Between Then & Now // Hugh Jackman

6 // An Unwarranted Favor

"Time to get up."

A pillow suddenly whacked me on one side of my face. What the hell? I slowly opened my eyes, groggily glaring at whoever the culprit was.

Hugh?

I blinked until my hazy vision cleared. Sure enough, there he was, standing above me as I laid on the couch.

Last night did happen, right? Wait, of course, it did. I was still a bit disoriented, so why was he here telling me to wake up? Shouldn't he be avoiding me? What was going on?

"I don't like this." I heard Alana from somewhere nearby.

"Me either, but I already told everyone about her, so we don't really have a choice."

The same pillow hit me again softly . "Hey!"

I grabbed onto it, pulling it out of Hugh's grasp, and chucked it to the other end of the couch. No longer distracted by Alana, he turned to face me with an unreadable expression.

"Oh, you're up."

"I am," I glowered. "Why am I up?"

"You have to come with Alana and I."

He said it like I didn't get to decide whether I could stay or go. Would this be considered a kidnapping? Because I'd much rather be getting some shut-eye. I didn't get enough sleep as it was.

I had tossed and turned all night thinking about Hugh's and my interaction. Thought about apologizing and going back on it. I couldn't. I kept telling myself that it was better this way, but it seemed he didn't quite get that message.

"Why?" I asked again, refusing to sit up.

Both Hugh and Alana were standing above me, dressed and ready for the day, while I was wearing an extra pair of her pajamas and cozied on the couch.

If they didn't give me a valid reason, I wasn't going anywhere with them.

Hugh heaved a breath, like he didn't want me to come as much as I didn't want to go, so then why was he forcing the issue, and more importantly, why did it involve hitting me with a pillow?

"Unfortunately, we need someone with your expertise."

I combed my fingers through my hair, tugging it back and away from my eyes as I begrudgingly sat up. "For what?"

Alana smacked Hugh as he gulped nervously. "I thought you were going to tell her last night?"

"I was but...," he trailed off, his gaze wavering between Alana and I. "I didn't get around to it."

Sliding a hand up his chest to rub the back of his neck, it was evident that this was making him uncomfortable. Same went for me. I didn't want to talk about what happened either.

Hugh coughed, bringing our focus back to my prior question.

"We're putting on a play, and we need help designing a promotional poster. The last guy graduated, and I know you have a degree in graphic design, so I thought you could come with us to class and help us out."

When he said he told them about me he meant his classmates? What else did he tell them?

Alana, to my surprise, encouraged me to go. "We could really use you. You'd be doing us a huge favor, and the Centre will pay you for it." Her smile was tight, and that told me everything I needed to know about her true motives.

Making money meant I'd be out of her hair faster. Little did she know that what I actually needed was to get that watch fixed and working, but I'd let it go.