violet's 4th fam meeting (ch32ish)

[another repost, but love this scene <3 ]

I was lost in curious thoughts when I got home, but as soon as I pushed open the door, the negative energy hit me.  I barely flipped on the light when my gaze landed on the immobile, seething figure, sitting up straight.  "Where the hell have you been?"  Gabe shot up from his seat and strode towards me.

"Bro, don't you know to give a warning instead of just sneaking up on me like this?  Gonna give me a fuckin' heartattack..."

"We had a meeting two hours ago!" he shouted, leaning in to intimidate me.

"My bad, I forgot...."

He gave a sarcastic laugh.  "Forgot?  Bullshit.  You blatantly disobeyed my instructions."

I rolled my eyes to be met with a mild slap across the cheek.  "Hey!  What was that for!"

"Whatever smartass comment you were about to make."  Then he popped me again in the same spot, slightly harder, grabbing my wrists when I went to swing back at him.  "And that's for the next one.  What the hell is wrong with you?  Did I throw 15 grand down the garbage believing that you're mature enough to work on this case?"

"Fuck off, I was actually out on a case lead and that's why I missed the meeting," I grunted between struggling to free from the grip he now had on both of my wrists.

"Where were you?"  When I didn't answer quickly enough, Gabe let go of one of my wrists to yank my earlobe, and growl into my ear:  "Did you forget or are you thinking up a lie??"

violet's weekend with Izaak/chloe (ch27ish)

Lost in a web of thoughts, it took me by surprise when Izaak reached for my upper arm and jerked me forward to get my attention.  Suddenly I was unclear how much was a scene vs reality.  "Answer me, Esperanza.  Did you take Chloe trespassing?"

"Bro," I giggled.  "The view of the sunset is fuckin' epic."

Izaak's sigh was so powerful that I could feel his breath, which made me giggle more.  And then he dragged me to the bathroom, and I was almost falling over with laughter.  

Until I saw the bar of soap in his hands.  Oops.

"Under this roof, we communicate respectfully," he scolded, rinsing the fresh bar of soap off and squeezing my cheeks so my mouth opened.  "I have no problem washing your mouth out every time an obscene word comes out.  Then you will learn quickly how to speak like a proper young lady."

"Barf, I don't want to be proper," I began, but he wasn't listening.  He was shoving the bitter white bar between my teeth.

"Regardless, you will be while you’re here," he said, face strict serious, but inside I knew he was smiling, proud of himself for shutting me up.

another molly chapter 🤔

My heart pounded as I approached the door to Toby's office, feeling like I'd been called to the principal's office.  What was I in trouble for this time?  Was my paperwork not good enough?  Did someone tell him something I'd said in session that was wrong?  Was I not the right fit for his upper-class private practice?

I could see Toby through the half-open door, hunched over his desk scribbling in a notebook.  His heel bounced with restlessness, probably ready to go home for the night.   Swallowing a ball of nervousness, I awkwardly knocked on the cracked door.

My friend (and sorta-boss?) looked up and motioned for me to come inside, meeting me at the door with a grin.  As I went to sit on the couch, he pushed the door shut and offered me a water.  

"Will this be a long meeting?" I asked, trying my best to keep the worry out of my tone.

"Are you in a hurry?"

"No... I guess not..."

Toby filled up his mug with water as he spoke.  "You're not in trouble... yet."

"Yet?"

He didn't answer for a moment, waiting for the liquid to reach the brim before returning to his chair in front of me.  "I saw the Coopers today and they told me about your collateral session.  You were assertive — good work!  That's exactly the kick in the ass they needed to stop bringing that kid into their arguments."  

trying to continue ch29ish

The warm jets propelled me forward, soothing the tension in my back as I floated in the hot tub, looking up at the dark sky.  I wondered where to start in the conversation with Gabe.  I didn't know how much he already knew and didn't want to bother him with my problems.  He seemed like too important of a person to want to waste his time on my childish issues.  Which is what made this time together even more special.

As he eased into the water next to me, I noticed music in the background — a playlist I'd made for him.  There wasn't much crossover in our tastes, but after knowing each other 11 years, we'd found enough songs for an entire playlist.

"So... I'm going to torture you first..." Asking emotional questions to Gabe always made me so nervous — sometimes he could be more guarded and defensive than even Izaak (but at the end of the day, they both always answered my questions anyway 🥰).  "How do you not get attached in relationships?  Like, how do you stay detached?  From people in general?  Why aren't you in a relationship now?  Why didn't you want to marry your ex?"  I finally made eye contact, able to relax a little when I could tell he wasn't annoyed with my questions.

But he had thrown his guard up.  "Are you still having problems with your newspaper guy?"

I poked my lower lip out.  "It's my turn to torture you.  I still have like 45 minutes or something."

"Fair enough, but I'll only agree to this if you give me your direct psychoanalysis of me afterward."

ideas for ch29

Every time my phone vibrated, I jumped in startle, imagining it to be Gabe, condemning me for lying to him so much the last couple of weeks.  Or Toby, infuriated because I was fucking something up at work.  Or Adam, breaking up with me because I'm not good enough.  

The guilt was real.  I felt guilty about literally everything.  And there's only one way to remedy that.

I felt relief when I saw the message was from a client with my old clinic job.  Boundaries have never been my strength at work, so all of the teens I work with have my phone number.  Most of them use it sparingly or not at all, but there's a handful who have unrealistic expectations (that I tend to live up to).

Omar is being a dick and won't let me go out.  He doesn't understand I NEED to go, staying in this apartment makes me depressed and suicidal.

Isabel was a feisty 16 year old whose mother was on an extended vacation to her home country, leaving her in the care of three older siblings.  As the youngest child, she was resented by most of the others, seen as a brat who always got her way.  I'd only met her eldest brother, Omar, a couple of times, and he didn't seem to like me.  Isabel said he thought therapy was bullshit and that I was too nice to her.  He was probably right about the last half of that.

I tried everything already he just doesn't understand. I can't deal with this anymore.  Nobody cares, mom just left me here with all of them. 

sleepover continued

"Yeahhhh!!  Girl's night!!" Molly giggled as Violet showed me through the beaded door.  The air was thick with smoke and soft, sad-sounding indie music echoed in the background.  Mixed with the low purple light it oozed tranquility... polar opposite of her room the night of our family meeting.  Just what I needed.  "Do you smoke?"

"Bro, she's an artist, of course she does."

Weed seemed like the perfect solution for the constant buzzing in my head and chest, so I nodded, plopping down on the soft rug next to Molly who passed me the joint as she punched at her phone. 

"Who the fuck are you texting?  You've been on that thing all night!"

"Toby's still on my ass."

"Oh.  Then I don't feel sorry for you.  Shouldn't of told him."

I took a shallow puff of the joint, coughing a little when I exhaled then passed to Violet.

"He fucking told Gabe everything and that I'm still not caught up."

Violet almost choked on the smoke.  "Whaaaat?  What the fuck?  Toby doesn't even like Gabe.  Why would he blab to him?"  Then went back to smoking.

"I don't know."  She definitely knew, but didn't want to tell us.  "Whatever.  Fuck him."  She discarded her phone and accepted the joint from Violet.

"What did you do?" I asked.

She didn't have time to answer because her phone started vibrating madly next to her.   Molly swore under her breath, passing the joint back to me as she answered.  

ch20 good girl session with ending

[no idea how i'm going to feel about this when i reread it later]

It annoyed Gabe when I dropped in unexpectedly, so I didn’t call, which would most certainly earn me what I was looking for:  stress relief, a clear head, maybe even an orgasm. 

When I stepped out of the elevator into the penthouse apartment, he waited for me in the doorway of his living room, red tie slightly loosened, sleeves rolled up.  As he subtly licked his lips, I followed his gaze to my cut-off jean shorts.  My legs weren't as tone as I'd like, but the shorts made them look good, and also showed off my butt.  I was finally starting to put the weight back on that I'd lost during the coke daze, and just healthier in general made me a sexy piece of meat for him. 

"Officially debt-free… I think you owe me a reward or somethin'."

"For what??  There is no reward for doing what you should."

I rolled my eyes.  "You're such a dick."

He took a step towards me, smirking.  "I'm the one who deserves a reward for providing motivation."

Nodding, I bit my lower lip and moved closer to him.

"Did you behave this weekend?"

I shrugged, eyes flirting, now walking past him to the living room.  “What do you think?”

He followed, turning off the light in the entryway, yanking my hair back to make me face him.  “I think you need to check that attitude, Young Lady.”

"And what if I don’t?" I teased. 

“You know exactly what will happen.”

I mock-gasped.  “Ooooo, so scary.  You’ll give me what I came lookin’ for.”  

ch22b violet flashback

~6ish years ago~

I was in jail when I first met Toby.  Dressed in an ugly orange jumpsuit with oily black roots of my hair, my tough exterior at full force because it hadn't gotten a rest in a few days.  My emotions were all kinds of fucked up, destroyed because Molly was no longer speaking to me, and only had during the one phone call she'd answered of mine.  Gabe had also ignored my calls.  Vic couldn't come visit because of his immigration status.  But I knew that the three of them were working together to hire Toby, one of Molly's connections, who I'd already assumed to be a typical rich slick douchebag like Gabe before I even met him.

It was day three of being in holding at jail when he visited.  "You must be hella expensive," I spat upon seeing his designer suit and posh leather briefcase.  

His eyebrows raised and he plopped the briefcase onto the metal table, opening it and motioning for me to sit in front of him.  "I am," he said without glancing up from gathering folders and paperwork.  "Molly, however, gets the friends and family discount.  Which is why I'm here instead of an actual lawyer."

I cocked an eyebrow.  "You're not a lawyer?  The fuck are you then?"

ch22 additions

[some repeats from last night, idk if it all makes sense.  just trying to organize my brain haha]

After parking the car at our hotel, we each ate an edible then spent the afternoon and evening touring the city.  I turned super flirty once the substance took effect.  Since we didn't want to spend any money, Violet and I worked together to get free shit.  Like we managed to get into the Space Needle for free, thanks to my distracting some chump who left his tickets sticking out of his back pocket.

The sun was setting when we walked back towards our hotel.  It was plain, a little out-dated for my tastes, nothing too bad, but I wanted something fancier.  Especially if I was going to jail anyway, I might as well enjoy my final days of freedom.

I stopped in front of the four seasons, only a couple of blocks from our hotel.  "Bro, as if Gabe would spend this kinda money on us, haha!"

With a grin, I skipped towards the front door, scanning the ceilings for cameras.  "Watch this."  Violet followed close by as I sauntered to the counter, using my hair as a shield and tugging my shirt down a little to show off more cleavage.  I still wore sunglasses, but slid them down to my nose and batted my eyelashes when I approached the lone nerdy male receptionist.  "My friend and I are checking in," I said in a high pitched, innocent voice, biting on my lower lip as I looked at him seductively.

"Absolutely.  Can I see your credit card and ID?"

ch22 additions

"Bro, if you wreck this car, we're gonna get like a billion licks with the cane."

"Sorry," I murmured.  The lack of sleep and panic made it nearly impossible to react to the moderate Seattle traffic.  Unfortunately Violet had never gotten a license, so couldn't drive us anywhere.

"I gotta be an asshole and go a few pennies over budget.  Ha.  I'll tell Gabe it was all me so you don't get in trouble.  I just wanna see the look on his face."

My tummy grumbled.  Gabe caring about our budget was the least of my worries.  Sage wouldn't give up any info about me — she's good at giving only the bare minimum.  But Violet was really good at collecting evidence and putting clues together.  She'd already gotten this much in such a short amount of time.... what could she extract from this meeting with Sage?

"What's the case even about?"

"Someone leaked a clinical trial to the media that shows Winters Corp knew this pill killed a lot of people but put it on the market anyway with falsified results.  He thinks this Pattie Cake girl framed him, though."

"What do you think?"

"I dunno.  Winters is a greedy bastard, so it wouldn't surprise me if the leaked stuff were true.  But Gabe is convinced Pattie Cake girl is a good lead."

"So what if you find her?  Then what?"

She shrugged.  "I have to prove that she forged the leaked paperwork."

"How would you do that?"

"I'm not sure yet..."

"What if it's not her?  Seems more likely someone would want to get Winters out and take over the company themselves."