The Facebook Friend Game 3
Title: The Facebook Friend Game
Author: Oresteia
Recipient: Treelines
Warnings: PG for language
Summary: Mark still wonders why Erica hasn’t accepted his Facebook friend request, four years later he’s had enough.
Pairings: (based on the other ships) Mark/Erica, Dustin/Eduardo
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, the universe created belongs to Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher, the real people belongs to themselves and this is all just embarrassing writing for fun.
--
He wanted to take it back, from the second Eduardo left Dustin wanted to call him and say he did not mean it.
That would have been a lie. Dustin did and frankly he was not sorry in the least. There was no remorse to be had, he was being a good friend, and Eduardo was a daft moron.
Mark would be proud if he was here and not across town trying to hunt down Erica Albright.
Knowing it was too soon to call Eduardo after this all went down, Dustin pulled out his phone and called Chris.
“Is the drama over yet?” Chris asked by way of greeting skipping over the pretend niceness.
“Not exactly,” Dustin answered, “He kind of left and I really didn’t attempt to stop him either.”
Chris sighed, “Should I go find him before it gets dark and bring him back?”
“No, he’ll come back. You know he will. Eduardo and I are having a moment but he’s not stupid. He knows better than just take off and not return. You’re his friend and so am I mostly,” Dustin responded trying to squash the worry that Eduardo would do just that, leave.
He had to have faith though, if Dustin lost it then he would not be Dustin. That and Mark would hassle him about coming to the darkside of the force once the dust had settled and it had become a funny joke. Right now, it was anything but humorous.
“I’ll keep calling and texting his cell,” Chris said as a means of compromise. He was afraid that if they did not keep on Eduardo that Eduardo would do the exact thing they were calling his bluff on.
Little did Eduardo know that Chris had gotten better with his perseverance skill and was prepared to kidnap if it came to that.
“Want me to tell you what happened?” Dustin asked dryly after a minute of silence.
“I don’t know Dustin, do you want to tell me?”
“You act as if I have an option,” Dustin said with awe in his voice.
Chris snorted, “I’m not Mark, this is not need to know or you’re fired.”
Dustin wanted to point out that Chris was the king of hating being behind not only the gossip but being passed over if there was any chance that his not so divine intervention could help reunite them as one. Chris seemed to be the only one that did not know he was like that or he was just deluding himself into thinking he had grown as a man.
Once a gay gossip queen, always a gay gossip queen.
‘Three, two, one…’
“Okay, fine, tell me,” Chris caved through the phone.
He was so predictable.
Dustin shook his head and mentally tried to figure out how he wanted to tackle this math problem of telling Chris without spilling it to him in place of Eduardo who honestly deserved to hear it first. He might not be the best conversationalist (Dustin was friends with Mark after all) but Dustin did know when a conversation should be between two people and only two people. Usually declarations of affection that went beyond friendship should between only those people.
Which is why Dustin had gotten mad on Mark’s behalf. Eduardo just did not understand that Mark was in love with her. Okay, neither of them knew it yet but Dustin was pretty confident that he was right. Or he was feeling sentimental over his own feelings about Eduardo. It was one or the other and he felt at this time it was better not to assume the latter.
He hoped the first feeling was the correct one for Mark’s sake.
“Dustin? Dustin? Still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here! You heard me breathing didn’t you?”
Chris rolled his eyes; hanging out with Mark had done him no favors. He waited patiently on the line for Dustin to continue.
“He was wrong and I lost it,” Dustin began, it was better to be direct with the problem before talking about the answer.
“Right and wrong aside, what was this really about? Seemed awfully dramatic for it to be about Mark and only Mark,” Chris pointed out his inner gossip queen already at work.
Dustin sighed, “He just, his self righteousness and his total lack of feeling got to me, okay. It was like Eduardo had pulled a page from Mark; he was being heartless over what their own drama that ended a long time ago? Eduardo’s problem is he never let shit go and he takes it with him everywhere. He uses it as an excuse to beat down on a guy that just wants a girl to like him, is that so wrong?”
Okay, Chris understood that, but what he was getting from the conversation was that Dustin was hurt over the fact that Eduardo was being dismissive over sensitive feelings. Logically it meant one of two things- that Dustin had complicated issues with Eduardo stemming from his departure from Facebook or Dustin liked him in a more biblical sense.
Though Chris had already decided not to point out that he had figured that little secret out because Dustin would clam up and refuse to listen to any advice he might give. Dustin was not the kind that liked sharing, Mark was more open to chatting about his problems than Dustin was. Dustin liked talking to you (Chris in particular) about the superficial small trivial issues but when it came to the serious matters he preferred to work it out on his own.
It was not like he was embarrassed or afraid to admit that he liked men. Chris knew better and so did Dustin. It was just a matter of wanting to keeping his own messes to himself.
“Sometimes it’s better to let go, warning her or not won’t change anything. You have to know that Mark will press ahead no matter what. He is resilient and forceful; sitting down and accepting his fate was never something that Mark did. You’re no different, you have to know that. You could have stayed at Harvard and let time pass you by, you didn’t, you took the ball and went ahead. Trust that you will continue to do that and that Mark will too,” Chris told him.
It might not be the best advice that Chris had for Dustin at this time but it was the one that he was most likely to respond positively to.
“What if she runs?” Dustin whispered.
Now they definitely were taking about Eduardo.
“What if they never get the chance to tell each other and god forbid what if he can’t because he knows that she already knows and is rejecting him flat out?”
Chris was going to have really force himself not to respond with the correct pronoun or name for that matter. Those two really were idiots sometime. ‘I came for Mark’, load of shit.
“Knowing ahead for anyone, even if they have it their minds to reject the proposal or a date or a sentiment is not going to change anything for the one that wants to come clean. For himself, Mark has to do it because it will weigh on him otherwise forever. You have to confront the demons that live inside your mind and move on if it doesn’t turn out favorable. Remember there’s always friendships and not every rejection has to end in tragedy,” he answered after a minute careful to mention Mark’s name so not to be too obvious.
Dustin swore, “I fucking hate you Chris Hughes.”
Chris laughed despite trying not to, “I have no idea why, I didn't do anything except offer my wisdom.” He loved playing dumb even when it was transparent.
“Bullshit, I’m hanging up now. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye Dustin”
“Bye know-it-all.”
-
It was a bust, Erica was either not at the conference, waiting until it was her turn tomorrow or he just sucked at playing hide and seek. Of course for her to hide she had to know that he was coming.
Did someone say something?!
Mark was torn between interrogating the staff at the conference or just going back to Chris’ place and calling it a day.
It seemed like maybe she just did not want to be found before her big day, and Mark knew then no matter what even if someone had tipped her off, there was no way that Erica could do anything. She had to sit through it as much as Mark did.
So with that logic in mind, he took the subway back to Chris’ place.
What happened when he got there was what truly surprised him. Mark arrived a little after 6, he figured that Dustin had probably already harped Chris about having to eat. That meant there was probably already a carry-out or take-out of pizza and/or Chinese waiting. Chris knowing to already order it for him and would make sure it was hot.
Mark liked predictability, he was very happy when things went the way they were supposed to. It was a little OCD of him but in Mark’s defense he was a programmer and uniformity in programming was a must.
Needless to say, when walked in sure enough there was a table hot food. Cooked hot food, which should have sent off warning bells in Mark’s head. Chris cooked but not usually when Mark and/or Dustin came by, neither man cared for a cooked meal much and both usually criticized Chris’ idea of what food consisted of.
“Chris? Dustin?”
Wondering why it was so quiet, he jumped when a voice came from the kitchen, “I’m just finishing dinner now. Chris and Dustin went out to go pick up some beers.”
Mark froze, that sounded like Eduardo, why did that voice sound like Eduardo’s?
He turned and sure enough standing there in some casual dress clothes was Eduardo holding in his hand a spatula and a tray of baked breaded fish.
Mark turned his head to the side, like he was dog studying its wacky master, “What are you doing here?” the puzzlement obvious in his tone.
Eduardo shrugged, “Same as you.”
“Visiting Chris?”
Eduardo shook his head, “Visiting Erica.”
That was not something that Mark expected to hear come out of Eduardo’s mouth. Since when did Eduardo know Erica?
“Did I miss something?” Mark asked noticing the slightly soured look Eduardo was giving him.
“Oh did you mean a recap of the last four years since you fired me? Or did you mean about Erica and myself?” he asked with a hint of tension in his voice.
Honestly, Mark was impressed that Eduardo was even acting like a human being right now. Passive anger was a specialty of his and right now, he was doing a good job of reining it in. Almost too good, he at least knew what to say or not to say to a passive aggressive Eduardo; mildly calm but still irritated Eduardo was a new person entirely.
“I know what you’ve been up to Wardo, we do talk remember?” Mark pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.
Eduardo nodded and sat down the tray on the table with the vegetables and the rice.
“Well had you have maybe called me today would not have happened. Dustin and I might still be on speaking terms; as it is Chris has been middle man all day long,” Eduardo informed him stiffly.
Mark blinked, so it was his fault they had some kind of issue since he was gone?
“Why am I the fall guy this time? Are you suing him for a billion dollars too?”
The Brazilian scowled as a response, his lips pressed together; he was biting his tongue to keep from being a dick. Truthfully, it was Dustin and his fault, it was their fight but Mark was the starting point so it was entirely fair in Eduardo’s mind that he take some of the heat.
Mark rolled his eyes, trust that Eduardo would not tell him anything. This was like Palo Alto part I all over again.
“Okay fine, don’t tell me. It’s not like I came here to listen to your drama.”
That was all it took, Eduardo unleashed, “I wanted to warn Erica. She’s done nothing to you, Mark. Not one damn thing, jumping her at a conference because of some friend request? What kind of asshole are you anyway? She deserves to be left alone. She probably has forgotten all about you by now, if she was so attached than why wouldn’t have she invited you instead of me? She called me, Mark and asked me to come. Tell where you got your invitation from?”
The inner asshole was wanting to bite back, it would be so easy for Mark to cut Eduardo down to size and be over it. Mark however had been working on getting his best friend back which meant he could not afford to be his asshole self. He was a little insensitive at times but he was not that insensitive. He truly believed that he was doing nothing wrong and neither must have Dustin because that was obviously what their fight had been about.
Deciding not to let this get out of hand ruin an already tense situation, Mark turned from the room, walked into the bedroom, and slammed the door.
Eduardo, still slightly seething, did not even attempt to go after him.
Happy fucking reunion.
After Mark’s mini showdown with Eduardo, he slammed the door shut and proceeded to go to sleep. He slept for what seemed like hours but in reality was about forty minutes when he heard a loud knocking come from the other side of the room.
“MARK MARK, MARKY DINNER’S READY,” Dustin called like he was his old cheery self.
Mark knew that to be a lie; however he got up and opened the door anyway. Dustin’s face did not match his happy calling, his brown eyes looked haunted- a cross between sad and bitter.
Mark, never the most sensitive, but still somewhat caring decided to ignore it; Dustin was not the type that would want his pity and offering to talk about it was a mistake on both their ends. Neither was very good at it, Dustin was at least serviceable when required but Mark was a downright failure.
“Sending me to the gallows?” he asked dropping all pretence that this was a dinner that anyone was looking forward to.
“Hell yes, if I have go, so do you,” Dustin whispered trying to hold in his laughter but it was the first smile Mark had seen since they arrived.
Suddenly he felt a whole lot better about today.
“Bastard,” Mark stated deadpan.
Dustin threw his arm around Mark’s shoulder, “You know it, bitch!”
They sat down, Mark noticed the way Eduardo was glaring, one eye on Dustin, the other on Mark. He was already stabbing his vegetables with a fork like he was imaging it being Mark’s head.
Dustin rolled his eyes and reached for a piece of bread tossing another at Mark, “Catch.”
Mark fumbled it and then dropped it causing Chris to snicker.
“Still can’t catch?”
“Screw you, at least I was on a sports team. Drama club vice president,” Mark taunted.
Chris just smirked, “You’re just jealous of how much cooler it is.”
“HA,” Dustin yelled gleefully, “Load of shit man, load of shit.”
Eduardo stayed silent but the group, in particular Chris, could see that he was dying to join in. It was his own resentment that kept him quiet. Mark probably wanted to add that Eduardo was choosing to punish himself but he knew better than to piss Chris off during a meal.
The one big rule Chris had about staying at his place, if dinner was being served and they were eating together. You were respectful, period the end or else.
Not even Mark was going to test what exactly that or else meant.
“So which side you on? Theirs, or mine?” Chris asked breaking into Eduardo’s silent fuming.
Eduardo turned his attention briefly to the blond man, he laughed a little and nodded in Dustin’s direction, “Theirs. I would rather be a sports star than a drama geek.”
“Or a math nerd in a final club than a sports jock,” Mark added with hint of maliciousness.
Chris gripped his fork and reminded himself that he would have to pay the medical bills if he stabbed Mark every time he pushed someone’s button.
“At least you’re taken seriously if you’re an intelligent, hard working member of society that knows math and plays the stock market. The final club is just the icing on the cake,” Eduardo said idly but they knew it was completely passive aggressive on his part.
Yep, Eduardo was back and so was Mark.
Chris wanted to kill himself and hide Dustin under the table at he same time. Because Dustin took their fighting personally and broke a little every time it happened.
Dustin looked nervously between them both, if he had hoped his anger earlier had opened Eduardo’s eyes then by now it was gone. Clearly Eduardo had no intention of letting this bullshit go, Dustin was torn between crying and kill him.
So much for letting go of the anger- on both men’s end.
Suddenly Dustin did not look so calm, it was like the light switched back on and everything that set him off earlier was coming back with a vengeance. He begged Eduardo to let it go, then he got mad, and then Eduardo actually listened and did not call Erica. Sure, they were on tense if not almost zero talking ground, but Dustin was almost ready to forgive him earlier.
That was quickly disappearing.
Mark noticed, Eduardo continued on ignorantly but Mark saw the look on Dustin’s face. Immediately he squashed whatever rude comeback was on his mind, he could see what it was doing to his best friend. Dustin was too loyal to him as Mark would be to Dustin if it killed him.
“Hey, Wardo, why don’t we give it a rest?” Mark asked calmly as possible.
“Give it a rest? Really like pursuing Erica?” Eduardo asked pointedly.
Now it was Mark’s turn to grip something as a stress ball, the table which was far less threatening.
“I think we should just finish dinner quietly. Tomorrow we’ll go to the conference, I’ll ignore you, you’ll ignore me… everyone wins,” Mark replied.
Eduardo pretended to weigh it, “Fine.”
He could be civil, really he just wanted be angry at this point anyway. This moment of irrational annoyance with Mark the super stalker had already disappeared. Dustin inadvertently brought him back to reality. Dustin had pointed out that Eduardo was projecting, he was, and he was right now too. It was wrong and unfair so he was letting it go.
However, he was still pissed at Dustin’s allegiance to their friend. Dustin’s allegiance to Mark over him. It was unsettling for some reason Eduardo did not understand, and he was lashing out the best way he knew how.
Mark, until a minute ago, had been playing into the same game. Why the sudden turn around, Eduardo had no clue but if Mark could do it, so could he.
Unsurprisingly Dustin picked up on it; he had no idea if this was a game of out doing or if they were pissing on his leg.
Suddenly, Dustin got up dropping his fork and stormed off, “I hate you both.”
“DUSTIN,” Eduardo shouted.
Mark remained seated and silent.
Chris glared at Eduardo, “I can’t believe I’m really going to say this but for once- THIS IS YOUR FAULT.”
He slammed down his beer, almost breaking the neck, cracking a piece of it, he stood up, and walked out the front door.
Mark and Eduardo just stared at each other.
"This is off to a good start,” Mark said sarcastically.
Eduardo flipped him off.
-
“And in closing I would like to say that you should be careful. You never know what might cost you a job. Beware the social media public lifestyle. Thank you everyone, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the Q & A,” Erica said to the crowd.
Some cheers and jeers could be heard from the audience. Erica honestly expected it and tried not to flinch when the slight chorus of boo’s came.
“Tough crowd,” Eduardo exclaimed moving in for a hug once she got backstage.
Erica hugged him back and smiled adjusting her blue blazer, “So how did I do?”
“Excellent, you’re a natural.”
“Then why do you look so pale?” she asked looking him over, “Did I say something wrong?”
Eduardo shook his head, “No, No. It’s just been a long night and well, I have something to tell you.”
Erica surveyed the room and wondered why Eduardo kept shifting, not only his gaze but his body. His language was all wrong, he was never this worried; he was afraid of something.
“What is it?”
“More who is it,” Eduardo began.
She paused and then back towards the crowd, “Is someone from Facebook here?” she hissed trying to get a clear picture.
“Yes.”
Erica than felt herself, bend over like she was throwing up or dry heaving. In reality, she was just conflicted. One part of her wanted to ask if it was him, the other part wanted to avoid this conversation and head for the hills.
She finally looked up and gave him a questioning gaze.
Eduardo confirmed with a nod.
“Shit,” she moaned turning back towards the curtain to see if she could see Mark.
She wondered how Eduardo knew though, from the way he was acting it was not just from running into him here. Eduardo would not be nervous if that was the case, he would be angry or he might have started a scene.
“Eduardo?” she whispered with a slightly of horror in her tone, “Did you know he was here before today?”
“…Yes… Yes, I knew.”
Before Eduardo could even get the chance to explain, Erica ran off.
“ERICA!”
What would have surprised Eduardo to find out though, was that Erica was not running away from Mark. No, she was running to him. Erica was no coward and if he had come all this way, then she would face him down.
Hurrying past a series of scholars trying to get her attention, she waved them off with her hand, and dashed down the stairs with her high heels in her hand. Knowing Mark, if he knew where Eduardo was and knew that Eduardo would tell her, then he would not leave the auditorium. No, he would sit there and wait for her.
Mark was anything but stupid.
Sure enough, the second she pulled open the big side doors, sitting there in the front room with no one else or nothing else on him was Mark. He was just sitting there staring like her performance was still going on, like she was still talking to the crowd.
Erica was beside herself.
Even as she went over to approach him, Mark did not look over, not even when she moved to sit down next to him and take a place in the chair to the right of him.
He stayed silent for at least five minutes.
“Do you really feel that way about opt out features?” He asked finally, no hello, no let’s talk, no cutting to the chase.
How unlike him.
Erica swallowed a breath and spoke, “Yes, people should have the option to opt in not out. Privacy should come first and foremost. I should not have to disable my privacy settings, I should be able to set them to enable.”
Mark shrugged, “Thought it was always better that way.”
She laughed, “You would, after all who else would post a public blog about farm animals?” she asked.
He almost laughed but he didn’t, Erica nor himself had any clue why. Perhaps it was maturity or perhaps he was more sorry about it than he ever let on.
“I can ask questions tomorrow too? You won’t ignore them?” he asked almost like on some level he was afraid that he would be skipped over. She wanted to accuse him of manipulating her or being full of shit but part of her wondered if he maybe he was serious.
“Of course you can,” Erica replied taking her hand placing it over his.
Mark looked down at it, the warmth relaxing him.
“Happy to see him?” he asked surprised, looking down at their joined hands.
Erica shrugged, “Don’t know. I haven’t seen you in over four years. I can’t say one way or another.”
This conversation went a lot better than his with Eduardo. Why was this going better? Which one of two had he been talking to Facebook exactly?! Mark could have sworn it was Eduardo not Erica!
Well if she was holding his hand, who was Mark to push his luck and ask questions. Might as well enjoy the ride for the amount of time it lasts.
“So what it like?”
Erica gave him a puzzled look, “What was what like?”
“Speaking to a large crowd of people?”
(Flashback)
It was 7am; Erica had been awake all night. She had tossed and turned through the night, never getting her eyes closed. The nerves would not settle, she had tried to call Eduardo but he had not picked up. Erica assumed Chris and him had been out drinking or something, it was the only explanation.
After realizing he would not answer, she went out for a run, which lead to a drink at a bar, and then lead to her trying to count sheep, play soft music, and dance in her living room to try and tire herself out.
By that time, Erica realized it was futile, she was doomed to be sleepless. So instead she moved to get ready, with almost two hours to spare. Some kind of record for her, Erica was never one for long term primping. Light make-up, quick shower, fast brushing of teeth, and a trip to Starbucks on the way was all she needed.
Around the time she arrived, she noticed the place was packed. In the front row was her boss, and some of her associates. The director of the conference and some tenured Professors were in the second row behind them. They were all chatting to each other. Students filled the room but all Erica could see was her bosses and her future if this all went badly.
She was so nervous that apparently she had missed Eduardo waving in the third row and Mark sitting there staring at her in the first row by the exit doors.
(Flashback ends)
Erica laughed with a hint of self-deprecation, “I almost cried- all those people. My job…”
“You were better than me and I’ve been doing it for almost three years,” Mark pointed out.
“Oh I’m better than the great Mark Zuckerberg? What a great improvement especially considering what a people person he is,” she responded sarcastically.
Mark actually smiled; Erica wondered how she could ever have dreaded this moment coming to pass.
She had to have seen him in the crowd, there was no way that Erica could miss Mark. The second she saw him, she would know because Eduardo was late and did not come backstage. Because Eduardo and Mark rode the subway together in utter silence, like they never had tried to work out their issues before.
It was a puzzle to be solved in Eduardo’s psyche as to why it happened. They got along fine when they were texting and posting on Facebook. What was so different about Mark in person that just set him off? It was a bull seeing the red flag, all he wanted to do was charge.
What Eduardo was refusing to consider was that it had nothing to do with Mark and everything to do with how he felt about Dustin. Mark had become a scapegoat yet again for his problems. It had taken Eduardo awhile but in the end, he knew he was in part to blame for Facebook.
He refused to come out, he was so mad and jealous at Sean (funny now that he looks back, he can’t imagine why. Especially since Sean has been in and out of jail and rehab for the last four years) that it was like a protest almost. Or maybe he was just so angry at Mark for not seeing his way, he was the numbers guy so how dare someone else try and replace him especially on his dollar.
Mark certainly fixed that though, in true asshole fashion by freezing him out and letting Sean walk all over him.
There was a reason it ended badly, but why it had to continue actually stumped Eduardo and considering it was him that got screwed, well, it was a little hard to explain his behavior rationally.
By now they all probably sounded like a bunch of female teenage drama queens.
Somehow though, Eduardo refused to give up. He knew that before they all left New York City one way or another this was getting solved. Either him and Mark were never talking again or all four of them would be ‘hugging it out’.
The second her speech was over though, Eduardo found himself getting nervous. The sweat went dripping down his jacket.
He had to tell her, unfortunately he had been so focused on Mark that he really only listened to half of what she said. The second she said thank you, he got up and dashed for the backstage area dreading whatever conversation might come of it.
“Tough crowd,” Eduardo said trying to distract himself momentarily from what he had to do.
Erica hugged him back, “So how did I do?”
“Excellent, you’re a natural.”
“Then why do you look so pale?” she asked looking him over, “Did I say something wrong?”
Eduardo shook his head, “No, No. It’s just been a long night and well, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“More who is it,” Eduardo began.
“Is someone from Facebook here?” she asked.
Eduardo felt like he was ready to lose his lunch, this was not in the script. “Yes.”
“Shit.”
She would know, he could tell. Erica was good at observations and she would know. He could already tell she too was borderline stressed and it was all because of him. His lies, his secrets, and Mark. It always came back to Mark. Eduardo wanted to slap himself for her.
“Eduardo?” she whispered with a slightly of horror in her tone, “Did you know he was here before today?”
“…Yes… Yes, I knew. ERICA!”
It was now officially out of his hands; whatever happened was going to happen. He was not sure whether or not he should stay and wait for whatever was to come. Part of Eduardo wanted to be the big brother, the other part wanted to be a thorn in Mark’s side and be a caveman but the part of him that wanted this all to work out felt that leaving might be the best idea.
So when he peaked through the curtains and saw them sitting there talking like they were back in Kirkland getting ready to hit the town, he decided that leaving would be the best plan. Besides she could always punch him later, and the drama with Mark was not going anywhere.
It was kind of a surreal moment, sitting there his hand over hers. Mark kept waiting for the ball to drop for someone to yank them out their fictional bubble into the real world where she would say:
“You will go through life thinking I don’t like you because you compared me to farm animals. The truth is, I’ll go through life hating you because you are a monster. You betray friends, family, and your only loyalty is to yourself and your stupid website. I only kept your friend request to make fun of you and show my friends that deep down you’re the loser you always were,” she informed him wickedly smiling as she said it.
“Mark?” the voice asked jerking him out of his private horror show.
Mark turned his face back towards Erica who already saw the haunted hurt look that briefly appeared on his face before it could be replaced with a more genetic state of being she was used to seeing.
“Are you okay?” she asked, torn between standing up and pinching herself about whether or not this was real, and actually hugging him because he looked so tormented for half a second.
“Why would you ask me that?” he replied stoically.
Erica knew she was pressing her luck but felt almost obligated to push him. She had done this once, replied to biting comments. It had backfired and they had torn themselves in half so early on a relationship that maybe could have worked well. They were not so different, Erica was sarcastic in her own right and at times found Mark’s attitude lovable until it was directed at the wrong person.
She almost liked his awkwardness, people these days liked to pretend it didn’t exist. He invented Facebook, what do you mean Mark Zuckerberg is shy and awkward? Except they never knew him and she did, and she always thought it was charming. It was probably the reason she offered to date him in the first place.
“Because a second ago, you weren’t okay. You were upset,” she pointed out with a hint of a forceful accusation in her tone. The best way to bait Mark to get an honest answer (also possibly a cruel one but honest) was to essentially accuse him of something under minded or of hiding something.
Mark’s best answers came when he felt like there was a knife pointed at this chest, words engraved on them like ‘liar’, ‘cheater’, ‘fake’, ‘asshole’.
“I wasn’t upset, what is there to be upset about? Except maybe the weather, it’s disappointing I came all this way and there’s no snow or even cold air. It’s November for god’s sake,” he moaned.
She would have normally laughed, except that was the first time that he ever lied to her face. Since when was Mark good at lying? Well, she would not have known it was a lie if he was good at it. So at what point did he train himself to lie was probably the more accurate question.
Erica let go of his hand and stood up, “You just lied to me. You…” she said incredulously.
Mark stared at her blankly, “I’ve been known to lie on occasion.”
“Not to me, not to me you haven’t,” she accused.
“Are you kidding? Is this some kind of joke? You’re really upset that I gave you the answer you wanted to hear,” he replied.
“The answer I wanted to hear?” she repeated like she had been slapped, who the hell was this guy?
Erica took a deep breath, this was slowly spinning out of control like it was eight years ago. The only glaring big comical difference was she was getting annoyed that he was acting like a real life human being. At what point did this become funny?
“Mark, forget whatever brain washing you’ve put yourself through for the last four years or so. And think about it, why would I talk to you under false pretenses? There were times when I used to beg to you to speak your mind,” Erica added.
Mark agreed, “But there were times when you got extremely angry for being honest.”
“There’s a difference between honest and malicious and sometimes I’m not sure you know it.”
That was probably true, or at least that was what Chris had told Mark time and time again.
“Did it turn out that you liked men who rowed crew after all?”
“As it turns out, men who row crew are grade A level dickheads,” she replied thinking back to her time meeting the Winklevoss twins.
Mark started laughing.
(Flashback)
“Erica Albright?”
“That’s me,” she said opening her apartment door, two tall identical towers standing outside her room.
“Oh hi, I’m Cameron Winklevoss.”
“Tyler,” the one behind him added.
“Okay…?”
“Can we talk to you about Mark Zuckerberg?”
“What about him?” she asked sitting down on the couch opposite them.
“As you know Mark created this website called Facebook. Currently he’s being sued by myself, Divya, my brother, and Eduardo Saverin. Intellectual property rights, you know stealing? This website was designed by Mark but it actually was our idea, which means he’s…” Cameron started condescendingly.
Tyler then cut in, “Oh fuck this. Look your asshole ex-boyfriend stole our product and thinks he can piss all over us. I heard he basically drove you away by being himself. Can you testify to his character or not?”
Erica wondered if they knew that Eduardo, despite also suing Mark, had warned her to avoid them at all costs. She however liked to be a judge of her own character so she let them in.
As it turns out, they were bigger assholes than Mark, if that was if at all possible. Erica could not decide which was more offensive, the pretend nice condescension that Cameron sported or the flat out Mark wannabe that Tyler was.
She pointed to the door, “Get out.”
(Flashback over)
“Eduardo told me that they had approached you for a statement,” Mark told her.
She smiled and rolled her eyes, “Did he also tell you what happened?”
Mark shook his head, “No just that you decided that they wished they were assholes like me.”
“That was one way to put it,” she answered sitting back down next to him.
“I want you to accept my friend request on Facebook. I was afraid you wouldn’t,” he told her finally.
There was the Mark she was used to dealing with.
“Just my friend request?” she teased.
Mark stared at her, “What was it you used to say involving that childish lame fable?”
“The tortoise always wins the race.”
They talked for awhile, not long but long enough to get a conversation going. It was not perfect, at times Erica got a little annoyed and Mark a little cutting. It was a step in the right direction.
She still had not confirmed him as a Facebook friend, however.
Mark had no idea why.
He waited from the second he got back, till now almost five hours later. He was waiting for her to confirm it. It was like he was being taunted. Would a simple “yes” kill her?
Dinner was not the affair it had been the night before. Eduardo was out, no one was sure where but he had not yet returned to the apartment. Dustin had decided to take a meeting with some tech people to see if he could get some more investors.
He had not come back yet, which Mark hoped meant that he had some success.
The only one back had been Chris; so far they had said little to each other. Mark was hoping that Erica (rather impatiently to be honest) would add him finally. He knew she was online (he checked already) but still nothing.
Chris, for whatever reason, was happy to let them eat in silence, which was a different kind of Chris than Mark was used to. He was always the one back at Kirkland that would make them all go to dinner together. Group dinners were a thing to him for whatever reasons. The others had always simply placated him by going along with it.
What Mark was unaware of but Eduardo knew because he asked was that for Chris it was more than just dinner, it was an old family tradition rooted in what made his parents work together. Those meals, every one was important because you never knew when it would all end. Something his grandmother once said before his grandfather died.
“Ready to talk about it yet?” Chris finally asked after making them some coffee.
He sat down a mug in front of Mark’s laptop and sat down on the couch across from him.
“No.”
Liar.
Chris just kept staring, oh Mark was ready to talk; he had that gleam in his eyes, the one he only got when he was ready to burst with information that extended from intellectual nonsense, to frustrations, to joy. It was his ready set go, don’t breath, and tell all look.
“Okay, so we might have had a productive chat earlier. Erica and myself. We’re talking, talking is good right? So then why are we not Facebook friends yet? Is there is something I’m not understanding?” Mark demanded in one giant breath.
Chris forced himself to exhale on Mark’s behalf.
“Was that the only thing that happened today?”
There had to be more to that story, Chris did not suffer through that meal in silence for Mark to have nothing to say but why has Erica not added me on Facebook yet?
“No, we agreed that she was wrong about rowing crew and that I should stop and think before speaking,” Mark reported clinically.
It took him half a second to catch what Mark said but then Chris busted out in laughter. That was completely worth the silence.
“Shut up,” Mark mumbled embarrassed, he should not have told him the truth. Damn Hughes.
“You made progress! Thinking before you speak? You! Miracle,” Chris replied.
Erica might have also said something about learning to be more sympathetic to other people’s pain but that might be asking a little too much.
“I also asked her to work on her anger switch. She kind of is like an off/on button, just goes from one extreme to the next at a rabid speed.”
Chris did not know Erica well enough but he got the feeling that was not an entirely unreasonable request. She seemed like the kind that got slightly peeved easily, it almost begged the question what on earth were they thinking in the first place ever trying to go out?
At the same time, in what little Chris did remember about Erica, despite the fact that she was far too pretty to be hanging out with any of their asses, was that she was also very kind. Which again might be unusual for Mark, not for, say, someone like Eduardo. Except that Chris, ever the observant one, noticed that Erica seemed to smile at Mark a lot, mostly when he was picking on other people.
He might not know her very well and it might have been eight years and who knew how anyone might change in eight years, but one thing that Chris knew for sure was that Erica was not all that nice. There was a reason that she had managed to be friends with Eduardo for four years and not once go on a date with him. Deep down her and Mark were more alike than either would probably care to admit.
“You enjoy it, don’t you?” Chris accused slightly.
Mark looked at him, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do, you like that she’s not miss morals. I think in conversations I’ve had with Eduardo about her, he paints her like some victim. Like that entire exchange at the bar was all you being you. You know better though, don’t you? You know deep down she’s just like you and you love it.”
Sometimes Mark was truly amazed by Chris’ power of observation, even without talking or a meeting a person, sometimes he just got it. From the way other people would talk about the person, or in Mark’s case, not talk about them.
“I don’t know how you do that,” he confessed.
Chris shrugged, “Live with a guy long enough, you learn them and then you learn what kind of people they’re drawn to. Eduardo and you were actual opposites. Not entirely but too much, that was why you failed. However, on some level there’s still a connection and you’re fighting to get it back. Dustin is you on happy pills, I’m cynical you with tact, and Erica is like the closet you that likes to hide your viciousness but it does not mean it’s not there.”
“My lawyer said I pretended to be an asshole.”
“Your lawyer clearly only met one half of you.”
Mark conceded to that point.
“So are we all assholes?” Mark asked already knowing the answer.
Chris snickered taking a sip of his coffee, “Absolutely.”
Part 4
Author: Oresteia
Recipient: Treelines
Warnings: PG for language
Summary: Mark still wonders why Erica hasn’t accepted his Facebook friend request, four years later he’s had enough.
Pairings: (based on the other ships) Mark/Erica, Dustin/Eduardo
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, the universe created belongs to Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher, the real people belongs to themselves and this is all just embarrassing writing for fun.
--
He wanted to take it back, from the second Eduardo left Dustin wanted to call him and say he did not mean it.
That would have been a lie. Dustin did and frankly he was not sorry in the least. There was no remorse to be had, he was being a good friend, and Eduardo was a daft moron.
Mark would be proud if he was here and not across town trying to hunt down Erica Albright.
Knowing it was too soon to call Eduardo after this all went down, Dustin pulled out his phone and called Chris.
“Is the drama over yet?” Chris asked by way of greeting skipping over the pretend niceness.
“Not exactly,” Dustin answered, “He kind of left and I really didn’t attempt to stop him either.”
Chris sighed, “Should I go find him before it gets dark and bring him back?”
“No, he’ll come back. You know he will. Eduardo and I are having a moment but he’s not stupid. He knows better than just take off and not return. You’re his friend and so am I mostly,” Dustin responded trying to squash the worry that Eduardo would do just that, leave.
He had to have faith though, if Dustin lost it then he would not be Dustin. That and Mark would hassle him about coming to the darkside of the force once the dust had settled and it had become a funny joke. Right now, it was anything but humorous.
“I’ll keep calling and texting his cell,” Chris said as a means of compromise. He was afraid that if they did not keep on Eduardo that Eduardo would do the exact thing they were calling his bluff on.
Little did Eduardo know that Chris had gotten better with his perseverance skill and was prepared to kidnap if it came to that.
“Want me to tell you what happened?” Dustin asked dryly after a minute of silence.
“I don’t know Dustin, do you want to tell me?”
“You act as if I have an option,” Dustin said with awe in his voice.
Chris snorted, “I’m not Mark, this is not need to know or you’re fired.”
Dustin wanted to point out that Chris was the king of hating being behind not only the gossip but being passed over if there was any chance that his not so divine intervention could help reunite them as one. Chris seemed to be the only one that did not know he was like that or he was just deluding himself into thinking he had grown as a man.
Once a gay gossip queen, always a gay gossip queen.
‘Three, two, one…’
“Okay, fine, tell me,” Chris caved through the phone.
He was so predictable.
Dustin shook his head and mentally tried to figure out how he wanted to tackle this math problem of telling Chris without spilling it to him in place of Eduardo who honestly deserved to hear it first. He might not be the best conversationalist (Dustin was friends with Mark after all) but Dustin did know when a conversation should be between two people and only two people. Usually declarations of affection that went beyond friendship should between only those people.
Which is why Dustin had gotten mad on Mark’s behalf. Eduardo just did not understand that Mark was in love with her. Okay, neither of them knew it yet but Dustin was pretty confident that he was right. Or he was feeling sentimental over his own feelings about Eduardo. It was one or the other and he felt at this time it was better not to assume the latter.
He hoped the first feeling was the correct one for Mark’s sake.
“Dustin? Dustin? Still there?”
“Yes, I’m still here! You heard me breathing didn’t you?”
Chris rolled his eyes; hanging out with Mark had done him no favors. He waited patiently on the line for Dustin to continue.
“He was wrong and I lost it,” Dustin began, it was better to be direct with the problem before talking about the answer.
“Right and wrong aside, what was this really about? Seemed awfully dramatic for it to be about Mark and only Mark,” Chris pointed out his inner gossip queen already at work.
Dustin sighed, “He just, his self righteousness and his total lack of feeling got to me, okay. It was like Eduardo had pulled a page from Mark; he was being heartless over what their own drama that ended a long time ago? Eduardo’s problem is he never let shit go and he takes it with him everywhere. He uses it as an excuse to beat down on a guy that just wants a girl to like him, is that so wrong?”
Okay, Chris understood that, but what he was getting from the conversation was that Dustin was hurt over the fact that Eduardo was being dismissive over sensitive feelings. Logically it meant one of two things- that Dustin had complicated issues with Eduardo stemming from his departure from Facebook or Dustin liked him in a more biblical sense.
Though Chris had already decided not to point out that he had figured that little secret out because Dustin would clam up and refuse to listen to any advice he might give. Dustin was not the kind that liked sharing, Mark was more open to chatting about his problems than Dustin was. Dustin liked talking to you (Chris in particular) about the superficial small trivial issues but when it came to the serious matters he preferred to work it out on his own.
It was not like he was embarrassed or afraid to admit that he liked men. Chris knew better and so did Dustin. It was just a matter of wanting to keeping his own messes to himself.
“Sometimes it’s better to let go, warning her or not won’t change anything. You have to know that Mark will press ahead no matter what. He is resilient and forceful; sitting down and accepting his fate was never something that Mark did. You’re no different, you have to know that. You could have stayed at Harvard and let time pass you by, you didn’t, you took the ball and went ahead. Trust that you will continue to do that and that Mark will too,” Chris told him.
It might not be the best advice that Chris had for Dustin at this time but it was the one that he was most likely to respond positively to.
“What if she runs?” Dustin whispered.
Now they definitely were taking about Eduardo.
“What if they never get the chance to tell each other and god forbid what if he can’t because he knows that she already knows and is rejecting him flat out?”
Chris was going to have really force himself not to respond with the correct pronoun or name for that matter. Those two really were idiots sometime. ‘I came for Mark’, load of shit.
“Knowing ahead for anyone, even if they have it their minds to reject the proposal or a date or a sentiment is not going to change anything for the one that wants to come clean. For himself, Mark has to do it because it will weigh on him otherwise forever. You have to confront the demons that live inside your mind and move on if it doesn’t turn out favorable. Remember there’s always friendships and not every rejection has to end in tragedy,” he answered after a minute careful to mention Mark’s name so not to be too obvious.
Dustin swore, “I fucking hate you Chris Hughes.”
Chris laughed despite trying not to, “I have no idea why, I didn't do anything except offer my wisdom.” He loved playing dumb even when it was transparent.
“Bullshit, I’m hanging up now. I’ll see you later.”
“Bye Dustin”
“Bye know-it-all.”
-
It was a bust, Erica was either not at the conference, waiting until it was her turn tomorrow or he just sucked at playing hide and seek. Of course for her to hide she had to know that he was coming.
Did someone say something?!
Mark was torn between interrogating the staff at the conference or just going back to Chris’ place and calling it a day.
It seemed like maybe she just did not want to be found before her big day, and Mark knew then no matter what even if someone had tipped her off, there was no way that Erica could do anything. She had to sit through it as much as Mark did.
So with that logic in mind, he took the subway back to Chris’ place.
What happened when he got there was what truly surprised him. Mark arrived a little after 6, he figured that Dustin had probably already harped Chris about having to eat. That meant there was probably already a carry-out or take-out of pizza and/or Chinese waiting. Chris knowing to already order it for him and would make sure it was hot.
Mark liked predictability, he was very happy when things went the way they were supposed to. It was a little OCD of him but in Mark’s defense he was a programmer and uniformity in programming was a must.
Needless to say, when walked in sure enough there was a table hot food. Cooked hot food, which should have sent off warning bells in Mark’s head. Chris cooked but not usually when Mark and/or Dustin came by, neither man cared for a cooked meal much and both usually criticized Chris’ idea of what food consisted of.
“Chris? Dustin?”
Wondering why it was so quiet, he jumped when a voice came from the kitchen, “I’m just finishing dinner now. Chris and Dustin went out to go pick up some beers.”
Mark froze, that sounded like Eduardo, why did that voice sound like Eduardo’s?
He turned and sure enough standing there in some casual dress clothes was Eduardo holding in his hand a spatula and a tray of baked breaded fish.
Mark turned his head to the side, like he was dog studying its wacky master, “What are you doing here?” the puzzlement obvious in his tone.
Eduardo shrugged, “Same as you.”
“Visiting Chris?”
Eduardo shook his head, “Visiting Erica.”
That was not something that Mark expected to hear come out of Eduardo’s mouth. Since when did Eduardo know Erica?
“Did I miss something?” Mark asked noticing the slightly soured look Eduardo was giving him.
“Oh did you mean a recap of the last four years since you fired me? Or did you mean about Erica and myself?” he asked with a hint of tension in his voice.
Honestly, Mark was impressed that Eduardo was even acting like a human being right now. Passive anger was a specialty of his and right now, he was doing a good job of reining it in. Almost too good, he at least knew what to say or not to say to a passive aggressive Eduardo; mildly calm but still irritated Eduardo was a new person entirely.
“I know what you’ve been up to Wardo, we do talk remember?” Mark pointed out with a hint of sarcasm.
Eduardo nodded and sat down the tray on the table with the vegetables and the rice.
“Well had you have maybe called me today would not have happened. Dustin and I might still be on speaking terms; as it is Chris has been middle man all day long,” Eduardo informed him stiffly.
Mark blinked, so it was his fault they had some kind of issue since he was gone?
“Why am I the fall guy this time? Are you suing him for a billion dollars too?”
The Brazilian scowled as a response, his lips pressed together; he was biting his tongue to keep from being a dick. Truthfully, it was Dustin and his fault, it was their fight but Mark was the starting point so it was entirely fair in Eduardo’s mind that he take some of the heat.
Mark rolled his eyes, trust that Eduardo would not tell him anything. This was like Palo Alto part I all over again.
“Okay fine, don’t tell me. It’s not like I came here to listen to your drama.”
That was all it took, Eduardo unleashed, “I wanted to warn Erica. She’s done nothing to you, Mark. Not one damn thing, jumping her at a conference because of some friend request? What kind of asshole are you anyway? She deserves to be left alone. She probably has forgotten all about you by now, if she was so attached than why wouldn’t have she invited you instead of me? She called me, Mark and asked me to come. Tell where you got your invitation from?”
The inner asshole was wanting to bite back, it would be so easy for Mark to cut Eduardo down to size and be over it. Mark however had been working on getting his best friend back which meant he could not afford to be his asshole self. He was a little insensitive at times but he was not that insensitive. He truly believed that he was doing nothing wrong and neither must have Dustin because that was obviously what their fight had been about.
Deciding not to let this get out of hand ruin an already tense situation, Mark turned from the room, walked into the bedroom, and slammed the door.
Eduardo, still slightly seething, did not even attempt to go after him.
Happy fucking reunion.
After Mark’s mini showdown with Eduardo, he slammed the door shut and proceeded to go to sleep. He slept for what seemed like hours but in reality was about forty minutes when he heard a loud knocking come from the other side of the room.
“MARK MARK, MARKY DINNER’S READY,” Dustin called like he was his old cheery self.
Mark knew that to be a lie; however he got up and opened the door anyway. Dustin’s face did not match his happy calling, his brown eyes looked haunted- a cross between sad and bitter.
Mark, never the most sensitive, but still somewhat caring decided to ignore it; Dustin was not the type that would want his pity and offering to talk about it was a mistake on both their ends. Neither was very good at it, Dustin was at least serviceable when required but Mark was a downright failure.
“Sending me to the gallows?” he asked dropping all pretence that this was a dinner that anyone was looking forward to.
“Hell yes, if I have go, so do you,” Dustin whispered trying to hold in his laughter but it was the first smile Mark had seen since they arrived.
Suddenly he felt a whole lot better about today.
“Bastard,” Mark stated deadpan.
Dustin threw his arm around Mark’s shoulder, “You know it, bitch!”
They sat down, Mark noticed the way Eduardo was glaring, one eye on Dustin, the other on Mark. He was already stabbing his vegetables with a fork like he was imaging it being Mark’s head.
Dustin rolled his eyes and reached for a piece of bread tossing another at Mark, “Catch.”
Mark fumbled it and then dropped it causing Chris to snicker.
“Still can’t catch?”
“Screw you, at least I was on a sports team. Drama club vice president,” Mark taunted.
Chris just smirked, “You’re just jealous of how much cooler it is.”
“HA,” Dustin yelled gleefully, “Load of shit man, load of shit.”
Eduardo stayed silent but the group, in particular Chris, could see that he was dying to join in. It was his own resentment that kept him quiet. Mark probably wanted to add that Eduardo was choosing to punish himself but he knew better than to piss Chris off during a meal.
The one big rule Chris had about staying at his place, if dinner was being served and they were eating together. You were respectful, period the end or else.
Not even Mark was going to test what exactly that or else meant.
“So which side you on? Theirs, or mine?” Chris asked breaking into Eduardo’s silent fuming.
Eduardo turned his attention briefly to the blond man, he laughed a little and nodded in Dustin’s direction, “Theirs. I would rather be a sports star than a drama geek.”
“Or a math nerd in a final club than a sports jock,” Mark added with hint of maliciousness.
Chris gripped his fork and reminded himself that he would have to pay the medical bills if he stabbed Mark every time he pushed someone’s button.
“At least you’re taken seriously if you’re an intelligent, hard working member of society that knows math and plays the stock market. The final club is just the icing on the cake,” Eduardo said idly but they knew it was completely passive aggressive on his part.
Yep, Eduardo was back and so was Mark.
Chris wanted to kill himself and hide Dustin under the table at he same time. Because Dustin took their fighting personally and broke a little every time it happened.
Dustin looked nervously between them both, if he had hoped his anger earlier had opened Eduardo’s eyes then by now it was gone. Clearly Eduardo had no intention of letting this bullshit go, Dustin was torn between crying and kill him.
So much for letting go of the anger- on both men’s end.
Suddenly Dustin did not look so calm, it was like the light switched back on and everything that set him off earlier was coming back with a vengeance. He begged Eduardo to let it go, then he got mad, and then Eduardo actually listened and did not call Erica. Sure, they were on tense if not almost zero talking ground, but Dustin was almost ready to forgive him earlier.
That was quickly disappearing.
Mark noticed, Eduardo continued on ignorantly but Mark saw the look on Dustin’s face. Immediately he squashed whatever rude comeback was on his mind, he could see what it was doing to his best friend. Dustin was too loyal to him as Mark would be to Dustin if it killed him.
“Hey, Wardo, why don’t we give it a rest?” Mark asked calmly as possible.
“Give it a rest? Really like pursuing Erica?” Eduardo asked pointedly.
Now it was Mark’s turn to grip something as a stress ball, the table which was far less threatening.
“I think we should just finish dinner quietly. Tomorrow we’ll go to the conference, I’ll ignore you, you’ll ignore me… everyone wins,” Mark replied.
Eduardo pretended to weigh it, “Fine.”
He could be civil, really he just wanted be angry at this point anyway. This moment of irrational annoyance with Mark the super stalker had already disappeared. Dustin inadvertently brought him back to reality. Dustin had pointed out that Eduardo was projecting, he was, and he was right now too. It was wrong and unfair so he was letting it go.
However, he was still pissed at Dustin’s allegiance to their friend. Dustin’s allegiance to Mark over him. It was unsettling for some reason Eduardo did not understand, and he was lashing out the best way he knew how.
Mark, until a minute ago, had been playing into the same game. Why the sudden turn around, Eduardo had no clue but if Mark could do it, so could he.
Unsurprisingly Dustin picked up on it; he had no idea if this was a game of out doing or if they were pissing on his leg.
Suddenly, Dustin got up dropping his fork and stormed off, “I hate you both.”
“DUSTIN,” Eduardo shouted.
Mark remained seated and silent.
Chris glared at Eduardo, “I can’t believe I’m really going to say this but for once- THIS IS YOUR FAULT.”
He slammed down his beer, almost breaking the neck, cracking a piece of it, he stood up, and walked out the front door.
Mark and Eduardo just stared at each other.
"This is off to a good start,” Mark said sarcastically.
Eduardo flipped him off.
-
“And in closing I would like to say that you should be careful. You never know what might cost you a job. Beware the social media public lifestyle. Thank you everyone, and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the Q & A,” Erica said to the crowd.
Some cheers and jeers could be heard from the audience. Erica honestly expected it and tried not to flinch when the slight chorus of boo’s came.
“Tough crowd,” Eduardo exclaimed moving in for a hug once she got backstage.
Erica hugged him back and smiled adjusting her blue blazer, “So how did I do?”
“Excellent, you’re a natural.”
“Then why do you look so pale?” she asked looking him over, “Did I say something wrong?”
Eduardo shook his head, “No, No. It’s just been a long night and well, I have something to tell you.”
Erica surveyed the room and wondered why Eduardo kept shifting, not only his gaze but his body. His language was all wrong, he was never this worried; he was afraid of something.
“What is it?”
“More who is it,” Eduardo began.
She paused and then back towards the crowd, “Is someone from Facebook here?” she hissed trying to get a clear picture.
“Yes.”
Erica than felt herself, bend over like she was throwing up or dry heaving. In reality, she was just conflicted. One part of her wanted to ask if it was him, the other part wanted to avoid this conversation and head for the hills.
She finally looked up and gave him a questioning gaze.
Eduardo confirmed with a nod.
“Shit,” she moaned turning back towards the curtain to see if she could see Mark.
She wondered how Eduardo knew though, from the way he was acting it was not just from running into him here. Eduardo would not be nervous if that was the case, he would be angry or he might have started a scene.
“Eduardo?” she whispered with a slightly of horror in her tone, “Did you know he was here before today?”
“…Yes… Yes, I knew.”
Before Eduardo could even get the chance to explain, Erica ran off.
“ERICA!”
What would have surprised Eduardo to find out though, was that Erica was not running away from Mark. No, she was running to him. Erica was no coward and if he had come all this way, then she would face him down.
Hurrying past a series of scholars trying to get her attention, she waved them off with her hand, and dashed down the stairs with her high heels in her hand. Knowing Mark, if he knew where Eduardo was and knew that Eduardo would tell her, then he would not leave the auditorium. No, he would sit there and wait for her.
Mark was anything but stupid.
Sure enough, the second she pulled open the big side doors, sitting there in the front room with no one else or nothing else on him was Mark. He was just sitting there staring like her performance was still going on, like she was still talking to the crowd.
Erica was beside herself.
Even as she went over to approach him, Mark did not look over, not even when she moved to sit down next to him and take a place in the chair to the right of him.
He stayed silent for at least five minutes.
“Do you really feel that way about opt out features?” He asked finally, no hello, no let’s talk, no cutting to the chase.
How unlike him.
Erica swallowed a breath and spoke, “Yes, people should have the option to opt in not out. Privacy should come first and foremost. I should not have to disable my privacy settings, I should be able to set them to enable.”
Mark shrugged, “Thought it was always better that way.”
She laughed, “You would, after all who else would post a public blog about farm animals?” she asked.
He almost laughed but he didn’t, Erica nor himself had any clue why. Perhaps it was maturity or perhaps he was more sorry about it than he ever let on.
“I can ask questions tomorrow too? You won’t ignore them?” he asked almost like on some level he was afraid that he would be skipped over. She wanted to accuse him of manipulating her or being full of shit but part of her wondered if he maybe he was serious.
“Of course you can,” Erica replied taking her hand placing it over his.
Mark looked down at it, the warmth relaxing him.
“Happy to see him?” he asked surprised, looking down at their joined hands.
Erica shrugged, “Don’t know. I haven’t seen you in over four years. I can’t say one way or another.”
This conversation went a lot better than his with Eduardo. Why was this going better? Which one of two had he been talking to Facebook exactly?! Mark could have sworn it was Eduardo not Erica!
Well if she was holding his hand, who was Mark to push his luck and ask questions. Might as well enjoy the ride for the amount of time it lasts.
“So what it like?”
Erica gave him a puzzled look, “What was what like?”
“Speaking to a large crowd of people?”
(Flashback)
It was 7am; Erica had been awake all night. She had tossed and turned through the night, never getting her eyes closed. The nerves would not settle, she had tried to call Eduardo but he had not picked up. Erica assumed Chris and him had been out drinking or something, it was the only explanation.
After realizing he would not answer, she went out for a run, which lead to a drink at a bar, and then lead to her trying to count sheep, play soft music, and dance in her living room to try and tire herself out.
By that time, Erica realized it was futile, she was doomed to be sleepless. So instead she moved to get ready, with almost two hours to spare. Some kind of record for her, Erica was never one for long term primping. Light make-up, quick shower, fast brushing of teeth, and a trip to Starbucks on the way was all she needed.
Around the time she arrived, she noticed the place was packed. In the front row was her boss, and some of her associates. The director of the conference and some tenured Professors were in the second row behind them. They were all chatting to each other. Students filled the room but all Erica could see was her bosses and her future if this all went badly.
She was so nervous that apparently she had missed Eduardo waving in the third row and Mark sitting there staring at her in the first row by the exit doors.
(Flashback ends)
Erica laughed with a hint of self-deprecation, “I almost cried- all those people. My job…”
“You were better than me and I’ve been doing it for almost three years,” Mark pointed out.
“Oh I’m better than the great Mark Zuckerberg? What a great improvement especially considering what a people person he is,” she responded sarcastically.
Mark actually smiled; Erica wondered how she could ever have dreaded this moment coming to pass.
She had to have seen him in the crowd, there was no way that Erica could miss Mark. The second she saw him, she would know because Eduardo was late and did not come backstage. Because Eduardo and Mark rode the subway together in utter silence, like they never had tried to work out their issues before.
It was a puzzle to be solved in Eduardo’s psyche as to why it happened. They got along fine when they were texting and posting on Facebook. What was so different about Mark in person that just set him off? It was a bull seeing the red flag, all he wanted to do was charge.
What Eduardo was refusing to consider was that it had nothing to do with Mark and everything to do with how he felt about Dustin. Mark had become a scapegoat yet again for his problems. It had taken Eduardo awhile but in the end, he knew he was in part to blame for Facebook.
He refused to come out, he was so mad and jealous at Sean (funny now that he looks back, he can’t imagine why. Especially since Sean has been in and out of jail and rehab for the last four years) that it was like a protest almost. Or maybe he was just so angry at Mark for not seeing his way, he was the numbers guy so how dare someone else try and replace him especially on his dollar.
Mark certainly fixed that though, in true asshole fashion by freezing him out and letting Sean walk all over him.
There was a reason it ended badly, but why it had to continue actually stumped Eduardo and considering it was him that got screwed, well, it was a little hard to explain his behavior rationally.
By now they all probably sounded like a bunch of female teenage drama queens.
Somehow though, Eduardo refused to give up. He knew that before they all left New York City one way or another this was getting solved. Either him and Mark were never talking again or all four of them would be ‘hugging it out’.
The second her speech was over though, Eduardo found himself getting nervous. The sweat went dripping down his jacket.
He had to tell her, unfortunately he had been so focused on Mark that he really only listened to half of what she said. The second she said thank you, he got up and dashed for the backstage area dreading whatever conversation might come of it.
“Tough crowd,” Eduardo said trying to distract himself momentarily from what he had to do.
Erica hugged him back, “So how did I do?”
“Excellent, you’re a natural.”
“Then why do you look so pale?” she asked looking him over, “Did I say something wrong?”
Eduardo shook his head, “No, No. It’s just been a long night and well, I have something to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“More who is it,” Eduardo began.
“Is someone from Facebook here?” she asked.
Eduardo felt like he was ready to lose his lunch, this was not in the script. “Yes.”
“Shit.”
She would know, he could tell. Erica was good at observations and she would know. He could already tell she too was borderline stressed and it was all because of him. His lies, his secrets, and Mark. It always came back to Mark. Eduardo wanted to slap himself for her.
“Eduardo?” she whispered with a slightly of horror in her tone, “Did you know he was here before today?”
“…Yes… Yes, I knew. ERICA!”
It was now officially out of his hands; whatever happened was going to happen. He was not sure whether or not he should stay and wait for whatever was to come. Part of Eduardo wanted to be the big brother, the other part wanted to be a thorn in Mark’s side and be a caveman but the part of him that wanted this all to work out felt that leaving might be the best idea.
So when he peaked through the curtains and saw them sitting there talking like they were back in Kirkland getting ready to hit the town, he decided that leaving would be the best plan. Besides she could always punch him later, and the drama with Mark was not going anywhere.
It was kind of a surreal moment, sitting there his hand over hers. Mark kept waiting for the ball to drop for someone to yank them out their fictional bubble into the real world where she would say:
“You will go through life thinking I don’t like you because you compared me to farm animals. The truth is, I’ll go through life hating you because you are a monster. You betray friends, family, and your only loyalty is to yourself and your stupid website. I only kept your friend request to make fun of you and show my friends that deep down you’re the loser you always were,” she informed him wickedly smiling as she said it.
“Mark?” the voice asked jerking him out of his private horror show.
Mark turned his face back towards Erica who already saw the haunted hurt look that briefly appeared on his face before it could be replaced with a more genetic state of being she was used to seeing.
“Are you okay?” she asked, torn between standing up and pinching herself about whether or not this was real, and actually hugging him because he looked so tormented for half a second.
“Why would you ask me that?” he replied stoically.
Erica knew she was pressing her luck but felt almost obligated to push him. She had done this once, replied to biting comments. It had backfired and they had torn themselves in half so early on a relationship that maybe could have worked well. They were not so different, Erica was sarcastic in her own right and at times found Mark’s attitude lovable until it was directed at the wrong person.
She almost liked his awkwardness, people these days liked to pretend it didn’t exist. He invented Facebook, what do you mean Mark Zuckerberg is shy and awkward? Except they never knew him and she did, and she always thought it was charming. It was probably the reason she offered to date him in the first place.
“Because a second ago, you weren’t okay. You were upset,” she pointed out with a hint of a forceful accusation in her tone. The best way to bait Mark to get an honest answer (also possibly a cruel one but honest) was to essentially accuse him of something under minded or of hiding something.
Mark’s best answers came when he felt like there was a knife pointed at this chest, words engraved on them like ‘liar’, ‘cheater’, ‘fake’, ‘asshole’.
“I wasn’t upset, what is there to be upset about? Except maybe the weather, it’s disappointing I came all this way and there’s no snow or even cold air. It’s November for god’s sake,” he moaned.
She would have normally laughed, except that was the first time that he ever lied to her face. Since when was Mark good at lying? Well, she would not have known it was a lie if he was good at it. So at what point did he train himself to lie was probably the more accurate question.
Erica let go of his hand and stood up, “You just lied to me. You…” she said incredulously.
Mark stared at her blankly, “I’ve been known to lie on occasion.”
“Not to me, not to me you haven’t,” she accused.
“Are you kidding? Is this some kind of joke? You’re really upset that I gave you the answer you wanted to hear,” he replied.
“The answer I wanted to hear?” she repeated like she had been slapped, who the hell was this guy?
Erica took a deep breath, this was slowly spinning out of control like it was eight years ago. The only glaring big comical difference was she was getting annoyed that he was acting like a real life human being. At what point did this become funny?
“Mark, forget whatever brain washing you’ve put yourself through for the last four years or so. And think about it, why would I talk to you under false pretenses? There were times when I used to beg to you to speak your mind,” Erica added.
Mark agreed, “But there were times when you got extremely angry for being honest.”
“There’s a difference between honest and malicious and sometimes I’m not sure you know it.”
That was probably true, or at least that was what Chris had told Mark time and time again.
“Did it turn out that you liked men who rowed crew after all?”
“As it turns out, men who row crew are grade A level dickheads,” she replied thinking back to her time meeting the Winklevoss twins.
Mark started laughing.
(Flashback)
“Erica Albright?”
“That’s me,” she said opening her apartment door, two tall identical towers standing outside her room.
“Oh hi, I’m Cameron Winklevoss.”
“Tyler,” the one behind him added.
“Okay…?”
“Can we talk to you about Mark Zuckerberg?”
“What about him?” she asked sitting down on the couch opposite them.
“As you know Mark created this website called Facebook. Currently he’s being sued by myself, Divya, my brother, and Eduardo Saverin. Intellectual property rights, you know stealing? This website was designed by Mark but it actually was our idea, which means he’s…” Cameron started condescendingly.
Tyler then cut in, “Oh fuck this. Look your asshole ex-boyfriend stole our product and thinks he can piss all over us. I heard he basically drove you away by being himself. Can you testify to his character or not?”
Erica wondered if they knew that Eduardo, despite also suing Mark, had warned her to avoid them at all costs. She however liked to be a judge of her own character so she let them in.
As it turns out, they were bigger assholes than Mark, if that was if at all possible. Erica could not decide which was more offensive, the pretend nice condescension that Cameron sported or the flat out Mark wannabe that Tyler was.
She pointed to the door, “Get out.”
(Flashback over)
“Eduardo told me that they had approached you for a statement,” Mark told her.
She smiled and rolled her eyes, “Did he also tell you what happened?”
Mark shook his head, “No just that you decided that they wished they were assholes like me.”
“That was one way to put it,” she answered sitting back down next to him.
“I want you to accept my friend request on Facebook. I was afraid you wouldn’t,” he told her finally.
There was the Mark she was used to dealing with.
“Just my friend request?” she teased.
Mark stared at her, “What was it you used to say involving that childish lame fable?”
“The tortoise always wins the race.”
They talked for awhile, not long but long enough to get a conversation going. It was not perfect, at times Erica got a little annoyed and Mark a little cutting. It was a step in the right direction.
She still had not confirmed him as a Facebook friend, however.
Mark had no idea why.
He waited from the second he got back, till now almost five hours later. He was waiting for her to confirm it. It was like he was being taunted. Would a simple “yes” kill her?
Dinner was not the affair it had been the night before. Eduardo was out, no one was sure where but he had not yet returned to the apartment. Dustin had decided to take a meeting with some tech people to see if he could get some more investors.
He had not come back yet, which Mark hoped meant that he had some success.
The only one back had been Chris; so far they had said little to each other. Mark was hoping that Erica (rather impatiently to be honest) would add him finally. He knew she was online (he checked already) but still nothing.
Chris, for whatever reason, was happy to let them eat in silence, which was a different kind of Chris than Mark was used to. He was always the one back at Kirkland that would make them all go to dinner together. Group dinners were a thing to him for whatever reasons. The others had always simply placated him by going along with it.
What Mark was unaware of but Eduardo knew because he asked was that for Chris it was more than just dinner, it was an old family tradition rooted in what made his parents work together. Those meals, every one was important because you never knew when it would all end. Something his grandmother once said before his grandfather died.
“Ready to talk about it yet?” Chris finally asked after making them some coffee.
He sat down a mug in front of Mark’s laptop and sat down on the couch across from him.
“No.”
Liar.
Chris just kept staring, oh Mark was ready to talk; he had that gleam in his eyes, the one he only got when he was ready to burst with information that extended from intellectual nonsense, to frustrations, to joy. It was his ready set go, don’t breath, and tell all look.
“Okay, so we might have had a productive chat earlier. Erica and myself. We’re talking, talking is good right? So then why are we not Facebook friends yet? Is there is something I’m not understanding?” Mark demanded in one giant breath.
Chris forced himself to exhale on Mark’s behalf.
“Was that the only thing that happened today?”
There had to be more to that story, Chris did not suffer through that meal in silence for Mark to have nothing to say but why has Erica not added me on Facebook yet?
“No, we agreed that she was wrong about rowing crew and that I should stop and think before speaking,” Mark reported clinically.
It took him half a second to catch what Mark said but then Chris busted out in laughter. That was completely worth the silence.
“Shut up,” Mark mumbled embarrassed, he should not have told him the truth. Damn Hughes.
“You made progress! Thinking before you speak? You! Miracle,” Chris replied.
Erica might have also said something about learning to be more sympathetic to other people’s pain but that might be asking a little too much.
“I also asked her to work on her anger switch. She kind of is like an off/on button, just goes from one extreme to the next at a rabid speed.”
Chris did not know Erica well enough but he got the feeling that was not an entirely unreasonable request. She seemed like the kind that got slightly peeved easily, it almost begged the question what on earth were they thinking in the first place ever trying to go out?
At the same time, in what little Chris did remember about Erica, despite the fact that she was far too pretty to be hanging out with any of their asses, was that she was also very kind. Which again might be unusual for Mark, not for, say, someone like Eduardo. Except that Chris, ever the observant one, noticed that Erica seemed to smile at Mark a lot, mostly when he was picking on other people.
He might not know her very well and it might have been eight years and who knew how anyone might change in eight years, but one thing that Chris knew for sure was that Erica was not all that nice. There was a reason that she had managed to be friends with Eduardo for four years and not once go on a date with him. Deep down her and Mark were more alike than either would probably care to admit.
“You enjoy it, don’t you?” Chris accused slightly.
Mark looked at him, “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Sure you do, you like that she’s not miss morals. I think in conversations I’ve had with Eduardo about her, he paints her like some victim. Like that entire exchange at the bar was all you being you. You know better though, don’t you? You know deep down she’s just like you and you love it.”
Sometimes Mark was truly amazed by Chris’ power of observation, even without talking or a meeting a person, sometimes he just got it. From the way other people would talk about the person, or in Mark’s case, not talk about them.
“I don’t know how you do that,” he confessed.
Chris shrugged, “Live with a guy long enough, you learn them and then you learn what kind of people they’re drawn to. Eduardo and you were actual opposites. Not entirely but too much, that was why you failed. However, on some level there’s still a connection and you’re fighting to get it back. Dustin is you on happy pills, I’m cynical you with tact, and Erica is like the closet you that likes to hide your viciousness but it does not mean it’s not there.”
“My lawyer said I pretended to be an asshole.”
“Your lawyer clearly only met one half of you.”
Mark conceded to that point.
“So are we all assholes?” Mark asked already knowing the answer.
Chris snickered taking a sip of his coffee, “Absolutely.”
Part 4