#FreakshowFriday

Chapter 10: Bad Coffee, Good Times

October 14, 2023

The next time Nathan wakes up, morning has well and truly come. Weak sunlight slips past the hotel room curtains. Nathan reaches for his phone on the night stand, checking the time. Apparently, he slept in past nine, his body making up for the lost moments and poor quality sleep earlier.

He's really hungry now.

He sits up and stretches his muscles, noting a distinct and vaguely depressing lack of Jamie in the room. Her stuff has somehow gotten strewn all around her haphazardly-made bed after just one day and night, but the woman herself is nowhere to be found. Nathan doesn't hear anything in the bathroom, either. She must've gone ahead to get breakfast, then, taking care not to wake him up. A good idea. Nathan appreciates the extra sleep and he's glad Jamie didn't wait for him.

But best get a move on.

He dresses for the day, makes himself as presentable as he's going to get, and then exits the lonely hotel room, descending the stairs towards the distant sound of voices in the breakfast area. He ups his pace a little—the prospect of food is particularly enticing after that strange night. It's only when he enters his destination, its sawdusty smell hitting him full-force, that he remembers maybe he shouldn't have high hopes for the food here. Or any hopes at all.

He's the last to arrive, he finds with slight embarassment. It isn't hard to spot the Carrera family among the few other solitary or groups of guests staying in this palatial abode. They've laid claim to a table for six, where the chair opposite Jamie, seated at the far end of the table, is still unoccupied. Stella and Gino separate Jamie from her parents at the table's other end—a seating arrangement that Nathan's fairly certain isn't a coincidence.

Not that there's been any serious trouble between Jamie and her parents so far. Linda's infuriating comments upon arrival aside, the evening the family spent catching up and Nathan spent getting to know them wasn't as unpleasant as he'd expected it would be. Everyone had been civil, there'd been more smiling than frowning, the hotel being a pile of dogshit had faded into the background and Jamie, in her usual lively fashion, had talked enough for her and Nathan both. Though she still never did mention her channel and Nathan felt a little too out of place for comfort, no disaster had befallen any of them.

So far, so good. Hopefully they manage to keep this up.

Nathan approaches the empty chair in silence. He catches more and more of Jamie's chat with her sister the closer he gets. The topic of conversation seems to be Stella and Gino's planning process for their wedding.

"So the language barrier does present a challenge," Stella says, pensive. "We have the biggest part of the guest list figured out, but if we look at who's on it and the languages they understand... We have English, Spanish, Italian, and some guests speak only one of those languages and nothing else. We'll have to figure out how to deal with that."

"I'm always an advocate for equality," Jamie replies with a wicked little grin. "Do the whole wedding in Japanese. We'll all be equally confused."

"...Thanks for that advice, Jamie. We won't be doing that. But thank you."

"Good morning." Nathan's voice still sounds somewhat sleep-hoarse, but him announcing his arrival like this rather than trying to blend in quietly is already something of a miracle. This is the best the group's going to get from him today.

Jamie's parents didn't hear him, or else they're simply ignoring him in favour of their breakfast. Gino politely echoes his greeting and Stella settles for a curt nod and a glance slightly softer than her usual death glare. Jamie is the only one truly excited to see him; Nathan's heart flutters when she just lights up the moment she notices he arrived.