Hotbed

 A Saturday Afternoon in the shopping center... Attorney Natalie Charles was in the lingerie store looking at some pieces she was considering buying.

She felt a presence behind her and a strong fragrance... She turned to see a familliar face..

"MILES!!Miles Ellis...You're back in town!! I heard you were out in San-Francisco!"said Natalie.

"Natalie !! I'm back in Philly.... I'm doing some freelance work.......You still with the District Attorney's Office?" he asked.

"In a way...Brooke and I work for the Wrongful Conviction, Conviction Integrity Unit of the D.A.'s Office now." she said.

He , Brooke and Natalie had all been Assistant District Attorneys at one time....He and Natalie

had gone drinking one afternoon after a trial..

The drinking got them both horny, which led to much kissing..

More kissing than she expected or wanted...

and Miles getting very frisky....

leading  to them having a late afternoon tryst in her apartment......She had never wanted to do that with him...She knew he had a girlfriend....Had even seen him with her a few times...

She had nothing against her,,,,

Miles avoided her after that afternoon and for her part, she never allowed herself to be alone with him again...

Miles spotted a wedding band on her finger..

"Natalie....you're married?" he asked.

"I am...Almost two years now..,.To David Charles." she said proudly...

"David Charles?  I know him, Public Defender eh?  How do you know him?"asked Miles.

"Brooke and I worked with him, Jessica Sanchez-Burrows and Charles "Chip" Burrows in the Public Defenders Office for three years, before we came over to the D.A.'s office." said Natalie.

"Oh yeah....You work in the Bridge Building now with Karen Page...In fact, she's your supervisor isn't she.?"asked Miles.

He had worked with Karen when she was an ADA also.

"Yes she is,,, and Brooke and my husband work with her too!" said Natalie...

"Ohhhh I see.....Funny you should mention Jessica Sanchez-Burrows....

The Activist Attorney for the Innocence Project....She works in your building too and that Bridge Building is a hot bed of activity...

She and her husband of the Innocence Project are defending a number of immigrants and American Citizens who have been unlawfully detained by ICE... She put together a team of Attorneys, Yvette Jones and her group, Olivia Bennett-Alexander and her team, along with some extra attorneys, the husbands of two of Olivia's girls who also work in your building and a Young Nigerian Attorney who just recently got his citizenship and who works at the American Consulate...

 

 

 

 

They have been trying these cases and winning these cases.." said Miles.

"Jessica is good at organizing and putting together teams...She always was...Even when she was a Public Defender..."said Natalie.

"As I told you...I do freelance work...and I've got a case right up your alley...but it's Saturday afternoon...I'll be dropping by your office on Monday to discuss it with you...It'll be nice to see Brooke and Karen again...Oh and also...Nina Rios and two of her associates will be down too." he said..

He looked at the sheer lace panties in the row...then he looked at Natalie. He imagined her in each pair.

He smiled..

"I uh guess David gets to see you in these huh?" he laughed.

"Yes...He sure does...He's my husband...Why wouldn't he? Why aren't you married Miles?" asked Natalie.

"Oh I don't know....Just haven't met the right woman yet...I'll see you Monday Morning Natalie." he said.

"See you then." said Natalie.

Natalie thought about all the activity in her building and down the street in Federal Court

where these dramas were playing out....  It was almost like it was punishment for all of the fun she and her friends had been having lately...

On The Party Boat out on the river one weekend...

and the rooftop party at Nina, Carlos, Lee and Matthew's apartment complex 

the week after that...

They had had their fun...and now they were paying for it with a lot of work.

Some of us anyway, she thought and smiled.

II-

This Saturday night we were all in Josie's...Our neighborhood spot. There was no weekend cruise this weekend or Rooftop Party,... We all had been hanging around the neighborhood and decided to hang out at our favorite neighbor hood "watering hole" Josie's Bar and Grille.

Gus the Owner and Head bartender still served the drinks , chewed the fat with the attendees and snapped his fingers to the music.

The place was packed as usual...

and a live band from New Jersey was playing...keeping everybody amused. 

"This is sooo relaxing...brings back memories to when this was the only place we went to hang out."laughed Olivia.

 

"Good Ole Josie's...I love it here....The other places ,Aqua Bar, Stoleys, mermaid Club, Curley's ,No I.D. Bar are cool, but none more relaxing and homey than Josie's" said Donnie Ray.

"Especially tonight...We can walk home from here...Most of us anyway..." said Beverly...

"Yeah....I'm glad we only have one more case left."said Nelson.

"We won all of those cases...I'm glad we got to work with you hubby." said Josie.

"Yeah, you should call on us more often...."said Paris.

"You got some much needed courtroom experience."said Bresha.

"Yeah and we got out of the office too! Loved it."said Tony....

"I enjoyed coming to the Bridge Building and eating at your cafeteria too." said Alfreda.

"Wow this was a very extensive set of trials..."said Rockland.

 "Olivia and my team have worked together before...many times before...We enjoyed working with them....but I'm glad we are down to one more case a piece." said Yvette, kicking off her heels as she leaned into her husband's shoulders...

"You guys won all of those cases pretty easily." said Gary...

"That's because they were all so bogus..And they didn't think those defendents would lawyer up so quick and be represented." said Keith Jones..

"Jessica was great, the way she organized our two groups and pointed us in the right directions." said Bee Bee.

"Olivia's bus service was great in getting us where we needed to be when we needed to be there..."said Sofia.

"They didn't know what hit em...We were on the case and had them in court ...We put them on the defensive, defending the undefendable." said Kahlil.

"They'll think twice before they pull those stunts again."said Jade.

"Just look out for Jessica.   I know these clowns are going to target her, for organizing the legal defenses."said Danny Ho.

"They're a vengeful bunch." said Virginia.

"True dat." said her husband, Jetty.

Beers arrived at their table. 

"Jessie , you were wonderful and if you and or Chip need a lawyer...Me and Kayla are available."said Jazzy.
 

"Me too!  I'm pretty sure these goons are going to come after you...They don't like being embarrassed and thwarted so many times.."said Dabnis.

"You made national news.."said Kayla.

"I'm glad some of our attorneys were able to assist you in your endeavors." said Ray...

"Thank you all....Believe me , we couldn't have done it without you." said Jessica.

"Really....I'm just glad it's all coming to an end."said her husband, Chip.

"I would feel left out of all the action, but I've been informed we have a big case coming up that involves the Women's Law Center." said Karen.

"Never a dull moment... I've been covering these Immigration trials for HARD BOTTOM... Looks like I'll be covering you guys too!" said her husband, B.L.

"I ran into Miles Ellis in the Lingerie store in the shopping center.... He told me he'd be giving us the run down on Monday." said Natalie.

"What a place to run into him..."I said dryly....I knew who he was...I had never cared much for him.

Brooke cracked up laughing.....She knew Miles and his lady's man rep......

"You have nothing to worry about David.....My bestie is crazy about you..." she said.

"I'm exhausted tonight...I'll be assisting the attorneys next week in the last two immigration cases. "said Sean.

"We kind of had a light schedule"said Zoey.

"Knock on wood...You never know what's coming down the pike." said Lem.

"Truer words have never been spoken." said Renee.

"True that." said her husband, Tyrell.

Nina Rios sat at a table with Miles and her boyfriend Carlos discussing the upcoming case....

While Carlos sat and listened intently...

More Drinks arrived!!!

"It's so nice, you working with the attorneys in the Bridge Building...We get to have lunch together.."said Lee to her boyfriend, Matthew.

"It has been nice... I'm almost sorry it's coming to an end...I love eating in their cafeteria and seeing you for lunch..."said Matthew...

Natalie looked over at all of her friends and associates....Together in work and together in relaxation...

THAT NIGHT AT HOME!

"What a night....Did you have a good time? asked Natalie.

"Sure Did!  It's always nice how we are all together. Good times and bad times." I said.

"Yes...We are about to be involved in a major case...A Case involving the Women's Law Center"said Natalie..

"According to Miles Ellis."I said.

"Yeah according to him....Look, I've been drinking half the night...I'm a little tipsy and very horny, I hope you are too!" laughed Natalie.

"Oh I am...I'm as horny as hell." I said.

"You always are when you're alone with me." said Natalie.

I unsnapped her bra...

"See?" she said.

"OHHH MY GODDDDDDD!" I said.. She looked so sexy.....

"Look at youuuuuuu...OUUUUUUUUUUU!" laughed Natalie ,softly fondling me....

and slipped her panties off...

"You've got my clothes off and my underwear is following." she giggled.

"Yeah, how about that?" I said.  "MYYYYYYYY GOOODNESS!!!  Damnnn girl, you look good!" I said, just looking at her.

We stood in the middle of the floor naked for a minute, saying nothing...

"I love you David."she whispered.

"I love you too Natalie. I'm so turned on I can't think straight" I whispered to her..

"It's okay......It's okayyyyyy!" she said sweetly....

I picked her up and slowly parted her legs and entered her warm  wet center.....Her body once again trembled and her head moved from side to side...She held on to me for dear life...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU HUSBAND!" she cried out..

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWD!" I moaned...

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM DAVID...IS IT GOOD TO YOU? IS IT GOOD TO YOU BABY?" she screamed as I thrusted away...

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS....OH YESSSSSSSS!" I practically screamed.

I laid her on the bed and parted her legs....She was so wet and so warm and smelled so good that I was delirious...

I couldn't get enough of Natalie and she couldn't get enough of me...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU SWEET HUSBAND!!! OUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed softly...

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWWWWD!" I cried out...

We weren't doing a lot of moaning and cooing...but we were really going at each other...Natalie had her arms wrapped around my neck and her legs wide open and wrapped around my back...

She was having an intense orgasm!   She wasn't speaking but she was smiling broadly....and her body was trembling....

"Is it good to you? Is it good to you baby?" she whispered..

"YES...YES!" I cried out..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUU, UMMMMMMMMMM! I'M GlADDD! OUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....DAVID.....OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"Natalie finally moaned loudly.....She was having another intense orgasm!!!!

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM NATALIE....YOU ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY!" I cried out..

"YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY! THIS IS WHY YOU'RE MY HUSBAND!! OUUUUUUUUUU OH MY GOD!!! THIS IS WHY YOU'RE MY SWEET MANNNNN" she said...."OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned. Her body trembled and her head turned from side to side...Tears streamed down the side of her face...

We made love for the next EIGHT TO NINE HOURS!

Ending our night with Natalie lying on top of me, breathing heavily.....

"Look at you...Big smile on your face.." she said..

I continued to smile as she lay her head on my chest....I wrapped my arms around her back...

She snuggled in the crook of my arms...

"I'm glad I make you happy." she whispered and smiled at me....

"I'm glad you do too!" I whispered as we both dozed off.

Next Door at Brooke and Sean's house..

''What a night...Nice having all of us out."said Brooke.

"Even nicer that none of us had to drive..We all walked to the bar..." said Sean...

"And walked home. No DUI tonight." said Brooke,smiling.

"Uh Uh..not one....Maybe a WUI...Walking while under the influence. said Sean,

"Silly." laughed Brooke.

"Usually when I get you to laughing like this and you're just a little bit tipsy...."laughed Sean...

"My clothes come off..." said Brooke.

She took him into her arms and kissed him passionately....

"EXACTLY!" he said.

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Brooke you drive me mad!"said Sean....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu good, that means I'm doing my job..." she said.

"AWWWWWWWWW LAWWWWD!" he exclaimed.

Brooke giggled.

"I'm taking your clothes off."said Sean..

"I'm not resisting.." she whispered as they continued to kiss.

Sean slowly unsnapped her bra...

and slipped her panties down...

"Oh My God Sean, you are so hard....ouuuuuuu and so big! Ummmmmm" moaned Brooke..

He spread her legs and entered her slowly....She was wet and warm and smelled good...He was delirious...

OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!  WOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she cooed.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! LAWDDDDDDDDDDD! BROOKE!" he moaned...

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYY GODDDDDD!!OUUUUUUUUUUU
WOUUUUUUUUU!" she screamed. Tears flowed down her cheeks!

Her body trembled and she had a quick almost embarrassing orgasm....

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.LAWWWWWWWWWWD BROOKE, MY SWEET VANILLA!!!" he moaned.

The bed squeaked loudly and the headboard rattled....

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU! CHOCOLATE DADDY!!!" she moaned.. 

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HUSBAND!  OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" she moaned.

"UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!"he moaned loudly...

"Chocolate Daddy ,I'm about to cummm....OUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!"

"OHHHHHHHHHHH BROOKIE...SO AM I....AWWWWW LAWWWWWD!" he yelled out.

End of another long week....

III-

MONDAY MORNING, our conference room...

We had hot tumblers of coffee on our conference room table..

I looked at my watch as I picked up my coffee.

"He's late." I said... I hated tardiness.

"He was always late for meetings...Remember when we worked with him in the D.A.'s Office.?" asked Natalie.

"Yeah ,I do...He was always late."said Brooke, laughing.

"He'll be here."said Karen calmly..

"In fact I think I hear him." said Nina Rios.

Carlos simply stared at the door...

So did Lee....

Miles walked in with case files.....

"Hi guys...Sorry I'm late...I brought the case files with me...Thanks for the coffee.." he said.

He looked at the women in the group.....He already knew Natalie was married... He saw that Brooke was married, as well as Karen Page...Nina Rios was still single he saw....and this new girl, this Asian girl was fine...and she appeared single.. He was very interested in Lee.

"I know it's been a Hotbed of activity in this building the past few weeks..involving other attorneys... Well this case will involve you guys...He put a glossy of our soon to be current client on the table.

"This is our client, Lily Taylor...She was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of her husband, Venture Capitalist Skyler Taylor.... She stood to inherit several millions of dollars upon his death... She's been in prison for two years... Here is the thing..Her husband's body has never been found..!  They found his car with the keys still in the ignition at the airport....but no trace of him and no record of him buying an airline ticket. She was convicted on the skimpiest of evidence..

Jumpshot Jim was the prosecutor and the judge was....wait for it..

James Wilson..who is I understand, himself on death row, accused of killing HIS SPOUSE, HER LOVER and a young man who may have helped him dispose of the bodies...how ironic!

This guy was and is a menace...

"Yes, our friends and us have had to undo a lot of his bad convictions." said Karen...

''And I've found out recently that he may have committed a murder as far back as when he was 13..that he can't be charged for...No witnesses or evidence." said Brooke.

Natalie felt a chill down the small of her back...

I put my arm around her and hugged her.

"An Anonymous source brought her case to my attention and subsequently to the Women's Law Center."said Miles.

"Both Yvette and Olivia's teams are currently tied up....but I figured this is right up your alley, Wrongly Convicted...." said Nina..."We can work it together." said Nina.

"Excellent..Where do we begin?" asked Karen..

"Well I did the preliminary work on her case... She was at Dolly Madison Correctional Center for Women...She has now been transferred to Valhalla Women's Correctional Center here in Philadelphia."said Miles.

"Good Job....We'll visit her tomorrow...Who's going?" asked Nina.

"I'll go." said Natalie.

"That makes two of us." I said.

"Make that three." said Brooke.

"Make that four." said Lee...

"Okay....Nina ,Carlos will stay here and co-ordinate the defense." said Karen..

"Just like in the old days when we were co-ordinating the prosecution."laughed Nina.

"Sounds like a plan.." said Carlos.

"What do you plan to do Miles?" asked Karen..

"Oh I'll be at the prison with the others" he said smiling wryly and checking out Lee Phillips.

IV-

We took two cars this morning... In Car One.. We took Natalie's car... Her Blue Nissan Versa...

Natalie loved driving it...

I loved riding shotgun...

As agreed...We stopped by the apartments and picked up Lee and Matthew, who was off today and wanted to come along..

Behind us was Brooke ,driving her Nissan Kicks...

Like Natalie she loved driving it...

And her husband, Sean loved riding shotgun....

We arrived at the Valhalla Women's Detention Center early..

Our old pal, Bull Bailey happened to be working that day...Naturally he was glad to see Brooke, but upset that her Black husband had come along....

Miles Ellis was early there on time...

He knew she was married, but had no idea her husband was Black...He was surprised...Very surprised..

Lee was looking extra good in a red mini skirt.... but she too was with someone..

Another Black man....who he recognized from the newspapers as Matthew Akes, the Nigerian Born Attorney who not only had to fight to get his citizenship, but had to beat a murder rap.....What a nice prize...Lee Phillips..he thought.

Finally he saw me and Natalie....

"Looks like the brothers won today!" thought Miles with a smile..

Bull Bailey didn't agree...

Lily Taylor walked into the room with a guard...

She smiled upon seeing Miles..

"Miles , Mr. Ellis....How are you?" she asked.

"Yes...I'm back with the attorneys who are going to help you in your appeal...They are mostly from the Wrongful Conviction/Conviction Integrity Unit of the D.A.'s Office.. "This is Brooke Marks.." he said.

"Pleased to meet You Lily and this is my husband, Sean Marks...A Federal Public Defender...He will be working with us also.." said Brooke.

"Pleased to meet you Lily." said Sean.

"This is Natalie ...Uh Charles, Natalie Charles.." said Miles, making sure he got her married name correct.

"Hi Lily and this is my husband, Attorney David Charles."said Natalie.

"Pleased to meet you Lily." I said.

"And this young lady here is an attorney from the Women's Law Center...Ms. Lee Phillips."said Miles.

 

"Hello...Pleased to meet you." said Lee.

"My name is Matthew Akes, I'm also an Attorney, but I won't be working on your case....I'm just here with my significant other..Lee Phillips." he said proudly....

"Who asked you?" mumbled Miles under his breath...He was already irritated with Matthew and didn't see why he had to be here.

"Nice to meet you all." said Lily...

"My Supervisor and another attorney from the women's law center will also be on the team...They'll probably be coming out here at another time." said Lee.

"Wow!  I wish I had had all of this legal representation my first trial....I had a drunken old Public Defender who was totally intimidated by that horrible judge, James Wilson....I hear he's on Death Row himself....Bastard!" said Lilly.

"You won't have to worry about him this time around." said Sean, smiling..

"And we are far from old and broken down as you can see." said Brooke.

"Or the type that will be intimidated...We've won close to 400 cases to date." said Natalie.

"You'll be fine." I said, smiling....

"They mentored me...I just graduated from law school and passed the bar a short while ago." said Lee.

Matthew squeezed her gently.....

Lily looked at Miles...

"I like them already." she said.

Miles smiled his approval!

(TO BE CONTINUED)