2010-04-04: Introducing the Bride

Starring:

Hallis_V4icon.pngGeorge_V4icon.png

Date: April 4, 2010

Summary:

It's time for the power couple to step up.


"Introducing the Bride"

Previously on Heroes MUSH…

Washington

"Maureen? Leave Hallie a message, I think she's filming now but I need to talk with her as soon as she gets a break. About a couple of things— maybe three, depending. And tell Ashley to prep for some bad spin-doctoring."

—-

New York City

Hallis isn't filming, it's the weekend and she's laying in her bedroom and studying a script. When her phone rings, she picks it up immediately and greets with a very excited "George?"

The greeting from the other end has the smile falling from her face and heaving a sigh. "Alright Maureen, just… just tell him I'm on the line? I'll wait." Then she's put on hold. The young woman examines her fingernails closely as she waits, studying each of the enameled ends for flaws.

It's the better part of fifteen minutes before George finally does get on the line, to the point that Maureen cuts back in twice and suggests that maybe Hallis would like to just get a call back later. The office does theoretically have a limit to how many phone calls it can keep going at once.

"Hallie, it's me. I've got a couple things I need your help with— how soon would you be able to come down here? It can wait if it'll take more than a couple days."

A few times Hallis had been tempted to just hang up in a huff, but she stays on the line, calmly explaining to Maureen that she won't hang up. She doesn't actually care about the phone calls that she's blocking, she was the one that was called. It should be her perogative to stay on the line if she wants. During the second interlude of Maureen's voice, the young woman actually snapped back at her, "Why did he bother having you call me if he didn't want to talk to me?"

Then he finally does get on the phone. "Hello George, I miss you too. Thank you for asking, I really am having a good time at my new job. I think it's a good fit for me." Then she pauses before actually answering him. "I just got this role. I don't know if I can take time off, not unless it's a giant emergency. Did someone die or something? What's going on?"

There's a sigh on the other end of the line. "Hallie, I'm sorry, I just got out of a meeti--" Then, muffled, as he puts the receiver against his chest: "What do you mean she's been holding all this time? Why didn't you tell— Because I didn't ask, right. Never mind."

Walking the phone around a corner that threatens to snap the cord, he leans back against the wall and continues. "I figured you'd be tied up for another hour or two, I thought maybe you'd just gotten free" - it would've been the type of synchronicity that insists on following him around a lot - "I didn't think you'd get on the line earlier… I didn't think." Full stop. "Look, no one died, but… let's just say we'll be turning the 'razzi against themselves, and the phrase 'wedding plans' will be involved. Okay?"

"No, no, it's… I should have just had you call me back like Maureen told me the first two times," Hallis sighs as she shakes her head and leans back against her pillows. She sinks into the plush cushions and just lays there for a few minutes as she listens to the politician. "No, it's the weekend, we film Monday through Friday…" she answers in a little bit of a sullen tone.

It's the next thing that makes her sit up again and take notice, "Wait, what? Who is getting married? Oh my god Mitsy and that lawyer, isn't it?! I'm going to kill her! She can't get married before me!!" Pause. "But… wait… Why do I have to be in Washington if Mitsy's getting married?"

George shrugs. They broadcast Monday through Friday, but their shooting schedule could have been anything for all he knew. "No, it's not Mitsy, at least not that I know of… look, just sit tight, I can make it out there late tonight and I'll explain everything, I promise."

"Oh George, you can't do that to me! You have to tell me who's getting married!" Hallis does the face, and even though he can't see it through the phone, she's pretty sure he can hear the little whine in her voice. It's unfair to make her wait until the wee hours for something that important, there's so many thing to start preparing for, who she's going to wear, the jewelry, who she has to outshine… Especially the last one, the young woman just couldn't bear not to be the center of attention, even if it's not her own wedding. "Pleeeaaaase?"

"I will, I promise - but it has to be in person. Now I need to get going, or I won't be able to at all." Yes, that's his ultimatum: answers in a few hours, or answers in a few days, take your pick. Already he's exchanging nods with Maureen as she pulls up the train schedule to check if there've been any last-minute changes.

—-

It's late, really late, and Hallis is asleep in her bed. She fell asleep trying to stay awake for George, with her script in her hand and the light on. The rest of the house is dark and quiet because the kids have school or whatever they do in the morning. Maybe private tutors? Hallis really has no idea. She has been leaving pamphlets for private boarding schools around the apartment, but they have either been left alone or tossed in the garbage. Sydney is very protective of her young charges.

Yay for passive-aggressive suggestion. And yay for enforced method acting; if George is particularly lucky, then Hallis snuck in a few phone calls to her gal pals while she was waiting, fishing for information from others if she couldn't get any from him. If not, then there'll still be time for it later; she is an actress, after all…

Letting himself into the apartment, and not finding her right away, he stops by the kitchen long enough to whip up a mug of hot chocolate with a few little chocolate-chip-size marshmallows floating on top. "Hey," he says, carrying it into the bedroom and setting it down on the end table.

Hallis wakes up with a start, ready to yell at the child that dared enter her private sanctuary but it isn't a child, it's George. He is greeted with a smile and she sits up and looks down at herself. "Oh no, I must look a fright. I should have at least changed, or made you something for supper. Have you eaten? I think Sydney was burning herself in the kitchen again…" She glances at his cup of hot chocolate and gives him another little smile. "Nevermind, you already stopped by."

Then, it's down to business. "George." She says pointedly looking at him with her most serious face, "Chelsea said that Mitsy isn't getting married and that Olivia and Ray are still waffling on their date. You have to tell me who is getting married."

For a moment, George squints. A fright? Since when does she talk like that? It's almost like she'd switched places with a mysterious twin sister. Which, who knows, maybe her soap opera gig will give her a dual role if she proves to be enough of a hit. Once you accept vampires and were-creatures as real, the typical soap shenanigans are peanuts by comparison.

"Okay, here's the thing," he explains, reaching out his hands to take hold of hers. "This first part is about the kidnappings, so don't tell anyone who doesn't know about that— Nathan wasn't really sick, he's been hiding out, and he wants to make a surprise announcement, but he needs me to set up a red herring so it'll stay a surprise. So - this is the part you can tell people - I was thinking you could tell people that we're getting married. You know, friends who claim they'll keep it a secret, but really they'll turn right around and gossip about it as soon as you get off the line?"

George is taking her hands, she's just looking down. He's starting to explain something and it's like his voice is traveling through water. Then there's the real meat, no one's actually getting married, it's just a rumor. There's another pointed look and the socialite just raises her eyebrows. Her lips pucker into that expression she wears when she's trying to think and then she takes a deep breath.

Hallis' lips move as though she's about to say something and then she close again and she's back to thinking. This could ruin her new role, or it could make such a splash that she's skyrocketted to instant celebrity. So, so many things to consider. She'll have to be extra good and not let anyone catch her sneaking in and out in the wee hours… Then she finally looks up at George and nods, "Do I get a ring?"

Keeping a lid on the surface nature of the plan for several hours was mean enough. Keeping a lid on the underlying truth for weeks? That would just be cruel. Besides, pulling off the surprise on live TV would just be showing off.

"I do want to marry you," he says - quickly, because he needs to get this all out at once before she starts asking a thousand more questions - "and of course you'll get a ring. All I want to do is make sure they get the details all wrong until after the press conference, and then we can tell them the truth." By this point, his hands have found their way up to her shoulders, drawing her closer. "You're all right with that, right?"

Nodding quickly, Hallis looks down at her hand and then gives him one of her winning smiles. "I just need a ring or else no one will believe me. Do you seriously think that I would ever let you propose without a ring? My friends know me. If you want to do this right and spin the tabloids, I just need a ring to flash around. There will be tons of stories. We don't even have to say anything." The fact that he actually does want to marry her? Well that's a conversation that will wait for another day.

"I'll call Chelsea in the morning and have her meet me at the studio for lunch. If you can get a ring to me by then, the story will be in the society pages by the nightly edition." Rather than letting him pull her toward him, she raises her hands to his lapels and pulls him down with her. "I have one condition though… When this is all over, you're the one that gets to explain to Grandmother that it's not actually happening."

"It— hey!" He really should have seen that one coming. It's not like they haven't already been together for months now. "It'll probably be a terrible ring, but just act like you really love it, okay?" The 'probably' is a safety measure, in case she really does love whatever he's able to scrounge up on about two hours' notice. "Oh, and mention something about Baptist churches and my hometown and blah blah blah."

There was one other thing he was going to talk to her about - but she's right there and she has that bed-head hair that the film crew would probably take an hour to duplicate on purpose and - well, it'll just have to wait till morning, that's all.

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