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Chapter Thirty-Four: Living the Good Life
Life in the Capitol wasn't all that bad after several weeks passed and I was numb to the fate that awaited me. In fact, at work, I was held to such high esteems that I never felt uncomfortable there. Another reason why I enjoyed work was because it allowed me to glimpse into my home district. It was a breath of fresh air to see faces on the screen in front of me that I recognized. I suppose it truly was a case of not realizing what I had until it was gone.
As the months passed, I blended into the Capitol's lifestyle. At work, I found it was simply normal to be invading into the personal lives of individuals who were of threat to the Capitol. When I took a particular camera home to develop it into a more crisp and clean camera, I tried not to think about all of the negativitiy that surrounded the thought. Some may have thought that I was losing that district passion that deeply wished to be separated from the Capitol.
I liked to call it good acting.
Deep within me, I knew the cruelty of those whose I worked for. I knew that President Snow could kill me at any minute that I stepped outside of what he considered to be my realm of expertise. I also knew, deep within me, that they needed to be stopped.
It was because of this thought within me that I continued discussing the matter with Seneca, of course, within the comforts of his family's garden. Though President Snow had presented me with a rather intimidating task, I waited quite some time before I mentioned anything to Seneca. I found it would be smarter to actually get to know him first and build more trust.
Speaking of Seneca, we were nearly all the rage in the Capitol. After that one incident, people couldn't stop talking about us. It was rather bothersome really; we couldn't even go into restaurants anymore without being swarmed with people. This was a changing factor in our relationship when we started having to rent out restaurants when we wished to go out to dinner or disguise ourselves so heavily that no one would be able to recognize us (which is relatively easy in the Capitol).
The young Gamemaker also taught me quite a bit about life that I hadn't ever had an interest in before. Had it not been for him, I may have had a harder time fitting in to the Capitol's culture.
For instance, I remember the first time Seneca took me to one of the Capitol's "lounges" for nighttime entertainment. I wasn't necessarily expecting to enjoy myself and I most certainly did not. Seneca kept on insisting the entire way.
"Seneca, you know this isn't my scene," I argued with him as our vehicle came closer to the club doors.
He sighed before taking my hand and looking straight at me," Didn't we agree that we were going to try to learn from each other?"
"I don't see any lessons to be learned from this, honestly," I said, biting down on my lip.
"We stayed out of the spotlight last weekend; the people clearly want to see more of us, therefore, we will do what they wish," He assured me, looping his hand through mine. "I know this is incredibly uncomfortable for you."
I narrowed my eyes at him," You absolutely love this scene."
He chuckled at this before running a hand through his hair," I do, but I won't do anything too crazy. For you."
"Oh, gee, thanks," I muttered, slightly rolling my eyes as we pulled up to the very modern-looking building with tinted windows and fountains rolling along the entrances. Clearly, there were already some people of interest here as many people with cameras were flashing as we pulled to a stop.
"You ready?" He asked, looking at me as he took a deep breath in, placing a hand on the door handle.
"Sure," I said, trying to put on my face for the camera as he pushed the door open and assisted me out of the car.
Immediately, I put a smile on my face and looped my arm through Seneca's as the cameras flashed and we quickly were escorted to the inside of the building. As soon as we were inside, it was as if all eyes were on us. It truly was a lounge-feel for there were several corners with plush couches and stools where men and women were sprawled out, drinks everywhere.
This was certainly not my scene.
At all.
I could already feel tension running up my spine as I clutched closer onto Seneca. People were scantily clad and walking around as though nothing were wrong at all. Women of all different shapes would stroll past us, looking at me as though I were some sort of freak because I didn't look like them. I remember Seneca leading me through the lounge, gaining several looks from people all over.
One woman with blue-tinted skin came up to Seneca and I. Not that I was looking, but her chest was nearly visible to everyone in the room. It was clear that she had no need for modesty. I gasped at how she nearly pressed herself against Seneca as she spoke to him.
"Hello, Mr. Gamemaker," She purred, batting her long, jeweled eye-lashes at him, not even acknowledging me.
"Hello….Sandra," He gulped, looking incredibly nervous next to me as he tried to stay strictly platonic. "How have you been?"
She adjusted herself before muttering to him," So, you ditched Vibia, I heard?"
This was quite a while ago now. Seneca and I were an established couple by this point in time. He shot his eyes over at me before looking back to her.
"Yes, but I am with Savera now," He said strictly, taking a step back from her.
She narrowed her eyes at him and shot me a quick glare as she prowled forward again, grabbing him by his tie before pulling him closer to her. I was about ready to jump in and say something to her, but the warning look on Seneca's face and the pressure with which he was squeezing my hand was telling me the opposite.
She pulled his ear right her lips before purring," If you're ever looking for…someone…you know who to call."
My jaw dropped as she ever-so-slowly pulled away, blinking many times before finally turning and leaving for the dance floor. Seneca straightened his tie before I shot him a warning look.
"What was that?" I asked, much like a mother would ask her child.
"She was….okay she was one of my old girlfriends, but I don't have any interest in her and she has a terrible reputation for being…well-" He trailed off as I assumed what he meant. My eyes trailed behind us where she was still glaring at the both of us.
I was beginning to learn that Seneca must have had much more experience when it came to relationships than I had. I should have known this seeing as he was still a child of the Capitol (I forgot this detail sometimes), but it was just strange to see him in such an awkward position as he was with this strange woman.
"You don't have to finish that," I said, shaking my head as I looked at him. "I think I understand what you mean."
"Anyways, why don't I explain how all of this works…" He said and the rest of an evening was a culture shock for me.
I could tell by how easily Seneca conversed with many of the other young Capitol citizens who were in the lounge that this was certainly his scene. For me, I had never cared for the strong drinks of the Capitol, but I had allowed him to order me one just to please him. I watched, slightly disturbed, at how quickly he was putting away drinks and talking. I tried keeping in conversation with him best as I could, also with those whom he had introduced me to and befriended. Though I laughed and had fun learning the ways of the Capitol party scene, I still couldn't help but feel a little out of place. Dancing was something that I never mastered in District Two and quite frankly had my mother seen the moves they were teaching me at the Capitol, then she would have thrown a fit. For some reason, I didn't feel this weekend was very beneficial for me.
All in all, at the end of the night, I came out a very different individual. I felt very knowledgeable in the party-scene and would at least know what to do next time I came. This, by no means, meant that I enjoyed it and would want to come every weekend. It simply meant that when Seneca wanted to go, then I wouldn't complain as much.
I had seen many women approach Seneca as if they knew him during our relationship, but there were also many men and women alike that approached me because of my status as the Hunger Games winner, as well as my status in the Central Intelligence. Seneca had warned me that sometimes people in the Capitol do brash things around people whom they liked.
I didn't learn the severity of this until Seneca and I were ready to leave. He was feeling a little too happy due to the drinks while I was still of a very conscious mindset. It wasn't until the lounge was closing, we were sitting at barstools waiting for the people to exit, that a tall, slender man came and sat next to me in a barstool.
He had glowing green eyes and bright blonde hair. I found his smile to be a little too wide, but he was at least charismatic. It wasn't until I actually looked at him that I gasped and shot my head away; he was completely naked.
I was breathing heavily as I looked to Seneca who was fighting back laughter as I kept strict eye contact with the man, trying to steady my breath.
"It's alright. I tend to have that effect on women," This strange man said, grabbing my hand as he strangely began to massage it. His hand massage actually felt quite nice, but I didn't focus on that as he continued speaking. "I just wanted you to know that your performance in the Games was…most impressive. Please, do grace me with some insight as to how you accomplished it."
I swallowed hard before forcing myself to look at him flustered," Well, um, I- just-er put the clues together."
He chuckled before pressing his lips to my hand," As you did, as you did. Look, I need to get going, but I simply couldn't resist coming up to you and at least asking. Your aroma is incredibly distracting. Goodbye, dear."
For some reason, the model-like man reminded me of Leporis. I shook my head and nearly started dying of laughter as soon as the man was out of earshot and Seneca was laughing along with me.
"I warned you," Seneca said simply, looking at me as he stood from his stool. It appeared as though he found the situation to be quite funny, as he was fighting back chuckles.
I was completely flustered with color rushing to my cheeks," I didn't realize they'd be so…forward."
And so it was that I was becoming more cultured into the social world of the Capitol. Interestingly enough, this was Seneca's cup of tea and he had several friends who would go out with him. He knew that this wasn't my gig and typically gave me the option of if I wished to go or not. Many times, if I wasn't with Seneca, I was either at my own publicity event with "friends" (more like people with whom I was placed with against my will) or I was sitting away locked in my apartment.
This cycle continued until I was about twenty years old (three years after I won the Hunger Games). In those three years, not only did I make many advancements when it came to my career, but Seneca and I were a solid "celebrity" couple. Every day that I was with Seneca, the more fond I grew of him and I truly did grow to love him, as well. There was something about him that always seemed to make my heart skip a beat.
And I feel completely ridiculous admitting that because I never thought that I would love someone.
Also during that time frame, I never once saw my family. There were some folk at the Capitol whom I liked, but I didn't necessarily have any true friends either. I took some of Seneca's companions as my own and held fond to the days that I had some friendship in Brutus and Enobaria, as well as Wren back home.
Every year when the Games came around, I found our complex to be extra busy at work. Seneca was hardly ever free to do much of anything, but Brutus and Enobaria were allowed to contact me during this brief period of time. President Snow found that since I was a unique case; I would be allowed to have one short "mentor" session with the tributes from District Two. Every time I did this, it was basically a failed attempt since all of the "up and coming" tributes from the district absolutely hated me for killing Flux.
Needless to say…I didn't particular like Hunger Games-season, but, of course, I was always pestered like crazy to tell the press who my favorites were and if I would be doing any sponsoring (something I did not wish to do). The best part of the season was being able to chat with Enobaria and Brutus.
President Snow also kept close tabs on me every year. I spoke with him frequently, mostly over business matters, but he always had a way of weaving Seneca in there. He was also very eager to tell me how proud he was of Seneca for not trying to push the envelope anymore. I took this as a compliment and he interpreted it as me keeping a close monitor on my boyfriend's activities.
Little did President Snow know that Seneca still was thinking in the same manner in which his father was thinking, but the right person had not yet come along to act on.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had to have a time jump sometime and it just so happened to be this chapter. Next chapter, I'm sure you all will enjoy quite a bit :D Hope you all are well. Please let me know what you think!
