Happy Wednesday, everyone! I’m in the throes of mega-editing, trying to finish two short stories and whip my NaNoWriMo novel into better shape. I’ve also gone back to orchestra rehearsals, so that’s put a cramp in my plans. I’m only a week into ROW80, and I’m already in FAIL mode. Gotta get back on track!
ROW80 Goal Updates:
- Read 30 minutes/day—yup, easily
- Write 1 hour/day—eh, not quite. Averaged about 30 minutes a day. I need to get on it.
- Write 1 blog post/week that isn’t ROW80 or WIPpet—Didn’t do one last week, but I have one for this week that just needs polish.
- Write 1 flash fiction/month—not yet
- Walk on the treadmill 5 days/week—yep, still going strong.
WIPpet
I’m sticking with my unnamed short story for now, since I’m still editing it. When we last left Ethan, he was swooning over Mr. Mustache. Let’s see what happens when Ethan gets caught looking.
WIPmath: 14 paragraphs for the 14th.
Ethan tried to hide in the shadows, merely wanting to be a casual observer, but the director turned around. Their eyes met, and the man tilted his head, a question on his face. Ethan cleared his throat and stepped closer.
“Hello,” the director said. “Can I do something for you?”
The warm, rich tone of his voice made Ethan shiver. “Y-yes,” he replied. “I mean, no. That is, a couple of my students invited me to come watch.” He had moved so he was right below the stage, looking up and shielding his eyes.
The other man crouched down and hopped off the stage to stand next to Ethan. “There’s not much to see yet, but you’re welcome to stay anyway.” He extended a hand. “I’m Paul Duncan, head of the music department.”
Ethan grasped his hand, the skin cool and smooth against his own rough fingers. “Ethan Vandenberg.” Heat rose in his cheeks. “I teach chemistry.”
Paul’s blue eyes twinkled. “Oh, you do?” He snapped his fingers. “Right! You’re new this year, yes?”
“Yes. It’s my first full-time assignment. I subbed for a year before the job opened up.”
“Ah.” Paul smirked, causing his mustache to twitch. “If you’re going to stay, you might as well be of use. Know anything about musical theater?”
Ethan raised his eyebrows. “Uh, sure. I used to perform a bit.” Irritated with himself for feeling so off-kilter with Paul, Ethan drew himself up and said, “Actually, that’s an understatement. When I wasn’t in the lab, I practically lived in the drama department. Why?”
“As I said, I’ll let you stay if you work.”
“You’re pretty demanding,” Ethan blurted before he could stop himself.
Paul laughed. “So said my wife, too. Go talk to the crew. They’re working on plans backstage.” He motioned to Erica, who was standing in the middle of the stage, staring at Ethan. “Erica’s mother is one of our volunteers. She’ll fill you in.” He looked Ethan up and down. “If I like your work, maybe I’ll keep you around.”
Shit, Ethan thought, swallowing heavily. He’s got a wife. He’d been certain Paul was flirting with him; clearly his social cue skills needed refining. Out loud, he said, “Sure.”
Paul turned away and gracefully swung himself back onto the stage, giving Ethan an excellent view of his firm ass. Shaking himself, Ethan set off for the stairs just beyond stage right. He needed to be out of the auditorium and away from Paul before his thoughts took a direction he’d rather they didn’t.
If you liked what you read, you’ll love the other amazing WIPpets. You can find them here. Join in by posting a bit of your work, connecting it to the date with Fancy Math, and linking up with us. Don’t forget to show some love to the fabulous K. L. Schwengel for giving us this space to play.
Happy writing!
haha. Ethan is cute!! This is a great interaction for a first time meeting. =P
Glad you think so! I had so much fun writing him, and now I’m editing it and remembering why I liked him so much.
Great excerpt Amy. I can almost feel Ethan’s deflation when he realises/thinks he realises that Paul is married. Although I have a funny feeling that maybe Paul isn’t married anymore. He did say ‘said’ not ‘says’ after all… 🙂
I’m glad you caught that! Ethan didn’t catch it, so he’s still in the dark about Paul. He’s carefully guarding himself, so he’s hearing what he thinks will protect him.
But it’s often easier to see things more clearly from the outside when it’s not you that’s involved, isn’t it? Which is why I think this is so good because Ethan isn’t seeing things clearly at this point! 🙂
I caught the past tense too. But it was very well down, and very believable that Ethan didn’t, given how flustered he was. Nice excerpt!
Yay! The idea is for readers to spot it and Ethan to miss it, so I’m glad that worked. 🙂
Poor, Ethan. Though, I get the idea Mr. Mustache’s use of the past-tense verb is hinting at something.
You got it. I’m really pleased that everyone is catching on. Poor Ethan needs to get up to speed on this!
Aww Mr Mustache has a wife, poor Ethan! Although as ReGi said, there is the past tense usage. Is there tragic backstory in the offing?
Well, there’s definitely a story there. 😉
You’re doing better than me on the treadmill front. 14 days into January and mine is still folded up and loitering behind me…
I love the interaction between these two so much! And you don’t flourish an ass like that by accident… definitely flirting, I’d say, Ethan. :p
I got this treadmill for my birthday…in September. :O Figured it was finally time to wipe off the dust.
Yeah, not accidental flourishing, though hopefully subtle enough the students didn’t catch on. LOL!
This interests me about the LGBT community and how do you really know if flirting is ok, etc. I wonder what kind of work he’ll put him to.
Well, of course Ethan missed the past tense. All he heard was the word ‘wife’. Poor baby. Got to say, though, I’m drooling a little over Mr. Mustache, too. This scene is very well done because everyone except Ethan is on the same page. Mwahahahahaha!
aw, poor Ethan. Very easy to miss that past tense when you’re already flustered. 🙂
Can’t wait to see what Ethan winds up doing . . . on stage and off. He’s an engaging character, shy but assertive as well. The only verb that I keep circling back to is ‘smirk,’ which I remember has a slightly negative implication. Is that true to Paul’s personality? I checked out ‘smirk’ to see it means “to smile in an affected, smug, or offensively familiar way” or “specific kind of smile, one that suggests self-satisfaction, smugness, or even pleasure at someone else’s unhappiness or misfortune.” (dictionary.com). Somehow Paul seemed a little more authentic — and just maybe interested in Ethan. 🙂
Nice! 🙂