08-07-2018, 12:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-07-2018, 12:31 AM by Aiden Finnegan.)
Aiden ordered a variety bucket of beers for the two of them. It seemed to be this joint’s gimmick. Probably poking fun at how ravenous Americans are portrayed in the rest of the world. They weren’t wrong about that. As an American, Aiden knew fully well how much his countrymen enjoyed excess. Who didn’t? The only problem was that the United States didn’t really have room for excess anymore. They had fallen from grace. Would the same thing happen here? The Roman Empire didn’t even last, and everyone in Antiquity thought that was the height of civilization.
“Why do you keep saying that? Why do you hang around them if you don’t consider them friends? I will be the first to admit that I have none… Just my sister and my parents. Being famous is incredibly lonely. You have it all, but you rarely have the love. I’m not even that close to my parents… And my sister… Well, I’ve probably pissed her off since leaving. I wouldn’t be surprised if she chased me here. After my coma, she kept saying I had to go to Russia. Didn’t really believe her,” Aiden blushed slightly, “Well, not until today.”
The waitress made her way over and dropped the bucket of beers on the table. Aiden waited for Sage to pick one. Each was different and he wasn’t sure what flavors the other man liked. Best to let him have first picked. If things progressed past tonight, Aiden would need to know these things. Good boyfriends knew as much as they could about their lovers.
Sage went on, talking about his past. Aiden listened attentively, not once taking his eyes off of the other man. “As much traveling as I’ve done, I’ve never been to that part of the country. My Dad used to do a lot of business with the Government, so he was visiting up there a few times a year. I’ve never had much of a mind for politics, so why go? Although I’m kicking myself now. I may have run into you a few years earlier if I went along for the trip, but here we are now.”
Hearing about Sage’s illness brought memories of the coma back, and then the Channeling sickness, which Aiden still hadn’t caught. He was thankful for that. Sage though? He looked perfectly healthy, “Um. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s wrong? It must be life-threatening if you had to come all the way out here… And I get it if you’d rather not talk about it. After my coma, I just kind of retreated in on myself. Didn’t talk to a single soul, besides my butler of course, until I came here; and I’ve already told you Dimitri, my personal assistant, is the only person I’ve regularly talked to since the move…”
Former glory? What, is Sage the kingpin of hackers in America? I’ll be filing that away for future questioning…
Sage grinned at Aiden and he felt himself blush again. That was really getting old. He never blushed this much. He was always calm, cool, and in control. He’d been nervous since arriving. The left leg started bouncing again as Aiden looked down at the table.
“Why am I here? Shame,” Aiden said to Sage as he looked back up at the man, “Did you see the last movie I was in? Did real well in the states… Everyone was lauded… Except me. I can’t walk down the streets of America anymore, not unless I want to be laughed at, taunted, or followed. The paparazzi are even more brutal when you fuck up. Oh, I know, woe is me! But… It just sucks… I really liked what I did and a lot of other people did too… But then the coma happened and when I woke up it was like a different world…”
Aiden’s shoulders hunched down as he began dwelling on the past. His voice dipped a little low, “Everything I’ve tried to do since waking up has ended in failure. No exceptions. I came here because this is the last place anyone would think to look for me. I needed to ‘find my self,’ for a lack of better term. The new novel didn’t come about until I had started building the manor… and even that I’m not satisfied with. My editors and publisher just love it… But I don’t know…” He grew quiet for a moment. Aiden didn’t intend on being so open with Sage, or so vulnerable, but there it was. He couldn’t take any of it back. He just had to hope that Sage didn’t think that Aiden sounded like a rich, spoiled, whiny little baby.
“…Sorry about that. Probably too much for the first date, huh?”
“Why do you keep saying that? Why do you hang around them if you don’t consider them friends? I will be the first to admit that I have none… Just my sister and my parents. Being famous is incredibly lonely. You have it all, but you rarely have the love. I’m not even that close to my parents… And my sister… Well, I’ve probably pissed her off since leaving. I wouldn’t be surprised if she chased me here. After my coma, she kept saying I had to go to Russia. Didn’t really believe her,” Aiden blushed slightly, “Well, not until today.”
The waitress made her way over and dropped the bucket of beers on the table. Aiden waited for Sage to pick one. Each was different and he wasn’t sure what flavors the other man liked. Best to let him have first picked. If things progressed past tonight, Aiden would need to know these things. Good boyfriends knew as much as they could about their lovers.
Sage went on, talking about his past. Aiden listened attentively, not once taking his eyes off of the other man. “As much traveling as I’ve done, I’ve never been to that part of the country. My Dad used to do a lot of business with the Government, so he was visiting up there a few times a year. I’ve never had much of a mind for politics, so why go? Although I’m kicking myself now. I may have run into you a few years earlier if I went along for the trip, but here we are now.”
Hearing about Sage’s illness brought memories of the coma back, and then the Channeling sickness, which Aiden still hadn’t caught. He was thankful for that. Sage though? He looked perfectly healthy, “Um. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s wrong? It must be life-threatening if you had to come all the way out here… And I get it if you’d rather not talk about it. After my coma, I just kind of retreated in on myself. Didn’t talk to a single soul, besides my butler of course, until I came here; and I’ve already told you Dimitri, my personal assistant, is the only person I’ve regularly talked to since the move…”
Former glory? What, is Sage the kingpin of hackers in America? I’ll be filing that away for future questioning…
Sage grinned at Aiden and he felt himself blush again. That was really getting old. He never blushed this much. He was always calm, cool, and in control. He’d been nervous since arriving. The left leg started bouncing again as Aiden looked down at the table.
“Why am I here? Shame,” Aiden said to Sage as he looked back up at the man, “Did you see the last movie I was in? Did real well in the states… Everyone was lauded… Except me. I can’t walk down the streets of America anymore, not unless I want to be laughed at, taunted, or followed. The paparazzi are even more brutal when you fuck up. Oh, I know, woe is me! But… It just sucks… I really liked what I did and a lot of other people did too… But then the coma happened and when I woke up it was like a different world…”
Aiden’s shoulders hunched down as he began dwelling on the past. His voice dipped a little low, “Everything I’ve tried to do since waking up has ended in failure. No exceptions. I came here because this is the last place anyone would think to look for me. I needed to ‘find my self,’ for a lack of better term. The new novel didn’t come about until I had started building the manor… and even that I’m not satisfied with. My editors and publisher just love it… But I don’t know…” He grew quiet for a moment. Aiden didn’t intend on being so open with Sage, or so vulnerable, but there it was. He couldn’t take any of it back. He just had to hope that Sage didn’t think that Aiden sounded like a rich, spoiled, whiny little baby.
“…Sorry about that. Probably too much for the first date, huh?”
Russian Dolls and Broken Gods, a new Fantasy novel by best-selling author, Aiden Finnegan, out this December! Preorder online and instore today!