Action (DNF)

Chapter 35: Questions

Clay POV.

George was loving it. And I am honestly surprised by that. Who on Earth thought that the brunette bartender, who didn’t even know what tiktok was until a week ago, would enjoy telling these stories to a crowd of at least one hundred strangers in person. Then there was who knows how many other people watching from home.

Currently he was telling the audience a story about the two of us going on a picnic date. On the other hand, I just sat quietly, allowing the brunette to continue his rambling. After my tip to focus on talking to Wilbur, and pretend that he was just having a conversation with him instead of with a whole room of strangers, he'd become a funny on chatter box.

My hand was holding his, resting on George’s lap and allowing him to fiddle with my fingers when he needed to as a form of both reassurance and comfort. Several members of the audience had noticed the way that George seemed to find that comfort and reassurance with this, and made some small comments with one another.

George finished telling the group another story, one which I wasn’t paying attention to as my eyes just kept scanning the room and watching people’s reactions. “That is another beautiful story.” Puffy said with a smile, before getting a roar of approval from the crowd at her comment.

“Okay, well I believe we have time for one more story, so do either of you have anything else that you want to tell us about your relationship? Or perhaps we could go to the audience to have some of your adoring fans to ask some questions.” I looked over to George to see if there was anything that he wanted to do.

He on the other hand was looking over at me. It seemed as though since he had been the one to tell most of the stories, he was wondering if there was something I wanted to tell the group after he’d told the rest of the stories.

“I don’t think there is anything more to say.” I said to catch the crowd's attention. “George has told all of you about how perfect our relationship is, and about how perfect he is. I don’t think that I have anything to add.” The way I said it got the audience to react with a round of ‘awws’, all besides Wilbur who jokingly faked a gag, much to the annoyance of the people beside him.

“So does that mean you would like to have the audience ask you both some questions? About your relationship, or just about yourselves in general?”
George gave a nod before turning to address the audience. “Yeah, I guess we could allow you all to ask us some things that you guys were wondering.”

Puffy spoke up after the crowd once again gave a roar in approval. “We have a member of our crew walking with a microphone.” She explained to the audience, and sure enough coming out of a side door was a casually dressed man carrying a microphone. “If anybody does have a question, put up your hand and he will bring a mic over to you.”

At her words I saw a bunch of hands shoot up in the first three rows. Wilbur was especially amusing, sitting up straight like a schoolchild was when they had something that they wanted to say. The kind of thing where if you didn’t say it then you would literally explode. I noticed it from the tense way he was sitting and it brought an amused expression to my face.

I couldn’t see all the way back to the far end of the audience, so I couldn’t see how many people were wanting to ask some questions, and it seems that Puffy felt the same. “Why don’t we bring some lights up on everyone?” She said, before whoever was backstage complied, and the house lights slowly began to glow brighter, allowing the three of us on stage to see the crowd.

A red haired man with a moustache was the first person to ask a question, and after clearing his voice he spoke up. “George, have you seen any of Clay’s movies? And if so, what did you think of them?” I looked over to George to see how he would answer, and after a couple of seconds of silence he nodded.

“I’ve seen a few of Clay’s movies.” George responded, nodding in the direction of the man who was asking the question. “He’s extremely passionate about his movies and very talented, much more talented than I am.”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” I responded. “You are amazing at making drinks.”

We didn’t banter too much before noticing the guy with the microphone walking towards another person, a woman this time with frizzled blond hair. “Have either of you two thought about taking your relationship further? Like George moving back to Florida with Clay? Or are you two eventually getting married?”

George hesitated for a moment and I saw the slight worry in his face, so I decided to answer the question. “Not yet. We don’t have any plans that far into the future at the moment.”
“We haven’t been on many dates. I don’t think I could consider getting married… or leaving the UK to go somewhere as far as America.” George muttered.

His gaze lowered slightly as he answered, and so my gaze shifted to the man holding the mics, a silent way of prompting him to move on to the next question, which he did. There was another woman sitting in a crowd of people, and it took half a minute to get to her. She was clearly with a group of her friends who all seemed ecstatic when she was offered the mic.

She grinned as she was handed the mic. “I was just wondering how the two of you managed to find one another when you are so perfect for each other. Cause I’ve been trying to find someone for me for years, and all my boyfriends have been pretty bad so far.”

Her saying that the two of us were perfect for each other made my heart speed up, although I did feel bad when she added on that she hasn’t found anyone and that her previous boyfriends have all been bad. But I moved to answer before the brunette could.

“Well, it wasn’t anything major like fame, or beauty, or jobs that made me fall in love with Clay. I just found that he was kind to me, he was funny, and he was sweet. Made me feel like, for once in my life, I was the greatest thing in the world.” He explained, and as I watched him, it seemed almost as if he was close to tearing up at the thought.

Instinctively I moved to pull the brunette closer, one of my hands moving to wipe away a lone tear that rolled down his cheek. As I stared at him I smiled softly. “Those are exactly the reasons why I have fallen in love with you. Well that and your unquestionable beauty.” I commented, and god did that get the audience vocal, all practically screaming about how perfect we were.

Puffy eventually managed to quiet the crowd down with a chuckle as she stood up and moved to the centre of the stage. “That seems to be all we have time for with Clay Smith and George Davidson!” She announced to the audience, causing them to drop their hands in annoyance. Then she turned to look back over at us.

“Thank you both for coming on the show. Can we get a round of applause for Clay and George?!” Her words got the audience to comply and as both of us stood up to wave out to the crowd, our hands became intertwined with one another. Both of us grinned widely after waving for a moment before I began leading us both offstage.

As we headed out of the same way we’d come in, we heard Puffy saying something about the next guest on the show after the ad break, who I knew was someone in the middle of a controversy online. I was certain that he’d probably end up called out for saying or doing something, however I didn’t bother looking anywhere but forward as we walked backstage.

As George and I walked off I couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy at the way he was being so open with the crowd. I mean, he was mine, right? He was the special person that made me, and only me, feel happiest. The thought of him talking in front of an audience of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of his fans made me want to hide him away from the world even more.
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