Miss Independent, Volumes 1 - 4

by Kiki Leach

  “That better not be the only thing he doesn’t know about.” Vanessa ripped herself away from Sheila’s grip and stood closer to Maurice.

  “Attention, everyone!” shouted William over the crowd.

  The music stopped playing in an instant and those screaming for Nikki got louder and louder before eventually dying down.

  “Now, I don’t know about you, but I think that was one HELL of a play that took place tonight at the Gershwin, right?”

  Everyone began clapping again. Vanessa screamed out ‘GO NIK!’ and Maurice whistled and clapped.

  William then turned to Nikki and took her by the hand. Staring into her eyes, he smiled. Though Nikki was beginning to notice that something was different about it in comparison to any other time he looked at her with nothing but love and admiration.

  “In honor of my lady,” he said, holding her hand tight. “I just want to tell you how damn proud I am of you tonight. And how much you earned this night and what’s to come of it.”

  More ominous words.

  And then he released her hand and stood back.

  Directly behind where they stood, a projector screen slowly ejected from the ceiling.

  A puzzled Nikki stared at him as his eyes never left the blank screen as it lowered.

  “I think this might be your best performance yet.”

  William pulled a tiny remote from his pocket and pushed a small red button at the top as everyone looked at each other with curiosity.

  Nikki leaned forward. “What are you doing?”

  “You’ll see.”

  And before anyone knew exactly what was happening, what appeared to be the foyer of someone’s house suddenly flashed across the screen.

  Nikki took a few steps forward to get a better look at what she had seen, and instantly recognized the decorum from William’s house. Her mouth dropped open the second two people moved across the screen in a blur, kissing, grinding against each other and slamming themselves into the wall.

  Her heart beat so hard and loud and fast inside her chest that it was pounding against her brain.

  “Dios Mio.”

  Lips smacking one another, with deep breaths slamming against each other like gusts of wind colliding started playing louder and louder over the music itself.

  She watched in horror, along with everyone else in the entire room, as she recognized herself with Oscar on the day he had come by to tell her that he and Melanie were officially through.

  “Dios Mio.”

  When Oscar recognized himself on the screen, he pummeled through the crowd and rushed to the front of the venue. He stared up at Nikki, but she was traumatized stiff. Her hands were frozen in the air, her mouth remained hanging, her eyes were drying out from having been so wide open as she stared up at the two of them enraptured with one another. And then the footage skipped to them inside of William’s bedroom.

  “Oh my God,” Vanessa mumbled.

  Maurice glanced down at Vanessa before angrily turning his eyes back to the screen.

  Melanie and Nathan slowly moved from the back of the room up front after realizing that they had recognized the two naked people gyrating against each other on the floor of a well-designed bedroom.

  Flashes of bulbs suddenly popped all around them as various reporters, bloggers and photographers began rushing the stage in a frenzy and bombarding Nikki and William with questions. Industry professionals hung their heads in shame.

  When one photographer spotted Oscar in the crowd, they turned to rush him as well.

  A mortified Melanie grabbed her stomach and held onto Nathan’s shoulder the second her husband’s penis flashed before her eyes, right before entering Nikki’s mouth.

  “I’m going to be sick,” she said. She hurried off to the nearest bathroom. Nathan remained in place for a few seconds longer before joining her.

  “That’s it.” Maurice ripped off his jacket and handed it to Vanessa. “Hold this. I’ve had enough of this shit.”

  “Now THIS!” said William, as he turned to the crowd. “Is where it REALLY gets good! She does things to him with her mouth that I never even dreamed of her doing to me, and she does them so damn well.”

  Maurice jumped on stage then, and ruthlessly shoved William back; he tumbled.

  Then he ran toward the projector screen, reached a hand up and violently yanked it from the ceiling. Sparks flew everyone as electrical wires broke and snapped against one another in the process. He jumped out of the way as the screen eventually fell to the stage.

  William smirked. “You shouldn’t have done that.”

  Maurice walked back over to him and snatched the remote from his hands. Dropping it to the ground, he crushed it with the bottom of his heel.

  He looked back into William’s callous eyes and smirked as well. “Oops.”

  Vanessa ran upstage and took Nikki into her arms. “Are you okay?” She brushed her hair back from her face and searched it for any movement. But a mortified Nikki could hardly speak.

  “I – I – I –” And then she looked into Vanessa’s eyes as tears spewed out from her own. “V?”

  Vanessa ran over to Maurice and pulled him back from a threatening William. “Here,” she said, shoving him over to Nikki and handing him his jacket. “Get her the hell out of here, now. These vultures are going to try and eat her alive.”

  “I’ll get her out the back. Do what you can to keep them distracted.”

  Vanessa turned her focus to William. “That sure as hell won’t be a problem.”

  Oscar watched in horror as Maurice dragged Nikki out of his sight.

  As Vanessa stomped over to William, he started nodding.

  “Alright,” he said. “So maybe you were right about me from the very beginning.”

  “NO SHIT!”

  She grabbed him by the arm and recklessly pulled him from the stage. When she found the women’s bathroom, she quickly pulled him inside, kicked in the door of each stall and placed a chair directly beneath the handle of the door once she was sure no one else was inside.

  William carelessly leaned back on the sink and folded his arms.

  “I knew that it was a mistake for Nikki to get involved with you, I just didn’t know it would cost her so damn much! Something about you has NEVER sat well with me, even when I was a kid. And now I’m completely clear as to why. You are a sick, vile, twisted piece of shit, you know that?”

  “And what took place on that screen out there wasn’t sick and vile?” he retorted. “Come on, V. Your friend got every bit of what she deserved tonight--”

  “My friend?” she questioned. “My friend is now more than likely TRAUMATIZED because the asshole she chose to trust just violated it on every level known to humankind. My FRIEND is probably now crying her eyes out because she chose the wrong man when the RIGHT one, the one she was happily fucking up there on that screen for the entire city to witness is now being eaten alive by the press out there. What the fuck were you thinking pulling a stunt like this?”

  “I was thinking that maybe your friend shouldn’t try to play me for a complete idiot.” He dropped his hands in his pockets. “I’ve got security cameras all throughout my house, Vanessa, which is something Nikki has always neglected to notice while being there with me. When I came home with Corrinne once and saw him there with her arguing about some shit right outside my front door, I knew that it hadn’t been the first time he was there, but I was going to make damn sure it was the last. So I took various images from my security cameras and used them, for this.”

  “What happened to her tonight could absolutely murder her reputation and make everything that she worked for mean absolutely nothing.”

  “I was counting on that,” he said.

  “You piece of shit.”

  Vanessa righteously balled her fist and slammed it hard against the side of William’s face. He fell into the mirror, then pulled back laughing and tapped his fingers against his lips, which began to bleed, thanks to the help of Vanessa’s rings s
trategically placed on each finger.

  “I better never catch you anywhere near her again,” she said.

  She pulled the chair back from the door. As soon as it opened, a handful of reporters spilled inside.

  As Maurice waited with Nikki at the back alleyway for her car to arrive, she wrapped his jacket around her shoulders and tried scrubbing the smudged mascara from her cheeks.

  “I feel like such an idiot,” she said.

  “Don’t, he’s a dick.”

  “Even if he is, I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve known something was up when he wasn’t as frequent at rehearsals. When he was taking random phone calls in the middle of the ones he chose to show up for. I should’ve known.” She located a set of steps on the other side and sat down on the first one. “My career is ruined before it’s even begun.”

  “Given the current state of society, you’ll be more famous tonight than you ever would’ve been with the musical.”

  “Yeah, Mo, for performing the best blowjob on a bedroom floor. Just hand me the Emmy right now.”

  “I don’t know about an Emmy,” said Melanie as she stumbled out from the back door with Nathan directly behind, holding her up. “But you just might have earned yourself a few Golden Globes. Not including the ones in your blouse.”

  Nikki quickly stood up to match her. And then she backed off and sat back down.

  “I’m not in the mood for this shit right now.”

  Maurice walked over to Melanie and stared down at her. “Now’s not the best time, Mel.”

  “Don’t call me that,” she told him in a sharp tone. “That isn’t my name, it’s Melanie. Right Nathan? Mel. A. Nie, that’s not too hard to remember. But then again, maybe it is since you couldn’t even seem to remember that I was your date tonight and not Vanessa. Where is she by the way? Comforting William with her mouth like that slut back there did for my husband?”

  “Alright, alright.” Nathan tried pulling her back, but she yanked herself out of his arms.

  “There might be people in there who feel sorry for you, but I think you got exactly what you deserved, Nicole Sanger,” said Melanie. “Karma’s a bitch and it proved just how much bigger it could be tonight when it’s tested by the likes of a home wrecking whore--”

  “Melanie.”

  She turned at the sound of Oscar’s voice, just as he came out to join them.

  Then she leaned her entire body back and waved her arms. “OH, WOW! It’s definitely a party now!” She snapped her fingers and danced around in a circle.

  Maurice walked over to Nathan and threw a fist into his shoulder. “How the hell much did she have to drink tonight?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not her keeper.”

  “But you were with her most of the night.”

  “Just as much as you’ve been with V.”

  Oscar shoved between them and stepped over to Nikki, dropping to a single knee and placing a soothing hand on her face. She rested her palm against him, but kept the tears back this time.

  “For the love of God,” spewed Melanie, gagging. “You two are wholly disgusting--”

  “Are you alright?” Oscar asked Nikki while ignoring his wife.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Right now I’m just glad that my parent’s went home tired after the show so that they didn’t have to see that. Only, there’s no telling what the papers will read tomorrow--”

  “Probably something along the lines of ‘Home Wrecking Slut Goes Wild!’” Melanie suggested.

  Oscar looked at her over his shoulder, then wrapped his arms around Nikki and lifted her from the stairs. “Let’s get you the hell out of here before somebody realizes where we all are,” he said.

  “No,” Melanie replied. She shoved Nathan out of the way and pounded her fist into Oscar’s back. “You’re not taking her anywhere. I am your wife, ME. If anyone needs to be comforted after seeing all of that it’s ME! I’m the one that continues to be overlooked, stomped on and neglected. And now you’re wrapping your arms around this bitch like she gives more of a shit about you than herself when it’s not even close to being the truth.”

  “Melanie--” Maurice interjected.

  “She didn’t have the decency to keep your child!”

  Everything suddenly went quiet then. Everyone was immediately still.

  Maurice and Nathan eyed Melanie with bewildered looks. Nikki felt like collapsing to the ground.

  Oscar dropped his hands from her and immediately turned back to his wife. “What?”

  “Jill Schaffer was her doctor, call her up tonight and ask her. She won’t be able to tell you much due to the confidentiality clause, but--”

  “Jill.”

  “Yeah, Jill,” Melanie repeated. “Leggy red head with green eyes. Nikki was her patient.”

  Oscar took his time before spinning on his heel and returning to Nikki. He could see from the devastated look in her eye that everything Melanie had said was true.

  A woman he had vowed to give up his entire life for, his family, his children, his wife, was pregnant with and aborted their child.

  He wanted to rage. And scream. And throw things. And berate her for what she had done.

  But he loved her too much to make her feel worse than she already had tonight. And so he took her in his arms instead of losing his shit at the thought of what she had done like he wanted to. And he leaned into her hair and whispered. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re still going off with her after what I just told you?!” Melanie screeched as her arms flew wildly around her head. “She got RID of your BABY, OSCAR. She killed something inside of her that belonged to you--”

  “ENOUGH!” he roared.

  She dropped back.

  “She and I will deal with this accordingly. Whatever happened has nothing, nothing whatsoever to do with you, Melanie. You’re the mother of my kids, and I respect that. But you’ve got no say in this, period.”

  When Nikki’s car finally arrived, Oscar hustled her in the back and quickly shut the door.

  The moment it sped off, Vanessa flew out the back door and slammed it into the wall.

  “The press are like piranha in there. Or swirling shark. They smell blood in the water and they’re not going anywhere until they…” She stopped and looked around the alleyway. “Where’s Nikki?”

  “Oscar got her out of here--” Nathan started.

  “My husband got her out of here, thank you,” replied a sarcastic Melanie as she grabbed her head, which started to throb inside her skull.

  “Where’s William?” asked Maurice.

  “I don’t know. After I pulled him off to the side to give him a piece of my mind, I went to try and calm down the assholes in the bar. Ironically enough, Sheila tried helping me before she and Adrian finally split. But I don’t know how much it was about actually helping as opposed to trying to keep her name involved in the press now that she’s no longer getting married. Anyway, most of the actual people who weren’t paid to be there finally left, it’s just the ones looking for a story who are interested in sticking around.”

  “I could give them a story,” Melanie mumbled.

  Vanessa slightly rolled her eyes and wrapped her hand around Maurice’s.

  “Can you get me the hell out of here?” she asked.

  “Most definitely.”

  “Right, fine!” Melanie called out as they strolled to the front of the building. “Leave me just like he did, I’m fine! No worries about me, that’s just great.”

  “Hey!” Nathan called out. “Maybe if you opened your damn eyes you’d see that somebody actually bothered to stick around for you.”

  “Mr. Manipulator! Like you had any other choice.”

  “I do.” Nathan moved forward and brushed a strand of blond hair from her face. “But right now, Mr. Manipulator doesn’t think you should be alone tonight.”

  Melanie almost lost her balance as she looked into Nathan’s eyes and listened to the cool sound of his voice. She was s
lightly intoxicated, but not enough to ignore the fact that she was being somewhat propositioned by a handsome man who was willing to look at her and no one else for a good few hours before the sun came up.

  Her eyes traveled up and down his body and she exhaled. “You’re right,” she told him. “I shouldn’t be. I sure in hell shouldn’t be.”

  They stared at each other for a long time before he took her by the hand and led her to the street, and nearest cab.

  Part Thirty-Eight

  “Tonight, was…” Adrian started as he and Sheila traipsed down the hall to his apartment. “Interesting.”

  “Interesting enough that I could’ve completely done without if I had known that I was going to be spending the latter part of it seeing Nikki’s vagina expand on a big screen. I don’t think I’ll ever recover from that kind of image.”

  She placed one hand on her chest and the other on her stomach.

  “I’m sorry that our first official night out together turned into this,” he said. “I was hoping for a lot more. Not that kind of more, but”

  “Me too. But it’s not as if it’s the end, right? We still have time. There’s no expiration date put on this relationship.”

  They each smiled at one another.

  When they reached Adrian’s door, Sheila leaned on the frame as he dug around inside his pocket for his keys.

  “You never mentioned what you and Nathan were talking about at the bar.”

  She shrugged. “From what I remember, it was nothing important, really. I think he’s accepted that I’ve moved on. Probably because he’s trying to get back into Vanessa’s pants again.”

  “Hm. Well, after everything I saw tonight between her and Maurice, I’m not so sure he’s going to have it as easy as he might think.”

  “I’m surprised you remember anything about even seeing them together. I still can’t get the images of Nikki and Oscar out of my head. I think I might have to scrub my brain with a Brillo pad.”

  Adrian laughed.

  “I’m serious. I honestly can’t believe that William would do something like that. He just never seemed like the type. What happened with that projector is straight out of Nathan’s hand book of assholery. It’s like he took notes regarding everything that went down at the Hamptons with you coming out to get at Vanessa.”