Tamara
It’s finally time for me to testify against Charlotte. Sitting in the hall, waiting for them to call me, I recollect the past couple of months.
I find out that Charlotte’s the one siphoning funds to offshore accounts. Got the banks canceled checks to back up my suspicions. Machines kept breaking. Charlotte murders her husband in front of me.
Then she shoots me.
Enough evidence? Absolutely. I take in a deep breath, steeling my nerves. Never having set foot inside a courtroom, my nerves are rapidly firing, fueling my anger for the testimony. It is an interesting process, I must admit. And the accounting search proves more intriguing by the day.. Maybe…
“Tamara Daniels,” A voice interrupts my thoughts.
“Yes?” I respond, standing from my seat.
“Come with me, please,” he smiles assuredly at me.
I step around him and scan the interior of the courtroom. Wow, it’s cavernous and rich with Roman columns and architecture. He leads me to the front of the courtroom and through a tiny wooden spindle gate. The bailiff steps up to me and leads me to the witness chair.
I place my hand on top of a ragged bible. “Ms. Daniels, do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So, help me God?”
I repeat the words after him and have a seat in the chair.
The prosecution assaults me with question after question over the course of the better part of three hours. One time, the attorney for Charlotte, stands, calling me a liar. The judge slams his gavel down and rebukes the attorney for his outburst, and tells the court reporter to strike that from the record.
The entire time I’m on the stand, I can feel Charlotte’s eyes boring holes in various places of my body. She looks and acts evil, so much that I can feel it, even if she’s dressed to kill. I snicker to myself at my off the cuff pun.
I guess that dressing to kill finally caught up to her. When they’re over asking me questions, the bailiff leads me down and out of the stand. As I’m walking, I catch a glimpse of Timothy walking the death path to the inquisitor’s box. I hope he can put her away for good. I take a seat in the back of the courtroom to finish the drama that’s become my life.
Timothy is sworn in and takes a seat. He, more so than me, gets the real version of the inquisition. I guess he’s over the humiliation of this crazy bitch, but I wonder how much he honestly knows.
Turns out, he knows quite a bit. At least enough to put her away for life without a chance for parole. The proverbial book is aiming at her, charging her with first degree and attempted murder. Serves her right. I feel the place where her bullet hit my shoulder.
Charlotte does not go quietly though, making threats of violence to Timothy. Before she leaves the room in cuffs, she finds me in the crowd and stares daggers into me with her eyes. “One day, pretty girl. One day, I’ll be back and you’ll be sorry. Dead sorry!”
She’s finally out of the courtroom and I leave as a flood of relief pours over me, telling me it’s all over. That this is behind me now. I can move on. I get in my car and think about the new things in our lives. Deciding to leave the oil business, I use what’s left of my savings to go back to school for forensic accounting.
Jason and Ken get positions working under the oil commissioner at his office. They both are overseers; Jason has the eastern half of the oil companies and Ken has the western portion. Ken enjoys being in charge, resolving the issues that come up from day to day. Jason enjoys working on redesigning the rigs, keeping anyone from messing with them from the outside.
All in all, I think we’re glad that we’re moving on.
I decide to surprise the guys with a steak dinner and some beers. After picking the items up, I head home. Thinking about the ups and downs of our relationship, I’m glad that we came to an agreement about being open and honest about our feelings and what we like or don’t like.
So far, so good.
The guys will be coming in soon, so I marinate the steaks and put the beers on ice. Pulling veggies from the refrigerator, I chop up a salad, placing it in a large bowl. Looking at the bowl with the salad and tossing it around, I smirk as it seems my life has been mixing like this lately. I giggle out loud.
Nothing could take this away from me. Tonight’s a night to celebrate. New jobs. New education. Bad guys behind bars. That’s the way it should be. I walk to the bedroom and pull out some comfy clothes to relax in this evening.
Getting in the shower, I imagine that the drops of water hitting me and rolling down my body are tiny bubbles of tension leaving me. I relax into the shower, washing the stain and fear of the past couple months from my body and soul.
It’s amazing what some hot water can do to soothe one’s spirit. Stepping from the steam of the shower into the cool bathroom, I dry off and put my comfy clothes on. Hugging myself, I hear Jason and Ken coming in.
I walk out to greet them with kisses and the two of them shower me with some kisses and two bouquets of beautiful flowers, one from each of them. I smile playfully and look at them, both beaming with pride. “I promise not to dump these in the trash.”
They both laugh as I get the flowers to the kitchen and into a vase.
“What’s on the agenda tonight?” Ken asks while he rubs his hands together.
Jason backs him up, patting him on the back. “Curious to know what you’ve got in store for us.”
I pull the steaks from the fridge and hold them up so that they could see the porterhouses I bought. Their mouths water, wanting to tear into the steaks. “Why don’t you two get these on the grill and I’ll join with the rest of dinner.
We party and celebrate into the wee hours of the morning, happy to be alive and a part of each other’s lives. Absolutely wonderful.