The Abduction

by Nichole Allen

  “Bravo!” The man exclaimed as he stood up and made his way over. “Every night I swear it gets better.”

  Victoria felt her cheeks flush with a mix of appreciation and nervousness. Did he just say that he comes to watch the play every night? She tried not to shake as she offered him her hand. “I’m Victoria, thank you for the compliment.”

  “My name is Jared,” he answered. “I hope I didn’t alarm you; I’m an investor in several theaters in the city. When I saw you perform as Daria, I just couldn’t take my eyes off you. You have a real talent. I started coming to every show to see how you did.”

  Victoria’s heart continued to pound. Never when she fell in love with the stage and began to act did she ever think she would meet someone who helped fund theaters and shows. If he invested in several in the city, he had to be a billionaire. Victoria thought about pinching herself but was suddenly very aware that she was dressed like someone who lost her lover on a battlefield in World War II. Pinching herself was only going to make her look stranger.

  “Thank you,” she managed to mumble again.

  “I think I’ve seen enough now to make this proposition to you,” Jared continued. “You’ve got a gift Victoria. I wanted to see if you’d be a new show that I’m funding on Broadway. Huge compared to this, tons of song and dance numbers, elaborate costumes, the works. You’d be the star of course and if all goes well there could be lots of money for the both of us, plus there’d be plenty of opportunities for you. One of my best friends is a movie producer. What do you say, are you in?”

  Victoria looked around the nearly empty theater is disbelief. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. She took in the stage manager that was still watching her with one eye as he spoke to one of his stagehands that was cleaning up the stage. As much as she was thrilled at the prospect, she couldn’t abandon The Little Bird just yet.

  “I’d like to think about it and then I would like to meet with you somewhere to discuss everything.”

  Jared smiled at her. “I’ll pick up after the show three days from now. Plenty of time to mull things over. Plan on wearing formal attire okay?”

  Before Victoria could say another word he was walking towards the exit and he was gone.

  *****

  A few nights later, Victoria was changing in her dressing room to go out with the man that had offered her a place in a new show. She’d done some research and had found out that Jared Miller was indeed a billionaire. He was part owner of six theaters in New York as well as having other shares in film companies and even connections in the music industry. Victoria was finding it very difficult to not want to commit to this opportunity that he’d offered her, but she tried very hard to control herself. She couldn’t help but feel that this sudden rise in fame might be at a cost. That and she was a bit concerned about what would happen if she turned her back on her current show and something fell through with Jared Miller’s pipe dream.

  She washed off her stage make up in the small bathroom that she shared with a few other cast members and carefully hung up her costume so that the wardrobe department could clean it again get it ready for the next performance. Then she put on her midnight blue dress for whatever night on the town Jared felt deemed formal wear. She brushed her auburn hair so that it fell into lovely tresses down her back before she made her way out the lobby.

  Jared was waiting for her wearing a very stylish gray Italian suit. Once more he complimented her on a great performance before he whisked her outside to where a chauffeur was waiting.

  “Where are we going?” She asked once they were in the back of the luxury car.

  “Have you ever been to the Carlisle?” Jared asked as he checked his smartphone.

  “What? That place on 5th Avenue? A drink costs thirty dollars. That’s where you’re taking me?”

  Jared laughed at Victoria’s excitement. “I wanted a nice place to talk about our business plans.”

  The way he said business plans caused Victoria to momentarily come back down to earth. “This isn’t one of those situations where I’m going to have to blow you or your movie producer friend to get a job is it?”

  Jared laughed again. “No, no.” He gave her a mischievous look as he placed his phone back in his pocket. “I mean unless you want too. You are very beautiful, but I haven’t even wooed you yet.”

  When Victoria looked at him mortified he laughed to the point of tears. “Victoria, I’ve watched you become another person for almost a month. You do it beautifully. You are perfect for my show. There are just a few things that I want to make clear before we fully commit to this.”

  Victoria tried not to be skeptical as she sat in the car with him. She tried not to assume the worst as he walked her into the Carlisle and followed him into a private room where she was told to order whatever she wanted and it didn’t matter that there were no prices on the menu. Victoria had a small glimmer of hope as she remembered that there was a can of pepper spray in her purse. She’d use it if she had to.

  “Okay, now that we’re somewhere comfortable let me tell you what I need. I need someone who can give their heart and soul to this production. I can promise you that it will make you a star, you will have more opportunities if you leave your current show, but you will need to be committed one hundred and ten percent. You’ll have to promote things, the spotlight will be on you so that myself and other associates can be in the background.”

  Victoria stared at Jared across the table. “Why do you need to be in the background, isn’t this your brainchild?”

  “I’m a modest man,” Jared replied with that same mischievous smile that he’d had in the car. Victoria had a feeling that there was more to that than he was letting on.

  “What is the show about?” she asked instead.

  “A beautiful girl gets the opportunity of a lifetime. She’s discovered singing in a dive bar and is given the promise of stardom.”

  Victoria couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is that why you’ve been watching me every night? To find someone who is going through the same thing in real life?”

  “You could say that was part of my motivation. Plus, you are beautiful. Add that to the talent that radiates from you and I knew I had my lead.”

  Victoria blushed. “I still feel like I’m going to end up back at your place, on my knees…”

  Jared put up a hand to stop her. “I can see why you are nervous. I promise you, this will be worth it. I mean you can trust me and I can make you are star, or you could stay with The Little Bird. Something else could come from that, maybe.

  Victoria couldn’t decide if she liked Jared Miller or not. He was charismatic, sexy even, but he was incredibly arrogant. She knew she had a very difficult choice to make but when did famous or successful people say no to risks?

  “Where do I sign up?” Victoria finally said.

  “I’ll let your director know that they need to find a new Daria. You can confirm with them. I’d imagine that read throughs will begin in about a month. Don’t worry though, you’ll be seeing me. Plus, I’d like to know you better,” Jared replied. “There’s so much about me that you don’t know yet. I want to know more about you too.”

  Jared called the waiter over to open a bottle of champagne; they’d had something to celebrate. While Victoria truly was happy and excited for the future, she couldn’t help but feel like the floor had been pulled out from under her and she was falling.

  *****

  The weeks that followed were a whirlwind. Victoria let The Little Bird know that she was leaving, promising to play her role until a replacement was ready. Her life was so busy that it bordered on the absurd, but Victoria was too excited to feel tired.

  As the work required in her current show began to fizzle out, the new project began to take off. It started off as table reads, that turned into rehearsals and costume fittings. Jared Miller was there for all of it. She posed with other members of the cast for promotional materials and she attended various events on his arm. The venues were differ
ent, the clothing interchangeable, but the message was clear. Victoria was going to be a star, she was going to take Broadway by storm and that the world was going to see her everywhere.

  The show was going to be called Muse and if Victoria ever doubted that Jared was a billionaire, she walked on to the set after the various scenes had been built and couldn’t believe the extravagance. She literally felt like she’d stepped back into the Golden Age of Theater and she was wearing her low top converses. She’d gone through the script countless times and yet it hadn’t seemed real until she’d stepped on the actual stage.

  “Amazing, right?”

  The voice made Victoria turn around. Jared was there in his expensive suit studying her. She felt similar to the day he’d asked to meet her. She was happy but nervous at the same time. Her heart pounded, she’d spent so much time with him and she was just noticing how tall he was compared to her or the face that cheeks were very defined.

  “I can’t believe this is where I’m going to work now.” Victoria marveled.

  “Wait until you’ve seen the costumes. You will really feel like a movie star.” Jared smiled as Victoria beamed like a giddy child. “The wardrobe department is almost done with them, but there will be no need to get closer to them until the performances get closer.

  “I can’t believe this. You wrote all of this? Even the music?”

  Jared nodded. “It was easy, I had some really great inspiration you know.”

  He winked and Victoria felt her nerves rising to fever pitch levels. She remembered how Jared had “discovered” her by watching her at her old show. As attractive as he was, as amazing as all of this was, sometimes she felt scared that Jared Miller’s appreciation was an infatuation.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “We want the same thing,” he replied simply, “I want to be recognized for my success, you want to be a famous actress. Sounds like a perfect union. Come over for dinner and drinks after rehearsal tonight.”

  She should have said no. She should have said she had other plans. Sometimes she’d wished she’d fooled around with the understudy for her The Little Bird love interest when he’d expressed interest. Maybe she’d had a real excuse to decline Jared when all she had was her brain freaking out and overthinking things. How did you say no to the man that was trying to give you a future in acting? How did you turn down a man that had achieved more in his life than she could dream?

  “Sounds great,” she replied, “I’ll see you after everyone else has left.”

  All she needed now was someone to see them together and assume things.

  ****

  The show was starting to come together. The actors had great chemistry and she had to admit that the love triangle that was central to the plot was fun. There had been no singing in The Little Bird so she loved that she got to sing songs and dance. Her favorite number was a scene where she got to stand on a piano like she was in a speakeasy. That was when the director discovered her character and tries to steal her away from her boyfriend who was also a starving artist. The whole thing got a little crazy; the actress is forced to choose between the director and fame or the artist that had supported her all along. She’d never thought that she’d be one of those actresses that would get wrapped up in a character that she was playing that she often felt like her heart would burst at having to make such a choice. Maybe it was a good thing that he was single after all because there was no way that she could give her time to anything else but work.

  “Great work everyone!” Jared said with a clap as they made it to the end of the scene that they had planned on running. “You are all a great group of people. This show is going to blow New York away, nothing else will be like it. See you tomorrow.”

  Victoria made her way down to her dressing room to clean herself up a bit before she headed off with Jared. She had the light to the main part of the room off, the light from the small bathroom enough for her to see. Victoria was still marveling over the fact that her dressing room had a bathroom when she heard voices in the hallway.

  “Did you hear that the man that wrote and directed this show handpicked Victoria for the lead. She’s his muse or something.”

  “Wow, and the show is called Muse.”

  A second voice said flatly, “How original.”

  “I bet they’re totally fucking.” The first one said jealously. Then as they must have noticed that one of her lights was on because the voice blurted. “Shit, she’s might have heard us.”

  Victoria narrowed her eyes at her reflection as the voices faded away. So people were already making assumptions. People were thinking what was plaguing the back of her mind. That Jared Miller was obsessed with her. This should have scared her and the pit of her stomach felt funny as she took in that realization. But there was a part of her that was thrilled. She knew that she could be whatever she wanted if she played along. Why fight it if other people in the show already knew his intentions. She would no longer fear her role. She smiled at herself, grabbed her bag and headed towards the stage.

  *****

  “So you are a successful investor. You created a musical including the music and concepts for the costumes and scenery. Now I’m finding out that you can cook. Is there anything that you can’t do?” Victoria asked Jared as she sat in his elaborate dining room in his penthouse.

  “I can’t act,” he replied as he filled her wine glass. “If I could I’d be in the show too.”

  “What part would you play?” Victoria asked.

  “The director,” Jared replied, breaking eye contact. “Obviously.”

  There was a brief clip of silence. Victoria twirled her shrimp scampi around her fork as she thought about what the girls had been saying in the hallway. She wanted to know what she did to get this man to notice her. Months ago, she’d never imagine that she would be having dinner with Jared Miller in his minimalist apartment. She was trying to throw her inhibition to the wind. She’d always been a cautious girl, but that did make people famous. It was getting a bit easy to settle into, that and she’d already had a glass of wine. “Want to hear something funny?”

  Jared smirked at her from across the table. “Sure.”

  Victoria couldn’t help but giggle as she remembered the girl’s jealous voice. “People in the show. They think we’re together. Maybe not together, but fooling around.”

  She had expected Jared to laugh too, but he didn’t. His face became quite serious and Victoria regretted saying anything.

  “I could see why people would interpret it that way,” he replied. “I’ve already said that I want to know everything I can about you. I think you are beautiful Victoria. I’d want nothing more than to belong to you.”

  Once more Victoria dropped her eyes to her plate and played nervously with her food. “I…I would like to know more about you too.”

  “I feel like everyone is intimidated by me because I have so much money. I wish they would look past all that. I’m determined. I want things in life and I go out there and make them happen. In reality, I’m just a giant theater nerd that got bit by the acting bug and could never let go. I found out pretty quickly that I wasn’t meant for the stage, but I love writing and I figured I could make my mark that way. Not only have I invested in shows, but I had a few plays that made it to the stage, nothing as big as this one, though. I guess there’s just a moment when everything falls into place.”

  For the first time since she’d met Jared Miller, she didn’t feel nervous to look him in the eye. She stared at the man that sat across from her. He suddenly didn’t seem that different than her. She too had been that child that was in play and never wanted to do anything else after that.

  “What was your first play?” she asked him.

  Jared smiled as he remembered. “Anything Goes,” he replied, “I was a sailor. How about you?”

  “I was Molly, the youngest orphan in Annie.”

  The conversation took off from there. They talked about their favorite shows and from there oth
er favorites such as food and places to go on vacation. Soon the bottle of wine was drained and the dinner plates were empty and Jared had invited her out onto the balcony of his penthouse. By balcony it was one of those rooftop yards that was perfectly manicured and Victoria probably should have been nervous about how high up off the ground she was, but her head was so fuzzy from the wine that she didn’t seem to care. She also didn’t think anything of the way Jared placed an arm around her waist and drew her close.

  “I hope that my feelings for you are not overwhelming. You truly are my muse. I knew the first time that I saw you that I had to have you.” He nuzzled his face in her hair.

  “I’m very torn,” Victoria admitted, the wine giving her liquid courage, “You are charming. I’ve found that we have so much in common, but I can’t help but feel like if I give into you I’m becoming a stereotype.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There is this part of me that wants to kiss you so passionately for what you’ve provided for me. That wants you to hold me because you’ve been so good to me. But if I do that I’m one of those girls that sleeps with the director to get in his good graces. I’m no better than a porn star. I’m getting paid for my body.”

  Jared took his finger and put them under her chin so that Victoria would look him in the eye. “Is that what you think?”

  “What am I supposed to think?” Victoria found herself growing impassioned. “You watched me perform every night. You are talking about making me famous. How am I not supposed to think that this all comes for a price?”

  Instead of answered her, Jared leaned in and kissed her. It was aggressive, it wasn’t intense. It was gentle, a moment that brought her peace. He broke apart from her and looked at her quite seriously.

  “Yes, it was love at first sight. I can see why that might overwhelm you. But I know talent when I see it. Those things rolled into one make you insatiable to me. I am falling in love with you. I want you, Victoria. I want you more than anything in my entire life, but you will not lose your part on Muse if you refuse me.”