InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Merde happens"

madison_avenue (madison_avenue) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-08-01 12:46:00

Entry tags:

!log, don draper, lily evans

Who: Don Draper and Lily Evans
When: A hot August morning
Where: Sterling-Cooper
What: Don tries and fails to get some work done
Rating/status: PG / Complete

If he never heard the name "Lyndon Johnson" again, it would be too soon.

He had completed his idea. It was simple - beautiful, really. Just a young girl picking flowers, and the simple voiceover of a soothing voice saying "Lyndon Johnson. For her future". No mudslinging, no fear tactics, just haunting and lovely.

Until that ass of a PR manager decided to bomb the girl to death and blame it on Goldwater. It was disgusting, and Don didn't want anything to do with it. He let Campbell take over - the sniveling kid would bomb a hundred little girls if it meant getting ahead.

So Don took to his office, telling his new personal secretary Selina (who was on time for once - what a day!) to hold his calls for an hour. He wanted to sleep, but he couldn't. Something about the buzzing fluorescent lights held some sickly quality that he just barely couldn't ignore. Something about his office was too warm - and then, when he removed his jacket, too cold. He loosened his tie, and slumped in his chair, cigarette in one hand, a finger of rye in the other.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his children, play with that dog he had gotten for Sally. Betty he could take or leave, but he would let her perfume stay wafting in the house. He would eat some dinner that she had made - or, better yet, that Carla had made - and just be amongst his children in a quiet, comfortable home.

He sipped on his rye. What a day, indeed.

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just_lily
2011-08-11 12:37 am UTC (link)

"Nothing I can't catch up on," she assured him. She wouldn't mind taking a little walk, either, and she was catching on that shopping for them fell under the unspoken list of assigned duties. "Does ... is there any preference? What sort of things does he like? How ... how old is he?" That would at least give her an idea of what sort of things to aim for.

It made her wonder, too, what Harry had liked. Or would have liked. What sort of toys would she and James have been buying their son? Granted, the wizarding world had a whole different set of toys, and she wondered what would happen if she charmed whatever she bought to do something unique.

Maybe if it was possible, she'd do that. Color change charms were simple enough, and the idea of them trying to figure out how the toy was doing something unusual amused her.

Moving back toward the desk, she waited for any follow-up instructions on what sort of gift she was purchasing. Perhaps she should keep engaging. Perhaps she should have said no, pointed out that Don had legs and could walk there himself, but ... maybe whatever was going on was mutual in the sense that neither of them seemed willing to either confront it or let it go.

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madison_avenue
2011-08-11 12:47 am UTC (link)

Bobby had mentioned something about GI Joe, some kind of "action figure", whatever that was. He was sure that had already been purchased and wrapped, though. What did Bobby like? He watched Johnny Quest as often as he could. Always talked about being an astronaut. That was as much as he could remember, and that was more than half a year ago. The last time he had seen Bobby was two weeks ago, when he and Sally stayed what seemed like the shortest night Don had ever known at his apartment. Sally was getting to look just like her mother. At this thought, Don cleared his throat, deliberately not looking at Lily.

"He likes science fiction," Don finally replied, "Aliens. He's turning eight,"

Don glanced back up, hoping this wasn't flying over her head. "But I trust your judgement,"

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just_lily
2011-08-11 12:53 am UTC (link)

"All things considered, that's remarkably brave of you," she replied in regard to him trusting her judgement. Then again, she wasn't the sort to drag kids into the middle of ... anything, and she wasn't going to take out whatever this was on his son.

"But I'll see what I can do." She wondered if the boy liked to read, and bet not. Kids never seemed to actually like reading, so she'd stick on the safe side and see what she could find for an eight year old alien-lover. It wasn't something she was horribly familiar with, but she was also remarkably charming and she was certain anyone in the store would be happy to help her out.

Plus, she'd use her judgement and then she'd see what Don thought of what her judgement had wrangled, and that was bound to be another interesting encounter. "If I try to leave now are you going to call me back again?" She asked with perhaps the faintest teasing edge to her voice. "Or am I free to go this time?"

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madison_avenue
2011-08-11 12:58 am UTC (link)

Don didn't manage to suppress a smile at her teasing. He was sure she was getting annoyed with him. Hell, he was getting annoyed with him. He stood, and went around his desk to open the door for her and usher her out.

"Thanks, Lily," was all he said as he did so, thankful Selina wasn't at her desk to see him. He didn't meet Lily's eyes, feeling ashamed for some reason he couldn't articulate. He knew she would find something good for Bobby - women were always much better at this sort of thing. He had a fleeting thought that it would be nice if they met someday, but he pushed it out of his head as quickly as it had arrived. He didn't need to complicate things any further than they already had been.

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just_lily
2011-08-11 01:02 am UTC (link)

"You're welcome, Mr. Draper," she replied as she let him usher her out. She honestly had no idea what she thought of the whole encounter, nor where it had led, and she reasoned that she'd wait until he wasn't in his office to drop off the gift to avoid any further interactions for the day. She'd also leave the receipt in case it wasn't a suitable gift and he could return it or exchange it or however those sorts of things worked here.

Offering him a little nod, she retreated toward her desk to drop off her decoy file and get her purse before she headed out to take her time selecting a toy for his son. It was odd, no matter what was she looked at it, so she decided to just let it lie for now. Later, she'd poke and prod and analyze and second-guess and ascribe meaning to things that likely had none, but it was enough for now to get out of the office and put her mind to something else for a bit.

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