Uncorked (49 page)

“So, enough about me. What’s
going on with you two?”

Mitch arrived in
San Diego early that morning.
When he got the call about a deal in Sacramento, he was happy that his mind
would be occupied for a few days, and he wouldn’t have to think about how
rejected he felt by Chella declining his marriage proposal. However, now he was
back home, seeing her earlier flooded his mind with memories. He knew that at
some point they’d need to talk.

He knew that he could have been
turned down when he’d asked Chella to marry him, but when he heard her
response, it hit him unexpectedly harder than he thought it ever could. At this
point he wasn’t even sure how or if he wanted to move forward.

The following morning,
Chella did a Google search on
how to fix your damaged reputation, and was surprised at all the websites that
came up claiming they could fix information on the internet. With the case
still pending, she decided it might be best to get a lawyer involved to see
what the legalities of a situation like this would entail and get guidance on
how to move forward.

She met with a lawyer that
afternoon. After much discussion, they concluded the best way to handle her
situation would be to use the very media that was so hungry for an interview
with her. It was something she’d have to seriously think about. If it were
something she chose to do, she’d be seeing this trial to the very end in a
public setting. Having personal details about her life and the past out in
public was not something she wanted to endure.

Later that evening,
after Chella had stepped out of
the shower, her phone rang. It was Mitch.

“Hi, how are you?” she answered.

“I’m okay.”

“Great. How’s Emily? I’ve been
worried about her.”

“She’s doing well. I saw her
today on short layover in L.A. Charlotte brought her by the airport. How long
have you been back?”

“A few days.”

“I know we need to talk. Why
don’t you come over? Or if you’d prefer, I can come to you.”

“Is your mom still there?”

“No. I dropped her off at the
airport tonight.”

“I can be there in half an hour.”

Before Chella left
her hotel room, her phone rang.
It was Samantha Marlow, the lead prosecutor in the case.

“Ms. Marlow, good evening,”
Chella answered.

“Ms. Noon? I have some news,” she
replied.

“Yes?”

“Jade Benson agreed to a plea of
twenty years. In exchange, she will testify against Aaron Stewart.”

“That’s all? She tried to have my
boyfriend and I killed on more than one occasion, plus his five-year-old daughter,
and let’s not forget Craig Spencer. I don’t know that she is any less dangerous
than Aaron Stewart is. One attempted murder charge is life in prison. Are you
trying to tell me she gets to have a life after her sentence? That’s not taking
into account the harassment or the humiliation she put me through. My
reputation is trashed because of her. I have to spend the money and time to fix
it, which you and I both know could take years, and she gets to walk away with
twenty years?”

“Ms. Noon, you have the option to
file a civil suit against her.”

“Tell me what good will that do?
While she’s in jail, how is she supposed to pay for whatever dollar amount the
courts tell her to pay me for pain and suffering?”

“Ms. Noon, I did my best.”

“Well, it wasn’t good enough. I
guarantee you I will fight this. On sentencing day, I’ll work my ass off to see
to it the judge throws this plea out.”

“I’m sorry you’re not happy about
this. My office will be in touch.”

Chella was furious when she got
off the phone. She felt like the system let her down. She felt betrayed. She
was sure there was enough evidence to put both Aaron and Jade away for the rest
of their life, but this had her scared.

As Chella rode
up the penthouse elevator, sweat
accumulated on her palms, and she realized she was slightly more nervous than
she anticipated.

When she entered the penthouse,
Mitch was nowhere to be seen. After walking around a bit, she found him in his
study.

“Hi, Mitch…” she said knocking
gently on the doorframe.

“Hey.” He greeted her with a
light kiss on the cheek.

“I’ve been worried about you,”
she said as they walked into the living room and sat beside each other on the
sofa.

“I knew there was always a
possibility of you saying no, but I didn’t expect it to hit me like this.”

“I’m so sorry I hurt you. You
mean the world to me, and it’s the only way I thought I could protect you.
Under any other circumstances, were no lives in danger, I would have said yes.”

“So where does that leave us
now?”

“You tell me. I love you, and I
want to be with you, but until this is over, I can’t make any long-term
commitments.”

“Both Jade and Aaron have been
arrested. I see no reason why we can’t move on with our lives.”

“I’m so afraid they’ll get away
with this.”

“Chella, that won’t happen.”

“If that’s true, explain to me
why the prosecutor seems to think Jade agreeing to a plea of twenty years is
such a great deal?”

“Twenty years?”

“Yes. I told her I‘d fight her
all the way. I will try to get this plea thrown out by the judge.”

“We’ll get lawyers involved. Let
me make some calls and see if there’s anything that can be done.”

“What if there’s nothing they can
do?”

“We’ll explore every possible
avenue.”

“She was so nonchalant about the
whole thing. Her attitude was completely different from when she spoke to me
about Aaron. This was supposed to get easier. Now I feel like I can’t even
trust the prosecutor.”

“We’ll deal with it tomorrow.
Where are you staying now?”

“At the Marriott down the
street.”

“Why didn’t you use the keys?”

“I wasn’t sure if the invitation
was still open.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. I understand. Here
they are,” she said, pulling the keys from her pocket.

“No. Hold onto them. I’m not
going to deny that you turning me down hurt like hell, but I’ve never been one
to give up. I’m not ready to give up on you, yet.”

“I was hoping you’d say that,”
she replied, holding his hand. “Please tell me you understand why I can’t right
now?”

“I mostly do, but it also feels
like you don’t trust me to handle things. I hate feeling helpless. I can
protect you.”

“We’ve had this conversation
before. This is also about Emily.”

“I love you for always thinking
about her needs and her best interest, but I can’t understand why you won’t
allow me to protect you. You’re the woman I’m in love with. If I can’t do that
for you, who am I supposed to do it for?”

“If you’re constantly protecting
me, your life would be in danger. I’m not willing to take Emily’s dad away from
her.”

He shook his head and smiled.
“You’d make a great mom.”

“Only in my dreams…”

“We can adopt. There might even
be options for us to have our own someday.”

“You might be right. I’ve never
been at a place in my life where I could allow myself to think about such
things. It seems almost unreal that we’re having this conversation now. Do you
really want another child?”

“With you? Yes.”

“That’s a really kind thing to
say.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Maybe someday…”

The following day,
while they sat having cocktails,
Chella discussed with Mitch the publicity problems she faced.

“Mitch, there’s so much stuff
about me out there. I have to try to clean up my reputation. I don’t want this
to affect your business. When I came back and switched on my phone, I had calls
from reporters wanting a comment on the photos.”

“I know. They’ve been calling for
weeks now.”

“They’ve been calling you, too?”

“Yes. I wanted you to enjoy
Christmas. I didn’t want you to worry about it.”

“Thanks. I saw a lawyer
yesterday. She suggests I use the media to help.”

“She might be right.”

“I’d be opening myself—us—up to
scrutiny and a very public trial. I don’t want personal details of my life out
in public. They were painful enough to go through. Have you done a Google
search on my name?”

“Yes.”

“So you know at least two of the
images are out there?”

“Yes. I have my lawyers trying to
get them removed from the websites they’re on.”

“Can they get them all removed?”

“Not likely. Some websites may
not co-operate. You can always threaten them with a lawsuit, which may or may
not work.”

“This is an enormous mess.”

“We’ll get through it,
Sweetheart. Try not to worry. We’ll use all available resources to fight this
if we have to.”

“Craig offered me my job back. I
have some repair work to do first before I can accept the job; otherwise, it
will negatively affect the brand. That kind of scandal is never good. It’s
exactly the type of press the company doesn’t need.”

“Unless you somehow turn this
negative into a positive.”

“I wouldn’t know where or how to
do that.”

“We’ll get a PR agent involved.”

“I’m so scared of getting the
media involved in this.”

“Chella, you can either avoid
them and they get to write whatever story they want to tell, or you can talk to
them and have some input in what they print. Tomorrow we’ll make some calls and
see how we can fix this.”

Early the next
morning, Mitch and Chella met with
a lawyer who had recent training in victims’ rights law. The good news was
Chella had the right to be heard by the judge. The bad news was because the
laws regarding victim’s rights were fairly new, finding lawyers with vast
experience in that area was almost impossible. They hired a team of lawyers and
hoped that with their collective experience they would be able to get the judge
to throw out the plea agreement the prosecutor made with Jade. Unfortunately,
Chella and Mitch would not be called to testify for another five weeks, so they
would have to be patient and wait. Hopefully, that would be enough time for the
lawyers to prepare a winning case.

The lawyers advised her that if
she was going to do any interviews with the media that at least one of them
should be present. That afternoon, she researched all the reporters who had
contacted her for interviews. After much thought and discussion with Mitch, she
called a reporter from one of San Diego’s largest business magazines since she
was mostly concerned about her reputation in the business community. She agreed
to do the interview with them the next day.

In the presence
of two of her lawyers and Mitch,
John Carlton from the San Diego Business Magazine interviewed Chella. At first,
she was a little nervous, still uncertain whether she wanted to, but she felt
the alternative might be worse. As the questions continued, Chella relaxed and
was candid with her answers, however hurtful they might have been. Occasionally
he would ask Mitch a question. The lawyers remained quiet.

A photographer took some shots of
her appropriately clad in a navy, French-cuff shirt with a black knee-length
pencil skirt, a pair of navy Jimmy Choo patent leather pumps, and a pair of
small black chandelier earrings. If there were going to be pictures of her all
over the internet, it would be better if people saw a business exec as oppose
to the nude pictures that could be interpreted in a way that was far from the
truth.

The story would not be out until
the beginning of the next month. She and her lawyers would get to approve the
article before it went to print. She hoped the outcome would be positive for
all involved.

After the interview
, Chella and Mitch changed
clothes and went for a drive. It was Chella’s idea. She had some things she
wanted to talk to him about, and she was sure he would disapprove.

“I’ve been thinking about getting
my license again. Maybe a car, too. Or maybe I could use a company car. Craig
has offered me one for years.”

“I think that would be great. Do
you remember how to drive?”

“I do—well, automatic vehicles. I
might need some practice with a manual vehicle.”

“I’d be happy to give you lessons
on the weekend if you like.”