STAGESTRUCK - The Complete Series (28 page)

Sunday morning, Dylan and I were both startled awake by his blaring alarm clock. I sat straight up in the bed while he frantically groped for the snooze button.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Eight-thirty,” Dylan answered with a yawn.

The night before, we’d gone out with other cast members after the show and had only been asleep for three hours.

“I hate Sundays.” I said as I pushed back the blankets.

“You could call Maggie.” He reminded me. “And I could call Luis. We could spend the whole day in bed and forget that Jersey Boys exists.”

“It’s tempting, but I don’t want to call Maggie in at the last minute unless I’m really sick or something.” I told him. “But I’m going to speak with her today and ask her to take Sunday matinees and the Monday night shows.”

“I’ll do better than that.” Dylan offered. “I’ll tell Bruce that we don’t have to do the Monday shows anymore. He scheduled the every other Monday performances specifically for my run. Normally, I like to cram as many shows in as possible, since I can never stay more than a few months. But I’d rather have a day off with you than the extra performance time.”

“It won’t really be a day off for me.” I told him about the youth theater while I got dressed.

“Do you think that I could come with you?” He asked hopefully. “I’d love to work with kids. “

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” he said as he got out of bed. “Does that surprise you?”

I thought for a moment. “I guess it shouldn’t. I’ll call tomorrow morning, but I’m sure that they’d love to have you.”

“Great, I’m going to get the papers and start a pot of coffee. See you in the kitchen?”

“I’ll be right there.”

Dylan disappeared and I walked in to the master bathroom. I was tempted to strip down and climb into his steam shower, but I knew that the hot water would just make me want to go back to bed. Instead, I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and joined Dylan in the kitchen.  The coffee was still brewing and he was already engrossed in a news story.

He looked up as I approached. “Did you know that the Times was running a feature on you?” He asked.

“No,” I replied slowly. “Is that what you’re reading?”

“Yeah… I’m surprised you didn’t know about it Kate, they’ve talked to a lot of people in your hometown.”

“What?”

“Apparently the reporter talked to your junior high drama teacher, your high school guidance counselor, several of your dad’s employees, and about half a dozen other people from Waterloo. I didn’t know that you were Miss Corn Silk 2009.”

“You’re fucking kidding me, they printed that?”

“Yes, complete with a photo. You were really cute, what were you fourteen? I’m surprised, you’ve never really struck me as the pageant type.”

“I was fifteen, and my mother made me enter. I only went along with it because they let me do a monologue in the talent portion. Let me see that.”

He passed me the paper and I read the article for myself. “That actually makes me look pretty good.” I admitted after I finished.

“You have a great story, Kate and the reporter did a great job of telling it. I still can’t believe that you didn’t know about it, surely someone told your parents that reporters had called.”

“Oh my god, my parents… I bet they’ve called.” I stood up and retrieved my purse from the coffee table. “I know that my phone is in here somewhere.” I finally found it; I swiped the screen and saw that I was right. “You don’t have to leave the room, but could you stay quiet while I call them back?” I asked. “They’re starting to come around to you, but I don’t want to have to explain why we’re together so early in the morning.”

“My lips are sealed.” He promised.

I dialed my mother’s number and she answered on the first ring. “Oh Kate, I’m so happy you called back. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about the article all week, but we all promised we’d keep it a surprise.”

“So you knew about it?”

“Of course I did, the phone started ringing off the hook the moment the reporter called Mrs. Warner. I think he did a great job, don’t you? MUCH better than those morons who can’t tell gossip from the truth.”

“He did do a really good job.” I agreed. “The article makes me look wholesome and likable.”

“Well honey, you are wholesome and likable. That man couldn’t find one person in this whole town who had a bad word to say about you. I’m so proud of you Kate.”

I almost replied that there was obviously someone in the city who hated me, but I stopped myself. Mom was finally acting supportive but if she thought that I was in the slightest bit of danger, she’d move in to my apartment until I agreed to go back to Waterloo.

“Thanks Mom, I hope you guys can come back and visit soon. I hate that we’re going to be apart over the holidays.”

“Oh honey, you’ll be so busy you won’t even realize they’re happening. Dad and I are going to try and come out sometime after the New Year. We want you to have plenty of time to settle in to your new place. When are you girls moving?”

“The service is coming on Tuesday.”

“Alright, well I know that you have a matinee today so I’ll let you go. I love you Kate. And I’m so, so proud of you.”

“It sounded like that went well.” Dylan said as I ended the call. “So she knew about the article?”

“Yeah, the whole town knew. They all got together and decided to keep it a surprise. If the article had been awful, I’d be upset about that. But the reporter was nice to me, so no harm done.”

“So I have to hear more about this pageant.” Dylan smiled.

“My lips are sealed.” I told him.

“At least tell me what you did for your monologue.” He pleaded.

“The Queen Mab soliloquy,” I replied. “But that’s all the info you’re getting.”

“Mercutio, huh?” He whistled.  “That’s impressive, did anyone know what the hell you were talking about?”

“No one,” I replied. “When I finished there was a long, dead silence and then a few awkward applause. It was clear that no one at the Corn Silk Festival appreciated classical theater.”

“I have a confession,” Dylan said with a smile. “The idea of you in a beauty pageant is incredibly hot. I’m a little turned on right now.”

“Oh yeah?” I grinned. “I thought about hopping in the shower. Want to get in there together?”

“Always,” he replied.

I darted off for the master bathroom and Dylan chased after me. I stripped out of my clothes while he started the water. He slapped me lightly on the ass as I stepped into the show, and then he stripped off his own clothes and joined me. I latched the glass, steam cabinet door; Dylan reached up and opened the vents.

The oversized shower stall had a built in bench in the middle and a series of showerheads mounted on opposite walls. It was the most luxurious thing I’d ever seen and my favorite part of Dylan’s apartment. We quickly pointed all of the showerheads directly at the bench and Dylan took a seat; I stood in front of him and he buried his head in my chest.

Dylan trailed his tongue across my skin, blazing a path from my abdomen to my collarbone. Hot water rolled down my chest and off of my breasts; he dipped his head and drank it in. He bit my left nipple, sending shivers of excitement through my body. I bent over, grabbed his face, and pulled it to mine. I kissed him hungrily and then dropped to my knees. The tile floor was hard but I didn’t care. I took his stiff cock in my hand and stroked him gently before taking him into my mouth.

“Ahh, that feels good.” He groaned as I swirled my tongue around the head of his prick. I wrapped one hand around his shaft and pumped quickly while keeping my mouth focused on the tip. With my other hand, I reached down and cupped Dylan’s balls.

“Oh my god Kate, if you keep that up I’m going to cum.” He warned.

I immediately quit what I was doing and rose to my feet. I’d learned the hard way that if I wanted to get off, I had to be first.

“You’re so good at that baby,” he told me, pulling me into his lap. I lowered myself onto his throbbing erection, gasping in pleasure as he filled me. I wrapped my legs around him and Dylan planted his feet on the floor for leverage. He grabbed me by the hips and lifted me up and down; I rocked in circles, grinding against him.

“You’re so hard baby, you feel so good.” I groaned.

“You like your cock don’t you, you dirty girl.” He replied.

“I love it. Give me more of it baby.” I wanted it harder but instead, Dylan quit moving completely. I was confused for a moment and then I realized what he was doing. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pushed me even further onto his cock. Then he stood slowly, took two steps, and pressed my back against the wall. Dylan held my hips as he thrust up and in to me; I felt his cock hit that sweet spot deep inside me.

“Oh god baby, just like that.” I gasped. “Right there…”

“Right there?” he whispered, repeating the motion.

“Yes,” I cried out.

Dylan increased his speed and waves of pleasure coursed through my body.

“Oh god baby, I’m going to cum.” I moaned.

“Me too baby… cum with me.” He replied.

Spasms took over my body and I lost all control of my movements. I reached up and grabbed Dylan by the hair; we came together and then Dylan gently lowered us to the shower floor. He held me as the hot water rained down on us. We remained like that for a while before I reluctantly pulled away.

“If we don’t get out of here soon, we’re going to be late for work.” I told him. I stood up and reached for the shampoo bottle.

“Let me do that,” Dylan insisted. He grabbed the side of the bench and pulled himself to his feet. He took the bottle from me, squeezed out a handful, and massaged it into my hair.

“I could get used to his.” I told him as he massaged my scalp.

“I want you to,” he smiled. “I want you to get used to all of this. I don’t ever want to be without you, Kate. We’ll always be better together than we are apart. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

As the words left his mouth, I immediately and involuntarily thought of Max. He was the last person to say that to me, and the words just didn’t hold the same meaning coming from someone else.

“Kate?” Dylan said, his green eyes staring at me hopefully.

“I’m sorry,” I blushed. “You left me speechless for a second. I love you too, Dylan.”

The smile that broke out across his face filled me with guilt and I vowed again to push Max out of my memory.

Dylan and I walked to the theater together, ignoring all of the stares from the passersby. I knew that dozens of cell phone pictures were being taken, but I didn’t care. I was almost certain that I was falling in love with Dylan and I didn’t care who knew about it.

We left his apartment early and took our time, stopping to admirer harvest decorations in shop windows and fantasizing about how we would spend Christmas. As we stepped into the theater and made our way to the dressing rooms, I felt like I was on top of the world. That feeling disappeared the moment Dylan pushed open my dressing room door.

The locks had all been engaged, which made the site of the ransacked room all the more shocking. The cushions of the couch had been ripped open, the stuffing strewn across the room The vanity mirror was shattered, along with all of the glass in the picture frames. The photographs and Playbill had been graffitied over just like the Times article had been. Each picture showed me dead and everyone else untouched.

The intruder hadn’t stopped with the cushions and glass. They’d also busted the legs off of the vanity furniture and painted “DIE BITCH DIE” across one of the walls in bright red. The color drained from Dylan’s face as he took in the scene. He took me by the elbow and led me back into the hallway.

“We’re going to go into my dressing room and I’m going to call the police.” He instructed as he unlocked his own door. His room was just as he left it; I collapsed onto his couch.

“What about Bruce and Marcus?” I asked.

“I’m going to call them too, but first I’m going to report this. I should have called the cops the first time this happened.” He held up a finger to signal that I should be quiet. “Yes, I’d like to report a break in… We’re in the east wing of Lincoln Theater, the dressing room behind the Jersey Boys’ stage… yes, this is Dylan Matthews… thank you mam, an artist always likes to hear that his work is appreciated… yes mam, everyone’s alright but my colleague’s dressing room was broken in to and everything inside was destroyed… yes mam, I plan on alerting theater security as soon as I’m finished speaking with you… yes… no… thank you mam.” Dylan ended the call and tossed his phone down on the couch.

“Are they sending someone out?”

“Yes, I’d better let Bruce know before they get here.” He walked towards the door.

“Are you not going to call him?”

“No, I noticed when we came in that the lights are on in his office. I’ll go tell him what’s happened and have him call Marcus and Shane. Honestly, there are a few things I’d like to say to Bruce right now without being overheard.”

“This isn’t Bruce’s fault,” I reminded him. “Don’t take it out on him.”

“This is his show. It’s his job to keep everyone safe. I think that he may need to be reminded of that.”

“Dylan, please don’t.” I pleaded. “If you make too big of a deal about this, Marcus will saddle me with a full time guard. I’ve watched Dateline, I know that cases like this can drag on for years. I don’t want to live under constant surveillance.”

“I won’t let them assign a guard, if you agree that for the time being, you won’t be alone.”

“I haven’t been alone since the first time this happened.” I reminded him. “I’ll agree to keep things the way they are, and after Tuesday I won’t leave the apartment or go home by myself. But once I have a doorman downstairs, I think I’ll be safe in my own home.”

“We’ll see what happens between now and then.” Dylan said gravely. “I’ve got to go find Bruce.”

Alone in the dressing room, I scoured my brain for ideas on who could be behind such an awful act. Aside from Serena, who’d already been cleared, I couldn’t think of anyone who’d get off on scaring me so badly.

Dylan returned a few minutes later with a uniformed police officer and a plain clothes detective who wore his badge on his belt. “Kate, this is Detective Ramos and Officer Klein. Officers this is Kate Harper, it was her dressing room that was broken in to.”

“It’s nice to meet you Ms. Harper, I’ve heard great things about you.” Detective Ramos said kindly. “I’m sorry that we weren’t brought together under better circumstances.”

“Thank you, do we need to go back to my dressing room?”

“In a little while, mam, first we have quite a few questions for you.”

I glanced at the clock. “I’m supposed to be in makeup in fifteen minutes, the latest I can push it is an hour.”

“Do you have an understudy, Ms. Harper?” Officer Klein asked.

“Yes.”

“I think it would be best if you called her in.” Detective Ramos advised.

“I’ll handle that.” Dylan offered. “I’ll call Luis too, he’s my understudy. I’d like to stay with Kate throughout the interview if that’s alright with you.”

“That’s absolutely fine. Go ahead and make your calls, we’ll start our questions when you’re finished.” Detective Ramos replied.

“Don’t we need to wait on Bruce and the others?” I asked.

“Bruce your director?” Officer Klein asked.

“Yes, he’s supposed to be on his way with two of the theater security guards.”

“With all due respect, Ms. Harper, we don’t wait on security guards. I’m sure that they’re capable men but we like to run our own investigations.” Detective Ramos explained.

“I understand,” I replied. We waited in silence while Dylan called our understudies. While we waited, I studied the police officers. Both men appeared to be around the same age, late twenties tops. I knew that Ramos had to be the smarter of the two, since he was the one who’d been promoted out of uniform. He was also the tallest, with broad shoulders and deep, thoughtful chestnut eyes. Officer Klein was much shorter and reed thin, with blonde hair and a pale complexion. They both seemed confident in their abilities and insulted that I’d suggested we wait for the theater staff.

“They’re both coming in.” Dylan announced as he stowed his phone back in his pocket. “I also called Marion, she’s on her way.”

“You called Marion?”

“Yes, on my way back from Bruce’s office. I told Marion what happened but I lied to Maggie and Luis. I know that you don’t want any of this leaking to the press, so I told them that we had a bad case of the stomach flu.”

“But Dylan, that means that we’ll have to miss the evening performance too.” I complained.

“Not necessarily, I said that my doctor was coming over with meds and I.V. fluids. If we want to go on stage tonight, we can have a miraculous recovery.” He said simply.

“Okay,” I reluctantly agreed.

Dylan turned back to the officers. “We’ll answer all of your questions honestly but I’d like your assurance that this case won’t be made public. As I’m sure you understand, this isn’t the kind of attention that any actress wants.”

“You have my assurance that we will keep the investigation as quiet as possible. But you have to understand that there are limits to what we can do. Police reports are a matter of public record and once we start asking questions, the people around here are going to suspect that something’s going on. The department won’t confirm any rumors without your permission, but we can’t keep people from speculating.”

“I understand,” I sighed.

“Alright then, why don’t you start from the beginning and tell us what happened?”

I took a deep breath and told them the entire story. I started with the envelope that was left at my door and didn’t stop until I’d described what we’d found in the dressing room that morning. Bruce and the security guards arrived half way through the story but didn’t interrupt. When I finally finished, I looked up and realized that Detective Ramos was furious.

“Ms. Harper,” he began patiently. “Are you telling me that the harassment started weeks ago and you’re just now reporting it?”

I blushed. “When the envelope and picture showed up, I thought it was no big deal. I’d been dealing with a jealous coworker and I assumed that it was one of her hateful but harmless pranks.”

“And the first time your dressing room was broken in to, did you think that that was harmless too?”

“That was my fault.” Bruce confessed. “There was no damage to the room and no signs of forced entry. Shane here installed a deadbolt on the door and Marcus amped up the security presence in this wing. We did everything we could to protect Kate.”

“And yet, the intruder struck again.” Detective Ramos said sarcastically. “In the interest of keeping this quiet, we won’t tape off Ms. Harper’s dressing room. But I don’t want anyone going in there until we sign off on it. Until further notice, the room is an official crime scene, understood?”

“Understood,” we all agreed.

“This jealous coworker, do you suspect her of being behind the first break in?” Officer Klein asked.

“She’s already been cleared.” Bruce assured them. “Kate was only away from her dressing room for fifteen minutes that day, and Serena had an alibi.”

“We’ll need to verify that ourselves.” Detective Ramos insisted. “I’ll need Serena’s full name, address, and birthday. I’m sure that all of the necessary information is listed in her personnel file. We’ll run a background check and see if anything interesting pops up. We’ll also need to process the dressing room for evidence. I’ll do that myself so there aren’t a lot of strangers roaming the hallway but it will take some time. I’ll need to print you all so we can differentiate between the known and unknown fingerprints we lift from the room. Do you have somewhere safe to stay for the next few days?”

“Kate is in the process of moving into a building with a doorman.” Dylan replied. “Until she’s settled there, she’s staying with me.”

“And I’m assuming that you have a doorman, Mr. Matthews?” Officer Klein asked.

“Of course I do.”

“Great, could you please write down your address? We need to know where to find you if we get a lead.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Dylan took a sheet of paper off of his table and scribbled his address onto it. “I also wrote down my cell and the number to the phone in my building’s lobby.”

“Thank you,” Officer Klein nodded.

Detective Ramos turned to me. “Ms. Harper, you said that you’ve only been in the city for a short time. Since you arrived here, have you had conflicts with anyone other than Serena Carson?”

“Yes, none of the women here liked me when I first arrived. But that was understandable; all they knew about me was that I’d taken their friend’s role. Since my debut, everyone’s been really nice.”

“There was Max.” Dylan piped up. “That didn’t end nicely.”

“Max was a boyfriend?” Detective Ramos asked quickly.

“Yes Max Shepherd, he tends bar at Orlando’s. But we didn’t date for very long and I really don’t think he would do something like this.”

“I understand that you want to think the best of everyone, but you have to understand that most stalkers target women they know. It may be an ex-boyfriend or a friend whose unrequited love has turned to dangerous obsession. In the case of successful women like yourself, the culprit could also be a jealous woman friend. Is there anyone like that in your life?”

I shook my head. “Other than Dylan, my only male friends are two gay men. My only girlfriend just signed a recording contact with Sony. I assure you, none of them are jealous of me or pining away for me.”

“Alright, we’ll start by looking in to Serena and Max and we’ll move on from there if necessary. I’ll be back later today to start processing the room. For the time being, you’re all free to leave.”

Bruce and the security guards stood just as Marion burst through the dressing room door.

“Kate darling, I got here as fast as I could.” She said as she crossed the room and wrapped me in a hug. “You poor dear, I can’t believe that this is happening to you.” She released me and turned to Bruce with a hostile look. “I want to know how this happened and how you’re going to insure that it doesn’t happen again.”

“We’re doing everything we can Marion, I promise.” Bruce assured her.

“If that were true this would have never happened.” She snapped. “Dylan told me that this is the second time her dressing room has been broken into. I want a camera pointed at her fucking door Bruce. Surely the most profitable show on Broadway can fork out a couple hundred bucks if it keeps their newest star safe.”

“I’ll have the camera mounted immediately.” Bruce replied in defeat. “Is there anything else?”

“No, assuming that you don’t need to be told she needs a full time guard.” Marion said shortly; Bruce blushed.

“We hadn’t gotten around to talking about that yet but of course Kate can have a guard.”

“I really don’t think that’s necessary, Marion.” I broke in. “I’ve agreed to never be alone, but I don’t want to be constantly surrounded by strangers. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

She studied me carefully for a moment. “You’re not taking the stage today?”

“No, Maggie and Luis are covering both performances. Dylan told them that we have food poisoning so rumors don’t start flying around. All I want to do is go back to his place, crawl in to bed, and sleep until this is all over.”

Marion turned back to Bruce. “I don’t want today’s shows to count against Kate’s weekly quota. In fact, until this matter is settled I want her to be free to call in Maggie whenever necessary with no financial repercussions. I want the camera up and running before she comes back Tuesday and I want a direct link to the footage set up on my personal computer. If you can’t keep her safe, I’ll do it myself.”