I'm not sure if people have stopped reading or just stopped reviewing but there is still a lot of this story to go. If you want me to keep posting it then just let me know. Thanks.
The Sting ??
"I want to know exactly what you're offering and why?" Ryan asked.
"I told you yesterday." Charlotte said moving towards him.
"I need to be quite clear about what's in this for me" he said. "Otherwise I'm leaving now."
Charlotte took a deep sigh. "If I must. But let me tell you this is definitely a way to kill the mood. You're just going to have to work that much harder now to get me off. I have to admit, I was half way there just from the thoughts of you that were running through my brain while I was walking up here. After you called for me to meet you here it was all I could do not to run the whole way. But I'm sure you realised that anyway." She smiled.
Ryan remained silent. The more she said the better. He waited for her to continue.
"So … it's really quite simple. You want custody of Emily and as long as you do as I ask then I promise to supply you with a recommendation as her psychologist that she should be placed in your care. With it, I'm sure you'll have no problems." She said as she moved towards him wanting to peel off his clothes. From what she could remember he had an extremely buff body and he knew how to use it. It didn't look like that had changed in the intervening years. His clothes hung from him in just the right ways. She could feel herself getting hot and wet just thinking about what was underneath them and also what was about to happen. She couldn't wait.
"And what exactly do I have to do to get this recommendation?" Ryan asked moving to the other side of the room and placing the interview table between them.
Charlotte thought for a moment and replied. "Fuck me senseless should do it." She said looking smug. She slid down the zipper on her skirt and shimmied out of it. It fell to the floor revealing a black suspender belt holding up her stockings but as promised no panties. He didn't know where to look. She obviously wasn't backward in coming forward.
Ryan was shocked but knew he had to continue to get her to talk. If he stopped now they wouldn't have enough on her. "And if I don't?" Ryan asked.
She looked at him puzzled. "What do you mean if you don't? Of course you will. That's what we're doing here. If you don't ... then there will be no recommendation which probably means no Emily which means broken hearted girlfriend. And if that doesn't do the trick then I could just tell Marissa about your past. Then she wouldn't be your girlfriend any longer anyhow. And just for good measure I could always have a chat to those friendly reporters down in the foyer. They seem to want to talk to anyone that has had anything to do with you and we both know that they would love to hear about what I've done with you or maybe I should say what you've done with me." She stated and then pulled off her jacket as she moved towards him.
The door flew open and Marissa walked in closely followed by Keith. Marissa looked like she was ready to scratch Charlotte's eyes out and Keith stayed close ... in case he was going to need to physically restrain her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing here? And how did you even get in? I locked the door." Charlotte asked turning on them and then realising her state of undress she picked up her skirt and held it to her groin.
"I have a key." Keith stated, holding it in front of him. "Great thing working in security, I have access to all the keys." He said unable to stop himself enjoying the view in front of him.
"Well you have no right to be here." Charlotte stated not sure what all this was about.
Marissa had moved to stand with Ryan and gripped his hand firmly. "I have every right." She stated simply and smiled at him. "We've got it all." She added.
Ryan looked to Keith for confirmation. "Yep. Every bit. It only remains for you to decide what you want to do with it?" Keith said.
Ryan looked at Charlotte and then pointed to a small camera on the ceiling in the corner of the room. "It seems that we have video of you trying to blackmail me. I say trying because if you actually go through with any of your threats then I can assure you that copies of the video will be delivered to your employers and your professional registration board. And if that's not enough then I'm sure those friendly reporters you were talking about downstairs would be interested as well. You're current outfit would look interesting on the front page of the paper."
Charlotte stood there stunned, trying to understand all the implications of what he had just said. "So I suppose that now you're going to blackmail me unless I give you the recommendation?" she said realising the seriousness of her actions.
"Surprisingly no. I wouldn't stoop so low as to do that. I'm …" he looked at Marissa and squeezed her hand. "We're" he corrected "prepared to go that alone. We'll win or lose the case on its merits. And just so you know, there isn't anything that you could tell Marissa that she doesn't already know." Ryan added.
"And just in case you don't believe him, I assure you that anything that he did with you and your 'friends'…" Marissa said the word making them sound like a disgusting sort of life form "… years ago, makes no difference to me. All that matters is what he does to ME from now on." Marissa smiled. She knew she was being petty but it was all she could do to not slap the woman across the face. "And by the way, let me assure you, he's only gotten better." She added for good measure, wanting to turn the knife.
Charlotte stood there still taking in all that had happened. She couldn't believe that they had beaten her at her own game. She realised that she was still standing there dressed in only a black bra, suspender belt, stockings and high heels and gripping her skirt to cover her newly acquired Brazilian. "Get out. Just get out all of you." She screamed.
Ryan, Marissa and Keith happily obeyed and they made there way back to the children's ward with the video tape safely in hand.
---
Ryan and Marissa spent the rest of the morning with Emily. They took her to see Cheryl but they couldn't stay long. She was still in a coma but her doctors said that she was progressing well. It was very hard for Emily to understand exactly what was going on so they didn't prolong the visit knowing that it only upset her.
Sue had come to tell them that their custody hearing was to be at 3. So as soon as Emily had finished with lunch they got her dressed and then waited for Sue to come and get them. She had volunteered to come with them to the family court offices and speak on their behalf if it would help. They were meeting the attorney that Sandy had arranged there. Ryan had spoken with him earlier and they hoped that everything would go okay although apparently the judge that had been assigned to their case was known to be a stickler for doing things by the book. And that didn't look good for them.
---
Some time later ... things weren't going well.
Judge Collins, as expected, had only been interested in following exact procedure. Emily had sat outside the judge's chambers with Sue, while Ryan and Marissa were interviewed. Their attorney was present but really could do very little. The judge had asked if they were related to Emily in any way. And when they said no they were just friends, he had asked for them to explain the depth of the friendship. Ryan and Marissa knew that things were looking grim, especially when it was explained that they would want to take Emily to LA to live with them. Judge Collins asked them to wait outside whilst he spoke to Emily.
---
Ryan paced up and down, whilst Marissa watched him. They didn't know what else they could do. It was obvious from the questions that the judge had asked and the fact that he had cut them off whenever they had tried to elaborate that he was not keen to approve their custody application. Sue had gone in with Emily and they were hoping that things were going well in there. But they had no control. Ryan hated the feeling of helplessness over what was going on. He went and sought out the attorney, who had left them to make some phone calls. He wanted to find out what the protocol was with being able to speak to the judge privately. The attorney, Matt, assured Ryan that Judge Collins would never allow it. That would have been definitely outside the rules and there was no way that he would stand for it.
---
After Emily had finished, she and Sue exited the office and Ryan and Marissa were asked to go back inside.
While he waited for them to return, Judge Collins sat running over things in his mind. He had decided not to approve their custody application. There were too many reasons against it. They were not related. Hell, they barely knew the child. They wanted to take her to a different city to live; away from her mother. They were not in any sort of long term relationship. He had seen the newspapers. These people attracted attention wherever they went. Even though the child had indicated that she would like to go with them, there was no way that he would consider putting her under the sort of intense media scrutiny that this couple attracted. He couldn't for the life of him understand why people like them would want to take the job on anyhow. He figured that they probably were bored with their lives and thought this would be some sort of interesting adventure. Like those film stars that went and adopted children rather than ruin their figures or give up work and then proceed to leave the children with nannies while they continued on with their busy lives. There was no way that he was going to put this child into that sort of situation. He had no problems with either of them personally, although he suspected that both were so wealthy that they would be used to getting whatever they wanted, so he knew that they were unlikely to take the news well. As he waited for them to sit down, he looked to find his words.
---
Ryan could tell from the look on his face that the judge was going to decide against them so before he opened his mouth, Ryan spoke up. "If I could, I'd just like a couple of minutes of your time to explain to you why it means so much to me personally to be able to give Emily this chance."
Judge Collins looked at him surprised. He checked his watch to make sure that he wasn't running late for his next appointment. "Okay. You've got 2 minutes." He said sitting back and thinking to himself that this should be good.
Ryan cleared his throat and started to speak. "I don't know if you're aware but I grew up in a place called Chino which is not dissimilar to where Emily lives. Through a series of circumstances I found myself as a teenager with no where to live. I had been abandoned. Thankfully I was taken in by a wonderful family who opened their house and their hearts to me. Without them, I would have wound up on the streets. Not a day goes by that I don't thank my lucky stars for what they did for me. If I hadn't met Sandy Cohen" Ryan shook his head thinking back to the time "or if he and his wife hadn't taken me in, then who knows what would have become of me? So what's happened here now? Well … we met Emily through a series of circumstances that caused our paths to cross. And she now needs someone to care for her. I can't help but think that I am being given an opportunity to repay some of the help and kindness that was given to me. This is my chance to make a difference in someone else's life. What makes it even better is that Marissa and Emily have a very close bond. If you could see them together you would know that. I'm sure that you are concerned about the fact that we live in LA but I'm guessing that if our application is not approved then you will have to find foster care for her and I wonder how often they would be able to get her to visit with her mother. As you are no doubt aware, I am more than able financially to provide for anything that Emily may require and we could guarantee that we could bring her up to visit with her mother regularly. The cost involved wouldn't be a problem. I just ask that you give us this chance." Ryan looked to the judge, wondering if his words had made any difference.
Marissa reached for his hand and squeezed it wanting him to understand how moved she had been by his opening up to the judge to plead for Emily. She knew how hard that would have been for him and she would never forget it.
Judge Collins was stunned. He certainly hadn't expected Ryan to make that sort of plea and he could now see that maybe he had judged them a bit hastily. He thought that they probably would be very good foster parents for the little girl but it still really meant that he would have to go out on a limb to approve it and that wasn't something that he liked to do. He was mulling over his decision when there was a knock at door. He hated to be interrupted, especially when he was deep in thought and so he chose to ignore it. He had enough on his mind at the moment.
The knock came again. More insistent this time. Ryan and Marissa looked at one another wondering what was going on as the judge looked at the door. The glare on his face almost daring someone to open it.
Again, the knock sounded and this time the judge rose from his chair and moved to open the door. "What's going on out here? You know I don't want to be disturbed." He roared.