She could keep her guard a spotless state of calm, but Rene could sense the cracks underneath the polished surface. He could always tell when things began to weigh on her, a crease in her smile, a line in her speech just that second off. Too many small details for him not to notice how tired she was pretending.
The slap was a certain shock to the system. His head turned with the moment, wide-eyed and causing his drink to fly out of his hand. He dare not look at her directly, eyes finding her shoes while she yelled her cutting words. Only he felt no sting from their seemingly sharp stabs. Somewhere, an Amateur Dramatics tutor was turning in his grave. Fortunately, the sting and heat from her hand prevented a chuckle falling, but before his eyes had moved from the floor she was gone, leaving him alone in a corner with a number of guests watching with a mixture of stares and glares.
Rene played his part, awkwardly and visibly shrinking and finding an opposite route to flee the ballroom. A bottle of wine was grabbed on the way out, hands busily attempting to uncork it while he stomped away. Weddings. They brought out all manner of drama, no? His mind turned, body twisted through passages, using other rooms as shortcuts before finding his path to their meeting place void of life.
He’d make it to the ‘closet’ first, pulling the shutters closed and rounding the small sitting room to light a few candles in lieu of the shuttered natural light. The snug was a room between rooms, perhaps in the past it had been where Lucian’s father had smoked cigars with his friends, Rene couldn’t remember. Not at the moment did he care to. It had provided a small opportunity for… things to be made clear. His unchanged feelings and desires among them.
The slap was a certain shock to the system. His head turned with the moment, wide-eyed and causing his drink to fly out of his hand. He dare not look at her directly, eyes finding her shoes while she yelled her cutting words. Only he felt no sting from their seemingly sharp stabs. Somewhere, an Amateur Dramatics tutor was turning in his grave. Fortunately, the sting and heat from her hand prevented a chuckle falling, but before his eyes had moved from the floor she was gone, leaving him alone in a corner with a number of guests watching with a mixture of stares and glares.
Rene played his part, awkwardly and visibly shrinking and finding an opposite route to flee the ballroom. A bottle of wine was grabbed on the way out, hands busily attempting to uncork it while he stomped away. Weddings. They brought out all manner of drama, no? His mind turned, body twisted through passages, using other rooms as shortcuts before finding his path to their meeting place void of life.
He’d make it to the ‘closet’ first, pulling the shutters closed and rounding the small sitting room to light a few candles in lieu of the shuttered natural light. The snug was a room between rooms, perhaps in the past it had been where Lucian’s father had smoked cigars with his friends, Rene couldn’t remember. Not at the moment did he care to. It had provided a small opportunity for… things to be made clear. His unchanged feelings and desires among them.
11-24-2023, 02:03 PM
