AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Monday December 11^th 2000
Tiffany dressed in her jeans and sweater that she had worn to Skeeter's apartment last night.  Skeeter still hadn't given her a key to the apartment so she couldn't move in.  She was going to ask him about the key this morning before he left for work, but they had spent too much time in bed trying to recapture their lost passion. She had to move out of Amir's apartment soon, she thought.  It seemed rather out of character to her that Skeeter wasn't pressuring her to leave her wealthy lover's apartment.  The phone rang on the desk in the living room.  She quickly walked towards the desk and picked up the ringing phone fully expecting that Skeeter was calling from work.
"Hello", she answered.  She gripped the phone tightly bringing it closer to her ear trying to hear sounds of life on the other end of the phone.  "Hello!" she said louder.  She listened to a click and the phone sounded a dial tone.  As she hung up the phone she wondered if it was the same person calling and hanging up that had called last night while Skeeter was at the store and then again when they had gone to bed.  She decided to make a note of the times she was getting the calls since Skeeter had told her the caller ID was broken.  She opened the desk drawer to get a piece of paper and saw the caller ID knotted up in the drawer.  Skeeter told her it was broken.  She wondered if perhaps she could get it to work.  She untangled the wires and plugged the equipment into the proper connections.  It looked as if though it was working, she thought hopefully. She didn't have to wait long, the phone rang again testing her work.  She quickly glanced down at the caller ID and saw the name "Manhattan Gold International".  Her heart raced wondering if perhaps Amir was calling her at Skeeter's apartment. 
"Hello", she answered hopefully.  Again she listened to silence.  "Hello".  Again she heard the phone click and dial tone returned.
If Amir was calling and she answered the phone he surely would have spoken with her.  Anger came over her as she realized if it weren't Amir calling from his spa Manhattan Gold International then it had to be his assistant Jan.  The old suspicions flooded her mind. She had been by the apartment a few times and thought she saw Jan in Skeeter's bedroom window.  If that was Jan on the phone then Skeeter wasn't being honest with her and she certainly didn't want to move back in with him. She glanced at the clock and realized it was early.  There wasn't any chance that Skeeter would come home anytime soon.  She picked up the phone and dialed the number to Manhattan Gold International. 
"Manhattan Gold International", the secretary answered.
"I wondered if you could tell me if Jan Morgan or Amir Hada are in the office today?" she asked feeling her hands shake as she held the phone.
"Mr. Hada is out of the office at the present time, but Miss Morgan is available. May I ask who's calling?"
"No.  I mean, I'll call later when Mr. Hada is in," she said hanging up the phone.
That had to have been Jan Morgan that had called the apartment. Getting her fired from her job wasn't enough for Jan, she wanted her husband too. Once again Skeeter had promised he would be honest with her and she doubted him seriously.  It was hard enough to try to and get over Amir and if Skeeter was lying to her, this would make it impossible for her to leave Amir.  She reached for the phone and dialed Skeeter's office.
"Mr. Diamond's office", the secretary answered.
"Could I speak to Skeeter please."
"May I ask who's calling?"
"His wife".
"Wife?"
"Yes.  Tiffany, his wife", she said realizing that Skeeter having a wife was news to the secretary.
"Please hold".
"Hi Baby, what's up?" Skeeter said in his slow southern accent.
"I need to talk to you Skeeter," Tiffany said.
"Can't it wait Baby.  I've had a hard morning," he said exhausted from the lies he told his sales manager in the meeting.  Taking time off with all of his women had almost cost his new job this morning
"No.  It can't wait Skeeter.  I've waited too long now," she said.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE PHOTOS BELOW.