Off The Air

The Bigger Picture

The next morning, you alarm goes off. You remember falling asleep on Stephen's chest, but you're in your bed. You turn off your alarm on your phone, then you see a message from Stephen.

Stephen ❤️

"Hey y/n, I went home after the show last night.  You fell asleep on me, and as much as I wanted to fall asleep right there with you, we both know I had to go. I carried you into your bed, you're light as a feather 🪶 😂.  I loved every second of it though 🥰. I'm writing this message on the train to Jersey. Security is getting a little curious of my whereabouts, but don't worry, they're getting the same stories as Evie. Thank you for everything last night. See you tomorrow, I love you. 😘 "

As you get ready for work, you can't stop smiling. Constantly thinking about that text, and how much he means to you. This thinking of course leads to overthinking. What would the media think of Stephen when he leaves Evie for you? What if you two get caught by Evie? What if Evie finds out these "meetings" aren't really meetings?

As you check into work, you see your favorite work buddies. "Hey has Stephen gave us the green light on doing a character desk piece?" One asks. "No, not yet, I'll check up on it." you reply, smoothly giving you a reason to go to Stephen's office. "Hey." you say knocking on Stephen's door. "Hey, did you get my message?" he asks. "Yes I did, and I just wanted to say I love you too." You say walking in. "Also (coworker's name) and (other coworker's name) want to do their characters on air, when do you think we can do that?" you ask going back to the topic of work. "Whenever they'd like, meanwhile is a good segment, but it would be nice to do something new." He replies. "Ok, I'll let them know." you say leaving.

After a long day of writing scripts and pitching ideas as usual, Stephen stops by your office before going on stage. "Stephen you're supposed to be backstage!" you say worried that he won't make it back on time. "Have a good show." He tell you. "Same to you... what's wrong?" You ask. "We can talk about it tonight." He replies. "Stephen if it's about Evie, then you can't come by my place. It'll make the suspicion worse." you say getting up to walk him backstage. "I don't care. I don't know what I did to her. I tried to give her the best life possible!" He says as you enter the elevator with him. "What happened?" You say, Stephen then grabs your face and kisses you repeatedly. "Stephen answer me!" You say pushing him away so he can talk.

"You remember when I ordered the pizza for everyone earlier? Well, she slapped me for not getting her something different or special. She called it 'Treating her like a peasant.' I haven't stopped thinking about it since." He says as the elevator opens. "Slapped you?! I thought it was just-" you get cut off by a crew member who was looking for Stephen. "Stephen! There you are! You gotta get on stage, come on!" A crew member says rushing Stephen to the stage.

You wander backstage, looking for Evie. You eventually spot her, but she's on the phone. So you just decide to sit in a spot where it would be easy to see you. Once she's off the phone she approaches you. "What are you doing here?You're never back here." She says with her hand on her hip. "Just hearing my jokes first hand that all." You reply not even looking at her. "So have you met the guest yet?" You add. "No, I'm really not excited for this interview either. He always blushes and gets flustered around these types of people, I can't stand it." She says, causing you to finally look at her. "Black women?" You ask. "Well if the shoe fits." She replies. You stand up and say "Well she was born with those shoes on so, have fun doing... whatever you do here." You say walking away.

Later that night, you don't even bother to watch the show, you just go straight to bed. You then hear an awakening knock on your door. You're tired as hell, but knowing it's Stephen gives you the strength to get up and answer it. "I'm sorry honey, did I wake you up?" Stephen asks with a soft tone. "Yea, but you're forgiven. Come in." Stephen comes in and closes the door behind him. "You hungry?" You ask as he sits on the couch. "I'm ok." He replies. "How come you're not watching the show?" He asks noticing that your TV is off.

"Today was just rough." You say sitting next to him. "Wanna talk about it?" He says. "Well, after you went on stage I talked to Evie-" "Oh God." Stephen says cutting you off and sitting up. "Yea, so she asked me what I was doing back there, I honestly could've said the same for her but I wasn't gonna go there. Then I asked her if she spoke to Issa Rae, the guest, and she said she wasn't looking forward to the interview because you get flustered around 'those types of people'. "Black women?" Stephen replies. "That's what I said, and she just said 'if the shoe fits.' You conclude.

"See I didn't know Evie was like that until later in our marriage. I wish I had done a background check before I married her. One of my biggest regrets." Stephen says standing up. "Hey don't blame yourself." You say holding his arm. "Oh and I also wanted to tell you that Evie's gonna be in South Carolina this weekend. If you want to, I could take you to my place." He offers. "I'll be there, just as long as you can get me to my show this weekend." Stephen stops for a second and looks at you with a smirk on his face. "Will do. Well, I should get going, sorry for waking you." He says heading for the door. "Wait!" You say, causing him to turn around. "Carry me to bed like you did the other night." You say, and without hesitation, Stephen picks you up. Enjoying the ride for a few seconds, Stephen gently places you in your bed and gives you a kiss on the cheek. "One more thing." You say stopping Stephen as he's exiting your bedroom. "There's a spare key in the breadbox, it's yours now." Stephen nods with a smile on his face. "Goodnight y/n." He says closing the door to your bedroom, and then leaving your apartment with a key.