Starring:
Date: June 16, 2010
Summary:
Freedom something that can be found in toast, fries, and France
"The Body Double"
Hallis' Apartment
"Hi, Sierra? Can you come over? I need your help…"
That was the phone call placed to Jaden Caine's office 30 minutes ago. Hallis' apartment isn't too far away from Caine Tower, maybe 20 minutes by town car when there's not much traffic. Right now there's enough that Hallis is peeking through the curtains and looking down at the street below.
It's something she never does.
Hallis is afraid of heights.
This is just a little more important.
She's not covered up as much as she was the night before. True to his word, Jaden brought everything that he promised and then some. Including a doctor to look at her eye. This didn't make her feel any better. He said it would take weeks to heal, maybe even closer to a month. She's not looking forward to being out of work for that long. She's not valuable enough to Afterlife for them to keep her on like that.
Needless to say, Sierra was surprised to get a call at work from, of all people, Hallis. She was especially surprised, however, at how urgent Hallis sounded over the phone. "I'll be right over! Hang tight, mon cherie, I'll be over aussi rapidement que je peux." She tells the young socialite before hanging up the phone. She tells Jaden that she has to leave early, it's a family emergency. Wrapping her coat around her , she gets takes the elevator down to the building's parkade, and upon getting her car, starts driving to Hallis'.
It has taken her a bit over a half an hour to get to Hallis', due to both traffic and trying to find a parking spot. Finally, though, she stands outside the socialite's door, knocking.
Opening the door, Hallis is dressed in simple fair; jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt, and socks. And of course her massive black eye. It's still swollen almost completely shut and she gives Sierra a rather pained expression when she look at her. "Thanks for coming over so quickly, I have a huge favor to ask you."
Opening the door a little wider, she allows her friend through and then peeks out before closing the door and locking it behind them. "Before you say anything, I know, I look horrible. That's why I need you… or what you can do… so badly."
"Bonj…" Sierra begins cheerfully as the door starts to open, but she stop mid-word, mouth gapped open, as she looks upon the face, nay, the eye of Hallis. "Mon Dieu." The woman whispers. She shakes her head, entering the apartment. When she's fully in, she turns to face Hallis. "Mon cherie! What happened?! Of course I'll do anything to help you! But…what is it that I could possibly do to help you other than, say, picking up medicine?"
"No, no I don't need medicine. Jaden got me a doctor and stuff…" Hallis mumbles low, leading Sierra into the livingroom where there are several boxes being packed. "I need something else. Something really important." She takes a deep breath and turns toward Sierra with her eyebrows raises… well one of them anyway, the other one just hurts too much to move.
"How good are you at acting?" She finally asks, sounding a little uncertain about the whole idea she's hatched into her head. "I'm asking because, I need you to be me, for a month or so…"
Sierra frowns slightly, following Hallis. She tilts her head, looking at all the boxes. "What is going on? What's with all the boxes?" She sighs, crossing her arms and looking at Hallis straight on. "I am good at acting, if I do say so myself. But, mon cherie, just come on out and say it! What do you want me to do? What is so urgent?" She gazes intently at the young woman across from her.
"I'm going to Paris for a little while. My grandmother has an apartment in Montmartre, she used to rent it out to people but I… I can't let people see me like this. The photographers follow me everywhere, you don't understand." Taking a deep shuddering breath, Hallis tries to keep from crying and just looks away from Sierra as she tries to compose herself. "If they see me like this at the studio, I'm going to lose my job. I'm already in a pretty bad position because of when Erin beat me up… now her sister did it too… Can you? Can you just be me for a little while? I'll pay you, I've got a hundred grand I can give you for your trouble."
The pleading look Hallis gives Sierra is nothing short of heartbreaking. "Please Sierra, I'll never ask you anything else, ever… I just need you to be me while I figure some stuff out."
Sierra gives Hallis a look. "Mon precious cherie. I know all too well about said photographers. I have worked in the news industry. I know how vicious they can be." Moving closer to Hallis, she gently pulls the other woman into a hug. "Don't worry. Mon cherie. I'll take care of it all. I'll make sure you do not loose your job and that all is well. Just tell me what I need to know, and I'll do it." She gives the woman a tight, hugging squeeze. "I detestez pour vous voir like this."
Letting loose a little sob of gratitude, Hallis hugs Sierra back tightly and then pulls away. "ABC Studios… I don't know if you watch Afterlife at all, but I play Ora the weregoldfish." She wanders over to a table at the end of the plush sofa and picks up a script. It's filled with little pink sticky tabs and when the woman flips it open, there are lines highlighted in pink. "I usually highlight my parts in pink and mark the ones around them in blue, so I can get my cues right." She passes the script over to Sierra and gives her a small smile, one that doesn't hurt her face too much. "Also, I'm kind of… I don't know.. not exactly dating Jaden, but kind of… yeah. And Stuart, from the set, him too."
Sierra smiles softly. "Can I tell you a little secret?" She says in a mock hushed voice. "Watching Afterlife has, for a long time, been a guilty pleasure of mine, mon cherie." She says with a little wink. Accepting the script, she nods. "And…when are you…or, I mean…me. When am I to be on set for filming?" She asks, her mind thinking of whether she can do both jobs. "Ah…dating two men at once? You sly kitten you!" Yes. She did just say 'kitten'. She clears her throat and says, "Might as well get things started now, eh?" Focusing for a good few moments, her appearance begins to change right before Hallis' eyes. Before too long, Sierra looks exactly like Hallis. Same height, same hair colour and length, and same bruised eye.
Hallis presses both of her hands together and places them over her mouth as Sierra changes, trying to suppress her gasp of surprise. "No, no, not the black eye. At least, not so bad. I need to work. They won't let me work with it so big. Can you just make it look little? Like, I dunno, maybe faded a lot?" She waves Sierra to come with her and leads her down the hallway toward the bedroom. "I'm leaving most of my wardrobe here, so you have stuff to wear. Just remember not to be photographed in the same thing twice. If you need more clothes I have a spending account with Jaden. Just buy anything you need there, make sure it's good stuff. I don't buy off the rack."
Sierra nods and concentrates again. The puffed up and black eye shrink down to a normal size, and the are around the eye looks more just darkened from lack of sleep than anything. "How does that look? Better?" Even her voice, now, sounds like Hallis'. Though, realizing that, she clears her throat. Following Hallis toward the bedroom, she nods. "Oui, mon cherie. Worry not. I've got a good fashion sense. It's one of my redeeming qualities." She says in her own, regular voice, despite looking like Hallis.
Smiling at Sierra/Hallis, the real one (Hallis number one) makes her way toward the large bed. It has a huge suitcase on it that's being filled with only comfortable clothes. Most of the designer wear and posh shoes are left where they are in favor of a more drab affair. "I don't want anyone to recognize me," she explains. "I figure if I'm not in the latest clothes and just look like a regular person, no one will notice me, right?"
Siellis (the person, not the drug) shakes her head. "Mon cherie, I hate to say, but they'll recognize you in your plain clothes as well." She thinks for a moment. "But, mon cherie…I've got a plan, I think. Why don't I take you to le aeroport, looking like my normal self and once you're through security, I'll come back out looking like you? That way the press, if they catch sight of you at all, will think that I went somewhere, and that you were seeing me off!"
Blinking a few times, the idea is visibly sinking in and Hallis is seeing all of the possibilities. "You know, that would be perfect…" She turns to her body double and nods quickly. "That would be great! Of course, you have to move in here, I'll give you the extra set of keys and everything. I'll leave you my credit cards and make sure everything is up to date." Then she moves toward her night side table where she pulls out her passport and a ticket and a few other things. "I'm leaving tomorrow, so can you be here around four in the morning? And you have to be on set at seven… and… I'll leave you my daily planner so you have everything. Okay?"
(FADE)