Amber washed her face and dried it with the back of her sleeves before looking down and pressing her stomach with both hands. Her eyebrows knitted together as she thought back to what the tattooed inmate said earlier.
Pregnant? She shook her head at the absurdity; her ponytail swinging along as she did. She was sure her bouts of nausea and vomiting were due to some kind of food poisoning.
But didn’t you miss taking the morning pills after consummating with Fabian? A little voice whispered in her mind.
And not just once. You missed the pill twice! The voice grew stronger, eating away her earlier assumption about food poisoning. Gently, her hand cradled her stomach as the possibility of carrying a life within her own body tugged at her heart. It was a strange feeling.
“Sweetheart, it’s time. If you want, we can have a doctor take a look at you after the trial,” the police officer hurried her, snapping Amber
The Supreme Court of Justice was hushed as everyone waited for the judge to arrive. Amber Banks sat next to her attorney with her head held high at the Counsel’s table. Her emerald green eyes stared straight at the wooden panelled walls opposite from where she sat, not making eye contact with anyone. She was dressed in an oversized orange prisoner jumpsuit which was much too big for her petite body and her normally soft and fiery red curls were tied back in a loose ponytail.Behind her, a soft glow of warm sunlight streamed into the otherwise stuffy room filled with people, highlighting the dust particles that danced and twirled in the air.To the untrained eye, Amber came off as aloof, emanating a sense of emotional detachment from her surroundings, inwardly, however, she was breaking down. None of the jury sitting behind the bulletproof glass wall could see, but beneath the wooden table where her cuffed hands lay, she was trembling. Her hands were shaking
“Order! Order!” the judge named Rodney shouted, his glasses almost falling off the bridge of his nose as he pounded his wooden gavel furiously on the sounding block. Everyone paid him no heed; all were too engrossed with the screaming, shouting and wrestling that came from the centre of the court. The place had become a circus.“ORDER!!!!!” The ultimate yell from the ageing judge finally brought an end to the chaos and a hushed silence fell across the courtroom. It became so deathly quiet one could even hear a pin drop.“Now,” the judge pushed his rimless spectacle back up, his eyes darting back and forth between Anson and Amber. “Can I have the representatives for these two come up to the bench?”Amber’s defence attorney blinked, still very much in shock over what had just happened and knocked over his chair as he clumsily made his way to the judge’s bench. “I..uh, I represent Amber Banks, your H
The eyes of the public bore into Anson Banks and he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling his face burn. But the moment had come for him to tell the truth and to shine a light on the web of secrets and lies that surrounded the murder of Liam Smith. Anson’s eyes fell on his sister who sat with her head faced down, unable to meet his eyes. He had been selfish to force her into this madness and now it was time to set things right. He cleared his throat, feeling a sudden dryness in them as his heart beat thunderously in his chest. ‘Your Honor, allow me to tell my side of the story,” his voice came out soft and uncertain at first. The elderly judge pulled off his glasses and pressed his lips into a thin hard line before nodding his head. “I was supposed to be in the hospital on the night of the murder, but I had a feeling that Amber was up to something. You see, between us two, my sister has always been the one shouldering the burden of providing for
Amber slipped in and out of unconsciousness. She could hear muffled shoutings and saw a silhouette of a man hovering over her, his eyes filled with worry. Fabian? She thought and then all became black. Her eyes opened again, this time she saw gratings of white light on the ceiling whizzing past one after another as she was wheeled into a very cold room. She shivered and tried to call out but her voice got caught in her throat. It was as if her whole body was paralysed. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine..now breathe!” someone said and slipped an oxygen mask over her. For some reason, the gas from the mask made her feel sleepy and her eyelids slowly slid to a close and soon she drifted back into unconsciousness. *** Margaret ran together with a group of nurses pushing the bloodied stretcher that Amber laid on only to be stopped by a nurse in light blue scrubs. “Ma’am, please wait outside, we’ll take it from here.” “M
The Supreme Court of Justice was hushed as everyone waited for the judge to arrive. Amber Banks sat next to her attorney with her head held high at the Counsel’s table. Her emerald green eyes stared straight at the wooden panelled walls opposite from where she sat, not making eye contact with anyone. She was dressed in an oversized orange prisoner jumpsuit which was much too big for her petite frame and her fiery red curls were tied back in a loose ponytail. Behind her, a soft glow of warm sunlight streamed into the otherwise stuffy room filled with highly tensed people, highlighting the dust particles that danced and twirled in the air. To the untrained eye, Amber came off as aloof, emanating a sense of emotional detachment from her surroundings - inwardly however, she was breaking down. None of the jury sitting behind the bulletproof glass wall could see, but beneath the wooden table where her cuffed hands lay, she was trembling. Her hands were shaki
Amber straightened herself, pulling at her light blue cotton blouse and gave her bravest smile, “Thank you, I’ll take the waitressing job.” Cecil raised an eyebrow, impressed by the redhead’s determination, “Alright then.” She handed Amber’s blue and black polka-dotted scrunchie back and shouted at a raven-haired beauty who was lounging on a leather-covered sofa in the corner of the room, “Lola!” “Yeah?” Lola called out even as she got up with swanlike grace. “Give our new staff …. Annie?” “I’m Amber.” “Ah yes, Amber the redhead, I’ll remember the name from now on. Give Amber her waitressing uniform. And don’t forget the pumps!” Cecil’s eyes narrowed, “Thirty-four, twenty-three, thirty-four…hmmm, give her a size one. She’s starting right away. Oh, and Lola? I don’t want you smoking at the back alley you hear? Williams and Smith will be here tonight.” Lola nodded nonchalantly as she strutted to the back of the dressing r
“WHAT DID YOU SAY??” Amber asked as loudly as she could.She was standing at the bar with Lola as the bartender prepared the vodka, but could make absolutely nothing of what Lola was trying to tell her. The music was too loud.Lola moved to the music, and jiggled her hips, “GET ON FABIAN’S GOOD SIDE! DON’T CROSS HIM!”All Amber could hear was the incessantly loud rhythmic music, “WHAT?!”Lola spotted a customer in the crowd, winked at Amber and headed to the dance floor, moving to the beat under the strobe lights, all hyped up and ready for a good time before finally disappearing into the throng of dancers.The bartender tapped on Amber’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little.“OH, THANK YOU!” she said, not exactly sure whether he heard her. Gingerly, she balanced the highball glass on a silver platter, trying hard not to spill a drop and carefully made her way back to the VIP room. It was located a distance away and tucked out of sight from the
The door closed behind them and Fabian returned to his seat on the sofa. Sitting down with outstretched arms, he took a look at Amber. She was standing ridiculously still next to the door, almost like a wallflower and obviously still rattled by what had happened earlier. He had been resting in the room when he heard a scream earlier but had decided to ignore the commotion, but when the yelling and shouting escalated, he had to step in. They were just too noisy - he did not like noise. They annoyed him to no end. He had thrown open his door in agitation and was about to give the shouting couple a piece of his mind when he saw Amber. He hadn’t expected to see her attacked like that and for some reason, seeing her hurt made his blood boil. He hadn’t been able to see her clearly under the dim corridor light earlier, but now in the privacy of his own turf and under the warm white light, he finally saw her features clearly for the first time. Her lips, moi