**
The cafeteria was already loud and crowded by the time Hugo entered; he’d deliberately let band practice run long to avoid as much of the party as he reasonably could. Practices had been a strange combination of awkward and relaxing the last few days. Steve had conveniently forgotten to tell anyone that they were preparing for Hugo’s last concert, and after everyone had gotten complaining about his absence out of their system, they’d quickly fallen into old patterns. His potential murder aside, he anticipated their set would go smoothly.
Still standing awkwardly in the doorway, Hugo managed to pick Dr. McFadden out in the crowd. She was with Dr. Arliss and several of the technicians. They seemed to be in a very engaging discussing, but Crysta glanced his way and gave him a bright smile and a small wave. The small crowd turned to see who she’d greeted, and Hugo shrank down at the attention, and then thankfully the group went back to their conversation.
Next Hugo’s attention fell on the bar, and he quickly headed in that direction, skirting around the clusters of socializing employees and their family members. A few times he was almost run down by a child darting past him, always with someone, either an exasperated adult, or another child, trailing behind them.
While ordering a vodka and tonic, Hugo’s eyes roved around the room again, touching on the few teenagers attending, all of them there because their parents worked at Gideon and according to the database, none of them had powers. CJ was the only teenager currently employed by the company. He wondered if she had the same problem identifying with normal people that he did; she’d been through so much, and she had no one her age to talk to. Hugo wondered, if he hadn’t been murdered, would Adam be at this party tonight, chatting up one of the girls or hanging out with CJ wherever she was at the moment?
“Wow, aren’t you just a bundle of joy,” Clem observed dryly from behind him.
Hugo started, and then quickly turned to face the older man, who was grinning broadly, “Hi, Clem.” He took a sip of his drink, shifting his weight.
“Happy Holidays, Hugo! I see you are enjoying the party.”
Hugo couldn’t help but return the other musician’s smile at that, “Thoroughly,” he responded, his voice flat.
“Well good luck. I’d love to stay and chat, but you’re not my type,” Clem’s expression was almost sincerely apologetic as he gave Hugo a comforting pat on his shoulder. Then he chuckled and gave a small wave before abandoning him.
Hugo smiled, shaking his head. However the smile faded as he realized he was alone again in the sea of people. He quickly moved out of the way of someone trying to get to the punch bowl, continued to stand there for a moment, and then moved to one of the empty chairs at an equally empty table, absently chewing on his thumb between the frequent sips of his beverage. He watched the tides of groups, as conversations started and stopped. Mr. Hansen was sitting at one of the round tables adorned with white, embroidered tablecloths, with his assistant Nancy, the Senior VP of Media Relations Laura, Christian, and Ted. Hugo couldn’t help but smile, as it was clear from the Vice President of HR’s body language that he was being very attentive to everything Nancy said, almost to the exclusion of his other conversational partners.
Hugo looked over just as Dr. McFadden broke away from her group and started to head in his direction. She was smiling and wearing a long, strapless, lavender dress; it fit her perfectly. Hugo quickly glanced away. When he looked back, her forward progress had been halted by a smaller group of doctors, but one of them waved Dr. Arliss over and soon the congregation grew again. Hugo stared down at his drink, quickly taking several more sips from it.
“There you are! I was starting to think you ditched.” Hugo started at the sudden sound, causing CJ to grin as she dropped down into a chair beside him.
He gave her the best smile his lack of enthusiasm could muster, and then returned his attention to his drink, “Practice ran late.”
The girl’s head tilted slightly, “I thought you said you were too busy for music stuff now.”
Hugo frowned in return, “I am, this was just a special case. The concert is for charity, it’s New Year’s Eve.”
CJ sat up straight, “That’s cool! Can I come?”
He shook his head, “Can’t, it’s an over 21 club.”
The girl scrunched up her nose, “So? It’s special, right? Like your last show ever? I wanna see you play!”
Hugo shook his head again, “I’m sorry CJ, you can’t.”
CJ’s eyes narrowed as her mouth turned down, “That’s so lame!” Hugo stared down at his drink. However, he didn’t miss the smirk on CJ’s face several moments later. She wasn’t going to listen to him at all, and he couldn’t really stop her if she snuck in as lightning. He tried not to smile, and failed. He should probably tell her later about the gunman so that she didn't freak out the concert.
They sat together for several silent minutes, watching the gathering. Eventually CJ started kicking her heels against the chair legs, then drumming her fingers on the table, after that the humming started, and finally she jumped out of her chair and stretched, “Well this party is pretty boring. See ya!” She gave a small wave, turned to lightning and vanished into the wall.
Hugo chewed on his lip and continued to stare at the people he couldn’t bring himself to talk to. Clem and the doctor didn’t seem to be having the same problem. He rolled the small, sweating glass between his palms, unconsciously hunching his shoulders.
And then Mr. Gideon was standing in front of him, grinning. Hugo immediately stood up, almost spilling his drink in the process. “Hello Hugo, didn’t mean to startle you.”
“T-that’s ok.”
“Are you enjoying the party?”
Hugo glanced around the room, briefly catching the attention of the doctor, who looked mildly confused, “It’s, um, great.”
“Wonderful. Well, I don’t want to keep you, but I wanted to thank you. I know you just started working with us, but already you’ve done so much for the company. So I wanted to give you a little token of my appreciation,” Mr. Gideon reached to the side and pulled a guitar case out of thin air, and smiling broadly, presented it to Hugo.
“Sir, y-you didn’t have to…” He hadn’t done much, let alone anything that actually deserved a reward.
“Nonsense. I wanted to. You have a concert on New Year’s Eve, right?”
Hugo nodded, wide-eyed. What else did Mr. Gideon know about him?
“And for charity too, how wonderful. Well, I don’t want to keep you, would you like me to put this somewhere for you? Like your apartment?”
“Uh, yeah…t-that would be great. Thanks.”
Mr. Gideon stuck the guitar through another portal, and then brushed his hands off, “It’s a pleasure working with you, Hugo. I hope you enjoy the rest of the party.” Hugo couldn’t do anything besides stand there dumbfounded while Mr. Gideon walked towards Dr. Arliss and Dr. McFadden to repeat his bizarre gift-giving ritual.
Lightning passed through the wall, and solidified, “Hugo! Guess what Mr. Gideon got me for being so awesome?”
“Um-”
“A PS3 and Rock Band 2 and a TV to play it on! Come help me set it up, I’ll let you play. You should be pretty good at this game right, since you’re already a rock star!”
“CJ, I’m not-”
“Come on!” CJ grabbed his hand. She was standing in a quiet, empty house. It was covered in clear plastic tarps, floor to ceiling, even the sparse furniture was covered. Someone was screaming. CJ was pulling him down the hallway towards her room. He realized belatedly that he’d already put her present in her room, and she’d already seen it and it wasn’t nearly as cool as Mr. Gideon’s present. It was a stupid idea to get her anything. Anyone anything. He sucked at giving gifts.
CJ burst into her room, running straight for the small white fridge in the corner and took the note off. Hugo got ready to run if she laughed at it. She read the note carefully, and then turned towards him, grinning, “Awesome! Let’s go
steal some soda from the cafeteria later to put in my new fridge. This will be great when I finally find my secret hideout, and I can charge it myself from here, right?” She pointed at the small conductor towards the back of the fridge. Hugo nodded, he could feel his face getting red. Was she just being polite or did she really like it? He thought she really liked it, but maybe he was wrong. Then she started tearing open the PS3 box.
Halfway through setup he got a text from the doctor asking if he was still at the party, because she had something to give him. He knew it. She’d fully expected him to not get her anything, but was giving out presents herself. He told CJ he’d be right back, and then went to the doctor’s office where she’d asked him to meet her. “Hey. I was just helping CJ set up her present from Mr. Gideon,” he explained as he walked inside.
“That was thoughtful of you.” Hugo turned red. “Here, it isn’t much, but I wanted to get you something. I hope you don’t mind,” Dr. McFadden picked up a couple packages from her desk and offered them to him.
“U-uh no. Thanks. I, uh, got you something too. It’s over on your chair,” he pointed towards it unnecessarily.
The doctor looked incredibly surprised, her mouth slightly open. She turned the chair towards her and picked up the CD laying on it. He hadn’t even wrapped it. Ugh, he sucked. She read the hand-scribbled note, which was hopefully legible. “Thank you, Hugo. You didn’t have to, but thank you.” She read the track list on the back, but frowned when she got to the last song, “I don’t recognize this last song, "Eir of the Mountain". Who is it by?”
“Uh,” Hugo shifted in place, staring carefully at the tiles on the ground, “me.”
“Really? Oh, I can’t wait to hear it. You…can open your gift too, if you like.”
Hugo carefully unwrapped the packages. It was a nice fountain pen and a book of blank music sheets. “Thank you, this is really nice. I used up all my paper over the last few weeks writing the um…well…doing stuff.”
“Really? Oh, I’m so glad you like it,” she was smiling brightly.
Hugo glanced around the room. What should he say now? “Uh, well, I should probably help CJ finish setting up. Thanks for the gift.”
“I’ll walk with you. I have to give CJ her present as well.” The doctor scooped up a box and followed Hugo out of the room. Her black hair was down, the ends just touching her bare shoulders. She looked really nice.
He chewed on his lip, “So, are you still coming to the concert?”
“Of course, I promised I would protect you. I wish you weren’t putting yourself out there to get shot, but I understand.”
“Thanks. I really appreciate it. I know you’re trying to…well, you know, and I’m not really helping.”
Crysta lightly touched his arm, “Please, don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.”
She was a doctor, of course she was happy to help.
The Sound of Wind Page 63