Moving along! There will be a few time jumps in the next few chapters. I honestly want to rewrite this entire story, as I've changed as a writer since I started. However, I want to finish this first, and I'll adjust accordingly afterwards.
In other news, I've started a new Effie centric fic that I'm quite excited about, which will be published after I've completed this one, so keep an eye out for that one!
Effie was on a plane, and she couldn't sleep. It was late at night, with them flying out immediately after Johanna had finished that nights concert, and she was tired. They had a very busy day coming up once they landed, and she desperately needed a few hours of rest. She was back on tour with Joanna, and Coin and Paylor kept adding extra dates to the already packed schedule. She was constantly on the phone rearranging things, pleading with hotel managers and venue coordinators and she was trying hard not to let herself get run down like she was before, so she had promised herself that flights were her time off. No paperwork, no calls, no planning. Nothing.
Of course, it only meant that she had twice the amount of work waiting for her on the other side, but at least it gave her a few hours to eat, sleep and recharge. She was dressed comfortably, in a first class seat, on a steady flight and she was tired. She could feel the heaviness in her bones, and before she had gotten onto the plane she hadn't been able to stop yawning. So it didn't make sense that now she was wide awake and jittery, as though someone had injected neat caffeine into her veins.
Johanna was across from her, sprawled out like she was sunbathing, her limbs all pointing at odd angles. She was fast asleep, a little snore occasionally escaping from her slightly open mouth. Effie smiled a little at seeing the usually uptight girl so relaxed. It made her look younger and more vulnerable, more like the child that she was, than the extreme woman the media made her out to be. With a sigh, Effie shifted so she could look out of the window instead. She hoped that the blackness outside would convince her mind that it was time to sleep.
She knew if she watched a movie she wouldn't sleep at all, so after tossing and turning for the better part of an hour she fished out her ipod and stuck in her earbuds. She ignored all Joanna's harsh and angry music, sneered slightly at her collection of classical, and ended up listening to a soft ballad of Peeta's. It helped a little, he had a very soothing voice, but his lyrics seemed a little too close to home. He sang about a one night stand and leaving on a plane the very next day. She tried to ignore it but halfway through she pressed the forward button. The song rolled into one of Haymitch's, one that started slow and ended at full tempo with a bang. It wasn't one of his new ones, but rather one from his first ever album that had always been one of her favorites. She left it playing, letting his voice wash over her, giving up on her hope of sleep, and allowing her mind to wander.
She hadn't heard from him in weeks, he was busy and so was she, and honestly they both knew that it was a onetime thing. She was not under any illusions that they owed each other anything, and it would do her no good to get clingy. She occasionally got an email from Antionette, but it was always short and to the point, giving Effie no hint about the man himself, despite the fact that she read them at least three times trying to read between the lines.
Effie missed him, and she worried about him. He was a royal pain in her ass, but she missed him all the same, and worried that he was being difficult with Antoinette and drinking too much. It wasn't that she expected anything from him, and knew that she should be grateful that she didn't have to work with his sorry ass any longer, but every now and then she would see or hear something and think to herself 'Haymitch would have liked that'. Frowning at herself, she pressed a few buttons on her ipod and selected his playlist before closing her eyes, not bothering that his music was anything but soothing. She woke up as they came into land a few hours later, her ipod battery dead, and Joanna now wide awake. She stretched, enjoying the feeling of her muscles coming back to life, and blinked. She felt surprisingly well rested.
Haymitch came off stage covered in sweat. He had forgotten how physically taxing performing could be, with trying to cover all sides of the stage, singing, playing guitar and constantly hyping up the crowd. The show was now thankfully over for the night, but his evening was far from over. He had a few minutes to change and then it was onto the meet and greet. His wardrobe assistants met him as he hurried off stage, and before he knew what had hit him he was sponged down, changed and sprayed with something that smelt vaguely like pine trees. They fluttered around him, reminding him forcibly of birds, grabbing bits of clothing, and tugging various items onto him. He was eventually dressed in tight jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt that was way too hot for someone who was still trying to catch his breath, and had a brown scarf wrapped around his neck. He tugged at it, loosening it, and earned himself a glare from one of them. Before he could return the filthy look one dragged a brush through his hair, and he resisted the urge to tell her that he wasn't a goddamn Barbie doll.
Antionette hovered near the door, an ipad in hand, tapping her foot impatiently and glancing at her watch. She reminded him forcibly of Effie. He wondered if Effie had given her lessons on how to do that impatient stare, and constantly check the time. The similarities were almost jarring. He scowled and batted the wardrobe lot away, quickly following her out to a small room that had been sectioned off for the meet and greet.
It was even hotter in this room, with the camera's and the bright lights. He was attacked briefly by another wardrobe person with a large brush in her hand, before a camera man told him where to stand for the photographs. There he stood for what felt like hours, smirking at the cameras and allowing woman to hug him, and men to pound him almost painfully on the back. He was sure he was going to go deaf if another person shrieked when they came into the room, but he knew that he simply had to grin and bear it. He didn't need to give Coin or Effie another reason to stand there, shaking their heads at him like he was a naughty puppy.
He needed a drink.
He posed with another group of people, his face beginning to ache from all the posing, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed someone hovering off to the side. Inwardly, he groaned. Haymitch had been around long enough to know when a groupie was after him, but as he turned to get a better look, the woman started walking away. He felt his mouth go dry, he knew that figure. He knew that figure really well. Not caring that he was still supposed to be posing with a perfectly awful family of four, he stepped out of the group and hurried after the person.
"Effie?" he called, as the figure bent over and picked up what looked like a leather jacket, before carrying on towards the door. "Hey, wait!"
The woman turned, and despite the blonde hair in a bun, and tight pencil skirt he realized she looked nothing like Effie. She was much taller, her eyes were a dark brown, and she didn't have Effie's elegant nose. Haymitch stopped short, feeling stupid all of a sudden.
"Sorry" the woman said. Even her voice was wrong, it was deep and husky, and lacked Effie's musical lilt "my boyfriend left his jacket here, I just came to get it."
Haymitch nodded, and took a step back. How on earth had he thought this woman was Effie when he knew she was halfway around the world from here? He had forgotten exactly where, but he knew that she wasn't due back in America for another four months at least. He shook his head to clear it, and ambled back to the photography session, only to be met with glares from the family he had abandoned. He scowled
"Sorry" he muttered, shuffling into position as the man behind the camera directed "She looked like a friend of mine."
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