2010-05-02: The Stepford Wife

Starring:

George_V5icon.pngHallis_V5icon.png

Guest Starring:

Stuart Templeton Davenport and Nadinne

Date: May 2, 2010

Summary:

Things get heated, all around.


"The Stepford Wife"

ABC Studios

As usual, the set of Afterlife is a busy place, even when no one's actively filming anything. There's setup work, makeup, cutting clips together, figuring out why the caterers still haven't shown up yet and the bottled water is about to run out… and somewhere in the midst of it, one stranger trying to thread his way through the shifting maze without getting in people's way any more than he has to. "Hi, do you know where Hallis is?" he asks a nearby technician. "Think I left something with her mistake, last time I was here." The tech points down another corridor, adding a non-committal shrug: might be down that way, might not be.

Down the hall in a dressing room belonging to one Stuart Templeton Davenport things are getting very cozy for comfort. Stuart deepens the kiss while sitting on the white couch of his dressing room. His arms wrap around Hallis' body before a single hand goes up to caress her cheek — all-in-all the move is very Archer in nature. He repositions himself so he's starting to lay down — he always did like a woman on top. Outside the room, Nadine, his assistant, lingers outside the door, rereading some of her boss's fanmail.

There's the sound of a small thump as Hallis' foot knocks the coffee table and sends their bottles of water toppling to the floor. The move may be very Archer, but this isn't Archer and Ora, this is Hallis and Stuart. Her hair is all over the place, still made into the messy bedroom hair they seem to like on set with only a few defined curls here and there. When the kiss is deepened, she doesn't fight it. When he moves to lay down, she follows along, all in all quite willing to let him lead the way.

Outside, oblivious, the crew continues to work away. Nadine continues to sort through the fan mail— woman, woman, man, woman, man, gay man, furry, electric bill, PETA. And someone starts banging away (not like that!) with a claw hammer, rigging up some backdrop props… which distracts George at just the wrong moment, as he rounds a corner and smacks right into Nadine. "Oh my— oh, I'm sorry!" he exclaims, instinctively grabbing at a handful of the letters as they go flying in three or four directions at once.

Nadine stamps her foot on the ground exasperatedly, "You need to watch where you're going! I have so many letters to reply to and the boss wants them done ASAP… now how will I get this done!" She drops to the ground and begins to pick up (and simultaneously sort) Stuart's letters. She steps over towards a particular letter that has gone flying down the hall.

There's a crashing sound, it's coming from behind the door Nadine was just standing in front of. Inside, Hallis has kicked over the bucket of ice and water that was sitting on the table and is at the moment clambering over Stuart in an attempt to find a better position in which to take advantage of him. Breaking the kiss, she sits up and giggles down at him. "Oh Stuart~ Maybe we should take this… Somewhere else?"

Maybe it's for the best that the wall is thick enough to muffle her voice. If George overheard it, he'd probably be… upset. As it is, he's occupied with grabbing the rest of the fan mail, turning it around and around in an attempt to present Nadine with a neat stack by the time she comes back, even if she still has to sort through it afterward. Taking a step backward, he bumps into the door of the dressing room, glancing down at the ice-cold puddle that's starting to seep out from underneath it. Maybe the air conditioning is acting up? Who knows.

Scooping Hallis up in his arms like the princess he believes she is, Stuart whisks her over to his bed (yup, he's important enough to have a bed in his dressing room). Gently he lays her on it before leaning over her — also climbing onto the bed and planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

Caught up in the moment, Hallis squeals as Stuart scoops her up and carries her to the bed. "Should we really be doing this? What is someone comes in?" She doesn't think Nadine locked the door when she left, so it's very possible that someone could barge in and interrupt them. Then he's kissing her again and all of those thoughts go flying from her head as fast as a man jumping out of her window.. which has happened.

With a shrug, George straightens up again, handing the mail to— wait, where'd Nadine go? Around the same corner that he rounded earlier, as it happens, and then one of the new guys on the crew took the opportunity to snag her and ask some questions. Like she knows anything about his health insurance plan? That's what human resources is for.

Back in the hallway, the slight squeak of the door hinges catches George's attention; turning, he braces the door with one hand, keeping the mail pinned against it until he finds a place to set it down. "Hey, you guys know you've got a leak in th—?"

Hot, kisses are longingly sent down Hallis' neck as Stuart adjusts her robe to kiss her shoulder. Gently he begins to tug at the tie around her waist until the words interrupt his actions. "Everything is fine~" he calls musically, assuming it's just someone on the set — it's always some backstage worker ruining his game. Darn them.

Hallis' head is turned toward the wall, giving Stuart a much better vantage to her neck and shoulder. That is, until a familiar voice calls into the room. Then she jumps and begins tugging her robe back together. "George! We were — " Just running lines? No, they used that one before. "What are you doing here?" For some odd reason, she'a actually angry. What is he doing there?

"Well, I thought I left— so I came back for— Wait, what are you doing here?" On the set, sure, but alone with Mr. Smarmtastic in a dressing room? Having to pull her robe closed—

And the bed hair is not helping.

This does not compute. He's pretty sure that there's about to be a whole lot of yelling, but not at all sure just how it's going to play out. This moment is the calm before the storm.

How is this happening in his dressing room?! Fortunately, Stuart is a cool-headed serious actor, especially under pressure. With a sly smile he tilts his head at George, "We're just getting to know each other better as it gives us better chemistry on-stage…"

"I'm… I'm… I was delivering a letter!" Hallis practically yells back. She's incensed, who knows at what, but she's completely sure there's a wrinkle forming somewhere on her face. She tries to calm herself and smooths her hands out over her skin. She's not completely up and out of the bed yet, "Then we started talking… Then…" She looks at Stuart, her eyes pleading for a bit of assistance.
Less fortunately for Stuart, he currently has an audience share of one, and one with plenty of experience of seeing through bull to boot. "Oh. Well. If it gives you better chemistry, then that's all right, then, isn't it?"

Abruptly, George walks forward, reaching for Stuart's collar to haul him up to his feet. "Look, pretty boy, I'm all for Hallie having this gig— but if I hear about you trying to catch her alone again, I will find a way to get you on a one-way flight to New Zealand. I bet you'd get great reviews playing a hobbit fo the next twenty years, don't you?"

Stuart is sure enough hauled to his feet, "What are you talking about?! I didn't corner Hallis and make her to kiss me — I didn't make her come here, and frankly, I actually care about her despite what you may think. I think she's got promise as an actress and a star!" His eyebrows furrow as he tries to meet George's gaze. "And you'd be pretty hard-pressed to send me back to New Zealand as I have dual citizenship for both there and here. Mum's a Kiwi, Dad a Yank." Ironically he doesn't struggle out of the hold, he can't afford to get that pretty face of his damaged.

"George, stop it!!" Hallis cries out he grabs Stuart and pulls him off the bed. "It's my fault! I'm the one that came here. I was the one that kissed him." With the cat out of the bag, the young blonde takes a deep breath and slides out of the bed, yanking her robe closed and storming toward the door. "I'm tired of being ignored, I'm tired of being left alone for weeks and weeks. At least Sutart's there for when when I need someone to talk to!" She turns toward the both of them and glares, her blue eyes practically shining with anger. "I'm not even legal to order myself a drink yet and I'm already a — a — a… Stepford wife!! I'm too young to be so old!!"

Ah yes, there's the shouting, right on cue. George does let go of Stuart's collar, turning his attention to Hallis instead. He doesn't want to be angry with her, but by now he can't really help it. "Ignored? What do you— I mean, yeah, I spend a lot of time in Washington, but I spend a lot of time here, too! And I come see you as often as I—"

Shaking his head, he backs up and leans against the wall next to the door. "This is why Sierra and I fell apart, you know. I didn't think things with us were anywhere near that bad, but if they are…" Again, he trails off: she'll have to fill in the rest of that sentence.

(FADE)

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