raising hope | s.m

♡Forty-Three♡

Maya

Shawn grabs my hands as I pace around our room. The sweater I'm wearing suddenly feels too hot.

"Baby, it's going to be okay," he assures.

"I know it's just... what if they don't believe me? Drew will get to walk free and he can't be tried again. Which means he can go do this to another person and not get in trouble and it'll be on me."

"Please don't let him get to your head," he pleads, cupping my cheeks. "I can't lose you again. Everything means nothing if I can't have you."

"I know. I'm going to be okay." He kisses my head and I wrap my arms around his torso. "I love you."

"I love you too, honey. So damn much."

The view from the stand is completely different. All eyes are on me. Drew is at the defendant's table, staring at me and only me. I look over to Shawn. He nods softly and mouthes 'breathe'. 

"Please state your name, ma'am," my lawyer requests.

"My," my voice cracks, slowly I breathe and clear my throat before speaking again. "My name is Maya Young."

"So, Drew was your boss for a while correct?" he questions.

"Yes, sir."

"And when did that end?"

"Early September."

"And how old are you Maya?" he questions.

"Twenty."

"What about when you were working under him?"

"Nineteen." My hands twist under the stand.

"So, did he tell you you'd be serving drinks? Did you tell him your age?"

"Yes, sir. I did tell him my age and no he did not tell me I'd be serving drinks." That's how the questions from my lawyer went. Simple, easy, and show my story and the facts. Then, Drew's lawyer stands up.

"Maya, it is horrible what you've been through but you have the wrong man."

"I do not." He turns to me with a smile.

"Tell me, when did the assaults start?" he questions.

"September 23rd, 2018," I reply with no hesitation. I remember sitting at his desk having to stare at the calendar.

"So, September was a big month for you, you met Mr. Mendes, who I assume you're still with?"

"Yes, sir." Confusion arose in me at what Shawn had to do with the assaults. 

"Do you think maybe, Mr. Mendes implanted these thoughts into your head?" He questions. I see Shawn tense out of the corner of my eye.

"No, he'd never do something like that. I-" he cuts me off.

"You are aware of his past, correct?"

"Yes, of course, I am."

"Objection! Relevancy?" My lawyer interrupts.

"Get to the point, Harrison," the judge demands. The lawyer clenches his jaw slightly.

"Did Drew Kingston assault you?" He questions.

"Yes. He did."

"Where is your proof, Miss Young?" I scoff, not caring that I'm in a courtroom anymore. He wants to play dirty.

"Where's the proof that he didn't, Mr. Harrison?" I retort. "I did not provoke your client. He chose to call me into his office and stick his hand down my pants on his own. Then, when I tried to back out he tried to rape me. Where's the proof he didn't do that?"

"Miss Young," he fixes his tie, "tell me about the rape."

"I'm sorry?" I question.

"My client told me you claimed he raped you. Is that true?"

"Yes, I was raped, I don't know if it was by him. I never asked for the DNA results back." My heart pounds against my chest. My eyes find Shawn and he's just as stressed as I am.

"We did and we tested it," he says, the door of the courtroom opens. "And here they are now, may I, Your Honor?"

"Go ahead," the judge allows him to go get the file. My heart screams in my chest. The room is silent.

"And..." he reads the paper and his jaw clenches and I know the answer. "The DNA matches..."

"Oh my god," I whisper followed by a cry. I don't know if I should be happy or relieved the DNA matches.

"Miss Young, do you have any reason to accuse this man of a crime?" He questions, defeated.

"No, that was the only job I could get and it put a roof over my head. I had no reason to go against him until someone gave me the strength to." I glance over a Shawn and he smiles at me.

"No further questions, Your Honor." A weight is lifted off of my shoulders and I feel like I can breathe again. Standing, I walk over to the gates and into Shawn's arms. He lets me cry into his shoulder.

"He won a few battles," Shawn whispers into my ear, "but we're winning this war."

It's been three days since we left the courthouse to wait on the jury's verdict. Hope stands in front of me and bounces up and down. Her small hands are wrapped around my fingers for stability. Shawn's phone rings. He glances at me before standing to answer. He's gone for what feels like forever. He comes back and there's a look in his eyes that tells me.

"We won?" I question, making sure the look is real.

"Yeah, you won, baby girl." I stand and walk over to him. Immediately I engulf him in my arms. He holds me tight as I cry. We sway back and forth. We stay like that for what feels like hours.

"I'm free."

"You're free," he repeats. I kiss him. I kiss him long and hard. Hope giggles from the floor. The kiss heats up and he pulls away. "Marry me."

"What?" I question, believing I misheard him.

"Please marry me, will you?" he begs.

"This isn't the way it's normally done," I laugh.

"I don't care. I'll propose and everything later I just need to know now." I think back to the time I thought Drew killed him, to the reality I imagined. Maya Mendes. Hope would have a father and I'd be married. It all makes sense. I'll have a ring writing us in stone around my finger. I'll wake up next to him every day and lay by him every night. He'll be the first thing I see when I wake and the last I see when I sleep. Without a single doubt in my mind, I respond.

"Yes. The answer was always yes." This time, he kisses me like he never has before.