Chater 7 - One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

"Of all the things..." Rhiannon tugs on her formal attire for what feels like the fiftieth time in a month, scowling as she does so. The Studio insisted that she go down to a local bar and pass out flyers for their next movie and encourage as many people to come as possible.

She looks toward Glynnis with a little sigh. The kid is growing on her. Goddamn it. "Don't give the babysitter any shit," she murmurs, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. She hurries away to the bar before she can think on that action at all.

It's an easy job, really, though the pay isn't nearly worth it.

The people all seem relatively receptive, to a certain degree, and Rhiannon's charm and appearance certainly makes her a popular figure there.

Rhi only begins to expect an ulterior motive in Alan Stanley when various celebrities swoop down on the bar. "Well well well..." she murmurs to herself, eyeing Lola Belle as she strolls out of the elevator. "And here I thought you didn't like me, Stanley."

To be fair, she'd never been fond of Lola Belle.

She takes great pride in standing directly in front of the only entrance into the bar to hand out flyers to everyone BUT the bleached blonde hag.

She grows completely and utterly distracted, however, when a far more appealing 5-star celebrity strolls in.

"Holy shit, that's Matthew Hamming."

Stanley REALLY apparently wanted her off his back with no chance of her requesting child support, then. She has the distinct feeling that he positively knew this was going to happen.

Without an inch of shame or nerves, Rhiannon strolls straight toward the star. "Hey there."

He looks at her - looks THROUGH her, rather - and furrows his brow. "...are you lost?"

"No, of course not." She tugs a piece of paper out from her purse and Matthew immediately goes for a pen. "And I, uh, don't want an autograph. Calm down. I'm on the job here proooobably just as much as you are."

He stares at her for another moment before he clicks his pen shut and tucks it into his pocket. "And?"

"I work for Plumbob Studios just like you. Gotta, y'know...hand out some flyers and all that." Rhiannon offers him one with a grin. "I have a feeling you'll already be here at this premiere, buuuuut..."

Matthew Hamming takes it and studies it, blinking. "Oh, right, this."

"It's gonna be a piece of shit, isn't it?"

He chuckles, favoring her with a grin of his own. "If you really DO work at the studio, you know exactly how I am obligated to answer."

The two eventually fall into easy conversation about everything and nothing, quietly jeering at Alan Stanley's faults as a director and the state of the film business at large. Rhiannon conveniently holds back her own dreams of becoming a world-famous actress as best as she can. No reason to ruin some potential networking just like that.

"Hey, you want a drink? I'm about to go get one," she says, jerking her head toward the bar.

Matthew grins. "Yeah, sure. Any old thing'll do."

Oh, Rhiannon knows PRECISELY which drink she's asking for.

As she delivers Matthew his drink, she becomes incredibly aware of a noted paparazzi lurking nearby them. Plumbob, so THIS is the way to get attention around this town.

"If you want," Matthew murmurs, his head foggy with alcohol. "We can take this somewhere quieter. There's another lounge not too far from here. I can get us both into it."

A lounge? Not quite what Rhi was thinking about when she ordered those drinks. But she supposes that she should've expected it. A five-star celebrity doesn't become one by sleeping with everything that moves. Instead, she slips him her number. "I've got some things to do...but hey, call me sometime. We can pick up where we left off."

Glynnis is delighted when her mother returns home. Her babysitters are HORRIBLE.

The next day is Glynnis's birthday, and Rhiannon desperately tries to teach her everything more that she needs to know to become a productive member of society. Truth be told, Rhi's scared shitless. A baby's one thing. So's a toddler. But a fully grown child? Someone that can actually argue back when she tells them to do something? Not quite what she signed up for.

At the same time, though...she's attached to the little bugger now.

That drink from last night's still playing with her ovaries, making her feel warm and flushed and restless, and so she invites over the one person that she thinks she might have a chance of getting some with.

"Can't you put down the pepper shaker for just one damn second?"

"Clearly you don't know how intensive the culinary business is." Barry looks toward her with a smirk. "And you'll be thanking me for this food later."

Rhiannon can think of a few things she can do to repay him for dinner.

Glynnis grows into a child. Frightfully, she's developed her father's nose. Rhiannon considers how much it might cost to fix that one day.

As might be expected, Barry and Rhiannon easily fall into conversation all over again. "Poor kid," he murmurs, looking toward the couch. Glynnis has collapsed from exhaustion there, the events of growing up after such an exciting day of learning enough to tucker her out.

"She'll be fine." Rhiannon dismisses any worry for Glynnis easily, putting it to the back of her mind as she focuses on the present. "So I heard some...rumors."

"Oh?" Barry looks as if he knows exactly what she'll bring up.

"Suzy Strummer? Really?"

He chuckles, tucking his hands into his pockets. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I'll have you know she's a perfectly good girlfriend."

There's a few different ways that this conversation can go. As always, Rhiannon takes the direct route, not passing Go or collecting 200 Simoleans. "Yeah, well. She's not me."

"And since when are you so fond of committment in the first place?"

She leans closer, arching an eyebrow. "And here I thought it was the man who was supposed to initiate the casual sex."

When Rhiannon pulls him close, pressing her body flush against his, he looks down at them with a breathy laugh. "Rhi, you...Watcher, you scare the shit out of me."

"I have that effect on men." She lifts her chin proudly, pursing her lips in the process. "You don't want Suzy, Barry. Stop lying to yourself." She presses closer and he gasps, his fingers digging into her hip and threading through her hair. "So why not say 'Fuck it' and take what you want, for once?"

His kiss is brutal and messy, full of pent-up passion and fire, and Rhiannon clings to him for dear life just to keep from falling over. Glynnis sleeps on, completely unaware of the firestorm growing beside her.

"Not here," Rhiannon barely manages to whisper as Barry nips at her neck. "The bed-"

"I'm not uncivilized." He allows her to step away and follows close behind, eyes watching the sway of her curvaceous behind.

When the two climb into bed, the door clicking shut behind them, Rhiannon looks toward him and feels her heart begin to pound at the sight of the mischief in his eyes. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

He waits no longer.

A few hours later, Glynnis wakes up on the couch, bleary-eyed and exhausted still. A nap can only account for so much. She stumbles into the bedroom, not even taking notice of the sleeping man in her mother's bed, and conks out in her own bed without fuss.

The next morning, Rhiannon pulls Barry out of the bedroom before Glynnis can wake up.

Barry helps to put up dishes from the night before while Rhiannon looks for a spot of breakfast. His eyes never leave her. "...I..." Rhiannon looks over her shoulder at Barry as he speaks. "Suzy and me. We can be over in three seconds, if you want."

The thought of commitment stirs that strange sense of terror in Rhiannon's belly again, and she looks away. "Barry, you know how I am."

That he does. He washes the plate silently, frowning.

A part of her really does care about him, she won't lie. It's that same part that lashed out with jealous passion the night before when he first told her about his relationship with Suzy. But she can't. She just can't.