Beyond the Black Curtain

Chapter 5 - Plotting and Scheming

Sebastian

I didn't get much sleep that night, I asked Chris if he could Airdrop me some of the photos he took that afternoon and he ended up sharing all of it with me. I swiped through them for hours, just marvelling at how beautiful Rae looked, how carefree Chris and I looked. During those few short hours, we were just three regular people having fun. My chest tightened at the thought that a total stranger had done something like that for us. She had absolutely no reason to do so and yet she went out of her way anyway. I felt terrible again for saying some hurtful, accusatory things to her. I insinuated her as being an opportunist, that she only did what she did to get a great story. I had absolutely no right to do that at all.

My heart broke when I saw her tear streaked face and red rimmed eyes when we arrived at the hotel. Chris was shaking his head behind her, confirming my fears that she cried almost all the way back. I definitely heard her, but my pride and need for self-preservation outweighed nearly any other desire I had at that time. I knew I fucked up, but I certainly didn't want to do anything else for fear that I might hurt her even more. I was gonna have my work cut out for me that night if I was gonna get even just a sliver of a chance with her.

I finally passed out around 3 in the morning; Rae's face was the last thing I saw before I fell into a fitful sleep.

Just as my luck would have it, Chris was already up and raring to go at six in the morning. He was bouncing like the Energizer bunny and I absolutely did not want anything to do with him at such an ungodly hour.

"Go away," I mumbled, burying myself under the covers. The fucking bastard wasn't having it, pulling the sheets down to my waist.

"Nope. Stop stalling dumpling. We're having another press briefing at 8 and I want to go for a run. NOW," he spoke using his Captain America voice, and I hated him for it.

It was no use arguing with Chris when he gets into his chipper mood and so within ten minutes, we were discreetly dressed and running around the Merlion. I stopped and sat at one of the nearby benches to take a sip of water after running for about 45 minutes. Chris did the same. We spent a few peaceful minutes just looking at the magnificence of the Sands, the sounds of the water gently lapping providing the perfect soundtrack to our early morning.

"Slept at all?" Chris asked.

I shook and put my head down, still feeling a little woozy from the lack of sleep. "I was looking at her pictures all night. I'm so pathetic."

"No you're not. Again, you might be a dumbass, but you're not a pathetic, hopeless dumbass. What would you do without me, Seb?" Chris socked me in the arm and smirked at me. He got up and dumped the remains of his water bottle over my head and sped away causing me to do the same and chase him.

The day went by quickly than I hoped it would. The last round of press ended hours ago and I took the downtime to rest instead of doing anything else. Chris decided he wanted to join me and so here we were seated in my room watching god-knows-what local TV show.

Josh poked in his head around eight to tell us he was leaving to meet with Rae.

"I'm going up to meet Rae, just got her text she was there already. The plan is still a yes, right?"

Chris and I looked at each other and nodded at him. "Positive. You spend an hour with her, take her somewhere with less people, take a piss and let our Sexy Seabass sweep him off her feet," Chris said, clapping my shoulder as he finished rattling off his plan. "Easy peasy."

Josh laughed and closed the door behind him as he left. I sprang out of bed and began rummaging through my clothes.

"Aw mom, look, our little Sebby all grown up, all nervous about meeting a girl," Chris used in a mock singsong voice. I pause for a bit and throw a balled up shirt at him.

"Will you shut the fuck up? How about being useful and help me find what to wear?" I say to him and turn round back to what I was doing before I got distracted. I hear my friend laugh.

"You're Sebastian fucking Stan, bro, Mr. GQ Romania, you'd look good even in just a potato sack," Chris responded, I didn't notice him until he was standing beside me, picking up a plain beige tee, a black bomber jacket, dark wash skinny jeans which he finished off with my black Chuck Taylors.

"There," he said as he laid out his selection on my bed looking like a proud mom. "That wasn't so hard, was it? Go shower now, you got half an hour until Josh sends his go signal."