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Speaker 1: I got an email from Laura.

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Speaker 2: The email set urgent and I opened the email and

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Speaker 2: she's like, I'm pregnant and I had a positive pregnancy

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Speaker 2: test embedded in the email, and now I'm seeing.

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Speaker 1: Proof of something. I just remember thinking, oh fuck.

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Speaker 3: About eleven days earlier, former Bachelor Clayton Eckered hung out

7
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Speaker 3: with a woman named Laura Owens. They hooked up, but

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Speaker 3: here's the thing.

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Speaker 1: We never slept together, we never had sex.

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Speaker 3: When Clayton received that email from Laura saying she was

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Speaker 3: pregnant by him, he was in disbelief. He didn't believe

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Speaker 3: the photo of the test could be real, so he

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Speaker 3: invited Laura to his apartment again.

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Speaker 2: The reason I invited her over was to get her

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Speaker 2: to take a pregnancy test right in front of me.

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Speaker 3: Laura agreed to come over, but she was a step ahead,

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Speaker 3: already emailed Clayton the photo, but she brought the positive

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Speaker 3: pregnancy test with her to show him in person. It

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Speaker 3: was one of those at home tests where one line

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Speaker 3: means not pregnant and two lines means pregnant. On the

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Speaker 3: test Laura brought, Clayton could.

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Speaker 2: See one very very present line and the other one

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Speaker 2: was like slightly there.

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Speaker 3: Clayton did not see that coming well.

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Speaker 2: I was having a hard time believing it because we

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Speaker 2: didn't have sex. So I wanted her to take a

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Speaker 2: test in front of me so that I could see

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Speaker 2: it with my own eyes.

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Speaker 3: Clayton told Laura he'd already purchased a test of his

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Speaker 3: own and asked her if she'd mind taking a second test.

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Speaker 2: I figured once I pulled out that surprise pregnancy test

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Speaker 2: she would decline to take it, that that would be

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Speaker 2: the end of it all.

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Speaker 1: But unfortunately, that's not what happened.

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Speaker 3: When he asked her to take the second test.

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Speaker 1: She was like, Okay, yeah, I'll do it.

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Speaker 3: Laura went into the bathroom, took the test, and for

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Speaker 3: the next next few minutes, all Clayton could do was

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Speaker 3: wait for the truth to come to light.

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Speaker 2: It was a torturous five minutes that felt like an

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Speaker 2: eternity because I knew that a line either was or

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Speaker 2: was not going to appear, and that singular line would

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Speaker 2: dictate the outcome of my life.

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Speaker 3: I'm Stephanie Young, and this is love trapped.

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Speaker 1: There's no way you'd better believe. I'll be raising holy.

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Speaker 4: Hellless if you ever, ever, ever, ever.

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Speaker 3: Trastic We're going to go back to the night in question,

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Speaker 3: the night when Laura Wins came over to Clayton's apartment

49
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Speaker 3: for a hookup. Clayton didn't know it at the time,

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Speaker 3: but that night would change his life forever. It would

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Speaker 3: set off a chain of events that would lead to

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Speaker 3: a criminal investigation, and it would lead me, a curious podcaster,

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Speaker 3: to Clayton Eckerd's door. Hi, Clayton's good to see you again.

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Speaker 2: He stuff is good to see you, so I should

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Speaker 2: probably tell you how I got here.

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Speaker 3: Right, Let's go back to May of twenty twenty three.

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Speaker 3: Clayton wasn't in a good place at the time. He

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Speaker 3: was despised by Bachelor Nation and what felt like the

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Speaker 3: entire Internet. He also had just met up with his ex,

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Speaker 3: Susie Evans. He met her on The Bachelor. They dated

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Speaker 3: for almost a year after they filmed the show, but

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Speaker 3: eventually broke things off. Clayton was still torn up about.

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Speaker 2: It, and I thought, man, maybe this was a mistake

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Speaker 2: to break up. Maybe in another world, if we didn't

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Speaker 2: experience all this pain, we could have made it work.

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Speaker 3: We've all been there, right. You see your ex and

67
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Speaker 3: you suddenly start wondering if breaking up was a mistake.

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Speaker 2: I was struggling, and I remember I crying my eyes out.

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Speaker 3: This wasn't just any breakup. Clayton and Susie had announced

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Speaker 3: their split on a joint Instagram post a few months earlier.

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Speaker 3: Nearly one hundred thousand people liked this post.

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Speaker 2: I definitely remember just the hate of the trill that people.

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Speaker 1: Had for me.

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Speaker 3: The comment section was particularly brutal.

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Speaker 2: I remember reading comments like, Oh, this man got to

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Speaker 2: have his cake and eat it too, after everything he did,

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Speaker 2: he didn't have.

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Speaker 1: To suffer at all.

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Speaker 2: Susie deserves so much better than this guy, this monster,

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Speaker 2: this mess, this loser. I mean I saw all of it.

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Speaker 2: It was like as if she was dating the worst

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Speaker 2: man alive.

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Speaker 3: Clayton had taken a hard fall from Grace and was

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Speaker 3: adjusting to his new life as a real estate agent

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Speaker 3: in Scottsdale, Arizona. There he was a big fish in

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Speaker 3: a small pond, but his experience on the Bachelor left

87
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Speaker 3: him feeling hollow.

88
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Speaker 2: You come off the show and it's like your dope

89
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Speaker 2: mean goes from being at like maximal level. It just

90
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Speaker 2: knows diving. I was depressed. I was basically like having

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Speaker 2: withdrawal effects.

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Speaker 3: To help him cope, he turned to weed.

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Speaker 2: Sometimes I was getting high to feel that intense high

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Speaker 2: that I felt.

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Speaker 1: When I was the bachelor.

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Speaker 3: It wasn't always weed. Sometimes it was sex or pizza

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Speaker 3: and on a good night.

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Speaker 2: A combination of all three dope mean releasing activities, which

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Speaker 2: is typically eating really good food, having sex. I just

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Speaker 2: mash them all together so I could get something close

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Speaker 2: to that feeling.

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Speaker 3: I was surprised at how honest Clayton was about this

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Speaker 3: period of his life. But as we heard last episode,

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Speaker 3: that's Clayton honest, maybe to a fault. In this case,

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Speaker 3: his oversharing tendency is actually helpful because every detail of

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Speaker 3: what happens next is important. It all started with a

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Speaker 3: message on LinkedIn. We've had it read by a voice actor.

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Speaker 5: Hi, I'm looking to connect with similar minded young entrepreneurs

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Speaker 5: in Scottsdale. I see that you work for and I

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Speaker 5: actually contacted them recently. They were going to connect me

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Speaker 5: with someone who could help me find investment properties, but

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Speaker 5: haven't yet. Let me know if you can help.

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Speaker 3: Laura saw that Clayton had just started as an agent

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Speaker 3: and reached out. Clayton shared his phone number to get

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Speaker 3: the ball rolling.

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Speaker 1: Laura reached out.

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Speaker 2: She was looking to buy an investment property and I

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Speaker 2: had just got my reallder license, so I was looking

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Speaker 2: to secure my very first deal.

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Speaker 3: Clayton sent over the screenshots of their initial messages. They

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Speaker 3: spent a few days texting, and during the chat, Laura

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Speaker 3: mentioned that she was a competitive equestrian, and then on

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Speaker 3: Saturday night, May twentieth.

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Speaker 2: She sent me a photo of her standing by her horse.

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Speaker 3: In the photo, Laura has her backside turned to the camera.

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Speaker 3: She's petting a dark brown horse. She's wearing a crop

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Speaker 3: top and beige riding leggings.

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Speaker 1: And let's just call it for what it is. She

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Speaker 1: had a nice ass.

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Speaker 3: When I first heard about this photo, I really thought

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Speaker 3: it was going to be way more revealing than it was.

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Speaker 1: That's the mind of a man right there for you.

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Speaker 1: It doesn't take much. The imagination takes us the rest

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Speaker 1: of the distance.

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Speaker 3: Clayton was at home assembling ikea furniture. He'd already popped

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Speaker 3: an edible.

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Speaker 2: I saw the photo and I was high and saw

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Speaker 2: my mind, you know, wasn't thinking clearly. It was more

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Speaker 2: so just thinking about what's in front of me in

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Speaker 2: that moment. But I was like, look, why don't we

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Speaker 2: just hang out.

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Speaker 3: Laura agreed to come over that night. I asked Clayton

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Speaker 3: the obvious, this was a hookup, right, Yeah. It was

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Speaker 3: around eight pm. Laura was buzzed up to Clayton's apartment.

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Speaker 3: He opened the door to find a small woman smiling

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Speaker 3: up at him. She had long, dark hair, and she

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Speaker 3: was dressed casually in a T shirt and leggings. By

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Speaker 3: the time Laura arrived, Clayton was stoned. He'd taken ten milligrams,

149
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Speaker 3: which would send me to outer space, but that was

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Speaker 3: his baseline. It just makes him chattier and makes the

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Speaker 3: night more enjoyable, more chill, That's what he was. After

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Speaker 3: a relaxing evening, he offered Laura an edible two.

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Speaker 2: I said, hey, if you what one, I took one,

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Speaker 2: you're welcome to have it, and she said, yeah, sure,

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Speaker 2: I'll take one.

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Speaker 3: So they got high together and started talking. The conversation

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Speaker 3: wasn't exactly for play. It was actually pretty intense.

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Speaker 2: We talked about mental health and how you know, I'd

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Speaker 2: struggled with feeling like I was enough and she also

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Speaker 2: struggled with feeling like she was enough in her life

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Speaker 2: with her family, because her family was super accomplished, and

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Speaker 2: she always felt like she was in the shadows of

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Speaker 2: her father and her mom and even her sister who

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Speaker 2: has a kid AND's married, and so she feels like she's,

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Speaker 2: you know, has to live up to those expectations, and

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Speaker 2: so that's caused her to feel like the black sheep

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Speaker 2: of the family. And so I told her, like, I

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Speaker 2: felt the same way, you know, in my life.

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Speaker 1: But my middle brother, he was the superstar athlete.

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Speaker 2: I was the one in his shadows, always trying to

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Speaker 2: measure up to his success.

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Speaker 3: They bonded, and after an hour or two of talking

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Speaker 3: on the couch.

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Speaker 2: I told her to like, come over closer to me,

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Speaker 2: and she did, and then that's when we started hooking up.

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Speaker 3: And if you're wondering why we're about to go into

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Speaker 3: this level of detail, I promise it becomes important to

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Speaker 3: the story.

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Speaker 2: She gets on top of me, but then she stopped

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Speaker 2: me and was like, hey, I don't want to have

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Speaker 2: sex tonight, And I said, okay, yeah, that's totally fine.

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Speaker 2: She's like, not on the first night. We can do

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Speaker 2: it at a later point. This just gives you another

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Speaker 2: reason to like see me again.

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Speaker 3: Laura was still down to hook up, but wanted to

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Speaker 3: keep penetrative sex off the table for the first night.

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Speaker 3: According to Clayton, they headed to the bedroom and had

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Speaker 3: oral sex.

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Speaker 1: When we lay there, we fall asleep in.

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Speaker 3: The bed, and a few hours later we.

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Speaker 1: Wake up, start making out again.

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Speaker 2: She does oral again, and then she ran to the bathroom,

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Speaker 2: like immediately after.

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Speaker 3: The next morning, Clayton was hit with a wave of regret.

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Speaker 3: Laura was his client, this could be his first real

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Speaker 3: estate deal, and he might have just blown it, so

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Speaker 3: to speak. He started kicking himself for crossing a professional boundary,

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Speaker 3: but Laura was still interested in working with him. In fact,

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Speaker 3: the two of them made plans later that afternoon to

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Speaker 3: look at a couple homes.

201
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Speaker 1: She ended up staying overnight, stayed until the early morning.

202
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Speaker 2: She then laughed, I went to church, cleared my mind,

203
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Speaker 2: and then ended up meeting back up with her to

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Speaker 2: show homes later that day.

205
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Speaker 3: Clayton wanted to keep Laura as a client, so at

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Speaker 3: the end of their home tours.

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Speaker 2: She's all in his happy mood and I felt really bad,

208
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Speaker 2: So I was like, we got to talk.

209
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Speaker 3: Sitting in his car, he found the right moment to

210
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Speaker 3: finally tell her what was on his mind.

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Speaker 2: I feel bad because I didn't explain my intentions last night.

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Speaker 2: I'm not looking to date, and my intentions were to just.

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Speaker 1: Have a fun night. That was just a one time thing,

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Speaker 1: and I want you to know that.

215
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Speaker 2: Because I don't want there to be miscommunication going forward.

216
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Speaker 2: She quickly jumped in and said, no, no, don't have

217
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Speaker 2: to apologize at all. Like, I'm so grateful, I'm happy

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Speaker 2: last night happened. I had so much fun.

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Speaker 3: Clayton had fun too, but he felt like he'd crossed

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Speaker 3: a professional line and that wasn't how he wanted to

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Speaker 3: start off his real estate career. So he offered to

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Speaker 3: make it right with Laura and find her a new

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Speaker 3: agent to work with.

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Speaker 1: She said, no, no, I want to work with you.

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Speaker 2: It's not awkward at all, but like, you know, can

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Speaker 2: you just keep an open mind like that, maybe there

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Speaker 2: could be something between us.

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Speaker 3: She wasn't getting the picture, so at that point he

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Speaker 3: had to make himself're still clear what happened the night

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Speaker 3: before was never happening again.

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Speaker 2: After telling Laura no, like there's no future here between us,

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Speaker 2: the tone had shifted.

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Speaker 1: And then she started to cry. And I remember that moment.

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Speaker 1: It was this kind of.

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Speaker 2: Like, oh, oh wow, this is way more intense than

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Speaker 2: I anticipated this would be. I mean, I just met

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Speaker 2: this woman and now she's crying in my car and

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Speaker 2: she's telling me, well, hey, I really thought that we

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Speaker 2: have a lot in common.

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Speaker 1: We both have.

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Speaker 2: Struggled with self confidence and self love, and so I

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Speaker 2: really feel that I can help you find that within

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Speaker 2: you and also within myself at the same time. And

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Speaker 2: it was it just it was just such an intense

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Speaker 2: but like awkward situation because I didn't feel at all.

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Speaker 1: The same way that she felt.

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Speaker 2: I was trying to be mindful of her emotions and say, hey,

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Speaker 2: this is how she feels, so I need to give

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Speaker 2: weight to this scenario. But there was a disconnect because

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Speaker 2: my brain was telling me, You've not even known this

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Speaker 2: woman long enough for this to be like an actual,

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Speaker 2: realistic response, like this is way out of the norm.

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Speaker 3: It had only been five days since Laura's initial LinkedIn message,

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Speaker 3: and yet Laura kept pushing, almost begging for Clayton to

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Speaker 3: give her a chance.

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Speaker 1: I finally got annoyed.

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Speaker 2: I said, Laura, no means no, And when I said that,

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Speaker 2: she went from crying to her face going completely stone cold.

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Speaker 2: She stared at me and just shakes her head and goes, no,

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Speaker 2: I get it. Thanks for letting me know, have a

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Speaker 2: good rest of your day. Gave me a weird smile,

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Speaker 2: opened the car door, closed it, walked off.

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Speaker 3: Something about her reaction was deeply unsettling.

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Speaker 1: I remember just getting chills over my entire body when.

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Speaker 3: He told her he didn't want to hook up again.

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Speaker 3: It was like a switch flipped.

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Speaker 2: Something was off, because that look she gave me, It's

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Speaker 2: like the lights went off in the house and she

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Speaker 2: was no longer.

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Speaker 1: There, not the version of Laura that I knew up

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Speaker 1: until that point.

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Speaker 3: Clayton knew he'd made a mistake, at least professionally, but

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Speaker 3: he had no idea what he'd just stepped into.

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Speaker 2: I sat there as I watched her walk back to

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Speaker 2: her car, and I go, I don't know what that was.

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Speaker 2: But whatever that was, that's not the end of it.

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Speaker 3: The two biggest questions I get when I tell people

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Speaker 3: about this story are was Laura a contestant on Clayton's

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Speaker 3: season of The Bachelor? Which is an easy one to answer. No,

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Speaker 3: That's usually always followed up with, then, who is Laura Owens?

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Speaker 1: Truth? Be told.

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Speaker 3: That's the question I've been trying to answer for the

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Speaker 3: last six months. I've reached out to her former friends, teachers, attorneys, colleagues,

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Speaker 3: and I'm either met with people who don't want anything

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Speaker 3: to do with this, or they don't respond at all.

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Speaker 3: And of course I reached out to Laura herself. At

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Speaker 3: the time I'm recording this, she hasn't agreed to an interview,

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Speaker 3: but she did send me along email. We'll get into

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Speaker 3: that later. I want to start by playing you Laura's

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Speaker 3: side of the story. What you're about to hear is

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Speaker 3: the real Laura Owens telling the court her version of

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Speaker 3: what happened with Clayton Eckerd.

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Speaker 6: He was my realtor to start with, and then we

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Speaker 6: were intimate one night in May of this year. After

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Speaker 6: that long June first, I found out that I was pregnant,

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Speaker 6: and I figured you probably wouldn't believe it, so I

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Speaker 6: went to urgent Care and had it confirmed there by

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Speaker 6: a doctor, and then I told him I hadn't been

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Speaker 6: intimate with anyone else. Since March of twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 6: I've tried to get Clayton to accept responsibility and figure

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Speaker 6: out a parenting plan with me, but that's really been it.

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Speaker 1: It's not like it's.

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Speaker 6: Been a dating relationship, and we've communicated.

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Speaker 1: Via email for the most part.

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Speaker 3: I wanted to get a picture of who Laura is

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Speaker 3: outside of this case. That turned out to be more

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Speaker 3: elusive than I expected. The good news is Laura's been

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Speaker 3: posting online for the better part of fifteen years. She's

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Speaker 3: appeared in videos and podcasts, She's written medium articles, and

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Speaker 3: was actively replying the comments on Reddit. One of the

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Speaker 3: most interesting things she's appeared in is a series of

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Speaker 3: YouTube videos where she's talking with one of her attorneys,

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Speaker 3: David Jingris. We will be playing audio from videos David

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Speaker 3: posted to his YouTube channel, which have since been pulled down. Fortunately,

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Speaker 3: we were able to obtain a copy before they were removed.

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Speaker 3: Here's the start of one of those videos. You'll hear

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Speaker 3: David first.

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Speaker 7: I think we need to have the public get to

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Speaker 7: know you a little bit better. We need to do

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Speaker 7: this a bit more often and try to try to

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Speaker 7: take some control back of the narrative.

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Speaker 3: In the videos, Laura's attorney asks her get to know

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Speaker 3: you questions.

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Speaker 7: I feel dirty like asking these questions because I just

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Speaker 7: feel like it's nobody's effing business. But let's go ahead

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Speaker 7: and talk about it, because I think you're okay with it.

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Speaker 7: So let's talk about your high school dating career. I mean,

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Speaker 7: my high school dating career is pretty damn exciting. Let's

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Speaker 7: hear about yours.

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Speaker 8: Mine was, I'm sure the opposite of yours. I had

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Speaker 8: no boyfriends in high school. I didn't have my first

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Speaker 8: kiss until the week before graduation.

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Speaker 3: It's pretty uncommon for a lawyer to make social media

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Speaker 3: content with a client, especially a client involved in a

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Speaker 3: high profile scandal.

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Speaker 1: I mean what I.

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Speaker 7: Say as far as I want both sides of the

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Speaker 7: story to be out there, and I don't people to

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Speaker 7: be mad at anybody. You shouldn't be mad at Laura.

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Speaker 7: I mean, Laura, look, obviously, if you lied and made

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Speaker 7: the whole thing up, you know you deserve some punishment.

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Speaker 7: I've said that all along that if that's what the

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Speaker 7: facts bear out, I'm not going to stand by your side.

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Speaker 7: I'm not here to defend people that do stuff like that.

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Speaker 3: In these videos, her attorney, David does most of the talking.

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Speaker 7: You're a little different.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're a little different. I've said that you're

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Speaker 1: a little different.

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Speaker 7: I think you suffer from having an unbelievably high IQ.

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Speaker 7: I think you're very, very bright girl, and I think

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Speaker 7: you're just.

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Speaker 1: A little different.

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Speaker 3: Laura Owens grew up in San Francisco, where her parents

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Speaker 3: were local celebrities.

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Speaker 9: Good morning, I'm Ron Owens KGO Radio Monday through Friday,

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Speaker 9: nine until noon, and today we were also on c SPAN,

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Speaker 9: so you.

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Speaker 3: Laura's father, Ron Owens, is a radio Hall of Famer.

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Speaker 3: He hosted a popular radio talk show on KGO in

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Speaker 3: San Francisco. It ran for over forty years.

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Speaker 10: Ron was definitely at the top of the heap. He

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Speaker 10: was a very trusted voice.

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Speaker 3: That's longtime Bay Area reporter Martha ross I called her

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Speaker 3: for some more context about Ron Owens and his show.

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Speaker 10: He would always have the best political leaders on or

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Speaker 10: like a movie star coming through, and you always felt

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Speaker 10: like you would learn something.

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Speaker 3: Laura's mom, Jan Black, was a drivetime news anchor at

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Speaker 3: two local radio stations, KGO and KCBS. When Laura was

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Speaker 3: a kid, her parents were kind of a media power

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Speaker 3: couple in town.

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Speaker 10: They would go to all the best restaurants, and when

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Speaker 10: Ron was out at restaurants, he'd be recognized by fans.

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Speaker 3: When then Senator Obama was starting his first presidential campaign.

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Speaker 3: He went on the ron Owens Report.

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Speaker 9: It's our number two ron Owens kg A radio in

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Speaker 9: the studio Senator Barack Obama. Not much of a buzz

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Speaker 9: around you, but it's interesting to have you on and

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Speaker 9: it's very good to meet you.

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Speaker 3: Ron Owens got an hour with Obama. I spoke to

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Speaker 3: a former producer at KGO who told me about how

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Speaker 3: other local reporters lined up down the hallway to try

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Speaker 3: to get a clip from Obama. Afterwards, all that to

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Speaker 3: say ron Owens was a big deal.

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Speaker 9: If your president ninety days, I get the interview in

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Speaker 9: the Oval Office with you.

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Speaker 1: It's got to be in the Oval Office. I need

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Speaker 1: to check with a secret services that allowed you will

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Speaker 1: get an interview. You will get an interview in the

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Speaker 1: first ninety day.

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Speaker 3: You will get Her dad's fame is a big part

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Speaker 3: of Laura's origin story. Here's another clip from Laura and

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Speaker 3: her attorney.

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Speaker 1: Your dad had a hell of a career. Is that

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Speaker 1: him in Obama? Wow?

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Speaker 7: Yeah, I had no idea when I got involved in

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Speaker 7: this case. You know what kind of a career. I

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Speaker 7: didn't know how significant of a broadcasting guy your dad was.

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Speaker 3: While she never fully got into radio. Laura co hosted

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Speaker 3: a podcast with her mom, Jan Black. It was a

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Speaker 3: self help podcast and Laura's mom worked for Media Connections.

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Speaker 3: They had famous guests on the podcast like Bob Saggett,

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Speaker 3: Elizabeth Smart, and doctor Drew.

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Speaker 11: Welcome to Nobody told me, I'm Jan Black.

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Speaker 3: And I'm Laura Owens.

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Speaker 11: We are a mother daughter duo and today we're a

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Speaker 11: mother daughter trio as we're joined on this episode by

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Speaker 11: my other daughter, Sarah Owens, my older daughter who is

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Speaker 11: also Laura's sister.

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Speaker 3: The Owens family is exceptionally tight knit. Laura's thirty five

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Speaker 3: now she lives with her parents. From what she's posted online,

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Speaker 3: she's talked about feeling socially isolated. Here's that video with

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Speaker 3: her attorney again.

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Speaker 8: It wasn't like I was the least popular kid in

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Speaker 8: school or anything. I just really kept myself and I

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Speaker 8: was just obsessed with the whole like horse showing, starting

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Speaker 8: a business doing like flippicking horses and stuff. I was

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Speaker 8: very different from everybody.

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Speaker 3: When she says flipping horses, she means as a business.

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Speaker 3: The Owens family runs a company called Coretet Farms. They buy, sell,

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Speaker 3: and lease high end horses.

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Speaker 1: You obviously are a horse person. When did that start?

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Speaker 8: That started when I was eight and there was a

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Speaker 8: stable that was just ten minutes away at the time

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Speaker 8: in Golden Gate Park, so it was convenient.

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Speaker 3: These show horses can cost up to eighty thousand dollars.

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Speaker 3: They can be a risky investment, but Laura's family seem

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Speaker 3: to have the money. Here's her dad Ron in a

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Speaker 3: twenty thirteen interview.

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Speaker 9: My daughters are twenty two and twenty four. The younger

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Speaker 9: one is very much into country music and horses, which

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Speaker 9: have enabled me to go broke pretty much.

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Speaker 1: And I'm very proud of her. But damn, that's expensive.

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Speaker 3: She's been competing in horse shows for her entire life.

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Speaker 3: She's actually really good. She's won numerous competitions. The Owens

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Speaker 3: family clearly has a soft spot for animals. Here's a

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Speaker 3: clip from Laura's podcast with her mom. They had her

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Speaker 3: dad on for a Father's Day episode.

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Speaker 8: What were the first things that we talked about that

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Speaker 8: you and I talked about?

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Speaker 1: Probably no.

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Speaker 3: Animals.

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Speaker 9: Probably animals because you loved every animal and you have

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Speaker 9: really done in number with me. Because now I'm as

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Speaker 9: bad as you are. I just I just look at

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Speaker 9: every animal and I get every dog and then yeah,

447
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:32,639
Speaker 9: just bring them on.

448
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:36,200
Speaker 3: I talked to someone who works at a San Francisco

449
00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:39,399
Speaker 3: dog rescue. They told me that over the years, the

450
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,720
Speaker 3: Owens family has adopted eleven senior dogs near the end

451
00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,240
Speaker 3: of their lives. Here's Laura showing off her senior dog

452
00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 3: to her attorney.

453
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:48,240
Speaker 1: Let's see the dog.

454
00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:50,199
Speaker 6: Here's one of the dogs.

455
00:23:50,359 --> 00:23:52,120
Speaker 1: What's his name is Captain.

456
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,359
Speaker 6: He's the one who's a million years old.

457
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,679
Speaker 3: In terms of her career, Laura's mostly worked for her

458
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,439
Speaker 3: family businesses, either the horse farm or the podcast with

459
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,719
Speaker 3: her mom. At one time, Laura's LinkedIn profile listed her

460
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:10,080
Speaker 3: as a radio dating and relationship expert and songwriter.

461
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,119
Speaker 9: My younger daughter is on the cusp of becoming a

462
00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,040
Speaker 9: country music singer. She has written songs and she is

463
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,720
Speaker 9: in the midst of mastering this first song. And I

464
00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:25,240
Speaker 9: gotta tell you it's phenomenal.

465
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,160
Speaker 3: That was Laura's dad, Ron, talking about Laura's singing career

466
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,160
Speaker 3: in an interview. She's posted some of her music online.

467
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,800
Speaker 3: Here's a clip from one of Laura's songs, h No lascut.

468
00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 3: It's called Dogs True.

469
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,639
Speaker 1: You rescued me, You rescued me.

470
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 3: Laura and I are around the same age, and honestly,

471
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 3: on paper, she had it all. She had the kind

472
00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 3: of privileged upbringing people dream of, and yet I got

473
00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:10,520
Speaker 3: the sense that she was still searching for something. What

474
00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 3: really struck me during my research, though, was the silence.

475
00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,159
Speaker 3: In the bachelor world, there's almost always someone willing to

476
00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,439
Speaker 3: stick up for both sides, but as I reached out

477
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:24,400
Speaker 3: to people, hardly anyone would go to bat for her.

478
00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 3: There was one person who gave me a substantial response

479
00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:32,840
Speaker 3: about Laura. It was a former friend of hers. This

480
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:35,920
Speaker 3: friend asked me not to use her name, she didn't

481
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 3: want to participate in the podcast, but in response to me,

482
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:44,159
Speaker 3: she wrote something cryptic. She said, I'm not really the

483
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:47,400
Speaker 3: type to follow this stuff, but I do know innately

484
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:51,399
Speaker 3: that people are fighting their own battles, and I think compassion,

485
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:55,879
Speaker 3: even in the face of deep frustration, goes a long way.

486
00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,760
Speaker 3: I think she's referring to battles Laura's facing internally, battles

487
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:07,480
Speaker 3: that would soon be on full display.

488
00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 12: My name is Laura Owens, and I just feel like

489
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:15,199
Speaker 12: it's important for me to speak out and say that

490
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 12: this is this is how I'm feeling as a result

491
00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 12: of what they've done to me. And this is how

492
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,400
Speaker 12: it looks like if you've been cyberbullied as I have

493
00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:48,680
Speaker 12: mischaracterized for months.

494
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 3: Clayton was sitting in his car trying to process the

495
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,720
Speaker 3: conversation he just had with Laura. He told her he

496
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,320
Speaker 3: wasn't interested in continuing any type of romantic relationship with her.

497
00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,240
Speaker 2: When he said that, Laura said, no, I get it,

498
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,240
Speaker 2: have a great day. She got out of my car.

499
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:13,200
Speaker 2: She slammed that car door. I remember just getting chills

500
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,439
Speaker 2: over my entire body.

501
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:18,720
Speaker 3: Clayton drove away, and he was relieved but disturbed.

502
00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 2: It was a very very unsettling feeling. And I just

503
00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 2: remember thinking, I don't know what that was, but whatever

504
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: that was, it's not over. There's something more that's to

505
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 2: come from all of this.

506
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 3: Within a couple of hours, his phone began blowing up

507
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:38,399
Speaker 3: with texts from Laura.

508
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,159
Speaker 1: She liked, well, what if we just go out and

509
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:40,800
Speaker 1: grab drinks.

510
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,560
Speaker 2: Let's just like not jump too far ahead, you know,

511
00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,720
Speaker 2: And I said, hey, like, we can go out and

512
00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,280
Speaker 2: grab drinks once we end up getting the deal done.

513
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,879
Speaker 3: But Laura wasn't getting the message. She kept asking for

514
00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:56,879
Speaker 3: a chance. Her texts are being read by a voice actor.

515
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 5: I honestly didn't expect to like you as much as

516
00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,840
Speaker 5: I did, and I'm very sad that you pretty much

517
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,760
Speaker 5: closed the door. I truly have no expectations except to

518
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 5: see if that naturally develops without your halting it. I'm

519
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,720
Speaker 5: just asking you to It pains me that you won't

520
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,160
Speaker 5: even consider giving me a chance. I tried a lot

521
00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,720
Speaker 5: of things, but you haven't tried me who actually empathizes

522
00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 5: and has been in dark spots like you've been in

523
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,120
Speaker 5: and got What if you just honestly and openly gave

524
00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 5: it a week to be open to something maybe eventually

525
00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 5: happening with absolutely no expectations.

526
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,600
Speaker 3: Clayton let Laura down gently again, apologized to Laura and

527
00:28:38,640 --> 00:28:40,920
Speaker 3: reiterated that he just wanted to be friends.

528
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:45,960
Speaker 1: She was texting me a lot, and it was just overwhelming,

529
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:47,960
Speaker 1: but also like really weird.

530
00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 3: Clayton told me he started to feel uncomfortable, but he

531
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,560
Speaker 3: was still trying to make his first real estate sale,

532
00:28:54,880 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 3: and Laura was still adamant about Clayton being her realtor.

533
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 3: She asked to look at another problem, so Clayton set

534
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,440
Speaker 3: it up and met Laura there a couple days.

535
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 2: Later at the time, I was new to real estate,

536
00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:09,400
Speaker 2: so I didn't know what to look for as far

537
00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 2: as understanding how serious someone is purchasing a home.

538
00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:15,320
Speaker 1: There are obvious signs.

539
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,360
Speaker 2: People will like open drawers, they'll like close every cabinet,

540
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 2: see if it's soft clothes, but they're looking behind every

541
00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:21,920
Speaker 2: little corner.

542
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:23,840
Speaker 1: She wasn't doing that.

543
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 3: Laura seemed less interested in the house and more interested

544
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:28,200
Speaker 3: in Clayton.

545
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 2: We were walking through the house, and I remember it

546
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,040
Speaker 2: had a couch that I ended up sitting down on

547
00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 2: to talk with her about the house if she liked it.

548
00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 2: She ended up sitting down right next to me, like

549
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:45,200
Speaker 2: as if we were dating. There was no distance between us,

550
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 2: and she ended up like resting her head on my shoulder.

551
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 3: As you can imagine, Clayton was frustrated that she wasn't

552
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:53,480
Speaker 3: respecting his boundaries.

553
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 1: She wasn't listening to what I was saying. But again,

554
00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 1: I wanted my money.

555
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,000
Speaker 3: He's talking about the real estate commission he would get

556
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:01,600
Speaker 3: from the sale.

557
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,560
Speaker 2: I just need to get through this next month and

558
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:05,840
Speaker 2: then it's goodbye.

559
00:30:05,880 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 1: I have a great one.

560
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:10,800
Speaker 3: But once they went their separate ways after seeing the property,

561
00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,239
Speaker 3: the texts continued.

562
00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:15,520
Speaker 5: Would you be really mad if I told you that

563
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 5: you looked super handsome, and that, combined with you being

564
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 5: super confident and smart about everything, made it hard to

565
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,480
Speaker 5: keep my hands to myself. If that makes you mad,

566
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,680
Speaker 5: I'm really sorry. I want to respect your boundaries, but

567
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:32,920
Speaker 5: I didn't know if that was maybe a somewhat reciprocated feeling.

568
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:36,080
Speaker 5: And I can't stop thinking about how much I want

569
00:30:36,120 --> 00:30:38,520
Speaker 5: to do to you what I did the other night.

570
00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:43,440
Speaker 3: Laura was ignoring the lines Clayton had drawn, so he.

571
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:48,320
Speaker 2: Told her, let's keep this friendly amongst one another, like,

572
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 2: only talk to me in the way that you would

573
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,160
Speaker 2: talk to me as if I were a friend.

574
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,800
Speaker 3: Despite being frustrated with Laura's behavior, Clayton was really trying

575
00:30:57,800 --> 00:30:59,480
Speaker 3: to give her the benefit of the doubt so he

576
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:03,200
Speaker 3: could help her buy investment properties. The real estate process

577
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,080
Speaker 3: was typically pretty easy to navigate.

578
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,720
Speaker 2: Honestly, writing a real estate contract, putting an offer on

579
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,480
Speaker 2: a house is very simple. You go see the house,

580
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:16,080
Speaker 2: then afterwards you sit there with your realitor and you say,

581
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 2: I want to write an offer at these terms. So

582
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:21,600
Speaker 2: you put down the amount of money you want to offer,

583
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,080
Speaker 2: whether you're doing cash or loan, And that's really it,

584
00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 2: and you said I'd like to close on this date.

585
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:31,240
Speaker 2: And then you take that formal document, you email it

586
00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:33,080
Speaker 2: to the listing agent, and there you go.

587
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 1: You have an official offer.

588
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 3: This process with Laura wasn't simple. She told Clayton she

589
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:41,240
Speaker 3: wanted to make some offers and asked him to write

590
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,960
Speaker 3: up the contracts, but she continued to complicate things.

591
00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,440
Speaker 2: She said, thinking about it, like, if you're not going

592
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 2: to give me a chance, there's so many other agents

593
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 2: out there that I could work with instead of you.

594
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,800
Speaker 3: By now, Clayton was convinced Laura had no interest in

595
00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,320
Speaker 3: actually buying property. He told her he'd get the contracts ready,

596
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,560
Speaker 3: but because he didn't trust her, he hadn't actually done it.

597
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,440
Speaker 2: I knew that she wasn't actually serious about buying the homes.

598
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,200
Speaker 2: She was just using the contracts to stay in touch

599
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:15,640
Speaker 2: with me and to try to continue a connection.

600
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,000
Speaker 3: That's when Clayton hit his breaking point.

601
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 2: So I said, you know what, Laura, I'm going to

602
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,160
Speaker 2: make a decision to cut this off. I'm going to

603
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 2: send you to one of my co workers and they

604
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 2: can help you from here on out.

605
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 3: Laura did not like that at all, so she took

606
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,320
Speaker 3: matters into her own hands. She messaged the selling agents

607
00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 3: directly to check the status of her offers, and since

608
00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 3: Clayton didn't actually submit her contracts, she was given the

609
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:41,800
Speaker 3: news that they didn't exist.

610
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,200
Speaker 1: And there went the first oh shit moment.

611
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 2: She's clinging onto this contract, and that opened the door

612
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 2: to the pressure that she could put on me to

613
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,280
Speaker 2: be like, why are they saying this, Why don't they

614
00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:54,800
Speaker 2: have offers?

615
00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 1: You said you sent them. Did you lie to me?

616
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 2: Because you'd be violating your fiduciary responsibilities. Now because I'm

617
00:33:00,640 --> 00:33:02,080
Speaker 2: not dating her, she's going to try to get my

618
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 2: license revoked.

619
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:06,360
Speaker 3: And to make a long story short, that's exactly what

620
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:10,000
Speaker 3: Laura did. A few weeks later, she reached out to

621
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:13,320
Speaker 3: the Arizona Department of Real Estate to file a complaint.

622
00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 2: On paper, I violated a fiducia responsibility. I lied to

623
00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:20,320
Speaker 2: a client, which I admit I did, but I told

624
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 2: them with good purpose, with good reason. I sent them

625
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:25,800
Speaker 2: over all of those text messages I had upuntil that point,

626
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:28,200
Speaker 2: and it was very apparent that this woman was just

627
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:29,840
Speaker 2: trying to date me and she had no intention of

628
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 2: buying real estate.

629
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 3: And while the Arizona Department of Real Estate believed his

630
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,280
Speaker 3: side of the story. They also found him in violation.

631
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:39,880
Speaker 1: With that information.

632
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:42,720
Speaker 2: They stated that, yes, while you were in the wrong,

633
00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:47,160
Speaker 2: we will not be pursuing any type of punishment. So

634
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,520
Speaker 2: I got off basically without any.

635
00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 1: Bumps or bruises.

636
00:33:52,080 --> 00:33:55,320
Speaker 3: Clayton had his suspicions about Laura and felt he needed

637
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 3: to dig a little bit deeper. What he found on

638
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:00,600
Speaker 3: her Instagram validated his beliefs.

639
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:05,720
Speaker 2: She followed only athletes and celebrities and good looking guys.

640
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,240
Speaker 2: She was absolutely targeting a man and had a particular

641
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:10,839
Speaker 2: type that she.

642
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,919
Speaker 3: Was after Clayton removed himself as Laura's realtor five days

643
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,400
Speaker 3: after they hooked up. At this point, he had rejected

644
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 3: her romantically and now professionally. He told her he would

645
00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,440
Speaker 3: not be responding to any further texts from her. That

646
00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 3: didn't stop Laura. She immediately responded with a long text message,

647
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 3: We've had it read by a voice actor.

648
00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:34,080
Speaker 5: I have one final thing to say that I think

649
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:36,839
Speaker 5: you might find important and have nothing to lose by

650
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,520
Speaker 5: sharing it with you. I have been in a dark place,

651
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:45,000
Speaker 5: as I said yesterday, and emotionally tortured since we hooked

652
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:46,920
Speaker 5: up because I felt like I didn't know how to

653
00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 5: bring this up to you, but at this point I

654
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,320
Speaker 5: might as well. I have not been on birth control

655
00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,479
Speaker 5: since fifteen months ago. There hasn't been a reason since.

656
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 5: As I said, I hadn't done anything with anyone since then.

657
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,520
Speaker 5: Being sexually responsible was not on my radar. After taking

658
00:35:04,520 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 5: the gummy and our clothes coming off, when I went

659
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:12,480
Speaker 5: to the bathroom afterwards, some of your fluids were down there.

660
00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:16,320
Speaker 3: That is Laura's version of what happened in the bathroom

661
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,759
Speaker 3: after her hookup with Clayton. Later, her account of this

662
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:25,960
Speaker 3: night would change dramatically, but her text continued with Laura saying.

663
00:35:26,239 --> 00:35:28,920
Speaker 5: In all honesty, I was planning to take Plan B

664
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,120
Speaker 5: when I got home, But then when you said you

665
00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 5: were going to church, I realized you had a strong

666
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 5: faith base as well, and questioned whether or not it

667
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:39,240
Speaker 5: was a sign that I should. Then, after we talked

668
00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:42,359
Speaker 5: in the car, I felt even more so, like both

669
00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:44,200
Speaker 5: of us had a deep belief in God, and like

670
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,040
Speaker 5: it was a sign I should just leave it up

671
00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:47,120
Speaker 5: to him and not buy it.

672
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:51,239
Speaker 3: Laura was now bringing religion into the conversation.

673
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:53,480
Speaker 1: I knew what she was doing.

674
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 2: I mean, she was trying to weaponize Christianity against me.

675
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 2: She wanted me to start to think, like, what would

676
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:01,080
Speaker 2: God think about this?

677
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:06,879
Speaker 3: Laura's text continued on the next paragraph, included a kind

678
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:07,680
Speaker 3: of forewarning.

679
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:11,440
Speaker 5: My podcast had a fertility test kit as a sponsor,

680
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 5: and so yes, I know I'm fertile at this point

681
00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,799
Speaker 5: from my overwhelming research on Plan B since Sunday, it's

682
00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 5: most effective three days after, but can still work five

683
00:36:23,080 --> 00:36:26,160
Speaker 5: days out, meaning this is the last day I could

684
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,160
Speaker 5: take it and have a hope of it working if

685
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 5: it needs to. If you have any thoughts about this,

686
00:36:31,280 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 5: I'm open to hearing you out if and only if

687
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 5: you are kind and respectful. This has been extremely stressful

688
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:42,319
Speaker 5: on me. If I don't hear back from you, I'm

689
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:43,600
Speaker 5: not going to take Plan B.

690
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,120
Speaker 3: When I read the full transcript of their texts from

691
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 3: these early weeks, I was overwhelmed. There's an increasing urgency

692
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:55,440
Speaker 3: in her tone, and she's starting to set conditions and

693
00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,640
Speaker 3: deadlines for Clayton. He told me that he tried to

694
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 3: remain calm in his replies and give her as little

695
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,600
Speaker 3: emotional response as possible. He felt uncomfortable being asked to

696
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:08,640
Speaker 3: make a decision about Plan B. She knew her own

697
00:37:08,680 --> 00:37:10,640
Speaker 3: body better than he did to me.

698
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 2: It's a woman in her body, so ultimately I don't

699
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:15,440
Speaker 2: really have much of a say in it, and I

700
00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,400
Speaker 2: never really push. I'm just like, hey, if you're comfortable,

701
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:20,920
Speaker 2: then yeah, take it. It would make me feel more comfortable.

702
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,279
Speaker 2: And that's usually how it goes. It's very simple, so

703
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:26,160
Speaker 2: this was obviously way way different.

704
00:37:26,239 --> 00:37:26,960
Speaker 1: Laura was being.

705
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,360
Speaker 2: Very odd about it, putting way too much on me

706
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:31,640
Speaker 2: to make the decision.

707
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,759
Speaker 5: She concludes a text message with You're obviously free to

708
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,799
Speaker 5: think that I'm full of shit, but I'm not. I'll

709
00:37:39,800 --> 00:37:41,440
Speaker 5: take it as a sign that you don't care what

710
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:44,360
Speaker 5: happens either way, and will just allow God's will, whatever

711
00:37:44,400 --> 00:37:47,279
Speaker 5: that is, to be the determining factor. If I do

712
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:49,680
Speaker 5: test positive in a few weeks, though there is a

713
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:53,399
Speaker 5: zero percent chance of it being anyone's but yours, I'd

714
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:56,080
Speaker 5: take any test to prove it, and at that point

715
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:57,920
Speaker 5: any input from you won't matter.

716
00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,000
Speaker 3: Clayton's response was direct and simple.

717
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:04,480
Speaker 1: I gave her a really quick answer, just take the

718
00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:05,640
Speaker 1: plan B. I support that.

719
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 3: After Clayton sent that message, Laura responded with another lengthy

720
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,080
Speaker 3: text that was similar to the one before it. That's

721
00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 3: when Clayton blocked her, but shortly after she messaged him

722
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:21,640
Speaker 3: from another phone number.

723
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:24,640
Speaker 2: This is where it was a whirlwind of text messages.

724
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 2: She's probably text me twenty five thirty times a day.

725
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:28,400
Speaker 2: It was getting ridiculous.

726
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,680
Speaker 5: Hi, it's Laura, and this is my work number. Having

727
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,080
Speaker 5: issues with my personal number when I tried to send this.

728
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,680
Speaker 5: If you think I'm trying to hold on, you need

729
00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:41,319
Speaker 5: to check your ego. I'm not lying. And if you

730
00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,719
Speaker 5: think I haven't been tortured about whether or not to

731
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 5: take Plan B, you're crazy. I think you're confusing me

732
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:48,560
Speaker 5: with girls who come from a very different background than mine.

733
00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:50,759
Speaker 5: Don't tell me. I can't keep my story straight when

734
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 5: I don't have one. I have the truth, which isn't changing.

735
00:38:54,160 --> 00:38:56,400
Speaker 5: I wasn't quite as high as you were, and definitely

736
00:38:56,440 --> 00:38:59,359
Speaker 5: remember what happened and what I found. Heuled it because

737
00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,240
Speaker 5: I didn't know if it was possible to get pregnant

738
00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:02,000
Speaker 5: without intercourse.

739
00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:03,000
Speaker 3: It is.

740
00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:05,920
Speaker 5: I think we're both panicked and not in the right mindset.

741
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,319
Speaker 5: You're not acting great, but neither am I. If I

742
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:11,640
Speaker 5: am in fact pregnant, blocking my number won't prevent you

743
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,359
Speaker 5: from knowing about it. Trust me, you will find out

744
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:16,480
Speaker 5: right away despite that, and I won't be having an

745
00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:19,120
Speaker 5: abortion under any circumstances.

746
00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,919
Speaker 3: It felt like Laura was getting ahead of herself, since

747
00:39:23,960 --> 00:39:26,680
Speaker 3: at that point she didn't even know if she was

748
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 3: actually pregnant. Clayton decided to block her other number as well,

749
00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 3: but Laura didn't let that stop her. She had promised

750
00:39:35,560 --> 00:39:38,319
Speaker 3: he'd find out the news one way or another, and

751
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,759
Speaker 3: she stayed true to her word. Eleven days after they

752
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:44,440
Speaker 3: met up, she sent him an email with the news

753
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:45,920
Speaker 3: that she was pregnant.

754
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,520
Speaker 2: If I remember correctly, I was in my apartment and

755
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:54,440
Speaker 2: the email comes through and I open it and it

756
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:58,319
Speaker 2: says if like everything went blank. I couldn't make sense

757
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 2: of what I was reading. I didn't think that it

758
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:01,120
Speaker 2: was real.

759
00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:04,319
Speaker 3: Clayton was hell bent on the fact that he and

760
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:07,759
Speaker 3: Laura never had sex, so this really didn't make sense

761
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 3: to him.

762
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:11,480
Speaker 2: At this point in my life, this isn't my first

763
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:12,920
Speaker 2: hook up, it's not my first rodeo.

764
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:18,360
Speaker 3: Clayton was spiraling and decided to switch gears. He asked

765
00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:21,080
Speaker 3: Laura for permission to speak with her mom, Jan Black,

766
00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,399
Speaker 3: which Laura agreed to, so Clayton called Jan to tell

767
00:40:25,400 --> 00:40:26,880
Speaker 3: her what was going on. With her daughter.

768
00:40:29,680 --> 00:40:33,200
Speaker 2: I said, here's the main sticking point. Your daughter is

769
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,720
Speaker 2: telling me that she is going to have a child

770
00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,040
Speaker 2: unless I date her. So if I date her, she'll

771
00:40:40,040 --> 00:40:41,600
Speaker 2: get an abortion. But if I don't date her, she's

772
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:42,280
Speaker 2: having a child.

773
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,560
Speaker 3: At this point, this was Clayton's understanding of Laura's demands.

774
00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,560
Speaker 3: It made him uncomfortable, which is why he wanted to

775
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:50,560
Speaker 3: speak with her mom.

776
00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,160
Speaker 1: I said, it's her body, her choice.

777
00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:57,000
Speaker 3: Clayton explained to Jan that he respected Laura's decision to

778
00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,759
Speaker 3: keep the baby or not. He made it clear that

779
00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:03,200
Speaker 3: he did not want involvement in Laura's life, which also

780
00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 3: meant raising the baby. But the biggest point he wanted

781
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 3: to make in all of this to Laura's mom was

782
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,680
Speaker 3: the following.

783
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:11,640
Speaker 2: Here's the problem I have, and I think you would

784
00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,040
Speaker 2: agree with me that, like, she shouldn't have a child

785
00:41:14,120 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 2: based on whether or not somebody wants to date her.

786
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:21,400
Speaker 3: He expected Jan to understand his concern, after all, this

787
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:24,720
Speaker 3: was her grandchild in question. He wanted Jan to speak

788
00:41:24,760 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 3: with Laura and help her come to a decision.

789
00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,040
Speaker 2: Her response was, well, you know what, to be honest

790
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:33,640
Speaker 2: with you, it's just really disappointing to hear, because you know,

791
00:41:33,719 --> 00:41:37,440
Speaker 2: you are responsible for impregnating my daughter, and she's a

792
00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 2: really great girl. I think you would see that if

793
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:41,960
Speaker 2: you were to give her a chance, but you just

794
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:44,640
Speaker 2: haven't given her a chance at all. And so I'm

795
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,040
Speaker 2: just really, you know, honestly disappointed that this is the

796
00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:49,400
Speaker 2: route you're going to go, because my daughter has a

797
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:51,879
Speaker 2: lot of great qualities and you haven't given her any

798
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:52,399
Speaker 2: chance to.

799
00:41:52,360 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 1: Prove that to you.

800
00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:59,200
Speaker 3: Clayton was almost too stunned to speak.

801
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:02,400
Speaker 1: I think I said something long lines of like excuse me.

802
00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,880
Speaker 2: I'm like, you're telling me that you think that's okay,

803
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,600
Speaker 2: and she goes, yeah, again, my daughter is an incredible woman,

804
00:42:08,680 --> 00:42:10,640
Speaker 2: but you're not giving her any chance, which I think

805
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 2: is so unfair, and so I was just like, oh, okay,

806
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,759
Speaker 2: I'm like, well, this isn't at all hi. I thought

807
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,839
Speaker 2: the conversation was going to go, thank you for your time,

808
00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:20,800
Speaker 2: and have a great rest of your day.

809
00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:22,840
Speaker 3: This phone call made him feel like he was in

810
00:42:22,880 --> 00:42:23,800
Speaker 3: the twilight zone.

811
00:42:24,800 --> 00:42:27,239
Speaker 1: And I hung up and I was just like, are

812
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:28,960
Speaker 1: you fking kidding me?

813
00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,840
Speaker 3: Clayton reached out to Laura's mom, hoping for a lifeline

814
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:37,640
Speaker 3: that never came. Feeling backed into a corner and panicking.

815
00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 3: His gut told him this whole thing was bullshit. He

816
00:42:42,239 --> 00:42:44,520
Speaker 3: stayed firm in his belief that there was no way

817
00:42:44,560 --> 00:42:47,799
Speaker 3: he'd impregnated her, but he needed proof he could see

818
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:51,600
Speaker 3: with his own eyes. A week later, he invited Laura

819
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:55,200
Speaker 3: over again with one goal in mind. He wanted her

820
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:58,280
Speaker 3: to take a pregnancy test right in front of him.

821
00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:01,480
Speaker 3: She brought one with her, but Clayton had purchased one

822
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:02,920
Speaker 3: of his own, just to be sure.

823
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:07,640
Speaker 2: So she goes into the bathroom and she goes to

824
00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:09,319
Speaker 2: close the door, and I go, oh, no, no, I said,

825
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:11,560
Speaker 2: I want to see you pee on the stick. She goes, what,

826
00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,080
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, No, I can't do that. There's no

827
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:15,640
Speaker 2: way I'll be able to pee if you're watching me.

828
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,080
Speaker 3: As suspicious as Clayton was, he was trying to make

829
00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:23,200
Speaker 3: sure she wasn't altering the test in any way, but

830
00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:25,319
Speaker 3: he understood why it would make her uncomfortable.

831
00:43:26,280 --> 00:43:29,680
Speaker 2: I used to have to do drug tests in college

832
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:32,520
Speaker 2: when I played football, and we would literally have to

833
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:35,640
Speaker 2: drop our pants and have somebody stand there and look

834
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:39,280
Speaker 2: at us pee like someone's standing right over our shoulder,

835
00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:41,680
Speaker 2: And it was so uncomfortable.

836
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,640
Speaker 3: Clayton said, Laura agreed to a plan where he'd close

837
00:43:44,680 --> 00:43:46,680
Speaker 3: the bathroom door once she started to go.

838
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:51,000
Speaker 2: She finishes and she walks out and she's like, all right,

839
00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 2: it takes like five minutes.

840
00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:55,320
Speaker 3: If you've ever taken a pregnancy test or how to

841
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 3: partner take a pregnancy test, you know that waiting for

842
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:02,280
Speaker 3: the result, whatever result you want it to be, feels

843
00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:03,120
Speaker 3: like a lifetime.

844
00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:06,400
Speaker 1: I'm haunched over the sink.

845
00:44:07,320 --> 00:44:12,279
Speaker 2: Laura's standing right off to my left, and it was

846
00:44:12,320 --> 00:44:19,200
Speaker 2: just quiet. It was just her and I just the

847
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:23,040
Speaker 2: two of us looking at that pregnancy test and waiting

848
00:44:23,080 --> 00:44:23,680
Speaker 2: for the results.

849
00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:26,480
Speaker 1: One line shows up right away.

850
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:33,280
Speaker 3: His stomach dropped. He sat there staring at it, waiting

851
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:34,880
Speaker 3: to see if the second line would appear.

852
00:44:35,600 --> 00:44:40,600
Speaker 2: It was one of the scariest moments of my life

853
00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:48,040
Speaker 2: because you're looking at a little indicator and either your

854
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 2: life changes forever or it doesn't. If two lines show up,

855
00:44:52,840 --> 00:44:56,640
Speaker 2: my life is forever changed, and there's no one between.

856
00:44:57,040 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 2: It's literally one extreme.

857
00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:04,640
Speaker 1: To the other. And then the second line starts coming in.

858
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:10,600
Speaker 3: The test was positive. Laura started to console Clayton.

859
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:13,720
Speaker 1: She's just like, how are you feeling.

860
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:16,000
Speaker 2: She starts rubbing my back because I'm leaning over at

861
00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:17,640
Speaker 2: this point, I'm leaning over the sink and I'm just

862
00:45:17,680 --> 00:45:21,280
Speaker 2: in disbelief. I had my hand pressing against my forehead

863
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:25,239
Speaker 2: and I'm just like elbows on the countertop. I just

864
00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 2: remember staring at the lines and seeing it's positive and thinking,

865
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:34,759
Speaker 2: oh my gosh, I am going to be connected to.

866
00:45:34,800 --> 00:45:35,560
Speaker 1: This woman forever.

867
00:45:37,560 --> 00:45:41,160
Speaker 3: With Laura standing right behind him, Clayton felt the last

868
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:44,720
Speaker 3: bit of hope slip away. There was no more arguing

869
00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:45,880
Speaker 3: with the evidence.

870
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:52,800
Speaker 2: Like holy shit, like she's actually pregnant. This is really real,

871
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,160
Speaker 2: Or at least that's what I thought of the time.

872
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:02,360
Speaker 3: But in the coming months, Layton would begin to question everything.

873
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:06,279
Speaker 3: Something doesn't seem right with this story.

874
00:46:05,960 --> 00:46:09,719
Speaker 1: The dating contract, stalker ish behavior. She sent me over

875
00:46:09,800 --> 00:46:11,680
Speaker 1: five hundred femails and text messages.

876
00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 3: She makes up all these characters, and she creates fake personas.

877
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,399
Speaker 1: Agree to date me, but I'm also suing you. This

878
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:21,360
Speaker 1: is unlike anything I've ever seen before.

879
00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:50,239
Speaker 4: It's just chaos.

880
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,480
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to

881
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:59,959
Speaker 3: follow Love Trapped on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, spot,

882
00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:03,680
Speaker 3: or wherever you get your podcasts, and please leave us

883
00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:07,080
Speaker 3: a review of five star rating helps others find this show.

884
00:47:07,520 --> 00:47:10,319
Speaker 3: We're grateful for your support. If you would like to

885
00:47:10,360 --> 00:47:13,200
Speaker 3: reach out to the Love Trapped team, email us at

886
00:47:13,239 --> 00:47:16,960
Speaker 3: Love Trapped Pod at gmail dot com. That's Love Trapped

887
00:47:17,120 --> 00:47:21,080
Speaker 3: Pod at gmail dot com. Love Trapped is a production

888
00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:24,400
Speaker 3: of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in

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Speaker 3: partnership with iHeart Podcasts. This show was executive produced by

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Speaker 3: Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning and Ben Fetterman, written, produced and

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Speaker 3: hosted by me Stephanie Young. Our story editor is Monique Labord.

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Speaker 3: Additional production support from Sidney Gladoo and Todd Gans. Our

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Speaker 3: production manager is Kristin Melchiri. For iHeart Podcasts, Ali Perry

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Speaker 3: was our executive producer. Audio editing and mastering by Anna

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Speaker 3: McClain and Matt Delvecchio. Additional editing support by Zach Proto.

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Speaker 3: Thank you to our voice actor Leslie Tlly. This podcast

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Speaker 3: was developed in collaboration with Danny Passman and Lev Abramoff

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Speaker 3: at Crybaby Media. The Love Traft theme is composed by

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Speaker 3: Oliver Bains. Music library provided by Mybe Music. A special

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Speaker 3: thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, Jessica Crincheck, Ali Canter

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Speaker 3: and the entire iHeart podcast team, and for more podcasts

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Speaker 3: from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 3: you get your podcasts.