The Desired Effect

The Knife's Edge

Despite his best efforts to relax, Brandon felt like he was tiptoeing on a knife edge. The littlest things were making him wobble and at high risk of falling. Poppy on the other hand felt like Brandon was a ticking time bomb and that it was only a matter of time until she said or did something wrong and that would set him off. The boys could sense there was something in the air and something was brewing. For now, they kept quiet, plodding on as best they could, hoping it would pass.

Friday 6th, January - Las Vegas, Nevada

They managed to go a couple of days without any big issues, but something was definitely brewing and about to erupt.

It was their lunch break. The room was silent as they all tucked into their burritos. Jordan, however, finished before anyone else and was clearly in a mischievous mood. He silently scrunched up the foil of his burrito as he chewed the last of it. With a smug grin he subtly pulled his hand back and suddenly launched it forwards at Chris, who was sat opposite. Chris flinched and the foil ball pinged off and hit Brandon. Before Brandon could even react, Chris was about to return the fire with his own foil ball. Everyone else erupted into laughter as they observed the mini war. Everyone, except Brandon.

"Oh guys grow up would you!" Brandon snarled, shaking his head as he abandoned the last of his burrito.
"It's just a bit of fun Bran" laughed Chris.
"For fuck sake man, we're on our lunch break, can we not relax for 5 minutes" Poppy sighed, shaking her head as her smile faded back to a frown.
"It's just, we've got things to do y'know, let's not waste our time" Brandon reasoned, throwing his leftovers in the bin before heading for the door. Everyone was stunned into silence. As soon as he left the room, everyone took a deep breath.
"Jheeze, he's proper on one today" Chris remarked.
"We just need to keep him sweet, let's try not to piss him off in this last hour for heavens sake" Jordan chuckled with a hint of seriousness.
"Bet you 10 dollars, it'll be me that gets it in the neck" Poppy sighed, scrunching her burrito wrapper up and tossing it straight into the bin.

1 hour later

Within an hour the group began to finish up for the week. They had already agreed to stay an extra hour to get the jobs finished, albeit reluctantly. Everyone was chipping in to make sure the equipment was shut down and stored up properly and the place generally left tidy and clean. As they neared completion, Poppy's phone buzzed so she paused her cable wrapping for a moment to check it. As she replied to Jaz's text she stretched her back, easing the pent up tension.

Then, to her confusion, she heard someone cough comically. She casually slipped her phone back into her jeans pocket. When she glanced up, her eyes connected with Brandon's accusing ones. "Are you helping or what?" he asked, raising his brow. Poppy's initial reaction was to laugh. He couldn't be serious. 

"What is your problem?" Poppy snarled, her eyes wide with anger. Before Brandon could respond, she continued, "I know things are hard Brandon but you need to back off and realise its hard on us too" she explained with an airily calm tone, never once taking her eyes off of his. The boys stood silently, watching as the heated conversation unfolded.

Brandon took a jagged breath and sourly asked "What would you know, you're just a kid?!" Before the words had finished passing his lips, he realised the hurt he was inflicting. It was too late. Tears stung the back of Poppy's eyes. The boys mouths gaped and eyebrows raised in disbelief. 

"Where do you think you're going?!" Brandon frowned, fury boiling in his veins, his fists clenched. Poppy was out of the door in a flash. He took a step forward.

"I think you'd better leave her to it" Chris insisted firmly, stepping forward to close the gap between Brandon and the door. Brandon swallowed hard and glanced at the floor. He gave a shy nod and backed off.

"Man you really need to chill out. Like you said, she is just a kid so cut her some slack" Jordan added calmly. Brandon didn't need it spelling out, he new the damage he had caused. 

After a few moments, the atmosphere in the studio returned to somewhat normal. The boys calmly but quickly tidied up the studio and got the place presentable.

"Thanks guys, you can head off now, I'll finish off" Brandon declared giving a faint smile. The boys did exactly as they were told. 

"Remember we're here for you as well, if you need anything" Chris began as he leaned against the door, eyes boring into Brandon's, "absolutely anything, you can call us" They all offered him a reassuring smile and a friendly nod before each disappearing out of the door.

As soon as they left, Brandon was left with silence and sunk down onto the hard wood floor, his back against the wall. He scrunched his eyes closed, pulled his knees towards his chest and wished the world would swallow him up. His head was a whirlwind of thoughts, he let them come and go as he made himself as small as possible, as small as he felt.

The time escaped him. He sat lonely and consumed by his thoughts for almost an hour before pushing himself up, his bones clunking as he did so. He realised he had screwed up big time and he would really need to change his ways and quick. In fact, he wouldn't even blame Poppy for going to HR and getting taken off the project. He hoped to God she didn't.