Obsessed (28 page)

“That’s not necessary.” Carla shook her head. “I’ll adjust, once you get in position. Go ahead, Michael. I’ve got you.”

“I wish.” Michael sighed, and gave her a brief hug. “Okay, Carla. I’m ready.”

Carla frowned slightly as Michael walked out on the stage and positioned himself on the stool. She was trying to remember their conversation. She’d said, I’ve got you. And he’d replied, I wish. What was that supposed to mean? If some ordinary guy had said those same words to an ordinary girl, it would be flirting. But she was Carla, the plainest girl at Covers. It was totally inconceivable that Michael Warden, the handsome star, had been flirting with her!

Somehow Carla managed to light Michael’s intro duction. She even succeeded in her attempt to change colors on the Covers logo in the background, just as Judy had done. But all the while she was pushing and pulling levers, and flicking switches on and off, Carla was thinking about what Michael had said. And then it was time for Michael’s first song.

Carla dimmed to black, and brought up the spot very gradually. She’d experimented a bit with the lighting at rehearsal, and all of her changes were a huge success. A soft amber light was focused directly on Michael’s guitar. That threw his face into shadow, and made him look a bit like the famous posters of James Dean. It was sexy without being blatant, and romantic without being sappy. Her lighting made Mi chael look unbelievably handsome, and Carla felt her heart beat a rapid tattoo in her chest.

“I’ve got a new song for you, tonight.” Michael’s voice was low and friendly, and Carla felt a flutter of anticipation. Michael had been very secretive about his new song. He’d told
her how to light it, but he hadn’t sung it for anyone at rehearsal.

“This song is the story of a remarkable girl. She’s always right there to try to help her friend, but he doesn’t realize she even exists. He’s busy dating other girls and having fun, but this girl is loyal to the end. I call it ‘Angel’ because that’s what she is. She’s always there for him, just like a guardian angel looking over his shoulder.”

Carla almost groaned out loud. Just as she’d suspected, Michael had written a song for Judy. Even though she was dead, Judy still had a hold on him. Carla couldn’t blame Michael. He was an incurable romantic. But what Michael was doing was wrong. He was out on stage, paying tribute to the girl who’d
almost ruined his life.

Michael started to strum his guitar, and Carla brought up the spot until Michael’s face was sur rounded by a rosy glow. Since he’d told her to leave the lighting just as it was until the song was finished, she sat back down on her stool, and sighed. She didn’t want to listen, but that was impossible. Michael’s mellow voice was impossible to resist. He had a way with a song that was almost magical.

As Michael sang his song, Carla felt her spirits take a nose dive. Even though Judy was dead, she had accomplished what she’d set out to do. Michael was hers. The words of his song proved that. And then the song ended on a plaintive note, and the audience began to applaud. They were glad that Michael was back. He was better than ever.

“Thank you.” Michael stood up and bowed to the audience. “And now I think you should meet the girl who was the inspiration for this song. What do you think?

“Carla? Come out here, and take a bow. I think all of you know about the hassles I’ve been going through, and Carla’s stuck with me through it all. She’s my best friend, and I just wanted to show my appreciation by writing this song and singing it for her tonight.”

Carla’s mouth dropped open. Michael had written that song for her? But . . . that was impossible! No one had ever written a song for her before!

“I guess she’s too shy.” Michael turned toward the wings to give Carla a big smile. Then he faced the audience again. “You’ve all met Carla. She’s filling in as stage manager tonight, but she’s usually the girl who takes your tickets and seats you at a table. Let’s have a big round of applause for Carla Fields, the nicest girl I’ve ever known.”

Just then Linda O’Keefe came up behind the black screen that separated the stage wings from the audi ence. Her act was next. “Congratulations, Carla. You really made a big hit with Michael.”

“But . . . I don’t know how. I didn’t do anything special.” Carla knew she sounded puzzled.

“Oh, yes you did.” Linda smiled as she patted Carla on the back. “Michael really appreciated the way you stood by him, when all the rest of us started to fall for Judy’s lies. You were the only one who really believed that he was innocent.”

“Andy believed in him, too.”

“That’s true.” Linda nodded. “But it would look a little strange if Michael wrote a song for Andy.”

Carla was grinning as Linda went out on stage to join Michael. They were doing a duet. She was still smiling happily as she brought up the lights and fo cused the spot on the two of them. Michael had writ ten a song for her. And he seemed to like her a lot. But she warned herself not to get too excited about Michael’s apparent interest in her. She was just his friend, nothing more. Michael Warden had no idea that she wished she could be much more than his friend.

“Great job, Carla!” Mr. Calloway was smiling as he came up to her at intermission. “Have you seen Michael? He’s got a visitor.”

“He just went to the dressing room, Mr. Calloway. Do you want me to get him?”

“I’ll go.” Mr. Calloway smiled at her. “You stay here and get your light cues ready for the second half.”

Carla took a few moments to study her cue sheet. Phil’s magic act was going to be complicated tonight, because he had a new trick. He was going to saw Gina Carlson in half, and Carla needed two spot lights, one on the saw, and the other on Gina’s face. Of course Phil wasn’t actually going to cut Gina in half. The whole illusion was done with mirrors. That meant Carla had to be very careful not to let the spots glint off the mirrors and expose the trick.

“Have you got it all figured out?” Phil rushed up, looking anxious.

“No problem.” Carla nodded. “Just do the sawing part right, Phil. I like Gina.”

Phil grinned. “Me, too. Don’t worry, Carla. Ev erything went just fine in rehearsal.”

As Phil rushed off to prepare his props, Carla glanced out at the audience. She smiled as she saw Michael heading down the
steps. She still couldn’t believe he’d written a song just for her. Was it pos sible he was beginning to think of her the way she thought
of him?

Carla’s heart raced as she considered that delight ful prospect. But her smile changed quickly to a frown as she saw where Michael was headed. He was rushing straight toward table number four where a very familiar-looking girl was sitting. The girl rose to her feet as Michael approached. And she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.

“Oh, no!” Carla winced as she recognized the girl. It was Liz Applegate, Michael’s former girlfriend. And the hug she was giving Michael wasn’t the hug of a former girlfriend. To make matters worse, Mi chael was grinning and hugging her back!

Carla sighed. So much for her rosy dreams of ro mance. Michael had mentioned that he was going to a party tonight, at the home of an old college friend. Now Carla knew who the old college friend was. It was Liz Applegate, the girl who had dumped Michael a couple of months ago.

Michael bent down to kiss Liz, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. It was clear that Liz wanted Michael, and Michael wasn’t exactly resist ing. Carla sighed as she read the writing on the wall. Michael and Liz would get back together, and she’d be left out in the cold!

“Hey, Carla.” Andy stuck his head behind the screen and gave her the high sign. “What did you think of Michael’s new song?”

“I thought it was wonderful. It’s the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard.” Carla’s voice was very soft.

“Were you surprised?”

“And how!” Carla adjusted the spot, and then she turned to face Andy. “At first, I thought it was a song for Judy. I had no idea that Michael had written it for me until he told the audience.”

“I know. I told Michael you’d be surprised. You should have gone out on the stage, Carla. Michael wanted you to.”

“But . . . I just couldn’t!” Carla was glad it was dark behind the screen so Andy couldn’t see the blush that rose to her cheeks. “I’ve never been on the stage before, and I would have been terribly embarrassed. Look at me, Andy. I’m not pretty, or
talented, or any thing like that. The audience would have laughed at me.”

Andy walked closer, and spoke very softly so no one else could hear him. “You’re selling yourself short, Carla. You just have a low self-image, that’s all. If you fixed yourself up a little, you’d be a knock out.”

“Me?” Carla was so shocked, she almost missed the next light cue. “Don’t be ridiculous, Andy.”

“Michael told me he thinks you’re pretty. And I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if he asked you out. As a matter of fact, I’ll bet you five bucks he does.”

“Don’t be silly.” Carla shook her head. “Michael’s not interested in me. Didn’t you notice who’s in the audience tonight?”

Andy looked puzzled. “Who?”

“Liz Applegate. Michael asked her to come. And I happen to know that he’s going to a party at her house, after the show.”

“Michael’s back with his ex-girlfriend?” Andy raised his eyebrows.

“It looks that way. They were pretty tight, during intermission.”

Andy frowned slightly. “Maybe they’re just friends?”

“Oh, sure.” Carla gave a bitter, little laugh. “Dream on, Andy. Liz is coming on to Michael. Be lieve me, I know.”

“Are you jealous?”

Carla gave a little laugh. “Of course not. It just makes me mad, that’s all. Liz made herself scarce all the while Michael was at Brookhaven. Nurse Danver told me she never came out to visit. She didn’t even call, or send a card.”

“So why is she back with him now?”

“I think she’s bored. Remember that guy she dropped Michael for?”

Andy nodded. “Sure. He’s rich and he’s got a Ferrari. Michael told me all about him. Did they break up?”

“No, but he’s gone for the summer, touring Europe or something like that. And now Liz is making a big play for Michael. Michael’s going to end up getting dumped by her again. I just know it.”

Andy didn’t look convinced. “Michael’s smart enough to see right through her. He knows you were the only girl who was
really loyal to him, and I still think he’s going to ask you out. Does our bet stand?”

“You’re on.” Carla reached out to shake Andy’s hand. “But keep your wallet handy. I’m not entirely happy about saying this, but this is going to be the easiest five bucks I ever made.”

Four

Liz Applegate plopped down on a chaise lounge and eyed the patio with disgust. There were empty glasses on every table and the leftovers from the Mexican bean dip looked gross. Someone had spilled a bowl of chips on the flagstone path that led through the rose garden, and the trash can was overflowing with paper plates and empty beer cans.

Normally, the mess wouldn’t have bothered Liz at all. She simply would have ignored it, and jotted a note for the maid to clean it up in the morning. But Liz was in a very bad mood, and it was all Michael’s fault.

She’d spent a lot of time preparing for tonight. Since her parents were gone, vacationing in Italy, she’d dismissed the staff before the party had started. Then she’d put new satin sheets on her waterbed, and programmed the CD player for her favorite type of romantic music. She’d even turned on the Jacuzzi. It was ready and waiting for two. And a bottle of cham pagne was chilling in a silver ice bucket, hidden away in the cabana. Liz had planned for a wonderfully ro mantic evening, after the party was over. And now the party was over, but there was one critical element missing. Michael.

Liz sighed as she remembered the last time she’d slept with
Michael. Of course “slept” wasn’t really the correct word. They’d
been awake all night, kiss ing and cuddling.

That night had started with a party, too. And Mi chael had stayed after all the rest of her guests had left. She’d been counting on a re-play tonight, but Michael had volunteered to drive Bill home. Michael had grabbed Bill’s truck keys when Bill had popped the tab on his fourth beer, and he’d declared himself Bill’s designated driver.

Liz hadn’t really cared if Bill drove himself into a ditch or not, but she had pretended to be just as con cerned as Michael. She’d even hugged Michael and told him how wonderful he was for being such a good friend to Bill. She’d smiled as she’d agreed that Bill could leave his truck in her driveway for the night and come to pick it up in the morning, when he was sober. But all the while, Liz had been seething inside. She’d barely managed to control her anger as Mi chael had herded Bill into his car and driven off. Damn Bill for ruining her plans! She’d never invite him to another party! And damn Michael for volun teering to drive him home! Now she was stuck here, surrounded by the clutter of a successful party, com pletely alone.

Her stomach was growling, and Liz opened a fresh bag of chips. She hadn’t eaten anything during the party. She’d been too excited, waiting for the time when everyone would leave and she’d be alone with Michael. And then, when Michael had t
old her that he was going to drive Bill home, she’d been too mad to be hungry. Liz was sure that Michael would be back. She just resented having to wait. Of course she hadn’t told him that. She’d just smiled and promised she’d leave the gates open for him.