oneDisclaimer: I do not own"The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" or any of its characters
A/N: This is not only my first TSL fanfic but this is also my first non-anime/manga fanfic so please, be gentle.
Sick Producer
Someone to Cry On
"Umm…" Cody backed away, occupying what little space the couch gave him.
"You see, Cody, I've been firing producer's here and there. A lot of them are all but incompetent fools. Not to mention the fact that they're ugly…" Portia began as she leaned closer to Cody "…anyway, they don't seem to come even close to you, both in the looks and skills department"
"Umm, thanks, I guess" now he's feeling a tad more uncomfortable. His eyes darted left and right, trying to find something to help him out of this situation. He knows exactly where this will go.
"Right, so I've been thinking…" the blonde heiress's smile is still present "…of hiring you for my web show"
A few seconds of silence followed.
"Umm, pardon?" the blonde boy raised an eyebrow.
"Hey bro" someone gave him a light hit on the back of his head.
The elevator doors open and out stepped Zack from its premises.
The older twin looked left and right before heading towards his brother who he spotted to be in the lobby's living room, talking to someone.
"Hey bro" he gave his twin brother a light hit on the back of the head before continuing, ignoring the girl his brother is talking to "I need to borrow five bucks"
"No way! I just lent you 10 bucks yesterday!" Cody turned towards his brother, temporarily ignoring Portia.
"Yeah, and now I need five bucks" Zack retorted
"If you want money then I'll give you money" Portia suddenly interrupted the two.
"Who're you?" the older twin asked bluntly
"Oh, this is Portia Tenenbaum. She's London's friend" Cody answered for the blonde heiress "Portia, this is my twin brother Zack"
"I see…" the blonde woman nodded "…anyway, as I was saying, if you want money, then I'll give it to you"
"What's the catch?" the younger of the two twins immediately asked, knowing how Zack would respond to that statement.
"Be my producer. I'll give you 75 bucks per production. All equipments are on me" a smirk was played along her face. Like London, she knows how to speak money.
"Deal!" Zack exclaimed excitedly.
"No deal!" Cody immediately interrupted "This is a big decision. I'm London's producer. I can't just abandon her. Moreover, there's still the issue regarding my transportation. Going from Tipton to Portia's location is also a huge hassle"
"I'll speak with London about this…" Portia replied "…as for transportation, perhaps I can send you a limo for every production"
"I don't know"
"Come on Cody…" the older boy re-entered the conversation "…all you have to do is direct her show just like you did with London's. Besides, working for Portia doesn't necessarily mean abandoning London. I mean, you can work for both of them, right?"
"Easy for you to say! You won;t be the one jumping from one location to another!" Cody gave out an exasperated look as he scanned the room, looking for the particular heiress. He saw her but not on the state he'd expect. "London?" his eyebrows almost knotted together as he stood up and watched the familiar heiress walk to the elevator with tears flowing down her face.
"Hello…oh hi daddy" London walked out of the living area and into the spot beside the front desk to have a private conversation with her dad. "So, are you ready for tomorrow's ballroom dance? I bought a new dress"
"Yeah, about that, London" the man on the other line spoke "we need to talk"
"About what?" the heiress's eyebrows knotted together, already knowing what her father would say.
"Well…you see…we seem to be having some problems with the Tipton Siberia branch. Apparently, the heaters there broke and the costs of repairing the damages were much more than we anticipated so…"
"So you won't be able to attend the ballroom dance tomorrow night" she finished her father's statement
"I'm really sorry dear…"
"No, no, no it's okay. I mean, it's not like you're required to bring with you a relative. I just wanted you to be there. But since your busy, I guess I'll have to find some other guy" it took a lot of her will power to prevent herself from crying.
"Speaking of which, I have been meaning to talk to you about the latest controversy you've started" her father's voice appeared to be genuinely interested
"Controversy?" 'uh-oh' she thought "You mean the one about me and the son of a Tipton employee"
"Yeah, why don't you just invite this 'mystery man' of yours to the ballroom dance? I'm sure he'll be more than happy to oblige"
"Umm…" London scratched the back of her head as she looked to where Cody is. She was just in time to see Zack give her producer a slight hit on the head "…I don't know"
She heard her father sigh on the other line "Listen, honey, I know this very hard on you and I know you've been really looking forward to spending that night with me but…I can't just leave things as they are now"
"I know, I understand, I'll find someone, don't worry"
"Okay then. Bye"
"Bye"
Closing her cell phone, she raised her head up high, trying to prevent the tears from spilling. After several sniffs and vain attempts to prevent them from rolling down her cheeks, she gave up and dashed towards the elevator, fresh, salty water running down her face.
"London?" Cody tried to go after her but the doors of the elevator closed all too suddenly and he was forced to wait for the next one. Why was she crying? The last time he saw her, she was speaking to someone on the cell phone. It was her father, if he recalls correctly.
His train of thoughts was interrupted as the second elevator dinged and opened. He entered its premises and held up a finger towards Portia and his brother, signaling them to give him a moment. Only when he is sure they got the message did he closed the doors and pressed 25.
London sniffed for the umpteenth time as she wiped away her tears with a tissue. She's currently in her living room where everything for their web show is already set up. The cameras are there and the computer is on. The only thing needed is to sync them to the internet.
It is no big secret that she would love to spend some quality time with her father. Unfortunately, he is always "busy" with something like this and something like that. In all the times her father had disappointed her, she thought she'll be used to it by now. But she was wrong. Although her external self accepts the fact that her father will never come, her internal self would still hope for otherwise.
Her train of thoughts was interrupted by a knock on the already open door. She looked up and saw her producer looking at her with a confused and worried expression.
"Cody?" she sat up in the sofa, still wiping away the tears from her eyes "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to check up on you. What happened?" the blonde boy's voice was filled with concern "It's like, two seconds ago, you were all active and ready to fight and then the next, you were crying. Why are you crying?"
"Nothing….it's nothing…" she wiped away all the other stray tears from her eyes and cheeks. "Shall we get on with today's web show?" she tried to put on a fake smile.
"I don't know" Cody gave out a look of uncertainty. With her current status, he's sure today's production won't turn out so good.
"Just do it!" the Tipton suddenly shouted at him.
The boy in question backed away a little at the heiress's outburst. "Okay, okay" with that, he walked up to the computer and synched the cameras with the internet. Ever since the whole incident of him quitting and stuff, it's become a somewhat routine that some of London's personal assistants would set up the stage for the production...sometimes. He'll only sync the cameras with the internet and guide the show if that's the case.
"Good afternoon and welcome to yay me starring London Tipton" Cody began. He looked at London expecting her to do her usual happy dance. Instead, she just sat there, staring out into nowhere.
'What have I done?' she thought as she looked back a few seconds ago when she yelled at Cody. She knows she has absolutely no right to yell at him. He's only looking for what's best for her. Cody always looks after what's best for anyone. That is just the kind of guy he is. Sweet and sensitive, that's Cody's main personality.
"London!"
She slightly jumped up at the sudden increase in his voice's volume. Looking up at him, she saw him with a look of concern in his face.
"We're about to start our theme song. Are you sure you can do this?"
London nodded as she stood up and danced her usual dance the moment the song started.
London Tipton's really great, really great, really great
London Tipton's really great and she deserves the opposite of hate.
"Which is love"she finished with a big fake smile on her face that anyone would've noticed.
Cody let out an exasperated sigh, seeing the heiress's fake smile. Anyone would've detected that.
"Our first topic for today is London's mailbag" the black haired heiress tried not to look so out of it but there's only so much you can do with a distressed and depressed mind.
The computer sounded off and Cody read the message.
"Londonfan1 says, 'Why are you crying?'" Cody read the statement.
"I'm not crying" London replied "Read the next"
The boy merely sighed and went on to the next message "Olympicgirl says 'What's wrong? Why are you crying?'"
"I am not crying okay!" she suddenly exclaimed as she stomped her foot to the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to explode. Why do people always stick their noses in her private life? "Cody! Read a message that does not ask me about how well I am today!"
"Okay" the blonde boy merely whispered as he scanned the comments which read:
Is London alright?
Why is she crying?
Can the little blonde nerd ask her why she's crying?
"Umm…they're all asking you why you're crying" Cody finally concluded.
"I am not crying okay!" her voice finally broke as tears rolled down her eyes. It was pointless now! Everyone is seeing her tears in the open.
'That's it!' Cody thought as he removed his head microphone. He's pretended to not care long enough. He's pretended not to see anything long enough! He walked up to London and forced her to sit on the sofa behind them. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing" the Tipton replied as she wiped her tears away with her forearm only to discover that a new set of tears would come out.
"Mr. Tipton couldn't make it, is that why you're crying?" he knows about London's upcoming ballroom dance tomorrow. Mr. Moseby has been reminding London of that event since the week started. He always said that inviting her daddy to the dance won't be too bad. It will give them some time together.
London was reluctant at first since everyone in her school is bringing their boyfriends/girlfriends. But after a lot of thinking, she decided that some quality time with her father would be great.
The black haired heiress stared at Cody with wide red eyes. He really does know everything! Her eyes reverted back to their normal size as fresh new tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Cody!" London charged towards her producer, embracing his torso like it was some sort of life raft. The force of her embrace sent the boy from a sitting position to a semi lying down position as his entire back hit the soft cushion of the couch.
The Tipton didn't realize the change in their positions. Her upper body is on top of the Martin below her. But she didn't care. All she cares about is letting all her tears out into her producer's chest. She soaked his shirt with her salty tears.
Cody has absolutely no idea what to do in this situation. So in return, he simply settled for returning her embrace. His arms encircled her head, fingers intertwining with her dark hair locks. "Shh…hush...hush...everything will be okay" he whispered in her ear as her felt his chest becoming soaked by the minute. But he didn't care. He'll offer his entire body for London if need be.
They stayed like that for almost an hour. London has finally relaxed and is now just laying her head on Cody's chest, listening to his heartbeat, enjoying the constant rise and fall of her "bed". You know, people don't give Cody enough credit. She could tell, just by resting her head on his chest, he has much more defined muscles than he shows. And she likes it. His lean muscles seem to serve as a perfect cushion in her depressed state right now.
Cody, on the other hand, has his own fair share of thoughts. How can he help London in this situation? He can't just dress up like Mr. Tipton; he doesn't know what he looks like! He'd thought about telling London to bring her mystery man there, but then, that would ruin the web show this coming Saturday. There is a lot riding on the shoulders of that mystery man. He must remain completely anonymous throughout the week until the day comes.
"Cody?" London cut the boy's train of thoughts
"Hm?" the boy replied, trying to return to his train of thoughts.
"Would you mind it if you go to the dance with me?" her face is heating up but she needs to tell him about the controversy. And then, she thought that telling him in the ballroom dance is a good strategy.
"ME?!" Cody suddenly exclaimed as his eyes widened and cheeks reddened.
"Yeah" London rose from her position, disappointed at the sudden loss of contact with her producer's chest. But she needs to look at him straight in the eye to tell him that she's serious about the matter.
Cody was still in that lying down position he's been in since London attacked him with that embrace, his shirt is sticking to his chest caused by it being soaked with London's tears.
The boy looked straight at London's eyes and saw that she wasn't kidding. She's serious and she seems to really want him to go. 'There must be something there that could help our web show and she wants to show it to me. Very thoughtful' he thought, completely oblivious to the real reason behind the sudden proposal.
"I'd be honored to go to the dance with you" the Martin finally replied.
"Thanks" with that, she dove down again, and rested her head on the already soaked chest of her producer. It's comfortable! And besides, she's the boss here; she can use him for anything, right? Right! So if she wants to use her producer as a bed, then she can use him as a bed!
They were completely unaware of the fact that all the cameras are still on and still synchronized with the internet, broadcasting everything they catch in their optical range throughout the whole world.
To be continued
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