Mary Ann stood out on her front porch feeling just horrible. She hadn't meant to cause any trouble for Ginger. It's not like she ever imagined anyone would find her secret love letters to Gilligan. She loved that redheaded movie star as if she were her own sister. The farm girl never had a big sister growing up. When they got stranded on the island, she felt it was a blessing in disguise. Not just because she was stuck with a cute boy like Gilligan but also because of Ginger. She really looked after her. Taught her a lot about men for one thing. Mary Ann had been pretty naïve about the opposite sex she had to admit. Where she grew up in Kansas, most of the boys were pretty tame. Yes there were some rowdy ones who liked what her mother called "fast girls" but for the most part the boys she came in contact with were pretty tame. She had never fathomed some men could be beasts. Like Duke for example. When Ginger told her the guy was a wolf, she didn't believe her. She found out for herself what a letch he truly was. Mary Ann had been horrified by the surfer's actions. It was something she just was not used to. Ginger on the other hand had been chased around by such creatures so she recognized it when it came to surface. Of course looking back now, Mary Ann cannot comprehend what she saw in that clown. Perhaps deep down she believed Gilligan would become jealous and fight for her. Silly that was true. Maybe that's why she wrote the letters in the first place. The first mate was always timid around girls. Especially Ginger. He wasn't used to that. A part of Mary Ann believed that Ginger only acted that way to make that sailor man come out of that shell and stop being so afraid. She did recall Ginger attempting to tell Gilligan that she Mary Ann, liked him. It was after the flower instant when Mrs. Howell asked Gilligan to pick flowers to give to the brunette. It was sweet of her.
She looked out at the view from her porch and sighed. She wanted to fix this but had no idea how. The last thing she wanted was to put Ginger and the Professor through something like this. She loved them both so much. They were her family. Both she and Gilligan looked up to them. Mary Ann was certain they had no idea just how much.
The young castaways thought both of them were so clever and smart. Ginger with her brilliant ideas about how to get the Howells back together when they fought or wanting to help mend her broken heart with a boyfriend. Well maybe the boyfriend was fake but it was still sweet of Ginger to want to lift up her spirits. Plus there was her talent. She loved Ginger's singing voice. She was the first in line at the record story to buy Ginger's album. The farm girl listened to it over and over. How she wished she could sing like that! And her movies. Mary Ann saw them all and she loved them. Her favorite was the one in which Ginger was the beautiful woman who sacrificed herself by throwing herself in a volcano to save the people on the island. It brought tears to her eyes. Of course she adored the Hula Girl and the Fullback movie too. The new one that was set to come out sounded amazing. She was dying to see it. Mary Ann remembered Ginger once saying she didn't have any skills, just beauty. The farm girl now thinks she should have told her she is crazy. She's got loads of skills. Skills she wished she had herself. Yes she could mold clay but that wasn't that big of a deal. At least Mary Ann didn't think so. She would rather be blessed with a beautiful singing voice like Ginger.
And there was the Professor. What a brilliant mind he had. How he came up with some of his rescue ideas amazed her. Of course Mary Ann partly thought he was trying to impress Ginger which she was fairly certain worked. The movie star was always delighted by his intellect that was for sure. As for herself, while she admired that he was very intelligent, she found she had very little in common with the man. She said as much to Mrs. Howell. It didn't mean she thought any less of him. He was and still is very wise. There were many times she was glad they had his cool logical head around. Especially when Skipper would get worked up about voodoo. The Professor 's explanation was rationale. Explaining that it was just a part of life, bad things happened sometimes that you can't explain. She believed it until…well the Professor himself was just frozen in place, not able to move, not able to speak, pretty much not able to do anything. Then and only then did she lend credence to Skipper's suspicions. She smiled to herself thinking about how Ginger tried to break this spell by kissing the Professor. Of course Ginger would think of such a thing. Mary Ann was just shocked it didn't work. If anything could have boken the spell it would have to be Ginger's kiss. Then again maybe it only further sent the academic into a dazed state. Whenever the redhead kissed him, he usually was left speechless and sputtering something completely incoherent.
Despite that, she still respected him and his scientific mind and thought highly of him. He was a big help to her when she decided to go back to school. He knew most of the professors in the colleges and universities and advised her of the best courses to take. That's why she decided to enroll in that school in San Diego. Well she tried UCLA but didn't get accepted. It bugged her as she really wanted to be there so she could be close to Ginger but University of San Diego was a very appealing school and she was happy she was accepted. The Professor advised her he would be more than happy to help her get settled in the school and introduce her to the professors there. He thought very highly of this one Dr. Edmond Flanders. He was taught history at the university. When Mary Ann met with him, she found him fascinating and could see why the Professor praised the man. He explained the subjects covered in his class and Mary Ann was quick to say she was signing up. She knew it would be tougher than her high school history class but that didn't bother her. Mary Ann always wanted to dive deeper into the history of the nation and Professor Flanders' class sounded perfect. The farm girl was also intrigued by a psychology class taught by Dr. Melissa Benson. She never cared much for the topic but when she met Dr. Benson she knew she had to take the course. Learning human psychology would certainly come in handy when dealing with people in the real world. Especially in business. Which is something Mary Ann wanted to do. She wanted to open her own fashion boutique and make all her own clothes. It was a dream of hers. A long way off but she knew by going to college and getting a degree would be a huge plus.
But all that didn't matter right now. What mattered is finding out a way to straighten out this mess! She had to figure out a way to squash this. Which meant she was going to have to come clean with Gilligan. And she couldn't do that over the phone. No she had to see him in person. Well she would see him again soon. He was planning on flying back to help her get moved into her dorm. She could talk to him then. What she needed to do now was speak to Ginger and tell her about the huge mix-up. She prayed the redhead wouldn't be mad at her.
California
Roy stood nervously outside the door of the office of Franklin Dunmore. He was glad the older man agreed to see him. The sooner he got this over with the better. It wasn't easy but Ginger was right. He had to tell what was going on and not allow Ms. Winters to get away with anything. He turned the gold handle on the door and slowly opened it. "Mr. Dunmore?" He said.
Franklin Dunmore looked up from his big wooden desk. "Yes Roy please come in." He said. "Have a seat."
"Thank you." The Professor walking into the spacious office with dark wood shelves filled with books and various pictures of the Dunmore family. He sat down on a dark brown leather chair.
"Now what is it you wished to speak with me about? Is it the new position? Have you changed your mind about relocating?" The older man asked.
"No." The Professor said shaking his head. "It's not that. It's something else. I don't know how to quite say this. It's not easy and I'm not really comfortable with it but you need to know."
Mr. Dunmore looked perplexed. "What is it?" He asked.
The academic took a deep breath and then spoke. "It would be Ms. Winters. I am having a…I don't want to say problem because it would seem there would be a solution to it and there really isn't. It's more than that. Mr. Dunmore she…she has made…advances towards me."
"Advances?" Franklin said stunned. "She's made advances? What kind of advances?"
Roy looked down at the beige carpet and it briefly reminded him of the color of a beautiful silk gown that Ginger owned. He gathered his courage and looked back up. "She has made it very clear that she wishes to…elevate our professional relationship into a more…romantic one but not really a romantic one…more of a…physical one."
"A physical one? What are you getting at Roy?" Mr. Dunmore pressed.
"I'm saying Mr. Dunmore that she..well the other night she came into the lab and she made it clear that she wished for us to engage in…sexual activity. I told her no. I did not have interest in this but she persisted. I again told her no and I got out of there. The next day she…she said she was sorry but I don't think she was. She went into this whole explanation about how the men here admire her and…she thought that I was different…I told her she was mistaken if she believed I would wish to…I would never betray my wife I love her. It was later that she ended up in the elevator with me and…she got more aggressive…she put her hand on me and she fondled me…I pushed her away and I got out of the elevator as fast as I could when it came to the next floor…I felt so sick."
Franklin Dunmore was speechless. He had no idea what to say. Roy was a good worker. Hell he was the best. Extremely hard worker, had a brilliant mind and very loyal. There was no way he was not being truthful. Never had he known him to not speak the truth. Finally the older man spoke. "Roy…I don't know quite what to say. I understand now why you wished to relocate. I thought it odd that you would change your mind all of a sudden after being very clear you didn't wish to…I'm sorry that this happened to you. I truly am."
"So you believe me?" Roy asked.
"I do." Mr. Dunmore nodded. "I have no reason to doubt what you are telling me. You are however aware that I need to obtain Ms. Winters' side of the story. We will need to investigate this matter. The first thing I am going to do is make sure she doesn't get that transfer."
"Transfer?"
"Yes. She had asked she be relocated to the same office location you had requested. I am going to put a stop to that. She is going nowhere."
Roy sighed. "I see. She thought she could follow me and keeping trying to…"
"I suppose so. But do not worry. Ms. Winters is staying put. I am going to make sure she is barred from the other office building. I promise you I will not tolerate this behavior. She will be dealt with."
"I appreciate that." The Professor said. "But I have to warn you things are probably going to get ugly."
"Yes I am sure of that. I am going to hire the best lawyer firm in town for you if it comes to that. The law offices of Sage and McKelly. I've used them before and they are extraordinary. I want you to know you will have the full support of this company behind you." Mr. Dunmore stated. "I hope this doesn't get that far but if it does, we are with you."
Roy smiled a bit. "I am certainly grateful for this Mr. Dunmore. There is something you should know. I cannot prove it but I'm pretty certain she is behind it. There was a story printed up in the paper Eye on Hollywood about my wife. It claimed she wrote secret love letters to the captain of the Minnow, the one we refer to as Skipper. This is completely false. My wife did no such thing. I do not know how they concluded it was her handwriting but for some reason they did."
"I see." Franklin said. "Well don't worry about that. I will certainly question Ms. Winters regarding that matter." He then opened his desk drawer and took out a small card handing it to the Professor. "Here." He said. "This is the business card of Jeremy Sage. He is one of the senior partners at Sage and McKelly. I want you to meet with him. I am thinking that it would be a good idea to speak with him just in case."
"I will do that." Roy said taking the card. "There is one other thing. Ginger and I were hoping to get away for awhile. Just the two of us. I know that I was to start that new position on Monday…."
Franklin smiled. "Roy the job is still yours. You go and take some time to be with your lovely wife. Your job will be here when you get back. I promise. There is no rush. I know you hadn't had a real vacation in a long time. Well take one. I'm ordering you too."
"Thank you sir." The Professor said standing up. "This means a lot to me."
"You are welcome Roy. I take these things very seriously and I don't doubt what you told me. I am aware of many things in this company. I know how some of the men are taken with Ms. Winters and I hear their talk. I also know she does little to nothing to dissuade such talk. I did have my suspicions about her taking a liking to you but I figured she wouldn't dare try since you are married and she happens to be married herself although it's only been a month. We will deal with this one way or another. There are security cameras in the elevator. I will have them reviewed at once."
The Professor turned red a bit. "Um…just how far will you go back? Because you see it was maybe a few weeks ago that Ginger…I mean we didn't actually but she…."
Franklin let out a small laugh. "I am aware of your wife's affections for you Roy. I promise we are not going to review whatever she tried to attempt. Just looking for the footage you spoke of."
"Oh good." Roy said relieved. " Thank you again. I hope we can put this behind us quickly"
"I hope so too. Now you get back home to your wife and get packing for your well deserved vacation. I'll see you when you return. It better be at least two weeks. You enjoy yourself. Go on…get out of here."
"I will. Than you." Roy said as he left the office.
After the Professor left, Mr. Dunmore picked up his phone. "Hello Marvin? It's me Franklin. We have a bit of a problem."
Marvin Thompson, co-owner of the company, put down his golf bag and sighed. "What sort of problem?"
"It involves Roy Hinkley. It would appear that Ms. Evelyn Winters has been making inappropriate advances towards him. We need to investigate this ASAP."
Mr. Thompson was astounded. "Well of course we do…how did you find this out?"
"Roy came to see me." Franklin explained. "He told me the whole story. I believe him. If there is one thing about Hinkley is that is he truthful. I told him we will speak with Ms. Winters of course. We need to obtain her side of the story but I have no doubt in my mind Roy is telling the truth."
Marvin nodded. "I would have to agree with you. What are we going to do?"
"He told me about an incident in the elevator. We will need to review the tapes. Also I did give advise him to speak with Jeremy Sage. I don't know if it will come to that but I thought it best he have outside legal counsel as opposed to our own company lawyers" Mr. Dunmore said. "And he told me about a story printed up in some Hollywood paper about his wife."
Mr. Thompson frowned. "What story? Is someone spreading lies about that lovely woman again?"
"I think so. Hinkley seems to think Ms. Winters is behind it. Regardless we need to take care of this. I won't stand for our company being dragged through the mud. The sooner this is nipped in the bud the better."
Ginger and Professor's Home
Ginger got off the phone with her travel agent Mike and was pleased with the deal he offered her. A two week stay at the most luxurious resort plus two passes for a three hour tour given by a certain sea captain and his lovable first mate anytime they wanted. Now all she had to do was shop for some new clothes and they would be all set. How nice to get away from everything for awhile. To spend two whole weeks alone with her darling Roy…that was heaven. Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing phone. She reached over and answered it. "Hello?"
"Ginger?" Mary Ann's voice said on the other line. "It's me."
The movie star sat up and smiled. "Hey Mary Ann! How are you! You excited about going back to school? I can't wait for you to be here. We can see each other more once you are closer."
"I am excited and I'm looking forward to seeing you more too. Listen Ginger the reason I called is…well I saw that awful story in the paper."
"Oh forget about that. It's just mindless gossip. Tony is taking care of that. Now when are you going to fly back here? You said Gilligan is going to help you…"
"Ginger please listen to me." Mary Ann interrupted. "I have something to tell you. I'm the one behind the letters."
Ginger was in disbelief. "What! You? You wrote love letters to Skipper? Mary Ann I had no idea…."
"No No." The farm girl said. "No I didn't write to Skipper. I…Oh…this is so embarrassing…I wrote them to Gilligan. I didn't put his name on them. I was just going to leave the letters for him but I chickened out. After that whole mess with Mr. Howell leaving love letters for Mrs. Howell I thought it best to not stir up another misunderstanding. I hid them away. I totally forgot about them when we were rescued. I'm so sorry Ginger! I had no idea anyone would ever find them and let alone think you wrote them to Skipper!"
"Mary Ann you have nothing to apologize for. I knew you had a crush on Gilligan. I had no idea you wrote letters to him. I think it's sweet but I don't know how they thought they were to Skipper."
"Well you see I used sea analogies in my letters. I thought they would appeal to Gilligan's heart. I don't know how they concluded Skipper. But I wanted you to know where they originated from. Gilligan doesn't know this yet and I know I need to tell him. I was going to wait until I saw him again in a few weeks. Do you think I should now?"
Ginger thought a minute. "Let me talk to Tony first. He was handling this for me. I will see what he says. In the meantime you don't have to tell Gilligan now if you don't want to. I understand you would rather in person. It's not the type of thing you would want to tell over the phone."
Mary Ann nodded. "Yes that is true. You know maybe I should fly down to Hawaii and see him."
Ginger smiled. "I think that's a good idea. You know Roy and I are taking a vacation down there. We should all meet up. Have a little reunion. Of course it won't be the same without Mrs. and Mr. Howell."
The farm girl thought a minute. "Maybe Gilligan and I could have dinner with you and the Professor one night. Sort of like a double date. That is if you don't mind. I don't want to intrude on your time with him."
"Don't be silly. You wouldn't be intruding. It would be for one night. I don't think Roy will mind. If he does you leave it to me. I'll handle him."
Mary Ann giggled. "Poor Professor. He is no match for the charms of one Ginger Hinkley." She then grew serious. "I appreciate this I do. And again I'm sorry if I caused any trouble…"
"Will you stop? You didn't cause trouble. There is more to this. I don't want to get into it now. I'll fill you in later. You just go ahead and get yourself to Hawaii and talk to Gilligan."
"I will. I promise." Mary Ann said.
Ginger then said her good-bye and hung up. Well at least something good is coming out of this. Mary Ann will finally be with Gilligan. That was a plus. Now to just take care of that little wench Evelyn.
