New chapter ready :) Don't ask me how I managed XD...I am studying like crazy but somehow these two keep haunting my dreams. I guess this pathology has a name...obses-sth. Don't get used to it either, though XD Two chapters in two days it's a one of a kind experience :P
This time I REALLY need to thank Belle 'cause she is truly an angel. I had messed up the tenses in a paragraph (bloody Italian...) and she sorted them out for me. Hope I'll deliver the next chapter to you next week ;)
Finally, it was over.
Maybe it hadn’t been one of the longest night of his life, but certainly it could fairly work its way up to the top ten of the-ones-he-had-made-a-fool-of-himself-the-most. Whatever thing he had dared to hope might have got into him tonight, hadn’t end up working the right way.
The whole night had been a complete failure. A plain fiasco: there weren’t other words to describe it. He hadn’t been able to utter a single word while Lisa had visibly tried to hold the conversation, leaning over now and then to whisper him something.
The problem was, no matter what the topic, there was just one obsessive thought that kept haunting his mind, which had nothing to do with prizes, ceremonies, show-business or whatever and it was insufferably frustrating. It always went like this for him: until he was able to get the bug out of his system, he wouldn’t be able to put his mind at rest. But this was neither the time and especially not the place for such matters.
Breaks hadn’t been a piece of cake either: a worrying amount of mixed feelings had kept bouncing around inside him, engaging him in a tiresome battle. At times, she had looked unbearably at ease, as if nothing had ever happened between them and he had just felt like grabbing her hand and dragging her out, demanding what the hell was wrong with her. Some others, she would wave cheerily to someone across the hall or just stretch out her back a little bit, sinking deeper into the armchair; she would yawn unnoticeably and flash him one of her dazzling smile or cast on him an endearing look, irresistibly tinged with shyness…..and inevitably he had ended up reconsidering the making-a-scene-scenario. She wouldn’t have been positively impressed by that.
He could dress it up anyway he wanted but the truth was this woman had the power to sent his mind into overdrive as noone else.
Then his category had come. He had got the prize, turned to Lisa, got a kiss, jumped up, asked the cast to join, headed up on stage, ad-libbed a speech and…whatever had happened next was something he couldn’t find a rational explanation for: so much for working on positive impressions….
He had been way out of line, bragging...showing off, for heaven’s sake….who was that man? God she was devastating him…
After that, he had been practically counting down the minutes to the end, seating all tangled up in himself, his hands stubbornly folded over his lap, ready to leap up the minute the lights would turn on again.
And now it was finally over…
“You should be happy for that”
Robert showed up out of nowhere and began to walk at his side. He took the prize off his hands, turning it over in his owns. “It’s a great honour winning this thing three times in a row”
“I am. I am. I am immensely proud…”
Robert smirked “….to work with you, I know”
He buried his face in his hands, rubbing it with frustration, as if trying to brush off the memory “Bloody hell, Robert. I am begging you…”
“What?! You were hilarious up there! I can’t remember you being that funny in ages…” Hugh eyed-browed him leaving no room for further appreciative comments “Ok, ok. I know what you’re thinking….I’ll give you that, maybe you might have sounded a little smug-ish…to people who aren’t familiar with you…”
“That’s because THAT wasn’t my usual English humour talking, was it?”
“Well no, but….there’s not so much left about your old self anyway…”
He got pensive “Yeah…it seems that way” Whether it was a bad thing or a good one, it was still to be seen, but in this moment one of the two options didn’t seem likely.
They pushed their way thorough the crowd, climbing up the last flight of steps out of the theatre. People were still stuffed inside, exchanging those kind of formal, ritualized pleasantries he hated so much. They made it through one of the lateral exits finally catching a breath of fresh air. It was semi-desert outside. The air was wet and thick, the outside lamps reverberating on the shiny, slippery ground. It must have drizzled.
“Where’s Lisa by the way? I thought she was with you?” Robert asked.
His eyes got blank “She got a phone-call and rushed outside on her own…and, from the look on her face, I can tell you that it wasn’t her mother” His lips curled in a sneer before he could help it. It seems he was unable to take a grip on himself whenever the subject came up, and this wasn’t something he went particularly proud of either.
They silently walked their way through the courtyard, passing under the tent ‘till they reached the right side of carpet panel. He could glimpse his driver reading inside the limo, waiting for him to get in, across the other side of the road.
“Maybe we should wait for the others” Robert pointed.
“Where are they?” He really just wanted to take these damn clothes off and crawl back into his hole….
“Jess has gone missing a second after the host said ‘have a good night’. All I know is that I turned and he was gone. He is probably already chasing some of girls he spotted earlier….”
He grumbled with disbelief, pacing up and down the carpet, his eyes fixed on his feet: they were making a muffled sound that felt nostalgically familiar. Jesus…when did things get so complicated? Why do they need to be so, in first place?
He suddenly snapped his head off “How do they do that?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jess and Jen! How do they manage…I mean” he was almost panting “…how?!”
“Well…I…” But Hugh wasn’t really looking for an answer. This was more like a ranting moment.
“Jennifer doesn’t even seem to notice!! These two people had been on the verge of getting married…” He lowered his tone. People had started pouring out of the theatre. He took a step in his direction “…and look at them, for heaven’s sake. They are perfectly fine!!”
Robert gave him a glary, sympathetic glance: that was just as unbearable as the turmoil of mixed feelings seething inside him. He let himself fall against the panel. His mind was racing.
“You think she had really made up her mind?”
Robert rubbed a hand over the back of his neck “I don’t know Hugh…maybe. I take you two haven’t talked since…”
“No. We have barely spoken to each other these days” He was back staring at his feet “Apart from tonight and, I can assure you, it wasn’t a success,” A slight hint of bitterness cracked the flatness of his tone.
Robert came to his side leaning against the panel next to him “I have…talked to her earlier”
He snapped his head up once again, wide-eyed “What did she tell you?”
“Nothing, really. She does seem…” he hesitated for split second “…fine, I guess.”
He was getting the feeling he was being dismissing somehow, but something roared uncontrollably inside him, getting him distracted.
“I thought I would be able tell her something tonight, be persuasive. I don’t know. I thought…seeing her outside work….would make things easier…”
“Hugh, I can’t tell you what to do. It’s not my place, really. But…if you really want to talk to her, I suggest you to do that NOW and possibly SOON. Before you end up with more regrets than the ones you have already”
Hugh closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the chilly air of the night filling his lungs.
“I know. I wanted to. I just…I am not sure she wants me to”
“Well, you run off last time, so you don’t…”
“No, wait a minute, I didn’t…”
“Hey guys!” Jeff’s voice covered his words chasing off his chance to argue on that one. He hadn’t run off… sort of. Jess was walking with hurried, cheery steps towards them, followed by Omar who uttered silent laughs, disapprovingly shaking his head.
“Geez, where had you two get to? I have been looking all over for you! Come on, we are going to a club…”
Hugh wrinkled his nose, scratching his forehead “Oh I don’t know Jess…I am tired already. I was thinking to go straight home”
“No Hugh, come on! We need to celebrate!” Jess sounded to be in a real party-mood to say the least “People’s choice is you! It’s a huge reason to go out and…boast about it!” he said winking at him.
He titled his head, bending toward Robert for only him to hear “Noone of you have any intention to give me a break, have you?”
Omar had just caught up with them “Yeah, right…shut up”
Hugh startled but Omar wasn’t talking to him.
“That has nothing to do with celebrating….it’s just that chick you were hitting on earlier”
“What about her?”
“I saw that, man” he turned to explain them “She told him about this club she was gonna stop by later”
Jess smiled naughtily “Hey, I didn’t say that”
“No really guys. I am going…”
“Oh come on, Hugh…you’re some party pooper sometimes….” Neither Robert was going to make it easier.
“Come on, man. You can’t miss this. He even talked Lisa and David into joining us” Omar seized Jess by his shoulders and rubbed his head, ruffling his hair “I really want to see the one thousand different ways he’ll end up embarrassing himself tonight. Up to now, it promises well”
Jess got out of his grip pretending to be offended “Hey, take it easy. Maybe I could teach you something…”
Hugh was far from being interested in who was going teach something to whom. “They are coming too?”
“Who?” Jess on the other hand was already on a different planet.
Robert bend whispering “I was wondering how long would it take you to change your mind…”
He parried Hugh’s elbow in his stomach.
“Li…The others….The others I mean”
“Yeah, Jess feels VERY persuasive, tonight. He believes it’s one of his many talents, but he just got lucky”
“Hey, watch ya” Tauntingly Jess punched Omar on the shoulder and they started boxing like two idiots, as Hugh and Robert suddenly felt so much older than usual.
He finally shrugged, Now and soon. All-in then. He needed to address this. “Ok then. Sounds like fun Count me in”
Jess stopped “Really? Way to go man. High five!”
Omar took advantage of Jess’s temporary distraction to punch him with a light hook in the stomach “Watch ya !!!” Jess’s hand dropped down before Hugh could lift his own. Thank God. He wasn’t a high-five type
“Kudos to subtleness” Rob muttered.
Hugh turned to him, lowering his voice incredulous “Are you trying to sabotage me?!”
He smiled “Absolutely, not. On the contrary. Besides, I don’t think you need my help in that”
“Thanks. You’re so encouraging” he turned away from him waving “I’ll meet you there then”
He started heading to the limo but something struck him before getting in.
“Sorry, ehm…where are we going, again?” He yelled blindly turning to look for them.
Jess yelled back at him from the other side of the road. “Just follow us”
He spotted Lisa getting inside. His gut twisted.
This time I REALLY need to thank Belle 'cause she is truly an angel. I had messed up the tenses in a paragraph (bloody Italian...) and she sorted them out for me. Hope I'll deliver the next chapter to you next week ;)
Finally, it was over.
Maybe it hadn’t been one of the longest night of his life, but certainly it could fairly work its way up to the top ten of the-ones-he-had-made-a-fool-of-himself-the-most. Whatever thing he had dared to hope might have got into him tonight, hadn’t end up working the right way.
The whole night had been a complete failure. A plain fiasco: there weren’t other words to describe it. He hadn’t been able to utter a single word while Lisa had visibly tried to hold the conversation, leaning over now and then to whisper him something.
The problem was, no matter what the topic, there was just one obsessive thought that kept haunting his mind, which had nothing to do with prizes, ceremonies, show-business or whatever and it was insufferably frustrating. It always went like this for him: until he was able to get the bug out of his system, he wouldn’t be able to put his mind at rest. But this was neither the time and especially not the place for such matters.
Breaks hadn’t been a piece of cake either: a worrying amount of mixed feelings had kept bouncing around inside him, engaging him in a tiresome battle. At times, she had looked unbearably at ease, as if nothing had ever happened between them and he had just felt like grabbing her hand and dragging her out, demanding what the hell was wrong with her. Some others, she would wave cheerily to someone across the hall or just stretch out her back a little bit, sinking deeper into the armchair; she would yawn unnoticeably and flash him one of her dazzling smile or cast on him an endearing look, irresistibly tinged with shyness…..and inevitably he had ended up reconsidering the making-a-scene-scenario. She wouldn’t have been positively impressed by that.
He could dress it up anyway he wanted but the truth was this woman had the power to sent his mind into overdrive as noone else.
Then his category had come. He had got the prize, turned to Lisa, got a kiss, jumped up, asked the cast to join, headed up on stage, ad-libbed a speech and…whatever had happened next was something he couldn’t find a rational explanation for: so much for working on positive impressions….
He had been way out of line, bragging...showing off, for heaven’s sake….who was that man? God she was devastating him…
After that, he had been practically counting down the minutes to the end, seating all tangled up in himself, his hands stubbornly folded over his lap, ready to leap up the minute the lights would turn on again.
And now it was finally over…
“You should be happy for that”
Robert showed up out of nowhere and began to walk at his side. He took the prize off his hands, turning it over in his owns. “It’s a great honour winning this thing three times in a row”
“I am. I am. I am immensely proud…”
Robert smirked “….to work with you, I know”
He buried his face in his hands, rubbing it with frustration, as if trying to brush off the memory “Bloody hell, Robert. I am begging you…”
“What?! You were hilarious up there! I can’t remember you being that funny in ages…” Hugh eyed-browed him leaving no room for further appreciative comments “Ok, ok. I know what you’re thinking….I’ll give you that, maybe you might have sounded a little smug-ish…to people who aren’t familiar with you…”
“That’s because THAT wasn’t my usual English humour talking, was it?”
“Well no, but….there’s not so much left about your old self anyway…”
He got pensive “Yeah…it seems that way” Whether it was a bad thing or a good one, it was still to be seen, but in this moment one of the two options didn’t seem likely.
They pushed their way thorough the crowd, climbing up the last flight of steps out of the theatre. People were still stuffed inside, exchanging those kind of formal, ritualized pleasantries he hated so much. They made it through one of the lateral exits finally catching a breath of fresh air. It was semi-desert outside. The air was wet and thick, the outside lamps reverberating on the shiny, slippery ground. It must have drizzled.
“Where’s Lisa by the way? I thought she was with you?” Robert asked.
His eyes got blank “She got a phone-call and rushed outside on her own…and, from the look on her face, I can tell you that it wasn’t her mother” His lips curled in a sneer before he could help it. It seems he was unable to take a grip on himself whenever the subject came up, and this wasn’t something he went particularly proud of either.
They silently walked their way through the courtyard, passing under the tent ‘till they reached the right side of carpet panel. He could glimpse his driver reading inside the limo, waiting for him to get in, across the other side of the road.
“Maybe we should wait for the others” Robert pointed.
“Where are they?” He really just wanted to take these damn clothes off and crawl back into his hole….
“Jess has gone missing a second after the host said ‘have a good night’. All I know is that I turned and he was gone. He is probably already chasing some of girls he spotted earlier….”
He grumbled with disbelief, pacing up and down the carpet, his eyes fixed on his feet: they were making a muffled sound that felt nostalgically familiar. Jesus…when did things get so complicated? Why do they need to be so, in first place?
He suddenly snapped his head off “How do they do that?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Jess and Jen! How do they manage…I mean” he was almost panting “…how?!”
“Well…I…” But Hugh wasn’t really looking for an answer. This was more like a ranting moment.
“Jennifer doesn’t even seem to notice!! These two people had been on the verge of getting married…” He lowered his tone. People had started pouring out of the theatre. He took a step in his direction “…and look at them, for heaven’s sake. They are perfectly fine!!”
Robert gave him a glary, sympathetic glance: that was just as unbearable as the turmoil of mixed feelings seething inside him. He let himself fall against the panel. His mind was racing.
“You think she had really made up her mind?”
Robert rubbed a hand over the back of his neck “I don’t know Hugh…maybe. I take you two haven’t talked since…”
“No. We have barely spoken to each other these days” He was back staring at his feet “Apart from tonight and, I can assure you, it wasn’t a success,” A slight hint of bitterness cracked the flatness of his tone.
Robert came to his side leaning against the panel next to him “I have…talked to her earlier”
He snapped his head up once again, wide-eyed “What did she tell you?”
“Nothing, really. She does seem…” he hesitated for split second “…fine, I guess.”
He was getting the feeling he was being dismissing somehow, but something roared uncontrollably inside him, getting him distracted.
“I thought I would be able tell her something tonight, be persuasive. I don’t know. I thought…seeing her outside work….would make things easier…”
“Hugh, I can’t tell you what to do. It’s not my place, really. But…if you really want to talk to her, I suggest you to do that NOW and possibly SOON. Before you end up with more regrets than the ones you have already”
Hugh closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the chilly air of the night filling his lungs.
“I know. I wanted to. I just…I am not sure she wants me to”
“Well, you run off last time, so you don’t…”
“No, wait a minute, I didn’t…”
“Hey guys!” Jeff’s voice covered his words chasing off his chance to argue on that one. He hadn’t run off… sort of. Jess was walking with hurried, cheery steps towards them, followed by Omar who uttered silent laughs, disapprovingly shaking his head.
“Geez, where had you two get to? I have been looking all over for you! Come on, we are going to a club…”
Hugh wrinkled his nose, scratching his forehead “Oh I don’t know Jess…I am tired already. I was thinking to go straight home”
“No Hugh, come on! We need to celebrate!” Jess sounded to be in a real party-mood to say the least “People’s choice is you! It’s a huge reason to go out and…boast about it!” he said winking at him.
He titled his head, bending toward Robert for only him to hear “Noone of you have any intention to give me a break, have you?”
Omar had just caught up with them “Yeah, right…shut up”
Hugh startled but Omar wasn’t talking to him.
“That has nothing to do with celebrating….it’s just that chick you were hitting on earlier”
“What about her?”
“I saw that, man” he turned to explain them “She told him about this club she was gonna stop by later”
Jess smiled naughtily “Hey, I didn’t say that”
“No really guys. I am going…”
“Oh come on, Hugh…you’re some party pooper sometimes….” Neither Robert was going to make it easier.
“Come on, man. You can’t miss this. He even talked Lisa and David into joining us” Omar seized Jess by his shoulders and rubbed his head, ruffling his hair “I really want to see the one thousand different ways he’ll end up embarrassing himself tonight. Up to now, it promises well”
Jess got out of his grip pretending to be offended “Hey, take it easy. Maybe I could teach you something…”
Hugh was far from being interested in who was going teach something to whom. “They are coming too?”
“Who?” Jess on the other hand was already on a different planet.
Robert bend whispering “I was wondering how long would it take you to change your mind…”
He parried Hugh’s elbow in his stomach.
“Li…The others….The others I mean”
“Yeah, Jess feels VERY persuasive, tonight. He believes it’s one of his many talents, but he just got lucky”
“Hey, watch ya” Tauntingly Jess punched Omar on the shoulder and they started boxing like two idiots, as Hugh and Robert suddenly felt so much older than usual.
He finally shrugged, Now and soon. All-in then. He needed to address this. “Ok then. Sounds like fun Count me in”
Jess stopped “Really? Way to go man. High five!”
Omar took advantage of Jess’s temporary distraction to punch him with a light hook in the stomach “Watch ya !!!” Jess’s hand dropped down before Hugh could lift his own. Thank God. He wasn’t a high-five type
“Kudos to subtleness” Rob muttered.
Hugh turned to him, lowering his voice incredulous “Are you trying to sabotage me?!”
He smiled “Absolutely, not. On the contrary. Besides, I don’t think you need my help in that”
“Thanks. You’re so encouraging” he turned away from him waving “I’ll meet you there then”
He started heading to the limo but something struck him before getting in.
“Sorry, ehm…where are we going, again?” He yelled blindly turning to look for them.
Jess yelled back at him from the other side of the road. “Just follow us”
He spotted Lisa getting inside. His gut twisted.
