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Post by Gary Goodwin on Oct 16, 2010 17:33:03 GMT -5
Gary sighed with relief. Getting coffee didn't solve anything, but at least it would get them out of this alleyway and give him some time to figure out what to do. June normally wasn't the weak type of girl, who would just lie down and take that kind of treatment from a guy. At least, Gary wouldn't have thought she would be that type. He'd always thought she was strong, resilient, and independent. So why was she letting Talon treat her this way?
He nodded slowly, running a hand through his hair. "OK. OK, that sounds good. We'll just go inside really quick and let Brady know that we're leaving. We can tell the bouncer that you left your purse in there or something."
But even in the dim light or the alleyway, Gary knew that one look at June's face and Brady would want to leave with them. She looked a wreck. Her face was unnaturally pale, her cheeks were blotchy, and her eyes were red and puffy. It was all too obvious that she'd been crying. Frowning, Gary took out his wand and did a quick concealing charm, to cover up the appearance of her tears. It wasn't perfect, and in the bright lights of the club, Brady might notice the problem, but it was the best he could think of at the moment.
He gave her a bracing smile and held his hand out to her. "Come on, let's get out of here."
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Post by Abbey Jones on Oct 16, 2010 21:33:50 GMT -5
Abbey giggled again. Strange how this situation just seemed so very funny. "D'you think maybe they left without you?" she asked. Maybe they were having such a good time that they decided to leave. Or maybe they thought Brady was having so much fun with Abbey that he would be fine on his own. It seemed to make some sense to Abbey, although admittedly, her thinking wasn't very clear at the moment.
She took a few wobbly steps, but managed to get a little more sure of her steps as she leaned on Brady.
"Oh, maybe we should call for them," she suggested, still giggling. "What was your friend's name again... Barry? Or was it Grady....?"
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Post by Brady Ferris on Oct 18, 2010 8:05:53 GMT -5
Brady gave a shrug. He didn't really think that Gary and June would just leave him, knowing that going out wasn't really his cup of tea.
For someone who was somewhat drunk, Brady could still walk in a straight line. He let out a laugh a Abbey tried to recall Gary's name. "I don't think they're in here," he answered. "Maybe they did leave." Brady looked around to see if he saw them, but there was a lot of people there and he wouldn't really be able to find them anyway.
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Post by June Bankman on Oct 18, 2010 15:11:57 GMT -5
June knew what he did with the charm, and she took a deep breath, trying hard not to cry all over again. This was how she appeared so strong most of the time, she realized. Maybe she wasn't actually that strong after all, but just really good at pretending like she was. It was a horrible thought, and she wondered how she came this far if that were the case. But now, everything that was bothering her was just bubbling over, and she couldn't do it by herself anymore.
Taking his hand, she mumbled a soft "thank you." They would just talk to Brady, and even then, she would let Gary do all of the talking, and they'd go somewhere quiet.
She just wanted to be sober again and get back to normal. "I'm sorry, Gary. This was a bad idea and I should have known that."
He probably didn't need the explaination, but she wanted to give it anyway and they talked to the bouncer and made their way back inside.
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Oct 18, 2010 22:38:55 GMT -5
Gary shook his head. "No, don't do that. Don't apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just glad you thought you could tell me this. You can't just keep stuff like this bottled up, and you can't just accept it. If I had known what was bothering you today, I would have suggested we do something different tonight."
He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and led her out of the alleyway and toward the club. He still didn't know what he was going to say to Brady when they found him, but he didn't want to ruin Brady's evening. If Brady was having fun with Abbey, he should be able to stay and not worry about June.
Around the front of the club, they pushed past the line of people waiting to get in and approached the bouncer. "Hey, can we go back in? She left her purse inside...."
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Post by Abbey Jones on Oct 18, 2010 23:06:30 GMT -5
Meanwhile Abbey had decided to give up on finding Brady's friends. The lights and noise of the club were starting to get to her, and the air seemed stuffy. "Maybe they went out to get some air," she said. "Come on, let's just go. Maybe we'll see them out there... or maybe they just left. I'm sure they'll be fine, anyway..."
It seemed to take forever to get to the doors, and Abbey steps were a little shaky. Luckily, Brady still seemed fairly steady, and she was able to lean on him.
Once they stepped outside, Abbey took a deep breath of the fresh, cool night air, and it seemed to clear her head a little.
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Post by June Bankman on Dec 30, 2010 4:08:13 GMT -5
June kept her eyes away from the bouncer. She just wanted to tell Brady that she was going home, and be on her way.
The gods hated her though, she decided. Abby and Brady seemed to practically meet them at the door, and June's hands went to wipe her eyes instantly. Brady was perceptive, and Merlin, she just wanted him to have fun. He was a good guy, he deserved that. Hearing Abby's voice, she knew Brady must have seen the two of them, and she sort of stepped behind Gary, hoping that he would explain that they were going home or... whatever.
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Jan 5, 2011 0:55:56 GMT -5
Gary saw Brady and Abbey just before June did, and was already trying to shield June from them when she moved behind him.
"Brady!" he said, doing his best to sound like his usual, boisterous self. Brady might not notice the difference in his inebriated state, anyway. At least, he hoped not. "Listen, we were just coming to look for you. June's not feeling too well.... I think the firewhiskey went right to her head. I'm gonna take her home, OK? You can get home yourself, right?"
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Post by Brady Ferris on Jan 5, 2011 13:34:01 GMT -5
Brady let Abbey lean on him, considering she seemed like she had a little more than he had. He was about to respond to Abbey when he saw Gary. Walking up to Gary, Brady looked at him questioningly. Even though he was intoxicated, Brady knew that there was something wrong with June.
"'Course I can get myself home," he answered. Brady didn't know anything else, and if he were completely sober, he probably would have known right off that wasn't what was wrong with June. "Make sure you take care of her," he said. He would have offered to do it himself, but even he knew he might not be the best person for that at the moment. "And make sure she starts feeling better."
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Post by Abbey Jones on Jan 24, 2011 12:25:05 GMT -5
Abbey was feeling particularly lightheaded at the moment, and she found the entire situation sort of funny. Luckily, however, she was able to keep from laughing. There was something oddly sobering about the tone of Gary's voice, like he was trying a little too hard to be casual. Abbey tried to peer through the dim light to see if June was OK, but the other woman's face was hidden in shadows, and Abbey's vision was a bit fuzzy already.
"I hope you feel better," she said, her words still slurring badly. She then turned her gaze to Gary--well, one of them, anyway, as there seemed to be two of him--and smiled at him. "Thanks," she added.
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Jan 24, 2011 13:48:04 GMT -5
Gary nodded at the girl. While things with June hadn't worked out the way he had hoped, he was at least glad that he'd been able to get Brady to loosen up and to help him find a girl he liked. So the night wasn't a total waste. And really, the fact that he'd managed to get June to open up to him was a good thing, too... he just wished he knew how to help her.
"You're welcome," he said. "You two have fun... I'd say don't do anything I wouldn't do, but there's nothing I wouldn't do."
He winked at Brady, then turned to June. "Are you ready? he asked in a soft voice. He figured he would apparate out of there before Brady could see her face, and they'd go to the little coffee shop he liked, until he could get her to calm down and figure out where he should take her. He was not going to take her back to a man who hit her.
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Post by June Bankman on Mar 23, 2011 1:42:09 GMT -5
June's eyes were fixed on the ground under her feet, not wanting Brady or this girl to have any idea that something was wrong. Drinking had obviously been an awful idea, but she couldn't take it back now. And she couldn't take back the fact that she had told Gary.
"I'm ready," she told him, nodding and leaning into him slightly. She just wanted out of this atmosphere so badly.
"Can we please just go?" she nearly begged.
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Mar 30, 2011 0:01:51 GMT -5
Gary just nodded quickly in answer to her question, then wrapped his arm around her, shielding her slightly from the light and supporting her as he apparated out of there with her alongside him.
They arrived at a narrow, quiet alleyway next to the coffee shop. The owner, Gary knew, was actually a wizard, though the majority of his customers were muggles. And he kept the alleyway safe for other wizards and witches to apparate into.
This part of London was quiet; as much as London could ever be quiet. A few of the nearby restaurants were still open, but the rest of the shops were all closed for the night. The coffee shop was open, however, although coffee might have seemed an odd concept for this time of night. Right now, it just seemed like a good place to get away from everything and try to figure things out.
He led her around the corner and pushed open the door to the coffee shop. "Why don't you sit over there by the fireplace, and I'll get us some drinks? Do you want coffee or tea?"
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Post by June Bankman on Mar 31, 2011 17:05:25 GMT -5
"Coffee, please." June was definitely a coffee kind of girl... Brady would have known that. Brady, who got her a coffee maker for her birthday. Opposed to Talon, who gave her a red mark on her cheek and made her decidedly gun shy.
She moved to a corner table by the window, far enough away from the one or two other patrons. She was already sobering up pretty quickly, and she sighed, running her hands through her hair. She knew Gary was going to tell her she couldn't go back to Talon. It wasn't that easy, though.
When he came back, she met his eyes and blurted out, "I'm so sorry. This really isn't a big deal. I don't know why I even said anything."
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Apr 30, 2011 11:50:57 GMT -5
Gary handed her one of the cups and kept the other for himself as he sat down across from her. "I didn't know if you took cream or sugar," he said, nodding to the little creamer cups and sugar packets on the saucer.
Even as he said that, he felt a little guilty, like he should have known that. June was his friend, and he felt like he knew so little about her. Of course, she probably knew even less about him; he was always the guy making jokes as a way to avoid any true intimacy. And yet here he was, her unlikely confidant.
"No, June. It is a big deal. It was bothering you... and it should. What he did was wrong. Please don't make excuses for him... he hurt you, and there's no excuse for that."
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Post by June Bankman on Aug 29, 2011 16:45:41 GMT -5
"Thanks," June murmured, smiling lightly as he set the cream and sugar in front of her. She was feeling absolutely humiliated now. She definitely shouldn't have made such a big deal out of this. It was just that in that club, she felt overwhelmed, and the alcohol hadn't helped anything at all. In fact, it made things so much worse. Now she just felt like an idiot, and the way Gary was looking at her made it worse.
"Fine," she said at length. "No excuses. But it really isn't a big deal. It was a one off thing and I just reacted the way I did tonight because it was just something I haven't dealt with before, I guess. Anyway, I'm fine. We'll be fine. But I appreciate this and I'm very sorry to have dragged you away from the club and from Brady."
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Sept 11, 2011 23:31:32 GMT -5
Gary would have liked to find her boyfriend and beat the stuffing out of him, except that he was pretty sure Talon was a big guy and Gary was... not. But it frustrated him that June was making excuses for this guy. There really was no situation when it was appropriate for a guy to hit his girlfriend. And even if he'd only done it this one time, how long would it be before it happened again?
He shook his head as she tried to apologize to him. "No, no, don't even worry about that," he told her. "Brady's doing just fine on his own. I'd rather be here with you."
Actually, he would rather have been the guy who went home drunk with the pretty brunette, but only because Brady was more suited to this sort of thing than he was. He didn't know what to say, what to do to help her. All he knew for sure was that he was not going to take her back to her house to a man that hit her. Even from a selfish perspective, it seemed like a bad idea--after all, if the guy had no problem hitting June, he'd probably kill Gary for showing up there with her.
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Post by June Bankman on Sept 26, 2011 23:25:51 GMT -5
June let out a loud sigh, eyes staring right into her coffee, her long fingers wrapped around the mug and letting the warmth of it seep up her arms.
She couldn't do this to Gary anymore. It wasn't his job to feel like he needed to walk her through sobering up, and she really didn't know how this would change their relationship. Their carefree, laugh about everything friendship in the office. Now, when he looked at her, was he going to see someone weak, who couldn't even handle a little alcohol?
So she forced a smile and completely changed the subject. "How did you find this place?"
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Post by Gary Goodwin on Oct 10, 2011 13:12:58 GMT -5
The trouble was, it was already too late. Their relationship had already changed, and Gary didn't think it would ever go back to "normal," whatever that was. He had seen a different side of her, and knew more about her than anyone, except possibly for the son of a banshee who had hit her. They couldn't go back from that... and Gary wasn't sure he wanted to.
But for now, anyway, he would play along. The mood was getting too heavy, anyway, and Gary didn't do well with heavy. "I was in the area, picking up a pizza at Galligan's, and I was lured in by the smell of fresh roasted coffee. Seriously, you should smell this place in the morning... it's like heaven on earth."
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Post by June Bankman on Oct 13, 2011 23:48:17 GMT -5
"I didn't know you were such a coffee fan," June replied, letting a slight smile settle on her lips. "The national adoration of tea was sort of depressing to me when I first came here," she added, wondering if Gary even knew she went to school in France. For all the times she and Gary talked in the office, she was beginning to wonder if they talked about anything at all. Or if she talked about anything of importance with anyone outside of Talon. She didn't think she did, and it startled her.
And hey, if she could say 'national adoration,' that meant she was doing better. She took another deep breath, breathing in the smell of the coffee instead. "Gary.... we should go back to the disco and find you a girl."
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