Dedicated to Tisha, thanks luv
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Living up to my part of the bargain was hard. Several times in my five-week's David drought I thought of something I wanted to tell him and almost called. But each time I remembered the seriousness of his voice and the look on his face in the hotel room. I could see that he was on the verge of just letting us die and my pushing him was setting that idea firmly in his head.
To distract myself I spent a lot of time with friends, going to clubs and just generally making myself chemically unable to think for hours at a time. I had no work, no David and even though I got plenty of offers, no one to go home with or to.
I tried not to obsess and count down the days but as the time grew closer for David's return I hoped he had come to a decision, and that decision would be to stay with me. But I was realistic, I knew that my luck could go either way and so prepared myself for that eventuality as well.
Or, should I say, I tried to? I convinced myself that I had the power of positive thinking on my side.
When it came time to report to the set and resume filming I had butterflies in my stomach. I had to keep my cool around the others, but the idea of seeing David again after what seemed like an eternity, made me want to whoop with joy. I had to stop myself from getting there ridiculously early, and arrived about five minutes before the script read through.
There was quite a crowd, I scanned the room for David but didn't see him. My heart sank, had I missed him? Was he not coming today? I was just about to take my seat when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
"Are you looking for someone?" I turned around and there he was, standing just a few feet back from me, a half smile on his face. In the weeks since I had seen him, he had grown his hair out and it was past his shoulders. Although he was still way too skinny, he looked well rested; the dark circles under his eyes had gone.
"Scotland really suits you," I replied, "you look wonderful."
"Flatterer," he laughed.
I could tell he wanted to say something else but Phil had started herding people to their seats and he took David by the arm and pulled him away from me.
I had a really hard time concentrating during the read through; I couldn't take my eyes off of David. The sunlight coming through the dusty windows played off of his hair casting a glow around him, making him look like an angel. Luckily I had only a handful of lines, and could use the excuse of just seeing the script for the first time, but I could see Phil frowning in my direction.
At the break Phil took me aside, "tone down the love sick puppy dog looks John. You're about as subtle as a brick to the balls."
"I'm sorry I haven't seen him in a long time."
Phil glanced over at David, who was talking to Mollie, I saw her reach up and take lock of his hair in her fingers and give it a twirl. Then he looked back at me, "we're having a big launch party and dinner for the press and such, for the start of the new season. I don't care who you bring as your date, but it can't be David. We need to maintain his sex symbol image."
"I see..."
"No you don't see John! If you weren't under contract I'd fire you so fast your head would spin," he leaned in to me, "we've sunk a lot of money into your little fuck buddy, publicity ain't cheap, and if you mess this up, I'll see to it you never work again!"
As soon as the read through was over, Phil made a point to get to David before I did, he ushered him into one of the back rooms with a grim expression on his face. I waited for what seemed like hours, but realistically was probably only about twenty minutes.
Phil came out first, his mouth set in a grim line, his face brick red and stomped over to me, "I hope to god he's smart as well as decorative. I think you better take what I said to heart, if you know what's good for you."
David emerged a few minutes later. He perched on the arm of my chair, ran his hands through his hair and then looked down at me, "that was fun. Phil is such a laid back kind of guy isn't he?"
"Oh, yes," I snorted, "so what was that all about?"
David looked up at the ceiling then down at his hands, "he first told me I need a hair cut, gain weight, work out more and that sort of thing. Then he said that he told you to back off of me, and I have to bring a woman to the press launch party."
"Did you get a word in edgewise?"
"Not really, but I did manage a rather passable salute..." he grinned.
"You didn't!"
"Yeah, I did and I have to say that his face did turn quite a lovely shade after that."
"He did seem a bit worked up," I laughed, and then growing serious, "I've really missed you. Can we go somewhere where we can talk?"
"I literally just got back into town, I haven't even stopped at my flat yet," he admitted, "you're welcome to come back with me, but I am not promising anything."
The cab ride to David's place was pretty quiet, I had a ton of things I wanted to say but they were not really words I wanted overheard. For David's part he seemed lost in thought, but I was just content to be sitting next to him.
Once there he gathered the mail from the floor by the mail slot, took his cases into his bedroom, opened the curtains and started a pot of coffee. While he was busy I took a seat on the sofa and just watched him as he went about his tasks. When he was done he sat down opposite me on one of the chairs.
I broke the silence first, "how was the rest of your visit?"
"It was enlightening. I'm not quite sure when it hit me but I had this epiphany that the past was out of my hands and that the future was all I had control over. After that I got on great with my dad and siblings. It was like I was seeing them all for the first time as real human beings and not spectres or bogey men."
He sat back and folded his hands in his lap, "and I learned some truths about myself."
"What about Elissa?" I ventured.
"What about her?"
"Did you see her again?"
David looked down at his hands, "yes, I did."
"And?"
"We went out a few times, but she was not there for as long as I was. She returned to her home. I got her number and said I would call her once I got back into town."
"Did you sleep with her?" I asked, keeping my voice level.
