Chapter 6

Rick had just stepped out of his shower naked when Maggie came busting in beyond excited.

"Maggie!" Rick screamed horrified as he scrambled for anything remotely close to him to cover up his nakedness. Maggie didn't seem to notice as she yelled excitedly at him.

"Have you seen these headlines?!"

After covering himself, Rick looked at Maggie who was waving several newspapers in her hand.

"No." he said cautiously.

Maggie, grinning from ear to ear began calling out the different headlines as she throws each newspaper on the bed.

'Mystery lady captures future Senator's heart.'

'Who is the future Mrs Rick Grimes?'

'Mayor Candidate Rick Grimes hopeful in love.'

'Future Mayor Grimes already breaking hearts.'

Rick picked up each newspaper from the bed one by one as quickly as Maggie threw them down. Under each headline were various pictures of Rick surrounded by reporters and different excerpts from the interview. Under the first two newspapers headlines, there was the exact same picture of Michonne standing behind him in the background. A smile crossed his lips.

"This has got to be my personal favourite headline of all."

Maggie held up the newspaper infront of Rick and read it out loudly.

'Out with the old…..in with the new.'

Under that newspaper headline there were different pictures of Michonne restraining Lori on the table when she had tried to approach him. Below these pictures, one of the reporters Gina Herman wrote a stinging puff piece entitled "Permanently Replaced" on Lori's claims of being Rick's fiancée and his denial of such.

Next to the heading was a picture of Rick with a picture of Lori on the left with an X over her face and a blank photo on the right with a question mark. It read:

'A woman named Lori Audrey Seville crashed Mayor hopeful Rick Grimes luncheon yesterday to her own demise. However, she was quickly intercepted and subdued by one of the CIA agents attached to his protective detail.

The woman screamed that she was Mr Grimes's fiancée which he quickly and vehemently denied. The future mayor did confirm that he does know the woman but clarified her present and possibly now permanent position as his ex-girlfriend of two years.

Well-placed sources have confirmed that the pair were high school then college sweethearts but their relationship have always been a rocky one with multiple breakups, initiated mostly by Ms Seville and who have gone on to date other men during this time period.

A source who only gave the initials J.P stated that Ms Seville have been the cause of many rifts between Mr Grimes and his sister Counsellor's Aide Maggie Grimes and many of his friends. While Mr Grimes did not go into details about his previous relationship with Ms Seville he did however elaborated on a woman he has met briefly but who has made a lasting impression on him.

He has plans on getting to know this mystery woman better, as friends first and then possibly more should she return his obviously growing affections. Mr Grimes quickly describes the woman as quiet and reserved…not one seeking the public life.

However, when questioned if she has the ability to transition from private to public life and being able maintain a suitable image as a mayor's wife, he expressed 100% confidence that she is capable of doing such.

With such a strong contender in the lead for the heart of one of the most handsome and eligible bachelors to enter the political arena in years, it is clear that the dozens of other ladies out there who intended to woo Mr Grimes will have to work that much harder to turn his eyes from this mystery woman. As for Ms Seville, it is clear that she is very much out of the race and permanently so.'

Rick sat down on the bed after reading the small article and looked up at an overly elated Maggie.

"Lori will be crushed."

"So what? All she had to do was to stay away! She tried to get into the news conference and when that didn't work she crashed the luncheon. If that wasn't bad enough she lied saying that she was your fiancée and actually wanted you to confirm it!" Maggie paused looking at her brother. "I have absolutely no sympathy for her whatsoever."

Rick rubbed his temple, closing his eyes for some ease. Although he and Lori have broken up he still didn't want to see her humiliated this way…especially so publicly in the press. He knows how the press can chew someone up and spit them out without mercy. He opened the other newspapers and skimming through he saw other articles mentioning Lori. He sigh.

"I hope she see these headlines…all of them. Maybe she'll finally get the hint and move…on."

"Maggie stop!"

"What?!"

"Just…stop."

Maggie cocked her head to him…hands on her hips.

"Wait? Are you upset with me?!"

"Of course not! You didn't do anything."

"You damn right! I didn't do this! Lori did! This is all on her! And if anyone that should be upset and angry here is me at you."

Rick looked up at her.

"What did I do?"

"You didn't believe me when I told you that Lori was the one who attacked me first!"

"Yes I believed you! Why would you think otherwise?"

"Because you said it depended on what was on the security cameras."

"Ughhh! That wasn't for you! That was an opportunity for Lori to come clean with the truth! I would never take her side over yours and it hurts that you would think otherwise."

Maggie hugged her brother.

"Oh…I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Has anyone else seen this? Mom? Dad?"

"No. I was the first person to get to the papers this morning. You know dad is going to give you a lecture on this."

"Yes. I'm already mentally prepared for it."

"I'm going to frame these headlines."

"You are so mean sis."

"But you love me anyway!"

"Yeah."

Maggie skipped out of the room.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lori lay on her bed as she massaged her arm and kept her eyes closed from the light due to a pounding headache. Her arm was bruised and sore from it being twisted by the female agent assigned to Rick's protective detail.

She then touched her face. It hurt from the beating Maggie put down on her. If she had known how strong or capable Maggie was from a sneak attack she would have think twice about even going at her like that. Lesson learned.

Slowly she slipped off the bed and went into the bathroom. She was horrified by what she saw in the mirror. Her face was black and blue. Her neck had red streaks from where Maggie probably dug her with her nails during their scuffle.

She hoped that Maggie's face and neck had the same damage as her as she did managed to land a few blows of her own. She turned on the facet and began washing her face while Rick's words rang in her ears.

'Don't call me, don't text me, don't write me, don't email me…nothing!' Surely Rick didn't mean what he said. He was hurt and angry so he lashed out at her. He has been hurt and angry by and with her before and they would break up. Then they would always get back together.

That's the dynamic of their relationship. Rick have always loved her and forgiven her for all the things that she have done and she have always been able to count on that, knowing that he will take her back.

She may have gone abit over board lying about her being his fiancée but it is where they would have been heading anyway, now that he's running for mayor and she is ready to settle down and start a family with him.

Who else is better suited for him as a wife than her? Who else knows him like I do?" The only real obstacle in her way is Maggie and she will deal with her soon enough. Lori walked out to the front door to get the morning newspapers.

She saw several pockets of her neighbours huddled, heads together reading their copies. She picked up her bundle of the papers from the steps and was about to untie it when someone called out to her.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you!"

She turned around to see Mrs Edwards, her widowed next door neighbour looking at her.

"Why?"

The woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Suit yourself." She went inside.

Lori looked and saw some of her neighbours staring pointedly at her now. Some were shaking their heads, others were smiling. Lori opened the newspaper and the first headline that welcomed her was 'Who is the future Mrs Rick Grimes?"

Lori smiled to herself until she saw the next front page headline - 'Out with the old…in with the new!' Below the headline were dozens of snapshots of her having her ass handed to her by the female agent. Her eyes bulged when she said the small article underneath titled "Permanently Replaced" by Gina Herman with a picture of her, Rick and another unknown blank picture.

It only took Lori five minutes to read the story twice. Her eyes watered as her mind tried to register what was said and if in fact she was dreaming. She looked up at Mrs Edwards who leaning against her porch, graciously sipping her tea, with an apologetic look on her face.

Lori looked around to the other neighbours, some of whom she knows doesn't like her and will be salivating over her public humiliation. She puff out her chest high with a false sense of pride as she looked at them. Then she turned and went back into her house.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tyrese pulled up in Michonne's driveway to drop Andrea off. They kissed and she got out. Michonne opened the door as Tyrese drove off. Andrea took up the morning paper as she walked into the house.

"It's done."

"What is?"

"Your divorce. It's over."

"Oh. Ok."

"You sound disappointed."

"No. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

Michonne walked into the kitchen and Andrea followed. She poured a cup of coffee for both of them. Andrea watched intently as Michonne took a couple of sips.

"What's the point of getting married Andrea? What's the point of declaring your love for someone, planning to spend the rest of your life with them when they can just so easily walk away?!"

Andrea took a seat.

"Firstly…you didn't walk away. Jeremy did. Secondly, falling in love and getting married is a natural thing. We all want someone to be there to comfort us and share the good and bad with. Getting married is just to solidify and show the world that you have chosen your life mate and that life mate has chosen you. The problem with falling in love and getting married is who you fall in love with and who you marry."

Michonne said nothing.

"You just chose the wrong person Chonny…that's all. You should open your heart again and make sure he's right this time!"

Michonne smiled half-heartedly.

"I don't know about that. To meet someone new and try to get to know them all over again from scratch? That's kinda hard in my line of work. That's why I married early so I didn't have to worry about all the drama that comes with dating and doing my job. I had my life planned out a certain way. But what good did that do me?"

"You can't put finding love on a schedule Michonne. Love can come at 16 years old or 60 years old. As long as you find it that is all that matters. There are people who go their whole life without finding love. Some people give up hope."

"Why do I get the feeling we're not talking about me anymore?"

"I'm talking about the both of us but right now…yes. I am talking about me. You know the assholes that I have dated over the years. It wasn't because I loved them. I just didn't want to be alone but I kept on looking and I found love. I can emphatically say that Tyrese is the love of my life and I am holding on to him with both hands girl! You think I am going to let a wife who abandoned her family keep us apart?! She didn't want him but I do!"

"My grandmother used to say 'One man's trash is another man's treasure.'"

"Your grandmother was right."

"But aren't you afraid that he will go back to her if she comes back? That is a strong possibility."

"Oh course I'm afraid! I am always afraid. He loved this woman enough to marry her and start a family with her. I am not stupid enough to ignore that but I knows that Tyrese loves me and I him so I am willing to take that chance with him."

"I must admit I have never seen you go all out for any other guy like you are doing for Tyrese. Hell you even want to start having babies with him so I know that you love him but the problem is…does he love you back? Does he love you as much as you love him? Because they never seem to do."

"He does Michonne. I feel it and soon you will too. What you had with Jeremy wasn't love. You thought it was. You'll find a man who will love you and cherish you and never do you like what that f*ck Jeremy did. All you have to do is keep you mind and your heart open and you will find it where and when you least expect it."

Michonne sigh heavily.

"I wish I could have as much faith and enthusiasm like you. I did give it my all and I was f*cked over for it. Don't want to go through that again. It sucks."

"Just promise me that you will keep an open mind, that's all."

"I promise." Michonne chuckled.

Andrea opened the newspapers.

"Well!" She said holding you two of the daily papers to face Michonne. "You had a day yesterday!"

Michonne glanced at the headlines and different pictures of her.

"Yeah. The Mayor hopeful ex-girlfriend crashed the luncheon held in his honour."

"And?!"

"And what?"

"Tell me more!"

It took Michonne about ten minutes to sum up the events of that day. How Lori snuck into the luncheon uninvited and when she got caught started screaming about being Rick's fiancée which he denied.

The interview he did explaining that the woman Lori was his ex of two years and that he was interested in some other anonymous woman he met and spoke briefly to recently. How Lori even attacked Rick's sister and lied about it until Michonne mentioned that a camera was in the room recording and probably captured the whole thing.

Then Lori was escorted out of the building. Andrea was fascinated about the whole drama of the situation and wished she could have been there. Michonne shook her head as she looked at the other dailies and the pictures attached.

"I wished I was there."

"It was humiliating."

"For who?"

"For Lori."

"Are you feeling sorry for her?!"

"Not in the least. She lied…twice. Still I wouldn't want to be in her shoes…ever."

"Me neither but according to this article she is always breaking Rick's heart, dated other men and caused problems between Rick and his family and his friends."

"Well Rick need to know what he wants. He's in politics now and his love life will be under tremendous scrutiny."

"It does seem like he knows what or rather who he wants. The article also talks about him meeting some woman briefly that caught his attention. He wants to get to know her and hints that she could possibly be the future Mrs Grimes."

"Good for her. I hope she's ready because he's intense and slick as hell!"

Michonne instantly regretted her words as she saw Andrea's eyes zoomed in on her.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

Before Andrea could probe further, her phone rang. She answered and listen intensely. She hung up with a pissed look on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Emergency meeting at the office. Gotta run!"

Michonne walked Andrea to the door where they hugged.

"Don't think I'm letting you off the hook so easily. You are going to explain that remark to me…soon."

"There's nothing to explain. I was just making an observation."

"So you say."

"Bye Andrea!" She left.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ten minutes later Michonne's phone rang. She didn't recognized the number.

"Hello?"

"Hey. It's me…Jeremy."

Michonne remained silent on phone although she was tempted to curse the hell out of him but she kept her composure.

"Michonne?"

"What do you want Jeremy?!"

"Just wanted to say thank you for everything."

"You have some f*cking nerve calling me! You mean thank you for everything you took from me that you didn't deserve?!"

Jeremy chuckled.

"That's a matter of your own opinion. I was surprised though that you didn't fight harder on this."

"Don't be. It's not like I didn't want to. I just reasoned why should taking the garbage out of my life be something difficult."

"Good one Michonne. You'll bounce back. You are resilient like that."

"You loafed off of me for all of our marriage! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Why? I didn't commit a crime."

"Don't call me again Jeremy. If you do you will regret it."

Jeremy picked up on the chill in Michonne's voice but it didn't bother him. He got what he wanted.

"Don't worry…I wouldn't. Just wanted you to know that I will be moving into that beautiful condo I justly got in the settlement very soon."

Michonne felt a pang of pain at Jeremy's words. She knew that he would be moving in with the other woman and his children. It hurts but she will try her best to get over it.

"I hope you die painfully Jeremy and when you do, my one wish is that I'm there watching and enjoying the f*ck out of it."

There was a minute of silence on the other end of the receiver and then she heard a dial tone.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Rick went downstairs for breakfast his parents and his sisters were already there. He kissed his mother and Beth and greeted his father who was reading one of the newspapers with the explosive headlines. After a couple of minutes of settling in into breakfast his father spoke.

"You're the talk of the town."

"Well that's the way of a political campaign right?"

"True and you're off to a good start. Just don't let the media dictate how you run your campaign. Control the flow of information from you to them. Only let them know what you want them to know...nothing more nothing less."

Rick said nothing as he looked at his father slightly confused. Elizabeth's phone rang and they watched as she listened intently for a couple minutes. Then she hung up.

"Another abused animal shelter wants me to set up a fundraiser to help bring awareness to their cause." She looked at Beth. "I need your help."

They all looked at their mother and wife respectively, knowing exactly what she is trying to do and that is keeping Beth occupied as much as possible so that she can't be on the campaign trail with her father and brother.

"I know what you are doing mom but it will not work. As soon as I am done helping you I am going to work with Rick as his assistant on the campaign trail and when he's elected I will continue to work for him if I choose to."

Elizabeth folded her arms crossed at her son.

"You can't shield her from this mom. We are a political family. Besides…it's her choice to make."

"You know how I feel about this! Why are you encouraging her?"

"I'm not but I'm not going to discourage her either."

Elizabeth looked between her eldest and her youngest.

"My mind is made up mom."

"Fine!"

"Thank you for accepting my decision."

"I didn't have a choice now…did I? Go and change. We leave in the next twenty minutes."

Elizabeth and Beth left the table leaving the others. Rick turned back to his father.

"I don't understand. I thought I did a great interview yesterday."

"It was. You handled it well."

"But?"

"This anonymous woman…what do you know about her?"

"We just met and I want to get to know her better."

"Yes but the press didn't need to know about that. You said that you suspected that she was a private person."

"Yes."

"Well keep it that way. Don't expose her."

"You're right. I don't even know if she likes me as yet."

"You are so accustomed to Lori and all her drama and bullsh*t that you think every woman wants to be seen and heard and noticed."

"How can I fix this?"

"Well you didn't actually do any damage so there is nothing to fix. My advice? Get to know this woman…discreetly of course but don't give out any more information to the media about her or your relationship with her, whatever its status is. If you are that interested in her as you publicly claim then you owe it to do right by her. Despite what people say, think or expect, politicians do have the right to a private love life and if it turns out that this is what she wants, then do it for her."

"But if things should work out and we get married then she will be in the public."

"Yes. Everyone will know that you are married but you can still maintain a private married life whilst in public office."

"Like you and mom."

Ian smiled.

"Yes. Like me and Elizabeth. They only know what we want them to know."

Rick smiled at his father. He appreciates the advice that he was just given and was looking forward to more in the future.

"Thanks dad."

Ian nodded at him and continued reading the paper.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lori read the Gina Herman article over half a dozen times and the more she read it was the more she got livid. The article totally dismissed her relevance to Rick and touted some unknown woman who had caught Rick's attention. No name was mentioned and no photo was given. Lori didn't know what irked her more.

The fact that Rick didn't back her claims that she was his fiancée and in the same breath publicly professed his interest in another woman or that he was willing to shield this woman from public scrutiny while he got to know her in hopes of her eventually becoming his wife in the future.

She stared at her picture with the X marked over it and compared it to the blank photo with the question mark. She would have atleast liked to know who her rival is. It would make things a lot easier to win Rick back. Angrily, she tore the newspaper straight down the middle of the heading of the title of the article 'Permanently Replaced'

"We'll see about that." She mumbled to herself.~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*