***Garrison Residence***
Natalie Garrison hurriedly ran up to the front of the room and took the canvas down and got it out of sight.
Everyone cleared the way for Jonathan to run up to the front. He promptly punched Mark LaMont about 3 times.
He turned to Brantley Garrison.
"Keep him here, and call the police. I have to go check on Jennifer".
He found her outside by the car, hugging Marcy and crying.
"Darling, he got a taste of what he had coming to him. Brantley is calling the police".
"It's about damn time someone did. I told you he would strike again Jonathan. You promised that you would be the only one who knew about the photos and now look what he's done!"
"Jennifer, I'm sorry, honey. I never dreamed he would go this far".
She finally let him touch her and hug her, she was so hurt and angry.
Marcy looked at her.
"Why don't I drive you home, and after Jonathan talks to the police, he can meet us there. I will stay with you as long as you need me to".
She nodded.
"Thank you, Marcy. Key's under the mat".
He kissed Jennifer and then went back inside.
The party was going on, and Natalie told him to go into Brantley's study.
The other businessmen had forced Mark to go into the study and get away from the crowd.
Jonathan was barely controlling his temper.
"How dare you disrespect my wife that way? She has absolutely nothing to do with any business deal that you and I would ever make, and I told you that from the beginning and you still went after her, for no reason. What's the reason, jackass?"
The other businessmen held Mark back.
"Because I knew that it would get to you. You have screwed me out of business deals on more than one occasion and it was time for you to suffer".
All the businessmen were telling him what a horrible thing he did and what a classy lady Jennifer was.
"You crossed the line, man. She's the most dignified lady ever".
"I second that. Our wives all look up to her because of her character and her class."
Jonathan took a deep breath.
"Mark, you better not ever call me again, business or otherwise. And if you know what's good for you, you will have the pictures that you have of my wife delivered to my house within 24 hours. Every single picture, every single negative, every single copy. And the hard drive".
The police came in then, and Mark admitted everything, to putting the cameras in their bedroom and bathroom, to rigging up a camera on the pole outside their bedroom to take pictures through the window, to making the threatening phone calls, and to making one picture poster sized and exposing it to everyone at the party. The police arrested him and charged him with blackmail, extortion, making threats, and libel.
All the other businessmen told him they would never do business with him again.
They led Mark out, and Jonathan went and got Jennifer's purse, made a donation to the women's shelter and headed out.
All the wives had carpooled together over to Jonathan and Jennifer's.
***Willow Pond***
Jonathan came inside, and found all the women gathered around Jennifer on the couch.
We walked over and bent down and kissed her.
She looked up at him with tear stained cheeks.
"So?"
"So, he admitted to all of it. And he was arrested for blackmail, extortion, libel, and making threatening phone calls. All of the businessmen were telling him that he crossed a line, and that none of them will ever do business with him again. I gave him 24 hours to get all the copies of the pictures of you, every single one, delivered here by messenger".
She nodded.
He went and made her the tea that she loved and took her a mug, and then he went upstairs so that she and the ladies could have some privacy.
About 20 minutes later, the gate buzzed and he answered it.
He came downstairs in his sweatpants and a t-shirt, and opened the door.
It was all the businessmen.
"Can we please speak to Jennifer?"
"Certainly".
He let them in, and the ladies all got up off the couch.
Jonathan went and sat by her on the couch and put his arm around her.
Within minutes, the men had moved the coffee table and the other couch, and had brought in a big metal wastebasket.
"Mark's wife Hayley left the party after you left. She came back a few minutes later, and asked me to give this to you. We kind of had a better idea. Jonathan, if you don't mind, can you step away from the group, and look at the contents of the folder?"
He handed Jonathan a folder, and Jonathan took it and walked over away from everyone else. He looked all through it and then came back to the couch.
"Ok".
"What is in the folder?"
"This letter, to Jennifer, from Hayley. And then about 25 pictures of my wife, the same ones that he faxed to me at the office and put on the canvas".
Brantley Garrison and Reed Winters handed him a large manila envelope.
"Jonathan, hand the photos to Jennifer, and Jennifer, put the file in the envelope".
She pulled the letter out and then put the file folder into the envelope.
They took out a roll of tape and taped it shut.
"Mrs. Hart, would you say that this is sealed shut?"
"Yes, I would".
"Perfect. Now, we place this file in the bucket. Please read the letter from Hayley".
Jennifer picked it up. "Dear Jennifer-this file contains all of the photos my husband took of you. I turned the computer over to the police. As soon as we get back, I promise you I will have the hard drive erased. I am so sorry he did this to you. He is greedy and selfish and has been all his life. Maybe he will finally grow up while he sits in a prison cell. My apologies again, Hayley LaMont".
"Babe, we should probably hang on to this letter in case it's evidence".
She nodded.
Reed handed Jennifer the box of matches.
"Would you like to do the honors?"
She happily took the box of matches and lit one and tossed it in the bucket.
He lit another one and set the file on fire from the other end.
"None of us looked at these, and now nobody ever will".
"Thank you, Gentlemen".
"We are so sorry he did this to you. You are too classy of a lady for him to attack you like that. We told him that he crossed a line for sure".
"I appreciate it".
Reed gingerly picked up the wastebasket and put it in the fireplace, and then he and Brantley moved the furniture back.
They all stood up to go, and Jonathan thanked them for coming over and for helping corral Mark into the study.
Marcy was the only one who stayed behind.
"Marcy, how would you like to go to a spa for 4 days? I won that trip in the silent auction at the last party".
"I would love that! When do you want to go?"
"How about day after tomorrow?"
"Perfect".
She hugged her goodnight and then left.
Jennifer got up and took her mug to the sink.
Jonathan locked the doors and closed the gate and they headed upstairs.
He could tell she was still upset.
He went up behind her and unzipped her dress.
"Thank you".
She changed into a nightgown, and he joined her in bed.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her.
She sat up and looked at him.
"Darling, I'm sorry I yelled at you. This wasn't your fault, I shouldn't have taken it out on you".
He kissed her.
"I love you, Jennifer. I promise you, I never thought he would have taken it that far. If I had, I would have called the police a long time ago".
"It's alright. I should have been more understanding".
"I should have called the police the very first time he sent the fax".
He kissed her a few times.
"How long will you be at the spa?"
"4 days".
"You deserve it, especially after all this".
"You deserve a break too, darling. You had to deal with the threats, and also put up with me being all emotional and sensitive".
"Babe, I wasn't putting up with you. I was trying to protect you. I am not going to let anyone hurt you, or come between us. If I had known he was going to do that, I would have stopped it before it even started. I feel sick that anyone even saw that picture".
"It was sweet that the other gentlemen got together and burned the photos."
"That was very nice of them".
"Darling, what happened after I left?"
"I walked up to him, and punched him three times, and then came to check on you. When I went back inside, the guys had gotten him into the study. I told him you weren't going to be disrespected by him or anyone like that, and that he had 24 hours to messenger over every picture, every negative, even the hard drive. He said that I have beaten him at so many business deals before and that he wanted to get to me, and he knew that if he went after you, he would get to me".
"How horrible it must be to live life that miserable".
"I hope he's going to be even more miserable where he's going".
She snuggled closer to him, and he started to rub her back.
He softly scratched her back till she fell asleep, and then reached up and turned out the light.
***Two days later***
Jennifer had been so busy getting ready for the spa trip that she and Jonathan weren't able to spend a ton of time together before she left.
She wanted to go say goodbye at the office, but she couldn't drag Marcy along for that. A phone call would have to do.
Jennifer loaded the car and locked the house and headed to pick up Marcy.
She called him from the car phone.
"Hello?"
"Hi darling."
"You heading out?"
"Yes, I'm picking up Marcy in about 10 minutes".
"I'm going to miss you, babe. I love you".
"I love you too, and I am really going to miss you. I made you some freezer meals, and left you a love note in the study. I also changed the sheets on our bed, so you have fresh, clean sheets to sleep on".
"I hope you have a nice time, and when you get home, you and I will spend a night together, just the two of us."
"You got it. I love you, Jonathan Charles".
"I love you too, Red".
She blew him a kiss, and then they hung up. She picked up Marcy a few minutes later, and then they headed out.
They had a quick 5-hour road trip, and stopped and shopped some along the way. They spent 4 days getting massages, facials, pedicures, and body detoxing treatments. The buffet was out of this world, and they both came back 100% more relaxed than when they left.
Jennifer dropped Marcy off at her house, and then headed home. She was sitting at the light, waiting for it to turn green, when she suddenly had a thought.
She backed up, and decided to turn right instead of left, and was at her destination in about 10 minutes.
***Jonathan***
Jonathan was on a phone call, and it was never ending.
"Jeff, can you add up all the figures and call me back with a total? I am really wanting to move on this today".
He didn't hear the office door open or close. He didn't hear the door lock.
"No Jeff, I make it a habit not to buy a company if I cannot or don't intend to keep the employees working. And I won't sell one without those protections in place either".
He felt the hands grabbing his shoulders and massaging them. He felt fingernails lightly scratching his chest.
He turned the chair around, and found Jennifer standing there, smiling at him.
He puckered his lips for a kiss and pointed to the phone, indicating that he didn't know how long it would take.
She got up and went across his office, to his chaise lounge. She pushed it and moved it till it was next to his desk. She took his hand and led him to the chaise lounge and had him sit, after repositioning the phone so that he was still able to talk on it.
She straddled him, and started kissing his neck, and undoing his pants at the same time.
He was finding it increasingly harder to talk on the phone. Jennifer was merciless in her teasing of him, and stood in front of him, seductively removing her clothes. He was becoming very distracted and she could see his cheeks turning red.
After she got his pants off him, she straddled him and lowered herself on to him, taking all of him in one stride.
He held up a finger to her, indicating that he needed her to wait a second.
"Jeff, I have a very important meeting starting in about 5 minutes, and I need to prepare myself. Can I call you back this afternoon? Great, talk to you then".
He hung up the phone and wrapped his arms around her.
"You are so bad…"
He didn't give her time to respond, instead, crushing her mouth with his and pulling her as close to him as possible.
He lifted his hips to meet hers and they rocked together as he reached up and grabbed her breasts. She brought him to the edge and they went over it together, as they kissed passionately in order to quiet the moans they were both feeling.
She eased herself off him and lay next to him on the chaise.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her.
"I missed you. I am so glad you are home".
"Me too. Since I couldn't say goodbye to you like I wanted to, I decided to say hello when I returned instead". She leaned up and kissed him.
"How was the spa?"
"It was wonderful. Relaxing, luxurious, it was perfect, except for one thing".
"What's that?"
"You weren't with me."
"The house was lonely without you, Red. I missed you so much, but I am so glad you had a good time".
"I feel like I ran out on you, I hope you don't feel like I abandoned you".
"Not at all."
"Did you have to field any questions about the photo?"
"The police came and took my full statement. They are pursuing charges against him, and Lt. Grey told me that his wife came up to the jail to visit him. He thought she was there to bail him out. Instead, she told him she wants a divorce and not to bother coming home."
"Well, I don't like to see marriages break up, but I am glad that he is having to stay in jail. I still feel humiliated, I hope he gets the book thrown at him".
He held her a little longer, and then they got dressed, since he did have to work.
They put the furniture back where it was supposed to be, and she quietly unlocked the door.
"Babe, I hate to say goodbye to you, but I have a meeting. I will see you at home tonight. I love you, Mrs. H."
"I love you too, Mr. H."
She kissed him a few more times, and headed home.
