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Disclaimer: The proceeding has characters, themes, and phrases borrowed from the television program "The Pretender." I am not using them to make money, only for my enjoyment. In addition, should I be sued for 'borrowing' the shows elements, my defense will be that they are only my opinions, very detailed opinions, that reflect my thoughts on the direction the show should have taken. If they do not reflect that, then they reflect where I would have wanted the show to be taken. Anywayz, I apologize in advance to the writers/owners, and any other person in the category of 'Not knowing a good thing when it jumps up to bite you on the ass', if you're offended by my writing.

Author's Note: I don't watch Less Than Perfect that often, so if there are any mistakes regarding that show, I apologize. This is a crossover between the Pretender and Less Than Perfect (standard disclaimer can be applied to this show as well), in case you're wondering and didn't actually read my summary.



A New Life, A New Identity
Chapter 1




There is no way her day could've started any worse. First her blow dryer broke -- it appeared to have something stuck in it -- and she had to let her hair air dry. Walking out of the coffee shop on her way to work her heel got caught in a crack on the sidewalk, causing her to stumble. Instinctively, she threw her arms out to regain her balance and spilled the rest of her coffee. Instead of going back inside the coffee shop to get another five-dollar cup, she continued on to work, deciding that she could swallow the muck her office called coffee for today.

The minute she stepped off the elevator, Owen came tearing around the corner, a jelly doughnut in his outstretched hand, and collided with her. He apologized profusely. Lydia shot him a fake smile telling him it was ok. Had someone stained a new outfit of hers a year ago, she would have instantly jumped down their throat. Instead, Lydia shrugged it off, accepting that it was just going to be one of those days, and headed for the rest room to clean up.

Now, still in the rest room, she found herself staring at her reflection in the mirror. She noticed the obvious changes: the lighter hair and makeup, the less intimidating apparel. Awareness soon spread though, that despite the events of the morning, she was smiling. For once, her face was relaxed. There were no pressures or stresses from the job, and she was happy -- more than happy -- with her personal life.

Tossing the used paper towel into the wastebasket, her moderate sized heels began clicking over the tiles as she exited the restroom. Lydia tossed greetings to co-workers that she had never acknowledged before while heading to her desk to get to work.

Before she sat down, her gaze fell across a man -- a very familiar looking man -- standing by the conference room doors.

He wouldn't show up here would he?

She had to find out.

With a purpose, she marched over to him. The closer she got, the more certain she was that it was him. He was dressed in a business suit, his back to her as he read the memos on the wall.

The realization of her happiness with her new life had disappeared. It was now replaced with mild anger for the disruption he was about to cause.

"What are you doing here?" Lydia placed her hand on his shoulder and led him into the empty conference room. After shutting the two paneled doors, she whirled around, placed her hands on her hips, and challenged him to answer her.

Jarod ignored her question and beamed at her. If she gets to pretend, there was no law that said he couldn't pretend as well.

Lydia advanced on him and raised her eyebrows.

Jarod rolled his eyes, "I wanted to see you." A simple answer.

Lydia cocked her head and waited for more.

"Par-"

Lydia abruptly cut him off.

"Lydia." She said rigidly.

Jarod apologized and repeated after her, "Sorry, Lydia. I guess I forgot."

A quick flash of his hands later, he had pulled her body up against his. Parker's startled eyes met his and she squeaked out, "Here?"

Jarod grinned at her perceptiveness and replied with false graveness, "I'm afraid so."

* * * *


"Hey, Claude, c'mere." Ramona waved her redheaded friend over wildly.

"I just saw Lydia shove some man in here. You won't believe what they're doing." Ramona was giggling as she pressed her ear to the conference room door.

A curious expression on her face, Claude joined Ramona. She pulled back quickly in disbelief and gasped questioningly, "They're not?"

Ramona's head bounced like a bobble-head in confirmation. "They are."

Claude tactfully moved away from the doors, and dragged a reluctant Ramona away with her. Lydia and her boy-toy could come out any minute and she didn't want to be caught eaves-dropping.

Ramona, not wanting to miss any of the action, waited impatiently at Claude's desk for Lydia to reappear.

Almost ten more minutes went by when Ramona finally spotted a disheveled Lydia slinking back to her desk.

"Hey Lydia" Ramona approached her cheerily.

"Where have you been?"

When it appeared that Lydia wasn't going to answer her, Ramona leaned in and snapped her fingers in Lydia's face to get her attention.

Startled out of her reverie, Lydia raised her head to find the source of the interruption, and found Ramona perched on her desk. She flinched when Ramona reached a hand out to her hair.

Ignoring her reaction, Ramona asked, "How'd this get there?" She held up a paper clip.

Lydia's lips parted in remembrance of what she had just been doing, and how the paper clip must have ended up in her hair.

Quickly snatching it from Ramona, she tossed it in her desk drawer.

"Don't know." Lydia clipped off quickly before standing and heading for the elevator.

"Lydia? How about you have lunch with Claude and me? We can go for a walk in the park, and get to know each other. What do ya say?" Ramona was not about to let this juicy gossip slip through her fingers.

Not really paying too much attention, Lydia agreed off-handedly as the elevator doors shut.



Author's Note2: I don't know how good this is, so I would appreciate any Reviews. Let me know if I should continue. Don't worry, if I do continue, I have plans for another chapter under way as we speak. Even if you don't like it, I'll probably finish it for my benefit. Thanks for reading!









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