Bringing the Magic

Chapter Eleven

"You have got to be shitting me!" Ali said. She looked furious as she read and then re-read the note in her hand.

Mike moved to read it over her shoulder, but she folded it up. "Who is it from?" he asked.

Ali sighed in disgust. "Marcus. Of course it's from effing Marcus."

"What?" Mike said. "How does he even know where you moved to? Has he been to see you since that night?"

Ali pushed past Mike and shoved the offending note into Mike's hand as she passed by.

"DO you really think I wouldn't tell you if I'd seen or heard form Marcus again? Of course I would tell you."

Mike read over the note in his hand and slammed the door closed behind him.

"What the hell is he doing? He says because of you, he's gotten the city to revoke Tess's permits for the club? First of all, I'd love to know how he did that. And I'd also like to know why he wants you so damn badly."

Ali shook her head. "He's rich and he has a lot to do with the city. He probably knows people. And he's pissed at me because he couldn't get what he wanted. You know that as well as I do. I just didn't think he'd go this far to get back at me."

"Get a bag together. You can't stay here alone," Mike told her.

"What?" Ali said.

"I want you to come back to my apartment with me. I wouldn't feel right leaving you here all alone tonight. I don't want this dick to get anywhere near you, Ali," Mike said. "You can stay with me."

"Absolutely not. No."

"Damn it, Ali," he yelled. "You can't…"

Ali folded her arms across her chest. "What can't I do, Mr. Lane?"

"I'm not going to fight with you on this, Ali."

"Good; I'm glad to hear that."

Mike moved past her and started stuffing whatever clothes he saw first into a tote bag that had been sitting on the floor. He turned to her next and they shared a tense moment.

"We can do this the easy way; you can come quietly, or…"

"There's an 'or'?" she asked him with an attitude.

Clearly she wasn't going to go the easy route.

"Then you leave me no choice, Ms. Richardson."

Ali watched as Mike moved towards her and in one quick swoop, he'd thrown her over his shoulder and her head dangled down by his butt. Any other circumstances, and Ali might have enjoyed the view. But today she was pissed.

"Mike! You're acting like a caveman! Put me down!" Ali shouted.

He scooped her bags – the tote and her purse – and Mike moved them out of the apartment. Ali continued to struggle while Mike locked the door.

"You're going to wake the whole building, Ali, if you keep carrying on like this," Mike said as he carried her to the elevator.

She stopped speaking almost immediately but it didn't mean she was pleased with the situation. Mike loaded the both of them into the elevator when the doors opened.

"Are you going to calm down?" Mike said.

"Are you?" she replied to him in a snide tone.

"I don't think I need to, Ali. My concern is you and your safety. My girlfriend is being harassed by a lunatic stalker and for some reason you don't seem to care so much," Mike said as they descended. "You're mad at me but you ought to be fucking pissed at this asshole Marcus Gerber."

"You…" Ali started before taking a deep breath and releasing it loudly. "I get that you're concerned about me and I love that. Because I love you. But look at this small picture: it's already five dudes in an apartment with one bathroom. And can you please put me down?" Ali said.

"Nope."

The elevator doors opened on the first floor and one of Ali's building neighbors stood in front of them wearing a confused expression.

"Do you need help?" the woman asked Ali.

Ali shook her head as Mike walked past the neighbor.

"No," Ali said. "I'm fine. He's trying to be a protective boyfriend and mostly he's acting like an idiot."

"Are you sure…?" the woman asked.

"I promise. I'm fine," Ali said. "Thanks, though."

"Thanks for your concern," Mike said in a flat tone before he walked Ali out of the building.

Ali mustered a smile and a small wave to the woman while she stepped into the elevator.

"She's still going to call the cops," Ali said.

"I don't care."

The guys all watched from the truck as Mike carried Ali and her bags toward them. Ken hopped out and opened the passenger door so Mike could set her there.

"What's going on, guys?" Ken asked with an amused smile.

"We were starting to think you guys were having sex up there," Richie called from the backseat.

"Trust me. There won't be any sex for a long time," Ali replied angrily.

"Can you buckle yourself in or do you need me to do it?" Mike asked her.

"I don't know, Mike. Can I?"

"If you continue to act like a child, I'm going to treat you like one," Mike said. He set her bags down on the truck's floor at her feet and closed the door. Ken climbed back in to the backseat while Mike watched to make sure Ali wasn't going to bolt while he moved to the driver's side.

"Seriously…what's going on?" Tito asked.

"Oh, nothing. Ali just has a stalker," Mike said nonchalantly as he turned the key in the truck's ignition. "But she apparently doesn't give a shit about that."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…a stalker?" Ken asked. "Like a legit one? Has he threatened you?"

"No."

"That note wasn't threatening?" Mike said to her while he steered the truck towards the road. "I think it was."

"Who is this guy?" Tarzan said.

Ali shook her head. "It's a long story. Like a year or so ago, he was trying to buy the club from Tess and he thought he could get close to me and get information…he already knew that the bank was going to foreclose on Tess. But in fact, he told me something that Tess and I were able to use to save Burlesque," Ali explained. "It ended up screwing him over. And while I spent a lot of time with him and he gave me gifts, I sent them all back. And apparently he's still pissed at me. I'm not a gold digger and the people that are at Burlesque are my family. I couldn't let Tess lose the club. Marcus was never anything to me."

"Well, I think it's a good idea that you aren't alone," Ken said. "Do you have the note?" he asked.

Mike passed the folded paper back to Ken.

He held up his cell phone to read the paper in the dark car. Tito and Richie also read it.

"This guy is some kind of sick bastard," Richie said.

"I don't need this kind of attention, fellas. It's okay. Marcus Gerber is not physical."

"Pardon my next question, but did you and this Marcus…did you…?"

"Hey…" Mike said. He didn't want to hear about it.

"No," Ali answered. "There was some flirtation, but nothing else. Absolutely nothing else."

"Maybe you ought to go to the cops with this," Tito suggested.

Tarzan took the letter and read it himself.

"Can you prove that it was actually from this Marcus Gerber? Because at this point you only have a very convenient note as to the reason behind some backtracked permits," he said.

"I would love not to talk about this anymore," Ali muttered. "I will deal with this; it's my problem."

"Ali…" Mike started.

"Ali, you're Mike's girl. And we are going to be there for you because Mike is our boy," Richie said. "You're family now."

Mike pulled the truck into the building's parking lot. He parked and turned off the ignition.

"Have no fear, Ali dear," Ken smiled while he put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll help you sort all this out."

They all piled into the summer and got ready for bed. The four guests made their sleeping arrangements in the living room while Mike and Ali went to Mike's bedroom.

The couple silently got ready to sleep and it wasn't until it was dark that Ali said anything.

She turned towards Mike in bed. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't worry about it," he said without any emotion.

"No. I'm sorry, Mike. I don't want this to be your problem and now it is. And what happens if he comes after your building and your permits? What if he goes after your business?" Ali asked.

Ali turned into his body and he could feel the tears coming out and falling onto his bare chest. He pulled her tighter.

"It'll be okay, baby," he told her. "Get some sleep. We'll sort it out in the morning."

The next morning, Ali had marched into the club and headed straight for Tess' office. She knew she was going to have to tell her what was going on. Sean tried to slow her down, but Ali was on a mission.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Ali," Sean said. "Seriously…we haven't had any good news; she's in a foul mood."

Ali ignored the man. Ali knew that Sean was right; now was not the time to talk with Tess, but she didn't have a choice now. She had to. Marcus wasn't just messing with her anymore; he was messing with everyone's livelihoods.

Tess sat stoically at her desk in the dimly lit office. She was stone-faced as Ali walked in with Sean hot on her heels.

"Not now, Ali," Tess tried to get her to leave.

Ali shook her head. "No, Tess…I…I'm so sorry about everything. I can't believe the permits are…and…" Ali said.

"Me, too," Tess said flatly. "But it isn't your fault. It's just some bureaucratic bullshit that I always seem to get stuck in," Tess said in an uncharacteristically quiet voice.

"…But, it is."

"What is?" Tess asked.

"What she said," Sean replied.

Ali tentatively handed the note from Marcus and the dark-haired woman behind the desk picked it up and read it. When she was done, she angrily tossed it in Sean's direction.

"Marcus Gerber!?" Tess said. "Seriously? This is all because of whatever happened between you and Marcus effing Gerber? Oh, holy hell!" Tess shouted as she was out of her seat. "Damn it, Ali!"

"A couple of weeks ago, Marcus was outside the club, waiting for me. He said some shit, but he was just blowing hot air. I thought he was just pissed because he didn't get his way; I didn't realize I caused him to have some vendetta against me. Mike was there that night and I hadn't heard from Marcus since then until last night. I figured Mike had scared him off."

Tess stared down at Ali.

"Why didn't you tell me? Or Sean? Or…damn it, Ali, I could have been ready for this. I just shelled out a ton of money for an attorney to get involved and start an investigation and it turns out it was just Marcus. I could have…ugh…I…just get out," Tess said angrily.

"What?" Ali asked in a shocked voice. "Tess, I…"

Tess pointed to the office door. "Just go; I can't deal with you right now. Get her out, Sean."

"Come on, Ali," Sean said, putting his hand on the small of Ali's back to lead her out.

"Tess, I…am I fired?" she asked quietly.

"No. But we're closed down, because your pal Marcus Gerber also called the health department on us and we're close down for an indeterminate amount of time because of the investigation."

Tess sat slowly down into her chair and Sean led Ali out.

They were silent until they were downstairs.

"Closed, Sean?" Ali asked. "Really? I…"

"You'd better believe it, baby," Sean said.

"When did you find this out?" Ali asked.

"This morning," he said to her. "Tess'll come around; she's just in shock right now. She knows as well as I do that you didn't do anything to provoke Marcus…well…nothing more that something she also did," Sean told her. "I'll keep you in the loop, baby-cakes," he leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Keep yourself safe, Ali. Based on that letter, I'd say that he's losing it."

Ali shook her head and she tried to stop the tears from coming.

"I'm so sorry, Sean," Ali said.

He nodded. "I know. So does Tess."

Ali took a deep breath and stepped out into the daylight while Sean locked the door behind her.

She pulled out her phone and fired off a text to Mike. She wanted to let him know that she was on her way over to her apartment. And things hadn't gone well with Tess.

Ali waited for a text back from Mike. She took a shaky breath as she looked at the Burlesque Lounge. It was the only place that would give her a chance when she moved out to LA and now there was a real chance that it was all going to go away. She thought that when she and Tess had battled Marcus for the property and they'd won, he'd moved on. Clearly, that was not the case. And now she had to figure out what she was going to do.

Author's note: hope you all like how the story is progressing. Let me know with some review-love! I do love reviews (good or not-so good…although I like the second one a little less haha). Thanks to EVERYONE who has reviewed, favorited and/or followed this story! More to come.

Have a great weekend all!