"Well," he said. "As I don't have any confessions to make...."
He stood up, pointedly. He'd thought this date would last longer, when he'd gotten Carlos' request to meet. At this point, though, he had no interest in seeing it continue. Maybe tomorrow, he'd feel ready to spend hours in public with Carlos; but in this place, devoid of cameras and microphones, without the invisible buffer of their shared deception between them, another moment of this conversation felt absolutely unbearable. Pretending that they were obsessed with each other felt easier right now than sitting here under a throbbing cloud of Cecil's unrequited disappointment.
They hadn't even ordered drinks; the exit would be easy. After a second's pause, Cecil held out his hand to Carlos.
"We should probably stop by my apartment before you go," he said briskly. "Just for... oh, half an hour? For the purpose of promoting gleeful media speculation, of course. After that, I'm going to-- that is, Khoshekh and I are..." The outstretched hand made a brief Never mind gesture. "I have some work to get done."
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"Well," he said. "As I don't have any confessions to make...."
He stood up, pointedly. He'd thought this date would last longer, when he'd gotten Carlos' request to meet. At this point, though, he had no interest in seeing it continue. Maybe tomorrow, he'd feel ready to spend hours in public with Carlos; but in this place, devoid of cameras and microphones, without the invisible buffer of their shared deception between them, another moment of this conversation felt absolutely unbearable. Pretending that they were obsessed with each other felt easier right now than sitting here under a throbbing cloud of Cecil's unrequited disappointment.
They hadn't even ordered drinks; the exit would be easy. After a second's pause, Cecil held out his hand to Carlos.
"We should probably stop by my apartment before you go," he said briskly. "Just for... oh, half an hour? For the purpose of promoting gleeful media speculation, of course. After that, I'm going to-- that is, Khoshekh and I are..." The outstretched hand made a brief Never mind gesture. "I have some work to get done."