Friends With Extra Benefits (25 page)

Jillian rushed to the house and returned with
the platter. After placing it on the patio, she slid into the tub
next to him. Brian handed her a glass of champagne, and they
clinked them together before each taking a sip.

Jillian proceed to feed him shrimp, scallops,
lobster and McNulty's famous fresh baked bread as he lounged back
in the tub. As she took her last bite of scallop, and he watched
how she savored it in her mouth, he knew what would come next.
Blood rushed to where he needed it. After emptying her champagne
glass, she directed him up out of the tub. He sat on the edge as
she remained in the water.

Grinning, she moved to him, grasping his
nearly-hard penis around the base with both hands, and guiding it
to her lips. She carefully plunged her mouth over the head, and
Brian groaned loudly.

Jillian proceeded to thank Brian for saving both
her son and her case in one of the most sensual ways possible. She
even explored some of the techniques she and Victoria had come up
with for the erotic hot tub story she had tricked Brian into
reading. In Victoria's hot tub, truth just about matched fiction on
this happy day, and it was absofuckinglutely out of this world.

In Judge Maxwell's courtroom on Monday, Natalie
Brookhart was the first witness called by Stanley Parrish.

Stanley glanced at a legal pad and then up at
Natalie. "Miss Brookhart, isn’t it true that you manipulated both
Rob Grayson and Brian Nash into some sort of love triangle during
the spring of last year in order to pit one against the other?"

"No, that's not true. Yes, I dated them both,
but I did not pit them against each other."

"Was either Mr. Grayson or Mr. Nash aware that
you were dating the other and at the same time?"

"Well, no."

"So if your intention wasn't to pit one against
the other, then what was your intention?"

Natalie glared at Parrish. "My intention... I
was just dating them at the same time. I liked them both."

"Uh-huh. But you drove down to Miami during
Spring Break to see Mr. Grayson, and after Mr. Nash and Mr. Grayson
had a fight, you ended up driving back with Mr. Nash to school,
where you began seeing him again."

"Yes."

"You enjoy having men fight over you, don't you,
Miss Brookhart?"

Folding her arms, she put on an icy stare. "I do
not."

Stanley shook his head skeptically toward the
jury, glanced at his legal pad and then took a deep breath. "Let's
back up a little to the winter of 2011. You began dating Mr. Nash
in early February, and then things cooled off a bit."

"That's correct. He wanted to take our
relationship to the next level and get physical, and I wasn't
ready. Back then, I was still a virgin. Brian said we could take it
slow."

"There was a night in February when you left Mr.
Nash alone in your room, and he read your diary. Is that
correct?"

Turning her head to find Brian, she glared at
him before replying with an edge to her voice, "Yes, I remember
that." She returned her gaze to Stanley.

"Isn't it true that you left him alone in your
room, the diary sitting out in plain sight, with the intention for
him to read it?"

"No. Those were my private thoughts and—"

"Isn't it true that this so
called diary was not your
real
diary but a separate
fake
diary you created just to get
Mr. Nash more enamored with you?"

"No, that's not true."

"But the diary only had a few entries in it. How
do you explain that?"

"It was new," Natalie shot back. "I had just
filled up my old one."

Stanley shook his head in
disbelief, picked up a document and began, "Okay. But you left it
open on your bed to a page which read, '
I
think I’m falling in love with him, but I just can’t give myself to
him yet because of you know... There’s too much pressure. I need
some space now, but I hope he will wait for me because I know I
will get there soon.'
"

"Yes, it may have been on the bed, but I did not
intend for Brian to read that."

"Wasn't it your intention that
Mr. Nash read this so-called entry in your
new
diary, since you felt he was
slipping out of your grasp, and you wanted to give him some false
hope as to your feelings toward him?"

"No, I didn't. Everything was fine with Brian
and me at that point."

"Isn't it true that you left him in your room
for over forty minutes with the diary sitting right there?"

"Well, yes."

Stanley narrowed his eyes. "And who were you
with while Mr. Nash was waiting?"

Natalie stared back nervously. "Um, just a
friend."

"Isn't it true that you were out with another
one of your many boyfriends while you set this trap for Mr. Nash in
your room?"

"That's not true!" She furrowed her brow and
added, "And this was not a trap."

"The diary was a fake, wasn't it, Miss
Brookhart?"

Shooting up from his seat, Josh Roth yelled,
"Objection, Your Honor! He's badgering the witness. This question
has been asked and answered."

Maxwell said, "Sustained. Move along,
Counselor."

Stanley cleared his throat and then glanced at
his legal pad. "A few weeks after the diary incident, you had
occasion to attend one of Mr. Nash's tennis matches. Is that
correct?"

"Yes."

"And you had never gone to one before,
correct?"

"That was my first."

"And since the diary incident, you two had not
seen each other or spoken. Is that correct?"

"I think that's right."

"So you show up for his match, and then out of
nowhere, you disappeared right in the middle of it. Could you tell
us what happened that day?"

Natalie took a deep breath. "Well, an old
boyfriend from high school showed up at the match and said he
wanted to talk. So we went to talk."

"How did he find you?"

She folded her arms. "I don’t know, he just
did."

"How would he have known to look for you
there?"

"I really have no idea," Natalie replied
smugly.

Sighing, Stanley let his gaze
wander to the jury and then back to Natalie. "Isn't it true that
you set up this
coincidental
meeting with your old boyfriend in order to
further manipulate Mr. Nash and to make him jealous?"

"No, I would never—" Natalie began and then
covered her face with her hands.

The jury gave her a sympathetic look and then
glared at Mr. Parrish. Stanley caught the jurors' stares, then his
eyes moved to the floor before glancing back at Natalie. It almost
looked as though he felt sorry for her as well. Shaking off that
emotion, he waited, just staring at the witness while wearing an
impatient expression.

"Do you need a break, Miss Brookhart?"

Natalie composed herself. "I'm okay... I would
never do anything like that to Brian. I liked him a lot back then.
I just wanted to watch him play."

"But you left and didn’t come back to the match,
correct?"

"No, I was too upset."

"Too upset," Stanley repeated as he looked out
over the jury with a skeptical look.

Returning to Natalie, he
rubbed his hands together as he appeared to be carefully
considering how to ask his next question. After a pause, he plowed
ahead, "Okay, Miss Brookhart, are you familiar with the term
'
technical virgin'
?"

"I wasn't before I read Ms. Grayson's book," she
shot back angrily.

"You weren't?" Stanley asked, his words dripping
with sarcasm.

She sat up straight. "No, I had never heard of
it before that day."

"That term is used for a woman who believes she
can remain a virgin by abstaining from vaginal sex while enjoying
other types of sex, including oral and anal sex."

"Yeah, now I know that, but..." Natalie frowned
at him. "Before, I'd never heard of it."

"So you didn’t inform both Mr.
Nash and Mr. Grayson that you considered yourself a
'
technical virgin'
?"

"I did not." She stared at him with a disgusted
look.

"Did you ever have anal sex with Mr.
Grayson?"

"No, I didn't."

"Didn't you offer to have anal sex with Mr.
Nash, and he turned you down?"

"No, that's ridiculous."

"Didn't you tell Mr. Nash that you had had anal
sex with four guys when you two had a conversation about this exact
subject during the month of April in 2011?"

She folded her arms and glared at Stanley. "I
most certainly did not. I told you, back then, I was a virgin. Not
this kind of virgin or that kind of virgin. A virgin... I had never
had sex of any kind."

"And now, are you still a virgin?"

Josh called out, "Objection. Miss Brookhart's
current sex life is not at issue here!"

"Sustained."

After taking a deep breath, Stanley continued,
"So, Miss Brookhart, anyone who would testify that they had sex
with you of any kind during the spring of 2011 would be lying?"

"That is correct, they would be lying."

"And anyone who would claim that you were
deliberately trying to manipulate Brian Nash into believing that
you had strong feelings for him would also be lying?"

"I've never tried to mislead Brian. I was always
honest with him. So yes, that person would also be lying, or
mistaken, I guess."

Stanley smiled at her. "Thank you, Miss
Brookhart. You're excused."

Natalie sat motionless as a confused look slowly
spread across her face.

Judge Maxwell said, "Miss Brookhart?"

Natalie glanced at the judge. "Huh?"

"You’re excused."

"Oh, okay." Natalie looked back to Josh, who was
now staring down at a legal pad. She stood, headed back to her
table, and sat down next to Josh.

The judge said, "Call your next witness."

"The defense calls Miss Cindy Taylor."

Cindy emerged from the last spectator row in the
back of the courtroom and walked toward the witness stand. Natalie
watched her in complete shock and then whispered in Josh's ear.

Josh stood. "Judge, we object to this witness.
She isn't on the defense's list, and we had no prior knowledge of
her—"

Stanley interrupted. "She's on the plaintiff's
list, Your Honor."

"Mr. Roth?" Maxwell scolded as he glared at
Josh.

"Well, yes, but I still object to—"

"You had no objection when you placed her on
your witness list."

"Yes, but..."

The judge said, "Objection overruled. You are
free to cross examine this witness."

Slumping back in his seat, Josh shook his head
and sighed. Natalie leaned to him and again whispered in his
ear.

After Cindy was sworn in, Stanley asked, "Miss
Taylor, could you tell us your relationship to Miss Brookhart?"

"I was her roommate at G.S.U. for three years
until she transferred this past fall."

"And how close were the two of you?"

"Very close."

"Are you aware of any instances where Natalie,
in your opinion, mistreated any of the men she was dating?"

Cindy scoffed, "I couldn't name a guy she didn't
treat like crap."

"Could you give us some examples?"

"Uh, well... with Brian she totally—"

"Brian Nash?" Stanley asked.

"Yes, with Brian Nash, she invited him over to
our dorm one night and planted this diary with an entry, designed
to make him believe she was in love with him but just needed more
time."

"How do you know this?"

"Well, she had me help her write the entry. I'm
not proud of it, but I was always trying to gain her approval. I,
uh... she had me in her spell just like half the male population on
campus."

"Did she tell you anything else about that
night?"

"She told me that she was sure Brian had read
the diary when she left him in the room for so long. She said he
was acting strange when she returned. She set the whole thing up.
Natalie actually laughed about it. I'll never forget that night...
we were lying in bed with the light out, and she was joking about
how when Brian was in her room alone, she was in the library with
some guy and, uh..."

Cindy gave Stanley a hesitant look as everyone
in the room sat on the edge of their seats. Even Judge Maxwell
leaned in close.

"It's okay, just tell us what she said," Stanley
encouraged.

"Natalie said that while Brian was reading her
diary, she was giving some guy a, uh, blowjob."

Many in the crowd gasped. Josh leapt up.
"Objection! Hearsay."

Maxwell said, "Overruled. You'll have your
chance to impeach this witness."

Cindy took a deep breath, and Stanley gave her a
sorrowful look. "I know this makes you uncomfortable, but please
continue."

Glancing around the room nervously, Cindy said,
"Another time, Natalie told me that she thought her old high school
boyfriend wasn't paying enough attention to her. Brian had been
giving her some space, as well, and she didn’t like it. She enjoyed
getting calls from lots of guys and telling them no, like, uh,
ninety percent of the time. Soros, her old boyfriend, hadn’t called
in a few days, so she wanted to make him jealous. Brian was always
asking her to go to his tennis matches, but she never would. She
hated tennis."

"She hated tennis?" Stanley asked with a
surprised look as if this, in and of itself, were some sort of
crime.

"Yeah... she couldn't stand it."

"Go on, please."

"Well, this one day, she knew Brian had a match,
so she invited her old boyfriend over to meet her at the dorm. When
Soros showed up, she wasn't there. She had asked me to wait in the
room for him and to bring him to the tennis court, so she could
create some kind of scene between the both of them."