《Actions Speak Louder Than Fortune Cookies》39 - Penny For Your Thoughts

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When they got back to Sebastian's apartment, both of them were wide awake, and at this point it was close to 8:00 am.

Rylee was sat on the couch in the living room when Sebastian said he would be back and left the room. He was gone for ten or so minutes and she got curious as to why. She got up and wandered upstairs to find him.

She poked her head into the office, but no Sebastian. She stopped for a second, listening intently, she heard a light scratching noise coming from the bedroom. She pushed open the half ajar door and saw Sebastian there, on the floor, scrubbing the hardwood with a scrubbing brush and towel, cleaning up the mess from hours earlier.

"Hey," she said, startling him. "I could've helped you know."

"Hey. Nah, didn't want you to have to see all this..I think I'm finished anyway." He said, swiping his brow with the back of his hand. He tossed the towel and brush into the bucket beside him and stood up. "Wasn't as bad as it looked last night...Must've been because it was dark."

Rylee looked on sadly. She wished she could recall any of last night. The only part she remembered was being half way to the hospital in the car.

"I hate to bring it up again, but I still don't really understand what happened...

As Sebastian took the bucket to the bathroom and began cleaning up, he retold the saga of last night.

"I woke up and you just looked...terrified. You thought I was Michael...and you kept telling me to leave you alone and to stop. I tried to get you to see it was me but you just couldn't. Then you got scared and backed away and fell off the side of the bed and cut open your arm on the edge of the table."

Rylee sat there silently listening to him talk. It was so bizarre to have someone explain something you did that you absolutely don't recall.

She was about to apologize but Sebastian immediately tacked on, "and don't think about apologizing. There's nothing to be sorry for. You're dealing with trauma and there's no reason to apologize because you did nothing wrong."

She nodded quietly, accepting his response.

"So. I say today." Sebastian started, circling his arms around Rylee's waist and between each of his sentences, he plastered her face with small pecks, "We crash on the couch. Get some take out RCC. And catch up on our marathon. What do you say?"

Rylee smiled at the idea, "That sounds perfect."

"You go get comfortable and I'll go pick up our food." Sebastian said as he walked towards the door and put on his shoes, grabbing his keys and wallet from the bowl there.

"Alright. Be safe, I love you!" Rylee yelled as he was about to close the door.

"Love you too," Sebastian poked his head back in with a wide smile.

——————————

Sebastian arrived at Round Corner Cafe and ordered their food. He sat down in a seat at the bar to chat with Ken as he usually did.

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"Oh, I almost forgot. Some guy came in here yesterday asking about you and Rylee. He seemed kinda sketchy though, so I didn't humor his questions."

Sebastian froze. "Did he say his name? What did he look like?"

"No, but he was like...eh...six foot maybe? Pretty burly lookin dude. Had a baseball cap on."

"What was he asking about?"

"He was curious about you guys. Was starting to ask real personal questions. When y'all started dating. When you came around here. Real creepy shit. I ended up asking him to leave."

"Thanks for that...sadly I think I know exactly who you're talking about... we're actually dealing with this guy at the moment..."

"I'll keep my eyes peeled for him...Let you know if I ever see him again."

"Thanks Ken, I really appreciate it." Ken finished packing up their food to go and Sebastian thanked him again as he started to walk out the door.

When he got outside, he walked towards his car down the side alley, but noticed a man leaning against the building across the street, staring at him. Sebastian put the food in the passenger seat and straightened back up, looking back at the man. Being a celebrity, it wasn't uncommon to get stared at on the street, but this was different...he seemed familiar.

Sebastian closed the door and started to walk to the street corner, waiting to cross. The man started waking the opposite direction down the street. Sebastian looked at the traffic and decided to jog across, basically just hoping the cars would stop. The stranger turned around and Sebastian definitely knew at that moment. It was Michael.

Sebastian started running up the block to catch him, but the man disappeared into the busy street, blending with the crowd.

Sebastian stopped at the next street corner. He had lost him. He ran his hands through his hair and cursed, turning around to go back to his car.

——————————

Sebastian returned home to see Rylee sitting criss cross on the couch, tapping away on her phone. She looked up with a smile but it immediately fell when she saw his face, full of a mix of annoyance and anger, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Sebastian nodded, setting the food and coffee down on the table, plopping onto the couch next to her.

"I saw Michael."

"W-what? Why didn't you call me?"

"He didn't talk to me or anything...he just watched me from across the street. I ran across to try and catch up to him but he got away in the sea of people. I don't even know what I would've done if I'd caught up to him..."

"Well...are you okay?"

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine. This did remind me though...I texted my lawyer last night. She's got us penciled in for 3:00 today if we want to talk to her about what's going on."

"Oh...really? But Sebastian I can't afford a lawyer..what if we just go to the courthou-"

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"Rylee, it's fine. Don't worry about that...Jane can help us sort out what steps we should take. She can even streamline us to getting a restraining order if everything aligns."

Rylee was surprised but realized she shouldn't be. He's an actor, of course he's got a lawyer. She didn't like the idea of him paying for it though, but she let it go for now.

"Okay." She stated simply, nodding.

The two watched Thor as they ate breakfast together curled up on the couch.

"Thank you Sebastian. For everything you've done lately with this Michael stuff. It means a lot." She leaned further into his shoulder as she spoke quietly.

"Always, doll," he smiled, leaning his head down onto hers, "you don't have to feel alone in any of this. I'm with you."

Rylee chuckled lightly causing Sebastian to look at her through confused brows.

"Til the end of the line, right?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes and pretended to get up, "alright never mind," he laughed, causing her to laugh and tug him back into the couch by his arm.

——————————

3:00 pm came sooner than they expected and they were now walking up to a building that had "Beckett and Associates" plastered on the outside.

The doorman greeted them, holding the door and leading them to the secretary but before Sebastian could even open his mouth to say they had a meeting, Jane Beckett walked into the lobby.

"Sebastian, hello, so nice to see you. It's been a while. And you're Rylee, correct?" She stated quickly, catching Rylee off guard. So off guard that she simply nodded in response.

"Great, follow me." She stated as they walked back towards the elevators following this small blond woman oozing confidence with every movement. She was wearing a grey pant suit with a flowing blue top underneath her jacket, clacking down the hallway easily in her stiletto heels.

When they got off the elevators on the 16th floor they were immediately led to her office where she offered them a seat and coffee, both of which accepted. She paged for her secretary to bring them in and then sat behind her desk, crossing her legs and putting her chin on the backs of her hands as her elbows sat on the desk.

"Alright. So what are we up against here Seb. What's been going on?"

Sebastian and Rylee took turns explaining the entirety of the situation to Jane, from Michael and Rylee's first years dating to this afternoons incident. It was all laid out on the table. Rylee was trying not to shake thinking about it all. It was extremely hard for her to lay it all out like this, especially to a stranger.

While they spoke, Jane's secretary brought in their coffees and gently set them on the table in front of them, leaving as quickly as she came.

"Well, all of what you told me is plenty enough for an emergency protection order, which we can get filed today." She spun around and rustled through a filing cabinet. She then turned back with a paper and started typing quickly at her computer. "That is if you want to file for one..." she froze mid typing to question them both.

Rylee hesitated for a moment but nodded emphatically. Sebastian put his hand on her knee, giving it a squeeze as she placed hers on top of his.

"Great. Good." Jane continued typing. She asked a few questions to clarify what was said as she typed, and had them sign a few spots and soon enough she hit one final key and said "Okay. It's done."

"...just like that?" Rylee said in aw.

"Just like that." Jane smiled, "it's already been forwarded to a judge who will either slap it with an approval or a denial in the next," she looked at her watch, "ten to fifteen minutes."

"If you'll excuse me I have to go grab something from another office, but you guys are welcome to sit tight here. I'll be right back!" She stood up quickly and typed into her phone, pulling it up to her ear as she strutted out of her office.

"Wow. That was...fast."

"Yeah, Jane gets shit done," Sebastian tried to laugh.

They chatted with one another in a whisper. They weren't sure why they whispered but her office had the feel of a museum. So they continued on until she returned about ten minutes later. And like clock work, her email chimed.

"Larry, always pulling through, what a guy," Jane basically spoke to herself as she sat down to print the email, "You've officially got an EPO for the next 14 days. It will begin...basically now...because Larry has a constable already on the way to Michael's residence with the paperwork."

She reached back to her printer and grabbed a copy of the EPO for Rylee and Sebastian and slid a copy into her own files.

"I'll have my secretary call you guys to set up another meeting closer to the court date in a few weeks, sound good?"

"Sounds great, thank you so much for your help," Rylee stated standing up to shake Jane's hand.

"Thank you Jane, it means a lot." Sebastian said as he went in to hug her.

"Of course dear, You know I'm always here, just give me a ring if you need anything!" She escorted them out of her office and to the elevators, waving them off and picking up her chiming cellphone as she walked away.

Sebastian and Rylee walked to the car and got in. Rylee stared at the paper work in her hand as Sebastian tried to read her mind.

"Your silence is deafening. Penny for your thoughts?" Sebastian quirked a smile.

"This is just a relief." She said, leaning her head back onto the headrest.

"I'm glad it is, you deserve to be able to live freely without worrying about him coming around." Sebastian said as he placed his hand back on her leg as he started driving.

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