Page 85 of Betrothed To Love

“Hol—”

“Excuse me. I have the floor. You had your turn. Now, it’s mine,” she says.

“Okay!” Alex utters lowly.

Up until this point, the debate has been pretty mild and standard. That quickly changed when Richardson did a quick, three-sentence summary of my wife’s career. As he spoke, I knew he was in trouble because she was tapping her foot the entire time.

“He also didn’t mention that during my three years of law school, I interned with the District Attorney and under D.A. Hartfold, I secured five convictions. He failed to also mention that after I was sworn to the Bar, I went into private practice and successfully defended my clients. See, I worked both sizes of the law to learn and master it. My bench represents equal justice. With me as the judge, the scales never tip,” she says and the center erupts with applause. Hell, I stand too because she nailed that shit. As beet red as Richardson’s face is, he knows it too.

It’s heating up now and the gloves are off. As Richardson loosens his tie, the moderator and reporter, Anja Brown, tries to calm the crowd.

“Okay. Okay. Let’s settle down so I can ask the next question,” Anja says over the clapping. “Thank you. Mr. Richardson, your run for judge came as a shock to a lot of people. What made you enter the race?” she asks once the crowd calms.

After clearing his throat, Richardson grabs his mic then says, “I felt compelled to run because Crescent Falls deserves more than a sex worker as their judge.”

Nigga what!

The entire crowd has my same reaction and a concert of gasps fill the room, followed by a deafening silence.

“Excuse me!” my wife yells.

“What did he say?” Alex asks.

“I don’t think I heard you right. Can you please repeat that?” Anja says, sounding perplexed too.

“I think you heard me, so I’ll let the judge repeat it. She’s the one who worked for Madame Giselle in college. She failed to mention that in her little details,” he says, sounding like a bitch.

I’m two seconds off his ass. When I stand, security by the stage puffs out his chest and steps forward, but I don’t give a fuck. Richardson is lying, trying to ruin my wife’s career. I step forward anyway and my wife locks eyes with me then waves her hand as Alex grabs my hand.

“That’s all Richardson wants. Don’t,” Alex pleads and my wife nods.

Still furious though, I back down and ease back into my seat. If this bitch says something else though, my wife’s pleading eyes or her hand wave won’t be able to stop me.

“That’s a strong allegation, and if false, can lead to serious repercussions and end your run for judge,” Anja says.

“The only defense to defamation is the truth and I’m not lying. Am I, Your Honor?” he asks.

“Giselle is not here to correct you, so I will. Her name is not Madame Giselle, it’s just Giselle. Madame has a negative connotation and implies illegal activities, which she does not partake in. She runs a legal service that you may or may not have used yourself. I don’t know, which is why I’m not making that allegation. Unfortunately, you did not give me that same courtesy and that’s a shame. I’m here to discuss the law, our justice system, and the equitable administration of the law. The fact that you aren’t speaks volumes to our Crescent Falls residents,” she says calmly and eloquently, then turns to face Anja. “Thank you for remaining professional and keeping this on topic and thank you to those in attendance. Remember to vote on November fifth. Thank you and good night.” Mireya turns to walk toward the back. I stand, brush past security, and meet her at the door. Alex and Kyrah are right behind me. When I open it, she walks right into my arms. “Oh God,” she cries.

Duke rushes over to us. “What the hell!” he exclaims. “We have to do damage control ASAP.”.

“Just take me home,” she utters to me but Kyrah hears.

“Where’s her stuff?” Kyrah asks Duke.

“She can’t leave! She needs to go back out there and emphatically deny his allegation.”

“The debate is over. We are done and she’s leaving,” I say, then push past Duke. “Her bag is down here in the room. I got it though.” They follow me to the room, and once inside, I grab her two bags and cell phone. Kyrah and Alex wrap their arms around her.

“Fuck him,” Alex says.

“Right! And you dragged him too. You won that and no one is going to care about what shit he said,” Kyrah adds.

“But how did he know?” Alex whispers, but I hear her loud and clear.

How did he know? What the fuck! I know that shit’s not true, but now isn’t the time to ask. However, I’m definitely going to ask her what the hell Alex meant.

“I’ll call y’all later,” she tells her friends before we walk out of the room. Duke is right there waiting, but before he can rattle anything off, she stops him. “I’ll call you in the morning.”