The sound of a film projector clicks and then stops…clicks…stops.

Bert (huge smile): Man did I ace that!

He replays a scene of him climbing over a fence covered with bushes and shrubs, landing on his feet perfectly balanced, not a scratch or piece of brush on him.

Bert (beaming proudly): Boy did I ace it!

Agnes: Bert, what did you ace?

Bert: Weren't you watching Agnes? That scene with Mr. Addison! I was all over that scene like ants on a honey-hill, don't you think?

Agnes (hesitantly): Well….Bert…I think she used the other one…

Bert (surprised and anxious): What do you mean? What other one? There is no other one Agnes! Why would you say there is another one?

Agnes: I'm just saying, Herbert, that she took most of one day with that scene of you coming over the fence and there was a lot of… uh… "footage" to go through. She picked the other one!

Bert: Aw Agnes! Why did she do that? What did she use?

Agnes: Roll the tape.

Bert: Roll the tape?

Agnes: Roll the tape.

The projector clicks and rolls. Agnes giggles as she watches Bert get up from all fours, picking out leaves from his hair and brushing dirt from his clothes.

Bert: Oh, for the love of…

Agnes: It's okay Herbert. You were great great!!

Bert: You really think so Agnes? Because I feel a little silly now…(pouting)

Agnes: Bert, why did you interrupt them?

Bert: Interrupt whom?

Agnes: Ms. Hayes and Mr. Addison! (She rolls her eyes and gives Bert a little shove)

By the pool… didn't you see the clue? They weren't exactly dressed for company, if you know what I mean. (Agnes covers her mouth with another little giggle)

Bert: Because Agnes, Mr. Addison needed to know what was going on!

Agnes: Bert, he knew what was going on, I knew what was going on…and they knew what was going on. (She points to the "readers")

Bert: The Anselmos were not to be taken lightly, Agnes! If you remember, Ms. Hayes and Mr. Addison were at the top of their list at the time and those people don't stop until they get what they want…or die trying… (swallowing and looking a little intimidated)

Agnes: Herbert, our job is to just tell the story…the story they want to "hear" (she points to the "readers" again)

Bert: Yeah, well, why does all of this have to be so full of angst…and despair…and drama and crying…what's with all of the crying Agnes?…good grief…(his voice rising with the timbre of his whine)

Agnes: Herbert did Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neil tell their love story without pain? (she pokes him a little with her finger) Could Vivian and Clark play out their tempestuous affair without passion? (she pokes him harder with a fist) Did Bogart and Bergman—(she starts to lay into him with a shove)

Bert: Alright Agnes, I got it…(big sigh and stopping her abuse)

Agnes (she gives him an affectionate little punch on his arm): Atta boy Bert!

Bert: I just don't see why she didn't use the other one. I was like a flying ninja coming off the fence and—

Agnes gives Bert a huge shove right off the end of the desk. The projector goes with him and film flies through the air. After a moment, Herbert Viola's disheveled, film-draped head inches back up to the desk…

Agnes: On with the show…(She looks down at Bert, folds her arms and rolls her eyes with another big sigh…)


Right Back To Where We Started

David stood in the dark watching the rain bounce and tinkle on the dishes sitting on the patio table. He had slept little after Maddie had dozed off. She seemed exhausted and sleep came quickly for her. He, on the other hand, felt like his head was going to explode. Tonight he had seen Madolyn Hayes in a whole different light.

Never did he expect her to say the things she had said to him. And he never dreamed that she had been carrying the blame for what happened to them. Maybe blame wasn't the right word in this case, though guilt probably fit the bill.

She didn't even bring Rita up again and he was ready for it, too. The mention of Annie, even though just the drop of her name, reaffirmed what he already knew, that she had been hurt…and from what he saw from her tonight, she was probably still hurting.

He agreed with her. The last time he had seen her really happy was when they danced at the baby shower. He could still see the blueness of her eyes animated with happiness and pleasure…even desire. Their relationship had made a turn in those days of Lamaze classes and baby showers; he wasn't sure where the road was leading, but he was happier than he had been in a long time as well.

The baby wasn't his. She had told him as much and he had long ago accepted that Sam was the father. Her tearful exclamation to the contrary was understandable. He knew all about wanting something so much until it made a person think and even feel beyond reality. When she lost the baby, he felt as though he had lost his own.

The first sign of daylight appeared as Maddie stirred on the couch. David went back to her and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. He sat on the table and smoothed hair from her face as she opened her eyes.

"Ugh…what time is it?" she asked, rolling over on her side folding her hands under her pillow.

"It's early. Go back to sleep."

"This is a surprise. What are you doing up if it's early?" she teased though a yawn.

"Do I still surprise you? That's good! Because I know how you don't really like surprises and I have lot of 'em left in me…" he teased back, tucking her in the blanket. If she were to classify isolation in her home for a week under the pretenses of LAPD orders a surprise, he had no doubts that she would not care for it. He'd fight that battle when the time came.

"I'm sure you do," she said thoughtfully. She stretched and the tucked blanket came loose exposing her bare feet. David grinned, checked her bruised toe and tucked them back in

"David?"

"Yeesss…"

"Do you think we'll hear from Detective Barber today? Maybe you should check on Richie…and Bert."

"I thought I would at least try to call Viola later this morning," he said, leaning on his elbows and knees. "Richie has been told to lay low and to call when he gets there, wherever that puts him. Bert, on the other hand, has probably dug something up that should have stayed buried!" He still held out hope that Pete had been right with his investigation and Bert was just being his usual overzealous self.

Maddie smiled at the mention of Herbert Viola. "I hope he doesn't find himself buried!"

David laughed and wondered if she missed Blue Moon as much as he did. Owning a bar had kept him busy, but having drinks with Pete and listening to his stories of crime fighting, tracking thugs and solving mysteries made him miss their office in Century City. He thought he had become a pretty good detective, too, or at least Pete had told him so once.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed again. "Is it still raining?" she asked, as she sat up and went to the windows, taking the blanket with her. Her hair was still beautiful; maybe even more so with the messy look.

Maddie looked at the remnants of their dinner party on the patio getting washed by the rain. The candle votives overflowed with water as David stood along side her, rubbing his sleep deprived stubble face.

"Didn't you sleep at all?" she asked quietly.

"Sure I did…a little." He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, pulling her hair out from underneath. Maddie stepped a little closer and rubbed the back of her hand on his scruffy face. He put his hand on hers and brought it to his lips, pulling her closer.

Maddie's eyes slowly took in his whole face, stopping on his lips. Talking was what he knew they should do; to make sure she didn't carry any more guilt than her fair share. She didn't even know that he carried plenty of his own. He had plenty of things he needed to tell her…plenty she needed to hear.

David brought one hand to her face and trailed his thumb along her jaw line, as his hand went behind her neck and in her hair, pulling her to him. He kissed her tenderly, holding her face with both hands; when he pulled away, he saw Maddie's eyes still closed, as if waiting for more. And when he didn't kiss her again she opened her eyes and met his. Had it not been for that tiny little voice that reminded him of the thousands of things he needed to say he would have gladly obliged.

"Maddie, I think we should—"

"I know David…talk. But do we have to right now?" she said kissing him back instead.

The tables had turned. Maddie, who always wanted to talk, analyze and scrutinize most everything to death, was now silent and practically putty in his arms. She wasn't making it any easier to keep his resolve after the events of last night.

"I just want to make sure you're thinking about all of this," he managed to get out after her lips left his.

"David… you are telling me to think? Mr. Spontaneous himself?"

"Well, I just want to be sure you…" She kissed his ear and then his cheek. "You need to be absolutely…" Her lips found his again.

It was all he could take.

David burst through the double doors of Maddie's bedroom and they landed hard on top of fluffy pillows and a cushy comforter. Maddie shrieked when a pillow rocked a lamp on the nightstand. He held her face again and looked into her eyes, searching for signs that told him she was unsure of what was to come, of freedom to make her own decision to be in his arms again…for him to be in her bed.

"David, don't say it. I know what I'm doing…please," she pleaded, pulling him to her.

There were a thousand things he wanted to tell her, but for one little voice that told him to let it go for now.

....................

Rain beating the windowpanes woke Maddie. She felt David's arm slide around her waist and to her stomach as he spooned up behind her, kissing her on the neck. It felt good to be in his arms. It especially felt good that she was completely at ease with him lying beside her. The confusion that she had felt three years ago in this very place was nowhere to be found.

"Mmmm…good morning Goldilocks…"

Maddie rolled over with a lazy smile, savoring a kiss David had waiting for her. "I think that would be good afternoon, actually," she said, looking at the alarm clock. "Or whatever time it is. It's so dark from the weather and…David… the power must have gone off because the clock is dead!"

As if she said the magic word, the clock beeped and began flashing twelve o'clock. David stretched and pulled Maddie to him. "It's okay…it's only twelve…" he whispered with a grin.

"What are we going to do all day, David? Is it supposed to rain all day long? Because I don't do cabin fever too well!"

David smiled and kissed her again. "I can't think of anywhere…or anyone that I would rather have a fever with…in fact, I think I feel a fever coming on right now," he said as he rolled on top of her, nuzzling her neck.

"You do huh?" Maddie responded with pleasure.

"I do uh-huh," he whispered, kissing her deeply.

....................

Maddie stepped out of the shower and checked her watch that read almost two o'clock. Spending the first eight hours of the new day in bed was refreshing, something she hadn't done a lot of in the last six months. Spending the first eight hours of the new day in bed with David made her feel…what did she feel… She thought as she put her wet hair up in a towel and put on a robe. She looked at herself in the mirror.

What do you feel, Maddie?…her therapist had once asked her when they were discussing some of her most intimate thoughts about David.

I feel…I feel good.

Come on Maddie, you can do better than that, the doctor had prompted.

I feel as though I finally made a decision about us… a choice of my own with no pressure or deadlines…and I don't feel the need for pacts…no pacts.

And him, Maddie? What do you feel… how do you feel about David?

Maddie looked at the belt on her robe and fumbled it with her fingers. She fingered the necklace around her neck, looking at it in the mirror and then took the towel off her head, throwing back her wet hair. David had made love to her with slow and loving tenderness, as if baring his heart and soul, and it made her do the same. It was something she had never let herself experience and she realized the frenzied reckless sex they had had before, though very intense and full of passion, had made her less attuned to what her heart had been trying to tell her. Or maybe she just refused to listen.

She looked at her flushed cheeks as she combed her hair… and then, putting her comb down, she finally looked deeply into her own eyes in the mirror.

Maddie?

I feel as though I have wasted so much time.

A lone tear escaped down her cheek.

And I love him…I've always loved him…I love him, I love him, I love him.

And what are you going to do about this feeling you have for David, Maddie?

She wiped the tear from her cheek and smiled at herself in the mirror. She knew what she needed to do…what she wanted to do.

"I need to tell him," she confessed out loud to the woman in the mirror. Laughing at her mental dialogue, she was glad David was downstairs or he would never let her hear the end of her little escape in the bathroom.

She quickly dressed into a pair of shorts and a simple shirt, dried her hair and then thought twice about doing her usual primping. A light layer of make-up, a dab of lipstick and a swoop of the hair into a ponytail made for a rainy summer day stuck inside. Shoes…nah!

Maddie glided down the stairs barefoot as she heard David banging around in the kitchen. If the sound effects were any indication of what was going on in there she figured they would spend most of the rainy day cleaning his mess.

"What's going on in here?" she exclaimed over the noise. David, in jeans and shirtless, was digging around in the pots and pans and set one on the stove.

"Well, I was gonna make my specialty, but there is nothing to make it with. Maddie, don't you have any peanut butter or something? I'm starving and I'm sick of Richie's rations."

He turned and found her right behind him and put his hand over his bare chest, as if to hold his heart. Maddie's eyes got big as he stared.

"What is it David? You sick of me already?" she grinned, going to find the peanut butter.

He followed her to the pantry. Walking around her, he looked at her long bare legs and feet, twirled her ponytail around his forefinger, took her in his arms and kissed her.

"Maddie…you are so beautiful! I haven't fallen this hard for a ponytail since Sister Angelica's fourth grade class! And you smell really good…" He kissed her again and she offered up a jar of creamy peanut butter.

"You think peanut butter is the way to my heart, huh?" he chaffed, taking it from her and unscrewing the lid. He stuck his finger in the middle and put a glob in his mouth.

"David… I think there might be some bread or something somewhere around here," she encouraged.

"Now what fun would that be?" he suggested, kissing her again with peanut butter lips.

"Eeeooowwah! David!" Maddie wiped the gooey kiss from her face and then, having second thoughts, licked the peanut butter from her hand.

"See, Blondie, just give it a chance. Here, let me get that last little smudge…right… there…" he kissed her thoroughly and Maddie felt her knees start to buckle.

"You really know how to serve up some peanut butter, big boy," she said in a sultry, Marilyn Monroe voice.

David laughed and wiped a blotch off her chin. She looked into his green-eyes that always managed to sparkle, as if just for her, and was ready to tell him all about her epiphany in the bathroom when she saw the flashing button on the answering machine.

"David, did you hear the phone ring?" she asked as she went to retrieve the messages.

"No, not since yesterday."

"Yesterday? Who called?" she quizzed curiously.

"Well…Pete called early yesterday…just to run an update by me…by us…"

"Oh…well…why didn't you tell me he called David? What he say?" She wondered why he would keep such a thing from her. How could he forget? It was the reason they were incarcerated in her house!

"Well…I guess I forgot…"

Maddie rolled her eyes.

"I mean, we were outside and we had a few other things to discuss…and then Viola jumping the fence…anyway…there is not really anything new. Pretty much the same information Bert gave us, I guess." He put the lid back on the peanut butter and gave it a little slide across the counter.

Maddie watched him elude her eyes and had a feeling there was something he wasn't telling her, but accepted his answer for the time being.

"And we were outside most of the evening…I think I left the phone outside…which means it's drenched…and dead…the power going off didn't allow it to ring…I suppose."

Maddie stood beside him as he pushed the flashing button on the machine.

Beep. 9amFour days earlier.

"Hi Maddie, it's me Annie. Can you call me when you get a chance? Thanks, bye."

"I guess I didn't notice the flashing red light when I got home from Paris," she uttered, sounding slightly brittle.

David put his hands in his pockets.

Beep. 2 pm…Three days earlier.

"Maddie, it's me again…Annie. I just need you to call me back. Not sure if you're in town or not, so…anyway…look forward to hearing from you. Bye."

Beep. 10pm…Two days earlier.

"Hellloooo! Maddie! I've been trying to track you down cousin. I talked to your mom yesterday and she wasn't sure if you had made it back from Europe. Soooo…if you are back, please call me back. Okay? Bye."

Beep. 7pm…One day earlier.

"Okay Maddie. I've about given up on you. I need to talk to you about something, but I might be able to do that in person now. I'll be in LA in a couple of days. Not sure how long I'm staying…this time…but anyway, don't worry, I have hotel reservations squared away…soooo…I'll just call you when I get there! Okay, so bye…again."

David shifted uncomfortably as Maddie's heart skipped.

Beep. 8am…present day.

"Hello, this is Detective Barber with the LAPD. This call is for Madolyn Hayes and David Addison in regards to our conversation we had earlier this week as well as Richard Addison. Dave… you need to call me ASAP. 555-555-1990."

"David, I hope Richie is okay!"

Beep. 10am…present day.

"Hi Maddie. I'm in town now and staying at the Beverly Hilton. You kind of have me worried now, Maddie! I know we haven't talked much since, well…since the last time I was there. You're not avoiding me are you, screening your calls? Maddie? Please pick up if you're listening! Okay… So, I'm just coming over, okay?…I'm coming over and will probably be there around two o'clock this afternoon. (Sigh) We need to talk…bye."

....................

A black luxury sedan with dark tinted windows pulled up to the curb of a well-manicured lawn and parked; the driver stayed inside. The man in the back seat rolled the window down halfway, just enough to expose the binoculars he used to watch a blonde woman approach the front door of a Brentwood, LA mansion.

....................

Maddie and David looked at the clock on the oven at the same time. It read two-fifteen.

And the doorbell chimed.