Chris and Bernadette along with 3 other administrative assistants were having a great time at Nightlife, the new bar downtown. "A toast!" Chris said as she held up her second margarita, "to Bernadette on the collection of her first paycheck and to one Matt Houston, best boss anyone could ever ask for!"

A series of "Woowhos" came from the five women who clinked their margaritas, pina coladas, and appletinis together.

Bernadette said, "I can't believe he's buying tonight, that's so sweet."

The other three laughed and one patted her on the back and told her, "He's not just sweet, he is hot, girl!"

Chris almost spit out her drink, "Hey guys, come on, we all know how 'hot' he is, but he's also taken now."

Another assistant chimed in, "No, you come on, he was always taken, we know that. It didn't stop him from playing the field a little bit though did it?" she said with her eye brows raised.

Chris responded with, "I know, trust me, you have no idea how many times C.J. and I would come in only to find some tramp leaving with him parked right there in that hot tub wearing nothing but a smile."

Bernadette asked, "Didn't that hurt her? I mean I thought they had been in love since they were kids or something. I don't understand."

The others looked at each other and nodded. Taking turns almost they shared what they knew about the Matt and C.J.'s past and how this was a long time coming. Bernadette seemed to understand and Chris ordered a round of Singapore slings for everyone. They asked her what this was and told them that when C.J. came back from her last trip to Singapore, she and Matt had stayed at the Raffles Hotel and had gotten their signature Singapore Sling at the Long Bar and she told her Chris just had to try one. The one they got here wasn't nearly as good as the one she had in Singapore, but Chris didn't think it was bad. "Its kinda tastes like Hawaiian Punch for adults."

They shared more stories about working with Matt and C.J. and told Bernadette she was luckier than she knew to be working at Houston Industries. Chris told her that Matt truly cared about all his employees and would go to almost any length to help them. She told her she could trust him and anyone in the company if she ever had a problem. Chris then shared about that last guy, Paul, she had started to date and how Matt overheard him be rude to her and then got all 'big brother' as she called it and got him to leave her alone once she told him about the guy over a lunch he took her to that day.

After 3 or was it 4 drinks, the girls decided to call it a night. None of them noticed the man at the bar that had been watching them. When they ordered that last round each woman ordered what they had the first time and Chris was the only one drinking margaritas. The bartender came over to where the man was sitting and asked him if he needed a real drink. He had real customers outside. The man slipped him $500 and asked him if that would cover his coffee bill and rent for the stool he sat on. The bartender pocketed the money and said, "Whatever you say."

The man got up and walked over to the area of the bar where the drinks sat that were ready to be picked up by the waitress and pulled out of his pocket a small vile with a clear substance and poured it into Chris' margarita on the rocks. He then casually walked to his seat and watched.

Chris had a hard time standing. She made sure the other 3 got into cabs and was only waiting for Bernadette's when she started getting dizzy. Bernadette grabbed her arm and asked if she was ok.

"I'm fine, just one too many margaritas I think. I'll catch my cab next, don't worry. Now you get home safely and I'll see you Monday morning. Have a good weekend." Chris told her as Bernadette got into that cab.

That left Chris alone and vulnerable. She kept blinking her eyes thinking to herself, 'wow, they must make them stronger here than anywhere else.' A man approached her and asked if she were waiting for a cab. Chris blinked again, her vision now a little fuzzy. She told him, "yes I am and I don't need any help, so you can be on your way."

She started to fall back and he caught her and said, "I'm only asking because I'm fueling my cab up across the street and I can take you now if you like."

She looked across the street and saw a cab in front of a gas pump so she looked back at the man now clearly helping her stand and said, "Sure, ok, let's go."

They got across the street, but just barely before Chris almost completely passed out. She couldn't really make much out, but they weren't headed for that cab. Instead he took her to the alleyway in between the gas station and a run-down apartment complex.

She tried to struggle, but she was too out of it. He then began asking questions about the case C.J. and Matt were working on after he drug her into an abandoned apartment and threw her onto a dirty mattress in the middle of the room.

As he had her pinned to that he grabbed her chin and asked, "Who are they investigating?"

Chris struggled to remember, now terrified and wondering what this man was going to do. She was trying to think about the self-defense stuff C.J. had taught her but her mind was just so fuzzy she couldn't really concentrate. "I don't know, I'm only the secretary," was all she could get out.

He punched her in the face and asked again. She started crying. He told her, "I know secretaries and sometimes they know a lot more than anyone thinks they do. So I'm only going to ask one more time, before I have to really hurt you…you don't want that do you….now tell me…WHO!" he shouted in her face.

"I don't…I don't….I swear….please….please don't hurt me….if I knew I'd tell you….please…"she said crying harder now but dizzy and nauseous.

He took a deep breath and asked, "Do they think they can get him off? They need to get him out of jail, do you understand? You are going to make that clear to them. I'm not going to kill you tonight, but I will be back for you if he stays in jail much longer. Make sure they understand that. And remember, it doesn't matter how safe they can try to make you, you aren't going to be safe from me. I can get to you whenever I want to. And after tonight I'm going to make sure you never forget me."

Chris' eyes widened and she tried to move but found her body wouldn't cooperate. He sat up and then ripped her shirt off. Chris closed her eyes, she was begging him to stop but felt so incredibly helpless. He continued on and she was powerless to stop him. She wanted to throw up at first because it was too much, it was just all too much and it was happening too fast. In her mind she just kept saying, 'no, please, no, not that, no please, please, someone help me, please someone help me.'

Once he was on top of her actually raping her, she closed her eyes and felt like she left her body and was just watching someone do this to her. But she still felt the pain, it hurt so bad each time like he was tearing her apart inside. It couldn't be happening to her, she counted, hoping that by the time she got to 100 he would be done and he would leave. She had gotten to 89 when he finally let out a sigh and kissed her on the cheek telling her, "see, that wasn't so bad was it? And you will never forget it. Now remember, I can get to you whenever I want and we can do this all over again if they don't get him out of jail. You understand? ANSWER ME!" he shouted and she nodded her head with tears streaming down her face. Then he left her there bleeding from where he had raped her and hit her.

She lay their huddled in a ball and didn't know what to do. She was still so dizzy that if she tried to get up she would fall right over. She felt so stupid for going with a stranger. She felt so ashamed for what he did to her. She needed help though, she couldn't get home without help. She thought about who to call. She knew C.J. was the only person she could call really, but this guy was asking about the case, at least that was what she thought he had done. Everything was so fuzzy though. The only thing that was clear in her mind was that she had been raped.