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  She said, "Get this straight, sister. I’m not going to let you ruin anyone else’s life. You understand? I’ll leave because I can’t stand living with you anymore. I just need to make it clear to you that you won’t get away with hurting anyone else. I’ve made it one of my conditions of recovery. You leave Joseph alone. I’ll be keeping track of you and if I find out you’ve been messing with him I will tell everyone about what happened with Doug. I’ll post it on the internet, I’ll email all the bloggers, I’ll tell your boss, I’ll tell people on the street, I’ll rent a Goddamn billboard if I have to, but most importantly I’ll tell Joseph." She reached out with her foot and nudged her sister."You feel me? Nod your head if you understand."

  Miserably Karen nodded her head, if only to get her sister, or this insane demon that her sister had become, out of her house.

  "Okay, then," Karla said brightly, her demeanor changed. "I’m taking your roll away suitcase, and a few of your things that I’ve become attached to." She turned on her heel and left the room. Karen could hear her in the spare bedroom as she packed her things.

  She got to her feet and righted the coffee table. Karla came out with her largest suitcase and she watched, tight lipped, as her sister traipsed toward the front door.

  "The key?" Karen said.

  Karla fished a key chain out of her pocket and took off a house key. She tossed it onto the floor.

  "I’ll need bus fare," She said. She picked up Karen’s purse and removed three twenties from her wallet. "Oh, hey! You got a phone call." She held out Karen’s cell phone and Karen snatched it from her. Karla left the house without another word.

  Karen locked and bolted the front door and picked up the extra key. She let out a long sigh of relief. Thank God! The freeloading bitch! What a lot of hot air. Miss Loser trying to assert herself. What a joke! To think she would actually allow some stupid junkie have control over her! She's got another thing coming! She was the one who helped her after she what happened with Doug. She would be in just as much trouble.

  Memories flooded back to her of the night five years ago. Doug had hounded her for weeks to give back his mothers engagement ring. She had no intention of giving it back, but she agreed to meet him, so she could talk him out of breaking up with her. She still held out the hope that they could get back together. Either way, she was keeping the ring. She could get a good chunk of money from it. Did he honestly think she would walk away with nothing? But, the meeting didn’t go quite as planned. They met at the club and walked out to the stables because Doug wanted to check on his pony, Wild Bill. Karen had presented him with the irrefutable evidence of how great a wife she would be. They'd become the golden couple who would take the world by storm. Doug had just looked at her with disgust. Karen realized that all her sexual appeal, charm and charisma could not win him back. She remembered it clearly now. The smell of horse dung in the air. His wholesome face with all that wavy blonde hair. The look of contempt in his bright blue eyes. How he pleaded with her to give him the ring back. She hadn't even brought the ring with her. The nerve of him! At the very least he could offer some consolation prize for all the time and effort she'd put into the relationship.

  Finally he lost all patience and tried to grab her purse so he could search through it. She swung it at him, meaning only to smack him in the face. He lost his footing and fell backwards, hitting his head on the hinge of the stall door. She knelt beside him and tried for several agonizing moments to revive him. He bled all over the dirt floor from a gouge in the back of skull. She got blood on her hands and wiped them on her dress. He was dead, obviously beyond all help.

  What good would it have done to go get someone or call nine-one-one? The blame would be placed on her. Doug's mother, who Karen suspected was instrumental in the break up, would certainly blame her. Then she would have no choice but to give the ring back. Karen would be left with nothing and that certainly wasn't fair. After all, it was just an accident.

  She rushed out of the stables, toward the country club and hugged the wall of the building as she went around the back of it, avoiding the surveillance cameras. Outside the fence she stopped and considered her next move. She'd taken a taxi because she had fully expected to be leaving with Doug. She couldn't take the chance of anyone seeing her with blood all over her white dress. There was only one person she could trust. Karla. Her sister would do anything for her.

  So, yeah. Karla had helped her. She'd picked her up in their moms beat up Volvo. Karla saw the blood on her dress. Karen told her the truth and swore her to secrecy. Doug's death would be in the news and Karla would put two and two together. Soon after that Karla began using drugs, but that wasn't her fault was it? It was just an accident. It wasn't her problem if Karla suspected her of murder. If her sister came forward now she would be in trouble for keeping information from the police all this time. The coroner had concluded it was an accident, but would they re-open the case if they found out that Doug wasn't alone that night? Was Karla willing to risk her own freedom just to get back at her? Karen wondered.

  She opened her phone and saw that, sure enough, there was a call from Greg. She sat for a minute to collect her thoughts and then called him back.

  "Hey, Greg," she began when he answered the phone.

  "Karen, hang on. John wants to speak to you."

  She heard muffled voices for a moment and then the unit director came on the phone and said briskly, "Karen, you were supposed to meet with me today. What happened? Is everything alright?"

  "John, I’m so sorry," Karen said. "I saw a giant spider in the bathroom and went crazy trying to kill it."As she said these words she knew it sounded like the most ridiculous of excuses, but she couldn’t think of anything else that would explain the commotion she had caused in the studio restroom.

  "And, I wasn’t feeling too well when I came in today," She went on. "Female problems, I think. I was so embarrassed that I thought it was best I went home." That should put him off. She settled back against the cushions.

  "No kidding? A spider, huh?" John covered the phone and once again Karen could hear some voices rumbling and muffled laughter. Her cheeks flamed as she waited for John to reschedule their meeting.

  "Well," John said. "Here’s the deal. I’ve had a sit-down with the producers and we’ve decided to write the Celeste character out."

  Karen’s heart started to beat uncomfortably in her chest. "Out?" She sat up straight. "What do you mean out?"

  "We’re cutting Celeste from the show. We just think it’s too much fluff for a crime drama. We want the show to be dark and gritty. The Celeste character is too much of a departure from that theme. Next season Celeste will be explained as leaving the force to get married." John finished.

  "What?" Karen said.

  "You’re not right for this show, Karen. I’m so sorry. You will, of course, get compensated for your time."

  "You’re firing me?" Karen shouted. "You can’t do that! I signed a contract!"

  "We can and we are." John said distinctly. "If you had taken the time to read the entire contract you will see that I have the right to terminate your contract at any time, with or without cause. That means we can let you go at any time for any reason, or for no reason at all. Now, I know you’re upset, but this decision is final. We’ll messenger you the separation papers."

  "John, wait," Karen said. But he was gone. The phone was dead in her hand. Stunned, she sat staring into space. Big fat tears formed in her eyes and plopped onto her lap. Snot dripped from her nose but she didn’t bother to wipe it. When the tears finally dried up she started thinking. She knew who was to blame for this. It was because she saw them together, that woman all fat and pregnant. They fired her because of the commotion she made at the studio. It couldn’t be anything else. This wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for her. Karen wiped her face with the back of her hand and got up to take a shower. Wash all the ickiness of the day away and then she’ll be able to think more clearly.

  TWELVE

&nb
sp; "IT'S perfect!" Joseph said. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

  "I love it more every time I look at it," Nina said.

  They stood in front of a two story house in Fauntleroy, a neighborhood in West Seattle. The outside of the house looked like a kid had taken Lego's and stacked them unevenly. The outside was deceptive though, because the inside had absolutely gorgeous views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, a spacious living and dining room with gleaming hardwood floors, an open kitchen with a breakfast bar, and a large master bedroom and bath with windows that looked out over the water. It also came with a two-car garage and a private yard. With three bedrooms and twenty-six hundred square feet, it was a little bigger than Nina had in mind, but it was hard to find a house with a water view that also had a fenced in backyard. Most houses that had a water view in their price range had balconies with no backyard at all. Their child would have its own room, and the third bedroom would be used as an office.

  Nina had sold her condo and she and Joseph had co-signed on the house. She was the happiest she had ever been in her life and Joseph was happy too. It seemed that everything was coming together—finally, everything was falling into place. A house in Los Angeles, a house in Seattle, this beautiful man by her side and a baby due in just eight weeks.

  Neither Joseph nor Nina had heard anything about Karen beyond the fact that she was no longer with the show. The Edge had premiered on a cable network to good ratings and at the end of October they'd driven to LA to wrap up the last episode of the season. They hadn't seen Karen at all in the week Nina spent there. After a serious conversation they had decided not to pursue the matter further. It was likely that Karen had given up and they were reluctant to have any other communication with her, even to prove to her that she had lost. The last two months together—house hunting, making plans and making firm commitments to each other, had faded Karen to an insignificant blip in the past. The only feelings they had of her were relief and gratitude that she no longer had any power over their relationship.

  Joseph didn’t want her doing any work at all and had hired movers that were just now unpacking all of Nina’s belongings. After they had set everything up, she and Joseph would walk through and make a list of things they needed to buy to fill the rooms and furnish a nursery. Nina felt good. She was carrying well and was not too uncomfortable. Actually it was kind of great not to worry about dieting and water weight gain. She had developed a pregnant walk, of which Joseph was only too kind to point out to her the other day. She felt pampered and spoiled. Life was good.

  "I want to get married in Michigan," Joseph said at dinner.

  "What?" Nina sputtered, her mouth full of half chewed pasta. She swallowed and recovered herself. "I didn’t know you were getting married, Joseph."

  "I know. It was quite a shock to me too." Joseph pulled a black box out from under the table and set it front of her. "You see, I met this girl. The sweetest little thing. She took me completely by surprise. She’s beautiful and talented and sexy and she seems to feel the same way about me, at least, I hope she does. I’m in love for the first time in my life and since she's also pregnant with my child I thought we'd make it official."

  Nina didn’t trust herself to speak. She picked up the box and opened it. Inside was a platinum engagement ring with a large diamond flanked by two smaller stones.

  "Holy Mary, Mother of God!" Nina said.

  "You’re really going to have to watch that language around my parents. You know they’re Catholic?"

  "You’re Catholic? You sure did pick the right time to tell me." Nina couldn’t take her eyes off the ring. She turned the box to catch the light and the stones obligingly sparkled like mad for her.

  "You realize that you’re proposing to me in the Olive Garden?"

  "Hey, my baby wanted pasta. And what my baby wants, my baby gets. Would you like me to get down on one knee? I’ll do it, you know."

  "Don’t you dare! I will run from this table and leave you on the floor by yourself."

  "Okay, any way you want it. Here," he took the box from her, "you want to see if it fits?" He picked up her left hand and Nina, as if in a trance, let him slip the cool metal onto her ring finger.

  "How’s that?" The ring fit perfectly. "I know we’re doing this the unconventional way. Hell, we’ve done everything unconventionally. Let’s take another leap, shall we? You make me happy, Nina. Will you be mine forever?"

  Nina held her hand aloft and stared at the flickering rays of white that bounced with every movement. She glanced to the side and saw that they had an audience. The diners at the other tables were watching. Nina hid her hand in her lap, and then brought it up again against her will. She looked into Joseph’s eyes. Such kind, brown eyes. "Did I ever tell you how fine your eyes are?"

  Joseph leaned toward her and spoke in a tone so low that only she could hear.

  "This is it, babe. You know how lucky we are? I know you’re thinking about what people will say. That you got knocked up and so I married you. So what? That’s exactly what happened. Who cares what anyone else thinks? It's you and me, that’s all that matters. And now we’ve got everything! You know how rare that is? Let’s run with it!"

  "I'll never let you forget that you proposed when I was seven months pregnant at the Olive Garden with everyone staring at us."

  "I’ll take that as a yes. We’ll have a good story to tell our grandchildren. Thank you, sweetheart. You won’t regret it."

  "You have to get me out of here before I start crying in front of all these people."

  Karen waited for Peter Benson to grace her with his presence. His assistant, a bookish looking brunette with wire frame glasses, had ushered her in unceremoniously after she looked her up and down and smirked as if she was in on a private joke. Karen had become hypersensitive and a touch paranoid since the disaster at the studio. She couldn’t find work. Hardly anyone agreed to see her and when she did get auditions, nobody wanted her. She felt that the casting directors were laughing at her behind their fake smiles and smooth rejections. She'd auditioned for a couple of TV commercials—one for a new lip gloss and another for a department store ad. The lip gloss photographer had the nerve to tell her she could try for an anti-aging cream commercial they were casting for. She'd read for a part in another TV crime show, and could tell the moment she walked in that she would not be cast.

  She was becoming desperate.

  I’ve been blacklisted, she thought, as she looked around at the chrome and glass of Peter’s office. Because of her.

  Since she'd been fired from The Edge, Peter had told her that there just wasn’t anything that suited her talents, and to be patient. This happens all the time he'd said. When it rains it pours, and when there’s no work it seems like that goes on forever. It’s just the way it is.

  She turned in her chair as the thin little man entered.

  Peter Benson went around the desk and sat down. "How are you, Karen?"

  "I’m good, Peter," she said. "It’s just been too long since I had any work. You know I have to keep my face in the public eye."

  "You’re still doing post-recordings for The Vacationer?" She nodded and he continued, "We’re looking at a summer release, so why don’t I get you some invites to upcoming events where you can make an appearance and plug your movie."

  Karen’s heart sank. She had wanted Joseph to be by her side when her movie came out. All the plans she'd made were ruined by that woman.

  "Joseph is supposed to take me to these events," she spat. "And who is going to escort me now? I certainly can’t go alone."

  "Joseph is in Seattle," Peter said. "Listen Karen, Joseph and Nina are having a child. It’s over between you two. I don’t understand why you can’t see that."

  "What has he told you?"

  "He told me that he had to take out a no contact order on you. Since both of you are clients of mine, he felt that I should know." He looked at her thoughtfully. "You are a beautiful woman, Karen, and the camera loves you. If the scre
enings from your new film are any good, and the word is they will be, then the vultures will be banging on my door to hire you. Think about it. You’ll get the exposure you want and probably some choice parts will come your way. Just be patient. This is a new beginning for you. You’ll have your pick of any eligible man you want."

  "Who else knows about this?" Karen stiffened. "Am I the laughing stock at the studio?"

  "You’re the only one who thinks people are laughing at you," Peter said. "As far as I know, only myself and the parties involved know about the restraining order."

  Karen felt the familiar fury rise up within her. "I got fired because of her. I mean, ever since he took up with that stupid barmaid I’ve been treated like I’ve got the plague. She made him break up with me. She made him cut me from his life. She made him ignore me like I’m nobody. Everyone avoids me now!"

  "You got dropped from the show because, like a million actors before you, you were simply written out. It happens all the time."

  "It happened because of her!" Karen was almost screaming now. "Don’t you see? Everything was fine before she came into his life. That freaking piece of trash! Who is she to take my place? She’s nothing! She’s got some weird hold over him, like he’s been brainwashed or something."

  Peter made a calming motion with his hands. "You need to get a hold of yourself, Karen. If you can't behave appropriately, perhaps you'd better find another agent. I can't have my name associated with actors that are hard to handle."

  "You've got to be kidding! You're dumping me too!"

  Peter rose from his chair. "I think its best Karen. Let me know who choose as a replacement and I will fax over the details of your role in The Vacationer." He motioned her towards the door.