The Muse

"On a brighter note." Stacy perked up, the apology forgotten. "Donald Rickers has agreed to come on camera for the first time ever to clear up our errors. The world is very pleased to meet you, Mr. Rickers."

"Thank you, Stacy," Richard said formally.

"How did we get it wrong, Mr. Rickers?" I could tell Stacy saw ratings before her eyes. She didn't care about what she had done to me, and now we were rewarding her for it. A true blood-thirsty professional. Richard grabbed my hand and pulled it into his lap so no one would mistake his intentions. I smiled and let him.

"I fell in love with Mary about five years ago," Richard started, "I was researching botany and the prettiest girl I had ever seen was there admiring some purple roses." I stared like a schoolgirl as he told the world about us. How the term God's flower came about. How he wrote about me as Melissa instead of confronting his fears. Stacy laughed as he explained the coffee incident and my trip to San Antonio to apologize. How his heart leaped to see me at the door. How I lied to protect him from public exposure.

"I dare say you're rather exposed now," Stacy surmised.

"I'd run through flames for Mary," Richard said without missing a beat. I just teared up looking at my fireman. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed it while looking into my eyes. The whole world knew he loved me.

"When did you know, Mary?" Stacy asked. I stared at Richard's strong eyes. I knew exactly to the minute when it happened, but I had never told him.

"October seventh at eight thirty-six in the evening," I answered. Richard's eyes widened. I stopped there - Stacy deserved some dead air.

"Um...how can you be so exact?" Stacy stammered. I am not ashamed to admit that I took pleasure in her stammer.

"Richard, I mean Donald, was writing about a meeting between Melissa and Adam," I said while still looking a Richard, "he was describing our conversation when he came to our first kiss and he stalled. I kissed him again to help him remember. That's the kiss that I didn't want to end. The passion that poured out in the words that followed stole my heart. I was his at eight thirty-six, the time displayed on the computer." I paused and leaned closer to Richard, "I have loved him deeply from that moment on." I saw a tear in Richard's left eye. I told the world as I told him. Not what I had in mind, but it couldn't wait any longer.

"We'll be back in one moment," Stacy said softly, emphasizing the 'moment' for the audience. I felt Richard's fingers tap my hand three times. There was no strain in his eyes, this had nothing to do with anxiety. He was going to let me inform Stacy and regain some strength.

"That was your five minutes," I said sternly to Stacy. We stood and walked off the set. Stacy tried to call us back, almost pleading. We ignored her as we entered the hall. Janice was waiting, tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Mary." Janice was in real pain. She had obviously missed the second half in her rush to get to me. "I didn't know that bitch would do something like that."

"Richard saved me," I said softly with a smile and hugged her. Janice looked at Richard who just shrugged with his own silly smile.

"Secret's out," Richard stated.

"Oh, and it's my fault," Janice whined, "I'm so sorry, Richard. I pushed everyone too hard."

"I'm not," Richard grinned, "Mary said she loves me and I have it on video so she can't take it back."

"Live?" Janice looked at me. I nodded and blushed as I realized what I had done."Well you can't go back to your apartment now." Janice went into bossy mode. "Richard, why don't you and Mary go down to your house in the Keys, away from everyone. Give me your apartment keys, Mary. I'll pack some clothes and have them sent down. You two just need to disappear for a while while we think about what to do about this."

"She's your boss, you know," Richard said, taking me in his arms again, "you have to spend time alone with me on the beach, whether you like it or not."

Our two months in Key West were bliss. Janice fielded the press with staunch brilliance. Never saying no and certainly not saying yes. Richard's rescue of me on national TV hit some kind of soft spot in hearts of the viewers. Pre-sales of his new novel skyrocketed, women forcing most of the growth. Even his older novels saw a strong resurgence, people trying to tie Melissa and Adam to the reality of Richard and me.

Through it all, we hid on the beach. Richard wrote and I gave him motivation - lots of motivation. He learned to write in between the motivation. I motivated while he wrote - that didn't work, but we had fun trying. We spent time in the sand and in the waves. We learned about each other during that time. When we finally returned to reality, we knew, without a doubt, our lives had forever merged.

My belated revenge on Janice was actually planned by Richard. I thought him cruel since the news was hard to hold in. He just had this evil streak in him when it came to Janice. I caved and allowed him his tease. It was part of him and one of the things that made him so endearing.

Richard forwarded a new chapter to Janice via his phone, from just outside the Themes offices. As Janice always did, she immediately closed her office door and began reading the draft. We entered the offices and stood waiting for the her reaction. It was ten minutes later when Richard's phone buzzed. It was Janice so he sent the call to voice mail. My phone buzzed almost immediately after. I sent it to voice mail as well.

Predictably, Janice's door flew open. "Tom! Get me Richard NOW!" she yelled, looking down at a set of printed pages. Her face was livid. Richard grabbed my hand and smiled. "Richard's pushing it, there's no way his readers will accept that Melissa is..." Janice stalled there, seeing us with our silly grins. Mine glowing more than normal.

"pregnant," Janice finished, a smile growing on her face.