Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sessions Chapter 35 - If Looks Could Kill


Sandy Point - The Rusty Pelican

S35-001

Slim watched the two of them, Gemma sitting at the table with her slender legs crossed, her body language enigmatic. She idly toyed with the long strands of her jet black hair while Coop sat at the opposite side of the table glaring at her. He steadily tapped the toe of his heavy boot against the chair leg, aggravated and on edge.

Focusing on her, Slim got into it. "I'm going to cut to the chase. We aren't giving you a blank check. Name your terms. What's the price for you to keep your mouth shut?""




S35-002

Gemma turned her eyes on Cooper. She let him hang under that gaze for a few moments before responding in a cool, controlled voice. "You raped me."

Cooper laughed, a long mirthless denial. "That's bullshit! You were right there with me!"

"You walked into my house uninvited, ripped my clothes, carried me to my bedroom and threw me down. Are you going to tell me it happened some other way? You were brutal. That's rape."

"That's a lie!  You removed your own clothes before I even got my shirt off.  You've got to be kidding...I didn't hear one word of complaint from you. You were right there with me the first time, the second..."

She shot right back at him.  "I'm not surprised there are holes in your memory - you staggered around like a drunk - but you heard me ask you to stop!"

S35-003

"That's enough!" Slim shifted his eyes back on her after throwing a look of warning at Cooper. "You're here so tell me what you want?"

"I want a contract for Brew...for Jimmy. Long term."

Rising from the table, Coop snorted derisively and walked away. "What the hell?  That's what this is about? A contract for Jimmy Breaux?  No way you're forcing me into a fucking corner over Jimmy Breaux!"

S35-004

"Coop, sit down." Trying to bring things back to business Slim played his hand. "You know Jimmy's a risk.  If..." pausing for dramatic effect, "...if we consider it there will be stipulations in the contract. And this will not be an open ticket. One contract with Hitman. That's all it will take for you to market your...talent."

S35-005

"I have as much to lose here as Cooper does. There will always be doubts about how I got a contract as a green agent. I want it long term...and I want him to admit he raped me so there is no question in this room what went down. And I want to see it...the contract."

S35-006

Slim leaned in resting his large hands on the table in front of her and growled, "I don't give a damn what you want or what you have to lose. Shut up, sit there and listen to me. Nobody's admitting anything. We draw up a contract for Jimmy Breaux, but it's our terms. He blows it, that's it. You get whatever the hell you think you're getting out of this, and you shut the hell up and go away."

He looked at Cooper who met his gaze straight on. "Coop doesn't want you near his kids. You leave them alone. You don't say a thing about what went down between the two of you, you stay away from his wife, you stay away from the media. And lady, if you think you're coming back and asking for more, you don't know me. I'll ruin your ass. You know I can do it. Now get out of here."

S35-007

Gemma finally stood. "Threaten me all you want. He forced himself on me, you know he did; I can see it in your face that you're wondering. As for his kids...Wyatt is Julia's son. If he wants to see me I am not going to discourage it and you will not stop me." Turning, head held arrogantly in the air, she left them.

S35-008

S35-009

After a long moment Slim drew a deep breath and exhaled. "Coop...man this is bad. The woman is going after your ass and she's serious. You know the way this thing works.  You're going to be lucky if she limits it to Jimmy Breaux. What the hell were you doing out there?  What happened?  Anything to her claim that you raped her?"

S35-011

Pacing, shoving the chair aside, every move on edge, his voice hard, Cooper came back at him. "No you know I didn't rape her. I wasn't gentle but I didn't rape the bitch.  Look, this sounds idiotic, but I got into it with McDermott before I went over there and he knocked the shit out of me. I was pissed, that's why I went, doesn't make any sense and I know it, but I did and things sort of got out of control.  She's right, I was staggering, but I wasn't drunk, and she was holding me up on my feet a couple of times. There wasn't any rape. Without her help I would probably have spent the night on the couch instead of in her bed.  Look, can we knock this contract out? I want to get it over there, get the damned thing signed and get this over with. And Slim, thanks."

Sandy Point, 10 Big Tree Road: 4 PM




"A year." Jimmy read slowly, working his way through the 20 pages of small type, scared and determined to read the whole damned thing and knowing Rennie was biting her lip because he was slow with it.  He started to use his finger to keep his place while he read and then quit that. Glancing up across the table at Cooper, he asked him, "How many clauses you throwing at me? Am I gonna need to get a hall pass to hit the john?"

It was kinda supposed to lighten the mood.

Cooper sat there under that rainy afternoon window and his face was cold. "Show up and do your job. You get one chance. One."



They had less than an hour from the time they took that call until he showed up with a contract. Nothing more than that and he didn't explain why.

Without asking him Rayne pulled the contract across the table and started flipping through it and looking up at her father at the same time. Jimmy knew she was going to do this, they'd had enough time to cover that much even if she hadn't told him what she was looking for. "Gemma Wilson gets an unusually generous percentage.  Why is that?"



He was sitting in the chair with the short leg, stupid choice of a chair but he couldn't get up now so he did what he could with it, trying not to rock it, leaning forward, smoking too much.



Cooper shoved his hair back like a man who didn't know what to do with his hands, an angry man.  "He signed the contract, ask him. I assume he can read."



She was clenching her hands on the bottom of the chair, a thing she did sometimes when she wasn't getting her way.  "What if he fires her? Would you resubmit the offer?"



The room was full of the steady drip drip sound of water leaking through the hole in the gutter outside the window. Cooper shot him a narrow eyed look over the table. "Take it or leave it and do it now. I'm not resubmitting anything."



Rayne got up, pushed the chair out of her way, pushing it hard she was banging it against the table, announcing, "Excuse me, I need some air. It stinks in here."



Jimmy let her go. Screen door slapping shut, she was standing out there in the rain, leaving him to sit here with Cooper. Cooper watched her go out there but he didn't get up or say a damned thing. He didn't want to lose this chance, insult the man, make a wrong move. What was worse? Losing the contract or losing his girl? He stood up, dropped the butt in the ashtray, hands shaking, refusing to make that choice, he said, "Gimme a minute."

Cooper nodded, something Jimmy was sure he wouldn't have done if it wasn't his own daughter out there, nothing to do with Jimmy himself.





Standing on the far side of the front porch, staring out at wet trees and wet boats, Rayne didn't move when Jimmy came up, planted himself between Rayne and the kitchen window, and asked quietly, "You gonna tell me what's wrong?"

She kicked the wet rail and leaned on it harder and didn't look at him. "You're her present. He can't stand you. There's only one reason he'd do this, and it's for her. Don't do it, Toad. Don't start out like this."



The kitchen window was open. Whatever they said, Cooper could hear it. Jimmy leaned over the porch rail next to her and whispered, "Rennie, sweetheart, that's the way it works. Me, I don't give a damn if I'm hanging on a chain around her neck, his present, it's still a contract. You don't get Cooper Stanfield driving up and giving you a contract, nobody gets that. If I got to use his girl on the side to get us a start, I'm doing it. You gonna work with me?"



Rayne, all wet and angry, looked past him through the kitchen window at her father, and pushed him aside and stood stuck between him and his arm across the steps down since he didn't want her to go what the fuck was this about? Making him give it up for some piece of ass Cooper took down? You get one shot, one big chance, you can't don't choke on it. Didn't make sense, no sense at all, he tried to think of something to say when she hit him again.



"Work with you to use my father's whore to get what you want? You may as well fuck her yourself. I grew up with this, I know all about how it works. You want it, take it, but it's going to come back at you, Toad, and it pisses me off. I have to go, I can't be here right now, I need to get out of here."









He heard the back door squeak open. Rayne hurried down the steps toward her car. Through that open window, he saw that contract fluttering on the table. He went in, walked past it, walked past his Fender, walked out the back where Cooper was leaning against a porch column that might fall any damned minute now. The whole place was falling down. Never was gonna be another chance like this, not like this. Cooper didn't say a thing. "I'll sign it," Jimmy told him. "Gimme a pen and I'll sign it."

-----------------------

NEXT CHAPTER: Chameleon Chapter 9

33 comments:

Rad said...

Well, well. This is tense. Jimmy might need that contract but it's not going to make for an easy working relationship between him, Coop and Gemma, especially with the whole heap of mess in the way.

If only Jimmy knew how much of a barrel he could actually hold Coop over right now...

But it's going to be very exciting watching the whole hot mess unfold.

Muzegoddess said...

Oh Jimmy....you've drawn a line in the sand now. Can't really blame him for jumping at it but still it's certainly going to cost him one way or another. And Cooper should know better than to think this is anywhere near over with Gemma.

Two men basically selling thier souls to one wild card of a woman to get what they want. I hear the distinct sound of a backfire in the near future.

I loved the tension throughout this entire piece, everyone on edge, everyone with something to loose (except maybe Gemma) and the dark, ominous clouds in the sky really brought it all together. Can't wait to see what happens next.

S.B. said...

Rad, I doubt Jimmy is going to be able to retain Gemma as an agent and keep his girlfriend. And Cooper intimidates him. He wouldn't press for more. He really doesn't want to look this gift horse in the mouth.

Thanks from both of us!

Qui. said...

What a sticky situation this is! Gemma is just.. Gah! With that rape claim... telling Beth what really happened might not be the worse idea for Cooper! It is better to hear it from him than through some story Gemma sold to the tabloids!

This hole that Cooper has dug himself into seems to be getting much deeper.
I hope this doesn't start to cause issues for Rayne and Jimmy! That contract is important and has been since day one but so is his Rennie.
What a mess this is!

S.B. said...

Muzegoddess, Jimmy has drawn the line in the sand, but I can't blame him. This is something he wants desperately, and all the crap about who did whom and why doesn't seem like his responsibility to parse. Cooper is used to getting what he wants: pay her off and get rid of her. Rayne is probably right but she's looking at this from a very black and white perspective and ignoring what Jimmy needs and may never get again. And Gemma certainly didn't ask to be put in this position. Everyone is right to some extent and everyone is wrong.

Thank you so much...

S.B. said...

Hey Qui!

Cooper definitely doesn't want to say anything to Beth about Gemma at this point; he's still hoping he can put things back together quickly. Paid the woman off; he expects she will go away.

It's already causing problems between Rayne and Jimmy. The contract was so important to him; she knows it. But she also knows that if it turns out to be a 'payoff' contract, Jimmy will be hurt. It is one hot mess.

Thank you from both of us!

Van said...

Hmmm. On one hand, I can't really blame Jimmy for signing the thing. Cooper's a big name and it's a once-in-a-lifetime shot. On the other, this could cause problems not only with Rayne, but with Gemma and his band members as well. Either way, he loses :(

None of the involved parties are fully in the wrong (well, maybe arguably Cooper? I don't know) or fully in the right. A sticky situation, to be sure, and you did a great job portraying that.

S.B. said...

Van, you're right, the 'fully wrong fully right' deal probably should not include Cooper. Acting on anger and lust, that doesn't put him into even a sort of halfway right even if you squint at it bucket. Giving him a little credit for thinking he just got dumped hard plus Ryan rocked his brain in his skull.

Any way you look at it, Jimmy stands to lose the most. Not Cooper, not Gemma, and not even Rayne. There was no way he could walk away from the chance though.

Valpre said...

Oh dear, what a shitty mess they are all in now, Gemma crying rape (and I can't say I'm surprised with this one. I thought she might take this road), Toad signing the contract against Rayne's wishes...

I have feeling the shit Cooper's trying to contain will be blown so out of proportion it will destroy whatever chances he thinks he still has with Beth.

Somehow I don't think the contract is the only thing Gemma will get out of this...Already Coop and Slim are bending over backwards to buy her silence, at what price will she give it to them?

I love the shots in this piece, especially the ones with Rayne and Toad outside. Just beautiful!

Phoenix said...

Ugh! Coop is turning back into the guy that I do NOT like! He was doing so well too and then he just had to blow! :( Now he's screwing over Jimmy to try and get back with his wife without coming completely clean. Doesn't he understand that without coming completely clean those two will never be able to trust each other?? It's a vicious circle!

And now Jimmy finally gets what he wants but at what cost? Losing Rayne and having a year contract in Cooper and Gemma's hands. Sure it'll get his foot in the door but...will he be happy with that?

So much tension. OMG! LOL! I was holding my breathe and saying in my head: "No, don't do it Jimmy!!" "No Rayne, don't leave him in there with your dad!" Loved, loved, LOVED it!

And Gemma isn't done...

S.B. said...

Val, hey thanks for the compliment on the outside shots.

Kind of doubt there was anything Rayne could say to Toad that would keep him from signing that contract. Once in a lifetime opportunity, he had to go for it.

And you're absolutely right. Sometimes an event becomes catastrophic simply because people think it might, not because it really is.

I have to play the devil's advocate here though and say, if I were Gemma, I wouldn't be happy about how I was handled. Some guy comes into my house and rips my clothes and grabs me even when I say 'stop it, you're hurting me'...well.

Thank you!!

S.B. said...

Phoenix! LOL! Thank you SO much for both of us!!!

Coop is not thinking straight. He messed up, knows he did, and he's trying to do what he can to control the damage and get back what he's losing and does not want to lose. I understand it. Tell everything but THAT thing. I went to Melinda's place and did some of her girls confession but NOT the Gemma piece. It's hard to risk that much when you love someone and you don't want to lose them. Particularly if you think you can get away with it, make it go away, it's gone, you never have to think about it again.

Jimmy doesn't care who Cooper screwed or why or anything about it except he gets a contract. It will come at a huge cost to him but he had to grab it. Will it cause problems with Rayne? Absolutely it will.

Rayne never admits her father's role in any of this. Why blame just Gemma? Why blame Gemma at all? She doesn't even know the woman.

Thank you girl!!!

Rachel said...

Oh man...

There's no way this is staying quiet. Not with Rayne's suspicions, and not with Gemma's attitude. It's going to be so bad.

Jimmy is in such a bad place...I mean, I can't believe he accepted it, but I wouldn't have been able to believe it if he hadn't, either! What an amazing dilemma.

And I really want to know what's going to happen when Wyatt finds out.

S.B. said...

Rachel, Jimmy had to take it. It's his dream. It's his one big chance. He doesn't care what Cooper did or why. If he doesn't take it, there may never be another chance.

Rayne: she's trying to protect Jimmy. She can't. She has always hated the women who came onto her father, blamed them, not Cooper, and Gemma is no exception. I think she might like Gemma if she could see her as a person and not a woman who jumped her father. Rayne wanted her mother to be with Ryan instead of Cooper; always thought Ryan was in love with her mother and she grew up with them being together, so Rayne's not entirely on anybody's side.

Wyatt has never had any reason to listen to his wild ass sister. He will not want to hear this from her.

Still astonished and thank you from both of us!!!

The Lunar Fox said...

"...No one will believe I took you by force. Not that first time, not the second..." Whoa, did he just threaten her?

This entire chapter is so full of interesting relationships to me. Sorry to go all valley girl for a moment, but OMG!

Poor Slim, he's a true pro, isn't he? Too used to this shit it seems, hopping in-between Gemma and Cooper her.

And Rayne... wow, this is one of those times she has the wrong idea, but it's completely understandable. And she'll probably never know what her father actually did to Gemma. Gemma comes off here looking like she's the slut who broke Rayne's parents up, but that's not true. And would Rayne even believe the truth?

Cooper is really freakin' intimidating. I can see where Jimmy's coming from, though I half wished he'd tell Cooper to fuck off and sided with Rayne, but there's hardly a story in that. (Plus it wouldn't be realistic, the man needs some money!)

J A Murphy said...

oh ... my ... god ... where do I start?

Who do I feel for in this? Slim, most definitely. He's the only one whose head is on straight and is seeing it all for what it truly is. The number of times he's had to pull Coop's arse out of the fire - he must really like the guy, any lesser man would have walked years ago!

Any secondary sympathy would have to go to Jimmy, he, too, is just a pawn in this game and I'm not sure he realises just how much he is being used as such.

I'm not defending what Cooper has done, not by a long shot, but there were a whole mess of actions leading him to this point, few of which he had control over. It can't be easy to try as hard as he does to do the right thing only to have everything constantly backfire and your wife and children believe the worst of you whether it's true or not.

It's no wonder that the few times he actually does mess up it's a monumental cock-up that threatens to undo everything.

thelook said...

Jimmy you plonker. He's being so used! When everything crumbles the little bits are going to knock him out on the head. But he doesn't know so I do have to cut him some slack.

The rest goes to Slim and Rayne. Slim is like Coop's brother because goodness, the things he does for the man! It's a lot. And Rayne's so... right? So right and so wrong. Wrong because she doesn't know the full story and jumping into conclusions is like smacking your face to ice. It makes for a funny story but it hurts. Right because she's sensing something that the others haven't.

Now Cooper is just Cooper. My sympathy does lie with him (partly) but I can't help but think if he LISTENED (capitalised so that if a sim God really is out there then they can hear me) to others, a few of his screw-ups wouldn't have happened.

But now he's sold his soul to the Devil's wife. And she doesn't give refunds.

MedleyMisty said...

I'm still kind of sleep deprived so I can't do a really good comment, but I just wanted to say that I loved this, as always. :)

Also, as always, I identify with Jimmy and adore Rayne. :)

It's like - Better Living Through Passages, or something. Your story makes me all happy and makes me feel better.

Anonymous said...

This was definitely an intense read! I recently discovered your story, and I must say, it's amazing. I love the writing, and your sets are just gorgeous.

Gemma confuses me right now. I really hope all this contract business doesn't backfire on all of them :/

S.B. said...

LunarFox, that's what we were going for, the contrast between the reality and the way it looks to different people. Rayne would only believe the truth about Gemma and Cooper if Cooper himself told her, and that's not going to happen. Slim wasn't sure what he believed, but he's Coop's best friend and yeah, he's a pro; he took care of it the same way he's taken care of similar problems. Cooper believes he had sex with a woman who flirted with him, came onto him in his studio after hours, but does not believe he raped her. Gemma was shocked and taken by surprise, and he scared her, so if she believes he forced her, it's understandable.

Cooper is definitely intimidating. Jimmy had to take the offer; it would be completely silly and unrealistic to imagine him doing anything else.

Thank you!

S.B. said...

Hi thelook!

What a fantastic metaphor! Wow!!!

Jimmy's being used, but he doesn't have a reasonable choice. He does sense that Rayne is probably right. He doesn't see any real problem with it (never had any doubt that Cooper was doing whatever he wanted) although there's a big difference between a groupie and his agent. Rayne is both right and terribly wrong. She consistently sees relationships from a skewed position.

Cooper is such a passionate, emotionally volatile and impulsive man. He reacts fast and hard, the old ready fire aim scenario. He got hurt; he blew up. This screw-up is going to be very difficult to fix...

S.B. said...

Hey Stacy!!

awww thank you!!!! I do see how you would identify with Jimmy...

Rayne's sort of an acquired taste. Stubborn emotional and absolutely certain that her view of the world is the correct view, right up until the time she steps off the cliff LOL!

thank you so much from both of us!!

S.B. said...

Hi streetlights!

We are always thrilled when someone discovers our work - thank you SO MUCH! We spend a lot of time on both the writing and the sets so the compliments are very much appreciated.

Gemma is something of a mystery right now. And we are all about consequences, so we can guarantee there will be some.

Thank you again for taking the time to read our work and to leave us a comment. It's absolutely wonderful to know we are still reaching new readers and entertaining them!

Anonymous said...

D: I left a long comment about this update and I guess it mustve been eaten or something bc it's not here and my email hasn't reflected it..*rolls eyes*

anyway, I'm really anxious to see where all this goes..bu I have a feeling things are going to come naturally for Jimmy.

As for rayne, I can't blame her for wanting to get away after dealing with this sort of shady behavior that has repeated itself over and over again throughout her life.

Gemma! Well, wait to utilize youre upperhand I guess..

Can't wait for the next installment!! Great work you guys:) always inspirational!

S.B. said...

Hi xtina!!!

Jimmy's making a choice; it's an understandable choice, but it's a choice.

Rayne doesn't quite understand what's going on. Her father's distant behavior hurt her as much as her mistaken belief that he was offering a contract as a gift to a mistress. Coop of course was there under duress and was trying to control his own emotional reaction.

Thanks!!!

S.B. said...

Illandrya!

Slim is an absolute prince. He's Cooper's best friend so he's taking care of business even though he has doubts about what really happened. Jimmy doesn't quite realize how much he's being used, but, honestly, he's not in any position to be judgmental. He probably does have this once chance and he has to take it or forget about it. Cooper was trapped in a spiraling sequence of events, almost none of them under his control. He feels strongly, and he is trying, but he goes wrong...yeah it's a monumental cock-up!!

Thank you from both of us!!

Sinclair said...

O wow. This is just one big dirty mess. No one is gonna win this one. Not a single person left unscathed for sure.

S.B. said...

Sinclair, thanks so much for sticking with us! We're trying to pick through it!

thewynd said...

I want to apologize again for not responding to each and every comment. Don't want to reiterate Beth's replies either so I will say thank you all for supporting us, for sticking with us and for making it worthwhile that we continue. It means so much to both of us.

cheripye said...

three letters

OMG!

Ok so finally all caught up will I stay this way... I will DEFINATELY TRY! :)

Jimmy Cooper Beth, Rayne, Wyatt, Ryan, Melinda... (remember I just got caught up again) lol! and everyone else :)

Gayl and SB you have both out done yourselves in creating this series, the drama, suspense, romance and emotion it can go on and on :)

BEAUTIFUL! :)

thewynd said...

So good to see you Cherie! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. We both appreciate it.

Hopefully you weren't too far behind. We are working on trying to get the next piece out as soon as possible. Take care girl!

S@n said...

I totally understand Rayne, but I also agree that this is one in-a-life-time opportunity, and those kind of opportunity should be taken...
and Cooper, even if you say no, you did rape her, she did say no few times...but you kept going... I think the price Cooper has to pay for his mistake is really low... (talking about what Gemma wants) it is not that much...
but once Beth finds out, he will be losing more than he thinks he can ever lose...
Awesome chapter like always!

S.B. said...

S@n, Rayne is young and spoiled and doesn't understand where Jimmy's coming from. Of course he had to take the opportunity.

Cooper is making a very fine distinction here, isn't he? Gemma flirted with him therefor what he did was ok. In his mind. Slim isn't going to challenge him past posing the question.

Thank you!