AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Soap Opera "As The Mouse Moves" - Friday March 30^th 2001
"How did it go with the Mayor?"  Tiffany asked her younger sister Starlene as she walked into the living room of her apartment overlooking Washington Square Park..
"I didn't get to see him.  His secretary said he was called to the Bronx, wherever that is.  He had to go there just because somebody got shot.  I did get to see his office at City Hall though," Starlene said in her thick southern accent.
"Too bad.  How did you get an appointment with the mayor anyway?" Tiffany asked walking towards the sofa and taking a seat beside her.
"I called and talked to his secretary.  I told her that I was the woman pictured on the front page of the Manhattan Daily News today with the Mayor and I wanted to talk with him."  She was referring to the snapshot taken at the celebrity party at the Waldorf when the mayor happened to be near her.
"You're kidding?" Tiffany asked shocked at her sister's nerve.
"Nope.  His secretary asked if I had assisted in the fund raising and I said sorta," Starlene said.
"But you didn't Starlene." Tiffany said surprised.
"Nope but I almost got to see him.  I was standing in front of his secretary's desk when she talked to him on the phone."
"So do you have another appointment to see him?"
"No. I finally told her to remind him of our conversation at the Waldorf the other night at Amir's party. I told her to tell him that I was the new person in New York, that I was a friend of Stanley Morgan's."
"Yeah…"
"I told her to tell him that I was trying to get into a play on Broadway. And guess what?" she asked excited to share her news.
"What?" Tiffany asked trying to appear excited.
"His secretary said the Mayor's ex-wife starred in a Off Broadway play and that maybe he would talk to her and help me get a role."
"That's nice," Tiffany said unexcited as she put her feet up on the coffee table.
"You don't seem very happy for me."
"I got some bad news today from Amir."
"What?" Starlene asked seeing that her plot to meet the mayor had failed to excite anyone.  She had run into Amir as he was leaving the apartment a few minutes ago and she could clearly see there had been tension between the wealthy man and her sister.
"His ex-wife is being brought to this country for treatment."
"You mean the vegetable woman?" Starlene asked referring to Amir's comatose wife in his country.
"Yeah.  We'll see how long she stays a vegetable once the doctors at NYU Hospital work on her."
"Oh my God!  Why is he doing this?"
"Because he's going to run for office.  How would it look for him to leave his sick wife over there while he runs for office?  I suppose this will win him sympathy too," Tiffany said as the tears started to come to her eyes again.
"Maybe she'll die," Starlene said hopefully.
"That's terrible to say Starlene. Maybe she'll come out of the coma and kill me for being with her husband too."
"I never thought this would happen," Starlene said thoughtfully.
"Neither did I.  Now I'm in love with him, can't be seen with him because I'll lose my job and his wife might be with him soon. How could it possibly be worse?"
"Heavy.  Really… heavy.  I'm sorry Tiffany," Starlene said as she glanced towards the muted TV scene and saw Amir's handsome face on the television.  She quickly picked up the remote and turned up the volume.
"Yes, this just proves that money doesn't by everything.  The foreign, handsome, wealthy, businessman Amir Hada is having his wife brought to NYU to undergo treatment.  The doctors are hopeful that perhaps she will awaken from her long coma," the reporter said as they flashed a picture of Amir beside his wife at a party before her illness. 
"My God, she's beautiful," Starlene said shocked. 
"It just got worse," Tiffany said as she reached for the box of Kleenex on the coffee table.
CONTINUED MONDAY. MORE PHOTOS BELOW.