Jury Duty
by Jerry Guarino
Jeffrey opened his mail and
found the jury duty notice. “Damn, I have
jury duty” he said to his wife Susan.
“That’s OK honey,
when is it?”
“July 14th, the day we’re
supposed to leave on vacation. Don’t they
realize that people take vacations?”
“Can you get out of it?”
“I’ve been
putting them off for years. I think that I’ve
used every excuse there is. I’ll just show
up and hope it’s a one-day commitment. We
can leave the following day for San Diego.”
“I’ll change the
hotel reservation for the next day.”
***
Jeffrey had been thinking
about the excuses he could use when he got to the
courthouse. He could tell them about the vacation,
about how he had an important meeting in San
Diego, about how his house was robbed last year
and that he thinks everyone is guilty. None of
these ideas seemed perfect and he knew he could
only use one excuse when they asked him why he
couldn’t serve.
The room he sat in was dark,
smelled like a bus station and was filled with
people he wouldn’t want to meet. “Jury
of his peers, huh? This guy must have been a
loser,” he thought. There were teenage
moms with tattoos and crying babies, overweight
people munching on donuts and bagels, a business
woman drinking coffee from her Starbucks cup
while she tapped on her iPhone and a middle aged
man that looked like the homeless guy down at the
Salvation Army center wearing an Oakland A’s
t-shirt. “God, I’m glad I’m not on
trial,” he said to the pretty Asian woman
with the iPhone.
She glanced up from her
tapping. “Pardon me?”
“I said I’m glad
I’m not on trial with the looks of this jury
pool.”
“Yes” said the
woman. “This group would vote guilty no
matter what the evidence was. My name is Amy”
and she extended her hand and smiled.
“Jeffrey. Nice to meet
you.”
Amy was dressed in a navy
blue business suit, with light makeup, dark
shoulder length hair and a red velvet scrunchy to
hold her pony tail, the only lighthearted aspect
of her attire. She was in her late 20s and
obviously well educated. Jeffrey, now in his 40s,
was immediately attracted to her. His recurring
fantasy of having an affair after fifteen years
of marriage replayed in his mind. He imagined
occasional meetings with this lovely on Wednesday
afternoons when they might both get away. He
thought of her in red lingerie, her hair loose
and an aggressive manner of lovemaking, some of
the actions his wife has long lost interest in.
Not that he would ever leave Susan; in every
other way, they were totally compatible, just not
in the bedroom.
“What do you do
Jeffrey?”
“I’m a chef at Le
bistro de Paris downtown.”
Amy leaned forward and put
her hand on Jeffrey’s knee. “Really. I
love that place. I was just there last week with
friends.”
Jeffrey finally got around
to noticing that Amy had no rings on, after he
had surveyed her face and other features. “So
nice to hear it. What did you have?”
“Canard à l'orange.
Il était exquise, pas trop sucré, juste mature”
Amy said in perfect French.
Jeffrey replied in kind.
“Oui, le canard doit mûrir avant de pouvoir
s'il vous plaît le palais.” He felt an
excitement stirring and tried to maintain a cool
exterior.
“J'ai léché jusqu'à
toute la sauce, ne voulant pas gaspiller”
she said, still touching his knee. Jeffrey knew
now that she was as interested in him as he was
with her. He pulled out his card and handed it to
her.
“Let me know the next
time you are coming and I’ll prepare
something special for you.”
Amy responded in kind with
her own card. “And you can call me if you
would like to teach me how to cook French”
as she wrote her cell phone number on the back.
Jeffrey touched Amy’s
shoulder, stroking it lightly. “I’d
like that. What are you doing Wednesday afternoon,
my day off?” forgetting that he was supposed
to go on vacation that week.
“Wednesday is perfect.
Email me with the ingredients you’ll need
and I’ll send you my address and directions.”
Their flirting was interrupted by the bailiff.
“Everyone with court
number seven please follow me to the next room.”
Jeffrey and Amy compared
their summons and smiled seeing that they would
be able to continue their conversation. They
walked together behind the bailiff and sat down.
“Where did you learn
French? You speak it very well,” he said.
“At Cal, I was a
French Literature major. I even spent a year in
Marseille. It was amazing.”
Jeffrey imagined this
beauty walking the cafes and art galleries,
immersing her in the culture, perhaps stopping at
those lingerie shops for a European look. “Did
you ever go to La cote de boeuff on Cours Honore
d’Estienne?”
“Yes I did. How do you
know about it?”
“I trained there for a
year. That’s where I learned how to make the
duck.” Jeffrey was making connections and
this lovely was following him.
“That’s why I
recognized the sauce. It was the same recipe.
Could you show me how to make that dish? Please?”
“Of course. But let me
bring the ingredients. It’s a bit expensive”
hoping to solidify the date.
“All right then, but I’ll
buy the wine. What goes well with that?”
“Chardonnay, Pinot
Blanc or a dryish sparkler such as French or
California Brut. Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc would
be perfect.”
Amy pulled out her iPhone.
“Would you text me that name please? Here’s
the number.” She positioned her phone on
Jeffrey’s thigh so he could see it. Jeffrey
worried about his increasing excitement just a
few inches above. He tapped out the name and
texted it to her.
“There you go. Would
you please excuse me a second? I’d better go
before they call us into the courtroom.”
“Certainly, I want to
touch up my face too. Meet you back here in a few
minutes.”
Jeffrey went into the bathroom, saw that it was
empty and entered the far stall. Ping. It was a
text message from Amy with a picture of her lying
on a bed with a message. “Can’t
wait for you to teach me how to cook lover.”
That pushed him over the
edge. He watched the picture and relieved himself,
and then saved the picture to a secret folder he
had on his phone, then after composing himself
replied to the text. “It will be honor
to serve you.” He walked back into the
jury waiting room and sat closer to Amy this time.
They continued their small
talk when the attorneys called up people to
question. Amy was first. After a few standard
questions to determined her suitability as a
juror, he asked, “This is a burglary case.
It may last for weeks. Can you commit that kind
of time to the trial?” Amy glanced over at
Jeffrey who nodded, then answered “Yes, of
course.” They both realized this would give
them more time together.
Jeffrey was called next and
answered in kind. They were both accepted as
jurors and released for the day. “The trial
starts tomorrow. Be here by 8:00am” said the
bailiff.
Jeffrey and Amy had coffee
at a local Starbucks, and then parted. “Sorry
lover, I wish I could drag you home right now,
but I have to get to work to finish something.
See you tomorrow.” She leaned up to him and
gave him a long kiss.
Jeffrey responded in kind,
not worrying about who might be watching. He
returned home later in the day.
“Well. How did it go
dear?” said Susan.
“I tried to get out of
it darling, but I’m stuck on a trial that
may last a few weeks. Can we postpone our
vacation?”
Susan looked disappointed,
but said “That’s all right. I’ll
change the reservations for August.”
The next morning Jeffrey
and Amy met for coffee early at the same
Starbucks. Amy slid her foot under Jeffrey’s
leg while he held her hand. “Three weeks
Jeffrey. We can meet here every morning,”
said Amy.
“A perfect way to
start the day. I noticed you’re an assistant
at the museum. Tell me about that.”
“Oh, I love my job. I
help coordinate shows and loans of the French art
works for events. You should come to one sometime.
They are quite lovely.”
“I’d like that, if I can get away.”
He ran a little circle with his finger inside her
palm.
***
They entered the jury room
and sat with notepaper listening to the attorney’s
make their opening statements. Jeffrey was hardly
paying attention, preferring to let his
imagination wander to his date in two days. He
saw that Amy was sketching a figure of herself
undressing Jeffrey in the kitchen. She glanced
over to see that Jeffrey noticed and smiled
furtively.
“The defendant and his
crew have been accused of over fifteen burglaries
in the neighborhood. When they were caught, their
fingerprints linked the crimes together. Here are
some of the items they stole.” The assistant
attorney laid out jewelry, purses, laptop
computers and digital televisions.
Suddenly, Jeffrey
recognized some of the pieces. They were taken
from his house. He realized he couldn’t
divulge this in court. They would excuse him from
the trial. He could only hope they were convicted
anyway.
After an hour, the bailiff
delivered a note to the trial judge. “Ladies
and gentlemen of the jury. I’m sorry to say
that I have a more pressing matter to attend to.
Court is dismissed until 9:00 o’clock
tomorrow morning. Thank you for your
understanding.”
Amy squeezed Jeffrey’s
hand and whispered in his ear. “Looks like
we can start that cooking lesson early.”
They walked hand in hand
into the upscale market around the corner;
Jeffrey selecting the ingredients while Amy
queried the wine manager. “Look Jeffrey, I
found it” she said with delight, then walked
along side the cart with her hand on his as he
continued buying the grocery list.
“How about some French
bread?” he said.
“Perfect, can I choose
it?”
“Of course dear.
Whatever the lady wishes.” Jeffrey couldn’t
believe how perfectly this was turning out. Now
if only his actual lovemaking could match the one
he had imagined.
They left his car at the courthouse and took her
BMW to her condo by the river. Amy continued to
rev up the conversation and passion on the short
drive. “I feel so lucky to have met you. I
always wanted to meet a chef.” She stroked
the inside of his leg with her hand.
Realizing that she had
never brought up the matter of his marriage, he
wondered if he should bring it up. “What
if she cancels the whole thing? Maybe I should
just not talk about it. But I’d love to know
how long this can last” he thought. She
looked at him seriously.
“By the way. I’d
like to keep this our secret if that’s OK. I’d
love to be your mistress, but I don’t want
to get you in trouble with the wife.” Her
smile was all the reassurance he needed.
“That would be just
perfect. I was looking for the same arrangement.”
For the next five hours,
the couple made gourmet food and exotic love. Her
bedroom was tastefully adorned with French prints
and furniture with a balcony overlooking the
river; private and romantic. The only way this
could be better was if they could meet at night.
By four o’clock, Jeffrey knew he had to
return home. They kissed passionately one more
time.
“How was the trial
dear?” said Susan.
“Boring. The judge
said to plan on three weeks before the ending. I’m
sorry our vacation plans got derailed.”
“No worries love. I
changed all the reservations and made my own
contingencies. Would it be all right if I spent
the time with my sister in Los Angeles? Then you
can fly down when you’re finished.”
Jeffrey almost pinched
himself with the news. He tried to show the
correct proportion of response. “Oh that
sounds wonderful dear. I know how much you guys
love to spend time together. Maybe you’ll
get all your talking done before I arrive.”
Susan gave him a hug.
“Great, I’ll call her right now.”
After she left the room,
Jeffrey texted Amy with the news. Now they didn’t
have to rely on the scheduling of meeting and
hiding from his wife. They could spend nights
together at her condo without worrying about
having to leave for home.
Amy saw the news and
replied with another one of her text messages,
this time with a picture of her in a bikini,
French of course. Jeffrey headed to the bathroom
to view it in private and, well you know.
***
The couple had the fiery
passionate affair both had dreamed of. Three
weeks of spending time together, cooking and
making love each night at her place. He wished he
could take her out but figured that was too risky.
Someone he knew might see them. But Amy
understood and didn’t mind. It was her dream
romance as well and she wasn’t going to
jeopardize it.
They continued to see each
other for the next five years, when Amy was asked
to go on a trip for the museum to France to pick
up some artwork. She would be gone for three
months. The hiatus didn’t diminish the
passion they had for each other. She returned to
continue their affair in September and they were
able to live happily, if secretly for the next
five years.
“I love you so much
Amy” Jeffrey confessed.
“Me too lover. Don’t
ever leave me. You know our life has been perfect
except for one thing.”
“What’s that dear?”
“That three weeks we
wasted in court and the defendant getting off
because they weren’t any witnesses to claim
the stolen property.”
“Yes, a shame”
Jeffrey replied.
Jury
Duty by Jerry Guarino
Copyright June, 2013 – All Rights Reserved
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