Chapter 38: Everything is Illusion

Housesitting in Carey's cliffside mansion with her girlfriend is one of the better perks of Alison's job.

"Alison, I'm home," Carey says, walking in on the women.

"Oh, shit," Alison gasps, nearly biting Kelly's tongue.

"I didn't expect you back for another week," Alison says, not bothering to cover herself. She knows her boss well enough to understand that some things just don't seem to register with him. Like the fact that he just had two half-naked women making out on his couch.

"I got what I went for," Carey answers, carrying on the conversation as though he truly hasn't noticed his assistant's state of undress, "Or I didn't. Either way, it was time to come home. Where are we at?"

"I put off all casting until your scheduled return next week. Costume designs have been sent over; I put them on your desk for approval."

"Great," Carey says, "We can move casting up now that I'm back. I see the project a lot better when I know who the actors are."

"I'll call the studio first thing in the morning," Alison says, "Do you, uh, want us to leave now?"

"No, it's too late to kick you out," Carey says, "And what would the neighbors think if they saw you two lovely nymphs fleeing my place at this hour?"

Okay, well, maybe he does notice more things than Alison gives him credit for.

"That dude is seriously weird," Kelly says when they are alone in the guest room they've been staying in.

"He's a genius," Alison answers.

"Well, I hope he doesn't decide to barge in on us."

"I wouldn't put it past him," Alison laughs, "He might even bring a camera."

"Okay, I'm either really creeped out or turned on by that."

Carey walks onto the set, which is on the roof of his house. Something is wrong, this scene isn't in his script. He looks around for Alison, maybe she knows what this is about. But the only person on set is this mermaid.

But she's not a mermaid he realizes as she floats toward him. "Maya," he says, recognizing her. "Why are you here?"

"Am I here?" she asks with a laugh, and then lands in his arms.

"I wish you were here," he answers, kissing her, "I wish this was real."

"Nothing is real," she says, floating away, "Everything is Illusion."

"Come back," he calls out to her, but she drifts away, toward the edge of the roof."

"You sent me away," she reminds him, "I'm gone. Out of your life."

Carey plunges down after her, "Not this time," he says.

"You can't fly," she says as they hurtle past his house.

"Nothing is real," Carey says as he swims toward her through the air, "Everything is Maya."

They land on the beach together, enfolded in each other. "I won't let you go," he says.

"Hey, have you seen Grok?" Kelly asks sleepily, coming into the kitchen while Alison makes breakfast. Normally, the dog would be all over her at this time, demanding his walk.

"Maybe Carey took him out," Alison says, "I haven't seen him either."

Kelly walks over to the giant windows looking over the beach below, to enjoy the view one more time before she and Alison have to go back to their less splendid apartment. 

"Um, Ali? I found your boss..." 

Alison rushes down to the beach where Carey lays curled in a ball. He's not bleeding, she notices, so that rules out a fall. She reaches a timid hand out to touch him, and sighs in relief to find him warm and breathing.

"Carey," she says, gently shaking him, "Wake up. Please."

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This chapter is dedicated to misukisu, as it would not have been possible without her Pose Player Add On.

Thank you, Misu!

Chapter 37: So I Don't Float Away

"I can't even look her in the eye," Andrea says, resting his head on Debbie's lap, "Knowing what I know. I feel like keeping Nico's secret makes me part of his filth."

Debbie strokes his hair, not knowing what to say. She understands how he feels, because she's keeping a secret herself. Nico told Andrea his thing with Marilyn was a one night stand, but she knows better, and now she struggles with the decision, to tell Andrea what she knows or not.

"I'm sorry, I'm obsessing about this when I should be paying attention to you," Andrea says, lifting himself up to embrace her.

"I understand," Debbie says, "He put a lot on you. But if he really does what he says, and never cheats again, then maybe it's best for their relationship if Jacklyn doesn't know." That's what she tells herself when she leans toward not telling Andrea how long his brother's affair has been going on.

"But not knowing doesn't change the truth," Andrea says, "If it were you, wouldn't you want to know?"

"What I would want is for my man to be faithful," Debbie answers.

"You don't have to worry about that with me, not ever."

"Let's go back to my place," Debbie says, "I'll make lunch."

Debbie has an important shoot coming up for the next Victoria's Secret catalogue, so she's been eating light. "I was talking to my personal trainer, he works independently, training mostly celebrity types in their homes. He says he's looking into expanding that into a larger business, having a team of trainers to work for him. I could introduce you to him, if you think you might be interested in that," she says while  she chops vegetables for the salad.

"Sure," Andrea says.

"I don't mean to be pushing you into anything," Debbie says with a nervous blush, "It's just..."

"You're beautiful when you get shy like that," Andrea says, taking her hands, "But never feel like you can't tell me what's on your mind."

"We've been getting very close, Andrea, "Before we get closer, I need to know what your plans are, that you aren't going to just disappear back to Italy or wherever in another week or month."

"I admit, I've been a little spoiled being the youngest of five. I've never had to think about working or my future. My parents and brothers still think of me as a teen, and I've sort of lived like one. But being with you is all the motivation I need to change that, and you're all the reason I need to make this city my home."

As they kiss, his right hand makes it way under her dress, slides beneath her bathing suit to fondle her breast, his thumb gently teasing her nipple.

"My bedroom is through that door," she whispers, "Unless you want to make love right here in the kitchen."

She's waited long enough for this, but he makes her wait even longer, taking his time, touching her, tickling her, kissing her.

When he finally enters her, she's so past ready for him that she comes before he even gets started.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" he asks, laying beside her.

"Hold me down so I don't float away," she sighs. After a moment of silent caressing, she speaks again "You were speaking Italian while we made love. What were you saying?"

"I was just saying how beautiful you are," he answers, climbing back on top of, "How soft your skin is, and how amazing it feels to be inside you."

"Oh," she sighs, and they start all over again.

Chapter 36: Trade In Your Girlfriend

The French guy is pretty much the last person Coby expects to find at his door.

"I've worked out the routing issues that were driving me crazy, and I've got the bar nearly finished. I wanted to show it to you," Rainier explains.

Rainier doesn't wait for Coby response, and heads directly towards his console. "SSX, Tony Hawk, Shaun White," Rainier reads off the game titles in Coby's collection, "You certainly are my target audience. Burnout Paradise, Forza, Need for Speed...Do you ever race yourself? I mean, in real life? If I had more time, I'd go out to Buttonwillow more often. Your freeways here are like parking lots, I can never get up to a decent speed while driving."

"I'm not really a car guy," Coby answers, wondering how he ended up being buds with the French guy all of a sudden.

"That's too bad," Rainier says, "I'd like someone to race with. Dag is afraid to go above the speed limit here."

"Okay. So this bar is one of the places you can hang out between events," Rainier explains as he gets his demo started. "Here, I have your character set at about mid-career. Your career and reputation levels will determine which girls will talk to you at the bar. And, in turn, the girls you romance will impact your reputation, so as you move up in levels, you'll need to associate with a higher level girl."

"What if I like that one," Coby says, pointing at a mid-level girl, "You're saying I'd have to dump her when I level up? What if I like her better than the high level chick?"

"This wasn't really supposed to be about developing relationships," Rainier says, "It was meant to be more of a diversion between surfing events, not to be taken seriously."

"Sorry," Coby says, "I just thought it would be cool if I could pick my own girl instead of having the game equip me with one when I level up."

"Don't apologize," Rainier says, "I didn't expect this to be a focus group, but you are my target audience, and if trading in girls when you level up like you'll trade in equipment doesn't work for you, that's something will have to look into. Developing relationships with the NPCs might be a deeper life simulation than we were after, but I'll take this up with Dag. Maybe we could implement some kind of upgrade system so if you choose not to trade in your current girlfriend, you could bring her up to your level as you level up."

"Upgrade my girlfriend?" Coby laughs, "Like, get her implants or something?"

"Well, let's not turn this into My Bimbo," Rainier laughs, "I'll have to think more about this. Do it wrong and we have a very politically sensitive situation." 

"Becky," Coby says, greeting Rebecca as she comes in, "This is...uh..." He can't remember the French guy's name. Reindeer? No, that's stupid...

"Rainier," Rainier introduces himself, "Sheffield just calls me dick."

"Oh, you're the French guy," Rebecca says, siting down on the other couch. She got that story out of Coby the first night she spent here, "I'm Rebecca."

"Belgian, actually," Rainier says, "Listen, I'm meeting Stina for drinks at the Cobra Room. Why don't you two join us?'

"We'd love to," Rebecca says before Coby can refuse.

"Becky, I'm not really in the mood..." Coby tries to get out of it.

"C'mon," Rebecca says, "I'm tired of hanging out here all the time. Let's get out for once."

Coby thinks about suggesting they go out on their own, but that would be rude t this point. "Fine," he says.

Rebecca smiles, "Great. I'll go get dressed."

So the two couples meet at the Cobra Room. Rebecca and Rainier make small talk while Coby and Stina staring at each other while trying to look like they haven't noticed the other is even there."

"You know this wasn't my idea," Coby says quietly when they go to the bar for drinks.

"Of course not," Stina hisses, "You made it very clear you never wanted to see me again."

"I never said that," Coby protests, "Don't make everything into such a drama. I just couldn't have you coming over and fucking me while you're with him."

Rainier doesn't hear what they're saying to each other, but he notices how their shoulders touch while they argue in hushed voices. Anyone walking into this bar would assume they were a couple.

The quartet divides up into pairs, but even across the room from each other, Coby can't stop looking over at Ti.

And Stina dies a little every time Rebecca flirts with Coby. Rainier is very aware of what's happening here. It was an impromptu decision to invite Coby and Rebecca out with them, and he did think it might go something like this. He had to know for sure, and now he does.

"Let's go," he suggests.

"Yes, please," Stina answers with a frustrated sigh.

"Why did you do that?" Stina demands when they are back in Rainier's apartment, "That was excruciating."

"Only because you're still in love with him," Rainier says.

"I'm not!" Stina protests.

"Are you lying to yourself as well as to me?" he asks, "I saw the way you look at each other. You get in  room together and you pine for each other. It actually broke my heart just watching you."

Stina sobs, "It's your fault!"

"Indeed," he says, "Though I didn't exactly have to toss you over my shoulder and drag you away from him. Still, I inserted myself where I don't belong, and it's a situation neither of us is happy in."

"Wait, are you breaking up with me?" Stina asks, seeing where this is heading.

"I like a challenge, Stina, and I'm happy to play a game where the chances of winning are incredibly slim. But there does have to be that chance. With you, I'll always be in second place. Even when I have the prize, I still haven't won. It's galling. So, I'm releasing you to go back to your true love."

"My 'true love' has moved on, in case you didn't notice," Stina moans bitterly.

"She's not even competition for you, Stina," Rainier reassures her, "Sheffield will drop her in a second if you ask him to."

"You think?" Stina brightens.

"I know it. And you know it, too."

Chapter 35: I'll Keep Your Secret

"What are you working on?" Nico asks. It's a quiet song, but haunting and powerful.

"It's not mine," Jacklyn answers, "It's Pissing in a River, by Patti Smith. I'm thinking of covering it on our next album. There's a nice guitar solo in it for you."

"I'll learn it," Nico promises.

"Why don't you come with us tonight?" Nico asks.

"I've never liked these industry parties," Jacklyn laughs, rubbing her stomach, "So I'm using my excuse to get out of this one."

"It's not fair that my brother has a date and I have to go stag," Nico teases, "I miss you when I have to go out alone."

"And I miss you when Bill takes you away from me. But it won't be long before I'm forced to go out and mix with the other celebrities ands posers again. Go have fun, and keep your brother out of trouble."

Even if he wanted to play babysitter over Andrea, Nico wouldn't get the chance, with Bill monopolizing his time. And then there's Debbie; when Andrea first told him about his new girlfriend, Nico nearly had a heart attack. The one person who he thinks might know about his thing with Marilyn has attached herself to his brother. But even after a week of dates, nothing has come of it, and Nico has started to relax. Maybe she didn't hear anything, or maybe she just doesn't care.

"You're so beautiful, it's almost painful," Andrea says with a deep sigh.

"I could say the same about you," Debbie returns with a smile.

"I was thinking," she continues, "After this party, you could come home with me." Debbie is so nervous, she's almost shaking. Every date with him, she thinks about inviting him to her bed, but he's always so polite about asking to see again before he leaves, that she can't bring herself to ask him to stay the night.

"I'd love to," he answers simply, then kisses her deeply.

The couple is so rapt in each other, they don't notice the stunning redhead watching them.

Until she approaches, speaking to Andrea with a flirtatious familiarity. "You have such a lovely voice," Marilyn purrs, "And your accent! You absolutely must have lunch with me."

"I'm sorry," Andrea says, "I'm with someone." 

He turns his attention immediately back to Debbie, "I apologize," he says, "I have no idea who that woman was."

"I know who she is," Debbie says, "She's a predator. I love how you shut her down. Not many men have done that to her."

"She's going after my brother now," Andrea says, looking over her shoulder as they embrace, "She's going to have a bad night, it seems."

Debbie says nothing about Marilyn's chances with Nico, but keeps her eyes on them while she dances with Andrea.

It's never comfortable for Nico to run into Marilyn at these public things, to act like a casual acquaintance, to pay just enough attention to her to not cause suspicion. At least when there's a group of people, he can focus on others.

But inevitable the others drift away to other activities, leaving Nico alone in Marilyn's clutches.

"Well, here we are," she say, kher voice low with desire.

"We can't do this here," Nico says, though he'd like nothing more than to find some dark corner to disappear into with her.

"Second floor, first door on the left, there's a laundry room. No one will go in there at this time of night. You go first, I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

Everyone is occupied, drinking, dancing, going out to the hot tub out back. His brother has eyes for nothing but Debbie. Surely no one will notice if he disappears for a few minutes. Nico nods, "I'll go now," he says, and walks casually toward the stairs.

Marilyn finishes her drink, then follows Nico.

"She's following Nico upstairs now," Andrea observes, still dancing with Debbie, "You don't think he would..."

"He's your brother, you know him best," Debbie says, not wanting to have to spell it out for him. Better he should discover it himself than have it come through gossip, even from her.

Andrea would like to think his brother is above that kind of behavior, but none of his other brothers have been any better than their father. He'd like to think he knew Nico well enough to say with certainty that he's different, but Nico has changed since he left home, and Andrea has his doubts. 

"I hate to leave you, but I should go after him," Andrea says, holding her close.

"Go," she says, "I'll be here, waiting for you."

It's dark on the second floor, the only light coming from beneath the first door on the left. And the sounds coming from behind that door are unmistakable. 

"Your brother is here," Marilyn says, the words coming out between her gasps and moans, "Maybe he'd like to join us."

Nico doesn't get a chance to respond or even zip himself up before Andrea shoves him hard against the washing machine. Marilyn makes her escape while Nico bears the brunt of his brother's wrath.

"What the hell are you doing?" Andrea bellows.

Nico cringes as his brother's hands ball into fists.

"Andrea, brother, calm down," he says desperately, not wanting to meet those fists head on.

"You want me to calm down?!" Andrea shouts, "I come in here to find you screwing that..that putana. You have a pregnant girlfriend at home, Nico. What are you thinking?"

"Keep it down," Nico hisses, "Do you want everyone to hear? Let's talk about this at home."

"What is there to talk about?" Andrea asks, but he lowers his voice, and drops his arms to his sides. 

Nico lets out a relieved sigh, "Let's go," he says, "I'll explain everything at home."

"I'm sorry I can't go home with you tonight after all," Andrea whispers, kissing Debbie goodnight outside the party, "I have to deal with my brother."

"I understand," Debbie says, "That's one of the things I love about you, that family is so important o you."

"You're important, too, Debbie," he says.

"I know," she says, smiling, "And that makes me incredibly happy. Go, help your brother. But remember, he isn't your responsibility, don't let his behavior weigh on you. I hate to see you hurting like this. And call me later, if you need to talk."

"You'll be asleep," Andrea protests.

"I'll be awake, thinking about you."

Nico waits by the car as his brother kisses Debbie goodnight. His thing with Marilyn was a huge mistake, Nico knew that from the moment it started. And now he has to figure out a way to stop that mistake from blowing up in his face.

It's a quiet ride back to the house in Malibu, but as soon as they are inside, Andrea's anger explodes in a torrent of Italian. "What is wrong with you? You have everything here. Why would you spit on your woman and your baby like this?"

"Keep it down! You'll wake Jacklyn," Nico says.

"Andrea, brother, I know what I did was wrong. I should have been stronger. But, you saw her..."

"I saw her, Nico. She's beautiful, but so are a lot of women. She came after me first, and I was able to refuse her easily enough."

Nico frowns at that, he didn't know Marilyn had made a move on Andrea. But his brother's words make it clear that he doesn't know how long this affair has been going on, that he thinks this was Nico's first encounter with Marilyn. And that misperception could be what saves him. "You're a better man than I am, then," he says sadly, "I was weak, and I made a terrible mistake. But I swear to you, It was just this once and I will never let that happen again. Just promise me you won't tell Jacklyn."

"I'm not going to tell her, that's your job."

"Are you crazy? If she knew..."

"And that's why you shouldn't have done it, Nico. But now that you have, you have to come clean with her and beg her forgiveness."

"Andrea, you don't know her like I do, if she finds out I was with another woman, she'll blame herself," Nico would say anything to keep this from Jacklyn, but that happens to be the truth, "She'll think she did something to drive me away, or that she gotten too fat with her pregnancy. She's been so worried about that I have to nearly force her to eat. She'll turn this on herself as much as she turns on me. Please, just let me handle this, and I promise you, I'll be better. I won't do it again."

"All right," Andrea says, turning away, unable to look his brother in the eye, "I'll keep your secret. Just promise me you won't turn into Papa."

"I promise," Nico says, knowing it's a lie. Like the rest of his brothers, he's already walked too far in his father's shoes to ever be any better than he was. He's been lying to Jacklyn for moths, and now he's lying to Andrea, his younger brother, the one who looked up to him, the one he was supposed to set an example for. The weight of his failure is almost too much to bear.

"Is everything all right? I heard shouting," Jacklyn says, pulling herself up as Nico comes to bed.

"It's nothing. Just a little argument between brothers," Nico answers.

Jacklyn curls up to him when he joins her in bed.

"I love you," he whispers, "More than anything." He's not going to waste the second chance he's been given, Nico promises himself, he's going to stop living this lie, give up Marilyn and every other woman who comes after him. He has to, or he'll lose everything.

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Pissing in a River, by Patti Smith