Academy award winner- ARIES STARK- missing'
It was on the front page of every paper and magazine in America; it was top story on every news channel. It was already being called the scandal of the century. The mysterious 'without a trace' disappearance of one of the highest ranked celebrities had the media in a frenzied uproar. There were rewards for sightings, pictures, or any source of information, no matter how minute, surrounding his disappearance.
There were hundreds of '1-800-SEEN-ARIES?' toll free numbers. There had been sightings of him from France to Japan to Brooklyn. The rumors were the worse; the fabrications were spreading like wild fire, and there were millions of different theories and scenarios that ranged from mafia related, to a religious calling, to plain, old-fashioned murder. There was even a rumor that he had sold his soul to the devil for his fame and was now traveling with a murderous cult.
***
Lona Lutz stood in front of the press forcing her overly joyed, gleeful smile of satisfaction to remain hidden behind her false mask of sorrow. There were over 100 journalists surrounding her, all wanting to hear her story. The 6ft3 brunette was getting high off the flashing camera bulbs and she was close to orgasm with all the attention she was getting. She put the thick tissue in her hand up to her eye. She had a tiny vile of fake tears hidden deep inside the tissue for when her eyes dried out . With precise moves, no one would ever know what she was not really crying.
"We were going to get married." she lied with a deep sigh . "That's why I am offering a million dollar reward for his safe return home to me." she looked as sad as she could, still managing to flirtatiously bat her eyes towards the camera. "I miss him so badly," she cried the lie dramatically, her limited acting skills really put to the test.
In all honesty, she was having the time of her life now that he was gone. Truth was, his sudden and mysterious disappearance was really working to her advantage on many different levels, she had unlimited use of his mansions, access to one of his bank accounts and all the press she could ask for. The publicity was the best part, she was a self obsessed, narcissistic, attention junkie, so of course she was working the press for all it was worth, she was going to get every last second of her 15 minutes of fame.
She had the advantage, she was the last person to see Aries alive, and any piece of information of his 'last days' was top priority and more valuable than gold, so naturally her info and immediate updates of his 'possible' where abouts made her center stage. They jumped on any lie she told them, and she was handing out lies like she handed out her business card. She was even planting rumors about a possible pregnancy, which was actually a possible reality. She was the star again, and she was thriving, secretly praying Aries never came back.
***
He was trying to avoid any reminder of that life, but it was becoming impossible, news of his disappearance and his pictures were plastered everywhere. With all the chaos in the world today, why was his story the main focus? Who cared where he went? What he did? He was only a man, the same as any other man out there. He just wanted a normal life, he wanted to be Jack fuckin' Smith, the 'happy to be unknown' man from down the street.
***
Mimi had spent the next few days searching desperately for a job and desperately trying to avoid her new neighbor.
At this point she was unsuccessful in both.
She had almost collided with the black-haired hunk at the mailbox. He smiled, and that damn smile made her want to forget all her rules, morals, her deep superstitions and drag him into her apartment and learn first hand about the birds and the bees. Instead, she kept her head down, trying not to look at him than grumbled a good morning before stalking back to her apartment. She refused to take any unnecessary chances, if she even looked at him something bad might happen.
Mimi had applied to every fast food joint, restaurant, grocery store and a slew of assorted odd jobs available in town and still had found nothing. Her anxieties were rising and her stress level was reaching its peak. Everything seemed to finally be catching up to her and she was fighting hard to keep it restrained and keep herself rational and optimistic. She felt like running in the middle of a deep forest and screaming until her head exploded! She wanted to punch trees and stomp the ground until it cracked! But that display of emotion was a weakness she refused to possess. So she walked around like a zombie, trying to keep her scattered mind clear and her sleep deprived body moving.
***
Luci and Lyndsy were very worried, they tried not to let her be out of their sight for to long. It was just a matter of time before that carefully held control over her emotions slipped, and they were waiting for it. They wanted to make sure they were there for her when it happened. With all their good intentions they did not realize the added pressure they were putting on her with their new plan to shock her into letting go of the emotion that was paralyzing her. Luci had read in some magazine that retelling horrific details could possibly make her finally snap, talk about it and get it off her conscience. They loved her and even though they hated doing it, they would just have to hurt her if it would help her.
***
Mimi had just finally fallen asleep when she sat up abruptly in the bed, her body reacting instantly to the high pitched fire alarm echoing through her apartment. She felt that familiar fear creeping up her back, freezing her bones and paralyzing her soul. She couldn't move, her body was shaking and she instantly began to sweat. Try as she might, she could not make her body move from the bed. The smoke was overwhelming her, making the large dark room shrink smaller around her, the speeding beat of her heart pounding in her ears.
Everything came rushing back to her at once, her place, her parents, her cat, her burning restaurant and home. With no other thought she dove from the bed sprinting to the front door, than straight outside, almost colliding with her neighbor. He was waving his front door, trying to fan the smoke out of his apartment.
"You!" she pointed an angry finger at him.
Great! This was just what he needed, another reason for this girl to hate him. He had planned to actually invite her out to lunch and apologize, it made sense since they were neighbors and hating your neighbor made for a very unstable living environment. He knew she had been avoiding him, he saw the look on her face when he tried to talk to her at the mailboxes and she bolted off. He wasn't used to women reacting like that to him, he also was not used to having bad luck when it came to women. But lucky, lucky him, to add to their already hazardous relationship, and her below negative opinion of him, now she had caught him red handed with a smoke filled apartment.
"It's out-"
"You did this didn't you." Mimi almost growled.
"Yea, i-"
"Your out to get me, aren't you?!" she was serious, but her eyes were slightly wild, a definite dear in headlights look.
"It was one of those oven dinners-"
"Your the devil-" Mimi said accusingly, delirious from the panic attack that was about to take over her.
"No-
"The grim fucking reaper." she took a step back, trying to breath air into her deprived lungs, the room getting dimmer.
"No, i-" he took a step towards her,
"No, you stay back" she put her hands up to ward him off. "Bad things happen when your near." the room started to spin around her, the smoke thick in her lungs, she was going to pass out. He saw it and was ready to catch her if she went down, but she was trying to back away and had backed her self against the wall.
"Calm down."
"Are you trying to kill me?" she cried, leaning against the wall for support.
"I fell asleep with it in the oven-"
"Fell asleep?" she stood up straight, not believing her ears "ASLEEP?!" she roared stepping closer, becoming more alert with the knowledge that her life may possibly be in the hands of a knuckle head who falls asleep with food in the oven "You don't close your eyes with the oven on!"
"I know, I-"
"Do you not know the seriousness of fire? What it can do? Did no one teach you about fire safety?!" she was yelling, hysterical, thinking of her life just burning away again. Sure she wasn't happy with her new life, it was taking alot of getting used to, she still wasn't comfortable in her own skin, but it was hers. Just like the cherished items of her previous life, memories that had been reduced to a thick soot clinging to the city street, it was all she had. She could not handle having to start over again, and no way in hell did she want to go through another fire! She would do anything to prevent it.
"Look-"
"No, you look, I have enough bad luck of my own, i don't need yours on top of it. Every time your near me something terrible happens," she pointed her finger at him again, "Your jinxed, you stay the hell away, your a serious hazard to my well being." she backed away towards the front door.
"I'm sorry." he said.
"Yea, well be sorry from far, far, FARRR away!" she backed out of the front door, "AND USE THE DAMN MICROWAVE!" she yelled, with a glare, slamming the door as she went outside.
***
He just couldn't sleep, he was rock hard, his lungs were still filled with smoke and he could just not get her reaction out of his head.
Even though she had cussed him out and thought he was the devil, she was still one of the sexiest creatures he had ever encountered, he wondered if she had that much passion when it came to sex. She was like a hot tempered little hell cat, with killer curves and a body that had to have been made from pure sin to provoke such a lust.
She was teasing him, tempting him, hating him, fearing him, he wasn't sure if he wanted to put her across his knee for talking to him like that or kiss those perfect full lips until she calmed down or find out what the hell was really at the bottom of her fear. He felt guilty for scarring her so bad, he knew by her reaction that some way or some how she had a bad brush with fire, it was all over her face.
