Episode 18 (6.3)
November 14, 2008 05:58 PM
* * *
“You really shouldn’t be here right now,” Allan spat out at Tim. Tim leaned against his car, arms crossed, waiting to see what the McCaulleys wanted from him. Jason crossed in front of the car and placed himself between the two strategically. Allan seemed unfazed and advanced so that he was directly behind his brother, glaring at his sister’s ex-boyfriend.
“I stopped by to talk to Isabel.”
“I don’t really think that’s a good idea,” Jason broke in. “We,” he identified himself and Allan, “Only got a few of the details, but it was enough to know that you hurt her.”
“What you did was fu-”
“Messed up,” Jason cut off his brother. “I think it’d be better if Isabel didn’t know you were back.”
Tim rolled his eyes, “Look, I get the whole ‘brothers protecting sister thing’,” he did the quotation marks with his fingers, “but seriously, you’re overdoing it. Isabel is a big girl, she can take care of herself. So maybe you should let her make her own decisions.” He stared defiantly at the two.
* * *
Isabel and Julio were laughing over some joke as they walked into Stella’s. A few customers glanced at the happy pair, then went back to shopping. Misha, on her way out, shot them a look, that they ignored. “So when am I going to see you again,” Julio asked.
Isabel smiled, “I would like it to be soon. Actually, what are you doing for Halloween?”
Julio shrugged, “I hadn’t really made plans.”
“Every year, Carleen’s family throws a party for the town at their shop. It’s only a ten dollar cover charge for an adult. We should go.”
“Together you mean.”
“Yeah, together.” Isabel smiled at him, hopefully.
“I’m game.”
“Good!” She turned him around towards the door, “Then you can go find us a costume. I’m holding you responsible to make sure that I look good.”
“Are you sure? We’ve already seen my shopping skills without your help.”
“Think of it as your first test, with me.” Isabel teased. She leaned over his shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I have to get back to work, call me later.”
Julio nodded, “As if you had any doubt that I would.”
* * *
The six stood behind the counter, looking around the complete room. Levon’s Beans had been transformed into a cobwebbed vault of horror. Orange and Black were the predominant colors and three large, mechanized dummies blinked and growled at the shadows in the room.
“I think we did pretty good,” Levy said with pride. Charlie, a man of little words, offered a curt nod for agreement.
“What keeps your customers from accidentally moving things till the party?” Shane asked .
“Threats of death,” dryly replied Lynne. Shane laughed, but it died nervously when he noticed that nobody else had joined in.
“I think that’s it for the day,” Carleen turned towards the stairs. “Shane, it was a pleasure seeing you again. Alicia, tell your mother to call me.” Carleen walked up the steps towards the Hathaways apartment. Levy paused for a moment, then went to follow. “Have a good afternoon everyone.” He disappeared after his wife.
Alicia and Shane began to gather their belongings, but Lynne’s voice brought them to a halt. “Wait.” They glanced over at her. “I need you two to finish one more thing for me.” The two teens looked at each other and shrugged.
“What?” Alicia asked.
“In the back garage we have some dry ice. I need it broken up and stored in a few of the black plastic bags.” She grabbed some rubber gloves and handed it to the two. “Be careful.” Her voice heightened with intensity at the warning.
Shane took the gloves, “We got this.” He turned and looked around, “Uh, which way do we go?”
“Follow me,” Alicia rolled her eyes, grabbed Shane by the hand and led him towards the back door in the kitchen.
* * *
Allan made a move to advance on Tim, but Jason sidestepped his brother. He whispered back, “Chill,” then turned back to Rickler. “I know none of us really want to get into a fight here, Tim.”
Tim tried his smile, “I completely agree.”
“So then why don’t you get into your car and leave.”
“You think Isabel is going to appreciate that her brothers chased away her boyfriend?”
Allan’s voice rose, “Ex-boyfriend, you little shit. Or did you think that Isabel would stay committed after you ran away to California.” Jason glanced at Allan, looking surprised at this information.
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand how relationships work, Allan. You’ve still got a few years to mature.” Allan was seconds from exploding and Jason knew his brother well enough to know things were about to get bad.
“Tim, look, I’ll tell Iz that you stopped by. If she wants to talk to you, she’ll call you. But dropping in on her right now is just going to lead to all types of badness.”
Tim snorted, “Look, Jason, I’m not really going to take advice from your type either.”
Jason was taken aback, “My *type*?” His response was incredulous.
“Oh that’s it,” Allan pushed aside his brother and began advancing on Tim. Tim got up from his place on the car and got ready to defend himself, if needed. Allan stood right up in Tim’s face and the two stared at each other, daring the other to make the first move. Jason halfheartedly made a move to get between them, but Allan brushed him off. “You think you can come here and trash my family?”
“So you’re going to play the role of ‘man of the house’? About time someone did.” Tim’s voice was cool, collected.
“I’m giving you once more chance to walk away.”
“I’m going to respectfully recline.” Tim smiled, although his fists were tensing on the side. Jason stared between the two, trying to think of a way to defuse the situation. Allan, who’s face was reddening, seemed ready to leap at Tim any moment.
“That’s enough!” Jillian across the lawn towards the trio.
* * *
Alicia pulled open the garage door and peered in; two large, walk-in refrigerators hummed loudly in the dimly lit room. Shane crept up behind her and pushed her through the door. Alicia stumbled in and turned around to glare at him. Shane smirked, “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”
“Uh huh.” She walked up to the first fridge and pulled it open. Boxes lined the walls, produce and frozen food stored for the shop to use during lunch hour. Two cardboard boxes stood out from the rest; a bright yellow “hazardous” label was stuck to the side.
“I think we have a winner.” Alicia picked them up and placed them outside the door. Shane was already moving over with gloves on and a shovel in hand. “What’s that for?”
“Were you planning on breaking this stuff up by hand?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never really worked with dry ice before.”
“Uhm, neither have I. But I know I’m not gonna touch something that says hazardous,” he held up his hands, “gloves or no gloves.” Alicia shrugged and reached out to take the gloves from Shane. He pulled them away and she fell forward, landing into him. She snatched at the gloves again and the two began a playful tugging match, going back and forth. Shane kept backing up until, finally, his foot caught the side of one of the boxes. He went over and Alicia came tumbling after him. He slammed into the ground, “Ow, crap.”
Alicia landed on top of him, but still managed to bang her elbow on the concrete. “Ow! Damn it, Shane.”
“You landed on me! What are you complaining about.”
“Tell that to my elbow,” Alicia went to push herself up, but her hand got caught on his hoodie. She fell into him once more, landing face-to-face. There was a pause, each breathing heavier, then Shane leaned forward and kissed her gently.
* * *
Isabel entered into the breakroom, wanting to put away her phone into her purse. Molly sat at the table, holding a bag of ice to her still throbbing head. Iz looked at her friend with concern, “Molly, what happened?!”
“T-” Molly paused, noting the glow that her friend was still carrying. “I was cleaning out the shelves beneath the register when someone said my name. Foolish me, I went to stand up and smacked my head.” She held out the bag of ice, shaking it. She purposely left out the detail that the customer was Isabel’s ex.
Isabel shook her head and then sympathetically squeezed her friend’s shoulder, “I wish that customers would have a little patience sometimes.”
“Apparently they thought their needs were urgent.” Molly rolled her eyes. “So how was your date with our latin friend?”
Isabel smiled, “Perfect.” She fell into a chair and looked a little giddy, “I’m so happy, Molly. It’s just so different from Tim, you know?” At the mention of the Tim, Molly’s face contorted slightly.
“Are you all right?” Isabel looked at her with concern.
“Yeah, no,” She gently patted her bump, “just my head.”
“Why don’t your rest a little more. I saw Misha leaving, so I’ll go take care of the floor.” Isabel hopped up from her seat, smiling; “Oh, he agreed to be my date to the Levon Bean’s party.” Molly grinned back at her friend and watched as she left the breakroom.
After the door closed, a guilty look crossed her face. “Isabel,” She whispered to herself, “Tim’s back in town.”
* * *
Jillian walked up to Tim and Allan, who had stepped back at the sight of his mother. Timothy defiantly continued to stare at Allan, almost taunting him. “Boys, what’s going on out here?”
“Allan and I were just telling Tim that it’s probably best if he left Isabel alone.”
Jillian glanced at Tim, “That sounds vaguely familiar to a conversation I believe that we just had.”
“And as I’ve now explained to all of you, Isabel should be able to decide on her own if she wants to see me.”
Jillian held up a cell phone, “That’s fine dear, but the problem is that you’re on my yard and I don’t want you here. So I would advise that you left before I’m forced to call the authorities.” Tim couldn’t tell if she were bluffing. With all three McCaulley’s now glaring in his direction, he slinked towards his car and got in.
He was beginning to visibly lose his cool. He rolled down his window and snarled, “What you all are doing isn’t helping your daughter. She needs me.”
“Like a splinter in a foot,” Jillian replied. Jason smirked, but Allan was focused on calming down his anger. Tim put his vehicle in reverse and floored it, barely missing hitting Allan’s jeep as he peeled out of the driveway.
“We’re not going to tell your sister that boy is back in this town.”
Jason glanced at his mother, “You think that’s a good idea?”
“Yes,” She glanced at her sons, “Because I might kill him if he goes anywhere near my daughter.”
* * *
Lee and Regina paused at her dormroom building. “I really enjoyed lunch today.” She swayed back and forth, a little giddy.
Lee, in his nervousness, didn’t seem to notice. “I did to,” he choked out, then added “Weshoulddoitagain.”
“I’m sorry?”
“We should do it again.”
“I would like that.” Silence, neither saying anything, although Regina was waiting. She then finally turned to walk in, “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Would you like to come with me to a party?” Lee shouted up the walkway after her.
Regina turned, “Where’s the party?”
“At my parent’s shop. Halloween themed. If you’re not interested, I get it, bu--”
“I would love to, Lee.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” She smiled.
Lee’s face brightened, “Great! That’s just, well that’s just great! I’ll get you the details and everything.”
“I’ll wait to hear from you then!”
Lee bounded away from her dorm, a little lighter in his step. Regina watched him go, a smile never fading, then turned to enter her building.
* * *
Carleen sat in Lee’s room, which had been transformed into her “office” while he was away at school. A scheduling chart lay out before her, as she tried to plug in everyone’s hours for the upcoming week. While the door was open ajar, Levy still chose to knock before entering. His wife, busy in her book work, didn’t look up, but softly said “Come in.”
“I think the shop looks better than it did last year.”
“Well, each year we build on our decorations supply, so I imagine it would have to.” Carleen typed in some figures and then diligently crossed out a shift she’d written down. Levy tried another approach.
“So how’ve things been at Stella’s?”
Carleen slowly turned in her seat, looking at him from over the bridge of her glasses. “What are you trying to do?”
“Make conversation,” he replied meekly.
“About Stella’s?”
“It’s important to you..”
“It’s a job, I work there. What’s important to me are my friends and family,” She crossed her hands neatly on her leg. “If you want to talk about something els-”
“I didn’t cheat on you with Tori, Carleen. I need you to believe me.”
* * *
Isaac was locking the front door to Cheyanne’s as Misha’s sports car pulled up the door. Out stepped Misha, still dressed in the outfit she’d been wearing at Stella’s, and Abby, looking inquisitively at the building. Isaac nearly tripped over himself in an effort to get to his top model.
“Misha, you look splendid.”
“Of course,” Misha greeted him with a kiss on both cheeks, which slightly startled the man. Abby coughed slightly. “I want you to meet our makeup artist for the event, Isaac. Her name is Abigail Dior.”
Isaac held out his hand for Abby, who shook it. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Dior.”
“Abby is fine.” She glanced at Misha, who was watching the two with a detached delight. “So I was told that you needed a makeup artist for this coming event. Are there any contracts that I need to sing or-”
“No, No, I can take care of all that paperwork. You just need to make sure that Misha outshines the competition!” He beamed over at his model, “She’s the hope for a new age at Cheyanne.”
“Riight,” Abigail replied. “Well, what is the theme? Nightime, Daytime?”
“Princess Sparkle!” Isaac cheerily chirped.
Abby bit back a laugh, while Misha’s face contorted slightly. “Excuse me?” Misha asked.
“Princess Sparkle is the theme this year! We have to conquer it and make it our own!”
“I can’t wait,” Abby smirked.
* * *
Carleen got up from her chair, and busied herself with something on her desk. She tried not to look at her husband. “I don’t know why you tho--”
“Carleen, things have been strained with us for weeks. I know,” he moved towards her, “I know you thought that something was going on. There was,” She turned, looking at him, “Tori obviously was attracted to me. But that’s over. She’s gone now and nothing ever did happen. The only woman I want, that I have ever wanted, is you.” He brushed away some hair from her eyes and leaned in to kiss her.
Carleen melted in his arms, eagerly returning his kisses and attention.
* * *
Alicia sat up right, throwing herself away from Shane. “What was that?!”
Shane propped himself up, “I don’t know.”
“You really have a problem with this kissing thing,” Alicia pulled her legs away, but remained on the floor.
“What’s that supposed to mean,” Shane asked, hotly.
“Uhm, Keira?”
“Screw you!” Shane went to stand, turning away from Alicia. She got to her feet after him and stopped him from leaving the garage.
“Shane wait, I’m sorry. That was messed up.”
“You think?”
“I was just weirded out, Shane. I mean seriously, what was that?” She motioned to the floor where they’d been laying only moments before.
“I don’t know, I think,” Shane ran his hands through his hair, “Sorry, just been weird since the Keira breakup. Can we like totally chalk it up to me being an idiot and move on?”
“Oh yeah, of course. Like it’d would ever happen between us anyway,” Alicia laughed slightly.
Shane tried to hide his hurt, “Oh, of course not. You’re like a sister, it’d be wrong on so many levels.”
Alicia agreed, “Truth. So uh, let’s get started.” The two teens went to opening the boxes, neither wanting to recognize the awkwardness that had descended upon the room.
* * *
Tim was sitting on the stoop of her front door when Tori Rickler came home. He was slumped, leaning on his knees, staring outward forlornly; noting this, Tori smiled as she leaned past her brother and began unlocking her door. “Let me guess, things did not go as planned?”
“No, her family got in the way.” Tori opened the door and stepped over Tim. He fell backwards into the foyer of her small apartment; he lay there on his back, staring up at the ceiling, blocking the door from closing.
Tori emerged from her kitchen, holding a glass of water. “How did they do that?”
“I got fed some story about a ‘boyfriend’, then had a,” he rolled over, “run-in with her brothers.”
“So the McCaulleys are a little upset with you.”
“As if it’s any of their business,” He growled.
Tori sat down on a small, beaten red chair. She pulled her legs up underneath her and then took a sip from her ice water. “You did dump their sister.”
“A mistake that I am attempting to rectify, if everyone would just cease meddling! I just need some time with Isabel alone.”
“Almost like a party?” Tori put down her glass. “You know, where you could pull her off to the side and nobody would be any the wiser?”
Tim rose up slightly, eyeing his sister. “It sounds like you have something in mind, little sis.”
“Levon Bean is having their annual Halloween party. I was thinking that perhaps the two of us should go. I know for certain that the McCaulleys are annual guests.” She leaned forward, “A few costumes and we have a little hidden identity. Maybe by the end of the night, we both can get what we want.”
Tim felt a smile coming on, “Tori, that’s absolutely brilliant.”
She leaned back in her chair and finished off her water. She placed the glass down delicately on the table and ran her hands through her hair. “I know,” she replied to Tim, “So what are we going to be?”
Posted at 11/14/2008 by beck | Comments? (0)