AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Soap Opera "As The Mouse Moves" - Monday August 6^th 2001
Clark walked into the kitchen of his townhouse near Washington Square Park and poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.  He walked back to Tiffany's desk and took out the appointment book showing the upcoming parties for his business Manhattan Party Planning that he operated from his home. 
The upcoming party bookings were discouraging he thought.  He had hoped to get more business from Stanley Morgan and failed.  His relationship had become increasingly strained because Stanley's daughter Jan was so extremely jealous of his secretary Tiffany and Jan's boss Amir Hada.  Things had gone from bad to worse since Tiffany's younger sister Starlene had become romantically involved with Jan's Father Stanley.  He knew Tiffany would be calling soon wanting to know whether she still had her job in his company after the newspaper reports yesterday.
Discouraged with his business prospects he closed the book. He picked up the TV remote from her desk and turned up the volume on the local morning news.
"The only information we have is that Amir's wife is out of the coma at this time, but her progress is slow.  Maybe it's a blessing that the poor woman hasn't seen the headlines in the newspapers," the woman reporter said.
"Yes, but you have to understand Mrs. Hada doesn't remember her husband.  However, she may regain her memory at anytime," the doctor said standing in front of the entrance to NYU Hospital.
"What is the prognosis for Mrs. Hada?" the reporters asked from the studio.
"We can't really say.  We hope that she doesn't lapse back into her coma, but sometimes this happens.  She may regain her memory or it may be lost forever," the doctor said.
"Thank you, Doctor Whitney," the reporter said. "Now we go to a clip of the Mayor and his feelings about the newspaper photo showing Tiffany Diamond on the veranda of Mr. Hada's Upper East Side mansion a few evenings ago." the reporter said.
The television screen showed City Hall and the Mayor with several bodyguards standing close by. 
"I think it's time for the media to back off of Mr. Hada.  What a candidate does in his personal life isn't anyone else's business.  I feel Mr. Hada would make a great mayor and follow easily in my footsteps."
"There you have it…. and what does the public know about Tiffany Diamond?" the reporter asked the audience as he stood in front of City Hall as the Mayor was whisked away by his bodyguards.  "All we know now is that she was a little known secretary from Lillard Georgia until this incident.  She works for a small party planning business here in the city and has been rather low profile.  She does however have a sister Starlene that came to live with her at the first of the year.  Her sister Starlene as you might already know has been spotted several times with the political insider Stanley Morgan.  Hopefully we'll learn more about Ms. Diamond in the coming days, since the phones have been ringing off the hook with questions.  Our website was so overwhelmed with hits for the picture of Miss Diamond and Mr. Hada that the server crashed yesterday.  It is up and running again, so we'll put the address on the screen so you can log in and see the photo everyone in New York is talking about.  Back to you in the studio," the reporter said.  The reporter in the studio started interviewing a lotto jackpot winner from New Jersey as the dot.com address for the TV station scrolled across the screen.
Clark quickly turned the volume on the television down and turned on the computer on Tiffany's desk.  He typed in the address for the television website and waited for the site to load.  He watched as a picture of his secretary came on the screen wearing a white sundress with the straps fallen around her waist.  The buttons on the front of the dress were unbuttoned and covering her bare bosom was a digitally imposed blurry spot.  Amir was sitting beside her on his veranda and they were kissing passionately. The telephone on Tiffany's desk rang distracting Clark and he reached to answer the ringing phone as he studied the outline around the blurry spot.
"Manhattan Party Planning," he answered.
"This is Tony Burrows from The London Link Television Network, I was hoping that perhaps you would be so kind as to grant us an interview with your secretary Miss Tiffany Diamond," he said in his British accent.
"You're calling from London for an interview with my secretary?" Clark asked not believing his ears.
"Oh yes, the public can't seem to get enough of this story.  We haven't a scandal like this since the toe-sucking incident …and that was many years ago.  Is Miss Diamond available?"
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE SOAP PHOTOS BELOW.