*James*

The first thing I think about when I wake up this morning is Julia. I think about how she is going to handle her tour of the Avalon.

Today, reality will set in for her.

Today, she also probably heard I'm no longer going to be involved in her life.

This is the first time EVER that I've left someone without being on good terms with them.

But I just can't do it.

I can't be around her and love her the way I love her without her feeling the same for me. I need to do this for both of us. Nate knows how to take care of her better than I do anyway, and he makes it known often. That doesn't mean I still don't think about her and wonder how she is. I really thought we were a forever thing, me and Julia.

I lay in bed and look at my phone  with a sigh.

"What do YOU think I should do, Mag?" I glance at my dog whose laying in my bed. I usually don't let her up here, but lately,  I've been letting Maggie get away with it.  She licks the side of my face and rests her head on my bare chest.

"You're of no help, ya know that??" I scruff up her ears and rub my nose against hers. "My big baby. That's what you are. You're lucky I love you, spoiled girl."

[Mornin, hot stuff. Want to go out for breakfast or want to come to my place. I can cook for ya! I love to cook. It's completely up to you, though. Either way, my shadow Paul is with me]

She wants me to go to her place?? I take a deep breath. We're just friends. Nothing's been officially talked about. Anyways, it's not like I'm with Julia anymore. I shouldn't feel this guilty.  Yet I do. Why!!?? 

 I sit up in bed and drive myself crazy going back and forth, taking too long to answer Trisha.

You know what? Fuck it.

[ Sounds great. Send me your address]

*****

*Trisha*

The second I see the text I smile.

"Wake up sexy." I barge into Paul's room. "Either you're on the job or you're not, but I'm going to the store and home for the morning." I look at the big lump in the bed as he groans and puts the pillow over his head.

"Chop chop, Trisha's on the move..." I pull his covers a little, but not off him. I have no idea what he sleeps in, if anything at all, so I'm cautious. Paul finally rolls over and scruffs up his hair.

"What time is it, Banks?"

"Time to get up, let's go."

Paul sighs and is slow to get out of bed.

"Give me ten minutes." He grumbles.

*****

I head to the grocery store and then home with Paul as my shadow. Maybe I didn't think this through very well. If Paul knows I'm having James over, then Nate is gonna know. If Paul is with me... I can't really even kiss James if I want to without it being awkward. But I mean...he IS my bodyguard. That's all. But I now feel weird about the whole thing.

"Tell me what we are doing at your house, Banks?" Paul asks while helping me bring in groceries. "I thought you were staying at Nate's for awhile with the whole Dave thing." This is probably the most Paul has said ...ever. He's a quiet man that one. Funny and chill. But quiet.

"I'm gonna make breakfast for James and cheer him up." I say, trying to be nonchalant about this while unlocking my door. I don't look back at Paul till we are inside and the look of suspicion  on his face makes me aware he's not buying it.

"What??" I shrug and start emptying my bags.

"Nothing."

"He's down and out about the whole Julia shit show, that's all. Don't worry, Paul. I'll feed you breakfast, too." I nudge into the big bodyguard to make him smile.

"You've got a thing for Gallo, don't you?" He grumbles, making himself home at my small kitchen island.

"Noooo. We're friends. Get your mind outta the gutter."

God, do I have a thing for Gallo? It's all I could think about last night after he left.  I never really thought about it until recently because he was so obsessed with Moretti. But now.. I don't know...

"You make breakfast for all your friends now?"

"And my bodyguards. Now shut it and leave me be." I smirk but Paul is catching on quick. I'm not embarrassed. I'm a grown 33 year old woman. I can do what I want without feeling guilty.

I take a deep breath and turn my back from Paul as I start making pancakes, eggs and bacon. I'm not really sure what James likes but I have a feeling he's not picky.

"Coffee?" I look over my shoulder and ask Paul while getting the pot going.

"Sure. Do you want me to go in another room while you're hanging with James?" He raises an eyebrow.

"What? No. that's silly..... I don't know. Maybe." I say in a quieter tone. "Lets just see how things go. I swear to God Paul if you fucking rat me out to Nate I'm going to cut your balls off, you hear me?" I flip a pancake and glare at him.

"Loud and clear boss. Just text me if you want privacy. I can go in your office or something. I mean it..."

I put the spatula down and turn around completely.

"Do you think there's potential?"

"What do you mean?"

"Me and James.." I shrug, now dropping the act. I can't believe I'm conversing with Paul on this topic right now.

Paul huffs and rolls his eyes.

"Do you see yourself in the mirror, Banks?  He'd be an idiot not to be into you." With that, Paul turns away and heads to the living room to sit on the couch.

I feel my face flush up. Did Paul just give me a compliment???  Or...was that him telling me he's in to me??

I get lost in my thoughts for a moment before realizing I need to flip pancakes and scramble eggs. What the hell is going on in my head!! I'm usually only thinking of Nate. I'm like a fucking cat in heat lately.

"Where's your bathroom, Trish?" I hear Paul ask from the other room.

"Down the hall to the left."

There's a knock on my door so I turn down the stove and yell for James to come in. The door opens and fucking DAVE is the one on the other side, not James.  I freeze when I realize I just told him he could enter my home.

Fuck. Paul is in the bathroom. Dave is gonna get his ass kicked if Paul sees him.

"Dave...." I take the pan off the stove completely. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Listen.." He walks in further, closing the door behind him. "I saw your car in the driveway and wanted to talk to you."

"You SAW my car..... what...just fucking 'driving by'? At nine in the morning?  Were you waiting for me or something??" I shake my head trying to comprehend how he's even standing here in my home.

"You need to leave." I feel my heart pounding out of my chest  and walk out of the kitchen to  escort him out. I can't believe he is actually here. I feel myself internally start to freak out.

"Please, Trish." He sways a little. Oh my God. He's drunk. He's fucking drunk at nine in the morning. 

"We already talked at Sullivan's. I told you I needed time, remember??"

Dave steps in closer, too close and looks down at me. "I don't think you want time."

"No, really. I do... leave, Dave." I'm starting to get nervous now and try to look to my left to see if Paul is out of the bathroom, but the door is still shut. He just went in two seconds ago.  Dave doesn't know Paul is here, and James is on the way.

"You're not giving me a chance." He pushes me up against the hallway wall hard and grabs my wrists. I stare up at him in disbelief this is really him.

All I can smell is alcohol. 

 My heart starts beating harder and faster now. When he leans in to try and kiss me, I close my eyes tight and turn my head to the side. "No.. go home."

"Please Trish, I can't stop thinking about you."  He whispers close to my cheek. I keep my eyes closed and try to pull out of his grip.

Dave squeezes my wrists tighter and uses his knee to force my legs apart. I open my eyes wide now, realizing what is going on and how I can't pull away. I'm not strong enough. I always thought I'd be strong enough to handle situations like this, but the way he is holding me in place, all I can do is move my head to the side. My body starts to tremble when he kicks my legs out further apart and presses into me.

"Dave, please.. go home. You're drunk." I whisper, feeling tears start to form in my eyes. C'mon, Paul...get out of the bathroom.

 He leans his body up against me and tries to kiss me again, but I turn my head the other way while trying to wiggle out of his hands. I feel like I can't catch my breath now. 

"Trish." He's getting frustrated with me moving my head away from his kiss and squeezing my wrists so tight the pain is shocking.

"PAUL!" I scream out, startling even myself with how loud I just shouted.

The second I scream his name, Paul rushes out of the bathroom, throwing the hand towel down on the ground. It takes him no more than two seconds to assess the situation and see Dave pressed up against me, holding my wrists.

It also takes no more than two seconds for him to forcefully pull Dave off me and punch him in the stomach. 

"Jesus Christ, Paul!" Dave hunches over and looks up at Paul. How quickly he forgot I have  bodyguard because of him. I freeze, still up against the wall.

 Paul pulls Dave up by the collar of his shirt and pushes him into the wall opposite me. All I can think of is - imagine if I was home alone. I can kick ass but he caught me off guard... and I don't know if I could have fought him off, to be honest. I slide down the wall until I hit the floor and hold on to my wrist.

"What the hell is going on?" James is in the doorway in shock, glaring at Dave before looking down at me. I don't know why, but tears are streaming down my face. Paul is holding Dave up against the wall with his arm pushing into Dave's chest. 

I sit against the wall, frozen. My eyes are wide, and for some reason, my body is still trembling. C'mon, Trisha. Pull yourself together. Nothing happened. Paul is taking care of it. James is here. Get up. Get the fuck up. 

But I can't.

"Trisha. What do you want me to do? Want to call the cops on this prick?" Paul says calmly, taking control of the situation. James drops his keys and phone and rushes to me. I see and hear them, but I can't seem to respond.

******

*James*

"Hey. Trish..." I kneel down and grab on to her face, forcing her to look at me instead of Dave. 

"He wouldn't leave." Her body is shaking. Shit.

"If we call the cops it can go on record so you can get a restraining order." Paul says while holding Dave in place.

"Trisha. Please. All I wanted to do was talk to you. You know that!!" Dave pleads.

Trisha isn't answering. I think she's in shock. This is what Julia looks like when she goes into shock. Someone has to make the decision for her.

"I'm calling the cops." I announce and run back over to the doorway where I dropped my phone.

"James...are you serious? Come on man. You know me! We grew up together. You know I wasn't doing anything." Dave pleads but I cover one ear with my phone, making the call and the other with my finger so I can't hear him in the background. 

It takes all of five minutes for two officers to show up.  A male and a female coming through the entrance and see the scene. Paul holding Dave up against a wall. Trisha against the opposite wall wide eyed and shaking.

"She's Nate Hollan's Personal Assistant." Paul says to one of the officers. "I'm hired as her full time bodyguard. My ID and credentials  are in my wallet. Back pocket."

"Trish... lets go sit down." I look around to see her couch. I've never been to her place before. This is not how I wanted my first time to look like. She's clearly shaken up. I sit her down and hold her hand as the woman officer sits on the other side asking questions.

"He just came in. I told him to leave." 

She tells the officer everything and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. I can't believe this is Dave Brennan. The same kid I grew up with... I look at him with disgust as the cop cuffs him and reads him his rights.

"I'll call Nate." Paul announces.

"NO!" Trisha snaps out of it and stands up. "Paul. Don't. Please."

Both me and Paul give Trisha a  confused look.

"I don't want him to know. This will just stress him out, ok? He can't take anymore stress right now. It's being handled, right?"

"But.." I start but Trisha glares at me.

"Please. Guys. Don't tell him. I'll tell him myself. Another time. Once shit settles down with Moretti."

The officers finish up the paperwork and leave with Dave in cuffs. Paul closes the door and Trisha walks into her kitchen saying nothing.

"What the hell happened?" I whisper.

"I was in the bathroom. I heard her say 'come in'. She must have though was you. Next thing I know she screamed my name and the fucking asshole has her pinned to the wall."

"Holy shit." I whisper and shake my head. I  walk into where Trisha is with Paul right behind me. Her back is facing us while standing at the stove, flipping pancakes like nothing happened.

Paul stands in the doorway while I walk up to her and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Hey....you ok?" I look down at her. Tears stream down her face, yet she looks up at me and smiles.

"I'm fine. Really. Breakfast is almost ready." She fakes a smile and focuses back down on the pancakes, like what just happened was no big deal. I study her face for a moment and when it's time for her to flip the pancake, her hand is shaking so hard she drops the spatula. 

The second it hits the floor she bursts in to tears.

"Shit. Ok, c'mere." I shut off the stove and pull Trisha into my chest. Her whole body is shaking and I'm practically holding her up now.

"I can't believe it.." She cries in my chest, with her arms down by her side. I look up at Paul's distraught face. Thank God he was here.

I walk her  to her bedroom and  she sits on the side of the bed, still shaking. I sit next to her and hold her hand the entire time.

"I can't believe I fell for it again. You saw him at the bar. He was drinking a soda. Right? He seemed fine. Right?" Trisha's questioning herself.

"He seemed fine to me. God. I'm so sorry, Trisha. I can't wrap my brain around that is the same guy I grew up with." I sigh and squeeze her hand. "Guess he had us both fooled."

"I should have known better." She wipes the tears off her face and starts to calm down.

"Well, now we can get a restraining order against him. You are gonna press charges and it will all be documented, right?" I hope Trisha has enough common sense to follow through with this. She has a good head on her shoulders but right now..... This isn't the Trisha I'm used to seeing.

"Are you sure you don't want to let Hollan know what happened this morning?"

"No please.. I'll tell him on my own. I don't want to worry him right now." Trisha rests her head on my shoulder.

"Ok."  I kiss the top of her head. I don't know why I just did that.

Paul comes in to the room. "I finished breakfast for you guys. You should eat, Banks."

"Thanks Paulie." She stands up but then walks over to Paul and throws her arms around him unexpectedly.  His eyes widen and he stiffens up but then puts one arm around her lightly.

"Thank you." Trisha says sincerely. 

"All in a day's work." He nods but I can tell this got to him a little.

  Jesus Christ, is EVERYONE in love with Trisha Banks??

Paul makes himself a plate and takes his coffee to eat in the living room, which I thought was a little odd since Trisha has a kitchen table with four chairs, where the food is spread out for us. He finished making the pancakes, eggs, and bacon and put it all on the table, along with the coffee pot, cream and sugar, plates, and utensils before heading to eat in the other room Trisha says nothing. She pulls out a chair and looks at the food, apparently with no appetite.

"You should eat." I pull the chair out for her and sit her down. I pour her a cup of coffee and put a little of everything on her plate, like I would for Julia.

"I wanted to serve YOU breakfast, James. Not the other way around." She scoffs and looks down at the plate of food.

"Next time." I smile and pour myself a cup of coffee. I sit down next to her and fill my plate, though neither of us is hungry. "Cmon. Don't go all Julia on me." I tease, and that snaps Trisha right out of her funk. She laughs and picks up her fork. I do the same, and we both start eating.

"You're a damn good cook, Paulie!" She shouts to Paul in the other room, and we hear him laughing a little. She looks at me and rolls her eyes before taking a huge bite of her pancake.

  Unlike Julia, you don't have to force Trisha out of her funk. She's capable of doing it on her own. I find myself comparing the two women, which isn't fair to Julia. She's been through a lot and can't help it that she has a mental illness. I watch Trisha shovel food in her mouth and laugh.

"Where the hell do you put it all?" I chuckle as Trisha finishes everything on her plate and goes for seconds.

"Guess I have a high metabolism like Jonah." She shrugs. 

"Oh my God. That man can EAT!" 

And just like that- it's like this morning didn't happen. Trisha doesn't dwell on it and moves on with her day like all is fine. I don't know how she does it but she does. I hate to compare but christ, Julia could use a little of Trisha in her. Maybe things wouldn't be so hard for her.

******

*Trisha*

After breakfast James helps me clean up and we take our coffee to the living room where Paul is. My  mind is hyperfocused on Dave even though he's gone.

"You think I can get a restraining order on him now, right?" I say out of the blue and put my coffee down on the table next to me.

Paul nods his head. "For sure. He'll most likely be released today, though, so you should stay at Nate's. We can go to the police station and the courthouse tomorrow."

"He really had me fooled." I feel like a complete idiot but both James and Paul shake their heads at me.

My phone rings, ending the conversation. It's the lawyer's office.

"Hello?"

"Ms. Banks. Hey. I just wanted to let you know that Julia Moretti's divorce papers came back."

"Oh. Good!" I nod to myself, relieved that at least ONE thing is going right today.

"No. They were sent back as "Return to sender." Nothing was filled out."

"WHAT?!" I gain attention from James and Paul and stand up. "What do you mean nothing was filled out. She wants to divorce him. All he had to do was sign the fucking documents and send them back." I pace and now James and Paul know what's going on. "So NOW what?" I hold my forehead.

"Someone will have to personally serve him but it can't be Julia. I would fly down myself but my wife is due to have our baby within the next two months. We can wait-"

"No. No....I'll figure it out. Thanks for letting me know. I'll swing by and grab the documents today."

I hang up the phone and take a deep breath. "Her husband is going to be fucking difficult isn't he..."

*****

"Where have you been all day?" Nate says, coming in from the balcony when he hears me and Paul enter his apartment. I'm not telling him about anything today. Not Dave....not Luke. Not yet at least.

"Where's Julia?" I look around the room. "Is she home from the Avalon?"

 "Yea, she's home now. She's sleeping. Why?" Nate gives me a funny look as I plop down on the couch and Paul does the same on the chair adjacent to me.

"I had breakfast with James." I say softer. Nate doesn't need to know details.

"Did he say anything? About last night?" He sits down next to me.

"What's there to say?"

"I don't know....maybe.. why he left without even saying goodbye to her? He was her best friend. How do you think that makes her feel?"

"Listen, Nate. She's a lot, ok? She's not in love with him and it's too hard for him to be around her right now if she doesn't feel the same way he does. I think it's good that he wants to move on. He should be able to without feeling guilty." I explain. "I'm sure Julia will make friends through the Avalon or something."

"She feels all alone."

"That's not HIS fault!! I don't know what to tell you." I defend James.

"Why did you go out to breakfast with him this morning??"

"Is this some sort of interrogation or something, Nate? You were with Julia so I had no work to do so we had breakfast. That's all."

 Nate huffs and I shrug him off. "Whatever Trish." He gets up all irritated with me and walks into the bedroom. 

[ Are you going to tell him about today, Banks?]

Paul texts me from the chair and looks up at me, gaining Jonah's attention for a moment.

[About which part. Dave being a dick or Luke being a dick] I smirk when I look up at him, then turn to Jonah.

"May I help you?" I tease, and Jonah shakes his head at me and returns to whatever the hell he does on his laptop.

[Dave. Or both. But Dave...]

[ I'll tell him by the end of the week. Once Julia is settled in at the Avalon.] I look up at Paul and nod.

I really don't want to even think about what happened with Dave this morning. Nate walks out of the bedroom ten minutes later, looking frustrated. THIS is why I don't want to worry him about Dave. Julia  stresses him out enough as it is.

"What's going on in there?" Jonah looks up from his laptop at the dining room table. 

"Nothing. Just leave her." Nate shakes his head.

"What a way to live..." I blurt out. Maybe it was uncalled for. Probably. But I mean..come on. I don't shut down for hours on end and look at the fucked up morning I had! She needs to grow up already.

"REALLY Trisha???" Nate snaps at me. "Sorry not everyone can be fucking perfect like you! Jesus Christ. What is WRONG with you? Have some compassion."  I feel my face heat up from his words. "Sorry. She's just hurt, ok? She heard you and James went out together."

"She did??? I thought you said she was sleeping."

"Apparently not."

"Well, I don't know why she's the one all bent out of shape. She made her choice. James can hang out with whoever he wants. God, Nate." I look up from my phone.

"I can't deal with you right now. Unbelievable."

Nate turns to Jonah now. "I'm going to the studio for a bit. Text me if Julia snaps out of it or anything." He grabs his keys and leaves.

I pissed Nate off by sticking up for James.

James, who has done nothing wrong. He didn't make the choice not to be with Julia. She made that choice. It's only fair for him to be able to walk away and move on. I don't know why Nate is so hung up on that.