I started writing this chapter over a year ago, but had major writer's block, then totally forgot it even existed. I came across it today and was like "well shoot, gotta get that done", so here is the super overdue Chapter 3. Can you tell how my writing style's changed at all? Hehe...
"Gill?" A meek voice says. I turn around, wrapping Rhiannon's leash around my hand. Candace is standing behind me, a smile on her face and a cup of tea in her hands.
"Hello, Candace." I say, nodding at her. "What is it?"
"Well, Luna told me a few days ago that you two are dating. I just wanted to say how glad I am. It's obvious how happy you make her, so thank you." She takes a sip of her tea.
"Erm, you're welcome." I say awkwardly. It's one thing to deceive Hamilton- that's hilarious- but I forgot that doing this also meant lying to sweet, innocent Candace. "But it's my pleasure to be her significant other. You don't have to thank me."
"I know, but I just figured that Luna is tired of hearing it." She says. I have to admit to myself that's reasonable.
"Well, if everybody else gets tired of it, you can always talk to my father." I say, thinking of Hamilton's reaction to our bluff. "I'm sure he'd love to talk with you about us."
"Oh, I-I didn't mean I'd been t-talking about you!" She stutters, her cheeks turning red. "I never- I'm sorry. I must've said that wrong."
"Oh, no, you're fine." I say, now my turn to flush with embarrassment. "I hadn't meant it like that. I know you wouldn't gossip." The silence that followed was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life.
"Well, um, I'll be going then." Candace mumbles. "See you around, Gill! Bye!" She turns around and runs up the road to the church, tea sloshing over the top of her cup as she runs.
"Well, that was awkward." I mutter to Rhiannon, looking down at her. She merely growls, staring at me with loathing. "Yeah, yeah, I know." I sigh, continuing down the road. "But it's better to walk here than in the city, anyway. Fresher air. At least be thankful for that." She meows in indignation, following me reluctantly down the street.
I shake my head irritably, tying the leash to a pole. "Whatever, we're here. Stay put, be good, yeah?" I say warningly. She glares at me. "Good." I say, patting her head once before heading into Sonata Tailoring, directly behind us.
"Gill!" Luna trills, a door slamming as she flies at me from nowhere. I stagger as she flings her arms around my shoulders, smiling up at me and winking. I smirk ever so slightly back before wrapping my arms around her waist. It's a sweet embrace that Luna breaks a second later as she takes my hand and leads me to her room, undoubtedly for a little privacy. Shelly may be sweet, but according to Luna, she's terrible at minding her own business, especially when it comes to her granddaughters.
Once we're all settled in- I'm sitting at Luna's desk, while she's cross-legged on her bed- I clear my throat importantly. "I have some things I need to discuss with you, Luna." I begin, straightening my tie dramatically. She laughs. "Okay, Gill. What's up?"
"Firstly, we never thoroughly talked about what our little scheme would entail." I say. "What do you mean?" She asks, looking puzzled as she flips a pigtail over one shoulder. "We pretend that we're dating. Simple as that."
"Not exactly. There are some people that I could care less about tricking, but there are others I feel bad about. Candace, for example." I explain, my conscience weighing down on me as I remember my conversation with Luna's older sister. Luna doesn't seem to agree.
"Candace is strong. Sure, she may be a bit flustered and embarrassed if she found out we pulled one over on her like this, but she'll get over it quickly enough. Actually, if she somehow finds out before we 'break up', I think she'd find it great fun to play along."
"Are you sure?" I look at her, unconvinced. "Positive." she confirms, folding her legs under her. "Alright. Second order of business, the Flower Festival. It would be an honor to take you, m'lady." I say, adding a funny little bow that makes my blonde hair flop onto my face quite unflatteringly.
"And on behalf of your request, it would be an honor to go with you." she replies as I try to restyle my hair. "Excellent. Er, stupendous. Glorious?" I pause. "Let's just go with excellent. On a similar note, what's your favorite flower?" I ask, pulling out a small notepad and pencil.
"Pinkcat. Why?" she asks curiously. "It's for the festival. You'll see," I say, scribbling PINKCAT on the notepad and pocketing it again. "Last order of business. It's Hamilton's birthday tonight, and he has insisted that he has a party, just like he's done every year. And, as all good sons do, I had to concede after three hours of whining. You happen to be the first person on the guest list."
"Sure, I'll come. When is it?" she asks. "Tonight, around 18:00. There will be a dinner most likely full of awkward questions, and afterwards everyone just hangs out. But you already know the agenda, you've been to it before." I add. "Oh, feel free to invite Candace, too."
"I'll let her know. And if she refuses to come, I'll drag her over!" She giggles, and I rise from my chair. "That's the spirit. I need to return home to prepare for the party now, but I'll be seeing you soon!" I say.
"Wait! Before you go, I think you need some help…" she laughs, before striding over and restyling my hair. "Thanks," I say, feeling it with my fingers. "I was having trouble fixing it without a mirror." She walks with me back to the door out of the shop, where we say our final goodbyes and I give her a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving for home.
I open the door to the house and am hit with a blast of k-pop music. I'm surprised for a moment before I remember a phone call from a few years back where Gill was particularly exasperated. "You've got him hooked on that BST band" he had said. When I told him that it was BTS, he got all the more irritated and continued to proclaim that his father's newfound obsession was entirely my fault.
Hamilton is hopping around the kitchen area, singing along to the few lyrics that aren't in Korean and spouting gibberish for the rest of them. It's all I can do not to join him as I remind myself that Gill despises "those BST boys". So instead I let out a pained groan.
"Father, can we please change the music?" I say, kicking off my shoes and joining him near the sink. "Nope!" he says, before warbling "Oh my my my, oh my my my! I would give you my life, something something dah doo dee dah!" I rub my temples and sigh to cover the laugh that almost escaped me.
"You didn't even get the English right." I say. Hamilton stops dead in the middle of another line and looks at me suspiciously. "How would you know? It's not like you listen to it." I sigh again. "Father, did you forget I'm friends with Molly? If I've heard a k-pop song twenty times because of you, I heard it twenty thousand times from Molly first."
After a moment, Hamilton shrugs and continues dancing to the music. "A fine point there, my boy. Now, I'll get out of your way, I know you need to start cooking dinner!" He shimmies away towards the table, where he grabs some streamers. I roll up my sleeves and grab a light blue binder on the lowest shelf labeled "Gilly's Cookbook". Flipping through the book, I reach the recipe I'm looking for: loaded baked potatoes. It's dog-eared and the margins are covered in notes, things like 'Swap fugue mushrooms with wild ones' and 'Refrigerate for an extra fifteen minutes if cooking for father'.
"Thank you, G." I whisper under my breath, gathering ingredients. I begin to cook, paying close attention to the notes Gill has added from numerous times of cooking the meal for the best possible results. After roughly an hour and a half, I am sprinkling some cheese on the potatoes as Hamilton puts some finishing touches on his masterpiece; in other words, the room has become an explosion of streamers and balloons, with confetti covering every surface except the table and the counters that I'm cooking on.
I hum along to the music absentmindedly, lost in my work and spreading the cheese just right over the potato. "Oh ho ho!" comes a devious giggle from behind me. I jump and turn, knocking the bag of cheese to the ground. "What?" I snap, picking it back up and starting for the broom and dustpan. "Did I hear you humming?" He cackles.
My heart stops. "No!" I say angrily, sweeping up the cheese. "I'm fairly certain I heard you, my boy. You actually like my music!" I scowl, dumping the contents of the dustpan into the garbage can and washing my hands. "If I was humming- which I was not- it would have been a natural reaction to music playing and would therefore have nothing to do with it being your music. Hamilton grins from ear to ear. "Yes, yes, whatever you say!" He begins, but then the doorbell rings and our argument is cut off abruptly as he scurries to let in his first guests.
"Why, hello there!" He positively beams, clapping his hands in excitement. "You're the first ones here! Come this way, dinner will be ready soon! Do you like the decorations?" I sigh to myself, knowing Gill would be embarrassed but feeling a sudden burst of affection towards the man all the same. Hamilton can act like such a child, but it's refreshing and I love how his spirit never faded with age.
Looking over my shoulder, I see that it's Shelly, Luna, and Candace who arrived. Hamilton is happily pulling out chairs and helping them in. I flash a quick smile at them before turning back to the potatoes. The doorbell rings again and Hamilton thumps over to the door. Sticking the potatoes in the fridge, I take my place at the table next to Luna.
Dinner is pleasant enough. Once everyone has arrived, Hamilton has insisted we all wear little party hats. I promptly sulk while Luna laughs loudly at my behavior, but it's forgotten relatively quickly once the potatoes are served. Soon the chinks of cutlery replace the music as background noise, and, to my delight, several people comment that the potatoes taste better than usual. After dinner, I bring out the birthday cake.
"Happy birthday dear Mayor Hamilton, happy birthday to you!" Our little congregation sings. We admittedly don't sound the best, but Hamilton has tears in his eyes as he blows out the candles. "I want you all to know how grateful I am for each and every one of you. Good friends and good food make life worth living." He says as he cuts the cake.
"Here, here!" Yolanda agrees, grabbing plates of it and handing them out. "And even more so, to miss Luna! Gill was a lonely man until you came into his life. Very lonely indeed." I choke on my piece of cake. Kathy thumps my back while I gasp and sputter, and Luna talks over me loudly, saying "No trouble at all! And I'm sure he wasn't that lonely."
"You'd be surprised!" Hamilton chuckles. "He was very desolate. Always reading or working or talking to old Molly from the city. I say, it's quite good for him to talk to someone else for a change." I raise my eyebrows, stung. "Excuse me?" I say quietly. The rest of the room has fallen into an uncomfortable silence, but Hamilton doesn't seem to notice the tense atmosphere, because he goes on.
"Oh yes. Much love to Molly, much love to her, but you ought to have spent more time with others. And as good of a girl as she is, she is also quite a bit reckless, Gilly. You can't have forgotten all the trouble you'd get into with her before we moved? No, I think it's good you're getting out and about now."
I rise from my seat and Luna grabs my arm. I shake it off and stride to the door, pulling on my shoes. "Gill, come back!" she says, but I merely shoot Hamilton a contemptuous look before slamming the door behind me. He looks confused, like he has no clue why I'm mad. His ignorance just makes me angrier. Even if it wasn't me he was talking about, that's no way to speak to someone about their friends. Especially not in public. His birthday party, of all places!
I break into a run, following the path out of town. I don't know quite where I'm going, but running feels like the right thing to do right now. Sure enough, the rhythmic pounding of my feet and the warm spring air in my face is almost therapeutic. I'm still mad, but my anger is controlled. It still pulses through me like there's venom in my veins, but at least the adrenaline of it is gone and I know I won't throw something.
The anger feels good now, so I focus on it as I run. I lose track of where I am. All I know is that Hamilton is terrible, terrible, terrible. "Gill?" I break out of my head. Anissa is ten feet away, a look of utter bewilderment, "Oh. Hi." I say, stopping and waving awkwardly. "Are you okay? You look mad." she says, and I sigh.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little pissed at my father." I say, slowing to a halt. "A little?" she raises her eyebrows. "Okay, let's go with a lot." I amend. "Would you like me to help? I have this really good technique for regulating my emotions." she offers. I hesitate. "Aren't you working?" She sets her basket down in the dirt. "It's nothing time sensitive. I'm overdue for a break, anyway."
She starts off down the field, beckoning me to follow. I fall into step behind her and she opens a gate leading into vast, untamed fields. "This is beautiful," I gape, taking in the gentle sloping of the ground, the vibrant colors from the flowers, and mountains in the background. Anissa smiles happily. "Isn't it?" she agrees.
There's a bench nearby, and we sit on it. "Take off your shoes." I blink. "Huh?" "Take off your shoes," she repeats, looking a little embarrassed at the awkwardness of her request. "It's for the meditation." I shrug, then stoop to untie my laces. "And your socks," she adds, so I take those off, too.
"Now, you sit up straight with your feet planted firmly on the ground, and close your eyes." she demonstrates as she does this.
"Are they closed?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now, you take a deep breath in for three seconds- 1, 2, 3- and out for three seconds- 1, 2, 3."
"This is really-" I start, but she cuts me off. "Ssh! No talking during the meditation!" but I can hear the smile in her voice, so I know she's not irritated with me. We breathe in and out together for a few minutes, enjoying the fresh and flowery scent of the breeze.
"Wow, thanks." I say once she allows me to speak. "That was very calming." she beams. "Of course. I know it always helps me when I'm angry. Especially if I come out here." she pauses, considering something. "Do you want to talk about what made you upset?" she asks shyly. I shrug.
"Sure. There's not a lot to it, really. Ha- my father was saying some rude things about one of my friends. At his birthday party, of all places." I hold my breath, hoping she's too distracted by the contents of my explanation to notice my near slip-up at the beginning of it. Her eyebrows crease with concern, and exhale with silent relief.
"That's rough, I'm sorry, Gill." she sympathizes, putting her flats back on her feet. I start putting my socks and shoes on, too. "Thanks. It's no big deal, though. I think he was genuinely confused about how he was being insensitive." I stand.
"Which reminds me, I need to get back and apologize to him for leaving like that." I hold out my hand, and she shakes it. "Good luck!" she says."Thanks." with a wave, I head out through the gate and back towards town, even feeling chipper enough to hum a little Boy with Luv.
As I opened the door to the house, however, my sunshiny mood instantly evaporated. A royally upset Hamilton was sitting at the table, waiting for me to come home.
Once again, sorry for the overdue chapter! A year is a long time to wait, I know. I have two other fanfictions, like 50 original stories, and a ton of commitments, so there's no guarantee when the next one will be posted. But I'll try my best to make sure it's not in another year!