Post by Mandi Lynn Collins on Aug 15, 2012 20:10:11 GMT -5
Riley wasn’t the only Collins’ to have two sides to him. Which is why as she stared at the wooden door that separated herself from the grandparents of her niece she licked her lips and squared her shoulders, bringing her fist up to knock against the door. Mandi did not travel to Florida just for shits and giggles. The humidity here sucked, especially for someone with as thick hair as she had. When Douglas answered the door she tilted her head with a polite smile. “ Mandi Collins, live and in the flesh at our doorstep”. Mandi took her sunglasses off, placing them in her purse. “ Pleasure as always, Mr. Franklin. May I come in?” she said, already stepping inside when she spotted his wife. “ Oh good, Deborah is here. I’ll only have to say this once then.” she said, pushing some of her hair back behind her ear. “ What brings you here, Mandi? Please, have a seat” Deborah offered, gesturing to the couch. “ No thank you,” she said, “ This won’t take long,” she said with another polite smile. If her mother had taught her anything before she passed, it was to place on a pretty smile and always look your best while maintain being polite. Which is why she would keep calm while she continued this conversation. “ It’s come to my attention that you’re seeking full custody of Lily from Riley.. and he has no knowledge yet,” she said, lifting her eyebrow slightly. ‘ How in the world..” Douglas started off, but Mandi held up her hand to stop him from talking. “ See Riley may have lost his memory with the car accident, but we come from a family where you trust people about as far as you can throw them. I come from a family, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin, of extreme influence. Which is why when I hired a private investigator to tail your sorry ass excuse of a human being, he also tailed your lawyer. Your gardener, your hair stylist, everyone you’ve ever come into contact with basically. I’ve had tabs on you for quite some time and so far things have looked peachy keen. But now you’ve gone and pissed me off” she said before scrunching her nose with another polite smile.
“ Now Mandi, I don’t see how what we decide to do with our granddaughter is any of your business” Douglas started and Mandi sighed, giving a small nod. “ My parents died and not only that but I had to watch my brother live through that experience twice.. because he couldn’t remember. Family is all I’ve got at this point. My brother has given up.. many things for me. And I would use my last breath legally and potentially physically bitch slapping you across the face before I ever let you take Lily from their home. See, I say their.. because Lily has a mother. As much as you two might try to hide and deny it.. Mackenzie is her mother. That might come off pretty harsh, considering your daughter is.. passed. But you’ve sort of pushed me to my limit. I thought I had seen myself crazy before but.. low and behold you’re on a one man mission to see just destructive I can get. Drop the suit, or there will be serious repercussions for your actions.” she said as she looked between them. “ Is that a threat, Miss Collins?”. She smiled slowly as she watched them. “ If you’re not scared, Mr. Franklin, you should be. You were a teacher, no? Why did you quit exactly? Did it have anything to do with the fact that one of your students was pregnant her junior year by a faculty member that she never named?” she asked with a slight tilt of her head. “ Or what about you.. Deborah. How’s the pain killer addiction coming along? Is your medicine cabinet stocked up at the moment? Not only do I have enough shit on you individually but… to lie on your tax returns and still claim your daughter who is deceased.. that’s low..” she said while shaking her head. “ Damnit, Mandi. You don’t know a damn thing of what you’re talking about. How dare you come in and make these accusations. You’re not even a lawyer yet.. this is blackmail”. Mandi widened her eyes in mock shock. “ Very good, you can recognize blackmail. I should’ve given you more credit. You’re right, I’m not a lawyer yet. I’m just a law student at one of the nations most pristine law schools. Unfortunately for you, I’m not just A law student. I’m Mandi Collins, which to me doesn’t mean shit. But considering half the campus is named after my family because of contributions, there’s plenty of professors and seasoned staff who would love to be at my call to subpoena your ass for a number of things. Not to mention.. you don’t become a family of such important like mine.. without having friends in low places. And those friends, Douglas.. those are the ones you should be afraid of. Because if this doesn’t get handled legally.. I will do everything in my power to make sure that my niece stays right where she is. Do not push me.” she said before looking back at Deborah and smiling happily. “ Your home is beautiful..” she said before heading back to the front door. “ I assume that we all have everything cleared up. Your lawyer, Mr.Hastings.. he’ll be expecting a phone call from you to drop the suit momentarily. Make the right decision,.. it was such a pleasure seeing both of you. Can’t wait for Thanksgiving” she said with a slight bounce of her shoulders before she headed back to the cab.
Mandi took her phone out as the cab drove her back to the airport. Quick trip, which was important anyways because she needed to meet up with Scarlet and Cody for a workout session, and then she promised Hunter later that night that she would be coming into the station to cook dinner for the guys. She hadn’t told anyone she was going to Florida, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Riley. One, she had no intentions of telling him anything about what happened, there was no reason in upsetting him and two, she didn’t want to stress Hunter out with it either. “ Thank you” she said before stepping out of the cab and making her way into the airport. Plus she hadn’t used Riley’s plane because she didn’t want him to know about that either. The only problem she really had was if anyone saw her in the airport and photographed her, but even then she was able to go in through back entrances and make her way onto the plane unnoticed. Thankfully the flight was quick and she was on her way to the gym in less than no time. “ I know I know, I’m sorry I’m late” she said as she came in through the doors, still half changing before she gave Cody a hug and waved over at Scarlet who was looking at herself in the mirror. “ Does she realize that her outfit does not make sense for boxing?” she asked as she looked at Cody. He however was just laughing as he watched her, “ Ah, but she looks so pretty” he said. Finally when Scarlet was done checking herself out in the mirror she made her way over. “ You’re never tardy” she said, narrowing her eyes at Mandi. “ Something came up” she said while finishing putting her shoes on. “ Yeah but..you’re never tardy for anything..” Scarlet pressed. “ You’ve been my best friend for years. Plenty of stuff has ‘popped up’ and you just juggled it in with everything, never made it an issue.” Scarlet said and Mandi sighed, standing how as she tightened her ponytail. “ Scar, drop it” she said coldly before she stepped away from her. It was nice of Cody to bring Mandi and Scarlet along for a new workout. She had been complaining to him about how her routine was getting boring, and low and behold he offered to give her a few boxing lessons. Neither Hunter or Riley seemed to think it was a bad idea. Though, they were also the only people in the entire world that knew that Riley had murdered someone protecting Mandi. She licked the corner of her lips, pushing that night from her mind the best she could. Apparently that was a theme for her and Riley’s sibling relationship. They changed into versions of themselves that they didn’t recognize in order to protect one another.
If there was one thing worth protecting, it was Riley’s family with Mackenzie and Lily. She herself didn’t have one yet, though she was fairly confident that at some point Hunter would ask her to marry him. It was just a matter of time. And that wasn’t her trying to be cocky, it was just a simple fact. They loved each other, why wouldn’t they spend the rest of their lives together? Every plan she made seemed to effortlessly contour to the notion that he would be standing there beside her at every junction in the road. It felt good just to punch something, though she seemed more into the workout than Scarlet did. She really couldn’t blame her. Scarlet looked to other things to relieve her tension, good for Zach. But sometimes it just felt good to hit the living shit out of something, and Cody seemed to be willing to teach her a thing or two about fighting. About an hour and a half later and she was sweating so bad it felt like she had taken a shower. Gross. Mandi brought her hand up to her forehead, pushing her hair back. “ Thanks” she said breathlessly to Cody before he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, talking about how they had to schedule a session for next week. “ Absolutely, hey are you coming to the barbeque at Riley’s? It’s gonna be hoppin’… Riley, Mack, Lily, Hunter and myself.. probably Scarlet..Zach.” she said, bouncing her shoulders up and down. “ Yeah I’ll see what I can do, ‘ he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek and heading out of the gym. Mandi made her way over to Scarlet, saying goodbye to her and making plans for a girls night soon before heading out herself and hurrying home as quickly as she could to take a shower and get ready to head out to the fire station.
An hour after that and she had put on a pair of khaki shorts, a New York Fire Department t-shirt and a pair of red heels to match, curled her hair into beach waves and was leaving the grocery store where she had gotten enough food to feed an army. Which is basically what the fireman boys were. She held onto the brown grocery bags, making her way inside to the firestation and went upstairs to where their little ‘home’ was. The kitchen, beds for them to sleep on, the little living area with a tv. “ Hey boys” she said happily as a few of them got up to take the grocery bags from her. “ What are we having tonight?” Tommy asked as he led the way to the kitchen and Mandi licked her lips. “ A pan of lasagna, a chicken and shrimp scampi, chicken alfredo, and chicken parmesan. And not that any of you care… salad. And breadsticks.” she said with a smile as she placed her hands on the counter. “So an Italian themed night?” Tommy asked and Mandi smiled brightly as she nodded at him. “ Bonjourno” she said before she took out the little red apron and tied it around herself. “ Jared, can you get out some clean cups for everyone to drink out of? And..how was your grandmother’s birthday, did she love the chocolate soufflé?” she asked before she took out the chicken and the cutting board, starting to slice it so she could place it on the pan. “ Here,” she said, sliding the bell peppers for the scampi to Tommy so he could start slicing those. “Could someone get some water boiling for me so I can get started on the lasagna too, pleaseee?” she asked happily as she started moving her way around the small kitchen quickly. A few minutes later and she had the men in the kitchen hard at work. Finally Hunter made his way in, and Mandi looked up with a smile. “ Hi honey” she said, setting the knife down before she stood on the toes of her high heels and gave him a kiss, ignoring the whistling and cat calls from the other men. ‘ Hey, I didn’t know you were here already. What can I help with?” he asked and Mandi looked around the kitchen before wrapping her arms around his lower waist and smiling up at him. “ Well I need a taste tester.. very important.” she said, giving him another quick kiss before she directed him towards a chair to sit in and got him something to drink before she went back to cooking while Tommy continued to slice and dice, looking down at notebook cards to ask her questions from her textbooks so she could multitask and study. Mandi took a small plate, placing some of the finished chicken and bell peppers with the scampi sauce on it before she made her way over to Hunter and offered it to him with a fork. Before he could taste test it she smiled, leaning down to give him a quick kiss. He knew the dark secrets of her past, he handled her neurotic behavior when it came to studying, and he still stuck around. Which was part of the reason she loved him, and moments like this just being able to make him dinner where she felt completely at home and safe with him, were moments that made her know she would do anything and put anything on the line to protect him, too. “ Love you baby” she whispered to him softly before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and going back over to the small island to keep cooking.
“ Now Mandi, I don’t see how what we decide to do with our granddaughter is any of your business” Douglas started and Mandi sighed, giving a small nod. “ My parents died and not only that but I had to watch my brother live through that experience twice.. because he couldn’t remember. Family is all I’ve got at this point. My brother has given up.. many things for me. And I would use my last breath legally and potentially physically bitch slapping you across the face before I ever let you take Lily from their home. See, I say their.. because Lily has a mother. As much as you two might try to hide and deny it.. Mackenzie is her mother. That might come off pretty harsh, considering your daughter is.. passed. But you’ve sort of pushed me to my limit. I thought I had seen myself crazy before but.. low and behold you’re on a one man mission to see just destructive I can get. Drop the suit, or there will be serious repercussions for your actions.” she said as she looked between them. “ Is that a threat, Miss Collins?”. She smiled slowly as she watched them. “ If you’re not scared, Mr. Franklin, you should be. You were a teacher, no? Why did you quit exactly? Did it have anything to do with the fact that one of your students was pregnant her junior year by a faculty member that she never named?” she asked with a slight tilt of her head. “ Or what about you.. Deborah. How’s the pain killer addiction coming along? Is your medicine cabinet stocked up at the moment? Not only do I have enough shit on you individually but… to lie on your tax returns and still claim your daughter who is deceased.. that’s low..” she said while shaking her head. “ Damnit, Mandi. You don’t know a damn thing of what you’re talking about. How dare you come in and make these accusations. You’re not even a lawyer yet.. this is blackmail”. Mandi widened her eyes in mock shock. “ Very good, you can recognize blackmail. I should’ve given you more credit. You’re right, I’m not a lawyer yet. I’m just a law student at one of the nations most pristine law schools. Unfortunately for you, I’m not just A law student. I’m Mandi Collins, which to me doesn’t mean shit. But considering half the campus is named after my family because of contributions, there’s plenty of professors and seasoned staff who would love to be at my call to subpoena your ass for a number of things. Not to mention.. you don’t become a family of such important like mine.. without having friends in low places. And those friends, Douglas.. those are the ones you should be afraid of. Because if this doesn’t get handled legally.. I will do everything in my power to make sure that my niece stays right where she is. Do not push me.” she said before looking back at Deborah and smiling happily. “ Your home is beautiful..” she said before heading back to the front door. “ I assume that we all have everything cleared up. Your lawyer, Mr.Hastings.. he’ll be expecting a phone call from you to drop the suit momentarily. Make the right decision,.. it was such a pleasure seeing both of you. Can’t wait for Thanksgiving” she said with a slight bounce of her shoulders before she headed back to the cab.
Mandi took her phone out as the cab drove her back to the airport. Quick trip, which was important anyways because she needed to meet up with Scarlet and Cody for a workout session, and then she promised Hunter later that night that she would be coming into the station to cook dinner for the guys. She hadn’t told anyone she was going to Florida, and she sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Riley. One, she had no intentions of telling him anything about what happened, there was no reason in upsetting him and two, she didn’t want to stress Hunter out with it either. “ Thank you” she said before stepping out of the cab and making her way into the airport. Plus she hadn’t used Riley’s plane because she didn’t want him to know about that either. The only problem she really had was if anyone saw her in the airport and photographed her, but even then she was able to go in through back entrances and make her way onto the plane unnoticed. Thankfully the flight was quick and she was on her way to the gym in less than no time. “ I know I know, I’m sorry I’m late” she said as she came in through the doors, still half changing before she gave Cody a hug and waved over at Scarlet who was looking at herself in the mirror. “ Does she realize that her outfit does not make sense for boxing?” she asked as she looked at Cody. He however was just laughing as he watched her, “ Ah, but she looks so pretty” he said. Finally when Scarlet was done checking herself out in the mirror she made her way over. “ You’re never tardy” she said, narrowing her eyes at Mandi. “ Something came up” she said while finishing putting her shoes on. “ Yeah but..you’re never tardy for anything..” Scarlet pressed. “ You’ve been my best friend for years. Plenty of stuff has ‘popped up’ and you just juggled it in with everything, never made it an issue.” Scarlet said and Mandi sighed, standing how as she tightened her ponytail. “ Scar, drop it” she said coldly before she stepped away from her. It was nice of Cody to bring Mandi and Scarlet along for a new workout. She had been complaining to him about how her routine was getting boring, and low and behold he offered to give her a few boxing lessons. Neither Hunter or Riley seemed to think it was a bad idea. Though, they were also the only people in the entire world that knew that Riley had murdered someone protecting Mandi. She licked the corner of her lips, pushing that night from her mind the best she could. Apparently that was a theme for her and Riley’s sibling relationship. They changed into versions of themselves that they didn’t recognize in order to protect one another.
If there was one thing worth protecting, it was Riley’s family with Mackenzie and Lily. She herself didn’t have one yet, though she was fairly confident that at some point Hunter would ask her to marry him. It was just a matter of time. And that wasn’t her trying to be cocky, it was just a simple fact. They loved each other, why wouldn’t they spend the rest of their lives together? Every plan she made seemed to effortlessly contour to the notion that he would be standing there beside her at every junction in the road. It felt good just to punch something, though she seemed more into the workout than Scarlet did. She really couldn’t blame her. Scarlet looked to other things to relieve her tension, good for Zach. But sometimes it just felt good to hit the living shit out of something, and Cody seemed to be willing to teach her a thing or two about fighting. About an hour and a half later and she was sweating so bad it felt like she had taken a shower. Gross. Mandi brought her hand up to her forehead, pushing her hair back. “ Thanks” she said breathlessly to Cody before he wrapped his arms around her in a hug, talking about how they had to schedule a session for next week. “ Absolutely, hey are you coming to the barbeque at Riley’s? It’s gonna be hoppin’… Riley, Mack, Lily, Hunter and myself.. probably Scarlet..Zach.” she said, bouncing her shoulders up and down. “ Yeah I’ll see what I can do, ‘ he said before giving her a kiss on the cheek and heading out of the gym. Mandi made her way over to Scarlet, saying goodbye to her and making plans for a girls night soon before heading out herself and hurrying home as quickly as she could to take a shower and get ready to head out to the fire station.
An hour after that and she had put on a pair of khaki shorts, a New York Fire Department t-shirt and a pair of red heels to match, curled her hair into beach waves and was leaving the grocery store where she had gotten enough food to feed an army. Which is basically what the fireman boys were. She held onto the brown grocery bags, making her way inside to the firestation and went upstairs to where their little ‘home’ was. The kitchen, beds for them to sleep on, the little living area with a tv. “ Hey boys” she said happily as a few of them got up to take the grocery bags from her. “ What are we having tonight?” Tommy asked as he led the way to the kitchen and Mandi licked her lips. “ A pan of lasagna, a chicken and shrimp scampi, chicken alfredo, and chicken parmesan. And not that any of you care… salad. And breadsticks.” she said with a smile as she placed her hands on the counter. “So an Italian themed night?” Tommy asked and Mandi smiled brightly as she nodded at him. “ Bonjourno” she said before she took out the little red apron and tied it around herself. “ Jared, can you get out some clean cups for everyone to drink out of? And..how was your grandmother’s birthday, did she love the chocolate soufflé?” she asked before she took out the chicken and the cutting board, starting to slice it so she could place it on the pan. “ Here,” she said, sliding the bell peppers for the scampi to Tommy so he could start slicing those. “Could someone get some water boiling for me so I can get started on the lasagna too, pleaseee?” she asked happily as she started moving her way around the small kitchen quickly. A few minutes later and she had the men in the kitchen hard at work. Finally Hunter made his way in, and Mandi looked up with a smile. “ Hi honey” she said, setting the knife down before she stood on the toes of her high heels and gave him a kiss, ignoring the whistling and cat calls from the other men. ‘ Hey, I didn’t know you were here already. What can I help with?” he asked and Mandi looked around the kitchen before wrapping her arms around his lower waist and smiling up at him. “ Well I need a taste tester.. very important.” she said, giving him another quick kiss before she directed him towards a chair to sit in and got him something to drink before she went back to cooking while Tommy continued to slice and dice, looking down at notebook cards to ask her questions from her textbooks so she could multitask and study. Mandi took a small plate, placing some of the finished chicken and bell peppers with the scampi sauce on it before she made her way over to Hunter and offered it to him with a fork. Before he could taste test it she smiled, leaning down to give him a quick kiss. He knew the dark secrets of her past, he handled her neurotic behavior when it came to studying, and he still stuck around. Which was part of the reason she loved him, and moments like this just being able to make him dinner where she felt completely at home and safe with him, were moments that made her know she would do anything and put anything on the line to protect him, too. “ Love you baby” she whispered to him softly before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and going back over to the small island to keep cooking.
