It's Been A Long Time... [Desperate Measures Sequel]

FiftyThree.

"Miss Bennett," it was the first day of the case and the witnesses had already been on and given their accounts, now it was my turn. I didn't get to see Dean after I told him that I loved him he was told he needed to leave my room as he could relay messages back to the other witnesses, therefore, he needed to go to the public gallery. Seth and Stephanie both gave their evidence, their accounts, leaving it to fall down to myself and the defendant. I was first. 

It was hard sitting in the courtroom, I had been sworn in before sitting in the witness box and being examined by both my solicitor and the defendants. So far I had only had to give my name and my address and a few small details probably just to get me to calm down a little. I didn't know how they expected me to calm down with everyone's eyes on me. 

Now that Seth and Stephanie had given their advice they could sit in the public gallery and they had, alongside Hunter and Dean. Across the courtroom was him, Michael Smythe-Jones. I could feel his eyes burning into me, I even looked over at him once and those menacing green eyes told me everything I needed to know. After today everything was going to be lost, I could already feel it. 

I had no idea why I thought going through with this case was a good idea but here I was, sat in the court, everyone's eyes watching waiting for the next question, for my answer. 

The jury was made up twelve people and as I looked them over they seemed to look like very different people, it was evenly made of men and women, probably to get a fair view of this case. Some were older than others, some were larger than others but the one thing they all had in common was they were here to be the judge of this case. 

"Maybe you can start with the events leading up, what happened earlier in the night?" Milton asked me as he nodded at me a little reassurance to make sure I was okay. 

I wrung my hands together before I looked at Dean who was watching my intensely before I looked back at Milton. "That evening, I was invited out for a few drinks with some friends."

"So is it fair to say you were all dressed up and ready to party that evening?" He asked. 

Shaking my head I leaned forward, "I didn't dress up like the rest of my friends. I wore a pair of jeans and a top covered by a button up shirt, nothing too fancy, nothing out of the ordinary."

"Okay," Milton walked around the room before he stopped and looked back at me, all the time I watched him afraid that if I looked anywhere else I would panic or cry. "So you went out with your friends, just another normal night?"

Breathing heavily I closed my eyes for a second, before I opened them and looked at him again, my vision blurry from the watery tears forming. "We had some drinks, we danced."

"In your statement, you say you got separated from your friends, that you went into a different bar, any particular reason that you split from your friends?" 

This time I looked down at my hands, "During the evening I missed a phone call." My heart stopped for a second as I closed my eyes.

"You made a phone call," he spoke as I looked up at him. "Is it fair to say your conversation didn't go as planned?"