OTHER WORLDS #3: SUSPICIONS, PART ONE

"Ah'm glad you decided to go to wo'hk at Cory Publishin', Matt," said Lila, "Ah wouldn' t wahnt ma baby to have a daddy who's nothin' but an idler!"

"Is that what you think of me?" said Matthew.

"Well, y'all been driftin' aimlessly evuh since ah met you." said Lila, "Fuhst you were gonna staht y'own publishin' comp'ny, than y'own pharmaceutical comp'ny, than y'all pretended to staht a music comp'ny -"

"I wasn't pretending!" Matt protested, "C-Squared is for real!"

"People who ah seriously stahtin' a business us'ally rent an office and hire staff." Lila pointed out. "Fess up, Matt! C-Squared was jist a ploy to get into Sofia Carlino's liddle white cotton panties, wasn't it?"

"How do you know that Sofia wears -?"

"Well, whut else Would Sofia weah? It wouldn 't be anythang sexy - it would be Jockey Fo' Women."

"Haynes Her Way." said Matthew.

"Same diff'rence!" said Lila; she stood up, with difficulty. "Ah'd bettuh staht getting dressed."

"What for?"

"Fo' the Lumina Ball, of coahse!"

"You're not going to that!"

"Oh yes, Ah am!"

"Look Lila, you nearly lost the baby once! You're not going anywhere until you give birth. I forbid you to go anywhere near that Ball!"

"Who died and made You Gawd?" said Lila, "Ah was invited, and Ah'm goin'!"

****

Tito Banacek fell back onto the pillow, panting. "Oh Baby, you're the best!"

His lover smiled down at him. "Of course I am," he said, "Now get your cute butt out of here; I have to get ready to play - " He put on an accent - "Sergei Radzinsky, from Russia!"

"That accent cracks me up!" said Tito, pulling on his pants.

"You should hear me when I'm 'Serge Radisson, from Paris'."

"I still don't understand how you think driving Felicia Gallant's limo is going to get you a chance to con her."

"Is simple!" said the other, in his 'Sergei' voice, "I give Felicia ride to Lumina Ball that she never forgets; she calls limo company and complains."

"Then you get fired!"

"Next day, I turn up on Felicia's doorstep: Poor Sergei, penniless in foreign country, because of heartless Capitalist Lady Novelist. " said the other, "At the very least, she's gonna pay me to go away!"

"So you'll get a few bucks out of her - so what?" said Tito.

"I bet I get more money out of Felicia than you get out of Nick Hudson."

"How Much do you bet?" said Tito, "Put your money where your mouth is, Be-"

"Sergei! Call me Sergei!"

"Okay, 'Sergei' - well?"

"If My con makes less money than yours, I"ll give you 50% of my score - and vice versa."

"Agreed! This is gonna be the easiest money I ever made!" said Tito, with a smirk.

****

"Gary, we need to talk!" said Josie, "It's about what happened on Boca Linda!"

"Amanda told you?" said Gary, "Look, Jay, I swear to you, if I didn't think I was gonna die, I would never have had sex with her!"

"You had sex with Amanda?"

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"It depends. Can You forgive Me for having sex with your brother Cameron?"

****

Tyrone was just pushing Donna's wheelchair into the Lumina Ballroom, when she suddenly said : "I can talk!"

"Donna?" said Vicky, "This is great!"

"Help me up. Maybe I can walk as well!"

Vicky helped her get to her feet. "This is a miracle!"

(Watching this over the closed-circuit tv, Jordan Stark demanded :"How did this happen?"

"I don't know!" said Zack Wilder, "If Marley's been giving Donna the drugs, there's no way she could be doing this!")

"Marley - where's Marley?" said Donna. Vicky helped her to cross the room to where Marley cringed against the wall.

Donna slapped her daughter across the face so hard that she staggered. "That's for the way you treated me when I was helpless, you sadistic bitch!" she said. She took a bottle out of her pocket, and handed it to Joe Carlino. "These are the pills she's been giving me. I want you to have them tested; they're probably what was keeping me mute and paralysed!"

Naturally, this little dramatic interlude was attracting quite a bit of attention. Remy suddenly spotted a familiar face in the crowd. "Oh my God!" she said, and ducked her head, trying to hide .

Just then, Lila arrived.

"What are you doing here?" Matthew demanded, "I told you to stay home!"

"You mean you lef' me stranded!" said Lila, "Fortunately, Zack Wilder is mo' of a gennleman than you ah! He sent a limo to make sho' ah arrived at the Ball!"

"Oh really?" said Matthew, "I'll talk to him about that - later! Right now, you're going home! Come on!"

He grabbed her arm and hustled her towards the elevator, which was the only exit from the Ballroom.

"Unhand me!" cried Lila, "You have no Raight -!"

****

Meanwhile, Gary and Josie had come face-to-face with Cameron and Amanda.

"Josie told me about Boca Linda." said Gary.

"Are you okay with it?" asked Cameron.

"You know what they say about People who live in glass houses." said Gary. "Amanda and me did the same thing, when we were trapped by the cave-in."

"WHAT?" said Cameron.

***

"Hold the elevator!" cried Remy, squeezing in through the half-closed door, "I've got to get out of here!"

(Jordan Stark, watching over the closed-circuit tv, cursed: "What's She doing there?"

"Shall we stop the elevator anyway?" asked his flunky, Zack.

"What would be the point?" said, Stark, "Having a third person on the elevator ruins my plan to kidnap the baby! I'll have to try again, later!")

As the elevator plummeted towards ground-level, Lila suddenly cried out: "OOOHH! Matt, ah thank ah'm in labour! OOOHHH!"

"Hang on, Lila, " said Matt, "I'll get you to the hospital!"

****

Back at the Lumina Ball, Cindy had played the tape in which Grant confessed to having drugged Paulina and set fire to her home, over the sound system. Joe had immediately arrested Grant for arson and attempted murder.

"Now see here, Carlino - !" Grant blustered, as Joe put the handcuffs on him.

"Oh please, resist arrest! Gimme an excuse to shoot you!"

Cindy stood by, grinning.

"I'm gonna need your testimony." said Joe.

"You've got it!" said Cindy. "Bye, Sweetie! I'll send you a cake with a file in it - or on second thought, maybe I won't!"

Note" In Our World, Sergei Radzinsky did not make an appearance until January 1999, some three months after the Lumina Ball.