2. Scott Free- Again

~Scott~

            "Mr. Barringer, there's a call for you on line two."

            Scott looked up from the brief he was preparing and his eyes immediately focused on the black intercom box in front of him that was at the present moment lit up like a Christmas tree.

            "Thank you, Janie." He said pressing a small button and then releasing. Scott adjusted his tie, leaned back in his chair and the proceeded to pick up the phone.

            "Scott Barringer, Attorney-at-Law, how can I help you." His tone was informal and professional but with a hint of warmness that he found clients liked because it made them feel important. After two full years of working at Washington, D.C.'s largest law firm he knew how to handle people and how to quickly get rid of them without being entirely rude. He hated being interrupted while he was doing paperwork but then again when wasn't he doing paperwork.

            "Hi, sweetheart." He jumped forward at the sound of the silky female voice that floated over the telephone line.

            "Oh, hi, honey." A small knot formed in his throat as he adjusted the phone cradle to rest on his shoulder. Furiously he grabbed his agenda book and flipped through to make sure he hadn't missed a fitting or a meeting with the wedding planner, which is usually why she called during working hours.

            "You can stop your frantic search, darling. You aren't in trouble this time." He stopped abruptly and sighed. She always knew everything and that worked to unnerve him a little. Scott sat back a little in his chair and let his blue eyes rest on a picture of the woman he was talking too. Her beautiful smile seemed to reflect the wonder of the world around; he recognized the picture as the one he had taken of her on their last trip to Rome.

            "What is it?"

            "I just wanted to let you know that my family is coming in for the engagement party so we'll need to book rooms at the hotel and that today you promised we'd go over the guest list."

            "Right but I'll probably be a little late. I have to file some court orders for the Johnson case but I shouldn't be long."

            "Well, don't be too late," A slight resonance of disappointment and annoyance settled in her voice but her breeding did well to hide it. "I love you." She added as if an afterthought.

            "I love you too. I'll see you tonight."

            "Alright." With that she hung up and Scott once again leaned back in his leather chair, this time rubbing his temples with the thumbs of his hand. It had been a long day and it had just gotten longer within a few minutes. Too add to his distress he was going to have to spend a whole night with the future in-laws. They had worked to make it quite clear that he would never be good enough for their daughter and that just because she "claimed' to be in love with him didn't mean they had too. Scott tried his best not to dwell on that, there was no use in ruining his day but he did have to make one more phone call, one that he had been dreading for a long time, three years actually.

Slowly he picked up the phone and dialed the numbers equally as lethargically. It rang for a moment and then someone picked up.

"Hello." He found himself closing his eyes and breathing the sound of her voice in. It had been too long, time had gotten away from them and he missed her so much.

"Hi, Mo?" Scott responded hesitantly.

"Look, if your some sick prank caller, I don't know how in the heck you got my number and don't think that I won't call my security service because stalking is a federal offense!" A loud click and then a dial tone followed. Scott hadn't even had enough time to react but he was sure, it was definitely her. No one else he knew could spit out comments like that in a short amount of time, except for…but he blocked her from his mind, the past was over and it was time to look to the future, without her, if she could then so could he. He dialed the number again, this time with a little less reservation.

"Hello." This time she wasn't as friendly and he moved in quickly.

"Mo, it's Scott."

Silence.

"Monique?"

Silence.

"Anyone there?"

"I…I'm sorry. Hello, Scott. It's been a while." She sounded different somehow, cautious and maybe even a little disbelieving.

"Too long. The last time we spoke I was still in law school and you were working on your first movie."

"Time flies, huh."

He was wasting time and he knew it so he decided to get to the point, quickly.

"Look, Mo, there's some thing I need to talk to you about and I think it's time we caught up. I was wondering if you were free next weekend?"

"Uh…yeah…I don't start, Walks With The Angels, until next month. The studio gave me some time off."

"I think it might be better if I came down there to see you. Is that okay?"

"Sure, fine."

"I can't wait to see you, really. I've missed you so much."

"I can't wait either." He noticed that she actually perked up a little, maybe this wouldn't be disastrous after all. They said goodbyes and hung up. Scott smiled for a moment to himself and then went back to correcting the Johnson case court briefings.