A/N: So I finally updated! I'm sorry it's been numerous weeks but I have had prelims and have been revising for my Music GCSE final exam in the summer (I have to learn about 60 facts for each of the 12 pieces…) and I would've updated yesterday but my mum was taken into hospital so I was a bit preoccupied. Also, I'm sorry that this chapter is lacking in hayffie but the next few chapters will hopefully include some of what you came here for ;) Anywho, on with the chapter!
I fold up the paper neatly and place it on top of the others in the desk draw. They are the letters I have written every day for the past two weeks but have found myself unable to send.
Haymitch and I haven't really spoken since we argued over the phone, the only times being strictly about work and void of any real emotion, the unspoken arrangement being that being that we discus work and only work. Each time I speak to him, it is becoming increasingly harder not to pour my heart out to him over the phone.
"Good morning," says Marius from behind me, leaning over and placing a kiss on my cheek. I almost laugh when I realise I had forgotten completely about him being here. "You're quiet, are you alright?"
"Mhm, just thinking." I hum gazing wistfully out at the city below.
"Don't think too much, you'll create a problem that wasn't even there in the first place. That's what my mother would say."
"She sounds like fun." I smile rising up from my seat and pulling the knot in his tie slightly to the left so that it is perfectly central.
He chuckles and I smile finally taking my hands off his tie and shake my head. "You're going to be late."
He sighs deeply before leaning in and kissing me lightly on the lips. "Have fun at work," I call after him as he pulls on a deep navy pinstripe jacket and heading for the door. When he is half in the hallway he pokes his head back round the door, "you too."
I almost swear out loud when I realise that he is right. Today I am holding the interviews for the new escort for Twelve. He or she will start the year after the Quell as they will need to be trained properly to ensure the job is done well. Doesn't take much skill to take children to their death, sweetheart. I bite my lip as I recall one of the numerous arguments Haymitch and I have had over the years. I suppose they won't need any training to deal with his drunken endeavours, not that I was really prepared for the world I was about to walk in to.
I dress smartly and grab a jacket and bag before I head out of the apartment and onto the bustling streets of rush hour in the Capitol. It is mid-February but the air still has a bite to it so I pull the cerulean satin jacket closer around my arms as I work my way through the crowds.
The interviews are held in one of the meeting rooms in the Training Centre and upon arrival I am greeted by a handshake and a clipboard. I am led through numerous corridors and passageways that I don't recognise before a door is held open and I am instructed to go inside.
The room is plain and painted an industrial grey and the only furniture is a table with two chairs on either side. There is a clock next to the window at the far end of the room and a small potted plant adds the only bit of colour to the room, other than me.
I take the seat facing the door and drape my jacket over the back of the chair. As I wait for the allocated time at which candidates will begin arriving, I flick through the papers on the clipboard.
4… 5… 6 pages full of names of applicants. I suppose it just goes to show that anyone in the Capitol is willing to do anything just to work with the two shiny new victors.
After five minutes or there about, I begin putting lines through names and writing notes beside each one as they file through in alphabetical order. Some men, some women. Some tall, some small. Some with potential and some completely useless.
Three hours and a little over two-hundred applicants later, I feel as if I am about to fall into the brink of insanity. All the time I am trying to find someone who both Katniss and Peeta will like which is proving quite a challenge. Some of the worst applicants I know that Katniss would gladly jump over the table and throttle within a matter of minutes. Mind you, if she can put up with me then she can put up with just about anyone.
The two-hundred and fifty-something candidate catches my eye. I look down at the list and see that her name is Electra Star. She has co-ordinated her outfit to match her name which I think is rather clever. She is young and must only just fit in the age category.
The main attraction to the outfit is the electric blue leather jacket that I would quite happily add to my own wardrobe; the black military style boots completely draw away all essence of 'Capitol' and I secretly pray that she will be as down-to-earth as she looks.
"Look, before you say anything I know that I'm not exactly escort material," she gestures to herself. "But I can scrub up, I will work hard and if I'm being brutally honest, I need the money."
I stop tapping my pen on the table when I realise that she is just as I was when I came for the job at eighteen. Desperate and needing work.
"I'm not one to judge a book by its cover."
I run through the compulsory questions and the more she talks, the more I realise that she is the one I want to follow in my footsteps. Katniss will probably like her, if you take away the fact that they are from two very different places, they aren't remarkably unlike.
It becomes clear that she is not in it for the fame; she needs this job just like I did.
It is this thought that motivates me to inform the Games Board of my decision the same afternoon.
"She really is wonderful, I think you and Katniss will like her. The two are very alike."
"That's great but you don't think they will completely repel each other?" Asks Peeta from the other end of the phone.
"I think Katniss can repel just about anyone." I say taking the mug of tea over to the coffee table and slumping down on the sofa.
"That's very true. We will miss you though."
"Speak for yourself." I laugh trying to fend off tears.
"No, we all will just some of us won't want to admit it. I know Haymitch will miss you."
"Don't be silly, he won't miss me. You know how he is, he hates my guts."
"I've always thought that there is a very fine line between love and hate. For a time Katniss hated me but that didn't stop me from being completely head over heels in love with her." He speaks evenly and I am taken aback by what he is saying.
He is right about everything and I realise now that you can hate someone more and more each day but you will never love them less. Love is giving someone the power to destroy you and trusting them not to and only now do I realise that I completely trust Haymitch.
"Those are very wise words but I don't love him and he doesn't love me," my breath catches on the last word and there is a knock at the door. "In fact, I think my boyfriend is on the other side of the door right now. Send my love to Katniss and just- just tell Haymitch I'm sorry. He knows what for."
With that, we bid each other goodbye and hang up. There is another knock at the door and I swiftly stand up and brush the remnants of a biscuit from my skirt. I don't recall Marius telling me he was coming over. Maybe it's supposed to be a surprise
I open the door and am completely surprised to see who is stood on the other side.
"Tell him yourself."
A/N: Ohhh drama! How do you all think this is going to go? I have some small fluffy ideas of what could happen in the next few chapters but I am open to suggestions so please feel free. I don't feel like I tell you guys this enough but anyone who is a keen writer on here will know how much reviews matter and how nice it is to get them. If you don't then all I can say is its pretty epic :) So I don't want to put pressure on you guys to review but it really does mean the world to me so yeah… I know I say this every chapter but I will try and update faster next time.
Lots of love ~ H x