Graffiti Casanova

Motives

I sat.

In a strange way, I was relieved. I wasn't sure I would've been able to form coherent sentences if I'd known I was speaking to Casanova.

But this guy wasn't going to make it easy either. He was sizing me up, lazing back in his chair and letting his eyes rove over me, daring me to break the heavy silence.

The guard dog with an intimidation tactic. Clearly he wasn't happy about my attempt to contact Casanova. I wasn't going to let him scare me off, though. I met his eyes evenly.

Finally, he spoke.

"I did a little digging on you, Claire De Cecco." He drew out my name in a drawl, eyes never leaving mine, like he was watching for a reaction. His use of it did throw me off, and it took me a moment to recover. How in the world he got that information, I had no idea; but the only outward reaction I gave was a tick of an eyebrow.

"Find anything interesting?"

The guy set down his drink, pushing off the back of his chair to sit up a bit.

"You're not what I'd expected, I'll give you that. I'm still piecing together your motive, but I think I'm catching on."

I blinked. "Motive?"

"Look, Cas has lots of female admirers. And some have taken it too far on more than one occasion. I--"

"I'm not some lovesick teen trying to get Casanova's autograph," I blurted, glaring at him. Was this guy for real?

"No," he leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table. "You're not." He stuck an index finger in my direction. "You're something worse. You and your band think you can latch onto his fame and piggy-back there for a while--"

"Excuse me?" My eyes were wide. But the guy kept going, shaking his head.

"I heard the Space Lovers song." He pointed to the stage. "And about the record label rep's deal with you."

Seriously, where was this guy getting all this information?

"You need all the help you can get. Cas may be willing to go out of his way for the masses because he's too much of a nice guy, but me?" His lips pressed together in a tight grimace. "That's not gonna fly."

Enough of this crap. 

I held up a hand. "Please shut up." 

His eyes flashed, narrowing, but I didn't back down. I leaned forward, mirroring his stance of leaning forearms on the table, and stared straight at him. 

"Do you guys want to get rid of Platt or not?"

The guy blinked. His fists rested on the table, deceptively relaxed. But the muscles in his forearms twitched.

I wasn't going to break first. Not after he insulted me like that.

But Jared chose that moment to make an entrance.

"Claire!" He came up behind my chair. I didn't break eye contact with the guy until a hand landed on my shoulder. Irritated, I shot a glance up at Jared.

"Who's your friend?"

I looked back at the guy across from me, one eyebrow lifted. A good question. But the guy was already standing up.

"Leaving," he said, throwing back the rest of his drink. He lifted his glass to me before slamming it back onto the table and disappearing out the door.

No way. He couldn't get away, it took too much effort to get him here.

"Oookay. What'd I interrupt here?" Jared stood staring after the guy.

I shoved my chair back from the table, standing up. "Nothing." I moved to follow Casanova's lackey out the door, but Jared snagged my sleeve, yanking me back.

"Whoah, there, lil' missy," he drawled like a cowboy talking to his horse. I detached myself from his grasp, shoving his hand away. "What's going on with you tonight?"

"Nothing," I repeated.

"I'm gonna need a little more than that. You're acting too weird to let this go. What's with the extra chorus you decided to throw in there without telling us? And that guy?" He pointed at the table where the guy had just been sitting. "Are you two dating?" Jared's eyebrows were raised.

"No, I just--"

"That's why you were nervous during the set? Y'all are havin' a little trouble in paradise?"

I rolled my eyes. "We're not dating, Jared."

He didn't look convinced.

"He's just.... not who I was expecting to see, is all." That was true. "I need to go catch up with him, okay?"

Jared was watching me closely, but he shrugged and let me go, and I darted to the door, hoping I hadn't lost him. I heard a low voice and followed it around the corner to the alleyway we used to load our gear into the bar.

The guy was standing in the shadows, phone to his ear. It lowered to his side once he saw me, ending the call.

"Looks like it's your lucky day."

There was a short silence as I stood at the end of the alley and his dark eyes peered at mine, glinting in the streetlights.

"Seems that Cas thinks I should hear you out."

Yikes!! Mark is a little intimidating. But Claire isn't easily intimidated. Let me hear your thoughts! And hit the star ;)

Chapter song is DKLA by Troye Sivan.