Let's Play Pretend

Sparks

They made their way through the room, Aidens arm around her waist still. She was quite happy about that, to be honest. Especially since the option of holding his hand seemed less than appealing. Her palms were beyond clammy. They were simply... wet. Runny, even. If she looked down she was sure she'd find two trails of sweat from the corner booth to the... Shit. They were already at the bar? She wasn't ready!

-What do you want, darling? My treat.

Aiden all but shouted it, clearly set on playing his role with all the subtlety of a drunk amateur stage actor. To her absolute lack of surprise, every single person the returned to look at them. Simultaneously. She could feel her face heat up in a way that made her wonder if maybe spontaneous combustion was a real thing. And, if it was, if it would be an acceptable way to exit the situation. After all, the floor seemed to refuse to open up beneath her feet. A sudden hole in the ground would have been a very good thing.

Now, it didn't even take a second before most of the people turned back to whatever they were doing.But not Eddie. Eddie studied them while they talked to the bartender.Openly, unblinkingly stared when Aiden stroked the small of her back while they waited. His face hardened more for each stroke.

Eventually, he approached them. And, as much as his words were intended towards her... While he spoke, it was Aidens eyes he focused on.

-Well, hello Jenna! How nice to see you again. Who is your new friend?

Despite the warmth of his words, his voice was cold. It was so emotionless it was strange hearing it come out of a living human being. She had never heard it sounding quite so... Intensely disinterested before. It was scary, as though he had become someone else when she wasn't looking.

She opened her mouth to reply but the words were once again stuck somewhere at the back of her throat. She swallowed, and she was sure they could hear the gulp before finally...

-Hi! How have you been? This is Aiden.

The following silence lasted just slightly longer than what would be considered normal, and she was about as comfortable as she would have been wearing a dress of red meat in a lion's den. To say there was tension would be to state the obvious. Not just stating the obvious, but doing so on the same level as pointing out that «gee, the Oxford dictionary sure has many different words!» . After what Jenna estimated to be about thousand years, give or take, Aiden broke the silence.

-Her boyfriend. Are you ashamed of me,love?

He mumbled the last words into her hair before placing a light peck on her temple. She blushed, reminding herself again that this was just an act. But his lips, warm and soft, had still been quite real on her skin. She could feel the slight moisture left behind still as she quickly assured him that «No, absolutely not, darling.» and «This is my ex Eddie, by the way.» Or something to that effect anyway. Sometimes it was harder catching what she said herself than what other people did.

Aiden offered his hand for Eddie to shake, the big grin on his face made it look more like a dare than an invitation. Jenna had seen this handshake before. The male secret «I want to punch your face in, but let's be civil and just squeeze the hell out of each others hand.» -shake. They never really even shake, do they? They just... Hold hands. Really hard.

-Pleasure to meet you. I'm Aiden.  You're the idiot that let this one get away, then?

It sounded like a bit of harmless teasing, but Jenna observed knuckles going white and arms trembling.It was like arm wrestling, but without a table or any clearly defined rules.