"Girls, Kirshner is back today, along with Boyce and Hart." Schneider announced, and I inwardly groaned. Handling the arrogant, sexist music hit machine was one thing, but dealing with a man who kept invading personal boundaries was another. Hart, on the other hand, was okay. He just wanted to get the job done quickly and correctly. I respected him in that sense. "They want to work with each of you individually on your singing." Schneider turned to Roxanne, who was looking rather nervous. "Roxanne, I know you're not much of a singer, but you're still going to go with the others to learn a thing or two about the music industry."
Roxanne nodded obediently and forced a smile. Annie scowled at her, so I nudged her in the ribcage, giving her a glare. Annie rolled her eyes and relented. Micky watched the exchange and raised a questioning eyebrow; I shrugged. Rafelson turned to the boys, "I need the four of you to keep practicing improv with Frawley and getting to know one another. Bert and I both know there's still a lot of things you don't know about each other."
"There are some personal things we don't wanna share, man." Peter said, and the other three Monkees nodded in agreement. "I have some thoughts on my chest that I don't wanna share. I haven't known them long enough to talk about it. All of us have to be comfortable before we bare our souls."
"Here he goes with the hippie shit again." Cecily mumbled derisively under her breath. I snorted in amusement, and Rafelson shot me a look, so I covered it up with a cough.
Micky stepped up. "Peter's right though. There are some things I'm not comfortable sharing." he said, and his eyes briefly flitted to meet mine. He quickly looked away. "At least, it depends on the person."
"What he's trying to say is he trusts Miss Lennox more than his bandmates." said a voice from behind us. That voice sent chills down my spine, made me feel cold deep inside, it was alarming. I closed my eyes tight and held my breath; it felt like the room was spinning. "Isn't that right, Dolenz?"
"No, Boyce, that's not what I was saying at all." Micky replied coldly. There was a presence behind me, and I knew deep in my heart that it was Tommy Boyce. I felt so out in the open, so vulnerable with him where I couldn't see him. "Boyce, how about we talk about songwriting and who's singing the lead track. I don't think Davy should sing lead anymore: he's terrible." His tone was teasing.
The presence suddenly disappeared, and I released the breath I had been holding, offering some relief to my lungs. I knew Micky had said that to get Boyce away from me. He didn't have to say it directly, I just knew that he was trying to help me in some way in which I was at a loss. I opened my eyes and noticed the boys had dispersed to talk to Boyce and Hart; Rafelson and Schneider were eyeing me warily, periodically glancing at Boyce. They knew something wrong, but there was no way in Hell I was going to tell them nor were they going to ask me.
"Um, Kat?" Roxanne asked gently, and I snapped back to reality. "Are you okay? You're clenching your hands so tightly they've turned white as a sheet."
I unclenched my hands, crescent imprints marking my palms. I didn't realize I had been holding myself so terribly still, including holding myself back from punching him out. I usually was not afraid of much, except maybe dark streets and heights, but this man was starting to legitimately scare me and I had only met him a few times. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine." I answered, attempting to reassure her with a smile, though my heart wasn't in it. I flexed my hands to get the blood running again. "I'm okay. Thank you, Roxanne."
She smiled and patted my shoulder. "Sure thing, Ladybug."
Cecily eyed me curiously, and when Roxanne left me to take a look around, she pulled me aside, tugging Annie by the sleeve too. "What's going on, Kat? And don't give me that bullshit: I know you're not okay. I was watching you. The moment Tommy Boyce walked through that door, you froze. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing, Cecily, really." I assured her. "I just don't like him is all. And you know I don't like just about any male I come into contact with."
"This is different, Kathleen, I can tell." Cecily snapped, and I cringed at my given name. "So stop giving me bullshit excuses about how you hate the earth's population and tell me the truth."
"I am telling you the truth." I lied, gritting my teeth and glaring at her. She held my glare until Annie stepped between the two of us, being the pacifist as always.
"Cecily, drop it." Annie hissed, and Cecily immediately backed down, retreating to a bench where Peter sat reading the pilot script. Annie turned to me, "K, I know you don't like people, but the atmosphere changed when he walked in the room. You're not the only one who senses just how strange he is. And it's not a good strange, it's a terrible strange. Mike's noticed it, Micky's noticed it, Peter and Cecily have noticed it. I've noticed it. You're not alone in this, you know."
I nodded, then shoved my hands in my pockets. "Yeah, I know, Annie. Just be careful around him: I think there's something more to him than just being rather strange. I can't put my finger on it, but it might be something more dangerous than we can imagine. And honestly, I don't intend to find out the hard way."
Annie patted my shoulder. "I always will be. And besides, it's easier with Tall, Dark, & Handsome always at my side." Almost as if by telepathic connection, or maybe destiny, Mike looked over in our direction and Annie winked at him. He blushed slightly and went back to script reading with Micky. I grinned and said, "I am happy for you, even if I don't always say it or show it. I'm glad you have Mike, and I'm glad Mike has you. You two are like the calming auras of the group, even if he has a wild temper."
She snorted. "Oh, please. He has a wild temper? What about you, honey? It takes one to know one."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I have a question: why don't you like Roxanne?"
"Why do you like her?" Annie retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Because she seems sweet." I answered simply. "She asked if I was okay. Now don't answer a question with a question. Give me a straight answer."
"Why don't I like that blonde?" she mused, tapping her chin. "Oh, I don't know, maybe because she took Micky from you?"
I stared at her, then burst into laughter. "Took Micky from me? There's no way she can take Micky from me if he wasn't mine to begin with! If she makes Micky happy, I don't see what's so bad about letting her in. Plus, you're blonde too!"
"She's an outsider!" Annie exclaimed, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Roxanne flinch. Poor girl.. I found it quite odd that Annie was opposed to her. "Why should we? Just because Micky wants to get it on, that means we should just invite a stranger in?"
"That's a horrible thing to say!" I snapped, glaring at her. A look of regret flashed across her face. "It's the television industry: we meet strangers all the time. We were strangers when we met, but we got along just fine. Micky wants to get to know Roxanne and this is how he can do it on a busy schedule. Plus, she wants to be an actress and this could be her big break into the industry. I can't believe I'm arguing with you, of all people, on this."
"I don't want to like her." Annie said stubbornly. I rolled my eyes: is this what they have to put up with when I'm being stubborn?
"Annie, I'm not saying you have to." I replied, rubbing my forehead. "All I'm saying is you should get to know her too before you judge her. She's done nothing wrong. If you've got a problem, take it up with Micky, not on that poor girl."
"Poor girl? She seems more of a bimbo to me." Cecily said, suddenly entering the conversation Annie and I were having.
"You're only saying that because she's blonde." I rolled my eyes. "It's none of our business anyhow. So what if she is a bimbo? It's not our place to judge." I saw Boyce and Hart gesturing for us to follow them. "And besides, the other Dynamic Duo wants us to follow them. Let's go brave the world of evil, my fellow teammates." I nonchalantly threw my arms over their shoulders. They shot each other an annoyed glance, but complied nevertheless. Roxanne followed behind us, unsure.
Hart glanced over his shoulder to make sure we were following him. I pulled away from Annie and Cecily, drifting behind to walk with Roxanne. "So.. you don't sing, huh?" I asked, trying to break the ice and find some common ground. I didn't want her to feel like an outsider.
She shook her head vigorously. "No, not at all. I sound like a dying bird chirping its song of mourning - except I'm not chirping, I'm screeching." She suddenly remembered she was talking to someone she barely knew and blushed, bowing her head down. "I'm sorry. I'm not very out there; too shy for my own good, my parents used to say."
I shrugged. "It's no problem at all. Cecily used to be quiet with us when she first met us, but warmed up to the group rather quickly. I'm sure you'll be joking with the others in no time."
"That's if they accept me." Roxanne remarked, sadness tainting her voice.
"They'll accept you - eventually." I replied. We reached the room that Cecily, Annie, and I had been in with Kirshner a couple days ago. "You'll be meeting Kirshner in a hot minute."
"Who?"
"Don Kirshner. Good ol' Donnie. The Man With the Golden Ear. The one behind the Monkees hits." I explained mockingly, following Annie, Cecily, Boyce, and Hart in the room. As expected, Kirshner was already waiting for us, checking his watch.
"There you are!" Kirshner exclaimed, a smile so fake he could beat Marilyn Monroe in any contest. "I've been waiting. Ladies, we're going to be - oh! How rude of me. Who is this lovely lady?" He cut himself off when he saw Roxanne, gesturing for her to come forward. She hesitantly walked to him, and he took her hand in his, giving it a chaste kiss. She cringed, but forced a smile nonetheless. "So do you have a name?"
"It's Roxanne." she answered in a small voice, barely making eye contact with him. I wouldn't blame her. "Roxanne Albee. I'm a new extra on the show."
"Of course you are." Kirshner replied, his eyes scanning her body like a vulture stalking its prey. I had to hold back the vomit rising in my throat; just watching Kirshner mentally tear off her clothes was sickening. I felt terrible for this new girl, insecure in her surroundings, being ogled at for possessing breasts when she should feel safe in her work environment and should be able to trust her employers and others. Even Annie and Cecily were gazing at her in sympathy when just a few minutes ago they were completely against having a newcomer. "And who found her?" He continued to stare her, but talked about her like she wasn't even there. It was degrading and just plain rude. I resisted the urge to leap across the room and punch him in the face.
"Dolenz did." Boyce answered, setting up his guitar. "Which I found strange considering I thought he had a thing for Miss Lennox." He flashed a malicious grin my way. "Or was I mistaken?"
I gritted my teeth. "You were very mistaken." I turned to Kirshner. "May I please be excused from this session to show Roxanne around?" I didn't want to leave Cecily and Annie alone with three men we had no reason to trust, but I had to get Roxanne out of here. The poor girl had practically shrunk into herself, she was so uncomfortable with Kirshner's gaze. He wasn't even subtle about it, completely blatant and a tad bit brazen.
Kirshner snapped his gaze away from Roxanne and shrugged nonchalantly, as if he just hadn't been ogling the newcomer's breasts in front of all of us. "Why not? Show her the ropes, Kathleen."
I gestured for Roxanne to follow me out of the room. She scurried over to me; I glanced over my shoulder and found Kirshner staring at her ass as we exited the room. As soon as we were out in the hallway, I turned to Roxanne with an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry I didn't do something in there. I saw how uncomfortable you were, and I should've done something, but I couldn't."
She shrugged, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm used to it. There's no need to apologize for not defending me; I know you would lose your job. I used to defend myself all the time, but it got me nowhere, unfortunately. That's why I stopped. Thank you for caring about me though. I appreciate it."
I nodded with a smile. "Of course - friends look out for each other."
"But we just met." Roxanne stated, slightly confused.
"I would like to be friends." I corrected.
"You didn't have to protect me, you know. I'm just the newcomer after all." Roxanne quipped. "And I know you didn't want to show me around - you wanted to get me away from Kirshner."
I laughed. "Yes, that is true. I wish I hadn't left Annie and Cecily in there with him though."
We made our way to where we had been this morning. Micky, Davy, and Peter were goofing off with each other, while Mike was in a heated discussion with Rafelson. "Hey, Lennox!" Micky called teasingly, winking.
"Oh, so that's what I am now?" I replied with a slight smirk. "I brought your girl back."
Roxanne blushed, and Micky approached us. He beamed at her, then kissed her cheek. "Do you think you could go and talk with Davy and Peter? I need to talk to Kat for a second."
She nodded and headed over to the boys. I furrowed my eyebrows and gave him a questioning look. "What is it, Boy Wonder?"
"Are you okay? I saw you tense up the moment Boyce walked through that door." he inquired, resting a hand on my shoulder. If Roxanne was going to be his girlfriend, I realized we couldn't be touching each other the way we do now. It was too intimate, too different from the others. She would interpret it as something romantic when it was clearly platonic to us. Right?
I nodded. "Yeah, I am. He keeps making quips about you and I though, and it's getting on my nerves. I just want an elephant to crush him." I flashed him a teasing smile. "Do you think you could make that happen?"
He rolled his eyes. "I might be Boy Wonder, but even I can't make that happen."
"On a darker note, I need you to watch over Roxanne." I said, glancing at the sweet blonde who was warming up to Davy and Peter. "As soon as we got in there, Kirshner was all over her, checking her out and practically undressing her with his eyes. It made me sick to the stomach to watch her be degraded like that. Isn't that beady-eyed asshole fucking married anyhow?"
Micky frowned. "He is, I think. Thanks for telling me about that; I know for a fact Roxanne wouldn't."
"Micky, you hardly know her." I snorted, but the look on his face silenced me. He was serious. "Well, you're welcome then, I guess. Until she finds her footing in this group, she needs protecting, from Kirshner and friends alike."
"Friends alike?"
"Annie and Cecily don't like her." I replied, stealing another glance at the blonde, who was giggling with Peter as they watched Davy reenact a silly performance. "They have this absurd idea in their head that you have a thing for me and she stole you from me. Isn't that just ridiculous?"
He shifted nervously. "Uh, yeah - really ridiculous. Listen, I gotta go rehearse. Thanks for telling me about Roxanne." He squeezed my hand and left me to ponder why he was nervous.
He couldn't like me, could he? I mean, he does have Roxanne, and she seems to be a wonderful person from what I can tell, no matter what Annie and Cecily think. It made me furious to think Kirshner could have taken advantage of her and I couldn't have done a thing about it. But I can't do a thing about Micky either. I want to be happy for him and Roxanne, but there's this nagging feeling in the back of my head telling me to be angry or hurt.
I just hope it's wrong.
***Well, this update didn't take as long as the last one, thank goodness. I hope you like this chapter. It's sort of a filler and introducing Roxanne's minor character, and Annie and Cecily being outraged (these actresses are so dramatic, hah) over the fact that Micky is chasing another girl instead. Of course, Don Kirshner's character is fictionalized, but who knows, maybe he was actually like this.***