“Let all of the poisons that lurk in the mud, hatch out.”
-Robert Graves, Claudius The God
.
Emmett and I were sequestered in a waiting room with several ‘guests’ appearing on today’s show.
As I was to find out later, these ‘guests’ were all victims of or witnesses to, the evil deeds committed by Ms. Geri Chance.
The room was equipped with two large flat screen monitors which gave us a good view of the show. Rose normally would tape her show early in the day to be aired later. Today however, the show was airing live.
I could only suppose that Rose guessed this show wouldn’t have made it onto the air any other way. Producers and television station owners, well anyone for that matter, would be apprehensive about taking on a federal prosecutor.
Everyone that is. except Rosalie Whitlock, soon to be Swan.
Emmett’s arm was draped around my shoulder as we watched the screen intently. Just before the show started, the door flew open and Wendy Graham moved quickly over to us, taking the seat to my left.
“Please tell me I didn’t miss anything.” She whispered.
I smiled at her and shook my head, “No, it’s just starting.”
‘Good afternoon everyone, and welcome. Today’s show is coming to you live from our studio. Our first guest is federal prosecutor Geri Chance.’
I watched as Ms. Chance smiled at Rose. She was enjoying her ‘15 minutes of fame’ big time.
Holy shit, she looks orange. Not just orange, day glo orange. I wonder if she used spray tan on her face?
Combine that with the bright blue eyeshadow, and I’m definitely going to have nightmares tonight.
Rose had her most professional smile plastered across her face, but her eyes were shining.
‘Ms. Chance, I hope you don’t mind, but we’re trying a different format today. We’re going to spend the entire hour telling your story.’
Geri looked more than pleased at Rose’s words. The next few minutes were spent showcasing Geri’s roots. She was from a small town near Baltimore, but went to school in Washington state. She went into detail about working her way up to the position she now held. After lulling Geri into a false sense of security, Rose started to unleash her arsenal.
‘Ms. Chance, first off, I’d like to bring out an old acquaintance of yours.’
Geri looked intrigued.
‘Marie Van Epps please come out and say hello.’
Geri looked confused, until she got a good look at the woman, then she seemed to bristle with irritation.
Rose grinned. ‘Oh, I’m sorry Ms. Chance, I should have realized, you would only remember your old college roommate by her maiden name of ‘Baker’.”
Marie turned to Geri. ‘It’s been a long time Geri. How are you?’
I got the distinct impression that she didn’t really give a shit how Geri was.
‘I’m okay.’ Geri answered with a raised eyebrow.
Rose turned to Marie. ‘Marie, please tell us a little about what brings you here today.’
Marie answered with a sweet smile. ‘Well, as you stated, Geri and I were roommates in college, although I transferred to a school in Illinois before my junior year.’
‘And why was that?’ Rose asked, already knowing the answer.
‘I had a bad breakup, and didn’t want to continue attending the same college as my ex.” Marie answered quietly.
‘Correct me if I’m wrong Marie, but you must have eventually reunited with that ex, because he’s now your husband, is he not?‘
I watched as Geri’s eyes grew wide in surprise.
‘Yes, Rose, that’s true. As you know, my husband’s father was a U.S. Senator. At one time, Jason’s parents had hoped that he would enter the political arena, but Jason was never interested.’
Marie cleared her throat before continuing.
‘At that time, my younger brother had had a few run-ins with the law because of his drug use. He’d also been arrested for petty theft a few times, all to feed his drug habit. When Jason’s parents found out about that, they convinced me to walk away from their son.’
I noticed Geri fidgeting a little in her seat.
‘Why would you do that Marie?’ Rose asked.
Marie looked sad. ‘They convinced me that my family troubles would reflect poorly on Jason, tainting his chances for success. They still had political aspirations for him you see. When this wasn’t enough to convince me, they threatened to cut him off financially. I couldn’t let that happen.’
‘He never forgot about me though. After he graduated and established his own business, he searched for me. When I explained to him why I’d broken up with him, he was abruptly furious. Unbelievably, he forgave me. His parents though, he was not as easy to forgive. They spent years trying to mend fences with us, and I can finally say that he’s close to them again.’
‘Soon after the birth of our third child, his father came to me and explained that someone I knew had insisted on meeting with him all those years ago. This person gave him the information about my brother, implying that it would be devastating for anyone wishing to have a career in politics to be acquainted with my family.’
Geri broke in at that point, looking only at Rose. ’I fail to see how this pertains to me Miss Whitlock!’
Marie turned to face her. ’Oh but you see, my father-in-law identified his informant as none other than you Geri. The one thing I don’ t understand though, is why you would do that to me. I had never been anything but nice to you, but from the first time you saw Jason and I together, you became openly hostile.’
Geri narrowed her eyes at Marie. ‘You wouldn’t understand. Women like you always have some guy with money to take care of you, or fight your battles for you. You are pathetic. Your type wouldn’t know how to make it on your own.’
Marie just shook her head.
‘On that note, I’d like to introduce the next guest.’ Rose said cheerfully.
She’s enjoying this way too much.
Rose marched out person after person that had been on the receiving end of Geri’s vindictive nature.
One young woman was in tears as she described how, when her eighty-one year old Grandfather accidentally backed his car into Geri’s mailbox, and she brought charges against him. Since tampering with the mail is a federal offense, Geri felt she was perfectly within her rights to do so.
The case never made it to trial, because the judge had enough sense to throw it out. Unfortunately, the old man had been so traumatized by the entire ordeal, he had a massive stroke and died within the year.
“What a bitch” I heard Emmett mutter beside me.
‘I have taken an oath to uphold the law, I am required to bring charges whenever the law is broken.’ Geri sneered in her own defense.
A husband and wife came on next, the Crawfords. It seemed that a disgruntled ex-employee of Mr. Crawford had tipped off authorities that the couple were traffickers of child pornography. They were innocent, of course, but that didn’t stop Geri.
The Crawfords were kept away from their home for days, as investigators combed over every square inch, confiscating their computers and several boxes full of their belongings. In the end, they were unable to find anything even remotely connected with any kind of pornography, let alone child pornography.
Geri, however, took it upon herself to charge them with ‘copyright infringement’ when it was discovered that Mrs. Crawford had recorded and kept the tapes of several episodes of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer.’
Just as before, the judge threw out the charges at the arraignment, but the damage was already done. Mrs. Crawford who had been seven months pregnant at the time federal agents invaded their home, went into premature labor a few days later. Both Mr. and Mrs. Crawford got emotional as they discussed almost losing their little boy, who was now two years old, and the many medical problems he’d had to endure since birth.
Geri just sat there with a smug expression on her face.
‘What do you expect, an apology? I do my job, and I’m damn good at it.’ She sneered.
‘Are you?’ Rose asked, and then proceeded to cite how many times Geri had been defeated in court. The most troubling aspect of this, was that some of those cases were important ones. Cases against dangerous drug dealers, or members of organized crime.
In the end, everyone viewing the program could only come away from it with a sense that if Geri Chance hadn’t wasted so much time on her little vendettas, she may have had a real chance at putting away some very dangerous criminals.
With the presentation of each story, I could see Geri becoming more and more angry.
The last story of the day was another heartbreaker. One that also involved everyone’s favorite park ranger, Barry Kershner. I watched as the parents of a young man named Martin Buchanan told, through their tears, the story their son’s last days. Martin, who had been despondent over the fact that his long-time girlfriend had dumped him, and also that he’d been placed on academic probation because of his faltering grades at U of W, had gone to the park with the intent to end his life.
Ranger Dickhead stopped him for speeding and searched his car. He arrested Martin for bringing a handgun onto federal property. But it was Geri that put the final nail in his coffin when, instead of getting him the psychiatric help he needed, she had Martin thrown in jail, awaiting his arraignment.
Despite the pleadings of his parents and their lawyers, and proof from his doctor that Martin was being treated for depression, but wasn’t taking his meds, Geri wouldn’t budge. It didn’t take Martin long to figure out a way to finish what he had started at the park. He was found dead in his cell two days after his arrest.
This particular story brought back thoughts of Edward’s ordeal, and I covered my mouth with my hand as I choked back a sob.
My hands were trembling as I listened to Martin’s parents described how they were suing the federal government, and Ms. Chance in particular, for the gross mishandling of their son’s case.
Martin Buchanan’s story seemed to be last straw for Geri. I watched as her control finally snapped, and a string of curse-words directed at Rosalie, erupted from her mouth.
‘You father-fucking bitch. You set me up.’ Geri practically screamed at Rose.
Emmett was immediately on his feet, bounding through the door, headed into the studio, Wendy and I following in his wake.
We made it into the studio and stood behind the cameramen, watching the showdown.
‘You planned this. I don’t know why, but I will find out. You will not get away with making me look like a fool to the voters.’
In her anger, Geri must have forgotten that the show is ‘live’.
Rose smirked. ‘And why would it matter, Ms. Chance, if you looked bad to the voters?’
Geri stumbled over her words. ‘It doesn’t matter’ She tried to backtrack.
Rose interrupted her ‘Ah but now I don’t think you’re being honest with us Ms. Chance. I think it matters very much to you, since the goal you’ve had in mind for some time now is to be elected to political office.’
Geri took a few breaths in an effort to calm herself. She narrowed her eyes at Rose.
‘And why shouldn’t I want that? Find me one person who has worked harder than me. Tirelessly day and night, not like these fools they’ve elected in the past.‘ She rambled.
Emmett, Wendy and I stood there slack-jawed as Geri Chance self-destructed before our very eyes.
‘You think you’re so smart, Whitlock, parading all these losers through here today. None of these people are fit to wipe my ass. They are the dregs of society.’
Geri was shouting and flailing her arms, as Rose sat quietly watching her.
‘Old stupid men that shouldn‘t even be behind the wheel of a car. An unborn child that was obviously not meant to survive. In ancient society, a child like that would have been left to die, exposed to the elements.’
Oh my fuck. She did not just say that. By the looks of everyone in this room, Geri better have a bodyguard when she leaves the building.
I saw Rose’s nostrils flare as she tried to keep her temper in check.
‘Pathetic pieces of shit. The Buchanan boy? That stupid fucker probably should have offed himself years ago, he was a waste of oxygen.’
To hell with everyone else, I want to murder her myself.
Sensing that this could turn into a mini-riot, a couple of the studio hands started to usher the few remaining ‘guests’ back into the waiting room.
‘Weaklings all of them. Well, if the voters aren’t smart enough to elect me then they don’t deserve someone of my caliber in the first place.’
‘I’m still curious Whitlock. Why would you do this?’
At that moment, Geri glanced over and spied Wendy and me standing with Emmett. She looked confused, and even more pissed off.
‘Well if it isn’t a couple more pains in my ass. Wendy Graham, someone who wishes she could be as successful as me.’
I heard Wendy chuckle beside me.
‘and Isabella Swan, a clingy, whiney little basket case.’
Rose interrupted ‘By the way, Ms. Chance, we’re still on the air’
I saw Geri’s eyes widen in sudden horror. It seemed she’d been so busy with her rant that she had forgotten she was on television.
‘Oh and Ms. Chance, let me introduce one more person to you. Do you see that incredibly well-built, gorgeous man next to Miss Swan? That would be her brother and my fiance, Emmett Swan. Now back to what you were saying about his little sister Ms. Chance?’
Geri jumped from her seat, ripping her microphone off as she did. ’You will pay for this Whitlock. I will find a way to get even for what you’ve done here.’
Rose smiled. ’Somehow I doubt you will ever have the opportunity.’
As Rose spoke, she stood from her chair and walked closer to Geri Chance stopping only inches away, while towering over her menacingly.
‘Ms. Chance, your little performance here today has done more to sabotage your career than ten Rosalie Whitlock‘s ever could have.’
I saw Geri go pale.
Well, sort of a pale orange.
Then she turned and bolted from the studio.
Rose turned to face the camera. ‘That about wraps things up here. From the studios of WIRI, Seattle’s first choice for news and entertainment, I‘m Rosalie Whitlock, thank you for joining us.’
All the technicians, along with Rose, Emmett, Wendy and I were finally able to release the laughter we’d been holding in during ‘The Geri Show’.
“Rosie baby, that was amazing.” Emmett said as he wrapped his arms around her. “Although, I’ll admit that the only way I thought we’d get rid of Ms. Chance was with a well-aimed bucket of water.“
Rose laughed. “Actually her reaction was almost exactly what I had expected. The nasty remarks about Bella took me by surprise, and I almost knocked the shit out of her for that, but I realized that would be the worst thing I could do. Better to let her kick her own ass, and I must say she did a very good job of it!”
Rose went back to the waiting room and thanked the roomful of witnesses that had been so crucial to the success of today’s events. In turn, they all thanked her for having the opportunity to help end Geri’s ’reign of terror’.
After that, Rose turned to us “I know there will be hell to pay for what I did, but I don’t care right now. Let’s go out to celebrate tonight!”
We all went home to dress for dinner, Wendy agreeing to meet us later at Rose’s favorite French restaurant.
Despite the fact that the entire afternoon had been extremely draining, I felt lighter. My heart was still weighed down by the fact that Edward was far away, but seeing Geri crash and burn did wonders for my mental outlook.
I had expected a show, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect fireworks worthy of the 4th of July.
I put on a pretty little vintage cocktail dress that I thought would be appropriate for our celebration. It was salmon colored, fitting well with my light happy mood.
After glancing at the clock and realizing it was entirely too late to phone Edward, I decided on a text and photo instead.
First I took a photo of myself in the dress and heels. I then sent it to him along with a text message.
Rose outdid herself today. Video of Geri’s meltdown prob on youtube by now. Going out to celebrate. Wish you were here…Not to worry, the necklace and earrings are safely tucked away, awaiting your return.
I love you, B
Actually, I planned to take the jewelry with me on my surprise trip, but there was no need to leak that information.
I packed my clutch and was headed out the door when my phone rang.
It was Edward.
“Hello Edward.” I smiled happily as I answered.
“Baby, are you trying to kill me?” He spoke, his voice still groggy from sleep.
I chuckled. “That was the furthest thing from my mind Edward.”
He chuckled also. “Here I was in a dead sleep, dreaming about this gorgeous brunette who was just about to let me have my wicked way with her, when I was awoken by your text.”
Wicked way? Whoa...
I drew in a sharp breath at his words. “Um. Sorry I woke you up.”
“Please don’t be, the photo of you in that dress… Bella, you’re so beautiful.” He trailed off.
Normally I would argue, saying that my looks were nothing special. Then Edward would be pissy and tell me off, reiterating how he thought I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever met.
Tonight, I didn’t have it in me to argue though, I missed him too damned much.
Finding the need to lighten the mood I asked “So who’s this brunette you’ve been dreaming about?”
‘Now that you mention it, she looks remarkably like you.” I could hear the smirk in his voice.
I cleared my throat, willing my stomach to stop fluttering at his words.
How the hell does he have that effect on me from eight time zones away?
That voice brought back the memory of his warm arms around me and his lips on my neck, my shoulder, my mouth…
“Bella are you okay?” Edward’s question effectively waking me from my daydream.
“Oh, yeah, sorry.”
“If it wasn’t for the heavy breathing, I would have thought we’d been disconnected.” Edward said as he started to laugh.
At me. I could feel my face start to blush.
“Know what else?” He asked in a low sexy tone. “I’d be willing to bet right now that you’re blushing.”
O my God, he’s sexwarding me over the phone!
“I love that blush.” He murmured.
I could not form a coherent sentence.
Edward started laughing again. “Bella, say something.”
“I…, I can’t.” I whispered. I cleared my throat again and spoke. “I miss you.”
“Me too baby. More than you know.” He answered quietly.
Just then there was a knock on the door. I opened it to find Emmett and Rose on the other side, dressed for dinner.
I held up a my finger, indicating that I’d be ready in a minute. I found that I couldn’t hang up. Not yet. “Edward, I’m going to keep talking as I follow Emmett and Rose downstairs.”
So that’s what I did. I followed them down and to the hummer as we spoke.
“Tell me about Geri today.” He asked.
In my excitement with talking to him, I’d almost forgotten about Geri’s meltdown. “You should have seen it Edward. Rose was right when she told me Geri was a crazy bitch. She’s done so many evil things, and Rose called her on them. She freaked the hell out! I was afraid at one point that her head might explode.” I laughed.
He joined me in my laughter. It was great to have this moment together.
During the ride to the restaurant, Rose and Emmett were unusually quiet.
“Edward, I should let you go, you need your rest.” I said the words, but didn’t mean them.
“I slept earlier today Bella. I don’t want to hang up yet.” He said sadly.
We were both silent for a moment. “This is so tough.” He sighed.
Just as we arrived at the restaurant, I heard Edward yawn in my ear. “Go back to bed Edward. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Okay, we‘ll compromise. You go enjoy yourself. I’ll go back to sleep, and dream of you.”
I smiled. “I promise to do the same when I fall asleep tonight. I love you Edward.”
“I love you too Bella. I’ll call you tomorrow. Goodbye.”
I looked up to see my brother and Rose with the goofiest grins on their faces. “What?” I asked, slightly embarrassed.
Rose spoke first. “It’s just nice to see you like this Bella. You’ve changed so much.”
Emmett spoke then. “Yeah, our little girl is growing up. What do you say we get shit-faced?” He said as he grinned at me.
“Emmett, your eloquence astounds me, as usual.” I laughed.
Wendy arrived soon after, and Emmett and I did get a little shit-faced. That was the reason he was able to coax me into eating escargot for the first time.
Definitely wouldn’t have done that sober.
Rose limited herself to one glass of wine after she realized we’d need a designated driver.
We spoke about Geri for a while. “Rose, I must congratulate you on a job well done.” Wendy said.
“Thanks Wendy. I couldn’t have lined up all those people without your help though. Funny how predictable Geri Chance turned out to be.” Rose pondered. “I’m glad I told the guys in the control booth to keep their fingers near the ’censor’ button because I was fairly certain that the four-letter words were going to fly. She didn’t disappoint in that regard.”
We all nodded in agreement.
“So what happens to her now?” I asked.
Wendy answered. “My best guess would be that she will be investigated. They’ll probably do a psych evaluation immediately in order to remove her from her job. After that, I have no idea. She may have friends in high places that will save her from being unemployed, but she‘ll never set foot in a courtroom again.”
“Amen to that.” Emmett announced as we all clinked our glasses together.
--V&V--
We said goodbye to Wendy at the door to the restaurant, and Rose pulled me with her to the ladies’ room.
Once inside, she took a seat at the vanity. “Bella, I can’t take any more. Your brother is killing me slowly, with sex.”
“What are you talking about Rose?” I said, quickly sobering up a bit.
“Ever since his ‘abstinence’ talk with Father Pat, he’s become a raging horndog. He keeps talking me into sex at every opportunity.”
Cripes I feel really uncomfortable hearing this.
“Um, Rose. You have no idea how much I don’t want to know about his.” I pleaded.
“Shut the fuck up Bella. I have to talk to someone. You know about the incident on the pool table. Well, he got me outside the bar that night, you know, right before that nasty guy cornered you. We didn‘t even have the hummer, so we did it behind the fucking bushes.”
Fuck my life. Why do I have to hear this exactly?
I couldn't speak though, I just hiccoughed loudly while shaking my head. No, no, no.
“Then, again on the way home from Forks, he pulled onto a deserted road and we did it in the back seat.”
Damn it. I was just sitting in that back seat.
“I don’t even know how many times yesterday he pounced on me…”
I’m feeling slightly nauseated.
“But today was the last straw. Your brother fucked me up against the door inside the janitor’s closet at WIRI this morning. It was singularly the hottest and most embarrassing moment of my life, because when we opened the door to make our escape afterwards, Marvin the janitor was standing there with a freaked out look on his face.”
Ew, poor Marvin. He was probably afraid of finding Emmett‘s jizz on some random surface in his closet.
“He’s lost his mind. I think he’s trying to get in as much ’sex’ as possible before he meets with Father Pat again.”
I shook my head in disgust. “He’s such an idiot.”
“So true.” She said as she thought. I could tell she was thinking about Emmett because her eyes started to glaze over. “But, you know what?“ She said slowly.
I looked at her questioningly.
“I’m certainly going to miss it when we do abstain.“ Then Rose’s eyebrows shot up, and she headed for the door. “Oh fuck it. I may as well face the music. After all, I should have some real problems to complain about right?” She laughed and left. I grabbed a handful of paper towels, and I followed her out.
I could have lived the rest of my life not knowing any of that. I’ll never be able to look Marvin in the eyes again.
The ride home with the most uncomfortable of my life. I tried to cover a good portion of the seat with paper towels before sitting on it.
Emmett was half-drunk and never really paid attention, but Rose gave me a dirty look.
I didn’t care. I made a mental note to buy a box of latex gloves to wear anytime I had to come in contact with the hummer’s back seat in future.
Maybe I should look into purchasing a hazmat suit?
No comments:
Post a Comment