Friends with Benefits

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven

Things I own: my sanity (though, that's debatable at times), not enough time to write and incredible friends and family!!

Things I don't: Twilight, Edward and Bella (Damn. It.)

Chapter 127

EPOV

"Mr. Cullen, do you have anything scheduled for this afternoon?" asked Charlotte.

"I have a brief meeting with Eleazar about case. Why?" I replied.

"What time?"

"Right after lunch."

"Well, I think we hit pay dirt with this whole Paul Lahote thing," Charlotte cackled evilly. "I have someone who is willing to talk,who got burned. Badly. She's coming in at three."

"Really? Charlotte! This is amazing," I beamed.

"Get permission from the bigwigs to do this case, Mr. Cullen. This Paul guy is a douchebag. I mean, huge, massive douchebag," Charlotte hissed. "I'm on my way in. I have a whole report typed up, but it's better when you hear it from the source."

"Thanks, Charlotte," I said. "Send me your report and I'll bring it up with my meeting with Eleazar." We got off the phone and five minutes later, I received an encrypted file from Charlotte. I breezed through it, shocked at the behavior of Bella's ex-boyfriend. I made a few notations before grabbing lunch and going to my meeting. I spoke with Eleazar, explaining what I was working on. I showed him the photos of Paul with various girls and the report that Charlotte sent. He was shocked at the behavior of this college professor and asked where I had gotten this lead. I explained that he was an acquaintance of Bella's and that we ran into him in Chicago with a very young girl. I had overheard her asking if she would get an 'A' if she gave him a blow job.

Long story short, I needed to get a client, but Eleazar would support me in pursuing this case. He also said that I could sit first chair if it came to trial. We finished our meeting about housing dispute and then I went to my office, preparing for the sit-down with the girl that Charlotte spoke to, Kim.

At three, my phone buzzed and the receptionist said that I had a client asking for me. Putting on my suit coat, I walked to the lobby. Kim was sitting on one of the leather couches, clutching her school bag. Charlotte was sitting next to her, scrolling through her phone. "Kim?" I called, putting on a friendly smile. Charlotte elbowed her and Kim stood up. "I'm Edward Cullen. I'm one of the associates here at Denali, Volturi and Romani. Thank you for coming down to the office. Can I get you something to drink? Coffee? Water?"

"Tequila would be good," Kim quipped.

"Fresh out," I chuckled. "This way." Kim nodded, walking past me to my office. She was small, petite and very pretty with reddish hair, crystal blue eyes and subtle curves. I picked up a couple of bottles of water from the fridge before sitting down atthe small table in my office. "First off, I do want to thank you for coming down..."

"I want to get this bastard," she sneered. "He took everything from me. But, I can't afford to pay for an attorney. Especially not one as expensive as you..."

"Kim, before we talk about anything related to money, I want to hear what happened. What did Mr. Lahote do to you?"

"Did you tell him?" Kim asked Charlotte.

"I sent him a file with our conversation, but Mr. Cullen wants to hear it for himself," Charlotte explained.

"Charlotte sent me the file, but it's not the same as hearing it directly from the person involved. Please, tell me everything," I pleaded, giving her a reassuring grin. "How did you meet Paul?"

"I was enrolled in his introduction to English Literature class, last fall. I was a sophomore transfer from College of Dupage. I wasn't challenged there. Anyhow, I was intrigued by the reading list from the class and I signed up. The class was mostly girls, freshman and sophomores since it was an introductory course. Paul wasn't the best teacher. He didn't explain things well and flew off the handle easily when questions he deemed as 'stupid' were asked.

"Anyhow, after we turned in our first papers, I was shocked at my grade. I had received a D-minus. It was a comparative paper, discussing the similarities of Macbeth and Hamlet. I requested a meeting with Paul to discuss my grade and why I received the score I did. I was ready to fight for an increase in my score or to re-do the paper. He had other ideas. He was always touching my hair, caressing my arm and trying to hug me. He said that if I gave him a blow job, the grade would change. Shocked, I left the office and sobbed in my car before driving to my apartment.

"Each assignment I turned in, the grades would get worse even though they were A-level papers," Kim explained.

"Do you have copies?" I asked.

She nodded, handing me a file of her work. I flipped through the assignments and they were well-thought out, intelligent papers that did not deserve the failing grades that she had received.

"I started panicking, Mr. Cullen. I had a scholarship to attend UIUC. If I failed any class, that money would be gone and I'd be stuck going back to College of Dupage," she said. "I met up with Paul again, feeling horrible about myself, but agreeing to his terms. It started that night. First a blow job, then sex in his car, sex in my car or sex in my apartment. My grade improved and I felt like a whore." She sniffled, wiping her cheeks with her hand. I handed her a Kleenex. "To add insult to injury, I caught an STD from him. He promised me he was safe and clean, but I got chlamydia from him and was put on some pretty substantial medication for it. I stopped all sexual contact once I was diagnosed and I ended up with a D in the class because I wouldn't fuck him anymore."

"I hate to ask this, but were you the only one?" I asked.

"At first, I thought I was. But, I was grumbling about my grade and another girl, who was a freshman from downstate overheard me. She asked if Professor Lahote had promised me a higher grade in exchange for 'sexual things' and I nodded. The girl was just barely eighteen and lost her virginity to that monster," Kim snarled. "On top of everything else, she was pregnant with his baby."

"Did she have it?" Charlotte questioned.

"I don't know. She dropped out shortly after I spoke to her," Kim frowned. "I know that I wasn't the only one. My roommate was also a victim. He appears he preys on the prettiest and most vulnerable girls, ones who are relying on scholarships to keep them in school. Our financial status is on the teacher's grade books. Paul left it open one night after he finished his romp with me. It clearly stated that I was on scholarship, receiving almost of my tuition from the university."

"And when did you say this happened?"

"Fall of 2012," Kim answered. I scowled. Bella had been with him while he was pulling this bullshit with his students. I wonder if he told her about his STD? Bella was clean. She always got tested when she went in for her shot. She showed me her latest results of STDs once we got back from Phoenix. "So, what are we going to do, Mr. Cullen?"

"We're going to take Paul Lahote down," I answered. Kim smiled sinisterly, ready to go into battle.

A/N: The case that Edward is building a civil case. It's not criminal since they were both of age. He essentially used hispower to sexually harass her and persuade her into a sexual relationship. What he did to that freshman (which we'll find out more later), is classified as criminal since she was underage at the time he had sex with her. Anyhow, next up will be some more buildup of the case against Paul. Leave me some!