Friends With More Benefits (13 page)

Rob returned his attention to Daphne as she
continued her work. He glanced up to the doorway every few seconds
as he watched the guards leave, and Carl push the button for the
rolling door to close. Daphne pulled away from him, took a big sip
of Rob's icy, cold beer, and then plunged her frozen mouth over him
again. His mouth flew open, he gasped, and glanced down to her
breathlessly. He breathed in deeply and when he had recovered, he
glanced back through the door to Carl who now stood in front of the
safe dialing in the combination on the huge mechanism. Carl pushed
down the handle and pulled open the heavy door just as Daphne
pulled away from Rob. She said, "Carl, get back here. I need
you."

Rob watched as Carl glanced into the safe,
frowned, and then looked to Daphne. He turned toward them, smiled,
then reached into his pants, and pulled out his penis. He stroked
it as he headed back toward the room. He turned back, with one hand
still getting himself ready and with the other, slid the box that
was holding the door away. As he rushed back to Daphne, the door
closed slowly, but the box was still in its path. The door pushed
the box, sliding it against the doorframe and leaving the door open
about a foot.

Daphne guided Rob back to his original position,
and Carl went back to his, and slipped inside of her. She groaned.
Rob watched as Carl looked momentarily concerned at the open door;
then Rob saw him put it out of his mind as he focused on
Daphne.

A few minutes later, Carl groaned loudly and
then slumped over on top of Daphne. Rob groaned next, finishing and
Daphne pushed him away. Carl headed back to the counter for another
line, and Rob took the opportunity to walk around the far side of
the chaise lounge closer to the partially open door. He peered into
the room through the open safe. Inside he spotted two stacks of
gold bars approximately two feet wide by two feet high by two feet
deep. He did a quick count of three bars across, seven bars deep,
and it looked to be about ten bars high. He glanced to Carl who was
still occupied and then looked back at a stack of hundred dollar
bills in an even larger block. He rushed toward the kitchen area
before Carl looked for him. Rob washed his hand then zipped up.

Daphne was ready for round two, but Rob said he
was too drunk and was feeling sick. Both Carl and Daphne gave him a
disappointed look as he left the room. Rob slumped against the wall
outside the room with his heart pounding, and it wasn't at all
related to the professional quality oral sex.

Jillian woke up early and began writing. Brian
slept in since he was currently unemployed. After two hours of
writing erotica, Jillian found herself completely wet and for the
first time on a weekday anyway, she had somewhere to turn. She
headed upstairs. When she walked into the bedroom, Brian was
walking out of the bathroom naked and drying his hair with a towel.
She said, "Oh, good you're clean."

"Why?"

"I feel like blowing you."

"Writing again?" he asked with a fake frown.

"Do you have to make that same joke every
time?"

"Sorry, I'll stop."

She walked up to him and took his penis in her
hand. It was already growing before she touched it. She said, "You
don't have to. I still think it's cute, but it'll probably wear
thin pretty soon." Jillian kissed his chest as she continued
stroking him.

He asked, "Purely out of curiosity, what were
you writing about?"

"A scene where this married couple has anal sex
for the very first time."

"Sounds hot."

"It was."

She cupped his balls as she shimmied her hips.
"I kinda feel like doing everything too."

"Really?"

Jillian nodded and then the doorbell rang. She
sighed. "Keep it hard, and I'll be right back." She headed for the
door and then turned back. She paused and gave him a sexy look.
"Maybe we should even go around the world." He smiled.

She rushed to the foyer with her mind wandering,
and the heat boiling up in her loins. When she opened the door, she
found a young man standing there. He asked, "Are you Jillian
Grayson?"

"Yes."

He handed over a large envelope. "Have a nice
day."

Five minutes later, Brian was still in bed and
still in a state of excitement. He was just about to go look for
Jillian when she appeared in the door wearing a frown.

"Where were you? I can't keep it hard
forever."

She shook her head and then shot back,
"What?"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm being sued."

"For what?"

"Over the novel. Natalie is claiming that I
created a character based on her without her permission. She's
suing for defamation and invasion of privacy."

"What?" Brian asked.

"Your ex-girlfriend is suing me and my publisher
for four million dollars."

"Holy shit. How can she sue? The legal team
cleared you, right?"

"Yes, but I guess anyone can sue anyone."

Brian nodded as he stared straight ahead with
his erection still pointing to the ceiling. Jillian glared down to
it. "What the hell are you doing?"

He gave her a sheepish look as he began, "I'm,
uh…Do you still want to go around…the…" She glared at him, turned,
and headed toward the door. "How about just halfway around, you
know to take your mind…" he shut up when she was out of sight. He
whispered, "Fucking Natalie."

Jillian called the publishing company and asked
for the division chief of her imprint. She reached the chief's
assistant. The assistant said, "Debra's in a meeting. Can I take a
message?"

"It's Jillian Grayson."

"Oh, Miss Grayson. We've actually been trying to
reach you. Let me transfer you to the conference room."

A few seconds later Jillian heard, "Jillian. So
I've got you on speaker. We've got Howard and Melissa from legal
along with Dan Peterson, the company president. We've been
discussing the lawsuit."

"Hey, Dan."

"Jillian," Dan replied. "I'm so sorry about
this."

"So who is this Natalie Brookhart? Do you
actually know her?" Debra asked.

Jillian paused in confusion. "Yeah."

"How?"

"She's the ex-girlfriend of my fiancé."

"Why is this the first we're hearing about
this?" Dan asked.

"Wait. You guys know all about this. Albert told
me everything was cleared through legal."

"Who's Albert?" Dan asked.

"Her agent," Debra replied and said louder,
"Jillian, we don't have anything on this. We're completely
blindsided here."

"There must be some mix-up. Albert had all the
information. He told me he submitted it to legal and—"

"Look, Jillian, this is the first we're hearing
about any of this. Just tell us whether the character in your novel
was based on this woman or not?" Dan asked.

"Well, yes, but…"

"Jillian, this is Howard Adams. Are we correct
when we assume that you don't have a signed authorization from
her?"

"Uh, no, I—"

"So is it loosely based on this Miss Brookhart?"
Debra asked.

"We changed her name and the college, but
everything is based on true events." Jillian raddled off
quickly.

"So the question is would a reasonable person be
able to determine that the character is based on her?" Melissa
asked.

"I don't think so," Jillian replied.

"So the cover picture of the ballerina. We
assume Miss Brookhart cannot put herself into that position."

"She can. That cover was Brian's idea," Jillian
replied nervously and then quickly regretted mentioning him.

"Who's Brian?" Dan asked impatiently.

"Her fiancé," Debra replied
loudly. "The
technical virgin
thing, now that is all your creation, I assume."
There was no reply from Jillian. Debra asked, "Jillian are you
there?"

"I'm here."

"The virgin thing?"

Jillian sighed then said, "That's all her.
That's her name for it. It's all true or as far as my son and Brian
have told me."

In the conference room in New York, Howard,
Melissa, Debra, and Dan sat around the small table with the
speakerphone in the center. Everyone looked shocked.

"Your son?" Dan asked loudly.

Jillian said, "Yes, he was
dating her for a while as well. Secretly and behind Brian's back.
You see Brian kind of fell for Natalie when he saw her do this
thing they all called
the leg
thing
. She was known around campus for
this particular move and—"

"Isn't that the title of the novel as well?" Dan
interrupted.

"Yes, that was Bri—I mean yes it is."

"I do like the title," Debra said, and Dan
glared at her. She shrugged.

"So you also stole the title from her."

"I did not, I mean…"

Dan sighed and then began, "Let me see if I have
all of this straight. You based a character completely and wholly
on a young woman who was not only dating your son, but also your
fiancé. The cover image is a picture of a unique ballet move that
Miss Brookhart is known widely for doing. Oh, and you also used a
title that anyone who knows Miss Brookhart would immediately
identify with her."

The four waited with their heads cocked for her
reply. After five seconds Jillian said, "Well when you say it all
like that it sounds kind of bad, but…"

All four people in the room exhaled, and then
Dan said, "The good news is it's selling very well. So in the event
that we're required to offer a settlement in the six-figure range
we still might break ev—"

Back in Miami, Brian stood listening as a switch
went off on Jillian. She interrupted, "I will not give that
money-grubbing whore a penny." His eyes widened as he listened to
only her side of the call.

"Please tell me you don't use language like that
in the book referring to Miss Brookhart," Howard said.

Jillian lost her anger as she said, "Uh, there
might be something along those lines in there."

Debra said, "I think I
remember the phase,
anal whore
in reference to the Rebecca
character."

"Thank you, Debra," Jillian said in a tired
voice.

Dan scolded, "Look Jillian,
don't speak to anyone about this. Don't give any interviews. Don't
use the term
anal whore
, and don't even mention Miss Brookhart's name."

"This makes absolutely no sense. My agent
assured me he had the clearance from legal."

"We never gave it. You'll need to discuss that
with him," Dan said.

Howard said, "Regardless, Miss
Grayson, I assure you that without a signed release from Miss
Brookhart, this office would not have given clearance for this
novel. And given the nature of terms like…
anal whore
…I would venture a guess
that Miss Brookhart would never have signed such a
release."

Dan added, "We'll look at all our options and
get back with you." The line went dead. Jillian pulled the phone
from her ear with her mouth wide open.

Brian quietly asked, "Do you want some wine or
something?"

She nodded. "Make it a martini." He took off
toward the kitchen.

Jillian's blood boiled as she dialed another
number. When the call was answered she said, "Get him for me…I
don't care if he's in with Barack Obama discussing his next
children's book. Put me through now."

Seconds later Albert picked up the call,
"Jillian, what—"

"The publisher and I are being sued by Natalie
Brookhart."

"Really?"

"I just got off the phone with Debra and Dan.
The lawyers were there and said that you didn't inform them about
any possible legal issues related to the Rebecca character."

"That makes no sense. I definitely—"

"Cut the shit Albert. Tell me what's going on
here."

He paused, sighed, and then began, "I knew they
would require a release, and I knew that Natalie never would have
signed one."

Jillian shot back angrily, "So then I should
have pulled all that out of the book."

"I considered suggesting that, but then, quite
frankly the story would have sucked."

"What the hell do you mean?" she asked,
insulted.

Brian returned with her drink. She look a big
sip as Albert said, "You take Natalie, I mean, Rebecca the
superflexible, technical virgin, anal-sex loving, man manipulator
out, and all you have left is a story about two tennis-obsessed,
incredibly annoying complete losers."

She said really loudly, "Those two
tennis-obsessed annoying losers are based on Brian and I!"

Brian’s face dropped as he listened in. He shook
his head and then headed out of the room.

"You know what I mean," Albert said
casually.

"I really don't," she shot back.

"Look, I figured only two things could
happen…and both of them were good. Natalie never finds out, and the
book sells well because it's fabulous or…Natalie does find out,
sues, and you get so much publicity that the book sells like
crazy."

"I don't know. You should have bounced this off
me."

"When Kathryn Stockett was
sued by that maid over the book
The
Help
, the book shot to number one on
Amazon and stayed there for months. The maid sued claiming that the
character was based on her, and the judge dismissed the
case."

"But did Katherine refer to the maid as an anal
whore in the book?"

"She could have. I never read it," he shot back
quickly.

"Do you really think she did?"

"Probably not, but—"

"This is bad. I know this is bad."

"Just trust me. Everything
will be fine. Do you remember James Frey?
A Million Little Pieces
."