This is set before the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when Jessica was yet to meet her future husband Roger and take his surname. It's a work of parody and should not be read by anyone under the age of 18.

Jessica Rabbit: Showtime

by

JTCIII

Jessica could still hear the audience's applause. It rolled through the walls of her dressing room like the distant sound of the ocean. She'd done an hour-long set and two encores, but still they howled for more. A small smile found her lips. She was really on her way to the top. She could feel it.

She took a seat by her make-up table and looked into the mirror that sat atop it. The light-bulbs that surrounded the mirror bathed her in an angelic, golden glow. While the bright light complimented her already inherent beauty, it also showed up all the cracks in the plaster of her dressing room walls.

While it was certainly a lot better than some of the dives she'd played in the past, the Ink and Paint Club was by no means the best, and it was never going to offer her the stardom she'd been dreaming of ever since she'd first been sketched. 

Her smile faded and she sighed. There had to be more to life than this...

There was a quick, forceful rap at the door. 

"Yes?" Jessica answered.

The door cracked open, and the huge silhouette of the bouncer, Gordie the Gorilla, filled the hallway outside.

"Evenin', Miss Rose. Great show tonight." Gordie said. He tended to be too modest to step inside her dressing room all the way.

"Thank you, Gordie. That's awful sweet of you to say."

Gordie half-blushed and looked away. There was a rumble that came from his chest as he shifted his weight.

"There's a guy here to see you. A detective."

"A detective?" Jessica said, turning in her seat to face away from the mirror and look at Gordie properly. "What does he want?"

"Says he needs to ask you some questions. Should I let him through?"

"I suppose so," Jessica replied. "Thank you, Gordie."

"No problem, Miss Rose. And if you need anything, just holler, okay?"

The door closed with a bang; Gordie had never been good with subtlety.

A detective? Here? Jessica wondered what the problem could be. Though she felt a surge of anxiety, she did her best to stamp it down. She had to act cool.

There was another knock at the door, this one lighter than the first. That would be him. Jessica straightened her hair.

Showtime.

"Enter." She said with the cool indifference of royalty.

The door swung open and in walked six foot's worth of man.

She looked him up and down. When Gordie had said there was a detective waiting for her, she'd expected some shlub in a brown trenchcoat or, skin-crawlingly enough, one of the weasels that made up the Toon Patrol.

Instead she was met with a handsome, well-dressed human in a navy suit and black overcoat. When he removed his fedora it was to reveal thick brown hair, and his leather shoes were so well shined they looked like he'd bought them in Toon Town. 

The only thing messy about him was the fact that he wasn't clean shaven, but even that worked in his favour as it gave him a roguish charm.

"Jessica Rose," she said, offering her hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Detective...?"

"Archer. Rick Archer," the man said, taking her hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back of her glove. "But you should probably know...I'm not a detective. I'm not even a cop."

"Excuse me?" Jessica said, withdrawing her hand.

"I'm a reporter. Investigative journalist, actually."

"And Gordie let you back here?"

"Flash a goon a badge he'll let you in just about anyplace. 9 times out of 10 he won't even ask to look at it properly."

"And he won't ask twice when I tell him to throw you out of here, either." Jessica replied, rising to stand.

"Now don't be sore about it," he said, putting a hand up to bid her to stop. "I'm not from some cheap tabloid looking to run a dirty expose on you."

"Oh no? Then why are you here, Mr Archer?" She asked, placing special emphasis on the 'mister' part to underline his lack of credentials.

"I just had a few questions that I knew only the great Jessica Rose could answer for me. But..." He said, pausing pointedly. "You weren't always Jessica 'Rose', were you? It was Jessica Krupnick when you were performing back at the Honey Cooler."

"How --- how did you know about that?" Jessica could feel her confident veneer cracking. She took a deep breath to calm herself and keep up the pretence.

"I'm a reporter, doll face, and I do my work. Now, about the Honey Cooler..."

Jessica sighed. She'd been waiting for this day. Sooner or later, someone was going to come asking.

"This is about Sal, isn't it?" She said.

"You got it in one. So...you knew something was fishy about him?" Archer replied.

"The cops rumbled that place so many times it was impossible not to know something was up, and too many 'business associates' went missing without any explanation."

"Which business associates?"

"I don't know if I should say." Jessica replied, turning away.

"Whatever you tell me will be in the strictest of confidence. I never reveal my sources."

"Even under torture?" Jessica asked, staring him down.

"They'd have to torture me long and hard for me to give up a flower as beautiful as you, Miss Rose," Archer replied, flashing a smile. "And even then I think I'd swallow my tongue."

Jessica chuckled. When she did, the sequins on her dress shimmered and her cleavage rippled. He couldn't help but wonder what it would look like if he were to really get her laughing.

"For a reporter, you're not so bad. Would you care for a drink?"

"You sure you wouldn't want to just sit for a minute, talk about the Honey Cooler?" Archer asked, and the moment he did he worried that he'd overplayed his hand. He was itching to get his pen and pad out and start taking notes, but he couldn't push her too hard. That's always how a source dried up.

"I never open up until I have something stiff in me," Jessica said as she turned her back to face a cabinet on the far side of the room. Her hands moved to the sound of glasses clinking and the pouring of liquid. "Scotch?"

"Sounds good. Thanks."

In the course of his investigation, Archer had been told how beautiful this Jessica dame was, but now that she was standing there in front of him 'beautiful' didn't seem to cut it.

With her back to him he took the opportunity to look her up and down, and he liked what he saw. What man wouldn't? She had a figure that would make an hourglass run dry with envy.

"Neat, or on the rocks?"

"Surprise me."

It was as Archer was admiring the curve of her heart-shaped derriere that he noticed her eyes looking back at him in the mirrored surface of the drinks cabinet.

She'd clearly caught him ogling her, but as she turned around with two glass tumblers in her hands she didn't seem to mind. If anything her arched eyebrow and small smirk conveyed the very opposite.

"Like something you see, Mr Archer?"

She handed him his drink.

"Your whiskey tumblers, actually," he replied with a quick cover, before shifting his gaze to the glass in his hand. "Real crystal?"

"Only the best. I could give you the name of the boutique they're from, if you like." She said as she walked toward the loveseat on the opposite side of the room. On her way there, the light caught her semi-translucent dress in such a way that her naked body was perfectly silhouetted. 

Archer had to keep himself from gulping as she took her seat, the moment gone.

"I'm...not much of a window shopper."

"You prefer to take things out for a spin before committing," she said with a wicked smile, taking a sip of her drink. "Is that it?"

"I doubt you could find a single red-blooded American man who isn't partial to a good test drive." He matched her sip with a gulp of his one. The scotch was crisp and ran down his throat, hot and smooth.

"We don't seem to be talking about whiskey tumblers anymore, Mr Archer." Jessica said, her voice lowering to a hush.

"No. We don't," Archer replied. "So what say we change topics and talk about how a nice girl like you gets mixed up with a mook like Sal and his crew."

Jessica took another sip from her drink, this one larger.

"You have to understand, Mr Archer, I didn't know who Sal was and what he did before I took the job at the Honey Cooler. I'm not bad." She said with a shake of her head.

"No. You're just drawn that way." Archer said with a wry grin.

She smirked in response. "Cute. I'll have to remember that one. Why don't you take a seat?"

He shrugged his overcoat from his shoulders, hanging it over the chair by the makeup table. As he moved to sit down in the chair, Jessica stopped him.

"No, no. Why don't you take a seat by me?" She patted the empty half of the velvety loveseat. "This carriage is built for two, after all."

"Like I said...what man could resist a test drive?" He replied. "Even if it is in a carriage..." He sat down beside her, his demeanour a bit more relaxed than a reporter on the job should be.

They talked for over an hour, with Jessica refilling their glasses at least three times. Archer noticed he was feeling a little light-headed and that somewhere along the line he'd loosened his tie and removed his suit jacket.

He also noticed how far off the subject they'd wandered, often straying into jokes, and just as often flirting.

Not that that mattered too much. The information Jessica had provided him with had been invaluable. The fact that he could feel all the dots in this story coming together excited him...just as much as the company did. It didn't hurt that the whiskey was rounding off all the edges.

"And that's how I ended up here," Jessica said, finishing up her story. "The main attraction at a nicely decorated hole in the wall."

"Hey, it's not a bad place. Good way to make a living, right?"

"I suppose so," Jessica replied. "Better than the Honey Cooler, anyway."

"I really don't know how a class act like you got mixed up in a place like that," Archer said earnestly. "But if you had such strong suspicions, why not go to the police?"

"I couldn't risk Sal finding out. Too many cops were in his pocket. Too many reporters as well, for that matter." She replied.

"So why tell me then?"

"I guess I've always been a sucker for an honest face. And a handsome one at that." Jessica said, shooting him a devilish smile.

"Hey, you're not so bad looking yourself there, toots."

Jessica laughed and hoisted her glass for another sip. Archer watched her, wanting to be a glass of whiskey more than ever before in his life.

He saw her take a small lick of her lips, dabbing up the tiny dots of alcohol that had settled there. That alone was enough to want him to ask her to marry him.

"I have to say, Miss Rose...you really would have to be the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I'm sure you hear it all the time, and it's not like it's the biggest compliment coming from a crumbum reporter who's obviously had too much to drink, but..." Archer said, and immediately blushed red with embarrassment.

"Don't be silly. I couldn't think of a more wonderful compliment, or a more wonderful man for it to come from. And please, call me Jessica."

"Okay. Jessica." Archer replied, the sound of her name sweet on his lips.

"Mmm, that's more like it. MisterArcher." She rolled his name around in her mouth like it was a piece of candy, and he knew that even if he offered right then for her to call him 'Rick', she'd find it too much fun to give up.

"Jessica, you're going to have to forgive me." Archer said, setting his drink down on the side table.

"And why's that?"

"Because I'm going to kiss you now," he said, leaning into her. "I'm going to kiss you long and hard, and I don't think I'm going to be able to stop."

"Oh, Mr Archer," Jessica replied, pressing in close to him. "I've been waiting to hear you say that."

He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him, her breasts pressing up against his chest. His lips found hers, and with their touch a wave of electricity ran through his body like switching on a floodlight. 

He'd never been with a toon before, never had the desire. But as her lips parted and their tongues moved against each other, he marvelled at the feeling of it.

Touching her was like grabbing hold of the golden beams that shone from the projection booth in a darkened theatre. Her body was warm and firm, soft where it needed to be, but still so unlike that of a human woman's.

He wrapped her in his arms, her hands running up his shirtfront to unbutton it, pulling his tie loose and throwing it to the floor. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, the nape of her neck. She murmured with desire as he run his hands through her hair and down along the small of her back.

At first, Archer was surprised to find there was no zipper on her dress. He had to remind himself that things weren't the same with toon clothes as they were with human clothes.

He gave a small pull of her dress and found that it came down easily, almost willingly. Jessica had so much cleavage exposed now that it was a miracle her nipples were still hidden.

Archer looked at her questioningly, making sure that this was what she wanted. She placed her gloved hands on top of his and helped him to pull the top of her dress down, revealing the bounty of her chest like he was unveiling a masterpiece of art - which, in fact, he was.

Her tits sprang free from the sparkling red material of her gown, bouncing and rippling as they did. Archer almost gasped at the sight of them. Her pink nipples were small and hard, her breasts soft but firm. They were perfect.

"Like what you see, Mr Archer?" Jessica asked with a small chuckle.

"To the point of going blind." He said, soaking in the sight of her. She leaned in close again, her full round breasts pressing against him. Archer, eager to experience them, kissed his way down her neck and along her chest.

He could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he grew close to her tits. Jessica giggled and writhed as the stubble on Archer's chin tickled the slope of her right breast.

Her laughter turned into a husky moan as the tip of Archer's tongue found her nipple, circling the aureole and making the already hard nub harder.

"Oooooh, Mr Archer!" Jessica cooed, offering up her chest to him. He buried his face between her breasts, engulfing half his head. He licked at her cleavage, slathering his tongue up along the swell of her left breast and sucking her nipple into his eager mouth.

As he licked at her tits, his right hand ran its way down along her body, hugging her curves like a hot rod speeding round a mountain range. He stroked the firmness of her thigh and found the split in her dress that opened at just the right spot.

Her breathing was growing laboured now, her eyes closed as she lost herself to the waves of pleasure washing through her - waves that doubled in intensity when Archer started to rub at her pussy through her thin silk panties.

Archer continued to slide his tongue all over Jessica's tits, lashing at her nipples and suckling at the plentiful flesh.

The heat radiating from her crotch, however, was proving too tempting, and with the same awed anticipation he showed when he pulled her dress down, he delved two of his fingers into her pantyline.

What met him there was hot and moist, and the brushing of it caused Jessica to kick back against him, her moans of delight deepening. 

Archer slipped a third finger inside her underwear to start rubbing up and down along Jessica's slick outer folds. The couch squeaked beneath them as Jessica shifted, adjusting her position to allow Archer better access.

His middle finger found her clitoris and started to run gentle circles around it, adding to her teasing. A ripple ran through Jessica's body like she'd just shaken the hand of someone wearing an electric joy buzzer.

Archer thought he'd done something wrong as Jessica grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand from her, but his doubts were quickly allayed as she brought his hand to her mouth and, staring at him with half-lidded desire, parted her lips to suckle at her own juices.

"Mmmmm. Tastes sweet," she said. "But tastes can be deceiving."

With that, Jessica grabbed Archer by his shoulder and in one flip, had him positioned on the couch where she'd been only a moment before. Archer had never seen such an act of strength and speed before, let alone from a woman.

"Now I want to taste you, Mr Archer." She breathed as she unbuckled his belt and unzipped his fly. "The big question is, though...boxers or briefs?"

She tugged his pants down and found him waiting for her. Just the thought of being with a dame like Jessica had been another to get Archer firm, but now that she was kneeling in front of him he was positively rock hard.

"Boxers it is...but let's let them out of the box, hmm?"

She peeled his underwear off and threw them across the room, only to find his throbbing member rising up to meet her. Reaching up, she took his cock in one gloved hand, holding it firm. 

"You're a hard man, Mr Archer. In every sense of the word..." she gave his cock a slow, steady pump of the hand, then another, then another. She worked it slowly, making him feel it, making him focus on the sheeny texture of her glove, the solidness of her grip. "But there are ways of making even the hardest men turn to goo."

Jessica's rose petal lips met the tip of Archer's cock, kissing the tiny hole at the end that was leaking with his excitement.

"Oh God!" Archer groaned. "More! I need more!"

Jessica smiled and raised an eyebrow, but declined to reply. Instead, she held her lips tight as she slid Archer's member slowly but surely into her waiting mouth, her tongue waiting to bathe every inch offered to her.

She moaned and sighed with delight as her head moved down on him, the vibrations of it rattling through Archer's shaft and sending shockwaves through the rest of his body.

Jessica began to bob her head up and down on the cock in front of her, one hand on the base and the other on Archer's balls. She played with them gently, stroking the light, fine fur that covered them.

She looked up at Archer with her emerald eyes, slipping his cock from her mouth just long enough to pump him hard and fast with her hand before going down on him again. Archer ran his fingers through her hair, each strand following through his grasp like a pencil stroke.

Jessica swallowed every inch of the reporter's dick, an impressive feat given his size. Archer would have been surprised if he'd been able to think straight, having never experienced the sensation before, but it wasn't like anatomical limitation was much of an issue for a toon.

Instead, he lost himself to the blind sensation of his member entirely engulfed by her warm, wet, willing mouth.

His shaft and helmet were slick with her saliva when Jessica pulled away a second time, her mouth now moving to find his balls. She sucked them in, first one and then the other, swallowing his sack as wholly as she did his dick.

The sound of Jessica slurping and suckling on his balls filled Archer's ears, making him boil, and when she pulled her mouth free of them it was with an audible 'pop!'

A thin coat of saliva covered Jessica's chin - something she shared with Archer's cock as she took quick, sucking jabs at the head of his shaft.

On the last quick suck, a thick rope of drool came to hang between the tip of his cock and her ruby red lips. It sparkled in the soft light of the dressing room, dangling in mid-air, before breaking loose and spattering on Jessica's ample cleavage.

Jessica, never one to miss an opportunity to perform, gave one of her trademark smirks before rubbing the saliva into her breasts with her free hand. The bright pink of her skin glistened brightly with the added moisture. Archer watched with wrapt fascination, his entire being shuddering with need.

"You like that, don't you?" Jessica whispered, dropping her hand lower to rub the underside of her large breasts, to tweak her nipples and caress the soft skin.

"You know I do." Archer replied, never blinking, never looking away.

"Then you'll love this." Jessica said as she raised herself up on her knees, Archer's cock sliding in between her tits like a Cadillac in a compact parking spot. They both groaned and sighed with satisfied delight at the hot sensation of his throbbing shaft wedged firmly in her cleavage.

Jessica brought her hands up to press on her tits, making the already tight feeling even tighter. It was all Archer could do to keep himself from titfucking her wildly and spraying his cum all over her face and ample bosom. He opted instead to allow her to retain control. After all, he'd liked what she'd done so far...

She started slowly, running her breasts up and down on his glistening cock almost gently, tenderly, but before long she was pistoning his shaft between her tits like she was pumping for oil.

Her coating of saliva drying up, Jessica let another long line of drool leak from her mouth, the crystalline blue of it dripping perfectly in the valley of her cleavage, lubing her up a second time.

Archer was holding on tight to the armrests of the loveseat, knowing he'd never experienced anything like this before and probably never would again.

He was getting so close he could practically taste it, but still Jessica was bouncing up and down on her knees, her full, sweet breasts enveloping his member.

"I need to...! Need to...!" Archer grunted, and Jessica doubled her speed, sensing the inevitable.

But instead, Archer used her own trick against her, breaking off at the critical moment to scoop her up in his arms and deposit her back on the couch.

She looked slightly bewildered at first, her breasts bouncing in the air, still wet from her saliva and hot from Archer's dick. But when Archer kneeled in front of her and with one hand ripped her purple panties from her, she knew exactly what he wanted. After all, she wanted it too...

Archer was used to seeing women's vaginas looking like overgrown gardens, thick dark hair clumped together in ringlets.

In Jessica's case, however, it was more like a well-manicured lawn, with a small patch of flame red hair framing her perfectly formed pussy lips, which opened before him like a blossoming orchid and smelled just as sweet.

He positioned his crotch in front of hers, aligning himself and bracing his arms. This being the moment, Archer paused, the head of his cock hovering at her hot pink pussy. He wanted to savour this - the taboo thrill of being with a toon, the excitement of being with such a perfect fulfilment of womanhood.

"Don't stop!" Jessica groaned through gritted teeth. "Do it! Stick your quill in my ink!"

"I always wanted to take an art class." Archer murmured as he pushed forward, his bulbous helmet squeezing in between her tight, wet folds. Liquid heat bubbled up around him, her cunt muscles pulling him in deep.

"Ohh shhhhhiiiiit!" Archer said, his breathing deep and laboured. Jessica moaned as she arched her body and spread her thighs wider, allowing her lover greater access.

Archer slid himself deeper and deeper into her, burying inch after inch of his thick, hard cock inside this animated beauty. Finally he came to a stop, resting balls deep inside her saturated cunney.

He paused a second time, savouring the sight of her. Her crimson hair had fallen across her face. Her scarlet lips were parted and panting, her chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath.

Her breasts, so round and full, sat buoyantly on her chest. On a 'real' woman they would have flopped to either side, but on Jessica they stayed perky and upright, her nipples brushing provocatively against Archer's chest hair. 

"My God, you're perfect." He couldn't help but murmur.

"Shut up and fuck me, big boy." She replied, wrapping her legs around him and scratching her fingers across his ass.

"Never let it be said... ah!..." Archer said as he slid up and out of her, before pushing back down inside. "...that I'd deny a lady her request."

Her splayed legs rose up on either side of Archer's waist, her toes pointed toward the ceiling, as Archer ploughed her.

He started with deep, full thrusts to mirror the way she'd started on him with her breasts, but before too long his enthusiasm got the better of him and he was driving himself into her like the ringing of the clock at midnight would steal her away.

"Fuck me fuck me fuck meeeee!" She cried as he built up speed, his thighs smacking against hers, his balls slapping at her ass crack. Archer could once again feel the tension building in his body. He was getting close, and he knew she was too.

Grabbing her roughly by her tiny waist, Archer hoisted Jessica up, pulling her with him as he stood up from the loveseat.

She squealed in surprised delight as he pivoted towards her dresser table, depositing her on the edge as he swiped his hand across the tabletop to clear it of her make-up. Crayons, erasers and ink pens scattered to the ground as Archer pulled Jessica closer to him.

In the sudden flurry of motion, his dick had sprung from her. He positioned himself now between her eagerly spread legs and stared into the one green eye that was left unhidden by her hair.

She looked deep into his eyes as he took hold of the base of his thick, hard cock and guided it between her eager folds, parting her tight pussy open once more.

They both groaned deeply as Archer started to once again push in and out of her, the makeup table banging rhythmically beneath them.

"Oh! My! Walt! That feels so fucking goooood!" Jessica moaned, her thighs bouncing up to meet Archer's every thrust. 

Archer held onto her hips as he hammered into her, her breasts jiggling wildly, swirling around in a circular fashion as she took every thrust deep and hard, her excitement pooling on the tabletop beneath her.

Without warning, Archer pulled out of her, his dick dripping with her arousal, and flipped her around to face the mirror. He ran his hands across her body as they both watched their reflections staring back at them.

"Oh, baby!" Jessica cooed. "Ohh, put it back in me. Fuck me hard!"

Archer wasted no more time in driving his cock back into her juicy slit, ramming her so hard that her ass rippled, her breasts trembled, and the mirror shook as it offered them the perfect view of every mind-blowing moment.

The bouncing of Jessica's tits sounded like the beating of a kettle drum. Archer reached out and grabbed hold of them, squeezing them and playing roughly with her nipples.

He'd never fucked a girl this hard or fast before - none of them would let him. But Jessica was a breed apart and built for sex, and she loved every minute.

With one hand holding and squeezing her tits, the size of them spilling over his grasp, Archer moved his other hand down along Jessica's body to once again find her clit.

Their fucking had swollen it with arousal so that it was like reaching out for a big red button, and when Archer started to finger it in a soft blur of motion, it didn't fail to get a reaction.

"Max fuckingFleischer!!" Jessica groaned through gritted teeth, and pushing back at him with twice the force that she had before. "That's it! I'm coming, baby! I'm coming!!!"

To say Archer had never before experienced what happened next would be a profound understatement. It began with every muscle in Jessica's body clenching.

Her already tight, wet cunt grew even tighter and wetter as it ground down on Archer's dick, which never stopped in fucking her. The lights in the room began to flicker, and then gave out, as a soft light began to emanate from the core of Jessica's torso. 

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllt!" Jessica screamed as explosions of light and sound drowned the room, fireworks bursting from her body and in the air around them as the toon beauty came with an animated fury.

The bedazzling display reached a crescendo with Archer losing himself to the feeling he'd been pushing away for so long now.

He grabbed Jessica's hips tight and gave her every last ounce of strength he had in a volley of thrusts, before his cock swelled and he started to blast his load deep inside her.

"Oh my Gggggod!" He groaned, the first load firing deep inside Jessica's pussy, the second splattering on her splayed folds, on her asscrack and up along her back as Archer stumbled. A few drops landed in her hair as the third salvo spattered on her slick thighs.

Archer fell onto the loveseat, joined quickly by a wet and messy Jessica who collapsed on top of him. His hands came to massage every inch of her as they panted and came down together.

They spent the next hour luxuriating in each other, peppering one another with light kisses and gentle caresses, whispering their secrets in one another's ears.

Eventually the time came to dress and straighten up, and Archer found himself standing at Jessica's door, preparing to leave.

"Did I give you everything you needed, Mr Archer?" She asked with a temptress's smile.

"For the story, yeah," he replied, before offering a grin of his own. "And everything else as well."

"Will I see you again?" She asked, and a slight edge of vulnerability crept in around the corners of her cool façade.

Archer smiled, placing a kiss on her forehead, her cheek.

"I have to do a little more research for my story tomorrow. But I'll make sure to come back in the evening. I'll be waiting for you with a big bouquet of flowers after showtime," he placed the gentlest of kisses on her sweet, sumptuous lips. "Sound good?" 

"I have to say, Rick, you really know how to please a lady." Jessica said, and almost blushed. She was surprised at how quickly he was wearing down her veneer.

He chuckled - mostly at the sound of her using his given name for the first time.

"You're not half bad yourself, kid. See you tomorrow night?"

"Tomorrow night." Jessica nodded. They embraced each other in one last, deep kiss and then he was going, offering her a wave as he walked down the hallway. Jessica watched him go, then closed the door behind her...

~

Archer didn't rush home. He felt too mellow, too perfect. He'd had a few good nights in his life, but this one would definitely rank at the top. He strolled back along the street to his apartment as he reflected on everything.

The details that Jessica had given him had forged links in his mind that wouldn't have been there if not for her help. He could see the whole thing so clearly now.

What had started as a series of hunches was now forming into cold, hard facts. A small smile found his lips. He was really going to crack this story. He could feel it.

But setting that aside, there was Jessica herself. He couldn't believe the luck he'd had in one night. It was as if destiny had led him to the most perfect woman ever.

It was as he was walking up the front steps to his building that he heard his name shouted out.

"Hey, Archer!"

He turned to see who it was, and as he did the night tore apart with the sound of tommy gun fire, followed quickly by the scream of screeching tires.

Archer didn't feel himself fall. All he knew was that he lying was on the steps of his building, the concrete hard against his back, and he was looking up at the stars. His shirt was hot and moist and hanging in tatters against him.

Sal. He must have heard about the reporter nosing around his business.

Archer thought of Jessica. She was right to have been worried. As he felt the darkness embracing him, he gave thanks for his time with her - however brief it may have been - and offered a silent prayer that she be spared what had just happened to him...

~

Rick Archer didn't show up at the Ink and Paint Club the night he said he would. He didn't show up the night after that, either.

Jessica had spent a full week waiting, with no word from him. Most girls would think they'd been stood up, but Jessica knew different. She knew something terrible had happened to him.

When she came offstage, it was to the sound of an audience confused by what they'd seen. Her regulars knew what to expect from a Jessica Rose performance, and a series of bluesy tunes of heartbreak was not it.

But Jessica didn't feel much like putting on a show, and if she had to it was going to be one that reflected how she felt.

Sitting in her dressing room, brushing her hair, she couldn't help but feel a faint spark of hope when a knock came at her door.

"Yes?"

Gordie opened the door and peeked his head in.

"Hi, Miss Rose. Swell show tonight."

"Thanks, Gordie. How can I help you?"

"There's a guy outside with two dozen posies hoping to come in."

"Really? Who is it?" Jessica asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"Roger Rabbit." Gordie said, with obvious delight.

"Roger Rabbit?" Jessica repeated, sinking back into her chair.

"Yeah, you know... the famous movie star. Says he's a big fan o' yours."

Jessica sighed.

"Send him in, I guess."

Gordie looked at her askew, confused by her obvious disappointment, but he nodded silently and went out the door to go get the guest.

Jessica turned and looked into the mirror of her make-up table. She'd act nice, sign an autograph, maybe take a picture, and then send the rabbit on his way. After all, what real interest could she have in him, after having been with a real man like Rick Archer...?

She picked up a red crayola and applied it to her lips.

Showtime.

