Television Romance

Flawless Impressions

After the pitch meeting had concluded, Vian made it three steps out of Greg's office before her phone buzzed with an incoming call. Bill and Jerry, who were walking with her, paused to the side of the hallway, letting foot traffic flow past.

"Hey, Rich," Vian said into her phone, "Yeah, you're coming for dinner on Thursday, right?"

"So, how was Vermont?" Bill asked Jerry.

"Chock filled with maple syrup." Bill cocked his head to the side.

"I meant with Sadie's parents."

"All good."

"No curveballs?"

"Nope. I've never met anyone as close with their family as Sadie. She calls her parents twice a week. I only see mine once a year. And we live in the same city."

"Isn't it weird how we saw these people every day for eighteen years?"

"And now only on select national holidays."

"Do you have your bets ready?"

"I'm still brainstorming. You?"

"I've got a couple of ideas."

Beside them, Vian was already wrapping up her conversation. The area, which had been a flurry of activity for only a minute, had emptied itself. Now it was a ghost town. As Vian slipped her phone in the front pocket of her dark jeans, the three of them began walking again. Jerry moved awkwardly. It looked cartoonish to swing his forcibly angled left arm beside him, so instead, he held the cast in front of him like half a choir boy.

"Where did Jules say she was going?" Bill asked. The handicapped man replied.

"Where else? Mugs."

~~~~~

Twenty minutes late, brown paper bag in hand, Juliet walked down the hall and into Four for the second time that season. She paused in the doorway and watched Jerry and his chair. Jerry had his jacket draped like a cape over his shoulder so that it obscured his cast. From where she was standing, both Jerry and the chair looked the same as they had two months ago, or, for that matter, two years ago when she had started at LTV.

"Hey, who am I?" Juliet prompted. She stood on her tippy toes and leaned so her shoulder rested against the doorframe.

"What are you guys doing?" she said with a lowered voice, "I had an unnecessary rivalry with every state bordering Texas." She tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. The voice was terrible, but Jerry recognized the mannerisms immediately.

"Culver."

"Yippee!" Juliet said, back in her normal register and height.

"Better not let him see that. His ego's as big as his state." Juliet laughed.

"Wait, wait, who am I now?" She looked Jerry up and down and smirked.

"Hey, hot stuff," she said.

"I don't say 'hot stuff,'" Michael said from behind her.

"Michael!" Juliet cried and wrapped her arms around him. His hair was a little shorter than in May and he looked more tan, skin darkened by the L.A. sun the same way it had drawn the tan lines that Juliet's weird shirt now hid.

"Hey, Jay. How's it going?" He smirked just as she had a moment before, which made her laugh.

"Great. Except that I have no idea how to write a sketch with a budget of ten dollars."

"We've been spoiled. In college all I did was write sketches with a budget of ten dollars," Michael said.

"But now all I can think about is opulent sets and live exotic animals."

"Tell me about it. Reese is threatening to bring in her own donkey."

"She has a donkey?"

"No, I think she's going to rent one."

"You can rent donkeys? In New York City?"

"You can do everything in New York City," Jerry interjected.

"Michael, guess who I am," Juliet said. She smoothed her hands over her hair and started to say something.

"Vian," Michael said before she could get a word out.

"Damn! I should've been an impressionist."

"Maybe you could do an impression of someone who's working," Jerry said.

"Whatever, Mom," she said but reluctantly slipped inside Four.

"I'll see you at the table read," Michael said and vanished from view.

Juliet jumped on the couch with abandon with exceeding confidence given that she was landing on a piece of furniture at least as old as she was. She reached into the paper bag and brought out a chocolate chip muffin, a wrapped sandwich, and two cokes, placing each in a single file line on one arm of the couch.

"What some?" she offered.

"No, thanks."

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you don't eat, Robot Man. Hey, when's Sadie going to swing 'round here. I haven't seen her in forever." Juliet broke off a piece of her muffin with her thumb and popped it into her mouth.

"She's coming later in the week, actually."

"Good. Where's Bill?"

"You rang?" Bill stood leaning into the doorframe, head tilted to the side with one eyebrow raised.