AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Thursday December 14^th 2000
Tiffany checked her lipstick as the cab rushed through lunch hour traffic.  She glanced down again at the note she had written with Skeeter's office number located in Manhattan Gold International.  She forced herself not to think any more of the circumstances in which she would have her first visit to Amir's new building since the opening.  She had planned to go to the opening party but she was fired a few days before the celebrity event of the year.
The cab swerved and pulled over to the curb coming to a quick stop.
"That'll be $4.00," the cab driver said, hitting the meter and looking in the rear view mirror.
Tiffany handed the driver five dollars and started to open the door when a uniformed doorman opened the door and smiled at her.
"Thanks", she said stepping up on the sidewalk and starting towards the heavy brass doors where another doorman awaited her.  She had seen Amir's new building before it was completed but today with the bustle of Christmas shoppers and the holiday lights it was overwhelmingly beautiful.  The pink marble floors and chandeliers looked like something out of a magazine she thought.  She couldn't help but think of her handsome wealthy lover Amir that was paying her rent on the apartment at Washington Square Park.  She knew that many women would think she was crazy to break off a relationship with a man like Amir.  She couldn't help having a few second thoughts.  If only he had told her he was married and she hadn't learned of his wife's coma through media reports.  She had made up her mind when she left Skeeter in Georgia that she wouldn't put up with a man cheating on her, and wealth wouldn't make an exception.  Skeeter certainly wasn't going to get away with cheating on her again either.  She wanted to know who was calling his apartment and hanging up since she had been staying there the last few nights.  She wouldn't move her clothes from Amir's apartment to Skeeter's if both men were cheating.  She would find another job and another apartment.  She hit the button for the elevator to go to the upstairs offices.  Skeeter refused to meet her for lunch so she thought she'd surprise him.  The door opened and she stepped onto the elevator with a woman in dark glasses and a fur coat.  She didn't want to stare but she thought this was a famous star going upstairs for a celebrity experience in Amir's expensive spa.  The elevator door opened and Tiffany stepped out on the floor where her estranged husband had an office at the lingerie company.
"May I help you?" the receptionist asked.
"I'm here to see my husband Skeeter Diamond," Tiffany said pleased that at least now the people that worked in Skeeter's office would know he's married.
"Mr. Diamond's still at lunch."
"Do you expect him back soon?"
"He just called.  I think he'll be back soon but he's with a client so I don't know how much time he'll have."
"Oh.  Well, he wasn't expecting me.  I was in the neighborhood and just dropped by", she lied.
"I'm sure Mr. Diamond will be sorry he missed you," the secretary said knowing that Skeeter had gone to lunch with Jan and knowing that Tiffany would be an unwelcome surprise.
"I really wanted to see his offices.  I don't know what to get him for Christmas.  I thought maybe if I looked around I might get an idea," Tiffany lied.
"I could show you his office," the secretary said motioning for Tiffany to follow her. Maybe she could satisfy Tiffany and get her out of the building and save the day for her good-looking co-worker Skeeter.
Tiffany walked through the hallways and noticed how slick the marble floors where under her high heels.  Skeeter came home late the other night and said his knees were injured from looking for his bosses contact lens on the carpet at work.  She hadn't seen carpet anywhere in the offices so far.
"That's Bob Alexander.  I'm sure he'd love to meet you if he weren't on the phone," the secretary said motioning towards Skeeter's boss through the open office door as they walked down the marble hallway. Tiffany nodded towards the balding man in glasses talking on the phone in a beautiful office with marble floors and a view of the East River.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE PHOTOS BELOW.