Wild World Comms

Chapter 7: 007 William Farquarson

Your arms were clutching at the cushion that you were suffocating between your knees and chest, watching that scene in the Royal Tenenbaums. It didn't matter how many times you had seen it, but watching Ritchie breakdown in the bathroom always reduced you into a puddle of emotions. In the moment you probably looked a lot like a cheap Bridget Jones impersonator. Hair a mess, curled up on the sofa, surrounded by chocolate and wine, crying. The jelly snakes were gone, well, all of the pink ones had. Leaving a bag of orange and yellow reptiles. You had also made shockingly good work on the bottle of wine, only half of the rosé's contents were left. Luckily your head had yet to feel the alcohol, too lost in the beautiful aesthetics of Anderson's world.

Loosing yourself in the world of the Tenenbaums was probably the best thing to take your mind off Dan. And the fact that he still hadn't replied to your text. Being a self-proclaimed 'chief procrastinator', you can't stand it when people take longer than it would for you to reply. Of course he probably had a legitimate reason; maybe he was working, or watching a film at the cinema, he might have even died. But your patience was running thin, especially since he is all you have been able to think about for the past four days.

You manage to pry your puffy eyes away from the tv screen, releasing one of your arms from the cushions death grip to grab your phone to check to see if he had got back to you. Unlocking the device, you discover a message notification. Instantly becoming annoyed at yourself for not noticing sooner.

It was from him. Your heart instantly started to gallop in your chest. Sliding your finger across the screen you open the notification from your new contact;

'Great! Pick and time and place, and I'll be there.'

Your fingers danced along the screen, almost unconsciously typing and sending off your reply. You had already run through a list of possible responses from him, coming up with a separate list of possible replies that you could send back.

'Wednesday for lunch, The Timberyard in Sevendials?'

Maybe Dan was all you needed to combat your procrastination problem, you were shocked at how quickly you had manged to reply to him. Your eyes darted between the two screens in front of you; the phone and the tv. Even though you had lost interest in the film, you could still appreciate the moving pictures. This was at least your 10th time watching it, Dan's message distraction wasn't going to lead to you miss a critical plot twist. Also, looking at Bill Murray's face was strangely calming.

Although as soon as you noticed the three little dots bouncing on your phone screen the film was completely forgotten about.

'Perfect. Message me when you are on your way there, and I'll head over.'

'Great, See you then!'

You half expected to see the three little dots start to bounce again, though your more rational side knew that the conversation with Dan was over. Even though you could probably talk about a million other things, you thought it better to save it until your meeting. Until you could see his face again, and play that dumb game when you see who can maintain eye contact the longest, without having to look away out of awkwardness. But god, you were finally going to get answers!

After what could probably have been the most intense emotional rollercoaster you may ever have to experience (Dan and the Tennenbaums), you thought it was probably best to treat yourself to a long shower. Dragging yourself out of the human sized mould you had left in your sofa, you steadily stand yourself up. Grabbing the remote and switching off the tv, whilst also elegantly downing the lasts of your glass of wine. But before you make your way towards the bathroom you remember to pick up The Maccabees cd so you could have something good to listen to whilst showering.