Mark and Joanne

January 10th 9:14 am EST

Joanne was already at the office when Mark got there, and he was oddly grateful for it. She stood up when the nice lady at the front desk led him into the room, hugging him tightly as the door closed. He returned the embrace after a moment, still mulling over the events of the morning. Only three hours in and already he was ready for the day to end.

"How you holding up, Mark?" Joanne asked kindly, pity and sorrow in her eyes.

Mark looked away, knowing that out of the group, Joanne was the one who shared his silent understanding of what this meant. Maureen probably wouldn't quite grasp the content matter until Collins spelled it out for her, and Roger and Mimi would be flying too high on either a cloud of delusional love or withdrawal for the admission to bring them down.

But Joanne understood. Joanne got that soon, their own losses would mirror that of Kat's. That eventually, inevitably, they'd lose three more members of their small bohemian family.

"Mark?" Joanne asked and Mark sat down, forcing himself to ignore his own thoughts.

Instead he asked, "How's Maureen doing?"

"She was sick in the bathroom this morning when you called; that's why I couldn't talk for very long- stomach flu. Mark, are you sure that-" Before she could even finish her sentence, the door opened and a pleasant-looking middle aged man walked in,

"Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice Mr. Cohen. I'm Kevin Froban and I'm representing your sister's legal firm. May I just say how sorry I am to hear about your loss and extend condolences on my and the firms behalf?"

Mark stood up. Nodded his head. Shook the mans hand. Sat back down.

"And you are…?"

Joanne tore her eyes away from Mark's odd behavior and held out her hand, "Joanne Jefferson, from Gage Whitney. Mark's attorney," she introduced crisply. Mark had called her house in a panic a little after eight, which led her to believe that he didn't know about Roger's phone call the other day.

"If you'll sit down," the man across from them offered and Joanne glanced again at Mark before taking a seat. "Would you like anything to drink?" he asked and Joanne declined while Mark stuttered out,

"Water?"

"Sure," the man smiled pleasantly, "Katie, two waters please," he requested and his secretary nodded, leaving the room. He indicated the tape recorder on the desk, "Would you mind if we recorded this session?"

"Not at all," Joanne said, familiar with the tendencies as Mark nodded his head. He had also expressed his concerns about the meeting during his phone call- mainly, the reason behind it. Froban clicked the recording machine on,

"This is Kevin Froban from Jacobs and Sons, representing the deceased Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson. Would you please introduce yourselves?"

"Uh, Mark Cohen,"

"Joanne Jefferson from Gage Whitney; Mr. Cohen's attorney. We're representing Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson's daughter, Katharine Clarkson today." Froban nodded, opening a file in front of him.

"Could I ask why we're meeting today?" Joanne inquired, crossing her legs and leaning slightly forward.

Froban smiled tightly, "Mr. Cohen's attorney?" he asked and Joanne nodded, consciously trying not to glare. "Well, there are a couple issues dealing with-"

"I'm sorry," Mark interrupted and both of them looked to him. "But, well, I thought we dealt with all of this back…" he searched for a word, gesturing to the papers, "There. Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, I do believe it is. First off, there is the, erm, financial matters of the estate and family possessions. Then-"

"We've already gone through the belongings," Mark interrupted. Joanne noted that Froban didn't look too happy about his constant interjection and made a note to try and somehow get Mark to stop it. "My parent's have taken what they want and arranged to send Kat and me the things we've requested to keep. What else is there?"

"Well, are you going to be maintaining the property or leasing it or selling it on the open market? And what of the furniture inside the house, the other assets in the family name? As the chief executioner of the last will and testament of Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson, you have a legal responsibility to decide on these matters."

Mark shrugged, "Sell it."

Joanne glanced at Mark in surprised, but kept her mouth shut. "Sell it?" the other lawyer asked, voicing her own question.

"Kat said to sell it all; she doesn't want anything, I don't want anything, my parents don't want anything. Keith's family doesn't want anything. Sell it and save the money for Kat to, I don't know, go to college or something," he finished bluntly.

"Are you sure that's the course of action you want to take on that particular matter?" the lawyer asked, caution in his voice. "Once you sell the estate it'll be very difficult to get it back."

"We won't be going back," Mark said firmly. Froban looked over at Joanne, who smiled and nodded,

"We're sure."

"And you understand that Jacobs and Sons will not be liable for any repercussions of this action that you receive later on?"

"We'll read and sign the fine print," Joanne reassured and the door opened. Froban's secretary returned with two bottled waters and glass glasses, placing one by Mark and one by Froban. Mark quickly uncapped his and guzzled it from the bottle while Froban took the time to pour it into his glass before drinking.

"So the matter of estate and unspecified assets as well as assets inherited by Katharine from the will has been settled?"

Joanne nodded, "Yes."

"Where would you like the papers sent?"

"My office," Joanne said before Mark could answer. She would want to read through them before giving them over to Mark to sign anyways.

"Now the next thing we need to discuss is some concerns that Mr. and Mrs. Cohen expressed about your motivations for taking guardianship of the Clarkson's daughter."

"What?" Mark looked up sharply and Joanne knew instantly that Froban had misspoken.

"As executor of the will, and the representative and guardian of Kat, selling all the possessions is something you have the legal authority to do. Now, there was a small clause tacked onto the will that was recently noticed that calls for a small monetary allowance to be made for him or her who cares for Kat."

"Which means what, exactly?" Mark said, looking over to Joanne.

"Could you please be more to the point?" she asked and Froban nodded looking a little concerned,

"I can try. With the selling of the house and all the assets, there will be a substantial addition to the money available for this allowance, which hasn't yet been set but also hasn't been capped. Mr. and Mrs. Cohen expressed concerns were that you would… take advantage of the lack of a capped amount."

Mark narrowed his eyes, "You don't honestly think that I'm agreeing to take guardianship of Kat because I want her money, do you?" he asked coldly.

"Mr. Cohen, while I don't necessarily represent Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, I have an obligation to them to do what I can to mollify them. My primary loyalty, however, lies with the deceased and under the circumstances-"

"What circumstances?" Mark demanded, "That my parents are f-"

Joanne stepped in before he could get too carried away, placing a restraining hand on his arm, "What he means to say," she smiled, "Is that it seems a little uncouth that the finances are being brought up along with the custody case by Mr. and Mrs. Cohen, not to mention a little insensitive. The Clarkson's already made a decision on the matter, and me and my clients would like that decision to be respected."

Froban was looking down at the papers sheepishly, "I understand and I'm sorry to be bringing this up, but from what I understand about Mr. Cohen's current living situation-"

"Who cares about my living situation?" Mark exploded and Joanne sent him a look that said, 'cool it or we're screwed'. He continued a little gentler, "I love that girl more than my parents ever could, and I'm not going to give her up. My sister chose me as her daughter's guardian for a reason, knowing full well my 'current living situation'. I'm not doing it for the money, as flattering as that opinion is of my personality."

"Mr. Cohen," Froban tried, coming very close to a whine. He looked distraught, "I'm on your side and quite frankly, I don't understand how this has gotten so out of hand. May I please go back and try to rephrase the issue?"

Joanne looked at Mark who grudgingly nodded. "Yes."

Froban took a second to compose his thoughts, and then started to speak, slower and clearer, "How this works is that every month until Kat's 18th birthday, a certain amount of money from the family account will be made available to you. The standard amount in these cases is usually around one thousand dollars, although without the cap you have no limit. Therefore, if you so wished, you could make the entire fortune accessible to you. Once the cap is locked in it is unchangeable until the entire fortune is released to Kat on her 18th birthday."

"I didn't know that," Mark said softly, his hostile demeanor fading.

"Determining this amount was the main focus of this meeting, and you've expressed a desire for all family assets to be sold and placed into the bank account. I think that this desire brought about Mr. and Mrs. Cohen's concerns that you would try to perhaps inflate the allowance amount as much as you could, bringing about the issue of…"

"Whether or not I wanted Kat for the money," Mark finished in a disembodied voice. He shook his head in disbelief, "Wow."

Joanne sent a concerned look to Froban before turning to Mark, "Are you okay?"

Mark laughed coldly, "I can't believe them. Some great parent's I've got. Fuck, I bet he did this," he muttered darkly and Joanne glanced at Froban, who had already turned the recorder off,

"Can we have a minute please?" she asked and Froban nodded, looking slightly worried and a little guilty,

"Of course. I'll be back in five minutes. If you'll excuse me…" he closed the door behind him and disappeared through the halls.

Joanne addressed Mark sympathetically, "I don't want to sound cold honey," she warned, "But you need to compose yourself."

"My parents are accusing me of basically being bought to take care of Kat! How the hell am I suppose to compose myself Joanne," he hissed, "If my sister wanted to give me money, she would've given me money!"

"We don't know the circumstances, Mark. We don't know if the omittance of a cap was a mistake or done on purpose." Mark was still seething and Joanne didn't know how to get through to him. "Mark, I think this guy just really wants Kat to be in the best place possible. If he had reason to believe that there was something even the smallest bit suspicious about your motivations, wouldn't you rather he make sure everything was okay than not care? Just try to watch what you say around him. Getting snappy and angry isn't going to help sway his opinion, and his is the one we need."

"He has that opinion because he called this meeting with a preconceived notion! Because of my parents! What the hell are they playing at anyways?" Mark demanded, looking around the room. Joanne didn't know if he was looking for a phone or to see if they were hiding somewhere in the room.

"Let's just deal with this first," she suggested, "And then worry about your parents."

Mark struggled for a moment but eventually caved, "Fine."

Joanne nodded. She glanced at the door to make sure that Froban wasn't waiting and moved on to the next topic, "Mark, we need to decide how much you want to lock in."

"No," he said immediately, becoming defensive, "Nothing. I don't want the money."

"You know you're going to need it, don't you?" she asked patiently. If she could handle Maureen, she could sure as hell handle Mark.

Mark shrugged, "I'll get a job or something then. Go… back to Buzzline."

"You hated it there," Joanne pointed out.

"Roger can get a job, get off his ass and actually do something," Mark continued, ignoring her.

Joanne sighed, "Don't you think that Roger's a little anti-social for that at the moment? How often has he let Mimi out of his sight since Christmas?"

"Roger's not anti-social, he's just anti-work," Mark grumbled. Joanne did have a point though. And if Mimi was using again like Roger suspected… "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that," he said guilty. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat, his fingers bouncing on his knee, "Sorry I dragged you into this Jo."

"Don't apologize for that," Joanne said sternly. She glanced at the door again, "We still need to pick an amount before he comes back," she reminded.

"A thousand sounds reasonable, doesn't it?" Mark asked, staring at the nervous energy of his leg.

"Mark,"

Mark shook his head stubbornly, "I'm not going to go around wasting money that's not mine Joanne. A thousand will be more than enough."

"Are you sure?" Joanne asked doubtfully, "Jacking the price up half a grand won't change anyone's view of you."

"No, a thousand's fine," Mark said firmly. He was turning off and Joanne knew she wouldn't be able to change his mind.

The door opened and Froban came back in. "Ready?" he asked, hovering by the door. Joanne nodded and he sat down across from the desk, turning on the recording machine.

Joanne dove right into business after noticing Mark's exhaustion. The faster they could get out of here, the better. "We've decided that the standard amount would be more than enough."

"Great." He wrote something down on the paper. "Now, Mr. and Mrs. Cohen also requested that a social worker come into your apartment-"

Mark snapped, "You've got to be kidding me!"

"-apartment," Froban continued calmly, "To asses your living situation."

"No." The statement was so blunt Joanne was surprised at the tone,

"Mark-"

"I'm going to disregard that note," Froban said, ignoring both Mark and Joanne completely, "And do this for you. Because Mr. and Mrs. Cohen are interesting in Kat's well-being, are you willing to propose a compromise?"

"Meaning what exactly?" Mark asked cautiously.

"Report cards from school sent to the Cohen residence when the regular ones are released, as well as a personal report from a reliable, professional source."

Mark digested the words, "So like… a shrink?"

"Mark," Joanne admonished. "A therapist?" she reworded the question, hoping the disgust in Mark's voice would be overlooked.

Froban nodded, "An appointment, once a week. Every month, there would be a progress report sent out to pacify Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. Along with acceptable school progress reports- I think that should be more than enough proof of the stable environment you can provide Kat, don't you?"

Mark still looked less than sold, "I don't know if she'll go for a shrink…"

"It sounds like a reasonable deal," Joanne reworded once again.

Froban nodded and stood up, rearranging files and scribbling things down, "Perfect. I'll pass these changes along to Mr. and Mrs. Cohen as well as update them on our compromise. If you stop by my secretary's office, she should be able to help you with setting up the first appointment for Kat."

Joanne stood up as well, "Is that everything?" she asked, tugging Mark up from his seat.

"Yes. Unless…" he stopped fidgeting uncharacteristically for a moment, "Would you like to handle the selling of-"

"No," Mark interrupted before he could finish the sentence, "If it's not a hassle for you that is."

Froban smiled, "Not at all."

"Great," Joanne smiled between the two. "Thank you for your help," she shook Froban's hand.

"You're welcome," Froban smiled. Mark shook his hand as well and even managed a smile. "Feel free to call me if you have any concerns- especially if you have any concerns," he corrected. "And again, I'm really, truly sorry for your loss and this mix up."

This time he looked like he really meant it and Mark nodded. "Thank you."

A/N: Not all that exciting, but necessary. Yes, I am B.S.ing the majority of this. I'm not a lawyer, I'm a techie. The next chapter should be up pretty soon. Also, I think I may have screwed myself with the date/time chapter title thing. So if there's one in the future that doesn't have it, remember- Mark didn't introduce every scene in the movie, did he? Or the show for that matter, haha.

Thanks to the two that reviewed! I love getting reviews! Please review, they make me happy. Suggestions, comments, concerns are always appreciated and welcome!