Once again, my dear dear readers, I am terribly sorry for the horrible update. I've been busy directing my script at the moment so I don't have much free time anymore -__-. Again, I am so sorry.
All five heads snapped to the gruff voice sounded behind their table. A man, probably in his college years was standing before them, dressed very professionally. Hunter raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Yes, we are. May I help you?” he answered. The man took a seat on an empty chair next to Sophia and winked at her.
“Let me introduce myself first,” he started, “my name’s Kevin. I’m the Assistant Director for Jive Records and we are interested in your band.”
All five jaws dropped open in sync. “Yo—you’re kidding!” Sophia sputtered. Kevin’s chuckle rumbled deep inside his chest as he stretched his arm around the back of Sophia’ chair. “This ain’t no joke, sweetheart. With your talents and my publicity, The Avenue will be a worldwide band!”
The boys wanted to sign the contract right there and then but the way Kevin’s charcoal eyes lingered on Sophia a little too long to be gracious, they had second thoughts. Fortunately, Kevin understood the band’s silence and reached inside his blazer.
“Here, take my card. Call me when you’ve finally decided to become famous.”
With that, Kevin left silently, but not without throwing another cheeky wink at Sophia. Unconsciously, both Dylan and Hunter were glaring at the uninvited visitor’s retreating form. “I don’t like that guy,” they both stated unceremoniously. Their glares were then diverted to each other.
“He gives me the creeps,” Sophia added, oblivious to Hunter and Dylan’s internal battle. “Oh come on, Sophie,” Luke scoffed, “there’s nothing wrong with Kevin. I say we sign that contract with him.”
“Are you crazy? We don’t even know who he is!” Hunter yelled from across the table. Luke pushed the blonde bangs out his eyes and leaned his elbows on the table.
“Dude, we’ve been doing this for nearly 6 months. It’s now or never.”
Dylan was ready to fight back, to prove that this ‘Kevin’ might be some sleazy old guy, but Sophia’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Dylan, I think he’s right,” she whispered, “this band is so important to us. We have to take our chances.”
“Red!” Hunter started to protest but one warning look from Sophia was enough to shut him up. Dylan was resolved to a defeated sigh. “Fine, I’ll call him tomorrow morning,” he breathed. Luke and Zach whooped in joy and slapped each other’s back in boyish way. Hunter and Dylan continued smiling to the occasion, but they had a growing uneasiness that was gnawing out of their chests.
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“Red, hey Red, wait up!”
Sophia spun around and squinted at the darkness to see none other than Hunter running up at her. The clock had struck 2 in the morning and Sophia was sleepy beyond belief so it was excusable to be a little bit irritated at the moment.
“What, Hunter?” she snapped. He immediately stopped in his tracks and rose up his hands in a surrender gesture. “Woah, calm down, Tiger. I’m just here to talk.”
Sophia pinched the bridge of her nose, a sign widely known as frustration. “Sorry, Hunter. I’m just so tired,” she admitted. Once he sensed that she was telling the truth, Hunter closed the distance between them and gently draped an arm across her shoulders. “Hey, you know I care about you, right?” he spoke in a low, soothing tone. Sophia averted her green eyes away from Hunter’s prodding brown ones.
“Yeah,” she breathed. “Then you must know how much I hate that Kevin dude,” Hunter spat at the mere mention of his name, “I can tell how he’s hiding something.”
“Hunter,” Sophia sighed, “this isn’t about me.” She unwrapped his arm from around her to stand in front of him. “He—makes me shiver with the creeps but it doesn’t matter. The band needs this. You need this.”
A light smile tickled Hunter’s lips as his eyes shone with none other than pure fervor for the girl in front of him. Unluckily though, Sophia completely missed the raw emotion displayed on his face at that time. She was too busy eyeing Dylan who has waiting impatiently for her in his van. Realizing this, Hunter’s blood began to boil.
“Will you stop living in your head for a moment and focus at what’s in front of you?!” he barked. Sophia flinched back, hurt evident in her eyes but it wasn’t long till anger replaced it.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she snapped back. Hunter grunted in frustration, tugging at his brown curls to ease some of the tension that building up inside of him.
“My point, Sophia, is that you’re clinging on him for too long and ignoring other people who would clearly love you more than him!” he growled.
Those words, coming out of Hunter’s mouth, were like a bitch-slap on the face to Sophia. Her lower lip began to tremble and tears sprang up to her shocked eyes. Sophia quickly turned her back to him so she could hide her emotions from him.
Hunter was quick to catch though. Immediately all of his anger were washed away and was restored by an intense guilt. “Sophie, don’t cry,” he sighed. “I’m not!” she shrieked in response, trying in vain to wipe her tears discretely. Seeing how stubborn Sophia was being, Hunter did the only thing he knew about crying girls; Hunter hugged her from behind.
“I’m so sorry, Red,” he hummed near her ear, “I didn’t mean to say that.” Sophia was still adamant to turn her back to him though her resolve was crumbling.
“I didn’t want to like him so much! Do you think I like being this way?” she sobbed, her form trembling under his arms.
“I know, Red, I know. I’m sorry,” he cooed soothingly to her ear, all the while rubbing his hands up and down her arms in a comforting manner. Eventually her tears died down and her face burned bright, almost matching the color of her hair. Sophia wiped the remains of her tears away hastily and glared at the ground.
“Hey, look at me,” Hunter demanded softly, his fingers grazing her chin and brought it up so that their eyes were now locked together. “There’s nothing wrong with you, okay. I’m the one with problems; I shouldn’t have said those bullcraps.”
Sophia nodded mutely and a small smile danced across her lips when Hunter began making weird faces at her. Dylan, who was waiting agitatedly in the van, started honking at the both of them. “Come on, Sophia! It’s almost 3!” he shouted from the window.
Sophia bid her farewell to Hunter before running towards Dylan. As she hoped into the van, Dylan did nothing but glare at her the whole time. “What?” she asked, noticing his stare. “Nothing,” he lied back. Sophia rolled her eyes and decided not to push it any further. She was already physically and emotionally drained. Her head lolled back to rest on the headrest and her eyes involuntary snapped close as the sound of Dylan’s humming and the warm heater lulled her to a sleep.
Sophia felt her body moving, or to be precise, someone moving her. She was too tired to force her eyes open so it remained shut despite her mind drifting in and out of consciousness. Her sleep-fogged brain can barely pick up the words that were being said around her.
“She fell asleep on the way home, Mr. Banks.”
“S’kay, son. Put her up in her bed, will you?”
“Sure.”
The last thing Sophia remembered before once again being consumed by sleep was her body hitting something soft and a warm, tickling sensation on her forehead.
Labels: It's Just You and Me Honey