“Baby?” Amber is startled and Taylor is stunned. “Yes, your friend was ten weeks pregnant.” Sympathetically she squeezes Taylor’s arm, “I am so sorry about the miscarriage but she will be fine.”
Astonished, Taylor and Amber stare at each other in silence until Amber breaks the stare,
“Miscarriage? Alex’s baby? How come she has never said anything? Oh my God Taylor, does she even know that she was pregnant?” Amber pauses “what else is she hiding from us?”
“Truthfully Amber I do not think she knows that she was pregnant, but I do think someone should know about this. Someone should tell Alex.”
“Oh wait Taylor, this is not our call to make. It is up to Karina to decide on whether Alex should know or not.”
******** Walking into Karina’s room, Taylor speaks softly in a comforting tone of voice “How are you feeling?”
Karina does not answer and stares into the ceiling. Still trying to overcome the shocking revelation that she was pregnant with Alex’s baby and the fact that she miscarried, she finds it difficult to breath and is shattered into uncorrelatible pieces.
She has barely recovered from the broken heart that Alex has left her with, the small amount of energy that she has regain is now depleted with the news of the unintentional pregnancy and the miscarriage.
No longer able to shed a tear, she has no more energy to spend and is
exhausted with everything, including her life. Silenced by the shock she tries to conserve the last bit of energy that remains in her body.
Reassuringly Amber comforts her and with the softest tone of voice, she whispers “since you will be staying overnight, do you want us to get you something from your apartment?”
Karina turns and looks at Taylor then Amber, vacantly and expressionlessly, “It is alright, I have troubled you enough.” She shuts her eyes and looks away with the saddest expression on her face.
Taylor rushes near and grabs Karina’s hand while Amber walks to the other side of the bed, leans over and hugs Karina,
“It is no trouble honey, do not ever say that. We love you. We love you so much. Please get better soon.” Amber kisses Karina’s face and stands up.
“Please, I do not want you to see me like this.” Karina whispers. Taylor understands the emotional and physical turmoil that Karina is enduring and respects her wish, “We will be back to pick you up tomorrow. Please get some rest.” Taylor squeezes Karina’s hand “We love you.”
******** Walking down the corridor on their way out of the hospital, Amber sees Russell Krugerman inside Yvette’s private room. Through the windows, Amber watches Yvette Krugerman throw an object at Russell.
Russell ducks and avoids her aim. The object hits the wall, bounces towards the door and makes a loud ‘thump.’
Amber jokes half heartedly and continues walking “somebody is out of control.”
From the corner of his eye, he sees Amber and Taylor walk past Yvette’s room and both are staring at him.
He pays no attention to them and looks assertively at Yvette who is lying on the hospital bed. He speaks to her slowly and concisely, leaving no chance for misunderstandings,
“Yes you are going to rehab.” He repeats himself once more to stress the seriousness of the subject.
“Oh no I am not. Just go away and leave me alone as you always have. Send me to rehab and silence is no longer
platinum, things will turn nasty and I can promise you that.”
“Do not threaten me Yvette, you know you can not win.” “Oh dear Russell, I may not be able to win but I have nothing to lose either.” Yvette turns her head to the side and looks away from Russell.
Exhausted and aching all over her body, she avoids further conversation and pretends to be falling asleep “just go away and leave me alone. Everything will be fine.”
Russell picks up his car keys and leaves the room annoyed. Part of him is angry at Yvette for causing such scandalous headline in the morning papers “Russell Krugerman’s wife found unconscious in the arms of a ‘family friend’.”
His publicist had to create a full story to justify the episode and he is not particularly content with Yvette’s irresponsibly erratic behavior.
Another part of him sympathizes with Yvette and their miserable loveless marriage. They have grown completely apart over the years and the distance is too wide to gap. He understands her motivation and why she prefers to be comfortably numb under the influence of alcohol, but there is no chance that he would allow a divorce.
He will not split his hard earned assets, nor pay her alimony for the rest of his life. Everyone is comfortable with their private arrangement so nothing has to change and nothing ever will.
“Stay home if you have to get drunk.” Russell mutters as he closes the door behind him.
Yvette chokes and swallows a silent tear, “So this is what happens after the love is gone.” she whispers weakly into the pillow.
She has never felt more helpless and stuck in her entire life. Cornered in misery she sobs herself to sleep.
Chapter Eleven. “Maybe I’m too old to make a comeback?” Amber feels discouraged after a failed leap and sits on the floor with her legs bent and sighs.
Conrad walks over and stands right in front of her. Amber looks up at Conrad and presses her lips together then bites on her lower lip, “I have tried that leap for a hundred times already and my knees are hurting from a hundred falls. It is absurd for me to even think that I can handle a leap like that while hitting a high C. I must have been out of my mind!”
Conrad waits patiently for her to stop complaining, “That is bull shit Amber, you can do it. ‘Own The Stage’ and ‘Never Say Never’, remember your own rules? Now abide by your own words, get up and try again.” Conrad pulls her up from the floor “If I have to make you leap three hundred times then put bandages on your knees, so be it. It is painful for me to watch you fall like this, but you did not write a new musical to give it away to someone else, “Life After Death” you wrote it, so live it.”
Conrad walks back to his piano, starts playing and guides her “from the top.” Amber readjusts the straps of her toe shoes and clenches her teeth, walking back to the far corner of Conrad’s studio she dances in short steps to wind up momentum while singing out the verse, spins to the center of the studio then leaps into the air while splitting and attempting to hit a high C.
Unstable yet she manages to land on both feet this time, staggering forward a few steps she manages to balance herself to a semi-graceful halt.
“Beautiful!” praises Conrad “now again, from the top until you feel the balance and lands steady on both feet!”
Amber smiles in content and laughs excitedly with regained confidence “Yes Conrad you’re right! This is MY show and I am not going to give it away to anyone else.”
She turns around and walks towards the corner again while speaking cheerfully, “no matter how much time I need to put into this, I will get it right.”
After ten more tries Amber hits the high C while leaping, finally manages to grasp her balance and lands
gracefully without staggering forward, strikes a diva pose and flashes her signature smile that has mesmerized hundreds of thousands of fans during her glorious days.
Conrad stops playing and applauses “Welcome home, Amber, welcome home!”
Amber curtsies and looks at Conrad with twinkles in her eyes “time to
audition.” She smiles, “just like old times Conrad, just like old times.”
She walks over to the bench, picks up her sweat pants and slips them on. Conrad watches her devour an entire bottle of Evian in one gulp “elaborate the essence of ‘Life Over Death’.”
Amber tosses the empty bottle into the trash bin and walks around the studio while explaining the essence of her musical.
In her musical, Tiffany the lead ‘dies’ with a broken heart and finds herself ‘resurrected’ in a land of the unknown where everything is dark and cold. She wanders around terrified and run
s away from every subject that threatens her. Struggling for survival, she hears the angelic voice of her guardian angel, who tries to guide her through the chaos and deceit in order to reach utopia.
Amber closes her eyes and elaborates further from the mind of her soul “but she can barely hear the voice of her guardian angel. She tries to listen but the voice is quickly fading and she looses the connection with her own soul. With both feet on the ground, she finally realizes that she has only herself to depend on and fights for her own survival.”
Amber opens her eyes and walks towards Conrad “and that is when the devil comes in and tries to take over her soul. She combats him and finally reunites with her herself. She marches towards utopia and finds her destiny.” Amber continues “and her destiny is symbolized by a radiant light where only happiness exists. From thereon she regains life after death.”
Conrad listens attentively and feels her every word. Mesmerized, he believes in her magic and that this project will mark another successful milestone in her life. After the longest detour, Amber has come back to exactly where she has left off some ten years ago. The stage is her destiny and it is where she belongs.
Age is merely a chronological number and after ten years of inactivity, Amber is ready to unleash the best of her. She is returning to the stage with more depth and maturity, her stage presence is stronger than ever and conceivably, success is apparent.
Positively confident he is willing to invest every single dime into the production because he believes in her.
As if she can read his mind, “I know the perfect candidate to play ‘The Voice’, let’s audition for ‘Turbulence’ and the rest of the cast.” She extends a hand to Conrad, “partners?”
Conrad throws his head back and laughs, “Oh Amber wants to produce this too?” he looks straight into her eyes and senses her seriousness.
“Yes, times have changed Conrad, I am all grown up now and ready for more responsibilities.” She waits for Conrad’s handshake.
“Are you willing to share the stress and the risks?” Conrad raises his eyebrow and looks into Amber’s beautiful eyes.
“Oh yes I am. I believe in you just as you believe in me. This is no
coincidence, just explain to me why we are both in Miami ten years after we part ways in New York over the biggest manipulated misunderstanding.”
Fate brings them together again. The convergence of their paths is not coincidental. It is her destiny as much as it is his.
Conrad grabs Amber’s hand and holds onto it firmly, “but how can I be sure that you will not disappear on me again for another man?”
Amber shudders and laughs “I have learned my lesson Conrad. I am who I am and will never allow anyone to change that ever again.”
Refusing to live the rest of her life in guilt over Nathan’s accidental death, Amber wins her own internal warfare and triumphantly claims a second chance to live up to her life’s calling,
“Besides, I have finally found myself again and am not going to let anyone or anything stand in my way.”
If there is someone out there who can understand and respect who she truly is, then she may give that person a chance. But in all likelihood she doubts that such person exists and therefore she laughs, “You have nothing to worry about.”
Conrad appreciates Amber’s humor and shakes her hand,
“Partners.” He affirms. Deep inside he wonders why she could not see the unconditional love that he has for her.
Faithfully and understanding that this is not the right moment to let his feelings be known, he maintains his silence but in his mind, it is
doubtless that there will be one special day and a perfect moment in time when he will finally be able to gather enough courage to let her know how he truly feels for her.
Meantime he is content to have found her again,
“Dinner?” he suggests. “I would love to but cannot. Have to pick up my friend Karina at the hospital. She is being discharged today and needs us to be there for her.”
Amber gets dressed and rushes over to the hospital.
******** Taylor greets Amber in the lobby of the hospital and stresses that they should not speak about the miscarriage unless Karina chooses to discuss it. It hurts to see Karina looking frail and lost but they manage to keep her spirits high.
The drive home is lethally silent with the only radio playing faintly in the background. Karina chooses to remain quiet in the passenger seat and Taylor respects that. Checking the rear view mirror periodically, Taylor ensures that Amber is following closely and arrives at Karina’s apartment at the same time.
Prefers to remain in solitude, Karina assures them that she will be fine. Doubting her ability to take care of herself, Taylor watches Amber tug her in bed, turns off the light and closes the door behind them.
“I think I should stay here tonight.” Suggests Amber, “just in case she wakes up and does crazy things again, I will be here to stop her.”
Agreeing with Amber, Taylor nods silently and tip toes out of the apartment as quietly as she could.
On her way out, the elevator door opens at the lobby and Taylor is just about to step out while the model from apartment 408 steps in and bumps into her for a second time. They remember each other from the last encounter,
“Oh sorry, I did not expect anyone in the elevator.” He smiles
apologetically.
“That is alright” Taylor reciprocates his smile “No. 408 right?” she laughs and teases him.
“You never came to me that night. I was waiting for you” he teases her and presses his arm on the elevator door to avoid it from closing.
Amber throws her head back and laughs. Looking straight into his eyes, “that’s bull shit.” She smiles flirtatiously.
“I am not joking!” he flirts back, “I wanted a slice of that pizza that you were eating and I wanted you for dessert.” He chuckles.
Taylor bites on her lower lip, steps back into the elevator and waits for him to come in. As the door closes she reaches over and presses on the button for the 4
th floor.
Chapter Twelve. Laying on her side and feeling a sharp pain on the back of her head Yvette moans and slips out of bed, walks to the kitchen and looks through six different bottles of prescribed medication. Washing down a handful of painkillers with a big gulp of brandy, she hears a knock on the door and staggers to the foyer. Expecting her lover Jean at the door, she smiles and is eager to be in his arms once more.
She opens the door and he steps forward to embrace her gently, caressing her aching body and kissing her tender cheeks, he smiles and gazes into her eyes “thank God you are alright; I would not know what to do otherwise.” He kisses her lips softly and can smell the brandy lingering on her breath. “Have you been drinking again? I hope you are not mixing painkillers with alcohol!”
Yvette steps back and looks blankly at Jean. Forever honest she admits “I needed it. It makes me forget about the pain.”
He closes the door behind him and cradles her face with his hands “My love, you really have to control the alcohol intake. It is becoming a serious problem here. Do you know that you are close to becoming an
alcoholic?”
“Nonsense” defies Yvette “did you come to give me a lecture? Or did you come because you miss me and want to be with me?”
“All of the above.” He sweeps her off her feet and carries her back to bed “you should get some rest. I just want to be with you.” He puts her gently onto the bed and lays next to her.
It has been two weeks since the accident and he has been worrying about her everyday. It has been torturous for him to watch the ambulance take her away from the scene of the accident and not be allowed to visit her at
hospital.
He loves her with all of his heart and stares into her beautiful eyes “you have no idea how much I missed you for the last two weeks. It has been torturous. I was worried sick about you and I could not even visit you at the hospital.”
Yvette cradles his face with her hands, “I am alright now, everything is back to normal and I missed you terribly.”
With a charming smile on his face he begins caressing and kissing all over her body to ease her pain. He pleases her in ways that only he knows how. For hours and hours she lays helplessly in his arms and secretly wishes that she could stay with him for the rest of her life.
As if he can read her mind, “I might not be able to give you a world of luxury, but I can give you a happy life that you truly deserve.” He whispers into her ear softly.
She pushes him away and sheds her perspective of their reality “here we go again Jean.” She turns around and backs him, “you cannot even pay your rent and can barely take care of yourself, so how can you take care of me? The idea of living on nothing but love is simply ludicrous. Besides, he will never allow a divorce, it is a no win battle that will only destroy all of us.”
Hurt and belittled by her honesty Jean slips out of bed, “I think I am going to go now so you can get more rest.”
Yvette closes her eyes and swallows her silent tears, “please lock the door behind you.”
She listens to the echoes of his footsteps and clenches her teeth at the sound of the closing door, “I love you.” She whispers after him and as usual, sobs herself to sleep.
******** Awaken at the crack of dawn by the sounds of the shower, Yvette opens her eyes halfway and stares sleepily at the closed bathroom door.
Realizing that Russell is home she shuts her eyes tightly and pretends to be fast asleep. Holding her breath she feels him slip inside the bed; he tosses and turns a few times and begins to snore.
It is beyond her understanding why they still share the same room. Perhaps it is time for her to suggest that he moves to the left wing of their estate home.
She misses Jean miserably and wishes that he were sleeping next to her and cradling her aching body. She loves him dearly and needs him as much as he needs her. Caught in a miserable marriage where love is non existent, she struggles daily between
contradicting thoughts, she knows that her current situation cannot possibly last forever.
Has Cupid Gone Mad?: War Of Hearts Page 6
