Moving On (Coffee Cup Epiphanies) 5/7

[arabella-o.livejournal.com]

Title: Moving On (Coffee Cup Epiphanies)
Author: arabella_o (Arabella)
Chapter: 5 of 7
Rating: PG
Summary: Fishing for second chances when you don't even realise you've missed the first.
Disclaimer: My tin!kilt is at the cleaner's, so alas, I am not receiving any sooper sekrit signals.
Notes: Beta read by red_moon_rising. I fought you on some points, but that's why you love me. :D

---

Five:

Four-fifteen came entirely too soon for Dom. Though he’d fallen asleep early in the evening, it had been a fitful sleep, full of the kind of unsettling dreams that any shrink would have a field day with. Dom had toyed with the idea of writing them down but quickly thought better of it. He hadn’t written in his journal since the trouble with Billy started and he didn’t want to start keeping a record now.

When his alarm sounded, Dom came very close to throwing it against the wall before remembering that he’d done that once before and his wall still bore the scar. As it was, he probably wasn't going to get his security deposit back.

With a groan, Dominic pulled himself out of bed. Eyes still closed, he stumbled to the bathroom, not fully waking until he’d been in the shower for a good five minutes. Memories of the fiasco at Valentino’s tormented him, replaying behind his closed eyelids. He could clearly see the concerned look on Sean’s face, the shock on Elijah’s, and the tentative look in Billy’s eyes.

“Fuck,” Dom said softly. He leaned his forehead against the foggy, glass partition of the shower and thought of all the things he’d do differently, if given the chance.

It was a very long list.

It wasn’t until the shower door was thrown open that Dominic realised how much time had passed. He blinked owlishly up at Orlando, who was leaning into the stall, paying no attention to the spray of water that soaked his shirt. He was not at all subtle as he raked his eyes from the top of Dom’s head right down to his toes.

“This isn’t a free fucking peep show, you bastard!” Dom exclaimed as he twisted the knobs and cut the flow of water. He pushed Orlando aside and reached for the towel that hung from a hook on the wall. Orlando shrugged, unfazed by the outburst.

“You make us late, I get to peek. Seems like a fair trade to me,” he said.

“Fuck you,” Dom called over his shoulder as he left the bathroom, wrapping the towel around his waist as he went. When he got back to his room, Dom pulled open random dresser drawers and didn’t pay much attention to the clothes he picked out. He knew Orlando hadn’t meant anything by what happened in the bathroom, but Dominic wasn’t in the mood to play along this time.

Muttering epithets about stupid Elves and the actors who played them, Dom pulled on his clothes and then headed downstairs. When Orlando caught sight of him, he did his best not to snicker at Dom’s choice of clothing. True, a bright orange shirt and green pants didn’t match, but Dom hoped he could pass it off as some as-yet undiscovered personality quirk. Taking a look at Orlando’s tie-dyed shirt and bright pink pants, Dom shook his head. There was only room for one fashion disaster on set, and there was no way he could ever compete with Orlando. Resigning himself to the incredible amount of teasing he was going to be subjected to, Dominic ushered Orlando outside so he could lock the door.

---

Given the amount of time Dom had spent thinking about how he was going to survive a full day of filming, it was surprising that every single one of his worst-case scenarios paled in comparison to the actual events.

He knew that professionalism was a must, and the last thing he wanted to do was ruin the film, so Dom plastered a smile on his face and did his best to go about his usual routines. There were some exceptions, of course, and it was as though someone had put up a billboard somewhere, dedicated to pointing out the inconsistencies in his behaviour.

One thing in particular seemed to interest everyone. The absence of the Dom-and-Billy entity had been noticed as soon as everyone was on set, and Dom’s wooden assertions that everything was fine did nothing to alleviate anyone’s suspicions. The more Dom denied any problems the faster the idle gossip turned into rumours that spread like wildfire.

“Where’s Billy?” It was an innocent question, Dominic was sure of that. Peter wouldn’t play those games with him, if he wanted to know something, he would come right out and ask.

Dom didn’t answer right away, he just shrugged and gestured toward the make up trailer before replying, “Probably in there, somewhere.”

Peter looked at him for a moment before nodding and going off in search of the Hobbit he needed. Dom breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Peter go.

For a moment, Dom let himself believe that the odd looks he was getting would be the extent of his problems. Those he could deal with that easily enough. It wasn’t until he was sitting down with his lunch that Dom’s hopes were dashed. His grip tightened on his fork as he watched one of the set designers walking toward him, a determined look on her face.

Christ, Dom thought. What’s this about?

Victoria had always been a nice enough girl; she and Dom had even gone out for drinks once or twice, so the anger in her voice startled him. He would never have thought she had it in her.

“That was a dirty, dirty thing that you did, Dominic Monaghan!” she said, glaring down at him. Her hands were on her hips and she drew the attention of the rest of the cast and crew. Dom looked around and wasn’t in the least bit surprised to see that no one was even feigning interest in their food.

If their positions were reversed, Dom knew he’d be staring with rapt attention as the situation unfolded. He made a resolution to mind his own business in the future.

Dom opened his mouth to stammer a reply (or possibly to scream for Elijah’s head on a platter) when Victoria continued. “Playing such a horrid trick on Billy like that!” she exclaimed. “I never thought you’d be so mean as to leave him sitting in some dingy little restaurant, waiting for a girl that never existed! If I were him, I wouldn’t speak to you, either!”

“Vicky, it’s not like that-” Dom began. It took him a moment to shut up and focus on what she had said.

Wait… what?

“You should apologise to the poor man, Dom. Being humiliated isn’t funny, you know.” Victoria took the pained look that crossed Dom’s face for guilt. She finished her tirade and then stood there awkwardly for a moment, not having thought of exactly what would come next. She added, “Well, I said what I came here to say,” and judging by the blush that crept across her face, she knew exactly how lame that sounded. When she looked around and noticed that everyone was watching her, she turned and fled.

Dom sat there for a moment, unsure of exactly what he was feeling. When people began to talk, he didn’t look behind him to see who they were.

“Hey, I thought Billy stole your girlfriend!” one voice said from somewhere behind him. Dom thought it came from the table of Orcs in the corner.

“Don’t be stupid! I heard that Dom got Billy smashed and left him in a field somewhere, and when he woke up….” That was an Elf, Dom was sure of it.

“No, Billy slept with Dom’s sister,” insisted someone from the same general vicinity of the mystery Elf. “That’s what James told me, anyway,” the voice added uncertainly after a moment.

“That’s enough!” Dom snapped, his patience wearing thin. He pushed away from the table and picked up his tray. His food was only half-eaten, but his appetite was gone and he didn’t think it would return anytime soon.

“I didn’t leave Billy sitting in a restaurant by himself, I didn’t get him smashed and leave him in some farmer’s field, and if Billy slept with my sister it would be quite a surprise because I don’t even have a sister!” Dom angrily threw his food in the garbage and dropped the tray on a rack next to the trashcan.

Dominic was quite sure that news of his outburst would be all over the set within the hour. For once he was glad that gossip travelled so quickly, maybe then people would leave him alone. He knew that his tantrum would do little to stop the odd looks, but so long as no one approached him, Dom was fine with that.

---

The tension bled into his work, despite Dom’s best efforts. After ruining three takes, he took a deep breath and pulled up all the skill he possessed. He could do this; he had talent, after all. No one would ever say of him that he took a job just so he could be the token pretty face.

The fourth take was better and the unit director nodded happily as he watched the playback. Dom took a deep breath once again and gave himself another pep talk. All he had to do was get through another hour and then he could go home, lock his doors, and drink to his heart’s content.

He ignored the voice in his head that told him that alcohol wasn’t going to solve his problems. He would still wake up alone and hung over.

---

The end of the day could not have come fast enough. As soon as his unit director yelled, “Cut!” Dom took off at a near run for the Feet trailer. He jumped up the two steps and pulled open the door before stepping inside. There were a few Hobbit extras in various stages of makeup. Everyone looked up at him for a moment before going back to their work. It did not escape Dom’s notice that the conversation was a lot more subdued after his arrival. He didn't say a word as he sat down in an empty chair and waited his turn, thankful that it would all be over soon. At least he hadn’t been cast as an Orc.

“Hi, Dom.” Dom knew something was up the minute Susan approached him with a tentative look on her face. In the year he’d been working with her, he had never seen her act that way. He considered Victoria's earlier outburst and decided it wouldn't surprise him one bit if someone else were to undergo a complete personality change.

“Hi, Susan,” Dom said with a long-suffering sigh. He leaned back in his chair and waited for Susan to get to work. He had never wanted out of his Hobbit feet so much in his life.

“I, uh, heard about what happened,” Susan said as she pulled up a low stool and sat down. “I’m sorry… I know how hard it is when your friends don’t keep your secrets. Billy really shouldn't have said anything to Sean. It's okay, really,” She added quickly when Dom looked at her sharply. “No one thinks less of you because of it. It’s perfectly natural to have a bit of a crush on a co-worker’s wife.”

“Excuse me?” Dom asked, not sure if he should laugh of scream. When he caught a whispered, “But I thought Billy….” he decided to go with option number two.

“You people are fucking bonkers, I hope you know that!” he snapped. He jumped up from the chair and stalked out of the trailer, slamming the door so hard the entire structure shook. Muttering under his breath about the mental institution where Peter must have found most of the people working for him, it took Dominic a few minutes to realise that he couldn’t go home yet. He stopped walking and looked down at his feet.

He still had Hobbit feet.

“Fucking hell….” Dominic covered his face with his hands and let out a scream of frustration. He had no choice; he had to go back. He didn’t even want to think of the rumours that would be circulating now.

Note to self: stop making an idiot of yourself in public.

When he finally got home, after the most humiliating half-hour ever spent in makeup, Dom didn’t want to check his voicemail. He sat in his living room with his cordless phone in hand, just staring at the power button. He knew that there were messages, how could there not be given last night’s fiasco and today’s repeated outbursts? Dom had finally worked up the courage to hit the power button and was trying to get his fingers to dial when he heard a key in the lock of his front door.

What the fuck? he thought. Dom pulled himself to his feet and went to investigate, fully expecting to find the house’s previous tenant standing in his doorway. He wasn’t sure whether he should be relieved or annoyed when he found Orlando grinning at him instead.

“Where did you get that?” Dominic demanded as he snatched the key out of Orlando’s hand.

“That would be your spare. You know, the one you lost that time you were drunk,” Orlando explained. He grappled with Dom over the key for a moment, eventually coming out the victor. He slid it into the back pocket of his jeans.

“Where was it?” Dom asked. He tried to get his hands into Orlando’s pockets but wasn’t able to get at the key.

“I’ll never te-ell,” Orlando said in a high, singsong voice. He grinned again and then gestured to the closet. “Get your shoes, we’re going out.”

“Like hell we are,” Dom said. He turned to go back to the living room when Orlando grabbed his arm and jerked it hard, forcing Dom to turn around.

“Come on, mate,” Orlando said, a bit of a sad smile on his face. “I don’t know what happened and I’m not going to pester you to tell me. But what I do know is that copious amounts of alcohol can make everything better.”

“Until you wake up alone and hung over.” The words slipped out before Dom could stop them. Orlando raised an eyebrow, but true to his word, he said nothing.

“Let’s go. Somewhere, someone is drinking our beer.”

Dominic nodded and reached for his shoes. He hadn’t really felt like spending another evening alone, anyway.