REPRESENTED

by K'Anne Meinel

  “I’ll tell him the deal is off then” Cassie said quietly as she watched Karin get her emotions under control. She could see the toll it had taken on her to tell her tale.

  “No, you can’t do that now. You’ve rolled the dice. We have to play the game now and play it until it is over. Ever seen the movie Jumanji?” she asked and at Cassie’s nod she said “we play until the contract runs out.”

  “But if I go to him and tell him I changed my mind?” Cassie began to say.

  “He will assume that I changed your mind, we are stuck now.”

  “What are we going to do?” Cassie said frightened.

  “We are going to do the best we can for your career. You’re going to do absolutely everything I say, exactly how I say it and you’re going to love every minute of it. You started this and I will finish it for you.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…” she tried to say.

  Karin took her glasses off as she looked sadly at Cassie “I know you didn’t, I tried to warn you, you didn’t listen and that can never happen again. If I say jump, don’t stop to ask how high, just jump. I won’t steer you wrong. I’m too good at what I do and I had to learn the hard way. Elliott holds this over me but I hold it over him too which he doesn’t always realize. You’ve signed a pact with the devil and I’ll try to protect you but you have got to learn, unfortunately the hard way.”

  “You make it sound so evil, so ominous” she remembered the book she had bought that Karin represented.

  “Isn’t it all?”

  “No, some of it is good, the fans, and the creativity, you...”

  Karin looked at her with an ancient look that Cassie had never seen on her face. “You’re deluding yourself. It is evil, it is ominous. You have just made me dance with the devil again and I’m not that good of a dancer. They are going to be watching and waiting to see if I fail. If I fail you, if you don’t get whatever your contract reads and the money that was promised or implied or potentially there...”

  “Are you saying they would kill you if you fail?” Cassie asked incredulously.

  “Killing me would be the least of my worries. There is too much money to be made. They might hurt you, they might hurt D.O.G. here, or they might get my sons.” She said it practically and Cassie shivered. “I won’t fail, I have a pretty good idea what I need to do, it will just take time, I have to read your contract too so I know a plan of action. Once I’ve fulfilled all your terms they haven’t a leg to stand on. We can get out then.”

  “Christ Karin, I didn’t know what I was getting into.”

  “No, you wouldn’t but we’re talking millions of dollars, of course the mob is involved or someone who is like the ‘mob’. I don’t really want to know who it is behind it all. I didn’t make the rules, I just play by them. It isn’t all like this; I avoided it for a long time. Now I’m being forced back into it. I don’t have to like it.”

  “There is no way out?” she was grasping at straws.

  Karin shook her head. “The only way out is through your contract and I’ll make damn sure it’s fulfilled to ever dotted I and crossed T.”

  “I can’t tell you how sorry I am…” Cassie began and Karin held up her hand to silence her.

  “Can you do what I say without question, without argument?” Karin asked quietly.

  “Yes, and if I can help...”

  Again Karin held up her hand “you’re going to end up hating me which was part of what I wanted to prevent. It’s an ugly business but with clever maneuvering we shall stay pretty and you will get what you wanted out of it.”

  “I wanted you in it too” Cassie said sadly as she stared at the woman who had told her a most horrific tale and the facts of life. Cassie had never dreamed this was the reason that Karin hated the entertainment industry. She had never hinted at it but then nothing would be out there about it, she had done her job.

  “I’ll be there” Karin said “I’ll be there whether I want to be or not” she said bitterly.

  “No, I want you with me as my girlfriend, not just as my handler, my manager, my promoter!” Cassie said vehemently. She got off her rock then and knelt before Karin. “None of this is going to mean anything to me unless you’re with me on it. I don’t want you to work this hard, to deal with this evil, just for my career; I want it for us so we can come out on the other side of it stronger and together. Please, I know you said we were over. I don’t want that. I can’t be strong and let you do all this knowing what I know now. I can’t be alone and know the risks you’re taking for both of us.”

  “This is a bad scene in a Hollywood B movie” Karin said in disgust as she went to rise.

  “I know, we learn how to act that way sometimes but I mean it Karin. Throw us both off this cliff face if the only alternative to this, is this hell you’ve described.”

  Karin looked at her sadly, she loved this woman. She was right. It wouldn’t be worth all the trouble, the hard work of it if they didn’t triumph together. She pushed Cassie’s hair back behind her ear as she tangled her fingers in the long locks. She leaned in and softly kissed her. “I’ll try baby, I’ll try” she promised.

  The drive home was just as quiet as they fought traffic going into the city. The drive wasn’t as bad as most people were leaving the city for the day but it was still congested. Karin was relieved to pull into her garage. She spoke for the first time as she parked. “Where were you planning on staying?” she asked.

  Cassie looked at her startled, had she misunderstood? “Can I stay with you?” she asked tentatively.

  Karin chuckled “I meant, where were you planning on staying if today hadn’t gone according to plan?”

  “I didn’t plan this like this” Cassie said stiffly resenting the implication.

  “Ok, let me rephrase. Where were you going to stay if I wasn’t in town, where is your luggage?” she looked at Cassie exasperated. She was tired, she had flown in from Maine today after all and after the emotional upheaval of this afternoon she was exhausted.

  “Oh, sorry, of course. I actually left my bag with your doorman; you have a doorman don’t you?”

  Karin laughed at her naiveté. “How did you manage to ever get out of Kansas?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You left your luggage with my doorman? What if I said I didn’t have a doorman?” She watched Cassie’s face as she began to realize what she had done.

  “You don’t have...” she began slowly as she realized what Karin was saying.

  “I do have a doorman but jeez Cassie, you can’t be trusting. No one is that trustworthy.”

  “You are” she said quietly as the relief poured through her.

  Karin smiled and squeezed her hand. She sighed, glad to be home.

  Karin let D.O.G. hop out of her SUV and she handed him his leash which he hadn’t needed in the least on their trip. It was good to have though; there were leash laws after all in the state of New York. She pushed the button to lock and alarm the SUV after Cassie got out and closed her door. Holding out her hand she took Cassie’s in hers as she walked towards the elevators. She nodded to Gary who was manning the parking booth as she pushed the button for the elevator. It took only a moment for it to open and Stan to say “good evening Ms. Myers” and then he leaned down to say “hello D.O.G.” who wagged his tail good naturedly as he carried his own leash.

  “Lobby please Stan” Karin said.

  Stan pushed the button and then studied the two attractive women in the reflection of the elevator’s stainless steel. ‘Wasn’t that always the way?’ he thought to himself as he noted them holding hands. Two attractive women and into each other. He mentally sighed knowing he would never have a chance to be with women such as these.

  Karin retrieved Cassie’s luggage from Carl and they went up to her apartment on the twenty-fifth floor. Cassie was very curious to see this apartment of Karin’s. She had heard how Karin had found it and bought it sight unseen and then worked for months on it and the
other apartments, first to clean them up, secondly to furbish them, and third to sell or sub-lease them. She was very impressed and wondered what kind of an apartment it would be. The elevator left them off and they entered a wide hall that Karin walked across to the doors immediately opposite the elevator. The doors to the elevator closed before she had her own door open. D.O.G. went in first and dropped his leash with a clatter on a wooden floor as Karin indicated Cassie should go in before her.

  Cassie’s first impression was how cold the apartment was. It was very clean, but it didn’t show any warmth. They might as well be in a hotel room for all it gave off. It was an interesting study in lines and light but nothing that said “Karin Myers lives here” and Cassie was disappointed. She had thought perhaps that seeing where Karin lived would give her some insight to this amazing woman, but then maybe she did know the woman as the cold woman she professed to be. The apartment she was seeing showed that. It’s cool and crisp lines were boring and there wasn’t any hominess to it. Karin showed her the living room, the kitchen, the balcony and didn’t say much about it as she watched Cassie’s reactions carefully, secretly amused at her impressions. She took her down the hall to the closed bedroom doors and showed her the two empty guest rooms. Cassie’s impressions weren’t improving with those. They were so empty, so nothing. Then Karin took her to the master bedroom and flicked on the lights within, she waited as Cassie looked around. First she saw the king sized bed and then she saw all the plants lining the bank of windows at the end of the room. This at least showed warmth, some warmth. The variety and the amount alone surprised Cassie. They took over the entire window.

  “There is so many, why don’t you put some in your living room?” she asked as she tried to look out at the view beyond the windows.

  Karin smiled as she watched Cassie “in the living room they would get knocked over by the cat and dog playing.”

  “Then why not in the other two bedrooms?” she turned to face Karin seeing her look at her with tired eyes and a worn face as she placed Cassie’s luggage by the edge of the bed.

  “Because I rarely go into those rooms. I keep the doors shut so that the animals don’t go into them. I would forget that I have plants in them if I put anything in those rooms. Besides, I can go naked in my bedroom any time I want and its nearly impossible for anyone to see through my jungle into my bedroom” she smiled.

  Cassie had to concede that she had a point but she also couldn’t see out through the mass of hanging and potted plants. “So this is it? Your inner sanctum?” she smiled to show she was teasing.

  “Actually, this is just where I sleep. Do you want to see my inner sanctum? My bat cave?” she asked with a grin.

  “There’s more? Did we miss something?” she walked towards where Karin was holding out her hand.

  Karin led her down the hall. She knew Cassie had missed seeing the door on the opposite wall since she had been looking in the spare bedrooms. She opened the ajar door to her den and flicked on a light. Cassie was enchanted. The Cherry wood furniture was beautiful and she had never seen such an interesting fish tank with the tubes between the two. The angelfish looked amazing as they seemed to watch her just as closely as she watched them. The goldfish went crazy trying to get her attention as they went up and down trying to get fed. The two recliners looked cozy as she sat in one to try it out and found it giving her a hug as she sank into it. “Mmm, this is nice” she said smiling. Karin watched her sleepily as she watched her appreciate the room. “Two chairs? Why two?” she asked as she looked back at Karin.

  Karin shrugged “the room needed two, and C.A.T. needed a chair of his own” she answered with a grin.

  “So where is this cat of yours that I’ve heard about?”

  Karin looked around the room before answering “I haven’t the faintest idea” she answered truthfully.

  “He needs his own chair?”

  Karin grinned “you’ll see.”

  D.O.G. pushed his way past Karin to push his muzzle under Cassie’s hand in an apparent request to be petted. She obliged him with a smile as she petted the soft and springy hair. “He makes himself understood very well doesn’t he” she grinned.

  Karin smiled “are you hungry?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re going to cook for me?”

  Karin knew she was kidding, she had confessed her lack of culinary skills which she had no intention of rectifying. “No, but I thought maybe we could order in something.”

  “I’d rather go out if you don’t mind” she eyed Karin trying to gauge how tired she was.

  “Okay, then let’s go out” Karin said as she held out her hand.

  They left D.O.G. behind but not before Cassie had seen his guilt trip in the form of adoring brown eyes. He was good at expressing himself and she left feeling as though she had betrayed him by leaving him.

  “Don’t feel bad, he gets out a lot, believe me” Karin laughed as they walked down the street together. It was dark already and they were both grateful for the jackets they were wearing. It was a brisk fall night and only getting colder now that the sun was down.

  “I think if he had whined just a little my heart would have broken” Cassie said.

  “Wow, he’s going to have you trained in no time” Karin teased.

  They talked all the way to the restaurant. Karin had given Cassie a choice and she had chosen Italian because she knew of Karin’s fondness for it. She had also bragged about Mr. Martinelli’s place often enough on the phone that Cassie was looking forward to it.

  “Ah, Ms. Myers, it has been a while!” a beaming rolly poly Italian man greeted her giving her a kiss on both cheeks. “And you bring your friend?” he greeted her with a wide smile.

  “Mr. Martinelli, this is my friend Cassie Summers, Cassie this is Mr. Martinelli” she introduced them.

  “It is a pleasure, an absolute pleasure to welcome you to my establishment” he told her sincerely.

  “Well thank you. Karin has raved about your restaurant so often I had to try it my first night in New York.”

  He was speechless at her flattery. “I am honored” he gasped and he ushered them to their seats. Turning to Karin he asked “Wine?”

  Karin hesitated only a moment before asking “do you have something at the bar that will wake me up? It’s been a long day but I don’t want to be up all night? I’ll have wine with dinner.”

  He thought for a moment and nodded and asked Cassie “And for you?”

  “I’ll have water until dinner” she answered bemused.

  He hurried away to lean over the bar and talk to the barman. He soon brought a disgusting looking black drink that he assured Karin would wake her up but not keep her up all night. He warned her when it wore off she would want to have her bed close. She chugged it down without asking what it was and he looked at her admiredly.

  Turning to Cassie he asked “Do you know what you want to eat or would you like menus?” he said the word ‘menu’ as though it was a nasty word.

  Cassie was amused. Karin had explained that he took pride on bringing them any Italian cuisine they could think of and that only ‘tourists’ used menus. Regulars such as herself and family asked for whatever they wanted. “If you don’t mind Mr. Martinelli, I’d like some of the Ravioli I’ve heard you make, also those exquisite little bread sticks, the soft ones?”

  He beamed at her and Karin winked at her as she added “sounds good to me” as she agreed with Cassie.

  “Did I do good?” Cassie asked as he walked briskly away to get their order.

  Karin chuckled “you’ve probably endeared yourself to him for life.”

  The Ravioli’s were delicious Cassie found. The breadsticks were the best she had ever tasted. Karin explained they were freshly baked daily in Martinelli’s own ovens. They were doughy but butter filled and just melted in their mouths. Cassie pigged out on them. They were finishing up their wine when a beautiful woman in a figure hugging dress came in the door. She looked around the restaurant and spotted
Karin. She headed for their table.

  “Karin?” she said in a beautiful lilting voice to match her beautiful figure and beautiful face.

  Karin looked up and felt immediately uncomfortable. “Francesca!” she said as she hastily used her napkin on her lips and rose to give the woman a kiss on both cheeks.

  Cassie watched in amazement. This wasn’t behavior she had seen in Karin before.

  “Where have you been hiding yourself?” Francesca asked ignoring Cassie.

  Karin smiled as though Francesca had said something funny. “Francesca, I’d like you to meet my friend Cassie Summers. Cassie, this is Francesca Martinelli” she said making the introductions.

  Cassie could see that Karin looked slightly uncomfortable and she wondered at it as she shook the beautiful Italian woman’s hand. Francesca looked at her intently.

  “So, is this your date?” she boldly asked as she leaned her hip towards Karin who hadn’t sat back down.

  Karin smiled “of course, but then you realized that when you walked up.”

  Francesca sighed dramatically “you never called me back.”

  “Francesca, the phone works both ways.”

  The woman looked startled for a moment then smiled “you’re right, I should have called you. Will you forgive me?”

  Karin nodded and said “of course but you understand now that I can’t return those calls now unless they are business?”

  Francesca’s beautiful almond shaped eyes narrowed slightly at the hint “of course, but you will call me if you find yourself single again?”

  Karin just smiled.

  Mr. Martinelli hurried up hoping to avoid a confrontation. He had heard about their first and only date together and worried that not only his daughter had been upset but a very important customer in Karin. She hadn’t held it against him but he knew how ‘passionate’ his daughter could be, how dramatic. She had probably blown it all out of proportion that someone like Karin, someone so very important, hadn’t called her.