Fic: Soaps R Us, Chapter 15 (CSI/CSI NY/CSI Miami, Ryan / Eric, Hawkes, Greg)
Title: Soaps R Us, Chapter 15
Pairing: Nick Stokes / Greg Sanders,
Ryan Wolfe / Eric Delko,
Don Flack / Sheldon Hawkes
Rating: PG
Genre: AU
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Summery: Daytime soap Lights of Vegas has a new head writer. Life and fiction don’t always mix nicely, and the line between the two can be very narrow.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7
Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 (NC-17)
Chapter 14
CSI Las Vegas Main List CSI Miami Main List CSI New York Main List
“Hello…” Eric drawled into the telephone.
“Morning.”
“Hawkes? I’m not coming to work for four hours, good night.”
“Listen to me.” Sheldon sighed. “Did you have a good weekend?”
“You called me at six in the morning to ask me how my weekend was?”
“No, but I hope you’re well rested, because you’re phones gonna start ringing soon.”
“It’s already ringing.”
“Can you just shut up for a minute? I got an advance warning from my mole at Soaps R Us. He send it couple days ago, but I haven’t had a chance to check my mails-”
“Just tell me what’s going on.”
“You’re theyr cover boy. The article was posted on their WebPages couple hours ago and the magazines are going to distribution today. Few more hours and this thing is all over the web.”
“What thing?”
“You and Wolfe. And they got pictures.”
“How bad is it?”
“You two sucking ice creams and each others faces somewhere on the beach.”
“Beach?” Pieces clicked. “We went to the beach when we finished early last week.”
“Did you see anyone taking pictures?”
“No, I… Wait a minute.”
“What?”
“Ryan said he had a weird feeling like someone was watching, but there was a lot of people at the beach. Who wouldn’t wanna watch us?”
“Delko. Take your ego and shove it back into your pants.”
“I’m not wearing pants.”
“I don’t need to know. Is Wolfe there?”
“Yep.”
“Bring him here too. We’ll have a strategy meeting when Sanders gets here.”
---------------------------------------
“What’s wrong?” Greg demanded as soon as he walked into Hawkes`s office carrying a take-away cup and taking long gulps between words. “My week started so nicely: I slept well, I got my old secretary back and I even managed to dump Cooper to some unsuspecting idiot in the hair department.”
“We made the headlines.” Hawkes handed him a fresh copy of Soaps R Us. The Headline screamed: Ice cream, honey? Lovestruck Lothario says goodbye to his wild ways.”
Greg eyed the cover in silence.
“What do you think?”
“Well, they’ve had catchier headlines-”
“About the story. Phones are ringing and people are asking official comments.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah, you know what it’s like when something gets going on the web. It can create a hurricane in five minutes.”
“What’s the reaction?”
“Mainly positive. That article was actually quite friendly.” Hawkes smirked. “Not surprising, really. Most of their writers are women and they seem to think those pics are adorable. Especially compared to the time he was arrested when he drove his car into a flagpole.”
“I remember that. Didn’t he have some company in his car?”
“Two woman and one guy. All four mostly naked and more or less drunk.”
“Well….” Greg flipped over to the article. “At least we don’t need lawyers to handle this one.”
“This could be great from the publicity point of view if we handle this right.” Hawkes beamed. “Party boy falls in love in love and turns his life around. People love that kinda stuff.”
He took a good look at the pictures. They were obviously taken from afar, but the two men were clearly identifiable. He scanned quickly through the text.
“How do you wanna handle this?”
“Glad you asked. I got Stella on speed dials. Just say the word and she’ll be here in half an hour.”
“For what?”
“For some nice pictures. We can milk this thing for ages, like a cow that keep on giving.”
“We’re here.” Eric announced as Henry escorted him and Ryan into the office. Greg gestured the assistant to leave and waited till the door was closed again.
“Delko, we’re inside, you can take the glasses off.”
“They’re not for image, I didn’t sleep much.” Eric pulled off his dark glasses. “I wasn’t supposed to get up for hours, so this is Hawkes`s fault.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here.”
“Don’t call me when I’m still sleeping and I might notice you.”
“Make-up people will cover the worst of it.”
“Greg?” Ryan interrupted. “What’s going on? How bad is it?”
“Not nearly as bad as it could be. Hawksey here wants to use you two as our latest advertising tool.”
“No way. It’s been les then two weeks!”
“I know. And all things considered….” Greg stopped to think. “How many people know the whole story?”
“You mean…?”
“Yeah. You, me, Delko and Nick. Who else?”
“Couple of my old college buddies, but I never used actual names. They know the basics but not who it was.”
“Could somebody explain to me what we’re talking about?” Hawkes complained. “Who knows about what?”
“Nothing you need to know about.”
“And in case you forgot, I work behind the camera, not in front of it.” Ryan reminded. “I like it like that.”
“Just once.” Sheldon encouraged. “Couple cute pictures together, few comments about how happy you two are and how this is the real thing and the usual bla-bla-bla-bla. All the couples always say the same clichés. Things will calm down and then people will move on to the next new couple.”
“But you don’t need to if you don’t want to.” Greg added. “Honestly, I’m not so sure about the whole thing.”
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Sheldon assured. “You could be the new Ellen and that blond…. whatever her name was.”
"I`m pretty sure they broke up years ago." Eric turned to Ryan. “Your choice. I’ll do it if you do it.”
“Okay.“ Ryan took a deep breath. “If we do it once, they’ll leave us alone.”
“Great, I’ll call some of my contacts.” Sheldon whipped his phone out of his pocket. “Some nice, classy mag, not the kiss-and-tell style.” He started tapping the keys and sat down behind his desk.
“Ryan…. Are you sure about this?” Greg asked. “We can handle this thing in other ways.”
“Lets just get it out of the way.” Ryan leaned against Eric. “But if they start asking about eloping to Canada in a white tuxedo, you’ll have to knock their teeth out.”
“I promise.” Eric wrapped his arm around the man’s shoulder. “Just smile and go with the flow.”
Chapter 16
Spoilers For upcoming Chapters:
-Nick’s plan for a special date takes a turn towards exhibitionism.
-Speed finds a new career.
-Hawkes makes a tactical error.
-Old secrets resurface.