Episode 12 – Unexpected
Guests
– Renee left Cleo in Camille and Russell’s care. Then Cleo started
school.
– Divine cleared out the penthouse of her things after being discharged
from hospital.
– Paris snapped at Gayle and later stormed off.
– Mercedes, back from holiday, was puzzled that Divine hadn’t been seen
in a couple of weeks.
– Honey’s plot to get Sebastian heated up as she pulled out a gun.
Monday,13th January 2003,
Sebastian’s strip club, late afternoon
“Oh Mercedes,
soon Sebastian will be mine” Honey
laughed. She opened one of the drawers which she used and placed the gun under
some of her outfits.
“Honey, we need you out here” came a voice from
the door. Honey turned and smiled at the girl in the door.
“I will be out there in a sec. Just need to
finish off putting on my make up”
“Okay, but Sebastian really needs you now” the
girl said before closing the door. Honey turned to the gun again and checked to
see if it was hidden well. She then applied some lipstick before getting up and
leaving the room.
A couple of minutes later Mercedes entered the
dressing room. There has to be something here that will help me Mercedes thought to herself as she started searching.
***
Victor’s penthouse, a little later
Divine opened her eyes. The loud knocking sound had woken her up. As she
slowly started to rise from the bed, she realised that it was someone at the
door. Divine checked herself in the mirror before walking through the penthouse
and peering through the peephole to see who was at the door.
“Oh great” Divine said to herself, not wanting
any visitors. She opened the door.
“Hi” Mercedes
greeted.
“Hey” Divine said.
“I was worried about you” Mercedes started.
“Worried?”
“You didn’t show up after the holidays”
“Oh yeah, well I had an accident”
“Accident? Are you okay?” asked a concerned
Mercedes.
“Yes, well I think I am. Do you want to come
in?” Divine asked.
“Okay” Mercedes said as she walked into the
apartment and looked around. She noticed all the expensive furniture and the
paintings on the walls.
“What happened to you?”
“I fell down some stairs” Divine answered. She
motioned for her ‘friend’ to take a seat before she walked into the kitchen and
poured a drink.
“Stairs? Where?”
“Here, in this building” Divine lied. “Would you
like a drink?”
“No thanks”
Divine entered the room once again and sat
opposite Mercedes. There was an awkward silence until both started talking at
the same time.
“You go first” Mercedes insisted.
“Okay, how did you get this address?” Divine
asked puzzled.
“I found it in the dressing room and figured that
you were here”
“I won’t be here soon”
“Why?”
“I am moving out, getting a new place”
“What? You would actually want to leave this
place. It must be costing you thousands in rent”
“It isn’t mine. It is a friends place”
“A boyfriends?” Mercedes pushed.
“Sort of. So do you think I will still be able
to work at the club?”
“Yes. Sebastian got someone to replace you, but
I can get her sacked if you want”
“Thanks”
Another awkward silence followed, until Mercedes
started again.
“You were so young back then. How did you get
into all that?” Mercedes questioned. It all started coming back to Divine.
“What?”
“Prostitution”
“I suppose when my dad died it all started”
Divine began.
“I really loved him and it was a heart attack caused
by stress. Mom had died when I was six, but dad had always been able to keep us
living in a big house with everything that we ever wanted. But then it all went
wrong and he died” Divine started to feel tears well up in her eyes.
Mercedes placed her hand on Divine’s.
“I started doing drugs. Jerry started selling me
cocaine and heroin and then I didn’t have enough money to pay. My sister saw me
once on the street with the drug gang and she kicked me out. Then I started
selling myself so I could get the drugs. First Jerry then some of his friends.
You know what its like don’t you?”
“The same thing happened to me, well almost”
Mercedes said as she comforted Divine.
***
Saturday,18th January 2003,
The Samson stables, mid afternoon
Gabriel
McLoughlin lay down on some straw, waiting for the person he was meeting to
arrive. He was about to tell her that their affair was over, although he didn’t
know why Divine
had demanded he do this.
Gabe heard one of the doors open and looked up
to see Leslie Samson there. She spotted Gabe and started walking
towards him. She smiled as she took a seat beside him. He moved so that his
weight was on his elbows.
“So, why am I here?” she asked.
“We need to talk” he answered.
“What about?”
“Us. I am marrying your daughter in a couple of
months” Gabe started.
“You want it to finish don’t you?”
“Yes, I love Char too much to break her heart.
If she ever found out then,” Gabe hesitated. He tried to remember what Divine
had told him to say. She had it all, every word, plotted out, “I wouldn’t be
able to live with myself”
“I regret it to. Those times were good, but not
good enough to risk hurting my daughter like that” Leslie said.
“So what’s going on here then?” came a voice
from the door. Leslie and Gab turned to see Chardonnay standing there. “Is there something going on
between the two of you?”
Leslie and Gabe exchanged a worried glance.
“Did you hear all that?” Leslie asked.
“No” Chardonnay stated, puzzled as to what was
going on.
“We were talking about your birthday”
“But that is not for another couple of weeks”
Chardonnay laughed.
“Doesn’t hurt if we plan in advance though, does
it?” Leslie laughed. She felt uncomfortable.
***
Judi’s apartment, nine p.m.
Judi Anders switched on the TV. She had read all the various newspapers and
magazines around the apartment, even Kayla’s
ones on zits, fashion and, of course, boyfriends.
After she flicked through reality show after
reality show, Judi realised how bored she was. She poured a glass of red wine
and started to drink it slowly. Only nine yet, and I don’t fancy an early night she thought to herself.
Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Judi
reached for her cellphone and switched it on. She searched through her numbers
until she came to the on she wanted and pressed dial.
It was ringing. The phone kept ringing and
ringing until eventually Russell’s
voicemail started. She pressed the end call feature, rather than leaving a
message.
Judi sighed. She hadn’t seen or spoken to
Russell since Monday, as they had been working on different shifts. She had
been working in the daytime and he had been working at night.
Judi was taken away from her thoughts of Russell
by the sound of the phone. She picked it up to see who was at the door.
“Hello” Judi greeted.
“It’s me” came a male voice from the other end
of the line, which Judi didn’t recognise at first.
“Who?”
“Alex Blake”
he said.
“Alex? What are you doing here?” Judi asked.
“I think I know why Grant
tried to kill me” Alex answered.
“Okay, I’ll let you in”
Judi decided not to open the door automatically,
but to open it herself. After a brief examination of her appearance in the
mirror, Judi opened the door.
“Hi” she started. “Come in”
“Thanks” Alex said, as he walked past her into
the apartment. He spotted the wine and realised that she was probably home
alone.
“Take a seat”
“Thanks” he said again, after he had sat down.
“So, you said that you know why Grant tried to
kill you” Judi said as she took a seat beside Alex. She turned to face him.
“I think that he found out one of my father’s
best kept secrets” Alex answered, intriguing Judi.
“And what was that then?”
“My father was worth over five million dollars”
“And you didn’t know?” Judi asked.
“He kept it from all of us. Even my mother
didn’t know. When I reach the age of thirty seven the company he secretly set
up becomes mine. I turned thirty seven a couple of weeks ago, so it is mine. If
I am not around then it goes to my children. As I don’t have any, it means that
either my mom or Grant would get it. And my mom would say no to all
that responsibility and give it to Grant”
***
Sebastian’s strip club, a little later
Divine slipped into the club from a back entrance. She was early for her
first ‘proper’ day at work, Mercedes
had said ten.
“You’re early” said Mercedes after she crept up
on Divine in the dressing room.
“Well, I want to go over my dance moves don’t
I?” answered Divine.
“I suppose. I will just…” Mercedes started. She
was interrupted by a male voice from the doorway.
“What is she doing here?” Sebastian
asked.
“Working. Charisma quit and I hired her
replacement”
“Can I have a word Mercedes?”
Mercedes and Divine exchanged a glance. Mercedes
then walked towards the door and out of the room. Sebastian closed the door.
Divine waited and a short while later the door reopened. Mercedes walked back
in but Sebastian wasn’t with her.
“Get ready, you are working tonight”
***
Judi’s apartment, almost ten p.m.
Judi pulled away from Alex’s
kiss. She left down the slice of pizza she had in her hand.
“I’m sorry” he started.
“So am I? Sorry I already have someone else” she
said.
“Sorry I didn’t go. Maybe I should just go”
“Yeah, I think that would be best” Judi said.
She stood up and walked to the door. She then held.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you” Alex said
once again before leaving. “Night”
“Bye” Judi said.
Outside he lay against the door. He wished that
he could turn back the clock on what had just happened.
Inside Judi was wondering if she had feelings
for Alex. They had grown close while he had been in hospital.
***
Sebastian’s strip club, after midnight
Mercedes smiled as she said goodnight to Divine.
Divine had worked hard and it had paid off. The audience had liked her.
In the dressing room Mercedes drank a glass of
water. As she started to remove some of her make up, Mercedes noticed that Honey’s
drawer was open. Someone had been rummaging around in it, although her clothes
were still there. Mercedes closed the drawer and, although slightly puzzled,
continued to remove her make up.
Outside the door, Honey stood. She had the gun
in her hand and was preparing to shoot Mercedes.
Continue with Episode 13 - You're the
One That I Want