One Whole Year

Meeting the lawyers

wow, i havent uploaded in what seems like ages! and, this one isnt very long either, sorry about that! hope you enjoy it anyway!

xoxoxooxoxoxox Morgan

Amber Fishers POV – chapter ten

I am so nervous.  Today I’m meeting with Riley’s dad and Chandra’s mum. I’m not so nervous about meeting Chandra’s mum – Riley’s dad, however. That’s what is really scaring me. I have seen pictures of his family in the rare times I visit his dorm. He has only two pictures of his family. The first is an obviously professional on, his mother wearing a cardigan and brown pleated skirts, his scarily ginormous body dressed in a suit and his little sister with tight pigtails and a polka dot dress. The other one is of him and his sister wearing lifejackets in front of a yellow kayak.  I have also heard phone conversations that Riley has had with his father and he seems kind of… loud.  His family also seems sort of fancy, so I’ve tried to dress respectably, wearing a red cocktail dress that reaches my knees. I’ve left my hair to fall around shoulders and pinned back my bangs. I straighten my dress and step into the restaurant.

“Amber! You came!” Riley greets me with kiss on the cheek and squeezes my hand.  

“This is my dad, Marcus, and this is Chandra’s mother, Shiva. “ Shiva smiles at me warmly and Marcus holds out his hand in greeting.

“Nice to meet you Amber, Riley is a lucky, lucky young man! Do you know that he has not stopped talking about you, and how much I would like to meet you! And I am quite delighted, by the way!” he says enthusiastically.  All of my nervousness dies away when I see how happy Marcus is to see me.  Shiva leans over to talk to me next.

“Hello, nice to meet you Amber.” She says in a friendly voice.  We all sit down and order our drinks, except for Shiva who shakes her head in rejection. At first, the conversation flows easily, talking about series of mundane events such as school, future plans and my parents jobs. We order and eat our dinner, leaving no need for much conversation.  Eventually, the topic has to change.

“So, Amber. I think we should talk about your legal business. “Marcus says abruptly.

I look down at my hands. This was the question I was hoping would be avoided, even though I knew it wouldn’t.  I look up again and everybody is staring at me, waiting for an answer. I slowly open my mouth to speak.

“In the summer, I got a job at a bank, GKL. The CEO there… he made me sleep with him to keep my job. I didn’t really want to, he sort of forced me. He videoed every time, without telling me. and to make matters worse, he keeps sending clips from the videos and threatening me on my email account. ” I explain the story and watch Shiva and Marcus’ facial expressions.  I see disbelief, shock and rage.

“I don’t care if he gets in trouble or not. I just want him to stop torturing me.” I finish and realise one little tear rolling off my cheek. Shiva reaches over and clutches my hand.

“Darling, we are going to help you.” She says reassuringly.

“Do you want to know what we can do against him?” Marcus asks steadily.

I nod my head in silent agreement; words seem like an impossibility right now.

“Well, for starters, we can charge him for statutory rape. But that will cause quite a lot of hubbub, the media would get right on it, and I doubt you would be left alone for a long time. There is also the possibility that he could retaliate, in a bad way. Or, you could simply get a restraining order. This depends on how much evidence you can provide. What have you got, that you can think of so far?”  he asks, rubbing his hand on his temples.

“I have the video, but that’s about it…” I reply sadly.

“That doesn’t matter, we can use those.” Marcus says enthusiastically, but not in a happy way.

“Excuse me a second, ladies, I’ll just go and take care of the cheque.” Marcus stands up and walks towards the bar to pay. Riley’s phone buzzes and he steps outside to answer it. I look over to Shiva and smile weakly.

“Do you really think he will leave me alone?” I ask her.

“If we infiltrate him the right way, yes, probably. We could do with more evidence, are you sure you haven’t forgotten anything?” she asks, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

I lower my eyes, not making any eye contact with her.

“Amber… what are you hiding? We need all the information we can get.” She says.

“I can’t…” I stutter

“Amber, anything is vital if you want him to leave you alone.”

“I think I might be pregnant. The baby could be Mr. Cavaliers.”