AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Thursday October 19^th, 2000
Tiffany opened the door to her lonely huge apartment overlooking Washington Square Park into which Amir just had her move.  She slammed the door shut in disgust with her life.  She took off her coat and threw it over a chair as she walked into the well-furnished living room.  She rushed to the answering machine on the desk beneath the living room window.  Her heart sank when she didn't see any new messages.  She had hoped that Amir would call from his island home and tell her that the newspaper reports were a mistake.  How could the man she loved so much be married and never tell her.  If only she knew the phone number at his island home.  Her mind raced trying to think if he had ever given her the number.  Frustrated she picked up the remote for the television and hit the 'on' button.  She took a seat on the sofa and starting aimlessly pushing buttons on the remote.  She knew she should be out looking for a job, but she was just too depressed to start on the overwhelming task. Besides she had only been fired yesterday, she deserved some time to get over so much grief, she thought.  She stopped turning the channels on the television when she saw the popular talk show "Lunch in Manhattan".
"How times change, now OJ Simpson tries to make news," a reporter said finishing her segment.
"Speaking of making news…Wow.  Did you see the newspaper report saying that Amir Hada rushed home to his island to attend to his sick wife?" the gossipy newswoman asked her pretty co-anchor.
"Yes Jane, I saw that.  Didn't anyone know that Amir was married before this?"  Jane asked Alexis.
"No.  It's weird because everyone had this 'nice guy' impression of Amir.  He's been seen around town with women over the years too."
"Who reported this sick wife?"
"The papers only said an 'unconfirmed but reliable source.'"
"Well how sick is this secret wife?"
"We haven't heard.  It's all very strange.  I know there are a lot of sad women out there today that hoped they would have a chance at the most eligible bachelor in New York."
"It's beginning to look like all of the wealthy builders are playboys," the reporter said laughing as they went to commercial break.
Tiffany hit the 'off' button and threw the remote on the table in front of her.  There had to be some way she could find out if this report was true.  Who would have leaked something like this to the press if it weren't true?  She wondered if Amir was just another cheating man like her estranged husband Skeeter.  Could it be that her wealthy lover really had a wife on his island.  She realized that she didn't know anything about his former home.  She only knew what she had heard on television about the celebrity spa resort he owned there.  She had seen a few pictures in his Upper East Side mansion of the spa and his island.  Surely he would have mentioned a wife or had a picture of her on his desk if he were really married.  Suddenly she thought of Abdul.  Of course, why didn't she think of him earlier?  He was the only link to Amir and his island home.  Surely a man's bodyguard would know.  She jumped up from the sofa and frantically searched through her telephone book looking for Abdul's number.  She realized that Abdul was probably still living at Amir's East Side mansion.  She picked up the phone and dialed the familiar phone number.
"Mr. Hada's residence", the housekeeper answered.
"Hi this is Tiffany Diamond a friend of Mr. Hada's and Abdul's.  I was wondering if Abdul was there?" Tiffany asked.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE PHOTOS BELOW.