Friends With Extra Benefits (28 page)

Widening her eyes, Darcy took
a moment before plowing ahead.
"So, it
seems like Miss Brookhart has what looks like an image of the Lone
Star State just north of her star-fish."
Darcy clenched her lips tight. She turned and glanced off
screen.
"I bet you thought I would lose it
there."

She smiled and returned to the
camera.
"Sorry, folks."

In the Grayson bedroom, both Brian and Jillian
wore even bigger smiles as they watched, although Brian stole a few
glances of Jillian's flawlessly coiffed pubic hair as he wondered
if it had been recently trimmed. It sure looked different. He
looked down at his own and shook his head thinking, Time for a
trim. Then Brian returned his eyes to the screen.

Darcy said,
"What was looking just a few days ago like a slam
dunk for the plaintiff now looks like a scramble. There's a rumor
floating around that a picture of the said Lone Star birthmark...
might be requested from Miss Brookhart when the trial resumes
tomorrow morning."

The television screen split to Darcy on one
half and Darcy's favorite random legal expert, Joe Whitaglia, on
the other.

Darcy asked,
"Joe... how can the plaintiff's attorney still be
sticking to the story that Miss Brookhart was a virgin, when
countless witnesses can recall such an intimate detail about her
most intimate of areas?"

Joe began in a confident
voice,
"Well, Darcy, just because a
witness can identify her in that regard is no proof that the
witness has had sex with Miss Brookhart. Also—"

"Uh, yeah..."
Darcy interrupted as she shook her head comically
at the camera.
"I have a long list of men
who have seen that area on me that I've not slept with... uh, like,
maybe my doctor..."
she widened her eyes
to the camera and then continued,
"Joe,
you've got to be kidding me. You’d have to be a moron
to—"

"Look, Darcy. The jury needs to consider
this new evidence among all the—"

"Hold on. Hold on, Joe. Let me
see if I’ve got this straight... the jury is supposed to believe
that six guys and counting can positively identify a birthmark on
Miss Brookhart's tiny, little, perfect, super-flexible backside and
that not a single one of them
has had sex
with her? They’re supposed to buy that she's a virgin?"

"That's right; show us the video tape of
actual penetration, and then—"

"What?"
Darcy stared at the camera unblinkingly.
"You want actual video evidence of Miss Brookhart fornicating
in order to believe that she's not a virgin?"

Darcy's face now occupied the
whole screen as she said,
"We need to
break. While we're gone, we'll have Joe's head examined... We'll be
right back with more."

Jillian grabbed the remote and turned off the
TV. "I trimmed for you."

"I thought so." Brian smiled.

She glanced down at his groin. He had been at
half-mast since she appeared naked from the bathroom. Jillian
licked her lips, and Brian followed her eyes. "I could use a trim,
myself."

Grinning, she slowly leaned down to his lap. "I
don’t mind."

He looked toward the ceiling with a big smile as
he drew in a long, slow breath. As Jillian enthusiastically went to
work, Brian's mouth shot wide open, and his hands clenched the
sheets on either side of him.

The next day, the picture packet was delivered
and placed on Judge Maxwell's desk just before 8:00 a.m. Maxwell
arrived at 8:02 that morning, the earliest by far that he had ever
reached the courthouse. It wasn't a coincidence; he was
psyched.

At 9:05, Maxwell emerged from his chambers,
slightly flushed and carrying the envelope. The jury remained out
of the courtroom as the attorneys met with the judge at the bench.
White noise emanated over the sound system as the three spoke.

It was decided that the jury would not be
allowed to view the pictures, but they would watch as the witnesses
paged through the images and made their selections.

Each of seven eyewitnesses to Natalie's
distinguishing mark were brought to the courtroom one-by-one as the
others remained sequestered in order to ensure the legitimacy of
the proceeding. Brian went first and quickly selected the correct
image, which was not only fresh in his mind, but an image he would
not soon forget. Rob, Mitchell, Soros, and the two other
'boyfriends' were also able to identify the correct birthmark
photo. Only one-night-stand-boy was unable to make the correct
selection, and Josh took great pleasure in this victory, small as
it was. The jury didn't take much stock in his failure, since they
all remembered that this was the young man who also wasn't quite
sure which of the plaintiff's orifices he had actually
experienced.

As Josh was heading back to his chair, a member
of Jillian's legal team whispered into Stanley's ear. He was told
that although they located six of the other potential witnesses,
two were out of the country, and none of the other four could be in
Miami to testify any sooner than the following Monday.

Jillian turned back to Brian, and their eyes
met. He clenched his fist to her as a show of support, and they
shared a smile. Jillian glanced at Natalie, and when Natalie met
her gaze, Jillian's smile disappeared. They stared at one another
for a brief moment before Natalie sneered and then turned away.

The judge glanced at his watch. "Defense, call
your next witness."

After studying the tired looks on the juror's
faces, Stanley figured they had had enough. He stood. "Your Honor,
the defense—"

Jillian grabbed his arm. Stanley leaned down,
and she whispered in his ear.

Looking at her with concern, he asked, "Are you
sure?"

She shook her head and whispered again in his
ear. Stanley widened his eyes, and Jillian returned a confident
nod. Maxwell glared down at them, his patience tested.

"Mr. Parrish."

"Sorry, Judge. The defense would like to recall
Jillian Grayson." Jurors four, seven, and twelve rolled their eyes.
Many of the others just shook their heads and checked their
watches.

Stanley approached the witness stand as Jillian
sat up straight while wearing a slightly worried expression. He
asked, "Ms. Grayson, what is the name of the ballet move depicted
on the front cover of your novel, The Leg Thing?"

"The official name for the position is developpe
leg devant ala derriere."

Stanley nodded as if he actually were interested
in the name.

"Miss Brookhart isn't the only person you know
who can perform this advanced ballet move, now, is she?"

Moving closer to the microphone, Jillian
replied, "No, she isn't."

"Who else do you know can?"

"I can."

Natalie scoffed loudly, and all eyes went to
her. She slumped down in her seat with an embarrassed look.

The jurors perked up a bit. Turning to the
judge, Stanley began, "Your Honor, Ms. Grayson would like to
demonstrate this move, if she may, for the jury in order—"

"Objection," Josh called out as he shot up from
his seat.

The male jurors' bored expressions evaporated.
Maxwell glared at Josh. "On what grounds?"

Josh glanced at Stanley and then at Jillian
before he stammered weakly, "Uh... on the grounds that it would be,
uh, prejudicial to the jury."

The Judge sighed, "Overruled."

Josh slumped down in this seat as Maxwell
directed to Stanley, "Let's make it quick, Counselor."

Three minutes later, Jillian slipped out of the
adjoining bathroom and into the courtroom, wearing a black leotard
over white tights. The outfit showed off her perfectly tone body,
but no skin, unlike Natalie's previous nearly R-rated
demonstration. The male jurors moved once again to the edge of
their seats and wore big smiles.

Making her way to the center of the courtroom,
she looked around nervously before taking a deep breath. She
glanced at Brian and Victoria, who both returned confident
nods.

Jillian rose up on the ball of her left foot,
and then began slowly lifting her right leg and following it up
with her right hand. She kept going until it pointed straight up to
the ceiling, and her right elbow rested against her right knee. Her
forearm ran along her leg, with her hand holding her ankle.

Everyone looked on in astonishment as Jillian
held the position seemingly effortlessly, but inside Jillian
muscles were straining. Natalie watched gape-mouthed until she
caught herself, grimaced, and slumped down in her chair.

The Judge stared down at Jillian, smiling and
shaking his head in mild shock.

Jillian slowly returned her leg to the floor and
then glanced at Stanley while wearing a wide smile.

"Thank you, Jillian," Stanley said proudly.

She nodded. As she headed past Stanley, Jillian
stuck her tongue out at Natalie. Natalie's jaw dropped in shock.
Then Jillian turned, shared a smile with Brian and Victoria, and
made her way back to the restroom.

Turning toward Maxwell, Stanley smiled. "And on
that... the defense rests."

The judge held back a chuckle but grinned
instead. "Good." He moved his eyes to Josh. "Mr. Roth, do you wish
to recall anyone?"

"No, sir."

"Adjourned until two o'clock, when we will begin
closing arguments."

After the break, Josh Roth
approached the jury. He held the fingertips of both hands to his
chin for only a moment before he began, "Ladies and gentlemen,
Jillian Grayson held a grudge against Natalie Brookhart. That is
clear. She was jealous of her youth and the fact that both her son
and her boyfriend were obviously still smitten with her. The
Rebecca character in her novel,
The Leg
Thing
, was undoubtedly based on Miss
Brookhart. Both her character and Natalie have similar physical
appearances, both were college students and both were ballerinas
who could perform this advanced pose.

Josh smiled at Natalie and then glanced back to
the jury. "It has been established that the novel is torn from Ms.
Grayson's real life. Characters based on herself, her son, and her
new husband are all central to the narrative. You heard Jillian
Grayson herself testify to this fact. The actual events of early
2011 are also depicted in the novel. Miss Brookhart was the
catalyst of those events. Without her, none of this would have
happened. There would have been no novel. She dated both Rob
Grayson and Brian Nash in real life and in the novel. The evidence
is abundantly clear."

Josh turned away from the jury and took a few
steps toward the defense table. He turned back. "Albert Blair,
Jillian's former agent, is being blamed for not securing the proper
release from Miss Brookhart. And while Ms. Grayson claims that she
had no knowledge of what Mr. Blair was planning, he certainly knew
what he was doing; he's a smart publicist. Now whether Ms. Grayson
knew or didn’t know that Albert had obtained a release doesn't
matter. Ultimately it is not Mr. Blair's responsibility; it is the
responsibility of Ms. Grayson herself to ensure that the proper
release is granted."

Josh stared at Jillian. "There was no such
release, and that's why we're here. After Mr. Blair's little
publicity stunt in St. Barts, sales of the novel exploded."

Moving his attention to the
jury, he paused a moment to emphasize the point with his hands
mimicking an explosion. "The book's been number one on Amazon for
months. Over three million copies of
The
Leg Thing
have been sold worldwide,
placing seven and one half million dollars into Ms. Grayson's
pocket and earning her publisher approximately another fifteen
million dollars."

Josh scoffed and shook his head slowly as he
looked at the jury. "Twenty-two million dollars." He pointed to
Miss Brookhart. "Twenty-two. So they have all that money, and what
did Miss Brookhart get out of all of this?" He paused for effect
and repeated, "What?"

"Humiliation, embarrassment, and ridicule,
that's what." Josh stared at Natalie, who painted on a sad face as
he continued, "Somehow, that just doesn't seem fair. My client was
defamed in this novel. Lies were spread about her; she was
mischaracterized with clear malice on the part of Ms. Grayson. And
for this reason, we feel punitive damages are also due to Miss
Brookart. Put yourself in Miss Brookhart's shoes... How would you
feel if someone got rich while they destroyed you, or perhaps your
daughter, in their novel and just sat back and collected
millions?"

Josh glared at Jillian, and she returned a
sneer. Turning back to the jury, he said, "Maybe you should send
Ms. Grayson a message before she... she writes a book about you."
Josh's eyes traveled over the jurors as he shook his head
slowly.

"Thank you."

He moved to his seat and gave Natalie a
supportive smile before placing his hand atop hers and giving it a
gentle squeeze.

Stanley Parrish stood and slowly made his way to
the front of jury box. He began, "This case is not about Miss
Brookhart being defamed in Jillian's novel; it's about revenge.
Miss Brookhart's revenge for not getting what she wanted. She
wanted Brian Nash, that was clear. She still appears to want Brian
Nash, based on his testimony of her confrontation with him just a
few days ago. There was no malice here; there was no attempt to
defame or libel Miss Brookhart. All that you have here is a writer
who wrote a fictional story inspired by..." Stanley paused a moment
as he glanced at Jillian and then back to the jury. "... a
fictional story inspired by true events."