FRIDAY MORNING, ATWOOD CONSTRUCTION TRAINING

Ryan had just entered his building. It was 7:45am, and the meeting was just over an hour away. He was dressed in a black three-piece suit, tie and all, with a white shirt.

"Morning Mr. Atwood." Fey, Ryan's private secretary greeted him warmly.

"Morning." Ryan said as he walked past.

"Would you like some coffee sir?"

"Yes… strong, 3 sugars." Ryan wasn't being rude; he just had a lot on his mind. He knew this day was going to be the most important of his company's history.

He entered his office, sat down behind his desk and booted up the computer. A few minutes later Fey brought him his coffee.

"Thanks Fey. Please call me when my brother gets in."

"Sure thing Mr. Atwood." She turned to leave, then stopped and turned to face Ryan again.

"Oh, one other thing sir… Early this morning… about 7:20am… a man phoned here looking for you… asked for you by name… He didn't sound very friendly."

Oh… ur… did he say what he wanted?"

No, just asked for Mr. Atwood."

Ryan sighed. Fey wasn't the brightest bulb in the building. "Fey, there are two of us. Did he say WHICH Mr. Atwood he wanted to speak to?"

"Oh… um, no… sorry, forgot to ask. But he said he'd phone back later."

"Ok, thanks."

COURTHOUSE

Over at the courthouse, Seth was at the desk waiting for proceedings to begin. Zach had not yet arrived, it was 8:15am, the case we scheduled to begin at 8am sharp, and the judge was becoming impatient.

"Mr. Cohen, any idea where you opposing counselor might be?" The judged asked.

"Not a clue."

Seth was telling the truth. Zach had got in really late the night before, and left really early while everyone was still fast asleep.

"If he is not here within 30 minutes I'll have no choice but to call a mistrial and hold him in contempt." The judge stipulated.

Seth got up.

"And where are you going?" The judge questioned Seth.

"Uh… bathroom…"

Seth quickly exited through the doors at the back. He walked down the passage and around the corner. He whipped out his cell phone and started dialing Zach's number.

It rang and rang, and eventually went to voicemail.

"Hi. Zach here, sorry, can't take your call… leave a message."

"Zach… dude… you are due in court…" Seth looked at his watch, "20 minutes ago… call me."

Seth closed his phone and sighed. He opened it again, and selected another number from his phone book.

OVER AT SUMMER'S OFFICE

"No, Mr. Burnstein is not in yet, and will only be back at 11am…" Summer sounded frustrated.

She waited as the other person spoke.

"No! I said already… He CANNOT be disturbed… 11am… yes… Good bye." Summer slammed the phone down.

"God, some people…"

Just then her cell phone rang.

"Can see this is gonna be a crap day." Summer said as she looked at the caller ID.

"Yeah… what?"

"Hey Summer… Nice to hear your voice too…"

"Cut the crap, Cohen… no time for idle chit-chat…"

"Well, believe it or not, that is not why I'm calling… I was just wondering if Zach had perhaps come by your place last night, cause he's not here and…"

"No…… he's doing the celery thing…"

"he's doing the CELIBACY thing you mean…"

"Whatever, right now he ain't DOING ANYTHING."

Seth ended the phone call and walked back in the court house.

A COFFEE SHOP ON NEWPORT'S PIER

Zach and Abby were sitting at a table in the coffee shop having pancakes and coffee. Zach was munching on a stick of celery.

"So Abby… it's been… what… 8… 10 years?"

"More like 12, Zachary." Abby responded in a bit of a flirty way. "Those were the good ol' days… just you and me…"

"I was 14… you were 30."

"Glad to see those math lessons have paid off." Abby smiled and took a sip of her coffee.

"So, what brings you to Newport… or particularly, what brings you to me?"

Abby's expression changed in an instant from one of delight to grim. "I need your help. I heard you had become this successful lawyer…"

Zach now sipped on his coffee. "I'm a prosecutor."

"All I need is some advice. My husband… soon to be ex… wants to fight me in court for custody of the kids, they are only 14 and 15 respectively and are at a very vulnerable stage…" She started crying.

Zach pulled a napkin from the dispenser on the table and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She took a while to compose herself. "I need to know what chance I have."

"Well, it all depends on the grounds for divorce. Did he sleep around… did you? Are you divorcing him, or is he…"

Zach stopped in mid-sentence as his eye caught the clock just above the counter. It read 8:45.

"OH MY GOD! THE TRIAL… I AM LATE!" He jumped up, threw down some notes to pay for the breakfast. "Abby, we'll have to take this up some other time. Call me?"

"Oh… uh…"

But before she could protest, he had left.

ATWOOD CONSTRUCTION TRAINING

All the guests were beginning to arrive. Ryan and Fey was standing in the foyer greeting the prospective investors. It was 8:55 and Trey had not yet arrived.

Ryan leant in to his secretary who was standing next to him.

"My brother hasn't called, has he?"

"No, haven't heard a thing."

"Wonder where the hell he is… he better show…"

"Well, you were probably the last person who saw him… what did you guys do?"

"Nothing, just work on the proposal, and at around 2am he went home."

Ryan looked at his watch again for probably the 50th time that morning. He could see the investors were getting fidgety. "Wasn't this meeting supposed to start at 9?" He heard one of them say.

"Ok, I'm gonna have to wing it… can't wait any longer." Ryan said to Fey.

Ryan walked to the entrance of the boardroom. "Hey, everyone. Good morning! Right this way please, we're about to get started."

Ryan directed the investors in to the boardroom, and turned to Fey… "If Trey calls let me know."

COURTHOUSE

Back at court, Zach had still not shown up. It was now 8:55am.

"Right, I have no choice but to call this a mistrial, and hold Mr. Stephens in contempt. Bailiff, please arrange for Mr. Stephens' arrest."

And with that the judge lifted his gavel.