What Is Love? Chapter 3
Author: Chhhachie
Title: What Is Love?
Part: 3/5
Rating: PG
Summary: Mark gets a tiny bit closer to the conclusion he’s so desperately searching for...with the help of someone unexpected :)
Comments: I added in a new character...but she remains nameless, and I think that’s the smartest thing to do...so while you’re reading, remember that I wrote it without a real person in mind...she’s not based off of anyone in particular. I also added quite a bit of sarcasm in this...hope everyone enjoys!
Disclaimer: Don’t own the people.
He sat down heavily on the wooden chair next to the window in the studio. He smiled as his partner scurried out into the hallway as soon as she saw him reach for his phone. She was probably happy to finally have a break...and the only way that he was breaking these days was to check his phone. No matter how hard he tried to get through an entire rehearsal without glancing toward his bag, he couldn’t quite go the whole time. He had been close today...he went a full hour and forty minutes before his eyes strayed to the corner of the room.
As soon as he envisioned his phone vibrating from an incoming text message from her, his concentration was shot.
Sure, the days were dwindling until her flight home, but somehow, that made it worse. He hadn’t talked to her since that late night, (or early morning), that she had called him from on set...and that had been a short, jilted conversation. He glanced at his phone, and couldn’t help but feel pure joy when he saw his inbox had two new text messages.
It was disgusting how much he looked forward to these few choice words sent on whim everyday.
“I wore THE coolest outfit today. Like seriously. It was a traditional sari...I think I could make it work back in LA. Look out...Sabrina’s bringing India to the US. Miss you XO...OOO. ~Sabrina”
He chuckled at the random message...and tried not to grin like a fool when he read the extra kisses at the end. He clicked the next button, and her second message lit up the screen.
“It started to pour rain like twenty minutes ago...so we’re done filming for the day. I still have no idea how to figure out what time it is there... it’s kind of late over here...but I’ll probably be up for awhile if you want to give me a call when you’re done rehearsing Looking forward to hearing your ring tone... ~Sabrina”
He sighed as he stood up, tossing his phone into his bag. Unfortunately for him, he had at least an hour more of rehearsal to go...although he was positive his mind would be far away from dancing.
His partner walked into the room and he winced at her knowing expression. “What?”
“You have the saddest look on your face.”
He shrugged. It would figure his new partner would be able to read him like a book. She was young, relatively famous, and certainly beautiful. But there was something off about her. She wasn’t quite what he had imagined when he heard who she was. Sure she was fun to hang out with...but her personality could only be handled in small doses. She had some raw talent...but mostly their practices were spent with him trying to get her to erase her showy smile that she always plastered on her face, hoping it would make the judges and the audience not focus on her horrendous footwork. This new season was certainly different. There was something missing from his new partner, and he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
Perhaps it was just that she wasn’t Sabrina.
“So, why so blue?” she asked, assured in her ability to be able to fix the situation. It was obvious she had never experienced anything like the situation he was in before...but he decided to humor her anyway.
‘I’m not blue. But if you must know...my girlfriend’s been away for close to two months, we barely get to talk to each other because of the crazy time difference, and she just texted me telling her to call her when I’m done rehearsing.”
“Oh, well in that case, looks like we’re done rehearsing. Which is great because I could TOTALLY use a break...”
“Not so fast.” He interjected, smirking at her insistence to stop practicing. “We are not nearly done rehearsing for the day.”
He tried to hold in the laughter as her face dropped immediately. “We’re not?” she asked weakly.
He gave a definitive shake of the head before he walked over to the cd player, not noticing his partner roll her eyes dramatically.
“So what you’re saying...is that you’d rather get in an extra few minutes practicing this dance we practice over and over and OVER again...than call Sabrina.” she asked, attitude lacing her words as she stuck a hand on her hip. “Nice Mark. Real nice.”
He whirled around, feeling the frustration he had been holding in over the past few weeks start to boil over. “I never said that. I can’t help it that you need to practice the dance over and over and OVER again.”
Her eyes flashed indignantly. “I know I don’t exactly match up to Miss Cheetah Girl as a partner...but I am working my ass off for this show. And I’m tired.”
He closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. “I know...I know, I”m sorry...it’s just that I have a lot going on lately. I don’t mean to take it out on you...”
“Well you kind of are.” she glared at him from her stance in the middle of the studio.
He stared her down warily. “Okay...you want a break...take a break.”
Instead of the stomping and yelling he expected her to do out the door, he was surprised when she flounced over to the chairs next to the cd player and sat down. He was even more surprised by the words that came out of her mouth next.
“So, do you love her?”
He felt like he had been dunked into a pool of ice cold water. The question had been phrased innocently enough, but it was still a shock. How could this young starlet hit their problem right on the nose...at her very first try?
He cleared his throat, and averted her teasing eye contact.
“So, you don’t love her?”
He realized she started her sentences with “so” much too often. And he realized she was just out of reach to grab her and cover her mouth, even though he so desperately wanted to. He could feel his muscles tense up at the assumption that he didn’t love Sabrina. It was apparent his partner noticed as well.
“So...”
He interrupted her abruptly. “SO nothing. Drop the subject please.”
She smiled that evil smile she had begun to use around him, when it was obvious she had the upper hand. “SO...what you’re trying to tell me with all this awkward eye contact and glaring...is that you think you love Sabrina, but you’re scared to admit it...but when you think about the word love, it seems too strong to describe your relationship at the present time, but you don’t want to say you just like her because that’s too simple of a term...in other words you don’t know what the hell is going on.”
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
She smirked. “I’m right aren’t I?”
He managed to close his mouth and wipe the shock off his face. “Maybe.” He muttered under his breath.
His partner rolled her eyes in that degrading way she had perfected over the past few weeks. “I thought I needed a break...obviously you’re the one on the verge of a mental breakdown buddy.”
He let out a groan as he sank down to the floor next to the cd player. “I’m pathetic.”
“Yeah you kind of are.”
His head snapped up as he shot her the meanest glare he could muster. But he had a feeling it lacked the harshness he had intended when his partner just snorted in response. “You can go I guess. We’ll meet again same time tomorrow.”
She stood up quickly and practically skipped to her bag. “Great! Thanks Mark!”
“Yeah, no problem.” He responded tiredly.
As she spun around to head out the door, she yelled out, “And by the way...you’re being kind of ridiculous.”
He stood up quickly, holding up his arms in surrender. “HOW am I being ridiculous?”
She stopped in the doorway and stared at him sympathetically. “You’re making this into way too big of a deal, Mark. Nobody ever immediately loves their significant other. That’s kind of the point of the use of the word ‘falling’ when people talk about it. It doesn’t happen overnight. Love is just a word that we use to define the result. God, you make things so difficult.”
As she turned around and headed out the door, he stood in shock for the second time that day. “How can you be so annoying, yet so smart?” He yelled at her back as she turned the corner.
All he got in response was a loud bellowing laugh as she left the building.
He shook his head as he stared at the doorway for a few more seconds. What she had said could have certainly been presented a bit nicer...but she had some good points. Suddenly, the entire situation he had gotten himself into seemed kind of silly.
His eyes connected with his phone, still lying in his bag, and he remembered he was supposed to call her. He quickly dialed the number, and waited for her to pick up. For some reason he felt nervous.
“Oh I’m so glad you called...I have so much tell you!” She answered his call and immediately launched into a story, not allowing him to get a word in.
He leaned back in the chair, and propped his legs up on the table next to him, smiling at her excited tone. The pressure he had felt the past few weeks about the big L word had diminished into just a slight nag. He chose to ignore the annoyance, and instead decided to focus on reveling in Sabrina’s stories. He still had two weeks to figure out where they stood.
And thanks to his annoying partner’s lecture, for the first time in a long time, that fact gave him a sense of warmth, instead of dread.
Title: What Is Love?
Part: 3/5
Rating: PG
Summary: Mark gets a tiny bit closer to the conclusion he’s so desperately searching for...with the help of someone unexpected :)
Comments: I added in a new character...but she remains nameless, and I think that’s the smartest thing to do...so while you’re reading, remember that I wrote it without a real person in mind...she’s not based off of anyone in particular. I also added quite a bit of sarcasm in this...hope everyone enjoys!
Disclaimer: Don’t own the people.
He sat down heavily on the wooden chair next to the window in the studio. He smiled as his partner scurried out into the hallway as soon as she saw him reach for his phone. She was probably happy to finally have a break...and the only way that he was breaking these days was to check his phone. No matter how hard he tried to get through an entire rehearsal without glancing toward his bag, he couldn’t quite go the whole time. He had been close today...he went a full hour and forty minutes before his eyes strayed to the corner of the room.
As soon as he envisioned his phone vibrating from an incoming text message from her, his concentration was shot.
Sure, the days were dwindling until her flight home, but somehow, that made it worse. He hadn’t talked to her since that late night, (or early morning), that she had called him from on set...and that had been a short, jilted conversation. He glanced at his phone, and couldn’t help but feel pure joy when he saw his inbox had two new text messages.
It was disgusting how much he looked forward to these few choice words sent on whim everyday.
“I wore THE coolest outfit today. Like seriously. It was a traditional sari...I think I could make it work back in LA. Look out...Sabrina’s bringing India to the US. Miss you XO...OOO. ~Sabrina”
He chuckled at the random message...and tried not to grin like a fool when he read the extra kisses at the end. He clicked the next button, and her second message lit up the screen.
“It started to pour rain like twenty minutes ago...so we’re done filming for the day. I still have no idea how to figure out what time it is there... it’s kind of late over here...but I’ll probably be up for awhile if you want to give me a call when you’re done rehearsing Looking forward to hearing your ring tone... ~Sabrina”
He sighed as he stood up, tossing his phone into his bag. Unfortunately for him, he had at least an hour more of rehearsal to go...although he was positive his mind would be far away from dancing.
His partner walked into the room and he winced at her knowing expression. “What?”
“You have the saddest look on your face.”
He shrugged. It would figure his new partner would be able to read him like a book. She was young, relatively famous, and certainly beautiful. But there was something off about her. She wasn’t quite what he had imagined when he heard who she was. Sure she was fun to hang out with...but her personality could only be handled in small doses. She had some raw talent...but mostly their practices were spent with him trying to get her to erase her showy smile that she always plastered on her face, hoping it would make the judges and the audience not focus on her horrendous footwork. This new season was certainly different. There was something missing from his new partner, and he couldn’t quite put a finger on it.
Perhaps it was just that she wasn’t Sabrina.
“So, why so blue?” she asked, assured in her ability to be able to fix the situation. It was obvious she had never experienced anything like the situation he was in before...but he decided to humor her anyway.
‘I’m not blue. But if you must know...my girlfriend’s been away for close to two months, we barely get to talk to each other because of the crazy time difference, and she just texted me telling her to call her when I’m done rehearsing.”
“Oh, well in that case, looks like we’re done rehearsing. Which is great because I could TOTALLY use a break...”
“Not so fast.” He interjected, smirking at her insistence to stop practicing. “We are not nearly done rehearsing for the day.”
He tried to hold in the laughter as her face dropped immediately. “We’re not?” she asked weakly.
He gave a definitive shake of the head before he walked over to the cd player, not noticing his partner roll her eyes dramatically.
“So what you’re saying...is that you’d rather get in an extra few minutes practicing this dance we practice over and over and OVER again...than call Sabrina.” she asked, attitude lacing her words as she stuck a hand on her hip. “Nice Mark. Real nice.”
He whirled around, feeling the frustration he had been holding in over the past few weeks start to boil over. “I never said that. I can’t help it that you need to practice the dance over and over and OVER again.”
Her eyes flashed indignantly. “I know I don’t exactly match up to Miss Cheetah Girl as a partner...but I am working my ass off for this show. And I’m tired.”
He closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath. “I know...I know, I”m sorry...it’s just that I have a lot going on lately. I don’t mean to take it out on you...”
“Well you kind of are.” she glared at him from her stance in the middle of the studio.
He stared her down warily. “Okay...you want a break...take a break.”
Instead of the stomping and yelling he expected her to do out the door, he was surprised when she flounced over to the chairs next to the cd player and sat down. He was even more surprised by the words that came out of her mouth next.
“So, do you love her?”
He felt like he had been dunked into a pool of ice cold water. The question had been phrased innocently enough, but it was still a shock. How could this young starlet hit their problem right on the nose...at her very first try?
He cleared his throat, and averted her teasing eye contact.
“So, you don’t love her?”
He realized she started her sentences with “so” much too often. And he realized she was just out of reach to grab her and cover her mouth, even though he so desperately wanted to. He could feel his muscles tense up at the assumption that he didn’t love Sabrina. It was apparent his partner noticed as well.
“So...”
He interrupted her abruptly. “SO nothing. Drop the subject please.”
She smiled that evil smile she had begun to use around him, when it was obvious she had the upper hand. “SO...what you’re trying to tell me with all this awkward eye contact and glaring...is that you think you love Sabrina, but you’re scared to admit it...but when you think about the word love, it seems too strong to describe your relationship at the present time, but you don’t want to say you just like her because that’s too simple of a term...in other words you don’t know what the hell is going on.”
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
She smirked. “I’m right aren’t I?”
He managed to close his mouth and wipe the shock off his face. “Maybe.” He muttered under his breath.
His partner rolled her eyes in that degrading way she had perfected over the past few weeks. “I thought I needed a break...obviously you’re the one on the verge of a mental breakdown buddy.”
He let out a groan as he sank down to the floor next to the cd player. “I’m pathetic.”
“Yeah you kind of are.”
His head snapped up as he shot her the meanest glare he could muster. But he had a feeling it lacked the harshness he had intended when his partner just snorted in response. “You can go I guess. We’ll meet again same time tomorrow.”
She stood up quickly and practically skipped to her bag. “Great! Thanks Mark!”
“Yeah, no problem.” He responded tiredly.
As she spun around to head out the door, she yelled out, “And by the way...you’re being kind of ridiculous.”
He stood up quickly, holding up his arms in surrender. “HOW am I being ridiculous?”
She stopped in the doorway and stared at him sympathetically. “You’re making this into way too big of a deal, Mark. Nobody ever immediately loves their significant other. That’s kind of the point of the use of the word ‘falling’ when people talk about it. It doesn’t happen overnight. Love is just a word that we use to define the result. God, you make things so difficult.”
As she turned around and headed out the door, he stood in shock for the second time that day. “How can you be so annoying, yet so smart?” He yelled at her back as she turned the corner.
All he got in response was a loud bellowing laugh as she left the building.
He shook his head as he stared at the doorway for a few more seconds. What she had said could have certainly been presented a bit nicer...but she had some good points. Suddenly, the entire situation he had gotten himself into seemed kind of silly.
His eyes connected with his phone, still lying in his bag, and he remembered he was supposed to call her. He quickly dialed the number, and waited for her to pick up. For some reason he felt nervous.
“Oh I’m so glad you called...I have so much tell you!” She answered his call and immediately launched into a story, not allowing him to get a word in.
He leaned back in the chair, and propped his legs up on the table next to him, smiling at her excited tone. The pressure he had felt the past few weeks about the big L word had diminished into just a slight nag. He chose to ignore the annoyance, and instead decided to focus on reveling in Sabrina’s stories. He still had two weeks to figure out where they stood.
And thanks to his annoying partner’s lecture, for the first time in a long time, that fact gave him a sense of warmth, instead of dread.