Friends With Extra Benefits

by Luke Young

  Brian Nash took the stand next. He repeated the tennis and diary stories. He also described the birthmark but admitted that he did not see it during any sex act with Natalie. He told the story of the circumstances which led him to see the birthmark, but no mention of the recording was made.

  Just as he’d done with Rob, Josh grilled him about lying to protect Jillian and wanting to hurt Natalie now, since she had rejected him back at college. He performed brilliantly, answering every question calmly, and also came across as a credible witness.

  Next up was Soros Demopoulos, Natalie’s high school boyfriend. Mr. Parrish asked questions about his relationship with Natalie. Soros confirmed Cindy’s story about Brian’s tennis match. He elaborated on the nature of their sexual relationship; it was looking more and more like Natalie wasn’t a technical virgin or any other kind of virgin, for that matter. The jury appeared to be captivated by the way the trial was now progressing.

  Josh again blasted this witness for lying in order to get back at Natalie for some wrong he perceived that she committed. When that tactic didn’t seem to be working, he excused Soros and then walked sheepishly back to his seat while Natalie glared at him, completely disappointed.

  After that. Stanley paraded out two of Natalie’s former boyfriends along with a one-night stand Natalie had enjoyed a drunken romp with, which the legal team was somehow able to locate. Each of the two former boyfriends recounted similar stories of Natalie only seemingly being interested in them after she learned they were dating someone else. Both had similar experiences in the bedroom, although neither had been given the opportunity Mitchell had been given, to enjoy Natalie’s incredible contortionist moves. Neither had any idea what they had missed out on.

  Natalie’s one-night stand attempted to recall his experiences with her, and although he admitted everything from that night was a bit hazy and he wasn’t sure exactly which hole of hers he had become intimately familiar with, he was sure he had become familiar with at least one.

  Josh Roth struggled to impeach the three and failed pretty miserably. Natalie barely paid attention to the more than one-hour spectacle, while Jillian watched it all, totally riveted. As one-night-stand boy headed off the witness stand, Josh headed back to his seat, looking utterly defeated.

  Jillian glanced at Natalie as she lazily stretched her neck from side to side. For some reason, she found it amusing. And then Jillian’s mind raced. She narrowed her eyes, and her jaw dropped with an epiphany. She whispered in Stanley’s ear.

  Maxwell said, ” Mr. Parrish, call your next witness.”

  Stanley gave Jillian a skeptical look. She nodded and then returned to whisper again in his ear. When she pulled away and gave him a hopeful look, Stanley paused, thinking, before shaking his head in reluctant agreement.

  “Mr. Parrish,” the judge said with an edge to his voice.

  “Yes, Your Honor. I have a motion to bring before the court and feel it would be best if not done in front of the jury.”

  Maxwell glanced at his watch. “It’s after four already.” He gave Stanley a tired look and added, “The jury is excused. We will resume at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow.”

  After the jury left the courtroom, Stanley stood and began, “We would request that photos of Miss Brookhart’s birthmark be taken so that we may have our witnesses positively identify her.”

  Josh leapt to his feat. “What the hell?”

  Maxwell glared at him. “I take it you object?”

  “Sorry, Your Honor. Yes, I object.”

  Maxwell asked, “Why is this necessary?”

  Stanley said, “Uh, we feel that if we can corroborate the testimony that our witnesses have, in fact, been intimate with Miss Brookhart, it can put to rest any question as to the state of her virginity during the spring of 2011.”

  Josh said, “Judge, this is ridiculous. There is no precedence for this.”

  Stanley fired back, “Yes, there is. In the People of the State of California versus Michael Jackson trial, Jackson was ordered to have pictures taken of his, uh, genitals in order—”

  “That was a criminal matter,” Josh scoffed.

  “Would you prefer we did an ass line up?” Stanley quipped.

  Jillian broke into a chuckle and quickly covered her mouth. Maxwell scowled down in displeasure at Stanley’s comment.

  Josh pleaded, “Your Honor, please, this is absurd. In the Jackson case, the jury was not permitted to view those pictures.”

  As Maxwell pondered this a moment, Natalie sat deep in thought with a slight smile brewing on her face.

  The Judge said, “I’ll expect both your motions on my desk at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.”

  Shaking her head no, Natalie motioned for Josh to come to her. He leaned in, and she whispered into his ear. Josh looked at her as if she were out of her mind.

  She nodded adamantly, glared at him, and whispered, “Just do it.”

  Turning his attention to Maxwell, Josh exhaled deeply. “Judge, uh, we will consent to the pictures.”

  Stanley and the judge both raised their eyebrows in shock.

  Maxwell smiled relieved. “Great. It is so ordered. Bailiff?”

  The Bailiff approached the bench as the attorneys conferred with their clients.

  About ninety minutes later, Josh supervised the picture taking by a photographer hired by Jillian’s defense team. Natalie endured; well, actually, she embraced the whole experience. What began as evidentiary quickly morphed into something a hell of a lot more like a Playboy photo shoot. As Josh watched Natalie strike a particularly sexy pose, all he could think of was the lurid and graphic descriptions she provided on Brian’s voice mail recording. He was more than a little worked up, as was the male photographer.

  36

  After the photos were taken, Natalie stood outside the courthouse with Josh. He stared at her like a lost puppy as she returned a bothered look. He began, “On that recording you said you could put yourself in this position where I could be inside you and you’d be licking my…” he glanced around to be sure no one was near and then continued, “… balls. Can you really do that? Because that sounds really amazing.”

  Natalie maintained a completely straight face before she put on a sexy smile. Then she opened her mouth wide to reply, said nothing, and closed her lips.

  Josh whined, “You can’t be upset with me about the way the case is going, are you?”

  She just stared right through him.

  He opened his palms to her. “I mean, I was blindsided by all this. You didn’t share any information with me about this string of relationships. Had you, I could’ve been at least somewhat prepared.”

  After glaring at him a moment, Natalie shook her head, turned, and walked away.

  He watched her with sad eyes. “Seriously, Natalie… Natalie. Aren’t we still going to dinner?”

  She never looked back.

  As Josh sulked, the makeshift ass photo lineup was being prepared for use the next day. A graphic artist was hired to mock up six additional images of similar birthmarks Photoshopped into the private areas of images of the actual Natalie and attractive posteriors that looked quite similar to hers.

  Judge Maxwell’s clerk was on hand to supervise, to ensure the fairness of the proceeding, and to guarantee that no attorney from either side knew which picture was the real one and which were the fakes. Each picture was letter coded by the clerk to identify the real image from the decoys. The clerk then created a key, slipped the page into an envelope with the photos, and sealed it securely. Only he and Maxwell were to have access to the images until the trial resumed.

  That night, Brian waited in bed while Jillian was in the bathroom. As the Darcy Gray show began on the television, he called out, “It’s starting.”

  Jillian rushed from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a huge smile.

  His eyes were pulled from the screen to her breasts as she approached. “Wow, you look cute.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you feel like doing that merm
aid raft thing in the pool tonight?”

  “Shhh, I really want to watch this.”

  “Okay,” he whined.

  She slipped onto the bed and sat up on her knees. Glancing at the delicious curve of her ass, he shook his head, rolled his eyes sadly, then returned them to the television.

  Darcy appeared on screen, wearing not only a scowl but a bright orange pleather jacket and a little too much jewelry.

  “Bombshell in the Grayson Brookhart trial… If the birthmark fits, you must acquit… today in the—”

  Darcy grinned at the camera. She bit her lip fighting to contain the laugh that was desperately trying to break free. She held one hand over her mouth and the other up to the camera.

  “Sorry, I just need a… you see someone on our staff came up with that line and I, uh laughed my ass off at the meeting… please excuse my language.”

  Darcy shook her head quickly. “Let me try that again.” She cleared her throat, painted on a straight face, and then began again. “Bombshell in the Grayson Brookhart trial. If the birthmark fits you must acquit… today in the defamation suit against my favorite author, Jaclyn West, the defense carted out witness after witness, all of whom testified under oath that they were intimately familiar with Miss Butt Girl’s most private of areas. As you know, Butt Girl claims to have been a virgin during the period in question, but every witness recalled seeing the same—now, get this—birthmark near her nether regions, and all describe it as looking like the great state of Texas.”

  Widening her eyes, Darcy took a moment before plowing ahead. “So, it seems like Miss Brookhart has what looks like an image of the Lone Star State just north of her star-fish.” Darcy clenched her lips tight. She turned and glanced off screen. “I bet you thought I would lose it there.”

  She smiled and returned to the camera. “Sorry, folks.”

  In the Grayson bedroom, both Brian and Jillian wore even bigger smiles as they watched, although Brian stole a few glances of Jillian’s flawlessly coiffed pubic hair as he wondered if it had been recently trimmed. It sure looked different. He looked down at his own and shook his head thinking, Time for a trim. Then Brian returned his eyes to the screen.

  Darcy said, “What was looking just a few days ago like a slam dunk for the plaintiff now looks like a scramble. There’s a rumor floating around that a picture of the said Lone Star birthmark… might be requested from Miss Brookhart when the trial resumes tomorrow morning.”

  The television screen split to Darcy on one half and Darcy’s favorite random legal expert, Joe Whitaglia, on the other.

  Darcy asked, “Joe… how can the plaintiff’s attorney still be sticking to the story that Miss Brookhart was a virgin, when countless witnesses can recall such an intimate detail about her most intimate of areas?”

  Joe began in a confident voice, “Well, Darcy, just because a witness can identify her in that regard is no proof that the witness has had sex with Miss Brookhart. Also—”

  “Uh, yeah…” Darcy interrupted as she shook her head comically at the camera. “I have a long list of men who have seen that area on me that I’ve not slept with… uh, like, maybe my doctor…” she widened her eyes to the camera and then continued, “Joe, you’ve got to be kidding me. You’d have to be a moron to—”

  “Look, Darcy. The jury needs to consider this new evidence among all the—”

  “Hold on. Hold on, Joe. Let me see if I’ve got this straight… the jury is supposed to believe that six guys and counting can positively identify a birthmark on Miss Brookhart’s tiny, little, perfect, super-flexible backside and that not a single one of them has had sex with her? They’re supposed to buy that she’s a virgin?”

  “That’s right; show us the video tape of actual penetration, and then—”

  “What?” Darcy stared at the camera unblinkingly. “You want actual video evidence of Miss Brookhart fornicating in order to believe that she’s not a virgin?”

  Darcy’s face now occupied the whole screen as she said, “We need to break. While we’re gone, we’ll have Joe’s head examined… We’ll be right back with more.”

  Jillian grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. “I trimmed for you.”

  “I thought so.” Brian smiled.

  She glanced down at his groin. He had been at half-mast since she appeared naked from the bathroom. Jillian licked her lips, and Brian followed her eyes. “I could use a trim, myself.”

  Grinning, she slowly leaned down to his lap. “I don’t mind.”

  He looked toward the ceiling with a big smile as he drew in a long, slow breath. As Jillian enthusiastically went to work, Brian’s mouth shot wide open, and his hands clenched the sheets on either side of him.

  37

  The next day, the picture packet was delivered and placed on Judge Maxwell’s desk just before 8:00 a.m. Maxwell arrived at 8:02 that morning, the earliest by far that he had ever reached the courthouse. It wasn’t a coincidence; he was psyched.

  At 9:05, Maxwell emerged from his chambers, slightly flushed and carrying the envelope. The jury remained out of the courtroom as the attorneys met with the judge at the bench. White noise emanated over the sound system as the three spoke.

  It was decided that the jury would not be allowed to view the pictures, but they would watch as the witnesses paged through the images and made their selections.

  Each of seven eyewitnesses to Natalie’s distinguishing mark were brought to the courtroom one-by-one as the others remained sequestered in order to ensure the legitimacy of the proceeding. Brian went first and quickly selected the correct image, which was not only fresh in his mind, but an image he would not soon forget. Rob, Mitchell, Soros, and the two other ‘boyfriends’ were also able to identify the correct birthmark photo. Only one-night-stand-boy was unable to make the correct selection, and Josh took great pleasure in this victory, small as it was. The jury didn’t take much stock in his failure, since they all remembered that this was the young man who also wasn’t quite sure which of the plaintiff’s orifices he had actually experienced.

  As Josh was heading back to his chair, a member of Jillian’s legal team whispered into Stanley’s ear. He was told that although they located six of the other potential witnesses, two were out of the country, and none of the other four could be in Miami to testify any sooner than the following Monday.

  Jillian turned back to Brian, and their eyes met. He clenched his fist to her as a show of support, and they shared a smile. Jillian glanced at Natalie, and when Natalie met her gaze, Jillian’s smile disappeared. They stared at one another for a brief moment before Natalie sneered and then turned away.

  The judge glanced at his watch. “Defense, call your next witness.”

  After studying the tired looks on the juror’s faces, Stanley figured they had had enough. He stood. “Your Honor, the defense—”

  Jillian grabbed his arm. Stanley leaned down, and she whispered in his ear.

  Looking at her with concern, he asked, “Are you sure?”

  She shook her head and whispered again in his ear. Stanley widened his eyes, and Jillian returned a confident nod. Maxwell glared down at them, his patience tested.

  “Mr. Parrish.”

  “Sorry, Judge. The defense would like to recall Jillian Grayson.” Jurors four, seven, and twelve rolled their eyes. Many of the others just shook their heads and checked their watches.

  38

  Stanley approached the witness stand as Jillian sat up straight while wearing a slightly worried expression. He asked, “Ms. Grayson, what is the name of the ballet move depicted on the front cover of your novel, The Leg Thing?”

  “The official name for the position is developpe leg devant ala derriere.”

  Stanley nodded as if he actually were interested in the name.

  “Miss Brookhart isn’t the only person you know who can perform this advanced ballet move, now, is she?”

  Moving closer to the microphone, Jillian replied, “No, she isn’t.”

  “Who
else do you know can?”

  “I can.”

  Natalie scoffed loudly, and all eyes went to her. She slumped down in her seat with an embarrassed look.

  The jurors perked up a bit. Turning to the judge, Stanley began, “Your Honor, Ms. Grayson would like to demonstrate this move, if she may, for the jury in order—”

  “Objection,” Josh called out as he shot up from his seat.

  The male jurors’ bored expressions evaporated. Maxwell glared at Josh. “On what grounds?”

  Josh glanced at Stanley and then at Jillian before he stammered weakly, “Uh… on the grounds that it would be, uh, prejudicial to the jury.”

  The Judge sighed, “Overruled.”

  Josh slumped down in this seat as Maxwell directed to Stanley, “Let’s make it quick, Counselor.”

  Three minutes later, Jillian slipped out of the adjoining bathroom and into the courtroom, wearing a black leotard over white tights. The outfit showed off her perfectly tone body, but no skin, unlike Natalie’s previous nearly R-rated demonstration. The male jurors moved once again to the edge of their seats and wore big smiles.

  Making her way to the center of the courtroom, she looked around nervously before taking a deep breath. She glanced at Brian and Victoria, who both returned confident nods.

  Jillian rose up on the ball of her left foot, and then began slowly lifting her right leg and following it up with her right hand. She kept going until it pointed straight up to the ceiling, and her right elbow rested against her right knee. Her forearm ran along her leg, with her hand holding her ankle.

  Everyone looked on in astonishment as Jillian held the position seemingly effortlessly, but inside Jillian muscles were straining. Natalie watched gape-mouthed until she caught herself, grimaced, and slumped down in her chair.

  The Judge stared down at Jillian, smiling and shaking his head in mild shock.

  Jillian slowly returned her leg to the floor and then glanced at Stanley while wearing a wide smile.