"Cara!" came the call again. "I've been worried sick! Where have you been?" Cara, looking horrified that someone recognized her, immediately regretted that she took off her disguise. Biting her lip and clutching Mike's arm so hard that his circulation was starting to cut off, she turned around.
Near the counter was someone she was not expecting to see. A young woman, her age, was standing, her face in shock. She had bright blonde hair in a pixie cut, huge eyes that were just about the brightest green, rimmed with cat-eye eyeliner and thick black lashes. Her face was round and childlike, and her figure was tall and curvy. She was looking at Cara and Mike with a look of utter surprise.
"Abigail?" said Cara in disbelief. She let go of Mike's arm, which now had a white handprint around it, much like Cara's bruises. Mike shook his arm out to wake it up. "What are you doing out here?" She looked around, dark eyes wide. "Is Jeff—?"
The other girl, Abigail, laughed. "No, he's busy tearing up the neighborhood looking for you. But don't worry, my brother won't even think of looking for you around here. What are you doing over here?"
"Ran off in a hurry and forgot to pack," said Cara. "Looking for clothes here. I'm staying at his place with his roommates." She gestured to Mike.
"Wait…" said Mike. "That Jeff, her terrible boyfriend she's on the run from…you're his sister?"
"Yeah, not too proud of it," said Abigail.
"That thing has a sister?" said Mike, his voice jumping up an octave.
"Told you I'm not proud," said Abigail. "But Cara, what're you doing buying a whole new wardrobe here? Jeff's out ravaging the town, while he's out, I can sneak into your old room, pack up your clothes, and drive them over to you!"
"You sure you can sneak them out?" asked Cara.
"Never been more sure," said Abigail with a wink. "All I need is the address you're staying it…if it's ok with you," she added to Mike.
"Well…can we trust you not to leak it to your brother?" asked Mike.
"We can trust Abigail," said Cara. "Trust me, we've known each other for years, even before I started dating Jeff."
"Okay then, lemme just get a slip of paper and I'll write it down for you," said Mike. "Just be careful and don't let it slip out of your sight. And you're sure you can do all this while Jeff's out?"
"Sure as sugar I am," said Abigail, taking the slip of paper with the address from Mike's hand. "I'll be over as soon as I can. And don't call me—I'll call you if I have to. Don't risk Jeff answering the phone."
"Of course," said Cara.
"I'll even buy those dresses for you, Cara," said Abigail. "I know you probably don't have much money with you, and I've got plenty to spare."
"What do you do?" asked Mike.
"I model," said Abigail, taking her wallet.
"Cara, get back into Davy's clothes and my hat so you're disguised again and so your friend can get the dress for you," said Mike. Cara went off to the dressing rooms again and came out wearing what she had on before and carrying both dresses. She handed them to Abigail and she paid.
"Thanks for that," said Cara as she, Mike, and Abigail walked out of the boutique and to their cars.
"No problem Cara, anytime," said Abigail. "And good for you running off, it's time my brother gets what he deserves."
"High time, from what I've heard," said Mike. "When can we expect to hear back from you, Abigail?"
"Anytime later today," said Abigail. "And remember, I live with Jeff, so don't call, even if he doesn't answer. He can trace it. I'll call you. Can you write your number on the slip too?"
"Sure," said Mike, taking the paper back and scribbling a number onto it. Handing it back to Abigail he said, "Just make sure Jeff doesn't get it, or all hell's gonna break loose."
"Gotcha covered," said Abigail, winking again. "Take care of yourself Cara, and be careful, I'll see you later!" Abigail went over to her car while Cara and Mike climbed back into the Monkeemobile.
"Lucky we ran into her," said Cara. "That was probably the best thing to happen to me besides running in on you all."
"Yupp," said Mike, pulling out of the driveway. "Looks like we got someone on the inside we can trust. I'm just worried about one thing though…"
"What's that?" asked Cara, uneasy.
"If we bring a pretty, spunky model like Abigail into our place, Davy's liable to get worse for her than he was for you," said Mike matter-of-factly.
Cara laughed. "Oh, you're probably right, but I don't think she'd mind," she said.
"Well she better not, cause since you turned him down he's gonna be full-throttle from now on," said Mike, grinning. That, of course, was the subject of conversation on the five-to-ten minute drive back to the beachside apartment.
When they opened the door to walk in, Peter was up in a flash. "I'm so glad you're back!" he said, sounding flustered and worried. "Just a few minutes ago, some lady called who said she was your boyfriend's sister said that she was going to pick up your things from her house she shares with her brother who's also your evil boyfriend and she has our address and phone number and I dunno if we can trust her and—,"
"Pete, calm yourself," said Mike.
"It's fine Peter, Abigail's a friend of mine and she hates Jeff," said Cara. "We ran into her at the boutique. And yeah, she's Jeff's sister, but she's not like him at all. We can trust her."
"Ok…" said Peter, still very flustered.
"So…she's coming here later?" asked Mickey.
"Yeah, just to get my things and bring em here," said Cara. She sat down on the couch between Mickey and Davy.
"Just what we need in here, more girls," joked Mickey.
"Just what I need," said Davy, very seriously.
"Let's just all be civilized and polite when she comes in," said Mike sternly. "She's doing Cara a big favor, and plus she's on the inside of the whole situation, so we need her on our side. Against us…well…it could be a disaster."
Abigail hung the phone up after warning the guys that Cara was staying with what was going on. She hoped she wasn't too vague about the situation, but she was sure Mike and Cara would give an explanation about it anyway. Double-checking that Jeff wasn't in any of the rooms in their house, she crept over to the room where him and Cara used to stay, rolled a suitcase out of the closet, and piled Cara's clothes and other things neatly but quickly into it, just in case Jeff came home early. She was sure he was still searching for his lost item.
Making sure she had gotten everything she needed, she carefully brought the suitcase down the stairs and out the door to her car. Taking care not to look suspicious, she opened the trunk and laid the bag inside it, praying that it would fit. She didn't want it to be visible if she drove passed Jeff on the way to where Cara was staying. She'd have to avoid him at all costs; she didn't want to risk him following her back. She looked around once more and pulled out of her driveway and made way for Cara.
Peter sat at the kitchen table nonchalantly sipping at a bottle of Coke. He wondered if that girl who had called was safe. Cara said she was, but he wasn't so sure. Maybe he should trust what Cara said though; she actually knew her. And if Mike wasn't worried, why should anyone be? Maybe it was just because he liked Cara so much; he didn't want her to get hurt or anything that could be worse. Just thinking about he, he was relaxed. How he wanted to comb his fingers through that soft, curly, auburn hair and touch her smooth face. He smiled spacily and sipped his Coke. Oh, Cara…
Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Peter quickly jumped out of his daydream and went over to the living room. It must be that girl…Abigail or something.
"Man, all these damn knocks," said Mickey. "We may as well be a bed and breakfast…"
"We could probably pull it off, Mickey," said Davy. "I mean, we're sorta homey people."
"Yeah," said Mickey, opening the door. Outside, of course, was Abigail, holding onto a large and heavy suitcase.
"Hello Cara," she said, lugging the behemoth into the house.
"Wait miss, I've got that for you," said Davy, flashing a charming smile and coming up to Abigail. It was comical how short Davy was in comparison to Abigail, the tall, shapely model, but Davy didn't care, and apparently neither did most girls, including Abigail herself, because when she let Davy take her bag, the two proceeded to stare into each other's starry eyes like a pair of lovestruck children.
"Thank you, sir," she said seductively. "I'm Abigail."
"And I'm Davy," said Davy. "You're beautiful, Abigail." The other three guys were rolling their eyes and pretending to throw up while Cara was enveloped in the case of the silent giggles.
"Oh, you're wonderful," said Abigail.
Davy took the suitcase and put it down next to the couch. "I know," he said, winking.
"Oh, there goes Davy again," said Peter with a sour face. Why was it that Davy could get girls that easy and Peter just floundered in his awkwardness? It wasn't fair. He wanted to make Cara swoon for him like that.
"Well at least this one's not being all hostile," said Davy, eyeing Cara, who just stared back.
"So I'm taking Jeff didn't see you?" asked Cara, brushing off Davy's comment quicky.
"Nope, not a sight," said Abigail. "I made sure to get everything."
"Are you sure he won't notice my stuff's gone?" asked Cara.
Abigail snorted. "He knows you're gone already, I think the damage is done," she said.
"True…" said Cara. "Have you met everyone yet?"
"Well, I did meet him," said Abigail, her big green eyes resting on Davy. "Davy…"
"Yeah," said Cara, cutting off Abigail. "The one who was in the shop with me is Mike, Mickey's sitting on the couch, and Peter's standing right over there." Each respective Monkee waved as their name was called. Peter was getting less and less judgmental about Abigail as the meeting went on. Contrary to his first impression, she seemed nice and trustworthy. Cara was still prettier though. Imagine that…prettier than a model. He sighed audibly and everyone turned around.
"Something the matter Peter?" asked Mickey.
"Uh…no, just—er—breathing," said Peter, frantically avoiding embarrassment.
"Right…" said Mickey.
Abigail was looking around the house when she found the area where the guys rehearsed in their band. "Ooooh, you guys are musicians? What do you call your band?"
"Yes we are," said Mike. "And we call ourselves The Monkees, ma'am."
"You all wouldn't mind playing, would you?" asked Cara, going along with Abigail. "I would've asked you sooner; I saw the instruments, but I was a little—uh—disturbed."
"Completely understandable my dear!" said Mickey enthusiastically. "Of course we'll play for you two lovely ladies!" Cara and Abigail giggled. It was nice to actually feel like a girl again, thought Cara.
"So what do you play Peter?" asked Cara as the boys and everybody walked over to the area.
Peter, ecstatic that Cara took some interest in him, responded, "Well, I play a lot…guitar, piano, banjo, French horn—but I play the bass here."
"Backbone!" said Cara.
"Yeah," said Peter, strapping his bass on. "Everyone thinks bass is unimportant…but it really isn't."
"What should we play?" asked Davy, digging out his maracas and tambourine.
"How bout 'Sometime in the Morning'?" asked Mickey from behind the drumset. "My voice has been itching to sing something nice all day."
"Well let's do it then," said Mike, quickly tuning his guitar. "Count us off, Mickey."
Mickey clicked his drumsticks four times for tempo and after the fourth click, Peter started with a bass note, and then the whole band joined in. When Mickey started to sing, Cara listened with awe. He had one of the most beautiful voices she had ever heard. Smooth, and a good range too, going through the lovely melody with ease. The lyrics were beautiful line of poetry, with real meaning and purpose. Mike played his broken chords and arpeggios on his guitar, each chord playing perfectly with the song, melting together with ease. Davy and Mickey kept a steady beat with the percussion, adding flavor and rhythm to the tune. Cara's eyes and ears soon turned to Peter, who looked like he was off in his own little world, dancing around, leaning down to Davy's short mike to sing in the gorgeous harmonies, cushioning Mickey's main melody. She was impressed by Peter's ability to add a melodious heartbeat to the music. When the song was over, both Cara and Abigail arose in applause, and the band bowed.
"That was great!" said Cara. "Leave it to me to run away to some boys in a band!"
"Bravo!" cheered Abigail. "How lovey! I'll have to come here more often!"
"Please do, love," said Davy, like the Casanova he was.
"Glad you liked it," said Peter, grinning ear to ear. He had noticed Cara looking at him during the performance.
"Well, I best be off now," said Abigail. "I'll be sure to come by and check on you, Cara."
"I'll see you later," said Cara. "And thank you!"
"Don't mention it," said Abigail. "Over and out!" she walked out of the door, and the five inside heard her motor run and her car drive off.
"What a bird…" said Davy, his voice trailing off.
Mike nudged Cara. "Didn't I tell you this would happen?" he said quietly. Both of them burst out into laughter, with the other three looking on quite confused at what had happened.