𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 - On Hiatus

4. 𝐐 𝐄𝐬𝐪.

I woke up the next morning feeling numb. My dreams were filled with visions of Michelle and Sy'eer, and I'd come to accept that soon I'd be waking up in prison.

I hadn't gotten a single word from my lawyer since I'd inquired about a plea. My focus should have been on how tough my sentence would be since I couldn't pay them back, but instead, I was anxious to get it over with. At least I would have a place to lay my head. As of now, I had one more night in this hotel room before I was penniless. Prison didn't seem too bad of an option.

The sound of my gurgling stomach pulled me from my thoughts. It'd been over 24 hours since my last meal. so complimentary breakfast seemed like an incredible idea. After a quick shower, I slipped into a battered pair of sweatpants and a tank top before making my way downstairs.

I was halfway through fixing a plate when I felt a soft hand placed between my shoulder blades.

"Danny," Cupid inquired. "What are you doing here?"

Turning to look at her, I twisted my face into an annoyed scowl. "Getting Breakfast," I muttered back. I had no particular reason to be rude to her, but I could already imagine all of the degrading and snarky remarks she had lined up to spew at me.

Surprisingly, she stared up at me with soft eyes. "I saw the news, are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay," I replied sharply, brushing past her.

As if she couldn't take a hint, she followed right behind me continuing to speak. "Where's Michelle?"

"Hell if I know."

She cocked an eyebrow in confusion. I suppose she wasn't aware of her friend's new relationship. "Did something happen? You know you don't have to play Mr. Macho tough guy right? You're not completely alone in the world, let her be there for you."

"She doesn't want to be there for me," I snapped back angrily. "Y'all finally got what y'all wanted, she's done with me. Congratulations."

She stopped in her tracks and seemed to have gotten the hint. I made my way to a nearby table expecting her to be finished with me. To my surprise, she came and sat across from me. I let out a long sigh in frustration. Why couldn't she just leave me the hell alone?

Just then she said something I would have never expected, "...She knows you didn't do it right?"

It caught me off guard. My eyes panned up to her and I could feel my breath catch in my throat. I repeated it in my head, unsure if I heard her correctly. "What," I asked to clarify.

"Daniel you're a lot of things, and I do mean a lot, but you're not a criminal," She exclaimed with complete confidence. "Even if you were, I don't believe you were dumb enough to trace it back to yourself. A tunnel straight to your closet? When the details went public I thought they were joking."

As she spoke I was still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that she believed me, and somehow my girlfriend of seven years didn't. I felt relief in the beginning, but it quickly evolved into anger. I remembered how she pried me away from Sy'eer like I was some kind of monster. I let out a low grumble before saying, "You're the only one who feels that way."

She furrowed her eyebrows, frowning. "You didn't do it, right?"

"Nope."

"I mean the accusation is insane. It should be easy enough to disprove in court," She said, carelessly taking a piece of bacon off my plate.

Annoying.

Shaking my head, I shrugged. "It's not going to court, I'm taking a plea."

"Huh," She questioned making a face. "Why would you do that?"

"My lawyer said it's my best bet."

"What? Your lawyer said that?"

I nodded in response, beginning to grow more irritated by the second.

"Get a better lawyer," She scoffed in an elitist tone.

I deadpanned and retorted, "Do I look like I can afford a better lawyer?"

After that, there was silence between us. She bit the inside of her lip and looked away, scratching the back of her head. The air became uncomfortably awkward. Maybe this would be the clue for her to leave me alone.

"Let me take over your case then, Pro Bono."

I furrowed my eyebrows looking her over. "All of a sudden you're a lawyer," I scoffed.

She mimicked my expression, then curled her lips into a smile. "What do you think I went to school for?" Putting out a hand, she nodded at me knowingly. "Cupid Addams Esquire, at your service."

Corny.

I stared at her hand for a moment, disinterested. "Why would you want to help me?"

Retracting her hand, she dropped the cutesy act and got straight to the point, "Because you're innocent, and it would be idiotic to watch you go to prison over such a poorly constructed case. Plus it sounds like they broke your lawyer a pretty penny off to talk you into a faulty plea so they can sweep it under the rug. A case like this would be incredible for my reputation."

There it was.

"So you tracked me down so you can take my case to get some street cred?"

She chuckled, "To be fair I didn't track you down. I genuinely didn't expect to see you here, I'm staying at this hotel too. It would've been a waste to ignore fate like this."

Fate?

"Listen to me. I have no money, no family, nowhere to stay, and no reason to not take the plea. Prison might be the best place for me right now. I don't want to fight this. So please, and I mean this in the nicest way possible Q, Fuck off."

As I spat those words at her, her face instantly dropped. She stared at me for what felt like forever processing my words. "I don't know what to say to that."

"Don't say anything. Just leave me alone," I muttered, finally beginning to pick at my food. Suddenly I didn't have much of an appetite.

She huffed, pushing one of her tight curls behind her ear. "Can you at least take my number? In case you change your mind," She said softly. "It would be good for my career, but Daniel I do want to help you. Once you plead guilty, it's gonna be hell trying to take it back. You're throwing your life away."

I didn't respond. This conversation was well passed over at this point. When I realized she had no intention of leaving until I obliged, I caved. I sucked my teeth loudly taking out my phone. She eagerly snatched it from my hand tapping in her number.

"There. I hope you change your mind, Daniel."

I grunted in response. Finally, she stood and handed my phone back to me. After that, I was left to myself.

It was nice to know that somebody believed me, but it didn't make a difference. I was throwing my life away, but what kind of life was this? What peace would I get from proving my innocence with nothing to show for my freedom? My Mind was made up.

That was until my phone started buzzing in my hand and an unknown number panned across the screen. I almost didn't answer, thinking it was just a scam or a wrong number; but the more it rang I could feel an urgency tugging at my heart. My brain was suddenly shouting not to let it go to voicemail. I needed to answer right now.

"Hello?"

Thank you for reading.
Please remember to vote/comment