INT. WRITING ROOM FOUR - DAY
Juliet was close to dozing off Tuesday morning when something caught her eye. She'd been right on the edge of sleep, teetering between a dreamy state and the grounding feeling of her skin against the coarse fabric of the ancient couch. Something tore her back to Earth.
"What on Earth are you wearing?" she asked sharply, a deep frown marking her face. Bill stood in the doorway of Four.
"That's the reaction I was expecting," Bill smiled, "Where's Jerry?"
"You look like a douchebag. A WASPy douchebag," Juliet declared, ignoring his question and sitting up.
"That's subjective. And rude."
"Who wears a suit to the table read? Greg doesn't even wear a suit to the table read," Juliet pressed on. She was dressed in blue jeans and a white shirt featuring three cherubs, each armed with automatic rifles.
"It's not for the table read," Bill said, smoothing his black tie.
"What, are you going to prom?"
"No-"
"Are you going to announce your candidacy for president? To preach a sermon?"
"Are you going to let me answer?" Bill asked, the side of his mouth lifting in spite of himself.
"No, wait, I have more. Do you have to testify against a mob boss? Are you giving a presentation on why the company should reduce dividends next quarter? On your way to order a martini shaken, not stirred? Okay, now I'm done." She leaned back on the couch, self-satisfied.
"You didn't make fun of Vian's boyfriend when he showed up in a suit."
"He's a lawyer. You do funny voices for a living."
"Ouch." Juliet giggled.
"So, are you going to explain the penguin cosplay?" she asked.
"I have to go to a baby shower."
"No, you don't." Bill looked at her where she sat astonished at the point-blank denial.
"Yes, I do," he affirmed.
"On a Tuesday? Who has a baby shower on a Tuesday?"
"My college roommate's wife."
"You didn't go to college."
"I did before I dropped out."
"And your college roommate invited you to his wife's baby shower?" She stared at him as if trying to solve a crossword puzzle.
"He did."
"On a Tuesday?"
"Are you just going to keep repeating what I've already said?"
"Am I just going to keep repeating what you've already said?" she parroted, voice high. Bill rolled his eyes.
"That doesn't explain the suit."
"There's a dress code," Bill said, "He works for JetBlue."
"He's a pilot?"
"No, he's an executive. That's why there's a dress code."
"So are you missing the table read?" Juliet asked, scanning Bill's professionally clad body with lingering disbelief.
"No, I have to leave right after. Hence the suit." There was a second of silence and Juliet took a sudden breath.
"Jerry's already out there. He had to ask 'the MaN' a question," she said, finally answering his question.
"We're not actually calling them that, are we?"
YOU ARE READING
Television Romance
General FictionFive... four... three... two... and we're LIVE! Vian's got a new job as a television writer in New York and she feels overwhelmed. She's fighting with her fiancé, she has no idea what she wants to do with her life, and she's being dragged headfirst...
