Alecia's Dilemma
Disclaimer: "All About Us" is owned by Peter Engel Productions.
Author's note: Here I am doing a story on a long-forgotten TNBC sitcom from way back when. I actually watched episodes when NBC reran their TNBC block before they ended it. However, I felt that the show had some promise and I wonder if NBC hadn't pulled the plug on that block if this show would have continued. If I recall, All About Us was the last Peter Engel-produced sitcom ever. Not just for TNBC, because USA High was on the USA Network, and Malibu, CA was on first-run syndication, but in general.
But what got me to do this was that I found episodes on YouTube and one episode that got me was "First Snow," which had the character of Alecia prepping to see her boyfriend but then something came up. Then there were scenes with recurring character Sean and there was an implication of the two liking each other. So I thought about doing this.
A good amount of the series is found on YouTube, as only one season was produced, FYI. You can watch some more episodes there. I think I still have some episodes on tape somewhere. I just got to look, and it will be quite a hunt.
Now with that out of the way, onto the story. Enjoy!
An hour after Sean had left to go on his date, Alecia Alcott sat in her bedroom in that dress that her friend Niki had helped her get dressed in. She peeked out of her bedroom window to check out the snow falling in her Chicago neighborhood. But when it started to get colder outside, she closed the window and then sat on her bed once again.
She had so much on her mind. She initially thought that her boyfriend Andrew stood her up. She was told that the flight was delayed because of the snow. She thought he was standing her up, but it was no joke as the snowfall started to occur. Her close friends, Niki Merrick, Cristina Castelli, and Sierra Jennings took off. But Niki had told Alecia that she can call her in case she wanted to talk.
After Alecia's friends left, Sean, a classmate and male friend of hers, showed up. Sean had a date with a girl from the same school named Isabel, who was more of "new age" type, but he thought she cancelled on him. So he came by to keep her company.
The two shared a moment while he was at Alecia's house. They started to see that there was some common ground between them. They talked about their favorite ice cream flavors and also talked about their favorite Beatles album. That same week, they were at a store and they came across a single record. Sean had gone back to that same store to buy that record for her. Out of nowhere, Alecia came to the realization that Andrew wasn't lying about the snow, as snow had started falling. She and Sean looked out the window. She felt that it was a perfect moment. Just then, the two were about to lean in and kiss, but then Sean got a page from Isabel. It turned out their date was still on, which left Alecia all alone at home.
She realized that she was close to kissing Sean, but then the message prevented that from happening. She saw how much in common she had with him and even started to see that maybe she liked him.
She was in a bind. She was already dating Andrew before she left her town in Alabama to move to Chicago. She hadn't seen Andrew in months but they kept in contact throughout that time. But after what she had seen that week and what almost happened with Sean, could she really be interested in him? As much as she wanted to be loyal to Andrew, and that Sean went on his date, it was a definite sign that it wasn't the right time for either of them.
She sat there all by her lonesome. She couldn't believe everything that happened, or almost happened. There was only one thing that she could do. She reached for her phone and then dialed a number.
On the other end, a female voice said, "Hello?"
"Niki, hey," Alecia said.
"Alecia, what's up?" Niki said.
"Nothing, just got some stuff on my mind right now," Alecia said as she lied back on her bed.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Niki said. "You called me, remember?"
"Okay, I'm just going to say it," Alecia said and then sat up once again. "I think I like Sean."
"What, you like Sean?" Niki said. "What are you talking about?"
Alecia took a deep breath and then looked on both sides of her room which had some Backstreet Boys posters and posters of other musicians.
"After you, Castelli, and Sierra left, Sean came by," Alecia said. "His date cancelled on him, so we hung out for a little bit. We had a good time together and we almost kissed."
"What?!" Niki said. "Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm serious," Alecia said. "It was the perfect moment. It started snowing and we almost leaned in, but then Sean got a page from his date and then he left. I started to realize that I have feelings for him."
"But Leesh, what about Andrew?" Niki said.
"That's why I'm so lost right now," Alecia said and then started rubbing her eyes a bit. "I love Andrew, don't get me wrong, but when I was with Sean, it was like we shared a moment together. I don't know what to think right now."
"Well, you're going to have to figure it out," Niki said. "It might have just been in the moment. Should I tell Castelli and Sierra this?"
"No, don't," Alecia said and then sighed. "Look, I'd rather talk about this will of you."
"Are you going to tell Andrew?" Niki asked.
"What? No, I'm not going to do that," Alecia said. "I can't do that. That wouldn't be right."
"What if you do actually like Sean? I don't think you should string along Andrew like this," Niki said.
"I'm not going to do that," Alecia said. "It's just very complicated right now."
"Alecia, as your friend, I think you might need to sleep this off," Niki said. "You might have just been caught in the moment. For all we know, you might forget about Sean in the morning."
Alecia's friend had a good point, but if she was wrong? Alecia couldn't help but think about Sean and his date. But at the same time, she couldn't help think about Andrew. She even reflected on what she and Sean talked about a few days before. Though Alecia and Andrew were dating before she moved to Chicago, there was little that they had in common. Not that it was important for them to have a lot in common, but when she shared that moment with Sean, it felt like they had a real connection.
"You might be right," Alecia said. "Listen, I might to think about this. I will talk about this with you, Sierra, and Castelli soon. I'll let you go."
"Okay, talk to you soon," Niki said.
Right after she got off the phone, Alecia lied right on her bed. This whole thing made her think about the night so far. Also, would Sean have shown up if Andrew had been there? That would have been awkward.
An hour had passed. Alecia lied there on her bed looking up at the ceiling. So many thoughts were rolling in her head at that moment. To her, the thing with Sean didn't seem like just like they were caught in the moment. But what if Niki was right? Also, she had to see what Sierra would say about this. It was possible that it was just a momentary thing, but it's also possible that Alecia liked Sean.
"Hello, Alecia?" a female voice said. Alecia got up the moment she heard that voice.
"Mom, is that you?" Alecia got up from her bed. She walked down the hall and down the stairs to see an older man, an older woman, and a young boy in the living room. They were her parents, Charlie and Donna Alcott, and her younger brother Michael.
"Alecia, what's going on?" Donna said. "Where's Andrew? I thought you two would be out or spending time together."
Alecia responded. "Andrew called me after you guys left. He said that his flight was cancelled because of the snow. So he didn't come."
Her father Charlie looked at his daughter closely. Something didn't seem right about her to him.
"Are you okay, Alecia?" Charlie said.
"I'm fine," Alecia said. "I'm just a little bummed, that's all."
Donna intervened, "Well, you know you can talk to us if you're feeling down."
"I will," Alecia said and then went back upstairs to her room.
Alecia's brother went upstairs to his room as well, as it was getting a bit late. Donna looked on.
"Something wrong, honey?" Charlie said.
"Something doesn't seem right about Alecia," Donna said.
"What do you mean?" Charlie said. "She's upset because Andrew couldn't come."
"No, it's more than that," Donna said. "I think I will ask her tomorrow. Come on, let's sit down. It's been a long night."
Charlie nodded his head.
Meanwhile, Alecia changed out of her dress to put on her pajamas. She felt that she needed to sleep it off. It was possible that her moment with Sean was just a fluke. She just needed to see for herself.
Another note: That's it for this chapter. I don't think it will be that long of a story. I really can't believe I'm doing a story on a TV show that few people remember these days. But like I said, some episodes are online, so maybe you could check them out. Then again, I remembered considering doing a story on City Guys or something. Anything is possible.
Peace out.