She was wanting to come over, so he said okay. As he hung up he focused on the problem he was about to face; would he shrug her off or keep it going?

Of course he had to let her go. She was only a kid........not much younger than Lynn was when you met her, his new, less guilty conscience reminded him. "That was four years ago...." he said to the wall. "I have to do it. She goes."

The doorbell rang as he said that, and he opened the door. There she was, teary eyed and concerned, and releived when she saw him. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay......."

So much for going on with life. His little voice mocked. There was no way he could break it off with her, looking at that face. "I told you I was fine." he replied teasingly.

"Yes, but..."she put her arms around his waist and gazed up at him. "I just had to see for myself."

"Well, I'm fine. I'm tough. I made it."

"Was it weird having Lynn here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Very weird. I had a dream about you last night even with her right there."

Susan grinned "Oh really? What kind of dream?"

"You don't need to know the details......" he kissed her softly, while the guilty feeling came back. He ignored it and kept going. Why should he feel guilty? He wasn't cheating. This was not illegal. He had not stolen anything. Only problem was that he was not married to her, and he'd been breaking that rule for quite some time now.

*******

"Conan, you have no evidence. You simpley cannot prove that this girl tried to kill you." Conan's lawyer, John, sighed. "I mean, if you did it this is no way to--"

"John, if you say that one more fucking time you're fired. I did not try to kill myself. I was there. She did it." Conan sat back in his office chair and crossed his arms, just about ready to kill his lawyer and everyone else in the world.

"That's all fine and good, Conan, I don't care if you did or not. The thing is, you are a celebrity and you have a reputation to uphold, and apparently you have had some problems lately. So I am sorry, but it looks like you're either framing this girl to uphold your reputation or you are in denial and have had a memory lapse from the drugs. And you declined to take further drug testing, and I don't care if you're clean or not, that just looks bad." John sighed and calmed down. "There is just no way to prove she did it, buddy."

"Don't call me your damn buddy." Conan said irratibly. "Okay, so what can we do?"

"Well, at least take a drug test if you really aren't on anything..........you aren't are you?" He had to make sure. It was the right thing.

Conan sighed. "Not unless you count anti-depressants."

This got John's attention. "Those aren't on your perscription list." "I know. I was taken off of them about two years ago. It's an every once in a while thing."

"When's the last time?"

Conan looked at the floor. "Yesterday. Right after Lynn left."

John braced himself for a bad reaction to the next question. "Are you addicted?"

Suprisingly, Conan remained calm. He considered it. "Addicted? I wouldn't think. I don't need it. It just helps me feel better sometimes. You know how I am."

John nodded. "Okay, sounds innocent enough. I mean, it's illegal but at least it isn't a frequent thing. But that's why you denied the drug test, right?"

Conan nodded.

"Okay, then, we'll schedule an appointment for about a month from now to get a drug test, that way it will be out of your system.....you understand you have to stop taking them, right?"

"I'm not an idiot." he replied.

"I realize that. I went to the same college as you. They don't let stupid people graduate."

Conan grinned. He loved his lawyers sense of humor. "Maybe we could get a judge from Harvard?"

John laughed, glad he was lightening up. "Yeah, a judge that understands how hard we really work....what was it you ended up being, Conan?"

"Hey, I'm historic at that school."

"No, you were the second guy to run that thing for two straight years."

"Bah," Conan said, waving his hand. "He's forgotten. That was eighty years ago." Conan got serious again. "Listen, it really matters to me that you beleive me. This girl tried to kill me. And I know there has to be a way to prove it."

John looked at him for a long time. Of course he was telling the truth. Conan was all but a liar. He'd just confessed that he took illegal drugs, for God's sake's. The man was a bad liar at that. John could tell he was hiding something when he declined the drug test. "I beleive you, Conan." he said.

Conan looked at him greatfully. He got up and looked out his window, at the crowd of reporters on the street below. "Now what about the rest of the country?"

"As much as I hate to say it, you're going to have to talk to those reporters."

Conan nodded. "So let's go."

"Now?"

"It's as good a time as any."

John shrugged and prepped him in the elevator. "Okay, don't say anything about her, don't even say 'her' if you can remember. Just say that you did not try to kill yourself, somebody tried to kill you. Answer their questions as honestly as you can, ignore the ones that ask who it was, or if you were in a relationship. If the whole thing about your latest trouble, being Lynn, comes up, steer clear of that, we don't want to point out that you have been having a bad couple of days." the elevator stopped. "I'll be right next to you. If they ask something I haven't mentioned here, I might nudge you with my elbow. That means don't answer. Got it?"

Conan nodded and took a breath, stepping outside.

*******

Sheila held her head between her hands. She was tired of the questions, and she had been "dismissed" from her job due the "indifferences" between her and Conan. She cursed herself. This was not how it was supposed to be. She was supposed to get off scott free. Not that she wasn't. There was no way to prove that she had done it, except that Conan said she did. And they seemed to think he was covering up for himself, that he was in denial.

Behind her the TV said words that made her cringe. "Conan O'Brien talked to reporters today, dismissing allegations that he tried to kill himself..."

Sheila became enraged and picked up what was closest to her and through it at the TV, a ceramic cat that she loved. It hit the wall and shattered. Conan remained on the screen, looking at her, accusing her. Like he wanted to hurt her.

This thought struck a chord in her brain. He did want to hurt you. She told herself, as an idea began forming in her mind.

She looked at the TV. "You tried to rape me." she told the TV. She laughed. It was so simple! Everyone always beleived a "he tried to...." story. And when the man denied it, he looks like a jerk. She straightened out the tiniest details in her mind within seconds, and called her lawyer she had hired as soon as she had been brought in for questioning. She put on a scared voice when she got him "There's something I need to tell you.....I just can't keep it in anymore......"

*******

The phone on Conan's desk bleeped, but he ignored it. "What do you mean, 'am I OK'?"

Susan shrugged. "You seem a little....off...."

bleeeeeppp!!!

"Off? I am a little off, Susan, and you aren't helping much. I'm busy."he snapped, picking up the phone and turning away.

Susan rolled her eyes and walked out.

"Hello?" Conan asked irritably

"Conan, you're in trouble....."John paused. "Well, not trouble. You're in deep shit."

"God what now....." Conan murmered, looking up.

"Conan, the girl....Sheila? Her lawyer called me.....I......Conan, did you really tell me everything about that night?"

Conan's heart sank. "Of course I did."

John sighed. "Well, she's saying you forced yourself on her, she got away, and you got so upset you decided to kill yourself. She says she has a letter you sent to her, through a person that she does not want to reveal. Her lawyer said that it looks legitament......"

"But......" Conan stuttered "But I didn't!"

"Didn't what? Send the letter?"

"Any of that stuff! John, I--"

"As your lawyer, I have to beleive what you say. Your saying you didn't do it?"

"Yes." Conan sighed. "That's what I'm saying."

"Can you prove it?"

"Well, I didn't write a letter, so it wouldn't be in my hand writing....."

John sighed. "Fine, we'll need a handwriting sample, etcetera......"

Conan nodded and remembered he was on the phone. "Okay."

"I have to warn you, people really go for this stuff. The world is going to feel sorry for this woman, and as soon as you deny it they are going to despise you. So if you did anything I need to know right now because we can work it out....."

"Are you telling me it's easier to be guilty?"

"This is America, Conan. It doesn't matter. You are guilty. You just have to prove yourself innocent. And that is the hardest thing in the world to do with no evidence."

"What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

"You should know, of all people. You made the jokes. OJ is what happened to being innocent. He wasn't convicted because he was a star, and people got so much crap for that they are now afraid not to convict a star. No matter if they did it or not."

"So it doesn't matter right now that I didn't do it." Conan murmered, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt the begginings of a massive headache.

"Unfortunatly, yes. All that matters is that our favorite girl is holding a press conference in three hours."

"So soon?" he asked sarcasticly. "She couldn't wait a day to ruin my life, huh? Again, may I add."

"Just come to the press conference. If you're going to fight this, may as well do it as soon as you're accused. I'll make sure the stalkerazzi knows you'll be there."

"Fine, I guess....." Conan said, setting the phone on the cradle and opening his desk drawer for something for his headache. The anti-depressants caught his eye, but he knew not to take them....he called Andy's office and asked him if he had any pain killers.

Andy promptly showed up at his door with Tylenol with Codine, something he had been perscribed but never finished and took on occasion. He tossed the bottle to Conan, who gulped down three. "What will these do?" he asked, drinking water. Andy shrugged. "Not much. Make you drowsy for about an hour, but your headache should be gone for about six."

"So that means that I'll feel fine in thre hours?"

"What's in three hours?"

Conan leaned back in his chair. "Doesn't matter."p> *******