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he air in the courtroom was warm; she could hear people whispering in the background, faint sounds of opinions being blurted out in the air were keeping her distracted. Angela was trying her best not to turn around and yell at the handful of people in the courtroom. The area was small, enclosed with wooden stands and benches near the main door. The press was lined up at the very end of the room.
She would hear camera flashes after every few moments, and her heart would skip a beat. She knew what was going to happen soon, and she was trying her best to keep a grip on her emotions.
"Ms. Melrose, are you aware of the risk you will be taking by going through with this choice of yours?”
She gulped; she knew that all she had to do was ignore them, but now, the pressure had started to build up with the weight of the case resting on her shoulders. The nosy reporters weren't helping with the anxiety that was rushing through her body.
She took a deep breath, but before she even had the chance to exhale, another reporter spoke up from behind her, causing her to feel even worse at the given moment.
"Ms. Melrose, how do you feel about being front and center in one of the most controversial cases this city has seen in decades?"
She had barely even taken in what he had said when another one joined in.
“Do you really think you can win?”
She felt like everything was coming crashing down at her all at once. The seat in front of her where the judge was supposed to be sat empty. Angela squeezed her eyes shut and the sounds of camera flashes continued in the background, but she tried to cut all the white noise out as she said a little prayer under her breath.
Hoping for this to be over soon, she had more than just one person counting on her and, at the same time, some of the most influential people in the city waiting for her to mess up.
Before she had the chance to take any more time to ground herself, she heard the main door to the courtroom being pushed open as a wave of cold air made its way into the otherwise warm room, causing her to shiver as it made contact with her skin. She opened her eyes slowly. The first thing she noticed was the way the whole room had fallen silent within seconds. The whispers had died down, and for a mere moment, the place was surrounded by pin-drop silence. She didn't need to turn around to know what was going on.
It was time.
She tilted her head to the side at the sound of heavy footsteps entering the room. She pictured the face she was about to see, and her stomach fell into multiple knots right away. She flinched before the camera flashes filled the air once again; this time around, they were more intense. Angela finally looked to the side; a strong scent of perfume filled the air, gasps were heard, and that was when it happened.
She caught a glimpse of him, dark black hair neatly styled and pulled back. His head was hung low towards the ground, and she prayed for it to stay that way, but suddenly he lifted his head upwards, and she felt the chills going down her spine, rays of the sunlight filtering in from the window across the room fell over his face, and she gulped as she tried her best to look away. His eyes met his, and she froze in her place.
Deep brown eyes laced with the color of honey locked onto hers, and she gulped as the words of the reporter circled in her mind repeatedly.
“Do you think you can win?”
She didn't know why but she had started to doubt herself. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she noticed the way he was looking at her. It was like the whole courtroom had emptied out suddenly. It was just the two of them, and the tension in the room could practically be cut with a knife. He stood in the middle of the room with his eyes glued to her; she could feel the heat rushing through her body as the memories began to come back to her. Just as he was about to take a step closer to her, he was stopped by a reporter who had somehow managed to make his way across the courtroom; he stumbled past the people around and almost tripped over his feet. He had barely even reached the last row when he extended his hand forward and began to yell at the top of his lungs right away.
"Mr. Haywire, how do you feel about the case?"
She saw the look in his eyes shifting; he turned to his left rather smoothly as he faced the reporter; she wondered if he was going to speak to her; deep down, she was waiting to hear his voice; she imagined it bouncing against the walls of the courthouse. She gulped, anticipation had filled the air completely, and everyone's eyes were now on the two of them as they stood in the middle.
Her biggest fear had started to come true. She had never been so nervous in a courtroom throughout her life. He took a step forward, and her breath got caught within her throat; she felt her legs going numb as his eyes fell on hers again; he had completely disregarded the reporter as well as the team of lawyers in fancy suits that stood behind him.
She wondered what he was doing. The room was thick with silence. It felt like it was just the two of them in the room, and all the other faces blurred out into the background. As he took another step towards her, she realized there were barely even a few feet between the two of them; she didn't see it coming when he carefully knelt close to her, making sure that his lips reached the side of her ear. She felt her heart practically stopping in her chest.
She didn't even realize what was happening until it was already too late. She felt goosebumps rising along her skin as his lips grazed the side of her earlobe; the whole room had eyes on them. The judge was moments away from joining the room; the man before her was playing with fire, and she could sense that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Her breath hitched as she tried her best to remain calm and not cause a scene; half of her wanted to push him to the other side of the room instantly and just get rid of him, while the other half wanted to pull him closer to her, as close as physically possible.
All the thoughts racing in the back of her mind stopped the second he opened his mouth. His lips moved along her skin in a calculated manner as he finally spoke up in such a hushed tone that she was the only one who heard him.
"I really do love a challenge now, don't I?"
She couldn't even breathe. His words were sinking into her skin, and all she wanted was to be closer to him, but at the same time, the undertone of a threat in the lining of his words made her gulp as the fear washed over her.
She was hoping that he would step away, and just as he began to withdraw his body away from her slowly, he stopped halfway a few inches away from her and turned around to face her once again. This time, she was sure that the people in the row behind her had heard him, he had been a little louder and wiser with his choice of words.
"Let's see what you've got, Ms. Melrose..."
His voice trailed off at the end, and she knew that he wasn't just playing with her. He moved away from her, and as he made his way towards the wooden stand on the opposite side of the courtroom, he shrugged his shoulders, fixing his jacket at the same time. He offered a look with his eyebrows knitted together that showed he knew very well that he was the only one who was capable of messing with her mind, and she hated to admit it.
Angela was quick to pull herself out of her thoughts; as soon as she heard the door on the other side of the room opening, she knew that it was time. People in the courtroom began to stand up one by one; slowly, she took a deep breath and told herself that it was now her time to shine, and no one was going to take this away from her.
She shook the negative thoughts out of her system and gathered the courage to look up, her eyes met with his, and this time, she didn't flinch. Instead, the words played in the back of her mind, and she knew that he got what she was thinking just by the look she gave him from across the courtroom as he sat on the stand with his rather fancy attire. It was soon going to be his turn to flinch.
You wanted a war...I hope you’re ready to shed some blood...
