...a week after the penthouse party...

Ally was racing into court, urging her client who had arrived very late to hurry before they forfeited the case. "Whew, we made it just in time"...she thought.

Richard had asked her to take this case over from Ling at the very last minute and although she'd had time to read the brief this morning, she had not met the client before. She hated it when he did things like this to her.

Judge Walsh looked at Ally sternly. "Don't bother to ask for an extension, Ms McBeal. I've allowed more than enough extensions on this case. Please begin with your opening statement."

Ally was a little flustered, but she didn't think it showed. She'd prepared for this possibility this morning and wouldn't argue with the judge. She'd successfully handled a number of 'breach of contract' cases and she felt confident things would go well.

Before getting up, she briefly looked over to check out who opposing counsel would be. If she knew the attorney well, it helped her gage the content and tempo of her opening. What she saw blew her mind. It was Larry Paul, Helena's husband.

Ally's knees started shaking, but she had no choice but to proceed. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury"...she started. "Who's to know what's right?" There she'd said it. It wouldn't mean much of anything to anyone in the room, except Larry, but, hopefully it would distract him a little by making him try to figure out if she was sending him a personal message.

"Very clever, Ally"...she said, silently patting herself on the back. Then, Ally proceeded to finish her opening, outlining how she planned to prove that her client was innocent and, then, took her seat.

Larry rose, giving her a charming smile, and walked to the front of the courtroom. "Ms McBeal says 'Who's to know what's right?'. I say that's a stupid question. The law is clear...right is right and wrong is wrong. There is no gray area, just interpretation, but we're always choosing one or the other, right or wrong, based on our own ethical compass, which helps us interpret the law's intent. I know this jury is very capable of doing that." Larry then proceeded to finish his opening.

At first he didn't know why she'd quoted what he said to her on the terrace in her opening statement, but he knew he had to shoot it down and not let her throw him. And, as luck would have it the response that he'd come up with put her client in a bad light and made it sound as if she was implying her client should win by default because the jury was incompetent.

After openings were done, Judge Walsh announced court would be adjourned until 1 p.m. the next afternoon. And, as everyone rose, he looked towards Ally. "Ms. McBeal, try to have your client here on time tomorrow."

"Yes Your Honor"...Ally replied meekly.

Larry spoke briefly with his client and walked over to Ally. My client's willing to settle. He'll take $50,000 plus court and legal fees. That's a gift. The jury could go as high as $150,000 and they could even decide to bind him over for a civil suit.

Ally saw her client's ears perk up when he heard the $50,000 vs $150,000. "Give me a half hour with Mr. McGrath and I'll call you, Mr. Paul."

"Okay, here's my cell number or you can just come over to the coffee shop across the street. That's where I'll be for a while. If there's agreement, we can draw up the papers in my office, which is in the same building. If papers are filed first thing in the morning, the judge will get proper notification and his docket will be adjusted before he sees it."

"Fine"...she said in a very business-like tone, grabbing the card." Inside, she was quivering like the proverbial bowl full of jelly. She just wanted to chase him down the hall, jump him from behind and drag him into one of those big old courthouse building closets and **do it**. "God, help me"...she thought. And she wasn't sure if she meant to stop it from happening or to help things along so that it would happen.

Larry's mind was spinning with similar thoughts. What was wrong with him? The other night at the party, he'd acted like a male version of Helena, like some sort of experienced womanizer who was used to putting moves on women at cocktail parties. If fact, he was as far away from being like that as any guy could get, but Ally McBeal had pulled something out of him that he'd never quite felt like before...raw sexual desire coupled with an undeniable feeling of connection...and it had made him go all weird.

Ally knew Larry was right. This settlement offer was not to be passed up. After running through his options and the possible outcomes, Bill McGrath wisely chose to settle. The only thing that bothered Ally about the offer was how swiftly it came. If she had been in Larry's shoes, she would have held out longer. But, maybe his client had something to hide and didn't want a trial. Well, at least this got her off the hook. She'd be done with Larry after today. Ally shook hands with her client and said she'd be in touch later in the day to get his signature.

Heading down to the coffee shop, she saw Larry, feet up and reading the Globe as he drank a Latte. "Settling pretty cheap counselor. We love it.?"...she said.

"Glad I could accommodate Ms McBeal, shall we go up to my office and draft the agreement. I'll have my secretary get it ready for signature ASAP"...he said, gulping down the rest of his Latte. "I'm going to order another one to go. How about you?"

"Okay"...she said, starting to feel a little nervous. She wished there was some way to avoid all this, but it made sense, and she knew he was right...the paperwork should get out today so as not to irritate Judge Walsh.

Lattes in hand, Larry led her up to the fifth floor, where he ushered her into a spectacular suite of offices overlooking the harbor.

"This is quite a layout, Larry"...seems almost too big for one lawyer. Are you planning to bring in partners?"

"Are you interested? I could really make it worth your while financially."

"You don't even know if I'm a good lawyer."

"Well, once you learn right from wrong, you should be a cracker-jack attorney. Very clever of you to try and throw me off by quoting something I'd said after too many martinis."

"Oh, I guess that means all the other flirting you were doing was the liquor talking too."

"Was I flirting with you?"...he teased.

"It doesn't matter anyway. Right now we have work to do. Lets get to it and be done with the case."

"All right"...he said, walking over to his assistant's computer. "I drafted the settlement yesterday and had my assistant leave it ready on the computer. My client clearly wanted to settle and I knew your client couldn't refuse the offer we were going to make, so I took the liberty of getting the paperwork done ahead of time. All I have to do is fill in the settlement number and print it out and our work is done."

"You lied to me and tricked me, to get me up here"...Ally complained loudly, as Larry typed in the numbers and pushed the print button. She was livid and excited at the same time and she didn't know quite how to deal with the situation.

"Guilty as charged, and I gave my secretary the day off too. What do you think of that?"

"How did you know I was on this case. I only got it at the last minute."

"Okay, relax now. This one might upset you even more. After the party, I checked around and found out you worked at Cage & Fish. When I learned that Ling Woo from your firm had been put on this case, I called Richard Fish and asked him to take Ling off the case and put you on."

"You know Richard well enough to do that?"

"We went to law school together. Richard owed every single person who ever went to law school with him favors for life, so I called in a chip."

Ally backed away, getting that scared feeling again.

"Don't be afraid, Ally. I don't have anything lecherous in mind. I just wanted to spend a little time with you. I'm not really the type of person I presented myself to be at the party. I think I behave like that sometimes to get back at Helena and all her male-izing. But, in your case, I did it because I felt a really strong attraction that hit me like a bolt of lightening. You touched something in me I don't ever remember feeling before, and it really threw me for a loop."

"You...you...manipulating, conniving son of a bitch"...Ally bellowed at him. She was still angry, but being with him was exciting her just as much as it had at the party. And, now, she saw there was another shy and gentle part of him she'd only seen fleetingly that night. He was lonely and sensitive, and it made him even more appealing. Ally kept moving closer and closer to him, still venting her upset, but at the same time gazing into those incredibly liquid brown eyes. Finally, She wasn't speaking at all and neither was Larry.

Larry was mesmerized, and on top of that he somehow seemed to know what was going on with her. It wasn't like he was psychic or anything, he just seem tapped into that part of herself that she withheld until she felt safe. He knew she was about to make a move on him even though she was yelling at the moment, but he still felt too stunned to beat her to it.

Finally, He started to say something..."Ally. I"..but he just couldn't. He touched her hair for a moment and still all that would come out was her name..."Ally." Suddenly, she started kissing him in a very passionate and sexy way. He hadn't expected anything like this to happen, he'd just hoped to make things right with her after his rocky start and see what would come of it, but this woman was enticing beyond belief and he loved what she was doing. Without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her waist an kissed her back with just as much passion...maybe more.

Feeling she needed to explain herself, Ally broke off the kiss. "Larry, I don't know what's gotten into me. The truth is ever since we were on your terrace, all I've thought about is **doing it** with you...you know the whole raw sexual thing."

"Are you telling me you want to have sex right here in my office?"...he said, making sure he'd heard right.

"Well, I guess I am. Do we have to talk about it?"

"Listen, Ally, you know I'm very attracted to you too. You know it. I've fantasized about you more than once since we met, but are you sure this is what you want? I mean, I don't want you to regret this later."

"What's to regret"...she lied, thinking only of her desire and not the consequences. "It's just a one day stand...no strings attached. You're married and I'm with Brian and neither of us is going to tell...right?"

"RRRRRight"...Larry said. He didn't agree with all of that, but he wasn't going to argue because he really did want to make love to her and he wasn't going to ruin his chances.

They stepped back for a moment, looked at each other and started kissing again...this time more slowly, as they started to get rid of their clothes. This was going to happen fast. Neither of them seemed able to hold things back very long because the thought of this happening had been building in both of them.

Afterwards, they lay back on the floor together, allowing their bodies to quiet and not even able to comprehend what had happened. "Has anyone else in the world ever had sex...no made love like that"...Larry asked.

"Oh God, Larry. What have we done"...she said, ignoring what he'd said. "I never should have done this, not because it's wrong, but because I'm afraid I'm going to want more"...Ally said feeling panicked. She'd thought foolishly that this would be "sports sex", as Renee called it...that it was just something she needed to get out of her system. But it was much more.

Larry could think of nothing else but touching her again. She lay flat on the floor next to him, and he turned towards her raising up on one elbow and moving his other hand over her. "No woman has ever given of herself to me the way you just did. I..I...It means a lot to me, Ally."

She understood what he was saying. She sort of felt that way too about him, but she quickly stifled that thought and reminded herself this was a one time thing. She loved Brian and Larry was married to Helena.

Larry touched her eyes and her lips. He wanted to kiss her again, but before he had a chance, she got up and quickly started dressing.

"Don't go Ally, Please. Let's talk"...Larry said, trying all the time to get his slacks and shirt back on.

"No, if I stay, we'll **do it** again and I can't." With that, she grabbed her briefcase and walked out.

A minute or so later, she realized she needed the settlement papers and ran back to his office. Larry stood there, holding the papers out, knowing she'd have to come back. "Ally, listen to me...this whole having sex thing was your idea, the least you could do is talk to me now that it's become something more than you bargained for.

Ally, pulled the papers out of his hand and, as she left, called out..."Don't flatter yourself because the sex was so good. Buckle up your pants and forget it. My assistant will be handling the rest of this transaction."

As Ally walked down the corridor, she felt terrible about the way she'd talked to him. He was right, it had been her idea. But, the only way she could think of dealing with the situation was to be really mean about it. She remembered one of her therapists had said men are used to getting their noses bloodied. You've got to be blunt and brutal, so they know you're walking out. And she had to walk out on this guy...he was married and she was with Brian...nothing but trouble could come of their letting this situation get out of hand.