Sugar // Marliza

20

- Maria -

The next morning, I was up bright and early at 8am with a call from my lawyer. Great.

I heard my phone buzzing and slid out of Eliza's arm and into the dorm hallway to take the call, barely awake.

"Hello, this is Maria Lewis." I mumbled into the phone. My lawyer, Martha Washington, answered. I was so glad she was my lawyer, she was so helpful and nothing but a blessing to me.

"Good morning Maria, sorry if I woke you. There are some things we need you to come in to our offices today to tell you about and go over before the court date coming up, alright?" She told me. I felt a little more awake at the mention of the upcoming court hearing and nodded before realizing she couldn't see me nod.

"Yes, that's fine. What time should I head in there? I have work later this afternoon but I can go in late." I told her. I could hear her clicking around on her computer, probably pulling up a calendar of meetings and appointments.

"I have an opening around 11 if that works for you."

"Alright, thank you so much. I'll see you at 11." I said. She said goodbye before hanging up, leaving me standing in the hallway in my old sweats and a t-shirt I've had since high school. I took a deep breath and rubbed at my face for a moment, pressing my fingers gently against my eyes to try to wake myself up a little bit more. Remembering Eliza, I went back into her dorm to see her in the little kitchen making coffee.

She had a short, silk robe tied around her and her hair was loose around her shoulders. She looked so beautiful. She smiled softly when I walked back in and handed me a mug full of coffee, lots of cream, just the way I like it. I thanked her and kissed her gently on the cheek before taking the mug into my hands.

"Where'd you go?" She asked, sleep still latching on to her words as she spoke.

"I got a phone call from my lawyer about the case with James, I have to go in there to talk to her about it in a few hours." I told her. She nodded and took a sip of her freshly brewed coffee, which she had just dumped quite a large amount of sugar into.

"Do you need someone to cover your shift for today? I can find someone if you need me to." She asked. I shook my head, telling her that I should be back in time to make my afternoon shift.

"Alright. Do you want to head back to your place to get ready? I know you have work clothes here, but I didn't know if you wanted to wear something else to meet with your lawyer." She said.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I should probably head back somewhat soon to shower and stuff." I told her. She nodded and took another sip of coffee.

While we finished our mugs off, we came to the decision that I'd go back to my apartment and she would stay here and do whatever she needed to do for the day. I didn't want to leave, but we would be seeing each other at the café later today, so it was fine.

Soon enough, I was on my way back to my place, wishing my girlfriend was still with me. The past two days were something I could really get used to, but I didn't want to bother her with my presence.

Little does Eliza know that thoughts like these had been plaguing my mind often lately. Thoughts of not being good enough for her, being a bother, taking up too much of her time. Thoughts of making her do things she didn't want to - which applies to both hanging out with me and now what we did yesterday. I ignore the little jump my heart does when I think of what we did yesterday.

I know she said yes yesterday, but what if she was just saying yes because she wanted to make me happy? What if she didn't really want to be doing that at all? I know that she can be very innocent, very shy. I just hoped I didn't mess anything up.

My overthinking and over analyzing continues as I shower, do my makeup, and get dressed in a simple, navy blue pantsuit with a white flowy blouse. I put on a pair of heels and double check my appearance before heading out to get on the subway. My getting ready took quite a while, and I wanted to be a little early to the office before my meeting with Martha started.

I was a bit nervous to talk to her about the trial. We had gone over what I thought was everything already, but she said there was more we needed to discuss. I didn't know what else that could possibly be.

Before I knew it, I was pulling open the door to Washington & Washington Law Services. The other Washington was Martha's husband, George. He taught at Columbia Law School most of the time and didn't take on nearly as many cases as Martha did.

I walked inside and sat in the waiting room, bouncing my leg up and down anxiously as I texted Eliza.

maria: it's probably bad that i already miss you, is it?
eliza: i already miss you too, so i'll vote that it's not bad. did you make it safely to the lawyers office?
maria: yes i did. waiting now, i'm pretty nervous about how this is gonna go. it'll be so much worse when i have to see him face to face at the trial tho
eliza: you've got this, love. i believe in you :)
maria: thank you. i'll update you when i get to the café, okay?
eliza: sounds good to me, can't wait to see you here

I clicked my phone off and put it in my pocket on silent as the receptionist told me that Martha was ready for me. I took a deep breath and thanked her before walking back to her office.

"Hi, Miss Lewis." Martha greeted me once I entered her office. I waved her formal greeting off and told her to call me Maria once I had greeted her too. I sat down in the chair in front of her desk and she clicked open a file on her computer.

"Listen, let's get straight to it. I'm not one to sugarcoat, you know that. I have some news that isn't great for you - I don't want you to get nervous, though. You're safe. We've got eyes out there for you, okay?" She began. Now I was really nervous.

"What's the matter?" I asked, fiddling with the hem of my blazer.

"James Reynolds was bailed out last night. Now, Maria, this is not a threat to you and you don't have to worry about it. Everything is going to be fine. Him being bailed out is essentially just him being out of police custody until the trial. And we know that once that date comes, he will be charged and locked up." She told me. I felt like my body was floating out of the chair.

"He's free right now? Just... out there on the streets? He could find me again, he could get to me! How could this be allowed, I don't understand." I said. He could find me. He could find me.

"Maria, you don't need to worry. He knows that if he does anything, even gets close to you, that he's pretty much done for. Please, do not be concerned. Everything is going to work out to be just fine. I can assure you." She said, leaning across the desk to place a hand on mine. She had a motherly way about her, something that calmed me easily.

"Thank you for letting me know. I'll try my best not to worry." I told her. She nodded and began to move on, asking me a few more questions about information I had previously given her and double checking everything.

"Well, Maria, it looks like everything here is all lined up and ready to go. I hope the rest of your afternoon goes smoothly. If you ever have any questions or concerns with this, give me a call, any time." She said, standing up and shaking my hand. I thanked her for her time and left the office, exhaling deeply as I stepped onto the streets of the city.

I went back home and changed before buzzing over to work, getting there just after Eliza. I worked away some of the stress I was holding in me, telling Eliza what had happened on our breaks in the back room. She sighed and pulled me into her when I had explained everything, slowly stroking my hair and reassuring me that everything would be okay.

I would have peace of mind once this whole trial thing was over, of it ended up going the way I needed it to. Martha Washington was one hell of an attorney, I knew that. I just hoped and prayed that it was enough to get James locked away and locked out of my mind.

a/n: what are your guys's predictions for the rest of this book? have you picked up on any foreshadowing, there's been quite a bit! let me know your thoughts!