Ch. 9

Jack last met with his client before the court hearing. Of course he hopes for a mitigation of the sentence, but he cannot plead that if she starts with the story from her school days. He advised her to keep her mouth shut, except when asked about something. Unfortunately he can't do more than that, he got everything that was still possible.

He came home completely exhausted and found Summer on the sofa with several empty sandwich pickle jars on the table. The television was turned down and turned off. She herself was curled up in a ball on the sofa. His sleeping place as long as Summer is not feeling better. He carefully woke her up and almost carried her into the bedroom because she was more in a twilight state. He smelled on her breath that she has to have a close friendship with the toilet every time Summer has visited her.

After he covered his girlfriend, he looked around in the bathroom and found nothing that would point to her orgy. Then he got ready to go to sleep and fell on the couch with the smell of cucumbers in his nose.

Choking and gasping noises wake him up in the morning. At first he is completely disoriented. Why isn't he in his bed? He didn't drink anything last night, did he? Then why doesn't he know who is throwing up his body after a night of drinking?

Then the moment is over and he remembers that he recorded Summer for a few days because she can't be without help. Jack closes his eyes again for a moment, it had been such a beautiful dream. Mia and he went on vacation. Somewhere on a beach with a house all to her own. The salty smell of the water disappears noticeably and is replaced by cucumbers.

With a jerk he sits bolt upright and puts away the glasses. Jack feels like his clothes, his hair and even his skin smell like that stuff. He needs a shower right now. Then he hears buzzer in the bathroom again. He has to take care of that first.

It's going to be a long day.

#

Sophia's assumption that Summer could be pregnant left her cold yesterday. That was before she had that terrible nightmare of playing babysitter for the child she loved first and watching the parents make love. Jack will always associate a part of her with pain, but she would never have thought that she would have been so overwhelmed by the idea of ​​his and Summers child. She woke up with sweat on her forehead, her arms looking for a hold that didn't exist.

'Pull yourself together. You've had enough of men for now, do you remember? You won't be waking up next to one anytime soon. '

After a long shower and a breakfast that has strengthened her enough, she makes her way to work. Again she finds her protégés in the kitchen preparing food. It's going great. "Tomorrow, girls!"

But it is ignored at all. Here someone is given a tip, they exchange advice and give advice on how to do everything. Mia turns to the person she just tapped on the shoulder. It's Mona. “I've tried to get their attention too. As you can see I didn't get very far. ", Then she grimaces in a weeping grimace. "They grow up so quickly." She wipes away imaginary tears from under her eyes. Mia laughs heartily and Mona joins in.

"Believe me, I have a very good way of getting you out of your trance, but let's wait until you are all together and eating. Then their mouths are closed for a few minutes. ”“ Not a bad idea. ”, Which they then follow.

Mia tries again the conventional way, a "Hello, girls!" And giggles to herself when it still doesn't work. All right, now she has to bring up harder guns.

"Summer is sick.", Nobody stirs. "Summer may be pregnant, nothing has been confirmed yet, they are pure assumptions that were made yesterday ...", she doesn't get any further. Everyone starts talking at the same time.

“WHAT?” “Was that during your lunch break yesterday? Why did you wait until now, huh? ”“ Are you serious? I won't forgive Jack for that. ”“ What was he thinking? ”“ How do you feel? ”“ Can you handle it? ”“ Should we ambush and beat him up? ”

"STOP! I said maybe. Maybe, probably, possibly, possibly, possibly. We don't know yet. ”, But nobody pays attention to it anymore. She should have known. "You are cheating. With messages like that I would have made her listen to me too. ”Mona pulls a face. "We never made it out that there were rules.", She takes her colleague in her arms. "How is the pig you call your ex?" With that, Mia conjures up a smile on her lips again. “He got involved with someone who had her clothes felled for money and paid bitterly. She has it except like a piggy bank. Karma's a bitch baby Imagine, yesterday he came by and almost on his knees begged that I would take him back. ”“ I hope you laughed ice cold in his face. He doesn't deserve anything else. ”“ You can bet on that. I'm so glad that I'm finally rid of it. How did I endure him for so long? "

"Very easily. He was like the flu. Contagious and difficult to get rid of and at some point you just get used to being sick, so that you become far too lazy to take care of your health. "

Your friend laughs wildly. "How did you get the idea? I have to remember that. “, Satisfied that Mona is doing brilliantly again, she now turns to her curious pregnant women. "Summer has vomited frequently in the last few days and can hardly take any more food." "Then there is no longer any doubt, right? That's how I always felt at the beginning, ”interjects Sonja, a 17-year-old girl who is 6 months old. Mia steers against it. “It could also just be a harbinger of a much worse flu or whatever. Just because she vomits and can't get anything down doesn't mean that she is really pregnant, ”she hopes, at least fervently. “It can also simply be that she has upset her stomach badly or that her stomach lining is inflamed. She is suddenly allergic to lactose and fructose or ... ”, she is slowly running out of examples.

“I thought you were over him and you would be friends again. Then why not just be as happy as friends should do for each other when they get the message from the stork that the offspring is on the way?

"I'm over him, but ... I still can't like the fact that he is already expecting a child from a woman with whom he has been together for a month and a few crushed days."

Well, that sounds reasonable. Nevertheless, she earns skeptical looks from all sides. “You are currently controlled by the hormones. I shouldn't listen to you at all. Bon appetit! “, Mia stands up and checks the room. Smoking and drinking alcohol are forbidden and she doesn't trust her group to break the rules, but she needs something to distract her.

As expected, she doesn't find anything unusual until she is at the last door. Jaqueline moved in there a few days ago. She is a nice girl who likes to stay in the background and is a straight A student. At the moment she is in the 10, but she cannot finish it. Her baby will be born during the Christmas holidays, even if she is absolutely convinced that she will simply not be able to continue as before in the New Year. Mia has not yet figured out how she got into this situation. Sure, she had sex, but she doesn't seem like the type of person who just opens up and surrenders. She has never seen the child's father either.

Mia opens the door of Jaqueline and sees clothes that clearly do not belong to a girl. Mia carefully takes one step after the other and discovers a suitcase that she has not brought with her, films that do not suit her taste. Deodorant on the form and of course a guy lying in her bed.

That's where she found her father. Overnight stays are allowed here, but you have to register and introduce them. She watches with amusement as the young man buries his head in a pink T-shirt. But someone seems to have lost his head quite a bit.

"Excuse me?", He doesn't move. "Hello?", No movement. Still with a smile on her face, she bends over the youngster and gently shakes his shoulder.

Suddenly she finds herself on the bed and is hugged by stronger arms than it seemed. "That was quick, babe." Mia discreetly clears her throat and just wants to point out that he has the wrong one in his arms when his hands wander to her stomach and suddenly freeze. Within a fraction of a second sits vertically. “You are not Jacqueline.” “I wanted to make that clear to you, too. Thanks that I can get up again. “, The boy's face turns purple. "I'm sorry, I thought it was ..." "I saw that. I'm Mia and the social worker here and you are ...? "

Before he answers, he quickly pulls on a shirt. "I'm Markus." Now that he is sitting upright, she realizes that he has an Iroquois and that both his lower lip and ears are pierced. The look she could get on his upper body showed her that there are tattoos over his heart and on his collarbone.

Outwardly, the two lovebirds are as different as they could be. "I know that I don't look like an innocent angel, but believe me, I love Jaqueline and the child.", His gaze is transfigured and drifts away. “Hey, I don't have to judge here. Your girlfriend does that alone and if she thinks you are the right person then you are as long as the opposite appears. Now that we've cleared that up, let's move on to a second matter. Visitors have to be registered, I don't blame Jaqueline because she has only been there for a few days, but I don't want to find you here again unannounced. Has that arrived? ”Markus obediently nods.

"Markus?", Aha the breakfast was over. With a somewhat shy and almost frightened face, her eyes jump back and forth between the two. "I just met your boyfriend." It looks like she is about to cry. Did she sound so severe? Was she that scary? Markus pulls his girlfriend onto his lap and strokes her back. “You have to register Markus if he would like to spend a night here, and I would prefer if you introduce him to everyone. So that they don't get frightened if they meet in the future. ”The tears stop and anger takes their place. "Do you mean to say that it will scare everyone because it looks a little different from the ideal?", She is really angry and wants to get up, but Markus stops her.

“I didn't mean to say that! Imagine the girls if they'd met him in the kitchen. This is free delivery, who knows how you would have found your friend. That is why you present your male visit here so that they are not attacked. "

Markus throws her an apologetic look. "Hormones!" His lips form and Mia almost laughed out loud. "I'll leave you alone then again."

Shaking her head, she closes the door behind her. What a pair!

#

The judge has withdrawn with the lay judges and he cannot expect a mild verdict after what his client has pulled off here in the last hour. She looked down on everyone and showed no guilt. If you disregard the aspect in which she quasi threw herself at the feet of her ex to assure him that she didn't want to harm him, but just miss him so terribly. That she would be sorry if it scared him so.

Yes, that was the nicest thing that came out that morning. The meeting is over and the judge, who has come out of his chamber with the two lay judges, announces the verdict.

Three years imprisonment which with good conduct can be mitigated after a year on probation. To do this, she must also give herself to psychological treatment. After all, her whole character has changed after the separation.

Jack is so happy that he has finally left the courthouse and can get rid of this tie at home. It cuts off his breath, he hates these things. They were only invented to torment men, to equate women with high heels, even if he can never say that out loud, because he would then get one on the lid from every woman. After all, high heels are way worse than ties ...

“Hey darling. I'll make something to eat. My stomach seems to be getting better. Thank you for looking after me so touchingly. ", Jack stops in surprise. He and Summer have lived like flatmates for the last few days, there had been no caresses. “You know that Finn and Sophia will come by ?!”, the food that he can see in the pan is nowhere near enough for four people. “I thought you just wanted snacks, I've prepared something and put it in the fridge. This is my food, I should be careful with fatty foods. That's why I'm doing something extra for myself. ”How nice of her. "Thank you! I'm glad that things seem to be going up again with your stomach. I was on the verge of dragging you to the doctor, no matter how. ”He is given a charming smile.

He looks curiously into his cupboard and discovers a bowl of white cream. “What delicious did you do for us?” “It's a sour cream. I got the recipe from a friend of mine who swears by it. The potato wedges are also in the oven. You can then eat with your fingers as long as you let the potatoes get a little cold. ”But someone really thought about this lunchtime. Only a friend visits him.

Then the doorbell rings. As he walks, he takes off his jacket and throws it over the arm of the sofa. "Hello, nice to have you here." Jack hugs his friends and leads them into the living room. "I'll have a look at Summer.", Sophia reports and leaves the men alone.

In the same second, Finn bends over to him. "Does Summer already know that you and Mia are fat again?" He shakes his head. "I forgot that in the hustle and bustle with the crazy client and the ailing buzzer.", Finn's eyes take on a sharp expression. "You can't hide this any longer, or it will come across as if you two share more than just a friendship. Especially if she doesn't find out from you. ”He leans back again, then he seems to remember something and leans forward again. “And Max? What about max? You know he's not quite on your side yet. You'd better take the initiative before Mia comes before you. ", Finn is right, but he's not looking forward to both conversations. Jack has no idea how Summer will react. Does she even mind? Because women actually wanted to stay friends anyway.

'Which, as you can see, worked wonderfully,' his inner voice tells him.

#

Sophia has joined Summer in the kitchen. “You have color on your face again. Finn told me that Jack sometimes thought that you were competing with a ghost. ”She hopes for Mia that her assumption will not come true. Sophia doesn't believe that Mia's side is really only friendship, even if she still believes it stiffly and firmly.

"This morning it still looked as if the day would be the same as the last, but after visiting the toilet twice, I haven't had the desire again." "And it was really just the food intolerance and the nausea ? That's a bit strange. Normally when you are sick you still have a fever and body aches and what I especially love is the chills that visit me personally every time. ", Summer smiles sideways at her. She has just turned off the stove and put the food on a plate. “Can you turn off the stove? Then I get the bowl for the potato wedges. Oh and with me illnesses usually run differently than with others. Every Good Friday, for example, I have a fever, but I'm actually always freezing cold. ”, She shrugs her shoulders. Sophia does as requested and helps to move the hot potatoes into the bowl. “I'm just glad it seems to be over now. For that I'm really hungry now. No wonder, I haven't been able to keep anything down in the last 72 hours. “, Summer puts the cream and potatoes in her hand and carries her plate into the living room herself. In the next few hours she will have to speak to Summer in private. She has a pregnancy test in her handbag and Sophia won't give up until Summer has done it and the result is certain.

#

Jack literally groans when the cream hits his taste buds for the first time. "This is fantastic. You have to give me the recipe. ", His still-girlfriend seems incredibly satisfied with himself." I'll do it. I'm glad that it is so popular. “, Finn and Sophia have also closed their eyes and are floating in the cream sky. "Is your girlfriend a star chef or something? This- ”, he points to his potato wedge that is half smeared with cream. “- is the best I've ever eaten.” “Hobby cook. She actually works as an organizational talent in the wedding planner industry. ”, Impressive.

People eat in silence. Nobody wants to wait for the potatoes to get cold, so the air is sucked in here and there and the fingers are burned. It's worth it though. Summer chews on her vegetable pan and doesn't seem to have any desire to give in to the cream. Anyway, there's more left for her.

“It comes to mind that you once told me that you don't just want to specialize in the stiff prepared photos. Ramona is currently looking for new photographers to hire for her weddings. If you want I can give you her number. "

Jack looks at Summer and feels guilty. Not that he didn't have one before, but at this moment he realizes how great Summer is. A shame that he has to break up with her.

Sophia's eyes have grown so big that he is afraid they might fall out of their sockets. "Yes. Clear. I mean ... thanks! With great pleasure. “, Finn strokes his girlfriend's leg to bring her back down on the floor. It does not work.

"Then come along for a moment. I'll find your business number right away. I put it down somewhere when I broke into Jack's apartment. ”He watches as Sophia's eyes take on a sober touch again.