Legal Matters

Vanessa

“This makes no sense,” I said to myself as I walked from the south wing of my house to my office. I had to get ready for the storm that was brewing. Mr. Peabody entered as I looked over my files for the Governor. “Good, you’re here. Can you tell me what happened?” I said looking at him searching for some kind of answer.

“It looks like Richard attacked Penelope and raped her as well,” he said trying to hold it together. I knew this was something that he hated to deal with when it came to the ladies. It hasn’t happened much, but it has happened.

“Oh my god,” I said, covering my mouth. “Was she able to give you some information?

“No, she was pretty much out of it Vanessa. He beat the fuck out of her,” he said tearing up. I could see just him talking about it disturbed him. I didn’t want to press the issue.

“Understood. Did you request the security footage?”

“Yes,” he nodded.

“Good, you know the procedures,” I said. He nodded again and left the office. Sam entered shortly after Mr. Peabody left.

“Mom, how’s Penelope?” he asked. Sam amazed me. He had only met her once and he was already concerned about her. I knew I had made the right choice.

“I’m not sure Sweetheart, the doctor is still examining her. As soon as I find out, I will let you know.” I said walking over to him.

“She was so nice. Even though I only met her for a short time, she seemed really nice. She didn’t deserve this,” he looked away, trying to understand the situation.

“You are correct, she didn’t. I’m sorry you had to see her like this,” I said looking at him. “She’ll be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

“I know you will Mom, you take care of all of your employees.”

“I try.”

“Will you keep me posted on Penelope?” he said as he started walking towards the door.

“Sure,” I said, curious about his interests in Penelope. I didn’t want to push the issue therefore I let it go. “I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something.”

Sam left me alone in the office. As I sat down at my desk, I looked over the file for Richard Fitzgerald II. He had been a client of mine for quite some time now, but it wasn’t in the past few years that a pattern had started to form with him. Going over his file, he had an incident in which he attacked another one of my ladies about 8 months ago. This was around the time in which I was informed that he had to get help for substance abuse. From the looks of what happened tonight, he had fallen off the wagon.

My phone rang and startled me a bit. I looked and realized it was Mr. Peabody calling.

“Yes Mr. Peabody.” I answered.

“The media outlets have caught wind of it,” he said quietly.

“What are they saying?”

“The Governor’s son has been rushed to the emergency room with life-threatening injuries,”

“Understood. Thank you.” I said, hanging up the phone.

It was getting late and this shit was building up. I should expect a call from the Governor’s office in the morning as well as Richard II’s lawyer.

Normally in certain situations such as these, a normal person would be nervous and worried about the outcome. But I was not as normal as one would think, I made sure to cover all of my bases should something happen therefore when shit hits the fan like this, it just slides right off.

I was working in my office when the doctor came in to give me an update on Penelope.

“Hello Dr. Davis, how is she?”

“She’s taken a beating Vanessa,” he said, sounding concerned. “Luckily there are no fractures to her face however she is extremely bruised and her eye is swollen shut with minor damage to her eye,”

“Oh dear god,”

“It should heal, however I will check it to make sure she still has vision in that eye. As far as fractures, she has a few broken ribs. I can only assume she took a few blows directly to her chest,” he said looking at his paperwork.

“Will she be alright?”

“Yes, she will eventually recover, however she will need time to do so,”

“Thank you Dr. Davis, she will have all the time she needs,”

“I’ve given her a mild sedative to allow her to rest for the remainder of the evening. Would you like a nurse to come in the morning to help her?”

“Yes Doctor. Can you please make sure the person you send understands that this is a sensitive matter and to keep it confidential?”

“Of course Vanessa, it is totally understandable. I will also have them sign an NDA as well,”

“Thank you, I appreciate it,” I replied.

“Vanessa, can I ask who did this to her?”

“Richard Fitzgerald II.” The doctor knew him well as this wasn’t the first time we had to tend to someone who had a contracted date with him.

“Him again? He went ballistic this time,” he raised his eyebrows.

“I see he did. At this point, I am ready to cancel the contract with Richard II as he didn’t learn from the last time this happened,”

“I completely understand. I will send the nurse over in the morning,” he said as he stood up to leave. “Call me if anything should change with her, but she should be out for the rest of the night. She needs the rest, honestly.”

“Thank you Dr. Davis, I appreciate you coming so quickly,”

“It’s okay, anything for you Vanessa,” he said as he left. As soon as he left Brian entered the office.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m tired of Richard,” I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

“I understand. Everything has been taken care of,”

“Thank you. I will need to speak to our lawyers tomorrow as a result of this. In the meantime, were you able to get the cleaners into the unit as soon as possible?”

“Yes. They arrived shortly after the medical teams. The security cameras have also been reset as well.”

“Thank you Brian,” I said leaning back in the chair. “I noticed Sam was concerned about Penelope, did you notice?”

“Yes I did. He asked about her earlier as well, before I got the call,”

“He did?” I said getting excited about some good news for a change.

“Yes, he wanted to know why you invited her here.”

“Interesting,” I replied. Just then I received a text message regarding Richard II. “It seems though the media is reporting that he is out of emergency surgery and is intensive care,”

“How would you like to handle it this time?”

“What we will do is wait until any allegations are brought up and then we will more forward accordingly,”

“Understood,” Brian stared at me. He knew me so well. He knew I had a lot to deal with and I didn’t expect something like this to happen again and to a new employee as well. It was not my intention of having that happen to her or any of my girls.

“Vanessa,” he called me in his serious tone. I know what that meant.

“Yes,” I said looking at him.

“C’mon,” he said, holding out his hand. Brian was taking me away from the matter at hand as there was nothing more than could be done at the moment. “Let’s get dinner.”

“I really don’t feel like cooking and I’ve sent the staff home already,”

“I’ve already taken care of everything,” he said. He usually does.

“Ok,” I said, taking his hand and walking out of the office. I’ll deal with this shit tomorrow.

Tonight, I wanted to enjoy the calm before the storm.

---

Vanessa

After meeting with the lawyer, I had full confidence that everything would go as planned. I waited patiently for word from the Governor. However, I was very surprised when I received word the Governor wants nothing to do with this matter and requested that it be put to sleep quietly. I had no problem with that. He knew exactly how to handle this situation; to remove himself from it as it could get really ugly.

His son, Richard II, refused to go away quietly. His lawyers contacted me as soon as I entered the office; they were waiting to speak to me.

“Hello Gentlemen,” I said upon entering my lobby as they sat patiently. “You may follow me,”

I walked into my office, followed by two of Richard II’s team and Mr. Peabody. I sat down at my desk as Mr. Peabody came and stood beside my desk looking at the two sitting in front of my desk.

“How can I help you gentlemen today?” I said.

“We have some legal matters to discuss regarding Mr. Fitzgerald, which should be kept confidential,” A lawyer said looking at Mr. Peabody.

“Mr. Peabody is my assistant and he will remain present in this meeting, as he is fully aware of anything and everything that has to do with this company,” I said looking at both of them. “He will remain in this office during this meeting otherwise, this meeting is over.”

“Understood.” They folded like lawn chairs.

“We would like for you to produce the individual who entertained Mr. Fitzgerald on the evening of the incident,” One of the lawyers said, pulling out what I can only assume was the contract between Richard II and Elegant Escorts.

“I’m so sorry as it seems as though you have made a useless visit to the office as that information will not be provided to you.”

“Well, we are prepared to take this matter public and shut this place down.” The other lawyer said with a bit more authority.

They threatened me. One should never threaten me.

I glanced at him and he swallowed hard. Apparently, he had never dealt with me and my company before so I went easy on him. Richard II knew better than to send me fresh meat to try to intimidate me. I smiled as I looked at Mr. Peabody who passed me a manila envelope. I opened the envelope and glanced at the contents of the package.

“Well again,” I said, closing the envelope and looking at both of them. “I’m sorry for you having to come all the way down here, but there was a breach of contract which was outlined as before.”

“Yes, however in this case, your employee sent Mr. Fitzgerald to the hospital!” The second one was getting heated. He was really trying to earn his paycheck.

“I understand this. However, it was your client, Mr. Fitzgerald who created the incident therefore he breached the contract which resulted in him being sent to the hospital,” I retorted.

“Understood, however he is in intensive care,”

“Through no one’s fault but his own.” I replied. “He also sent my employee to the hospital as well. As a matter of fact, she has not awakened as of today,” I said and the both of them looked at each other.

“Um, well uh,” The intense lawyer replied. He was not prepared for the information which was probably not provided to them.

“Gentlemen,” I said standing up and picking up the envelope. “I can only assume that by your reactions, you were not informed that she needed medical attention as well,” I walked from behind my desk holding the evidence.

“That information was not provided to us,” The mild lawyer stated.

“Of course it wasn’t,” I chuckled as I stood before them. “Listen, this was not the first time we have had to deal with Mr. Fitzgerald and his lawyers when it came to him and his actions during a contracted date,” I looked at both of them squirming in their seats.

“We are aware of his past incidents, however those were settled out of court. This will not.”

“On the contrary, it will,” I said, passing them the envelope.” Mr. Peabody, can you please grab me an espresso please?” He nodded and proceeded to the beverage station on the opposite side of the office.

I watched as they opened the envelope and examined the contents. Both of them looked at each other and began collecting their things.

“We need to evaluate and discuss this matter more thoroughly with our client and will contact your office thereafter.”

“Understood,” I said as they rose from their seats. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

The lawyers left quickly with their tails between their legs. I figured Richard II didn’t tell them exactly what happened due to sheer embarrassment. They may have been recently added to his legal staff and totally not aware of Richard II and his antics.

“They were not prepared,” Mr. Peabody said as he brought me the espresso.

“No they weren’t. Richard knows better than to send amateurs to me.”

“Especially since this isn’t the first time with him,” he said.

“Exactly.”