A Fairytale Christmas in New York
Chapter 2.
As Chunk continued to help her get ready for the party he wouldn't let her have the chance of looking at her herself in anyway, although she did keep joking with him saying that he wouldn't be happy if her make-up needed to be re-done because she was certain that she was going to end up in tears once he let her look at herself, but he promised that he wouldn't get mad at her and would just do it all over again. As he hugged her and said "Most of all you are going to look stunning for the man you love." It reminded her how close she has got to everyone in those few weeks that she had been at TAC, and how very much the whole team had virtually become an extended part of her family, but it also reminded that in all the jobs she had ever done in the past this was the first job that she had absolutely loved doing, as well as really loving all the people that she worked with and she was soon transported back to the day that she went to visit TAC for the first time and meeting everyone.
*FB* Finally Gemma had got settled into her new apartment and was really loving getting used to her new life in New York, Alli and Rose had been mostly the ones that had helped her to get settled in as well as having taken her out on nights out or just for meals to learn where the best places to go were. Not only that Bull had also really helped her as well... well that was when he was around and not staying in the office when he was busy with a case. He had very soon become a very close friend to her, but then she had already ended up being caught in his arms! She had left the door on the latch because she was expecting her brother Scott and his wife Olivia to come round, as they were then off to Olivia's baby shower at her Dad's and step-moms house. But as she was just getting ready a bulb had gone in her bedroom, she was just sorting it out using the step stool from her kitchen because of her being so short, when she heard Bulls voice, she yelled at him to come in. She then somehow managed to over reach as she was putting the new bulb in, just as she thought that she was going to end up falling at his feet, he got there in time and caught her as she fell, she then thanked him as he put her back down again, he then took the bulb from her and did it telling her that if she ever needed a bulb or anything else like that doing she was to ask him to do it, because he didn't want to end up finding her flat out on the floor because she'd gone and had an accident while attempting to do it for herself. It was also the night that they also discovered that they loved baking, because after heading into the kitchen once he had done the bulb, she offered him a drink and as she got it ready for him, she had started to get the cakes and other things that she had been baking that day to take to the baby shower into the tins she had. When he had tried to pinch one she had slapped his hand away saying that they were for the party, but in the end she relented and let him take one. After he'd eaten it he told her that she would have to give him the recipe at some time, because he would love to have a go at baking them himself. So she had then said to him that she had a feeling that things weren't going to be going on that late that night so she had planned on going to TAC the next day, so she would bring the recipe with her the next day, seeing as it was only for the baby shower.
She had been right and the party hadn't gone on too late for them, but she had had a really great night with her family, plus her dad also kept mucking about because the baby was due on December the 18th and he kept saying that he or she would probably try to hang on and would most probably do just like Gemma had done and would be born on Christmas day, seeing as she had been due to arrive ten days before but had hung on until Christmas day. During the night she and Rose had also managed to get a bit of time to themselves, and it was then that she realised how much of a confidant her sister would become to her, because Rose asked her why she had never got settled and had had a family, as well as now that she had moved and settled there did she finally hope that she would find her Mr Right and finally settle. She admitted that at one time she had really wanted to have the whole fairytale big wedding and family if Mr Right had come along, but thanks to both her mom's strictness as well as her grandmother's doubling that because of the way she had constantly ridiculed her mom's and their dad's divorce, she would constantly go on at her about sex before marriage etc., because of her being so religious as well. That lecture had also doubled on her both when she had her first boyfriend and they found out about it, and then again when they managed to find out about her having sex for the first time. She had had a couple of very serious relationships though and had dreamt that perhaps one of those may have led to marriage and or family, but it wasn't too be, but then they hadn't worked out. After the last serious relationship she'd had because of the circumstances of the way things had ended it had taken her a long time to trust anyone again. She had then met a man called Paul, but ended up dropping him quite quickly because he'd tried to go quicker with certain things than she wanted to go. A few months later she had met him again just by chance while on a bus as she was travelling to see her mom and grandmother, she'd normally go on the train but there was a strike on forcing her to have to use the bus instead, he'd apologised and had then somehow persuaded her to try again. Everything went fine and she thought that perhaps things would be different this time, but then all of a sudden he started changing and she noticed little things creep in like him trying to make her not have quite so much to do with friends and to try and get rid of them, along with attempting her to stop doing the things that she really liked doing in going to the theatre and concerts etc. The final straw with him had come when once again he'd tried something on that she hadn't wanted to do, then after she'd fought him off and had got away from him, he had turned up the next day at the station when she was on her way to see her mom again to try and apologise, before he then had stalked her for the whole weekend. Because after that she had moved house with her job at the time being moved to the new centre in another town she had thought she was finally free of him, but then the letters had started coming and once again he had made an attempt to try and control her. In the end she had finally got to a point where she had had to get a restraining order on him, even so it had still ended up taking him being arrested and being sent to prison before he finally managed to stop. So in the last couple of years or so since that had ended she had stayed single because she just hadn't been able to face really trusting a man again or allowing herself to get close to anyone. Now that she had made the move and was more settled in a way she was really praying and hoping that perhaps she might now meet someone she could perhaps fall in love with, get married and have children. Rose had then hugged her and said that she also hoped that she would get her wish come true, but the thing she should remember is that now she had got more family to support her and that Rose would always be there for her whenever she wanted to talk about anything at all.
So the next day before she headed off for TAC she did sort out the recipe to take with her of the cake that Bull had really liked, not only that because she'd still go enough left in ways of ingredients she had then whipped up another batch of them to take with her. Then as she headed off down there and even though in a way she was feeling quite excited to find out what it was exactly that Bull did and to see things in action, she didn't know why but the nerves also started to creep up as well.
When she got to TAC she was amazed at the size of the place and that was before she'd even got taken up to the office itself, after then finding Bull in his office she presented him with the cake tin and recipe. It had then made her chuckle when he said that he would show her round in a second, but he needed to just get what he was doing finished. As he said it a blonde woman had then walked into the office and handed him a coffee, he had then gone into the tin with the cakes in it and fished himself one out of it. After that he had then said to the blonde woman "Marissa this is Gemma Richardson, Gemma this is Marissa Morgan." They shook hands and Marissa then suggested that they went and got themselves a coffee while he did whatever it was he had to do and she could also introduce her to the rest of the team. Just as she got up to go with her, Bull interrupted saying "Marissa where is the Dodgson file?" She replied "I left it right there on your desk Bull." He started looking through everything and couldn't see it, Gemma having seen it right away looked at Marissa with her eyes raised heavenward, as she then lent across and plucked the file out, as she gave it to him she said with a smile "Dr Jason Bull for someone who likes to be completely in control of things, by the look of this desk it doesn't look that way." She then shooed him away and began to sort it all out. She got it all done and had got so carried away with it she didn't realise that he and Marissa had walked out together, until she'd nearly done it all and he came back again waving a coffee under her nose. He then got his own back by then shooing her away from his desk, but thanking her for getting it sorted out. He then told her he wouldn't be long and that Marissa would show her round.
In the end she spent the rest of the day with Bull and the team, even so by the end of it she still never thought that a job offer was going to come out of it. But she had just loved meeting everyone and seeing what they did. Most of all even though in just the short time that she had known Bull she had found something interesting and intriguing about him, watching him in action just in the mock court sparked her interest in him even more. For her last job in the UK she had been involved with doing counselling both in a centre that did general counselling for those that had been referred to them, but she had also worked in a women's refuge. During her training for the job she had done minor psychology work as well as having gone through numerous courses on reading body language and she had found that it had really sparked something off in her, and quite a lot of the time she had found herself while in coffee shops and things sitting there reading people. As she watched him doing his thing she found herself beginning to read him, as well as the clients that they were currently working with. So that night when she'd said that she had walked to the offices Bull said that he would give her a lift back to the apartment.
With him giving her a lift she then invited him into hers for something to eat, which he agreed to. While she was doing the cooking he sat on one of the stool seats at the breakfast bar watching her and as he said "So I hope that you enjoyed today?" She answered "I did thank you, and I really like the look of what you do. I could never imagine it happening in the UK because of our system being so different in the court system. I would watch out on your client's wife though." "How do you mean?" "Well I know that I am no where in your league Dr Bull, but in my last job as well as doing counselling I also did work within the refuge system and I had very basic training in reading people. I don't think it's anything as bad as her husband doing something to her, but there is something going on with her. I don't know it just seemed that each time you or one of the other's mentioned the business partner of her husband a look would cloud her face, which she would then shut down quite fast, so I just wonder if he could have done something to her or something." He then says "Hold on I'll be back in a second." He then disappears and comes back with a file, he put's it on the breakfast bar and re takes his seat as he says "That's the file that we have on her, you're more than welcome to have a look at it and see if anything sticks out to you."
After that the two of them had a very nice meal and evening together, after having their food as they sat on the sofa having a drink she started to look through the file. At first nothing seemed to stick out at her, but then something innocent caught her eye and she all of a sudden said "Has the business partner alluded to he and the wife having an affair or something?" "I believe he did right at the start of this, why?" "I'm not sure but in here she says that whatever he says about them there is no truth about it, then further down she says that he had tried something years ago but she reciprocated anything. It's probably just my mind working overdrive, but what if it's true and she did turn him down so that he either did the worst or just assaulted her? I mean they are now up against him, when you actually get to court there could be a chance that he could come back at you with all the affair stuff and I think that there may be a chance she's afraid of it coming out, and is worrying about that as well as possibly feeling guilty that she didn't tell her husband about it or even that she never took things any further in reporting it to the authorities or something. If it is that then you may have to tread carefully with her." "I will do I promise you, and I will also get both Danny and Cable looking into things as well." *FB*
With that her theory had been right as the next day she got a phone call from Bull asking her if she would come into TAC because everything had hit the fan as during her time on the stand as they were practising it, and they had to do it because they had been alerted that the partner was taking the stand and was going to go down the affair route. Things had seemed to be reasonably ok until they went on a break and then the husband went off on her because he was believing the affair theory. Since then the husband had gone storming off while he had helped her come down because she'd had a panic attack, she was now asleep on the sofa in Chunks room. He did know of one other person he could call, but wasn't sure if they would be able to get there or not and she was the only one he knew of that had some counselling experience. So she agreed to go down there, then as the rest of the day progressed when the wife had woken up, in Bull's office with Danny with her she helped her to tell them what had happened to her. Not only that they were in for a surprise, because even though she hadn't reported what had been done to her, she had told a friend who had then made her go and also went with her to get a rape kit done and that was still available. So in the end through Gemma's help she got her through the court case and then giving evidence on the stand, but she also helped the clients stay together and thanks to Bull's contacts helped them both to remain getting the help they both needed. Not only that Bull also helped them get everything reported to the authorities and straight after the win in court for the couple the now ex business partner was taken into custody for the assault on her, and for the case against him Gemma was there at the table helping the wife through it. Of course during that time of working with everyone she very quickly became really good friends with them all, but she was mostly closer to both Cable and Chunk. With Cable it was because in a way she looked on her as a little sister, but Cable had also very soon worked out her sense of humour and at times it could take just a look between them and they'd be off in a giggling fit. Not only that one night Cable asked her to join her and some friends for a night out, she'd gone along thinking that she was going to hate it, but ended up loving it instead.
For her friendship with Chunk it came about because on the night before she was due to be in court she had a slight meltdown about what she was going to wear for court, as she had originally thought that perhaps she should wear something like she used to wear for work, but then she thought that it wasn't perhaps smart enough. So she went to see Chunk and as he went through the various clothing choices as he decided what suited her and what didn't they had a really long talk, where she admitted that because of her mom and grandmother's more conservative look at things she had tended to dress in a more old fashioned way and she never really felt comfortable in that, then when she finally left home she had never really found a style that she liked. So with that Chunk promised her that if she did want any help with anything then he would always be there to help her.
When it was all over once again Chunk helped her find the way to dress for the party at TAC, but what she never expected was the proposal from Bull about coming to work there for good. She was just standing by the judges' box in the mock courtroom watching them all and thinking that even though she would most probably just be around and would see them all, she just had a really down feeling because she had enjoyed working with them so much. As she was watching over them she all of a sudden got a feeling that she was being watched, as her eyes flicked around the place she all of a sudden found Bull's eyes looking at her from the doorway, he'd already picked up a couple of glasses of champagne for them and he then indicated with his eyes for her to join him. When she did he handed her a glass and then held the door open for her to go out first and then said that they would go and talk in his office. As they then sat on the sofa together he said "You know you have done a really good job here in these cases and you have also become a really good member of the team. Not only that you've actually kept me sane with not having an assistant and have kept me in line and everything in order, so how would you like to join us both as my assistant, but also doing a great job with helping with the wife, as well as helping them stay together and I also know how much easier it made things with her being able to talk about what happened to her, so I would also like you to be our counsellor for any cases that come up where a client may find it easier to be able to talk to another woman. And I will promise you that even though you did catch onto her so early on and then pointed it out to me, I will also teach you everything I know and we can be there to help each other, so what do you think?" She smiled back at him and replied "Dr Bull I would love that very much and I accept your offer." And with that the two of them clinked their glasses together as he said "Here's to us and working together" As they did the toast to one another and of course it was the beginning of a growing friendship between the two of them, leading to where they were today and about to celebrate their first Christmas together.
