Two Perfect Wrongs

The Trial of the Century?

Sally and Adam were sitting on the couch watching the morning news, Sally glaring at her boyfriend's coffee cup. Adam could feel her eyes on him. "Can I help you?" He asked amused. 

"I miss my morning coffee." She grumbled. 

"I thought you liked the tea?" 

"I do, but it's not the same." The herbal tea was becoming a stable in her life. She turned to face Adam and make a joke when she saw him sitting frozen on the couch. Looking over to the TV, the footage of Chelsea being escorted out of Society greeted her. 

"Her trial starts today." Adam said not taking his eyes off the television. "Thank God Connor's already left for camp." Sally nodded in agreement, her heart breaking for that little boy. 

"Are you going?" Sally gently asked. He had refused to talk about the trial when Connor was still home, then she was afraid to ask him. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn't sure what she wanted his answer to be. 

Adam nervously scratched the back of his neck. He had been so focused on Connor and Sally's pregnancy that he hadn't given much thought to Chelsea and her trial. "I don't know. I've been neglecting Newman due to Connor, which I don't regret, but I need to focus on work. I might check out one day out of curiosity." He sighed bitterly, "Besides I'm supporting her enough aren't I?" 

Sally grimaced knowing exactly what he was talking about. Chelsea's funds had been depleted from her stay at the Grand Phoenix so she had no money for a lawyer. Conveniently, too conveniently in Adam's opinion, Connor found out about this and begged his father to pay for his mother's lawyer. Unable to say no to his son, he agreed. 

Explaining that fact to Sharon was one of the most awkward experiences of his life. Thankfully, she understood or at least she said she did. Being caught in-between his two ex-wives was an extremely uncomfortable situation. 

"You're wonderful you know that?" Sally told him. 

Adam scoffed. "Debatable. Highly debatable." He got up from the couch to put his and Sally's empty cups in the sink. "Enough trial talk, we can't keep letting Chelsea's drama impact our lives. Let's get to work." He kissed her cheek before leaving the house to head to Newman. Sally stared after him in disbelief. Sighing, she headed to work herself. Hopefully her boyfriend would come around sooner rather than later. 

True to his word, Adam stayed away from Chelsea's trial. Focusing on Newman business was a good distraction and he meant it when he said he was tired of being dragged into Chelsea's mess. He knew he always would to some extent because of Connor, but distance needed to be established. However, that changed the day he found out Chance was testifying. The detective's sudden removal from the case and refusal to answer questions intrigued him. So he made an expectation and he and Sally went to see his testimony. 

Sharon and her family, Nick included, were surprised to see Adam and Sally walk in. They had been constant fixtures since the trial began as well as Esther. Adam wisely ignored Esther, he didn't want to set her off, but gave Sharon a tight smile. He could see Chelsea trying to catch his eye and gave her a quick nod before focusing his attention onto Sally. Sally was watching Adam's body language. This sudden urge to go to the trial confused her. 

Chelsea fumed in her seat. Adam finally showed up only to ignore her and throw Sally in her face. She hated herself for it, but everyday before the trial started she looked for Adam's face in the gallery. She never found it but she did meet Sharon and Esther's death glares, Sharon's kids's angry ones, and Nick's indifference. That hurt more than all the others. She had loved Nick, build a life with Nick, and to have him look at her like she was nothing burned.