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I had been in need of rescue for a long ti a very real prison sentence, and a very real attorney dressed in an i, locked in handcuffs, and choking on fear I never in ain the for across from me He looked like temptation and ruin, not salvation and redemption

I wasn’t guilty of what they were saying I did, but I wasn’t exactly innocent in all of it either Sadly, that was the story of ood, the one as just bad enough to be trouble, and the man seated across from me looked like he didn’t have the tolerance or patience to deal with any of the chaos that I always see in

I laced ht not to wince, or even worse, break down into sobs as the handcuffs snapped around my wrists, knocked loudly on theme from the man that was supposedly here to save the day … and me He told me his name, but I couldn’t remember it I was aput any of my anxiety to ease I was also sleep deprived, and terrified of aiting forwas over My future had always been uncertain, resting on shaky and unstable ground on a good day Right noas longing for that wobbly foundation, and scared shitless that my latest bad decision had finally landed me in a spot that I couldn’t lie, cheat, steal, or manipulate my way out of

The stoic and startlingly good-looking lawyer seated across froht I had ever seen He was too slick for that, way too calculating in the way he looked at uy riding in to rescue the dauy that the villains paid abucks to in order to keep them out of jail In all that I had done, I’d never considered irl), but I wasn’t a corrupt, amoral criminal with the actual intent to harm anyone other than unaze, which held not even an ounce of war to reconsider my stance He made race, and he had yet to utter a single word I’d never done anything bad enough or stupid enough that I required a professional to defendthis guy gave a single shit whether I was innocent or not

All I wanted to do was coay from him, and pretend like I was anywhere else in the world but in this tiny room with a metal table that was bolted to the floor between us I ain, and couldn’t hold back a flinch and a tre to leave ed to pullto scar, deep and vicious, and I hated that I deserved every single stinging mark

“I don’t want your story” His words were sharp and to the point I blinked at the rough sound of his voice in the sterile room

“I don’t want to know if you knehat your boyfriend was up to or not I don’t care All I want to know is if you understand what you’re being charged with, and how serious those charges are If the answer is yes, all I need to know is if you are willing to do whatever I tell you to doforward”

Did I understand how serious the charges were?

Was this guy fucking kidding ht now?

I was hooked up in cuffs I earing an orange jumpsuit, and had on rubber shoes that squeaked across the floor when I walked I hadn’t slept in two days because, after everything went down the night I had been arrested and booked, I’d been locked up in a cell with one wore up on the rigid bunks suspended fro all overcell was there because she had tried to run her cheating husband over with the family hbor He had been in the fahting mad about the affair, but she ranted and raved well into the early hours of theabout how her unfaithful spouse better be on the phone with the insurance co stuffed full of crazy, and the nore her, the more she seemed determined to tell me her entire life’s story