p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: #222222; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"When Bea opens her eyes, she doesn't know where she is for a second. Then the memory of yesterday comes flooding back and she can't help but smile. What a wonderful birthday she had. Everything about it from breakfast in bed to the night on the yacht had been perfect. Allie is lying on her back and sleeping soundly. She looks angelic and Bea watches her as she sleeps. She couldn't be any more thankful that this blonde haired, blue eyed woman loves her. Bea can't help it, she gently pushes away a lock of Allie's hair from her face. Allie scrunches her nose and instinctively reaches out her arm looking for Bea. When she finds her, Allie opens her eyes and smiles at the fact that Bea is watching her sleep. "Good morning beautiful." Allie says sleepily. "Good morning Alliecat." Bea says in her signature raspy voice. Allie scoots herself closer and kisses Bea lovingly. "I think I like it when you call me that." Allie says nuzzling into the crook of Bea's neck. "What time is it?" Allie asks. "About 9:00. What time are we picking up your mother?" Bea asks while caressing Allie's arm lightly. "We need to pick her up at noon. I hope you are prepared that she will probably bring a deck of cards and possibly her cribbage board." Allie says with a smirk that Bea cannot see but knows is there. "Yeah, I know but I don't mind. I love playing cards with your mom." Bea says sitting up, pushing Allie to her back and then straddling her. Allie smiles and moves her hands along Bea's sides. "How about we go for an early morning swim before we have to shower?" Bea suggests. "Or we can stay here and replay last night's activities..." Allie says smiling widely. Bea starts to object but Allie's hands wander up to Bea's breasts and she loses her train of thought./spanspan style="font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; color: #222222;"br / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"They arrive at Ellen's at noon and she is waiting outside. She has a large hand bag in her hand, large enough for a scrabble board. Bea got out of the passenger side of the car and went to open the door to the back seat. "Oh no you don't." Ellen said authoritatively. "You sit up front next to Allie where you belong." Ellen says while nudging Bea to the front of the car. "Oh wait..." Ellen says. Bea stops in her tracks and turns around. Ellen gives Bea a warm long hug. "Happy birthday." Bea smiles. "Thank you Ellen." Bea turns her back getting ready to open the passanger door and Ellen swats her on the ass. Bea's face turns red and Allie and Ellen are in fits of laughter. "What was that for?" Bea exclaims. "Your first birthday swat." Ellen says through fits of laughter. "Oh great, there's going to be more?!" Bea starts to laugh. "Mom, let her be. Come on beautiful, get in the car." Allie says giggling./spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"They arrive at the restaurant shortly. It's specialty is seafood and the restaurant sits at the edge of a pier looking over the Long Island Sound. There are a lot of sailboats in the water including the occasional speed boat which makes Bea smile to herself. The patio has large rustic oak tables and benches. The women order their food and while they wait Ellen pulls out a small gift wrapped box and places it in front of Bea. "Oh Ellen, you shouldn't have." Bea says, tears already forming in her eyes. "Nonsense, you are like my daughter. You deserve something nice for your birthday." Ellen smiles and if Bea saw right, she also had tears in her eyes. Bea tears the wrapping paper off and removes the top of the box. Inside is a broach in the shape of a bird adorned with colorful stones . Bea looks at Ellen. "This is beautiful, thank you." Bea says wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "To me it symbolizes the freedom to fly. I think you have earned it and I hope you continue to soar like you have since you left Harry." Ellen says while placing a hand on Bea's. "I love it." Bea says and looks at her beautiful girlfriend who has tears in her eyes as well. When the server brings them their food, the women try and look like they haven't been crying. They enjoy their food and Bea tells Ellen about dinner on Friday and all that Allie did for her birthday. Allie blushed when Bea spoke of how much she loves her. "I am so happy you two found each other. You are a perfect fit." Ellen says warmly. Bea can't believe how much love she feels and how much her life has turned around in only such a short time. "I want to meet Debbie, Bea. She sounds like such a lovely young lady." Ellen says. "She would like to meet you as well. How would you like to come over for dinner next weekend?" Bea offers. "Am I invited?" Allie laughs. "I'll think about it." Bea teases. "I would love to come to dinner. Thank you." Ellen says. The server comes back to remove their empty plates and asks if they want anything else. "I think we should get the mile high mud pie and split it among the three of us. What do you think ladies? We can play a game of scrabble while we eat it." Ellen grins. Allie and Bea quickly agree. Allie looks at Bea and laughs. She knew that her mother had something in her purse that she would want to play. "What?" Ellen asks innocently./spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Allie drops Bea off at the house later in the afternoon. Bea misses Allie the moment she got in her car to drive back to her place. It's amazing to Bea how much she loves spending time with the blonde. When Harry was around she hated it, even when he was being nice. Debbie walks into the house shortly after Allie leaves. "Hi mama, how was your birthday surprise?" Debbie asks already knowing that it was a success by the smile her mother is wearing. "It was amazing Deb. It was fun and romantic. Allie put so much thought into it." Bea beams. "I thought you would like her surprise." Debbie grins. "What, you knew about it?" Bea is surprised. "Yeah, she ran it by me because she wanted to make sure that you would enjoy what she had planned." Debbie says while walking to the refrigerator to grab a water. "Do you want something?" Debbie asks. "No thanks baby. How long did you know?" Bea asks still surprised that Debbie kept the surprise from her. "About two weeks." Debbie gloats. "How was lunch with Ellen?" Debbie asks. "It was great." Bea says while heading to her bedroom. She comes back out with the box containing the broach and shows Debbie. "It's beautiful. That was really nice of her to get you a present." Debbie says. "I was really surprised. Oh, by the way. I invited her to dinner next weekend. She said she wants to meet you. Can you be home that night?" Bea asks while closing the box and setting it on the table. "Definitely. Speaking of dinner... I'm starving?"/spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Allie couldn't believe how quickly the weekend had passed. It was too short for her liking and she wasn't looking forward to getting back to work. Spending the weekend with Bea was amazing and she couldn't be happier that the surprise went off without a hitch. Bea seemed to genuinely love her birthday and that made Allie even happier. All she wants to do is keep the smile on her girlfriend's face. Allie knew she needed to call Will Jackson and talk to him about Judy but she was dreading the conversation. She still had a bad feeling about Judy even though she couldn't quite put a finger on why. Allie dialed Will's number and he doesn't pick up so she leaves him a message. An hour later Will returns her call and they set up a time to meet. They decide to meet for coffee at the Starbucks in a couple of hours. Allie knows she has to be careful of how she approaches Will. He is Judy's friend and his perception of Judy's relationship with her husband will be biased. It is unusual for Allie to doubt her clients when they talk about being abused by their spouses but something is making her question Judy's story. Maybe it's the fact that Judy hit on her that is causing her to feel this way. Whatever the reason, she needs to get to the bottom of it so that she can best represent Judy in the divorce./spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Allie arrives at Starbucks early and of course, Nikki is there. Allie orders her coffee and Nikki tries to make small talk… unfortunately. "Where is your girlfriend?" Nikki asks with a hint of disgust at the word girlfriend. "Working, why?" Allie answers. "It's been a while and I was wondering if you two love birds had broken up." Nikki says. "No, we are doing really well...thanks for being concerned." Allie says with sarcasm. "If you ever find yourself bored with her...you know where to find me." Nikki says flirtatiously. "When are you going to get it Nikki? I am not interested in you. Never have been, never will be." Allie says abruptly and walks away heading for a table in the front of the store. As she sits down, Allie checks her messages and sees two, one from Bea and one from that number again. Allie's heart starts to pound. She opens the text. "You and your bitch girlfriend looked cozy on the boat this weekend." Allie's heart pounds wildly. How did they know about the boat? Have they been following me? Or even worse...Bea? Allie feels sick. Nikki walks past her and asks "how did your girlfriend like your birthday surprise?" Allie is now in full panic mode. Has it been Nikki sending her these messages? "How the fuck did you know about that?" Allie says, her voice loud enough to get other customer's attention. She realizes she is drawing attention and asks again, her voice lower and more menacing. Nikki is thrown off guard by Allie's reaction. "Why are you getting so angry?" Nikki asks, confused as to why Allie is so upset. "Answer the fucking question Nikki." Allie's hands are balled into fists. She doesn't think she has ever been so angry. "I overheard you talking to your girlfriend's daughter." Nikki says innocently. Allie thinks back and remembers her and Debbie discussing the surprise she had in store for Bea here in the Starbucks. Her anger starts to subside and is embarrassed by her behavior. "Oh yeah, I'm uh...sorry for my outburst." Allie says sheepishly. "I overreacted and I shouldn't have yelled at you. I've been...under stress." Allie felt terrible. "It's okay. I shouldn't have eavesdropped." Nikki said sincerely. "I feel like an ass." Allie admits. "Please don't. I have acted like an ass for months...truce?" Nikki extends her hand out to Allie's and she takes it. "Truce." At that moment Will Jackson walks into the store./spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;""Are you Allie?" Will asks Allie seeing that Nikki is wearing a Starbucks apron and there are no other women in the store. Nikki smiles at Allie and heads back to the counter. Allie shifts her attention to the man standing in front of her. "Yes, it's nice to meet you Will." Allie says while extending her hand. "Can I get you something...coffee, pastry?" Allie says while they walk over to her table. "I can get it. I will be right back." Will heads to the counter. Allie takes a moment to read the text from class="apple-converted-space" /span/spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Bea: I hope you are having a good day. I am missing you like crazy./spanbr / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Allie: The day hasn't been good but I am glad to hear from you. I miss you too./spanbr / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Bea: Why? What happened?/spanbr / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Allie: I'll explain later. I need to go. I love you!/spanbr / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Bea; Ok. I love you too! xoxoxoxo/spanbr / br / span style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"Will has his drink and sits down at the table. "You look upset. Is everything alright?" Will asks with concern. "Not really. I just received a threatening text and it isn't the first one." Allie frowned. "Who is it from, if I may ask?" Will takes a sip from his coffee. "I don't know who it's from. I don't recognize the number." Allie starts to panic again. "As you know, I'm a cop. I could try tracing the number for you." Will offers. "I would really appreciate that. Thank you." Allie says gratefully. "Let me call one of my buddies. May I have your phone?" Will holds out his hand. Allie gives it to him and he makes a call from his phone. After telling the friend the number to do the trace on, he hangs up. "When did the texts start?" Will asks. "A couple of weeks ago. At first I thought whoever sent it sent it to the wrong person but then they knew I had a girlfriend and then today they mentioned something that was personal." Allie took the phone back and her hands were shaking. "Any idea who might be sending them?" Will asks. "I get threats occasionally from a client's spouse. I figure it is one of them." Allie says. Will takes another sip of his coffee. "It could be Judy's husband" says Allie. "I wouldn't put it past him. He's a real piece of work." Will says with a look of disgust. "Judy told me what he has been doing to her and I wondered what you know about him." Allie says. "Well, Judy is really afraid of him. She has told me that he beats and humiliates her. She said he is very jealous and accuses her of sleeping with other men. Me included." Will laughs without amusement. "Have you been around him?" Allie asks. "Yeah, several times." Will answers. "How did he act?" Allie takes a sip of her now cold coffee. "Honestly? He was always really nice to her...even doting… but I believe Judy." Will says not sure where Allie is going with this. "Have you ever seen physical evidence?" Allie asks knowing that she shouldn't push it. The phone rings just as Will starts to answer. "Did you find anything?" Will asks his friend. After a moment he says "okay, thanks for checking buddy." Will hangs up and looks at Allie. "The phone the texts are being sent from is a burner." Will says regrettably. "If whoever it is starts making specific threats and you feel as if you are in danger, call the police. Other than that, I don't know what more I can do to help. As far as your question, I did see evidence once. She had a cut lip and the side of her mouth was red as if she had been slapped pretty hard. Why are you asking me that any way? Do you not believe her?" Will asks starting to get annoyed. "It's not that I don't believe her but we have spoken several times about her husband and there are some inconsistencies. I just wanted an outside perspective. I am sorry if I have upset you Will." Allie says feeling like an ass for even meeting with him. She just can't stop the questions about Judy from rattling in her mind. "Allie, she needs help. If you don't think you can do that then she needs to find someone who can. I really should go. I hope the texts stop and remember to go to the police if they escalate. It was nice meeting you." Will says while getting up from the chair. Allie goes to stand up but Will gestures that she stays sitting and walks off. Allie feels like an ass./span/span/p
