AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Soap Opera "As The Mouse Moves" - Tuesday July 9th 2002
Tiffany's heart raced as she listened to the strange voice of a foreign woman that had answered the telephone.  She had hoped that Amir's housekeeper might answer this time of day.  She tried to console herself thinking she was only doing her job to call her former lover's Sutton Place mansion.
"Hello, I'm calling from Manhattan Party Planning," Tiffany said pausing to take a deep breath.
"Yes," Amir's wife said as she glanced out of the window watching a sailboat cruise past their rose garden on the East River.
"Could I speak to Amir Hada."
"Amir go to meeting now.  I take message for him," she said in broken English.
"Yes. I'm calling for my boss Clark Masters of Manhattan Party Planning.  He wants to know if Amir and his wife Malena will be attending his engagement party at the Plaza."
"Oh. This party yes. I think he attends," Malena said.
"Oh.  I see..." Tiffany stumbled realizing that she may be speaking to Amir's wife for the first time ever.
"You want that Amir call you?"
"No!  I mean, no. He doesn't have to call.  I just needed to know if he is coming."
"Yes.  I think he tells me that he come."
"Great. I'll tell Clark. By the way, will he be bringing his wife?" Tiffany asked.
"I think I come with him.  You need answer now, yes?" Malena asked.
"Well, yes.  I mean if it's... you know.  I mean Clark wants to know," Tiffany said feeling her face redden.
"I make one telephone call then I tell you answer. I can call you back in two minutes.  Is this possible?"
"Oh sure.  No problem," Tiffany said anxious to hang up the phone.
"I call you back.  What is your name? I ask for you."
"Oh…my name's Tiffany."
"Tiffany?" Malena said with a question in her voice remembering the name of the woman that had been pictured in the newspaper as her husband's lover before she came back to New York.
"Yes."
"You know my husband, no?"
"Yes.  I know him," Tiffany said feeling as if she would pass out.
"I call you back in one minute," Malena said hesitantly hanging up the phone.
Tiffany hung up the phone.  She got up from her desk and began to pace the floor of the living room where she worked.  What would she do if Amir's wife called back and confronted her about her relationship with Amir?  She thought of Malena's voice and she felt overwhelmed with guilt.  How could any woman ever forgive her for being with her husband?  How would she ever explain to Malena that she hadn't known that she was in a coma when she met Amir?  Amir never thought that his wife would awaken after so many years.  How would she ever face this woman if she had to attend the party?  The phone rang on the desk.  Tiffany quickly walked back to the desk and hesitated, taking a deep breath before picking up the phone.
"Manhattan Party Planning," she answered as her damp hand held the phone.
"I speak to Tiffany please," Malena said.
"Yes this is Tiffany," she said recognizing the voice of Amir's wife.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE SOAP PHOTOS BELOW.