I walk out of the office with my lawyer and shake his hand. I tell him that I hope I never see him again and he laughs. I can’t imagine ever needing him, unless Alicia requests the order be lifted. I would hope that if that was to ever happen, the judge would see through her bullshit.
I nod at Liam from across the room and he motions for me to look to my left. There stands Sam with her dad and their lawyer. Her father is prattling on about something, but she’s not interested, she’s glaring at Liam. I shake my head and walk into her line of sight and stand so she can’t see him anymore.
“Alicia didn’t show. One ho down another to go.”
Liam laughs, but tries to hide it. I know the bitch is standing behind me throwing daggers, but I don’t give a shit. Honestly, I’m surprised she even showed up, considering her clone didn’t.
“Are you happy?” Liam asks. I nod. I am, even though I wanted to see her, to speak to her, I’m happy that for the next ten years, she can’t do anything to Quinn. She can come after me all she wants, but not my boy.
JD walks in just as our lawyer tells us we can enter the courtroom. We pass by Mr. Moreno, who doesn’t smile at us. Not that I’d expect him to, but it would be nice for him to show some recognition. We made him a lot of money, and he thought he’d reward us by pawning us off on his daughter because she had a serious hard-on for Liam. Sam was the beginning of what could’ve been a huge downfall for us.
The three of us sit down, with our lawyer on the edge. We don’t watch as the Morenos enter and take their seats. We can hear Sam and her exaggerated huffing and puffing to know enough.
We stand as instructed by the bailiff and wait for the judge to sit. We have a woman judge, and I wonder if this will play into our favor.
“Good afternoon,” she starts. “I’ve been over the files that were submitted at my request.” She folds her hands and looks at us. “I’ve asked for special consideration with this case because of the complexity. I’ve never seen a file so thick for something like a restraining order.” The judge shuffles a few papers around.
“Mr. Page, do you feel that you and your family are in danger from Ms. Moreno?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Mr. James, I ask the same question to you.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Davis, and you?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Moreno, are you aware of what your daughter has been doing for the past ten years?”
I think we hold our breath waiting for his answer. All three of us lean forward and watch him as he settles in front of the microphone. “No. Surely, if I knew I would’ve put a stop to it.”
The judge doesn’t respond, but moves more papers around. “It says here in an email from yourself to Sam Moreno and I quote “it’s best to keep the clingy girlfriend away from Liam. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him” end quote. Do you remember writing this?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Messrs. Page, James and Davis, you’ve instructed your lawyer to ask for a restraining order, but he took it one step further and attached what you’d call a civil suit. It says here that you’re looking for restitution from lost wages from your tour, is that correct?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” our lawyer answers. I wasn’t aware we were asking for money, and by the look of it, neither was Liam.
“Ms. Moreno, it saddens me that you would keep a child from his parent. That, to me, is probably the lowest thing you can do. The years of abuse these men have suffered at your hands, ending with their recent tour, is deplorable. You should be ashamed of yourself, but I have a feeling you’re not. I hereby grant a full restraining order, which means Ms. Moreno, you and your heirs are not allowed to communicate in any way, shape or form with the members of the band and their families and employees. You are also not allowed within one thousand feet of them. You are also ordered to pay two hundred thousand dollars in lost earnings.”
The judge slams down her gavel as we sit there stunned. We just wanted the restraining order so we can move on with our lives peacefully. We didn’t expect this at all. We stand as the judge exits. Liam shakes our lawyer’s hand, as do JD and I. We follow him out of the courtroom, elated with our victory.
“I’ve got to head off,” JD says. “See you guys in a couple of days.” I don’t bother telling him that Quinn and I will be moving back to L.A.
“What the fuck just happened?” Liam asks.
“That, my friend, was a judge who can’t stand the Morenos. When I found out we drew her, I modified my request. I took a gamble.”
“That was crazy,” I say, running my hand through my hair.