Without You I Have Nothing (16 page)

_{His mind was with
Jennifer, ‘Bet?  What bet?  For heaven’s sake what bet?’}

_{Trying to sift
through the haze of events to solve the riddle Peter thought of their times
together. ‘Oh, hell yes!  That first night, Bob bet me I’d not get anywhere
with Jennifer and I was stupid enough to accept the bet. What’ll I do?  It
seemed a joke at the time. Now what do I do?’}

_{Slowly he reached for
the phone. Jennifer would understand when he explained.}

_{“Could I speak to
Jennifer Blake, please?”}

_{“Mr. O'Brien,”
Jennifer’s Personal Assistant seemed out of patience. “Miss Blake will not take
any of your calls. I'm so sorry.”}

_{The click of the
phone sounded his death knell but he was certainly given no time to feel sorry
for himself as he looked up to see one of the apprentices stumble into the
office.}

_{“There’s a Commander
Williams in the workshop, demanding to see you.”}

_{‘Commander Williams -
Susie’s husband?  Do I run?  Well, there’s not much else that can go wrong
now.’  Peter pushed his thoughts to one side as he strode out of the office.}

_{“I'm Peter O'Brien. Can
I help you?”}

_{“Yes, you most
certainly can.”}

_{He was even taller
than Peter and he glared down from his pock marked face. His gold braided
uniform gave him a most commanding presence and Peter noticed the Navy car
waiting at the curbside.}

_{“I'm Bill Williams,
Susie’s husband.”  His voice rumbled out of his barrel chest and he reached
forward to grip Peter’s hand.}

_{His black hair was
close cropped and he seemed a walking, talking, gigantic pile of muscles. As he
continued talking, Peter realized his glare was really a lop-sided grin.}

_{“I want to thank you
for looking after my wife when her car broke down and especially after that
affair following rehearsals. It’s been hard being a sailor but in three month’s
time...”  The Commander hesitated, slightly embarrassed, “I will be a civilian
looking for a job like everyone else.”}

_{With his naval cap on
his head once more, he turned as if to leave.}

_{“One moment, Bill, if
I can call you that - or should I address you as Commander?”}

_{“Bill will do
perfectly, thanks, Peter.”}

_{“You’ll be looking
for a job?  I may be able to help you.”}

_{Peter took him into
the office and made a hurried phone call, then, holding the phone to his chest,
he quickly outlined a proposition.}

_{“Bill, I am talking
to a company that is headhunting and I believe you have the managerial
qualifications they need, else you would not be wearing all that gold braid. Would
you be interested?”}

_{Seeing the excited look
on Bill’s face and his firm nod of agreement, Peter gave the phone call his
full attention.}

_{Making no further
comment to Bill, Peter proceeded with the call that largely involved listening,
along with the occasional interruption where he mumbled positively into the
phone. When Peter finally spoke up at the end, Bill Williams could only be
surprised at the authority in his voice.}

_{“You have an
appointment tomorrow morning at 9. No thanks, say nothing.”  Peter held his
hand up as the Commander tried to interrupt. Peter handed him a card with the
details and pushed him out the office as if afraid he had already said too
much.}

_{Rehearsals were
finalized and opening night was on them and Peter took up the challenge with
his usual strength, storming onto the stage and gaining the attention of the
audience immediately.}

_{Boos, foot stamping
and shouts greeted his every word but his voice boomed over the noise so the
audience did not miss a single word. His malevolence and crude licking of lips
as he glowered across the stage at the cool, distant, innocent heroine}

_{His growl, “A tasty
morsel” was met with howls of derision and thunderous boos.}

_{The audience went mad
and the cast froze, not moving until the noise abated. Only then did Peter
stride across the stage to sweep Jennifer into his arms - and the audience exploded.}

_{Jennifer struggled,
her lips remained firmly closed and she refused to look Peter in the eye.}

_{When the villain lay
mortally wounded, Jennifer sedately picked her way across the stage and gave
him a hefty kick. Again, the audience went crazy. No boos, but loud cheering,
clapping, and cries of 'encore, more, bravo, more, more' split the air as if
demanding that she kick the villain again.}

_{The stage crew lowered
the curtain and Peter formally congratulated Jennifer for her performance, but
she was too busy chatting with the rest of the cast to do more than nod.}

_{Work and performances
filled the following days. Nothing changed.}

_{Jennifer played the
part of the heroine to perfection while Peter stormed about the stage muttering
curses and plotting the success of his dastardly deeds.}

_{Saturday night was
the final night and as it approached, Peter seemed to undergo a change.}

_{Tired of Jennifer’s
kicks each night, tired of Jennifer’s coldness, furious at the treatment meted
out to him over what had been a very silly harmless bet, he rang the director.}

_{They argued furiously
but Peter would not back down to accept the director’s demands.}

_{That evening it was
almost curtain time when the director called the cast onto the stage.}

_{Glaring balefully at
Jennifer, he delivered an announcement. “Peter will not be the villain tonight.
He rang me early today and explained that the situation between the heroine and
the villain had deteriorated to such an extent he refused to be part of the
play tonight.}

_{“He apologizes to you
all. It was not his choice to spoil the evening and the party. I have secured a
stand-in and I hope he is sober enough to play the part. Everybody do your
best, I'm sure the stand-in will be on time for his first entrance. Enjoy
tonight and the party.”}

_{Jennifer was ashen. Her
anger over the 'bet' gone, dispelled by the feeling of empty panic that
replaced it. She could not go on without Peter there, she would never adapt so
suddenly to a different actor. She needed Peter as the villain.}

_{The rising curtain
interrupted her thoughts.}

_{Just as in the
previous performances, her presence on the stage brought whistles and cheers
but then there was a sudden hush and for the first time in any performance, the
audience sat quietly.}

_{No cheers, no boos
just silence. Jennifer turned to recoil in horror.}

_{The villain, the
stand-in, had taken to the stage - a bent, filthy, misshapen caricature of a
man, his hunchback, the terrible dragging of his feet and his filth turned her
white. His grey hair was long, lank and dirty and as he spoke dribble rolled
from the corners of his mouth.}

_{Jennifer felt sick
knowing what was to come.}

_{“A tasty morsel...”
snarled this vile creature and a female voice rang out from the audience.}

_{“Oh noooooo!”}

_{The audience went mad
as this filthy cripple dragged one misshapen leg after the other to shoot his
over-long arms around the heroine in order to bend her back as croaking, he
drooled, “Come, a kiss to seal the bargain!”}

_{The audience exploded
and Jennifer was frantic.}

_{She noticed his
misshapen teeth and the gaps in his rotten molars. Looking into his eyes, she
was horrified to see - not Peter’s loving, blue - but the red, bloodshot eyes
of an alcoholic.}

_{Jennifer fought and
struggled, she moaned and shrieked, but still that mouth came closer and closer.
She tried screaming even louder but the mouth closed on hers and his tongue
dived deep into her mouth. It seemed to rape her mouth as the kiss continued and
she was horrified at the passion that the lips and tongue were transmitting.}

_{Unable to struggle
any further, she bit his tongue and bit hard.}

_{Roaring in agony, the
villain threw her to the stage, and spitting blood from the capsule concealed
in his cheek, and with more blood streaming from his mouth he continued
muttering his lines, much to delight of the audience who cheered the heroine as
she clambered to her feet.}

_{“Serve the bastard
right,” was one woman’s shout.}

_{The villain glared
across the footlights at the audience. Then to emphasize Jennifer’s
mortification and horror he shuffled quickly once more to snatch the heroine
into his arms and kiss her again.}

_{Jennifer couldn’t
struggle any harder as he again put his lips to hers. He used no tongue this
time but he forced her lips open, and he seemed to suck her whole being into
his mouth. Then as if tiring of the kiss, he stormed off stage.}

_{The hisses and boos
of the audience followed him.}

_{The hero shot the
villain and the heroine, as in previous performances, advanced to kick him -
this time with much more than vengeance on her mind. Alas, her utter loathing
of this creature had given her a confidence that reduced her awareness of what
was actually happening, and she didn’t see the ghastly hand shoot out to grab
her ankle and pull her down to the level of the dying villain. The audience
heard his loud snarl.}

_{“A final kiss my
tasty...”}

_{Wrapping his arms
around her, he expired as he kissed her. It took three cast members to free her
and the audience almost rioted.}

_{As usual, the cast
took the curtain calls over the body of the dead villain and the cast trooped
off to the party in the green room.}

_{Only then, did the
villain rise and sighing sadly, slowly limped his way to the men’s dressing
room dripping blood to mark his passage. He carefully removed the contact
lenses and the lank grey hair had gone when there was a knock on the door.}

_{The director walked
in, pleased but muttering angrily.}

_{“You really are an
infuriating bastard, Peter. You almost caused a riot tonight and that was
before the show started. I do wish you and Jennifer could see the trees in the
forest. It would make life so much easier for all of us.}

_{“You can’t see how
much she cares for you and she can’t see how much you love her. Now get yourself
respectable and come on down to the party.”}

_{“I’ll finish getting
cleaned up and then I’ll just go. No party for me.”  Peter was so sad that the
director just shrugged, turned and left.}

_{Barely had Peter
finished dressing and cleaning his face of makeup when the cast burst through
the door and dragged him out to the party. He looked about but could see no
Jennifer. His heart sank.}

_{The director held
court. “Ladies and gentlemen, I must introduce the stand-in for the villain
tonight. No-one guessed that Peter had decided to push the villain’s part even
further tonight and, yes, the villain tonight in all his hideousness was
Peter.”}

_{Seeing Jennifer’s
livid face appear from amidst the crowd, he continued.}

_{“I'm sorry for not
informing you prior to the open curtain but you all acted brilliantly -
although I am afraid Peter did go a bit overboard at times.”}

_{Furious at Peter’s
success at hoodwinking her, Jennifer marched up to him and before the startled
cast could react, hauled back and slapped his face not once but twice.}

_{Peter’s eyes changed
from a smiling blue to a blood red and he seemed to grow in stature as his
anger exploded within him. His change in mood was such that she retreated,
unwilling to risk his ire any further.}

_{“You bastard,” she
spat her words at him. “You allowed me to believe that creature was a stand-in.
How could you?”  She turned away with tears in her eyes.}

_{The party sounds died
at this interchange between the two leads.}

_{Trying to break the
tension, Ted and Bob who had brought Karen and Ruth to the party celebrating
the end of a successful show, stepped in.}

_{“I really couldn’t
recognize you,” admitted Karen as she clung to Peter’s arm. “Your voice, your
walk and that terrible drooling and spitting. Even your eyes were different. How
revolting. You didn’t look evil - you were evil!”}

_{Ruth joined in.}

_{“I don’t know how you
could bear to have him kiss you.”  Ruth dragged a reluctant Jennifer back into
the group.}

_{“I don’t know
either.”  Jennifer stared through Peter and he knew she wasn’t thinking only of
the play.}