“Howie where are you?” Jennisen asked as she walked into the beach side condo the couple shared.

     “Hey sweetie, what are you doing here?” Howie asked popping a poptart in his mouth and he sat down on his black recliner.

     “Nice to see you too honey!” Jennisen exclaimed sarcastically.

     Howie giggled. “Jenn, baby, you know what I mean...why aren’t you at work?”

     “Oh you know, sam ol’ same ol’. Some guy calls Bree, she gets threaten, freaks out, and has to leave...I being the GREAT friend I am tells her that I will go with her. We get out to our cars and she says she will be ok by herself.” Jennisen sighed and plopped down on the sofa. “So I say ‘ok’, and she speeds away leaving me with my mouth open...she didn’t want me to go with her, can you believe that shit?” Jennisen asked fuming.

     “Awe, don’t worry about it, maybe she needed some alone time. So, Braden called her huh? Did she leave him? For good this time.” Howie asked.

     “Yes she did, that’s why he called her.”

     “Where is she staying?” 

     “AJ’s, I called him to tell him what happened. So he should be arriving at his house soon. Why couldn’t she talk to me about this?”

     “I don’t know...like I said, maybe she wanted to be alone. Anyways, since you didn’t go home with her, why didn’t you go back to work?” Howie wondered.

     Jennisen put her hand up. “Howie please. Lets don’t change the subject.”



     Bree sighed walking into AJ’s home, she sat her keys on the in table beside the front door. She wiped a tear from her face and she took a deep breath walking through the livingroom. “What the fuck is going on?”

     Bree jumped back a bit and grabbed her chest, looking down she saw AJ sitting calmly on the sofa.

     “Hey Jay...” Bree smiled her hardest. AJ stood and turned to face Bree.

     “Please, don’t Bree. I want you to tell me what he said to you right now.”

     “How did you even know he called me?” Bree asked crossing her arms.

     “Jenn called me...but I wish you would’ve called me.”

     “Jenn called you of course! Look AJ, I was going to tell you.” Bree exclaimed.

     “Look that doesn’t matter...” AJ grabbed his jacket. “I want to know what he said so I can visit him to make sure he wont say it again.”

     The two were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. “Damnit, hang on a minute.” AJ jogged to the front door, he opened it to find a tall man in a black suit with a smile.

     “Mr. McLean?” The man asked.

     “Yeah, can I help you?” AJ asked leaning on the door frame. 

     “This is for you, have a nice day!” The man exclaimed handing AJ a long envelope and he walked away.

     AJ raised an eyebrow and shut the door suspiciously.

     “Who was it?” Bree asked peering around the corner.

     “I don’t know.” AJ tore the envelope opened and huffed. “Figures.”

     “What?” AJ handed the papers to Bree.“Oh my god, Braden is pressing charges.”

     “Oh it gets better, flip it over.” AJ walked over to the coffee table and grabbed his car keys.

     “He’s suing you?!” Bree exclaimed.

     “Oh yeah, for 10G’s, pain and discomfort, along with his medical bills.”

     “I cant really say I don’t believe it, because I can believe it.”

     “Ok, back to what we were saying, what did he say to you?”

     “Look AJ, he’s fucking suing you now, and you still want to beat his ass...you wanna add more to this document here?” Bree asked holding up the piece of paper.

     “Bree, its not like I don’t have the money...but if YOU wont tell me what he said...then I will go over there and ask him myself.” AJ replied while walking in long strides to the front door.

     “ALEXANDER JAMES! Don’t you dare walk out that door!” Bree exclaimed.

     AJ paused and turned around slowly. Having someone call out your whole name is never good, especially if its coming from Bree Hartford.

     “I’m listening.”

     “Look, I know you want to protect me...but getting thrown in jail again is not going to do much. That gives Braden more ammunition. When he called me, I got so scared. I didn’t know what to do...but when we hung up, you were the first person I thought about...I knew you would react this way.”

     AJ dropped his keys on the in table beside the door and he removed his jacket.

     “What I need now...” Bree paused and wiped a tear. “Is...is...is a friend.”

     AJ engulfed Bree into a hug. “I’m sorry sweetie.” He kissed the top of her head. “But I do think I can be a friend.”

     Bree nodded.

     “Well we should go out tonight with the guys as planned and forget about everything, and when we get back tonight, we can talk, ok.”

     Bree nodded and wiped her tears. “Ok.” She mumbled.

     “So, you go get some sleep, and I will call the guys and see what time we’re gonna meet up, ok?”

     “Thank you AJ.” Bree kissed his cheek and walked to the room she is using.

     AJ sighed and shook his head violently. He will not get away with this...