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disclaimers can be found with part 1
Justice Deferred (7/?)
by: Alex
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Driving down the highway Cheryl let her mind go back to her law school days, her first years of law school, where her life began its journey toward her life's work, fulfilling a dream she'd had since she was a very mature 11, and a physical therapist had inquired what she to do when she grew up. Before her life took an unintended, and life altering turn. It had been a ploy to help a tired, and hurting little girl, get her mind away from the continuous agony of the mandatory treatments, that would make her able to walk normally again. Cheryl remembered the surprise, when, without hesitation, she told the heavily muscled giant of a man, that she wanted to be an attorney. It was like a revelation, in that split second, giving Cheryl the drive necessary to do what she had to so she could make her dream a reality, researching what classes to take, to make it easier for her to get into a good pre-law program, once she was in college, then into a decent law school.
It would appear, that even way back then, fate was setting her on the path to her destiny and the inevitable meeting with the other half of her soul.
With hard work and determination, Cheryl graduated from UMKC, Suma Cum Laude, and signed up immediately to take her LSATs. She almost got a perfect score. As a result, the hard working student, was offered full scholarships to some very good law schools. Cheryl's caseworker told her that because of her orphan status, and was a ward of the state, the DFS had a special fund in the budget, that would cover any expenses that her scholarship didn't, as long as she remained in an in-state university. Her foster mothers had also set aside some money for Cheryl's education, they decided that since there was still some money left in that account, they offered help cover the cost of living off campus. They had done this for her during her last three years of college, because of the dificulty of getting privacy an quiet to study. Both Cheryl and her foster mothers were sure the dorms were no better in law school.
She took a job managing a small bookstore, during the her last three years of college, wanting to have money for the incidentals, she was sure would pop up as the years progressed. When Cheryl moved to Columbia, she as able to transfer to a branch of the book store there that luckily for her, had an opening for an assistant manager. The smart blonde decided to move to the university town in July, but only after a short vacation with her mothers to Arizona, where they did the whole tourist bit. She moved early wanting to get to know her co-workers better plus it was an opportunity to earn some extra money before classes began. She was also very aware of how much easier it would be to find a nice place to live in July than it would be in August, when the rest of the students came back.
After a careful search Cheryl found herself a big old well-maintained Victorian house right next to the law school, and within walking distance of her job. It was almost perfect, the only draw back being, the rent was a little higher than she'd wanted to pay. Being realistic, Cheryl didn't think much of her odds of finding some place as nearly perfect for her as that one, and with a little management she could swing it for a while, or at least until, she had chance to find some suitable room mates. Since Cheryl had followed her caseworker's advice, and went through a rental service, that made sure Cheryl was pre-approved, so that after giving the rental service agent a cashier's check for, the damage deposit, along with the first, and last months rent, she was automatically given the key, allowing her to move in right away. One of the main reasons she had gone through this particular agency, was they handled all the incidental details of moving in, part of their fee covered having all the utilities, the phone, and even cable, turned on for her. All the eager blonde had to worry about was moving in, unpacking her things, and getting settled in. Wanting roommates with similar interests Cheryl made sure she was registered with the university's housing office.She was very clear about what she would and would not accept as her room mate, By the end of August she had found three room mates to help her defray the cost of her home.
Two of the new tenants were second year undergrads that, like Cheryl, had grown tired of the noise and distractions of the dorm, and needed some place where they would have privacy aong with peace and quite to study, they could reasonably afford. Both were very nice, quiet small town girls like Cheryl, and she gladly welcomed them into her home. The third new roommate was somewhat different, Cheryl was leary of her from the start, she wasn't sure if the reportedly, wild young woman would fit in, but with some pressure from the university and her own naively kind and trusting nature was able to over ride her instincts, and allowed the young Greek woman to move in.
The girls' name was Kelly Antropos, the only child of a Greek import/export billionaire, whose father never allowed his daughter to want for anything. Spoiling his beloved daughter from birth, giving her everything, except disipline. Rumor had it, that the wild young woman would never have graduated college, let alone be in law school, if her father wasn't so generous with his check book. From the start the spoiled woman was the source of some clashes, with her superior attitude. She treated the two undergrads as if they were her personal servants, constantly having them run her errands, or doing her share of the household chores. Cheryl noticed the potentual problems, and tried to talk to Kelly about it, hoping to head off any future trouble, Kelly looked at the quiet, friendly blonde as if she'd lost her mind but, promised to do better, but within a week, the arrogant young woman, was right back at it. Cheryl then tried to talk to the two younger girls, and have them stand up to Kelly, but they never did. So Cheryl thought that they either, didn't care how they were being treated, or they were too afraid of the Greek woman's explosive temper, to say anything about it. All she really succeeded doing, was make Kelly mad, causing her to burst into an impromptu lecture about how Cheryl should mind her own business.
Properly chastised, and embarrassed at Kelly's tirade, Cheryl fell back to her usual defense, sticking her nose in her books, concentrating on her studies and ignoring the entire thing, hoping the problem would resolve itself. Cheryl was only concerned that soon it was going to be her turn, knowing that would be trouble, because there was no way in hell, the long time orphan would allow herself to be treated that way. As it turned out Kelly Antropos wasn't interested in another servant.
From the very beginning, Cheryl had been up front, and open about her sexuality, she made sure that all three of her housemates understood that she was gay, trying to head off any problems the first time she brought a woman home. Her reasoning was that she had gone through all the trouble and heartache of coming out she wasn't about to go back in. It had been a little awkward at first, neither of the two younger women had ever known anyone that was openly gay. It was inevitable that Cheryl would have questions to answer, and while there were some strange, and sometimes even hilarious questions from the two younger room mates, after a while they figured out that Cheryl wasn't all that different from them, except for the gender of her dates.
Everything went smoothly for the room mates, and with the exception of a few clashes that are inevitable when fur strangers lived together, the only thing that really was bothering the young blonde, was Kelly's arrogant, superior to anyone attitude, The Greek heiress thought that, because she was rich, she could get away with anything. Luckily for the two older women, Kelly and Cheryl seldom interacted, because of their differing schedules, so things went rather smoothly, for a while. Cheryl's days were pretty full, between school work, studies, and her job, she barely had time to sleep, much less worry about her difficult room mate or even her serious lack of a social life.
Kelly, on the other hand, breezed through, using her wealth and clout, whenever she ran into a rough spot. Even when an instructor was unimpressed by her wealth or her power, the administration was, and they would step in and smooth over any ruffled academic feathers. Most of her time, Kelly spent partying, and indulging her baser appetites. She had the reputation for bedding a constant parade of bodies, men and women, sometimes both, going in, and out of her rooms. There were some embarrassing moments, when the wild woman, and her latest partner, didn't make it to her rooms, and Cheryl, or one of the other innocent young women, would walk into the living room, kitchen, or wherever else they ended up, being surprised to find their promiscuous room mate, and her company sprawled out, usually nude.
Cheryl, true to her non-confrontational nature, tried to ignore Kelly's rude and inconsiderate behavior, passing it off as Kelly's problem, not hers. Opting for peace and quiet instead of trying to solve the problem. It even worked, for a while. Life was running pretty smoothly for Cheryl until the middle of her last year of law school. As they had every other year, her room mates went home or somewhere else for the Winter break, so she had the house to herself. The young blonde spent Christmas Eve, and Christmas, with her foster mothers, never wanting to lose touch with them, but the rest of her time off from school, she spent putting in extra hours at her job for a little extra spending money, helping to ease the pressure on her over her bills, and allowing her to afford those extra little luxuries she normally did have. It was also a good time for Cheryl to actually go out, and socialize more than once a month.
After work and on some weekends she would go to a small local bar called "The Rose", a favorite gathering place for the younger gay community. The patrons were mostly college kids free from the close observation of home and able to expressing their sexuality for the first time, or exeriment with some carefully hidden fantasies. Cheryl made a lot of friends during her time in Columbia, and found some, old friends from UMKC, as well. That particular long Winter break was a pretty good time for the normally quiet young woman. She was enjoying herself for a change, even dancing from time to time with one of the many women that approached her. With her soft, ethereal beauty, and pleasant intelligent personality she soon became quite popular actually finding she had more dinner, movie, and dancing date offers, than she knew what to do with.
Things were really beginning to look up for the one time "poor little orphan girl", and for the first time since moving to Columbia she was as close to being happy as she had ever been. That all changed, a little less then a week after she got back from Christmas with her mothers. After stopping by The Rose, for a couple of drinks, and a few turns around the dance floor, with some of her friends, Cheryl was surprised to return home, to find Kelly's Jaguar sitting in the driveway, and lights on in the living room.
She walked in the front door hoping not to find her roommate having another fling in the front room. Imagine her surprise when she was met in the front hallway by an obviously agitated Kelly.
"Where the hell have you been!?" the Greek woman growled
"I-I was at work." Cheryl stuttered stunned by her volatile roommate's sudden intense concern.
Cheryl hung her coat on the rack and walked past the obviously angry young woman, anxious to get to her rooms and away from Kelly. She had to admit to herself that she was more then a little perturbed, by her room mate's intrusion into her private life, insinuating that she should answer to the rich woman for her whereabouts like a child.
"Bullshit!" Kelly spat out, her dark brown eyes flashing with anger as she roughly grabbed the blonde's upper arm and spun her around. "I can smell the liquor from here you've been out whoring around, haven't you?"
"Like you have any room to talk." Cheryl snapped back confused and getting madder by the second at the dark haired woman's suddenly possessive behavior.
Without warning, Kelly slapped the young blonde, throwing her to the floor of the living room. Cheryl tried to get up, intending to protest, this unwelcomed, uncalled for, and abusive treatment, but before two words could escape her mouth, Kelly backhanded her telling the now bleeding woman to stay where she was. Then Kelly informed her, that from now on, Cheryl was her girlfriend, and that she was going to stop her running around and acting like a whore. The strong aggressive woman roughly pulled Cheryl to her feet, jerking her into a vicious kiss, that was more about dominance, than affection. Then the smug woman, told Cheryl to go to bed, they would talk more in the morning, if she felt like it.
Already hurt, and very frightened of being hurt worse, by this sudden outburst of abusive behavior by her unpreictable room mate, and seeing no other way out, Cheryl quickly retreated to her third floor rooms, locking the door behind her, and sitting up all night afraid to sleep in case Kelly might come upstairs and try to hurt her again. The next morning Cheryl carefully came down stairs, made curious by the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and bacon cooking. A subdued and contrite Kelly, had made her breakfast, as a peace offering. When, at Kelly's invitation, Cheryl cautiously, entered the dining room, the still frightened blonde, was surprised to find the table set, with a large vase full of beautiful wild flowers in the center of the table. Kelly politely asked Cheryl to please sit at the table, seating her at the head of the table, the now quiet Greek brought out a large serving tray. The young woman had pulled out all the stops. Bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice; Cheryl was grateful but leary of the other womans' motives.
Kelly unexpectedly fell to her knees next to the stunned blonde, and holding Cheryl's small delicate hands in her own, she began begging Cheryl to please forgive her, for her appalling actions the night before. She claimed that when she arrived home, and found that Cheryl wasn't there, that she got worried by the late hour, calling the book store, she learned that her missing room mate, had left much earlier. Kelly claimed she was insane, with worry, believing that something terrible, might have happened to her small vulnerable room mate. Then, when Cheryl came home, safe and sound, having stopped by the "Rose" for a few drinks. Kelly swore she didn't know what happened to her, but somehow, the combination of worry and concern had made her lose control. She promised sincerely, if the small blonde would just give her a chance, she would do everything in her power to prove that not only was she sorry, she also would do whatever Cheryl needed, to show her it would never happen again. Actually Cheryl was touched by the young Greek's appeal, surprising even herself.
"Come on Kelly get up." the compassionate blonde said, softly "There's no need for this, I'll gladly accept your apology. Now come on, you're letting this fabulous meal get cold"
"I am sorry about it all Cheryl, I really am." Kelly insisted as she rose to here feet, and going to the chair next to Cheryl "I swear on the gods of my ancestors, I will never again strike you. I care about you very much my dear, and I hope, even though I behaved abominably, you are able to get past it, and give us a chance, at what I am sure, would be a beautiful, and loving, relationship."
"Kelly please," Cheryl said softly taking the dark eyed woman's hand, her sorrow at being unable to accept the woman's proposal, shining, like unshed tears, in her beautifully expressive, emerald eyes "I am truly flattered by your offer, but even without, what went on last night, there would still, be no chance of an 'us' ever happening. I am not the kind of person, that will lead someone on or have a meaningless fling. I can't be with someone, if I don't have deep feelings for them. It just isn't any good for them, or for me, if I don't have that emotional bond with them. I'm just not that way, and I know, it would lead to nothing but heart ache for us both."
Kelly was not about to give up that easily, she stubbornly, spent the rest of the day trying to convince Cheryl to become her lover. Several times she would begin to lose her temper, but true to her word, the frustrated Greek woman would go to another room, and cool down for a while. Only to return a few minutes later, and begin her crusade all over again. Finally Cheryl grew tired of the constant attempts, she sat Kelly down, and gave her a long itemized list of reasons, why they would never be lovers. After that Cheryl went up to her rooms to watch TV, hoping that Kelly would understand, and give up on the entire ill-fated endeavor. Cheryl just wanted to put the entire affair behind them, and let things get back to normal. She shut, and locked, the door to her upstairs rooms, and she went to bed that night, sure that Kelly had finally given up her idea of having the beautiful, popular blonde as her girlfriend.
Cheryl couldn't have been more wrong, Kelly was a spoiled rich brat, that was used to getting everything she wanted, and right now, she wanted the small golden haired beauty in her bed, and she would let nothing stand in her way. Not even Cheryl herself.
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END 7
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