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Chapter 9--------------------
“How poor are they that have no patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees? Thou know’st we work by wit, and not by witchcraft, And wit depends on dilatory time.”
“Got that, Daph?” Justin asked his friend for the hundredth time which made the girl lose her patience. The boy stood behind the diner’s counter watching his friend with a tense look on his face. The girl was leaning on her elbow, listening to the blond with less and less interest. She rolled her eyes, sighed heavily then answered in a stern voice, “Whatever it is you may think of me Justin; I’m not an idiot.” “Of course you’re not!” Justin replied quickly in a somewhat apologetic tone, “I never said that. You’re my best friend…I just…” He stopped because he didn’t know how to say this. “You just what?” Daphne grasped Justin’s hand, hoping that maybe it would help him. “I don’t know Daph…I’m very confused. I’m sorry.” Justin mumbled. “It’s okay…” The girl’s eyes were examining Justin’s face, trying to find out what had happened to the boy. She felt sorry for him; she could see how hard it was for her friend so she repeated again to reassure him, “In case Ethan brings the subject up, you’ve spent the night at my place. You see? There’s nothing wrong with my memory, so stop worrying, will you?” “Thanks.” The boy’s voice sounded like a whisper. “So…” A wide and evil grin slowly started to spread across her face, “Why do you want him to think that you’ve been at my apartment?” The question was unnecessary, because she knew very well what the answer would be, but she wanted to hear it from Justin. “Because…” he started slowly, feeling pretty embarrassed, “…I didn’t sleep at home.” He looked away and started to wipe the counter off, even though it was already clean. He knew it wouldn’t be enough for Daphne; every question would be followed by another one. Seeing the boy blushing, Daphne’s excitement was increasing and she decided to get all the little details out of him. “And…where did you spend the night Justin?” She asked, noticing that the boy started to blush even more, but no answer was given. Watching Justin’s face, the girl smiled even wider and said teasing the boy, “Let me guess…” Suddenly she put her hands on her chest, her face mirrored pretend pain as she added loudly in a theatrical voice, “O Brian, Brian! Wherefore art thou Brian?” And with that she started to laugh hysterically. “Fuck you.” The boy said in a low voice, giving his friend a look he hoped was threatening. He looked around carefully to see if anyone was watching this little scene then turned to the girl, “Would you mind being a little quieter?” He stared at her with a serious face. “Am I right? Was it Brian? ” She asked never caring about what her friend had just told her. Justin didn’t say a word, he just nodded in surrender. “I knew it! God, that’s so exciting! But…how?” “I’ve got to work now, Daph…” Justin tried to avoid this conversation but Daphne didn’t let him leave it here. He gave up because he knew his best friend, he knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer. With a last, long sigh, he started to tell her about Ethan’s contest, how he’d met Brian later that night and how they’d ended up at his place and how worried he’d been to realize that he’d actually spent the whole night there. Daphne was listening intently, never interrupting her friend’s speech. When he finished, the girl leaned forward and asked quietly, “And was…was that good?” She asked in a whisper. Justin chuckled softly, reliving the memories of that certain night, “It was the best sex I’ve ever had Daphne. I’ve never experienced something like that before.” “This is so beautiful Justin.” Daphne added with a dreamy expression on her face. The boy didn’t seem to deny it, but reluctantly said, “I don’t know. It just makes everything more difficult.” “Well, I see no difficulties here.” She replied and gave Justin an expectant look. “What do you mean?” Justin answered in disbelief, “In case you forget, I’ve got a boyfriend.” “And what a great man he is.” The girl’s voice sounded more than a little sarcastic. “Do you want to hear what I think Justin?” Justin wasn’t sure about that, “Am I going to like it?” He asked while screwing his face into wrinkles. The girl shrugged, “I don’t know but frankly, I don’t care either. Need an advice? Well, here’s my advice. Leave that fucking fiddler. And start something brand new with the actor.” “You think it’s that easy Daphne? ” Justin asked, looking pretty surprised. “Yeah. It’s as simple as that.” The girl finished her drink. “But with Brian…it was just fucking. Well, at least I think that’s all it was for him. And sex is not everything Daphne.” “But it’s definitely more than the things Ethan can give you, right?” Daphne’s answer surprised Justin. He couldn’t imagine how the girl knew about all those things. “But…I’ve been with Ethan for two years now…” The boy’s voice sounded shakier with every minute. “You’ve wasted too much time on him, if you ask me.” “He’s important to me. We need each other.” Justin answered weakly, but he didn’t sound too convinced. “I think that even you don’t believe what you’re saying. Important, huh? If he was so fucking important why did you jump into someone else’s bed? Someone you don’t even know.” Justin opened his mouth to say something but Daphne didn’t let him, “Not to mention the fact that you keep peeking at the entrance all the time. I guess it’s not Ethan you’re hoping so desperately to see… So don’t even try to convince me that you’re happy with your boyfriend.” Justin couldn’t say anything to defend himself; he felt pathetic. He realized that he wanted…no, not just wanted, needed to see Brian again, he hoped the man would visit him at the diner. But he felt guilty at the same time, knowing that at that moment his boyfriend had a meeting because he’d been asked to play somewhere. Ethan was very excited about it, and he didn’t want to tell him more until Justin got home. Ethan was trying to make some money for them, and instead of being happy for his boyfriend’s success, all Justin could do was daydream about someone who had probably forgotten him already. But still, Justin knew that his friend was absolutely right. “I don’t know Daphne.” “You really don’t know?” Daphne’s expression started to soften. It was hard for Justin, that much she could see. “But…I don’t know him. I don’t know if he wants anything from me at all.” Justin said quietly in a little boy’s voice. “Didn’t you ask him?” “I was too scared to ask.” Justin was looking at Daphne helplessly. “Okay. Then don’t leave Ethan because of Brian…Leave him because of yourself. And don’t tell me you’ve got nowhere else to go. That can’t be an excuse Justin. You can move to my apartment, it’s big enough for two of us.” Justin opened his mouth slowly to answer, and Daphne swore she could see tears forming in the boy’s eyes. “I need some time to think this whole situation over. Because…I feel pretty fucked up right now.” ************************************************** The next morning Brian arrived early to the theatre much to the other’s surprise. For some reason he couldn’t sleep very well, so he decided to get prepared for the rehearsal they had in the morning. But no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the costumes and reading the play over and over, he couldn’t get Justin out of his mind, and he didn’t like it a bit. It was something new to him and it made him feel weak and insecure. They were about to put the drama ‘Othello’ on the stage and he had to play Iago, the villain. He was happy to play this character; in fact he’d always loved to play the intriguing and evil roles. Not that he was evil himself, but he found it good to be someone he’d never be. To be evil without feeling guilty about it. He hated the fact, but in his private life he usually felt bad about being rude or heartless, though he tried hard not to let anyone see it. And what’s he, then, that says I play the villain? He loved these lines, and the more he read them, the more excited he became about playing this character on stage. Emmett’s voice brought him back to reality. He was standing in front of Ted, holding up a brown and a blond wig in his hands. He played Emilia, Iago’s wife and as always, he wanted to look perfect. “Which one?” He asked Ted, who shrugged and answered with an evil smile, “Ask your husband.” Brian glared at him, and Ted left them there, leaving a loud laugh behind. Emmett stepped up to Brian, waving the wigs in front of his face. “Which one do you prefer?” Brian shrugged, “I don’t give a fuck. Your head, not mine.” “Come on Brian, I need some help here.” Emmett said, giving his words some emphasis with a stamp of his foot. Brian sighed and gave in. He seemed to be thinking for a while, but truth be told he was just struggling with himself to get Justin’s image out of his mind, trying to focus on Emmett’s problem. “So, which one would you like to see?” Asked Emmett again, trying to urge Brian’s decision. “The blond.” Answered Brian shortly then turned to his book again. Emmett nodded in agreement and left. After a few minutes Ted’s voice made Brian look up from the book, “Brian, I’d like you to meet these guys.” Ted was approaching Brian with three other young men. Brian didn’t think he’d seen them before. He stood up and waited for further explanation. Ted went on… “Since music is a very important part of our theatre, I was thinking about performing live music during our plays. I think it would make the play even more effective and everyone seems to agree with me on this one. These gentlemen are very talented musicians and they’ll work with us for the next couple of days. We’ll see how it works out.” Brian nodded and tried to look at least a bit enthusiastic, though he really wasn’t in the mood. He smiled and said politely, “That’s great.” “I can assure you that you’ve found the most talented musicians of this city.” A short, dark haired man spoke with a conceited smile on his face while checking Brian out constantly. “Is that so?” Brian raised one eyebrow, his expression less friendly this time. The boy’s ego seemed to surpass his own. Ted, sensing the tension cut in, “Gentlemen, this is Brian Kinney, one of our lead actors. He’s…” The dark haired man didn’t wait for Ted to finish the introduction; he just reached his hand out to Brian and said with a suggestive look, “I’m Ethan Gold.”
Quotes: W. Shakespeare: Othello Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing! :)