Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 4, 2010 15:18:20 GMT -1
"Hiya!" Rowan greeted her new roommate.
"Oh, Syed, this is Alyssa my new roommate in my new flat," she introduced, slightly grateful for the distraction.
"And Alyssa, this is Syed, a very nice fellow I rescued earlier today," she grinned at Syed. "His family run a catering business and might, just might, let me bake for them sometimes."
An idea occurred to Rowan, a way she could help Syed out at the bar and still let him buy her the thank you drink he promised.
"We were just about to go up and get drinks, I'll get your first Alyssa what's your poison?"
Last Edit: Apr 4, 2010 15:27:40 GMT -1 by mythmoonwitch
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 4, 2010 15:23:13 GMT -1
Christian fought off a frown as he saw another girl come in and sit down with Syed and that Rowan. He gave himself a shake. What sort of attitude was that, he didn't even know Rowan! What was he thinking referring to her as 'that Rowan'?
He was clearly more than a little bothered at seeing Syed hanging around with other women. Amira, he could handle a bit, but what was Syed playing at with these other girls?
He gave himself another shake and schooled his expression to blandness.
He noticed the new arrival, pretty with amazing hair, was eyeing him. He gave her a quick flirty wink and a grin and resumed tidying up behind the bar.
Alyssa's smiled broadened as he winked at her. She turned back to Rowan, and her attention flickered towards Syed.
"Nice to meet you Syed" she smiled at him, he was cute, not her type though she thought with an internal sigh.
She exhaled deeply, an assortment of alcholic beverages dancing through her brain, she chewed her lip as she thought before replying to Rowans question.
"I'll have a...........................white wine spritzer please Rowan" she said happily.
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 4, 2010 18:33:49 GMT -1
Rowan noticed Alyssa eyeing up Christian. That girl was in for a shock when she found out Christian was gay. She gave a quick glance at Syed to see if he noticed but couldn't tell by his expression if he had or not.
"White wine spritzer, got it," Rowan repeated and tapped Syed's shoulder. "Let's go get some drinks, it's your turn to get mine remember? For saving your food?" she teased and headed towards the bar.
Last Edit: Apr 4, 2010 18:38:21 GMT -1 by mythmoonwitch
Roxy washed her hands briefly, why did she always end up covered in beer whenever she changed a barrel? She dried her hands on a towel and clenched them to make sure that they weren't sticky. She sighed and walked back to the bar and glanced around her pub.
One new person, the girl that was in here early this morning was sitting by herself, the toher two were approaching the bar. Roxy felt for Christian as she noticed that Syed was coming over, she walked past Christian and stood waiting for her punters.
"Alright guys? What can i get you?"
she shot a look over her shoulder at Christian, the look in her eyes said 'your welcome'
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 5, 2010 17:54:19 GMT -1
Christian raised his eyebrows briefly at Roxy as she moved to serve Rowan and Syed, and then gave her a small smile.
On the one hand, it was a way to talk to Syed, on the other hand, it was a way to talk to Syed. He was so torn and tried hard to keep disappointment from his expression and took an inadvertant step towards them.
Rowan glanced at Syed when the barmaid made it clear she intended to serve them. She couldn't see from her angle if he was disappointed or not at the missed opportunity to talk to Christian.
She, herself was less than thrilled at being served by the barmaid. There was just something about the woman that put Rowan off.
She forced a smile, stepped up and placed her money on the bar and said brightly: "white wine spritzer please."
While she waited for Alyssa's drink she slid a five pound note down the bar in Christian's direction when she noticed he had stepped towards them.
"This is for you. Thank you so much for bringing my food over. I'm afraid when I get to writing in that journal I tune out a bit," she explained with a small chuckle and genuine gratitude in her tone.
"Always happy to help out a pretty lady," he teased and gave her a cheeky grin as he pocketed the money. He took the opportunity of talking to Rowan to move a bit more in Syed's direction.
"So, how was the Shepherd's pie?"
"It was quite good, thank you," Rowan replied.
She watched Christian's eyes track to Syed repeatedly. She wasn't fooled for a minute that Christian had moved closer just to talk to her. Not with Syed standing right next to her.
She caught Christian's gaze, flicked a quick glance at Syed and then looked back at Christian, her understanding of his situation plain in her expression.
Christian gave Rowan a small, sad smile and tried to think of something else to say.
Post by citizen_cydonia on Apr 5, 2010 22:21:49 GMT -1
The atmosphere at the bar was so thick with tension, it was a surprise it remained visible. Syed felt like he had to do something; say something.
“Rowan, you take the drinks over to our table, Alyssa’s in danger of being chatted up by Minty, sat there by herself!” He gestured towards the general direction, and turned back to Christian. He hoped that Rowan would take the hint.
Rowan reluctantly took the tray of drinks back to the corner table.
“So, erm, how have you been?” Syed enquired. He noticed Christian smirk a little.
“I suppose you think I’m building up a little harem over there?!” Syed imagined that Christian was bemused by the way he was socialising with all the new girls.
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 5, 2010 22:59:21 GMT -1
Rowan returned to the table and handed Alyssa her drink, took a sip of her own and put Syed's on the table, fuming inside at herself for walking away and leaving Syed alone. She didn't know why, but for some reason she felt very protective towards Syed.
"And what the hell was a 'Minty' anyway?" she wondered to herself.
She sat where she could keep an eye on the bar and attempted to talk to Alyssa....
Christian quirked a brow at Syed's remark and leaned on the bar. He glanced quickly at Roxy and gave her a nod, asking her to give him some privacy, then returned his gaze to Syed's.
"You said it, not me," Christian remarked. "However, I do wonder what Amira would say if she saw you so friendly with your pal Rowan over there," he paused a moment, deliberately looked in Rowan's direction and then looked back at Syed and smiled a slow smile.
"She is a bit pretty, isn't she, I suppose?" Christian asked, the slightest hint of menace in his tone. "Besides, the other one over there has been giving me the eye," he continued smugly.
******************
"So, how did the job hunt go?" Rowan asked Alyssa casually. She noticed for some reason Christian looked right at her and wondered why.
What was he saying? She thought Syed looked a little distressed but wasn't certain. She took another sip of her drink and tried to focus on Alyssa's answer.
Post by citizen_cydonia on Apr 5, 2010 23:32:24 GMT -1
Syed grimaced. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous of them?! If I was into girls, I’d only have eyes for Amira!”
He couldn’t believe how petty Christian was being!
Then his heart softened; hmm, he realised it was quite flattering that Christian was so bothered by anyone giving him attention. He supposed he wanted him all to himself!
“I’ve told Amira to meet me here. I’d hardly do that if I was having some kind of illicit affair!”
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 6, 2010 0:23:11 GMT -1
"Jealous," Christian snorted, and he leaned until his face was almost touching Syed's, "you wish darling."
He bored his gaze into Syed's, letting all the heat that was beginning to ripple through him show in his eyes so that only Syed could see and then pulled back.
"I think Amira just might be the jealous one tonight." Christian tilted his head at Syed and continued. "Does she know you're here with those girls? And does she know the only reason you wouldn't actually be having an affair with one of them is because you would rather be having an affair with me," he drew the last few words out very slowly as he fixed Syed with another smoldering gaze.
*******************
Rowan was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on what Alyssa was saying but she tried not to let on.
While she was now quite certain about Syed's, orientation she supposed, she was equally certain that he was in the closet, unlike Christian.
She took another sip of her drink as her fingers began plucking at her silver bracelet, a mindless habit she did when she was anxious or nervous and most of the time completely unaware she was doing it.
Post by citizen_cydonia on Apr 6, 2010 1:16:54 GMT -1
“You can’t stand that I’m trying to make my marriage to Amira work. You hate the thought that I might actually have something with her. A future……a REAL future!!” Syed spat those last words out viciously. He looked around; people were staring at the two of them now. Even the music in the background ceased playing. Had he been too harsh?
He turned back to Christian's obviously hurt-looking face.
He lowered his voice and spoke more calmly.
"Look, what you and I had was fun at the time. I just can't go there anymore; I have responsibilities. I want my marriage to last, can't you understand that at least?"
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 6, 2010 2:15:02 GMT -1
"I can understand it, Sy, I just don't believe it," Christian glanced around, thankful for once the pub was mostly empty. He noticed Rowan was watching them, she looked concerned and he absently wondered why.
"I love you Sy, for me there is no one else and if you would just be honest for one minute you'd realize the same thing. No matter what it will always come back to that," Christian stated, "always. You are just going to end up hurting Amira if you keep lying to yourself like this."
Christian licked his lips and dared to brush the tips of Syed's fingers where they were pressed against the bar with his own.
"Is that why you're really here with those girls? Maybe you hope to be seen with them, maybe hope Amira will get jealous and that way she would suspect even less where your heart really belongs."
Christian sighed heavily. "You already have mine," he finished in a slightly defeated tone.
Post by citizen_cydonia on Apr 6, 2010 21:13:12 GMT -1
What could Syed say to that? He knew in his heart that what Christian was telling him was the truth, but he certainly didn’t want to admit it to him. Hell, he didn’t even want to admit it to himself.
“Believe what you like. If I gave up everything I have, the marriage, the business, my family, all to be with you, how long would it be until the stress of losing those things will drive a wedge between us, hmm?!” Syed noticed Christian was already looking beaten down. His words just now must have completely destroyed any hopes he might have still harboured.
Syed looked over at Rowan. Alyssa was still chatting and giggling away happily, but Rowan was looking over to the bar, at him and Christian. She looked quite sad….or maybe she felt that he was a huge letdown to her? She must have seen the anger pass between himself and Christian and why would she want a friend who went around getting annoyed and heated at people?
He turned to face Christian again. “Look, I never wanted to hurt you, you know that, right? I just came in here for a quiet drink with a nice girl who helped me earlier when I needed it. There’s nothing more in it than that. If you want to stir things with Amira, that’s up to you. But I know that’s not how you operate Christian. You’re better than that.”
He turned and walked away from the bar, not looking forward to explaining things to Rowan……
Post by mythmoonwitch on Apr 6, 2010 22:18:48 GMT -1
Christian sighed again and could only gaze at Syed sadly.
"No, I would never call Amira. And Sy, maybe by being honest about yourself you would lose those things but the longer you live this lie the more of yourself you lose. If you're not careful you will fade away," he replied. He rubbed his face with his hands and gave a wry chuckle.
"And to be honest, I think you're the one trying to stir things up with Amira," Christian commented, his voice low and devoid of emotion, "you never did answer my question if Amira knew you were meeting other women in the pub when you asked her to join you."
Christian suddenly turned his back on Syed and took a couple steps away from the bar to hide the tears that were threatening to spill from his eyes.
"You better get back to your friends Sy," he said, again his tone dead and completely emotionless.