Scuttle Buttin'
Demons at bay
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2003
- Posts
- 15,882
Clark Redding
He'd received the invitation... well, roughly around the same time everyone else around town had, he figured... but unlike most, he still hadn't decided if he wanted to go or not. The truth was, though he'd lived in Ivyoke for a few years now (ah, the inheritance again), having a young son to take care of and a wife that seemed to be allergic to anything that didn't involve television, tea, or telling him that he didn't spend enough time with their son (things he referred to in his head, with no lack of irritation, as The Three T's) didn't leave him much time to make friends. The invitation from Cat was a bit of a surprise, but he had offered her a bit of friendly advice after overhearing her talk of some storm damage her house had received. Apparently, she didn't forget the favor.
The idea of a party, to be sure, was a nice one. The idea of getting out of the goddamned house, in fact, was beautiful. Sure, he had the softball team he played on one night a week, but it was a bunch of sweaty, mostly out of shape guys trying to recapture whatever glory days they may've had in their youth. And let's face it: Most of these rich fucks wouldn't dive for a ball in the hole if it was wrapped in Google IPO's. Where was the excitement if you weren't going to put everything you had into it? Did money like this mean you couldn't even leg out a grounder for a game you never got paid to play in the first place? God, how he hoped not.
The main thing giving him pause on going or not was his wife's absolutely refusal to go because, wouldn't you just fucking know it, there was something on TV she wanted to watch. That her ass hadn't grown as large as the couch yet was a miracle only of her insane metabolism. It's not like they had sex to work off any energy built up during their long days of... what? Absolutely nothing, it seemed. He was slowly going crazy. Recently he'd drawn up no fewer than 15 different plans to do various things to their house: enlarge rooms, add a whole new section to the back, the left, or the front, add large windows in the front, and even add a sub-basement that he could use to store his crime fighting equipment in. The last one was mostly a joke, though.
As time ticked by on the day of the party and still a whole bag full of nothing was happening, Clark began to get increasingly irritated. Gertie sat in there, watching Nova or some silly shit, the Little One on the floor in front of her playing with Spongebob McGee or whatever that thing's name was, and there he was in his office, clicking aimlessly from one website to the other. He wasn't even sure what he was looking at or why, at this point. Another minute disappeared in the bottom of the screen, his eyes drawn to the change in numbers, and as 3 gave way to 4, a decision was made suddenly and without warning. Clicking the X in the top corner to close his browser, he stood from his leather office chair and left the room to get ready.
Half an hour later he was showered and dressed and smelling lightly of cologne. He didn't shave, the shadow of stubble on his cheeks something everyone that knew him had grown used to, and he'd long ago given up trying to fight it. He was just One Of Those Guys. Moving into the TV room he walked to the couch where, of course, his wife still sat watching TV, and he kissed her forehead. He didn't ask her to go, to do so would be pointless - there was her show, after all! - and instead said simply:
"I've decided to go. I'll try not to wake you when I come home."
That said, he picked up the munchkin and kissed him, told him to be good for his mom, sat him back in front of his toys, and left. And she didn't utter a word of protest. Fan-fucking-tastic. Nothing like a cold fish in face to make a guy feel great.
Walking into the garage, he slid into the driver's seat of his Aston Martin V12 Vanquish , the new toy he'd recently bought (and in two months driven a grand total of 629 miles, including the trip home from the dealership), and settled comfortably into the leather seat. It held him like a glove. Somehow, this car made things feel better. Vehicles you paid six-figures for had a way of doing that.
Opening the garage door, he backed the car out and, with a final glance at the house to see that she was not, in fact, trying to stop him from going, he pulled out of the driveway and slid off down the street. The trip over would be short, but still he rolled down the window to let the wind swirl around him. The dark green tie he wore fluttered a bit in the breeze, sliding against the black shirt he wore. His sleeves were rolled about halfway up his forearms, and the breeze felt good on his bare skin. His pants were a light khaki colored, tailored to hang perfectly from his 35-inch waist, and they went well with the dark shirt and dark leather shoes he wore.
As expected, the trip only took a few minutes, and soon he was pulling his car into a parking spot and, moments later, making his way up to Cat's beautiful house. She was a publisher, if memory served, and perhaps there would be an author or two here that he'd heard of. His reading had increased greatly in the last year or two, so the chances were at least fair. Assuming, of course, that this wasn't simply a neighborhood party, in which case alcohol might be his best course of action. The only way to find out, of course, was to-
His thoughts were cut off as he realized he was approaching Cat's doorstep behind someone, Juliet, though of course he does not know that's her name, and he pauses, not wanting to startle her. His eyes flickered across her frame (he is a man, after all, and not yet a dead one at that), and then he cleared his throat as he moved up to short steps to join her in front of the door, his green eyes moving to her face as his full lips curved into a slight smile.
"Glad to see I'm not the only one showing up late. I'm sure they've been holding the party for us to arrive, anyway. Or," he chuckled quietly, his hands sliding into his pockets, "at least for you to arrive."
He'd received the invitation... well, roughly around the same time everyone else around town had, he figured... but unlike most, he still hadn't decided if he wanted to go or not. The truth was, though he'd lived in Ivyoke for a few years now (ah, the inheritance again), having a young son to take care of and a wife that seemed to be allergic to anything that didn't involve television, tea, or telling him that he didn't spend enough time with their son (things he referred to in his head, with no lack of irritation, as The Three T's) didn't leave him much time to make friends. The invitation from Cat was a bit of a surprise, but he had offered her a bit of friendly advice after overhearing her talk of some storm damage her house had received. Apparently, she didn't forget the favor.
The idea of a party, to be sure, was a nice one. The idea of getting out of the goddamned house, in fact, was beautiful. Sure, he had the softball team he played on one night a week, but it was a bunch of sweaty, mostly out of shape guys trying to recapture whatever glory days they may've had in their youth. And let's face it: Most of these rich fucks wouldn't dive for a ball in the hole if it was wrapped in Google IPO's. Where was the excitement if you weren't going to put everything you had into it? Did money like this mean you couldn't even leg out a grounder for a game you never got paid to play in the first place? God, how he hoped not.
The main thing giving him pause on going or not was his wife's absolutely refusal to go because, wouldn't you just fucking know it, there was something on TV she wanted to watch. That her ass hadn't grown as large as the couch yet was a miracle only of her insane metabolism. It's not like they had sex to work off any energy built up during their long days of... what? Absolutely nothing, it seemed. He was slowly going crazy. Recently he'd drawn up no fewer than 15 different plans to do various things to their house: enlarge rooms, add a whole new section to the back, the left, or the front, add large windows in the front, and even add a sub-basement that he could use to store his crime fighting equipment in. The last one was mostly a joke, though.
As time ticked by on the day of the party and still a whole bag full of nothing was happening, Clark began to get increasingly irritated. Gertie sat in there, watching Nova or some silly shit, the Little One on the floor in front of her playing with Spongebob McGee or whatever that thing's name was, and there he was in his office, clicking aimlessly from one website to the other. He wasn't even sure what he was looking at or why, at this point. Another minute disappeared in the bottom of the screen, his eyes drawn to the change in numbers, and as 3 gave way to 4, a decision was made suddenly and without warning. Clicking the X in the top corner to close his browser, he stood from his leather office chair and left the room to get ready.
Half an hour later he was showered and dressed and smelling lightly of cologne. He didn't shave, the shadow of stubble on his cheeks something everyone that knew him had grown used to, and he'd long ago given up trying to fight it. He was just One Of Those Guys. Moving into the TV room he walked to the couch where, of course, his wife still sat watching TV, and he kissed her forehead. He didn't ask her to go, to do so would be pointless - there was her show, after all! - and instead said simply:
"I've decided to go. I'll try not to wake you when I come home."
That said, he picked up the munchkin and kissed him, told him to be good for his mom, sat him back in front of his toys, and left. And she didn't utter a word of protest. Fan-fucking-tastic. Nothing like a cold fish in face to make a guy feel great.
Walking into the garage, he slid into the driver's seat of his Aston Martin V12 Vanquish , the new toy he'd recently bought (and in two months driven a grand total of 629 miles, including the trip home from the dealership), and settled comfortably into the leather seat. It held him like a glove. Somehow, this car made things feel better. Vehicles you paid six-figures for had a way of doing that.
Opening the garage door, he backed the car out and, with a final glance at the house to see that she was not, in fact, trying to stop him from going, he pulled out of the driveway and slid off down the street. The trip over would be short, but still he rolled down the window to let the wind swirl around him. The dark green tie he wore fluttered a bit in the breeze, sliding against the black shirt he wore. His sleeves were rolled about halfway up his forearms, and the breeze felt good on his bare skin. His pants were a light khaki colored, tailored to hang perfectly from his 35-inch waist, and they went well with the dark shirt and dark leather shoes he wore.
As expected, the trip only took a few minutes, and soon he was pulling his car into a parking spot and, moments later, making his way up to Cat's beautiful house. She was a publisher, if memory served, and perhaps there would be an author or two here that he'd heard of. His reading had increased greatly in the last year or two, so the chances were at least fair. Assuming, of course, that this wasn't simply a neighborhood party, in which case alcohol might be his best course of action. The only way to find out, of course, was to-
His thoughts were cut off as he realized he was approaching Cat's doorstep behind someone, Juliet, though of course he does not know that's her name, and he pauses, not wanting to startle her. His eyes flickered across her frame (he is a man, after all, and not yet a dead one at that), and then he cleared his throat as he moved up to short steps to join her in front of the door, his green eyes moving to her face as his full lips curved into a slight smile.
"Glad to see I'm not the only one showing up late. I'm sure they've been holding the party for us to arrive, anyway. Or," he chuckled quietly, his hands sliding into his pockets, "at least for you to arrive."
