Re: Still Frames [Edenor]
Posted: 04 Dec 2015, 02:36
Clover arched a brow at him, unable to find the words to respond to his quips. Or rather, she was unwilling to feed his flirtatious attitude. He was a cheeky man, indeed. He’d brightened her spirits, but his personality also made her want to reach across the space between them and slap him across the face. She reasoned with herself that the assault would have been brief, one single slap across his right cheek and then a chuckle. Clo buried those thoughts by tearing her eyes away from him. Her phone began vibrating, the loud buzz making her sigh. She enjoyed every text, but she also hated every interruption. As she closed a hand around the phone, she turned her gaze back to Jackson.
“I came out for other reasons. You’re right,” she replied. She flashed him a mischievous smile and then looked down at her phone. She spoke as she texted. “I decided to come to this quaint little pub in the hopes that a big, strong man would take me home with him,” she stopped, looking up at him and then back down at her phone. The change in subject circled back to the flirtatious undertone he’d cemented in the conversation. She chose anything, said anything, to get away from bringing up the real reason for her visit to Lancaster’s, or her presence in the district. She wanted to mope, of course, and to wallow in her own failures, but she didn’t want a stranger digging through her mind. Clover didn’t like it when people asked just the right questions in all the wrong ways.
Placing her phone back on the bar, she studied the way the bartender engaged and disengaged with the patrons. He showed enthusiasm; he showed involvement. With Jackson, the bartender lacked both qualities. Whether or not the employee actually cared for the troubles of his patrons, he stood there and nodded at all the right times. Clo admired the fact that he showed up to his job. She couldn’t say the same about herself. Her attention remained on the polished man for a little while longer, and she noticed little things about the way the man carried himself, little things about the way he smiled and nodded and laughed. He didn’t really care. Good for him.
“I think you’re right,” she added, her comment coming rather late. “He’s not really interested. I like that he’s trying to maintain the appearance. He shows up, at least.” And with her words, she still managed to avoid answering Jackson’s question. Clo saw a parallel between Jackson and the bartender, where if she had chosen to tell the truth and continue on with her life story, Jackson would have played the role of the nameless bartender. She would have seen through his facade, through the cracks in his smile.
“I’m wasting time before I go home. When you’re in a big family, things happen. You just want to step back. I like a little alone time. Too much and I find things to fill it with.” Clo looked over at Jackson and offered him a smile, one that she hoped conveyed the fact that her words had deeper meanings. When she had too much time to herself, when she felt as if she were abandoned, she did terrible things. Self-destructive things. Plain destructive things.
For a portion of their conversation, she seemed content to call him Jackson, and if she went home knowing him as Jackson, then that would be the end of things. His name would have been cemented in her mind, in the few memories she'd made. “Are you going to tell me your name, Jackson? Please.” She wondered whether the please would only prolong their game, for it had become a game to the both of them.
“I came out for other reasons. You’re right,” she replied. She flashed him a mischievous smile and then looked down at her phone. She spoke as she texted. “I decided to come to this quaint little pub in the hopes that a big, strong man would take me home with him,” she stopped, looking up at him and then back down at her phone. The change in subject circled back to the flirtatious undertone he’d cemented in the conversation. She chose anything, said anything, to get away from bringing up the real reason for her visit to Lancaster’s, or her presence in the district. She wanted to mope, of course, and to wallow in her own failures, but she didn’t want a stranger digging through her mind. Clover didn’t like it when people asked just the right questions in all the wrong ways.
Placing her phone back on the bar, she studied the way the bartender engaged and disengaged with the patrons. He showed enthusiasm; he showed involvement. With Jackson, the bartender lacked both qualities. Whether or not the employee actually cared for the troubles of his patrons, he stood there and nodded at all the right times. Clo admired the fact that he showed up to his job. She couldn’t say the same about herself. Her attention remained on the polished man for a little while longer, and she noticed little things about the way the man carried himself, little things about the way he smiled and nodded and laughed. He didn’t really care. Good for him.
“I think you’re right,” she added, her comment coming rather late. “He’s not really interested. I like that he’s trying to maintain the appearance. He shows up, at least.” And with her words, she still managed to avoid answering Jackson’s question. Clo saw a parallel between Jackson and the bartender, where if she had chosen to tell the truth and continue on with her life story, Jackson would have played the role of the nameless bartender. She would have seen through his facade, through the cracks in his smile.
“I’m wasting time before I go home. When you’re in a big family, things happen. You just want to step back. I like a little alone time. Too much and I find things to fill it with.” Clo looked over at Jackson and offered him a smile, one that she hoped conveyed the fact that her words had deeper meanings. When she had too much time to herself, when she felt as if she were abandoned, she did terrible things. Self-destructive things. Plain destructive things.
For a portion of their conversation, she seemed content to call him Jackson, and if she went home knowing him as Jackson, then that would be the end of things. His name would have been cemented in her mind, in the few memories she'd made. “Are you going to tell me your name, Jackson? Please.” She wondered whether the please would only prolong their game, for it had become a game to the both of them.