𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐬 | pete davidson

twenty one: the two of them together

Refresh. Refresh. Pause for a sip of coffee. Refresh. Refresh. Refresh.

Nothing... nothing yet. It's been an incredibly tedious morning for Lorne who arrived early that day because he was expecting an email from a well-established member of the SNL alumni family. 

Even Lorne was not sure who the person was, as all the details of their arrival this October 2nd was left in the email Lorne was expecting.

He sat slouched forward in his seat, his elbows beginning to ache from the pressure he had resting them on his wooden countertop. It didn't help him at all that his desktop computer was the slowest piece of technology Lorne had ever owned in his many decades of seeing technology evolve firsthand.

This email would confirm the appearance of an alumni member in the cold opening for the upcoming show, and the fiery anticipation Lorne first had when he walked into his office that morning had now fizzled out into a single glowing ember.

Bored out of his mind, Lorne grasps the computer mouse and drags the cursor to open a new tab on his Firefox window. He's about to open up an online game of solitaire until he hears a sound that makes his heart race.

DING! DING!

Lorne involuntarily holds his breath as he clicks back onto his email, searching desperately through his inbox for the email.

And...

Nothing.

He grumbles, slamming his fist on the counter and pursing his lips together in a scowl as he stares intently at the most recent email in his inbox; the one that falsely notified him and demanded his full attention. His eyes widened in surprise, somewhat pleased to find that it was not spam after all.

His interest had piqued. He clicked the email open. A news notification for 'Catwoman'.

Lorne had this notification subscribed to his email when he first heard about Dahlia, before even having met her in person. He hadn't completely forgotten about it, he had just been preoccupied by other more important emails, as the notification would bring him mostly useless gossip from second-rate tabloids that weren't even worth the energy to read nor pay any mind to.

But this one truly got his attention. Hooked him in with ease and reeled Lorne in like a fish from a clearwater pond.

'Catwoman' Dahlia Coy and Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson seen at cafe after the Jack Veramente failed to swoon Dahlia with live music

This was big. This was bigger than big, Lorne realized, this would have been something small and insignificant if it weren't for the circumstances.

When Lorne clicked the link and began to watch the video attached to the article, his grin grew from ear to ear, he had to contain his excitement by closing his lips together with his index finger.

Pete and Dahlia were sitting together deep inside a local cafe not too far from where Rockefeller Place stood. 

The video began with Dahlia sitting at the table by herself, her purse on her lap as she calmly dug around for something, eventually giving up just before Pete came to sit with her. Their table was at a booth, the paparazzo who took the video had the perfect angle of the two of them facing outwards so that you could make out their faces.

Pete was at the counter, his lips thanked the barista before turning to walk towards Dahlia at the booth, two ceramic mugs in hand. Lorne could make out bits and pieces of what they were saying to each other, other times it was super easy to tell what they were saying, such as Dahlia greeting Pete as soon as he brought them their drinks.

Lorne watched as Pete awkwardly shuffled into the booth, sitting close to Dahlia. The video was mostly of the two of them talking, occasionally laughing, and them sitting in a silence so awkward that Lorne could feel it through the screen.

There was a magnetic vibe between them that Lorne felt as he watched them, totally oblivious to the paparazzo capturing them in the moment. 

At one point, during one of their awkward silences, Pete had yawned and stretched his arms up over his head, comfortably letting them fall around Dahlia's shoulders to which he quickly realized what he had done and pulled his arm away. 

It was clear that this had confused Dahlia, you could see her looking at him strangely. Pete's mouth moved so quick that Lorne could not distinguish what was being said. Pete was so pink in the face, shaking his head into the tattooed hands that cupped his eyes.

It was clear Pete was apologizing for 'coming onto' her, but she brushed it off, shaking her head so calmly it was almost like she was just allowing her head to float as she spoke. The video ended with the two of them getting up out of the booth, Dahlia mouthing a thank you to Pete before hugging his hips, Pete resting his head on the top of her updo.

Lorne grinned to himself, clicking off of the video and turning back to his email.

Still empty.

He anxiously chewed on his bottom lip. Scratching the stubble on his chin, he sat back in his chair, swivelling around to stare out into the city that his windows provided full view of. It was at this moment, this moment of quiet peace and tranquility, he had only his thoughts, audible enough for him to pay attention to their contributions.

The video replayed of them on loop in his head. He sat, staring off into space through his grand black-framed windows. It was truly at that moment when it hit him.

An idea so grand it might as well have fallen from the star-speckled sky it first blossomed and bloomed in; down to earth, gracing the mind of Lorne Michaels.

Perfection could not have come close enough when describing this wonderful idea. So wonderful, in fact, that Lorne knew it would bring a new distinctive era for the future of Saturday Night Live. Going down in history as one of the most well-known and beloved seasons of the show... 

...if Lorne was able to pull this off correctly and without any hiccups.

Practically leaping out of his seat and onto his desktop, he reached for the phone on the lefthand corner of his counter. Bringing the receiver up to his ear, he punched in a string of numbers without any hesitation, and waited for the other end to pick up. 

He patiently tapped his fingers along the wooden curvatures of the countertop, feeling the giddiness from the pure genius of his revelation spark within him. He both mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with an idea of such excellence and beat himself to a pulp, worried off his ass that if this did not go according to plan, according to his vision, that this could very well ruin him and tarnish the very existence of Saturday Night Live.

After three rings, he was greeted by the other end. Lorne finally exhaled, not realizing he had been holding in his breath this entire time. He began to speak, cutting right to the chase,

"Jack, how well can you keep a secret?"