Friends With Extra Benefits (27 page)

Stanley glanced to the jury and then returned to
Mitchell. "Mitchell, did you have anal sex with Natalie that
night?"

"Yes."

After pausing for ten seconds to let the weight
of that reply sink in, Stanley asked, "Did you notice anything
unique about Miss Brookhart while you were with her?"

"Yes, she has this birthmark right between
her... I guess you could call it her vagina and her..." He
continued a little softer with everyone listening closely, "...
assho— I mean, her 'anus,' is the proper term."

"And could you characterize it?"

Titling his head, Mitchell appeared to be
daydreaming.

With Josh’s mind wandering far away—and more
specifically to Natalie's ass and the birthmark he was suddenly
remembering--his jaw dropped. He, too, was trying to figure out
exactly what it looked like, and if it hadn’t been for all this, he
might have objected to this line of questioning.

"Mr. Garrett?" Stanley prompted.

Mitchell's eyes brightened. "Uh, yeah... it
looks a lot like the state of Texas. It's shaped, you know, just
like it."

Josh nodded in happy agreement before catching
himself and painting on a solemn look.

A few random chuckles spread throughout the
courtroom. Maxwell even found that comment comical. He let the
interruption slide.

Stanley plowed ahead. "What happened after you
had sex with Natalie?"

"Natalie told me if I ever told Cindy, that she
would claim that I was the one who came on to her."

Shooting the jury a confident look, Stanley
said, "I have nothing further."

Maxwell said, "Mr. Roth, your witness."

Natalie whispered into Josh's ear. He paused a
moment, then approached the witness stand.

"Mr. Garrett, isn't it true that you became
obsessed with Miss Brookhart?"

"Well, yes, but... that was after she seduced me
that night."

Josh gave him a skeptical look. "Oh, it was
after... Isn't it true that you were the one pursuing Natalie all
those months and that you took advantage of her that night when you
got her drunk?"

Sitting up straight, Mitchell narrowed his eyes.
"No, that's not true at all."

"Come on, Mr. Garrett, you two were together,
you both were drunk, and your girlfriend was passed out. You took
advantage of my client, didn't you?"

"Objection," Stanley called out. "Asked and
answered."

Maxwell groaned, "Move on, Mr. Roth."

After taking a deep breath, Josh glanced at
Natalie. She returned an angry nod, and he continued, "On the night
in question, weren't you so drunk that you had trouble
performing... sexually?"

Mitchell was taken aback by the query as
everyone stared at him, waiting for a reply. He glanced around the
courtroom nervously and then began, "I, uh, well... I mean, I
wasn't at the top of my game, but..."

Members of the jury grinned as an audible
chuckle spilled out from the spectators.

The Judge banged his gavel once. "Quiet
down."

Shooting up out of his seat, Stanley said
loudly, "Objection, Your Honor. Mr. Garrett's sexual performance is
not at issue here."

Mitchell gave Stanley a grateful look.

"Sustained."

Josh shook his head in disgust at Mitchell. "I
have nothing else for this witness."

Next up Rob, testified. He accounted his sexual
experiences with Natalie. He described her now-famous birthmark. He
testified how she only seemed interested in him once she found out
that he had a longtime girlfriend waiting for him in Miami. He
admitted he felt guilty about dating Natalie behind Brian's back
and recounted what he could about his impressions of Natalie's
manipulation of members of the opposite sex.

Josh tore into him with accusations of lying to
protect his mother's reputation and fortune, a fortune he was
destined to inherit. He survived mostly unscathed. The jury
appeared to believe him, and Josh's constant attacks on the
witnesses appeared to be tiring the members of the jury.

Brian Nash took the stand next. He repeated the
tennis and diary stories. He also described the birthmark but
admitted that he did not see it during any sex act with Natalie. He
told the story of the circumstances which led him to see the
birthmark, but no mention of the recording was made.

Just as he'd done with Rob, Josh grilled him
about lying to protect Jillian and wanting to hurt Natalie now,
since she had rejected him back at college. He performed
brilliantly, answering every question calmly, and also came across
as a credible witness.

Next up was Soros Demopoulos, Natalie's high
school boyfriend. Mr. Parrish asked questions about his
relationship with Natalie. Soros confirmed Cindy's story about
Brian's tennis match. He elaborated on the nature of their sexual
relationship; it was looking more and more like Natalie wasn't a
technical virgin or any other kind of virgin, for that matter. The
jury appeared to be captivated by the way the trial was now
progressing.

Josh again blasted this witness for lying in
order to get back at Natalie for some wrong he perceived that she
committed. When that tactic didn't seem to be working, he excused
Soros and then walked sheepishly back to his seat while Natalie
glared at him, completely disappointed.

After that. Stanley paraded out two of Natalie's
former boyfriends along with a one-night stand Natalie had enjoyed
a drunken romp with, which the legal team was somehow able to
locate. Each of the two former boyfriends recounted similar stories
of Natalie only seemingly being interested in them after she
learned they were dating someone else. Both had similar experiences
in the bedroom, although neither had been given the opportunity
Mitchell had been given, to enjoy Natalie's incredible
contortionist moves. Neither had any idea what they had missed out
on.

Natalie's one-night stand attempted to recall
his experiences with her, and although he admitted everything from
that night was a bit hazy and he wasn't sure exactly which hole of
hers he had become intimately familiar with, he was sure he had
become familiar with at least one.

Josh Roth struggled to impeach the three and
failed pretty miserably. Natalie barely paid attention to the more
than one-hour spectacle, while Jillian watched it all, totally
riveted. As one-night-stand boy headed off the witness stand, Josh
headed back to his seat, looking utterly defeated.

Jillian glanced at Natalie as she lazily
stretched her neck from side to side. For some reason, she found it
amusing. And then Jillian's mind raced. She narrowed her eyes, and
her jaw dropped with an epiphany. She whispered in Stanley's
ear.

Maxwell said, " Mr. Parrish, call your next
witness."

Stanley gave Jillian a skeptical look. She
nodded and then returned to whisper again in his ear. When she
pulled away and gave him a hopeful look, Stanley paused, thinking,
before shaking his head in reluctant agreement.

"Mr. Parrish," the judge said with an edge to
his voice.

"Yes, Your Honor. I have a motion to bring
before the court and feel it would be best if not done in front of
the jury."

Maxwell glanced at his watch. "It's after four
already." He gave Stanley a tired look and added, "The jury is
excused. We will resume at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow."

After the jury left the courtroom, Stanley stood
and began, "We would request that photos of Miss Brookhart's
birthmark be taken so that we may have our witnesses positively
identify her."

Josh leapt to his feat. "What the hell?"

Maxwell glared at him. "I take it you
object?"

"Sorry, Your Honor. Yes, I object."

Maxwell asked, "Why is this necessary?"

Stanley said, "Uh, we feel that if we can
corroborate the testimony that our witnesses have, in fact, been
intimate with Miss Brookhart, it can put to rest any question as to
the state of her virginity during the spring of 2011."

Josh said, "Judge, this is ridiculous. There is
no precedence for this."

Stanley fired back, "Yes, there is. In the
People of the State of California versus Michael Jackson trial,
Jackson was ordered to have pictures taken of his, uh, genitals in
order—"

"That was a criminal matter," Josh scoffed.

"Would you prefer we did an ass line up?"
Stanley quipped.

Jillian broke into a chuckle and quickly covered
her mouth. Maxwell scowled down in displeasure at Stanley's
comment.

Josh pleaded, "Your Honor, please, this is
absurd. In the Jackson case, the jury was not permitted to view
those pictures."

As Maxwell pondered this a moment, Natalie sat
deep in thought with a slight smile brewing on her face.

The Judge said, "I'll expect both your motions
on my desk at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow."

Shaking her head no, Natalie motioned for Josh
to come to her. He leaned in, and she whispered into his ear. Josh
looked at her as if she were out of her mind.

She nodded adamantly, glared at him, and
whispered, "Just do it."

Turning his attention to Maxwell, Josh exhaled
deeply. "Judge, uh, we will consent to the pictures."

Stanley and the judge both raised their eyebrows
in shock.

Maxwell smiled relieved. "Great. It is so
ordered. Bailiff?"

The Bailiff approached the bench as the
attorneys conferred with their clients.

About ninety minutes later, Josh supervised the
picture taking by a photographer hired by Jillian's defense team.
Natalie endured; well, actually, she embraced the whole experience.
What began as evidentiary quickly morphed into something a hell of
a lot more like a Playboy photo shoot. As Josh watched Natalie
strike a particularly sexy pose, all he could think of was the
lurid and graphic descriptions she provided on Brian's voice mail
recording. He was more than a little worked up, as was the male
photographer.

After the photos were taken, Natalie stood
outside the courthouse with Josh. He stared at her like a lost
puppy as she returned a bothered look. He began, "On that recording
you said you could put yourself in this position where I could be
inside you and you'd be licking my..." he glanced around to be sure
no one was near and then continued, "... balls. Can you really do
that? Because that sounds really amazing."

Natalie maintained a completely straight face
before she put on a sexy smile. Then she opened her mouth wide to
reply, said nothing, and closed her lips.

Josh whined, "You can’t be upset with me about
the way the case is going, are you?"

She just stared right through him.

He opened his palms to her. "I mean, I was
blindsided by all this. You didn’t share any information with me
about this string of relationships. Had you, I could've been at
least somewhat prepared."

After glaring at him a moment, Natalie shook her
head, turned, and walked away.

He watched her with sad eyes. "Seriously,
Natalie... Natalie. Aren't we still going to dinner?"

She never looked back.

As Josh sulked, the makeshift ass photo lineup
was being prepared for use the next day. A graphic artist was hired
to mock up six additional images of similar birthmarks Photoshopped
into the private areas of images of the actual Natalie and
attractive posteriors that looked quite similar to hers.

Judge Maxwell's clerk was on hand to supervise,
to ensure the fairness of the proceeding, and to guarantee that no
attorney from either side knew which picture was the real one and
which were the fakes. Each picture was letter coded by the clerk to
identify the real image from the decoys. The clerk then created a
key, slipped the page into an envelope with the photos, and sealed
it securely. Only he and Maxwell were to have access to the images
until the trial resumed.

That night, Brian waited in bed while Jillian
was in the bathroom. As the Darcy Gray show began on the
television, he called out, "It's starting."

Jillian rushed from the bathroom, wearing
nothing but a huge smile.

His eyes were pulled from the screen to her
breasts as she approached. "Wow, you look cute."

"Thanks."

"Do you feel like doing that mermaid raft thing
in the pool tonight?"

"Shhh, I really want to watch this."

"Okay," he whined.

She slipped onto the bed and sat up on her
knees. Glancing at the delicious curve of her ass, he shook his
head, rolled his eyes sadly, then returned them to the
television.

Darcy appeared on screen, wearing not only a
scowl but a bright orange pleather jacket and a little too much
jewelry.

"
Bombshell in the Grayson Brookhart trial... If the birthmark
fits, you must acquit... today in the—"

Darcy grinned at the camera. She bit her lip
fighting to contain the laugh that was desperately trying to break
free. She held one hand over her mouth and the other up to the
camera.

"Sorry, I just need a... you see someone on
our staff came up with that line and I, uh laughed my ass off at
the meeting... please excuse my language."

Darcy shook her head
quickly.
"Let me try that again."
She cleared her throat, painted on a straight
face, and then began again.
"Bombshell in
the Grayson Brookhart trial. If the birthmark fits you must
acquit... today in the defamation suit against my favorite author,
Jaclyn West, the defense carted out witness after witness, all of
whom testified under oath that they were intimately familiar with
Miss Butt Girl's most private of areas. As you know, Butt Girl
claims to have been a virgin during the period in question, but
every witness recalled seeing the same—now, get this—birthmark near
her nether regions, and all describe it as looking like the great
state of Texas."