Hidden and Silent (SpyxFamily)

Ch. 23: Part Three

Demetrius couldn't help the sharp intake of breath at his name. At his father's. The woman was looking at him!! She was waiting for him!

He was gonna throw up.

"Go on." Fallon whispered an encouragement and gave him a nudge that was just strong enough to urge him on. His legs felt like noodles as they found their way closer. He was going too fast. He wanted to go slower! TURN BACK, YOU IDIOT!

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. ****, ****, ****, ****!!!

Demetrius couldn't feel his tongue. It felt like an invasion in his mouth rather than sitting where it belonged. His chest hurt. Why did it hurt? It was too tight. He couldn't breathe. Breathe.

A breath. Another.

He was in view of the cameras now.

Was he moving? The woman watched patiently, posture welcoming and friendly, but he could hear the confusion of why he was here. The disbelief, actually. Demetrius didn't appear in the news very often, even less in the papers as his father limited any mention of him.

Right now would be a great time to suddenly contract a malignant brain tumour and die.

Stop freaking out! This was your decision! Demetrius reminded himself, but it didn't help for some reason.

He couldn't stall anymore. He was already there, at the chair half-facing the woman, and half-facing the cameras.

Breathe.

Demetrius' legs nearly gave out and he willed them not to as he sat.

"Well, hello, Demetrius, what a pleasant surprise to see you here." She smiled easily like the blissfully ignorant hostess that she was, and she wasn't lying or saying that just for the cameras. Other than his stellar academics, the public knew so very little of Demetrius and had so little gossip about him, and Sally was more than happy to have him here. The public were greedy little things things that gobbled up whatever they could about their country leaders and their families.

Which. . .fair. Mostly.

Demetrius wasn't sure he liked that.

Numbly, he gave a small nod, managing to keep his stomach down and ardently avoided looking anywhere near the cameras.

"So, Demetrius, we don't see you in the public's eye very often. That's quite the feat considering who your father is."

Demetrius denied the instinct to suck nervously on a tooth as he gave another nod. ". . .I suppose. . ." He said and was surprised by the clarity when his tongue felt so very, horribly thick.

BREATHE. Breathe, breathe, breathe. Demetrius consciously made his muscles loosen and relax his shoulders to at least appear casual.

"I can't say I'm not surprised to see you here." She continued with a curious glint in her eye. "What made you decide to come down here, today? It was quite unexpected."

It's illegal. He told himself.

Demetrius swallowed past the growing lump trying to choke him.

People don't like it when children are tortured. Society is usually protective of their young.

"Um . . ."

RIGHT?!!!

If that wasn't true, Demetrius was screwed.

Taking a deep breath, he laced his fingers tightly in his lap and rested an elbow on an arm of the chair. "I'm here to talk about my father."

Sally raised an interested eyebrow. "Oh? Well, I'm sure we'd all like to hear. Donovan's political stances and his work are rather well-known, so are you here to talk about his personal life? Not much is known about it."

Demetrius hummed thoughtfully over the sound of his thudding heartbeat. He wanted to bounce his heel so badly to burn some of his nervous energy, but kept it firmly on the ground. He hoped no one noticed how shakily he exhaled as he locked his eyes on Sally's. He had to say it. He needed to go through with this. He could do this, he could do this, he could do this, he might be able to do this, he shouldn't do this, why is he doing this, he has to do this, what is he going to do if he doesn't do this? JUST DO IT!

A breath. Another. Just do it, just do it.

Steeling his nerves yet again, he swallowed, thumbs fidgeting where they crested his laced fingers as he forced an evenness into his tone that he didn't feel. "Yeah. . .there's a reason for th—"

"Hold up!"

Like a hammer taken to a window, the illusion of calm and Demetrius' hopes of pretending no one else was listening, was shattered as a man's voice carried from somewhere behind the too-bright lights. From where it was supposed to stay dark and quiet. Where everyone else was also supposed to pretend no one else was listening. At least, that's the way it should've been.

As if the world wasn't cruel enough, Demetrius' hard-won courage was whisked away like a leaf on the wind and he lost sight of it completely when the man spoke again, filling Demetrius' veins with ice.

"We're off-air!"

As if on cue, overhead lights drenched the room and illuminated the ensuing organized chaos like the words were a match lighting a fire. The clack of hurried shoes rushed across floors and cameras were fiddled with while discussions and quick orders were given.

Demetrius was tense, eyes flicking amongst the crew in slight panic. It was too early, he had barely even started!

Sally half rose from behind the desk. "Bill? What happened?"

"Cameras cut out." A slightly muffled voice called back.

"What? How?"

"Dunno, we're working on it."