Sophia Continued Pt 03

Sophia Continued Part 3

Should be read after Sophia Continued Parts 1 and 2, and all parts of Sophia by CastleStone. I make no claims to be as funny as CastleStone. I'm just trying to provide a conclusion for Don and Maria who were kind of left hanging in the wind. Also, I don't have the gamma ray desk light that CastleStone had or his recipe book.

Just maybe this part will give us that conclusion. Also I would like to give credit to Yellow Peril, CastleStone's editor who gave me access to two further parts that CastleStone had written but were going through the editing process. While I couldn't use his material, it gave me more insight into his plans and the realization that we were working along the same lines. We just had slightly different ways of getting there. I would also like to thank Yellow Peril for volunteering to help me with the last two chapters. I admire his patience as an editor.

Chris and Maria. The conclusion

Well, the day after that article was printed, the dam burst. The first part of Barbara's interview was published, telling how her sisters in law had urged her to have an affair to get some excitement into our marriage, and how they had helped by setting it up for her with their gym instructor, and her first couple of affairs with their friends. No details were left out. How she made her lovers wear condoms, so there was never any semen left! How she always made sure to get home early, shower and douche, and then once I got home, she made sure to get me in the mood so that we had sex as well. What really hurt was when she said that the biggest enjoyment for her was not the sex, but the feeling of power over me that began to replace her feeling that she was always in my power.

Megan and Robin read the first article, and both of them had tears running down their faces. They could not believe their mother could say the things they were reading! We had moved much of Maria's clothing to my apartment that day, and she was there to console them as much as I was.

We told them that we had also been down to the courthouse and offered to post bail for Barbara, but were told it had been looked after and that she had been freed. She had gone into seclusion and the courthouse staff wasn't allowed to give out her address, even to us, unless there was an emergency involving one of the girls. She was staying away from the press except for the local paper that was running the articles. I told them that Richard was going to contact the court to try to arrange a meeting with their mom for Maria and me.

The phone started ringing. When I answered it, the first words I heard were, "I'm Sally Reed of WOKK News. Do you have any comments on the interview given by your former wife in the Daily News?"

I quickly answered, "Miss Reed, I have no comment. The article is my ex wife's business and not mine." That was the first of many phone calls. Eventually I pulled all the jacks out of the phones to stop them ringing. I told Megan Robin and Maria to use only their cell phones; I then called Richard and asked him what to do. His suggestion was that we hold a one-time press conference, which I thought was a good one, so I told him to go ahead and arrange it for tomorrow, and gave him my cell number so that he could contact me.

Maria broke in and asked, "Why don't we go up to my place in the mountains? It isn't listed in my name; Richard knows the number, as do Freddie, Kathy and Vanessa, so they can all contact us there. We will still get the information from the papers, and we won't be disturbed by the reporters. It didn't take us long to pack and get started loading the SUV down in the parking area, but it was going to be a daunting task to fit everything in. After a few minutes of frustration, Maria said, "You know, we could get a whole lot more into that vehicle if the tool boxes and survival gear weren't there."

I retorted, "Yes, but it was the stuff in those boxes that saved your life, remember."

Her reply was short and sweet, "Don, go take a look out the window. The sun is shining and it is the middle of the summer. Why do we need foul weather gear? Remember, between us we have enough money to handle any bills, and other people do good work too."

I finally grinned; I knew when to call it quits. Maria 1 Don 0, yet it felt so good for once to be overruled. This relationship was going to be something pretty different from my experience with Barbara

We decided to delay going to Maria's place in the mountains until the next day after the scheduled press conference. Richard and Maria were there, as was my lawyer. He handled things and gave out a statement, which he then read aloud, that I was unaware of what Barbara's intentions were, that I was unaware of what disclosures were to be made and that, while the whole matter had been over now for several years, I was happy that my good name was being restored. Any actions on my behalf would be taken by my lawyers if I so instructed.

I then stood to take some questions. I was asked what I thought about what Barbara was doing. My reply was, "I think she is being very courageous in ensuring that the truth is finally presented."

I was then asked, "In light of this, is there any truth to a rumor that you will get back together again with your ex wife?"

I answered, "Because of what was done, things between my former wife and I have progressed far beyond the possibility of reconciliation. Trust was destroyed and will be the most difficult to restore. Barbara and I still have two daughters together, and raising them will make us work together at times. If we can do that as friends it will make life much smoother for the girls. That is all I will say on the subject." Then I bent and took Maria's hand, raising her up beside me. "Besides, this lady has done me the honor of consenting to become Mrs. Maria Hendricks. When the wedding will be we have not decided yet, but no doubt I will be told

in time to get there

. Just as an aside, though, I have been told by others that there are several people who are extremely jealous of my fiancé, and will stop at nothing to mar her happiness. I'm choosing to serve notice now that I and my family are aware of her past, that I will regard any publication of such gossip as an attack on my family, and that I will take legal action against any person or company doing so."

In the uproar after my announcement, we managed to slip out of the room through a rear exit, pick up the girls, and head down to the basement parking. As we drove out and pointed the SUV towards the mountains, I breathed a big sigh of relief. Megan yelled "Hooray! No school for a while!"

Maria instantly turned in her seat towards the girls and told them, "As I seem to have been elected the second string mom, I have to look after my children's educations, so, sorry girls, but I will be arranging for a tutor for a couple of weeks."

"Foiled again." was Megan's grumpy reply

After we arrived at Maria's house and started some coffee going, she called Carl and Lucille to let them know that we were there. They said they would be right over to get a meal going for us, as they hadn't expected us. Maria let them know that we were there to stay away from all of the press hubbub. She asked them to please not let anyone know that we were there. When they arrived a few minutes later, Maria and I were sitting in the kitchen while Megan and Robin were up in their bedroom unpacking. Maria poured them some coffee, and asked them to sit with us for a while.

She went on, "Well, we have a bit of a surprise for you. Don and I have decided to marry, as soon as we can."

Carl grinned, looked at Lucille, and happily proclaimed, "I win!" Maria and I looked at them with mystified expressions.

Lucille smiled and added, "We had a bet on whether you would get married. The only reason he got to bet 'yes' was that he got in first.

My

bet was that you would be (a) married by the end of the year, and (b) that you would be pregnant by then. Looking at the foolish grins on your faces, I figure I'm going to be the big winner."

There were happy hugs and 'congratulations!' all around. Then Lucille turned to me, smiled, and said, "Boss or no boss, I'm telling you one thing. This is my kitchen, and unless I or Maria invite you, you stay out of it! I've heard all about you and your cooking, and the giant messes you make, so you had better stick to the barbecue; I always hated that anyway."

I raised my hand as if to ward her off and keep her away from me as I rapidly backed away. "Ok, ok, I get it, I'm supposed to leave things to others and not take over. Carl, I take it you don't have any rules for me?"

Carl replied, "Not much, just let me know about any projects you plan, and let me see how I can help. The way you handled that tree still makes me shudder, you are lucky you weren't killed! If we both work on something, that makes for more safety."

Maria and I left them to their cooking, and went through to the living room to cuddle together. Maria looked up at me and said, "You're being very quiet tonight. What's on your mind? Not second thoughts, I hope?"

I quickly replied, "Not for a minute! But, as I'm being relegated to the position of husband around here, I was wondering what, as protector in chief, I could do about the three witches."

Maria sat up in a hurry, "Just you be careful around those bitches, and I don't need you getting involved with them!"

"Don't worry," I continued, "for what I had in mind I won't be involved until it is just about all over. I'll give my lawyer and Richard a call in the morning and get things started."

Next morning, or rather mid morning,

for some reason Marie and I got up a bit late

, saw both Maria and me on the phone; Maria was calling the girl's school to get the name of a tutor, and I was on the line to Richard.

Funny how much this guy has become a part of my life too

. I talked to him for a few moments and explained the sting I had in mind for the three witches. Then I called my lawyer and asked him to set up a dummy company.

Richard was talking to Peter about getting some actors help for the sting, and he thought he could do just as well with some of his staff. He also let me know that he thought a meeting between Barbara, Maria and me was possible. He was just waiting to hear from the court.

I then talked to Eve about some help at the club. She was overjoyed at the chance. "You mean I finally get the chance to help take those three down? I love it! When do we get started?"

That weekend we had a visit from the entire cast of the PDA. Freddie ran into the house squealing, "A wedding, I can't believe it is finally happening! I want to be Maid of Honor!. When is it going to be?" She pulled me into a bear hug as she squealed. The other two weren't to be left out.

"We want to be Bridesmaids!" echoed Kathy and Vanessa.

Maria interjected, "Hey, you three, put my lover and future husband down; he's mine and he's a keeper!"

"How about us?" asked Megan, "Don't we get to help?"

"Of course, you will both get to help a lot!" we quickly reassured them.

After much discussion over the weekend, they (you don't really think

I

had any input, do you?) decided that the wedding would be in four months and that we would rely on the PDA to do as much of the organization as possible so we could stay where we were as long as possible

A week later a sign went up on the notice board at Eve's club where the three witches were sure to see it. It read:

Wanted,

A to Z Ladies Wear - a new women's wear company is actively seeking models to show their designs at buyers shows throughout the continental US. Please send your portfolio to: Box 1960, New York Times,

620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018. Only those whose portfolios are actively being considered will be called in for interview.

All portfolios received were mailed back to Peter and, as expected, there were folios from Joanne, Anna and Gwen. All others were mailed back to the senders thanking them for sending them in and notifying them that the positions were filled. Peter's next step was to set up interviews. On my instructions he rented two rooms at the downtown Hilton. One was a boardroom in which we would conduct the interviews, the other was a suite several floors up for which we had special plans. Both rooms were wired for video and sound. Each of the witches was to be interviewed on different days.

All of the actors were members of Peter's team of investigators. The interviewers were a male and a female operative, and the special sting actor was a man who worked for Peter occasionally on sting operations. Paul Hughes was a big man who quite honestly disproved the theory that black males were better equipped that white males. He was so impressively equipped that his previous career had been as a well known porno star known as Poleaxe Paul. He had been really popular until he met up with a certain young rookie porno actress and fell madly in love. She decided that she was leaving the industry right then and there, and that Poleaxe Paul belonged to her and her alone.

The plan for the sting was that as each of the witches was being interviewed, the interviewer would say, "First, I have to advise you, that so we can make our decision properly, these interviews are being videotaped. Copies of the video will be made available to you. What we are looking for is a single model who will carry the company name. We have three possible candidates for the position." Then he or she would name all three of them. They would be asked what they thought of themselves and of the other two. What we had hoped for took place.

Joanne was the first to comment. "I'm by far the best choice; neither of them knows what to do if I'm not there to tell them. Anna is a fat pig, Gwen has a food disorder, and you never know if she is going to do the job or run off making herself sick. They are both drunken sluts, they will drink and club all night, then go off to bed with whoever wants to get into their pants. If it wasn't for me neither of them would have a clue as to what is going on." She continued in the same vein. The interviews with Anna and Gwen were much the same; they both extolled their own virtues and tried to trash the other two. They both equally badmouthed Joanne, who was pictured as a manipulative controlling bitch who ruined every shoot she went on.

The final step in each interview was to say, "Upstairs in Suite 316 is one of the major investors in the company, a Mr. Paul Hughes. He has expressed interest in meeting you, and to be quite honest we don't know what he has in mind. It may be that he wants something you are not willing to do. It is up to you to decide if you are willing or not. I can't counsel you one way or the other!"

All three of them, Joanne, Anna and Gwen, were to go upstairs where they would be videoed rapping on the door and entering. In the bathroom would be the famed Poleaxe Paul. He was to come out into the room, naked as the day he was born, and concentrate on getting the girl as hot as possible, until she removed her clothes and got on the bed. Then he was to say, "Forget it, Babe, you ain't worth cheating on my wife for," leaving each crushed and furious. The sting worked like a charm. Each of them was furious when she left. Paul's obvious equipment had each of them drooling, so he hadn't had to work very hard, and they were furious when they found out that they were not getting any part of it.

A week later they were called to Eve's club where the announcement of the winner was to be made. Eve and the three were seated at a table near the band, with security close at hand. A screen was lowered and a projector set up. A DVD was placed in the machine, started, and the video of Joanne's interview was run. It was closely followed by those of Ann and Gwen. The people in the club sat in silence until they were finished. Then they burst out in roars of laughter at the way the three had been set up. There was no laughter at the three witches' table though, and the security people were needed to stop physical blows as they each tried to get at the others. After getting them all under control, the guards and Eve escorted the three to another room where Maria and I were waiting to put the final lid on things.

I greeted them all with a big smile. "Hi, ladies, we have met before during your pitiful efforts to come between Maria and me. I also have it on good authority that you have tried to make Maria's life miserable with your catty and self-serving comments. Well, let me show you something." I then played the videos of each of them with Paul.

"Ladies. You heard what I said at the press conference - the campaign against Maria is to stop. Remember, we have these videos, and if there is any dirty talk or gossip about Maria from any one of you, then these videos go on the net. You are intelligent enough to know they will go viral, so you will not be the laughing stock of just this city, but of the whole world. Enough is enough, and don't ever forget, you will never know whether you are talking to a friend of mine. Now get out, and don't let us ever see you in our lives again. I'm sure that ban applies to Eve and her club as well."

In the background Eve said, "Don, you sure have that one right! I've never seen such a sickening bunch. If they never came here again, they would be doing me a favor."

To say that Joanne, Gwen and Anna slunk out with their heads betweens their tails would be an understatement, and we were sure they would offer us no trouble in the future.

Maria

After our successful operation to short circuit the three witches, we stayed up in the mountains for a couple of months. Barbara's admissions made the press for almost a week, but the uproar slowly died down as other news came up, pretty much as was predicted, Don and I made the best of our time, making wedding plans and putting my good friends in the PDA to work. We occasionally went to the city whenever Don was scheduled to testify, or for dress fittings, or for signing contracts for the hall, band and caterer, but that was all.

'Richard was able to set up a series of meetings between Barbara, Don and myself. We held the first one at my house up in the mountains. When Barbara and Richard arrived, I put out coffee for everyone, and Richard introduced me to Barbara.' "Barbara I'd like you to meet Maria. She looked over at me and said, "I can't even say it is nice to meet my competition. I'm well aware now, that I made sure that I wasn't competition for anyone. I would like to thank you, though, for the efforts you have made with Robin and Megan to accept me for what I am. At least they talk to and with me, which they wouldn't do for a long time. I wish you both the happiness that I thought was boredom until I threw it away and didn't have it anymore."

Don looked at Barbara and thoughtfully replied, "Barbara, the fact remains that we have a lot of history together. It wasn't all bad, and we have two wonderful daughters that we still have to raise together. In a way, I can even understand the way you felt. You can thank Maria and her friends for opening my eyes to my own behavior. My father had turned me into a 'fix it now' machine when I was a child, and I never grew out of it. Maria and her friends made me see that I wasn't 'helping' so much as 'controlling'. I never relaxed. Anything that had to be done, became something that had to be done

right now

rather than something to be done

sometime

. I couldn't have been easy to live with."

Barbara looked at Don with tears in her eyes. "I wish I had been able to try harder to teach you that. If I had put as much effort into my marriage as I did into my lifestyle, I think there would have been a very different result. As it is, that is all water under the bridge, and as long as you and Maria allow me to help with the girls, that is all I can ask. You know, I was going to get all angry about the comments you made at the news conference and talk about how unfitting Maria was to help raise the girls. Then I looked at myself and compared us, me a married woman having all kinds of affairs, Maria a young woman in her 20s and single. I did far more damage than she has ever done. All I can say is good luck to you both."