Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapters 71 & 72 Let The Battles Begin/ Winners And Losers

"But-" I barely have time to process her words before she is jumping all over me. It takes me a second to process things now.

"Love, look at me. If you pause to think about your answer, it means you are second guessing your answer." Addison sighs patiently.

"But I don't know the answer. I don't know why I was the one to drive. It just happened. I didn't think I was that tired, I guess." I explain truthfully.

"You guess? No, you can't say that either."

"Well, I don't know how this works! I've never been in court!" 

 Oh my GOD lady, cut me some slack! Addison stops pacing and looks me dead in the eye.

"You can't have an outburst like that either."

I drop my head in my hands. This is not going to be easy.

********

*Trisha*

"Are you sure you're, ok?" Casey asks while we sit at the dog park to let Maggie run around. Jonah sips his Starbucks coffee and says nothing but they both know I'm wound up tight this morning.

"I'm just really nervous for James. None of this should have happened. Case, I should have driven."

"No, don't go down that hole, Trisha." Jonah enters the conversation. "You can't think like that. You WILL drive yourself crazy." He pauses. "Did I ever tell you how I got this scar on my chest?" He pulls down the collar of his shirt just a little.  I shake my head no because I didn't want to ever ask him about it. I've only seen him without a shirt once or twice. Jonah then tells me this story about being completely wasted and falling into a firepit in college.

"It was awful. Nate says I look like a rotisserie chicken." He laughs a little.

"Figures. He'd say something like that." I roll my eyes.

"Anyway, you know how many times I played the 'what-if' game? What if I didn't drink so much? What if I didn't go near that fire? What if I didn't go to the party at all? I drove myself crazy for a long time. But you know what? Now it doesn't bother me. It's my reminder of why I never want to touch a drop of alcohol again. You can spend the rest of your life blaming yourself for things that happen. What if I drove. What if we didn't get in the car at all. It's not going to change the outcome."

Both me and Casey nod at Jonah's good advice. 

"There's no way James can go to prison. Not with his disability. Who the hell is this Nadine Jones anyway? She waited all these months to come forward. There wasn't even a service for her uncle or anything for people to pay their respects. Who does that!?" I blurt out, letting my emotions get the best of me.

"I don't know. But it sounds like you guys hired a really good lawyer. I heard she's the best." Casey leans down to give Maggie a treat while talking.

"Could you imagine what this is going to do to Moretti?" I continue.

"Trish. Stop talking like he's already been sentenced. Let's try and stay positive, ok?" Jonah gives me a slight pat on my shoulder.

I just don't have a good feeling about this trial.

******

*James*

"Well, this might be the case to lose for Ms. Landry. Malcolm Jones's niece, Nadine Jones, has also hired one of L.A. finest lawyers, Colton West. Colton may not be a celebrity lawyer but has only lost two cases in his 15-year career. This isn't a simple traffic violation. Someone's life was taken." We watch two reporters go live and I get a pit in my stomach at the publicity this trial is drawing in.