Quincy took a deep breath. Ze heard Helen, of course ze did, but unfortunately ze wasn’t quite processing her words enough to respond. Ze felt bad for that but ze was feeling the weight of Tommy’s last words and his plea for hir to stay. Glancing at Helen, who seemed to be caught in the middle of this cyclone of emotion, ze felt all the discomfort that Helen probably felt and some.
Dave. Quincy knew the name, but couldn’t think where from. Ze didn’t have time to consider it. Tommy was suddenly right beside hir, up in hir personal space. Hir breathing became shallower but faster. Ze could smell his scent filling hir nostrils. Feel his breath on hir skin as he told hir in a hushed voice that they were surrounded by fresh air and pleaded with hir not to leave them.
But why would he not want to spend more time with his “client”. Oh, boyfriend, he said. Was he having a secret affair with this Helen and ze just happened to be the perfect buffer to stop people suspecting? No, no, Tommy wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t, would he?
Those words came thick and fast, consuming Quincy mind: “I understand if you want to be done talking to me. Given out last conversation before today.” The memories of their breakup and the hurt that followed were still fresh, but so were the feelings that had resurfaced seeing Tommy again tonight. Quincy’s fingers started to pick at the hem of hir dress now. “Tom-”, xe started, the words seemly stuck in hir throat. Xe stepped back, away from Tommy, loosing hir balance in the process. Immediately, xe shot hir arms out slightly for balance and caught hirself. Only causing a slight wobble and a little of their Old Fashioned to slosh out of the glass and onto the floor.
Quincy took a few quick seconds to compose hirself and force on a smile to mask hir internal struggle, she tried again. “Tommy, I appreciate your concern, I’m okay.” Looking over at Helen, giving her hir attention. “And Helen, it was really nice meeting you. But I think I do need a moment to clear my head. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again soon. I do hope we get to talk another time.” Ze took another step back, trying to be more careful this time. Xe could feel the cool breeze now, reminding hir that there was indeed fresh air all around. Turning to Tommy, xe said, perhaps unconvincingly although xe was trying, “I think it’s just a bit overwhelming right now. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve been to any kind of event and I don’t want to ruin your evening, so I’ll just step away for a bit. Maybe we can talk later when things are less…” Quincy stopped, xe was going to say intense but realised that was not the word to use right now.
So with that, Quincy turned and made hir way towards the edge of the deck, seeking a quieter spot to gather hir thoughts. Ze knew ze needed this moment to breathe, to process everything that had just happened.
@eunoia - Helen - I do want them to have another conversation at some point, I think it’d be fun.
@ChayChay05 - Tommy - 'til next time (wink)