"What a day," Rollie said, laughing, as he helped Angie from the loaned sedan they had picked up at the set. He was pulling their bags out of the trunk as Angie leaned against him.

"Rol, I am so happy that you found him! I can’t wait until my mother comes, do you know when that will be?" she said, stammering in speech and a slight stagger.

"Ange, I don’t know. Guillarmo was the one who really found her and made those arrangements. He was very modest when he said I had found her. It was like a godsend when Mira found him. Apparently, he had been searching for you for some time. She used her connections, you know Mira. He called the loft just before all this stuff with Loubar and well, I thought it would be best to tell you here in Spain- the added bonus of your mother…Angie, I was flabbergasted!"

"Rollie," Angie stood in front of him, looking up at him with tearing eyes, her hair slightly array with only the moon as a backdrop to them. He put the bags down and caught her up in his arms.

"What are you doing to me? Eh?" he said, hugging her and wanting her so badly. She was so vulnerable, sweet, and very drunk. She threw her head back and sighed as he kissed the hollow of her neck, "come on," he muttered then, "let’s get you inside before you wake up all these sleeping stars."

Angie put her hand over her mouth then, and followed behind him, grasping the edge of his jacket as he opened her door. She saw the bed as they entered, already turned down and jumped on it, laughing. She felt so wonderful and so alive. Rollie was putting her bags near the bed and pouring some water from an ice pitcher on the dresser as she pulled her jacket off and then laid back across the width of the king-size bed. Her feet didn’t even hang over.

"Come on, Ange, drink some of this," Rollie told her, pulling her up by one arm. Angie sipped the cold water, choking slightly as the taste of non-alcohol cleansed her palate.

"Umm, damn good water, Rollie," she said, giggling.

"Yes, it is," he replied, making her drink more, "now, time for you to get some sleep." He was trying to pull her around to get her length-wise in the bed and she suddenly grabbed him around the neck, pulling him down to her.

"I love ya, Rollie," she told him, the beer still having its effect. He smiled, and she kissed him sweetly, "stay with me, okay?"

"Ange, you’re drunk, love," he said in response, kicking himself at the same time for he did want to stay, wanted her badly but knew that he couldn’t take advantage of her vulnerability. It had been only three days since Loubar and yet, it seemed like a lifetime.

Angie, even quite drunk, sensed his hesitation. Would Rollie never make love to her? "Rollie, stay here tonight, please…"

"We’ve got an early rise, my dear," he said, her arms still wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Then, just sleep here with me, okay? Please, I want to be with you tonight," she begged, "promise, sleep only. I’m drunk, aren’t I?"

She laughed, putting her hand over her mouth and he had to laugh too.

"Okay, you win. Move over- might as well know that this is my side of the bed and remember, you get some sleep."

Angie saluted him and began to undo her jeans as Rollie turned off the lights and opened the windows out onto the villa veranda. It overlooked Avila and in the moonlight, it looked ancient and undisturbed from modern influences. Angie was in bed and as he took off his jeans and shirt, he heard Angie snoring lightly. Thank you God, he thought, for small miracles. The night air with the fragrance of the honeysuckle draping the balcony of their room filled his nostrils as he felt the warmth of Angie’s body so close to him. She had rolled closer to him and he smiled and moved up next to her. She rolled to her side away from him then and he turned toward her back, draping his left arm over her, the shoulder where she had accidentally shot him smarting slightly now. He put his head on her pillow next to hers’ and kissed the nape of her neck. She moaned slightly then and pushed her hips into his. Bloody hell, he told himself, he hoped that he could get some sleep like this.

Angie woke up, hearing a bird chirping away on the balcony in the dawn of the new day. Her head felt like a ton of bricks. She felt Rollie’s arms around her, holding her in sleep. He must have been exhausted, especially since he had not slept the night before. She smiled as she turned around and looked at his sleeping face, the slight lines in his forehead relaxed. His unshaven face revealed the still boyish expression of slumber and she was reminded then suddenly of the morning that Loubar and her had been at the loft. How could she have thought that he was Rollie. How stupid she had been. He had been out of character the evening before and now, seeing how protective Rollie was with her- he would have never left her to wake up alone if they had made love the night before.

She noticed of course, she still had her underwear on as did Rollie with his baggy boxers. She would have never taken him for a boxer guy but then, she thought he probably didn’t even wear anything at all under his jeans. What a night! She had to get drunk and dash her one wish…

The door to the room suddenly burst open and there standing in the light with her hands on her hips was Dani. Angie was both shocked and exhilarated.

"So, I finally find him here!" she said with a huff, "the last place I would have thought he would be."

"Good morning to you too," Angie said as Rollie stirred, and sat up on one elbow.

"What? Dani? What’s going on?" asked Rollie, squinting slightly and rubbing his stubby chin, yawning.

"I have been looking for you all night," she replied, coming closer and sitting on their bed without a care, "it was very mean-spirited of you not to come back to the set last night and take me for that drink you promised."

Angie raised her eyebrows and looked at Rollie. Rollie looked from Dani to Angie in a sheepish expression.

"So, you are doing your little assistant," she went on, "how convenient for you." She flipped her hair over her shoulders, and stared at herself in the dresser mirror. She didn’t seem to care that she had burst into their room, uninvited and was sitting on their bed with them in it.

"Christ, Dani- this is a bit weird," Rollie said, sitting straight up, "and for your information, "Angie is not a convenience or an assistant."

"Yeah," chimed in Angie, loving every moment of it. She saw Dani pout and stare at her disdainfully.

"I’m Rollie’s partner," Angie said with pride as Rollie turned around to look at her in surprise, "and his lover." Rollie choked as he heard Angie’s last words. He felt suddenly quite ridiculous. Here he was, sitting half naked in bed with another half-naked woman who was not yet his lover and his former lover, fully clothed fretting with her hair in the mirror. All he needed was-

"Syd!" Angie cried out, as the Australian director stepped in the room. Rollie fell back in bed, exasperated.

"What’s this, a menage a twot and I wasn’t even invited, mate?" he asked, laughing.

Angie grabbed the sheets tighter around her and Rollie just shook his head.

"Everybody out!" Rollie demanded, waving his arm toward both Dani and Syd. Angie leaned against the headboard, suppressing a giggle. Dani got up and filed out past Syd, mumbling something about getting her hairdresser right away. Syd backed up toward the door, his hands out as if showing he could take no more.

"Rollie, I only came up looking for you because we got a slight problem on the set this morning."

"What’s that Syd? and it better be quick," Rollie demanded.

"Well, it seems someone tried to torch the F/X trailer during the night," Syd replied, rolling his eyes.

"What!" Rollie was up, out of bed and pulling on his pants as Angie opened her mouth in surprise.

"Yeah, well- the security got to it quick enough but I’m afraid that gadget you brought with you, that thingy…" Syd began.

"You mean the IXB?" Angie asked, horrified.

"Yeah- that thing," Syd replied, "it didn’t make it. The whole thing was smoldering and melted when they got there."

Angie fell back in bed. That was her baby- her labor of mechanical love with Rollie. It would have made this film a new benchmark for holographic special effects.

"Well, I check you later then, mate," he told Rollie and then winked at Angie, "see you little sis."

Angie got out of bed as Syd left. She was pacing back and forth in the room. She could not imagine what had happened to the IXB and why someone would want to damage the trailer. Rollie was watching her, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Hold it, Angie," he said, grabbing her as she passed. He pulled her down next to him, still shaking the sleep from him, "Let’s just get calm here, and then get down to the set and see for ourselves, okay?"

"Yeah- okay," she said, taking a deep breath, "and man, I have got a killer of a headache," she added, touching her forehead.

"Umm, don’t I know it," Rollie said, smiling and kissing her, "what an alarm clock this morning, eh?" he asked, referring to Dani and then to Syd.

"Rollie, you didn’t tell her about us, did you?" Angie said, shaking her head as he stroked her upper arm.

"She was all over me in a flash, you saw her yesterday," he said, trying to cover for himself, "I did tell her that we needed to talk and I guess she was looking for me to take me up on that."

"All night, Rol?" Angie replied, raising her eyebrows.

"Can I help it if I am a magnet for beautiful women?" he said, grinning.

"Right…well, I need a shower, care to join me?" she asked standing up, with a vampish look on her face, "I am sober now, Rollie Tyler."

Rollie looked up at her and carefully chose his words for he wanted her not to be offended or upset, "Ange, I would love to take a shower with you, love but there is something I have to do and now- so do you. We have all the time in the world for that, you know."

Angie felt suddenly very embarrassed when he said "that" the way he did. He couldn’t even say it. She wondered if the whole thing with Loubar, the video he had seen of them had really affected him more than he let on. She had begun to rationalize it into strictly being Loubar and not Rollie who had really raped her, not made love to her. Why couldn’t he?

"Fine, I’m going to take my shower, see you on the set then?" she asked, not even turning back to look at him.

"Yeah, right," he answered in a voice that sounded relieved.

She silently bit her lip as she shut the door. She didn’t understand him, he was saying he wanted to be with her but there was this invisible block between them. By the time she had finished her shower, he was gone. She grabbed her gear that she had brought into the room last night and headed out the door. She checked next door for Rollie but he had already gone. She met her uncle Guillarmo at his room and together, they went to the set. By this time, she was anxious to see the condition of the IXB.

The crew had gathered around the trailer as she made her way over to it. She could smell the electrical fire smell as well as something else. It was a strange, chemical smell that she was not familiar with. Rollie was pulling things out of the trailer gingerly and she walked up to him, with Guillarmo behind her.

"Eww, what is that smell?" she asked, fanning her nose.

Rollie shook his head, "Don’t know for sure but I swear it smells like Wh…"

"Whiskey Pete!" Syd Waterstreet said, interrupting them.

"Yeah, Syd- you’re right." Rollie shook his head and stared at the mess.

"What is Whiskey Pete?" Angie asked, her hands on her hips, confused.

"That is white phosphorus, mija," her uncle replied, "I saw this stuff a lot in Cuba. I saw people burned through to the bone before they knew what had happened."

Angie looked up at her uncle. His face had turned white and he was perspiring heavily.