Part 519
Seeing that Steve was waiting to go through the line, Howie said, "Get your lunch while I talk to Steve."
"Want me to fix your plate?"
"No, I’ll get it in a minute." Howie watched Sarah start to go but grabbed her hand and pulled her back. Taking her face in his hands, he placed a kiss on her lips.
"What was that for?"
Howie whispered, "That was because I love you…and cuz Miss Kahill was watching."
Sarah laughed, "You’re bad, baby."
"Not really…just love you a whole bunch. Now go, beautiful."
Out of nowhere, AJ and Kevin appeared, taking each of Sarah’s arms and escorting her to the lunch line as Kevin said, "YOU need to eat, baby. Stop fooling around with your husband and get some lunch."
Howie laughed as the two pulled Sarah away from him and followed so that he could talk to Steve.
"What do you think of Kryss?" asked Steve as he watched Kryss take a seat with the other attorneys at the table.
"What do you mean?" asked Howie looking towards Kryss. Then he looked at Steve only to see a lovesick puppy look on his face. "Whoa! You mean the man who has nothing but contempt for the emotion of love is IN LOVE?"
"I can’t help it. The minute she walked into my office, I was captivated by her."
Howie looked to his wife as he said, "I know EXACTLY what you mean. That’s cool, Steve. I’m really glad for you. Have you told her?"
A look of frustration spread over Steve’s face. "I can’t. I set up a
strict policy of no inter-office affairs. I can’t go against my own
policy."
"But you brought her along to Denver? Was that to get away from the
office?"
"Just to spend time with her."
"Maybe you should fire her and tell her why. Look, I don’t mean to change the subject but Sarah has some concerns about Kryss hearing all of this information. She’s obviously a fan and could use the information."
"Tell Sarah not to worry. I won’t have someone, even the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, using their position in my office to get information on my clients."
"That’s what I thought. Thanks, Steve."
As Steve and Howie were getting their plates and talking, AJ and Kevin had been
helping Sarah with her lunch. Kevin had handed Sarah her plate and as they moved
through the line, both men were scooping food onto Sarah’s plate.
"Here, you need the protein in this," said Kevin as he put a pile of roast beef on her plate.
AJ scooped up some fruit. "You need the vitamins in this and you LOVE fruit, ‘Tigger’."
"Guys, I can fix my own plate," laughed Sarah but she knew what they were doing, what all five men were doing.
"No, you need our help," teased Kevin as he piled another spoonful of vegetables onto her plate. "You won’t eat right if we don’t keep an eye on you."
"I’m gonna need your help CARRYING my plate, not to mention eating it. I eat all THIS and I’ll be as big as a cow."
Putting another spoonful on her plate, AJ smirked, "You already are, ‘Tigger’, but we love you anyway."
Sarah grabbed a roll and threw it at him as she said, "BITE ME, ‘BONE’!"
"What do you want to drink, baby?" asked Kevin as AJ put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.
"Tea is fine, ‘Boo’."
Sarah looked back to see that Steve and Howie were still talking as they fixed their plates. She caught Howie’s eye and mouthed, ‘I love you’.
Giving her a wink, Howie mouthed back, ‘Wait for me’.
"’Bone’, go on. I’m gonna wait for ‘D’."
"Fine, let me take your plate."
"Thanks, and save room for ‘D’, too."
Sarah’s eyes followed AJ and Kevin to see that they had joined Brian, Nick, and Becca. Brian and Nick were showering Becca with just as much attention as AJ and Kevin had been giving her. Watching her best friend, she knew that Becca was scared to death and to be perfectly honest, she was too but they both knew what had to be done and they both trusted the guys to protect them.
At that moment, her heart was full of love for the five men there right now. Once more, they were forming a protective circle around them. Only this time, the message was for the attorneys. She and Becca were to be protected by whatever measure it took, even if it meant them getting hurt in the process.
Howie stepped up behind Sarah leaning to her. His lips touched her ear as he whispered, "There’s nothing to worry about. Steve is looking out for your best interest…like always."
Sarah turned her head, her lips meeting his and their tongues touched briefly. Without moving away, she whispered, "Thank you."
"Anything for my ‘angel’. Get me something to drink?"
"Sure."
Sarah grabbed a glass of tea and with Howie’s hand on her lower back, the couple joined the others. The circle was complete.
Once everyone was settled, Dave asked, "Where is this interview with Pearlman?"
"I have the tape," said Steve. "Kryss, would you get it? We can watch while we eat."
The cloud of tension that had been threatening to envelop the entire room now took control. Nick and Becca were the only ones who had seen the entire interview but they all knew what Sarah had done because of it.
Becca now looked across the table at Sarah and their eyes met. They both saw the fear that this whole situation was causing in each other and she asked pensively, "Are you going to be okay?"
Leaning against Howie, Sarah answered, "I will be."
As Kryss put the tape in, AJ tried to lighten the mood, "Howie, you hold onto her arms so she can’t throw anything."
Charles asked, "What’s that suppose to mean?"
"This is what started the whole thing in the first place," explained Nick calmly. "Sarah and Becca were watching TV a couple nights ago and stumbled across the interview with Pearlman. Sarah got upset and threw a bookend at the TV."
"Sarah, should you watch it at all?" There was genuine concern in Steve’s voice. "I don’t want this to cause your blood pressure to go up."
Stunned by Steve’s concern, Sarah was truly speechless and Howie had to answer for her. "She’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern, Steve."
The interview began to play on the TV and the mood sobered even more. Brian, AJ, and Kevin only knew what Nick and Howie had told them but they still weren’t fully prepared for this. As Lou began his narrative on Howie’s sexual preferences and how Sarah had been ‘bought’ off to protect his image, anger slipped into tension’s place gripping them like never before.
Sarah slid her plate away from her, unable to eat any more and Howie felt her body tensing. He slipped his arm around her and pulled her head to his shoulder. He pressed his lips to her forehead as he ran his hand through her hair.
Nick glanced down at Becca sitting quietly beside him and put his arm around her too to assure her that it was going to be over soon. Unconditional love flowed between the couple as Becca looked into his strong blue eyes.
Kevin reached over to rub Sarah’s back but anger was quickly getting the better of him. Lou’s narrative had left Howie completely and he was now expounding upon Sarah’s past.
Out of the nowhere, AJ slammed his fist into the table startling everyone. "BASTARD!"
Sarah reached over for his hand and said softly, "Don’t let him get to you, Alex."
"LISTEN TO HIM, Sarah!" seethed AJ.
"I hear him," she assured.
"Aren’t you pissed?"
"Extremely, but you guys are going to fix it." Hearing Lou call her a cheap whore, Sarah also heard a pencil snap and looked over at Steve to see he had broken his pencil in half and his face was contorted with as much anger as AJ was feeling. She was stunned. Nudging Howie, she whispered, "What’s with Steve?"
Howie looked over to see what she was talking about and said, "I’ll explain later."
With the video over, Brian got up to take the tape out mumbling loud enough for all to hear, "I can’t believe his nerve."
"I do," growled AJ. "He needs his fuckin’ balls cut off. NO ONE has the right to talk about ANYONE like he just did."
Again, maintaining a mature calm that surprised everyone, Nick said, "AJ, that’s why we’ve got the attorneys here. They’ll find a way to stop him."