Act VI
By Micki L. Bailey
"Mags! What brings your luminous self to the market today?"
She cringed and turned around slowly, a little pissed that her quiet, blessedly anonymous, reverie had been disturbed. "Hi, Earl Ray." She struggled to smile. "I’m shopping for things like…..oh……..herbs and spices……..things necessary in a RESTAURANT! Imagine that, wouldya?"
Why hadn’t she remembered that he lived so close by to this, her favorite fresh foods market? But then why was he here anyway? He hated shopping of any kind. Oh, yeah, she remembered: It was most likely in the script.
He laughed/smirked. "Ah, that Lococco cattiness………He’s taught you well, baby."
She looked at him for a moment. He wore his dark green army jacket over a T-shirt and jeans. He was alone.
"I have my own personality, Earl Ray. Maybe you remember."
Looking down, he smiled at her deliberate stab. "I remember a lot less spite and sarcasm, Maggie." Now he glanced back up at her.
"Well, times change……..What are you doing here anyway?"
With his head, he motioned to a spot behind her. "Waiting for Danielle."
She checked out the woman in the distance – a cute, petite specimen with dark auburn, shoulder-length hair and large green eyes. She carried only a bottle of Chianti and a loaf of bread, and she wasn’t aware she was being inspected.
Slowly, Maggie turned back around to Earl Ray and smiled. Cattily. "Well, of course her name’s ‘Danielle.’ I might have guessed ‘Cheyenne’ or ‘Tiffany’ or such. She’s so…….perky!"
"Careful there, babe. Your fangs are showing."
Ignoring him, she continued. "Oh, and she looks like a real gourmet cook too, sweetheart."
"Cut her some slack, Mags. All a man needs is some good wine and fresh bread."
She rolled her eyes. "And a good lay. Right, Earl Ray? Where’d you find this one, hmm? Tattle-Tales?"
He laughed, purposely delaying his answer. "She’s a friend of Shannon’s."
Maggie exhaled a loud scoff. "Well, whadaya know? Miss Foster is resourceful in so many fucking ways, now isn’t she? First, she takes such excellent care of my current husband. And then, she swiftly worms her way on over to my ex! What a gal!"
Earl Ray shoved his hands in the pockets of his oversized coat. "Well, somebody needs to tend to your business, Maggie……..What with good ol’ Nicky boy still in town, you ain’t got much time for anybody else."
She clenched her fist in an attempt to refrain from slapping him with an open palm. A wall of heat soared through her body, and she fought to restrain her voice too. "To hell with you, Earl Ray. That bitch showed up throwing her scent around long before Nick came into the picture. She’s cast some kinda spell on Roger, and he’s not the same!"
"Just kidding withya, Maggie, honey." He laughed. "You know how I love to see those sweet cheeks of yours turn fiery red and watch your pretty eyes blaze up with your temper in them."
She breathed deeply. "You see ‘em all the time. Don’t you think there’s something going on? Something more than Roger swears it is? I need some help here, Earl Ray."
Earl Ray shrugged and looked down. "No way in hell, Maggie, am I going anywhere near this shit. This is way too volatile for me."
Maggie swallowed back a huge lump. Maybe she didn’t want to hear what he might say. "C’mon, Earl Ray. He’s shutting me out little by little, and I can’t let that happen. I need to know – Do you think they’re doing it? Please give me something."
He looked up at her helplessly. "Baby……even if I saw Roger lay her down on his desk and ram her eyeballs out, I wouldn’t tell you……..I could never be responsible for giving you news like that. Besides, he doesn’t share personal stuff with me anyway. All I know is what I see……..and that……….." He stopped, and something like reluctance covered his face. "That…….stays with me too. You need to ask Roger ‘bout Shannon. Not me."
The beginnings of tears stung her eyes. She’s heard almost all she needed to hear in his vagueness. "She’s moving in on him, though. Right? And he’s responding………whether he realizes it or not? I’m not totally insane, am I? Isn’t that how it looks to other people too?"
Earl Ray shook his head. "She’s not capable of replacing you, Maggie. No matter how hard she tries." A painful blow of an answer.
"But they…….they’re pretty tight, huh?" One tear fell down her right cheek.
He sighed. "Yeah……I guess you could say that."
Before more tears could escape her seeping eyes, Maggie clutched her basket. "Okay. I gotta go. I’m already late for work, and I don’t need these damn herbs anyway."
Earl Ray grabbed her arm. "Sweetheart, don’t worry over it. He’s crazy ‘bout you."
Dropping the basket onto a table full of bags of pine nuts, she flung her arms around him and sniffled. He, quite naturally, hugged her to him.
"Maggie, don’t do something foolish just because Roger does……….and I think you know what I mean."
Yes, she knew exactly what he meant. Still clinging to him, she whispered, "Nick’s been very kind and understanding, Earl Ray…….He’s just a little consolation. That’s all."
Earl Ray ran his fingers through her hair to get to the soft skin on the back of her neck. "I’m not stupid. Just be careful, baby. THAT’S all."
Maggie pulled back away from him and smiled a little. "You’re just jealous as shit that it’s not you providing the consolation. THAT’S all."
He laughed and wiped her tears with a handkerchief he’d found in his pocket. "Maybe……just maybe………You call me if you need me, Maggie. I mean it."
"I will……and thanks, Earl Ray."
"Take care, Mags."
Maggie Lococco’s turbulent psyche raged inside her as she drove to Renaissance, her refuge. She willed the tears to remain unshed until she could reach the safety of her upstairs office.
Earl Ray had unwillingly and obscurely confirmed her disturbing fears that Roger was straying from her, slipping away. At least in the preliminary stages. She hadn’t been imagining it. And now she must force herself to face it – yet another unspoken truth breaking the surface in her once-peaceful life.
As if her subconscious had chosen not to deal with the situation head-on right then, her mind turned to Nick. I must call him. I gotta see him. He’ll make me feel warm and glowing inside, and this crushing weight won’t feel so heavy. He’ll keep me from sinking.
But she didn’t have to call Nick.
He was waiting for her in her office.
Totally unaware of anything that had happened to her since he saw her twenty-four hours earlier, he sat on her desk this time, with his legs slightly spread, smiling at her as she rushed through the door. She quickly closed it behind her and ran to him.
"You’re a sight for sore eyes," she said, throwing her arms around him.
He enveloped her and kissed her neck. "Just couldn’t wait to see ya again, baby. Can’t seem to get your taste outta my mouth."
She let out a little moan as his hands moved gently over her back. "Nick……….you feel so…….divine."
He snorted a laugh. "Howya doing, Maggie?"
"Ah, much better now, thank you."
Then she backed away from him and quickly climbed up on the desk, straddling him and sitting down on his lap, facing him. He groaned as he massaged her hips and thighs.
With her arms around his shoulders and her hands caressing his neck, she encircled his waist with her legs and smiled at him. "Much, much better now."
His hands roamed up her torso easily, over her stomach and breasts, igniting tiny fires in her that threatened to unite and become one huge inferno. Her nipples hardened, and she instinctively ground her crotch into his where she felt parts of him hardening too.
Without speaking, Nick slipped his hands under her shirt and slid them up her back, pulling her closer to him as he tenderly touched her skin. Fireworks went off for Maggie as their mouths met, and continued to blast spectacularly in her mind throughout the long, wet, probing kiss. They held and squeezed each other viciously.
Pulling away and panting, Nick whispered, "You sure you don’t got a little Italian in you, honey?"
"I think I just got the devil in me, Nick," she purred.
His hands, out of her shirt now, played over her upper chest and throat. "You’re so lovely."
She smiled sadly and breathed him in. "Thanks for lying………I’ve had a pretty shitty day."
"Not to add to that or anything, but guess who I saw on the way ovah here."
Maggie’s nerves tightened throughout her body, and he felt it instantly. His eyes darted from her breasts to her eyes. "Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to throw ya outta whack."
She touched his face. "That’s okay. It’s not much of a secret anymore……….You saw ‘em together?"
"Yeah, in his Benz. Dunno where they were headed."
She shrugged and tried to scoot closer to him. "Does it matter?"
"It matters to you, Maggie. You know it does."
After a pause, she said, "If you weren’t here, Nick, I’d be dead by now. Or on a killing spree or something. I never thought I’d ever doubt Roger, and now look what’s happened."
"You sure they’re doing the nasty?"
She laughed unhappily. "No, I’m not. Like a blissful idiot, I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt even now. That’s how much I don’t want it to be true."
"If you’d let me, I’d take care of you, baby."
Nick unbuttoned the front of her shirt and slipped his hands under it again to caress her skin, flesh to flesh. Maggie put her head back and let his fingers wander over her upper body, feeling chill bumps pop up. When he reached her cleavage, he lowered his head and kissed the skin her bra revealed, causing her to moan softly.
"Nick, I can’t stop thinking ‘bout you. You’re shielding me from the brunt of the pain I might be suffering right now."
He continued to kiss her exposed flesh. "Fine by me, beautiful. You’re amazing……….unlike all the other women I ever met…….Use me all you want."
She ran her fingers through his short, black hair. "How poetic men become while they’re immersed in a woman’s bosom."
He raised his head and licked his lips seductively. His deep, dark eyes searing her. "You are fine, Maggie. Finer than I’m accustomed to. And a magnificent cook to boot."
"Ah, I’ve daydreamed of preparing another meal for you, Mr. Santucci……….Breakfast." Now she smiled the seductive smile and traced the lines on his face with her fingertips.
Grabbing her shoulders from behind and pulling her face to within inches of his, he begged her in a guttural voice, "Let’s go away, baby. Me and you. To Europe or South America…….or wherever you wanna go."
"You don’t even know me, Nick."
"Ah, I know enough……..My father’s got a little island just off Sicily. Gorgeous place. Tiny little town fulla friendly people……We could live in the big house that overlooks the ocean. Those folks would make you their queen." His fingers sifted through her straight blonde hair. "We could be together forever. How ‘bout it?"
Maggie stared at him, into those captivating orbs and saw the two of them running across snow-white sand in the hot sunshine. His olive skin was dark and gleaming, and she couldn’t wait to catch him and touch it, kiss it.
Tears filled her own eyes. "I feel like a queen already………..when you look at me that way………..You’re so……..sweet. You’d do all that for me, wouldn’t you?"
"I’d do that for you and more, baby. If ya wanted, I’d damn sure find you a little restaurant on the island……….Just go away with me."
Maggie took his face in her hands and kissed his mouth again, long and lusciously. She explored him with her tongue while she felt his huge hands under her shirt and on her rippling flesh again. The fireworks started up again too, this time on a deserted beach under millions of stars.
When the kiss ended, they stared at each other, again catching their breath. The sound of two hearts pounding rang in their ears.
When he smiled at her, she had to smile back. "Offer’s on the table, Maggie. I’m not joking ‘round. I can’t stay out here in this frigid tundra forever. And I hate the rain. But I want you with me."
She watched those eyes for their full effect. A staggering full effect that moved her deeply. They appeared as black as the dead of night, but flames burned tiny in each of them, keeping her warm and pliant. "I got some thinking to do, Nick. My life is almost upside down right now, I guess you know…………Can I have a little time?"
Again sifting her hair with his fingers, he said, "I guess I can do that. I’ll wait for ya. I’d wait a good long time to whisk you away."
"I’m going to the kitchen now to work and to roll all of this over in my mind. If I stay here with you any longer, we’ll be on the floor doing ‘the nasty,’ as you call it."
He snorted another laugh. "In time, Maggie. In time."
Then he kissed her lips softly. She returned it and held onto him while he stood up and released her legs down to the floor. As he grabbed his jacket from the nearby chair, she straightened herself in the mirror on the wall.
Just as she reached for the door to open it, Nick grabbed her and pulled her back to him. One last, lingering embrace with a full, wet kiss.
"You know you can’t do that outside this door, don’t you?" she asked him. "Remember I have a snitch in my midst."
He smiled. "I won’t toucha ya, baby."
They descended the staircase and strolled passed the lounge into the lobby, never touching or speaking. Maggie stopped just short of the front door and watched as Nick opened it. He turned to her and smiled again.
"I’ll be seeing ya."
"Yeah. Later, Nick."
She felt slightly giddy as she stepped back through the lobby. Almost light-headed. Maybe she’d wake up any minute and realize none of this was real. Maybe…
Then, in a split second, her feet froze, and her heart stopped when she looked up and into the lounge area.
Roger was sitting at the end of the bar. Watching everything.
* * *