"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you".
"I had a blindfold on, and didn't know you were up here. How on Earth could you think I wouldn't be scared?"
"Good point".
He stood up, and put her chair back. He grabbed the bottle and the two glasses.
"Enjoy your bath".
He went downstairs without another word.
She finished her bath, and then put on her pajamas.
She came downstairs and found him in the study.
"We can talk now if you want to".
"I'm busy".
"Fine, have it your way".
She left and closed the study door behind her.
They didn't speak the rest of the night.
She was asleep when he came bed, and he didn't wake her.
***The next morning***
Jennifer woke up first, and slipped out of bed.
She put on her jogging clothes and went for a long run. Running always helped her clear her head.
When she got back, Jonathan was sitting at the table in the kitchen.
"Morning".
"Morning." She barely made eye contact with him.
She went over and poured some coffee.
She grabbed the fruit out of the fridge and took it to the table.
"Darling, can we just stop this? This is silly. We love each other, come on".
She looked at him and gave him a half nod.
She stood up and he stood up with her, and she walked past him.
"Where are you going?"
"Suddenly, I'm not hungry".
He waited a minute and then went upstairs.
He found her in the bathroom.
He wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings".
She turned to face him.
"Then, why did you?"
"Jennifer, you know I wouldn't do it on purpose. Come on. This whole thing has us both on edge."
"We wouldn't be on edge if you would listen to me."
"I'm just trying to protect you, that's all".
"Jonathan, I don't need protecting. The company does. Snapping at me when I am offering you actual helpful suggestions won't get you anywhere".
"Screaming at me when I try to come talk to you won't either".
"Oh, so you want to blame me? Fine, you go right ahead."
She pushed him off her and stormed out of the room.
He sighed.
He went downstairs and found her in the kitchen.
He walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You are my everything, you know that. I love you".
She nodded.
"How about I take you to dinner tonight? Just you and me, at La Scala?"
She nodded.
She turned and kissed him and then he left.
She thought about it for a moment, and then headed to the study.
She grabbed her keys, and her purse, and ran a quick errand.
She was back home in an hour. She made a few phone calls, and then sat on the couch.
A few minutes later, Marcy, Natalie, and Susan pulled up.
"Hey, it's us, let us in".
"Come on up".
She let them in and they all went to the couch.
"Ladies, thank you for coming. I have an idea".
***Hart Industries***
Jonathan was at his desk, going over the latest reports. Someone had purchased 500 shares of Hart Industries Stock just that morning. There were only 450 shares left for sale.
"Dammit, who is doing this?"
His phone started ringing.
"Jonathan, hi. It's Nathan Miller. Listen, I was going through some paperwork, and saw that my contract with your company is set to expire next month. Can we go ahead and extend it for another 4 years?"
"Yes, that would be great. I will send the paperwork over right away".
He hung up, and a few seconds later, the phone rang again.
"Hi Jonathan, it's David Washburn. California Optical wants to renew our contract with you. Can you send over the paperwork?"
"Certainly, thank you".
This continued for at least an hour.
He was starting to feel better about things.
He called and made a reservation for 2 for lunch.
***Parking Garage***
Someone sneaks up to Jonathan's car. A gloved hand pulls a sleeve back and looks at a watch.
Five minutes till the guard walks around doing a check.
As soon as the guard was out of sight, they popped the hood, and took the sparkplug, and quickly and quietly closed the hood, sneaking away before anyone saw him.
***Jonathan's office***
Jonathan is headed to lunch, and runs into Mark Manchester in the hallway.
"Mr. Hart, I have those reports you asked for".
"Thanks Mark. Put them on my desk, will you?"
Jonathan headed to the elevator, while Mark headed to his office. A couple minutes later, he reemerged, and headed to lunch himself.
Jonathan got to his car, opened the door, and put the key in the ignition.
Nothing.
He tried several times to get the car to start, but was unsuccessful.
He went back into his office, and decided to order in lunch instead. He called to cancel the reservations, and placed his order.
He grabbed his water glass and drank it, and got up to get more.
As soon as he sat back down at his desk, he realized he was very sleepy.
'All these late nights must be catching up with me'.
He closed his eyes for just a second, and passed out.
***40 minutes later***
The man came down the hall, and into Jonathan's office. Seeing that his plan had worked, he quickly tied him up, and carried him to the closet in Jonathan's office. He set him down inside the closet, moved some boxes behind him, and shut the door.
He went back to his office, and pulled up a website on his computer.
After gathering the information that he needed, he grabbed his briefcase and walked down to Jonathan's office.
He shut and locked the door, and then went to Jonathan's bathroom.
After putting his Jonathan mask on and expertly making himself look exactly like Jonathan Hart, he unlocked the door and then sat down at Jonathan's desk.
He had the voice down pat; that was the easy part. It was the mannerisms that might trip him up.
He was successful at fooling everyone in the office.
His biggest test, however, was about to begin.
He packed up his briefcase, and headed "home".
After replacing the sparkplug, he started the Mercedes, and drove to 3100 Willow Pond.
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer was sitting on the couch, waiting for Jonathan.
She heard the gate open, and she got up and started making them a cocktail.
He came inside the house.
"Hi darling".
"Hey yourself".
He gave her the sloppiest kiss ever, with lots of tongue, spit, and force. Definitely not his normal standard.
Jennifer looked at him very strangely.
"I was just about to make you a cocktail".
"Oh, I'll get it."
He went behind the bar, and handed her the glass of white wine she poured for herself.
He poured himself a whiskey sour.
"Since when do you drink whiskey sours?"
"There's a lot you don't know about me, dumpling".
She took a sip of her wine. She noticed he had something on his wrist, like an ink smudge maybe.
"Jonathan, what is that on your wrist?"
"Oh, my pen exploded. It will come off". He pulled his sleeve down to cover it up.
"What time are our reservations?"
"Reservations?"
"Jonathan, you told me this morning you wanted to take me out to dinner. Didn't you make reservations?"
"Oh, yes I did. Hollywood Thai, 7 p.m.".
"Thai food? You hate Thai food".
"Don't be silly, I love it".
"Since when? I distinctly remember you telling me that the last time you and I went there was in fact, going to be the last time".
"Well, maybe it was the company". He smirked.
She was hurt.
"Why are you being so hurtful? Jonathan, what's gotten into you?"
She stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I don't want to go to dinner with you anymore. I am going to go make myself a salad, and I don't care what you eat or even if you eat".
She stormed into the kitchen, leaving him at the bar.
After she was done eating, she went upstairs to read a bit, while he stayed downstairs, drinking and watching TV.
Around 10, there was a loud clap of thunder when the storm rolled in.
She was just about to turn out the light when he stumbled upstairs to bed.
She could tell right away he was drunk.
"Jonathan?"
No answer. He walked right past her like she wasn't there.
She heard him making a lot of noise in the bathroom, but chose to ignore it.
He came and climbed in bed.
She rolled over away from him, and tried to go to sleep.
***Hart Industries***
Jonathan woke up in the closet. He had a massive headache.
He managed to move the boxes and get out of the closet, and stumbled over to his desk.
Glancing at the clock, he was astonished that it was 10 p.m.
He couldn't find his keys, so he decided to take a taxi home.
He called for one, and then went outside to wait for it.
***Willow Pond***
The man waited till Jennifer was asleep, and then gathered his things and went downstairs to the study, and started going through the desk.
He had paid off someone on the cleaning staff to stay late and keep watch for Jonathan leaving.
He decided to give him a call.
"Hey, are things still stable?"
"He caught a cab out of here about 20 minutes ago".
"Thanks".
The man changed clothes quickly in the study, and called for a cab.
"Meet me out front, down by the gate".
He put a black ski mask on, and was sneaking through the house just as Jonathan came through the front door.
They had a scuffle, but Jonathan wasn't on top of his game, so the man managed to get away.
Jennifer heard the noise and came downstairs.
"Jonathan! Are you alright?"
She closed the front door, and helped him up off the floor.
They settled on the couch, and she started examining him.
"Darling, why did you put your suit back on? And why did you come downstairs in the first place?"
He looked at her, befuddled.
"I don't know".
"Have you been taking something, like a new medicine that you didn't tell me about? Did you have an accident of some kind?"
"I have this headache and it won't go away."
She got up and got him some aspirin and water.
"Here, take these".
She got up and looked around and came back to him.
"Nothing seems to have been taken, and there's no sign of forced entry".
After he swallowed the pills, she helped him up and they went upstairs.
They were on the second half of the stairs when he started apologizing.
"I'm sorry about dinner, darling. I guess my meeting ran longer than I thought".
"Jonathan, honestly! You aren't getting out of apologizing to me that easily".
He didn't say anything, and went and put on his pajamas. She climbed back in bed.
He came and joined her and wrapped his arm around her waist.
"Darling, I really am sorry. The meeting ran long, I promise I will make it up to you".
"Jonathan, what are you talking about? I was there, I heard what you said. Just how much did you have to drink tonight?"
"Jennifer, let's forget all that, ok? You are so beautiful".
"Jonathan, that's not going to work tonight."
She rolled over away from him and turned out the light.
***The next morning***
She was up before he was, and made coffee and breakfast for the both of them.
She was sitting at the table when he came downstairs.
"Morning".
"Morning. How's your head?"
"Fine. But something that you said last night is bothering me".
"Something I said? That's rich".
"Why were you asking me about putting my suit back on?"
"Because you came upstairs sloshed out of your mind, and then put on some pajamas. The green ones with the yellow pin stripes, actually. And then you got in bed with me, and we fell asleep. Then, I wake up after hearing a scuffle, find the bed empty and you are downstairs, someone in all black was leaving our house and you are now in your suit laying on the floor. Why did you put your suit back on?"
"I don't know. The only pajamas I remember wearing were the white ones".
"Do you still have a headache?"
"Yes, actually".
Jennifer got up, and called Susan Kendall.
She agreed to come check him out.
"Somehow, we are going to get to the bottom of this".
***Across town***
The man was in a seedy motel room. He was dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts and a wife beater tank top.
He had a hooker next to him.
She woke up, and he kissed her and told her he was leaving.
He handed her $1000 cash and then went and put his mask back on in the bathroom. He emerged, fully dressed, and looked at her.
"If anyone asks, you are going to say-"
"That I spent the night with Jonathan Hart".
"Good". He gave her a thumbs up, grabbed his bag and headed to the door. Before going out the door, he turned to look at her.
"Same time, next week".
"You got it".