Before bạn kill me, chịu, gấu in mind I'm revising the một giây part of this chap. So bạn just read this and I promise I'll post the rest later today. Just give me the time XD I just graduated, I'm still recovering :) Possibly tiếp theo chap tomorrow hoặc on Monday. Stay tuned :)

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Previously:

Hugh:

“…you’re asking me why THIS WOMAN decided, rather cruelly of course, to get back at you, slowly and painfully, instead. FIRST, bởi tricking bạn into believing she had forgiven you, THEN….just then, bởi waiting for the right time to strike back…aren’t you?”
His voice ranked inevitably up a few notches, so Hugh lifted up his head. His body lay still lifelessly sprawled over the ghế bành but he was gazing at him, questioningly now.
Robert shook his head.
Hugh gaped “What?!”
He smiled.
“You sure you’ve really been married, right?”

Lisa

Jess was padding along, warily. Lisa lifted up her brows, smiling up, a slightly puzzled expression on her face, “What…what are bạn doing?!” she asked, as peering up at him.
But Jess đã đưa ý kiến nothing this time; nor did he joke around making fun of her. He didn’t ask hoặc demand for her to say nothing thêm than she already had.
He simply leaned over and kissed her, giving her a little gentle peck on her forehead, “You be good…” he whispered in her hair “…and call me when bạn need my services again….I’ll keep myself available”.
His lisp rested against her skin, caringly for another second.
He squeezed her wrists. And then he was gone.
Lisa remained watching him as he lifted up the boxes bởi the door, one after one; as he carried them away and put them into his car.
She watched until he pulled the door closed behind his back.
But she couldn’t say thank to him

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Robert was still sitting down on one of his armchairs. He was resting his head against his palm now, a worn-out look in his eye as if he had taken a round ticket for Madland and wasn’t sure he had, truth be told, gotten out of it yet. an toàn, két an toàn and bound at least: it certainly felt like he had been sucked up into it altogether. Fifteen phút cách đây he had had the unfortunate idea of asking how things had unfolded, exactly.
Of course, he was now regretting it.
Every một giây of it. All nine hundred…
Nine hundred and one…nine hundred and two…and three…
“Could bạn believe it?!”
He lifted up is stare up from his silent, mental watch watching, tiredly. Hugh had suddenly got quiet.
The first long silence.
The first long silence after the longest never-ending recup of any human being’s last twenty-four hours.
“Is that it?” he asked. He must be day-dreaming. Someone, please slapped him.
Hugh sprang up on his feet, “What else would bạn like to have happened? “Isn’t that enough?!” he spoke up.
Robert half-arched his brows. Hell yeah it was. It had been exhausting: tiresome and nose-bleedingly twisted in its entirely.
And the worst of it was still to come. The muffled sound of Gabriella’s hurried steps and the thought she might hiển thị up any một giây had been making him constant company.
He wished to be dead bởi that time. It was almost 9 already.
Even their grandfather clock felt like watching him, severely. He rubbed his eyes with wim
“Robert bạn still ear me?”
He stared up at him, one of his fist still dug deep into his cheek “Mmm….I’m just” he choke a yawn recovering…” he said, bringing one hand to his mouth “…finding my own way out of the Oregon State Hospital….”
Hugh started down at him, puckered.
He was right. It was insanity taking over the world. Nothing made sense.
He himself was sure he didn’t make any at the moment.
Robert sat upright. He must have overstepped, “Ok, sorry…I’m just…ehm….a little…stunned, I guess”
Hugh sighed, rotating his eyes. He jogged around for a moment until he got closer to the fireplace, without speaking.
Robert sighed, stretching out a bit “It’s…it’s quite….” he made a wide gesture with his hand, taking in everything “…quite messy I must admit…all of it, I mean. That’s just it…”
Hugh was keeping himself busy fiddling with all the stuff he was finding at arm-length, now.
“…messy as in doesn’t make any sense to me…”
Hugh scoffed but then he also started to tap his thumb on the mantelpiece, pensively. It can’t be so simple. There must be something to it. She couldn’t have simply chang…
“Toc, toc…”
They both lifted their eyes up to the door.
“May I come in?” Gabriella was getting in with tray “Thought someone might be hungry in here…” she said, smiling sweetly.
Robert found himself suddenly sat on the edge of his armchair, “Ehm…yes, we…we were just…we were just about to…wh…wha…is it late?”
He scratched under his jaw, furrowing obliviously.
Gabriella bent forward, putting the tray down onto the little, round wooden bàn at his feet; a little half-smile was dancing on her lips “Stop scratching Rob”, she whispered “…you know it’s your tell….”
He promptly dropped his hand, wiggling a bit.
Hugh went back pacing the room; but one could have pointed he looked thêm like slogging than walking, “Thanks Gab, but truth to be told I’m far from being hungry….”
Even his voice sounded thêm like slurring than talking. He stopped bởi the china cabinet this time, and leaned against it, staring blankly at the chinaware inside it. He began drumming against the glass.
Gabriella followed with her stare.
“You really should eat something….” she đã đưa ý kiến “You look quite puckered and definitely off color, believe me….”
Hugh lowered his stare, checking himself up and down. He was still wearing the very same clothes he had squeezed into this morning: an old, torn part of light blue jeans and a white, ngắn tay, tay áo ngắn t-shirt. He flattened his áo sơ mi up a bit against his chest and pulled his hair down over the hàng đầu, đầu trang sliding a hand through it, quickly in the attempt fix himself a bit “Sorry, I must really look a mess….”
Gaby could just smile. He had just made himself even thêm tousled. And the two-days grizzled beard just capped it.
She ripped her eyes away.
“What are bạn smiling at?”
Robert was staring at her, a suspicious look on his face.
She jumped on the arm and shot him one carefree smile, “Nothing…” she shrieked, crossing her legs.
Robert narrowed his eyes. He put out his index.
“You….you see, Hugh…” he said, fingering to her.
Hugh grunted something in reply. But words never truly made it out of his mouth. Robert assumed he must have asked something like ‘what the hell should I be seeing’ but then apparently even such as slur if delivered with an English accent had a whole different outcome on a woman, ‘cause Gabriella just kept having this weird, half-creepy smile dancing on her lips.
He knew what was happening here.
“She…THIS…this is what I was talking about…”
Hugh slogged along and crumpling onto one of armchairs all over again. He folded his hands and rested forward, chewing lightly the back of his hand, a glassy look in his eyes. He didn’t know what else he should do really. The ambush at her house strategy had just been ruled out.…what the hell was left?
“…she’s….you see this look in her eyes?”
Gabriella extended one arm over the back so she would slid down closer to Robert.
Hugh shot an apathetic glance at her.
She kept smiling, looking absolutely oblivious “Which one?”
Robert smirked “…the one saying you’ll get back at me - for whatever reason bạn think bạn should – but just later…slowly and painfully, plunging deep”
Gabriella laughed.
“Hugh, learn…women liked it better if served called. The trick is…” he said, staring up at her in a challenging manner “…never wound down at this point…”
She licked her lips, holding his stare. Her lips twitched, “Do not challenge me Rob…” she warned “…never play with fire…”
But she ended up kissed him all the same. Sweetly on the lips.
Hugh rolled his eyes, dropping himself back down. The least he needed were those lovey-dovey power games. He wasn’t even sure this was the issue anymore. hoặc had ever been.
He nestled his head backwards, staring at the ceiling.
He needed a plan. Come up with something better than just going round in circles like an idiot. He will go insane if he didn’t understand what the hell was happening. Why. How. When….
He closed his eyes. He needed to do something
Now.
‘...and possibly soon... Before bạn end up with thêm regrets than the ones bạn have already’
He snapped his eyes open, breathing hard.
Gabriella looked at him, “I should go check on Eleanor…” she đã đưa ý kiến “It’s almost baby-feeding time….otherwise she’ll be screaming like hell on the plane…”
Hugh didn’t move, eyes back being tightly closed. She slowly started to stand up, gesturing towards him with her head. Robert shrugged, whispering back at her.
They froze, as Hugh sprang suddenly up to go back pacing. Perhaps he had been mistaken. Perhaps she didn’t mean what he hoped she meant. He lifted up his arms, crossing them over his head. He turned his back at them
Gabriella shook her head, then. Robert gaped, trying to gustily himself. She rolled her eyes, turning away.
Hugh heaved sigh, dropping his arms down. Perhaps he was just suffocating her. Perhaps the reasons she wasn’t returning hoặc answering any of his calls had nothing to do with anything he had done. Perhaps the reason was unrelated to him.
His tim, trái tim suddenly bucked. He wasn’t even considering the chance he could just mean to her way less than he was giving himself credit for.
The packing-remark went back bouncing about in his head, obsessively.
Robert hissed, trying to articulate some ngẫu nhiên silent, defensive excuses. Gabriella glanced at him from over her head, putting a finger to her lips.
He shook his hand, dismissing of her with a little gesture of his hand and went to grab a sandwich.
She had no idea what it took dealing with them. No idea, AT ALL. It was a all-year-long Never-ending Madness Fair.
He grabbed a napkin.
“Anyway, if I can give bạn my two cents on it….”
Robert’s eyes turned to the door. His mouth was hanging half opened, barely an inch away from the sandwich, ready to bit into.
Gabriella hinted at a little smile, addressing Hugh apparently, though.
“…if I were in her shoes her, I would do just the same…”
Silence fell.
Hugh was looking at her as if he had just seen a ghost, now.
Robert himself wasn’t sure he wasn’t just seeing things. He stood there, stock-still, hands still lifted up in mid-air, his sandwich, bánh sandwich unblemished and about to leak, undisturbed, right down on his pants.
Gabriella dropped her stare, “I mean, if I were her and me….” she kept on “…and I were impossibly mad at Robert, I would definitely never pick up. Just for the sake of it” she shrugged “Just not talking to him.” She looked up at them, “…until I decide otherwise of course…”
Robert’s eyes moved slowly up to Hugh, then. They traded a look.
Then Hugh’s stare fell down on his pants and he cussed, furiously rubbing the napkin over the yellow stain.
Gabriella choked a giggle. She went back looking at Hugh, right in the eyes, “…anyway, if bạn happened to call me, instead” she seemed to be trying to stress out something in the middle of it, but Hugh was missing which one hoặc ones altogether.
“I would definitely pick up” she trailed off.
Hugh frowned, searching from Robert’s gaze.
“I mean, I might….” she added.
Robert was beginning to lift up his head now, slowly.
“It would be definitely worth a try…anyway” she pointed out.
A new light flashed in his eyes.
“I might happen to feel like talking to you, Hugh…”
She smiled one last weird smile at them and then she was gone.
Hugh darted his eyes back and forth, perplexed as Robert kept starting to the point she had vanished, looking ravished. What was there to be ravished about?
“She’s…a genius…” he whispered.
Suddenly, Hugh felt even thêm stunned and possibly confused than when he had arrived. A genius?
Robert spread his arms wide open over the arms, “This is why I tình yêu that woman…’cause she really is the hell of a genius!!” His voice ranked up a few notches, as if he was really finding something utterly amazing in what she had just said.
Hugh just kept feeling all Công chúa tóc mây up inside, “Is she?” he asked unenthusiastically.
Robert’s eyes sparkled, “She fucking is…” He lifted up his bottom ever so slightly then and took something out of his pocket. And eventually tossed his phone right over the table, before Hugh’s very eyes.
Hugh stared at the phone. Then back at Robert. He eyed him up, weirdly “Come on…truth time. Do it”. His eyes flicked to the phone. Then back to him.
But he limited himself to keep staring and darting.
Robert pressed himself against the back, “You know, she’s freaking right…she would totally answer to you” he said, fingering to him “I might not never know nothing about it, but I’m sure she would totally get back at me just bởi ignoring no one else’s but MY calls. Like a personal, moral, private revenge…” he trailed off, putting his tongue between his teeth, smiling.
Hugh twitched his lips.
Robert stretched out to grab back his sandwich, bánh sandwich again. He handed him his phone.
Hugh seized the phone.
“Come on…just do it…”
Hugh stared at the phone. A faint encouraging smile he couldn’t make sense was breathing across Robert’s face now, as he brought the sandwich, bánh sandwich back to his mouth.
So he ended up staring at it as if he had just discovered that they had already invented telecommunications but that he had also unfortunately been hibernated for the last eighty years, missing a crucial event.
Eventually, he just dropped his shoulder admitting defeat “Alright, why should I be calling your wife, now?”
Robert froze in place once more, his sandwich, bánh sandwich apparently meant to never make it to his mouth. He looked up at him, as if he was observing some rare kind of specimen. It was like dealing with a newbie who happened to be playing an advanced players match.
He shook his head. A crash course would be required here.


It was all set up.
She....was all set up.
She just had to finish some packing, but it was all set up.
The dog-sitter would arrive bởi 10.00 in the morning.
She would instruct her briefly and then a taxi would pick her up.
Her plane would take off from LAX at 11.30.
She would be in Luân Đôn in the early afternoon. John himself had taken the afternoon off – regardless of his director’s curses – so he would be there when she land.
Everything was set up. She was all set up.
They would just go to the first night. Together. Had dinner. Go home…
She would fall asleep tiếp theo to him. And it would be a wonderful vacation.
She sat crouched on a chair, hugging her knees. It was all exactly as she wanted it to be. The way it was supposed to, since the very beginning; hadn’t she fallen for it, all over again. Karen was right, but not like she thought she was.
Something hot tried to roll down the corner of her eye. She quickly passed one hand over it.
It never reached her cheek.
She breathed in, deeply.
It wouldn’t have made her any good, anyway. Life had gone easy on her after all, most of the time. But this was just the way it went sometimes.
And so it was. Just like she knew it would be. Only she hadn’t been listening.
It was all exactly as she wanted it to be.
The way it was supposed to…since the very beginning.
She had curled up in the dusk half an giờ cách đây though and she hadn’t moved an inch yet; nor did she feel like she had any desire to. But then again, late at night, after such long day, as one founds herself staring into darkness, just focusing on the way her breathing gets Mất tích in the noiseless emptiness around, each one would feel like all she wants is crawling under the sheets and snuggled down.
Her eyes wondered in the semi-darkness.
The picture she had brought him from the contemporary exposition she had been last năm was one of the very few things she was leaving behind.
“Keep it”
“No why? I bought it for you....”
He had bent down, holding her chin, “Something so beautiful just gets wasted in an empty house like mine....’ he had kissed her lightly on her lips “...I’ll have a nice excuse to come around...’
She hated him.
Right now, she hated him as she had never hated anyone in her whole life...
She got her breath, hardly “Enough...” she whispered.
She slid down off the chair.
And suddenly her phone buzzed onto the table.