Chapter 2

An insect? A spider? An enchantress in the dark?

At intermission Bella Lisa remained in her seat, reading the program notes. Williamson could hardly concentrate on the first act, the area of his pelvis throbbing with pain. He slipped out of his seat and up the aisle, unnoticed by her. He crossed the lobby, waited for a stall to open up in the men’s room, went in and shut and locked the door behind him. He removed his pants and observed his groin area in the bright florescent light. The skin was red and swollen, perhaps from how he was rubbing it, but he could find no evidence of the bite of an insect or spider. He did notice that the blue veins running across his pelvis seemed more pronounced. That seemed to be where the pain was coming from. He tried to recall if he may have pulled a muscle doing squats, leg lifts or running vigorously on the treadmill during his last work out session. Though he had worked his body into a lathering sweat, he didn’t remember injuring himself there. Williamson used the facilities, zipped up, washed his hands and walked through the lobby, looking at photographs of previous theatrical productions mounted on the lobby walls. When the house manager rang the bell signaling the beginning of Act Two, rather than returning to his seat he decided to go to the courtyard outside the theater to get some fresh air and try to walk off the pain.

As he walked further away from the theater and the young woman, the pain thankfully subsided a bit. He watched as the courtyard was being set up for the opening night catered party, with each table adorned with fresh flowers and champagne flutes on top of elegantly pressed white linen, just as he requested. Williamson picked up a glass of champagne from a silver tray on the buffet table and took a sip. He decided to take a walk through a grove of trees to wait for the show to end, trying to calm his throbbing pelvis and beating heart. He shut his eyes, resting the back of his head against the smooth bark peeling off of a eucalyptus tree. He loosened his black bow tie slightly. Breathing in the tree’s fragrance, he was surprised, despite the dull ache in his groin, to feel a sense of lightless or even an expectation of happiness creep into the dark and deadened core of his soul. Williamson felt the wisp of a cool ocean breeze come off the Pacific Ocean as he sipped his Moet. He leaned back and tried to calm his mind with the visage of the unknown woman’s lovely face.

As the lights faded on the final scene of the play, Bella Lisa was the first to begin the applause, her face beaming with pride for her father’s performance as he took his bow with a flourish. She wanted to give her dad a standing applause, but felt a little embarrassed that she would’ve been the only one standing, since the applause had quickly died down and became tepid. As the house lights came up she stood, clutching her purse against her side. She inadvertently shot a quick glance behind her at the strange man, but the seat was empty.

Where was he? How rude of him to leave before the end of the performance.

Bella Lisa brushed her fingers through her thick hair and inched up the steps of the aisle with the crowd. She looked up toward the back of the theater and saw a man standing at the top of the steps. She focused her eyes and realized it was him, gripping the railing tightly with his fists and staring over the crowd and up and down each aisle with that same burning intensity in his eyes. Bella Lisa watched him surveying the theater with his mouth slightly open and lips parted, as if he was looking for someone or something he had lost.

When their eyes met, she could see him release his grip on the railing and the furrow on his brow became smooth.

Was he actually looking for me?

She stared up into those hard brown dead eyes and responded to the man’s attentions without her usual warmth. Instead, Bella Lisa shivered. She broke off eye contact for a second to wrap a thin black silk shawl around her bare shoulders. When she looked up again he was gone. She slowly made it to the top of the stairs, chiding herself for giving him the cold shoulder again. After all, he was only looking at her as every other man had done. But there was something in that look that disturbed her, as if she was looking into the eyes of a caged and hungry animal.

Lurking in the shadows of the trees, Williamson watched Bella Lisa make her way into the courtyard, gracefully sipping a flute of champagne. She greeted several people, mostly men, smiling at each one pleasantly and flirtatiously. She chatted in a charming and open manner with each gentleman who greeted her, wrapping the silk scarf tightly around her white shoulders, causing her breasts to press upward and outward, allowing more of her deliciously abundant cleavage to spill out of her loosely fitted red gown. Williamson’s pelvis once again began to throb painfully at the lovely view and he rubbed the sore spot, hidden in the dark of the trees. Other men continued to notice her and make ever decreasing circles around her like a school of tuxedo clad sharks, smelling blood. He could see her occasionally looking through the crowd before another man would demand her attentions, hoping to make her his mistress. After a few minutes her father came out with the other actors from the dressing rooms to join the opening night party. Bella Lisa immediately ran over and gave Marc Mauricio a warm embrace and kiss on the cheek. Mauricio smiled, grabbed a champagne flute from a silver tray and took a long deep drink from it.

Of course. What good luck. She’s the daughter of Mauricio!

The resemblance was unmistakable. Williamson immediately felt a rush of excitement, his heart pumping, his blood surging through his veins. Now he would be able to see the beautiful young woman again, and soon. He remembered publicity shots of Mauricio’s ex-wife, a brown-haired slender super model, whom Mauricio had married and quickly divorced at the height of his popularity during the five year run of his popular TV show.

That’s where she got those stunning looks from.