by Stefani, Z.
The trial had lasted a week before it was time for Julian and Heaven to make their grand appearance. Julian refused to step into the courtroom until the day that he and Heaven had to testify. He didn’t want Heaven spending any more time around Gavin than absolutely necessary.
Julian’s nerves were on edge the morning that they were due in court. He called his cousins to reconfirm that they would be there. He wanted as many eyes on Gavin as possible.
“Are you ready for this?” Heaven asked as she grabbed Julian’s hand.
“Yes,” he nodded as he helped her into the limousine.
“Good luck in there today and remember, I’ll be right outside waiting if you need me.” Alice was obviously nervous. She knew how sneaky Gavin was.
***
“Julian and Ms. Deville take the stand today,” Adele said with excitement.
“I have been waiting all week to see this.” Reese sat down next to Adele. She opened her large purse and dumped the snacks on the table.
Gloria grinned. “Sevigne is going to eat Gavin alive.”
“I know, and I can’t wait to see her rip into him.” Adele agreed with a smile.
“That defense attorney is a prick,” Reese said before she stuffed a handful of popcorn in her mouth.
“He picked the wrong chick to try and bully,” Gloria said and laughed.
Adele chuckled. “Sevigne Deville will verbally slaughter him.”
“I can’t wait to see.” Reese also giggled.
***
As if Mother Nature understood the seriousness of the situation, she let a flood of fresh rain pour down from the sky. Julian held a large black umbrella above Heaven as they headed to the courtroom. They were both dressed in all-black suits with white shirts. Heaven wore a formfitting blazer and matching pencil skirt that accented her curves. She wore her black-framed glasses and had slicked her hair back into a bun.
Julian was secretly wishing for one of her old suits. He didn’t want Gavin to look at her. He was already half-tempted to attack Gavin, but this would only heighten his anger.
“Remember what I told you,” Julian whispered after they sat down.
Julian had no fear when it came to himself. He would love to grab the guard’s gun and put a bullet in Gavin’s head, but he was worried about Heaven. He didn’t trust Gavin, and he didn’t want Heaven in the same room with him. He didn’t even want Gavin to have the privilege of looking at her again, let alone sitting in the same room with her.
Julian knew the officers in the courtroom well. He had worked with them on numerous occasions over the years. They had also worked with Gavin Grant. He didn’t want anyone to overlook Gavin’s capabilities, and he didn’t want the guards to be swayed by Gavin’s previous behavior. Julian had gotten in touch with them a few days before court, and offered them a large sum of money to keep a close eye on Heaven. He also wanted one of them to keep their eyes on Gavin at all times. They readily agreed, but it still didn’t bring Julian any comfort.
She smiled and grabbed his hand. “I remember, but don’t worry.”
Heaven wasn’t the least bit fearful. In fact, she was eager to confront Gavin. She would walk over to the defense table and slap him across the face if the judge would allow it. She couldn’t wait to help send him to prison for the rest of his life.
“I want you by my side at all times,” Julian reminded her for the three-hundredth time that day.
“I will be.”
“When you walk over to sit on that stand, you keep Gavin in your sight. When I’m on the stand, I want you to stay on the opposite side of the room from him. Stay close to your mother and her guards. While I’m up there, I don’t want you leaving the room under any circumstances. You keep your eye on Gavin. If he makes any sudden moves, I want you out of the room,” Julian instructed her.
“Do you think he’s dumb enough to try to attack me in court? He’s trying hard to get a not guilty verdict.”
“Yeah, by reason of insanity. If he’s going for insanity, what would make him look more insane than jumping over the defense table and attacking a witness in the middle of court?”
“Don’t worry, Julian, I’ll be fine. I’ve been in the courtroom many, many times. I know how to handle myself.”
“I don’t want you to have to handle yourself. I want you to run to me…I’ll take care of you.”
“I promise if Gavin jumps over the defense table and tries to attack me, I will run directly to you.” She grinned.
“It’s not funny, Heaven. Stop taking this so lightly, and stop underestimating Gavin Grant. I’m not taking any chances; I know what he’s capable of.”
“I know.” She kissed his lips and saw her mother out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, no.”
Sybille walked into the courtroom accompanied by five of her guards. They weren’t armed, but they were menacing despite their tight, white, spandex mini-dresses. They also wore white boleros and white, designer combat boots with six-inch stiletto heels.
Julian was happy to see Sybille and her guards. He knew that Sybille had demanded that her guards protect her daughter with their lives. Those women would do it.
***
Gavin smiled as he was led into the courtroom. He could have pled guilty and saved himself the trouble of the trial. But he wanted to see Heaven and Julian. Most importantly, he was excited to hear them retell the story of what he’d done to them. It was like picking off a scab that was beginning to heal. Gavin relished the thought of watching them relive the horror of what they’d suffered through.
He already knew that Julian would react with hostility; it was in his nature. Julian’s anger had always made Gavin uneasy, but it was different now. Julian was different where Heaven was concerned. It was the only time that Gavin had ever seen Julian concerned. Heaven was Julian’s only weakness. Gavin finally had an advantage over the man he despised, and he relished it. If only he were in a position to do something about it.
Soon, he mentally reassured himself.
He was also excited to see Heaven’s reaction. He prayed he saw fear in her eyes, anything but her trademark poker face. He couldn’t take her lack of emotion for too long. He needed to see the fear. She was a calculated bitch who controlled her emotions like a card shark, but she didn’t fool him. He knew all about that fiery hellcat hidden below that robotic disposition.
***
By mid-afternoon, it was Heaven’s turn to take the stand.
Julian sat in the courtroom, more alert than he had ever been. The whole time that Heaven was on the stand, Julian never took his eyes off Gavin. If Gavin even shifted in his seat, Julian was ready to tackle him.
Although his eye was trained on Gavin, Julian couldn’t prevent himself from watching Heaven. She was a professional. She sat on the stand with her poker face fully in place. Julian could see the look of rage spreading across Gavin’s face. Julian could tell that Gavin had expected Heaven to show fear.
What a fool.
Julian was so proud of her; she even outsmarted the defense attorney. Within ten minutes of the cross-examination, the lawyer had been fumbling and stuttering. It was obvious to everyone that he couldn’t handle her on the stand, but it was most obvious to him.
When it was Julian’s turn to go to the witness stand, he again kept his eyes trained on Gavin.
Gavin in return glared at him. Julian wasn’t surprised. He knew that Gavin wouldn’t be able to keep up the ‘nice-guy’ persona he presented to the world. The whole courtroom was silent as they watched Julian step down from the stand when he was finished. He and Gavin were exchanging a look of hatred so intense that everyone was nervous.
Julian walked over to sit beside Heaven. He held her hand tightly while still glaring at Gavin. Gavin turned around to look at them so many times, the judge finally demanded that he stop.
***
It was the end of the trial, and the employees of the King Law Firm were waiting with bated breath as they watched the television. They’d hoped t
hat Gavin would be brave enough, or foolish enough, to take the stand, but he didn’t.
Gavin was no fool; he knew that taking the stand rarely worked, especially if the defendant were guilty. So, after presenting their short closing argument, the defense rested.
When the jury came back to the room, Julian and Heaven were on pins and needles. Julian feared that if Gavin received a guilty verdict with life in prison, he might be tempted to do something foolish before being whisked away. When the juror read the guilty verdict, Julian wrapped his arm around Heaven tightly and quickly whisked her out of the courtroom. Sybille and her entourage followed close behind.
Julian rushed her to the car and wasted no time driving away from the courthouse.
“It’s over now; he’s going to prison for the rest of his life,” Heaven said once they were driving. She couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.
Julian wasn’t as happy or as confident. He couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t over.
***
Sybille had planned a huge festival in her backyard. Since everyone was positive Gavin would be found guilty, she had planned it a week in advance.
She’d invited all of Julian’s family, Petal and her husband, Alex, as well. She even flew Jade in for the night.
Sybille had decorated the backyard in red. She even purchased red bulbs for the pool lights to make the water appear red. When she first started planning the party, she asked Julian what his favorite color was. He said it was black, but it didn’t matter; he preferred she decorated in Heaven’s favorite color. Sybille had smiled to herself and decided to use black in the décor anyway. Sybille noticed that even though Julian had originally started calling Heaven a princess in a negative context, he was beginning to treat her as if she really were a princess. That suited Sybille just fine.
The large tent was red, as were the chairs and tables. The silverware was platinum with red crystals inlaid in the handles. The plates were red, and the clear glasses had red gems inside the stems. Sybille would have spray-painted the ground red if she thought it wouldn’t hurt the earth. For the menu, she chose all of Heaven and Julian’s favorite foods.
About a month ago, a few of the girls from the brothel formed a pop band. They called themselves The Pink Kitties and had been practicing in the house ever since. They begged Sybille to be allowed to perform at the festival; they wanted to help celebrate Heaven’s well-being. Although reluctant at first, their concern for Heaven won Sybille over. Sybille wanted to help the girls out in any way that she could. However, their off-key performances were painful and made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.
Sybille was currently trying not to wince as she listened to them botch a classic hit from the ’90s. She watched the girls perform on the small stage and was thankful the crowd was too happy to notice their mistakes. Sybille then looked across the rowdy, dancing crowd to see Heaven and Julian dancing to the beat of their own song.
Although the song playing was upbeat, and the people around them were dancing quite fast—Julian and Heaven were dancing very slowly. They were holding each other tightly as if they were afraid to be separated. The sight warmed Sybille’s heart, and she felt the tears begin to pool in her eyes.
“You’d better not cry,” Coco said as she walked up to her sister and handed her a glass of champagne.
“Do you see what I see?” Sybille asked.
“Yes I do, and you should be celebrating, Sister, not crying.”
“They are tears of joy, Coco. I was really afraid she would never fall in love. It was my fault, raising her in the brothel really did damage her perspective of men and sex. I’m such a horrible mother; I should have become an accountant,” she wailed as she held her handkerchief to her eyes. She had bought the red handkerchief especially for the festival.
“Sybille, you did the best you could. Especially considering how we were raised. She’s fine now, that’s what’s important. Look at her. Have you ever seen her so happy?”
“Never.” She sighed deeply as she watched her daughter dance with Julian.
Heaven and Julian were so close, and both wearing black, so it was almost hard to tell where one ended, and the other began. They were staring into each other’s eyes, oblivious to all around them.
Heaven couldn’t stop looking into Julian’s eyes. His pale gray orbs were sparkling, and she was becoming hypnotized.
He smiled, saying, “You look beautiful tonight,” and she scoffed.
“I look plain; I probably should have dressed up a little more. I’m wearing a little black dress, and everyone else is decked out. Alice is wearing a neon-green ball gown with red accents, and even Jade is wearing a sequined dress. Petal’s wearing a…” she stopped when she remembered the skimpy, glittery two-piece she was wearing, “…well, at least Petal’s wearing clothes.”
“You’re still the most beautiful woman here. You could wear two toilet paper rolls wrapped in aluminum foil and still be the sexiest.”
“No, I think the sexy award goes to you, Mr. King. I love you in that suit.” She rose up on her tiptoes and quickly kissed his lips. “Let’s go to my room.”
With the party still in full swing, Heaven grabbed Julian’s hand with a knowing smile. Even without the smile, he would go with her. He would follow her to the ends of the earth without question. She took him into the house and made a beeline straight to her wing. She led him into the dimly-lit red room and locked the door behind them.
She walked over to her dresser and turned on her CD player, making sure to turn it up loud enough to drown out the off-key band in the backyard.
The beautiful music sparked through the speakers like a melted electrical line. The words rang true for both of them, and the fragmented melody set the tone of their current mood.
“I’ve heard a lot of cover versions of that song, but I’ve never heard it botched so badly. When the lead singer of the band asked me if she sounded anything like the original lead singer—I told her that she did,” she said as she slowly walked over to him.
“Did you?” He smiled slyly and slid his hands around her waist. The singer sounded nothing like the original singer.
“I did, but then I said, ‘…if that singer were being slowly strangled while held upside down by a meat hook in the back.”
“That’s about accurate,” he nodded in agreement as they began to slowly dance to the perfect song.
“I know, but I actually felt bad,” she said with sadness, and Julian was once again stunned. Heaven was never one to feel bad for anyone or anything, especially when it came to her humor. “I even apologized.”
“You’re kidding?” He was genuinely shocked.
“Well, I didn’t apologize per se, but I told her that I was joking. I felt rotten; you should have seen the look on the poor girl’s face. For a second, I thought she was going to cry. I think my mother almost fainted when I attempted to apologize instead of going in for the kill.”
He grinned as he looked into her eyes. “I’m surprised that she didn’t.”
“I think you ruined me, Julie. My edge is gone,” she said, grinning awkwardly.
“I know that I did.” He pulled her closer and held her tightly to him as they continued to dance. She pulled back to look at him again.
“Everything is falling into place perfectly. Gavin is in prison, and we can go back to our normal lives now. We can go out to dinner, take walks in the park and stroll the beach. We can do whatever we want now.” Her joy was so strong it was becoming infectious to him. Regardless of the lingering paranoia, he too was ready to start his life with her.
Smirking, he said, “We’ve yet to have a normal life together.”
“I know. We’ve been through some horrible things, and we’ve done some terrible things.” She began to unbutton his shirt as they continued their lazy dance.
“Mostly to each other.” He ran his hands up and down her hips.
“We can start fresh,” she vowed as she ran her hands across his wide
shoulders, moving the fabric to the sides.
“I like that.” He covered her mouth with his and kissed her deeply.
Back To Work
Heaven woke up at the crack of dawn, excited to get back to work. She hummed as she floated through the rooms. She wore her new black pencil skirt and matching blazer with the slightly puffed shoulders. She wore a white, collarless button-up shirt and black suede heels with a half-inch platform. She even decided to take advantage of the makeup tips Alice had given her. She dabbed a hint of blush to her cheeks, applied mascara and a berry-toned lip gloss. She pulled her hair back in a big bun and slid on her black-framed glasses.
“Hurry up, Julian, we don’t want to be late for our first day back to work.” She frowned when she saw he wasn’t even dressed. She shook her head when he put his pants on. “You’re not going to shower?”