push

Kristin took a seat beside Tom as they waited for the library set to be lit for the next scene. She and Tom weren’t in this one, so they hung out off camera, but still on set. Allison and Mike were up next, and Kristin guessed it would be another 20 minutes before everything was in place, plus another hour of shooting, just for a few words between Lex and Chloe.

Shooting a show was fun, but sometimes it dragged so Kristin amused herself in other ways. She had recently taken up knitting, but today she didn’t feel like working on the purple scarf. She watched Allison reading her script while her makeup was retouched. She watched Mike pretend to be listening to what the director was saying, but he was really glancing at Allison.

Kristin sighed and turned to Tom.

“How long has it been since Allison and Peter broke up?” she asked.

Tom frowned and drummed his fingers on his knees.

“Six months,” he answered.

“And how long has Mike been in love with Allison?”

Tom smiled. “Three years.”

“And how long has Allison known Mike is in love with her?”

“Three months.”

Kristin nodded. “So what the hell are they waiting for?”

Tom laughed and looked towards the set. They were checking out their marks, carefully avoiding eye contact or touching.

“They almost seem afraid of each other,” Tom said.

“I’ve noticed that, too.”

“Has Allison said anything to you about Mike?”

Kristin shook her head.

“That’s why I’m confused. She usually confides in me.”

“Mike’s been pretty quiet lately.”

Kristin blinked, and Tom nodded. “I know. That’s weird for him.”

Mike and Allison took their places and did a quick run through of the scene.

“Maybe we should help them out,” Kristin said softly.

“Like, interfere?”

“Not really. More like...” Kristin paused. “More like a gentle push in the right direction.”

“Great. I’ll go push them now,” Tom said, sitting up.

Kristin grabbed his arm. “Not a literal push,” she said.

Tom sat back, disappointed. Kristin rolled her eyes. “I have an idea,” she said.

~*~*~

Mike parked in the garage that connected to Kristin’s apartment building and took the elevator to her floor. Kristin answered the door and pulled him inside.

“Welcome to my first dinner party,” she said, her smile huge.

Mike said hello to Tom and his wife Jamie.

“Erica’s running late and Allison’s on her way,” Kristin said, handing him a glass of wine.

Mike sipped at it and joined everyone in the living room. Kristin had only recently moved into this building, and she wanted to celebrate by having them all over for dinner. The last thing Mike wanted to do was spend an evening with Allison off set. He was afraid of what he might do or say.

Everyone chatted easily and snacked on hors d’oeuvres. Erica arrived carrying a huge jug of punch.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t find a punch bowl,” she said, laughing at the jug.

“Oh, no problem. I have one in storage downstairs,” Kristin said.

The phone rang and Kristin answered it. “Hi, Mom. Could you hang on just for a moment?” She turned to Mike who was shoving crackers and cheese in his mouth. “Could you and Tom go down to the storage area in the basement and bring up my punch bowl?”

Tom stood up, but Mike hesitated. He swallowed and asked, “Both of us?”

“It’s buried in the back, and it’s gonna take two of you to move all the stuff in front of it. Please?”

Tom grabbed Mike’s arm. “Come on, it’ll be easy. Real tough guy work. We can even grunt and make manly noises while we look for it.”

Erica and Jamie both snorted from where they sat on the couch. Mike got to his feet, and Kristin gave Tom the key to her storage unit and a detailed description of which box they’d find her punch bowl in.

Mike followed Tom down to the basement level of the building. The area was dim, and Mike tried not to imagine hundreds of little eyes peering back at him.

“Number twelve,” Tom said, pointing. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, flipping on the light switch.

A lone bulb glowed in the center of the 6x8 room.

“Cozy,” Tom said.

“Yeah, let’s find that bowl,” Mike said. He started moving boxes.

He wanted to get back upstairs. It wasn’t the confined space that bothered him; it was the dark and shadows. Not many people knew he was afraid of the dark. He hated doing night scenes outside, where the trees stood like menacing giants and swayed at him with their sharp branches.

Suddenly, he felt his left arm get jerked behind him and something cold and metal was slapped around his wrist. He spun around and saw Tom loop the handcuffs over a pipe, then connect the other cuff to his other wrist. Mike’s arms were now stretched above his head.

“What the hell? Is this some kind of joke?” he cried.

“You’ll understand, trust me,” Tom said.

“Okay, not funny anymore. Really not funny.”

Tom picked up a roll of duct tape and tore off a piece.

“Kinky, but I’m not in the mood, Welling,” Mike said.

Tom came at him with the tape.

“Hey! No! What are you-”

Mike twisted away, but Tom held his head and pressed the tape firmly over his mouth. Mike kicked out with his legs and connected with Tom’s knee.

“Ow, dammit!” Tom cried, staggering back. “I can’t believe you did that.”

Mike mumbled and thrashed, pulling at the handcuffs.

“I swear, you’ll understand,” Tom said. He walked to the door. “Just hang tight.”

Then he flipped of the light and closed the door. The room plunged into darkness and Mike listened to the key turning in the lock.

~*~*~

Kristin looked up as Tom came back into the apartment. He handed her the storage room key and fell onto the couch.

“He kicked me!”

“He’s pissed?” Kristin asked.

“Oh yeah. We better be joining witness protection if this doesn’t work.”

Kristin shook her head. “It’ll work.”

Five minutes later, Allison showed up.

“Whoa, am I late?” she asked, shedding her jacket.

“Nope, right on time,” Kristin said.

Erica poked her head out from the kitchen. “Hey, Allie. What’s up? Uh, Kris, you got a punch bowl anywhere?”

“Above the fridge?”

“Nada. I looked there.”

“Then it must still be in storage. I’ll run down and get it. Allie, wanna come with me?”

Allison smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

Kristin led the way. “So how are you?” she asked as they waited for the elevator.

Allison shrugged. “Fine. Why?”

“Have you talked to Peter at all?”

“No. He’s back in LA.”

“Oh.”

Allison smiled. “I’m okay. Really. It bothered me at first, but I’m adjusting.”

“I just wanted to remind you that I’m here if you ever feel like talking,” Kristin said as they stepped onto the elevator.

“Thanks. I know.”

They hugged, and before breaking apart, Kristin dropped a tiny key into Allison’s sweater pocket.

“So, do you want to talk about Mike?” she asked.

Allison blinked. “What?”

“You know he has feelings for you.”

Allison let out a little giggle and stared at the numbers above the doors.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” she said.

“Are you going to do anything about it?”

“What is this? Has he said something?”

Kristin shook her head. “Not to me.”

They reached the basement and Allison trailed after Kristin, her thoughts swirling.

“Because if he has said something, I’d like to hear it,” she said.

“What would you say to him?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Kristin fumbled with the key to her storage unit while Allison stood beside her.

“Do you hear that?” Allison asked.

Kristin paused. “Hear what?”

“That noise. It sounds like metal on metal.”

“Nope, I don’t hear a thing.”

“No really, I hear something. You don’t have rats in this building do you?”

“Allie, there are no rats.”

Kristin pushed open the door, then stepped aside and shoved Allison into the room with all her might.

Allison stumbled and fell against a stack of boxes. Before she could protest, Kristin had pulled the door shut and locked it. Effectively sealing her inside.

“Kristin! What’s going on?” she yelled, getting to her feet. She reached out into the darkness and found the doorknob. She yanked on it. “What are you doing?”

“Light switch is on your left. Have a good night,” Kristin called out.

Then Allison heard retreating footsteps. She screamed and pulled on the doorknob again.

And then she heard it. A muffled groan somewhere behind her. She froze and slowly turned, blinking and trying to focus.

“Is someone there?” she whispered.

She jumped at the noise of metal scraping and clanging. Her fingers groped the wall for the light switch. She found it and flipped it.

What she saw was so unbelievable, she actually pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. Michael Rosenbaum, handcuffed to a pipe and gagged with duct tape.

“Mike?” she asked, stepping forward.

He nodded and shook the handcuffs. Allison saw that with his arms stretched so high above him, he couldn’t reach the tape on his mouth. She slowly pulled it off and he gasped.

“Oh my God, Allison, thank you.”

“Who did this to you?”

“Welling. I’m going to kick his ass so hard.”

He was taking in huge mouthfuls of air, and sweat was rolling down his face.

“Mike, calm down, breathe,” Allison said. She put her hands on his cheeks, felt the heat and frowned. “Are you all right?”

“I...hate the...the dark,” he wheezed. “God, can you...get me down?”

“I don’t have a key,” Allison said. Then something clicked in her mind and she reached into her sweater pocket. “Kristin.”

“What?”

“Kristin and Tom. They set this up,” she said, showing him a key.

“Why?”

Allison said nothing as she unlocked the handcuffs. Mike sank to the floor and put his head between his knees. Allison sat down beside him and rubbed his back in slow, even circles. After a few minutes, he was calm again, and he raised his head to look at her.

“What the hell is going on?” he asked.

Allison sighed. “I think we’re being pushed.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I think you do.”

Mike scrubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath.

“Those conniving shits,” he muttered.

Allison pulled her knees to her chest. “Maybe this is good. We can talk about it.”

“Talk about what?” Mike asked, trying to sound innocent.

“Our feelings for each other.”

“Hmm. That.”

Allison waited quietly, scanning the small room. Her gaze dropped to a large wicker basket near the door.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing.

Mike reached out and pulled it to them. A card was tied to the handle with red ribbon.

“Please don’t hate us,” Mike read. “Enjoy. We’ll be back later to check on you. Tom and Kristin.”

Allison opened the basket and removed a folded blanket. Under the blanket was a bottle of wine, two glasses, a cheese, meat and cracker tray, and a small container of grapes and strawberries.

“Very romantic,” she said.

“Yeah, sure. Locked in a dusty storage room. Romantic.” He looked at her. “Hey, I’ve got my cell phone. We can call up to Kristin’s apartment.” He dug into his jeans pocket and pulled it out. After staring at it for a moment, he growled. “No signal.”

“Not surprising. We’re in the basement, surrounded by concrete.”

“Do you have yours?”

“Nope. In my purse upstairs. Guess we’re stuck here until they decide to let us out.”

She stood up and shook out the blanket, spreading it on the floor. Mike shifted position so they could both sit on it. He poked around in the basket, checking out the contents.

“Are we going to talk about this?” Allison asked.

“What would you like to know?”

Allison tilted her head. “Three months ago, at Tom’s birthday party, you made a confession about being in love with me. Except you didn’t know I was listening at the time. Care to explain?”

“Oh. That.”

“And ever since then, there’s been this awkwardness between us,” Allison continued. “So I just want to know if what you said was true, and if you still feel that way…”

Her voice trailed off as Mike placed his hand under her chin, tipped her head up and kissed her. Allison closed her eyes and let herself go, savoring the taste and feel of his lips on hers. When he ended the kiss, Allison let out a happy sigh.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“Uh huh.”

She opened her eyes and saw that Mike was only inches away from her.

“I love you, Allison,” he said softly, and she could feel his breath on her lips. “I’ve been in love with you since day one.“

She shivered and leaned forward to kiss him again. He put his arms around her and she slid beneath him, gasping as his lips moved from her mouth down to her neck and tracing her collarbone.

“Mike, Mike,” she breathed, clutching him to her. “You’re not fooling with me, are you?”

He paused and gazed at her. “No, I’m not fooling with you. I would, however, like to fool around with you.”

She giggled and kissed his chin. “You can’t be serious just for a moment?”

“You ask me that now?” he exclaimed, motioning to their bodies entwined on the floor.

“Sorry, I just really have to know before we, you know.”

Mike sighed and buried his face in her cleavage.

“Hey! Eyes up!” Allison laughed.

They sat up and Mike took her hands in his. “All right. The truth? I really wanted to ask you out after I first met you.”

“You did?”

“I thought you were amazingly beautiful, and it didn’t take long for me to realize you were smart, too. Not to mention funny and sweet and just really talented.”

Allison smiled and sat up straighter. “Well, how flattering.”

“It’s all true. But then I found out you had a boyfriend, so I backed off.”

“Peter.”

Mike nodded. “Then you got engaged, and,” he trailed off, throwing his hands in the air. “That was the end of that.”

“I never knew.”

“I never said anything to anyone. But Tom figured it out one day and confronted me.”

“Tom?” Allison asked, a disbelieving smile on her face.

“I know. Not such a big, dumb, alien, huh?”

“But he kept it a secret.”

“Because I asked him too. And then you and Peter broke up, and he wanted me to try and tell you, but I wanted to let you be for awhile.”

“And at Tom’s party? What prompted you to say it out loud?”

Mike shook his head. “If I had any idea you and Kristin would be walking up behind me right as I said it...”

Allison rubbed her thumbs over his knuckles. “Would I have ever known otherwise?”

“I’m not sure. Tom was really being a pain in the ass that night, pushing me to say it. I almost think he wanted you to hear it.”

“I’m glad I did. Mike, I’ll be honest with you. I care a great deal about you. You’ve been one of my best friends for years now, but...”

“Oh God, there’s a but,” Mike groaned.

“I’m not in love with you,” she finished. “I mean, I do love you, just not in the same way you do about me.”

“I understand, it’s okay. Really. We don’t even have to mention it again,” Mike said quickly.

Allison put a hand over his mouth to silence him. “You didn’t let me finish,” she said.

He went quiet and stared at her.

“I was going to say that, even though I’m not in love with you right now, it could totally happen. If you’ll just give me some time.”

Mike’s eyes widened, then narrowed and Allison laughed as she felt his tongue dart out and lick her palm.

“For real?” he asked, his expression hopeful.

“Yes.”

Mike let out a whoop of joy and hugged her hard.

“We should celebrate,” he said, pouring two glasses of wine.

Allison opened the food containers and they settled against some boxes and ate.

“Nice little party they threw us, huh?” Mike asked. “Wonder what they’re eating.”

Allison swallowed a bite and giggled. “If I know Kristin, they probably ordered takeout. She can’t cook anything besides toast.”

“You mean Lana Lang isn’t so perfect after all?”

“Even Kristin doesn’t think Lana’s perfect.”

Mike brushed crumbs from her mouth and offered her a strawberry. She bit into it and juice dribbled down her chin. She was going to wipe it away, but Mike stopped her and leaned in close, licking it off.

“Oh my God,” she murmured.

Mike sat back and went back to snacking on strawberries. Allison frowned and shook herself.

“You’re a fucking tease!” she cried.

“Hey, you said you wanted to take it slow.”

Allison grumbled under her breath, but she wasn’t really mad. After a moment she nudged him with her elbow.

“How come you never told anyone you’re afraid of the dark?” she asked.

“Not a real manly thing to admit.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Big guy like me? Afraid of the dark? That just begs to be mocked.”

“Big? You’re scrawny, Rosenbaum.”

He choked on a piece of cheese, and Allison smacked him on the back.

“Scrawny? Have you seen these pecs lately? I have to compete with Welling onscreen.”

“Your legs are like sticks though.”

Mike blinked. “God, you’re harsh.”

“But I like ’em,” she said, grinning.

“Now you’re being a tease.”

They finished the food and Mike pushed the basket aside.

“So how long do you think they’re gonna leave us here?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but it would have been nice if they’d given us pillows. This blanket isn’t very thick.”

“I’d let you sit on my lap, but it’s so scrawny,” Mike said, standing up. “She’s got to have something in here.”

He started looking through boxes and then announced with glee, “Jackpot!”

He pulled out two thick quilts and several throw pillows and passed them to Allison. Together, they made a makeshift bed and curled up together.

“I’m grateful for the cuddling and all,” Mike said, lacing his fingers with hers, “but I’m so going to kill Tom and Kris when they let us out.”

“Not just them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think Jamie and Erica were in on it too. At least, they knew about it.”

“They’re all on my shit list.”

“I happen to know that Tom is scared of spiders, and Kristin hates worms.”

Mike laughed evilly. “Excellent.”

“So what do we do now?” Allison asked.

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Well, if we weren’t taking it so slow, we could play with those handcuffs.”

“Funny, but no.”

He snapped his fingers in mock annoyance. “Damn. Guess we just sit here and snuggle. Would you be up for a little making out?”

“That I can handle.”

~*~*~

Kristin, Tom, Jamie and Erica all stood outside the storage room door.

“Are you going to unlock it or are we going to stare at it until it disappears?” Erica asked.

Kristin exchanged a nervous glance with Tom.

“Do you hear anything?” she asked.

Tom pressed his ear to the door. “Nothing. Either they’re sleeping, or...”

“Here, unlock it.” She passed him the key, but he wouldn’t take it.

“Nuh uh. You do it.”

“Why me?”

“It was your idea. I want them to see it was all you.”

“You went along with it!”

Tom shrugged and stepped back. Jamie rolled her eyes, muttered, “Whatta baby,” and took the key, inserting it into the lock. She turned it and pushed open the door.

“I am going to kill you!” Mike screamed, leaping past Jamie and knocking Tom to the floor.

Allison turned menacing eyes on Kristin and Erica, then shot out after them. Jamie stepped aside as they took off running, shrieking all the way to Kristin’s apartment.

While Mike wrestled with Tom, Jamie just smiled. Love was such a funny thing.

~end