The One After [SHAWN MENDES]

Chapter 91

I looked at myself in the mirror and felt slightly sick to my stomach. Recently, I'd bought several suits for the trial, and the person staring at me in the reflection was completely unfamiliar, like a corporate version of Lucy Atwood. That wasn't the hard part, though. I had a court advocate named Carmella who was helping me with all the trial proceedings, and she suggested that I wear an updo so that the patch of shorter hair was visible to the judge and jury, which meant I had an area with two inches of new growth popping out of the side of my head.

"You ready?" Shawn asked as he stepped into the bathroom and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"No, but it's not like I have a choice about waiting until I am," I replied as I made eye contact with him in the mirror.

He was dressed nicely, too, since he was possibly being called to testify today. He'd worn the same simple navy blue suit and tie when he co-hosted The Tonight Show, and I admired him for reusing the ensemble considering so many celebrities wore things only once.

"I wish we could drive over together," he said. "I'd feel better about all this if we could walk in the courthouse hand in hand."

Another thing the advocate insisted on was that we arrive separately. We were a known couple, but she believed we shouldn't flaunt that during the proceedings. Shawn was being chauffeured over with his body guard, and I was riding with my dad and Uncle Lou.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed, and a message appeared from my father saying they were out front. "Time to go!" I attempted to sound positive even though I was feeling negative on the inside.

Shawn walked me to the car and gave me a quick kiss. "I'll see you there. It's all gonna be okay."

After I was situated in the back seat, my dad turned around. "I have a feeling in my gut that things will not go well for your attacker today and he'll end up changing his plea."

"I hope you're right."

When Lou pulled in front of the courthouse on University Avenue, we saw the crowd of reporters were gathered out front. My dad signaled to the waiting police, and they escorted the two of us inside while my uncle parked the car. As I walked quickly towards the building, questions were called out to me and photos were taken, but I remained silent. My case was only this high-profile because of my boyfriend, and I knew he felt terrible about that. If my entrance was hard, his would be much worse.

Once we were inside, we went through security and were greeted by a representative of the Crown Court who filled us in on what would happen next. Shawn joined us half an hour later, though he stood apart from me for appearances.

Before long, the courtroom doors opened and I was ushered by Carmella to the witness seating area directly behind the prosecutors, who were also called the Crown counsel. In a way, it felt like they were my lawyers, but because this was a criminal and not a civil case, they represented Ontario, not the me, the victim. I was merely a witness. If I wanted to file a civil suit, I could, but I was loathe to continue this ordeal any longer than necessary. Shawn and the other witnesses were seated behind me, though I was advised not to interact with any of them during the trial.

When Liam was escorted in, I looked away because being in his presence made me uncomfortable. I knew he was going to sit in stand to the left since this had been explained to me in advance, and I was determined to keep my eyes averted from that direction.

There were some formalities at the beginning, and then the jury walked in. It was composed of a group of twelve people who'd been selected the week before. Once they were seated, the lead prosecutor, Abigail Becker, began her opening argument, which essentially stated that Liam Echols had maliciously assaulted me following a discussion after the cruise. His defense attorney spoke next, and unsurprisingly claimed that his client had acted in self-defense after I'd struck him and had no intent to push me in the water or cause me grave harm.