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Post by Miss Knightley on Jul 20, 2004 14:57:57 GMT -5
“What did you do with Orlando?” she accused, a ridiculous grin spread across her face.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he replied
o.O Orlando was going to ask what she did with Orlando? lol, just picking on you.
“I don’t handle anger well. It’s a whole big thing
Too funny.
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Post by Rainbow on Jul 20, 2004 16:43:09 GMT -5
haha, oh yes. oops. I blame Orlando's speech not the writer, cough...
hehe ;D
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Post by Reens on Jul 21, 2004 11:37:59 GMT -5
>>>“Ah Monsieur, vous êtes trop aimable,” her voice pealed, like blissful morning bells.
Nice imagery there!
>>>I thought I was the woman in this relationship but you seem determined to prove me wrong.”
*giggles* I love witty banter!
Awesome job babe! I thought this chapter served as the understanding of the "core" of their relationship. The pros and cons and all thats abound. All the complications come into play and I was loving the lilting suspense b/w your updates... nicely done!
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Post by Rainbow on Jul 22, 2004 17:13:19 GMT -5
After the opera Johnny had again requested Keira’s company and had begun conversing with her in French. While entertained at first, Orlando found it increasingly frustrating that everyone but him could understand what was being said and in the end Vanessa had rescued him, in asking him to escort her back to her Parisian home. He had agreed enthusiastically, arranging to meet Keira at Johnny’s apartment when the two were in a less infuriating mood. Although he didn’t say anything, Orlando was a little confused as to why Vanessa and Johnny lived in different buildings but even Keira had managed to pick up that, although stable, their relationship was not one of need or reliance, like that of Orlando and herself.
“I don’t need you to be another g.oddamn therapist Johnny,” Keira pleaded, close to tears but utterly infuriated by Johnny’s persistence. “Those guys are never really helpful, you know?” She added, pacing his apartment. Johnny had regained control of his fiery temper and was quite content to sit on his couch and watch her pace out her aggravation. “Okay so I had a bottle of Vodka in my handbag. Hello! This is the 21st century so do most teenage girls.” She stopped pacing to glare at him, “what the hells the problem with that?” She attacked.
“You tell me?” Johnny replied, a somewhat smug grin on his face. “Oh and by the way, that scratch on Orlando’s face,” he paused. “You wouldn’t by any chance have had anything to do with that would you?” Keira stared at him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry but settling for gawping like a fish.
“Don’t say what you don’t know.” She growled, before resorting back to her pacing so she needn’t look at his irritatingly haughty face.
“Enlighten me,” he stated, simply. “Or you know what I think I can probably guess.” Keira stopped and stared at him again, her eyes daring him to do just that. Johnny raised an eyebrow in response and a sly half smile spread across his face. “I have to warn you that I’m good at these kind of guessing games,” he chuckled, to which Keira pulled a face and was about to start pacing again but was interrupted by his speculation.
“I would say it was a result of some crazy, drunken sex. Which neither of you can remember but both seem to regret. And I would say that you are burning up inside with self-loathing and are being slowly destroyed by the sheer effort of keeping the whelp happy.” The expression on Keira’s face was evidence enough that he had just scored a bull’s-eye but he refrained from adding insult to injury with a smile of satisfaction.
“You are so out of line.” Keira hissed bitterly, shaking her head in disbelief before letting it hang in despair.
“Now see, I don’t think so,” Johnny informed her. “I think you’re the one that’s out of line.” He winced at his own words, cursing himself as the king of tact. “I’m sorry I meant…”
“No…” Keira stuttered. “No, you’re right. I am out of line.” She raised her voice, venting her anger at Johnny and shouting at him across the couch. “What the hell does it matter to you? You think I don’t know that? That I don’t have to live with it every frickin’ day? You have no idea what it’s like…” She trailed of, her cheeks flushed with rage and heated yet further with the streaming tears.
“… I know what it’s like.” Johnny’s confession was barley audible. “I know what it is like Keira. You seem to forget my past isn’t exactly a field of daisies. I’m not being an arrogant git because it’s fun Keira. I’ve been where you are going and it’s f**king torturing me watching you go there.” He stood up, walking around the couch to approach her. “I have known about this for what, 4 hours and look what it has done to me already. I cannot watch you go through what I went through.”<br> “Well tough luck, cuz I’m already there!” Keira scoffed, turning her back on him but finding she now had no room left to pace.
An hour and a half later Johnny was sat on the couch with Keira laid out beside him and her head in his lap. Somehow he had managed to tame the beast within her and had achieved the narrated life story off the past two years; beginning with the lead up to rehab and resulting in the events of the previous night. He had listened silently, stroking her hair as a reassurance that he was still listening and offering the odd grunted syllable here and there. When she had finished he made no comment or judgement but simply began his own story. Telling her a great deal more than he had told even Vanessa. Indeed the topic of Vanessa, when he had reached it, had greatly interested her and she had an enormous amount of respect for both Johnny and Ness, as he affectionately called her. They had such a mature and adult attitude towards their relationship and parenthood, as well as life in general. But Johnny had confessed that when it came to matters of the heart he believed they were all consummate idiots, irrelevant of age. Johnny showed Keira to one of the three guest bedrooms of his apartment, at which they had both chuckled about the need for so many.
Orlando arrived not long after Keira had gone to sleep and Johnny immediately took him to the furthest room away from Keira’s to begin the kind of deep and meaningful conversation that one can only have in the early hours of the morning. By this time the hour had just past 1:00am and exhaustion had been replaced by a sleep deprivation high.
It wasn’t long before Orlando stormed out of the room, slamming the door in Johnny’s face behind him. Tensions where running high, Johnny knew far more about his relationship with Keira than he would wish and the worst thing was that what he was saying was true.
“Orlando,” Johnny hissed, following his friend into the lounge where he had taken to pacing much as Keira had earlier. “Orlando, you have to see that I am right about this.”<br> “I’m not bloody blind, you wanker!” Orlando scoffed, “of course I bloody see you’re right. Why the hell would I be f.ucking freaking out if I didn’t think you were right?” He stopped to stare at Johnny, considering something briefly, before returning to his pacing. His actions were frighteningly similar to Keira’s or perhaps all the English resolved frustration by pacing.
“Orlando, can you not f.ucking stand still for one moment.” Johnny sighed.
“No. D.amn it!” Orlando replied, standing still. He didn’t notice this but Johnny did and a smile crept across his face. “You’re asking me to bloody leave her here in France and piss off back to England, how the hell did you think I would react?” He was about to pace again but consciously noticed this, let out an infuriated groan and slumped onto the couch.
“It’s for the best. You know it’s for the best. Think of what’s best for Keira.” Orlando glanced up at his older friend in surprise. “Yes I know you’re going to say that’s all you ever do; every second of every hour but seriously Orlando. Think of what is best for her.”<br> “Me leaving,” he sighed. “Yeah I get that but I don’t think I can.” He rested his head in a hand propped up by an elbow and breathed deeply. “I watched it all happen. I didn’t try to stop it I just thought we’d get through it together. And last night…”
“I know.” Johnny interrupted. “That’s why you’ve got to let this go. The pair of you are blinded by each other but maybe if you’re not here she’ll be able focus on her recovery.” Orlando winced at the comment that was not meant as an attack but struck him straight through the heart. He sighed again.
“Can I at least say goodbye?” He couldn’t bring himself to look at Johnny, as he already knew the answer.
“You’re leaving?” Came a weak voice from the doorway. Both men immediately turned to the direction of the sound, Orlando standing to look at her. “You’re leaving?” She repeated, her voice cracking. “Where you even going to tell me?” Orlando’s face creased in sorrow as he walked toward her only to have her flinch at his touch.
“You sending him away?” She more accused than asked Johnny. “You said you would help me.” Orlando tried to embrace her but she backed away again, glancing from Orlando to Johnny in confusion and disgust. Orlando glanced at Johnny for some kind of support but got a very much you’re-on-your-own-kid look in return.
“It’s for the best, Keira,” he tried, mentally kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth. Behind him he did not see Johnny wince at the words, wondering how it was possible that the boy had even less tact than he did.
“For the best?” Keira repeated, astonished. “For who’s best? Seriously, are you trying to break me, just to get me back in rehab?”<br>
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Post by Rainbow on Jul 22, 2004 17:13:46 GMT -5
“Keira, don’t even…” Orlando began, this time succeeding in entrapping her in an embrace, into which she folded willingly; the tears in his eyes, melting her exterior Her sheer weariness from the day resulting in a lack of energy or effort to keep up the argument.
“Orlando,” Johnny interrupted their little moment. When he got no response he simply repeated in an equally bland tone. The second time Orlando grimaced and pulled away from Keira, wiping away her tears and blinking through his own.
“Orli, no.” Keira begged but it was a useless plea, which fell on an already set mind.
“I have to,” he whispered. Kissing her softy but deepening the kiss and exposing the need and desperation that was presiding in their relationship. It was a loud cough from Johnny that broke the magic. He hadn’t wanted to disturb their moment but was beginning to think that 10 minutes was a bit excessive. He had even been to the bathroom in that time and returned to find them unmoved from where he had left them. Orlando pulled away, claiming Keira’s hand in his own and glancing from Johnny to Keira.
“No,” she pleaded, as Orlando brought her hand to his lips and turned to the door. He didn’t look back; he couldn’t bring himself to meet the eyes of either Keira or Johnny and instead walked straight out of the door and the apartment without once turning to look back. Every step he took in hope, that he would hear Keira call him back, hear her footsteps behind him but all he heard was silence.
Keira was stunned to the spot, her hand suspended in the air where he had released it and her eyes fixed upon the door, praying that he would walk back through it at any moment. She walked towards it involuntarily but found her path blocked by Johnny. Glancing from him to the door and back again she began to sob bitterly.
He tripped; crashing to the ground and scratching the hands he outstretched to break his fall. He stood up, gazing at his wounded palms but feeling nothing. Looking around he could see nothing but sand dunes. As far as the eye could see it was just mounds of sand and grass. He was lost, with absolutely no idea where he was or how he got there. He lunged forward and broke into a jog, having no idea where he was going or why there was a need to get there fast.
“You have to let me go and see him,” Keira pleaded, her eyes welling with a fresh batch of tears. Johnny had positioned himself between her and the door and held his arms outstretched before him as a barrier.
“Keira, he made a sacrifice in leaving. He knows what…” He paused to rephrase his sentence. “He understands that he is not helping by being here.” He moved his outstretched hands slightly, as if motioning for an unpredictable and disobedient dog to sit and stay.
“But he thinks I don’t love him,” Keira sobbed, her loose hair tumbling across her face as her head dropped in despair. Johnny sighed and took a step towards her, placing his hands supportively on her shoulders.
“Four weeks until we’re due in the Caribbean, Keira,” he said, “and if we can get you well sooner I’ll take you out there in three.” Keira looked up at the strong, incredibly good-looking man that was holding her. She blinked away the un-fallen tears and just gazed at him. She held so much respect for him, his voice held so much wisdom and yet he was advising her to do the opposite of what her heart was telling her. He wanted her to go back to therapy, to face her problems head on and probably be destroyed in the collision. Her heart wanted her to run. She glanced at the door, a glance that Johnny both noticed and recognized. He had been in much the same position all those years ago, to stay and face the demons or to run and hide. He chuckled to himself as he remembered that he had run. He had run many a time before almost killing himself had made him see the light, as it were.
Keira was momentarily distracted by his chuckle and smiled weakly at him before finding herself entrapped in a strong embrace. As distracting as a hug from Johnny Depp was, she could still only think of Orlando. If she ran now she would run straight into his loving arms. He would hold her and kiss her, whisper his sweet words of love and assure her that everything would be okay. She could picture it so clearly in her mind, the elation and ecstasy of that single moment, the pure euphoria. But the voice of practicality drowned out all other voices in her mind. It persistently asked what then, what after? She would go back to the pathetic alcoholic that she was. Orlando would try to help her and she knew that the more he acted out his heroic saviour role the more she would act out the pathetic victim. It was a vicious loop that only she could break. And yet if she stayed here…<br> “If you stay here…” Johnny, apparently having mind reading abilities along with those stunning good looks, interrupted her thoughts. “…Then you can go to the Caribbean and never need his help or anyone else’s again. You’ll be the happy, smiling Keira he fell in love with and you will never again feel beneath him, feel like a burden to him.” Keira looked at Johnny in shock and wonder. He was voicing her exact thoughts. When she looked at him though, she saw the sorrow and regret in his eyes. He was gazing as some spot behind her, reminiscing on a past so terrible she couldn’t begin to imagine.
“Okay,” she whispered, watching as Johnny focused back on her.
“Okay?” he questioned, needing more than a mere agreement but an acceptance.
“I love him.” She chuckled, “and I’m kind of loving you too.” She grinned as Johnny laughed.
“I know love, I know. It’s the hair,” he ran his fingers through his messy brown locks. “Complete babe magnet,” he winked and chuckled. “But in all seriousness this needs to be your choice.” He let go of her and stepped out of the way of the door.
“Do you run?” he paused for effect. “Or do you stay?”<br> Keira grinned at him before turning her back on him and jumping on the couch, resting her legs over the arm and outstretching herself comfortably. “I think I’ll stay,” she said, grinning up at him as he walked over to the couch and stared at her in amazement.
“Teenagers,” he sighed. “You can order us a pizza then,’ he commanded, dropping the cordless phone and a menu card in her lap. He took out his cell and motioned it to his ear. “I’m going to call Pierre, tell him to get his derrière over here for a therapy session tomorrow morning,” his tone of voice was both questioning and demanding and although the statement made Keira wince she knew she must keep her end of the bargain.
“Cool,” she replied, before tapping in the number of the pizza company into the phone and turning the menu card over in her hand, avoiding anything with the word escargot in it.
“Cool,” Johnny repeated, before wandering into another room to make his call.
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Post by Reens on Jul 23, 2004 10:43:14 GMT -5
>>> Kissing her softy but deepening the kiss and exposing the need and desperation that was presiding in their relationship. It was a loud cough from Johnny that broke the magic. He hadn’t wanted to disturb their moment but was beginning to think that 10 minutes was a bit excessive. He had even been to the bathroom in that time and returned to find them unmoved from where he had left them. Orlando pulled away, claiming Keira’s hand in his own and glancing from Johnny to Keira.
This part gave me some serious butterflies! 10 minutes! Go Lando!
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Post by Miss Knightley on Jul 24, 2004 11:27:37 GMT -5
ugh! That was almost too emotional for me to finish reading!
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Post by Araminta Ditch on Aug 18, 2004 21:42:46 GMT -5
man, I was nearly in tears as I was reading it . You really must continue!!!
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Post by Araminta Ditch on Aug 19, 2004 16:02:56 GMT -5
an just for a quick note even though its too late to change it and even if you did parts of the story would be ruined: it is orlando that speaks fluently in french. kiera doesnt speak a word. lol.
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 23, 2004 3:34:07 GMT -5
haha... Oops! Actually i didn't know either did so, woot! Oh well you will just have to pretened
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 23, 2004 4:05:20 GMT -5
Chapter Ten beta read by Renee When clouds pour out their heart, Mother Nature arches her bow and burns a trail across the sky. Her smile of seven colours enlists the artist within us all. I once believed that problems could be solved by mere translation into words. I have long since realized that words do little to convey thoughts, feelings and emotions that do not have a name: things not tangible and yet ever present.“Ah mademoiselle Knightley,” Pierre greeted, planting a butterfly kiss on each cheek, “you are most beautiful.” Keira giggled as she held the door to Johnny’s apartment open for him. She wasn’t at all sure she would be able to get through this therapy session without rolling around in hysterics. His accent was so… French. “I have seen this movie Pirates, non?” he continued, motioning for her to take a seat. “You were wonderful. And now I ‘ave give therapy to Captain Jack Sparrow and the beautiful Mademoiselle Swann.” He paused and grinned. “I think I am a lucky therapist, non?” Pierre glanced around the room and frowned, “and where is the captain?” he asked, “mon ami Monsieur Depp?” Keira giggled again, for some reason finding Johnny being called Monsieur Depp quite hilarious. “He went out, he didn’t want to intrude or something,” she replied, but seeing the disappointment in his face she quickly added, “he’ll be back before we finish.” This news seemed to satisfy Pierre and he nodded curtly. “Très bien,” he grinned, “then shall we commence?”<br> Pierre was unlike any person Keira had ever met and certainly disparate to her previous therapist. He did not seem to care in the slightest about her past or her problems but instead chose to focus on her future aspirations and took a particular interest in her book. He became very excited when she mentioned the possibility of going to University and insisted on giving her a grand tour of the Université de Paris, where he was a guest lecturer in Psychology. Johnny was well aware of the mischief Pierre could get up to in the name of therapy and was not entirely surprised when he came home one day to find his guestroom under renovation. They had at least had the decency to cover all furniture but his poor walls now looked like they now belonged in a museum of modern art. It did, however, look like so much fun that he proceeded to join in. “How come I never got to go all Picasso when I was, erm…” he paused to think of words whilst watching a glob of blue paint dribble down his wall and yet another drip from the brush he was holding, to the floor. “Because, mon ami…” Pierre began, waving his brush at Johnny and splattering red paint everywhere. “… I had not thought of it then.” He chuckled and turned to wink at Keira who had managed to get more paint over herself than the wall. “You know green hair is a good look for you,” Johnny teased his young co-star. Keira scowled before deciding that green was probably a good look for him too and experimented by flicking paint at him. “You too,” she grinned, before squealing and using Pierre as a human shield to protect her from Johnny’s blue paint. “Les enfants, please!” Pierre chuckled. “You are both mistaken.” He glanced over his shoulder at Keira before looking at Johnny and smiling broadly. “It is rouge paint that suits you best.” He took them both by surprise by slopping red paint at each of them. When they finally ran out of paint they slumped onto the covered bed, grinning in amusement at the crunchy sound it made when the wiggled about on the plastic dust sheet. They lay back in exhaustion. The three of them covered in as much paint as they had managed to get on the wall, if not more. “You’re not going to be mad at me if I redecorate this room are you?” Johnny chuckled. Both Keira and Pierre sat bolt upright and stared at him in horror, causing his already tanned cheeks to gain several tones in intensity. “Of course I would never dream of it,” he assured them. Sitting up and offering a toothy grin as reassurance. He glanced around the room at the paint splattered walls and grimaced. “Jack will love it, I’m sure,” he announced, deciding that there was no way guests could now stay in this room but that his two-year-old son would, no doubt, love it. “Well now that I know our masterpiece is safe I must bid you farewell,” Pierre announced and stood up despite the groans of both Keira and Johnny. “Merci for a most enjoyable afternoon, mademoiselle and for your kind hospitality, Monsieur Depp. I will see you both in two days time, non?” He made his way to the door of the apartment, his comrades following dutiful behind. The two days were torturous for Johnny; every second of the day he had a manic Keira disturbing his solitude. She was a living whirlwind in his apartment and a loud one at that. She was even more of a livewire than he had remembered from two years ago and a drastically different person to the emotional wreck that had arrived a week ago. Trust Pierre to turn her back into the juvenile adolescent that had played so many pranks on him in the Caribbean, mocked his every move, and declared her fan girl status in every free breath she had. It had almost driven him insane back then and was threatening to do the same again. God forbid Lilly-Rose to ever turn into a teenager. “Keira, for God’s sake woman, calm down,” he barked from his comfy situation of reading a paper on the couch. She had been pacing the room, slamming doors and streaming a verbal diarrhoea of mindless witter all morning and he was on the brink of leaving his own apartment. “He will be here soon, for crying out loud and if he didn’t think you’d be a walk in he wouldn’t have even suggested it!” Johnny tried to reason, with words he was repeating for the seventh time that morning. Keira momentarily paused her pacing to look at Johnny, walking to the back of the couch and lifting the newspaper, that seemed to be of more interest to him than her, from his hands. “Hey!” He complained, turning around to glare at her and having the paper thrown back in his face. A knock at the door saved him from further torment by the teenager as she bounded towards it, flinging her arms around the unsuspecting Pierre when he entered. “Zut alors, mademoiselle!” He exclaimed, releasing himself from the embrace and casting a worried glance at Johnny who was chuckling at him. It was somewhat a relief to him to have her attention directed elsewhere and he was beginning to wonder how on earth Orlando put up with it, before remembering that the whelp was almost as attention seeking himself. Keira was tugging at the poor mans arm trying to drag him out of the door and accompanying her action with a stream of tedious blather. “Mademoiselle, desist,” Pierre pleaded, much to both Johnny and Keira’s amusement. She did however oblige, not wanting to risk the chance that he would change his mind and not take her to the University. “First things first, if you please,” he requested. “This book, L’arbres, do you have it here with you?” Keira shook her head before frowning. “Well I have some that I have written here, but no. I can call Orli, get him to e-mail…” She trailed off to chuckle as there would be no way Orlando would be able to fathom opening her file, let alone emailing it. “No,” she replied, regaining some form of severity in her composure. In the two weeks she had been separated from him, not a minute had gone by when Keira had not thought of Orlando. It had not however, as they had all feared, had a negative effect upon her. Instead she had spoken much of Orlando, with her two companions, often employing jokes and innuendo at his expense, which she was likely to pay for if he ever found out. The nostalgia of eating meals she knew he would like, recognizing speech mannerisms Johnny had adopted from him and chuckling whenever he was referred to as the whelp, had not made her sorrowful but joyous and eager for the day they might be reunited. Whether this was a front she put on for Johnny and Pierre, or whether the absence really was making her heart grow fonder, neither man would ever know but they did certainly did not fear to mention the ‘O’ word in her presence. “That is okay. Bring what you have et Monsieur Depp, if it is at all possible could you call Orlando while we are away, just in case they wish to see more?” Johnny nodded and Keira’s eyes went wide in shock. “They what!” She exclaimed. “They want to read Trees? I’ll never get in if the read that. Are you kidding?” Her panic was amusing to both men but they tried to cover it with seriousness. “They will probably not wish to see it, but if they do…” Pierre began to justify. “You are applying for English literature and journalism, Keira,” he reminded. Johnny put an arm around each of his friends, patting their backs affectionately but indicating he would like an hour without childish banter. He guided them to the door and pushed them out into the corridor, taking a certain sense of satisfaction from their bemused faces. “Go. Have fun children,” he commanded, closing the door in their faces and making his way back to his newspaper. A knock at the door stopped him mid track and sighing he opened it to a scowling Keira. He rolled his eyes and her scowl became a grin before she entrapped him in a hug and planting a soppy kiss on his cheek. “Pass that on to Orlando for me, would you?” She grinned, before pulling away and wandering off down hall after Pierre, pausing briefly to glance over her shoulder and wave.
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 23, 2004 4:08:17 GMT -5
Johnny couldn’t help but let out a contented sigh as he slumped onto his couch. Finally there was silence. He had become an old man in the two weeks that she had been there and he could almost swear he was going grey. She was a charming, sophisticated, young lady to the world outside but to him she was an affectionate, somewhat troublesome, child. Like all teenagers, she had the ability to brighten every day and proceed to cloud it with angst within a second. She was exhausting and yet energising to be around. In short she was a walking oxymoron, radiating her current sentiment to all that were around her. It was as Johnny pondered how much he was going to miss her company that he remembered he was supposed to call Orlando, resulting in the contemplation of the compatibility of the two. It wasn’t hard to see why the enigmatic youths got on so well; their personalities were incredibly similar and visually they seemed meant for each other. The maturity of Keira and juvenility of Orlando made their age gap almost non-existent and in any case it was nine years that separated himself and Ness and despite all their issues that had not been one of them.
Nearly three hours of quite contemplation had passed before Johnny finally got around to calling Orlando, desperately trying to remember the title of her book as he tapped the number into his phone.
“Orlando, mate. Hi, how’s it going?” He stood up to speak, resorting the pacing movement favoured by both his English co-stars.
“Hey,” came a muffled and tired voice. “Ah, not too bad, not too bad,” he continued, shuffling around at the other end.
“Mate, you sound terrible!” Johnny politely informed his friend, chuckling at his own sarcasm. He was a little concerned by the bedraggled sound of Orlando but decided it was probably to be expected in such circumstances.
“How’s Keira?” Came the expected question, followed by a restrained cough.
“Good. She’s doing fine. Great even. I was just calling to… Look mate are you sure you’re okay? Have you got someone with you?” Johnny inquired, a second cough and Orlando’s weak voice causing him rather more concern than he was comfortable with.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. You were saying?” He paused, “about Keira. Is she there? Can I talk to her?” His voice, despite its frailty, was hopeful and Johnny grimaced at the thought of denying him the simple pleasure of hearing her voice. He shuffled agitatedly on the spot, leaning against a wall briefly before returning to his pace.
“Er, actually mate, she’s not. She’s er… out with Pierre.” He winced as he could tangibly feel Orlando’s disappointment seep through the phone.
“Pierre?” he questioned, his voice sounding as if he were on the brink of tears.
“Oh Pierre, her therapist,” Johnny assured; mentally kicking himself for any kind of insecurity he had generated in Orlando. “Look mate,” he began, eager to give the poor boy some kind of hope and reassurance. “We’re flying out to the Caribbean a week early, next Friday as a matter of fact. Keira’s made a remarkable and almost complete recovery but we’re bringing Pierre with us just in case. So yeah, if you want to meet us in a week I know of one young lady that would be very glad to see you.” Johnny smiled in hopeful anticipation that this news would subside Orlando’s grief. He’d been so busy thinking about what was best for Keira and how to stabilize her that he had completely forgotten about the whelp. He just assumed Orlando would wait patiently for her return but from the few words his friend had said on the phone, he was beginning to worry than in stabilizing one he had destroyed the other.
“Okay, yeah. I’ll be there,” came Orlando’s piteous voice. Hearing his friend so feeble was agony to Johnny and he was tempted to interrupt Keira’s interview and demand that she talked to Orlando. Rationality soon took over though. If Keira heard him like this there would be no stopping her. She would be back in England and by his side in a flash; she was so close to a complete recovery that it was too big a risk to take. He couldn’t let her throw it all away, he wouldn’t let her and yet the feeling of guilt was overpowering him.
“I’ve got a request from Keira,” he managed to get out, before losing all sensibility. There was silence at the other. Orlando’s strained breathing supplying the only reassurance that he was still there. “The book, the tree thing…” He paused, desperately trying to remember the name. Keira rarely called it by its full name, preferring the affectionate title of ‘Trees’.
“Where the trees know your name,” Orlando assisted impatiently, wanting Johnny to get to point sometime before Christmas.
“Yeah mate, that’s the one. Thanks. Anyway Pierre wants to read it and so we were wondering if you could email it.” There was no response and so Johnny continued, merely to fill the silence. “Your reputation as a technophobe precedes you mate but she has great faith in you.” Again there was silence. “You recon you can do that mate, you want an email crash course, Internet 101?” he chuckled, but Orlando wasn’t finding it amusing
“I know how to send a bloody email, Johnny.” Orlando growled. “This is the sodding 21st century; I had IT class at school. I can’t believe the media bought that crap.” It was Orlando’s turn to chuckle, a sound that relieved a heavy weight from Johnny’s mind.
“Glad to here it mate, glad to here it.” He chuckled. “Oh yeah and mate, you have strict instructions not to read it. And when you protest I am to tell you that it is because she wants to read it to you. See I have strict instructions too. She’s a very demanding kid.” Johnny frowned at the sudden realisation that he was obeying the orders of a nineteen year old but Orlando’s laughter quickly turned it into a grin.
“Okay well, I better let you go do that then.” Johnny sighed, glancing at his watch. “Not that this call is going to feature highly on my phone bill. Do you know she phoned her brother in South Africa! I swear that kid is going to be the death of me. You both are!” He chuckled again. “She sends a bunch of kisses which I refused to imitate, despite her request.” At this Orlando laughed aloud at the other end.
“Thanks for that mate,” he chuckled. “Okay, I’ll let you go back. You better send a bunch of kisses back to her but if you dare kiss my girl you’ll get a dunking in the Caribbean Sea.”<br> “I’ll bear that in mind,” Johnny replied, smugly pleased that Orlando was now back to his witty, light-hearted self. “Bye mate,” he chuckled.
“Bye Johnny, and thanks… For, you know, everything you’ve done for us.”<br> “A pleasure. See you in a week.”<br> He hung up, throwing the cordless phone onto the couch and stretching his arms out above him. There was a knock at the door and he wandered over to open it, a calm and satisfied air about him. It was soon to dissipate when Keira rugby tacked him to the ground, screaming with glee in his ear before jumping up and prancing around the room squealing at the top of her lungs. Johnny brought both hands to his ears, covering them as tightly as possible and wincing at the sound she made. He glanced up from his position on the floor to see Pierre out stretching a hand to him, which he gratefully took, sacrificing the hearing of one ear.
“Good grief, man. What did you do to her?” Johnny exclaimed, as the two men watched her jump from chair to couch, squealing unrecognisable words in a painfully high pitch.
“I got in, I got in, I got in,” she shrieked. Running to Johnny and before he had a chance to hide behind Pierre she had his hands in hers and was spinning him round. She had a ridiculous grin spread across her face and her eyes were sparkling with glee. It was the happiest Johnny had ever seen her, in the four years he had known her but the joy, it seemed, was about to cost him is life. She let go of his hands and they both went flying in opposite directions and landed in a heap on the floor. Johnny groaned, Keira squealed, yet again, and Pierre laughed hysterically in the doorway.
“I got in,” Keira informed Johnny.
“Yeah I kind of got that,” he chuckled, wincing in pain and groaning as he stood up. Keira looked momentarily worried and ran to his side to ascertain the damage she had done. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” Johnny assured her before embracing her tightly. “Congratulations sweetheart, I’m so proud of you.” He gave her a big kiss on each cheek and smiled when she gave him a curious look. “They are from Orlando,” he justified, which made her eyes sparkle even more, if that was possible. He wrapped an arm around her waist as he turned to the ever watching and probably analysing Pierre. “What do you say we go out for a nice meal to celebrate,” he asked, smiling at Pierre and then Keira. “My little Keira’s going to be a University student,” he grinned, suddenly feeling very fatherly towards the girl and drawing her tighter to his side.
“Ah oui, an idea most splendorous, Monsieur Depp,” Pierre grinned, turning for the door, quickly followed by a chuffed Keira and an extremely proud Johnny.
Without being surfaced, torments can never cease. Without an internal battle, for the mind there can be no peace. Arise now my beautiful warrior; rebel against the conforming eye. For it is when night falls and all seems lost that a shining star will come forth.
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Post by Miss Knightley on Aug 23, 2004 8:20:15 GMT -5
I was starting to worry about Orlando there. for a second. Yay! Thank you for the wonderful chapter. It was well worth the wait!
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Post by Reens on Aug 24, 2004 9:55:21 GMT -5
Yeah yeah we get it you are a brill writer. *phhft* *jealous* btb, you got TIMBER no. 11 in your email back? I butcherred it up all nicely. ;D Working on Timber 12. bwahahahaha be afraid!
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 24, 2004 11:24:15 GMT -5
i made a hug boo boo in timber 11. No beer, beer bad. Changing to cola. hehe ;D
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 25, 2004 9:36:29 GMT -5
Chapter Eleven beta read by Renee “Oh please, Proteus looked like he wanted to jump Valentine’s bones, it was just disgusting the entire message was lost,” Keira chimed, after Johnny expressed a complimentary opinion of the interaction between the two characters. “Is that right?” He smirked, unlocking his apartment door and holding it open to allow Keira and Vanessa to enter first. “I liked the petit chein,” Vanessa commented. “You should get a puppy Johnny,” she smiled sweetly and sincerely but took the look of disgust upon his face as a negative response. “I think I’ll leave the adopting strays to Orlando,” he chuckled, following the women in and taking a seat on the couch with Vanessa as Keira disappeared into her room. The couple watched her from their seat curiously as she disappeared without a word. “Are you okay Keira?” Johnny called, as Ness looked at the empty doorway in concern before exchanging a worried glance with Johnny. “Yeah yeah,” came a shouted reply, “just a bit of a headache. So I’ll give you guys some peace.” The worried expressions soon dissipated into smirks as they realized the teenager’s, less than tactful assumption of leaving them alone. Johnny draped an arm around his partner’s shoulder as she rested her head against his chest in a comfortable and appreciative silence. There peace lasted a good five minutes before a loud thump from Keira’s room broke the serenity. “Alright Keira, fess up. What did you just break?” Johnny said, rising from the sofa and wandering in the general direction of her room. “Keira?” he repeated, when he got no response. “Sweetheart is everything okay?” He pushed her door open just enough to peer around and the sight nearly caused him a heart attack. “Keira,” he screamed, rushing to the side of the limp body on the floor. She was unconscious and sweating as if in some sort of fever. Scooping up her fragile figure in his arms he moved her to the bed, lying her on her back and immediately bringing the back of his hand to her burning forehead. “Ness,” he shouted, but didn’t need to as she was already behind him tapping the buttons of her cell phone. Her hasty flurry of French conversation was barely heard by Johnny. He sat perched on the edge of Keira’s bed, as she tossed and turned in agony. She muttered something in her delusional state but the only word he could make out was Orlando’s name. He hadn’t even noticed that Vanessa had finished her conversation and left the room until she returned with a flannel and a bowl of cold water with which she bathed the teenager’s burning forehead. It was an excruciatingly long wait for Johnny and Vanessa but the doctor finally arrived and was ushered to Keira’s side in an almost rude haste. Pierre arrived not long after and his presence was instantly calming for Johnny. They were all hovering outside Keira’s door, giving the doctor some space and awaiting a briefing. Eventually the doctor came out to them, closing the door quietly behind him and motioning for them to follow him into the lounge before he spoke. “She has a fever,” he said, taking a seat on the couch, the stethoscope around his neck swinging slightly. “She’s asleep at the moment. It’s best if she can just sleep it off.”<br> “But she was fine… she was…” Vanessa began to stutter, “just ten minutes ago…” Johnny wrapped an arm around her waist and she accepted the much needed support and folded in his embrace. “So she’s going to be okay?” Johnny asked and then added with concern and realization in his voice, “we have a flight in two days, will she…” he didn’t finish but his question was clear. “I don’t know,” the doctor replied, “she might be fine tomorrow or it might take a week. You will just have to wait and see, make sure she is as comfortable as possible.”<br> “Do you erm…” Johnny paused to consider his words weary of the consequence they may bare. “Do you know what has caused the fever?” He glanced at Pierre, standing behind the couch and received a concerned look with eye’s homing dread equal to his own. “It is a common virus, nothing to be alarmed about. I have given her something to help her sleep now and she will be too out of it to notice any pain. She will recover in no time, monsieur.”<br> The two men breathed a sigh of relief. It had been only three weeks since she had suffered the withdrawal of her alcoholism and she had been in a condition frighteningly similar to that which she was now. If it had been withdrawal again it would mean they had failed, that everything they had done was for nothing. “Well I will leave you now,” the doctor said, his English was remarkably good, barely even an accent. He had obviously studied his provision in one of the medical schools of Great Britain. He stood and walked to the door and Pierre escorted him, chattering away in French as Johnny disappeared back into Keira’s room. He knelt by her bed, taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips before brushing a few loose strand of her from her damp forehead. “Keira, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Keira I need you to get better, okay?” He smiled his affection and his amusement at his request. “Orlando will be utterly disappointed if we not on the plane on Friday,” he chuckled. “And you know Orlando, he’ll be all sulky. We don’t want that do we? So you see you have to get well really soon.”<br> He stayed by her side all night. Pierre and Vanessa stayed with him for an hour and with no change in her condition took their leave, promising to check back early in the morning. The world seemed to speed up for Johnny at some point a new day had arrived and Vanessa, with a spear key to his apartment was at his side again. She did not insisted that he got some rest, knowing that there was no way Johnny would leave Keira’s side and when Pierre arrived many hours later he too knew the character of his American friend well enough to know it was a pointless conversation. Twenty-four hours after Keira had fallen into fever there was no change. When she was not asleep she tossed and turned in fever. At one point she had almost seemed conscious and they had managed to get her to drink a sugar water solution through a straw but she had soon reverted to her delirium. Their flight was in the afternoon of the following day but Johnny had refused to cancel it, convinced that Keira would wake up and not want to miss it. Pierre had an afternoon commitment and had to leave but Vanessa stayed for the support of Johnny as much as Keira and didn’t leave until she had made him an evening meal and was satisfied that he was as well as possible under the circumstances. After over forty hours of no sleep Johnny succumbed and it was at four o’clock in the morning, just ten hours before their flight to the Caribbean that he was awoken by a familiar voice.
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 25, 2004 9:37:41 GMT -5
“Johnny?” It was weak and tired but it was recognizable. Johnny smiled, his head resting on her bed and his feet curled beneath him on the floor. He knew it was little more than a dream but if it involved Keira being well then it was a good dream.
“Hey!” This time her weak voice was accompanied with a shove, which for a girl that had fever was remarkably strong. Johnny woke with a start and stared at her through sleep-clogged eyes.
“Wow, if all your crazy fan-girls saw you now,” Keira chuckled. “Not your sexiest look,” she added, before finding herself entrapped in an embrace. “Oxygen becoming an issue,” she whined, when Johnny failed to release her after a lengthy hug. He pulled away and began plastering her forehead with affectionate and somewhat desperate kisses. Keira pushed him away, wrinkling her nose as if she had tasted bad food, and wiped his sloppy kisses of her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Yuk!” she grinned, but was again entrapped by a hug. “Okay Johnny, quit it!” She exclaimed wiggling out of his arms. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” she assured very amused by his behaviour.
“I knew you would be in time.” Johnny commented, standing up, crossing his arms and grinning at her proudly.
“In time? In time for what?” Keira questioned, sitting upright on her bed and bringing a hand to her pounding head. Johnny quickly handed her the glass of water sitting beside her bed and dashed away to get an aspirin. After muttering a form of thanks Keira awaited her answer.
“For the flight,” Johnny confirmed.
“But that’s not until Friday, we have two more days until…” she didn’t finish and Johnny quickly took the glass from her hand in anticipation that she would faint. He nodded his confirmation of the thoughts processing in her head.
“How long…”
“30 hours,” Johnny answered with hesitation.
“S.hit!” she sighed, before casually glancing at the bedside clock. “It’s four o’clock in the bloody morning,” she groaned and her thoughts, on go slow at this time, took a while to process that they were leaving later that day. “S.hit!” This time her exclamation was one of panic. “We’re leaving in like…” she paused to try and work out the math but gave up. “I have to pack!” she jumped out of bed and immediately wished she hadn’t as her legs gave way and collapsed in arms Johnny had protectively stretched out in anticipation.
“How about we fill you with food first,” he suggested, “get you back to that lively energetic teenager you were a couple of days ago.” He took most of her weight, supporting her as they made the way to the kitchen. “Although I have to say for someone who was delusional just hours ago, you sure make a quick recovery.
“I was delusional? Oh god what did I say?” Her concern was almost comical and Johnny couldn’t help but chuckle at the humour she possessed even in sickness.
“Many useful things I will have pleasure using as blackmail,” he smiled wickedly as he guided her into a chair and headed for the fridge. “And many thing that are going to give me nightmares for the rest of my life,” he added glancing over his shoulder and grinning. Keira groaned and slumped and buried her face in her hands.
“What do you feel like?” Came a muffled voice inside the fridge.
“Marshmallows,” she replied in a convinced and determined voice, raising her head from her hands to grin at her co-star. “Do you have any marshmallows?”<br> “You know I think I might?” he pondered, taking two cans of the fizzy pop he kept for his children’s visits out of the fridge, placing them on the table and then rummaging in a cupboard. He produced two bags proudly holding them up in triumph before throwing one at her and ripping open the other. Keira took an empty glass that had been left out on the table and emptied her fizzy pop into it before floating marshmallows on top.
“That’s disgusting,” Johnny commented, opting for more traditional method of drinking straight from the can.
“How do you know?” Keira asked, grinning and already she had won. It didn’t take much to convince Johnny to try what his curiosity was already attacking him with and by five o’clock the pair had fallen asleep at the table, heads resting on their arms, four empty cans surrounding them and two ripped bags of marshmallows. Many had ended up on the floor after failed attempts at throwing them at one another, ready and awaiting to be trodden in when they awoke.
It was a mad rush to get everything ready in time for the flight, not helped by the fact that the exhausted pair had fallen asleep until little more than three hours to the due departure. Needless to say they were late but fortunately the Private Jet had little inclination to leave with no passengers and waited the extra hour it took them to get there. Johnny had phoned Pierre as soon as he woke for the second time and he had seemed relatively unsurprised that Keira had made a full recovery and they were due to leave in three hours. They were taking Pierre with them to the Caribbean. He was to keep both Keira and Johnny in check as well as tutoring Keira in English and Psychology. The university, although eager to accept Keira, had made her place conditional on a knowledge of two subjects equivalent to that of an A level, even if she did not sit the exams. It was Pierre’s job to teach her over the ten-month shoot, though he was really rather looking forward to a vacation in the Caribbean and LA.
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Post by Rainbow on Aug 25, 2004 9:37:59 GMT -5
“Oh god,” Keira sighed, pacing the aircraft in agitation. They had had to wait for air clearance due to their late arrival and now that they were on their way it had finally sunk in that in less than eight hours she would see Orlando again.
“What if he’s mad at me?” She looked from Johnny to Pierre before rolling her eyes at their amused expressions and continuing her pace. The Jet was small but comfortably spacious, it consisted of an area of seating for take off and landing at the front of the plane and the rest of the space was a luxurious lounge with a closed mini bar. Johnny and Pierre were sat on one of the couches chattering away about Caribbean weather or something equally uninteresting while Keira restlessly explored the enclosed area. She knelt on the couch opposite the men and peered out of a small window. The ground was not visible due to a baron wasteland of thick cloud. It looked like the moon, or how she imagined the moon to be and the cloud was so thick it was as if you could step out onto it with no fear of falling through. She sighed, pushing herself away from the window and back onto her feet, ready to start pacing again. Something conversed between the two men was of amusement as they both through the heads back and laughed. Keira eyed them curiously, considering whether their amusement was likely to be at her expense before deciding that the safest option was to join them.
“Keira, sweetheart,” Johnny greeted as she sat next to him, curling up in a ball and resting her head in his lap. “We’re placing bets on how you and Orlando are going to react on first sight,” he chuckled. Keira just groaned and closed her eyes, deciding to catch up on some much needed sleep.
“Ah oui mon ami, but I am going to win, I am afraid. Your theory that Keira will take one look at the boy and run off into the airport and hide is crazy.” He rolled the r of crazy and Johnny couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.
“And your theory that they will stand and stare at each other for five minutes with out moving or speaking is a sure thing?” he questioned, knowing full well the impossibility of either of his co-stars remaining silent for that duration especially when together.
“You’re both wrong,” came a muffled voice from Johnny’s lap and they both peered down at her in amusement. Johnny brushed away some of the straggly hair that was covering her face so they could see her, half asleep features. “Either he will have forgotten all about it and not even be there, or he will have fallen asleep waiting for us,” she corrected, before sitting up and grinning at them.
“And if he hasn’t forgotten and is awake then we will no doubt make headline news by having sex in the airport foyer.” Pierre looked shocked but Johnny laughed heartily.
“You know I was actually going to put my money on that but I thought you would thump me or something,” he chuckled, and received and open-mouthed gawp from Pierre.
“Zut alors!” he exclaimed, “l’Americans!”<br> “Hey I’m a Brit,” Keira whined as Johnny wrapped an arm around her proudly, glad that he had a teammate in horrifying Pierre with the modern world.
Keira and Johnny were both fast asleep, slumped against one another when the pilot announced their descent. Pierre was sat on the couch opposite them, his head buried in a psychology book, probably analysing their every sigh. Johnny was still half asleep when they made their way to the seats but Keira was beginning to panic as she fastened the buckle.
“Fifty says they stand in silence,” Pierre reminded his yawning friend.
“Yeah yeah, man. I remember.” Johnny assured.
Their landing was relatively gentle, more so than a larger plane might have been and it was not long before the pilot was welcoming them to St Vincent, announcing the local time and temperature and wishing them a good stay.
“Thanks man,” Johnny called, when he had finished and they all chuckled when a voice over the speaker replied:
“You’re welcome Mr. Depp.”<br> “You ready for this?” He asked standing up and looping Keira’s arm through his own in support.
“No,” she retorted. Jiggling on the spot as the door lowered to form a staircase to the ground. “I can’t do this,” she shuddered, pulling away from his arm but his grip was to tight.
“Sure you can,” Johnny assured, pushing her towards the door and out onto the top step before she had time to protest. She stood motionless, staring. She didn’t move, couldn’t move. Pierre grinned at Johnny proudly, as they stood behind Keira waiting for her to budge.
“You see, mon ami?” Pierre commented a huge grin spread across his face as he waved a hand at the back of Keira.
“Yeah yeah, let’s give her a couple of seconds. They’ll be X-rated in no time you’ll see.” Pierre scowled at the visual image his friend had given him but they both waited patiently, desperate to get off the plane but just as eager to see how it all turned out.
Keira stood, paralysed on the top step, staring down at Orlando just meters away from her. Her heart had run to embrace him the second she saw him but her feet had yet to register the same reaction and he was apparently having the same problem. Her lips crept into a cute half smile as she realised Pierre had won the bet and gazing down at Orlando she saw the contagious smile creep onto his face as he managed to get his legs in check and made a lunge towards her. How she managed to get down the steps with out falling she would never know, perhaps she had fallen and he had caught her but within seconds they were back where they belonged, in each others arms. Orlando picked her up spinning them both around in a tight embraced, their bodies finally feeling the contact their minds had experience every night of their separation. It wasn’t long before their mouths came crashing together, completely unaware of the two figures that were now standing on the top step grinning ecstatically. The two men shook hands and patted each other’s backs, proud to accept that they had both been right. The love and purity of that single gaze had been there and so to the need and lust of passion. As they stepped down from the plane together they were well aware of the explosion before them and knew that treading on hot embers for the rest of the shoot was going to prove an exciting if not rather dramatic ten months.
The air is heavy. To look up is to peer through unshed tears as dense saturated cloud reaches its hand to stroke the earth. The wind is impatient, agitated in prolonged anticipation; waiting for its time to join in. The mist roles in, from a distant shore perhaps as the horizon becomes merely a blur. The sand seems grey as terrifying shadows claim it as their own. The sea as glazed as an icy mirror, too buffed to reflect, dares not object as white horses whinny and scream; racing to disappear into the beach. A light flashes, a distant moan. Constant, repetitive intervals as precise as time…
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Post by Araminta Ditch on Aug 25, 2004 18:34:52 GMT -5
i love it i love it i love it i love IT! I love YOU, man! I'm going to kidnap you and lock you in my basement and force you to write fic's such as these. muahahaha.
eek, I'm kidding you know.
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Post by Reens on Aug 25, 2004 22:07:53 GMT -5
Meep.. I swear I quoted... but I did it when the forum was going crazy.. anyways apparently I modified your post somehow ... You hid the best part from me? *sniffles* I'll get over it because it is such a wonderful touch. Gotta love symbolism... what an enchanting way to say..."they got it ONNN" (and the three nnn's are intended humph!) ...Repetitive intervals as precise as time...*dozes off in lala land*
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