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Date Posted: 14:30:27 12/26/07 Wed
Author: Mary
Author Host/IP: PMP.jax.org / 209.222.204.104
Subject: Characters & Shadows - Chapter 23
In reply to: Mary 's message, "Characters & Shadows - Cont." on 12:34:19 12/19/07 Wed

Chapter 23


Michael didn’t like what was going on at all. Over the last few days he had gotten more and more concerned about Nikita. And today the more he found out the less he liked it. He had been trying to contact Nikita but she wasn’t answering either her apartment phone nor the new cell phone that Madeline had given her. They both had been shocked when they discovered that Nikita didn’t have a cell phone. It was extremely important that they be able to reach her whenever needed for the production. Madeline had immediately remedied that situation.

But today as Michael tried the phone numbers again there was no answer. He had went to her apartment with plans to surprise her and make her brunch and pamper her a bit for their day off, but she wasn’t home and she hadn’t mentioned to him that she would be going anywhere. He had run into Carla coming out of her apartment and she said that Nikita left sometime earlier in the morning but she didn’t know where she was going or when she would be back. But she also told him of the odd hours that she had seen Nikita coming and going from the apartment. Carla said she had seen her leaving one night just before 9:00 p.m. and another morning Nikita had woken her as she was rushing into the apartment at close to 4:30 a.m. That didn’t make any sense to Michael at all. Each evening when he left, Nikita looked utterly worn out and stated she was going to sleep.

Michael just didn’t have a good feeling about this. Each day that Nikita showed up for work she looked more and more exhausted. She was visibly losing weight, which Michael knew that Madeline had unreasonably insisted upon, but she shouldn’t be losing it this quickly. She didn’t look healthy to him at all, her skin was pale, her face drawn. And she always seemed on edge, ready to spring, as if she was constantly waiting for something terrible to happen.

The only time she seemed to relax was with him as they had dinner. He kept trying to make sure that she ate that one meal with him as his concern was growing about the young woman. They had made love, which was amazing and he found himself wanting more and more of her, but he tried to leave early to let her rest as she requested. But it seemed that she just grew more and more exhausted for reasons that Michael had yet to figure out.

He decided to go back to his place and re-group. He needed time to think and he needed more information. Something was going on here and it was about time that he got to the bottom of some of it. Nikita had become far too important to him to have this many unanswered questions in his mind. As he pulled up to the house that he loved he groaned as he recognized the car that was parked in the driveway. Lisa was at his house and she was waiting for him. He just didn’t have time for this at all as he parked and started up his front walk.

She immediately got out of her car donned in fur and gushed at him, “Michael, I’m so glad you are home. I was so disappointed when I pulled up and no one was here.”

Michael hated it when she pouted, actually there wasn’t much he liked about this woman but he did try to be professional in his manner, “I was out.” Ok not so professional after all, but he simply didn’t want to be with Lisa right now, he had other more important things to do.

“But she was not to be deterred as he unlocked the front door, “But you’re home now and I’m here. I was hoping that we might spend some time together today. Oh, Michael I really like this house.” She looked around the fairly modern yet classically-lined house. The open rooms and large windows gave it a very spacious feeling, the dominant structure of this level of the house was the professional kitchen that anchored the rooms on this level. You could see it from the front entry and from all the other rooms.

Lisa moved further into the house and Michael inwardly groaned. She was going to be very hard to get to leave.

“This kitchen is amazing. Do you have a professional chef?”

“No. I cook.”

“Really? I had no idea you liked anything like that.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me Lisa.” He didn’t want to be rude, he had to work with her, but he was terribly blunt in his statement.

She pouted prettily again and took off her coat draping it on the large island, “I want to fix that Michael. I want to know all about you. I thought if we spent some time together today we could get to know one another better.” At her last statement she came up behind him and ran a fingernail down the back of his neck.

Michael tried to keep from shivering at her touch, “I’m sorry I don’t have time today.”

“Oh, you have other plans?”

“As a matter of fact yes I do.”

Lisa then turned another corner and went into the den and sat delicately on one of the barstools. “I suppose those plans are with Nikita?”

He was definitely loosing his patience now, “Not that it’s your business but yes, I was going to spend the day with her.”

“It sounds like those plans may have changed.” She said with mock sincerity.

Michael had had enough of this conversation and of the woman in front of him, “Lisa, what do you want?”

She remained unflustered at his tone, “You Michael. I want to spend time with you.”

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead where a headache was starting to form. “Lisa I respect you as an actress and I enjoy working with you, but there is nothing else between us.”

She gave him a knowing ‘womans’ smile, “Oh, but there could be.”

He shook his head, “No, there won’t. Let’s just settle this now. There will not be anything between us other than as professional friends.”

Her eyes narrowed and anger swelled within her. No one talked to her that way, not ever. Who did he think he was thinking that he could tell her how things were going to be? Oh no, he was not going to get away with this. “And why do you think that you get to decide what there will be and won’t be between us?”

He paused and tried to count in his head so that he didn’t get too angry, “Let’s not do this right now. We need to be able to work together…”

But she was pissed and she was on her feet and in his face, “Oh let me tell you a little bit about our ‘working’
Michael.” She had a snide knowing tone that he didn’t like at all. “There is a whole lot that I know that you don’t know about. So don’t stand there thinking that you’ve got it all figured out. Because you don’t.”

She loved having the upper hand, she could tell just by the questioning look that passed over his face that he wanted to know what she knew. “Interested now are you? Let me tell you that Madeline came to me and offered me the part of Katernya. She made all kinds of promises if I would take the part because they so desperately need this to be a success. But then your little blond came along and screwed up all of that. That is when Madeline talked me into taking the part of Maxine, so that at least I could support the production when she failed. As Madeline put it.”

She loved that he was obviously uncomfortable with this information. But there was more and she would make him sweat for it.

“Oh you didn’t know that did you? But there’s more. You see I also know that the production company is in trouble, terrible trouble. Big trouble. Paul Wolfe went to my Daddy for funding of Section One and he got turned down cold. Daddy said it would be a cold day in hell before he would back Paul Wolfe in anything. Daddy was not a happy man that day. As far as I know he was turned down just about everyone for financing. Now I wonder where he got the money from? Don’t you? I don’t think any reputable person would have backed him after that last flop of his.”

She sighed dramatically, “So you see Michael there is a lot that I know that you may not be aware of.”

His anger was very close to the surface, he tried to contain it because he knew how dangerous it was to let it loose,
"What else do you know?”

She giggled and that annoyed him more than anything, “What else, Lisa?”

“I know that Walter is working for free. I think some other people are too. I know that Paul is in trouble with someone, deep trouble, probably dangerous. I also know that your little blond has a history that seems to be a deep, dark secret.”

He grabbed her arm on that one and spun her around to face him, “What does that mean?” he gritted through tight teeth.

“It means that Madeline has been hunting for whatever Nikita has been doing for the last few years. She fell out of sight before she finished her last year of college and no one knows what happened. No history, nothing. Now let go of me!” she jerked her arm from him and stormed into the kitchen for her coat.

“Lisa, wait!” he yelled and he reached her just as she was at the front door.

“Tell me what else you know about Nikita.”

“I already told you. Nothing. I even had Daddy look into her past…”

“You what?”

“I wanted the part and I thought that if I could find something on her then she would leave. But like I said, even my Daddy can’t find anything about the last five or so years of her life. It’s like she didn’t even exist.”

*****

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