36 Christopher Ashton

“Prosecution calls Christopher Ashton to the stand.”

Halloran grabs my attention and before I know it I’m on my feet, “Oi!” I watch as my husband (whom I didn’t even know was here much less testifying against me) walks toward the witness stand. Gesturing to him I look at Bridget, “You weren’t going to tell me they’re using him against me?”

She grabs the arm of my jacket and tries to pull me back down, “I can’t do anything about it and it was better not to get you all worried.”

“No,” I say loudly and shake my head, not letting my arm drop, “it’d be better if these people wouldn’t try to use my husband against me, yea?”

The gavel sounds through the room and then Judge Everett’s voice, “Get your client under control counselor or he’ll be held in contempt.”

She finally pulls me down to whisper, “There’s nothing we can do. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Is it even legal?” I ask as quietly as I can.

She nods gravely, “They can subpoena him, but he can’t testify against you. He can explain things like evidence or situations, but they can’t use it against you. It’s very limited.

“Please state your name for the court,” I guess he was sworn in while I was talking to Bridget because Halloran takes over.

Christopher’s eyes look red-rimmed, but he straightens his back and speaks, “Christopher Ashton.”

“And please state your relationship with the defendant.”

“Damian’s my husband.”

“And you’re an actor, correct?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sure the courtroom doesn’t need a list of your accomplishments. Someone who hasn’t seen something you’ve been in would have to have lived under a rock for twenty years. You’re very good at what you do, Mister Ashton.”

My husband’s cheeks pinks lightly as he says, “Thank you.”

“But I have something that isn’t one of your Hollywood starring roles.” Halloran motions toward the side room I was in a few minutes ago. Someone come out pushing a cart holding a large television set. “United States exhibit D, you honor.”

“Objection!” Bridget stands, “This evidence isn’t logged and I haven’t had an opportunity to look over it before he presents it.”

“We only just had it delivered to us during the break, your honor,” Halloran walks over to his table and picks up a folder. “We have the paperwork right here. I’d like to enter it into the case, please.”

The judge takes a second to look it all over and hands it over to Bridget, “He has all the right citations, Miss Madison. I’m going to have to allow it.”

My attorney shakes her head and reads over the folder as she walks back to the table. When she sits, I hear her let out a sigh, “This could break your case. It would have been nice to know it even existed.” She raises a well-manicured eyebrow at me, “Thanks for that.”

“What is it?” I ask unsure of what she’s talking about.

She waves her hand toward the screen, “You’re about to see.”

Halloran point a remote at the television and it comes to life. The blood drains from my face and I’m sure my heart stops beating for a few seconds. The video from Riel’s phone starts to play. Looking over to my husband, he looks like he’s about to vomit. I can’t blame him.

My friends whooping and hollering comes to an end with the video and my head sinks into my hands. I only look up when I hear the prosecutions say, “Mister Ashton, can you tell me when this video took place?”

Christopher is all business when he says, “Early morning of February fourth.”

“Of this year?”

“Yes.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, that’s the day you got married, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s talk about what happened prior to this video, shall we?”

Chris doesn’t say anything.

“Mister Ashton, what happened at the beginning of the evening leading up to this?” the ADA points to the television.

Sighing deeply, my husband answers, “Earlier in the night, we attended the premiere of ‘Save the Day’.”

“Where you consumed alcoholic beverages?”

“No,” he shakes his head, “we didn’t drink at the premiere.”

Halloran starts his pacing act again, “After the movie, what did you do next?”

Chris rolls his eyes and I know it’s because of the word ‘movie’. It’s like we just went out for the night or something. “Damian and I went to his old apartment in the city to change our clothes.”

“You’re going to make me work for this aren’t you,” our opposition shakes his head with a smile. “Where did you go once you changed your clothes?”

Toph sighs and runs a hand through his hair. The irritation on his face is irrefutable, “My extended family owns an establishment in New Rochelle. We went to visit my cousin and hang out with our friends.”

“What is this establishment that your family owns?”

“It’s a bar.”

“So, you and your friends go to a bar to hang out?”

“We were celebrating the release of the ‘Save the Day’ and since it was closed, we knew that no one would be around to bother us. No paparazzi. We just wanted a peaceful night,” as he answers, my best friend remains perfectly calm, but I can tell it’s not easy for him.

“And this is where you started to drink, correct?”

“The five of us that were of age had a few drinks. The other two, who are over eighteen and are legally allowed to accompany us, stayed sober just in case.”

“In case of what?” Halloran stops and turns to Chris.

He shrugs and shakes his head, “Just in case we needed someone to be sober. We were trying to be responsible. None of us were too intoxicated that we couldn’t control ourselves, but it’s always a good idea to have someone around just in case.”

“Mister Ashton,” the ADA turns to the jury, “how many drinks do you think you had that evening?”

“I don’t know,” he admits.

“You were so drunk that you don’t remember how many drinks you had?”

“No,” Chris chuckles, “I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. How am I supposed to remember how many drinks I had six months ago?”

“Do you think you were over the legal limit?”

My husband scoots closer to the microphone and catches the prosecution’s eye, “I don’t know.”

“Well, let see,” Halloran pretends to look him over, “you’re about 170, right?”

Toph’s not amused, “Sure.”

“And do you drink often?”

“No.”

“So we can conclude that with about three drinks, you would be over the legal limit. Did you have more than three drinks?”

“I don’t know.”

The ADA smiles again and turns back to the monitor, “Mister Ashton, would you care to explain to us what is happening in this video?” He presses a few buttons and the recording restarts. He pauses it just as Chris descends to one knee. “Where is this?”

“It’s a block or two from mine and Damian’s apartment.”

Halloran nods and presses play again. I can hear my best mate’s voice come through the speakers, ‘Damian Jacob Moore-Hill, will you do me the honor of letting me prove that I would be the best husband in the whole world if you were my other half?’

Halloran pauses again and looks over at Chris, “And what is this?”

The look that the prosecutor receives from him is priceless. One eyebrow hitches up as his mouth stays in a straight line. I like to call it his you’re-a-complete-moron look. He saves it for special occasions.

“I’m proposing.”

The ADA nods again and lets the recording continue. I hear myself and my friends chuckle when I say, ‘There is no way that is going to fit on my finger.’ It keeps playing until I hear, ‘I bet you that I’ll be the best husband ever. As long as I’m winning we stayed married, but as soon as I lose, you can divorce me.’

When our opponent turns to Chris again he has a bit of a glint in his eye, “So, Christopher… May I call you Christopher?”

“No,” my husband shakes his head, “I would rather you call me Topher, if you will.”

“Fair enough,” Halloran nods and walks over to the witness box. “So, Topher, this is interesting to me,” he points back to the television. “The way you word this makes it seem like a game to you. Is that how you perceive marriage?”

“No.”

“Then why do you make it into one?”

He adjusts his suit jacket over his shoulders before answering, “There’s a long running joke between Damian, myself, and the rest of the cast for ‘Save the Day’. I was trying to be cute.”

“Interesting,” the opposition nods and walks away from the bench. “What I’m gathering from this whole thing is that you and six of your friends had a few drinks, decided to go on a stroll, and you decided to propose to a buddy of yours for a laugh. Is that how it happened?”

“No,” Toph shakes his head and narrows his eyes. “You’re misconstruing this. That’s not how it happened.”

“You two weren’t previously in a relationship of anything more than friendship, correct?”

“Well, yea, but-”

“And this was a spontaneous act, correct?”

“Not really, we-”

“And the seven of you had obviously been drinking. Not only did you admit to having a couple, but everyone can plainly see on that the two of you are stumbling a little.”

“But it not like-”

“The real way it happened is that you proposed to your best friend and then immediately got marriage while the two of you were intoxicated. And in the United States, that is illegal Mister Ashton. Whether it was because he needed a green card or because you two thought it would be funny, doesn’t matter. The facts are the facts.” My husband tries to get in another word, but Halloran holds up his hand, “No further questions.”

The judge looks over her glasses to the prosecution with a bit of disdain, but doesn’t say anything about it. Instead she calls up Bridget, “Defense has the floor for cross examination.”

“Thank you, your honor,” my counsel stands up and straightens her skirt before walking straight up to Christopher. “Hey Topher,” her tone is so casual that if we weren’t sitting in a courtroom I would swear that she was just talking to one of her friends. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been better,” he chuckles the response and earns a smile from Miss Madison.

“How about you tell us your take on the video,” she insists motioning toward the display television.

He sighs and tries to recap the night as innocently as possible, “Well the night started off where we went to the premiere. We got interviewed before we went in where someone suggested that we were or could be a couple. And I have to admit, since I met Damian, that had always been a thought in my mind,” he looks over at me, like he’s trying to tell me a story. “Then we sat through the showing and afterward we had already planned that we were going to have a low-key evening with the other main actors in the movie.

“We all parted ways so we could get dressed except that I went with Day. And the entire evening I couldn’t get out of my head what the lady had said about us being together. It just kept replaying and all I wanted was for it to be true.

“So we all met up at the bar that my family owns so that we could be away from everyone. It’s hard to get privacy in the city. And even if you do find somewhere where there are not many people, just one text message or tweet can change that. We just wanted a peaceful night.

“We had a couple drinks at the bar,” he states with a nod.

Bridget holds her hand up, “Which is perfectly legal because you’re over the age of twenty-one.”

“Right,” he confirms before continuing. “But while we were at the bar, we finally talked about our feelings for each other. And we kissed for the first time.”

Miss Madison nods before shrugging, “So you’re saying that at the time of the proposal you two were an item?”

He tilts his head slightly, “I’m not sure if we were an item, but we were an idea. I’d been head over heels for Day for over a year at that point. I might have just told him, but my feelings had been there for a while.”

“Tell us about the proposal,” Bridget encourages.

Chris straightens his shoulders again, “Before we went on that walk, which wasn’t really a walk. We were actually just coming down from the apartment and going to catch a cab. I didn’t want to wait in front of my building because I didn’t want anyone to see any of us associated with that complex. I get enough paparazzi as it is, I don’t need anymore.

“Before that though, we went up to my apartment, Day didn’t live there yet. I got two rings that belong to my grandparents out of my safe. That’s why he rejected the first one. It was my grandmother’s. It wouldn’t have fit him, he was right. I gave his the one my grandfather wore on the second try. And he accepted.”

“And, if you don’t mind, what we it that he whispered to you at the end?” she asks.

A loving smile finds its way to my husband’s face as he looks over at me, “He said ‘You better not lose, I don’t want to give you up’.”

“Apparently you’re still winning, you’re not divorced yet,” she looks a little smug as she says this.

He chuckles lightly before nodding, “I guess that makes me the luckiest man in the world.”

~A/N~

Happy Sunday.