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This is an AMATEUR fiction page and produced purely for the enjoyment of "Hearts Afire" fans. It is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by other persons connected with the TV series. On the contrary, it is hoped that the story will be viewed as promotional material for this exceptional television show.
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(by Avril Bowles)
Temperatures had soared into the 90's over the last couple of weeks, and like everyone else, the staff at The Daily Beacon, were happier inside the air-conditioned building than out. Even the children were unusually reluctant to carry out their contribution to the family business by delivering papers by whatever method was popular that particular week.
It didn't help either, that business was slow and a distinct lack of newsworthy items had resulted in the paper being only about two thirds of its regular size.
"I think we should cut
the price," John commented, staring dismally at the issue
that had just rolled off Lonnie's press. He considered it a
pathetic attempt at news coverage in the town. Georgie, as usual,
took an opposing viewpoint, and shook her head vigorously.
"Nope. Can't do that."
"Why not?" Georgie stared at her model citizen husband
of two years. He was a constant source of exasperation and
delight to her.
"Because, Honey, people might just decide they prefer to pay
less for a smaller newspaper and boycott us when news picks
up."
"They won't do that. These are good people, Georgie...I've
known most of them all my life. And in any case," he added
with a grin, "we're the only newspaper in town; where are
they gonna go?" Lonnie giggled but Georgie rose and walked
over to John, waving her arms around in despair.
"Hartman, you left this little town and went to big, bad old
DC. Things change. People change."
"Not me. And not the good, honest people of this town."
Georgie turned to Billy-Bob for support.
"Wha' d'you say, Billy? And before you answer, remember,
this is how you make your living now."
It wasn't a threat; simply a reminder to consider the practicalities before coming down on the side of his lifelong friend against Georgie's hard-nosed business acumen. Billy-Bob Davis was an equal partner in the business the three of them had begun on their return from political life on Capitol Hill to the little Missouri town where the two men had grown up. Georgie often had to remind them of the harsh realities of life; they had a tendency to romanticise the way things had been twenty five years earlier, and John in particular, possessed a charming, old-fashioned naiveté about the 'decency' he believed dwelled in his fellow human beings. He chose always, to see the good in people rather than the bad. As much as it irked her, she loved him for it, and since it made him vulnerable to those not deserving of his trust, it actually made her fiercely protective of him; an emotion she couldn't have imagined feeling before meeting the man who had turned out to be the love of her life. John Hartman was her soul mate; her lover and friend; the man she'd married in a wildly romantic and impulsive ceremony one night, and whose baby she'd given birth to six months ago, completing their happiness.
Billy-Bob was a little more
sceptical; less trusting, especially since his stint in
Washington DC and his divorce.
"Well," he drawled, "On this occasion, I have to
agree with..." Before he could finish, Georgie put a hand on
his shoulder and gave him her most dazzling smile.
"It's Carson-Lee's birthday next week isn't it, Billy?"
"Well sure, but what does that have to do with
anything?."
"Oh nothing. I just wanted to check, before I make a final
decision on her gift. Right now it's a choice between a videotape
of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' and the latest album by her
favourite rock band...you know, those guys you always say sound
like a wrecking crew on a building site, only 3,000 decibels
louder." He looked up at her beautiful, manipulating face,
knowing exactly why John had fallen for her, but wishing the hell
he hadn't. She tormented him almost as much as Mavis had. Between
Georgie; his mother who continually embarrassed him with
recollections from his youth, and Madeline, who got her daily fix
by regular shots of abuse directly into his psyche, he sometimes
wished he possessed the clout of the biblical King Herod...only
this time he'd fix it so it was women who never made it past
babyhood. They were the bane of his life. He hesitated a moment,
then made his decision.
"If you'd just let me
finish, Miss Lahti, I was gonna say...on this occasion I have to
agree with..." He flashed John an apologetic glance, then
turned back to Georgie, "...you." She punched the air.
"Yeah. Motion's carried, Honey. Price stays the same."
John shook his head in defeat and went back to his desk, slumping in his chair and returning his eyes to the computer screen where he had a game of solitaire in progress. He caught Billy-Bob's eye and glared at him, but his friend was unrepentant.
"Sorry John, but I happen to think Georgie's right. We can't afford to offer price cuts when we've only been in business a couple'a years. And in any case..." he lowered his voice theatrically and spoke out of the corner of his mouth, "...remember what happened the last time Carson-Lee bought a CD by those guys? My mother called the police the first time she heard it playing, 'cause she thought there was an earthquake and all the buildings in the neighbourhood were comin' down. And I, for one, do not wanna spend another night in jail for 'wasting police time'." John allowed himself a small smile at the memory. He didn't have the energy to fight with Georgie today; he already had a headache and arguing with her was likely to turn it into a full-blown migraine.
"Okay, okay, I give in. We'll just rip off our loyal readers with a newspaper that looks like one of those special deals leaflets the 'Rexall' put out, and hope they won't notice."
Madeline had come out of her office for a cup of coffee and heard the banter between her friends. She and Georgie exchanged looks of amusement, then Georgie wandered over to John and put her hands on his shoulders.
"Aw come on, Honey, don't be mad." She leaned over him, knowing he'd catch a whiff of the perfume she'd sprayed over her neck and breasts after her shower that morning. It was his favourite and she enjoyed nothing better than to taunt and tantalise him mercilessly, knowing how the fragrance affected him. It wasn't really cruel, she reasoned, since the minute they were alone she'd rip all his clothes off anyway and they'd make love until they were both exhausted...or until one of the kids knocked on their bedroom door...whichever came sooner.
She blew gently into his
ear; a promise of what was to come, then looked at his computer
screen where he was working on a game of solitaire.
"Is this all you have to do, Hartman? Isn't there something
a little more...academically challenging, you could find to
occupy your time?"
"Are you kidding?" he responded indignantly. "Have
you played this stupid game lately?" She stood back and
stared at him.
"No, I haven't. Are you recommending it as a form of 'r' and
'r'?"
"No way! Not if you want to keep ahold of your sanity. Here,
I'll show you what I mean." Georgie dutifully crossed her
arms and prepared to watch John demonstrate, flashing the others
a, 'humour him, this won't take long'
expression.
John clicked his 'mouse' on
the six of hearts and dragged it down a little to reveal a seven
of spades underneath.
"See, that's the one I need. If only I could get that out
from under here and put it way over here..." He tried to do
just that, exclaiming with exasperation when it didn't work.
"There!" he said, almost triumphantly. "That
little sucker gets you every time, no matter how fast you
are!" Georgie shook her head in despair.
"You're losing it, Hartman." Turning away, she returned
to her desk, crossed one shapely leg over the other and chewed
thoughtfully on her pen.
"We need something to happen around here...something
unexpected that'd cause a real stir in town."
"Hey, I got it," Madeline's face lit up with evil glee
and Billy-Bob visibly flinched, guessing he would be the target.
"Why don't we run a front page headline saying Lonnie and
Billy-Bob have dates for the Mayor's dinner next Saturday
night...with women."
"Don't you have some poor schmuck threatening to kill
himself that you could go push off a ledge," Billy-Bob
retaliated. "I stopped by the gas station this morning and
re-filled the tank on your broomstick." The psychologist
flashed him a look that would have withered a lesser man, but
Billy-Bob simply expanded a rubber band across his fingers and
fired it at Madeline's retreating form. When it hit her ample
behind, she whirled around.
"Do that again and you're a dead man." He smiled
sweetly.
"Sorry, Madeline, I was aimin' for the window of your office
but I guess it was too small a target." John rubbed his
throbbing temples. "Could you guys keep it down? I mean, is
it really asking too much for the two of you try to get along
just occasionally? Do we always have to have this continual
fighting?" It was unusual for John to complain about the
banter between Billy-Bob and Madeline, and everyone looked at him
in surprise. Madeline was the first to speak, but it wasn't to
apologise.
"Well excuse me, Mr 'if only everyone were kinder to each
other, there would be no sickness or death in the world.' Who
put a bug up your ass today?"
"It's not up my ass, it's in my head," John muttered,
"and is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?"
"Shoot, I think we lost the AC." Billy rose and crossed
the room to peer at the air conditioning unit on the wall. When
it didn't respond to turning the dial, he punched it; still no
response. "Jesus, that's all we need."
"This is bad," John groaned. "This is very, very
bad."
Before anyone could react
further, Lonnie burst out of the printing room in a state of
agitation.
"It's powerful not in there, Bosses. Is somethin' wrong with
the air-conditioning, because if there is, I'm not sure how long
I'll be able to stand it. My mother said when I was a little kid,
my eyes used to glaze right over if the heat rose too much. Why,
I'll bet it's over 90 degrees in there." John tried to
reassure the pint-sized printer.
"We just lost the AC, Lonnie, but we'll call the company
right away and see if they can come out and fix it today. Georgie
will you?"
"I'm on it." She picked up the telephone, but Lonnie
still looked anxious.
"Well I sure hope they can, because I warn you, folks, I may
just fall down in a dead faint right here on the floor, if my
blood gets too overheated." Billy-Bob and Madeline exchanged
disgusted glances.
"Oh Lonnie, don't be such a wuss."
"Well, let's face it," Madeline added wickedly,
"Lonnie's not used to his blood getting overheated. It's
bound to have some kind of reaction."
"Come on guys, leave him alone. I'm starting to feel like I
might have some kind of reaction myself." John defended the
little guy who seemed forever destined to be an 'outsider'
peering in at the rest of society having a good time. Georgie
wound up her phone call and turned to the others.
"They can't come until tomorrow. It seems we're not the only
ones to lose our AC and they're swamped with calls."
"You're kidding," John complained, tugging at his tie
to loosen it. "We're in the middle of the worst heatwave
this town has ever known, and now we have to wait until tomorrow?
What's wrong with these people that they can't come out and fix a
simple malfunction that they were trained for?"
"Oh? Where'd they train, John?" Billy-Bob asked
mischievously. "'Cos if you recall, the last time this
happened, some big old guy in a baseball cap and overalls that
showed what he had for lunch, just walked right on in, hammered
on the AC unit with his spanner and it cost us $35. I was
thinkin' of asking if they had any vacancies down there."
John scowled and ignored his friend. He ran his hands through his
hair in a gesture of one at the end of his rope.
"They have to
prioritise the calls, Hartman," Georgie frowned.
"They'll get here tomorrow. Until then we'll just have to
make the best of it. Anyway, what's up? It's not like you to be
so cranky over a little problem. You okay, Honey?"
"I'm sorry Georgie, I'm feeling kinda...I'm fine...I just
have a little headache that's all. It's nothing."
"You see!" yelled Lonnie, and for one awful moment, it
seemed as if he might actually stamp his foot. "It's not
just me...this heat is gonna get to all of us...one by
one..." He lowered his voice dramatically, as if he were
narrating a scene in a horror movie when the heroine is about to
go down into a dark cellar where an escaped axe murderer lurked.
"...until each one of us becomes sick in body, or-or
worse!"
"Worse?" Madeline enquired.
"Yes! My mother's told me about panic situations like
these...people can become...deranged...lose their minds!"
Billy-Bob tipped his chair back and looked at Lonnie.
"Well you got nothin' to worry 'bout then, Lonnie,",
"since you're a couple'a steps ahead of any panic situation
like that." Georgie stood up and went over to John and began
to rub his neck. Looking around at the little printer she
grinned.
"For God's sake, Lonnie, this is not a panic situation and
no one's gonna lose their mind."
"You wanna bet?" Madeline hissed out of the corner of
her mouth.
"We just have to stay calm and not over-react to this. I
have an idea." They all looked at her expectantly.
"There's nothing to do here anyway. I think we should leave
one person here to answer the phone, and the rest of us should go
on home."
"Who draws the short straw?"
"I will, " John sighed.
"No Honey, if you're not feeling well, I think you should go
home and lie down."
"Are you going with me?"
"That depends on Billy-Bob."
"Hell, I somehow thought it might." He gave a
humourless laugh.
"Well I'll gladly stay," Georgie continued, "I'm
sure you can help relieve Hartman's headache as well as I
can."
"Georgie, don't be silly," John said nervously,
wondering what mischief she was up to now.
"No, really...there are several ways you can do it. See, you
apply a little pressure here..." She placed her hands on
either side of John's temples and began to slowly rotate her
fingers. "...Or here..." She slipped her fingers inside
the neck of his shirt and massaged the base of his neck.
"Or..."
"Georgie, I don't think..." John tried to interrupt but
Billy-Bob beat him to it.
"Hold it right there. Before you go any further, Georgie, I
think I should tell you I don't ever touch another man's neck,
even if he is my best friend. It's just a rule I have. Sorry
John, I can let you have a couple of 'Tylenols' but after that
you're on your own."
"Thank God, I was getting a little worried."
"So it's decided then? You don't mind if Hartman and I go
home."
"I guess not. You'll give Carson-Lee her supper?"
"Well of course we will, Billy-Bob," Georgie assured
him, picking up John's briefcase and pulling him to his feet.
"I'll even read her a story." She gathered her own
things, stuck her arm though John's and waved goodbye.
"See you tomorrow, you guys. We'll be in early, and...thanks
Billy, we appreciate it. See you later."
"Yes, thanks, Billy," John agreed. They left, leaving
Lonnie, Madeline and Billy-Bob staring after them.
As they pulled on to the
driveway, Elliot, Ben and Carson-Lee came running to meet the
car. Georgie rolled down the window and stuck out her head to
kiss each of them.
"Hi, Cookies."
"Hi, Georgie, hi Dad!"
"Hi, kids. You about ready for supper?"
"No, Dad," replied Ben, "we've been invited to
Heather's house to watch a video and eat popcorn. That's okay,
isn't it?"
"Well, that depends on the video. What is it?" John
asked, afraid his elder son's 'girlfriend' might have the run of
the house and rent some entirely unsuitable tape.
"We don't know yet. Heather and her Mom are at the store
right now, picking one out."
"Oh well, I guess that's okay then. You want picking
up?"
"Nope. Heather's Mom's gonna bring us home around
nine." Carson-Lee looked worried and turned to Georgie.
"Where's my dad?"
"He's still at the office, Honey. Don't worry, he'll be here
when you get home, I promise."
"Hey Dad, you and Georgie can do all that kissin' stuff
while we're gone," little Elliot announced, much to John's
embarrassment. He fiddled unnecessarily with his tie, a habit of
his whenever he was even the slightest bit uncomfortable.
"Yes, well Daddy's a little tired, Elliot. I'll probably
just take a shower and go right to bed. But that doesn't mean you
can be late; I shan't be asleep."
Georgie turned her head to look at her husband and mouthed: I can guarantee that, lover!
Once the children were
gone, John and Georgie went inside and John flopped onto the
couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
"God, it's good to feel cool at last."
"Tell me about it. I can't remember the last time I felt so
sweaty and dirty." John flashed her a mischievous look.
"I can. It was last night." He dodged a flying shoe and
groaned as the movement intensified the drilling in his head.
Georgie was immediately solicitous.
"I'm sorry, Honey. Here, let me help you."
"I don't know if my head will take your kind of help if it
involves shoes or other scud missiles."
"Stop kidding around. You know how I usually make it
better." John smiled and put his arms around her as she
climbed on to his lap and began to remove his tie.
"Do you realise, it's only four-fifteen and Billy-Bob won't
be back until at least six-thirty. We have over two hours alone
in the house; to do whatever we want?" she purred.
"I know, I know, it's wonderful, but I'm not sure I'll be
able to live up to your expectations today, Georgie. My head is
pounding."
"Oh Honey I'm sorry," she wailed, "I'm really
being selfish. I just got carried away at the thought of having
you all to myself for a while. Here, put your feet up and stretch
out properly."
She helped him swing his legs up onto the couch and placed a pillow under his head. Kneeling down on the floor beside him, she stroked his forehead gently, looking down at him. What the hell was it about this guy that set her hormones racing like no other man ever had? Sure, he was cute, but he wasn't Pierce Brosnan. He was certainly the kindest, most decent man she had ever met, yet even a few years ago she'd have found such qualities boring. She was ashamed to admit she'd dumped guys like that a couple of times when she was younger. But John was so...sweet; so adorably vulnerable, even naive in some ways; and so godamn sexy. She couldn't imagine how his first wife could possibly have left him. But hell, who was she to complain; Diandra's loss had been her gain.
Georgie looked down at the
now sleeping figure of her husband and felt a wave of tenderness
well so strongly inside her that she wanted to weep. God, how she
loved him. She leaned forward and kissed his brow. He didn't wake
and she began to unbutton his shirt, revealing his bare chest to
her hungry eyes. She watched its peaceful rise and fall for a
moment, then ran her hand softly over the dark thatch of hair and
felt herself becoming aroused. She released the button on his
waistband, then, leaning forward, placed a kiss in the center of
his chest before raising her head to press her lips against his.
Startled, she found him staring at her.
"You do realise, Mrs Hartman, that what you were about to
do, practically constitutes necrophilia?" Georgie gulped,
but quickly recovered her composure.
"You have to be dead for that, Hartman; you were only
asleep. Anyway, I just thought it might make you feel better.
What do you think?" She hated the slight pleading tone in
her voice. He pulled a face, pretending to think.
"Well, I suppose we could give it a try. But you'll have to
do all the work."
"I can handle that."
They grinned at each other; a seductive, secret smile that each knew conveyed to the other the deep, unconditional love and pure lust that made their relationship so perfect.
"How are you feeling
now, Honey?" Georgie murmured later, as she lay sprawled
atop him. John pushed a stray wisp of hair out of her eyes and
replied sleepily.
"Better. I may have to get you patented as a
pain-killer." Georgie looked horrified.
"You'd want me to do that for strangers?"
"Are you kidding? You'd be my very own personal
prescription." She smiled again and they began the 'kissing
stuff' that Elliot had predicted, all over again.
THE END
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Afire" Episode Guide)
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