Free Destiny and a Bottle of Merlot by Bria Marche Page B

watch: 10:02 a.m. “We have plenty of time before your case is called. I’ll be there in five minutes. Hang tight and don’t act like a jerk when you go through security.”
    “Yeah, yeah… whatever.” Jack hung up and parked his BMW.
    Sasha pulled into the parking lot of the courthouse at ten-fifteen. There was a bottleneck of people ahead of her to go through security. There was no hurry, she had forty-five minutes before her case would be called. She flipped through the emails on her phone as she waited. A familiar voice jolted her back into the moment. It came from somebody in line, farther ahead. Her heart pounded wildly as she stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over, and around, the people in front of her. The front of the line was obscured, but she recognized the voice. There was no mistaking it. Jack was there, somewhere, and only thirty feet from her. I can’t have a panic attack. The guards will think I’m guilty of something. Stay calm. The sweat droplets trickled down the back of Sasha’s neck as she stood in the crowded line. Her stomach churned. I have to get through this. It’s because of that asshole I’m even here. She finally reached the front of the line. She glanced down every corridor as she waited for her purse to be searched. Jack wasn’t there. She was so close to getting everything she wanted. Should I go ahead, or get the hell out of here as fast as I can? The ladies room was directly to her right. Sasha ducked in and wet a paper towel. It felt good against her face. She needed to cool down and catch her breath. Images came back to haunt her. Images of Mia doing the very same thing six months earlier when she witnessed Jack and Sasha together at Grand Central Terminal. Sasha broke down. What comes around goes around, and it’s all related to Jack. I have to do this. He isn’t going to intimidate me, or any of us, ever again. Sasha took five minutes to compose herself, then continued on. She went over the information she scratched down on a piece of notepad paper as she nervously entered the elevator. Okay… I’m in courtroom 5G. She pushed the button on the elevator panel to take her to the fifth floor. The doors closed, and the elevator began ascending. It stopped at the third floor. Sasha held her breath as two women entered. She exhaled with relief. The doors opened again on the fifth floor and she reluctantly got out. The elevator was her safe spot. She could hide in there as long as the doors never opened. Now she was exposed. The plaque on the wall showed arrows going to the left for courtrooms 5A through 5G. 5H through 5M went to the right. Sasha turned left. My courtroom must be at the end of the hall, she thought, as she began down the long corridor. The necessary papers were compiled in a neat, manila folder Sasha carried firmly under her arm. That loud, arrogant voice filled the hallway, as the man on the bench fifty feet ahead of her, spewed angry words at his attorney. Just the sound of his voice, again, almost sent her into a panic attack. She had to walk past Jack to get to her courtroom. It seemed like slow motion as Sasha watched her folder fall to the floor and the contents slide across the corridor. She knelt down, gathering the papers as quickly as possible. No, no, please don’t come over here! Jack’s attorney was approaching.
    “Do you need some help, Miss?”
    “No thank you, I’m fine.” Sasha reached in her purse and pulled out the sunglasses, slipping them on inconspicuously as she stood up. Thank you, Vic. She brushed off her skirt and continued forward as Jack stared in her direction. With her head down as if she were reading the papers, she walked right past him. She heard him from a distance, as he continued his rant to the attorney. He had no idea it was me. I got past him, and he was clueless. I pulled it off, I’m free. He’ll never recognize me, even if he is trolling the streets of Tarrytown.
    Sasha was overjoyed and her confidence soared.