The Middleman | ongoing

41 | a drastic switch in meats

41 | a drastic switch in meats

Song: Wear Me Out by Skylar Grey

Depicted Above: Deepika Padukone as Leia Kar

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It shouldn't be a culture shock, yet it is.

And it maddens me.

Just because Quinn and I have stopped talking for the time being doesn't mean the Earth should stop rotating on its axis.

So why can't I shake him away from my thoughts?

It's too damn hard to ignore Quinn.

He's sitting right beside me in the hotel ballroom as Sam and Amelia Savarkar babble on and on during this casual meeting they've called to kick off the day.

It's seven in the morning.

My head is groggy.

My stomach is grumbling

And I feel disoriented, yet all I can focus on is him.

After everything that went down last night, he's still able to capture my attention.

I hate myself.

But I hate him even more.

Regardless, I'm carefully observing a disengaged Quinn from the corners of my eyes.

Though he's respectful and apparently attentive based on his body language, it's obvious he's not intently listening. He's all so very blasé about this morning gathering as he's already attended this expo before.

He's been there, done that.

This morning powwow hosted in the ballroom is supposedly intended to get us energized for the day and outline the chaotic schedule leading up to the closing ceremony tonight. I don't know why they have to baby us and explain the many different activities and workshops scheduled for this Saturday. It was pretty self-explanatory.

The registration process for the Big Little Business Expo already required for us attendees to sign up for some scheduled activities out of the list of options they provided. We had signed up via Mr. Walfin as he had taken care of all the arrangements.

Attendance was apparently mandatory as stressed many times through the course of this informal meeting—although no punishment for failure to attend was mentioned—but what is this, school?

Would they call our parents for failing to show up?!

I'm sure lots of the big shot businessmen and women would also find no use in showing up to these workshops and activities. It seemed like small business owners would benefit from these activities more.

Seriously, were they really taking attendance for this?

Many people here were well over the retiring age for crying out loud. I doubt being called out for playing hooky would faze them. They had more pressing issues on their mind. Like death.

Leia, shut up, they're not that old!

My eyes wander to Quinn who hasn't even made fleeting eye contact with me. I wonder how our workshop would be if we were still in awkward, sort of mad terms with one another.