Erin Reagan stormed into her office, returning from one of the worst lunch breaks of her life. Her investigator and dear friend Anthony was right behind her.
"What's wrong, Erin?" he asked, watching her toss her coat into the corner and throw her briefcase halfway across the room.
"I'll tell you what's wrong - my ex-husband," she said.
"Oh, jeez, not again with this," Anthony responded. He was so sick of the on-again/off-again relationship she had with her ex, Jack Boyle.
"Never again with this, Anthony," she corrected him as she took a seat at her desk.
"What'd he do now?"
"It's not what he did. It's who he's doing. And how I found out."
"I'm going to need some details."
"Remember I told you Jack went to visit Nicky at Columbia and ended up giving a guest lecture there? Well, it seems he made a fan. A very young fan in Nicky's class. And now, they're a thing. And do you know how I learned all this?"
"Something tells me you didn't read it in the Wall Street Journal."
Erin tapped her cell phone screen a few times and then showed it to Anthony. He watched in shock at what was obviously footage, grainy but undeniable, of a man - he assumed it was Jack - receiving a blowjob from a young, college-aged brunette. The audio was even more damning. Anthony could clearly hear Jack's voice moaning. After about 24 seconds, the video ended. He looked to Erin.
"How did you even get this?" Anthony said. He doubted Erin was just perusing amateur porn videos and stumbled upon it.
"He sent it to me," she said, fuming. Her anger was practically painting the walls of her office at this point, every word uttered was another layer applied.
"He sent it to you?"
"He said it was an accident. That he 'butt-dialed' it to me. Can you believe that?"
"No, not really," Anthony said. He'd known Jack for quite awhile, and just like the other Reagans, he didn't trust the guy. He never understood why Erin was never willing to fully cut ties with him. Sure, they had a daughter together, but that was ages ago and Jack had continued to be incredibly hot-and-cold with her, to the point of it being manipulative. This latest "mistake" felt particularly callous.
"This is just like Jack. I take Nikki to see a show on Broadway, he takes her on a 3-day cruise in the Bahamas. I tell him I got a new car, he buys a newer one. He always needs to be on top somehow," Erin said.
"Well, he certainly wasn't on top in that video," Anthony said, trying to lighten the mood. Erin looked at him with a half-smile, a little bit of her anger melting away.
"You know what I mean. It's like he always needs me to know that he's out there, doing better than me. I'm a Bureau Chief for the New York State District Attorney's Office and somehow he can still make me feel like some lovesick school girl chasing after him," Erin said, her anger turning from him onto herself. Anthony hated seeing her feel this way.
"Erin, my mother always told me, in times like this, you don't get mad, you get even," he said.
"Get even? How? Drive out to Rutgers and bang the first frat boy I find?" she said.
"Hey, you don't have to travel all that far. There are closer universities, you know," Anthony said with a laugh.
"Ugh! I'm so pissed!" Erin said. She sat all the way back in her chair.
Anthony sat back in his own chair. They both stared into the mid-distance for a second, letting the silence just hang there as two longtime friends can do.
"But you're not wrong," Erin said, breaking the pause. "I need to get back at him. He needs to know he's not the only one getting some action."
"Okay...and how do you intend to do that?" Anthony asked.
"Lock the door and lower the lights. But not too dark," Erin answered as she got up from her desk and started re-arranging some of the office furniture. She cleared her desk and set her cell phone on it, using her nameplate to angle it just right for a selfie video that would capture her sitting in her office chair. She didn't press record yet.
Meanwhile, Anthony did as he was told. He'd worked with her long enough to know the look in her eyes. She had a plan and there was no use talking her out of it nor was there any use asking questions about what exactly the plan was. It would all be revealed in due time. That's how her brain worked - always one step ahead. Anthony locked the door and lowered the shades. The room was darkened, but not pitch black.
"Perfect," Erin said, looking at up him, "Now, come and sit in my chair."
Anthony still wasn't sure where this was going, but he had an inkling.
"Uh, if this is leading to where I think it might be leading, I think you should consider some other options," he said.
"Anthony, sit. I don't have time to go out and find someone else. It has to be you," she said, pulling at Anthony's arm and leading him to her chair. She looked back at her phone and adjusted it to make sure it captured what it needed to, still not pressing record. She took a big breath.
"Okay...Jack wants to accidentally send me a video of him having sex, I'm going to send him one of me," she said, essentially talking herself into what she was about to do. Erin kicked off her heels and started unbuttoning her suit pants, revealing a pair of lacy black Victoria's Secret thong panties. Anthony felt himself starting to get erect. She took off her jacket, hanging it on a hook behind her and then began unbuttoning her blouse, the matching black bra looking amazing against her white skin.
