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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 14:58:21 GMT -5
Starlight smiled to Ace, her heart thudding a little quicker. Would she want to go to his place to talk! Of course she wanted! She, too, rather talked somewhere more comfortable, calmer. This was probably the most important discussion they had ever had.
"I'd love to," she said with a lighter smile, though she was still rather tense. She wasn't sure where the conversation was going, but she was sure she wanted to continue it.
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 15:35:06 GMT -5
"Alright then, to my place it is." The timing was perfect, as they were right before his building. Deciding to save any further conversation for when they were inside, Ace pulled into the driveway, pulling a card out and swiping it to open the garage door. Driving down to the second floor of the underground complex, he pulled into a spot right by the door, shutting off the car and getting out. They made their way inside, taking an elevator up to the very sophisticated lobby, where two security guards sat at a desk, waving to Ace in acknowledgement. He waved back, then led Starlight over to another set of elevators. There were seven in all, three on each side of the hall, the seventh at the the end. The got into the one at the end, which turned out to be specifically for the top floor. Ace explained to her that since the penthouse suits tended to cost a bit more than the other floors, their floor had it's own elevator that didn't stop at any of the other floors.
The elevator itself was just as fancy as the lobby, the back wall being nothing but a window, giving you a glimpse of the city as you went up 22 floors. It was a quick ride and once they reached the top they got off, walking down the hallway to Ace's condo. He opened the door and led her in, slipping off his shoes at the door. He turned to Starlight. "Well, this is the new place. Pretty fancy." He winked at her before heading into the kitchen and asking if she'd like anything to drink while getting himself a bottle of water.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 16:08:23 GMT -5
Starlight had to stare as she walked in after Ace. She followed in complete silence. The place was so fancy! She had already had the time to forget what a flashy life Ace led - compared to hers, anyway. She was awed as she stepped into the apartment itself.
"Well, this is the new place. Pretty fancy."
"Wow," was her main reply. It took her a while to realise he was asking if she wanted a drink. She snapped out of staring at the beautiful apartment - and all the space! - and smiled to him quickly while following him a little slowly.
"Sure," she said. "Some orange juice, maybe."
She could never ask for anything non-healthy when she was with him. She would feel so guilty. He was such an athlete, and though she admired him for it, it also intimidated her a little. He sometimes took it slightly too far.
She looked around in the place again, not daring to put her bag down anywhere. It was too fancy. She felt herself like Cinderella - a feeling she was fairly used to with Ace, but these days it was even stronger, now that her mother wasn't doing so well anymore.
"It's a wonderful place, Ace," she said quietly. "Must cost your mom a fortune."
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 16:20:59 GMT -5
Ace grinned as he took a glass to the fridge, taking out the container of orange juice and pouring her some. "Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. The condo alone cost $650,000, don't even ask about the chic, designer furniture." He laughed, knowing that with everything that was in the condo, it had cost her well over a million dollars. "But she makes good money, she was just promoted again actually. Jan and Victoria made her a partner in the company, they even renamed it to include her. So she's making a ridiculous amount of money now. But that's what you get when you sleep with the boss." He shut the fridge door and handed her the glass, smiling when he saw her still holding her bag. "You can put that on the floor, you know." He opened his bottle of water and took a sip. "Then I'll give you a tour."
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 16:28:49 GMT -5
Starlight had to smile as he went on about his mother and the cost of the condo. Well, she supposed he didn't really realise he was bragging. Or did he? Oh, she didn't care. She smiled and blushed a bit when he noted about the bag.
"Oh, yeah." She gave a little - slightly nervous - laugh and set the bag on the floor. "I was just enthralled by the size of this place. I mean, my place could probably fit into the living room alone."
Well, that wasn't precisely true, but she wasn't exaggerating much. Her mother couldn't afford a very large apartment. Whereas her father - well, these days he was doing far better than her mother. But she didn't want to think about those things now. Those worries were not for this moment. She didn't feel like she could talk to him about her troubles, not yet anyway. Maybe never again? The thought made her shudder inwardly.
Starlight took the offered glass and smiled. She was actually pretty eager to see the whole place.
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 16:39:07 GMT -5
Ace frowned slightly, feeling like a little bit of an ass. He knew he had a habit of bragging about everything he had, but he never did it with the intention of bragging. He just liked the fact that he lived in luxury, he enjoyed sharing it with his friends. "Well, let's go have a look around." They walked aorund the large condo, as first he showed off the spectacular view from the dining room window-wall, looking out over the city all the way onto the waterfront. Then he took her to see the reading room loft area, which also included his mother's room and the main bathroom, then brought her by the office area to finally come to his bedroom.
"You see, mom really chose to move here because it's a five minute walk down the road to her work, pretty much. Not to mention Jan lives down the hall, so they spend a lot of time together. So she let me have the master bedroom." He winked at her and opened the door, bringing her into his room. He wondered if she would notice her picture on the wall, wondered what she would say if she did see it. It had been taken on a camping weekend back when Patch and Chase had still been together, on the very first camping trip they'd taken together. It was still one of his favourite pictures he had, not only because it carried only good memories, but just because the way they were sitting together was so comfortable, they looked like they were meant to be together in the picture. But things had a way of changing unfortunately.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 16:48:34 GMT -5
Starlight followed Ace around, letting a little gasping "wow" sounds at the scenery spreading out of the windows. She was nodding nearly absent-mindedly, though still listening, as she followed him round the place, until they finally arrived to his room. There her eyes trailed around the walls. They stopped on the picture of her. The camping trip. Wordlessly, she walked quietly to the wall to where the picture was, and trailed her fingers over it, while memories flooded her mind. She had been so happy - just as happy as she appeared there. Everything had been so perfect.
Tears welled up in her eyes again.
"Those were the days, eh?" she asked with just a little broken voice, attempting at humorous but coming out as slightly sardonic. She felt like she was on the verge of crying again. She didn't know what she should have thought of the picture hanging there still. That he thought of her still? That he, too, still remembered?
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 16:56:53 GMT -5
He bit his lip in uncertainty as he saw her touch the picture, remembering too how good things had been once. He was tempted to put his arms around her and hug her, but he didn't exactly trust himself. What if he broke down a little and let her back in? Or let her think that he was letting her back in? He'd only push her back out again if she got in too far, he knew that. He didn't want to do that to her again, to hurt her without being able to tell her why.
Things had already gotten too comfortable between them, at least for him. He was fighting back the desire to draw her into his arms and just lay on his bed and cuddle with her, kiss her and talk about the old days when things had been less confusing.
So instead he did nothing, just stood there and looked at her, wondering why his life had gotten so out of hand, why he had turned out the way he did. He didn't want to pull her back down with him again, even though he suspected she would willingly go if he asked her to.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 17:17:19 GMT -5
Starlight felt her heart choking her. He could feel his presence in the room far too acutely for her liking. She wetted her lips and swallowed, trying to decide what she should do. Trying to keep a cool head about this whole situation. She breathed in, then out again. She stared at the picture, trying to hold back the tears. But she couldn't. The strain of the last months was too much. This whole conversation with Ace was too much.
Then, suddenly, she just couldn't hold herself anymore. she turned and wrapped her arms round him, tight, just hugging him. Nothing more. Just a hug. She didn't even realise she was wetting his shirt with her tears.
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 17:27:06 GMT -5
Ace was caught off guard when she turned and grabbed him, thinking momentarily that maybe she had read his mind. Still, even though he knew it was a bad idea, he put his arms around her and leaned his head down on top of hers, kissing her forehead and stroking a hand through her hair. He wanted to say something, but couldn't. What was he supposed to say in a situation like this?
So he just held her, closed his eyes and rested his other hand on her hip, squeezing her lightly, but enough to be comforting. Standing here like this suddenly had him wondering why, as in love with her as he had been, why had he never been interested in actually doing anything all that sexual with her. He had never contemplated having sex with her when they were together, never entertained the notion. Maybe she just reminded him too much of his own vulnerabilities, she reminded him of when he was younger.
He tried desperately to start thinking of something else, but now that the thought was in his head, it was very hard to put it away.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 17:57:10 GMT -5
Starlight felt Ace's arms around her comforting. She pressed her head tighter against his chest and wrapped her arms more snugly around his neck. It felt good there, just like that - quietly. There was no need for words.
Thinking upon this later, Starlight would have been sure to admit that her head was far too messed up of all different thoughts and feelings and insecurities for her to be able to act sensibly at that moment. But as she was in that moment right then, she didn't think about it logically. She only went by her feelings.
Her mind was going on a very much different track from his. She felt good there. She felt like this was the way it was always meant to be. She got comfort from his closeness. She remembered the good times, how they had been able to talk with one another about everything. How good it had been. How well they had fit together.
But as the silence grew on, she also remembered that that wasn't how things were now. He held her, yes, which meant a lot to her - told her that, on some level, he still cared. Still, it was not an embrace of reconciliation. It was an embrace shared by two friends, perhaps - one to bring back memories of old times. But nothing more.
Starlight wiped the tears off her face and looked up, pulling herself away from him, just a little.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Everything's just been... pretty hard on me lately. What with mom's new break-up and... everything."
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 18:10:38 GMT -5
When she pulled away it was like something nearly snapped inside of him and he felt even more compelled to hold on to her. He shook his head slowly, bringing a hand up to her face, brushing over her cheek with his thumb. "Don't apologize, it's alright." He looked down into her face, into her eyes, fighting back the urge to kiss her. At least it had distracted him from his other thoughts, though he was still feeling a little vulnerable from them. "Do you want to talk about things, your mother? You seem pretty upset and I admit I feel really bad that I have no idea what's going on in your life anymore. I still care about you, so if you want to talk about it, I'll listen. You know I've always been pretty good at listening." He smiled a little, remembering how out of nowhere, he had kind of taken on the role of counsellor for their group of friends when they'd started high school. Maybe hearing about other people's problems distracted him so much from his own. "So come on, come sit with me and tell me about it. It's not good to keep things bottled up." He also laughed at himself for saying that. He knew all too well what the effects of bottling up your problems were. Perhaps all the better reason for him to suggest letting them out.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 18:23:17 GMT -5
Starlight almost held his breath when his hand touched her cheek. She closed her eyes, and just breathed in the moment. It was so much like old times. When he spoke, she smiled, first just a little, then more. She opened her eyes and followed him, very slowly, to sit on the bed. She had no idea he had been so close to kissing her. But she could feel there was a warmth between us - a warmth she had missed.
It was something she needed at that moment. She breathed quietly for a while. She thought if she really should tell him. He had always been there for her, when they had still been together. He had always understood.
And now that they were there together, like that, she could see he hadn't really changed. Not that way.
"It's just... I don't know, Ace, it's like everything's falling apart." She sighed. "I don't even know where to begin." She got tears to her eyes. "We'll be here all night. And I shouldn't bother you with it. You probably have enough of your own things on your mind," she whispered quietly.
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 18:35:44 GMT -5
He kept his eyes on her when she spoke, paying her his full attention. It was definitely distracting him from himself, making him take on the role of comforter so he didn't feel so vulnerable anymore. He moved a little closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her in close to him. "Well we've got nothing but time right now and don't even think about saying that you don't want to burden me. If I didn't want to hear about it, you know I wouldn't ask you to tell me about it. Besides, hearing about other people's problems makes me feel useful, so talk to me." He put a finger under her chin, tilting her face up a little. "Don't make me beg." He stuck his lower lip out just a little, pouting just enough to hopefully make her smile. His threatening to beg her had been something he'd used to do whenever she hadn't wanted to bother him with problems before. It had always worked then.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 18:45:15 GMT -5
His pouting worked, even in Starlight's current state of mind. She had to give a little laugh, and as she did, her face lit up for just a moment, her eyes glimmering. Then the smile was gone again, and she looked more serious.
"I..." She paused, then looked down, and sighed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his neck, just to feel his warmth better. "I don't know, Ace. Everything's gone so horribly wrong in such a short time. My mom... she... she might be sick."
She hadn't meant to say that; she had meant to tell him about the more ordinary things, about how the Parlor wasn't doing so well, and they had trouble paying their bills, and all the rest of it. She hadn't told anyone about her mother yet. She had certainly not meant to tell Ace.
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