Idea in Stone | Page 8

he were meeting for coffee, maybe dinner, and wanted Stefan along. Stefan said he was up for an evening away from home, as the connubial bliss between his mother and her girlfriend was still at a toxic level.
"I have to go," said Allen. "I'm in discussionsstay this afternoon about a big kipestate in Forest Hill, a bunch of siblings alldoon fighting over this property. Should be funday."
"I'm off to explain in a funny voice why not having an atmosphere will be a good thing," said Stefan. "I'll see you tonight." They said their goodbyes. Stefan was suitably convinced Allen had no idea he'd be walking into a surprise party this evening. Allen's partner of five years hadn't been invited for a strategic reason: they wanted to have fun.
Back in the booth, Stefan recorded several minutes of Bloob-speak. The sound engineer gave him the thumbs up. Then he made the "Okay, let's move on" signal they'd worked out. Stefan had some bit parts to record, characters whose preliminary sketches he'd seen. His job now was to give sensitive, nuanced line readings for a leaky lawn sprinkler and a toaster with a knife stuck in it that was supposed to look surprised but looked more like it had been murdered.
The technician poked angrily at his sound board and his computer. He shook his head and made a throat-cutting gesture, then held up an open 'Take five' hand. Stefan nodded, picked up his sides from the music stand, and left the booth. He went to the producer's office, knocked on her door, and opened it.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Uh," said Stefan.
"What?"
"I'm supposed to record this toaster dialogue this afternoon. Isn't that a bit outside the show's scope? I mean, I thought we were supposed to be doing environmental topics, not safety tips."
"Stefan," she said, putting down her pen and turning to face him, "did you know that Ron Emery came in here the other day and did the most perfect impression of Bloob?"
"Oh," said Stefan. He nodded and left. Rather than head back to the booth, he went to the sound-stage where they taped the live-action Super Fantastic Window show (in English and French). He made his way across the stage by the illumination of a bare-bulb work light on an iron stand, past the big gold window frame with its green-screen panes, past the bulbous coat-rack with its fun-fur coats, and dropped with a sigh onto the same puffy green couch that he'd seen on the show as a child. He unbuttoned his hemp trousers and masturbated.
~
Wendy opened the door of the ironically beige Green Room. "Oh there you are," she said. "Chuck fixed the mixer." Stefan stood and followed her again.
"What's BSE?" she asked as she opened the booth's door for him.
"Huh? I think it stands for Bovine Spongiform Ecephalo-something. Mad Cow disease. Why?"
"Oh, nothing," she said. "I just heard Jean talking about it on the phone with one of the writers, and I didn't know what it meant." She shut the door as she left.
Stefan stared at his little figurine.
~
"Hey guys," said Stefan, coming up the stairs to the coffee-shop's second floor. He placed his foamed soy milk spiced tea drink on the table, took off his coat, and plopped down into one of the deep chairs.
"Hey Stef," said Allen. Stefan noted that Allen, as could be expected, had already been home, changed out of his business suit, redone his hair (and a put on a touch of make-up? or was that fake tan?), and changed into queer gear, since he was going to be seen in the gay ghetto. He was in a relationship, but he still wanted to be wanted. Tonight he wore tight black jeans and a white T-shirt that clung to his gym-enhanced frame. The T-shirt was printed with black letters: "Read my lisp: Equality now!".
To Stefan's left was Paulo, with arresting dark eyes, wavy black hair, and skin that was dark enough to look like a golden tan, not quite dark enough to be considered 'ethnic' -- except by casting directors. His acting talent was considerable, but success in film or television eluded him, and he scraped by working for a repertory theatre company. Paulo was the handsomest person Stefan knew, yet he was so uncomfortable about his looks, his race, or something, that Stefan thought of him as an "ugly beautiful person". No matter how much adulation Stefan and the others gave him, he seemed set on his unhappiness. The group figured that somehow people picked up on this, which explained his perpetual singledom. After the blind date where they met, Stefan reported, "He's a beautiful prince you kiss who turns into a poisonous frog". Their early mutual disinterest made it easy to slip immediately into friendship.
"Where's Rick?" asked Stefan. Rick rounded out Stefan's triumvirate of