See part 1 for all of the disclaimers

Lost Paradise 7

By WolfDragon.

Working on a Sunday wasn't what Kris wanted to do, especially not when she had Nicole waiting for her at home. But it was a small price to pay when she knew that the project was almost finished and that she would soon go back to their normal schedule and routine. Kris was looking forward to driving Nicole to work and coming back home together. The worst that could happen right now was that they would have to work another day, but Kris had warned Marcus that it would be the last one.

The extra days working overtime at the school had been spent on preparing a new section where brand new equipment had been installed. Air rams and ratchet systems had been assembled and tested where students would now be able to train with the latest devices on the market. The equipment allowed the stunt performer to be launched in the air, activated only when the performer either jumped using the air ram or stepped forward with the help of the ratchet system. Compared with the previous equipment, the new unit didn't have any buttons or wires connected to the performer and didn't have any airborne radio or IR signal. This new technology reduced the risk of accidental activation by requiring at least the full body weight of the stunt person to activate the system.

This had been Marcus' pet project and he had been looking forward to having it fully operational at the stunt school. Kris watched with amusement as every instructor tried the new system. She looked down at her watch and saw that it was nearly dinnertime. Seeing that the work was done for the day and that the instructors were mostly just goofing around, Kris waved goodbye to Marcus and made her way home.

It had been a fairly calm day, Nicole thought as she walked back to the house. Her father had seemed to be in a good mood today. In fact, Nicole couldn't recall her father smiling so much. Opening the door to the house, Nicole heard the phone ringing and hurried to answer it before the caller hung up.

"Hello?" she called into the phone. Silence answered her and Nicole shifted impatiently on her feet. "Who's this?" she asked then the connection was broken. "Wrong number I guess." Nicole told herself as she put the phone back on its base. She turned around and looked at the time. If everything went well at the school, Kris would be home in two hours. Nicole decided to wash her hair and take a long, hot bath to relax. It still bothered her a little bit to have to sneak around in order to meet her father. She wished that she had told Kris about it even if she knew that her lover wouldn't agree with it. After all the time spent in the presence of her father, she was certain now that he was indeed seeking help. It showed in his attitude when they spoke together. No matter how Kris would react to the news, Nicole wanted to get this secret off her chest. But today wasn't the time to do it. She wanted to prepare a nice meal for tonight and relax with Kris, maybe even watch a movie at home.

Coming out of the bathroom, Nicole heard the phone ring again. Thinking that maybe it was Kris calling, she ran for the phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Huh," There was a slight hesitation on the other end, "Kris?" a woman's voice asked.

"I'm sorry," Nicole replied, "She's not here right now. Do you want to…"

Click. Nicole looked at the phone in surprise. "…Leave a message?" She continued to the buzzing phone. "Well, that was rude." She said as she hung up. Nicole shrugged her shoulder, trying to think of who might be calling Kris. If it was business related, Kris usually gave her cell phone number. "If it's important, she'll call back." Nicole told herself and started preparing dinner.

Nicole caught the unmistakable sound of a Harley approaching and smiled. She continued setting the table and heard the front door close. The sound of booted feet sounded on the wooden floor and then silence. There was a bit of shuffling as Nicole guessed that Kris was putting her leather jacket and helmet away. She heard two thumps and assumed that it was Kris' boots hitting the floor. Nicole silently walked up to the chilled bottle of wine and poured two glasses. Seeing that Kris wasn't coming in the kitchen, Nicole figured that she probably believed herself to be alone in the house. The first thing her lover usually did once in the house was to always kiss her hello. The second thing was to go into her office and check her e-mails. Being careful not to make any noise and wanting to surprise her, Nicole carried the two glasses and made her way toward Kris. The dark-haired woman was sitting at her computer with her elbows leaning on the desk, her head resting into her hands.

"Another hard day?" she said from the doorway.

Startled, Kris quickly turned around and then smiled as she saw Nicole standing there with two glasses of white wine in her hands. "Hey," Kris said as she watched Nicole approach and hand her one of the glasses. "I thought you were still out walking." She took the offered wine, sipped the golden liquid and put the glass on her desk. She gently tugged on Nicole's free hand and brought her closer to her. "Thanks for the wine."

"My pleasure." Nicole smiled. "I went on my walk earlier than usual." Nicole said as she stepped behind Kris and leaned over her lover to put her own wine beside the other glass. She gently reached for Kris' shoulders and softly, but firmly began to massage the tense muscles. "Everything okay?" Nicole asked.

Kris closed her eyes as Nicole's gentle fingers began to sooth her. 'It's incredible to feel the effect she's got on me.' Kris sighed as she let her body relax under her lover's caring hands. 'No matter if I'm tired, sad or upset, she manages to calm me.' "You've got a magic touch Nick." Kris told Nicole and heard a small chuckle.

"There's nothing magic about it." Nicole said softly. "It comes from love." She bent down and kissed Kris' neck. "You ready for dinner?" Nicole asked. "We can continue this later." She grinned and winked at her smiling lover, "Come on." Nicole reached for Kris' arm and led her partner out of the office. Something seemed to be bothering Kris. Nicole realized that she hadn't answered her previous question. She hoped that everything was okay with Kris. Maybe she was just tired, especially after all those long hours at work. 'One thing's for sure,' Nicole told herself, 'I'm gonna do my best to make her relax tonight.'

******************************

Monday and Tuesday had come and gone. Kris had been more than upset to find out that she had to spend another day working at the school after teaching. An unexpected problem had occurred with some equipment and it needed to be fixed. The stuntwoman had seen the same problem before while on location in Germany and had successfully fixed it. Kris saw no other choice but to stay and repair it or else it would have taken a specialist to come from Los Angeles to do it. The school couldn't afford the wasted time it would take for him to get there.  

Both Kris and Nicole had left the house together this morning, thinking that they were back to their previous schedule. But with the latest problem, Kris had to call Nicole and tell her she'd be working late, yet another time. Nicole had sounded disappointed but had told Kris that she would get back home with no trouble.

It took less time than she had figured to fix the unit and even though she was still upset about working late, Kris was happy to see that it was still fairly early in the day. She started driving back home and tried to figure out a way to surprise her lover. 'I guess Nicole is about to go on her daily walks. Maybe I should go and meet her.' Kris smiled to herself, feeling her mood improve with this latest plan.

Knowing that Nicole always walked the same trail, Kris drove slowly along the lakeshore in search of her blonde haired friend. Spotting a familiar form sitting on a park bench, Kris parked the Pathfinder and shut the motor off. She climbed out and started making her way toward the younger woman. A man was sitting beside her and both were talking animatedly. Kris couldn't recall having seen the man before. Maybe he was a friend of hers or maybe not. Nicole was the only person Kris knew that could start a conversation with a stranger.

Kris slowed her pace to take her time getting to her lover. She could see Nicole's hands tracing patterns in the air as she explained something. The man was nodding and making signs of his own in response to whatever Nicole was saying. A burst of laughter came out of Nicole as she playfully slapped the well-built man sitting beside her.

"Oh, come on Dad!" Nicole exclaimed as she continued laughing.

Kris stopped dead in her tracks. 'Dad?!' Everything stopped existing around her as Kris processed this information. She could feel a mix of fear and anger slowly built within her as she continued making her way toward the couple. What was Nicole's father doing there? Was he threatening her? Was she okay? Then the sound of Nicole's laughter came back to her and she stopped once again. 'Nicole's laughing.' Kris took another look at her friend and she couldn't see any signs that Nicole was in any danger. A look around her showed Kris that the fact that they were in a public place was fairly safe for Nicole. Kris wanted to know what was going on but she was damned if she would ask Nicole in front of her father. She turned around and walked back to the Pathfinder and quietly drove back home.

Looking at the time every five minutes, Kris kept pacing the livingroom floor. She had to wrestle with her emotions not to go back to the park and confront McGrail. Normally Nicole would be back from her walk in another twenty minutes. 'If she's not here in twenty-five, I'm going back there. I don't trust that man.' Kris told herself and continued pacing.

Nicole entered the house by the back door and nearly collided with Kris. She stifled a scream with her hand and took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. "You scared me half to death Kris!" Nicole said as she put her walkman on the coffee table. "You're home early." She smiled at Kris but slowly lost it as she saw the serious expression on her face. "What's wrong?" Nicole asked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kris asked quietly, looking at Nicole.

"Tell you what?" Nicole said confused.

Kris slowly walked up to the glass door, crossed her arms over her chest and stared outside, not seeing anything. "Did you meet anybody while you were walking?" she asked, wanting to see if Nicole would answer.

"What's going on Kris?" Nicole asked, feeling her heart start beating faster again with every passing moment. "What are you getting at?"

"Did you meet anybody?" Kris demanded more forcefully, then remembered her promise to Nicole and did her best to keep her temper under control. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the door.

Nicole opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She tried again, certain that her voice would crack with the tension she was feeling. "What do you want to know?" She looked at Kris who still had her back turned to her.

"Who were you sitting with on the park bench?" Kris wanted to know. She opened her eyes and kept them staring at the door, seeing Nicole's reflection as the younger woman shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

Nicole stopped breathing. Her worst fear had come true. She was sure now that Kris had seen her talking with her father. 'Damn you!' She cursed herself. 'Why didn't you talk to her like you were suppose to do yesterday!' She tried to calm her nerves and briefly closed her eyes. "I was with my father," she softly said.

"Why? Did he follow you?" Kris asked as she turned around to face Nicole. "Did he try to hurt you again?"

"Calm down Kris, we were just talking." Nicole tried to reassure the taller woman, afraid that Kris was going to lose her temper. But even though Nicole could see the jaw muscles clenching under Kris' tanned skin, her partner was doing her best to control herself. "Nothing happened."

"That's what you told me the last time he hit you!" Kris said as she brushed a shaking hand through her raven hair.

"We were just talking." Nicole said again. "We've been meeting like this for the past week and…"

"What?!" Kris exclaimed. "You've seen him…You never…Nicole, what do you think you're doing?"

"He's getting help!" Nicole explained, not sure that Kris would understand.

Kris turned around and closed her eyes, wanting to say a thousand things concerning Nicole's father. "The only help he needs is a good swift kick in the…" she started.

Nicole reached for Kris' arm and spun her around so the older woman would look at her. "Kris, this is my father we're talking about! I know we don't have the best relationship, but he's trying to change." Nicole wondered why she had to defend her wish to meet her own father. She could feel the anger slowly build inside her as she thought back to why Kris had been in the park in the first place. "Were you spying on me?" she accused.

Seeing the anger in Nicole's eyes, Kris did her best to calm her by keeping her own voice gentle. "No, I wasn't." she said honestly. "I left early so we could spend some time together. I didn't know you were going to be with him."

"Look, we met last Monday. You were too busy to even have dinner with me so I left the house to take a walk and he happened to be there." Nicole started, wanting to get everything out in the open. "He always went there to relax and think." She took a calming breath and sat down on the sofa. "Listen, he asked me for a second chance. We've been meeting in a public place, it's not like we've been alone." She said softly.

"Well, I don't like it. Something doesn't feel right." Kris stated not sure why Nicole would believe him after all that he'd done to her. "He's up to no good, can't you see that?" Kris asked as she slowly crouched in front of Nicole.

"No, I don't." she replied sure of herself. "Kris, I knew that you were going to react this way. That's why I didn't want to say anything." Nicole could see the hurt in Kris' eyes. She felt terrible to be the cause of it but she had made a decision about talking with her father and all she could do right now was to let Kris know that she was old enough to take full responsibility for her choice. "I wanted to see if he really changed." Nicole explained, "I even tested him, I wanted to see if he was going to lose his temper, he didn't! It almost broke his heart, he looked so sad."

Kris listened silently to her partner, hearing her voice start to tremble. Deep down within her, Kris hated the man for the lifetime of abuse he had given his daughter and would never be able to forgive him like Nicole seemed to be able to do. She just hoped that she was wrong and Nicole could prove to her that he was doing his best to change his ways.

"Kris," Nicole said softly as she let her hand rest on her lover's muscular arm. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I just thought that for once in my life I could make my own decision about what I wanted to do and that's to give my father a second chance." Nicole waited to see if Kris would say anything. The dark-haired woman was looking at Nicole's hand on her arm and without a word reached for it. For a frightening moment, Nicole thought that Kris would simply brush her hand away. But all she did was give it a squeeze as blue eyes looked up at her.

"You're right." Kris gave her a small smile. "You have every right to make your own decisions Nicole." She stood up from her crouched position and sat beside her friend. "I just don't want to see you get hurt that's all."

Nicole was so relieved to see that Kris wasn't angry anymore that she started crying. The next thing she knew, she felt herself solidly wrapped in two long arms and heard Kris' soothing voice. Her large hand gently caressing her blonde hair.

"Shhh, I've got you. Everything's gonna be okay." Still, deep in her mind, Kris knew that Nicole's father was up to something. 'No matter what you do, you can't keep a rattle snake from biting.' Kris silently told herself. If Nicole really believed her father, all she could do was to make sure that nothing happened to her.

******************************

Since morning, Kris hadn't been able to concentrate. Too many times she had caught herself drifting away from watching her students and now she had been staring at her computer screen for the past twenty minutes trying to do her evaluations. All she was able to do was think about Nicole and her father. She understood Nicole's need to try and get a normal relationship with him. Her partner seemed to really believe that he was seeking help and obviously saw a difference with his attitude towards her or else Nicole wouldn't have met him so many times. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to get rid of the headache that had steadily grown ever since her discussion with Nicole. She wished that she could have as much confidence as Nicole concerning her father but somehow she wasn't able to trust him.

A strong hand squeezed her shoulder. With a quick movement Kris stood up, kicked the chair she had been sitting on away from her and spun around to face whoever had been foolish enough to touch her from behind. The dark-haired woman glared at the man now standing in front of her, ready to strike.

Marcus froze as he saw Kris' reaction and felt the blood drain from his face. Coming back to his senses, he quickly lifted his hands and took a step back from the stuntwoman. "Hey Kris, chill out!" the school's director said. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't…" Kris growled, "…Ever do that to me again!" she said as she stretched to her full height and took a calming breath. If there was one thing that she couldn't stand was to be touched, especially from behind. Memories from a long time ago came rushing back to Kris.

Ever since that day, Kris had disliked anybody touching her and the ones that had done so from behind quickly learned not to do it again. She looked at Marcus who was still standing in front of her and gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry. You surprised me." She told the director. Kris bent down and picked up her chair to bring it back to her desk.

Marcus sat on the edge of her desk and looked at his instructor. "You don't seem like yourself today Kris. What's up?" he asked simply.

Kris shook her head. She hated to talk about her private life and she was not about to do it with a man she barely knew. "I'm fine." She replied as she sat down at her desk.

Marcus snorted. "Yeah, right. And I'm the Queen of England!" He watched as Kris gave him a look but saw the beginning of a smile tug at her lip. "Listen, it's been a long day and everybody's hot. Since the students did very well today, I decided to cut the day short." The director said as he stood up. "We're all going out for a cold beer, instructors and students. You said you'd come with us last time." Marcus grinned.

Looking at her watch, Kris saw that it was only two o'clock. She still had some time before she left the school to pick up Nicole. One beer wouldn't hurt. "Sure," Kris smiled as she shut down her computer. "I'll join you guys."

Stepping back as Kris stood up, "Suzan will be happy to hear that." he said as they walked out of the instructors' office.

"Who?" the stuntwoman asked.

"Suzan Shelby. One of the two female students we have at the school?" Marcus said. "Don't tell me you forgot about her already." He laughed, about to clap Kris on the back but stopped at the very last second. He still remembered the look she had given him earlier.

"Oh," Kris shook her head. "No, I didn't forget." The beginning of the week had brought in a new batch of students at the school. One of them had been Suzan.

Suzan was, as she called herself, Kristina's number one fan. Kris had been the reason the tall, shapely brunette enrolled at the stunt school. Knowing that her idol was teaching and especially since it was in Montreal, Suzan had decided to go for it. She wasn't one of the best students the school had at the moment and so the instructors had to spend extra time with her to explain the simplest of movements, not that they were complaining about it. Suzan, according to the boys, was very pleasant to look at and they didn't mind getting closer to her in order to do it.

Kris had suffered a lot of teasing from the other instructors about her fan, especially since Suzan followed Kris around the school grounds like a little puppy whenever she could. 'At least I'll only be at the pub for a couple of hours.' Kris told herself, knowing that the brunette would be sitting right beside her.

Some time later, Kris stood up from the table and took her keys out of her pocket. The instructors sitting nearby voiced their objections to her departure. "Come on Kris," Marcus complained, "It's still early. Why do you have to go?"

Kris smiled and finished the rest of her beer. "You know that Nicole will be waiting for me at the studios." She took a quick look around, not finding the person she was looking for and grinned at Marcus. "And I have a clear route for the door."

"Running away from Suzan huh?" the school's director chuckled.

"Yeah well, that's the type of worship I don't need right now." Kris smiled and waved to the rest of the guys. "See you all tomorrow." She said and walked out of the pub. Two cars away from her Pathfinder, Kris noticed a car with its hood up and saw that it was Suzan standing in front of it looking at the motor. Debating between driving off or helping the young student, Kris shook her head and made her way toward the brunette. "What's up?" Kris asked as she approached the car.

"I have no idea." Suzan sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It's just a piece of junk. I should buy another one but I can't afford it."

"Did you leave your lights on?" Kris asked as she did a summary check of the engine.

"No, I didn't. Things like this always happen when we're in a hurry don't they?" Suzan said as she watched Kris walk to the driver's side and sit in the car. The stuntwoman tried a couple of times to start the motor but the car wouldn't cooperate.

Stepping out of the car and closing the door behind her, Kris looked at the young student and shrugged her shoulders. "I can't find the problem. Do you want me to call a tow truck?" she asked as she unclipped her cell phone off of her belt.

"No!" Suzan responded a bit too fast. "I mean, I'm in a hurry and I don't have time to wait for it." She looked up at Kris and smiled shyly. "Could you give me a lift though? It would really help me."

Kris sighed. 'Why did I know that this was coming?' She looked at her watch and saw that she had an hour before she was due to pick Nicole up from work. "What about your car?" Kris asked.

"I'll have my brother take care of it." Suzan explained.

'What harm can it do to drive her home, right?' Kris asked herself. "Alright, I'll drive you. Come on." She said as she walked toward the pathfinder.

Letting the hood of her car slam shut, Suzan pumped her arm in victory. She would finally spend some time alone with her idol, even though it was only for a short while. Making sure that Kris wasn't looking, Suzan quickly shoved the wire she had cut from her car's engine into her pocket and smiled as she trotted after the Austrian stuntwoman.

Later in the day, Nicole watched Kris leave and walked to the kitchen to make popcorn. 'A movie, some popcorn and a quiet evening with my lover. What else can I ask for?' Nicole chuckled and put the bag in the microwave. The phone rang and she jogged to the livingroom to answer it. "Hello?"

"Can I speak to Kris?" a female voice asked.

"She's not here right now." Nicole answered, "Do you want to leave a message?"

"Oh," Suzan replied disappointed. "No, it's okay. I'll see her tomorrow. Thank you." She said then hung up.

'See her tomorrow?' Nicole frowned as she put the phone back on its base. 'I wonder who that was.' She thought then walked back to the kitchen as the microwave beeped.

******************************

Nicole loved her job as a camera operator. She had been lucky enough to be the assistant to a wonderful woman who wasn't afraid to show her all the tricks of the trade. Nicole was learning fast and proved to have a lot of potential. She spent her working hours watching D.J., the camera woman she was assisting, like a hawk, taking notes and asking a lot of questions when they weren't filming. More often than she should've allowed, D.J. let Nicole handle the camera for less critical shots, wanting her protégé to learn as much as possible. The crew quickly got used to Nicole's questions as the young blonde went from the other camera people to the technicians, wanting to know as much as possible concerning the behind the scenes of TV and movie making.

But today, the crew found Nicole very quiet. She didn't look upset or angry but was more in a distracted mood. A few concerned techs went to talk to her during the lunch break, but she always reacted the same way. "I'm fine, thanks." She would respond with a smile and turned her attention back to her technical book.

In truth, Nicole had been staring at her book for the past half-hour. She knew that she shouldn't make such a big deal out of this but the phone calls she had answered this week were beginning to bother her. They were always from a woman and they never left a message. She wasn't sure if the caller was the same woman. The voice sounded the same but Nicole couldn't be certain.

Kris knew a lot of people and many would call the house, so why did those calls bother her so much? Was it because they came from a woman that never identified herself? Nicole shook her head in frustration she hated feeling so damn insecure. 'If only Alex was here,' Nicole wished, 'I'd have somebody to talk to about this.'

A bell rang across the TV set, indicating that lunch was over. Nicole closed her book and stood up. She wondered what her cousin would say if she was able to talk to her. 'She would probably say it's all in your head and stop making such a big thing about it.' Nicole smiled as she could almost hear her spirited cousin speak. Knowing that it was probably true, Nicole decided against talking with Kris about it and walked back to work.

Later in the afternoon, parked not too far away from Kris' house, was a car with two occupants sitting silently inside. They watched as a Pathfinder entered the driveway and saw a petite blonde woman step out of it and close the door. She talked to the driver a little longer and then they saw her smile before turning back to walk toward the house. The vehicle slowly backed down the drive and continued down the road.

The occupants of the parked sedan smiled as the driver waited a little longer to give the blonde woman a chance to enter the house and then took his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number and passed the phone to his passenger. The woman grinned as she took it and listened to the rings. The call was picked up after the third ring. "Hello?" she heard an out of breath female voice answer.

"May I speak to Kris please?" the passenger said, smiling into the phone.

"Kris just left," Nicole replied. "She'll be back shortly. Do you want to leave a message?"

"Yes," the woman drawled, "Would you thank her for the wonderful time we had? Thank you." She said with a sultry voice, then hung up. She looked up at the driver and both started laughing. "How was it?" she asked Mark.

"You were wonderful," the photographer smiled and bent down to kiss his girlfriend. "You know something Alice? We could make a lot of money taking contracts like these!" he grinned as he started the car and drove back home.

Inside the house, Nicole stared at the now silent phone she held in her hand. "What the hell was that all about?" she asked no one in particular. This was getting a bit too much for her. So far all the phone calls could be considered normal ones but not this one. What did the caller mean by 'a wonderful time?' Enough is enough, Nicole grumbled as she dialed Kris' cell phone number and waited. She jumped in surprise as a ring sounded from her attaché case and then she remembered. Driving back home, she had made a call to the technician who was repairing her CD player, wanting to know if it was ready and had then put the phone in her opened bag, forgetting to give it back to Kris.

Nicole hung up in frustration. She had no way to reach Kris and ask her about the phone call. Kris had offered to pick the CD player up for her saying that she had a few things to do and would be back some time later. "What the hell's going on Kris?" Nicole said, feeling her anger build. She stomped out of the livingroom and walked out of the house, wanting to calm her shaking body.

Having picked up Nicole's CD player and a few snacks for the evening, Kris reached for her belt to take her cell phone. She frowned as she noticed that it wasn't there. She opened the glove compartment and sighed as she remembered that Nicole had it. Knowing that her lover was probably doing her daily walk, Kris drove in the direction where Nicole usually stopped for a while to relax. 'And talk with her father.' She added silently. All Kris had wanted to know was what kind of movie Nicole wanted to see tonight. 'If she's with him, I can always make sure that she's okay.' She put the Pathfinder in gear and drove to find Nicole.

A soft voice broke Nicole out of her thoughts and she looked up at her father who had a worried expression on his face. They were sitting on a park bench after Nicole had called her father for him to meet her. With Alex gone in Africa and both her Aunt and Uncle gone on vacation, Nicole had nobody to talk to about the way she was feeling. But calling her father had been the most stupid thing she had done. Not only had she never mentioned Kris to him, but also she knew for a fact that her father would not understand her relationship with her.

"Is something bothering you?" McGrail asked as he put a gentle hand on Nicole's lap. He smiled as he saw that she wasn't avoiding his touch. 'Good, she trusts me now.' He silently said. He hoped that the reason why Nicole looked so upset was because of the phone calls he asked to be made at the stuntwoman's house. The photographer and his girlfriend had been watching her house for some time now and had waited until the dark-haired woman left, wanting Nicole to be alone to answer the calls.

"I'm…" Nicole started but bit her lip. Could she take the chance and tell him about Kris? If she did, it would be the best test Nicole could think of to see how her father would react. "I've been living with a friend and things are not as rosy as they were." Nicole said as she looked at her hands, seeing them shake nervously.

"Are you living with Neilson?" her father asked with hope in his voice. "He's a real nice boy. What happened?"

"No," Nicole shook her head wondering why she hadn't called her childhood friend instead of her father. "It's not Neilson. Her name is Kris." She said simply and instinctively cringed, expecting a reaction from her father. Not hearing a sound from him and especially after not having received a slap, she took a chance and looked up at him. He sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"A woman?" he asked and saw Nicole silently nod. "She's just a friend right? I mean you two aren't…" he let the question trail, knowing full well the answer to that. He smiled inwardly as he saw Nicole's uncomfortable shifting of her body. 'Let the game begin!' he snickered.

"Please understand, I love her very much." She said and grew more confident as her father didn't react violently to the news. "It's just that there are a few things that we need to work out, that's all."

"Who is this…Kris?" he asked, trying to keep the disdain he had for the woman out of his voice.

'Well, you started this, you better go all the way now.' Nicole told herself. "She's a stuntwoman I met while working with Uncle Robert. She's the one I'm going to live with in Austria."

"In Austria?" McGrail asked, "You're not talking about Kristina Von Deering are you?"

Nicole could hear the worried tone in her father's voice. He never read anything concerning show business. How come he knew about Kris? "Yes, it's her. But…"

"Nickie, do you realize how much trouble that woman is?" he asked softly.

"What do you mean?" A confused look crawled over Nicole's face. "She's been very nice to me."

"Of course she is," he replied as if speaking to a child. "Nicole, do you know how many lovers that woman has had before?" he asked taking her cold hand in his. "While I went to buy a newspaper, I saw many magazines that mentioned it. One of those lovers talked about Kristina's bad temper and possessiveness. Nickie, Kristina's a womanizer." He bit his lip trying to keep himself from grinning. He could see by Nicole's reaction that he had hit the bullseye. "You can ask Neilson, he's a stuntman too. I'm sure he knows something about her."

Nicole stood up and closed her eyes, gliding shaking fingers through her long, blonde hair. She knew that what her father had said was true. Kris did have a temper and in a way she was over protective, but that was only because she cared. What she wasn't sure about were Kris' lovers. The stuntwoman had never exactly talked about them, and she wasn't even sure if what was written in those magazines was the truth. Probably not, Nicole thought. She opened her eyes and looked at the calm lake in front of her for a moment then turned around to face her father.

Something caught her attention and she shifted her eyes to look at a black Pathfinder in the parking lot not too far away. 'Is that Kris waiting there?' she asked herself and looked back to her father. "Dad, would you mind if I ask you to leave me so I can think about all of this?"

McGrail smiled and stood up, knowing that he had succeeded in planting a seed of doubt in Nicole's head. "I don't mind. If you need to talk again, give me a call okay?" He gently brushed his hand on Nicole's hair and left the park, leaving his daughter behind. 'This calls for a celebration!' he grinned, barely holding a laugh back.

'What do I do now?' Nicole thought as she sat back on the bench and stared at the lake. Was Kris spying on her? Did Kris have so little confidence in her that she felt the need to come here and watch? 'I thought that we had agreed when we discussed my father. I guess I was wrong.' Nicole turned her head as she heard somebody approach her. Kris was smiling and had two cans of coke in her hands.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Kris said as she sat beside Nicole and quickly lost her smile when she saw the confused look on Nicole's face. "What's wrong? Did he do something?" she looked at McGrail's retreating back and then at Nicole.

"What are you doing here Kris?" she asked. "I thought that you trusted me enough to be alone with my father."

It was now Kris who had a confused look on her face. "I do trust you Nicole. I was just…"

Nicole stood up and faced Kris. "Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to know what movie you wanted to see tonight and…" Nicole never gave her the chance to finish.

"You couldn't have waited until I was back home to ask me?" she said as she put her fists on her hips. "You know Kris, I'm not a child. I don't need a babysitter when I'm meeting people."

Now Kris was totally confused. Why was Nicole reacting this way? Sure, she had been watching the both of them, but it was because she didn't want to intrude on their time together. "I was not spying on you," Kris tried to explain. The anger coming out of Nicole surprised her a lot. "But why is it so wrong for me to see if you're all right?" she asked, "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"Stop being so protective Kris!" Nicole exclaimed. "I can take care of myself. My father's been real nice and everything's okay. You know, no matter what he does or say, you'll never like him, but he's my father and I'll meet with him whenever I feel like it, that's it. End of discussion." With that, Nicole turned around and left behind a speechless Kris sitting on the park bench.

******************************

Neilson entered the Cafe des Berges and looked around to find Nicole. He was worried and the sound of her voice when she had called him on the phone concerned him a lot. He spotted her sitting in a corner, alone. 'Where's Kris?' he asked himself as she made his way toward Nicole. Even in the dim lit room, he could see that Nicole had been crying. "Hey Nick," he said gently as he pulled a chair out from the table and sat in front of her. "What's wrong?"

Nicole looked up with a small smile and wiped her eyes again with a tissue. "I'm sorry I've bothered you Neil. I didn't want to mess up your plans for tonight."

"You never bother me Nick." He smiled as he patted her hand. He looked at the approaching waiter and indicated Nicole's half-empty glass of coke and held two fingers in the air. "The only plan I had tonight was watching TV alone, the same thing that I've been doing for the past two weeks. So don't worry about it, okay?" He reassured his friend.

"Where's Anne?" Nicole frowned as she thought about Neilson's girlfriend.

"Who knows?" Neil chuckled. "I was tired of her constant pouting and complaining. So I told her it wouldn't work between us. It's been over for a few weeks now."

"I'm sorry," Nicole said sincerely.

"I'm not!" he smiled. "So, what's up? Where's Kris?" He bit his lip as he saw the look on Nicole's face. The question nearly caused her to start crying again. "Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…" he started.

"No, it's okay." She quickly said. "We…I…" Nicole sighed and shook her head. "How much do you know about Kris?" she asked bluntly.

The question caught Neilson by surprise. "Well, not as well as you that's for sure." He grinned, trying to make Nicole smile but saw that it didn't work. "I don't know much about her." He confessed then looked up as the waiter came back with their drinks. Neilson paid for both and turned his attention back to Nicole. "I've heard a lot about her from stuntmen who worked with her. She's a real professional and she's well respected."

"No, I mean do you know anything about her, the woman."

Neilson thought about that for a moment then shook his head. "I told you before Nick, you know a lot more about her than anybody else does. All we know are the rumors written by newspapers and magazines and God knows we can't trust those!" He pulled his chair a little closer to Nicole and squeezed her hand. "What's going on Nick?" he asked softly.

She looked down at their entwined fingers and smiled. Neilson was such a good friend. Along with Alex, they were the only ones she could fully trust. She just wished that she could feel the same with Kris. She did trust her, but with all the questions she's been asking herself lately, she wasn't sure anymore. "I think Kris is seeing somebody else." She said, finally voicing her fear.

"What?!" Neilson exclaimed. "Why do you say that?"

"I've been receiving phone calls at home. They started with the caller hanging up then she asked for Kris." Nicole explained with a soft voice. "She never left a message…until today." She whispered.

Neilson didn't like the sound of this. Was it possible that Kris was fooling around? He shook his head in disbelief. He was usually very good at judging people's characters, when they weren't his own girlfriends, and nothing showed him that Kris was that kind of a woman. She looked and acted like she loved Nicole dearly. Why would Kris even bother to invite Nicole to live with her in Austria if she didn't?

"What message did the woman leave?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"She wanted me to thank Kris for a wonderful time." This time, Nicole couldn't hold her tears back.

Neilson quickly shifted his chair to sit beside his friend and cradled her in his arms. He let her cry as he gently brushed her hair with his hand. He didn't know what to say to make her feel better and so he waited until he could feel Nicole's body relax in his arms. "I know it's a bit naïve of me to think this Nick, but that message can be taken many ways."

Nicole sat back straight in her chair and sniffed as she looked at her friend. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we know that Kris allows some interviews and she does like to perform." He knew his explanation sounded lame, even to his own ears. "I know the last reporter loved the interview she did with you guys."

"She doesn't do many interviews Neil. She hates them." Nicole replied as she brushed her tears away. "Besides, she would have told me about it."

'Okay, let's go for the direct questioning.' "What tells you that Kris is having an affair, aside from the phone calls you've been receiving? And you have no real proof that they come from another lover."

Nicole thought about that for a moment, trying to come up with an answer. When they weren't working, most of their free time was spent together. Kris did a lot of overtime in the past weeks, but everytime she had called the school Kris had been there to answer,…except yesterday. "I called Kris at the school and the receptionist told me that she had already left for the day," she said as she played with her glass. "It was only 2:30 when I called. She picked me up as usual but she never told me where she had gone for the rest of the afternoon."

"Did you call Kris on her cell phone?" Neilson asked gently.

Nicole silently shook her head. She had called during the afternoon break then had gone back to work, forgetting all about it. She frowned as she thought back to a few calls Kris had received previously on her cell. "Also, she usually tells me who called. A few times she went outside the house to talk with the caller, but she never told me who it was."

"Do you always tell Kris what you do or who you talk to?" Neilson asked with a smile.

Nicole looked at Neilson and blushed slightly. She knew where he was going with this line of questioning. "I…I try." Kris dealt with a lot more people than she did and her partner didn't really need to tell her everything, did she? "But…I've gotten used to her telling me everything that she does. Now it seems like she's telling me less."

"Nick, you can't expect Kris to tell you everything she does every moment of the day," Neilson smiled and patted her hand. "Especially if those things are insignificant or personal to her."

"But she had a few lovers before me," Nicole deplored, the last thing she could come up with. "How do I know it's not one of them calling now?"

Neilson couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his lips. "I'm sorry Nick." He quickly said when Nicole glared at him. "I'm not laughing at you. But if the fact that Kris had lovers before makes you suspicious of her having an affair, my last girlfriend could have said the same thing about me." He gently squeezed her hand. "Yes, she could be talking to one of them but Nicole, there's no law against that. They could still be friends."

She knew that it had been stupid of her to think such a thing. "I don't know what to think anymore Neil." Nicole whispered.

"Do you love her?" he asked gently, "Do you want your relationship to continue?"

"Yes, I do."

"Did you talk to Kris about your fears and concerns?" He watched as she bent her head and silently shook her head. "I suggest that you do Nick." He said simply.

Nicole knew that it was the only thing she had to do. How would Kris welcome her after the way she had left her in the park? Would Kris be so upset that she would leave her? What would she do if Kris decided it wouldn't work out between them? So many questions needed to be answered. Taking a deep breath, Nicole looked up at Neilson and smiled, "You're right. I'll speak to her. Thanks my friend," and then kissed his cheek.

Neilson smiled as Nicole stood up and squeezed his shoulder. "Anytime Nick," then watched her leave. So much had happened to Nicole, the good as well as the bad. All the trouble she had with her father, meeting Kris and finally knowing what love felt like. He hoped dearly that everything would work out all right between Kris and Nicole. The stuntwoman had been very supportive where Nicole's father was concerned and he didn't want to think about what would happen if Kris stepped out of the picture. He knew for a fact that McGrail wouldn't leave his daughter alone if Kris left. In fact, he was very surprised that he hadn't said nor done anything since Nicole left his house.

He smiled as he remembered a talk he once had with Nicole after she had suffered one of her father's occasional beatings. Very seriously, he had told Nicole that they should get married since it was what her father wanted. That way, she would be out of the house and away from his violent temper. Nicole could then finally start living normally without any fear of a beating. That's the type of offer he wouldn't do for just anybody. Marriage wasn't something he wanted, but knowing that McGrail wouldn't approve of anything less, he would gladly do it if it meant saving his best friend from her own father.

******************************

Kris had stood there, unable to say anything as she watched Nicole leave the park in an angry huff. She had tried to figure out what she had done wrong and couldn't come up with anything. All Kris had wanted to do was ask Nicole a simple question. She knew that her friend was with her father especially since it wasn't a secret anymore and even though she wasn't comfortable with it, it was Nicole's own decision.

Walking slowly to the car, Kris had driven back to the house, all thoughts of a movie and dinner forgotten. She made her way to the back yard and sat on the grass looking out at the lake. 'What's going on with Nicole? Is she getting tired of me already? Am I getting on her nerves?' Kris knew that Nicole was right when she was accused of being overprotective. If she didn't care and love her so much, would she even bother to do that?

Wrapping her long arms around her bent knees, Kris leaned her head against them and bit her lip. So many emotions ran rampant through her. She was angry at not knowing what the hell was going on and she was hurt by the fact that if something was wrong, Nicole wasn't talking about it. She knew that Nicole's aggressiveness had nothing to do with the fact that she had worked long hours at the school. Her partner understood the need to get the equipment up and working and she also understood the long hours spent at the computer when the stables in Austria were concerned. Nicole had told her so.

So what happened? Thinking back to the past weeks, things started to go wrong ever since Nicole's father came back into her life. Kris was torn between believing Nicole and her own distrust for the man. Maybe Nicole was right when she said that he was really seeking help and was a changed man, at least he was making an effort to be. But what if Nicole's father was playing a game with his daughter? What was his plan? Kris knew that he was a violent man and had seen his handiwork on Nicole's body, but why would he act like the repentant father? Was it to lure Nicole in and then beat her up? It simply didn't make any sense.

But where was Nicole now? Kris asked herself. Where did she go after leaving the park? Some time ago, Kris would have bet she was at Alex's. Maybe Nicole was there, talking with her Aunt and Uncle. One thought crossed her mind and made her body shiver. Had she gone back to her father's? What would happen to their lives together if she did? Would he let her go a second time and permit Nicole to move to Austria with her? Was Nicole still interested in moving in with Kris? She had so many questions hitting her from all sides it gave her a headache.

Kris didn't know how long she sat like that, just staring out at the peaceful water. The sun was slowly setting and she felt a slight chill all over her body but didn't want to move. In other words, she simply didn't know what to do. The sound of feet walking slowly in the gravel made Kris turn her head back to look. Nicole was standing there, silent, both of her hands deep in her pants pockets. Kris could feel her heart beating hard against her rib cage, glad that Nicole came back. But fear slowly crept into her heart as she waited for Nicole to say something, anything.

Nicole was about to turn around and leave when she saw Kris lift her head and look in her direction. She didn't know how her friend would react to her sudden departure a few hours ago. Kris was probably angry, though she looked pretty calm right now. What Nicole feared the most was to find Kris heartbroken and not wanting to talk to her. 'I would probably deserve her silence.' She thought and took a few steps forward and stopped, wanting to gauge Kris' reaction. Her friend hadn't made any move to leave. What shocked Nicole the most was the look on Kris' face. It was a mixture of hurt and apprehension. She swallowed nervously and continued toward Kris.

Both women sat silently, each of them lost in their thoughts. Knowing that she had caused this, Nicole slowly turned her body to face Kris. "I…I think we need to…talk." The blonde woman said softly, all traces of anger gone from her voice.

Kris looked at her partner, fearing the worst. 'That's it. She going to say that she's leaving me.' Kris pessimistically thought and braced herself.

"Are you…" Nicole hesitated, "…Are you having an affair?" she finally said, unable to look at Kris.

The question caught Kris completely by surprise. "What?!" she choked. Kris had expected questions concerning her dislike for Nicole's father or a continuing discussion on why she had joined Nicole in the park but never that question. "What are you talking about?" Kris asked, finding her voice back. She was now totally confused.

Nicole fought back the tears threatening to fall down. She couldn't keep her worries to herself. She needed to know, hoping Kris would be honest with her. "I received a phone call today, at the house from a woman," Nicole started with a shaking voice. "She asked me to give you a message." She swallowed a couple of times, feeling her eyes water with every passing seconds.

Kris listened silently and watched as Nicole fought with her feelings. She wanted to take Nicole in her arms but she feared that her touch would make the younger woman move away. Who could have called the house instead of her cell phone like people usually did?

"She told me to…" Nicole stopped for a moment to take a shaky breath and wiped her eyes as tears glided down her cheeks. "…She thanks you for a wonderful time." Nicole succeeded to say before breaking down completely and cried, letting her built up emotions break free.

Kris' heart just stopped. What was going on? Who was the woman that called? The dark-haired woman lifted her hand and hesitated before she reached for Nicole's cheek and touched her gently. "Nicole, I don't know who you're talking about." Kris said softly and scooted closer when she saw that Nicole wasn't moving away. "There's no one in my life but you, believe me." Taking a nervous breath, Kris opened her arms and waited to see what Nicole would do.

The blonde woman looked at her partner through eyes full of tears and saw the taller woman inviting her into her arms. 'Is she telling the truth? If she is, who was it that called?' Feeling a strong need to believe her, Nicole leaned into Kris' arms and wrapped her arms solidly around the stuntwoman's waist.

'Thank you for a good time?' Kris kept repeating silently to herself. Who could have said such a thing? The only women that called Kris had done so on her cell phone. Mainly the reporter that had done the interview wanting a few details concerning Austria, there was the school's receptionist so she could give Kris her messages and of course, there was Nicole. Very few people had the phone number from the house. Nicole's Uncle had it and Marcus had it written in her instructor file at the school along with her cell number.

'Thank you for a good time.' Kris repeated again as she gently rocked Nicole in her arms. The old woman Kris had helped in getting her dog back couldn't have called and said something like this. That only left one other person she had helped, and that was Suzan Shelby, the young woman studying at the school. She could have gotten into her administrative files and gotten the phone number. 'But I only drove her home.' Kris thought as the possible culprit came to mind. 'I'll have one solid discussion with her tomorrow.'

Nicole shifted in Kris' arms and the smaller woman sat back and looked at Kris. "There's no one but me?" Nicole asked softly.

"You're the only one." Kris smiled despite her anger towards the student. "Why didn't you talk to me before all this started?"

"I…I'm not used to…I mean, I don't handle confrontations very well." She smiled shyly as she wiped her cheek.

"Discussing isn't a confrontation Nicole" Kris smiled back. "It's normal to disagree sometimes. But it's not right for you or for me to keep something like that to yourself, especially when it worries you so much. Talk to me, okay?" Kris asked softly and gently scratched Nicole behind her neck.

The smaller woman closed her eyes and leaned into Kris' touch. "I'm not used to talking about things like that." Nicole whispered then looked at her partner. "It's my first relationship, give me some time to get used to this serious kind of talk, okay?"

Kris nodded with a smile and stood up. "Come on, it's getting chilly." She said as she held her hand out for Nicole. "Are we okay?" Kris asked softly as her partner stood up.

"We're okay." Nicole confirmed with a smile. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I hate having fights like this."

"But fights have a good side." Kris said with a crooked grin, "It's the making up that makes it worthwhile."

******************************

People ran out of the way as Kris skidded the car to a halt and climbed out of the Pathfinder, slamming the door shut behind her. She marched straight to the instructors' room and threw her bag on her desk scattering papers everywhere. Most of the instructors had already arrived for the last day of teaching this week. Another batch of new students would arrive on Monday and they were all talking excitedly about it. Everybody stopped talking as they watched, with apprehension, as Kris got ready for her day of teaching.

Joey, the youngest instructor the school had, stood up and walked toward Kris. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked and gulped as Kris stared at him.

"Who is Suzan scheduled to study with today?" she asked brusquely and looked at the silent instructors.

Joey shifted his feet nervously. "She's at the towers with me." 'When things are stressed, try humor.' His mother had once told him. He smiled and looked at Kris. "Problems with your pet student?" he laughed and quickly lost it as Kris took a step forward toward him. 'Very bad thing to say stupid!' he told himself and backed up.

"This," Kris growled, her blue eyes now turned gunmetal grey. "Is not funny!" she said in a low, rumbling voice. "She's not my pet!"

Walking in the room, Marcus saw the rage on Kris' face and quickly stepped between his instructors. "What's going on here?" he asked looking at Kris then at the nervously sweating Joey. Kris looked like she wanted to kill. 'Not a fun way to end the week.' He sighed and indicated Joey's desk with his chin. "Sit down." He instructed the young man then looked at the stuntwoman. "Kris, come with me." Marcus said and headed toward his office.

"Bring Suzan here." Kris told Joey in a calmer way this time. "I want to talk to her." She watched as Joey quickly nodded and left the office in search of the student. She then left her desk to follow Marcus. Once inside his office, she closed the door behind her and slumped in the chair in front of his desk. The day hadn't started yet and she already had a headache. Kris rubbed her temples and sighed.

"Wanna talk about what happened?" Marcus asked as he opened his thermos and poured coffee in two mugs then handed one to Kris. "I know you don't like to talk about your personal life Kris, but sometimes it helps to do it." He said as he sat down behind his desk. "Ever since you started teaching here, I've never seen you so upset."

"Did you ever give my phone number to anyone? The one at the house?" She asked tiredly. All night, unable to sleep, Kris had thought about the phone call Nicole had received. She wanted to know if Suzan had been the one who had left the message. She took the coffee mug and took a sip, letting the warm liquid slide down her throat.

Marcus thought about that for a moment and shook his head. "I have your number written in my personal agenda and it's also in your personal file here," he said as he indicated the administrative files along one wall. "But no, I never gave your home number to anyone."

Kris looked at the filing cabinets and noticed that one was slightly opened. "Do you lock your files?" she asked the director. "Or even your office door?"

Marcus frowned at Kris. "I never do. There is no sensitive information in there worth anything. Nobody comes in here anyway." He shifted in his chair and leaned his elbows on his desk. "What's going on Kris?"

"Well, maybe you should lock everything," she sighed and brushed her hand through her hair. "Somebody called the house and left a message for me that almost caused a breakup with Nicole." She swirled her coffee in her mug, lost in her thoughts. "I suspect that Suzan had something to do with it."

That caught Marcus completely by surprise. "I know that she's a big fan of yours, but I don't think she'd do something like that. Why would she anyway?"

"Never heard of stalkers Marcus?" Kris asked wryly. "She follows me everywhere at school and all she ever talks about with the other students is me. She told me about all the stuff she's got in her 'collection'. Suzan has pictures of me all over her house. Hell, Marcus, she even has an old helmet of mine sitting on a dresser in her bedroom!"

"You saw her bedroom?!" he exclaimed. "What the hell were you doing there?"

"Relax Marcus, I didn't even step into her house." Kris said. She put the mug on his desk, stood up and started pacing around his office. "After we all went to the pub, I saw that Suzan was having problems with her car and I offered her a lift home, that's all. She told me all that on our way there. As soon as she got out of the car, I left to pick up Nicole."

At this, the director relaxed visibly and shook his head. The last thing he needed was for one of his instructors to get involved with a student. "What kind of message did she leave?"

"She wanted to thank me for a good time." Kris blew a breath and looked outside the office window. "Damn it, Marcus! All we did was talk!" she spun around to face him. "And Nicole didn't take the message very well."

"I guess not. It can be taken so many ways." Marcus replied and looked up as somebody knocked on the door. "Come in." he called.

The door opened and Suzan poked her head through the opening. "Hi, you wanted to see me?" she asked and entered as Marcus waved her in, closing the door behind her. "Hi Kris!" she beamed, seeing her idol leaning against the window.

"Please, sit down Suzan." Marcus said and peeked at Kris who had both of her arms crossed over her chest and was glaring at the student. 'I hope you're right about this Kris or else you'll have one hell of an apology to make.' "Suzan, did you call Kris at home this week?"

The question caught Suzan by surprise. She swallowed nervously when she looked at Kris who was not smiling. In fact, she looked downright hostile. "Huh, yes I did. Did I do something wrong?" she asked, looking at both Kris and Marcus. All she wanted to do was to thank Kris for the lift.

"How did you get her phone number?" he continued with his questions. He warned Kris with a shake of his head as he saw her straighten her back at the answer.

"The…the receptionist gave it to me," she stammered, knowing she was lying. She watched as Marcus opened his agenda, picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Hi, do you have Kris' phone number handy please?" he asked the receptionist and waited. Checking in his address book, he shook his head, "No, not her cell phone, I need her house number."

"For that I'd need to go in her personal file, sir." A young voice sounded at the other end of the line. "Do you want me to get it for you?"

"No, it's okay. Did anyone asked for that particular number?"

"No sir. Nobody did." The receptionist replied.

"Thanks." He hung up the phone and looked at the student who was now visibly squirming in her seat. "Would you mind telling me again where you got that phone number?"

"I only wanted to thank you for your help," Suzan said to Kris with tears in her eyes. "You were so nice to me at the pub and driving me back home. I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"But you did." Kris finally said, pushing herself away from her spot by the window. "Now where did you get my number?" she wanted to know.

"The files." Suzan whispered as she confessed, not able to look at either one of them. "I got it from the files here."

Kris looked at Marcus and shook her head. "It's your problem now Marcus," she said as she opened the office door. "I've wasted enough time already. I've got a class to teach." With that she walked out of the office, leaving the now crying student with the director as she closed the door behind her. Stopping briefly at her desk, Kris looked at the phone and thought of calling Nicole to tell her about her discovery but decided otherwise. Her partner didn't need to relive this event all over again. Both Nicole and she had talked the night before and everything was almost back to normal between them. They still had a few things to discuss, mainly about trust and communication, but that would only come with time. She picked up her clipboard with her students' files and headed out of the now empty instructor's office.

******************************

Days went by routinely as both Kris and Nicole continued with their respective jobs. There were only two weeks left until both women packed their bags and took a flight to Innsbruck to continue living their lives together. Even though Nicole knew that Kris had had a good time in Montreal, it showed that the stuntwoman was looking forward to getting back home. Nicole would be lying if she had said that she wasn't nervous about the move. Not that she wasn't looking forward to seeing her lover's home or starting a new life, but her life long sense of insecurity reared its ugly head once more and caused Nicole to ask herself some questions.

Her relationship with her father had never been better and she had a job that she always dreamed of having. Her contract was nearly completed at the studios and having proved to be a quick study, another contract had been offered to her. She had turned it down, explaining that she would soon be moving to Austria. It was with regret that they heard the news but they had made it clear that if she ever wanted to work for them again, she would be welcome anytime.

What made Nicole nervous was that she was about to leave everything behind and launch herself into the unknown. A different country and language, new people and no friends. But as long as Kris was with her, everything was going to be fine, right? 'But what will happen if she's not there or leaves?' Nicole's insecure side asked. 'What if she gets tired of you and finds another lover?'

"Earth to Nicole, come in!" the camerawoman teased.

Startled, Nicole looked up and saw D.J. standing next to her. She smiled at her co-worker and took a bite from her sandwich. "Sorry, I was just thinking." Nicole mumbled.

"Lunch is over. Are you coming back to work?" the older woman grinned at her assistant.

Nicole took a quick look at the time and scrambled to her feet. "I'm so sorry!" Nicole exclaimed, "I didn't see the time go by." She gathered her papers and technical books and took another bite of her sandwich. "Is everybody waiting for me?" Nicole asked worriedly.

D.J. chuckled and shook her head. "Nah, we're waiting for the sound crew to finish their adjustments." She smiled at the young blonde. "But they're almost done. Come on."

For the next three days, the whole crew was on location in Quebec City. It was a weird feeling for Nicole to find herself on her own and away from Kris but she knew that the time they would spend apart would only make their getting together in a few days more interesting. Nicole smiled at the thought of finding herself wrapped in Kris' long, muscular arms. She really enjoyed her time with the crew though and so far, this had been the best chance Nicole had to learn as much as possible concerning camera handling. To her surprise, she had been chosen to be second camera for the on-location project. Nicole nodded at the camerawoman and tried to put her thoughts and worries about her coming new life in Austria in the back of her mind.

Kilometers away at the stunt school, Marcus smiled as he hung up the phone. He walked out of his office and made his way toward Kris who was sitting at her desk. "Hey, are you busy this afternoon?" he asked the stuntwoman as he sat on the edge of her desk.

Kris looked up at the director and rubbed at her aching eyes. What she hated the most about teaching was writing the students' evaluations. "Except that," she said as she indicated the files on her desk, "I don't have much to do. Why?"

"I need a favor." He smiled. "I need you to go to the airport for me and meet somebody there. She'll be in between flights and will give you something."

"Sure." Kris smiled as she pushed her chair away from the desk and stood up. "It'll give me a chance to clear my mind from all the paper work."

"Thanks Kris." Marcus said as he handed her a piece of paper. "This is where you'll meet her." He winked at his instructor and left the room.

"But how will I…" Kris started to say after she looked at the paper and saw Marcus walking out the room. "…Know it's her." She finished to an empty room. She looked back to the note she held and saw something the director had scribbled on it. 'She says she knows you.' The note said. Kris shrugged, took her keys and left for the airport.

Just outside the stunt school, the photographer, Mark Dunham, sat in his car wondering what to do next. It had been weeks since he had received the contract from the mysterious man and so far, all the pictures that had been taken were not what his employer wanted. The stuntwoman wouldn't let anybody get close enough to her and it seemed like a general rule that nobody would even touch her. 'How the hell am I supposed to take pictures in that case?' He grumbled silently. There was only one person who was physically close to Kristina and that was her girlfriend Nicole, but his employer had left strict orders to leave the blonde out of them.

The photographer looked at the pictures that had been taken so far, certain that his employer would reject them as he did the others. Mark's cell phone buzzed beside him, making him jump in surprise. He put the photographs aside and flipped the phone open. "Yeah?" he barked.

"I'm getting very impatient with you Mr. Dunham." A deep voice rumbled.

The unmistakable voice made Mark swallow nervously and shuffled through the pictures on the passenger seat. "I'm doing the best I can!" Mark tried to explain. "She's not the easiest woman to catch in a compromising situation." Mark lifted his eyes as some movement caught his attention. The stuntwoman had walked out of the school and was now getting onto her vehicle.

"They're leaving in less than two weeks. I don't care how you get them but I need those pictures before that Mr. Dunham." McGrail growled. "You better provide what I paid for or else, I'll take more than my money back." He warned then hung up.

Mark flipped his cell phone closed and threw it on the seat beside him in frustration. "Easy for you to say!" the photographer complained. Starting his car, he put it in gear and watched as the stuntwoman left the school and drove in the other direction. "Where are you going now?" he asked and followed at a reasonable distance behind Kristina.

Many thoughts went through Mark's mind as he tried to find a way to put Kris in a compromising situation. 'Maybe I'll ask Alice to help me with that.' He smiled as he thought of his girlfriend and the phone call she had made to Kristina's house. 'She can always pass herself as a fan or something and wrap her arms around Kris. That would make nice pictures!' Mark smiled as the plan began to take form in his mind.

The photographer continued following Kris as she unknowingly led him to the airport. He followed at some distance back and parked not too far away from her. Grabbing his two cameras, he stepped out of his car and closed the door behind him. The airport was packed with people and he smiled as he saw that it would be an easy job to follow her without being noticed.

Kris made her way through the crowd of people and looked down once more at the paper Marcus had given her. She changed direction and headed toward the American Airline information counter. "Now, how am I supposed to know who I'm looking for?" Kris said to herself as she looked at all the people walking by her.

"Well," a female voice said coming from behind Kris. "You're so damn famous now, you don't even say hello anymore?"

Kris spun on her heels at hearing the familiar voice. A huge grin broke out on the stuntwoman's face and she opened her arms to welcome the visitor. "Maria!" Kris laughed and tightly hugged the woman in her arms. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Los Angeles?"

"Yeah, I'm in between flights." Maria grinned at the taller woman. "It's so good to see you again. I missed you so much." She said as she hugged Kris and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I see that Marcus was true to his word. He didn't tell you I was coming." Maria laughed as she kept her arms loosely wrapped around Kris' waist.

"You're the one I was supposed to meet?" Kris asked surprised. "Just wait until I talk to that little sneak." Kris growled playfully. "And you're one too, you know that?" the stuntwoman said, planting a gentle kiss on Maria's forehead. "How much time do you have before your next flight?"

"Oh, about two hours." Maria looked up at Kris. "We all miss you back home." She sighed as she leaned her head against Kris' chest and smiled as the stuntwoman gently kissed her head.

"How about if we go for a coffee and talk for a while?" Kris asked softly and guided the smaller woman toward the bar, both their arms still holding on to one another's waists.

Some distance away, Mark couldn't believe his luck. Ever since a small, dark-haired woman had walked up to Kris and practically threw herself at her, the photographer had taken one roll of pictures from the two embracing women and had switched to his second camera to continue. 'These pictures will save my neck!' Mark chuckled, giddy at the thought that he would finally supply his employer with the merchandise and that the mysterious man would finally be out of his life.

******************************

The photographer waited impatiently on the park bench where he usually met his employer. This time, Mark knew that the man would be satisfied with the photographs. He nervously fingered the yellow envelope as he watched the sailboats travel all over the lake. Mark was looking forward to getting rid of the mysterious man; he was giving him the creeps. The photographer didn't care why the pictures were needed so urgently. He just wanted his bonus, knowing that after his employer saw the photographs, he would get what had been promised. 

Looking at his watch, Mark saw that it was almost time for their regular meeting. With no way of reaching the man, Mark had to wait impatiently for two days with the developed photographs until either the man called or until they would meet at their usual meeting time. Seeing someone approaching him, Mark turned his head to see his employer approach and sit down on the bench beside him. With a smile, Mark handed the envelope he was holding to the man.

Without a word, McGrail took it and pulled some photographs out. He went through the pictures and frowned, not happy with what he was seeing. "What's this shit you've given me?" McGrail angrily asked. "This is useless to me." Most of the pictures had been taken at the school showing some of the instructors assembled around Kristina. McGrail continued to look at the photos and stared at some of them for a while. 'This is better but it's not what I'm looking for.' McGrail thought as he looked at pictures of Kristina talking to a shapely brunette in a parking lot and another photo of both women getting into the stuntwoman's Pathfinder.

Seeing that the man seemed interested in the last photographs, Mark cleared his throat and offered more information about the woman. "From what I heard, this was one of Kristina's students at the stunt school. Her name is Suzan Shelby." Mark said as he watched the well-built man look at another picture. "This one was taken when Kristina drove Suzan to her place." The picture showed Suzan standing outside Kris' vehicle on the driver's side and talking with the stuntwoman.

"I don't give a damn who the woman is!" McGrail growled throwing the pictures back at the photographer. "These are not good enough!" He stood up and faced the now shaking photographer. "You are such an incompetent asshole!" In a moment of fury, McGrail grabbed at the photographer's shirt, not caring if anybody was watching, and pulled him to his feet. "I told you not to fuck with me!"

"Wait!" the photographer begged, "I have more pictures for you. There's a second envelope beside the bench on the grass." Mark looked in the eyes of the man glaring at him, sure that he was completely insane. He tried to keep from falling on the ground as the man shoved him out of his way and bent down to pick up the second envelope. Mark's shoulders sagged as he saw his chance of making more money with the last photographs go up in a puff of smoke. For some stupid reason, Mark had hoped that the pictures with the brunette would be satisfactory enough and he would then be free to sell to others. His plan had failed miserably.

McGrail wasn't stupid and he saw right through the greedy photographer's plan. It had been a bad mistake to try to hide anything from him. He bent down to pick up the envelope and took a few steps away from the man. McGrail slipped the photographs out and curiously looked at them. The first one was of the stuntwoman smiling broadly as she held her arms open to a smaller, dark-haired woman. The second one showed the woman give Kristina a kiss on the cheek while the stuntwoman held her in her arms. McGrail continued to look at the pictures with a growing smile on his face. He went through many others showing the two women talking and laughing. But the last two pictures were the best ones. It showed the Austrian kissing the smaller woman's head while she rested against Kristina's chest, the smaller woman's arms tightly wrapped around Kristina's waist. The other showed both women walking away their arms holding on to each other's waists.

'I've got you now.' McGrail smiled evilly as he put the pictures back in the envelope. He turned to face the photographer and indicated the scattered photographs on the ground. "Pick them up!" McGrail glared at the nervous man as he scrambled to pick up the pictures.

"What about the rest of the money you owe me?" Mark asked nervously as he handed over the recently picked up photos. "What about the bonus you promised?"

McGrail laughed, the sound devoid of any humor. "You are either very greedy Mr. Dunham or very stupid. I think you're both. The second half of your money will be sent to your house," he snickered as he saw the photographer freeze. "Yes, I know where you live. Do you think I'm stupid enough not to inquire about you?" McGrail asked and smiled again as Mark shook his head. "As for your bonus, it was promised only if I was satisfied with your work. The pictures are interesting, but your work is less than acceptable." He saw that the photographer was about to say something but McGrail stopped him with a raised finger and a glare. "I wouldn't say a thing if I were you, Mr. Dunham. It took forever to receive what I wanted and you tried to screw me by keeping the pictures away from me. Just be happy that you'll receive the other half of the money." McGrail slowly and menacingly stepped toward the now shaking man. "Get out of my sight, you worthless piece of shit!"

Mark didn't need to be told twice. He grabbed the scattered pictures and ran. 'This is the first and last time I take private contracts!' he told himself, refusing to look back. The laughter coming from the mysterious man behind him sent chills down his spine. 'Never again!' he promised himself.

******************************

Nicole stepped out of the car and waved at D.J. as the camerawoman backed out of the driveway and drove away. They had come back from Quebec City earlier than planned and wanting to surprise Kris, Nicole had come straight home without telling her lover. The past days had been hard on Nicole. Working as second camera had made her nervous but everything had gone very well and she had received a lot of praises concerning her work. She only wished that Kris had been there with her. Nicole had tried a couple of times to call Kris but sometimes she got a busy signal or never got through because her cell phone had been shut off. Only once did they succeed in talking to each other.

Stepping inside the house, Nicole dropped her travel bag in the livingroom and called out to Kris. "I'm home." The house was silent and if she judged by the state that the house was in, either Kris did a complete cleanup or she hadn't stayed in the house for a long period of time. Disappointed at not finding Kris at the house, Nicole picked up the phone and called her father, wanting to see how he was doing. The phone rang twice and was picked up before the third.

"Yes?" McGrail answered brusquely.

"Hi Dad, it's me." Nicole frowned at the tone of voice from her father. "Is something wrong?"

McGrail made a great effort to calm his voice and to sound worried. "You can say that. I need to see you as soon as possible Nicole. Can you come here?" he pleaded as he fingered the photographs next to the phone. "I know we always met in the park but…what I have to show you…well, it's kind of private."

Nicole hesitated for a moment but the sound of her father's voice made her decide to agree. He sounded so worried and upset not the angry kind but more of the sad one. "When do you want me there?" she asked, starting to feel nervous. Something was wrong, she could feel it. What did he have to show her that was so private?

"As soon as you can. You really need to know this." McGrail bit his lip to keep him from chuckling. His daughter was so easy to fool. He could hear her concerned voice so clearly. From now on, everything would be child's play. "I'm really sorry to ask you this Nickie, but I don't know what else to do."

"It's okay, I'm on my way now." Nicole hung up the phone and grabbed a pen and paper to leave Kris a message, even though she would probably be back before Kris arrived from wherever she was at the moment. She took the house key and walked out the door to meet her father.

McGrail smiled as he hung up the phone. His daughter was on her way back home and soon, he would be rid of that dark-haired bitch.

Nicole arrived at the family house and nervously rang the doorbell. How strange it was for her to do that when she had lived all of her life here. 'He's come so far since the last time I was here.' The door was quickly opened and Nicole saw her father standing there, a look of sorrow on his face.

"Please, come in." McGrail said as he stepped back to allow Nicole to enter. "I…I don't know how to start." He looked at his hand, trying to look as nervous as possible.

"What's going on Dad? Are you ill?" Nicole asked softly as she gently touched his arm.

"No, I'm fine. I…" McGrail sighed and scratched his jaw. "…I was at the airport this week and…" he blew a frustrated breath and shook his head. "I'm sorry, this is hard for me to do." He slowly walked into the livingroom and stopped in the middle, looking at the envelope on the TV set.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Nicole asked nervously.

"You know I was wrong when I did all those horrible things to you, and you know that I'm doing my best not to do them again, don't you?" he asked his daughter with pleading eyes.

"I know that you are doing your best to change. It shows so much." Nicole smiled as she gave her father's arm a squeeze.

"The last thing I want is to see you get hurt." McGrail said as he looked down at his hands. "If it ever got out to the public, I don't know what I would have done."

"What are you talking about Dad?"

McGrail took a deep breath and looked up at his daughter. 'Show time!!' "Some pictures were taken when I was waiting for a friend at the airport. I bought the whole roll of film from the photographer because I didn't want them to end up in magazines. You can check my bank account if you don't believe me, they cost me a fortune and…"

"Wait! Hold on!" Nicole held a hand up to stop her babbling father. Her mind was reeling. Pictures taken at the airport? They certainly weren't pictures of her. The last time she had been at the airport was for her trip to Cancun with Kris. 'Kris? Oh my God, could the pictures be of Kris?' "What pictures?" Nicole asked, feeling her voice crack under pressure.

McGrail reached the envelope and handed it to Nicole. "I'm sorry you have to see this Nickie. It's better that you know now." He watched as Nicole fearfully pulled the photographs out and started looking at them. He silently screamed victory as he saw tears form in Nicole's eyes and then fall down her cheeks as she looked at the pictures, one after the other. "I asked around before showing you this. Kristina has been seeing this woman for some time now."

"No!" Nicole moaned, "It can't be!" Little things that had been bothering Nicole for some time came back to her with a vengeance. Phone calls, anonymous messages, absences from the house without her knowing where Kris was and now this. "She said there was no one but me." Nicole whispered, "She lied to me!" unable to tear her eyes away from the incriminating evidence. "I thought she loved me!" she started to cry unable to control her emotions any longer.

"It's not the first time that she did that." McGrail said softly, "You were just a play thing for her. If she really loved you, would she do something like this?" he handed her a new set of photographs.

Her whole world came crashing down on her at the sight of the new set of pictures she was holding. All of her dreams and hopes were suddenly thrown out the window. Were the past three months just a game to Kris? How could she be so cruel? She closed her eyes, not wanting to believe what she was seeing. She had never felt such pain in her life before. All she wanted to do right now was to lie down and die. Nicole bit her lip as tears came falling freely down her cheeks. "Why?" her voice cracked as she called out to no one in particular.

Nicole opened her eyes and took a shaky breath, trying to see through her tears. She stared at the picture of Kris holding the woman tenderly in her arms. 'Just like she used to hold me.' Tears of anger and fury soon replaced her tears of sorrow. "Why??!!" Nicole screamed and tore apart the pictures she held in her hands and ran up the stairs to find refuge in her old bedroom.

McGrail looked down at the shredded pictures on his livingroom floor and smiled. Everything had gone as planned.

Conclusion

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