“I kept saying you destroyed me.”
“And now?”
Wells looked at him.
“Now I think you were just the first person I couldn’t scare into shutting up.”
Adrian’s expression did not change.
Wells continued.
“That night, when you refused the trunk…”
He stopped.
“I felt embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“Because Pike was watching.”
Adrian waited.
“You didn’t act afraid.”
“I was afraid.”
Wells looked surprised.
Adrian continued.
“I just didn’t show you.”
Wells looked down.
“That makes it worse.”
“Yes.”
Wells nodded.
“I wanted control back.”
There it was.
The truth had taken six years.
Adrian said nothing.
Wells continued.
“So when you asked if you were detained, I heard challenge.”
“When I asked for legal justification?”
“Challenge.”
“When I said no to a search?”
“Challenge.”
“When I asked for the camera to be preserved?”
Wells smiled sadly.
“Threat.”
Adrian leaned back.
“And now?”
“Now I hear what you actually said.”
Silence.
Wells took a breath.
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian looked at him.
“I believe you.”
Wells’s eyes became wet.
Adrian continued.
“I’m not telling you it didn’t matter.”
“I know.”
“I’m not telling you the consequences were unfair.”
“I know.”
“I’m not telling you we’re friends.”
Wells laughed quietly.
“I definitely know.”
Adrian smiled.
Wells stood.
“So that’s it?”
“What did you expect?”
“I don’t know.”
“Forgiveness?”
“Maybe.”
Adrian thought.
Then answered carefully.
“Forgiveness is not pretending something became smaller because time passed.”
Wells nodded.
“It is deciding I no longer need your suffering to prove mine mattered.”
Wells looked at him.
Adrian stood.
“I don’t need you ruined.”
Silence.
“I needed you honest.”
Wells wiped his face.
“I’m trying.”
“That is all anyone can do tomorrow.”
They shook hands.
Wells left.
Adrian remained by the window.
The city spread below.
Traffic.
People.
Sirens.
Courthouse steps.
Power moving everywhere.
Some visible.
Some not.
A knock came at the door.
Calvin Price, the courthouse custodian, leaned in.
“Judge, you staying late again?”
Adrian smiled.
“Apparently.”
Calvin pointed at the clock.
“Your mother know?”
Adrian laughed.
“Please don’t call her.”
“I might.”
“You abuse your authority.”
Calvin grinned.
“Somebody has to.”
Adrian gathered his files.
Before leaving, he walked into the courtroom.
Empty.
Quiet.