AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Soap Opera "As The Mouse Moves" - Thursday August 2^nd 2001
Tiffany slowly opened the door to her apartment overlooking Washington Square Park.  She heard the sounds of the radio playing in her young sister's bedroom as she shut the front door.  The music was turned off and she heard Starlene racing through the hallway towards her.
"Wow! Tiffany what happened, did he fire you?" Starlene asked aware of the fact that Tiffany was home early from work.
"You've heard about it?" Tiffany asked walking towards the sofa and taking a seat.
"Yeah!  What a media blitz!  You've got me beat Tiffany," Starlene said walking towards the chair across from the sofa and taking a seat across from Tiffany.
"What did you hear Starlene?" Tiffany asked wondering if the situation was worse than she knew.
"I heard it on the radio this morning."
"You didn't see the newspaper?"
"No.  I heard about the picture though."
"Oh yeah…front page," Tiffany said wiping a tear from her cheek as she reached for her large straw purse that she had thrown on the sofa beside her.  She quickly pulled out the newspaper and handed it to Starlene.
Starlene took the folded tabloid paper and opened it looking at the front page and the full-length photo of her sister and Amir.
"Oh my God!" Starlene said as her mouth dropped open when she looked at the front-page photo.
"I'm ruined," Tiffany said flatly. 
"You're a star!"
"What are you talking about, I'm almost topless in that picture," Tiffany said.  She and Amir had been unaware that a private detective had snapped the photo, as they had become passionate on the veranda of his Upper East Side Mansion.  The photo was taken as Amir had unbuttoned the front of her sundress after the straps fell down.  The newspaper had put a large blurry spot over the area that would have revealed her bosom.
"I don't see how you can say that after the humiliation I'm suffering," Tiffany snapped grabbing a Kleenex from the table beside the sofa.
"You're crazy…I bet you'll get offered modeling jobs.  Too bad they put that big spot on there," Starlene said shaking her head over what might have been the perfect situation.
"I don't want to model for Playbody, but I know you do Starlene," Tiffany said blowing her nose loudly.
"There's a lot of money in that Tiffany."
"That's not what I want though Starlene," Tiffany said as a fresh flow of tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"Well what do you want then?"
"I wanted to marry Amir."
"Well maybe you will.  You can tell he really loves you," Starlene said smiling as she glanced back at the picture.
"He'll probably never see me again as long as he lives."
"Oh I think he will," Starlene said quickly reading through the scandalous article.
"I've ruined his chances of getting elected mayor now," Tiffany said as her voice cracked and she reached for another Kleenex.
"I don't know from what this says," Starlene said turning the page quickly to read the end of the article.
"I didn't get to read that far because Clark and Jan were in the office. What does it say?" Tiffany asked eagerly watching Starlene's eyes dart across the print.
"I'm quoting here", Starlene said as she began to read out loud.  "It wouldn't be the first scandal at Gracie Mansion; maybe Amir Hada still has a chance at winning.  Insiders say it all depends upon how well Mr. Hada handles this in the next few days and the poll results later today."
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE SOAP PHOTOS BELOW.