1I DO NOT OWN BREAKING BAD OR THE DIALOGUE. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO VINCE GILLIGAN. THIS SI MY FIRST EVER ONE SHOT. I WAS INSPIRED AFTER WATCHING SNOW GLOBE AND I WANTED TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF TODD GOT LUCKY. THIS IS GONNA HAVE SOME FLUFF AND IT PROVIDES SOME BACK STORY INTO THE CHARACTERS. I JUST THINK THAT TODD AND LYDIA WOULD HAVE BEEN AN INTERESTING COUPLE.
September 27, 2013. Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The making of a snow globe is a very delicate process. This was something Todd Alquist knew a great deal about. Making snow globes had been a hobby of his since his teenage years. His uncle Jack had never truly approved of it, believing that Todd's time would be better spent coming with him to gun shows and Neo Nazi rallies. Todd did accompany him from time to time, but he was never fully committed to the whole white power movement like Uncle Jack was. There were certainly things about Hitler's philosophy that he believed in, like natural selection; but he just didn't see how lynching some random black guy would save the white race. He was thankful that whenever life became too much of a chore for him, he could always go to his workshop and work on a snow globe. However, this particular snow globe he was working on, was special. He had been at it for weeks, making sure that every detail was perfect, it had to be. Todd looked at his bench and admired all of the pieces he had painstakingly made. The phone was getting sweaty in his hand. Todd had been rehearsing this for 2 days, but was still nervous as Hell.
"Sack up and just call the lady already!" Uncle Jack's voice yelled in his head. So that's what he did. He dialed in the number and waited through the ring.
"Hello" a voice whispered as the beep was heard. Todd smiled as he heard the words. It was the voice of Lydia Rodarte-Quayle. His connection, his partner, and the woman who currently occupied Todd's thoughts when idle.
"Hey there, how you doing?" Todd asked nervously.
"Todd, why are you calling?" she asked nervously.
"I was just calling to check in and confirm our meeting for Wednesday; looking forward to it."
"OK..." Lydia paused as she waited for Alquist to continue.
"I've been thinking about what you said, I think you're right about producing more." Todd explained as he added another piece to the snow globe. "I think with just a little rearranging of our schedule, we can totally swing it." Todd knew that in order to cook more blue sky meth, Jesse Pinkman was going to have to work longer with less breaks, but Todd was confident that if he could just explain to Jesse how this could improve his chances with Mrs. Rodarte-Quayle, he could be persuaded. Jesse was a cool guy.
"That's good to hear, is that it then?" Lydia asked, clearly not thrilled with discussing their illegal meth business over the phone where the feds could be listening. Todd knew that this was moment and he had to take it.
"Well, I was also wondering...if you were interesting in checking out the...symphony orchestra…that's in town?" He stuttered as this offer took Lydia by surprise.
"Symphony orchestra?" She asked, almost in disbelief.
"Yeah, I heard about it over the radio and I thought you might like that kind of thing." Todd explained. "We don't have to stay for the whole thing, if it's lame...we can always leave after a few songs..." As Lydia sat down on the bed in her spacious home, she was quite uncomfortable. She did enjoy classical music quite a bit, back when her husband: Alfred Rodarte-Quayle, was alive. They always attended concerts and operas together and she enjoyed it very much. It was when they went to sophisticated events such as these that Lydia felt like she truly belonged. However, she could see that Todd was wanting to take her on a date. She had not been romantically involved with anyone since Alfred had died over 10 years ago, right after Kiira was born.
"Um..." Lydia stuttered, unsure what to say.
"I just thought, you know, since we're business partners and whatever, we could...hang out?" As Lydia leaned back, she was conflicted. She wasn't looking for a relationship, but Todd did seem like a nice enough guy. A little boyish maybe, but nice, and she knew that in order to protect herself and the business, she needed to keep him under her control. She could not risk pissing him off and turning him into another Mike Ehrmantraut.
"Um...that, that sounds nice, actually." Lydia replied hesitantly.
"Great, it's tomorrow night at 7, so I was thinking I could pick you up at 6?" Todd said with excitement.
"6 sounds great Todd."
"Well, then I'll see you tomorrow." He said as he hung up the phone. Todd focused all his attention back on the snow globe, it had to be perfect.
The next evening, Todd arrived at the address that Lydia had texted hotel looked very classy, just like her. He had taken a shower and a shave. He'd even rented a tuxedo. He assumed that this would be a classy event and he didn't want to embarrass Lydia. As the time on Todd's phone struck 6, Lydia appeared in the lobby and walked out the front door. She was looking as beautiful as ever in Todd's eyes. Her black hair was up and she was wearing a bright blue dress with her famous red soled louboutin heels. She had to admit she was quite surprised when she laid eyes on her partner.
"Todd?" She asked as she descended down the steps.
"Wow Lydia, you look beautiful." He said with a huge smile on his face.
"Thank you, you clean up pretty nicely yourself."
"I rented a tux from a place downtown, the only suit I own was too small and I haven't worn it since my confirmation."
"So, are we ready to go?" Lydia inquired, feeling the nervousness returning to her.
"Almost, I...I wanted to give you something first." Todd replied as he reached into his truck and pulled out a gift bag he'd gotten from the mall in Albuquerque. Lydia slowly reached or the bag and gingerly pulled out a beautiful looking snow globe. it was a blue base dotted with tiny barrels of methylamine. She found a figurine of herself sitting in a teacup that was on a saucer that was in turn, upon a ladybug. Standing next to the ladybug was a figurine of Todd.
"It's...it's very articulate Todd." Lydia stuttered as she admired the beautiful knick knack.
"It even plays music!" he added as he showed her how to wind up the musical device inside the snow globe. It began playing a melody that Lydia immediately recognized as Elsa's Procession From the Cathedral. She knew the song well, she had chosen it to be her wedding march instead of Here Comes The Bride. Lydia could still vividly remember how she had felt during her wedding to Alfred Rodarte-Quayle. She felt victorious and successful. She was shedding the woman she had once been and embracing her new life as Mrs. Rodarte-Quayle.
"I saw it on one of those made for TV movies when I was young and it sounded really pretty." Todd explained. "It reminds me of you, cause you're like...really graceful, you know?"
"It's very beautiful Todd, thank you." Lydia said as she dotted her eyes to avoid tears. "We should get going before we miss it."
"Good call." Todd said as he and Lydia got in his truck and headed for Popejoy Hall where the concert was being performed. When they arrived, they both felt nervous, but excited. They each had a glass of Riesling, a white wine that Lydia greatly enjoyed. as the liquid hit his throat, Todd could see why. Once they had taken their seats, the show began. The symphony was divide into 3 parts. The first was the music of Vivaldi and his four seasons. Then the music changed to the harmonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Finally, it ended with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The music was beyond beautiful and for those two short hours, Todd and Lydia had managed to forget about Uncle Jack and his gang, about Jesse Pinkman rotting in his cell, about the fact that Walter White AKA Heisenberg was still out there somewhere, and even about the meth. It had just been the two of them.
After the concert was over, Todd and Lydia had returned back to her hotel room. As they sat on the queen sized bed, Lydia had more win brought up by room service. As they drank, the two began to talk more freely.
"I swear, I haven't had this much fun in ages." Lydia said as she polished off her most recent glass.
"I know right?" Todd chuckled as he definitely felt tipsy at this point.
"So, Mr. Alquist...tell me about yourself." Lydia ordered. "I hardly know anything about you except that you're a neo Nazi and you cook meth."
"Well, there's not much to tell really." Todd admitted. "I lived with my parents until I was 5, they died in a drive by shooting, some Latino gang bangers sprayed their car with bullets."
"I'm sorry." Lydia said in a soft voice.
"It was a long time ago, that's when uncle Jack took me in." Todd continued. "I hadn't met him before because he and my mom were like, estranged, you know; because of his beliefs. So he took me in and he decided to have me homeschooled, because he was worried about liberal propaganda or whatever. It was good though, he taught me how to use guns, so that was a plus. I just can't help feeling that I'm not as gung ho about the whole Aryan supremacy thing like he is, you know?"
"I understand that Todd." Lydia said as she stroked his hand.
"How bout you Lydia?" He asked as he changed the subject. "We have to be fair, I told you my sob story, you tell me yours." Lydia took a deep breath as she looked over at Todd.
"My real name was Jessica Foster." She explained. "My mom was an abusive alcoholic and my dad abandoned us before I was born, so I got put in foster care."
"That sucks." Todd replied as Lydia nodded in agreement.
"Once I turned 18, I got the Hell out and I didn't know what to do; I only knew that I wanted to be rich." She continued. "So...I went online and I...started working for an escort service that catered to wealthy men. That's when I started using the name Lydia."
"You mean, you were like a high end hooker?" Todd asked, trying not to put any judgement in his voice.
"Yeah...I was just doing it until I could find a wealthy man that could give me everything." Lydia continued. "That's when I met Alfred Rodarte-Quayle."
"Your husband?" Todd asked, concluding that he had given Lydia her name.
"Yes, he was enamored with me." She continued. "He would take me on expensive trips, buy me all sorts of gifts, eventually he fell in love with me."
"Did you love him?"
"I don't think so, no." Lydia had cared for him of course, he had given her the life she deserved and a daughter. He had even paid for her to go to college where she earned her bachelor's in finance. Despite it all, Alfred had always been a means to an end, nothing more.
"So, if you married a rich guy, why did you get in the meth business?" Todd inquired.
"I have...expensive needs, and I knew that Alfred's money wasn't going to last forever." Lydia answered. "So, I got a management position with Madrigal and then I was approached by Gus Fring." As everything came out, Lydia began to spill tears.
"What's wrong?" Todd asked nervously.
"I know what you're thinking: I'm just a gold digging whore, but I'm not going to apologize for doing what it took to get what I deserved." Lydia wailed through her tears as Alquist took the woman in his arms.
"Lydia, you're an wonderful person." He insisted. "You got nothing to be ashamed of. You're the kind of person who's willing to do what it takes to survive in this crazy world, I always knew you were. You know what I saw the first time I met you: A woman I respected, and still do." Lydia looked deep into Todd's eyes as he told her everything she needed to hear and before she knew what she was doing, she kissed him deeply. Todd was stunned for a moment before he returned the kiss. They quickly took each other's clothes off and as Lydia straddled Todd, they made passionate love on the queen sized hotel bed.
3 days later.
Lydia and Todd met up once again on Tuesday morning as they always did to discuss business. They hadn't spoken since their night out and Todd had snuck out before she woke up. Todd had tried to engage in small talk, but they both knew that things were awkward between them. Then, on top of that, Walter White had found them. He made an offer of a new forumla to cook meth without methylamine. For a paltry sum of one million it seemed too good to be true. After he had left, the two were quite overwhelmed.
"Okay, no disrespect to the man, but doing business with him?" Todd asked incredulously. "Right now, that's not..."
"Of course, we're not doing business with him." Lydia agreed as Todd was puzzled. Why had she seemed to accept his offer...unless. "Todd, please. Don't make me walk you through this...Jesus. Did you look at him, You'd be doing him a favor." As Lydia poured more Stevia into her tea, Todd finally got the balls to break the ice.
"Look Lydia, I think that we should talk about last night." He said as Lydia's face fell. Todd had given her a pleasant evening to be sure, but she just wasn't sure she could give him the commitment he clearly wanted.
"Todd..." Lydia started to say.
"Not right now, obviously...we have bigger fish to fry." he interrupted. "Mr. White...isn't going to be an issue after tonight. Once...he's gone, i'll call to confirm and...then we can discuss where we go from here." Lydia nodded as she drank her tea, she wanted Todd to enjoy his romantic fantasy a little longer.
7 hours later.
It was over. Todd Alquist was dead, having been strangled by his meth slave: Jesse Pinkman.
Lydia Rodarte-Quayle was dying from the ricin that Walt had put in her Stevia that day.
There have been a blossoming romance between Todd and Lydia, but it was deemed not to be. They had just one night together, but it had been a night worth having. Todd and Lydia had been in a snow globe of their own making. Trapped in their own perfect world.
I TOTALLY SHIP TODD AND LYDIA. BREAKING BAD IS THE BEST SHOW EVER. REVIEWS NEEDED AND APPRECIATED.
