Pause override on timed "endtime = getTimer"?

I have a Flash movie that uses actionscript to pause for 5 seconds on each scene. I would like to have a Pause button that, when clicked, can “override” the 5 second timer, and stay paused until the user clicks the “forward” button to resume the movie. How can I make the pause button override the actionscript that is counting 5 seconds and then going to next scene?

The actionscript I’m using for the 5-second-then-go timer is contained within a movie clip that has in frame 1:
endtime = getTimer() + Number(substring(_name,5)) * 1000;
_parent.stop();

then in that clip’s frame 3:
if(getTimer() < endtime) gotoAndPlay(2);

then in that clip’s frame 4:
_parent.play();

I put that clip on the first frame of each scene, and it counts 5 seconds before going to next scene. Works great. But when I put a pause button with the code:
on (press) {
_parent.stop();
}
… that button doesn’t stop the movie. It seems that the timer movie clip overrides it and just keeps the movies moving every 5 seconds.

Any ideas on how I can get a pause button to work on this? Then I would want to “resume” the paused movie by hitting the “play” button to go to the next scene (in which the timer would then kick in again, hopefully).

I appreciate any ideas you have.