How Living with the Bad Boy Saved My Life

Chapter Thirty Two

I smoothed my hands over the cream blouse I wore, trying to get out the last of the wrinkles. I let out a quick breath as I took in my appearance in my bathroom mirror. My hair was neatly pulled back into a pony tail and I had subtle makeup on. I looked down at the black trousers I was wearing and sighed, only one more day of having to wear them. After shooting myself one last glance, I finally left the bathroom.

My mum was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me with pancakes and orange juice ready. She gestured for me to sit and eat so I silently obeyed. I placed a forkful of pancakes in my mouth but the nerves I was experiencing caused them to be entirely tasteless. I didn't want to be ungrateful since my mum had went to the effort of making them so I said nothing and just tried to silently eat as much as I could.
She was eyeing me worriedly, clearly catching on to the fact I was trying to avoid her gaze.

After quickly gulping down my orange juice and managing to finish my pancakes, I took them to the sink to clean my dishes. Before I turned the tap on, my mum had grabbed the plate out of my hand, sat at on the counter top and sent me a questioning look.

"Harper, it's the third day of trial today. Of course I expect you to be nervous but you cannot shut down on me. Today is the day we need you to be stronger than ever before"  she stated.

"I know, mum, it's just so hard to go through the stress of reliving every moment for the past few years in front of an entire court room of people that don't know who I am" I admitted.

"Darling, I know it's hard. Hell, I'm doing the same thing but we have to be strong for each other. We need to support each other and be there for each other today no matter what happens."

I nodded at her words. As much as I was scared about what today could bring, I needed to be there for her too. It was not just me facing the trauma of this trial, it was my mum too. It is so important that we have each other's backs to help support one and other throughout this whole ordeal. Before I had the chance to reply to her, my phone started ringing so I quickly fetched it hoping it would be the one person I wanted to call.

I felt guilty when my heart sank and I saw the caller ID.

"Hi Alice" I weakly said.

"Hello, Harper. That is not the attitude I expected from you today! I just wanted to call to wish you the best of luck. I knew the past two days have been so hard on you but everyone at Ink Publications is rooting for you. I am trying my best to find a way to get to the trial later but if I can't I just want you to know that you are such a strong, admirable person and I would love to have the courage you do. Keep your head up high, darling. One way or another that bastard will go down" she encouraged.

"Thank you so much" I sincerely said. Her words of encouragement truly meant a lot to me so I meant my thanks.

"Okay, honey, I am going to let you get going now but hopefully I will see you later. Best of luck."

"Thank you!"

"Bye, honey."

"Bye." I said hanging up.

It had been six months of waiting for a date for the case to go to trial. Through those six months, Alice, my boss had been nothing but supportive. Initially, I missed around two weeks of work and was afraid to explain the truth to her. But eventually, local newspapers and outlets were reporting on the incident of me shooting my dad, the aftermath of it and the build up to it. So, I explained to Alice my situation and she was entirely understanding. She promised that no matter how much time I needed off, I would still keep my job with her. Despite knowing this, I did not want to take advantage of her kindness so after my two weeks off I dived head first into work again.