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 Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 10:42 am
Tomas laughed, "I knew the painting." he laughed. He reached for the door before it could lock again, and got inside. He went up a few floors, remembering which level the painting was on. He could smell the cooking as he stepped into the hall. He smiled, and walked down the hall until he noticed one of the doors standing wide open. That must be Klara's place. he thought, walking to it. He peeked in, seeing the clutter, and seeing Klara.
"Hey, Klara." he said lightly, stepping into the room. He watched his step, and moved across the area until he reached the edge of the kitchen. "Smells good." he smiled, laughing a bit.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:07 am
Klara grinned over her shoulder. "Hey!" she said, nodding him further into the kitchen. "Come in here, it's safer," she laughed. "I don' let anythin' clutter up my kitchen or I'll never get any cookin' done. You want some coffee? Or tea? I've always got tea, now Mike's staying here..." She bit her lip and lowered her eyes to the saucepan, stirring feverishly before lowering the heat on all the burners and sitting down at the table, smiling invitingly at Tom with two mugs of coffee in her hands already. "So talk to me, tell me of your new life."
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:13 am
Tomas laughed at her safer comment, and moved into the kitchen. He caught the comment about someone named mike living there, and sighed silently to himself. He sat at the table with Klara, smiling. "It's nothing great. Constantly being told what to do by producers, and managers." he laughed, shrugging. "I miss how free it was playing on the streets," he said, pausing as he looked at the table. "With you." he finished, in a softer tone. "Gets a little lonely when it's just me." he laughed, "No one to really talk to." he continued.
"Not as grand as I thought it was going to be. Still broke as hell." he laughed, looking around the place. When he eyes circled back around to Klara, he smiled. "What about you?" he asked, genuinely interested in hearing about Klara.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 11:27 am
Klara smiled silently and shrugged, spreading her hands guilelessly over the table. A blush touched her cheeks at his reminiscence about them playing together. "Nothing much is changed, except I have a place to live now," she reasoned. She looked down at the table and started drawing little nonsensical patters in the wood. "A, uh, few weeks after you left, Jopie and I were in the hospital for a while. Markus was put in a foster home. Nik ran away, an' no one's seen him; we think he went back to Prague to live wit' our father's mother." Her face fell for only a moment, but then her smile was back with a much more determined force.
"I started drawing in Physical Therapy; it took six months before I could live on my own. By the time I moved in here I was addicted to art. It's all I wanna do, besides music," she added to Tom with a teasing smile. She glanced at the clock over the stove; 6:30. Mike and the boys would be back soon.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:49 pm
Tomas frowned at the thought of Klara being in the hospital, of course he was upset that Jopie had been in the hospital as well. "I'm sorry." was all he could mutter about that situation, If I hadn't left, maybe Nik would still be here, and Markus too. he thought sadly, knowing that back then, Klara would have trusted her family to him. Yet that was back then. Now was a totally different story entirely. He didn't really know what to say, so he sat quietly for awhile. "Uhm, so, what's the band called?" he asked, thinking of something to talk about.
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:03 pm
Klara was glad when Tom changed to subject; she didn't like to talk about unhappy things. "It's called Mumford and Sons," she said with one eyebrow quirked. "Everyone jokes that either I have to get a sex-change or marry Mike so they don't have to change the band name." She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to tell Tom what was coming next. "They're British, here recording the album in a friend's apartment. They're goin' back to London next week." She bit her lip and toyed with her coffee. "They asked me to go with 'em, and I said yes. That's why there are boxes all over," she explained frankly, looking very evenly at Tom. She was being honest and blunt because she didn't want Tom to get his hopes upfor them to pick up where they left off, and even some small, secret part of her felt thrilled; now he would feel exactly how she felt when he left. But did she really want anyone in the world to feel that same pain? She looked down at her coffee and stirred it listlessly.
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 7:45 am
Tomas listened lightly, but felt total shock freeze his muscles when she told him that next week she was going to london with her new band. He thought of so many things that he could just blurt out to hopefully stop her. Yet he kept silent. He didn't want to trash any remaining time he had with Klara. He knew is face had gone white from the shock, but he swallowed, and spoke clearly. "Ah. Must be exciting." he said with a smile, "London is a fabulous place. I went there, I think it was for my second tour. I toured first here, and then went to europe for my second tour." he said with a light laugh. He was glad he could speak calmly, and clearly without giving his feelings away, even if they were displayed clearly on his face.
"I guess Jopie will be going with you?" he asked, even though he probably knew that answer. He tried to reason with his mind, with how he just wanted to blurt out his feelings, tell Klara to stay with him. Yet he also knew that it probably wouldn't do anything except bring back the old feelings of when he had left years ago.
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 5:17 pm
"Yeah I'm excited to go," Klara said to Tom's obviously feigned good will toward the trip. She did not feel sorry; this was about as much forewarning he had given her, wasn't it? Then he kept talking about the tour she should have gone on and she felt even less sorry for him. He could see her around London on his next tour, then. The only thing was, well...she didn't really want to go herself. Sure, it would be closer to Prague and she would be able to visit more often than she would ever have been able to, which did make her genuinely excited. However, Markus was comfortable here now, and she knew it would take more than a crowbar to get him to uproot his life yet again just for her.
To his question about Jopie, again Klara felt a twist of guilt, and she had to look down into her coffee again. It was cold by now and she hadn't touched it. She shrugged and shook her head before getting herself to look up again. "She hasn't decided yet," she said shortly before looking down again.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:52 am
((Sorry... wow... I wrote a really long post... hehe))
Tom nodded, he needed to talk serious to her. Yet he couldn't seem to bring himself to say the things on his mind. He was a singer, and could sing about anything on earth, but when it came to saying the things on his mind, well, he just couldn't do it. Tom mentally cursed himself, and sat quietly for a while. He battled in his mind for what he needed to say to Klara, and what he should have said long ago.
He sighed again, looking at the table. "Klara," he said, pausing. He huffed slightly, mentally cursing himself again. "Listen, there is so much I've wanted to talk to you about." he started again, trying to find the words he was trying to say. "You know my first hit?" he asked, stopping himself again. He took a deep breath, "Well, that was," he began, his voice almost a whisper. "That was about you." he finished.
He mentally kicked himself, that wasn't what he wanted to tell her. He bit his lower lip, and looked up at Klara. "Klara, I know I hurt you when I left." he began again, "I left, and abandoned you here." he continued, looking away from her. "You don't know how much I've hated myself for doing that." he said softly, sighing. He kept pausing as he spoke, trying to find the right words so that he could display his feelings properly. He hoped it was working.
"I'm really sorry I ever did that. We were a great team. You should be up on the stage with me." he continued to say, "Not with those other guys." he just had to add, remembering the song the band had played after he and Klara saw eachother in the street. He sighed again, "I know you were hurt, and that by now, the words you spoke when I left are probably, in a way, true." he stated, turning his eyes back to the table. "I just want you to know," he said, standing up from the table.
"I just want you to know how much I've missed you, and that my feelings before," he paused again, hearing something in the hall. "Before, when," he bit his lip again, "When I loved you," he whispered, "Have never changed." he said in that same whisper. He waited only a moment before he continued. "But I know you've probably found someone other than me. And I'm not going to stop you if it's what you want. Just," he paused again, "Just be safe and keep in touch." he finished, finally falling silent. He slid a peice of paper onto the table with his phone number and address on it. "I'm here for a month. Don't know where I'll go after though..." he said softly before walking out of the flat. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn't want to keep her from doing something she wanted to do, and going to london with the munson and sons troop seemed to be something she wanted to do.
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:20 pm
((that is a-okay! Better than one sentence, right? Plus it sprouted this lovely ball of angst xD))
Klara sat in silence, listening with her eyes averted while Tomas practically poured his whole heart out onto the table. "I know, it was obvious," she said softly when he told her of his first song. It hadn't made her feel any better about the lot he had left her with. In fact, she had only felt worse. She had lain in her bed after a long day, her limbs tired and aching and head full of English words, with the radio turned up loud, just in case that song came on. She had known how he felt then, but had hoped so desperately that he only sang her song because it was good, and that his true feelings had faded. But they obviously hadn't, and neither had hers.
Had she the right to pass judgment on him? After so long, she still felt that little thrill run down her spin at the sight of him or the sound of his voice. Deep down, she was still that 17 year old girl living in a shelter, watching that beautiful boy play his music from a safe place where he couldn't see. She wondered if he knew she had watched him for months before he had seen her for the first time. If he had known how deeply in love with him she had convinced herself she was, even before she spoke to him? The music they had made together had made sense; it was peaceful and filled with hope and bitterness and that strict joy that pulls everyone from the slums of their hearts and up onto their feet to do something about it. After he had gone, she turned to the angry, <********> anthems of freedom and victory sung my Mike and the boys for comfort, to convince herself that she was better off without him. But she had grown strong, hadn't she? She had conquered death and somehow found another reason to live, hadn't she? So really, Tomas's leaving had been a good thing, hadn't it?
She looked up and he had gone, leaving only a note with his address and phone number, and she felt an inexplicable rage run through her, something akin to the music Mike wrote. She leaped from her seat, knocking her chair over, and ran out into the corridor just as he was turning a corner, grabbing his arm so roughly in her small hand that it hurt down to the bone.
"How stupid are you, Tomas?" she spat in his face. "How dare you go off and accomplish every dream you ever had for yourself, every dream I wish I could have accomplished, and say you hate yourself for it? That hurts me more than you leaving, because that means you left for nothing, and that would be such a worse crime than abandonment with a cause! It did hurt me to see you go, very very much, but don't you think that seeing you happy with the life going gave you would heal me? And instead, you take these gifts the world gave you for granted and shun away your happiness like some poor excuse for a martyr! How dare you think I would take comfort from your misery?! How dare you?!"
She shoved him into a wall and fisted away tears from her eyes with all the roughness of a punch to the face. There. Now it was off her chest. All that darkness in her lungs was gone and she could breathe like a normal person again. She took a deep breath and looked up again as if nothing had happened at all between them.
"Now, get the hell back in here and finish your coffee, and for God's sake, eat something, you look like you've been living on Ramen for the past five years," she muttered darkly, grabbing his arm again and dragging him back toward her apartment.
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 7:53 am
Tomas winced when he was grabbed by his arm, and blinked as Klara yelled. He was taken aback by her words, and grunted when his back hit the wall. He was slightly frozen by how aggressive Klara was being, remembering the timid nature she had before he had left. Though he wasn't at all surprised. He couldn't help but smile, and when she had finally stopped dragging him, wrapped her in a hug.
"Hey, Klara," he started, smiling at her as he released her from the embrace. "I dared because I didn't know how else to show you that I wanted you to be on stage with me." he said gently, "I didn't know if you would think I was enjoying the high life, or just being an a*****e and gloating about being famous if I let myself be happy with how my life has gone." he said with a meek smile. He shrugged, and walked to the kitchen table, picking up his mug of coffee. It was cold, but that just made it easier to chug down.
He placed the cup back on the table, and watched Klara, "Besides, playing music isn't the same without you there." he said with a shrug. "It's not like you changed my life and perspective of music when we used to play together." he joked lightly, sitting back down. He paused a moment, "You still going to london? Or is there some way I can convince you to stay and sing with me again?" he asked, his voice going soft as he looked to the floor.
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Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:55 pm
Immersed in cooking and shaking her head as Tomas spoke his argument toward his behavior, Klara finally dropped the wooden spoon into the soup and literally pulled at some of her long hair with frustration. "Yes, I'm still going to London," she insisted through teeth gritted in pain. "I have to go, haven't I? I'm packed, I have my ticket, I made a promise to my boyfriend that I would go. I've spent five years trying to forget you and move on with my life; now you're back for a day and expect me to change my entire life just for you?" She laughed a bit then. "Maybe you are a little too comfortable with the high life."
Just as she pulled the fish out of the oven Mike and the boys tromped up the stairs and into the apartment, laughing and talking in the way old chums ought to, and gathered around the table. Tomas received a few odd looks, but otherwise they all accepted him rather easily, even Mike. "Hey mate, how's it?" asked the trumpet player, a scrawny boy with hair dark as jet.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:38 am
Tomas bit his lower lip, not really wanting to say anything in front of the guys. He looked at Klara with an apologetic look, hoping she would get the message that he was sorry for asking her to stay. He blinked, looking at the person who spoke. The type of question that was asked, Tomas knew it was directed at him. Or so he guessed. He fumbled for a moment, hiding the emotions that wanted to display across his face. "Good. Glad to be back in my home town." he replied lightly, in almost all aspects, he managed not to show the deep pain he was feeling. He looked at each of the guys that were now in the all to crowded room. He recognized the one that had spoken to Klara, and sang with her. That must be the one that was her boyfriend. Mike. He guessed absently, hoping he got it right.
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 12:34 pm
((wow this got long! Sorry! Anyway feel free to time-skip to later, like after everyone's gone home, if you'd like...))
Klara smiled back at Tomas as she started putting food on the table, dishing up soup and bread and scolding Jopie in Czech as she stumbled in five minutes into the meal. The younger girl stuck her tongue out at her sister and then scooted in beside Tomas at the crowded table, grinning broadly at him.
"Diki, miláčku," Mike said in endearingly awkward Czech, dropping a kiss onto her arm because it was closest while she was standing. "Now sit down." He tugged on her skirt as she tried to walk back to the oven until she sat down beside him, laughing and blushing with nervous looks to Tomas. She didn't know how he would react to seeing this, but he would just have to get used to it, wouldn't he?
The trumpet player grinned nervously at Tomas and straightened his bow-tie, trying to make the new guy feel welcome. "Oh you're from here?" he asked with interest. "That's cool, I like it here. Good food, pretty girls, lots of busking areas. It's great."
Klara finally managed to wrestle herself away from her boyfriend and ducked into the fridge, coming out with two handfuls of beer bottles, handing them out among the above-21s. Jopie got a soda and scowled while the adults all raised their bottles for a toast. "Because in one week from today, we're making the big step and going back to London," Mike said from where he had stood up at the head of the table. "But with one addition. This lovely girl -" he gestured to Klara with a loving smile, "- has agreed to come with us and join the band permanently. And I, for one, am thrilled." Everyone in the band chuckled. Klara watched Tomas from beneath her eyelashes apologetically. She hadn't expected this to happen. "Hopefully she'll be a lot more than a bandmate soon, eh? Anyway, to new starts!" Everyone drank and then silence fell as they started eating.
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Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:40 am
Tomas smiled at Jopie, gretting her with a friendly hug after she was settled beside him. He smiled awkwardly at the trumpet player. "It's where I got my start. Klara and I won a big talent show a few years ago." he said, glancing at Klara. He took the beer almost welcomingly, and winced inwardly at how Mike acted and treated Klara. He smiled at the toast, even though it tore into him like a dull, rusty razor. He bit his lower lip as he sat back down. He continued talking to the trumpet player, "It was all thanks to her that I got the money to do something with my life." he added onto what he had been saying before the big toast.
>>>>After Dinner>>>>
Tomas had ate only half-heartedly. He was more interested in getting away from the pig-headed Mike. The man had spent most of the meal sending sublime messages to Tomas about how he supposedly owned Klara. That he was to keep away, in a sense. He mostly talked with Jopie, purposefully not talking about London. After talking for awhile, and being tipsy with beer, he stood from the table. "It's getting late. I probably need to get going." he said, mentally adding 'Not that it matters much.' he glanced at Klara, the pain getting harder to mask with each beer he downed. He looked at Jopie, smiling again. He hugged her one last time, "I'll be seeing you." he said, ruffling her hair like he had done almost everyday when he and Klara were always playing music together. He glanced at Klara, then at Mike. "See you later, Klara. It was really nice to see you again. Loves." he said, almost whispering the last word as he moved toward the door. He paused, looking back at Klara one last time before disappearing into the hall.
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