AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Monday October 9^th, 2000
Tiffany opened the gate and walked out of Clark's private street wiping the tears from her cheeks.  She looked down at the check he had just given her.  It was two weeks pay with final payment written on the bottom of the check.  When she had protested and reminded him that earlier he said it was only a 'temporary lay off until she got her life together,' he said, "we'll see, good luck".  She slammed the gate a little harder than she had planned and it didn't catch but swung back and hit her in the leg.  The tears started to fall like rain.  She took a deep breath and walked quickly away from the open gate.  She turned the corner and saw her apartment building close by.  She suspected that Clark's finding out that she had a nice apartment overlooking Washington Square Park was part of the reason he was so angry with her.  He had acted suspicious of how she could pay for the apartment on the salary he paid her.  It was none of his business.  He had always suspected that she was seeing Amir.  She wondered if he had figured it out or how much Jan had to do with her getting fired today.  The thought of Jan brought back her suspicions that Jan had left Clark's office this afternoon to go to Skeeter's apartment. As she approached the entrance to her building, she decided she didn't have much to lose anymore.  She may as well go by her estranged husband's apartment and see if Jan was there.  She quickly picked up her pace.
As she turned the corner onto Bleecker Street she could see Skeeter's apartment building.  She felt overcome with anger and grief.  If Skeeter hadn't taken this apartment away from her she would still have a nice place to live that she could afford.  Now she was in a nice apartment overlooking Washington Square Park, but she couldn't afford the rent if Amir didn't help her.  Everything seemed to be Skeeter's fault.  He cheated on her shortly after they were married and she left him in Georgia.  He followed her to New York and took her apartment and now he probably had cost her the job she loved.  She approached the buzzer and wished with all her heart she had a key so that she could surprise him.  She hit the buzzer for his apartment and looked up at the 2nd floor window above her to see if she could see him.  There wasn't any answer and she didn't see any one in the window.  She wondered if he was still home.  Everything in her gut told her that Jan had gone to Skeeter's this afternoon when she left Clark's office.  She couldn't prove this of course; it was only woman's intuition.  She hit the buzzer repeatedly getting angrier every second as she thought of her suspicions.
"What?" Skeeter said furious that someone had interrupted him and Jan.  Jan had just managed to calm him down after his heated telephone conversation with Tiffany.  A good roll in the bed always took his mind off his problems.
"Who is it honey?" Jan said as she walked into the living room not bothering to get dressed.  She suspected that Tiffany would come by after getting fired this afternoon.  The thought of the scene unfolding in Clark's office made her more passionate than she could ever remember.
"It's me Skeeter, let me in," Tiffany demanded struggling to hear over the sounds of the cabs and tour buses passing behind her on Bleecker Street.
"I told you I'm going to a business meeting this afternoon Tiffany," he shouted into the speaker admiring Jan's slim body as she walked towards him.
"I need to talk to you first Skeeter," Tiffany said only hearing part of what he had said.
"I can't see you now," he shouted again.
"Let me come up", Tiffany screamed.
"No.  I'm busy!" he yelled as he felt Jan kissing the back of his neck as she pushed her body into his bare back.
"You got me fired Skeeter!  I'll get you for this," Tiffany said hitting the buzzer with her hand.  She immediately felt the pain and bent over forward as the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Clark fired her for seeing the clients. Don't worry about it Skeeter.  She got what she deserved"; Jan said stroking his muscular shoulders.
"You damn right she did," Skeeter said thinking about his wife's affairs with the rich clients.
"Take a quick shower and I'll treat you to dinner somewhere."  Jan asked.
"That sounds good," Skeeter said turning and kissing her quickly on the cheek.  He quickly walked towards the bathroom still shaking his head in anger that his wife might be cheating and other people would know.
Tiffany rubbed her hurt hand and turned to walk away.  She may as well go home and nurse her pain.  She looked back up at Skeeter's apartment window one last time to see if she might see Jan pass by the  window.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE PHOTOS BELOW.
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