Envision The Magic [Frerard] [By innocent_wolves on LJ]

Chapter Sixteen

It took a while to get most of the decorations down, even though it went a lot smoother than Frank had first thought. Another couple of hours of cleaning and tidying passed by after that, before Jill glanced at her watch and told him that he was free to go home if he wanted.

"This trip really wore you out, didn't it?" she asked, regarding him thoughtfully. "At least you look pretty tired. But hey," she added brightly, "everyone feels like that after their first Christmas cruise."

Yeah, but I bet it's not as messed up for everyone, Frank thought irritably, although he felt himself copy her friendly smile automatically, answering her with a light shrug. If anything, she was right; he was tired.

"If you wanna leave now then I won't mind," Jill continued. "You've done an incredible job and you really don't have to hang around here any longer. Plus I'm pretty sure you'd like to go home to your family. I'll see you again once the holidays are over, okay?" She smiled at him. "Merry Christmas, Frank."

"Yeah, of course," he replied, still with that stiff copy of her smile plastered on his face. "Thanks, Jill. Merry Christmas to you too."

So that was it; his first ever Envision Christmas cruise was over. Snap your fingers and you're there. Clicking your heels however isn't complicated enough to get you back home. Frank felt like he'd been forced to open and close far too many doors to get back to their original departure port. The whole thing definitely hadn't been the blast that he had hoped for, that was for sure – even despite Lisa and Caden's company. Christmas still was, as far as he knew, terribly overrated. Especially this year.

A dull pain had settled somewhere by the root of his nose, causing a deep frown. Even though his thoughts seemed to be all over the place, it didn't take long for him to discover the pattern they had camouflaged themselves in. Frank realized that his head was hurting because he was actually thinking about Gerard. His mind would drift off and his thoughts would scatter, fooling him into believing that he was thinking about nothing in particular, until it dawned on him that Gerard was again occupying his mind. It was a game of forgetting and remembering that kept repeating itself. His thoughts were engaging in a sneaky little dance and it was hard to get a grip on the footwork that could get him out of it. Nobody could escape their own head. It hurt, both physically and mentally.

"Just wait and see," he muttered as he changed out of his Christmas uniform, finally allowed to put on something normal. "Soon you'll see his fucking face on huge billboards everywhere. The son of a bitch will be smirking and cocking his eyebrows at everyone like nothing ever happened."

***

He was halfway down the ship's gangway, vaguely wondering if Gerard had already disembarked, when his cell phone rang. He swore and juggled his luggage for a couple of clumsy seconds before he got to it; the caller ID revealed that it was Lisa.

"Hey, Frank!" she said brightly. "Where are you? Did you leave the ship yet?"

"I'm getting there," he replied, biting back another swear word as his suitcase lost its balance and toppled over. "Why?"

"Well, Caden and I've just made it home and I wondered if you have time to come see us?" she asked. "We really have to discuss his birthday party and I have no idea if his friends are available during the holidays at all. I'm starting to think we should have celebrated it earlier…"

Frank closed his eyes for a moment; Caden's birthday party. Of course. He'd almost forgotten all about it; he still had to buy presents. At least one thing was for sure; they were not going to hire a magician.

"Anyway," she added, "we have to figure something out. I'd really appreciate it if you could drop by." He detected a smile in her voice.