Chapter 44 Trials and Tribulations
Feeling a little guilty about not trying to spend as much time with her brother, Emily went home to see how he was doing.
While she expected to find the place a mess again, it was not as bad as she feared, and Nick was in his room poring over a book.
“You’re studying,” she said, “keep it up, young man!”
“I do study once in a while,” he retorted.
Emily was about to leave him to it, but then he added, “I got a job to help with the rent.”
“What? That’s awesome! Where are you working?”
“The juice bar.”
“Wow, there seems to be a trend going around with everybody getting healthy,” Emily remarked, “Well don’t work too hard. Mom and dad can always help out with rent, but they would probably want you to focus on classes.”
“Yeah, I think they’ve made that pretty clear.” Nick sighed dramatically.
“School is still very exciting?”
“Yeah...”
At least he seemed to be trying, Emily thought. Maybe it had something to do with him seeing Katie. She didn’t want to ask too many questions, but the two of them were always texting each other, even when Katie was in the middle of an art class and supposed to be focusing on painting.
In another few days Emily's dreaded court appearance would take place. She wasn’t too worried about seeing Josh there. Even if he tried to pull one of his stunts, he would not get away with it in a court room full of security personnel. But she didn’t want to be in the same room with him because of everything he put her through.
If the court approved the protection order, with any luck she would never have to see Josh again.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to come with you?” Byron asked as she got ready to go.
“No, you don’t have to skip work,” Emily said. “I’m not afraid of him.”
She walked into the courtroom wearing a dark burgundy suit and shiny black dress shoes. It was funny how dressing a certain way was considered helpful to make a person seem trustworthy in the eyes of the law. Josh was already there, also dressed up, and his usually spiky hair combed back in a more conservative style.
When the proceedings began, Josh showed no signs of saying all the crazy, deluded things he used to say. He seemed very reasonable and convincing as he testified when questioned by his own lawyer that he only wanted to be friendly and civil.
His father must have got him a good lawyer, while Emily had a good one too, courtesy of Byron. The middle-aged no-nonsense woman seemed very confident that Emily’s protection order was as good as done.
When Emily’s lawyer questioned Josh, she asked about the incident at the office.
“Yes, it’s true,” Josh said. Of course, he must have known there was no use denying it as several people saw him there. “But I regret it very much—”
“Just answer the question, sir,” the lawyer commanded, “I didn’t ask how you feel about it.”
In his closing statement, Josh’s lawyer made sure to mention how sorry Josh felt about the aggressive incident. It was a powerful speech, and Emily was almost convinced that with Josh’s new meek attitude, the judge might be persuaded not to consider him a threat.
There was an hour’s recess while the judge deliberated. Emily couldn’t even eat anything. She tried to keep busy by texting everyone she knew, and she got many messages of support. Finally, the hour was up.
“I’ve had an hour to think about my decision,” said the judge, “And I am overwhelmingly convinced that this protection order should stand.”
Emily had a feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. All this time she had been wary and even scared sometimes. But no longer. If Josh was to go anywhere within 50 feet of her, she had every right to get him thrown in jail.
Byron was one of the first people she called.
“That’s amazing,” he said, hearing the good news. “Come over to my place to celebrate?”
“I’m on my way over,” Emily replied, “Though I’m almost grateful to Josh because in a way, he brought us together.”
“That’s slightly disturbing,” Byron said with a chuckle, “but I’m grateful to him too.”
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