Capricorn Season - Jimmy Page

Chapter 25 Part 2

The group felt peace for another hour. Bonzo was sulking in his room and the rest of them were playing together in relative quiet. It was never stagnant with the Zeppelin crew. What aided in the silence was a brooding Jimmy. He was acting like Bonzo, groveling in pity in the corner. He had a tendency to do this, pout when upset. Gwen hadn't caught onto his mood and it was only making him more troubled.

Robert was keen on all of Jimmy's quirks and knew immediately what had happened. He must've crossed a line, or perhaps someone had made a joke he didn't like. It wasn't easy to play guessing games with him. His mind was a steel fortress, not a temple to be easily infiltrated. He looked to Jimmy, hoping that if he stared long enough the problem would reveal itself. But it never did and they continued their game regardless.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna call it a day."

"You fold?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," Robert said, standing up.

"Right when I'm about to win? What, you're afraid to lose all of a sudden?" Robert shrugged, his lips pushed together, and simply nodded in Jimmy's direction. When Gwen turned to look at him, he was sitting with his body against the wall. He was looking down below at all of the cars. She took immediate notice of his cool appearance, gleaning his level of frustration.

"All right, I'll see you later." She sighed.

She had to practically strangle the information out of him. He was an iron wall at this moment, completely shutting her out. She cursed herself, wondering if this was what it was like for him. She could see all the walls between them and had no idea how to knock them down. He'd given himself so wantingly before now, never making her guess or wonder how he felt. Particularly about her and her actions.

"Please, Jimmy, I don't want to play these games. What is bothering you? I know you're upset."

"Fine," He finally turned to her, "It's Robert." Her face twisted in confusion. "Robert? What did he do?"

"What he said to Bonzo."

"Jimmy, dear god, please just speak a full sentence!" Her patience was already worn thin, quickly becoming ragged with his third-degree.

"Robert has been flirting with you since he met you. And now he's sticking up for you, playing card games, comforting you, sharing your clothes. If I didn't know any better, I would think you were on tour with him and he was your boyfriend."

She could see her boyfriend before her, Jimmy page, 26, of Pangbourne, England. But what she heard was not a grown man with a stable career and home. It was a jealous teenager who watched his girlfriend dance with another guy at the homecoming dance. Or he morphed into a child, stamping his foot and insisting on another cookie. She almost laughed. But, she didn't. She instead sighed and shook her head. "Are you jealous of Robert and me?"

"Not jealous."

"Fine, whatever you want to call it. You're upset he stood up for me? Would you rather Bonzo kept bullying me? Lord knows you weren't going to say anything!"

"I would have."

"When? Because you didn't say anything the first time, or last night, or earlier today. It seems you want all of the glory and none of the burden. If I didn't know any better, I would say you don't want to stand up for your girlfriend, so someone else had to do it for you."

He was dumbfounded at her gall. She was blaming this all on him and not her obvious flirting. He thought she was being unreasonable, totally insane. How could he say anything when it would destroy the band? He wasn't going to get involved because it would ruin the music. "So you're embarrassed by me?"