Author's Note: Boring chapter. I am sorry. Things will get heated in the next one. I promise.
It was going to be Heath's last week back in town, second last day to be more specific. Two more days till he would escape the shit hole and be back where he actually belonged. He was looking forward to it, if he were being honest. He could go back, meet Jules' sister, focus on his exams, be back with Lim and take a break from Conan. He didn't know why he wanted to be away from him. He wasn't clingy or annoying but in fact good company. The way he talked and distracted him slyly, his laugh that felt like a shower of fresh flowers and the way he...
God, he thought, colour rising to his cheeks. I really do need a break.
The more he had the urge to push him away the deeper he would pull him in. He knew it was stupid to think he could like him back. He wasn't even entirely certain that he liked Conan, even. It was just stupid and delusional.
Heath's phone vibrated in his pocket and he drew it out. His screen flashed with a name, Kim. It was Diane Kim, the director of Conan's creative team and head of all those who worked behind the screen. Even Karla wouldn't jab at her.
Why is she calling me?
Brows furrowed, Heath picked up the call.
"Hello," Diane spoke softly yet firmly, sounding official. "Am I speaking to Heathcliff Charles?"
He cringed at the sound of his long name. It sounded so grand and overdone. Nothing like him, a plain Texan boy.
"Yes," he said.
"Very well. Mister Charles we will need you in Austin for three more days. You are free to leave on Thursday if you want to."
It didn't sound like a request to him but more like a declaration. If it were coming from someone else, he might have told them no but it was the director of the creative team.
"But I already have a flight book-"
She cut him off without hesitation, speaking again in her soft yet affirming voice. "Those arrangements can be undone, Mister Charles. You will also be paid extra."
Payment wasn't the problem, this suffocating town was. He didn't think he had a choice until now, when she made it clear.
"I don't have a problem with the payment," he said, trying to sound equally determined. "I have exams coming up in two weeks and-"
"You have your textbooks?" she asked, a soft audible on her side.
"Yeah, I mean-"
"Perfect, you can study at your hotel or wherever you are living," she said, "Since we have an extra seen added in the music video, we will need more time to design clothes for Mister Gray."
"Okay but-"
"Mister Charles," she said, inhaling. "If you want the job, you have to excel here too, not just pass the exams. I can easily cancel your arrangements at Republic if you prove to be inflexible."
Are you threatening me?
"I will cancel my flight," he said instead, in a conceding tone.
"Good to know, Mister Charles," she said, pleased.
Lim
Heath: I am supposed to stay here for three extra days WHYYYYYY
Lim: hold on. why?
Heath: they added some scene in the mv the last second and now need more clothes
Lim: fuck. i am so sorry
Lim: conan is there right?
Heath: he is but the main topic is:WHYYYY
Lim: its just three days. i think u will be fine if u hang around him
Lim: jules' sis came btw. she wants to chat in person when u come back.
Heath: chat? more like discussion right?
Lim: dude ur dad is getting it pretty bad. he said he didn't feel any remorse at all. i dont even think they are gonna give a hearing anymore.
Heath: thats so fucked up
Lim: i will send u updates
Heath: thanks lim
Lim: :)
Heath settled on a dirty park bench, not minding the grime and dirt over it. He got out his sketch book and started sketching an outfit. He usually started with a sketch of the person the clothes were gonna be on. He drew Conan's body frame, lean and thin but with an attractive touch to it. After that, he began thinking of the aesthetic of the music video and ideas almost immediately flooded out. Conan looked really good in loose jeans and the music video was supposed to look sad but pleasing. Brown. Sad but warm.
Happiness pushed the dark out of the cracks in his head, like live blood.
"Hey, Heathcliff?" someone said and he looked up from his work. It was a man in his late fifties he had never seen before, though something about him seemed familiar. Packed with muscle, arms like tree trunks, sandy blond hair and a wide chest. He was wearing overalls and a hat tucked onto his head even though it wasn't that sunny.
He smiled at him knowingly as if they had been friends for a long time.
"Um," he said, a little wary of a stranger knowing his name. "Hello?"
It sounded like a question and the man's warm smile collapsed considerably. "I am Greg Gray, Conan's dad."
"Oh," he said. He looked very little like his son. He was built like an bull while his son was lean. They shared little to no facial features, except for their cheekbones and the shape of their noses. "Hello, Mister Gray."
He settled beside him chuckling and taking a look at his sketchbook. "Nice work," he said, smiling. "My son likes to draw too."
"Yeah, I know," Heath said, smiling. "This is actually for his music video."
"Really?" he said, surprise stark in his voice. "Is it done?"
"I am only on the designing team as an assistant ," he said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I am not even sure if they will take it."
"Oh, I am sure they will," he said, encouragingly. "I think Conan will like it too."
He didn't want to add that it seemed like his son would agree to anything he said because he did make it seem like it.
"So," he said, grinning and looking creepy. "Tell me more about yourself."