Rory smiles as he notices that her legs are a bit cramped from their intense, passionate playtime, and she has a bit of trouble walking.
“Hello, Michaela,” she says quickly, sticking her head out the door. “Could you give us just a moment? Thanks. Yeah, we’ll just be a second.”
She covers her mouth like a naughty teenager as she closes the door, laughing at Rory as he tries to pull his dress pants up over his still fully aroused member.
“Sorry, baby, that’s my fault,” she beams with radiant pride. “I’m going to get a scented candle from upstairs. Do you want me to bring down some pictures of my grandma so you can get rid of that?” She says with another sarcastic snicker.
“Fuck you!” He replies in a frustrated whisper.
“Sounds good to me, but she’ll have to wait a little longer.” Kelly teases with a glowing smile.
Rory takes off his shoe without saying another word and throws it at the handrail of the staircase in front of her.
“Oh shit, domestic abuse,” she laughs playfully, running up the stairs to clean herself up for their meeting.
To Rory’s surprise, Michaela steps in through the front door, and he immediately faces away from her as he tries to button his pants.
“If you don’t mind, I’m just going to wait right here in the foyer.” Michaela calls out as she closes the front door behind her. “Oh, hello, Rory,” Michaela says in her overly friendly public relations tone.
“Hello, Michaela,” he replies nervously, stepping into the kitchen behind the faucet and cupboards. “Would you like something… to drink?”
“Hey, Michaela,” Kelly announces with her laid back happy glow, carrying a scented candle with a flickering flame down the stairs. “We’re all adults here… I haven’t seen my boyfriend in two weeks. He wanted me and I wanted him. Is this something that can wait for tomorrow?”
“I’m afraid not,” Michaela says looking at the floor, her usually chipper tone replaced with a professional, by-the-book delivery.
Kelly looks at their public relations manager with a sudden sense of fear. Her demeanor becomes serious as she starts to understand that Michaela has some type of bad news. Michaela is a hardworking woman in her mid-twenties. Her Latin features and glamorous blonde hair with black tips shows that she always means business. Today she is wearing her designer eyeglasses, and is cradling a thick manila envelope with her right arm. Her blouse is a solid white with subtle patterns stitched around the fringe. She is sporting a fluorescent orange scarf that covers her small neck and is showing off her athletic legs under a sexy black skirt. Her black high heels have the perfect shine as she steps across the hardwood floor, letting them click heavily as she walks.
Michaela takes a seat in the overstuffed leather chair by the window just opposite of the sofa and smiles pleasantly as she waits for the young couple to get organized. Kelly quickly descends the rest of the stairs and sets the scented candle on the clear glass of the coffee table in front of the sofa.
“Would you like something to drink?” Kelly asks sheepishly, feeling more uncomfortable with each passing moment.
“No, I’m fine,” Michaela replies in an even tone, displaying some discomfort on her face as well. She sounds foreboding and looks ominous with her upper body eclipsed by a shadow cast from the patio doors, while her legs are covered in brilliant sunlight. “Just let me know when you’re ready? It’s probably best that you’re both sitting down.”
After hearing this, Rory immediately finishes washing his hands and steps down out of the kitchen to join Kelly on the sofa. Once he is seated, Rory leans in toward Michaela, eager to hear what she has to say. He looks over at Kelly and notices that she is doing the same.
“Okay,” Michaela begins, not needing any prompting from the couple; her highly educated voice carrying easily through the large home. “I have some bad news as I’m certain you’ve ascertained from the urgency of this meeting. About four hours ago, a DVD was sent via express mail to the Los Angeles Times. Inside the box, which was roughly: thirty-six, by twenty-four, by eighteen inches of corrugated white cardboard; there was also the mutilated body of a goose.”
Kelly puts her hand over her mouth in horror, staring down at the floor and shaking her head. Rory leans forward, swallowing hard as he puts his right hand on top of his head in astonishment. The entire room goes silent for a few seconds before Michaela continues.
“Now, the video also contained a death threat from a masked suspect, and the rest of the video… shows what happened to the goose.”
“A death threat to me?” Rory asks with amazement.
“No, the death threat was to Kelly,” Michaela says slowly, looking at Kelly with a great deal of empathy in her face.
“In the video, the man explains how his wife died of leukemia, and he blames you for her death, Rory.” She looks down at the floor for a moment and swallows hard before continuing. “The man says that his daughter is also dying of leukemia and that he is going to do the same to Kelly…”
“What?” Rory asks, becoming impatient. “He said he’s going to do what to Kelly?”
“He said he’s going to do worse to her than he did to the goose.” Michaela replies reluctantly.
“What did he do to the goose?” Rory asks with disbelief, his breathing becoming heavier and filled with emotion.
“He…” Michaela swallows hard, and closes her eyes for a moment, obviously having seen the entire DVD. “He beat it to death with a hammer, starting at the feet. It was awful, I don’t recommend watching.”
“Oh my God!” Kelly starts to cry on the sofa and pulls her legs up to her chest.
Rory slides up next to her and wraps his arms delicately around her, looking at Michaela with desperate eyes.
“There’s more,” Michaela says slowly, not wanting to continue. “I’ll tell you when you feel that you’re ready.”
“She’s okay,” Rory says holding Kelly tenderly and stroking her hair for comfort. “Just tell us the whole story so that we know what we’re up against.”
“The man talks about a recent article derived from a press release that was written by Corba Strong just a few weeks ago. In that press release, Corba details that her termination from the UCLA Medical Center was unfair. She also states that doctors were unable to synthesize a cure due to the lack of cooperation from you, Rory. Her announcement details that, several months ago, you stopped providing the necessary blood that the project needed to go forward. She also accuses you both of withholding the blood so that you can become independently wealthy and famous from keeping that leverage. Beyond that, she has been hired by a pharmaceutical research firm, who has deep pockets, and they have authorized her to continue a smear campaign about you.”
“She was fired from UCLA, and someone else just turns around and gives the bitch a new set of knives to stab in my back? What was she fired for?” Rory asks with frustrated curiosity.
“The UCLA Medical Center fired her for misconduct after you stopped participating in the case studies and clinical trials. Now she works for a $10 Billion firm that doesn’t have the same moral constitution as the board at UCLA.”
“We need to get more security around this h
ouse.” Rory says, thinking out loud.
“I don’t know if it’s really necessary, we’ve had a lot of death threats in the past eight months, and none of them-“
“What the fuck!?” Kelly asks, straightening herself suddenly on the sofa. “You’ve had other death threats? What other death threats?”
“Kelly,” she begins gently, “you and Rory are celebrities now; everyone in the country knows your faces and your names. All celebrities get death threats. Part of our job is-“
“Is to hide the death threats from your clients until they get slaughtered like sheep?” Kelly asks, her voice escalating with incredulous betrayal. “Why do you public relations people think that you can treat us like children? We are NOT CHILDREN!” She shouts, tightening her fist in a ball and holding it in front of her.
“I understand that you’re not children,” Michaela replies softly, “but how does knowing about these threats help you to enjoy your lives?”
“It’s more important than that, you arrogant bitch!” Rory says with fury as he turns back toward her, placing one hand inside of the other. “What if not knowing about this costs us our lives? What else haven’t you told us? I want to know everything TONIGHT or we are done working with you forever.” He stares at Michaela with angst, breathing heavily and shaking his head every few seconds.”
“I can’t believe this,” Kelly says with a pale expression, “all the things we have done to help people. All the lives that we’ve saved. I feel like I’m going to puke. How could they treat us like this?” She looks at Rory, shaking her head in astonishment, but he is still staring at Michaela.
“Well?” He demands, leaning closer to her; his backside at the