Exhibit Laws - JB

Chapter 7 - New beginnings

"Get away from that," Justin shouted, a somewhat panic in his eyes and I knew why. He didn't want me to know that he had lost his kid. His son. If you looked at the papers, it said that his son got to turn five and that was horrible enough for me to understand why this was an invasion of his privacy.

How could I have been so stupid? I had no rights to look through his things or search through his private life, no matter how curious I was. This was his past and probably things he didn't want to be reminded of. Imagine having a coworker go through and finding your shit, just like that.

I put down the printed document, knowing that the mix of anger and fear in his eyes were not a good sign. Was I in trouble? Probably. It would be surprising if I wasn't. "I'm so sorry," I said, trying to save the situation which I knew was already too late, "I wasn't thinking. I was searching for something else and I accidentally picked this up-"

"If you were searching for something, you should have asked me."

"You weren't here," I shut my eyes, hoping he was falling for my excuses. I didn't know what else to say and I was trying to stay as reliable as possible. His eyes didn't change and therefore it was hard to tell whether or not he believed me, "I swear- I didn't mean to find this."

In a way, I wasn't lying. If I would have known that it was something as serious as what this paper said, I would have never looked for it. I don't think I really thought I would find something and now that I have, I wished I would have never begun. Why can I never keep my curiosity to myself?

I felt disgusting and ashamed, standing here in front of a slightly panicked looking Justin who paced back and forth, trying to calm himself down. I couldn't even think what possible things he was thinking about me currently. The names he had for me was surely many and I could've sworn I heard him curse underneath his breath every once in a while.

"I'm sorry," I repeated as if that would make the situation less unforgivable.

He was taking short breaths and for a second, my mind thought he was having an actual panic attack, "You have to leave. Now."

"But I-"

"Get out!"

I was going to follow his orders and leave the office but when my hand reached the doorknob, I couldn't help myself but turn around, and whisper with a caring, smooth yet soft voice, "What was his name?"

I watched Justin lean against the wall, he had his head in his hands and was taking deep breaths to calm himself. I think my voice worked because he didn't tell me to get out again, instead, he answered my question carefully, "Noah."

"That's beautiful."

I saw him open his eyes to look at me, the panic was gone and replaced with a soft vulnerable gaze. Once more, I wanted to apologise to him and ask him if he was okay. Going through something like that must be the worst pain you could ever feel as a human and knowing that your own child didn't grow more than five years. It's ridiculously hurtful.

"He was so innocent," Justin mumbled and for a second I thought his eyes watered but once I had blinked the tears were gone. He wasn't going to cry in front of me, I already knew that. "He didn't deserve that."

"What happened?" I asked, without thinking of the consequences of that question. I was lucky though because Justin didn't raise his voice at me, he simply just sat down in his chair and stared in a blank space.

A breath was taken, "His mother killed him."

I gasped loudly, a surprised sensation taking over my entire body as I thought of him being involved with a murderer. I could've read on the paper what had happened but I didn't, mainly because I had already been caught and there wasn't enough time but also because I did realise that what I did was so wrong.