THE OC 25

"So what you are saying is that between 9:30 and 11pm on Saturday March 5th, you were alone with Mr. McNab at his home, and during this time he never left your sight." The defense attorney questioned.

"Yes." The witness responded.

"Not even to get a soda? Use the bathroom? Take a call from his ex? Nothing?" The attorney said sarcastically.

"Objection!" The prosecutor interjected. "He is leading the witness, Your Honor."

"I was merely summarizing her testimony."

"Overruled!" The judged ruled.

"Thank you."

"…but be careful. You are treading on thin ice." The judged warned.

"Yes, your majesty… I mean… Your highness… your honor… yes, that's what I mean…" The defense attorney said rather muddled up.

The judge just looked at him over the top of his glasses, with an 'I'm-not-amused' look.

"I think lets call it a day." The judge said concluding proceedings. "We'll reconvene 9am on Monday."

He slammed his gavel down and the court began to clear.

The defense attorney returned to his seat, sat down, recollected his paperwork, stuffed it in to his briefcase, closed it, stood up and turned around and found himself facing his legal counterpart.

"That was a very good piece cross-examination, councilor." Zach responded.

"Thanks buddy." Seth said. "Got any plans for tonight?"

"I'm taking Sum out for a quiet, romantic dinner to celebrate our engagement." Zach replied.

"Ah, right… the engagement… how could I forget…?" Seth said, but in reality he really did want to forget. Forget all about the Summer/Zach union. How could things have got so muddled for him? HE was supposed to be with Summer… HE was supposed to be dating the girl of his dreams, HE was supposed to be proposing to arguably the most beautiful girl in Orange County, not Zach. However, Seth didn't dream of letting his emotions carry him away, Zach, apart from Ryan could very well be his best friend, and this definitely made things a bit weird for Seth.

"Seth…" Zach called his name. "SETH!"

Seth snapped out of his day dream. "Oh… yeah…"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm cool…"

"We're gonna be having a BBQ at our place tomorrow afternoon in case…" Zach offered.

"Hmmmm… Okay, see you then." Seth responded.

Seth and Zach left the courthouse together. They got in their separate cars, both top-of-the-range BMWs, full house.

Both of them had studied law through college and had got jobs as attorneys at competing firms.

As Seth pulled out the parking lot, he started day dreaming, and replaying in his mind how he had come to find himself in this situation. He had to admit that it wasn't a bad place; most people his age would kill to have had the opportunities he's had: The good education, the great college degrees, and the opportunity to be a lawyer at one of Newport's most popular firms. He really was coining it, but it certainly wasn't his first choice. While still at school, he had had it all mapped out, and it was a lot different to how it is now: At 25, he had planned to be a comic book writer, possibly with a TV show on the side, and definitely a beautiful, black haired Summer waiting for him at home after a hard day at the office. Even the thought of a few little Seths running around had entered his mind way back then already.

Being an attorney is not really what Seth had in mind as his primary career path; it just sort of happened this way. Seth really wanted to be a cartoonist, but after the debarkle between him, Zach and Summer that fateful day with their pitch during high school, he wrote the idea off as a joke. However, in the back of his mind, he still was hoping…

Zach on the other hand had been forced in to making a choice between politics or law; those were the only options his father gave him. He had run the idea of being a graphics novelist by his parents, and they almost shot through the roof. He decided that politics was NOT for him, so he followed the path of corporate sellout. He and Summer had got together back in college, and had not since looked back.

Seth pulled up outside his apartment. It was a decent 3 bed roomed establishment overlooking Balboa Beach. He had been living there for close on 5 years with his best friend and brother, Ryan.

As he got out his car, he immediately recognized the blue and green pickup standing outside. Ryan was home, which was not unusual mind you. He normally only worked till noon on Fridays.

Seth walked up the stairs to the door, opened it and was greeted with the smell of freshly cooked chicken, mushrooms and pepperoni.

Ryan came walking through from the kitchen with a giant triangle-slice of pizza in his hand. "Just in time bro, delivery just arrived."

"Hey." Seth said, and put his briefcase down by the door. He walked to the kitchen; got himself the biggest piece he could find and walked back to the lounge where Ryan was sitting watching reruns of Malcolm In The Middle. Seth flopped down in the chair adjacent to Ryan's

"Hectic day at the office?" Ryan commented seeing Seth looking totally exhausted.

"Ever wondered what your life would have turned out like had you made other choices?" Seth asked in a philosophical kind of way.

Ryan didn't respond, just liked at Seth, raising his eye-brows.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question." Seth said. "I mean just think about it Ryan… What if Zach had not come back from Italy… that… I don't know… he decided to stay and support his family, or that he had maybe… just maybe… gone the route of a politician… I mean that was a 50/50… and he had had to move to say… New York, or DC… What then? Would Summer have gone with? Would she have stayed? If she had stayed, would the Seth/Summer super team have remained, or not… and if not, then who would she have fallen for? Would it have been someone new… Would I have fallen for someone new… would it…"

"Seth!" Ryan interjected… "You're rambling…"

"No, Ryan… Buddy… Don't you see it… we are all victims of our fate…"

"So… I'm taking it this has something to do with Zach and Summer's engagement?"

"No, you're missing it here… I'm perfectly fine with the Zach/Summer… en… en…"

"Engagement?" Ryan completed the word Seth could get out.

"Yes… I am totally fine with… … what you just said." Seth said taking another bite of his pizza.

Ryan also took a bite of his pizza. He had known Seth for the best part of ten years, and he knew that Seth was not fine with it.

"Well, my day wasn't all bad, either…" Ryan finally said, realizing that Seth wasn't gonna ask him. Although Seth had matured in some areas, there were still others that needed major work on; one of them being he's incestuous ramblings about himself.

"Ah, that's good, Ryan… I was going to ask…" Seth responded.

"Yeah, Trey and I landed this big time business deal that should put Atwood Brothers on the map."

After Trey came out of prison, he had found himself a minimum-wage job as a construction worker. From there he had built a base from which he could eventually start his own business. Ryan had studied to be an Economist funnily enough, but after college, Trey convinced him to go in to business, and thus the two of them set up Atwood Brothers Construction Contractors (ABCC). They basically specialized in training and placing construction workers, and contracting them out to big building companies, The Newport Group being one of their biggest clients.

"What's the plan for tonight?" Seth asked.

"Nothing… A quiet, uneventful night at home…" Ryan responded…

"Ah, hard day's labor… A little overworked for those tough Chino hands…" Seth retorted jokingly.

"Yes, and the fact that I need to go fetch Marissa from the airport at the crack of dawn…" Ryan replied.

Ryan and Seth continued to watch movies, joking with each other, and just enjoying each others company till late in to the night.