Sharons early training
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A Woman In Full: Sharon's Journey Continues; Part VIII - Actionable free porn video
Part VIII - Actionable
When Sharon awoke Sunday morning, she saw it was a little after eight -
too early for Jocelyn by any standard, and certainly now. She slipped out
of bed and padded silently into the bathroom. She closed the door and
slipped off her knee-length nighty and panties.
She glanced in the full length mirror mounted on the door. She had
managed to drop a little more weight, so that her waist was slimmer than
ever. Her breasts had filled out a little more over the past year, so
that she was now a true C-cup. And her little nub, at rest, barely
protruded beyond her curly pubic hair.
Her hips were as full as they were going to get, and at that she had
something of a coltish look. She realized that this was actually a plus,
making her appear a bit younger, and in leggings or miniskirts, she
looked fabulous. She slipped on white lace panties, matching bra, white
capris and a lavender tank top, then slipped out of the bathroom and down
the hall.
The dining room was a disaster - folders and stacks of paper all over the
table, some on the floor, and a couple of low stacks on the couch. She
choked back the momentary irritation and reminded herself that it had to
have been after three when Jocelyn had finally come to bed. Stepping very
carefully around the stacks on the floor, she picked up the empty coffee
mug and empty water bottle and made her way into the kitchen.
She put on a pot of coffee and then quietly padded out into the hallway
to get the papers. Someone had beaten her to it and had brought in the
Times for her and left it outside her apartment door. Well, that was good
- maybe it had been Alicia, and that meant there was a chance for that
chill to thaw as well.
As she picked up the papers, she saw that there was another newspaper in
the stack, a tabloid. With a sense of dread, she pulled it to the top.
That's when she saw the note.
"Sharon, I thought you should see this. Page 8. So sorry for the other
day. I hope you can forgive me. Love, Alicia."
With a heavy sigh she picked up the papers and brought them inside. She
set the Times aside and opened the tabloid, the Sun-Tribune. Page Eight,
it turned out, was the gossip page, and the offending photo caught her
eye as soon as she turned the page.
There she was, in her sunglasses and hat, holding Ty, with KC smiling
approvingly. It was a nice shot until she saw the caption underneath.
"MOMMY...ER,DADDY...ER...: GENDER-BENDING HUBBY OF EMBATTLED BUSINESSWOMAN
JOCELYN DRAKE ENJOYS A TENDER MOMENT OUTSIDE THEIR GRAMERCY PARK HOME.
WILL THE REAL MOTHER PLEASE STAND UP?"
For a moment, she thought she might faint. She leaned with both hands on
the dining room table to steady herself and swallowed hard. She took some
deep breaths.
Slowly, she walked back to the door to the hallway, which was still open.
Her mind was refusing to operate and it was solely by rote that she
closed the door and turned the lock on the inside to secure it. It took
some time for the shock to wear off, but when it did, she noticed that
there was more, a short paragraph that led the column of gossip items
that followed.
"The shockwaves currently rocking the New York business community over
alleged SEC violations by Jocelyn Drake have been dwarfed by the
revelation of her pretend-lesbian relationship with a transsexual.
Raymond Boyle, aka Sharon Boyle, has apparently gone to great lengths to
hide his past, as well as his true identity as a man. But apparently,
he's still man enough for some things."
Julie and Jack came quickly. Rod and George came without even being
asked. Amber, the surprise guest, came alone.
"I read it early this morning," Jack said. "After the last one, I knew it
wasn't over. Defamation and libel are not my specialty, so I've been
reading up on it."
"Good," Jocelyn growled. "Because I want to nail their balls to the
wall."
Sharon watched Jack's face and knew immediately what he was thinking.
"Not that easy, though," she said, softly. He gazed at her with deep
sympathy and affection. "Is it?" she added.
"No, it isn't. And that's partly because each party sees its own side in
absolutes, but a jury sees the gaps between the absolutes."
A prima facie case could be made that all three - Jocelyn, Sharon and
even KC - had been damaged in a way that was actionable. In Jocelyn's
case, the article referred to alleged SEC violations, but no allegations
had yet been made against her by the SEC or anyone else.
"It could be argued that misstating what at this point is an attempt to
establish facts as an accusation prejudices public opinion against an
innocent person," he said.
Sharon, not being a public figure, could not be considered to be of
interest to the public or newsworthy. Details of her past life, or of her
relationship with Jocelyn, were not something that the public had a need
or right to know. So, the tabloid did not have the right to use her
likeness without her permission.
"On top of all that, the photo and the caption are a deliberate attempt
to portray Sharon as one of Ty's parents, and, by extension, as an adult
who would have had an improper and unlawful sexual relationship with a
minor. It also states that Sharon went to great lengths to hide her past,
which is not true: Sharon only changed her name and her gender, and did
not, to my knowledge, try to expunge any official records from her past."
Sharon glanced at him quizzically.
"I mean that you didn't try to have your name changed on your official
school transcripts or anything like that," he explained. She shook her
head.
"What about KC?" Amber asked.
"Again, she's not a public figure and in no way can be considered
newsworthy. Moreover, she's a minor. They had no right to use her
likeness without her or your permission. It could also be argued that she
was harmed - defamed - by the revelation of her status as a teen mother."
"You're damned right I'd argue that," Amber snapped.
"Not so fast," Jack replied with a small smile. "The defamation requires
the reader to make the connection of the insinuation. If they accept that
Sharon would have been the father, then that suggests that KC is the
mother. But nowhere do they say that she is."
Likewise, a jury could decide that Sharon, by virtue of the first
article, had become a public figure and therefore newsworthy, much as
Jocelyn had. And, if the SEC ultimately made no accusation against
Jocelyn, it could be argued that she was never defamed because she had
suffered no damage.
Amber, Julie, Rod, George and Jocelyn all started to object. Sharon held
up a hand to stop them.
"Jack," she said in a tremulous voice, "I really appreciate the way
you've laid all this out. You put a lot of time in on this, I can tell,
and I'm so very grateful that once again you've come to our rescue."
Jocelyn slid over to her and put her arm around her, holding her close.
"So," Jocelyn said, "what's your advice, Jack?"
"Well, as I said, this is not my bailiwick. I have a friend over at
another firm whom I would recommend very highly. Meet with him and see
what he thinks. Attorneys are usually hesitant to take on defamation
cases because they're hard to win and the awards are almost always less
than anticipated. That means that plaintiffs usually have to pay some
costs up front, and that means that only plaintiffs with very deep
pockets and very high pain tolerance ride it to the end.
"And, as he'll tell you, there is an inherent risk in bringing a
defamation suit in terms of public perception: if the plaintiff loses the
case, the public tends to assume that the libel was in fact true, and
that's often an even more hurtful outcome. That said, there are certain
publishers, and this is one of them, who are already held in low esteem
by the public, and sometimes the mere bringing of an accusation of libel
secures contumely for them in the public mind."
George asked him which, of the three, had the case that would be easiest
to make.
"That's easy," Jack replied. "It's KC. There is no room for doubt about
whether there was a right to use her likeness - there wasn't, and they
didn't secure permission. Plus, she's a kid."
"But?" Amber asked.
"It would be hard to establish that she suffered any quantifiable loss.
Lots of girls in her position would love to get their pictures in the
paper. It would also be hard to establish that the paper gained any
direct economic benefit from it. They'll claim it was just filler."
"I'd like to meet with your friend as soon as it can be arranged,"
Jocelyn said, glancing over at Sharon to make sure she agreed. Sharon
nodded. "Amber, you and KC are welcome to join us if you want."
"We won't love you, KC or Ty any less if you don't," Sharon said. Amber
rushed over and hugged Sharon.
"We'll be there," she said.
A little later that afternoon, the phone rang. Caller ID showed that it
was the Times. Jocelyn answered it, armed with the statement that she and
Sharon had prepared with Jack's help.
"Yes," she said, "I saw the piece. My spouse and I are issuing a
statement and will not answer any other questions...certainly, I will: the
piece that appeared this morning in the Sun-Tribune used prejudicial
language to belittle a legitimate life choice, make false accusations
against my spouse and myself and trivialize our marriage. It was the act
of a hate-monger. We are currently considering what, if any, action we
will take regarding this indefensible invasion of our privacy...yes, that's
it...what? I don't know, I'll have to get back to you."
"What do you have to get back to them about?" Sharon asked.
"They want to do an article about us."
Jocelyn got to the office early Monday morning. Jack had warned her that
she might not be able to log in to the company's system in the office,
either, and had suggested that if that were the case, she would have to
decide among a couple of rather bold choices. He had repeated his advice
that if such were not the case, she should keep her demeanor low key.
She logged in with no problem.
A quick check indicated that she had access to all systems and all her
files.
"So," she said, "Jack was right. Big brother wants to be able to see what
I'm doing and will pull the plug when he thinks I'm getting too close."
She called in a ticket to the IT department about her inability to login
from home. A little after 2:00, she got a confirmation of the report, but
no timeframe for action.
She remembered something she had come across early Sunday morning, a memo
about cost allocations - not the one on the reinsurance deal, but the
convoluted one that she was still trying to unravel, the one that
involved so many investment lines. It had been written by the person who
had become embroiled in the controversy of how the insurance transaction
should be costed out.
Sheila Levinson.
That was the name. In fact, Jocelyn remembered some fairly contentious e-
mails between Sheila and Kate DeVries. She checked the online address
book to get Sheila's number. If her e-mails were any indication, it would
be no great difficulty getting her to open up.
There was no phone listing for Sheila.
"That's odd," Jocelyn said to herself. She wondered if perhaps Sheila had
been one of those investment folks who'd gone in for the telecommuting
pilot. She'd heard that those who did lost their office space.
So, she decided to send her an e-mail. She'd have to keep it very non-
specific, limiting it to "Just want to ask you some things". She input
Sheila's last name so that the system would return her full e-mail
address.
There was no e-mail address for Sheila.
She called Tom Devon over in Cost Accounting. Could he tell her who his
main contact in the Investment area was for cost issues?
"Depends on the kind of investment," he said.
"Derivatives."
He checked a listing he had.
"Rick Maletta."
"Is he new? I seem to remember someone else over there; a woman."
"Yeah, he is. You're good! He just took over in that slot a couple of
weeks ago. Replaced Sheila Levinson."
She asked him to come to her office.
"Be right there," he replied. Five minutes later, he was sitting in one
of her guest chairs.
"Did Sheila quit?" she asked with no preamble. Tom shifted in his seat.
"Officially, she retired."
She looked him in the eye. She could sense him thinking, 'please don't
ask me'.
"She seemed rather young to be retiring," Jocelyn said, not breaking off
her gaze. "From my recollection of her, she couldn't have been much over
fifty."
"Fifty two."
"Tom, I sign the disclosures about our pension plan. It's not that
generous."
Every middle manager, she thought, thinks he's smarter than the people
who run the company. A lot of them are right. Some itch for the day when
they can lay it all out, just how the big bosses have screwed up. Tom
Devon was a straight shooter - technically proficient, liked by his
staff, respected by his peers, made some of his superiors uncomfortable;
had he had his fill of senior management?
"Did she hit the lottery?" she asked.
"In a manner of speaking, yes."
"In a manner of speaking? What does that mean, I wonder?"
The hesitation was only momentary.
"She got a package, ma'am."
"A package? A severance package? I don't think so, Tom. I see every
severance package we give. What's more, there haven't been any staff
reductions in the investment area."
But Tom hadn't said a severance package. He hadn't meant that, either.
"Look, ma'am, Sheila and I were kind of friendly. Not super close, but we
got on okay. She got some kind of sweetheart deal that she wasn't allowed
to talk about. If you really didn't know about it, then I guess you
weren't intended to know about it, and from my perspective, that's
incredibly bad news."
"Well, if it will make you feel any better, finding this out about Sheila
is incredibly bad news to me. I need a way to reach her - address, phone
number, e-mail, anything."
"I did get an e-mail from her after she left," he said. "I'll forward it
to you."
"I need you to print it out and bring it to me. I can no longer access
the system from my home computer."
Tom's eyes went wide.
"I put in a ticket," she said. "I'm sure it's just a minor glitch."
"Shit!" he whispered.
"Mr. Devon, if you have anything I should know, now's the time."
"Sorry, ma'am. I just hate having all my worst fears confirmed in one
evening. I'll be right back."
He was back in less than ten minutes. The e-mail was light but had a
certain warmth. Sheila liked having time for drawing and painting but
felt rather at loose ends.
"Maybe I'll grow to like exile," she had written. "Kings and queens seem
to."
She had included personal contact information.
Jocelyn locked it safely in her briefcase.
"Oh," Tom said, offering her another piece of paper. "I printed you a
second copy, just in case the first one got...misplaced."
Jocelyn couldn't help but smile.
"That's kind of cloak and dagger, isn't it, Mr. Devon?"
"Well, I figured now's the time."
Vera
- 17.06.2020
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