Barclay Davis - Angela, Frida Gets Cross Examined

 

Art by Scopedog

Izzy had just finished talking to his client Frida on the stand, during the custody case between her and Archie Sanders for Angela. Frida had just told the court how she met Archie, how he got her pregnant, and how he took Angela out from under her nose. Frida concluded by telling the court that, when she went to confront him, Archie had punched her in the mouth and threatened to do worse to her if she didn't leave his place. There were some gasps coming from the courtroom when they heard that, making Archie look worse than before.

But now, Frida has to face Archie's high priced lawyer, Tyrone Armstrong, for cross examining.

***

Tyrone casually walked up to Frida, and says to her, "So, Miss Olsen. Are you alright?"

Frida seemed confused by that line of questioning to her. She replied, "Yes, I am."

"Are you sure?" Tyrone asks her.

Frida felt insulted by that remark of his, spouting "Yes I am sure! Maybe you should ask your client that question, as he's clearly not well."

"But I'm not asking my client, I'm asking you, Miss Olsen!" Tyrone shot back.

"OBJECTION, your honor!" Izzy fired off. "Counsel's badgering my client with questions not relative to this case!"

"Sustained!" Judge Stone said. "Just get to your line of questioning already, counsel!" Judge Stone instructed Tyrone.

"Yes, your honor." Tyrone says to the judge, as he starts questioning Frida about her relationship with Catherine. "So, Miss Olsen. Can you explain to us who the woman in those photos is?"

"Yes." Frida said. "Her name's Catherine Walsh. She was my roommate in college."

"How close were the two of you?" Tyrone asked?

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!" Izzy said. "He's just asking questions that are on the voyeuristic side!"

"It's all in line with the pictures that were displayed the other day, your honor." Tyrone replied.

"Objection overruled." Judge Stone replied. Izzy didn't like that.

"So, Miss Olsen." Tyrone continued. "How close were you and Catherine?"

After a brief pause, Frida said "Well, if you must know, Catherine and I were close. Like two sisters that grew up close together. I didn't have any siblings or friends when I was growing up. Catherine was like the big sister I never had. She was like a real friend to me."

"Did you do everything together?" Tyrone asked.

"Yes we did everything together." Frida said. "We studied together, partied together, attended events together. We did everything together that friends would do."

"Like having sex together?" Tyrone said.

"NO!" Frida shot back. "We didn't engage in sex, at the start."

"When did the two of you start, Miss Olsen?" Tyrone asked of Frida.

After a brief pause, Frida said, "Well...we were about two thirds of the way through our first year, when Catherine and I were in our dorm room talking about boys and dating. She said she never went through high school without a boyfriend. I told her I never had one. She talked to me about how to attract men, and during that, she asked me if I ever kissed a guy, and I said no. So she asked me if I wanted to try practicing on her. I was hesitant, at first, But I went along with it. When we started kissing, it felt real good. And, before we knew it, we were making love."

"And how long were the two of you lovers, Miss Olsen?" Tyrone asked.

"About over a year, a year and a half or so." Frida said.

"What happened to that relationship, that ended it?" Tyrone asked.

"Well..." Frida started saying. "Catherine started getting rough. I wasn't into that. She wanted to try some kinky stuff, like bondage and spankings, which I hated. But Catherine kept persisting. I was starting to grow apart from Catherine, as I really wasn't feeling like the adventurous type. Then, one night after returning from the library, I saw Catherine on the bed, naked with three other women. She saw me, and wanted me to join in. After that, I ran away from her. The next day, I asked to be put in a new room."

"Were you in love with her?" Tyrone asked?

"No." Frida said. And after a bit of a pause, she said "I don't think I would call it love, but we were both close."

"Miss Olsen, do you have a sexual attraction to women?" Tyrone asked.

"No." Frida said. "Not before or after Catherine."

"None whatsoever." Tyrone said, with a bit of a snark in his voice. "I find that hard to believe, Miss Olsen. Either you're a lesbian, or you're an extremely troubled woman."

"OBJECTION, your honor!" Izzy said. "Counsel is making crude attacks on my client!"

"Sustained!" Judge Stone said. "Just stick to the questioning, council!" Judge Stone advises Tyrone.

Tyrone continued. "Miss Olsen, what did you see in my client that you decided to go out with him?"

Frida said, "Well...I thought he was rather interesting. I heard a lot of stories about him. But the way he was treating me, at the beginning, I thought he was charming and sweet."

"When did you start losing interest in him?" Tyrone asked.

"Shortly after we started going out." Frida said. "He started making some off color remarks about some people. He had no problem spouting the N-word, the C-word, the F-word. One time, he got into an argument with a Jewish couple, and he told them Hitler should have finished the job with 'you people'!" That brought out some gasps from the audience.

Tyrone, surprised by that, tried a different tact. "Miss Olsen, can you honestly sit there and tell me that my client, a pillar of the community, is some sort of horrible monster?"

"Yes, he is!" Frida quickly snapped at Tyrone, who was taken aback by the way Frida answered him, as she continued. "He started trying to control me, trying to bend me to his will. He wasn't above calling me horrible names like 'skank' or 'slut.' He even tried manhandling me to control me, or threaten to hit me whenever he felt I deserved it."

"And why should the court believe that, Miss Olsen?" Tyrone asked.

"BECAUSE, IT DID HAPPEN!!!" Frida shouted, feeling insulted by that comment. "What woman, in her right mind, would put up with crap by the person she's going out with? Why would you even say that?"

"Because you don't seem to be in the right frame of mind, Miss Olsen." Tyrone said. "My client claims you're not well, mentally!"

"Well, any woman would be crazy to go out with him, or they would end up crazy in the end." Frida snapped at Archie's lawyer.

"Miss Olsen, have you ever had thoughts of suicide?" Tyrone asked Frida.

"OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR!" Izzy shouted. "That question has nothing to do with this case."

"Overruled!" Judge Stone said, to Izzy's frustration. "I'm interested to hear where this is going. Continue counsel."

Tyrone continued cross examining of Frida. "So Miss Olsen. Have you ever thought of killing yourself? Given the way you've handled this situation, you seem like someone on the verge of a breakdown."

Frida wasn't saying anything. Tyrone was growing impatient with her. "Miss Olsen? I asked you a question! Have you had any serious thoughts of taking your own life?"

Finally, Frida blurted out "Yes I did think of killing myself! I raised my daughter with all the love and attention any mother could give to her child, only to have that selfish jerk take her away from me, all so that daddy and mommy can keep giving him his allowance to do nothing!!!"

"Wow!" Tyrone sarcastically told Frida. "You're trying to take apart my client at the knees, miss, accusing him of being a soulless monster. Yet here you are, admitting you were willing to take your own life, because you couldn't handle the truth that you're not fit to be a mother!"

"I OBJECT, YOUR HONOR!!!" Izzy screamed. "Counsel is badgering my client again!"

"Sustained!" Judge Stone said. "You were already told about this, counsel!"

"Yes your honor." Tyrone said, as he continued. "Well, Miss Olsen. If you were willing to take your own life, after all that has happened...why are you still with us today?

"What reason do you have for being alive?"

Frida said nothing, to start. Then, she started saying "...it's because..." She didn't saying anything, at that moment. Everyone in the courtroom was waiting for Frida's answer.

And then, she finally gave her answer.

"......it was because of Max!" Frida answered.

Max was completely taken by surprise with that answer, as he and Victor, who was perched on Max's left shoulder, were open mouthed stunned by her answer.

"Max?" Tyrone asked? Frida just nodded her head up and down.

"Yes." Frida said. "Max Edwards. He's my boyfriend. "We got together the same night my daughter was taken from me."

"Is this Max Edwards sitting in the court with us, right now, Miss Olsen?" Tyrone asked.

"Yes, he is." Frida answered. "He's sitting in the front row on the left end, behind our desk."

"You mean the one in the blue suit with the ridiculous crab on his shoulder?" He asked.

"Yes." Frida said.

Victor reacted to that, by saying, "Why you little..." Max had to get Victor to calm down.

"Just how did the two of you get together that night, Miss Olsen?" Tyrone asked.

"Well..." Frida started to say. "After I left Archie's place, I was driving around, not knowing what to do. I didn't want to head over to the Crow's Bar, where everyone was hanging out, for obvious reasons. So I went over to Max's apartment to wait for him and the Gang to return home. But I was surprised to see Max come home early and by himself. When I saw him, I immediately ran up to him to tell him what had happened. I ended up crying in Max's arms. Then he told me 'I love you.' When I heard him say that, I asked him to repeat that, which he did. He then told me why he loved me, and why he was afraid to admit it then.

"I ended up getting angry at him, because I thought he was trying to put himself over my daughter, and I called him a big stupid jerk." Frida concluded.

"And how did Max respond to that?" Tyrone asked.

Frida responded, "He just looked at me with a sad face, and walked away from me. And it was in that moment, I realized I was making a huge mistake. I turned around to run to him, and grabbed him by his arm, where I pulled him to me and started kissing him. I then told him 'I love you too, Max!' We then went inside, and I spent the night with him. We've been a couple ever since that moment."

After standing there, looking at Frida for a moment, Tyrone tells the judge "No further questions, your honor."

When Izzy hears that, he looks at Frida, then he looks at Max, still with a stunned look on his face. Izzy then looks at the judge, and decides to makes a move. "Your honor, if it pleases you, may I please speak to my client, while she's still in the docket?"

"If you must, counsel." Judge Stone said to Izzy, who then gets up and approaches Frida in the docket.

Izzy begins his questioning to Frida. "Ms Olsen, when did you first meet Max Edwards?"

Frida answered, "At the beginning of September on the first day of school. I was starting my new job as a teacher, and it was before the first classes began. I was very nervous, yet very excited to start a new phase of my life. I felt I was ready for anything to come my way. Until I saw...Max. He was standing outside the faculty lounge talking to both Principal Brown and Vice Principal McGilligan. He looked so incredibly handsome standing there, looking at them with those beautiful green eyes of his. And then he smiled. And I melted from the inside."

Max was just sitting there, with the dumbest of looks. His face then started twitching, as he was trying to remember that moment, at the beginning of the school year. Then, all of a sudden, Max's face froze in shock. "Oh my God!" Max says.

"What?" Victor asked Max.

"I remember talking to Brown and McGilligan, that early first day back." Max said, as he then turned to look at Victor. "That was before I first saw Frida!"

"WHAT?!!" Victor said to Max, as the two of them looking at Frida. Victor continued, "You mean..."

Izzy then asked Frida, "Did you go up and introduce yourself to Max, that day?"

"No." Frida said. "I wouldn't have known what to say to him, at that time. That entire week, everytime I saw Max walking towards me, in the hallways, I popped into a nearby empty classroom until he passed me by."

Max's mouth was left wide open, when he heard that from Frida. "OH! MY! GOD!" Max said in shock.

"Now what?" Victor asked of Max.

"...I was doing that exact same thing with Frida!" Max said, as Victor's eyes bulged out when he heard that.

"So when did the two of you actually meet, Ms Olsen?" Izzy asked.

"It was at the Crow's Bar, on the Friday night of that week." Frida said. "It was my first night, as a waitress there. I had just gotten back from my ten minute break, and was walking across the bar, when I saw Max sitting at a table with his friends. When I looked at him, he was staring at me, intensely. I was completely surprised by that. I had gotten to his table, when he got up to speak to me.

"Max was introducing himself and his friends to me." Frida continued, "I really didn't pay too much attention to what Max was saying to me. All I did was stare into his beautiful green eyes, wanting to badly and deeply kiss him on the mouth."

"HOLY SHIT!!!" Max said to Victor. "I thought Frida was looking at me like I was a big loser!"

"So then what happened?" Izzy asked Frida.

Frida answered, "Max invited me to sit with his friends, but I told him I was coming off a break and had to go back to work as a waitress. He seemed disappointed with that."

"Did you talk to Max again that night?" Izzy asked.

"No." Frida said. "Things got busy for me. Max and the Gang got thrown out of the bar, after an incident involving one of them. They ended up across the street, heading home. I looked out the window to see Max.

"Monday morning, he stopped by my classroom. We talked about Friday night and some other things. Then, he looked at me and smiled. I was losing it from the inside, as his smiles weaken me. When I smiled back at him, he started acting all strange. He started leaving, but kept banging his leg into the desks. I watched him, as he finally left the classroom. And, as I was looking at him, I felt as if he felt the same way about me!"

"Did the two of you started getting together more?" Izzy asked.

"Not right away." Frida said. "The next time Max and I got together was at lunchtime at Danforth, a couple of weeks later. He sometimes eats his lunch alone in the school auditorium. I saw him go in there, and thought I'd like to join him. We started talking about our past lives. Max told me his, and I told him mine. He sounded so concerned about my past that, when I was almost done...he kissed me on my cheek."

"That must have been a big surprise for you, Ms Olsen." Izzy said.

"It was!" Frida said. "I looked at Max after he kissed me. But somehow, when Max was looking at me, he got all worked up and was apologizing to me, because he thought he had offended me, and started leaving the auditorium."

"Were you offended that he did that to you?" Izzy asked.

"No!" Frida said. "I quite liked it. It meant that Max cared for me, and was concerned for me."

"Interesting!" Izzy said. "Has Max ever met your daughter Angela?"

"Yes he has!" Frida said, with a lift in her voice. "The first time he saw her was on the same day Max and I ate lunch in the auditorium. Her babysitters, Marie and Gerald, stopped by after school to drop Angela off with me. Max said hi to her, but she was too shy to say hi back."

Frida continued talking. "The next time he saw her was at the Harvest Festival. Max had bought Angela some cotton candy to eat. But when Archie showed up and started tossing Angela's stuffed rabbit, Max tried to confront him. But Archie overpowered him. If one of our friends hadn't stepped in, Max would have been beaten terribly." Archie had a smirk on his face when Frida said that.

"And what did you think about Max stepping in for you?" Izzy asked.

"I was scared for his well being." Frida answered. "But I loved how he stood up for us. But I loved even more how he showed up to my class, the following Monday, to deliver a new stuffed rabbit that he bought for me to give to Angela."

"Wow, he must really care about you and your daughter a lot for him to buy a replacement doll for Angela." Izzy told Frida.

"Yes, I thought so too." Frida said, with a bit of a smile on her face.

"Did Max do anything else for you and your daughter?" Izzy asked Frida.

"Yes!" Frida said, emphatically. "Not long after that, Max volunteered to babysit Angela, after Marie and Gerald were called for a family emergency. I was hesitant, at first, because I wasn't sure Max was up for looking after Angela. But I went ahead with his idea. I dropped Angela off at Max's apartment, which was walking distance from the Crow's Bar, and went to work. When I went to pick Angela up after work, she seemed to enjoy staying with Max."

"Well, that sounded encouraging!" Izzy said to Frida.

"Yes, it was!" Frida said, her voice sounding more positive when talking about Max. "And then, the next night, as I was tucking Angela into bed, she asked me if Max could be her new daddy!"

"Really?!!" Izzy said. "How did you react to that?"

"Well, I was taken aback, at first." Frida said. "But after I composed myself, I told Angela that we'd talk about that the next day. I then kissed her forehead, said goodnight to her, and left her room. But after I left, I got excited over what Angela told me about Max. The next day, after I got to Danforth, I headed straight to Max's classroom to tell him all about that."

"And how did Max handle that news?" Izzy asked Frida.

"He looked and acted surprised by it." Frida said. "But as he was trying to explain himself...I started hugging him and kissing him, deeply, on his mouth!"

"Woah!" Izzy said. "How did Max handle that?"

"He looked surprised!" Frida said. "He didn't say anything after I kissed him. I then turned and left his classroom."

"What happened after that?" Izzy asked.

"Well..." Frida started saying. "He spent the rest of the week ignoring me. I tried my best to get his attention. But he was acting all nervous and sheepish in front of me. I tried confronting him about it on that Friday, but he never said anything. I got so upset, I started crying. A couple of my fellow teachers heard me cry, and tried helping me out by giving me a quick makeover so I could present myself more seductively to him. I got to his classroom, and was about to pounce on him. But that's when I got called to the office, where I found out about Angela. The rest of that, I already explained."

"When did you move in with Max?" Izzy asked.

"Shortly after that." Frida said. "I left Max's place, after I spent the weekend with him. But when I got home, I was looking at all of Angela's stuff that she had lying all over the place. My anxiety levels rose, and before I knew it, I blacked out. When I came to, I saw Max holding me in his arms. When I saw him, I started crying and hugging him. Max thought it would be better for my state of mind if I moved in with him."

"Ms Olsen, do you think Max would make a fine father to your daughter, Angela?" Izzy asked Frida.

Frida smiled, and answered. "I think Max would be an excellent father for Angela! He's already shown he cares deeply for her. And I know Angela would love to have Max as her daddy!"

"Well, that's quite a description you've given us, Ms Olsen." Izzy said. "You had quite a journey from being instantly attracted to Max Edwards, to moving in with him."

"Oh no!" Frida had interjected. "I wasn't instantly attracted to Max!"

Max, Victor, and the Gang were quite surprised to hear Frida say that. Izzy then said to Frida "Oh? You just basically said, under oath, that Max Edwards made your heart flutter, at first sight. How can that not be anything BUT instant attraction?"

Frida then looked directly at Max, who had an innocent look of confusion on his face, after Frida said all that about him. Then, still looking directly at Max, Frida said:

"...because I fell in love with Max, the moment I first saw him!"

Max and Victor's jaws dropped and their eyes had bugged out, when Frida said that. Frida continued, "And my love for him has only grown larger ever since."

"Max has been everything I was looking for in a man, and more. I owe Max my life...as well as my love."

Max and Victor just sat there with the most dumbfucked of looks, as Max was still trying to process what Frida had just said about him under oath.

Izzy then said to Judge Stone, "No further questions, your honor!" And then headed back to his seat.

Judge Stone asked Tyrone if he had anything to add. Tyrone said no.

The judge then said "Well, that was an interesting turn of events. I shall now take this time to come up with a final verdict. In the meantime, court is adjourned!" And bangs his gavel.

As everyone in the courtroom starts getting up and moving about, Max, still frozen and unmoved in his spot over what Frida had just said, says to Mitch, who was sitting next to him during the trial, "Mitch?"

"Yeah, Max?" Mitch asks him.

"Would you take Victor for me, please?" Max asks of Mitch. Victor and Mitch look at Max, and Mitch takes Victor off his shoulder. Max then gets up, and starts to head out the courtroom, not moving anything but his legs.

Victor asks Max, "Where ya goin'?"

Max, acting weird and confused, starts pointing his fingers all over the place, while saying "AH-DAHB-UB-DAHB-UB-DAHB-U-DAT!!!" He was then just standing there with his mouth open and his fingers pointing at the door. He then turns his head towards the exit, and, still pointing a solitary finger out, Max starts to walk out the courtroom.

When Frida sees Max leaving, she tries to stop him. But Izzy blocks her from leaving, saying they had to go through some post trial material, as they awaited the judge's verdict. But Frida was upset that Max was leaving her in the courtroom, and wondered what was going through his mind at that moment.

Outside the courthouse, Max was walking in a trance. His feet and legs were moving, but the rest of his body and face were frozen. Max had just listened to Frida talk on the stand just how much she loves and cares for him, and how he's been his rock for her all this time.

Max was still deciphering what he just took in. He always heard Frida tell him how much she loves him, and he believes her. Yet there was always this nagging feeling gnawing away at him that her love for him wasn't real. And that it was all just a façade where he'd end up back to being alone with no one to love him.

But after Frida told everyone, under oath, how big her love for him was, something had pierced through Max's soul like a laser beam. And it was shaking Max to his core.

Max was walking down one street, past all the shops, not knowing what to do. His mind was a complete blank.

Then, Max saw something along the street that caught his attention. After standing there for a moment, Max rushes towards it, and walks in.

Coming up: Barclay Davis - Angela, The Final Word