Seth's Master Plan - Chapter 1
earlier stuff here
ETA - oops - copied Fred's title inadvertently - apologies
Seth’s first stop was his mom. She was in the bedroom sorting through Sophie’s hand-me-downs to give to charity. He figured she would need no convincing and she was right. She was very excited about the idea.
“Seth, I think it’ll be great. And Sophie? As Rudolph? Perfect. She’ll be adorable,” Kirsten gushed. “I’ll even find someone out of town to do the costumes, so it’ll be a secret until the day of.”
“That’s awesome, Mom. I knew the Kirsten would come through,” Seth praised her, beaming.
He pecked her on the cheek and sauntered out of the room to call his next accomplice…Summer. He checked the clock as he walked by the kitchen - it was seven o’clock on the East Coast. A good time to call.
The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“Cohen! “
“Hello, my little buttercup,” Seth said.
“Okay, buttercup?” Summer asked. “Are you for real?”
“You are my buttercup, and I love you,” Seth intoned.
“I love you, too,” Summer returned, her voice indicating that she suspected something. “So, what’s on your mind?“
Seth cleared his throat before beginning.
“Well, there’s this holiday party,” he started.
“I thought we were done with those when your family moved to Berkeley,” Summer interrupted. “They are always a disaster. Something always goes wrong; someone punches someone, someone drinks too much…”
“But this is different, my sugar plum,” Seth insisted. “It’s Berkeley, first of all, so there’s no Newpsies to content with, and even better, it’s a costume party!”
There was a short silence on Summer’s end of the phone; he hoped she wasn’t thinking about dismissing the party without considering it.
“So, what’s your idea? I know you have one,” she asked.
“Santa’s reindeer,” Seth said. “All of us - you and me, Mom and Dad, Bullitt and Julie, and Ryan and Taylor. With Sophie as Rudolph, of course.”
“I love it,” Summer gushed. “It fits perfectly, since we’re sort of a family anyway. But there’s a fly in that ointment.”
“Sure,” Seth said. “What’s that?”
“You’ll never get Ryan to agree.”
Seth sighed.
“I know, he’ll be a problem. But I figured if I get everyone else on board, he’ll have no choice.”
“He’ll have a choice,” Summer warned. “He’ll just say no.”
“Well, if all of us gang up on him, I’m hoping he’ll cave. Taylor should be able to convince him, if we can’t.”
“She does have a way with him, that’s true,” Summer agreed. “I guess it’s worth a shot. So…what do you need me to do?”
“Just text my mom with your size,” Seth instructed. “You know how bad I am with that stuff. She’s taking care of getting the costumes made.”
“Are you sure you want to start that? What if Ryan does say no?”
“He won’t. We’ll convince him,” Seth said, crossing his fingers. “Okay, my love, I must be going. I have to let everyone else know.”
“K. Don’t forget, Taylor is nine hours ahead of you. She spends a lot of time on line, so you’re most likely to catch her on SKYPE. Or do you want me to get in touch with her?”
“Nope. This is all mine. I’ll handle it.”
“So you’ll let me know how it goes? With Ryan, I mean?”
“Of course, my little turtle dove.”
“I think that’s enough now, Cohen. You never do know how to end something gracefully, do you?”
“Message received. Bye for now. Love you.”
“Love you too. Mwah.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Seth took a breath, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and looked at the clock again. It was four fifteen. So that made it one fifteen in the morning. He figured it was worth a shot…after all, Taylor didn’t really sleep all that much.
He went up to his room and logged on to SKYPE, and there she was. ‘TTFN’ was her screen name. She said it was ‘Taylor Townsend for now’. She spotted him immediately and the computer’s speakers rang soon after.
“Seth! Is that you?” she squealed, the speakers reverberating with her enthusiasm.
“Yes, Taylor, it’s me,” he replied.
“How lovely to hear from you, mon ami. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Taylor, everyone’s fine.”
“Summer?”
“Fine.”
“Sandy? Kirsten?”
“Fine?”
“Sophie?”
“Fine.”
“Ryan?”
Seth knew she wanted to know more than just fine when it came to Ryan, but he wasn’t taking the bait. He had places to go, people to talk to.
“He’s fine, too. So listen, Taylor…”
Taylor then proceeded to interrupt and babble on about her and Ryan, how she hated being away from him, but that she loved Paris, and then went off on a tear about some protest going on there now to save a historic building, which she was participating in on Ryan’s behalf, because he would care about it, and how Summer would be proud of her activism. She went on and on, and Seth decided to let her get some of it out before stopping her. It was Taylor, after all.
When he could finally take no more, he interrupted.
“TAYLOR,” he practically yelled. “I have a reason for calling besides to get the play by play of your recent life.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry, Seth, but you know how I get. You give me an ear, and I’m off.”
“That’s fine, Taylor. It’s one of the things we have in common, isn’t it? But listen, here’s why I called.”
He gave her the details and there was more squealing on her end.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea, Seth. But what about Ryan?”
Everyone had the same issue, Seth thought. They were right; Ryan would be the toughest nut to crack.
“I’m hoping that once everyone else is willing, we’ll be able to convince him. We may need you to work your magic on him.”
Taylor giggled.
“Well, there is this one thing…..”
“I don’t need to know,” Seth cut her short. “Just keep it on the back burner for now. We’ll know if we need it once you get here for break.”
Seth reminded Taylor to text her size to Kirsten, then finally said his goodbyes. In return, he received good bye in at least six languages, and lots of blown kisses.
He signed off and slunk down in the chair. Four down, three to go. He was already tired of repeating the same idea, even if it was a good one, and actually considered recording it and playing it for Julie and Bullitt, but changed his mind. This needed the personal touch.
Julie and Bullitt had moved to Berkeley soon after the Cohens. Bullitt could do business from anywhere, and usually had his phone attached to his ear. Julie wanted to be near Kirsten, especially since now they had Brandon, and he was only a little younger than Sophie.
He yelled to his parents that he was taking the Rover, and drove to Julie’s house. Kaitlyn was visiting Jimmy, and was spending the holidays there. Whew, he thought, that would have thrown off my math completely.
He parked and rang the bell. Bullitt answered the door, and as Seth had expected, the phone was at his ear.
“Hey there, Seth. Hang on two shakes, gotta close a deal here,” he said, waving Seth inside. “Julie’s on the patio.”
Seth walked through the house as he listened to Bullitt ream out someone on the other end of the phone. He smiled. He found himself thinking of Cal, and wondered what things would have been like had Cal been more like Bullitt; more friendly, more willing to compromise, but still a really good businessman. He could do all those big deals, and still be there for those he loved. But it wasn’t meant to be that way, he realized.
Bullitt was still yelling and Seth was still smiling at his verbal antics when he closed the sliding doors behind him and walked onto the patio, where Julie was working in her garden.
“Seth,” Julie said, standing and pulling off her garden gloves. “This is a surprise. Is everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, everyone’s fine,” he answered, thinking about his conversation with Taylor. The bigger his extended family got, the more ‘fines’ he would have to supply.
“How’s Katy doing?” Seth asked, hoping to change the dynamic a little.
“She’s great,” Julie replied, reaching up to wipe sweat from her forehead. “Jimmy says she’s a great sailor, and she’s studying up a storm in her free time. He thinks she’ll be able to take her GED when she gets home. She wants to be a vet. Makes sense since she used to be all about the horses.”
“Yeah,” Seth agreed. “Even when she brought home that little rat dog, you could tell she had a knack with animals.”
“I hated that dog,” Julie remembered. “But you’re right, her compassion knows no bounds, for everyone and everything.”
Seth thought that maybe Julie was referring to herself, but chose not to pursue the topic.
“Anyway, the reason I’m here,” Seth began, “is to invite you to a costume party.”
“I heard about that through the grapevine,” Julie said. “We weren’t planning on going.”
“Well, I’m here to change your mind,” Seth said firmly, just as Bullitt joined them on the patio.
“Change her mind about what?” Bullitt asked.
“Oh, I hadn’t bothered mentioning it,” Julie explained, “since I know how busy you are. You wouldn’t be interested.”
“In what, Miss Julie?”
Seth decided to take the plunge himself since Julie was apparently downplaying it. He knew Bullitt would love it.
“There’s a holiday party,” he said, “and it’s a costume party, and I have this great idea that we can all do together. The whole extended family.”
“Well, son, let’s hear that idea. You Cohens throw a good party.”
“It’s really the community sponsoring it,” Seth admitted, “but it should be awesome.”
Seth elaborated his entire pitch, including letting Bullitt be Dasher. Since he was the biggest, he could be the leader. He knew that his dad wouldn’t mind, and Bullitt would eat it up.
He was right. By the time he was through, Bullitt had convinced Julie that she’d make one sexy reindeer, and Julie promised to contact Kirsten the next day to help her with the costumes.
Seth left their house whistling, thrilled that he had everyone on board. Everyone, that is, except Ryan. He decided to table his presentation to him until the next day.
ETA - oops - copied Fred's title inadvertently - apologies
Seth’s first stop was his mom. She was in the bedroom sorting through Sophie’s hand-me-downs to give to charity. He figured she would need no convincing and she was right. She was very excited about the idea.
“Seth, I think it’ll be great. And Sophie? As Rudolph? Perfect. She’ll be adorable,” Kirsten gushed. “I’ll even find someone out of town to do the costumes, so it’ll be a secret until the day of.”
“That’s awesome, Mom. I knew the Kirsten would come through,” Seth praised her, beaming.
He pecked her on the cheek and sauntered out of the room to call his next accomplice…Summer. He checked the clock as he walked by the kitchen - it was seven o’clock on the East Coast. A good time to call.
The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“Cohen! “
“Hello, my little buttercup,” Seth said.
“Okay, buttercup?” Summer asked. “Are you for real?”
“You are my buttercup, and I love you,” Seth intoned.
“I love you, too,” Summer returned, her voice indicating that she suspected something. “So, what’s on your mind?“
Seth cleared his throat before beginning.
“Well, there’s this holiday party,” he started.
“I thought we were done with those when your family moved to Berkeley,” Summer interrupted. “They are always a disaster. Something always goes wrong; someone punches someone, someone drinks too much…”
“But this is different, my sugar plum,” Seth insisted. “It’s Berkeley, first of all, so there’s no Newpsies to content with, and even better, it’s a costume party!”
There was a short silence on Summer’s end of the phone; he hoped she wasn’t thinking about dismissing the party without considering it.
“So, what’s your idea? I know you have one,” she asked.
“Santa’s reindeer,” Seth said. “All of us - you and me, Mom and Dad, Bullitt and Julie, and Ryan and Taylor. With Sophie as Rudolph, of course.”
“I love it,” Summer gushed. “It fits perfectly, since we’re sort of a family anyway. But there’s a fly in that ointment.”
“Sure,” Seth said. “What’s that?”
“You’ll never get Ryan to agree.”
Seth sighed.
“I know, he’ll be a problem. But I figured if I get everyone else on board, he’ll have no choice.”
“He’ll have a choice,” Summer warned. “He’ll just say no.”
“Well, if all of us gang up on him, I’m hoping he’ll cave. Taylor should be able to convince him, if we can’t.”
“She does have a way with him, that’s true,” Summer agreed. “I guess it’s worth a shot. So…what do you need me to do?”
“Just text my mom with your size,” Seth instructed. “You know how bad I am with that stuff. She’s taking care of getting the costumes made.”
“Are you sure you want to start that? What if Ryan does say no?”
“He won’t. We’ll convince him,” Seth said, crossing his fingers. “Okay, my love, I must be going. I have to let everyone else know.”
“K. Don’t forget, Taylor is nine hours ahead of you. She spends a lot of time on line, so you’re most likely to catch her on SKYPE. Or do you want me to get in touch with her?”
“Nope. This is all mine. I’ll handle it.”
“So you’ll let me know how it goes? With Ryan, I mean?”
“Of course, my little turtle dove.”
“I think that’s enough now, Cohen. You never do know how to end something gracefully, do you?”
“Message received. Bye for now. Love you.”
“Love you too. Mwah.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Seth took a breath, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and looked at the clock again. It was four fifteen. So that made it one fifteen in the morning. He figured it was worth a shot…after all, Taylor didn’t really sleep all that much.
He went up to his room and logged on to SKYPE, and there she was. ‘TTFN’ was her screen name. She said it was ‘Taylor Townsend for now’. She spotted him immediately and the computer’s speakers rang soon after.
“Seth! Is that you?” she squealed, the speakers reverberating with her enthusiasm.
“Yes, Taylor, it’s me,” he replied.
“How lovely to hear from you, mon ami. How are you?”
“I’m fine, Taylor, everyone’s fine.”
“Summer?”
“Fine.”
“Sandy? Kirsten?”
“Fine?”
“Sophie?”
“Fine.”
“Ryan?”
Seth knew she wanted to know more than just fine when it came to Ryan, but he wasn’t taking the bait. He had places to go, people to talk to.
“He’s fine, too. So listen, Taylor…”
Taylor then proceeded to interrupt and babble on about her and Ryan, how she hated being away from him, but that she loved Paris, and then went off on a tear about some protest going on there now to save a historic building, which she was participating in on Ryan’s behalf, because he would care about it, and how Summer would be proud of her activism. She went on and on, and Seth decided to let her get some of it out before stopping her. It was Taylor, after all.
When he could finally take no more, he interrupted.
“TAYLOR,” he practically yelled. “I have a reason for calling besides to get the play by play of your recent life.”
“Oh,” she said in a small voice. “I’m sorry, Seth, but you know how I get. You give me an ear, and I’m off.”
“That’s fine, Taylor. It’s one of the things we have in common, isn’t it? But listen, here’s why I called.”
He gave her the details and there was more squealing on her end.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea, Seth. But what about Ryan?”
Everyone had the same issue, Seth thought. They were right; Ryan would be the toughest nut to crack.
“I’m hoping that once everyone else is willing, we’ll be able to convince him. We may need you to work your magic on him.”
Taylor giggled.
“Well, there is this one thing…..”
“I don’t need to know,” Seth cut her short. “Just keep it on the back burner for now. We’ll know if we need it once you get here for break.”
Seth reminded Taylor to text her size to Kirsten, then finally said his goodbyes. In return, he received good bye in at least six languages, and lots of blown kisses.
He signed off and slunk down in the chair. Four down, three to go. He was already tired of repeating the same idea, even if it was a good one, and actually considered recording it and playing it for Julie and Bullitt, but changed his mind. This needed the personal touch.
Julie and Bullitt had moved to Berkeley soon after the Cohens. Bullitt could do business from anywhere, and usually had his phone attached to his ear. Julie wanted to be near Kirsten, especially since now they had Brandon, and he was only a little younger than Sophie.
He yelled to his parents that he was taking the Rover, and drove to Julie’s house. Kaitlyn was visiting Jimmy, and was spending the holidays there. Whew, he thought, that would have thrown off my math completely.
He parked and rang the bell. Bullitt answered the door, and as Seth had expected, the phone was at his ear.
“Hey there, Seth. Hang on two shakes, gotta close a deal here,” he said, waving Seth inside. “Julie’s on the patio.”
Seth walked through the house as he listened to Bullitt ream out someone on the other end of the phone. He smiled. He found himself thinking of Cal, and wondered what things would have been like had Cal been more like Bullitt; more friendly, more willing to compromise, but still a really good businessman. He could do all those big deals, and still be there for those he loved. But it wasn’t meant to be that way, he realized.
Bullitt was still yelling and Seth was still smiling at his verbal antics when he closed the sliding doors behind him and walked onto the patio, where Julie was working in her garden.
“Seth,” Julie said, standing and pulling off her garden gloves. “This is a surprise. Is everything okay at home?”
“Yeah, everyone’s fine,” he answered, thinking about his conversation with Taylor. The bigger his extended family got, the more ‘fines’ he would have to supply.
“How’s Katy doing?” Seth asked, hoping to change the dynamic a little.
“She’s great,” Julie replied, reaching up to wipe sweat from her forehead. “Jimmy says she’s a great sailor, and she’s studying up a storm in her free time. He thinks she’ll be able to take her GED when she gets home. She wants to be a vet. Makes sense since she used to be all about the horses.”
“Yeah,” Seth agreed. “Even when she brought home that little rat dog, you could tell she had a knack with animals.”
“I hated that dog,” Julie remembered. “But you’re right, her compassion knows no bounds, for everyone and everything.”
Seth thought that maybe Julie was referring to herself, but chose not to pursue the topic.
“Anyway, the reason I’m here,” Seth began, “is to invite you to a costume party.”
“I heard about that through the grapevine,” Julie said. “We weren’t planning on going.”
“Well, I’m here to change your mind,” Seth said firmly, just as Bullitt joined them on the patio.
“Change her mind about what?” Bullitt asked.
“Oh, I hadn’t bothered mentioning it,” Julie explained, “since I know how busy you are. You wouldn’t be interested.”
“In what, Miss Julie?”
Seth decided to take the plunge himself since Julie was apparently downplaying it. He knew Bullitt would love it.
“There’s a holiday party,” he said, “and it’s a costume party, and I have this great idea that we can all do together. The whole extended family.”
“Well, son, let’s hear that idea. You Cohens throw a good party.”
“It’s really the community sponsoring it,” Seth admitted, “but it should be awesome.”
Seth elaborated his entire pitch, including letting Bullitt be Dasher. Since he was the biggest, he could be the leader. He knew that his dad wouldn’t mind, and Bullitt would eat it up.
He was right. By the time he was through, Bullitt had convinced Julie that she’d make one sexy reindeer, and Julie promised to contact Kirsten the next day to help her with the costumes.
Seth left their house whistling, thrilled that he had everyone on board. Everyone, that is, except Ryan. He decided to table his presentation to him until the next day.