Action (DNF)

Chapter 37: Crying

George POV.

I couldn’t help but let out a quiet sniffle as I continued to wipe down the counters at the bar, only to hear a chuckle from Wilbur. “George, you can’t keep being sad about the movie that we watched last night, it was not that bad.” I ignored him though, because it was that bad. There was no way that it could not be that bad.

“But Wilbur…” I began, turning to look for him with tears in my eyes. “It was such a sad movie, you can’t expect me to not be sad!”
“I know that it was sad, but it’s over now.” He tried to calm me down. “Now are you going to help me deal with customers, or are you going to stay back there and be miserable.”

“I’ll stay back here and be miserable…” I muttered quietly as I continued to try and wipe up a spot on the bench that’s had a stain for who knows how long, only to almost knock a bottle over and almost sending it smashing to the floor. “It’s not my fault that in the movie Clay ended up dying at the end.”

“Firstly, Clay didn’t die, it was an old man who played an old version of Clay who died and that person was played by a different, much older actor. Secondly, it wasn’t even Clay, it was a character who he and the older man both played.” Wilbur explained.

“That doesn’t make it any better! I mean the line ‘take care of those flowers wrong number’, how could you and Clay sit there without crying yourselves, you are both heartless monsters!” I cried slightly louder than I had been, which caused Wilbur to roll his eyes before walking over to me and patting me on the back.

“We have cried over it, but I didn’t cry over it at work.” Wilbur responded. “And I don’t think Clay cried since he’s known the entire story since he first read the script.” His words still did nothing to console me as I continued to mutter about how they were both heartless monsters.

“If you cheer up though, the two of us could go get some ice cream to help you feel better after we finish our shifts?” He suggested.
“Fine. I guess we could go get ice cream.” I muttered with a nod. “And now that I’ve seen that movie I want to go buy some flowers too.”

“Alright.” Wilbur sighed. “I’m sure if you message Clay and ask really nicely he will buy you those flowers from the movie and plant them and he can give the ‘take care of those flowers wrong number’ speech and you two can make a whole thing of it. Would that mean that you stop crying and actually come and do your job?”

Reluctantly I nodded, walking over to a man who was sitting at one end of the bar alone. I could barely make out some grey eyes and black hair from under a hood that he was wearing,  and after taking a deep breath I smiled. “Hey, I’ve noticed you sitting here alone, can I get you something to drink?”

His eyes flickered up to look at mine and after a moment he gave a nod. “What can I get for you?” I continued, but instead of receiving a request for a drink, or even a question on what was available, he asked me another question instead.
“You were on that interview on the Backstage Celeb show, weren’t you?” He asked.

The question somewhat had me taken aback. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything.” I responded. “So would you like a drink or not?”
“Do you mind if I ask you some questions about your relationship with Clay for an online news article?” He continued, pulling his hood down.

“I can’t do that, sorry. I am here to work, not here to talk to interviewers about my relationship.” I explained, although I immediately wanted to walk away to go back to my cleaning of the bench.
“You were crying just a few minutes ago. Does that have anything to do with your relationship with Clay and the interview from last night.”

“Me crying doesn’t have anything to do with you or Clay.” I growled. “And this bar is for paying customers. If you don’t plan on buying anything, then I will have to ask you to leave.” My hands clenched into fists as I stared down at him. “So are you planning on having a drink or not?”

“A bar legally has to offer free water.” The man spoke lowly, his voice firm and emotionless. “Can you get me some of that?”
“You have to buy something to have the free water.” I spoke, attempting to stay calm even though it was nearly impossible.

“Then get me your cheapest drink. I plan to stay here all night so I can talk to you after your shift.” He smirked at me, causing me to openly grimace before walking off. As I disappeared into the break room I noticed Wilbur following after me. I slumped down in a chair and grabbed a glass of water for myself, making sure I was out of eyeline for the strange reporter.

“George, are you okay?” Wilbur asked calmly, coming to sit beside me, and I found tears running down my face.
“Sorry,” I replied, sniffling slightly. “It’s just that guy… he’s a reporter of some sort and he just wants to get questions from me even when I told him no.”

“Do you want me to tell him to leave?” The brunette suggested, his gaze focused towards the door so he could see everyone sitting in the bar.
“He said himself that he’ll wait until I finish my shift so he can talk to me. He’d probably just wait outside until then if we told him to leave.” I explained before letting out a light sob

That was when he realised that I had actually begun crying and moved to hug me. “If you want, I can call the boss and tell him you aren’t feeling well so you can go home.” He offered. “And then I could call Clay to come and pick you up.” I nodded, attempting to wipe my eyes away and covering my face. I hated that I had allowed this to happen.

It wasn’t even much, but knowing that somehow he had found out where exactly I worked and was now here asking me about my relationship. I had started to fall in love with this world of technology where everyone had the chance to know everyone… but I hadn’t thought as far into the fact that this meant everyone would know everyone.

Wilbur disappeared out of the room and left the room while shutting the door. That left me alone to think, and my breathing slowly managed to even out until I heard my phone ringing after ten minutes. “Hello…” I greeted softly when I answered, trying to keep composure so that I wouldn’t begin crying again.

“George… hey…” Clay responded. “I’m outside. I’m gonna give you a ride home, and I need you to walk out as quickly as possible. If anybody tries to talk to you, or ask questions, or get a photo, just respond politely that you have to go and don’t stop walking.”
Cautiously I  responded with an ‘alright’ before hanging up, and then I headed outside.
_________________________________________
1254 words

What a fun movie