Alyssa's Desire

by Krysten Raine

  "What?! I didn't! I would never!" Jack didn't even know how to respond to the accusations that were coming out of his father's mouth.

  "Well where have you been? You had better tell me what has been going on, because you are clearly keeping something from me!"

  Edward was prompting his son to disclose his whereabouts for two reasons. First off Edward Coleman was the man who started Coleman, Patters and Schleicher. It was his name that was first on the door. Jack, his only son was bred to be his successor. From the tender age of twelve, Jack was given lessons in the law. By the time Jack was ready for college, he was more experienced and versed in the intricacies of the law that he could outdo nearly any practicing attorney. Up until the last few months, Jack Coleman had not only lived up to his father's expectations, he exceeded them. He was truly one of the best trial and litigation lawyers that New York City had ever seen. However, since Jack and Alyssa had begun their secret tryst, Jack had been distant, secretive and downright deceptive about where he had been and what he was doing. Edward had noticed and when his son's innocence had been questioned in terms of Sam Masterson's escape, his gut wrenched with fear that Jack was somehow involved. Now he was determined to get to the truth, regardless of the consequences. The second reason why he was questioning Jack was because the police were listening in on their phone conversation and Edward knew it. He felt that if jack was innocent, having him confess whatever he was hiding might clear his name. If he was guilty, well then he deserved the consequences after all 19 innocent people lost their lives during Masterson's escape.

  "I'm not going to ask you again, Son. You need to tell me everything about where you have been and what you have been doing over the last few months, right now!" Edward demanded.

  "Okay, Dad. I have been hiding something but I swear it doesn't have anything to do with Sam Masterson or anything illegal whatsoever, but it is blatantly against company policy," Jack began.

  Alyssa's eyes grew wide as Jack started talking. She tried desperately to convince Jack not to reveal their secret but he just motioned for her to be quiet. Alyssa let out a frustrated groan and she went and sat down on the couch, fearful that Jack was about to compromise their relationship. Jack drew in a deep breath as he prepared to tell his father everything that had been going on.

  "Dad I promise that I was not with Sam Masterson and I promise that I did not have anything to do with what happened. I had no prior knowledge of what he was planning. I swear with my hand to God, I am innocent of that. In fact I only found out about it right before I called you. I had my phone off because I was at a funeral," Jack started to say when his father interrupted him.

  "A funeral? Whose funeral?"

  "Dad what I have been hiding from you and everyone at the firm is a personal relationship. I fell in love with one of the paralegals that was working for me. I kept it hidden because I know that office policy prohibits interpersonal relationships and that the other paralegals and secretaries would think that I was giving her special treatment because of my feelings for her," Jack said with fear in his voice as he prepared himself for what his father would say.

  "Wait you're fucking a paralegal? That's it?! That is the reason for lying about where you have been and for all the secrecy? Thank God!" Edward said with a relieved laugh.

  "Wait, you're not mad? I kinda thought you'd fire us both if you knew," Jack said with a nervous laugh of his own. He looked at Alyssa who was staring at him wide eyed, anxiously waiting to find out what was happening.

  "Son, it is somewhat unethical but I am so glad that this is what is going on with you and not that you were involved in something illegal or something that hurt someone else."

  "Okay, good. Well anyway her mom died and I took a few days off to comfort her and to escort her to the funeral. So that's where I have been and why I didn't know about all of this. I was just trying to take care of my girl. Listen Dad, I want you to know that this thing with me and Alyssa, it's not just a fling. I really love her. What I have with her is so much more real and so passionate than anything I ever felt for Jade. I can see myself being with Alyssa for the rest of my life. I wouldn't have taken the risk if my feelings for her weren't genuine," said Jack in hopes that his father would understand.

  "That's good, Son. You and Jade were never right for each other. She was trophy wife but you guys never had real love, there was clearly no connection. I am truly happy that you have finally found that. You know your mother and I have been together more than forty years, and that is because we have something real. We always wanted that for you," Edward said with a level of sincerity and compassion that Jack was unused to hearing in his father's voice.

  "Thank you for understanding," said Jack.

  "Well none of it matters right now, because this Sam Masterson mess is a far bigger scandal than whatever is happening between you and this girl. I honestly don't know if the firm will survive as we have already lost a good 75% of our clients. Everyone is bailing on us and it is a real possibility that we are going under. Our stocks sank like a rock and the firm is worthless in the market right now. Ironically though, Sam Masterson's father owns most of those stocks so it seems that Sam ended up hurting his own family as well. They lost millions this morning alone. Fortunately I was smart enough to think outside the firm in terms of investment and even though our family took a hit, we still have a strong enough portfolio to withstand a total loss in this area. So you will still have the means to maintain your lifestyle. Your girlfriend though will probably lose her job, so if you were planning to put a ring on her finger, you might want to consider doing it sooner rather than later," Edward said and Jack laughed a little bit to his response.

  "Actually I have been thinking about that a lot lately," Jack admitted.

  "Good for you! But wedding plans later, right now I really need you here to help me to deal with this. You can bring your girl if you want."

  "All right, we'll see you soon," Jack said just before hanging up the phone. Then he turned to Alyssa and he told her everything his father had said, with the exception of the marriage thing. Jack wanted to marry Alyssa, but he wanted to propose properly with a grand romantic gesture on a good day that was special to both of them. Telling Alyssa that he had those thoughts the day of her mother's funeral with everything else that was happening seemed like a huge mistake. He did tell her though, that they no longer had to hide their relationship and that she could come with him to the office if she wanted to. Alyssa said that she would come and help. She didn't want to be alone and she thought that helping out might take her mind off of her mom and the threatening comments that came after the funeral.

  When Jack and Alyssa reached the office, it was an even bigger media circus than it was the day that Masterson was arrested. There were at least twenty news vans parked outside and around a hundred reporters all clamoring about just outside of the building. To make matters worse, a huge group of protestors and angry citizens had gathered there as well. They were shouting and marching along with signs that accused Coleman, Patters and Schleicher of everything from contributing to injustice in America to actually placing the guns in Sam Masterson's possession. The police presence was fully adorned in riot gear and they had taped off the entrance to the building and only authorized personnel were being allowed inside. Jack and Alyssa had the displeasure of seeing all of this as they drove to the building at a whopping two miles per hour due to heavy foot traffic and crowd clusters that spilled onto the street. When they finally made it into the parking garage, Jack used his key pass to get them to the restricted levels. At least no one was up there. Jack turned to Alyssa and he placed his hand gently on her knee.

  "I…I didn't know it was going to be like this. All those people down there are going to blame me for what happened. Walking through them is going to be a nightmare. You don't have to come with me. You can exit the parking garage from the west side and catch the subway home if you want to. I wouldn't blame you if you did; hell I'd avoid this if I could. It's up to y
ou," Jack said and then he leaned forward to kiss Alyssa.

  "You stood by me through all of my shit and I will stand by you through all of yours. So let's go," Alyssa said and she got out of the car.

  Together they bravely walked through the crowd, purposely ignoring the angry shouts and accusations that surrounded them. Almost immediately, Jack was recognized as being the lawyer that handled Masterson's case. People threw garbage in the forms of bottles, half eaten food, and soda cans at Jack and Alyssa as they crossed the police tape and walked toward the entrance. Jack was bombarded with questions from reporters and cameras and sound equipment was being shoved in his face. He kept saying "no comment" as he pulled Alyssa through the sea of uninhibited journalism. Finally they reached the second police barricade that guarded the entrance to the building. Jack told the police who they were and they were allowed to cross. Once they were safely on the other side; Jack told the reporters that he would come out and give an official statement once he was clear as to what was going on. This of course prompted a whole new round of questions, but Jack and Alyssa just turned around and walked into the building.

  Needless to say, all of the news cameras were broadcasting live and Jack and Alyssa's hand in hand journey through the crowd was aired on nearly every channel. The news was tuned in on nearly every TV in the city, including those in the county jail and nearby prison systems. Imagine the pleasant surprise that Trevor Barnes felt when he saw the broadcast and there was sweet, innocent Alyssa Snyder right in the middle of it all. A wicked smile spread across Trevor's lips. At this point he was certain that Valerie's daughter had been the one behind the anonymous statement that landed him in jail. Here she was on the news clearly involved with a high powered attorney, just like Greg Hernida and Mica had said. Their suspicions were true and he knew it. Alyssa had used this lawyer boyfriend of hers to fuck him over in exchange for getting Valerie a lighter sentence. Now here she was, arm in arm with Jack Coleman and Coleman was in some deep shit. This thought brought great pleasure to Barnes and he sent some of the other inmates on a fact finding mission. He wanted to know everything he could about Coleman and Alyssa as well as the Sam Masterson case. In addition he asked one of his friends to call his associates on the outside, the group who was at the funeral to be exact. He wanted to know if they had seen Alyssa with her special attorney friend outside of work. Barnes had a hunch that their relationship was more than just a fling, and if that was the case it was the perfect opportunity for more revenge.

  It didn't take very long for Trevor to get his answer. His friends on the outside told him that the lawyer had gone with Alyssa to Valerie's funeral and that they seemed very close. They mentioned the fact that they maintained physical contact throughout the service and that they walked and acted like they were a couple. Barnes was very pleased with this information and ordered his people to start putting some pressure on Coleman. Barnes wanted Jack to know that he was coming for him.

  Back at the firm, Jack and Alyssa were feeling a bit overwhelmed. There were so many people in the office, and everyone was running around like crazy trying to control the PR nightmare that was happening outside. To make matters worse, each employee was to be interrogated by the police as they investigated the possibility that someone from Coleman, Patters and Schleicher was involved in Masterson's escape. The police detectives were very interested in interviewing both Jack and Alyssa and they requested that these interviews be conducted immediately. A police officer asked Alyssa to have a seat in the hallway as they wanted to speak with Jack first and then with her. Alyssa couldn't believe the day she was having! First it was the funeral, then the threat and the possible knowledge that her mother's death was not an accident. Then they heard about how Sam Masterson had escaped in a hail of gunfire and now she was going to be interrogated by the police! She thought her head might explode from the stress alone.

  Alyssa was asked to just sit and wait until after her interview. The police didn't want employees of Coleman, Patters and Schleicher to talk to each other until each one had spoken with a police officer or a detective. Alyssa had to wait for a long time because the same detective that was interviewing Jack wanted to be the one to speak with her. This was due to the fact that the police had listened in on Jack's phone conversation with his father and essentially his alibi is that he was with Alyssa. The detective wanted to make sure that their stories coincided.

  Since Jack was the lawyer who actually handled Masterson's case, he was the biggest person of interest in terms of Coleman, Patters and Schleicher employees. As a result, Jack's interrogation lasted a little over two hours. During that time Alyssa sat on her chair and thumbed through random magazines that were placed there for clients. She was getting anxious though as time progressed. Finally Jack came out and the detective said he was cleared to go back to work. Then he asked Alyssa to come in for her interview.

  Alyssa was a bit nervous but she knew that she hadn't done anything wrong and neither had Jack. So she told the police everything that had happened. She talked about their secret romance and she told them about the mess her mother had gotten into and how she had been arrested herself after trying to help her mom. She told the detective that Jack had gotten her charges dropped and that he set her mom up with a better lawyer. She talked about her mother's death and that Jack had taken her to the funeral and she told them about the threats and about the people who had thrown bottles at her windows. The detective just sat quietly and listened to the whole story.

  When Alyssa was finished he told her that her story did match what Jack Coleman said about where he was and what he was doing at the time of Masterson's escape. Then he started questioning Alyssa about what she did during Masterson's trial. She told him that she double checked facts and evidence based on the files that they were given from the prosecution and that she had contacted several psychiatrists asking for their opinions on the nature of the crimes and whether or not they felt that Sam Masterson was in his right mind. She also disclosed that she did a large amount of the paper work and trial prep. The detective then asked Alyssa if she had ever been to the psychiatric hospital where Masterson was being held or if she knew if anyone else from the firm had visited him there. She said "no" to all of those questions and then the detective told her that she could go.

  Once Alyssa was cleared to join her coworkers, she assisted Jack and the rest of his team in damage control. They met with some public relations specialists and they went over ways to address the media and to ease the minds of people in the community. Part of this included having Jack make a public statement denying the involvement of the firm in any way other than advocating for Masterson to be placed in the care of mental health professionals. Jack's father and the other name partners were also conducting their own internal investigation to make absolute sure that none of their employees had broken the law or had contact with Masterson outside of their knowledge. Jack's father introduced himself to Alyssa and promptly put her to work gathering information for this purpose as well. Alyssa was happy that Jack's father trusted her enough to ask her for help.

  With everything that was going on at Coleman, Patters and Schleicher, Trevor Barnes figured that it would be utter chaos inside the office itself. Between the media, the protestors and the firm employees running around like crazy, he was right. Barnes made a phone call to a friend and asked her to deliver a special message to Jack Coleman and he gave her specific instructions on how to do it. Barnes's messenger was a woman named Marisa Romera. She was a beautiful Italian girl from the Bronx. She was just as much of a heroin addict as most of Trevor's crew but she kept herself up and that made her the ideal candidate for this particular mission. Marisa had come from an upper class family and she looked the part. She had a classy style, always wearing designer clothing and high end jewelry. She never left the house without wearing makeup and fixing her hair up nice. Barnes told her to dress like an attorney and to tell the police that she worked at Coleman, Patters and Schleicher so she could get into the buil
ding. He then wanted her to leave Jack Coleman a special "love note" on his desk. Trevor told Marisa that no one would even notice her amidst all the confusion and that she should be able to slip in and out without attracting attention.

  Marisa carefully wrote down the message from Barnes. It was a cruel note, but Marisa wrote it on fine parchment, with elegant handwriting. She thought that the classy look would add to the insult and make Jack Coleman take notice. Then she dressed up in a designer business suit, pulled her hair back and headed downtown. Trevor Barnes was right about Marisa's ability to blend in. The police didn't question her or even ask her for ID when she approached the front door. Instead they just let her pass without question.

  When she got to the actual office, no one seemed to notice her even though none of them had ever seen her before. She walked through the office like she knew where she was going, even though she had no clue which office belonged to Jack. She grabbed some papers off of a random desk and she weaved in and out through all the people who were racing around the office. She wandered the hallways until she finally found the glass office with Jack's name on the door. She knocked but there was no answer. Without hesitation, Marisa opened the door to Jack's office and peeked inside. No one was there so she entered and she closed and locked the door behind her. Then she made her way over to Jack's desk. She briefly went through the drawers, hoping to find money or drugs or something, but it was disappointingly clean. So she positioned the letter on Jack's desk, prominently displaying it by leaning it up against Jack's pencil holder and a small bonsai tree that he kept on his desk. Then she quickly exited the office and she slipped out of the building. No one had seen her come in and no one had seen her leave. Her mission was executed with absolute perfection and she happily reported back to Barnes to tell him exactly that.