An ongoing story by a group of friends. Crazy, serious, whatever we feel like adding. Just one guideline: let's try not to have a lot of back-to-back posts by the same person. If you were the last person to post, wait until someone else adds to it unless it's already been a while. A day or so at least. :)

One annoyance I must mention. Within each day's posts, the oldest posts are listed first. So, you can go down the page and read the story in order. Unfortunately, blogger will onl

Jeff sighed an inward sigh, of relief. Somehow, he had feared he would have had to be the one to stay behind. After all, Who would be better to deal with a man like Hilary's father; a con man like Scott, who had been around. Or a young radio actor. Well, Jeff Singer would be there if Hilary needed him. He might not be her husband, by law, but in his heart he always would be.

"It's settled then." he said, his elegant baritone soft, and near silent, as he looked into Hilary's eyes. "I'll call the train station, and get tickets. You square things with Victor."

"Leave that to me." Scott said, vibrantly. "And...." and here he stepped up to Jeff, eye to eye; which was a feet in itself given Singer's height; "you take care of her, you hear me ?"

"You needn't tell me." Jeff responded, before pushing his way past Sherwood.

Scott turned, then, to Hilary. She was rereading the message, and her eyes held a fear that the rest of her body struggled to surpress.

"Ok, Hildy, let's have it." Scott said.

Hilary turned, as if startled, her face a question. "Have what ?"

"This plan of yours, and how Ol' Scotty Sherwood fits in better at dear old WENN than right by your side, doll." Scott replied, wearing a smile that was meant to be comforting.
posted by Maria Fernandez at 2:53 PM

Hilary grabbed Scott's tie and jerked him forward. "First off, I doubt they'll let you go if Jeff is with me. Mackie can't do everything by himself. We tried that once and there were more disasters than normal."

Giving Hilary a pained look, Scott tried to wiggle his tie out of her iron grip. "Hildy," he gasped, "believe it or not, if you're in some kind of serious danger, there's no way anyone here would let you go alone."

"He's right, Hilary." Jeff helped Scott get his tie back. "And if you'd stop for a minute, even you'd realize that you don't want to go face that father of yours alone. There's no telling what he'd do. Please let us come with you."

Backing away from the two of them, she put her head in her hands and sighed. "Fine. But we're going to do this my way. Jeff, you're coming with me. Scott, you're staying here because part of my plan will involve someone I can reach on the outside and I need you to be here in case something goes wrong."

Scott looked at her concerned, but managed a soft smile. "Piece of cake."

posted by Andrea Dreamer at 12:06 AM

One week later, a messenger arrived at WENN with a certified letter for Hilary. Gertie, of course, was most interested in the contents.

"Who's it from, Hilary?"

"Even if I wanted to tell you Gertrude," Hilary sneered, "I still wouldn't give you the satisfaction!" Stomping out of the lobby she marched down the hallway into Studio B where she knew she would be uninterrupted for at least 15 minutes. Cautiously opening the letter, she started to read.

Hilary,
You have to help me. There's no other way around it. Daddy's back and this time I'm not sure anything I do or say will appease him....

posted by Andrea Dreamer at 1:50 AM

Hilary read the note with trepidation. She would have to go. She crumpled the paper into her fist and rushed out of the small studio. She hurried around the corner and rushed headlong into Jeffrey, who was walking toward the mens room.

"Hilary!" Jeff steadied Hilary before she fell. He bent to pick ip the paper she dropped.

"Give me that! I was on my way out." Hilary grabbed the note and tried to move around her ex-husband.

He grabbed her arm as she moved past. "Where are you going?"

"It isn't any business of yours!" She tried unsuccessfully to shake loose.

Knowing Hilary better, Jeff grabbed the paper out of her tight grasp. He read it and then responded. "Your father is back?"

"Yes." Hilary grudgingly admitted, but this is my fight, Jeffrey."

"No, Hilary, if you remember correctly, it's our fight! The last time your father waltzed into your life he nearly killed you."

"Jeff, you are exaggerrating just a bit."

"Doesn't matter. I'm going with you."

"I am, too." Scott responded from just inside open office door where he'd overheard the conversation. "Sounds like you'll need all the help you can get."......

posted by Biz S at 5:32 PM

"Now wait a minute," Deborah grabbed the note but stepped in front of Hilary to keep her from leaving the room, "Kat is my friend, and I'm not going back to San Francisco with nothing more than a few ink scribbles on a piece of paper."

Hilary's eyes narrowed to slits as she moved closer to Deborah. "First off, you will take that note back to Kathleen. Secondly, you'll do it and do it now, especially if you treasure my sister's friendship as much as you say you do."

The piece of paper slowly made its way into Deborah's handbag. "Miss Booth, please. Why is Kat in danger from your father? Why don't you want anyone to know she's your sister? And what is so significant about January of 1930?"
posted by Andrea Dreamer at 1:16 AM

Hilary tried to stare down the younger woman, but it was obvious that Deborah wasn't leaving until she got at least some of her questions answered. "It was the last time she and I saw each other," she said shortly, responding to the least compromising question and choosing to leave out the details.

"But why..."

Hilary drew herself up sharply. "I told you that I will deal with my father...our father. Now, I know Kathleen must be truly worried if she actually sent you to me, so I'd suggest you go back to San Francisco and tell her that. If she wants to tell you our family secrets, I can't stop her, but I have no intention of doing it myself."
posted by J F at 2:23 AM

For just a moment, Hilary looked disconcerted. Then she pursed her lips and laughed tightly. "I know Kat used to love the dramatic, but it really doesn't suit you, Debbie. You don't quite have the knack."

Deborah looked annoyed, but her tone was urgent. "I don't have time to spar with you, Miss Booth. I don't know what your relationship with Kat is or was, but she seems to think you need to know that he's back around."

"Who's back?" Hilary asked, her face blank.

"Her father," Deborah said, not expecting the soft gasp that came from Hilary at those words.

"Daddy..."
posted by J F at 2:10 PM

Deborah sat, stunned. "Are you saying that Kat is your sister?"

Hilary quickly moved to shush the other woman. "Keep your voice down will you?" She glanced to make sure no one heard the comment. "No one knows. No one is to know."

"I don't understand," Deborah responded, "Why is it such a secret?"

"Deborah, please just forget you heard this." Hilary took a paper from her purse and wrote a note. "Take this and give it to Kat, tell her it will be OK. I'll try to think of some way to deal with daddy. Even if it means my leaving Pittsburgh."

posted by Biz S at 9:31 PM

Hilary raised her eyebrow. "Someone who knows me, dear? You'll need to be more specific, as there are many people who know me. Why, so many people have seen me in such Broadway -"

The woman hurriedly cut in. She had already heard about Hilary's legendary credits and her love of reciting them. "All right, I'll be specific." She took a deep breath. "January 26, 1930. Does that mean anything to you?"
posted by Rina Stewart at 12:21 AM

"Only that it's hard to believe I don't look a day older now than I did then," Hilary cooed to her pocket mirror. "But if you want me to remember who I met on that specific date, I'm afraid I've met so many wonderful and inconsequential people since then. No, January of 1930 doesn't ring any significant bells."

The mysterious woman shook her honey-blond head with indignation. "Miss Booth! I can't believe it. She said you'd remember. I can't believe you don't remember!" Finding the nearest chair, the as-yet unnamed person sat on the nearest unlucky cushion and gave Hilary a hard stare.
posted by Andrea Dreamer at 3:15 AM

"She?" Hilary mused. That one pronoun did, after all, go a long way towards explaining why she might not find the mysterious date as memorable as she was apparently expected to. "I'm going to need a name, dear. The thrill of mystery fades quickly, you know."

"I can't believe you don't remember," the young woman said again. "I came all the way from San Francisco..."

"San Francisco?" Hilary put down the mirror and fixed her with an intense look, memories flooding into her mind past the champagne she had been drinking. Without a conscious decision to speak, she whispered a name.
posted by J F at 3:22 PM

"Yes!" the woman said eagerly. "That's right! Kat, Kat Chambers. I knew you couldn't forget her."

"How do you know Kat?" Hilary asked, shaken. "Who are you?"

"She always told me that I could find you if I needed to, you were the one I could trust." The woman leaned towards Hilary. "Can I? Trust you, I mean."
posted by Rina Stewart at 3:33 PM

Shakily lifting the glass of champagne to her lips, Hilary took a sip and decided she'd had enough. "Before I can trust *you*, I need to know who you are. And why the hell you've decided to drag my past into my present."

Standing to move closer to Hilary, she held out her hand. "Deborah Campbell. Kat is my best friend, and since she couldn't come to you, she sent me."

"And just why can't dear Kathleen," Hilary sneered at the full use of the name, "do her own dirty work?"

"Because her life is in danger. And you're the only one that can save her."
posted by Andrea Dreamer at 5:38 PM

"Miss Booth? Hilary Booth?"

Hilary looked up to see who had called her name. "Of course," she said automatically.

"I've been looking for you everywhere," the young woman said. "I'm a friend of someone who knows you, and I need to talk to you."
posted by J F at 7:31 PM