In Plain Sight (manxman) "Temporarily On Hold"

Chapter 12 Hello, You Beautiful Thing

Chapter 12

Before you read...

There are two pictures I would have rather used for the picture here, but I couldn't get either to work in wattpad as there is a very specific format of picture you can use, so I will include the links here:

Elliott's family home:

http://static.wixstatic.com/media/7888de_2ad1997289014ff2a656266c2e2243d1.jpg_srz_500_351_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

and Elliott and his dog Otis:

http://www.masculinemag.com/.a/6a0148c867a6b8970c017d405f06af970c-800wi

Please take a second to look at these to get the full picture of the images I'll try to convey in this chapter.

(Ugh, the links don't become links in the story, so I'll post them on my message board)

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David

Take a deep breath, I said to myself as I packed a few things in an overnight bag.  It had been a few days since I made dinner for Elliott.  He'd been busy working on a new commission, but I'd stopped in each day at lunchtime with food, much to Blake's dismay.  I think I took his job.  Blake seemed pretty set on being around as much as he could when I was there.  Elliott had sent him on a few errands, fabricated I think, so we could have a few moments without a chaperone.  In those stolen moments, we shared a few more blissful kisses, silly secrets and made plans for the weekend at his family home. 

Sculpting is hard work I came to understand as one evening we decided to grab a quick bite to eat and go to the movies.  Blake had plans with Laura, which he tried to change to Elliott's annoyance.  Elliott asked me to excuse him so he could have a talk with his brother, so I left them for the afternoon getting a text an hour later with plans for our evening.  Elliott didn't elaborate at dinner, just that he had a serious discussion with Blake about his attitude. 

Dinner was quick, a few tacos at a great Mexican restaurant a block away from the movie theatre.  I felt like I was in High School again as we held hands inconspicuously when the lights went down in the large cinema.  Elliott and I hadn't really talked about it, but somehow had an unspoken understanding that neither of us were ready to make our relationship particularly public at the moment.  I think we both had to see where this was going before we made that kind of commitment.  For right now, we were enjoying the company of the other and keeping things pretty lighthearted.

It was about three quarters of the way through the movie, when I felt Elliott's hand relax, that I looked over and realized he was asleep.  I watched him for the rest of the movie as it wasn't actually the best flick I'd ever seen, watching Elliott was way more interesting.  Was I annoyed that he fell asleep on our date?  Not at all.  He'd been working long days to complete the project and his type of sculpting was very physically taxing.  Moving, lifting, forming very large pieces of clay, some pieces weighing 50 pounds or more.  Then, the meticulous work of his hands over every inch, working the material over and over until it had just the right feel.  I knew he was exhausted.  He'd been blocking out time all week for me and I felt a little guilty as I knew he had a short deadline for this job.  It reminded me when I was in full swing on an ad campaign, long days of focused work.  He said he was looking forward to the weekend and getting away from the studio, not thinking about work for two days.  At the end of the movie, I walked Elliott home and sent him to bed with a quick kiss goodnight.

I told Elliott I would pick him up at his apartment at 1:00 this afternoon.  I was hoping he would take the morning to sleep in as late as possible.  Laura had to work until after the lunch crowd at the diner, so she and Blake would be taking a train later that afternoon; we would arrive a few hours earlier and I'd have a chance to meet Elliott's mother without the atmosphere of disdain that Blake seemed to project towards me.  Selfishly, I was glad that my car we were taking out to Long Island was only a two-seater, Hannah had picked up Fred the day before.