by Britt Graves
Hello all! OK, after much thought and consideration I am posting the very first fanfic that I've ever written. To say my nerves are jumpy is an understatement. If you like it, please let me know, and if you don't, let me know that too so that I can spare myself the embarassment of posting another. ; ) Much thanks to Emma Redmer for giving me the gentle push to post this. Here we go....
Disclaimer: All the characters of this story are the property of Howard Meltzer, Rupert Holmes, and the wonderful people that portray them on my television screen. I just put the words in their mouth this once....
"...And then after dinner, we went walking along the river and spent half the night talking about practically nothing," Betty Roberts chimed in animated tones. "It was very romantic."
"Oh, Betty, that sounds so lovely!" said Eugenia. "Victor certainly knows how to treat a lady."
"Well...yes. I suppose he does." A faint blush crept across Betty's face as she remembered the previous evening. "Anyway, I'm afraid we won't getto see him today or for the next several days either. Washington called again and of course, Victor had to go. I wish they would leave him alone. I feel like he did enough for them in London and Germany, but you know how he is."
Nodding, Eugenia picked up her coffee cup and saucer and placed them on the counter. "It's too bad really. But with all that awful news coming out of Europe, I'm surprised they don't have him in Washington permanently."
"I hope that never happens." Sighing, Betty picked up the pile of scripts she had been working on and headed out the door of the Green Room. Her date with Victor the night before had been so nice; she almost hadn't wanted it to end. There had been no one-liners, no forward advances, nothing that would insinuate that Victor was anything but a perfect gentleman. It had been...nice. Very calm and quiet.
"BettyBettyBetty!" The calm and quiet she had been experiencing a few seconds before was shattered by the enthusiastic voice of Scott Sherwood strolling down the hall.
"I don't suppose you have the script ready for 'Sam Dane', do you? Jeff just called a minute ago and said that he was still stuck at the dentist's office and I have to fill in. Just hope it's not a cavity. Get it? Fill in...a cavity? Ah, that was a good one!" Gleefully poking a finger at Betty's shoulder Scott flashed a wry grin her direction.
"Hysterical. And yes, the script is ready. Please try your best to keep from antagonizing Hilary today. I have no desire to referee another argument between the two of you." Turning on her heel, she started back down the hall to the Writer's Room leaving Scott with a puzzled expression.
"Hey Betty, I don't suppose you'd be free for dinner tonight? I heard about this new restaurant opening across town...." Quickly catching up to her he stepped in her way. "I think it's a new French place. I don't know anything about French food other than the bread, but I'm game if you are." Scott had overheard Gertie and Eugenia talking about Betty's date and was determined to try and be as suave and romantic as Victor Comstock.
"Not interested." Betty lightly pushed him aside and continued walking.
"Come on, Betty. It's a nice place and I know you have to eat eventually."
"I've decided to stop eating."
"Betty!" Scott was starting to get perturbed. "We've been to dinner before! What makes now so much different?"
"There's...there's plenty of reason. And we've only gone to the Buttery. It's nothing I want to discuss now; I have to finish these scripts."
"Stop making the scripts so important for a minute!"
"Well fine then, ad lib everything you want to say on the air...." Betty was determined not to discuss the topic of dinner with him.
"What's the matter, Betty? I heard about your dinner with Victor. Don't think I can take you somewhere as nice? Or that I can make interesting small talk? Or that I can be as romantic?" Scott leaned in closer as he talked.
"Scott Sherwood, you don't know the first thing about romance."
Now that stung. Scott's face immediately fell. "I...I do too."
"No you don't. Let me guess--your idea of a romantic dinner date would consist of taking the unfortunate soul to a restaurant where you obviously knew either the owner or the chef so you could have everything planned down to a science, afterwards there would be a movie that only you would be interested in, and the rest of the date would boil down to you trying to put the moves on her and get a kiss out of her. How close am I?"
Betty's face was stern, but apparently her words cut a little too deep because she promptly changed the subject after noticing the pain in his eyes. "Look, will you tell Mr. Foley that I placed the order for his new sound effects equipment and it should all be in sometime next week?" She then put the scripts on the desk and sat down at the typewriter as if too busy to continue.
Scott mumbled something about telling him and made his way out of the Writer's Room as fast as he could. He knew no one was in Studio B at the moment and needed to go somewhere that no one would see him for a while. Closing the door behind him, his first reaction was to give up on trying to win Betty Roberts. She'd been hung up on Victor Comstock for as long as he'd known her and it looked as though nothing had changed in that department.
"Maybe I should just leave...." He then shook his head as if trying to clear out the cobwebs. He couldn't quit! So...this was turning out to be a much bigger challenge than he feared, but he couldn't just walk away in the middle of it! "I'm not leaving here until she chooses one way or the other. And I have to hear it from her mouth and no one else's."
Was she right in saying that he knew nothing about how to properly romance a woman? "Surely not...I know how to do this. Piece of cake!"
Problem was, it wasn't a piece of cake. And he knew it.
Later, down the hall in Studio A, the finishing strains of 'This Girl's Kinfolk' were being played, while Mackie, Hilary, Maple, and Mr. Eldridge entered the Green Room en masse to find a rather dejected looking Scott.
"Hey, big guy, what's wrong with you?" Maple tossed her script on the couch and sat down next to him.
"He's probably lamenting the fact that all the fan mail that came in today was just for me," said Hilary as she headed for the corner chair. "But what can you expect when you work with Miss Hilary Booth?"
"A headache?" volunteered Mackie. Hilary promptly threw her script at him.
"It's nothing," said Scott, hoping that he sounded like he meant it. "Just something on my mind."
"Come on, Scotty, you look pretty low. Normally you're bouncing off the walls. What makes today different?" Mackie stirred his coffee and then looked at Scott.
Scott thought about ducking the question but then changed his mind and asked one of his own.
"Um, look, really, it's nothing...I have to be on the air in a few minutes, and I don't have my script. Anybody have an extra copy?" And without waiting for an answer he picked up the first thing he saw and hurried out the door.
"Now what could that be all about?" wondered Maple, making a mental note to ask him about it later.
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"Now I have to do this just right," Scott muttered to himself and began pacing back and forth nervously. All week had been spent polling various members of the staff, privately of course, on what their ideas of romance consisted of. He hoped he hadn't come across as blatant about what he was trying to do.
Mr. Foley yammered on and on about some boat ride that he'd been on. Lester claimed to have wooed several women at once with his impersonation of Clark Gable, but he couldn't remember the names of the women or the last movie starring Mr. Gable. He'd tried to get something out of Jeff and Hilary, but neither one of them could agree on what their most romantic date had been and spent the rest of the afternoon arguing about it. Gertie kept getting interrupted by the switchboard so many times that Scott had given up asking her. Eugenia kept giggling everytime he brought up the subject. It was Mr. Eldridge's idea that he decided to use though.
"Oh yes, I remember one date I had," chuckled Mr. Eldridge, "with, um, Edith Johnson. It was our first date and I was nervous and had no idea how to impress her. So I told her that I would be her personal servant for the day. She had me running around town doing a dozen and a half errands and such, but at the end of the day, she did agree to another date. I think she just wanted to know if I meant what I said. And I did mean it. I didn't just say I liked her, I showed her."
"Understood completely, Mr. Eldridge." It was a wonderful idea and Scott had spent the rest of the evening planning what to say to Betty.
"...Carry the four, which comes to...no, wait...that should have been a five...ooohhh!" Throwing her pencil across the room, Betty grabbed another pencil in the desk drawer and started erasing furiously. What was wrong with her today? Normally she had no problems figuring up the accounts, but now she couldn't get anything to add up, no matter how many times she went back to check her math. Nothing added up lately; and it wasn't just book numbers either.
"Scott Sherwood...what am I going to do with you?" Feeling a pang of guilt remembering her words earlier in the week, she had tried to think of a way to apologize for hurting him the way that she had. "I didn't mean it, and it all came out wrong, and that's not what I meant to say, and...and...you just caught me off guard...." Saying the words in the mirror was one thing, having him stand in front of you was another.
She still hadn't managed to get him alone all week. It almost seemed like he was avoiding her on purpose. Not that she could blame him, but then again, isn't that what she wanted? For Scott to leave her alone so that she could concentrate on work, and writing, and...other things? "What's wrong with me?" she groaned. The thought gnawed at her over and over again. It was that look on his face, in his eyes...when she said what she did...like she was ripping his heart out with her bare hands. "Does he really care for me that deeply?" she whispered to the walls around her. Betty had always assumed that Scott's claims of adoration were just that: claims. He'd been all over the world, seen everything there was to see, been with everyone there was to be with.
"Hey Betty...I love you."
Why did he say that? What did he know about love? There was a gun pointed at his head; people in traumatic situations often say things they don't mean. Or do they? Scott wore his feelings on his sleeve; wasn't afraid to let people know how he felt about something, unlike Victor. It was like pulling teeth to get things out of him....
Throwing her hands up in the air she immediately got up out of her chair and headed out of the office to the Green Room. "I don't want to continue that thought," she said aloud to herself. Hoping that there was someone to distract her, she swung the door wide with a big smile and ran straight into...Scott.
"Ouch!" Scott dropped the script he was holding and rubbed his chin. "If you're in that much of a hurry, you might want to announce you're coming first."
"I'm really sorry. I didn't think there was anyone in here. Did I hurt you? Are you ok?" Rushing to pick up his script, he bent at the same time and their heads hit. Hard.
"Ow! What are you trying to do to me?" Rubbing the side of his head gingerly, he made his way to the couch to avoid further injury. "I'm supposed to see stars in your eyes, not my own, remember?"
"Oh here, let me get you some ice to put on that...."
"Forget it, it's ok. I'll live; I've got a pretty thick skull. What about you?" Concerned because she was still holding her head, he reached out to get her to a chair.
"My head is fine, thank you." Getting situated at the table, she figured she had better say something now, before he bolted out of the room and she never got a chance to apologize. "Um, Scott, listen...I...um...I wanted to talk about...well...look...about what I said...earlier in the week...."
"You're absolutely right."
"I...what?"
"I said, you're right."
Betty looked at him sharply. Was she dreaming? Had she hit her head harder than she thought? No, there was no joking look on his face. He was quite serious--there wasn't even a hint of a smile.
"I know that you wouldn't say anything to me that you didn't mean, and I've thought about it and you were right. I don't know anything about romance. All I know how to do is talk a fast game and act like I know what I'm doing. Women like you wouldn't come near me...wouldn't give me a chance...and maybe now I realize why. So...basically, what I'm saying is that, if you'd give me a chance, I'd like to show you that I can learn a little something."
He had been looking down the whole time and speaking softly, like she had shamed him into revealing a dark secret. What if he was telling the truth? He had changed since coming back as an actor, and ever since he told her that he...he....
"...think that would work?"
"Hmmm? I'm sorry, what did you just say?"
Scott stared into her eyes. "I said if I asked you to help me do you think that would work?"
"That what would work?"
"That I could learn what romance really is." Scott stood and moved closer to her. "Sure, I can read books and catch up on all the latest in gift-giving techniques, but pretty soon I'm back to what I knew before."
"Which was?"
"Absolutely nothing."
Betty suddenly burst out laughing. Misunderstanding her laughter, Scott's face turned bright red. "It was just an idea...." He was almost out the door when he felt her grab his arm. "Look, I've embarrassed myself enough already, forget what I said."
"No, no, no...I wasn't laughing at you Scott, I promise. That was the most honest thing I've heard out of you since I've known you. Most men I've known would never confess to admitting such a problem. I think it's admirable."
"Then what were you laughing for?" His voice still sounded hurt.
"It wasn't what you said, just how you said it. But I must ask, are you serious about this?" She made sure he was looking straight at her.
After a pause she heard him whisper, "Very much so, Betty Roberts. I'd do anything for you."
"Anything?"
"Name it."
********************************************************************************
Mr. Foley was at his wit's end. He'd thought about saying something to Hilary about her behavior lately, but she cut him off before he could make an argument. Grumbling about her being late for "The Hands of Time" again, he marched into the studio and started getting his new effects equipment into place before Maple's music segment got finished in Studio B.
"Mr. Foley, have you seen Betty? Oh, no, wait...there she is, thanks anyway." Jeff left before Mr. Foley could respond. "Hey, Betty, do you think there is any way that you could write off everyone else in 'Valiant Journey' for an episode so that Hilary and I could do the show together...alone?"
Betty looked stunned. "You want to be alone with her? In the studio? Live? Alone?"
"Sure! I got to thinking about it the other day when I was at the dentist and it suddenly became clear to me."
"Are you sure it wasn't the anesthetic? I hear that stuff is pretty strong...."
"No, no...the gas just made me giddy...and more determined than ever to win Hilary over from...from...the dark side!"
"Oh, Jeff, I don't know...we're talking about the dark side of Hilary Booth here. Even the light side scares me on occasion."
"Come on, Betty. I know I'm making an impact."
"She's going to make an impact in you if you keep demanding more time with her on air. I'm not even going to think about what she'll do to me. I'd rather not. I haven't made a will yet." The conversation was cut off by the ringing of the switchboard, which Betty was overlooking while Gertie was at lunch. "I need to answer this, Jeff. Can we discuss this later?"
"Sure, why not? It's not like I'm in a hurry! I just want her to speak to me again...love me again...marry me again. Where's the big hurry with that?!" Audibly huffing, Jeff pushed open the door and left.
"WENN, how may I help you? Oh...Victor! Where are you calling from? Oh, Washington. Well...I...no...I like Washington just fine...no, I've never been there...I was just hoping...uh huh...if I could just...um...uh huh...you like your work...that's wonderful, but I was wondering...hmm...new sponsors...no, no one's come in today...ok, but...you what!...sending your things will be...yes...well, ok, do you have an address that I can...on the next letter...ok, but when were you thinking about coming...oh, I see...too much to do...I'll plug along here...yes, I'll say hello to everyone...yes, even Hilary...no, she and Jeff are still fighting...yes, I updated the insurance...ok then...a few more weeks...yes, I understand...um...goodbye."
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"Scotty, what areyou doing?" Maple walked into the Writer's Room just as Scott finished unloading a huge stack of scripts.
"I'm looking for something."
"Gosh, I never would have figured that one out. Do you mind telling me what?"
"I think that if I search through these scripts, maybe I'll find something important. Like maybe Betty puts something personal in here about herself. It'll take some digging, but I can find it."
"Somehow I doubt she'll mention her favorite color, or who her favorite writer is, or who she's falling in love with, Scotty."
"I know, but anything is better than nothing." Tossing script after script aside, he continued reading furiously until something caught his attention. "Hey, wait a sec...this just might work. But I'm going to need some help and I know just who to recruit."
*****************************************************************************
"What is that smell?" Gertie thought she was going to have to leave all the doors and windows open for the rest of the year. "Hilary isn't actually demonstrating a recipe on her cooking show is she?"
"No. Scott, Jeff, and Mr. Foley are the ones planning the culinary delights in the Green Room. Although, I dare any restaurant critic to taste any of it...perhaps we should have a doctor standing by." Maple was digging through her purse for some kind of perfume to spritz on the handkerchief she had been holding over her nose. "We really should ban Mr. Foley from ever cooking anything that requires the use of Limburger cheese and liver."
"Liver??? Who in the world is he fixing liver for?"
"Eugenia. Apparently Scotty got the idea that the WENN men should fix a meal for their respective sweethearts. Something about it being romantic and self-serving and considerate. He obviously wasn't thinking about the rest of us when he put his plan into motion."
"Are Eugenia, Hilary, or Betty even here?" Gertie had a sneaky suspicion that they wouldn't even stay in the building after getting within three feet of the station's front door.
"No. Hilary went shopping, Eugenia went to mail a letter, and Betty is meeting with a sponsor."
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Later that evening, after the station had been aired out to a respectable odor, the different couples dined in different areas of the station. Mr. Foley and Eugenia had a table set up in Studio B, Jeff and Hilary were in the Green Room, and Scott and Betty ate in the Writer's Room. It had taken Scott a good hour earlier that day to convince Betty to join him for dinner.
"Scott, tell me again why we couldn't have just gone to dinner at a regular restaurant? And why you found it necessary to involve Jeff and Mr. Foley?"
"Betty Betty Betty...I just thought you'd like it better if you didn't have to wait, plus I wanted to do something for you myself. I thought it was a good enough idea that I told Mr. Foley and Jeff about it and they wanted to do the same thing. You mentioned something about wanting someone to cook for you, so I thought I'd give it a try. Do you like it?"
Betty had a hard time identifying exactly what was on her plate. "Um...it's...not something I've ever...had...before. What did you say was in it again?"
"Now, now. A good cook never gives away his secrets!"
"That's a magician, Scott."
"Same difference. Eat up!"
Betty looked frantically around for her water glass. She hoped what she had would be enough. She noticed that Scott was watching her reaction.
Praying that she could keep a straight face, she put the fork to her mouth.
**************************************************************************
The next day, Betty gave a small measure of thanks that her dinner the previous evening hadn't been terrible. Actually, it hadn't been half bad. The same couldn't be said for Jeff and Mr. Foley's attempts. Eugenia and Mr. Foley had both ended up at the hospital for food poisoning, and Jeff and Hilary never got the chance to eat, due to the fact that Hilary had decided to forgive Jeff's faults. They still hadn't arrived at the station yet, and it was almost 9:30. Betty wondered if she should check the bus and train stations for trips to Mexico.
"Morning Betty! Got my script ready for me?" Mackie was relishing the fact that he had the morning show to himself. The fewer spats he had with Hilary, the better.
"Sure Mackie. Um...you haven't seen Scott around this morning, have you?"
"Yeah, he just walked in the Green Room a minute ago. Looked kind of upset. I think he thinks you hated his dinner last night."
"Oh dear. I did leave rather suddenly last night, but Eugenia needed someone to go with her to the hospital. I had no idea food poisoning could hit that fast. I need to talk to him."
**************************************************************************
Scott lay his head back on the couch and sighed. I have no clue what I'm doing here. Why is it, when I'm trying so hard to impress this woman, I feel like I've got two left feet? I should be getting on a train for somewhere else. His heart gave a tug at the memory of Betty's face and her smile. She hadn't said goodbye last night, but he understood why. He wanted to strangle Mr. Foley. She had almost agreed to dance with him when the commotion started. She's never going to give me another chance. What do I do now?
His eyes were closed when Betty opened the Green Room door. She wondered if he was sleeping. Not wanting to draw attention, she closed the door quietly. "He tried so hard...." Walking over to where he was sitting, she softly kissed his cheek.
Scott's eyes flew open at her touch. "Betty...um...."
She interrupted his prepared speech. "I wanted to tell you that I had a good time last night. And I also wanted to let you know that...that...I wouldn't be object if...you asked me to dinner again."
Was he dreaming? Betty Roberts had actually said she would go to dinner with him again? "So, last night wasn't the nightmare I'd thought you'd pictured it was?"
Softly laughing, she sat down beside him. "I didn't think last night was a nightmare. I really did enjoy myself. I think we do better when there aren't other distractions in the building."
He grinned as he pictured Mr. Foley racing towards the door. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I really had wanted that evening to be perfect." He sighed sourly. "I guess with me that isn't possible."
"Stop that. You are romantic in your own way. And...I think...I like it." Giving him a shy smile, she quickly got up and headed toward the door.
He grabbed her arm before she could get away. "Betty...I...I just wanted to say...."
"Why don't you save that thought for tonight? Dinner at seven?"
Scott's eyes sparkled at her. "I'll pick you up. And maybe you can show me a little more about the art of romance?"
Betty caught her breath at his look. "Maybe it's you that can show me something." And she walked out, leaving Scott dreaming of later that night.
The End
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