All right! So now that the Document Manager is working again, I'm finally able to put Chapter Two up! I hope you guys like it!
"Will you go to the dance with me?" Chad looked at his cast-mate in the eyes.
"Of course, Mackenzie, nothing on Earth would make me happier than to be on your arm at the dance," Portlyn smiled from ear to ear.
"Cut, cut, CUT!" the director shouted. "Where's the feeling, and the passion? Where's the excitement and anxiety and romance behind the lines? Honestly, people, how are we ever going to compete with Jenny's Life and Cat Brells if we keep acting so poorly?"
"You cannot compare Mackenzie Falls to that mediocre, amateur production they call Jenny's Life. And you cannot compare me, Chad Dylan Cooper, to that…that… Caitlin Brells," Chad replied. Even saying her name felt strange and uncomfortable in his mouth.
"Well the voters did, and you know what? They found Jenny's Life better than Mackenzie Falls so what does that make us? Below average and inept? Let's take it from the top and this time, do it right!"
"Will you…will you…go to the dance with me?" Chad looked at Portlyn deeply and concentrated on the moment.
"Mackenzie, of course! Nothing on Earth would make me happier than to be on your arm that night at the dance," Portlyn gave her line, still glowing. Chad leaned in to kiss Portlyn gently on her lips, and Portlyn lifted her head to meet Chad's, when Tawni burst through the doorways onto the set.
"Chad, we have a problem!" She shouted.
"Cut!" The director threw his hands in the air and sighed. "Everyone take five."
"Tawni, how did you get in here? Why are you in here?" Chad walked off the set and pulled Tawni into a corner of the room.
"It's Cat. She's doing exactly what she always does! She arrives, acts all nice and cute, and gets the directors all defensive about their shows. Can you believe Marshall compared me to her and said I needed to work harder?"
"Yea, Theodore compared me to her and Mackenzie Falls to Jenny's Life. We need to do something about this."
"We can't – Mr. Condor is going to cling to Cat's side no matter what goes down," Tawni declared. "What's worse, is Sonny thinks Cat is an angel sent from Heaven above."
"She is so naïve."
"She thought the same about you! But it's worse than we thought. Cat moved in next door to Sonny and they're…carpooling!" Both of them shuttered.
"Look, I need to get back to work. I'll figure something out."
***
"Is it true that you filmed an entire show all on your own without any other actors or extras?" Sonny walked down a hallway with Cat.
"Yep, in fact, that was the episode that won for 'Best Dramatic Performance,'" Cat noted. "It was surprisingly hard, actually. I had to narrate it after everything was filmed and the recordings would never match the scene correctly. There was this long scene where I was on a bus at night, and we had to rent the bus all night for only a fifteen minute scene, but the directors wanted the bus to be moving, so we had to cut every time we hit a red light. I got so motion sick."
"How did the writers possibly make an hour's worth of one actress?"
"Well, the bus broke down, and Jenny was supposed to walk ten miles to get help, but when she reached the town, it had been abandoned. She was too tired to continue on, so she broke into a motel room and decided to settle in for the night. The next morning, she went through some old things and pieced together an unsolved murder case. The next episode reintroduced extras and actors as cops and investigators."
"I don't think I could walk ten miles to save my life!" Sonny remarked.
"You should come running with me every morning. I'll whip you into shape – I am a black belt in mixed martial arts."
"You go running every morning?" Sonny raised her eyebrow.
"Yeah."
"What happened to this morning?"
"I did go running. The neighborhood has the perfect four-mile circumference to run. What are you talking about?"
"I did not see or hear you leave, and I'm an early riser."
"Oh," Cat laughed. "That would be because you were still asleep when I left."
"How do you know?"
"You left your curtains open. I could see you sleeping from the street, you sleep so peacefully, it reminded me of how badly I wanted to go back to sleep."
"Stalker!" Sonny nudged Cat playfully.
"I'm sorry Kitty Cat," Tawni pushed in between the two from behind, "but we need Sonny back now. We have some real filming to do. You know, live audience and what not. So why don't you prance along and leave us to our work."
"You sound like Chad," Sonny rolled her eyes. "So I'll meet you in the back parking lot after work, then?"
"You know, we might be filming a little late tonight, so why don't I just meet you in the So Random prop room?" Cat offered knowing she would definitely be doing another prolonged shoot.
"Aw, look at the two best friends!" Tawni interjected again. "Let's go Sonny." Sonny waved over her shoulder and gave a quick glance back to Cat who just rolled her eyes at Tawni's obnoxiousness and returned to Studio One.
***
Sonny sat on the couch in the prop room staring at the clock. It was just past midnight and Sonny was exhausted. Her mother had called twice wanting to know if they had left only to be told not yet. Lying down, Sonny figured she would fall asleep until Cat arrived. Marshall, Tawni, Zora, Grady, and Nico had all left at around eight o' clock and most of the cars had left the lot.
"Sonny? What are you still doing here?" Marshall entered the prop room.
"What?" Sonny pushed herself up and tried to recognize her surroundings. "What time is it?"
"It's seven-thirty. Did you spend the night here?"
"She left me here?" Sonny continued to babble in incoherent thoughts.
"Told you she wasn't to be trusted," Tawni paraded through the room and set her purse down on the table. "You really should listen to me more closely, Sonny. I was right about Chad, I was right about James, and obviously, I was right about Cat."
"I need to call my mom," Sonny stood and pushed passed Tawni and her giant ego.
"Sonny, do you know how worried I've been?" Mrs. Monroe raged. "Why didn't you come home?"
"I don't know, mom. I waited for Cat in the prop room like she said, and she never came. I don't know what happened," Sonny twisted the phone cord.
"This isn't going to happen again. I'll bring you a bag of your things to freshen up. I'll see you soon."
"Thanks, Mom."
***
So Random rehearsals were long and boring since they were all working with new material and no one seemed to remember to bring their sense of humor that day.
"All right, let's call it a day. I need to pick up my dry cleaning before they close," Marshall decided. "Sonny, do you have a ride home tonight?"
"Yes, Marshall. My mother is coming to get me," Sonny nodded.
Suddenly, someone knocked softly but anxiously upon the door. "Come in," Marshall permitted.
Jessica, Cat's assistant, flew through the door and walked straight up to the So Random cast, "Have any of you seen Cat today?" They all shook their heads. "God, Mr. Condor is going to kill me."
"Wait, what's happened?" Tawni spoke.
"I got a note last night from Cat saying she had gotten a ride home with Sonny and said she was spending the night at her house. So, because the car keys were sitting on the note, I drove the Dart Swinger home and I thought everything was all right. But when I saw Mrs. Monroe come into the studios this morning, and when Cat hadn't shown up, I asked her where she had dropped Cat off at. Mrs. Monroe gave me this estranged look and told me that Cat had left Sonny here overnight, that she was going to drive Sonny home, not vice versa. I have been running around all day asking if anyone knows where she is, but she's gone!"
"What do you mean gone?" Sonny asked nervously.
"Disappeared, not here, MIA – gone!"
"So she never came home last night? So she didn't leave me here."
"No! But I'm supposed to know her exact whereabouts at all times. It's what I am paid to do! If we don't get our shots done by the deadline, Mr. Condor is going to freak, and then he's going to kill me!"
"Now just relax!" Marshall called order. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason Cat is gone. Have you tried her phone?"
"A thousand times. It's on, but she won't pick up."
"Have you called security?"
"Yes, but they didn't do much."
"Have you checked her online accounts to see if she has posted anything which could clue us into her whereabouts?"
"Yes, but she hasn't updated since yesterday morning."
"Perhaps Mr. Condor sent her on a special job. Have you talked to him?"
"Of course I haven't talked to him! I told you, he is going to kill me when he finds out I lost his star. Besides, I would be with her no matter what the situation is. I just don't know what to do now. She has a black belt in mixed martial arts. If someone took her, they would have had to have been massively strong or incredibly stealthy."
"Don't go jumping to conclusions. I don't know if we can do anything for you. You need to talk with Mr. Condor and the cops. Someone will find her. She's a star in Hollywood, the teenager can't be gone for long."
***
"You what?" Mr. Condor raged as Jessica was spilling the truth. "You lost my new star – after one day! Do you not envy your job? I could get rid of you so quickly your head would spin!"
"I thought I was employed by Cat, sir?" Jessica peeped.
"Yes, but if Miss Brells doesn't have a job, then neither do you!"
"Please, sir, this is not her fault, don't punish Cat."
"Here, I have an idea. Michelle!" Mr. Condor called to his own assistant. "Would you please page Miss Sonny Monroe?"
"Sonny Monroe to Mr. Condor's office. Sonny Monroe, would you please come to Mr. Condor's office?" Michelle spoke over the PA system. Mr. Condor and Jessica stood in silence for only a moment before they heard the clicking of high-heels running down the long hallway and saw a flash of color stream by. Sonny quickly slid to a halt and stepped back to Mr. Condor's doorway. Leaning against it, Sonny asked panting heavily, but with a smile, "What can I do for you today, Mr. Condor?"
"Sonny, good, you're here. I'm sure you have heard that Caitlin Brells is missing, and I have also heard that you two are friends. If we decide to do a press conference announcing her disappearance, would you be willing to speak in front of the press?"
"Of course, Mr. Condor, what do you need me to say? Anything for you and Cat."
"I want you to call her back, if she has decided to take an unannounced vacation, I want you to convince her she is needed her."
"Are you really thinking she was kidnapped or ran away?"
"That's all, Sonny, thank you."
"You're welcome, Mr. Condor."
***
"Ahhhh," Tawni inhaled heavily. "It feels so good to have Cat gone again."
"You were just jealous of her," Nico accused.
"Perhaps, but now there's no reason to be."
"You don't know if she's gone for good," Grady pointed out. "She could come back any time!"
"I don't know, if she's been kidnapped, it would be the perfect opportunity for the Arms of Nico to comfort her hurt soul," Nico planned.
"Let it go," Zora ordered. "She is so out of your league. Besides, I've heard rumors about her and Chad flirting with one another in the Cafeteria."
"Depends, is it the Sonny and Chad hate-flirting or actual flirty-flirting?" Tawni questioned. "Because if it's the Sonny and Chad kind, people are just making things up."
"It's no kind of flirting, because I do not like Cat – I hate her and everything that obnoxious show stands for," Chad let himself into the prop room. "We finally had some good shots the last few days now that she's out of the way."
"What do you want, Chad?" Nico rolled his eyes.
"I was hoping I could see Sonny, I have a little present from her," Chad held a box out which was snatched by Zora.
"I'm sure this is full of love and caring," she began to scan it with her spy gear.
"Sonny's with Marshall. They're going over an idea for her new sketch.
"I knew it!" Zora squealed from the corner. "Rotten cheese and gym socks. You make me sick Chad Dylan Cooper."
***
"You know what would make this sketch absolutely perfect?" Marshall looked at the scene he and Sonny had constructed. "The lava lamp I have hidden in storage. Would you be able to go grab it Sonny?" He shuffled through his pockets and tossed her the key. It should be way, way, way in the back. You know, in the 'Never to be Seen Again' section."
"Sure, I'll be right back," Sonny beamed and bounced out of the room. "324, 325, ah here we go, Storage!" She flipped through the key ring and opened the door. The room was huge, almost as large as the stage (on and off) plus the seating area for the audience. Stacks of boxes towered over her head. Faded fluorescent lights lined the ceiling and barely reflected off of the cement floor. "Now where is that thing?" She continued to walk around the labyrinth of boxes all the way to the back, when she stopped dead in her tracks.
"Sonny, I thought I'd come and help. There's no way you're going to find this lamp alone," Marshall walked around the corner and stopped next to Sonny. In front of them, Cat sat in a small metal chair. She had a gag around her mouth which was wrapped around her chin-length brunette hair. Her wrists were tied behind her and her ankles together. She squealed for the two to snap out of their trance to untie her. Marshall was the first to return to reality and quickly released her. Aiding her to stand up, Marshall allowed her to place one arm over his shoulder and he wrapped another arm around one of her arms draped at her side.
"Thank you, Marshall," she coughed, not having spoken in two and a half days. She slowly was able to steady herself. "You know, Sonny, I was shocked by Tawni and the rest of So Random, I was even shocked by Chad and his cast, but you, you were the biggest shock of my life." Cat walked past Sonny, making sure to collide shoulders with her, throwing Sonny slightly off-balanced.