Forgotten age [a Martin Freeman fanfic]

6.

I had already eaten half of the pizza, Martin was still out of the room talking on his phone. I was going through his Netflix list for the fifth time when Jeremy entered the living room and sat next to me on the couch. 

"Hi," Jeremy said. 

I looked at him from the corner of my eye and sat properly on the couch, feeling a bit tense.

"Hello..." I replied.

"What's up?" 

"Uh..." I wiggled the pizza slice and shrugged.

"I see..." He coughed uncomfortably. "Well Martin's taking his time, huh?"

He was indeed. Half an hour on the phone. I was starting to feel played. I didn't want to see Martin as an impolite host, maybe his call was important. But leaving her guest eating dinner all alone and then sending his secretary over to keep me company? That's low.

"Maybe I should just take off." I declared finally. I knew that if I decided to stay it would hurt myself even more. Why did I even accept to come in the first place? I wanted to believe he was interested in me in some way. What a fool.

Jeremy pouted his lips and nodded slowly. "Yeah, maybe."

"I'm guessing you're here to offer me a drive?" I arched an eyebrow.

He didn't answer, I knew I was right.

I grabbed the pizza box with my hands and raised my chin faking pride.

"I might as well bring the pizza with me, if that's okay."

Jeremy grinned a little but immediately hid it with a cough.

"Sure. Let's go."

—

"Told ya, don't get too attached," Sophie repeated for the umpteenth time today.

"I'm not getting attached. I swear."

"Then what's with the long face?"

I pressed my lips until they were in a thin line, not wanting to answer.

"Gotcha." She laughed.

I crossed my arms and kept walking. We were almost at school when I heard loud footsteps aproaching from behind. I turned around just to find Graham, my high school crush, running towards us.

"Thanks for slowing down!" He said ironically, stopping to catch his breath.

"I just noticed! Sorry." I replied with a shrug.

"I didn't know you were into these kind of events, Gee." Said Sophie, both brows arched symetrically.

"I am not," He explained. "My little sister is in the debate club."

"Yeah but that doesn't start 'til after lunch," I remarked.

"So?"

I chuckled. "Nothing."

We got to the entrance of the school, a big banner was hanging from the door. It said: 'Efren High's Clubs day'. A bunch of parents and teachers were gathered under the door frame taking part in what it looked like an active conversation.

"Oh my god, Melissa, I am so rude. I didn't ask about your new movie!" Graham squealed as we got in the building.

I winced when he mentioned it. As hard as it can be to understand, I don't really enjoy being under the spotlight.

"Gee, you are so rude." Sophie repeated mockingly.

I shook my head. "It's okay, Graham, really."

"How is it like?" He insisted.

I took a deep breath, knowing there was no way I could avoid the subject. 

"It's great. I've met really kind and talented people. The atmosphere is super professional, I never imagined it this way. It feels like a real job, even though I had always pictured acting as a hobby...—"

"How's working with Kaya Scodelario, though?" 

I furrowed my eyebrows and Sophie and I locked gazes.

"Who?" 

"The girl from the Maze Runner movie? Hot chick? Blue eyes?" He asked with a smirk.

"Oh, right, " I snapped my fingers. "We were only in one scene together, at the end of the movie at the funeral."

"Wait, someone dies?" Graham muttered in shock.

I rolled my eyes at my mistake, but didn't care to fix it. I was one hundred percent sure Graham was only speaking to me because of my recent job acquisition. Never had he spoken to me like this before, a real conversation. 

"Well..." Sophie started once we arrived to our classroom. "The Drama Club."

I faked a smile at Graham when I noticed he didn't have any intentions on leaving.

"Don't you have to be somewhere?" I asked in a failed attempt to get rid of him.

He pouted his lips as he dropped my gaze. "Not until after lunch..."

Normally, I would be thrilled by this. Getting to spend time with the school's trophy-boy? Yum. But knowing he was only keeping me company because of his own personal interest was not something I'd normally be thrilled about. More like the opposite, I was starting to despise him. 

Funny how my feelings for him had changed so abruptly in such a short period of time...

"We got stuff to do," I started, knowing Sophie would follow.

"Yeah, a lot. It's Clubs Day! We gotta get ready. Go find yourself a club, there's no point in being here if you're not enrolled in one anyway." She said in a rush. After that she grabbed me from my sleeve, dragged me in the classroom and closed the door behind me.

I heard Graham's fainted cry. "Tell Kaya to slide through my DMs!!"

My club mates greeted me happily, I had missed them. We started organizing the room for the event, I appreciated my mates' quietness regarding the movie. I was starting to get sick of old friends harassing me through town with questions about it. I guess that's what the Drama Club is all about, people with your same dreams and ways of thinking.

—

When the weekend was done, I was surprised to find Jeremy on my doorstep Monday morning.

"What's going on?" I asked him when I realized it was him there and not Martin.

"Mister Freeman had to run some errands before getting to set. I will gladly drive you there in his name." He said politely and guided me to the car.

"Actually, Mister Freeman was driving me in Pearl's name so you're technically driving in Martin's name who is, as a matter of a fact Pearl's name."

"What?" He said, closing his eyes slightly to focus on my sentence.

I chuckled. "Never mind." 

When I finally got in the car the thoughts of Martin's duck-out started eating up my brain. Was it something I did? Was he back with his wife? Running errands? Who runs errands at eight in the morning? I was worried... I was worried I had scared him away. Our last encounter did seem a bit awkward. After all, I had to leave in a rush with no prior notice, no goobyes, no explanations. 

The only thing I wanted at the moment was to arrive to set and check everything was still fine between us. Because I didn't know what I'd do or how I'd act if something seemed to be off.