Peter nursed a hangover for most of Thursday. His head felt like it was split in two, and his body ached in ways he hadn't known possible, but god what a glorious night it had been! Well worth losing a day in bed feeling like he'd been hit by a bus.
By Friday he felt fine, and was surprised to get a call from the lawyer’s office telling him the results from the rape kit were back and that he could pick up a copy at the office if he were so inclined.
Why yes, he'd like that very much. He had thought to himself.
Andre had stopped by for a quick bite to eat, Viktor was a damned good cook, and though he had moved out, he hadn't forgotten it, and thus agreed to drive him there afterward.
It was a quick trip, and after going over the results with one of Ms. Paulino's associates as she was in court for the afternoon, Peter sighed a breath of relief. He had been assured by Erin's partner, that with definitive proof that the accuser was lying, there would be no way Peter could possibly face charges at this point. Their office was confident that the DA would announce their decision to dismiss the girl's absurd claims and exonerate Peter.
And with Training camp only a couple of days from now, it couldn't have happened at a better time! It had felt as though the weight of all of Russia had been on his back, and now he could breathe easily again. There was simply nothing she could do to him now, even her lawsuit would be dismissed he had been told. Although the partner had already been under the impression that the civil suit was going nowhere fast.
Apparently, the girl's lawyer had dropped her case, and no one else seemed inclined to pick it up. Now with these results coming to light, surely no one would. Peter was free, free at last to live his life again.
After dropping Peter off at home, Andre headed for Pooler, Georgia, a desolate little whole in the wall town he had never even heard of until Peter had told him that was where Harmony's grocery store was. And god had it been difficult to get even that out of him!
Andre had some unfinished business with the lady, but he didn't think Peter would approve of it so he'd tried to be as sneaky as possible when inquiring about Harmony and whether or not she might be at home today. Peter hadn't known for sure but having stopped there first and determining that she wasn't in, he was sure glad he'd had the sense to ask about her job.
So here he was, in the middle of a crappy little town, okay, so maybe that was only his opinion, because it actually looked like a nice little up and coming neighborhood, just not some place he could see himself living in. He found the grocery store easily enough, and winced as his precious car hit a pothole the size of a small swimming pool.
There was a lot of construction going on around the little market, looked like a couple of buildings going up on either side of it, and the parking lot was in a state of disarray because of it.
After finding a spot that didn't make him grimace, Andre headed inside in search of the little woman, hopefully she was here. Andre was going to be truly pissed off if he'd driven all the way out here, alright so it was only like ten miles from the outskirts of Savannah, but still, it was a good half hour with all the morning traffic, and he was going to be irritated nonetheless if he'd made the trip for nothing.
Upon entering the quaint little store, he did a scan, and came up empty, she was nowhere in sight, and though he was already becoming a little annoyed, he knew that just because he didn't see her didn't mean she wasn't here. So he went up to the first person he came across and asked them if she was working today.
Success!
The girl, a pretty little blonde whom Andre probably wouldn't have minded getting to know better, told him she was in her office and she'd go and get her. So he waited at the customer service desk while she disappeared into a door behind it.
Not a minute later Harmony appeared.
God, she looked like crap! Okay, so she was beautiful, any idiot could see that, but one could just as easily see she wasn't sleeping well, and no amount of makeup was going to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She and Peter were truly two of a kind, killing themselves this way. Too stubborn to just admit their feelings for each other. Well, he'd just do it for them!
“Andre?” Harmony said, walking out from behind the little enclosure. “What are you doing here?” A look of concern crossed her face as she got closer, her eyes going wide as different scenarios ran through that pretty little head of hers.
Good. He thought to himself, he hoped she was thinking about all sorts of horrible things that may or may not have happened to Peter!
“I needed to talk to you about something. Can we use your office?”
“Of course,” she nodded, indicating with her hand that he should follow her. “Is everything okay?”
Once inside the room off of the customer service area, she led him to another room and closed the door behind herself, crossing to the large desk that sat in the center of the office and leaning back against it. After a brief look around, Andre made himself comfortable in a chair that sat in front of the big oak desk a few feet from where she leaned against it.
“Is everything okay?” she asked again, irritation creeping into her voice. “Is it Peter?”
“You could say that,” Andre remarked, his eyes landing on hers once he had surveyed enough of his surroundings to be satisfied. It was a nice office, though impersonal really.
Harmony gripped the edge of her desk, her knuckles going white, and noticing it, Andre grinned. So she did care.
“What's wrong with Peter?” she nearly cried.
Andre pulled a piece of folded up paper out of his pocket, tossing it on the desk next to Harmony. She followed the motion with her eyes, never turning her head and quickly glancing back at him.
“What's that?”
“The DNA results.”
Harmony looked at the paper half open now on her desk, then back at Andre. She wasn't sure what to make of his presence here. He made her nervous. Which was silly, because he was just sitting there. With a shit eating grin on his face!
She folded her arms in front of her chest, “Why did you bring me that?” Harmony asked, her voice cracking as she tried to maintain her composure. She had the strongest urge to pick up the piece of paper and look at it, and an even stronger urge to shred it instead. Her mind wanted answers, her heart wanted to trust him.
Andre shrugged, then stood and gave her a once over. That smirk making her feel distinctly uneasy as his gaze roamed over her business-like stance. “Thought you'd want to know.”
“Know what?” She didn't like the way he kept evading her questions, this game of cat and mouse was getting old. “Why don't you just tell me what this is all about Andre? I'm not very good at guessing games.”
His smile turned genuine then, his chocolate brown eyes crinkling as they warmed. “Do you think he assaulted that girl?” he asked, his head tilting, one eyebrow cocking.
“No.”
“Have you told him that?”
She shook her head, looking down at the floor now, at the scuff marks under her feet. “No.”
Andre sighed, clearly frustrated. “He's not going to wait forever Harmony. Peter loves you, and if I'm not mistaken, you love him too.”
Harmony's head shot up, her eyes drawing into little slits, her fists clenched. She was growing tired of everyone and their advice all of the sudden, and Andre seemed like the perfect person to let off a little steam with. “Don't you think I don't know that?” She spat, her anger rushing at her like the waves to the shore, there was simply no holding back now. She threw her hands up in frustration, moving away from the desk, “Damn it Andre, do you think I need a lecture from you? I'm a grown woman!”
Andre scoffed.
“Go to hell,” she shot at him, turning her back and leaning over the desk trying to tamp down the rage that boiled inside her. “I don't need you, or my father, or anyone else telling me how I feel about Peter! I know how I feel.”
“And how do you feel?”
She whirled on him, ready to rip into him, ready to tell him off. But seeing the look on his face, his words seeping into what rational thought remained, she heaved a sigh, the frustration of a moment ago slowly receding. “I love him,” she said in defeat. All the anger in the world couldn't stop her from admitting the truth.
“Then what's the holdup?”
“I'm scared.”
Andre blinked, smiled at her, then placed a hand on her shoulder. “What's to be afraid of? It's Peter.” He almost laughed as he said it, setting her nerves at ease. “I know he's a Russian and all,” he teased with a wink, “but seriously Harmony, how can you be afraid of Peter?”
The way he was looking at her, as though she had grown two heads, her statement sounding so completely ridiculous to him, Harmony couldn't help but laugh.
Amanda pounded the pillows of her crappy second-hand couch.
Some stupid bimbo from the DA's office had just stopped by and informed her that they were not going to press charges. She'd been given the run about for sure, being told that while there wasn't enough evidence to pursue this case, they would leave it open in the event that something else came to light.
Yeah, right. And Santa Claus is real!
She wasn't an idiot, her case wouldn't be set on some back burner waiting for more evidence, with Peter's influence it would be dismissed completely. And why shouldn't it be? She'd been a complete idiot! She knew she should have followed her first instinct and gone after Andre! At least she'd had sex with him!
Not that it mattered now, it was over. There was nothing she could do at this point. She hadn't been able to find a lawyer to take this case to a civil judge before the results of the rape kit testing, no way was she going to be able to now! And her case against Andre was even less likely. She couldn't get one without the other, they'd just say Andre was telling the truth, so how could that be slander?
Just when she'd thought to let it go, to admit defeat. Another idea came to mind.
She was reading one of the latest tabloid magazines, she needed something to calm her down before she broke something, and voila! A new plan formed in her deranged little mind! Tabloids! Of course, why hadn't she thought of it before? Tabloids weren't known for their honesty and indiscretion, and now that the case was over, it didn't really matter what she said, nothing could hurt her at this point!
She'd call one of these crackpot vanity reporters and sell them the story of the year! How she was raped by Andre Lepowski and sexually assaulted by Peter Petrovic! Of course, she might as well call his lawyer first and warn her. Maybe Peter would cough up some money to keep her quiet!
It was genius! Why hadn't she thought of this to begin with?