Lost in Translation (Ash/Sean)
If it was anybody else, this is how the story would go: it started with a kiss and then there was that time when everybody else made up some very urgent appointment to give them some privacy - in Mickey’s case maybe there would have been a lovely dinner between the two. As it is there are lingering touches and badly veiled looks and Sean laughs just a bit too loud at Ash’s dry humour.
In the good old days Stacie would have rolled her eyes fondly and then would have switched on her womanly charm to get things sorted. But she’s gone now and Emma doesn’t even seem to notice or simply chooses to ignore the signs. Albie is above matchmaking - been there, done that, actually, and now Danny’s absence is like an extra person in the room and Mickey is too busy nursing a bruised heart to take care of the Ash-Sean problem.
Ash simply ignores there’s anything out of the ordinary, the occasional almost fatherly slap on the shoulder is as far as he goes. But Sean is not a grifter in name only and he gets his prize after a month of pining. Albie is roping in a mark, Emma is at Eddie’s, Mickey god knows where, and Sean brushes his lips against Ash’s. There’s a moment’s silence.
“Listen…”
It was a mistake. A glitch. Momentary insanity.
Sean doesn’t know which Ash wanted to use, he doesn’t stick around to find out.