AN: I know it's been awhile since I updated this, but that's because I haven't had anything to update. It's kind of hard to write a story about the long-lasting relationships of the characters when all of those relationships are being torn apart on the show. But I am trying my best to ignore the show in its current state and carry on with the story. I absolutely haven't given up on this, and I'll update again when I have more. Thanks for all the positive reviews, without them I might have just given up.
H.B. takes a quick glance over his shoulder as he listens to the ringing on his phone. He's standing in the corner of an empty conference room, staring at the peeling paint on the wall. On the fifth ring, Marcia picks up.
"Hello?" she yawns out.
"Were you sleeping?"
"No, it's just 10:30 on my Saturday off, why would I be sleeping?"
"Listen, I'm in Sacramento."
There's a pause. "If I have to drive to Sacramento—"
"No, no. I flew out here this morning and met my sister. It's…" he sighs, rolling his eyes. "It's a family thing."
"What, is your mother there?"
"No, it's sort of extended family…it doesn't matter. I'll be back tonight. I was just calling to see if anything's up."
"Anything what?"
"I don't know, any of those things that I'd have to worry about."
"Because usually something pops up at 10:30 on a Saturday?"
He sighs, admitting defeat. "After an hour of sitting in a hotel room, listening to Molly and CJ ignore me, we moved to this huge ballroom, full of these people—Molly doesn't even know them all, but they all seem to know me. And I was hoping that if I excused myself and called you…maybe I'd get out of meeting the other half of the room."
"You could have just told me that to begin with, you know."
"Yeah, I sort of realized that."
"So, does this family thing have anything to do with that guy who came by yesterday?"
"Yeah. Hey, listen, if I were to…" he stops himself suddenly, not truly believing where his mouth was going to go. He is not seriously considering this job change, so he certainly can't mention it to Marcia.
"What?"
"Never mind."
"No, what—"
"I don't even…" he chuckles quietly, and turns to pace.
"Is this about the Emmys?"
"No. No, I don't care about the Emmys."
"Yes you do," she laughs.
"I don't. I—I want it for the show, and for the rest of the staff, but I don't particularly give a damn if I win tomorrow. You know?" He sighs, facing the wall again. "Rivera, Josie, those people, they've been doing this…since before I was born, these people have been trying to win an Emmy, and I just…"
"H.B.," she sighs out. "Just because you haven't been at this long doesn't mean you're not talented. You are so talented."
"But…I don't care if I'm talented. I don't want to be 'Emmy Award winner H.B. Zeigler.' I'd actually prefer to not have that tied around my neck my whole life."
"Well, that's because you're going to move on."
H.B. frowns for several moments before remembering that she can't see him. "What?"
"I've always known," she says, casually. "Certainly, this show has proven to be a great success, more than we'd really hoped for. And you've been a part of that, you've brought so much to the show. But…I always knew you'd leave at some point." There's a pause, and they both take that in. "Just, please, don't take us somewhere too bad, okay?"
H.B. laughs, turning away from the corner. "And what makes you so sure you're…" He trails off, noticing that he's no longer alone in the room. "Uh, I gotta go, Marcia."
"Not funny, Boss!"
"You're coming along, okay! I'll call you back."
He flips the phone closed before she can respond. His visitor has not broken her stare, a slightly accusing gaze focused entirely on him. H.B. walks closer, mentally recapping the last few minutes of his conversation, wondering if he said anything inappropriate.
"Hi there, uh…" He crouches down to her level, getting face to face with a blue-eyed, brown-haired little girl, not even ten. He couldn't be more unsure of what to do. "Hi. I'm, uh…my name's H.B." The girl glares. "What, uh…what about you? What's your name?"
"You're a liar," she says with anger, expressing such devotion to the idea of honesty. Surprised, H.B. stands up.
"Why don't we go try to find where you came from, okay?"
The girl just continues glaring, and H.B. rubs his forehead, completely lost, when a pretty, young blonde woman comes running into the room.
"Cali!" The woman kneels in front of the girl, taking hold of her arms. "I told you not to run off like that! I'm supposed to be watching you, do you have any idea how bad this could have been! Wandering away, talking to strangers!"
"He's not a stranger," the girl insists.
Ignoring her, the woman turns to H.B., holding out her hand. "I'm sorry," she apologizes as he shakes it. "My name's Jennifer."
"Hi." He smiles, and she smiles back. "I'm H.B."
"He's lying!"
"Cali!" Jennifer scolds the girl, then turns, sheepishly biting her lip. "She's just…being difficult, I'm sorry. I don't know why she's saying that."
"Because he is!" Cali's glare returns. "I know you. You're Uncle Toby's Huck. He had a picture on his desk, and every time I was there, I saw it. It was you."
H.B. is thrown. This tiny little girl is looking at him like he's breaking her heart, and he doesn't know what to do. He glances at Jennifer, whose wide eyes are inspecting him with a little more interest, but offering no answers. After a moment, he crouches down to Cali's level.
"Cali? Is that your name?" After a moment she nods, ever so slightly. He smiles at her. "Hi. You're right, my name's not really H.B. But I wasn't lying," he says. "I…if you knew my dad, you know CJ too, right?" She nods again. "Well, like CJ is short for Claudia Jean, H.B. is short for Huckleberry. So, it's just a nickname. It's not a lie."
"So," she says after a moment, "you are Uncle Toby's Huck."
"Yeah," he smiles. "And what about you? Who's Cali are you?"
"My daddy is Senator Samuel Seaborn," she says proudly, and he grins. It makes sense. He remembers seeing the Senator on CSPAN and being struck by his idealism, his honest face, and true eyes. The same eyes looking at him now.
"Oooh, well, did you know, I'm here to see him today?"
Cali laughs. "Everyone's here to see him today."
"Yeah, I guess that's true," he agrees. "But I came all the way from L.A. just to see your daddy speak."
"Wow," Jennifer says. "The show didn't need you?"
He holds in an annoyed chuckle. He really doesn't want to offend the pretty girl he's just met. "No. I could get away. But," he says, turning back to Cali, "I still haven't gotten to see him."
"He's really busy," Cali nods. "But, no matter how busy he is, I can see him."
"Well," Huck says, standing. "What do you say we go back in there, and then you can help me meet your dad?"
"Okay!" Her anger towards him completely forgotten, Cali runs from the room, leaving Huck and Jennifer to follow behind.
He grins at her as they walk along. "So," he says, in what he hopes is a charming tone, "Are you Uncle Sam's Jennifer?"
"No." She lets out a bright, airy laugh. "I'm Uncle Josh's Jennifer."
"Really." He looks at her, surprised. With her blue eyes, he could have sworn she was a Seaborn. But in her grin, he can see something of the man who'd approached him yesterday. "I, uh…I didn't realize Josh had…I mean, it makes sense, but he didn't say anything to me about children."
"Well, he tends to have a one-track mind."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
They arrive at the ballroom, and they look over to see the Senator lift up his daughter, kissing her cheek in an absent-minded show of affection.
"It takes a special person," Jennifer says, nodding in their direction, "to separate like that. To make it a priority to have many priorities." She laughs quietly to herself, ducking her head. "If that even made any sense."
"It did," he insists. "It made perfect sense."
She smiles again, and he examines her closer.
"You look…familiar. Have we met before?"
"You haven't," Molly supplies, sneaking up on them. "You're never around." She throws him a glance before turning her attention to his companion. "Hi, Jenny, how are you doing?"
"I'm good, Molly. I didn't know you'd be here."
"Yeah, me either," Molly laughs. "You getting to know my brother?"
"Yeah," Jennifer nods. "The Emmy winner."
"Not yet," Huck asserts. "You know, if I lose now, I'm blaming you," he teases.
"Well, I'd hate to have that on my shoulders," she returns.
"Oh, you're going to win," Molly interrupts. "I need something to brag about." She throws an arm around her brother's shoulder and calmly whispers, in a singsong tone, "Seventeen, H.B."
"Shut up, Molly," he whispers back, trying to hide his surprise. Jennifer has conducted herself so calmly and maturely, he thought she was at least in her twenties. Jennifer smiles at him, oblivious to the twins' side conversation.
"I think Cali's won you an audience," she says, nodding towards the Senator making his way through the parting crowd. Despite the knowledge that this man has known him since he was a baby, Huck is nervous about meeting him. It's as if he can sense an aura around him, feel his presence before he's present.
He swallows a lump in his throat as Senator Seaborn shakes his hand. "H.B., I'm so glad you could make it. I'm sorry I haven't been able to make it over here sooner."
"It's…I know you're busy," Huck mutters, nodding his head.
"Molly," he smiles, kissing her cheek. "It's so good to see you again."
"You too, Senator."
He squeezes her hand and turns back to Huck. "As soon as Josh told me you were here, I wanted to make a point of seeing you. I'm sorry things are so crazy now—will you be around after the speech, so we can talk more?"
Huck nods. "We've got a few hours until our flight."
"Good. Make sure you see me before you leave, okay?"
"Yes, sir." Huck nods again, smiling as the Senator smiles at him.
Before leaving, he turns to Jennifer and squeezes her shoulder. "Go say 'Hi' to your dad, okay, Kiddo?"
"I'm sure I'll bump into him eventually."
"Don't 'bump in,' go to him. You don't have to worry about Cali, her mom's got her. Just go over there."
"I don't actually have to listen to you, you know."
"Yeah, but you will."
"Yeah," she agrees.
"Good girl," he says, kissing her forehead. "Wish me luck," he says to the group, and Huck is mystified when he finds himself echoing along with the girls.
His sister is giving him that look, that I know exactly what you're thinking, and it proves me right look, and he'll do just about anything to avoid that look. So, he turns to Jennifer, and throws himself on the smaller grenade.
"Why don't we head over there together? I'll give you a buffer with your dad, you give me a buffer with CJ, no one has to face too much parental time?"
"Okay," Jennifer agrees readily, and he can hear Molly's voice in his head, You're going to take the job, and you're leading on the jailbait.
He really hates how well he knows what she's thinking, especially when she's thinking what he's thinking.
He turns back to her, his silencing eyes in place. "Find us good seats, sis?"
"Sure thing, bro," she replies, matching his strained tone, but with an evil grin on her face. He's dreading the flight home.