5

-Shut up, Scott- I say trying to fix the mess of the tie around my neck. He doesn't stop clutching his stomach while he laughs.

-You don't know what he looks like ...- he can't finish the sentence why he gives him another fit of laughter.

-You are going to get me to go to court in a tracksuit- I pause and desperately throw my tie at Scott's old, shattered couch.

This one wipes the tears that have jumped from the laughter and take the tie to approach me.

-He's handsome, let me help you- he says, wrapping the tie around my neck. He would roll his eyes if he knew, so he just snorted. Scott ties me into a perfect tie knot and I stand idly by as I watch him.

-All this time you knew how to tie a tie knot, and have you waiting for me to send it all to hell before you could do it?

-Yes. -He answers before starting to laugh again.

He makes me nervous that he's laughing all the time, but in part, it's one of Scott's characteristics. He can be surrounded and have a shitty life, but then he laughs and makes you forget everything else, you no longer notice that in the left corner of the apartment the ceiling is falling apart, that the kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes and there are leaks. You don't even realize that his back is full of scars covered with tattoos, why of course, he's laughing, so that means he's happy.

- I'm going- I say, putting my jacket over my shirt and opening the door.

-Goodbye handsome!- I hear Scott yell from inside the apartment, always accompanied by a laugh.

(...)

I come out of the double wooden doors of the courthouse in a fury. I can't believe he has a criminal trial in three months. I run my hands through my hair, in a desperate attempt to calm myself.

In that, Lailah leaves the same place as me and she looks at me defiantly. She has gotten what she wanted and that bothers me.

Hers two big blue eyes of hers watch me mocking me and she has a triumphant smile on her face that disappears when I approach her furiously. But I get so close that I make her back crash against the wall in an attempt to get away from me and our faces are inches apart.

Now I'm the one who gets what she wants. She is afraid of me. I can hear her heart beating at breakneck speed inside her chest and I admire the way she disguises how her hands are slightly shaking from her.

-You won't testify against me- I say very close to her face in a hoarse voice. Both hands on either side of her body, leaning against the wall, leaving no escape. She looks at me with her mouth ajar, scared.

-Yes, I will do it- she answers firmly. She tries to sound sure of what she says, but she can't.

I shake my head.

-No, you will not. -Her gaze from her passes a moment from my eyes to my lips, but she immediately deflects it. And the sound of her breathing becomes heavier- You want to know why not?

-Surprise me- she finally manages to say, looking at me seriously.

-Because you will be so in love with me that you will not even be able to ask yourself the fact that I go to jail- I say with a lopsided smile.

She looks scared, but she lowers her gaze and fixes it on mine, defiantly. Then she speaks, calmly and slowly.

-If you think I'm going to fall in love with you ... it's because you must have hit your head very hard in the accident where you killed my best friend.

I stare at her, not knowing what to say. And I'm about to reply when a voice interrupts us.

- Lailah- says his best friend as he looks at the two of us, making me move both of my arms away from the wall and away from her.

He seems a little pissed off, but it is clear that he is not going to tell me anything, he would not have the courage for that. She clears her throat and adjusts her pencil skirt.

Then, under the watchful eye of her friend, I take off Scott's tight jacket and hang it on her shoulder, beginning to walk toward the courthouse exit. I walk briskly down the long front stairs and get on my motorcycle that is parked right on the sidewalk, seeing Lailah and her family watching me from the top of the stairs with superiority.

I start the engine, ringing it as loud as possible, and speed off down the road.

Lailah Gost, you're going to fall in love with me whether you want it or not.