Morning

The next morning, Xavier calls Dravis from his cell phone. He rarely spent time in his apartment because he was usually at the office or at expensive bars making risky business deals. Sometimes he even liked to mix business with pleasure. Xavier would hit on a woman who he thought was attractive. One that was in his league. Power and confidence was what drew them to him, or so he thought. All he had to do was promise stardom to a woman and she was putty in his hands to a knotch on his elegant bedpost.

Dravis woke up alone on the couch in the living room. He answers his cell phone in a groggy tone.

"Dravis I hope I didn't wake you but now that you're up, I wanted to make sure that you would be ready for the business trip. This is it my man! We're going to turn your dreams into a reality." Xavier promised cheerfully.

"Yeah. Sounds good." Dravis replied. His mind wasn't all there. He might have been tired but he had another dream about Vanessa. This time it was something even eerier than usual.

"Oh daddy. You've messed up big time. Please heed the warnings that I give. They're your only hope." Vanessa warned him.

"Dravis. Hello Dravis? Earth to Dravis?"

Dravis went back to his phone call. "Yeah. I'm here."

"Good. I'll be picking you up in a couple of hours. The drive to Los Angeles shouldn't be too bad. We can go over the game plan for what the meeting will be like. Good news. There's going to be a party in your honor. So I'll you soon." Xavier hung up with Dravis. Xavier continued to pack his things for the trip. He placed the script with his changes and his gun into his duffel bag.

Dravis was right about to fall asleep until he heard one of the laides he had been living with walking around behind him. He pops his head up to see Jamie making her way out the door.

"Hey. Where are you off to this early?" He asked.

"The same place I've been going for the past couple of weeks." Jamie stopped to see that he was about to detest. "Before you say anything, just listen. We've already had this discussion before and I found out from Tiffany what's been going on. I'm staying out of it. For your sake, me visiting Bryant is the least of your problems. You need to fix things with your fiance. Don't worry about me."

Dravis had stormed up from the couch and went to the door to block it. Jamie was looking at him like he was crazy but Dravis was furious. He looked her straight into the eyes to let her know that he meant business.

"I care for you. I care for you so much that I'm not going to let you walk out of this door. Bryant and Carmen are your past! You should just leave it at that. I know I've been busy with my life but you're a part of it. Carmen might have made us that but deep down inside I'm happy that we're together. Once I fix things with Tiffany, we'll be a family again and I will be succesful by letting the whole world see the pain that I went through. The story that Bryant helped to ruin by his lies and deception. If you ask me, he's just as bad as Carmen!" He scolded.

"Bryant isn't the bad guy that you're making him out to be. He just got out of a coma and has no idea what's going on. He's remembering bits and pieces with me by his side! If you want to be my father, then try to be my friend and understand where I'm coming from! All we do is fight. In the beginning it was so easy because it was so new. Now it's just... unbearable to be around you."

The words had crushed Dravis. Jamie was another woman in the household who was mad at him. He moved past the doorway to let her go. Jamie couldn't believe she had said such harsh things but they were in Bryant's defense. Jamie didn't even look at Dravis while she opened the door to leave. He just looked on. Hurt, angry, and confused. The door slam had shattered practically both their hearts. Jamie wanted to say she was sorry but couldn't face going back in there. Dravis had went back to the couch to lie down. He closes his eyes but he couldn't sleep, he was too heartbroken.

Afternoon

Later in the afternoon, Leona opens the door to her hotel room. After getting kicked out by Dravis and Tiffany, it was the only place she knew where to go. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about the expenses. There was no way she was going to stay in some cheap motel. That was definitely not her style. Leona pictured herself to be classy and elegant. She stayed in the Kensington Way Plaza.

Everything was going as planned. Leona's true reason for being in town was to get back at her sister because she always had animosity towards her twin. Long ago someone else hated Tiffany almost as much as she did. When she got a call from a stranger who propositioned her about striking an aliance, Leona couldn't turn the deal down. Leona blamed her evil ways on Tiffany and her parents. Tiffany wanted to become an actress, Leona wanted to be an actress. The Vallens didn't have enough money for the one so Tiffany got the free ride while Leona had to work. Leona made a few softcore pornos while Tiffany worked on a reality show which led her to the love of her life. Just the very thought of her own past was boiling her blood. On a brighter side, the sex romps turned her into a dominant force of sexuality that men couldn't exist.

Her concentration was cut short when there was a knock on her door. She opened it in hopes of seeing her partner in crime. Instead she saw a huge bouquet of flowers behind the strangers face.

"Awww, flowers. You should have!" Leona flirted.

Minutes Later

Across town, Jamie was sitting in the same hospital chair in the same hospital room that had been keeping Bryant for weeks on end. He seemed a little shooken up and he every reason to be but Jamie was clueless to Carmen's recent return. Everyone had been because of the whole Miranda switcheroo that Carmen pulled. The people at the hospital thought that Miranda was Carmen until she was arrested for trying to attack Bryant and they realized just how wrong they were.

"What's wrong?" Jamie asks with concern. "Did you remember something? Was it something bad?"

"Yeah. You could say that. I had a visitor last night. It was Carmen. She tried to kill me in my sleep but thanks to Doctor Yuri, I was saved! The hospital hired security to look after me but I declined." Bryant explained.

Jamie had swallowed the huge lump in her throat and looked down at her feet. It was the worse case scenario that she didn't expect happen, happened. "I knew she would be back. After all the crap she pulled with Dravis, she wants me next. She always told me that we would be a family. I'm surprised that she didn't blow up the Heidel residence yet. She already tried killing you once. Of course she would try killing you again. That's the way Carmen works."

Jamie began to pace back and forth in the room. "Why? Why would she want to kill you? Maybe she's trying to hide something. Can you remember anything else when you were close to her?"

"I was close to that bitch? Well then I must've been crazy. That part hasn't come to me yet. I haven't fully remembered everything." Bryant responded. He then sighed. "As much as I hate to say it, I'm not the one that can give you the answers that you want. I thank you so much for helping me with everything but I don't know what you're looking for. Obviously Carmen does. You have to see her!"

Bryant was right. Carmen was the demon she had to face. Jamie was a tough person but Carmen scared her because of the knowledge she had. To pick her brain was going to be like talking to Hanibal Lecter. It was something that she wasn't looking forward to at all.

Afternoon

Tiffany sat still on her bed. Dravis was leaving for Los Angeles and she still wasn't speaking to him. He kept packing. She would have been cheering him on, telling him that he's a wonderful writer, with a wonderful talent to tell a story which he deserved to be told. Instead, she gave him the silent treatment, which was killing her inside. Finding out about the affair was the hard part, knowing he hid it from he was even harder. She tried blocking the situation out of her mind but couldn't.

"You're husband thought you were me and we had sex!" Leona taunted. "I'm sorry but there's really no other way to put it."

Tiffany looked Dravis squre in the eyes. "Is this true?" Tiffany asked.

"Yes but it was an accident. Look I can't take any of this. I don't want to fight with you so I'm not going to. I am the one who's sorry but I'm too tired right now. I've been up all night getting ready for my meeting in L.A. Can we just deal with this later?" Dravis shook his head as he exited to the bedroom.

He ran away. Tiffany was in need of some understanding and Dravis ran away. He left her there. Leona gave her a look telling her, it's me, you know what I'm capable of. Instead, she grabbed her by her hair and began to pull it.

"What the hell are you doing you crazy bitch?" Leona slapped her across the face as hard as she could. Tiffany dug her nails deep into Leona's shirt and began to tear at it. Leona took the remote control from the coffee table and smacked her in the head with it. Both women were breathing heavy. Tiffany just walked away. Leona was stunned at what her sister had just done. "Why you don't you finish what you started? Bring it! BRING IT!" Leona screamed.

The flashback ends. Fighting with Leona was a big stress reliever for her but it didn't fix her problems with Dravis. She could hear him walk in the room. He was fully packed.

"Goodbye Tiffany. I love you, even if you don't love me!" Dravis stayed in the doorway for a few moments to wait and see if she would respond but she didn't. Tell him you love him you fool, tell him! Her heart was telling her what to do but her head told her to stay strong and cold.

"Goodbye Dravis!" She turned away from him. With a solid door slam from the front door, he was gone. Tiffany got up to look out the window. He was leaving to get into Xavier's expensive looking Lexus. Dravis opens the door and looks up at the house to find Tiffany watching him. He gets in the car and they drive off.

Tiffany gets a phone call on her cell phone, she's thinking that it's going to be Dravis but it wasn't, it was Ivan.

"Hey I was wondering if you would be interested in me cooking you dinner tonight. I'm telling you, my cooking skills are to die for." Ivan boasted.

"Ivan I'm not in the mood for company. I'm going through something right now with my fiance. I think it would be best if I were alone tonight."

"You shouldn't be alone. You should be with someone talking to them. That's what I told you when we first met. I won't take no for an answer."

"Um...okay. I live at 2219 Leavel Avenue. If I'm not my cheery normal self, then I'm warning you in advance." Leona gave away all of the emotions that were wearing her down and decided to take the plunge, especially after envisioning Leona and Dravis making love on the bed that she was next to. That was why she was quick to say yes to Ivan.

"I'll be over at nine. See you then." Ivan hangs up the phone. Leona kisses his neck while clinging on to the hotel bed sheets to cover her breasts.

"Have fun seducing her but she's not like me what so ever. Tiffany's too pure. With me, I'm just naughty to the bone. No pun intended!" Leona whispered into his ear while nibbling his ear lobe. She takes off his suit jacket and unbuttons his shirt. He turns around and grabs Leona's body as the two roll around the bed kissing each other passionately.

 

Evening

Carmen was back where some people thought she deserved. The Kensington Way Insane Asylum was practically her second home. She lies on her stiff bed, thinking about what went wrong. How could an outsider stop her? Carmen fooled a full staff of security gaurds but one doctor put her back in the padded cell. This time she wasn't alone. She could hear the other crazy people screaming. They might be crazy to society but after spending time she realized that they were just like her, they were people who were done wrong. They were did in by their chemical imbalances or by people who turned on them. Whatever the reason, they were her only friends now.

Carmen stood up and walked over to the door. There were bars in front of her and the only thing she could see was across the hallway. The room ahead was quiet until some popped their head in. "Hola chica" a familiar voice said. Carmen squinted her eyes to get a better view. Behind the dark night hair, was the one she used to escape the first time, except she was weighed down by a large stray jacket. Carmen started laughing hysterically.

"Oh Miranda. How stupid these people really are. Why would they place us in the same wing all over again? They are so idiotic here! To think that you weren't given the death penalty is beyond me. How did that doctor's face taste after you killed her?" Carmen asked in a teasing way.

"Delicious. The puta deserved everything she got."

Carmen laughed even harder. She was laughing at the situation. The next time she had to escape wasn't going to be easy. The long days ahead will give her enough time to plan something out. For now, all she could do was laugh. There was no way she was going to let the system bring her down. That system included the family that she longed for.

Nighttime

Ivan and Tiffany were smiling while sitting across from each other at the candlelit dining room table. Both were sipping on a white wine while eating the chiken provance meal that Ivan prepared for them. He made sure to keep the laughs and the wine pouring. She was in a good mood, it was right where he wanted her.

"I have to admit, you did a really good job with dinner, and you took my mind off of things." Tiffany told him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk."

Ivan snickered at her comment. He just smiled while continuing to pour the wine into her glass. "Just trying to show you the finer things in life. Like friendship. However, I must admit that I have other intentions. I've had other intentions, from the first day I met you. You're an amazing woman. If your fiance has done you wrong, then you deserve better."

"Thank you. For everything."

Ivan walked over to her stereo system. With the wine glass in his hand, he looked at her collection. He laughed when he saw James Blunt.

"I actually love this CD. Mind if I play it?" Ivan asked. "You know the first time I heard it, I thought it was Rod Stewart singing. I was surprised to know it wasn't someone from our generation."

"Just go right ahead and play casanova." Tiffany flirted. She made her way over to him as the song started. Like him, she was holding on to her wine glass also. He put his glass down on top of the stereo. He then places her glass next to it. Without saying a word, he took her into his arms as they started to slow dance. She was melting into his chocolaty brown eyes. Except, something felt wrong. Ivan leaned in to kiss her and all Tiffany could think about was Leona and Dravis kissing. Leona closed her eyes and kisses his soft lips but stops.

"Is something wrong?" Ivan asks.

Tiffany pulls out of his grasp. "No. I mean yes, I mean- Please excuse me." Tiffany exits to go to the bathroom, leaving Ivan by himself to wonder what he was doing wrong.

Nighttime

In Los Angeles, Dravis was sitting on the balcony of his hotel room alone. Xavier was off making business deals and Dravis was alone with this thoughts. The moon was shining silver across the land of movie stars and movie makers. He couldn't think of business, all he could think of was Tiffany. Little did he know that she was thinking of him too. The scene was playing out like a telenovela. Life was certainly not a Spanish soap opera, it was real. Dravis places his beer on the glass patio table. He picks up his cell phone to dial Tiffany.

The phone rings at the Heidel household but Tiffany doesn't hear it. Ivan looks at it, thinking it might be Leona. Quickly he answers the phone on the first ring. "Hello?" No one was on the other end or at least that's what Ivan thought. "Hello?"

After hearing another man's voice, one that he never recognized before, Dravis hung up while a tear fell from his eye. There was only one question running through his mind at that point. Has he lost Tiffany forever?

TO BE CONTINUED