The boy inside the matrix box

14

Secrets I have held in my heart

Are harder to hide than I thought

I Wanna Be Yours – Arctic Monkeys

"Seven has just arrived."

Nessie adjusts the neckline of her velvet jumpsuit while looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. Sitting on the edge of a bidet, Nataniel stares into her eyes through the mirror. He nods slowly.

"What's the plan, blondie?"

"I've got about twenty," Nataniel admits, livid. "And twenty possible failures."

"The only thing left is to find the one that will work."

"Or make a fool of myself."

"Don't be like that, Nat. Let's check in around midnight, okay?"

"All right..."

The girl turns to him with a sigh. "Well, you're going to have to get your act together, young man!"

"Easy to say... I have a stomachache from stress."

Tenderly, the girl leans over to hug him. Nessie's embrace has something maternal and really reassuring about it. For a moment, Nataniel thinks that he would stay in Nessie's arms for the whole evening, rather than running after Seven at the risk of another refusal... But she is already backing away.

"Go and have a drink, will you? But not too much either!"

"I'll do that, yes..."

Nessie kisses him on the cheek. "Come on! Go for it, my golden boy!" The young man gets up with a laugh and Nessie pushes him on the back to encourage him. "I believe in you!"

In a way, he believes in himself too. He's not so much afraid to go and talk to Seven - although it's easier to text than to start a conversation. The problem is that he doesn't know exactly how to start this conversation.

Should he ask Seven to open up to him sincerely instead of repeating that he needs time and space for some obscure reason? Should he hug him, like Nessie just did, and pat him on the back and tell him that whatever his problem is, it's their problem now? Should he let his anger out and ask him what the hell his problem is, and why is he keeping Nataniel away if he's going to swear that he loves him anyway?

Should they just make out?

The entire ground floor of the Lagardère mansion has been converted into a party space, and Nataniel has never seen so many people gathered at one party. In one of the many lounges, he finds Paul and Sam busy organising a shooter tournament. He sees there the opportunity to drink the amount of alcohol needed to give him strength and courage and joins the group of participants.

However, not surprisingly, the people in the room are not willing to limit themselves to a few shots and soon they are offering different drinking games. Unable to escape, Nataniel stays with them.

So when, at around one o'clock in the morning, Nessie bursts into the living room and looks at him with judgemental eyes, he realises that he has just spent three hours drinking rather than facing his problems.

The girl grabs him by the elbow and pulls him into the hallway with a sigh. "Not too much, Nat, I said not to drink too much alcohol."

"I'm fine!" he reassures her with a big smile.