Chapter Six: The Booksigning

"Mort, we're going to be late!" calls Clementine, adjusting the jacket of her white suit and looking in the mirror.

"Ok, I'm ready," says Mort, emerging from the bathroom. Clementine looks at him.

"You're not too bad," she says, trying to get a comb through his hair. After a minute or so, she succeeded. "Alright, the limousine's here."

"We're only going down the street!" Mort protests. But Clementine is having none of it, stepping out of the hotel room in the cutest pair of white and bead stilettos.

The booksigning was a lustfest, the store was overcrowded and everyone wanted a piece of Mort. As he and Clementine sat behind a table, Mort hurridly signing his novels, autograph books, photographs the crowd didn't seem to disappear, or even move in any particular direction.

"Can you write it to Sandy?"

"It's for my friend, Melanie, she's your number one fan."

"I've come all the way from New York."

"I couldn't believe it when I heard you were coming to Las Vegas."

"Mariah."

"Alice."

"Michael."

"Sue."

The names went on and on.

"Danielle."

"Miami."

"Scarlett."

"Simone." Simone?

"I know what you're thinking, stalker! But no, not really, I just thought I'd get this signed for my mom, you know she's a huge fan and you signed a book for me but I completely forgot about her. Hey watch it, I'm getting a book signed you loser, back off! Anyway, so I thought I'd come and say hi and get this for my mom. I'm an avid reader of books, so I'm gonna stick around the store for a while browsing."

"Right, well, I'm working right now, so," Mort let the sentence hang.

"Sure, I know, you gotta a lot of stuff to get through, so I'll just wait for you over by the romance section." And she was gone, lost in the crowd of bloodsucking Rainey readers. Romance, great. I'm avoiding her like a bee avoids honey, thinks Mort. But there was no time for thinking.

"Alicia."

"Debbie."

"Brengret."

"Sasha."

"Helen."

And suddenly it was over.

"I don't think I've worked so hard in my life," says Mort to Clementine when they were packing the last few photos and giving the bookstore owner the last books. Clementine looks taken aback.

"Mort, you were sitting at a desk signing books, it's not rocket science or slave labor," she says in shock.

"Lets get out of here," says Mort, quickly lifting his eyes towards the romance section. She was there, sifting through books and checking writeups, flicking through pages. "Really, lets go."

"Mort!"

"Shit." Simone started picking her way over to them, and Mort and Clementine slowly tried retreating over towards the door, but it proved useless.

"Do you mind, if I borrow Mort for one second?" asks Simone as she reaches them. Clementine positively fumes at the thought but nods, gritting her teeth as Simone leads Mort over behind some bookshelves.

"Mort," she begins.

"Simone," he buts in. "This is the fourth time now, what do you want?"

"Honestly?" she asks, seriously. "I want to be with you. I know that I'm already with you mentally, but I want to be with you physically, you inspire me, you put me in awe, you amaze me, I'm addicted to you."

"Right, well, that's probably where our problem is, you know? See, I'm married to Clementine, and, much as you are a lovely person, I'm married to Clementine because I love her."

"Well, at least now you'll know that my spirit is always with you, when you write, when you write those beautiful words down you'll know that I'm there, with you, I'm with you through all of that," says Simone.

"Right, well, that's nice to know, that you're with me, mentally, but, right now I gotta go, so we can't be together, physically, anymore, alright?"

"I'll just leave with the hope that we can be together one day, Morton Rainey." And she leaves. Gone. Just like that. Mort goes back to Clementine.

"I think she's gone, I really think she's gone," says Mort as Clementine sorts out the last few details and they step outside into the blistering Nevada heat.

"So what about Shooter?"

"Hopefully, he's gone with her. Do you fancy watching the Bellano carnival tonight? They've got a nice Gucci store in there," persuades Mort.

"Sure, but, I've got to get changed, and have a shower and stuff," says Clementine.

"Sure." Slowly the limousine pulls out onto the Strip and down towards the Silver Sunset hotel.