Gary Leonard Oldman

Very short update and I apologise, but more will be added sometime this evening!

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“Wonderful.. just perfect, and how are things with you?” I said, my sarcasm irritating him.

“Catherine..” he began, scooting across the sofa until he was nearer to my chair.

He stretched one of his arms across the arm of the sofa and lay it gently upon my leg. My eyes darted down toward his hand, then back up into his face. I froze, almost glued to my seat as he rubbed my knee.

“I really am sorry” he said, his eyes filled with sadness.

In that moment, I knew. I understood that he really did care and he was concerned about my wellbeing. Maybe I had been too hard on him after all. And yet, I could not shake the feeling that this was wrong. That, we had not seen each other or spoken to one another in years – but here he was bringing me comfort after the death of a family member. I couldn’t quite put the puzzle pieces together.

“I know” I muttered, dropping my eyes down to my hands.

Before I was able to blink, he had gotten down on his knees and was now right in front of me. Both his hands reached for mine and he held them in his on my lap. Try as I might, I could not prevent my eyes from welling up with fresh tears. A few days I had managed not to shed a single tear – and now that someone was attempting to make things better – they were flowing freely again. Then again, perhaps a few crying sessions would do me the world of good. Preventing the inevitable would one day come back to haunt me, I believed, so why not.

As my tears continued to fall, I realised he had been speaking, but I hadn’t heard a word he’d said. He noticed that I was only becoming more upset as he spoke. Shushing, he raised himself from his knees and pulled me up to stand with him. I dared to look up into his hazel eyes; such beauty he held within them.

“I never stopped caring, Cathy” he whispered, pulling me into his arms.

That was enough for me. Despite all the pent up anger and sadness I had been feeling lately, I fell into his embrace and managed to attach myself to his shirt. My fingers curled into the thin material as loud sobs escaped my mouth. Only, they were soothed by his kind words and the softness of his fingers running through my hair. In that moment, the way I used to feel about him and admittedly, still did, came rushing back to me. My fingers clung tighter before moving up and my arms wrapped loosely around his neck. I soon found that his travelled downward after a while and held me around my waist. This was what I missed most. Being this close, and feeling the way I did. I craved it nearly every single day, but never would I let on to such a thing. Especially not to him. There was no doubt in my mind that he no longer loved me, or was in love with me, to be exact. How  wished he could find that again – but I understood it was probably too late for that now.

“Thank you” I managed to squeeze out, finally releasing my arms.

He gave me one last cuddle and pulled away himself. Immediately, I felt the loss of contact and wanted to be back in his arms again. Alas, it could not happen. It would be rather awkward.

“Sebastian, why did you not contact me over the years?” I asked, averting my eyes elsewhere.

Just as I thought he was going to ignore my question and storm off into another room, he lay his thumb under my chin and tilted my face toward him. Try as I might, I could not object to looking into his eyes. Every time I did, they captured me and I was lost. Now though, I tried to focus on what he was about to say. I had to know why he hadn’t bothered with me after we parted ways. After all those promises to remain in touch – remain the best of friends, I wondered what changed his mind. Surely it must have been something dramatic, else he wouldn’t have broken such a promise – he wouldn’t have told me it was not entirely over.

All that time I spent wondering what I had done wrong; I was now about to find out. He looked down at me with nothing but concern in his eyes, and I could not pull away.

“My own life has been pretty hectic. I had things to do and there was no chance of leaving them undone,” he said, and somehow, I knew exactly what he meant.

I nodded my head in understanding and reached up to grasp his hand, which he allowed me to do. There, a tiny smile appeared on my lips; a real one. I felt a burst of excitement and without much thought, pounced on him and knocking him onto the sofa. Unfortunately, I landed on top of him. We found ourselves all tangled up but highly amused at what had happened. My face flushed crimson and he grinned, tapping my nose gently and ruffling my hair as we tried in vain to get back up. It only resulted in us both falling off the sofa and onto the wooden flooring. Perhaps it was time to purchase a carpet – or a rug, of some sort.

“Thank you” I repeated, clinging to him a while longer before helping him up.

We spent the next few hours talking a little more, delving into the intricate details we’d both missed out on over the years. We found out quite a lot of new things about one another in such a short space of time. I found out that he had made it big with his skills as a computer technician – and he found out that I had achieved my life long goal of wanting to become a literary agent. Both of us had on the side jobs as well, though neither needed to build up on our income. Our jobs paid quite enough as it was. I was surprised to learn that he, like myself, had decided to freelance in his spare time. I had chosen to write articles and reviews, whereas he had chosen to stick with his profession and offered to give guidance to those who were struggling in the technology department. I had to admit – he had done so very well in getting this far with what he wanted to do. When we were together, it seemed a distant dream to accomplish, but he’d pushed through. I was incredibly happy for him and there was no doubt about that. He had stuck to his guns and made it. Only, I hadn’t quite reached the career I wanted, but it was all one in the same, I suppose.

A low howl reached our ears as we delved deeper into our conversation. It startled Sebastian and I had to giggle at the sight. The little bit of Pepsi he had left in his glass almost went all over his shirt.

“No need for alarm” I chimed. “It’s only my little Vixey.”

He looked incredibly confused as he set his glass down on the coffee table and turned toward the sound of approaching footsteps; an animals footsteps. I grinned brightly as my gorgeous little fox came bounding into the room, almost knocking me over as I greeted her just in front of the door.

“You.. have a fox, as a pet?” he asked, clearly puzzled.

“Indeed I do” I said, cheerfully as I guided her toward the sofa.

“Never seen that before..” he said, scratching his head.

I chuckled as Vixey noticed the visitor and perched herself on the floor right in front of him. One of her paws came up to rest on his knee and she sat still, silently, just watching him. Her dark brown eyes fixated themselves on his hazels and he seemed somewhat uncomfortable.

“Do you have any pets?” I asked, leaning back in my chair, watching their exchange.

Sebastian nodded his head, but before he had chance to speak, Vixey howled and raced off into another room, leaving us both in peace again. Still, he seemed shaken by the entire thing.

“A dog, yes. Husky to be exact” he said, tossing me a wink.

I bounced up and down on my chair at the mention of such a beautiful dog. He knew I loved them to bits, of course. I found them to be the most carefree of their species, as well as incredibly easy on the eyes. Though, at the time in which I wanted such a dog, I could not afford it. Come to think of it, I hadn’t been able to afford a pet at all, and so I brought Vixey in one day. The poor dear spent her nights curled up beneath the looming trees of a forest not too far from here. It seemed she had no family and no shelter – so I gave her a home.

“Do I get to meet him, seeing as you live local?” I asked, my eyes still lit up.

He laughed as he watched me, looking almost as though I would pop any minute now. Smiling, he stood from the sofa and offered me his hand.

“Now would be a good time, if you’d like” he said, pulling me from the chair.