Conflict Of Interest

Early Morning....Ocean City..... Attorney Elwood Barnes couldn't believe how hard his penis was...but even more than that...he couldn't believe who he was in the middle of the floor of his hotel room with...
A woman he had despised for many years...

A woman who he had long blamed for ruining his life...

They were kissing passionately.....She was softly stroking his rock hard penis....

"Ummmmmm this is sooo wrong on so many levels.." said the woman...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...let's not talk about wrong or right ,right now...ummmmmmmmmmmm."he moaned...

"Oh my goodness...woooooooooooooooooooooo...you are so...so hard..ouuuuuuuuuuuu...."she moaned..

"It's been a long time for you hasn't it?" he said as they continued to kiss passionately...

"Yes....but I thought it would be a cold day in hell before I'd ever be here with YOU...like this.." she said..

He smiled...

"Hell Has frozen over baby..." he said ,laughing raffishly...

He lifted the petite woman up and opened her legs and entered her softly and gently....Which was a surprise for him...Usually when he was having sex with a woman for the first time...A new woman, he was so excited that he went rough and hard...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu......oh my goodness...woooooooooooooooooooooooo.." she moaned...as he held her up in the air and stroked her for all she was worth..

"Yessssssssssssssssssss....Yessss." he moaned..

He took her to his unmade bed and laid her down....

What followed next was Six To Seven Hours of the sweetest lovemaking he had made with a woman since...since he had been married to Olivia Bennett...his first wife!

just thinking about Olivia, now known as Olivia Bennett-Alexander....His ex-wife, now remarried and running her own law firm got him so excited that he began to stroke this woman even harder...

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!  OH MY GOODNESS....YOU REALLY ARE EXCITED!" she moaned..

Elwood momentarily forgot who he was screwing and imagined it was Olivia.. Sweet, Sweet Olivia..

Three More Hours seemed to slip by...This woman was soft and wet and petite just like Olivia...in fact, she reminded him a lot of Olivia...It made sense that she had been Olivia's divorce attorney...and friend....They were so much alike...both brilliant Attorneys...

Attorney ,Zoey Easter had won Olivia a divorce settlement from him that had him giving up the house ,three of his prize autos and a considerable amount of money...He was so angry AT HER , not so much Olivia after the divorce that for years ,if he heard her name...He went into a rage...Now here he was in bed with her making sweet ,sweet love....and thoroughly enjoying himself....More than he cared to admit..

They had been in his room since around nine thirty last night...Here it was almost six o'clock and they were still going strong...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDD!, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou" she moaned...

Her body was shaking...She was crying like a little girl and turning her head from side to side and he was cumming himself, like a gusher.....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd!" he yelled as his toes curled...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, my goodness Elwood...I-I-I never imagined...." was all Zoey could say....

"You? You never imagined...Lawddd,  You really put somethin on me girl.. WOW!" he admitted... He was sweating profusely and totally exhausted as he sat on the bed and just stared at her..He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge near his bed and gulped it all down...He passed her another bottle...She drank slowly....She was sweating profusely and nearly depleted of all energy!

"How did I wind up here...in your bed?" she asked aloud...She couldn't believe it herself...

II-

10 Hours Before-

She was drinking alone at a little seaside bar called Sammy's...She was the only African -American in the bar...or so she thought!

Several drinks were sent to her...

"I didn't order these.." she said to the waitress...

"The Gentleman over there sent them...He uh saw what you had to drink before.." she said..

"I guess he wants to drink with me....I can't drink all of these drinks.."said Zoey...

"Oh Myyyy...I didn't realize this was you...I uh saw you from afar..." said Elwood...

"Do I know you? ...You look familiar....Oh My God!!!!...Elwood!!! Elwood Barnes!!!,Olivia Bennett's ex-husband..." said Zoey...

"You should remember me....Let's see, you took my house, three of my cars and a sizable amount of cash from me...You nearly put me in the poor house." he said.

"I was representing my client to the fullest...You cheated on her, a lot, I recall!...the mental anguish you caused her , caused her to have not one, but two miscarriages.." said Zoey...

"Still trying your case counselor? You won...Remember??" said Elwood..

"You even slept with your original attorneys....both of them...during the hearing.." laughed Zoey...

"You keep good score counselor....Anyway...Water under the bridge.." he said , remembering the cat fight between his two very attractive attorneys when they found out he was sleeping with both of them on the sly...and how they poured a pitcher of ice cold water on him and quit....He hired a lecherous old male attorney who spent most of his time making goo goo eyes at Zoey.....and he lost the case...badly!

 "Olivia and her bitch of a niece, Beverly have a great law practice now... I'm very proud of Olivia's accomplishments, believe it or not.." he said. Zoey wondered about the sincerity of that statement.

 "Don't talk about Beverly like that...She's a sweetheart." said Zoey....who came to see Beverly as a little sister, much like Olivia did...

and who was quite impressed with Beverly's legal skills and the help she provided her and Liv during the divorce preceedings.


 Elwood ignored her and continued....

" They have a nice Office/Duplex, which I feel I paid for...

and Olivia has remarried what turns out to be a nice guy...Donnie Ray Alexander, who adores her and loves her and supports her the way I should have...but didn't....

That could be me and Liv in that practice right now..Working together...but I blew it...I admit that." he said.

"Wow...you've come along way...Therapy?" asked Zoey...

"Two Divorces will do that to you...Yes.. I was in Anger -Management for awhile and I saw a therapist for depression...I was Co-Counsel for Delorean Motors...Had a beautiful Condo and a gorgeous company car....Making well over six figures a year..." said Elwood..

"They lost a big class action suit, had to close a lot of their factories....." said Zoey...

"Yeah and they let me go, took their condo and their car.....Practically put me on the street..."said Elwood..

"You did have some bad luck." said Zoey as she sipped her second drink...

by the time they had both finished five drinks....Elwood continued..

"Luckily I had enough money to hold me until I found my present job...I'm General Counsel for Cyclops Insurance...I don't make the money I made at Delorean...but I have a nice Loft and a nice car...Mine this time, not the company's..." he said.

"Not to mention the car we didn't get from you in the divorce..." laughed Zoey...

He laughed...

He found that he liked this woman...She was smart and interesting and very pretty....A real spitfire...

He had always thought she was pretty, even back when she was representing Olivia and gutting him...He ordered more drinks...He couldn't take his eyes off of her..She really knew how to fill out a dress ,he thought...

They kept drinking and talking....

"You moved to New York for awhile didn't you?  I recall seeing you in passing when I was with my second wife.." he said.

"Yes, I was Assistant Counsel for the New York Knicks....I did very well for myself...Had a townhouse in Manhattan for awhile.." said Zoey...

"You were dating a friend of mine, Ethan Proud....for awhile...Hell of an Attorney....Sorry to hear he's dead and the way he died...Heroin overdose...Ohhhhh mannn." said Elwood..

"I had a...a heroin problem too for awhile...An after effect of dating Ethan." said Zoey...

"You? A smart girl like you?  Oh My God..." said Elwood..

"I took a leave of Absence and went to a rehab program out in California...I've been clean for close to a year now.." said Zoey....

"Wow!  So you still with the Knicks?" asked Elwood..

"Oh No...I'm back in Philly...I'm with the law firm I was originally with, Cowen, Cowen and Young and Associates...when I represented Olivia..."she said.

"Oh yeah, you made partner..." said Elwood..

"I made Junior Partner...but I'm not a junior partner anymore...I had to start over again when I came back...I'm an Associate Attorney....No office in the corner...I'm in a cubicle with the other Associates...Like you, it's nowhere near what I was pulling down in my hay day.. but it pays the bills for now.." she said...

A glass of wine was delivered to both of them.....

"Where did this come from? I didn't order this..." said Zoey....

"I ordered this for us.."said Elwood..

"Oh My God....Are you trying to get me drunk?   This is so weird...Me sitting here drinking with you..." said Zoey.

"Water under the bridge Zoey....I don't take this personal...That was the past...Tonight is now!" he said staring at her leeringly....He couldn't believe he actually had an erection...This woman had him aroused...His ex-wife's divorce lawyer...

"If you stare any harder your eyes are gonna fall out of their sockets Mr. Barnes..." said Zoey...

He laughed....He peeled off some dollars and tossed it on the table...

"That's more than enough to cover our drinks...I'm not staying far from here...Why don't you come back to my place?" he asked.. "Take your shoes off, relax a bit??" he offered..

"Relax? I can relax in my hotel." said Zoey....

''Why relax alone? You could have company....Some nice wine..I have some in my frig.....Charming and intelligent conversation...and uh...we could see where it might go from uh there...Heh..Heh..Heh." he said.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh and there is the rub....I'm already buzzed and we've already had conversation....Mr. Barnes....What else would be left for us to do?" she said ,looking at him salaciously...

"You're a big girl Zoey...You're curious about me and I damn sure know I'm curious about you...I can't stop staring at how sexy you look in that damn dress..A dress,I'd much like to take off of you..." said Elwood..

"You want to sleep with me?" she asked incredulous...

"Yes....Very much...It's all I can think about...Come on....You probably haven't done anything since Ethan died and how long has that been?" he asked.

"I can't believe this conversation....I can't believe I'm actually entertaining the idea...This is kinda like a conflict of interest Mr. Barnes...I represented your ex-wife in a divorce...Like you said...I nearly put you on the street. This is a conflict of interest Mr. Barnes." laughed Zoey...

"How is it? You're not Olivia's lawyer anymore.....That was years ago.....and we aren't even in Philly...We are in Ocean City...What happens in Ocean City stays in Ocean City.." he laughed..

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu you are a snake charmer...Mister Barnes....Look, Olivia is my friend....I-I feel like I'm betraying her....just being here drinking with you." said Zoey...

"She and I aren't married anymore...You kinda saw to that.. And besides...We are two states away from her...She never has to know about this...I'm not going to tell her...Are you?" he asked..

III-

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Elwooooooooooooooooood , Oh My goooodness..ouuuuuuuuuuuuu.."she moaned.. as the headboard slammed against the wall and the bed squeaked loudly...

"Babyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!"he moaned silently.....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDD!, woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou" she moaned...

Her body was shaking...She was crying like a little girl and turning her head from side to side and he was cumming himself, like a gusher.....

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd!" he yelled as his toes curled...

"I can't believe this feels so goooooooooooooooood ,ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." he moaned..

"OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!  OH MY GOODNESS....YOU REALLY ARE EXCITED! OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!" she moaned..

and now Nine Hours later...She was sitting across his bed...catching her breath....

 "Oh My god.....whoooooooooo...I feel like such a whore..." she said..

"Baby...you've got nothing to feel bad about...WOW! Not the way you put it on me... "he said....

"This can't happen again....This shouldn't have happened in the first place..."said Zoey..

"Come here...get back in this bed..." he said softly.....

"Noooooooooooooooo...I've got to go..." she protested...but she was too physically weak to go anywhere..

Elwood gently pulled her back into the bed...

"You like this...and I like this.." he said softly in between slow soft kisses...


"Elwood please,I -I feel so guilty.." she protested

"Tell me you like it." he said...

"Ohhhhh...I-I I like it...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned...Hating herself...

They kissed passionately for close to a half hour...He laid her down...She tried to protest, but she couldn't...He entered her again ,slowly, softly....Her kisses were soft like butter....He was so hard ,he couldn't believe it....

Zoey was so wet, even she couldn't believe it.....It had been a  long time for her...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."she moaned....

"OH MY goodness girl....ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.." he moaned...he was losing his mind...


"Ohhhhhhhhh Elwood....ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...oh my lawd!  Woooooo!" she found herself cooing.....

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm..Damn Zoey...You're driving me crazy.." said Elwood as he kissed her and continued to stroke her gently...


"Ummmmmmmmmmmm....oh Elwoood...Ummmmmmmm..." she moaned...


"I been wanting to do you secretly for years" he moaned..

 "Please Elwood..Stop lying..You're killing the mood.....You only wanted to do me when you saw me tonight..."said Zoey...


"Okay.." he said..

Zoey stared into his eyes....They seemed to be glazed.....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph..Zo, take it easy...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..ummmmph.."he moaned...He was losing his mind and close to collapse...

"You like it?" she asked..

"Yesssssssssssssss..ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." he moaned..She knew what to do with a man in bed....

Zoey was on the verge of collapse herself...
."Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my gawd!...Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"Elwood moaned....at the point of hysteria..

His eyes were rolling into the back of his head...Soon she was on top of him, lowering herself down on his penis..going up and down...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ummmmmmmp..Oh My god... .ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...ummmmmmmmmmmmp..Whoaaaa", he moaned...

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Elwood...I can't believe this..Don't cum yet...ouuuu not yet..." she moaned softly..."Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

"I can't believe it either....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..I'm trying not to, but I'm close...ohhh god, I'm close.." he moaned..

Another good Six Hours of lovemaking followed...She was surprisingly feeling very good, but she wanted him to hurry up and come, so she could leave...Seemed like he would never come...He couldn't get enough...She wondered if he ever got enough....She was climaxing now and climaxing hard....Tears streaming down her face.....Her body shaking...

Soon Elwood came and came hard....like a gusher....His body shaking and trembling......He held on to Zoey for dear life and kissed her passionately...She returned his passion....Now she was the one who didn't want to let go...

Both of their bodies were trembling.....shaking.....She found, she couldn't stop kissing him and he found himself cumming harder and more than he ever imagined....

He hadn't had his bell rung like this in a long time.......His body was shaking....He was frightened...He had never lost control like this before...


IV-

Elwood soon drifted off to sleep....Zoey took a long hot shower....and dressed....It was a little after noon...She had not only spent the night with him, which she had never planned to do, but had spent the entire morning with him...She hated to be seen in the same clothes she was in the night before...She hoped no one on the beach recognized her....They'd all know she spent the night with some man....

She felt so dirty.... and so guilty ,Sleeping with Olivia's ex-husband...She felt like she'd betrayed a friend...She tried to tell herself that Olivia and Elwood had been divorced for years...Olivia was re-married now to a man she adored more than life itself...Still, it would be a little weird...If Olivia knew that her former divorce attorney was sleeping with her ex-husband...It would never feel right!

She thought about Olivia, how decent a woman she was....How much she had always admired her...She couldn't look her in the face , Not after having slept with Elwood , her ex husband, who she had helped Olivia divorce...She felt like such a back stabber...

She felt ashamed.. On the one hand...but on the other.. She did see the attraction...He was a very attractive man and a good lover...He sent tingles through her spine just thinking about the night and the morning they had...


Because of his Heroin Addiction, many times Ethan hadn't been able to get it up and when he did...He was done after a few minutes...leaving her unsatisfied...But this man, Elwood could not only get it up...He could keep it up...He was extreme...He had worn her out!!!

As a recovering addict, She shouldn't have been drinking that much if at all...The alcohol was what made her resolve so weak, she told herself...

She went back to her room and cried herself to sleep..

V-

That afternoon, She was walking along the beach , when she smelled a familiar fragrance...She turned and saw , Elwood Barnes..

''Zoey, you left and didn't say goodbye." he said. He usually preferred his women to leave and go home after a night of sex.. A lot of times he had to hint around to it or just put them out...As he told the Private Investigator ,Kevin Morris..

"Once I get in a lady's panties...it's pretty much a wrap for me..


The thrill is gone." he told Kevin..


 Funny, only three women had made him feel different about that...

Olivia was of course one....He remembered the first time he had sex with Livy, He felt the way he felt now...Enthralled...Frightened...Olivia had rocked his boat in much the same way...Olivia had blown his mind...He had to see her again and he did and again and again until it got to the point that he married her ,just so she could be his...and no one elses...


But once he got Olivia pregnant...He began sleeping with other women again and it seemed that he never had the interest in her he had had at first....A Big mistake...He now knew....He got her pregnant a second time after her first miscarriage...but by now, the serial cheating, the lying and all had taken it's toll...Olivia divorced him and miscarried a second time...


By the time he came to his senses and tried to get Olivia back...She was already seeing someone and engaged to be married.. He regretted losing Olivia everyday of his life...He often dreamed about her...

Tamika Carson, The Victoria Secret's Model he met when he was living in his condo and working for Delorean , had been the other...She had rocked his world like no other...He found himself chasing her and begging her for a second chance...Something he rarely if ever did..

Zoey had now become the third woman to rock his world in the bed and keep his interest....


"Elwood what do you want?" said Zoey...

"I needed to see you again..." he said.

"Why? You've had me...I'm now one of your conquests...You have bragging rights...You screwed your ex-wife's divorce lawyer...What more do you need?" she asked..

"Zo baby...I'm hurt....That you think I'm that shallow...That was the old me....I've evolved.."said Elwood..



"Zo Baby??? Where is this coming from?"  she asked...


"I want you to be my girl." he blurted out with the innocence of an adolescent boy in love for the first time...

"Don't make me laugh....You got me drunk and then you got me in the bed...That's as far as it goes." said Zoey..

"Is that how you remember it? Maybe that's how I got you in my apartment...but you could have left anytime after the first time...We spent the entire night together and most of the morning...Personally ,I think it was wonderful....I-I-I haven't felt like this in a long time..." he said.

"Are you catching feelings?? REALLY??? YOU??Nah, you aint the type...Look Elwood, we had a nice night.. An AMAZING NIGHT.. I'll give you your props.. The Sex was off the chain...but what happened last night...Can't ever happen again.....Olivia is my friend...I feel so bad about this...I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to look her in the eye again..."said Zoey.


"Well look me in the eye." he said.....

 Elwood pulled her to him and kissed her softly, passionately...It was if he couldn't resist her.....He immediately got an erection, which didn't go unnoticed by Zoey...She was shocked....She pulled away from him...

"What are you doing?" she said as she broke their embrace...and looked around...

"I haven't felt like this about any woman since...since I first met Olivia..." he said.

"Are you kidding me? Elwood...We can't go back to Philly and be a couple..." said Zoey...

"Why not? I don't live anywhere near Olivia and company...or hang in the same circles or amongst the same people. Although two people who work for me are good friends of hers.....but they don't know you...Why don't we try it?....See where it goes....Something about you...Something about you is just so refreshing, so different...I-I...I can't explain it...I've never felt this way before....and frankly...I love it...I love the way I'm feeling...." he said..

"You're serious? "Oh My God..." said Zoey....Who noticed that his trousers were standing out like a circus tent...

"Let's have dinner...I know a nice place....Please...And you don't have to come back to my place with me if you don't want to...I just want to be with you...a little longer" said Elwood..

"Elwood...This is crazy.....We should not be together....We can not be together!!!.....Olivia is my friend..."said Zoey..

"And why can't she still be your friend?? She and I are on good terms...She's been by my loft a couple of times..We aren't enemies.."said Elwood.

"You two slept together?" asked Zoey...

"No...Noooooooooooooo..We aren't on that good of terms...She's married and I know that has never stopped me before, but Olivia is a very decent person...She would never do something like that.....I think you know her well enough to know that...No, I invited her over to see my new place...She came over and was gone in 15 minutes.. The second time she came by was work related...A case she was working and she needed some information from me...Again, 15 minutes...We don't hate each other...That's the point I'm trying to make.." he said.

"How do you think she'll feel about me when she finds out I slept with you?" asked Zoey....

"Life is short...and happiness is fleeting....When is the last time you've been happy Zoey? Huh?   You haven't dated probably since Ethan died....Just working and going to Therapy....You need to be happy Zoey, You need to get a little happiness for yourself." said Elwood..

"You are quite the silver tongued Attorney.....You're apparently a little happy yourself" said Zoey...staring at the bulge in his trousers and giggling...

For the first time, Elwood looked a little embarrassed.
"WOW!" she said and laughed a little bit...

He pulled her to him and kissed her softly, passionately again....She pushed him away...

"Would you stop kissing me? Elwood....We can't!!!....This just wouldn't be right..." said Zoey...

VI-

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my god, Zoey..." he moaned a few hours later...They were back in his hotel room, after a delicious meal and much wine...

The bed was squeaking so hard, it sounded like it was going to go through the wall and the headboard was slamming against the wall ....

"Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, oh my goodnessss.ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu."she moaned...

"Yesssssssssssssss baby, yessssssssssssssssss..Oh Zoey, you are driving me crazy....Woaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh.." he yelled..

"Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph, Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Elwoooood,......ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned..

"Ummmmmm this is sooo wrong on so many levels..Sooooo manyyyyyyyyyyy, oh my god...ouuuuuuuuuu" said Zoey...Who couldn't believe she was back in his hotel room in his bed again, making love to him...

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...let's not talk about wrong or right ,right now...ummmmmmmmmmmm."he moaned...

"Oh my goodness...woooooooooooooooooooooo...you are so...so hard..ouuuuuuuuuuuu...."she moaned..

"You make me that way.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh good lawd girl!!Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmph.." he moaned...

"I see...Myyyyyyyyyyyy goodness!!! Ouuuuuuuu!" she said.

"Oh My God....Oh My God...Oh My goddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd, Elwooood ,ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.." she moaned...

Six hours of sweet lovemaking continued....

Elwood came so hard this time...his body shook and he felt as if he was dying...Sweat was running down his back like a river.....

He rolled over and dozed off into one of the most peaceful sleeps he'd had in awhile...

Zoey sat on the side of the bed and once again pondered her actions.....She gathered her clothes and her underwear....

"This was good...but I can't be with you Elwood...I-I just can't..." she thought to herself...as she struggled to catch her breath....

She dressed hastily without showering and left....She walked the distance from his hotel to her hotel....


What was she going to do? She had all of these feelings all of a sudden...Damn you Elwood...Damn you!!! She thought...You've got me caught up!

(CONCLUSION NEXT)