A/N: Hi guys, sorry this chapter is a little late, I've been busy Christmas shopping etc. but anyway I've broken up for the holidays now and have a blissful 17 days off so I should be updating a little more frequently. Anyway, here is Chapter 9!
I am seated at the large oak table of the dining room in the mayor's house, nervously tugging at the hem of my canary yellow dress. He was meant to be here half an hour ago and it is really very improper to keep a lady waiting, or so my mother says.
As if on cue, the clock chimes half past and in he walks, liquor bottle in hand.
I notice just how different he looks without all of the makeup he was made to wear for the interviews and pictures. He has a small growth of stubble instead of being clean shaven and his hair is a little longer that in his last interview and is matted as appose to being the neat and perfect comb over inflicted upon him by the Capitol.
He does a double take when he sees me and almost instantly brings his forearm to cover his eyes as though he has just looked directly into the sun.
"Christ, where are the sunglasses?" He slurs before I even get a chance to introduce myself.
I take a deep breath and compose myself before crossing the room and extending a hand in his direction. "Hello Mr Abernathy, my name is Effie Trinket and I'm the new escort for twelve." I beam with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. He looks at me questioningly and I truly have no idea why, I drop my hand to my side as I figure he's not going to shake it any time soon.
"Well you're not a fucking citizen, that's for bloody sure." He mutters taking a swig from his clear glass bottle.
"Are you always this rude?" I ask before I can stop the words from tumbling from my mouth. I resume my seat at the table, crossing my ankles and folding my hands in my lap, just like mother taught me.
"Are you always this obnoxious? 'Cause if you are I think I'm going to kill myself…" he retorts and takes the seat opposite me and slams his bottle down on the table, doing God only knows what to the wood.
"Do us both the favour." I sigh under my breath.
It was only last week that I got the letter from the Games Board informing me that I had been accepted as the escort for District Twelve and also that it was mandatory that I attend a half hour's induction session in twelve with my soon to be colleague, 'introducing and adjusting to one another'. For a while I was actually looking forward to meeting the man I had fallen head over heels for but now, not so much. It might of helped if we had gotten off on the right foot seen as I am signed up for a minimum of five years' service to the Capitol.
"I'm sorry," I say after a long pause "that really was very bad-mannered of me."
"I'm not." He says looking me straight in the eye and I lose it, standing up and slamming my hands down on the table.
"Mr Abernathy, I am not enjoying this any more than you are but like it or not we still have," I glance over to the ornate grandfather clock in the corner of the room "Five years, twenty-nine minutes and thirty seconds practically chained to one another so you'd better get used to it or that time is going to be very long and miserable for you."
He looks at me from the other side of the table with an expression of amusement and perplexity before laughing bitterly. "My life is already miserable sweetheart, so don't try and threaten me with my own happiness because it won't work. I don't have any left."
"All the bleeding hearts of the world unite," I retort sarcastically stirring the cup of tea, set out for me before he arrived.
"Fuck you, Trinket." He says standing up and storming over to the doors which are ,unfortunately for the both of us, locked. He sighs deeply and sinks to the ground, his back against the white and gold doors.
We sit in silence for the next twenty-nine minutes and twelve seconds before the doors are unlocked and we are released from each other's presence.
We are all led by the mayor to the dining room of his beautiful home and as we pass through the white and gold doors, I realise that it is the same room I spent my induction session with Haymitch in.
I smile to myself as we are led to our places at the table, noticing that I am sat in the exact same seat I was in the last time I was here. Haymitch is seated on the other side of the table and he smiles across at me, probably remembering the exact same event I am. I am taken aback by the beauty of the room that I hadn't noticed before, or if I had, couldn't remember.
It matches the grandeur that I saw when we were in District Eleven, only this room seems more like part of a home. There are paintings of the residents past and present on each of the walls, the mayor, his wife and daughter adorn one wall and a young version of his wife and, who I presume is her twin sister, on another. I recognise her though, her blonde hair, blue eyes and the mockingjay pin attached to the collar of her dress. Maysilee. Haymitch's ally in the Quarter Quell. Her niece is the exact spitting image of her and upon closer inspection of the painting of the current dwellers; I see her wearing her aunt's pin. I look across to Haymitch who seems to have ignored the roast chicken and rosemary potatoes placed in front of him and is staring directly at the painting of Maysille, looking exactly how she did the day she was reaped.
I look back down at my plate, figuring that he probably won't want an audience though occasionally, I glance up to see what Haymitch is doing but look back down again, not wanting to be caught.
"I can't do this," Haymitch's voice cuts through the deafening silence and all seventeen people around the table stare in bewilderment as he leaves the room.
"Do you want me to?" Peeta directs to me, beginning to stand up but I wave my hand for him to sit down again.
"No, that's quite alright. Excuse me." I say placing the white cotton napkin previously on my lap on the table and walking out the double doors after him.
I look down both ends of the corridor and seeing nothing, walk out of the back door to the house. I scan the dark and snowy surrounding area from the rear porch and see him walking back in the direction towards Victor's Village.
"Haymitch!" I shout from the porch but he continues walking. I take off down the steps half running half stumbling across the gravel still laced with frost and ice, which wearing high heels, is proving a difficult task. I eventually catch up with him but when I say his name again he still pays no attention.
"Haymitch, please." I grab his wrist and he turns round to face me. "Why did you leave?" I ask, already knowing the answer.
"She was everywhere, Effie. She was in the pictures and when I looked at the Mayors daughter all I saw was Maysilee." The sadness in his eyes is something I have never seen before and I don't know what to say.
"I'm sorry." I finally choke out feeling tears spring to my eyes but I blink them back.
"Don't be, it was my fault anyway." He says suppressing tears of his own. I move my hand from his wrist to his palm, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"It wasn't your fault, even if those birds hadn't killed her, the girl from one would have. You can't blame yourself for her death, Haymitch. She wouldn't want it." I say solemnly and he looks up to meet my gaze, shaking his head.
"I could've saved her, Eff. I can't forget that."
"I know." I pull him into an embrace, my lips next to his ear. "What do you want me to tell everyone?" I whisper and I feel him shrug. I pull away and look into his grey eyes, shining with tears "On second thoughts, I'm coming with you," I say firmly
"Why?"
"Because you'll only drink yourself stupid… Besides, I'm not a big fan of chicken." I say and the corners of his mouth twitch up into a small smile. I lace my arm through his and we continue walking towards Victors Village.
He pushes open the door to his house and flicks on the light switch but neither of us are prepared for the sight in front of us. It's clean. No bottles, no discarded items of clothing, no sky high mail pile. The house looks as though it has never been lived in or at least, not by Haymitch.
"What the…" Haymitch mutters before stepping out of the door again and examining the gold plaque that, sure enough, reads:
~Haymitch Abernathy~
Victor of the Second Quarter Quell
He steps back inside, almost tripping on my suitcase that had been delivered here by one of the train staff, and looks round the house before his face lights up with realisation. "Oh, Katniss did say something about sending Hazelle Hawthorne round to clean the place up."
"Is that her friend's mother?" I ask taking off my jacket and placing it on the back of the armchair.
"Her cousins mother, yes." He corrects me with a smile and I smile back.
"Right." I sit down on the sofa and kick off my shoes (however fabulous they are, they aren't all too comfortable).
I watch Haymitch as he searches through his kitchen cupboards, presumably for some form of alcohol. He emerges from the cupboard under the sink holding a bottle of white liquor and then goes to another and retrieves two glasses. "Drink?" he asks holding up the bottle and glasses and I nod in reply.
He plonks down next to me on the sofa and pours two measures of the alcohol before handing me a glass. "Here's to clean houses." I say raising my glass
"To clean houses." He repeats and touches the corner of his glass with mine. He pretty much downs his in one go but one sip leaves me coughing and my throat burning.
"Too strong for you princess?" he laughs and just to prove him wrong I down the rest of my glass, strangely enjoying the burning liquid running down my throat.
"No, I used to drink this stuff nearly every night." I say gesturing to the bottle. He makes a noise and I frown. "What?"
"Nothing, just thought you were more of a pink wine and champagne girl." He says, still a hint of amusement in his tone.
"I am now, wasn't then."
"Why'd you drink?"
"Pardon?"
"Everyone has a reason for drinking. You know mine, so what was yours?"
"Well, when I was sixteen my father died and I kind of went through this depressive, rebellious phase. I drank. I smoked, quit now. I died my hair black." Haymitch laughs from beside me and when I give him a look he motions for me to continue.
"I worked in a club to help pay the bills, oh not that kind of club Haymitch, and then I slept with probably every guy in my year, I got quite the reputation." He smirks and I lie down, my head in his lap. "My mother had never worked a day in her life and didn't intend to start then, and when working in the club didn't bring enough money in to pay the bills, I looked for another job. Turns out being an escort was the highest paying job in the Capitol so the day I turned eighteen I applied and then two years later I was given the job and that is why I am where I am today." All the time I have been talking Haymitch has been staring at me and I've been staring at him back, lost in his eyes. It's a wonder I didn't stop talking all together. I prop myself up on the arm of the sofa and smile. "What?"
"Am I not allowed to look at you now, princess?" He asks grinning cockily.
"You can do a lot more than look at me." I say and take his face in my hands and kiss him.
He kisses me back and wraps his arms around my waist pulling me closer and I make quick work in removing my wig one handed and letting my blonde curls fall down around my face. He kisses down my neck and I sigh, inwardly cursing myself for not doing this sooner. I wrap my arms around his neck and he lifts me off the cushion as if I weigh no more than a slice of bread, which is nice to think. He carries me up the stairs and when we reach the hallway he pulls away from the kiss and looks around.
"Huh, she did upstairs too." He mutters and I laugh returning my lips to his again. He opens the door to his room and without bothering to turn on the light, lays me down on the bed and crawls on top of me. I kiss him deeply and my hands go to the buttons of his shirt, undoing them on by one until I have rid him of the fabric. I trail my eyes across his bare chest and stomach and smile to myself when I see that he still has most of the muscles that he gained when he was training for the Quell. I run my hand across the scar running across his stomach, remembering how he got it, remembering how I thought he was going to die.
I quickly return my lips to his to try and rid my mind of the bloody, gruesome images now filling every thought. He undoes the zip running down the side of my dress and I lift up my arms, assisting him in removing the garment.
"That was surprisingly easy," he smiles against my lips and I laugh lightly.
"Capitol clothes are designed with convenience in mind." I say and he laughs before returning his lips to mine once again. He runs his hands across my bare stomach and thighs leaving a trail of fire across my skin. My back is pressed firmly against the mattress and I break the kiss for a moment and look deeply into his grey eyes, shining in the almost non- existent light of the room and clouded over with lust. I move in for another kiss as he buries his hands in my hair.
And for once, I could say that everything was right in the world in this one wonderful moment.
A/N: Well, there you go! I apologise to those of you who enjoy some lemons but I didn't really want to come away from the sort of cute relationship they have (that didn't really make any sense) but anyway, there it is! A million thank you's for everyone that has read and reviewed so far and continue doing so! Chapter 10 coming soon :)
With more love than I can put into writing! ~ H x