from this." He says following me.

"You're right. I don't. But you do. You get to go home to your wife and your son and can act like what's happening over here with me doesn't concern you."

"You knew I was married."

"Not when we first started out! Not when you made me fall in love with you!" I yell, before taking a breath and calming down. "You need to go, before your wife comes looking and you can't explain why you're at a neighbor's house you're supposed to barely know."

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*End Flashback*

"He left after that." I say, taking a sip of the tea that I was instructed by the doctor to drink instead of my usual coffee. It was going to be a long pregnancy.

"And now you have jury duty where you might sit to determine the fate of his son... I'd hate to be you." Allie says.

"Your bedside manner is legendary." I say with a roll of my eyes. "But yes... At what point did my life turn into a fucking soap opera?"

"The moment you decided to continue seeing a married man."

"Thank you... that was a rhetorical question." I say before going silent. Tomorrow was going to be a bitch.

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Two hours later I'm sitting in a court room with the other poor sods who got picked to be interrogated for what was going to be the biggest shit show to happen in Newton for the next decade.

"Juror number 26." I look up. Neil Loguidice, the prosecuting attorney for the case has stopped in front of me. "Is there any reason you would not be able to serve on this jury?"

I look around the room, to where Andy and Laurie were sitting with Jacob's attorney. "Ummm... I..." before I can answer though I feel my breakfast start to make a reappearance and I run from the court room and into the first available bathroom, emptying my stomach into the toilet.

I step out of the stall and Andy is leaning against the wall. "This is the ladies' room." I mutter as I go to the sink to rinse my mouth out.

"Actually, it's the men's room. I guess that wasn't your first thought when looking for a place to be sick." He says quietly.

"You need to go. Go back to your wife before this looks any worse than it already does." I say before drying my mouth and leaving the bathroom.

I take my seat back inside the courtroom, apologizing for my hasty departure. "It's quite alright Miss Winters. Now, is there any reason that you would be unable to serve on this jury?"

I take a deep breath. Fuck! I couldn't lie, right? Plus I truly didn't believe that Jacob did this. I'm sorry Andy. "I've been having an affair with Andy Barber..." I say quietly, but in the dead air of the courtroom, everyone heard me as if I had shouted.