Jericho

Ch.16 Bad Temper (UNEDITED)

"Jericho Maverick, please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth?"

"I do."  Jericho stared straight ahead, his face blank of any emotion.

"You were dating Tori Smith at the time of her murder. How was your relationship?"

Jericho glanced down at his right hand, staring at the ring on his thumb.

Jericho pressed small kisses on Tori's neck and shoulders, making her squirm and giggle. They were cuddled together on Tori's expensive leather couch, a movie playing in the background.

"Babe, I'm trying to watch the movie." Tori whispered, afterwards moaning softly when Jericho nipped at her sensitive spot below her ear.

"And I'm trying to get some lovin' from my preoccupied girlfriend." Jericho whispered in her ear, trusting his hips into Tori, making her laugh.

Tori turned in Jericho's arms, eyebrows raised with a grin on her face. "If you're that horny, go take care of yourself in the shower."  She said, before facing back to the TV, engrossing herself in the romantic drama.

Jericho huffed overdramatically, before he wrapped his arms around Tori again. "This movie is so depressing. Everyone knows the girl is going to die and then the dude will be depressed because he's dealing with the death of his high school sweetheart. Why would anyone want to watch that?"

"American's love sob stories." Tori concluded, throwing some popcorn into her mouth. "And the guy will eventually get over his high school sweetheart. He has to. Life goes on and I think that's what the girl would want."

Jericho hummed, before kissing Tori's cheek. "I don't think I'd get over you so quickly. I wouldn't want to get over you so quickly."

Tori intertwined their fingers. "I'd want you to though. Why torture yourself like that? If I'm gone, then I'm gone. I wouldn't be coming back, I couldn't come back. I'd want you to find someone who is sweet, caring and understanding. Someone who completes you and you'd be happy and thankful that you'd moved on."

"And that's why I love you." Jericho kissed the nape of Tori's neck, before relaxing as they continued to watch the movie.

"Mr. Maverick, I ask again,  how was your relationship with the deceased?" The prosecutor glanced at Jericho, a sympathetic look on her round face.

Jericho tried to regain focus, blinking back the tears he smiled softly. "It was good. We were great together."

"The two of you occasionally stayed with one another. Where were you the night ...."

...

Court dates, paper work, meetings, prison visits.

Jericho had buried himself in work over the week. Ignoring Daisy's calls was harder than he had initially presumed. He couldn't talk to her. He couldn't lead her on if things were bound to fail between them. Daisy was what Tori had described. Daisy was sweet, caring and definitely understanding, so why did Jericho feel guilty?

Why was Jericho starting to doubt his own feelings towards Daisy?

He didn't want to hurt her, that was far from what he wanted. Yet, he could feel the heartbreak that was bound to come with their relationship at this point. The world had labeled Daisy and Jericho's relationship as a cover up. Painted Jericho as some manipulator, who was molding Daisy into a duplicate of Tori.

Initially Jericho was sure that he was in it for Daisy, but he could only block out the rumors for so long. Now he was partly convinced that he really was using Daisy to create his old relationship with Tori. It wasn't completely far fetched, if he really thought about. The aggressive way he had approached Daisy, the instant infatuation, the weird sense of familiarity.

Everything was against their relationship. Maybe Jericho should have fought harder to deny the rumors, but he didn't. Jericho didn't even know how he was going to prove anyone otherwise. By now, Daisy had to have heard the accusations. There was no way she couldn't have.

Jericho knew he had to break up the relationship he had with Daisy, unless he could find some sense of clarity. Daisy was way to submissive in Jericho's eyes to break it off. She'd want to work things out, maybe even ignore it because this was her first relationship.

Everybody wanted their first real relationship to work out.

Jericho poured his fourth glass of whiskey, the ice cubes clinking against the glass. His dress shirt was unbuttoned, dark hair wild, and his suit pants hanging low, as he stressed over the situation in his living room. The alcohol was numbing his senses, but he couldn't stop thinking about Tori and Daisy.

He wanted things to work out between him and Daisy and in his drunken state he realized that Tori was the problem. She was everywhere. At work, at his home, in his thoughts. He needed to get rid of her, needed to forget her.

That's what everyone wanted right?

Everyone wanted Jericho just to forget his first girlfriend, his first real relationship. They wanted Tori gone, out of the picture. Nobody approved of Daisy because she looked like Tori. If Jericho eliminated everything that reminded him of Tori, then maybe he could be together with Daisy. Tori's death was also the cause of his depression. So in Jericho's drunken rage against Tori, he decided it was time to forget her.

Stumbling down the dark hallway of his penthouse apartment, Jericho reached for the tall painting. Yanking it from the wall and throwing the expensive art to the ground, Jericho struggled to get the hidden door open. He rattled against the doorknob, until it finally opened. The door had opened so fast, that Jericho nearly fell forwards. Regaining his composure, he flicked on the light and stared at all the storage boxes.

Carrying them into the living room one by one, Jericho opened the first box filled with pictures of Tori and him. Gulping down some more whiskey, Jericho began to riffle through the pictures. Each picture held some type of memory.

The rage was still burning in Jericho. How could Tori do this to him?

Loosing his temper, Jericho threw the pictures into the flames of the fireplace. The sizzling of the wood loud, and the bright flames casting a golden glow over Jericho's angry face.

"You fucking bitch!" Jericho yelled, as he threw more of Tori's pictures into the fireplace.

Jericho was completely blinded by anger and confusion, that he didn't hear his phone as it signaled for a new message.

_____________

It's been so long, but here's a small update. I wanted to show how Jericho was feeling that week. Let me know what you think.

New Cover.

Do you understand Jericho's thoughts?

What would you do if you were Jericho or even Daisy?

How should they proceed next?

Don't forget to comment and vote!!

And please go check out BLOOD BOUND and leave me a comment there :)