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The Thirteenth Hour
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The musicians were just chilling out, having a beer before the presser, when they heard the first thunder. All of them looked up, surprised.
“What the fuck?” Tom cried. “It was sunny not five minutes ago!”
Jim went up to the nearest window, looking out to hide a smile. A sudden storm when they were about to meet again. What were the odds? He shook his head slightly. She was on the way.
“She’s a fucking force of nature,” he muttered to himself.
Deborah and her assistant Ron came to take them to the conference hall where the press waited for them. She nodded at Jim to let the others take the lead to the elevators and walk with her.
“No green passes so far, Jim,” she said, keeping her voice down.
He took his phone, searched for something and handed it to her.
“Here’s a picture of her,” he said. “Go wait for her at the lobby, Deb. Keep my phone, in case she texts me while I’m busy in there. And bring her to me the minute she gets h
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Sean saw Jo’s nod to the hall behind him and turned around. Deborah came into the bar, looking around as she approached him.“Where’s Jim?” she asked, still scanning the faces in the room.“Busy. What’s up?”“Busy?” Deborah repeated. “But he asked me to wait for—”“She here? Bring her in.”Sean and Jo watched Deborah go back to the hallway and invite the two women in.“Which one?” whispered Jo, excited.“You tell me,” Sean replied with a little smirk.Jo studied them both, and was about to pick the hot younger one when the other woman met Sean’s eyes and flashed a tight smile.“Oh, my God,” Jo muttered when the woman headed straight toward them, tugging at her friend’s sleeve to make her follow.“Hey, Sean,” the woman said with a quick nod.“Hey.”
No Return The Plan for the Night
“So what now, soldiers?” asked Tom, trying to bring the situation to more regular grounds.“Dunno, dude,” said Liam. “Deb said something about reservations for dinner, but it’s almost eight already”.“Here we have dinner about nine,” said Claudia.“What?” cried Walt. “I’m fucking starving!”Jim and Sean looked around and spotted Deborah with Ron and Tim, talking to some locals. Jim took a hand to his lips.“I’ll get her,” said Sean, before Jim whistled at her and Deborah punched his lights out.“How are you for an allnighter, woman?” Jim asked Silvia.“Like a scout, always ready,” she replied. “What’s the plan?”“Dunno, but guess it’s dinner, some drinks and some dancing. You up?” Jim heard Claudia’s muffled giggle and turned to her, raising his eyebrows. “
No Return The Only Place
The reservations were at an exclusive vegetarian restaurant, and Silvia and the Robinsons only agreed to walk in, instead of leaving for the nearest Burger King, when Jo showed them some meat courses on the menu.Their tables were on the second floor, that Deborah had requested to keep exclusive for them. She and Tim arrived with a dozen persons from their crew when they had just ordered dinner, and the waiters put up a long table to accommodate them all together.Jo found her mind turned into an imaginary camera, and it was completely captivated by the reunited friends. They were the most interesting thing to watch in the least expected way. After the fuss of the first moments together and Jim’s odd possessive attitude, now they were sitting opposite each other, behaving as if they’d last met the day before, not the year before.The conversation on that side of the table was about the band’s everyday issues and the places they’d been. Ji
No Return Too Many Mouths
Considering Claudia had taken them to a good place, and the online reviews didn’t say much about the nightclub they were about to go to, Deborah asked her about it.“I’ve never been there,” Claudia said. “Too exclusive for my budget. But I’ve heard they throw VIP private parties on the third floor.”Deborah flashed a cunning smile. “Wanna hop in as a scout?”Claudia mirrored her smile. “Lead the way!”Tim remained at the bar, to wait for Deborah’s call giving the green light for the nightclub. The call didn’t take long and he headed for the counter to pay for everybody’s drinks, leaving Ron and the bodyguards to take the group to their cars.Jim gulped up his bourbon and got to his feet. His lips curled up when he saw Silvia dodge the others to come toward him. She flashed a merry grin, and before he could take her hand, she wrapped her arm around his.&ldquo
No Return Play the Game
Jim observed Silvia as they danced to Erasure’s Little Respect, wondering what the hell she was up to. Just like back when they’d first met, she was dying to touch him, yet she pretended she didn’t. But back then they were complete strangers.It couldn’t be those silly overexcited chicks, or the other girl back at the hotel. She was way above that. She knew they were just the joke of the minute and meant nothing at all. After all, they’d always been with somebody else over the last year, and that had never come between them. Then why on earth didn’t she just step up and take what she wanted?“Jim!”He raised his hand to let Deborah know he’d be there in a minute. His other hand pulled Silvia closer and circled her waist.“Get ready, woman. I’ll be right back to stay,” he said an inch away from her lips.She didn’t look away from his eyes, she didn’t shiver,
No Return Take Me Home
By four, only a few of them were still standing, because the rest were exhausted, drunk or both. Deborah’s legendary resistance to champagne had been seriously compromised that night, so she looked around for Tim to help her organize the group’s retreat. And found him completely wasted on a couch. Good thing Ron was still in shape to crawl down the stairs and ask the bodyguards to get the cars ready. Meanwhile, she took on the quest of kicking everybody up to their feet.Her dizzy head got suddenly clear when she found Jim had exceeded his alcohol to an extent she’d had only seen a couple of times before. He was declaiming something at the top of his lungs, while Silvia and Liam laughed and threw snacks at him from a couch.Deborah shook Sean, snoozing with his head on Jo’s lap, and pointed at his brother. He rubbed his face, shook Walt awake, and together they were able to push and punch Jim into the toilet. Gallons of fresh water on his head e
No Return A Whole Day of Isolation
What they called the tech and junior crews had been working at the stadium for hours by the time the senior crew and the musicians were able to leave their rooms. They navigated their hangover the best they could and eventually found their way to one of the hotel restaurants for lunch.Soon they were all there, save Jim. Deborah counted heads one more time. Yep, he was the only one missing. She found out she still had his phone, so she called his room.Sean saw her look as she came back to the table and sighed. For a change, nobody but him dared to go knock on Jim’s door, especially knowing he wasn’t alone.“I’ll get him,” he said to Deborah, and turned to Jo. “Order my lunch, please.”Upstairs, he stopped before Jim’s door and paid attention. He couldn’t hear a single sound from inside the room. His brother was still sleeping. Sean knocked softly and waited. Nothing. He knocked again.“Ji
No Return Tonight Is Our Night
Jo enjoyed the ride to the west area of the city, to a neighborhood called Caseros, filming and talking with Silvia.Living a thousand miles away from Buenos Aires, and far from being into indie movies, Silvia couldn’t tell her much about the renown international indie festival that took place in the city every year. But she was more than willing to answer any questions about her country, their traditions and culture, and about herself too. So Jo asked away to her heart’s content.Claudia waited for them with Silvia’s sister and friends, who welcomed Jo like they’d known her for years and made her feel at home in just minutes.Silvia left them talking in the living room and hurried upstairs for a quick shower, hopefully even with hot water. The first thing she saw in her room was all her clothes, washed and ironed, folded in a neat pile on her bed.She went back downstairs with a change of clothes, an extra pack of cigaret
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No Return True Freedom
Silvia woke up to Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus.The sun was setting and she was alone in bed, tucked in soft sheets that smelled of lemon and the fat white comforter. Jim had left a few hours ago to let her rest, because after those weeks apart, it was plain to see she wouldn’t get any rest with him around.She’d fallen sound asleep, exhausted, and now she had the persistent feeling of being still lost in a dream. But she wasn’t. This was not the Black Rock. It was the Ashtray, her new home, and that music had to be a phone ringing.But not hers. She’d never used that song as a ringtone.She followed the music to the other nightstand, where she found a new phone still inside its open box with a red ribbon. And she laughed out loud when she grabbed it and saw the caller was My Personal J.“Hey, you awake?” Jim asked when she picked up, still chuckling.“Hey, you just woke me u
No Return Yours
They staggered into the bedroom and fell on the bed as they kissed, their hands struggling to get rid of their clothes.Silvia pulled Jim to bring him on top of her, yearning to feel his weight. There was no other body to hers, no other hands to touch her, no other lips to drive her crazy, no other skin to stroke hers. She wrapped a leg around his waist, pushing him down, and moaned when she felt him inside of her, his fire sweeping it all away, and she gave in to his need and his exasperated anxiety.Because that was exactly how he was feeling. He’d never missed her body, he’d never needed her like this. Yet there he was, fighting himself back to keep from going off like a frigging teen, growing crazier with every moan he pushed out of her mouth, every move of her hips, every touch of her fingers, every brush of her lips. Like he would never have enough of her.Why was he feeling this way? Why nothing seemed enough? When had all bodies lost their ap
No Return The Ashtray
Silvia exited the Customs Office feeling stunned and a little dizzy. After such an emotional last week in Bariloche, she’d had to go through the long flight that had taken her to another time zone, another season, another country, another culture, another language. She looked around, feeling she was running on fumes and she was about to pass out any moment now.Jim threw the sign she hadn’t seen into a bin to come stand before her, hands in his pockets and a smile under his black cap.“Looking for somebody?”Silvia just dropped everything to fall into his arms. He held her tight, kissing her hair, and felt her shiver nonstop. She needed a whole minute to fight back her tears and get a little grip on herself. When he assessed she would be able to walk, he took her hand, grabbed the luggage cart with his other hand, and took both to the parking lot without a word.Silvia just let him lead the way. She was there, with him, finally. Sh
No Return Storm Alert
Silvia left before her friends and siblings even registered what she was doing. One minute they were all toasting to her for the hundredth time in the bar, and the next minute she was hugging every one of them, telling them how much she loved them. And then she was gone, all alone.She walked down the street, gazing up at the sky, admiring the colors in those minutes before the early sunrise. Her feet didn’t need to consult with her brain to head straight to the downtown beach, walk down the stone steps and take her right up to the lake shore.She sat down on the cold pebbles and lit a cigarette, face to the east. It was her last sunrise of the only life she’d ever known. The last sunrise with her lake and her mountains. Like so many times before, she wished she could capture every little detail as far as her eyes could see, carve it all in her memory and keep it inside of her, true and unchanged, forever unfading.She watched the sun come up behind
No Return December
Tobias and Leandro had done their best to clean up the Black Rock before Silvia came back home. And the outcome made her smile, because the house was squeaky-clean and smelling of flowers. They were surprised to see Mika there too, but Silvia’s look kept them from asking any questions.Knowing the siblings needed time alone for their reunion, Leandro left for Beltane, to have dinner with Claudia. At the Black Rock, Mika went to the supermarket, to restock the fridge with something that wasn’t trash food and make dinner for the three of them.The moment she walked out, Tobias asked Silvia what had happened to their sister to make her lower that proud head of hers, admit her fail and come back home. It was just natural he would take mortal offense when he learned why Mika was actually back. But Silvia would have none of it.“I’m telling you the same I told your sister,” she said. “You don’t want me to keep treating you guy
No Return Lil' Sister
It’d been six months since Silvia had last seen Mika, and one look was enough to tell her all her little sister had been keeping from her.Rob and Juan had planned a Saturday night out after dinner, but Silvia resorted to the such-a-long-flight excuse to stay behind.“Would you lend me a hand with the dishes?” she asked Mika.The others understood and took off, leaving the sisters alone.“I thought Lorena was coming too,” Silvia said as they picked up everything from the table.Mika hesitated, found her sister’s eyes and shrugged. “We broke up.”“Oh. You never mentioned it.”“It happened three days ago. I didn’t wanna write to you about it. It was your last days with Jim, and I knew we were meeting today.”They took everything to the kitchen and Silvia asked Mika to make mate while she did the dishes. The girl knew better than trying to beat
No Return The Thing
Silvia almost missed her flight, too absorbed staring at the tiny thing on the table before her.What on God’s green earth was that thing doing there, and in her keep?That white-gold band with a little, discreet diamond.An engagement ring.That frigging coward! Throwing it at her from ten feet away!But no matter the delivery method, Jim had given it to her.His mother’s, he’d said.Bring it back, he’d said.She felt lucky her brain was able to register the last boarding call. She looked up, startled, and jumped to her feet. She was about to hurry away when she remembered the ring. Actually, it was more like feeling a leash tugging at her neck, stopping her from walking away from the table.She spun around on her heels and scowled down at the damned thing.“You…” she growled.The moment she had it in her hand again, she realized how small and light it wa
No Return Catch
It was sort of weird. Being with Jim usually involved having people around, but now they were all alone, making their way through the usual crowd in LAX. Come to think about it, both of them loved having an active social life. Maybe that was why she hadn’t needed any major adjusting over the last ten days in LA.…?Silvia would’ve punched herself best Fight Club style. She had only minutes left with him and she was pondering about their social habits? Really?She checked in for her flight and they headed to the boarding area in no hurry.“So you think you can be back by January ten.”“Yup. I gotta report to work with Jo on the fifteenth, but I want a couple of free days before that.”They walked a whole minute in silence.Silvia wondered why all of a sudden they didn’t seem to have anything left to say. Why were they avoiding eye contact? Why did she feel like getting into the boarding
No Return Jam
“Hurry up or I’m calling a cab!”“Bet you’re dying to do it, you chicken.”“Please, Jay!”Silvia finished raiding the master bedroom one last time, to make sure she wasn’t forgetting anything.“Jay!”“Coming.”She snorted and went to canvass the ground floor. She was just done when Jim came down the stairs in no hurry.“Can we go before I have a heart attack, milord?”“Cool down, woman, we have plenty of time,” he said, grabbing her duffel bag on his way to the front door, where she waited with her rucksack. He paused at the doorway to poke her nose. “Really, such a rush to leave me.”Silvia wasn’t about to explain she was always that upset whenever she had a bus or a plane to catch, so she just scowled at him and followed him out.“Got everything? Tickets, passport?”Silvia ch
