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Post by bim on Aug 12, 2011 10:50:29 GMT 10
A book signing at an airport was just so.. odd. I mean, he understood the reasoning behind it. It was important to be in the public eye occasionally while he was writing another book. Or he’d just be assumed to be one of those authors that petered out after one or two books. Not that the public eye knew who he was of course. Authors, unless they were J.K Rowling, never got recognized on the street. However it was good to have a publicity event ever so often so people could see and go ‘ohh so that’s the guy who wrote that cool book that one time’. He also understood the connection with the location. His new book was based in Capeside, and the premise of the mystery (he mostly wrote mystery novels) was that bags are left at luggage pick up, the owner having boarded the flight then seemingly disappeared. Considering publicity information about the book had already been realised (shit, the deadline for the last ten chapters was fast approaching and he hadn’t even begun to solve his plot arc issue), it did make some sense, it was just, he wrote for young adults, and what young adult was going to waste a Thursday night and come all the way out to the airport for a book?
Well, in an hour or so he was going to find out, wasn’t he? God, what if no one showed up? That would not do well for his career at all. He’d be that writer that no one really cared about. Which, more than it would hurt his career, it would make the poor man even more unsure about his skills as an author. That wasn’t what he needed to say the least. Self doubt was no friend to writers block. In fact, in Ben’s case he was almost certain it was the cause of it. He was just second guessing his ending. Was it too predictable? Maybe, but if he changed it, how would he work in all the subtle hints he’d already wrote into the book? He would probably have to re-write large parts of the text, and considering how soon his dead line was, he wasn’t sure he could get it done. Nor unless he quit his job. Which he couldn’t afford to do. While his first two books had been successful, it wasn’t exactly enough to support him while he wrote. Hopefully this one would go over well and he could support himself while he turned it into a serious. That, or at least afford to work less hours.
The young man had very carefully picked out some dark jeans, and a green button up, which he pressed carefully, then put a grey knit sweater over- folding the shirt’s collar down over the sweater. He wasn’t really sure if there was a dress code for this sort of thing, so he had gone with very smart casual. In the hopes that he would make a good impression. He had also made sure his hair was neat, and his shoes were free of scuff marks. Perhaps he was going to a little too much effort, but still. It made him feel good about himself- gave him confidence. That was what was important wasn’t it? Even with his attention to clothing detail, Ben had still over-estimated how long it would take to get ready and to get there. Meaning he was early. It wasn’t unusual for him to be early actually, so that was okay. Parking his car in the short stay car-park, the young man got out of the car, collected his bag and made his way inside. He’d get himself a coffee at one of those rather over-priced airport cafe’s while he waited. Slinging his knapsack off over his right shoulder, the young man walked up to airport security screening section, and placed it on the bag scanner, before walking through himself.
With the all clear, he headed in the direction of the domestic terminals. Actually, did Capeside even fly internationally or did you have to change over? He needed to check that out actually. Personally, he’d only ever seen the domestic part of the airport. Making his way to the cluster of cafe’s and fast food outlets, Ben cocked his head to the side. Attempting to decide where he was going to get his drink from. Shame there was no Starbucks at the airport, or that would complete the self sufficient community airports seemed to be, with all the facilities and shops available. Choosing one with a rather cutsie name, but wasn’t that busy, he stepped up to the register and ordered a short skinny latté and stepped aside while it was made. Once it was handed to him, Ben turned around. Only to slam right into someone walking the other way, spilling his coffee over both of them. “Oh my god. I am so so sorry...”
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Post by luca on Aug 15, 2011 19:12:57 GMT 10
The airport. Someone remind him why he was here? That’s right. To meet his idol. Okay, perhaps not his real, actual idol. But the guy was certainly close to it. As soon as he had heard the news that Benjamin Marshall was going to be signing books at the Capeside airstrip the boy was out the door and in a cab. He would not miss that for anything. He had read every single one of the man’s novels and simply loved his writing style. Luca had wanted to be a writer for as long as he could remember, so it was only right that he came out to the airport for this special occasion. “Who know, that could be me in a few years,” he mused to himself as he got out of the cab and started to walk up to the large glass doors. This was certainly exciting. He was wearing casual jeans and a t-shirt. Over his shoulder was his bag, containing the books that he was going to get signed that day. How brilliant. Meeting a real famous author. Sure Benjamin was no J.K. Rowling but everyone had to start somewhere.
The blonde haired boy walked his way through customs, they looked at him a little weirdly, as if wondering where he was escaping to or running from. It was as if they assumed any teenage boy at the airport was a run away. Shaking his head at the thought, Luca continued to walk past the security guards and on towards his destination. He was headed towards the domestic terminals, but it was when he was nearly there that he realised the time. Looking down at his watch he sighed. He was early. That was normal for him. Luca was basically always early to things. Occasionally he would forget about the odd event and turn up late but this was different. This involved someone famous. Well, he was famous to Luca anyway. The boy loved the detective and thriller kind of novels. He loved anything with a good car chase in it, or some good mystery to it. Of course, the story that he was writing was plain. No offense to the relationship he had with Beth but, it was quite unoriginal. As his English teacher had pointed out, it lacked the individuality and originality that novels needed.
The boy finally decided that he needed to get a coffee or something while he waited. Damn. There was no Starbucks here. Oh well, he’d have to go with something else. Luca walked over to one of the closest coffee shops and pulled out his wallet. Good, he had enough money. He had forgotten to grab the money his mother had left him on the kitchen bench. Of course by now his pesky sister will have nabbed it off him. Just another loss he would deal with when he got home. Until then, it was time to meet Mr Marshall.
Standing in the cue he thought he saw the famous man a few people ahead of him. Of course, with his luck, the man standing in front of him was too tall and Luca could not get a good view. Ordering a coffee Luca moved away to let the next person in. He moved back a bit, spying the man he thought was Benjamin Marshall. But once again, he could only see the man from the back. Luckily enough, his number was called and he got his opportunity to see if it really was the author. Luca started to move towards the bench, reaching for his coffee, just as the other man turned around. Smack! The first thing Luca felt was the coffee on his clean t-shirt. Thankfully, just like any other normal airport coffee, it was only lukewarm. Looking up he watched as the author, the exact one he had come here to see, started to apologise. “No really,” he said, waving his hands. “It’s fine man, it’s fine. The coffee here is never hot anyway.” Luca let out a small laugh and beamed up at Benjamin. The whole time he was simply thinking how amazing it was that one of his favourite authors was actually talking to him.
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Post by bim on Aug 18, 2011 17:43:49 GMT 10
Ben was so embarrassed. How clumsy did he have to be to walk into someone and spill his coffee? God, he would never be like the suave young hero in his books who solved crimes of his own accord. Not to mention the fact that he would never live up to the human counter-part that his heroes were based off. Benjamin had always idolized his best friend Brandon. Growing up, the other young man was everything Ben just wasn’t. He was the cool, athletic ladies man.. and well Ben was a sexually ambiguous sensitive guy who liked to write. Those weren’t exactly the traits of the popular guy in high school. Not that it mattered on the whole. Ben’s life hadn’t been all that horrible. Still though, he couldn’t help but wish from time to time he was just a little more like the other guy. Ben was who he was though, and it didn’t matter how much time he spend with Brandon, it didn’t change.
There he was, a published author on his way to a book signing, and he had stained himself and someone else with coffee. This was definitely bad press for his new book. He could see the headlines now (of course, that was just because he thought in headlines thanks to his job- this wouldn’t exactly be page three news). ‘Popular author scolds young fan with hot coffee!’ Of course, the coffee wasn’t exactly that hot, and it was a little presumptuous to say the blonde he had run into was a fan. For all Ben knew, the kid was probably there with his parents on his way to some family reunion or something. Which reminded him- he needed to call his own parents. The young man hadn’t spoken to either of his dad’s in a few weeks. Somewhat because he was busy, and somewhat because it was getting harder and harder to hide the truth from them.
Was this kid.. grinning at him? Benjamin raised an eyebrow, feeling a little uncomfortable. Was that what people usually did to the person who spilt coffee on them- smile like that? Of course, it really didn’t occur to Ben that people recognized him. Sure, his picture had been on all the book jackets, but who really took enough notice of those to commit his appearance to memory? Nah, the kid was probably just really nice or something. Shaking his head a little, Ben put his now empty cup down, grabbing some napkins and handing a few to the kid. “I really should look where I’m going..” He said with a sigh, as he attempted to clean himself up. It wasn’t much use though. He was going to have to try and fix it though before the signing. He’d look like a right mess if he turned up in dirty clothes. Well, at least the airport had bathrooms with hand dryers.
Looking up from his own messed shirt, Ben frowned at Luca. “How’s your shirt? At least let me get you a new one or something..” He glanced around. Was there even some place to get clothes from at the airport? Well, besides a souvenir shop, he wasn’t sure. The boy wouldn’t want a tee-shirt with ‘Capeside’ written in big letters across the front. Sighing, he stepped away from the counter to get out of the way. “Again, I am so sorry man.” Ben really did feel bad, but that wasn’t anything new for him. He was just that sort of person really. He’d always been a in touch with his feelings a lot better than a lot of other guys. That wasn’t a stab at his gender.. It was just the facts, you know?
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Post by luca on Sept 5, 2011 17:58:49 GMT 10
Wow. This was totally awesome. Luca Romano had never actually met anyone that even resembled a famous person before. Now here he was, standing in front of Benjamin Marshall, Capeside’s greatest – and perhaps only – writer. This was so completely amazing. If only Beth were there with him. This was one thing he certainly wanted to share with his girlfriend. Of course, she probably would not understand the feeling of awe and elation he had whilst standing there in front of the famous writer. She would probably just smile and stand there awkwardly. Wait, that was exactly what Luca was doing. Should he apologize? It was not his fault, but it kind of was. Still, Luca was almost frozen still. As he had never before met someone famous, he was not quite sure how react to it. Of course, Benjamin was Capeside famous, which meant he probably was not completely snobbish like the other famous types.
“That’s perfectly fine, really. I was equally at fault,” Luca smiled and grabbed a few napkins, wiping at the brown mess on his t-shirt. His mother would be so mad at him. Coffee stains did come out didn’t they? Either way, he knew that the author would have to do something about his own stained t-shirt before the signing. It would not be a good idea to turn up to a book signing like that. I mean, coffee stains were not very attractive. Looking up at the author, the blonde boy stood back from the counter too, continuing to mop up his tee. The stain really was not as bad as he thought it had been. His mother would certainly be able to work her magic, she was a mother after all and she knew how to get all kinds of stains out of anything. “Nah, it’ll be fine, really. A ‘Capeside’ tee will look worse than one with coffee on it, trust me.”
Dumping the wet napkins into the nearest bin, Luca started to walk out of the coffee shop. Turning back to Benjamin he let a softer smile cross his face. “Hey, you’re Benjamin Marshall right? Don’t you have a book signing?” Reaching into his shoulder back, he pulled out on of the books and held it up in the air, showing it to the author. Laughing, he then shoved it back into the back and closed it up. “It may be hard to believe, but you actually have some local fans here in Capeside.” Although Luca did not understand why there was a distinct lack of screaming fans around the airport, he did know that many of his friends never even knew Ben Marshall. Everyone just knew him as that guy that lives with the detective.
“Maybe we should get you a new t-shirt though,” the blonde murmured, looking at Benjamin. A puzzled look crossed his expression as he looked out at the other stores. There was absolutely nothing here. It looked as though the author was going to either have to pick the ‘Dorky Tourist Look’ or the ‘Just Spilt Coffee on Myself’ look. The second one, to Luca was better, but perhaps Benjamin thought otherwise. He was originally from Texas wasn’t he? Luca was such a stalker. But he still wanted to help. It’d also be great to get to talk to the author, learn his secrets. He did, after all want to be a writer himself.
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