AS THE MOUSE

OVES©

Soap Opera "As The Mouse Moves" - Thursday September 26th 2002
"Nicole!  I'm so glad you called honey," Stanley said leaning back in the leather chair in his office in the Empire State Building. He propped his feet up on his credenza and took a puff on his cigar.
"That sure was fun this morning Stanley," she said referring to the hour they had secretly spent at his Upper East Side mansion.
"Sure was. You almost wore me out though. I stayed in bed after you left," he said remembering the heated session with the newly married Nicole.
"All rested up and ready for me again," she said as she listened to her husband Clark talking on the phone in his office in the next room.
"I wasn't rested enough for Starlene, I'll tell you that," he said referring to his young girlfriend.
"Starlene?"
"Yeah she stopped by unexpectedly and expected a performance."
"Oh boy I bet you were worn out."
"What about you?  You're the newlywed. Did your husband miss you while you were gone?" he said remembering what Starlene had said about Tiffany's account of the activities when Nicole returned to the office.
"Clark?  Oh he's easy to handle," she said avoiding the issue.
"Starlene said Tiffany told her that you came in and went upstairs with your husband and the two of you shook the walls," he said laughing.
"Oh so Tiffany talks about what she overhears in the office?"
"Well it's not the same as water cooler gossip Nicole."
"It's a townhouse and we live here and work here.  She has to expect that we'd be busy upstairs."
"My my…aren't you defensive?"
"No. It's just that Tiffany has no right to talk about what she overhears."
"Nicole.  It was you and Clark in the bedroom not a meeting with a client."'
"But if she tells that she might tell anything else."
"She told her sister for God sakes. What's the matter with you?"
"Just touchy I guess. Worried about working here alone with Tiffany while Clark is in Florida."
"Tiffany's a nice girl.  You won't have any problems. I think you made a wise choice not to let Clark fire her.  You wouldn't want to work with my daughter Jan."
"Oh so Tiffany told Starlene that too?"
"Well, yeah."
"I'll have to be careful what I say around Tiffany," Nicole said in a soft voice as she heard Clark opening a file cabinet in his office next door.
"There is one more little rumor that I'd like to put a rest too," he said glancing down at the view from his window.
"What's that?"
"You aren't, are you?"
"What?"
"Starlene said something about Tiffany saying she didn't ever want to be put in the position of having to be a nanny for your baby or something like that," he said listening intently for her response.
"Don't worry about that."
"Oh thank God.  We've never really talked about it and I didn't want to have to worry about you getting pregnant or something.  I mean I always thought you would take care of that."
"I thought you were too old to have children."
"Well of course not.  Men don't get too old Nicole."
"Oh, I didn't know…" she said her voice drifting away as if in deep thought.
"Why Nicole?  You don't think you are.  Do you?" he said jerking his feet from the credenza and sitting upright in his office chair glancing down at the view from his window.
CONTINUED TOMORROW. MORE SOAP PHOTOS BELOW.