I choose you - Part 1

Chapter CXXX

Esther entered the waiting room and looked at the two men.

"Let's go?" She called them.

Mitch backed away from the fiancé, avoiding Avi's touch. He'd been avoiding the doctor since they'd arrived in Los Angeles the day before. The tenor's gaze stopped on the woman who was sitting in the conference room. The way her dark hair curled the angulation of her jaw, the way her hands were resting on the table. The woman looked at them and stood up.

Mitch walked in a straight line toward her, not looking away. He noticed the woman tensing a little before him, Avi moved his hand, pulling out a chair for the tenor to sit in. The woman's gaze shifted to Avi as he moved to pull out the chair at the head of the table for Esther to sit.

"Miss Garner, my brother remembers you." Esther spoke slowly as she fiddled with some papers "that being said, here we have a confidentiality agreement." Esther pushed a contract to the woman and placed a pen on top of it. "It's a pretty standard contract, it stipulates that you agree not to talk about the meeting you and my brother had, if you break this clause you will issue a fine. As a guarantee that you will not speak about this further, a payment of 250 thousand dollars will be deposited by the end of the day in any bank account that you indicate to me."

"But I asked for 500 thousand." The woman looked at Avi, the doctor was silently looking at her.

"Yes, you asked for it, but that's not what you're getting." Esther took out her cell phone. "My brother remembers you and he remembers the night in question, he doesn't remember having sex with you. He doesn't remember consenting to it. You told me my brother was drunk. So, I asked some private detectives to go down to the bar and do some research, it's amazing what money can do." Esther pulled some enlarged photos out of the same folder she'd taken out of the contract. The footage showed Avi being held by the woman until they got into the woman's car. "I don't think my brother was in a position to consent to sex. With that... dare I say it, you may have raped him. You see, we can go through an extensive legal process, and my brother can be demoralized in front of all the media... that's true. But you leave penniless."

The woman looked at Avi with a frown and then looked at Mitch.

"We can only continue if you agree to the confidentiality agreement," Esther spoke slowly. "Then we can talk about the other topic."

"Another topic?" The woman repeated confused.

"Well, we're going to file a request for a paternity test, don't worry the lab is discreet and the test won't be invasive for the baby."

"No." The woman shook her head.

Esther tapped her fingers on the table.

"Any judge will ask for a paternity test to guarantee the rights of the child, we prefer to avoid a legal process."

"No need to take a paternity test, he's not the father."

"What?" Esther looked at Avi.

"Yes, you are not the father." The woman looked directly at Avi. "You don't remember anything?"

Avi looked at Esther and then at Mitch.

"You didn't get hard." The woman arched her eyebrows. "We went to my house, I took you to my room... you fell on the bed calling for Mitch, complaining about an Italian. I took your clothes off..." she continued ignoring the way Mitch shifted uncomfortably. "I kissed you, I tried to suck you, but you didn't get hard. You were too heavy to carry out... so I just took off my clothes and lay down." The woman shrugged. "The child is not yours. Belongs to my idiot ex-boyfriend. I need the money to support my son, the hospital bills are expensive and my ex-boyfriend disappeared when he found out I was pregnant."