Mistaken Identity

Author’s Note: This is not a Doug and Carol story, but one about George and Julianna, so if you don’t want to read about them, stop reading now. I’ve seen several on the internet and thought I’d have a go at writing one too. I know a lot of us wonder at what it would be like if they ever got together and this story is just my thoughts on the idea. There won’t be a follow-up story, nor will there be a different version as to how they could get together. This is just a bit of fun and something I thought others might like to read.

There are four main characters to this story - George, Julianna, Ron and Celine. I aren’t very experienced on the way in which they all speak, especially Celine (I know she’s French) but for that, you’ll just have to forgive me. I hope you enjoy the story. I certainly enjoyed writing it, and as always, any feedback is welcome. If anybody reading this has a fanfic page and would like to include this story, please feel free to do so as long as you include this note at the beginning. Thanks.


“Mistaken Identity”
by Claire Hinchcliffe
Claire@sparky0138.freeserve.co.uk

“You sure you got enough bags there?” Ron asks with a smile as he opens his hotel door.

He is looking down the corridor towards the room next door and sees the hotel bellboy place two suitcases down next to the three that are already waiting. Then, he steps back, her purse and gives him some money before he walks off down the corridor. She turns to Ron with a grin and says, “You know George - not one for travelling light.”

She bends down to pick up one of the suitcases but he sees that she is having trouble lifting it. “You want some help?” he asks as he makes his way towards her.

“Would you mind? You know, the amount they get paid in tips, you’d think they’d carry the cases into the room for you.”

She turns to unlock the door and Ron picks up two of the suitcases. “Man! What have you got in here?”

“Oh, you know, just a few travelling necessities.” She opens the door and he follows her in.

“And I thought Jules was bad!” He places the cases on the floor and looks around. “Wow! You have a window.” He walks over and looks outside. “Great view.”

“Don’t you?”

“What?”

“Have a window?”

“No.” He continues to look out across the city. “Julianna loves having a window to look out of. She’d love this room.”

“Then why don’t you take it?”

“Huh?”

“We’ll swap rooms. George wouldn’t mind. He doesn’t care about having a window.  All he cares about is a comfy bed and a refrigerator full of food!”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. It’s no problem. The rooms are identical apart from the window, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so we’ll just swap rooms.”

“Does that mean I have to lift those cases again?”

“Yep.”

She flashes him a big grin and he rolls his eyes and groans. Picking up the two cases again, he says, “No wonder he left them outside!”  He follows her outside the room and down the corridor into the room next door. He puts the cases down on the floor and returns for the others before going about picking up some things he’s already unpacked. “Shouldn’t take me too long. We only arrived this morning and I haven’t had chance to unpack much yet.”

“That’s okay. Take your time.” Celine pulls one of her cases onto the bed, opens it, and starts unpacking.

Ron had arrived at the hotel that morning. He and Julianna had taken an earlier flight to George and Celine and were in Chicago several hours before them. They were both there to accompany their partners while they shot some outdoor scenes for ER. They were only staying about a week so George and Julianna had headed straight for the set and had left Ron and Celine to settle into the hotel.

George walks onto the set. He sees Julianna with her back towards him. She’s talking to Anthony so he sneaks up behind her. He sees George approaching but realizing what he’s up to, he doesn’t acknowledge him.

“Boo!”

Julianna jumps and turns around fast. He laughs and sits down next to her. She rolls up the magazine she has in her hand and playfully hits Tony on his leg with it. “Thanks a lot, pal!”

Tony laughs at this and George laughs even more. “Did I scare you?”

“Hell, no! Why would you think that?” she asks sarcastically.

George and Tony both turn to each other with mock shock expressions on their faces. “Ooooohhhh!”

She sees them both grinning away and reluctantly smiles at them. “Oh, piss off!” she says, jokingly.

“What’s the matter? PMT?” George asks through puppy-dog eyes.

“Why do all guys assume it’s that?  Can’t a girl have an off day when she feels like it without it being PMT?” she sighs.

“Not usually, no!” George chuckles.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Jules. You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m just a bit tired.”

“Aren’t we all?” Tony sighs.

A guy standing near a trailer calls over and gets their attention. “Tony! We need you in make-up!”

“I guess that’s me,” he says as he gets up. “See you later, guys.”

“Bye Tony.”

“Yeah, see ya,” George says as he gets up and sits in the seat Tony just got out of. He moves it nearer to Julianna and leans closer towards her.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks quietly.

She smiles sweetly at him, touched by his concern. “George, I’ve told you, I’m fine....honestly.”

George looks at her suspiciously but nods his head. “Okay....Well, you’d better get a move on if you want to be on time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hadn’t you better get your make-up on?” he asks, innocently.

“Cheek! I’ve already had it put on and you know it!” George chuckles at this and stands up. “And I suppose YOU don’t need any make-up at all because we all know you’re skin’s perfect just the way it is, don’t we?” she replies sarcastically.

He walks towards the make-up trailer but looks over his shoulder with a smirk on his face. Julianna shakes her head with a smile and continues to read her magazine.

“Right, I think that’s it,” Ron says as he picks up two cases and makes his way towards the door. “Do you want me to phone the guys and tell ‘em we’ve swapped rooms?”

Celine looks up from the case she is unpacking, “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you later. Are we all eating together tonight?”

“I don’t know. Julianna said she was really tired when we got here. She might want an early night. I’ll let you know, okay?”

“Okay,” she says, as she stands to close the door behind him. Ron leaves and enters the room next door. He dumps the cases by the bed and sits down. Picking the telephone up, he lays back and dials Julianna’s mobile number.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jules. It’s me.”

“Hi, Babe. You’ll have to be quick. I’m on a break and I don’t have long. What’s up?”

“How are you feeling now? You sound a bit perkier.”

“Oh, I’m okay. The guys cheered me up a bit, but I’m still really tired,” she sighs. “Looks like I might be late though.  George isn’t back yet and we’re scheduled for an 8pm start. You know how long these outdoor shots take. You’d better tell Celine not to wait up.”

“Sure, I’ll tell her. By the way, we’ve swapped rooms.”

“What? Why?”

“Because their room had a window and I know how much you love a window in your room.”

“Oh, Ron. That’s really sweet.  Did Celine mind?”

“No, not at all. I told her you liked a window and it was her who suggested it actually.”

“Well, as long as she’s okay with it.”

“We’re next door in room 737, okay?”  Julianna looks up to the sound of her name being called. “Fine....Look, honey, I’ll have to go. They’re calling for me.”

“You take it easy, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Has George got his mobile with him?  I’ll give him a call and tell him about the swap.”

“He should have, yeah.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

“Bye.” Julianna switches her mobile off with a sigh and reluctantly walks off to restart shooting.

Just as Ron begins dialling George’s number, there is a knock at the door and it opens slowly.

“Ron?”

“Yeah, come on in, Celine.”

She enters the room but leaves the door open behind her. “There’s a phone call for you next door. It sounds important. You’d better answer it.”

He follows her back into the room and picks up the receiver that is resting on the table by the phone. Celine continues to unpack and can hear his side of the conversation.

“Yeah? This is Ron........What do you mean it’s not right?.......Well, can’t it wait?......But I’m only here for a week. Can’t something be worked out?.........Yeah, okay.  I’m not happy about this, Steve. You said we had things all wrapped up......Yeah, okay.......I’ll catch the first flight back and call you when I arrive....Yeah, bye.”

He slams the phone down and Celine looks up. “That didn’t sound too good.”

He sighs and sits down on the bed.  “That was Steve, my agent....It appears the film we wrapped up yesterday wasn’t and he wants me to go back and finish up.”

“But can’t you do that when you get back next week?”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” He shakes his head. “Nah, says it has to be done right away.....Looks like I won’t be staying in Chicago after all.” He gets up and starts walking towards the door.

“Maybe it’s a good job you didn’t get unpacked then,” she says with a smile. “Yeah,” he chuckles. “I guess so.”  He starts to walk out the door but turns to face her again before he leaves. “Can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Julianna will probably be filming now and she’ll have her mobile switched off or she’ll have left it in the trailer. Could you give her a call later and tell her what’s happening?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, thanks. Tell her I’ll miss her and that I’ll call her in the morning.”

“Sure”

“Right then, I guess I’ll see you back in L.A.”

“I guess so.” She walks over to him and kisses his cheek. “Bye.”

“Bye” He returns her kiss and leaves the room.

“How are you feeling?” George asks as he opens the door to Julianna’s trailer and allows her to enter first.

“I’m tired. I’m hungry....and I’m tired. I just wanna get back to that hotel room and sleep. Looks like I won’t be doing that anytime soon though. The shoot took longer than they thought it would, huh?”

“Yeah. We had trouble with the microphones,” he chuckles. “The first one got wet, the second one didn’t work, the third one....well,there wasn’t a third one. Pete swears he brought it but that it must have been stolen....”

“But he forgot it,” she says with a smile.

“Yeah, he forgot it.” He chuckles again and sits down. “You think you can make it though the night then? Looks like it’s gonna be a long one.”

She sighs and flops down in the seat next to George. “I guess I’ll just have to.”

“Why don’t you go back to the hotel?”

“How can I? You know how important it is to get these scenes done as quickly as possible. They won’t let me and you know it.”

George stands up quickly.

“Where are you going?”

“Wait here!”

He closes the trailer door and she shakes her head with a sigh. Suddenly, her mobile rings and she answers it.

“Hello,” she says, before hearing Celine’s cheery voice on the other end.

“Hi Julianna.”

“Oh, hi. You wanna talk to George?  He’ll be back in a minute.”

“No, actually, it’s you I wanted to speak to. Ron’s had to go back to L.A. I’m afraid.”

“Why?”

“His agent called and said he had to go back and wrap things up on that film.”

“But I thought he finished on that yesterday.”

“Yeah, so did he but apparently they didn’t. He said he’ll miss you and that he’ll call you in the morning. Oh, and he’s gonna leave the key
downstairs for you.”

“Okay, thanks Celine,” she sighs. “You wanna talk to George then?”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll talk to him when he gets in. I’m going to bed soon anyway.”

“I wish I was.”

“Long night, huh?”

“Yeah, and it’s about to get even longer.”

“Well, I’ll let you go then. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll finish.”

“I hope so. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yeah, bye.”

“Bye.” Julianna switches her phone off and looks at her watch with a sigh. 10pm. She hates doing night shoots, especially in Chicago. She begins to close her eyes but the opening of her trailer door wakes her up.

“Get your coat. You’re going home....well, back to the hotel anyway.”

“George, what are you talking about?”

“I’ve arranged it with John. Me and Tony are gonna do our night scenes tonight instead.”

“Is that okay with everybody?”

“Sure, it’s no problem. Tony had some to do on his own anyway. We’ve just moved the schedule around a bit. John said that if you’re tired, you’re no good to him anyway. Now, get your coat on and go already!”

He pulls her to her feet and she smiles at him. “Thanks George,” she says, and kisses his cheek.

“Not a problem. You just get some rest, okay? We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

She puts her coat on and gathers her things together. “Thank John for me, won’t you? ...and Tony,” she says as they walk out the door.

“I will. See you tomorrow....and get some rest!”

“I will.” She smiles again and turns to leave.

Julianna enters the room and switches the light on. She winces at the brightness and closes the door behind her. Having got used to the light a little, she walks towards the window and looks out across the lighted skyline of Chicago. The reflection of the light inside her room makes it nearly impossible to see anything so she wraps her hands around her eyes and leans against the glass. She hates shooting night scenes in Chicago but she loves looking at the city when it’s all lit up on a night. She pulls back and closes the curtains.

Turning around, she sees her suitcase sitting beside the bed, still unpacked. She sighs and sits down on the bed next to it. Resting it on the floor, she opens it up and takes out a toothbrush, before closing it again and standing it back up exactly where it was. She was way too tired to start unpacking now and figured it would still be there in the morning.

She gets up, enters the bathroom, and brushes her teeth, before taking her clothes off and slipping into the shower. Her shower is quick. Enough to freshen her up but not enough to make her less tired.  She dries off and then slips straight into bed, falling asleep almost straight away.

George opens the door to his hotel room quietly. It’s well after midnight and the room is in darkness. He was going to take a shower but is tired and decides to just head straight for bed. He closes the door behind him and locks it. Without turning the light on, he makes his way to where he knows the bed is situated, undressing as he goes. He takes off his jacket and shirt and drops it to the floor, before taking off one shoe and then the other.

“Agh! Fuck!” he calls out, as he stubs his toe. He reaches down and feels around to find out what he has just kicked. A suitcase.  Stood right in front of the bed. He mumbles something quietly to himself and then moves it out of the way before taking off the rest of his clothes and stumbling into bed.

“Agh! Fuck!” Julianna opens her eyes with a start. What the hell was that? Somebody was in her room. Her eyes open wider and she strains to listen. She hears a mumble and then someone climbing into bed with her. Ron can’t have left after all. She turns over but all she can see is darkness.

“Sorry, Babe. Did I wake you?”

Julianna couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing. That wasn’t Ron’s voice. That was George’s voice and no mistake.

“Sorry, Babe. Did I wake you?”  He snuggles closer to Celine and nestles his face against her neck, making his way closer and closer towards her mouth.

Before Julianna has chance to say or do anything, he starts nuzzling at her neck.   Why wasn’t she doing anything? Why wasn’t she saying anything? Why wasn’t she stopping him? Suddenly, his mouth was over hers. He was kissing her passionately and the only thing she could think to do was respond. Suddenly, he stops. Silence. She couldn’t even hear him breathing but she felt his warm breath on her face. She didn’t know what to do. He must have guessed she wasn’t Celine. What should she do?  Slowly, she reaches up and turns on the light above her head. It’s bright but she doesn’t wince this time. She doesn’t even blink. He eyes are focused firmly of George’s and nowhere else. He looks surprised. Shocked. And yet he doesn’t move. He just continues to return her gaze. With their eyes locked on each others, they try to read what the other is thinking, searching for an answer. Still, silence.

Almost a minute has passed since Julianna turned the light on. They haven’t taken their eyes off one another, nor have their expressions changed. Having hardly blinked at all, Julianna’s eyes start to brim with tears. George’s expression softens a little. He no longer looks shocked, but helpless, not knowing what to do. Suddenly, his mouth tenses and he has a determined look in his eyes. He reaches up and turns the light off. The silence continues and Julianna waits. She feels just as helpless as George does, not knowing what to do next. In the dark, she waits, his face still lingering over hers and his breath still tickling her cheek.

He continues to look into her eyes and sees them filling with tears. It pains him to see her like this. He’s sad. Sad that something like this had the chance to happen. It shouldn’t have happened....and yet it has. It HAS happened and nobody can turn back the clock now. She’s vulnerable. They’re both vulnerable.  They can’t do this. HE can’t do this. He reaches up and turns the light off, almost hoping that it will take the situation away....but it doesn’t. She’s still there. He can feel her face below his. Her eyes still burning into him through the darkness. He has to get out....he has to....now.

He turns over and begins to get out of bed, but is almost immediately pulled back down again. He feels her hands on his face, holding him over her own, their lips almost touching. The silence is broken by the sound of their breathing now, loud and intense. She continues to hold his face over hers, unsure of what to do next. She couldn’t let him leave. She just couldn’t. Something inside her just told her to pull him back. So now, she’d pulled him back....what now?

Any questions that go unanswered in Julianna’s mind are soon answered by George. He leans forward and their lips touch, but he doesn’t kiss her. He just lets them linger there.  What now? He hears her sigh...or gasp, he’s not sure. She doesn’t move. Neither of them move. They just stay like that for what seems like forever. They can’t stay like this forever. One of them has to say something. One of them has to move.

Slowly, she feels him pressing harder against her lips and before she can comprehend what’s going on, she realises he’s kissing her. He’s kissing her. George is kissing her. She can’t think and yet her mind tells her to respond. She returns the kiss readily. His lips are moving so gently against hers and yet they grow more passionate by the second.

She pulls his face even closer towards her, their kisses getting more and more intense. He feels her hands on his shoulders now, moving down his back and then returning again, pulling him closer and closer. She feels his hands on her body, moving down to rest on her waist before slowly and gently moving up towards her breasts. Their minds are blank. All they can focus on is the present. Here and now. No thought to the past and no thought to the future. Nobody else existed.  Only them. Here and now.

“What are we doing?” he asks through heated kisses. A question asked aloud by George and thought by Julianna. The question remained unanswered, for if either of them knew the answer, which they didn’t, they didn’t want to answer it anyway.

Robbed of the only sense that could destroy everything, darkness continued to surround them, hiding them from reality. She could feel him inside her. She could smell him and taste him. She could hear him. She knew it was him. She didn’t need to see him. Seeing him would only destroy everything.

Julianna opens her eyes slowly. The curtains are still closed but the strong sunlight shining through them makes the room bright. Suddenly, she remembers. It wasn’t a dream. It was real. He was here last night. She remains on her stomach but turns her head to face the other side of the bed. Empty.

“Morning,” says a deep, familiar voice from the other side of the room. She pulls herself up in bed and looks towards the door. “Did you miss me?”

Ron stands there with a big smile on his face, a suitcase in one hand and a bunch of flowers in the other. He puts everything down and makes his way towards the bed as she rubs her eyes, trying to wake herself up. He sits down and leans over to quickly kiss her on her cheek. “Took me ages to convince Steve it could wait until next week, but I did it eventually.”

“Couldn’t you have done it over the phone?” she asks, wearily.

“You know what Steve’s like, Babe. It doesn’t matter though ‘cause I’m here now.”

“Yeah,” she says as he hugs her, “you’re here now.”

Julianna opens the door to the make- up trailer and enters, still wearing her sunglasses. She has her head down and doesn’t notice Tony having the final touches done to his make-up. He has his back to her but watches through the mirror as she enters and a smile appears on his face. “I see you was at it with George last night too,” he says.

Her head shoots up and she sees Tony looking at her in the mirror. She hears her heart beating. “What?” she says quietly, almost afraid to ask.

“You haven’t seen him this morning?” She shakes her head slowly. “No....not yet.”

He whistles. “Hardly spoken a word. Your hangover must be worse though. He’s not at the sunglasses stage just yet.” He chuckles and Julianna gives a sigh of relief.

“Do you know where he is?” she asks.

“Yeah, in his trailer the last time I saw him.” He turns around to face her. “Knock softly!”

“Thanks,” she says as she opens the door again. “See you later,” he calls after her, but doesn’t get a reply.

She stands still, her eyes fixed on the door of the trailer but she can’t bring herself to knock. She brings her hand up near the door but as soon as she gets close to it, she moves it to her mouth and unconsciously starts biting her nails. Stop this, she tells herself. It has to be done. The longer I leave it, the harder it will be. She removes her sunglasses, slips them into her pocket and then knocks, quietly. He won’t hear that, she tells herself, knock louder,and she does. She takes a step back and waits.

The door opens and their eyes meet, instantly bringing back the time last night when neither of them knew what to do next. He stands aside, holding the door open for her and she slides past him. She walks further into the trailer and waits. She hears the door close and she turns around to face him, their eyes meeting for a second time. The silence was deafening.

“Ron’s back,” she suddenly blurted out, not knowing why she said it.

He nods his head slowly. “Where had he been?”

“Back to the set. They needed him to finish up on the film. When it came to it, they didn’t need him back so soon after all.”

Another silence falls between them.

“When did he get back?” he asks suddenly.

“This morning....about seven.”

“Lucky I left when I did then,” he says with a forced smile.

Julianna sits down and brings her hands to her face, moving her fingers up to wipe her eyes. She reaches into her pocket and puts her sunglasses back on. She keeps her head down and suddenly sees his feet in front of her. She looks up slowly and he reaches his hand out. She takes it and he pulls her back to her feet. She searches his eyes, wishing she knew what he was thinking, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t see anything. Suddenly, he takes off her sunglasses to reveal her eyes brimming with tears, just like the night before.

“Are we okay?” she asks timidly, staining to keep herself under control. He looks at her for a moment before a huge smile slowly appears on his face. This time, the smile isn’t forced. She returns the smile, almost laughing. Why, she doesn’t know. He puts the sunglasses into his shirt pocket and then without warning, lifts his hands up and moves them to her face. Slowly, he leans forward and kisses her gently. She closes her eyes and lets him kiss her. When she opens them again, his hands are still on her face and he looks softly into her eyes.

“Yeah,” he says quietly. “We’re okay.” She smiles slightly and he wipes away a tear before releasing her face. He watches as she slips past him and makes her way towards the door.

“Do you regret it?” he asks. She stops still but doesn’t turn to face him. Does she regret it?

“No,” she answers quietly. “Do you?” She waits, but doesn’t hear an answer. She glances over her shoulder but he still doesn’t say anything. She turns back round and starts to leave the trailer but with one hand on the door, she hears him speak.

“Never.”

She smiles to herself and without looking back, she leaves.


THE END

March 25, 1998.