Nick and the rest of the Boys had a meeting at the compound, and a stiff formal reminder that under no circumstances was anyone except the nominated spokesperson to say anything to any reporters that morning. There had been that uncomfortable moment when all five of them had been thinking ‘huh?’ and then realising, and AJ had clapped Nick on the shoulder on his way out of the room. Howie had stayed huddled in the oversized chair in the corner until everyone else had left, staring at the silver cell phone in his hand because he’d forgotten, and yet Lance had the date in his PDA, and had left him messages.
He was still sitting there, watching the ice cubes in the water glass in front of him melt and shift against each other, when his phone chirruped, startling him slightly.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
Lance’s voice was warm and sweet. His sounded flat and dull to his ears.
“Any news?”
“Not that I’ve heard about.”
“Hows ….” Lance trailed off.
“Nick’s with the lawyers and PR people, Bri shot off the second the meeting was done, and Kev and AJ are almost certainly holed up somewhere trying to talk each other out of taking all the blame.”
“And you?”
Howie shrugged, and let Lance read the silence how he would.
“So, if I asked you to head over to the lake, there’d be nothing stopping you?”
Howie realised he was worrying his lower lip between his teeth and stopped. He leaned forward in his chair and peered out of the window. Lance was wearing a sky blue shirt that showed off his muscles, and holding a large deli bag under on arm and a ground sheet in the other hand. He wriggled the fingers of one hand, looking up at Howie’s window.
“You were in LA last night.” Howie pointed out to his phone,
“Yep.”
It was weird watching Lance’s lips frame the word all the way over there and then hearing it tinny and a fraction delayed in his ear.
“And now you’re here?”
“And right now I’m here, yes. Waiting for you to come down and get some lunch, some sun, and …”
He gestured vaguely to himself with the groundsheet, and Howie couldn’t keep from smiling.
sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-06-29 05:04 pm (UTC)Nick and the rest of the Boys had a meeting at the compound, and a stiff formal reminder that under no circumstances was anyone except the nominated spokesperson to say anything to any reporters that morning. There had been that uncomfortable moment when all five of them had been thinking ‘huh?’ and then realising, and AJ had clapped Nick on the shoulder on his way out of the room. Howie had stayed huddled in the oversized chair in the corner until everyone else had left, staring at the silver cell phone in his hand because he’d forgotten, and yet Lance had the date in his PDA, and had left him messages.
He was still sitting there, watching the ice cubes in the water glass in front of him melt and shift against each other, when his phone chirruped, startling him slightly.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey.”
Lance’s voice was warm and sweet. His sounded flat and dull to his ears.
“Any news?”
“Not that I’ve heard about.”
“Hows ….” Lance trailed off.
“Nick’s with the lawyers and PR people, Bri shot off the second the meeting was done, and Kev and AJ are almost certainly holed up somewhere trying to talk each other out of taking all the blame.”
“And you?”
Howie shrugged, and let Lance read the silence how he would.
“So, if I asked you to head over to the lake, there’d be nothing stopping you?”
Howie realised he was worrying his lower lip between his teeth and stopped. He leaned forward in his chair and peered out of the window. Lance was wearing a sky blue shirt that showed off his muscles, and holding a large deli bag under on arm and a ground sheet in the other hand. He wriggled the fingers of one hand, looking up at Howie’s window.
“You were in LA last night.” Howie pointed out to his phone,
“Yep.”
It was weird watching Lance’s lips frame the word all the way over there and then hearing it tinny and a fraction delayed in his ear.
“And now you’re here?”
“And right now I’m here, yes. Waiting for you to come down and get some lunch, some sun, and …”
He gestured vaguely to himself with the groundsheet, and Howie couldn’t keep from smiling.
Re: sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-06-30 11:50 am (UTC)I love it, even though it's not so much silly but very much thoughtful and sweet. *sigh*
Re: sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-07-04 03:32 pm (UTC)Re: sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-07-04 12:41 am (UTC)Re: sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-07-04 03:34 pm (UTC)Re: sweet, although not very silly. hope it's ok
Date: 2005-07-05 05:20 am (UTC)Lovely little story. I loved the part about Lance wriggling his fingers at Howie's window - such a sweet dork.