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Looking at her slender wrist, Anne once again checked the time on her watch. The time seemed to tick by torturously slowly and the ever present ticking of the kitchen clock seemed to make it worse.
Why she felt so annoyingly nervous, she didn't quite know. The meeting with the solicitor will be over before I know it, she reasoned with herself as she paced the floor.
Nervous butterflies and quivers filled her stomach and the mere presence of them made her feel nauseous.
"Something's only libellous when it's not true." Anne heard Richard say, moments before he walked through the kitchen door.
Anne had to smile as she noticed her husband's appearance. Like herself, he looked smart in a black suit. His usually messy hair had been battled into submission and with a smile still on her face, she had to wonder how long it had taken him to do his hair.
As Richard noticed his wife, he mirrored her smile. The tension in his voice had vanished and he seemed to almost forget his brother, George's, presence beside him.
Reaching his wife, he cupped her face, gently. His tenderness seemed to ease Anne's nerves slightly as she thought about the man before her. It didn't seem so important for the world to know the truth.
"I hate to interrupt you two. But they painted me as a mad, drunken womanizer." George told them, sounding not at all apologetic.
Anne, at George's words, had to bite her tongue. George's description in the article was only thing that damned author had got right! Why on earth was he complaining?
"And...? You are a womanizer, George." Richard pointed out to his brother as gently as he could.
George's unhappiness seemed to intensify greatly at his little brother's words as he plonked himself onto a seat at the dining table.
"Doesn't mean she had the right to portray me like that." He grumbled, before biting into an apple. George's bites were as vicious as they were loud.
As George demolished the apple, quickly, Richard looked at his wife. Worry and anger bubbled in the pit of his stomach as he noticed how tired she appeared. Her lovely face had lost it's once healthy glow and had been replaced by bags her eyes.
That blasted article had almost ruined their lives and he couldn't help but worry whether it still could. His foul, cruel nature and even crimes had been well and truly documented in that so-called 'accurate' article. Despite the fact, he'd never once done any of it!
Once again, anger flared inside him. Where on earth had that demented writer got her sources from? Obviously someone close to them all....
Richard's fists clenched unconsciously at where his thoughts were going and it was only when he felt his wife's small hand on his knee, did he begin to calm down.
"When do we have to be at the solicitors again?" Anne asked him, a short while later, when he'd composed himself.
By her question, her nerves were obvious to them both. Anne had never been the type of woman to forget important dates and times and the fact she had needed to check definitely proved something.
"9am. Mr Stanley just wants to go over a few details, sweetheart. It'll be fine." He told her, reassuringly.
Anne had to smile as she heard her husband's words. His soft tone and even the endearment he'd used was all for her and she felt incredibly thankful for it.
By now, George's interest into the article had vanished, his attention was purely on the food before him. Richard couldn't help but feel slightly envious of the sight his brother eating, happily. George looked as if he had no other care in the world, apart from breakfast.
"It's good someone's able to eat this morning." Richard commented, drily.
At his words, George stopped chewing momentarily and looked at his brother. There was a hint of shock on his face and it was awhile before it vanished.
"Like you said, that writer used the truth to describe me. Why should I be nervous? I'm not the one suing her, Richard. You and Anne are." He pointed out to them.
At his brother's words, Richard had to keep his temper in check. His words had proved just how right that description had been.
X
Sitting in the stylish, modern office, Richard and Anne waited patiently. Although, they'd arrived on time, Mr Stanley was obviously running late.
"I hope he's not too much longer. I feel sick as it is." Anne admitted to her husband, her stomach churning painfully as she talked.
Richard's response, however, was not to be had as Mr Stanley finally appeared. Something about the man in front of Richard and Anne made them confident about their case. With his sharp suit and colourful tie, Mr Stanley looked very much the solicitor he was and a very successful one at that.
"I am sorry for keeping you waiting, Mr and Mrs York." Mr Stanley told them both, as he regained his seat behind his desk.
Any anger or irritation Anne or Richard may have felt would have definitely vanished at his words. His voice sounded calm and collected and the welcoming smile on his face seemed to put them both at ease.
"Let's begin, shall we? So, the article in question was published at the end of last year, right? And you're still feeling the affects of the libellous and false content?" Mr Stanley asked, barely stopping to draw breath.
A nod or two seemed satisfy Mr Stanley as he was once again asking questions, only minutes later.
"Do you know what the purpose of the article was, by any chance?" He asked them, a thoughtful look on his face as he did so.
It was Richard who answered him and it was directly to the point.
"It was to be a life history of the York's." There was an edge to his voice as he spoke and Anne knew he was thinking of the author.
At Richard's words, the cogs in Mr Stanley's head seemed to be working. Anne and Richard watched as he scribbled furiously in a notebook next to him.
"Instead, you got an article filled with lies and assertions. Don't worry, Mr and Mrs York, before too long you're upstanding reputations will be restored!"