Happy Wednesday! Well, NaNoWriMo is over for this year, and I have that post-noveling hazy feeling as though I’ve just turned myself inside out. I honestly can’t even look at my novel yet. I’m not sure I want to deal with the gloopy mess. I know I need to, but I’m giving myself a break first. Hopefully I can pull myself together and start hacking away at it in a week or two.
In the meantime, I’m editing a short work for submission to an anthology. I’ve tentatively named this one Private Dance. As soon as I’m done, I’ll put it in the hands of my capable betas. For now, I’ll share a little of it for this week’s WIPpet and probably next week’s as well. Guess who’s back (though briefly)? I’ve missed these guys. In fact, besides the snippet for today, you can check out my blog post from Monday—a bit of flash fiction featuring whining, soup, mentholated chest rub, and my two favorite guys ever.
Very simple WIPmath: 12 + 3 = 15 paragraphs.
Phin tossed the last few items in his bag and closed it. “There.” He turned to Alex. “C’mere, babe,” he said.
Alex didn’t move. He stood next to the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Phin shot him a puzzled look and stepped away from the bed to stand in front of Alex. When he reached out, Alex flinched and pulled away.
With a heavy sigh, Phin asked, “What is it?”
“I’m sick of this shit,” Alex spat at him.
“What?”
“You. Leaving all the time.” Alex clenched his jaw.
Phin gave a humorless laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is my job.”
“Yeah, it is, but I know you could take shorter assignments, work from here, or find places closer to home.”
“You know I’m trying to get to a point where I don’t have to be gone so much, but I’m not there yet.” He stepped closer and rested his hand on Alex’s chest.
Alex shoved his hand away. “You could’ve said no, and you didn’t need to go to the conference—you wanted to.”
“It’s only three weeks. I’ll be home before you know it.” Phin tried again, running his hand down Alex’s arm. “Come on. We have time before I go. Let’s just—”
“No! I’m not playing the game where you try to appease me with sex. You don’t give a damn how I feel.” He knew he was baiting Phin, but he couldn’t stop himself. “You walk out that door, and you might as well not bother coming back.”
There was a long, terrible pause, during which Phin’s mouth fell open and he stared, unblinking, at Alex. “Oh, my god. You’re serious.”
In response, Alex offered nothing but silence. Phin turned away and grabbed his bag. He stalked out of the room into the hallway. For a moment, he looked like he might walk away without another word, but at the last minute, he glanced back. “I hope you change your mind,” he said quietly before dashing down the stairs and out the door, slamming it behind him.
Alex wanted to chase him to his car and beg him to wait so they could work it out. He wanted to explain, but he couldn’t put into words the real reason he was so devastated. So he didn’t; he stayed in the bedroom and listened for the sound of the car pulling away.
Oh, dear. Hope I didn’t make you all too sad. I’ll try to remedy that next week.
If you enjoyed this, think how much more you’ll love it if you check out the other entries from my fine colleagues. You can even add your own by posting a bit of your work-in-progress, connecting it to the date, and linking up with us. Many thanks to K. L. Schwengel for her work as the Fairy WIPpet Godmother. Happy writing!
They’re baaaak! =P Great war going on without either saying what they want to say. Love it.
True story: the original version of this didn’t have their argument. I read it over and went, “Hm…too much telling, not enough showing.” It’s your fault I changed it—I knew if you read it you’d hate it. LOL!
Man, Alex seems like he’s being really unreasonable here. Can’t wait for more explanation…
I probably won’t post that part, so I’ll just say it—he’s not being nice about it, but he’s worried Phin will cheat on him, given Phin’s unfortunate history. He just doesn’t really know how to say it. No worries; there’s no cheating going on.
We haven’t seen these two fellows for a while. That’s quite a spat they’re having.
Yeah. They’ve hit a rough patch. But I deal in happy endings, so it won’t last long. 🙂
“I hope you change your mind.” What awful last words. And what a way to through it on him so at least he feels like it’s all his fault. Nice drama
Thanks!
aw, man. 🙁 Hope they work it out(which I’m sure they will)
They surely will. They’re both pretty stubborn, but they do love each other.
I’m hoping Phin turns around and comes back, gets them both another cuppa whatever they’re drinking, and says, “C’mon, Alex – something else is bothering you. Please tell me what it is, so that we can deal with it together.”
And then Alex could accept the gesture, and they could discuss his fears, and the lack of trust that runs beneath them, and what to do about that…
Early in our marriage, my husband once accepted a sudden work assignment without checking with me – on my birthday. We both already had worked a full day, and that evening was supposed to be mine, and, instead, he told me he was leaving for two weeks.
I was as mad as Alex, and I showed it as unproductively. Fortunately, my Accomplice decided to leave the following morning, instead, and we had a lovely evening together…
That’s what I hope for Alex and Phin…that extra little magical time together, leading to deeper understanding on both sides.
Oh man, there’s all the happy feels because it’s Phin and then… Wah!!! What did you do?
Alex is good with everyone else’s feelings except his own. Good thing Phin’s an understanding guy. No worries—he’s hurt, but he’s not leaving for good.
I hope they can work this out. And I’m intrigued as to what it is that’s really getting to Alex. Because it would seem it’s not as simple as what they were discussing. Great excerpt. 🙂
They will definitely work it out. 🙂 It’s never as simple as what’s on the surface, is it?
No that’s very true!
Oh dear. I hope they work it out!