2009-11-30: Bad Romance

Starring:

Emily_V4icon.pngHallis_V4icon.png

Date: November 30, 2009

Summary:

Confessions of a dangerous mind.


"Bad Romance"

NYC - A Nondescript Hotel Room

It's late afternoon, Monday. About 24 hours after the first rumors about Trenton Hawthorne would've started trickling out, and that's if the rumor mill in NYC is slow on Sundays. The people section of Monday's Times had been dominated with the story of how Trenton, the male Paris Hilton as it were, was found in a vegetative state in his penthouse suite, comfortably resting in his own bed…as well as the message that was left on the mirror in red lipstick. Rumors about spurned lovers, and easily pinning the role of 'woman who loved him' on another socialite, Hallis, also saturated the article. Only at the very end did it mention that police have no leads at all; nobody could seem to identify who he was last seen with.

Emily had left his apartment with his phone though, and after waiting for almost the whole day, she can't wait any longer-she flips it open and uses speed dial to get Hallis on the line…hopefully. It rings, and rings, and rings…maybe she's at the hospital? Either way, it's got to be disconcerting to know he's in a deep coma, and yet, here's his phone dialing hers.

Greenwich Village - Hallis' Apartment

All day long Hallis had been fielding calls from reporters and giving statements to the police about her whereabouts that night. It was easily double checked, verified, and re-verified that she had left with another blonde (her therapist) that night at the club, coated in a nice film of sangria.

Hallis' biggest concern until hearing the news about Trent was that she would never get the stain out of one of her favorite little pieces. Unfortunately, being a one of a kind, it wouldn't be easy to replace… Thank God for expense accounts. It was only after she had ordered another frock from ABS that the first call came in.

Needless to say, by the time the call came in from Trenton's phone, Hallis was quite tired of dealing with the entire mess. Spying the number on her call display, she pushes the answer key and pauses a moment before letting out a tentative, "H-hello? Trenton?"

"Hmmmm…hardly!" comes the voice on the other end. It's a female voice, one that Hallis should be familiar with. "I didn't have your number handy, so I had to find it. It was a lot easier than I thought…" Emily says, trailing off to giggle softly. "I take it you've read the paper today? That you know all about Trenton and his…condition? I'm calling you to make a confession…" she says. "I just had to repay you for those boots, so I got you a very special present…"

A gasp is what the Amazon is treated to, then silence. After a moment that Hallis uses to collect herself and run down the hallway to her bedroom, she finally breathes into the phone, "E-Emily? H-how did you get Trenton's phone? What do you mean pay me back?" Yes, she's been privy to the most basic of the news and has only talked on the advice of a very high priced lawyer that her father has fronted the money for. "What happened to Trenton? I've been answering questions to the police almost all day!" The woman doesn't sound upset, other than the day wasted to repeating the same story over and over. "I mean… did you .. No! I don't want to know. I don't want to have to tell the police if they ask me questions."

"Getting his phone was easy…he left it on the dresser, right next to the lipstick," she replies…sounding chipper. "It was just a matter of snatching it on the way out, and figuring he had your number in his contacts…which he did. Along with a dozen or so other females. As for what happened to him…well, that's something more complicated. Something that I can't really show you over the phone."

"Oh my god… I can't believe this…" Hallis is sounding a little more frantic now, her eyes darting around the room to find something to focus on. What she finds is the picture on her nightstand, the one she had taken of her and George the day they went to the basin. Picking it up gingerly, she places a finger on her beau's face and closes her eyes. "…You didn't have to do anything Emily. Trenton and I have been over for a really long time. I mean, not that he didn't… well he did…" She can't say that he deserved it, but it seems to be where her train of thought is going.

"Recall that he tried to drug us. That he literally has a dozen women that he could call night or day and have in his bed. I just…I guess this is how I pay people back," Emily says flatly, more or less free of emotion. Unlike Hallis, who gets to talk from the comfort of her own apartment, Emily is in a bare bones hotel room. There aren't any photos of family or friends, just bags of stolen clothing and a comatose woman from New England lying on a bed that she's used in an effort to begin putting her life together again after the government seized all her resources and kidnapped her.

Defensively, Hallis begins backpedaling, "I'm not saying that he didn't deserve something… please Emily, don't get angry. I'm not upset… I mean.. I am upset.. but .. It's just so hard to explain." A long sigh is let out as Hallis tries to put the words together in her mind before spilling them to the woman at the other end of the phone. "Trenton wasn't a good man, you're right. I'm just worried about you. You won't get caught or anything, will you? They can't… I already gave my statement to the police. I don't think they'll be looking at me any more. I just want you to be careful."

Emily chuckles on the other end. "It won't be the first time the cops are after me. Or the government." She sounds…strangely ok with the state of things. This should be the first time the police or anyone have seen this particular version of what she can do though. It shouldn't be something they can relate to the woman they caught on camera a few months back and labeled as a person of interest in a mass murder at Tabla restaurant. "But no…it can't be tracked to me at all. Nobody's seen this part yet…"

"J-just be careful, Emily." Hallis is truly sympathetic to the woman, after all Trenton was looking for nothing except a score that night, no matter how he got it. Through the course of the conversation she's already put three and two together to come up with five, something that even Stimpy could have done. "What about other people like you? They're all over the place, they can't catch you?"

"The ones that know what I do…don't know that I do this. They shouldn't be able to put it together that quickly. There's probably enough out there that they'd pin it on someone else entirely." In fact, it does seem like more of a Parkman stunt, after all…cramming somebody's consciousness way down deep in their mind, disconnecting it from their body.

"And if they come after me…well, that might be bad for them."
Hallis is chewing on her lower lip, her eyebrows knit together in a pensive worry. She's worried for the blonde at the other end of the phone, worries for herself, and worried for whoever dares to try and catch the woman. "So, you're safe from that Promesthahoosey guy? Why did Sydney seem all happy to be throwing his name around? Is he like… a leader or something?"

"He's…someone who wants to take down the government operation who is kidnapping folks like me. And she was dropping his name in an attempt to keep me from doing something more…extreme." As if putting someone in a vegetative state isn't extreme. Conveniently, Emily leaves off the specific instruction not to kill…or the fact that she's done it a dozen times before.

Nodding (like Emily can see it), Hallis finally gives the phone a small smile. A devious sort of smile. "Too bad Trenton wasn't the mind rapist. I wouldn't mind that happening to her. Maybe teach her what it feels like to be raped in the head." As soon as it's out, the blonde instantly regrets saying anything. Just in case the bad karma police get her. Looking around the bedroom to make sure she's alone, she murmurs sullenly into the phone, "I didn't mean that… really."

"You should be careful about putting ideas in my head…" Emily warns Hallis, with a little growl. "You know, we're not so different, you and I. Both trying to change…for what it's worth, and maybe not even for our own good," she says, idly. On her end of the phone, Emily is sitting on her hotel room couch, a little hunched over, holding one hand over the side of her face, fingers veiled over her eyes a bit; the phone is in her other hand. Not that Hallis can see any of that, of course!

If only Hallis knew more about her friend on the other end of the phone, "No… You're wrong." She starts slowly, taking a breath inward. "I'm not a very good person at all. I mean, I try so hard, you know? But everyone keeps… ugh… I owe you Emily, I really do. Thank you for Trent." Without a shoulder angel to give her a conscience, Hallis reverts easily to something else entirely. "I might have to buy you a whole outfit if I ever find that mind rapist though."

Emily's response is a little wicked, almost predatory. "I'll keep my eye out for her." Of course, she doesn't exactly know who Hallis is talking about, even though she has an idea (wrong though it may be). Then she begins to chuckle. "As bad as you are, you're hardly as bad as me." Before the conversation gets out of hand though, Emily decides that it needs to come to an end. She just wanted to make it known that she's responsible for what happened to Trenton…that her work isn't confused for another's. "But…that's a conversation for another time. I shouldn't spend much more time on this phone."

"Save my phone number Emily, if you ever need anything…" Hallis starts quickly, uncertain about whether she should make the offer but, it's Emily. "…If you need anything, just call me and I'll do my best to get it for you." The young woman is very sincere, her quiet tone is quite clear on that. "I'll talk to you when you call me again, okay? Bye Emily." Then she hangs up, saving the other woman from having to deny the offer.

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