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A London Extra; A Hannah/James Sequel to A French Connection
Topic Started: January 9, 2012, 12:42 am (25,117 Views)
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usmcjahusmc8762
February 4, 2012, 4:18 pm
Some_Kind_Of_Monster
February 2, 2012, 6:38 am
Auluna Raie
February 2, 2012, 6:22 am
Am I the only one who thinks Cali needs a good slap?
Meybe not a slap but something should be done with her :rolleyes: She is old enough to understand. :rolleyes:
Oh hell no you're not the only one. If that was my daughter....oh that shit would not be put up with
she's going through a rough time indeed but she is old enough to get over it. And just accept it
I was in the same situation as my character Cali once. It took a great deal of time to accept that my Dad was in love with another woman. I did realise as I got older that the divorce wasn't about me or my Dad's new partner, but it certainly feels that way to start with. Cali probably can't believe how much the other two are blinding accepting it all too. That's irritating her to react a more than she might normally too.

Thanks for reading! Nice to see you back! :wavey
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usmcjahusmc8762
February 4, 2012, 4:42 pm
wow just got caught up. You had me in tears!!!! *Yeh i'm waiting for dave to kick the bucket too.* :angry
gah I bet you james is gonna go back to fran upon hannah request. She won't be able to deal with the
guilt of destroying a marriage....God this story matches the real world and the real shit that actually goes on.
I'm sorry my story made you cry, but it's nice to hear it's provoking a reaction. Means I'm doing something right! Don't worry, I'm not wasting 'screen time' with David right now. :angry

Hannah's guilt levels are certainly rising, but she's certainly not going to just hand James over! And James and Fran are divorced by choice, remember (even if they're missing each other right now).

And thank you--that's a great compliment to me, because I aim to have my fics seem as though they could be real, even though they are fiction. I think it makes it more believeable for the reader. :heart:
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Our meeting at HQ had been somewhat of an expected train wreck. Lars and Rob had arrived nervously, knowing the state of their tabloid reputation. Kirk was absent—at home in Hawaii. Normally such stories didn’t faze them in the slightest, but a story about James was different. Lars seemed to enjoy his bragging rights at being mentioned in the story, albeit on page 17. In the end, the decision was made by all to let the story burn out. I had pointed out my former clients would come forward in droves to fuel the UK tabloids back home. There was no way we could feasibly deny the story. Metallica’s lawyers and their PR had grit their teeth but let it go. The feeling was universal that James had made his bed, and now he had to lie in it.

As it turned out, Francesca couldn’t bear to tell the kids about Hannah. She knew she was at least partly responsible for the story surfacing. She was fighting the guilt that she had unwittingly told David about Hannah’s past. She even felt bad for yelling at James, she didn’t want there to be any reason in the world to be angry with him. It was enough damage that Cali knew—she wasn’t sure that Castor and Marcella had processed Hannah’s former occupation quite the way her eldest daughter had. He was worried that Cali might hold this again James for a long time. She knocked on her daughter’s bedroom door carefully.

‘Cali?’ she asked gently. ‘Can I come in?’

‘Okay Mom’ she replied indifferently. It was 11am and Cali still lay in bed. Francesca opened her daughter’s curtains to let in the warm summer light.

‘You’ll feel better if you get up’ she said kindly. Francesca had done her own depressed sleep-ins for long enough to know.

‘Can I make you something for lunch?’ Francesca offered. Cali shook her head, she pulled back the covers and sat facing her mother on the side of the bed in her pyjamas.

‘No, I think I’ll just walk over to Antonio’s’ she replied. She reached for her jeans on the floor and Francesca sighed.

‘Do you talk to him about your father, and about our divorce?’ she asked hopefully.

‘Not really’ she said vaguely. It was clear she didn’t want to share the details of her interactions with her boyfriend with her mother.

‘Talk to your Dad—he loves you, I know he will answer your questions’ Francesca said hopefully.

‘I don’t want to talk to Dad right now!’ she said angrily. After a week at home, Cali still had not cooled down much for her argument with her father.

‘Okay, but please call him when you do’ she took her daughter’s hand hopefully before she ran out the door. She already had her purse over her shoulder.

‘Dad doesn’t understand how I feel!’ she exclaimed. ‘I don’t want to talk to him now, or ever! I need to go for a walk’ she explained. Francesca let go of Cali’s hand, she understood.

‘Please text me, let me know if you’ll be home later for dinner’.

‘Of course, Mom’ Cali replied, she kissed her mother kindly on the cheek.

It was almost time for Francesca’s daily midday call to Edinburgh—she knew Ray would be expecting her voice.

‘Hello Ray, how are things today?’ she asked warmly. As always, he was happy to hear her soothing voice down the line.

‘I’m good! They’re assessing me to go home this week!’ he said proudly. ‘I’m off all the medications, I feel ready to go home, and I want to go back to the restaurant so much!’ he said. Francesca knew he did, he said the same thing every day.

‘Well, next year when you’re feeling better about things and work is back in balance for you, you can come and visit us and the kids. They’d really love to see you again’ she offered kindly. She knew it would give Ray something to look forward to.

‘My son turns one on saturday!’ he said, his voice trailed off pensively. This was news to Francesca. Ray had remembered this past month how much his son meant to him. Being weaned off the medications had given him surprising clarity once more. Now as they spoke each day she could hear the progress in his thoughts, he was much more of the person Francesca knew.

‘I want to see him and Hannah again’ he lamented. ‘I love her’ he expressed honestly. Francesca listened quietly down the line, sometimes he admitted things she could not agree with. She kept her opinions politely to himself, and continued playing the role of a kind ear for her friend.

‘How long has Hannah been living with James?’ he asked her. Ray had not gone so far as to ask Francesca the details directly before.

‘Since May’ she admitted. It killed her to think of James and Hannah’s engagement, knowing Ray had no idea Hannah even wanted a divorce, let alone that she had moved on from him. Francesca felt intensely uneasy about being involved in their situation. It was not her business in the same way it was Ray’s.

‘You should contact Hannah then?’ Francesca suggested kindly. She meant it honestly, for Ray’s sake. Although, she knew intuitively that perhaps she wanted Ray to reconnect with Hannah for her own selfish reasons.

‘I will!’ Ray announced triumphantly. I leave here on Friday! he celebrated.
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At 4am my phone vibrated noisily on the bedside table. I grabbed it quickly, not wanting to wake James or Anthony. I answered before I saw the caller and tip-toed into the hallway, making down the stairs before answering.

‘Hello?’ I asked finally in my full voice. I was standing in the dark kitchen below accompanied by the hum of the refrigerator.

‘Hannah, it’s Dad, it’s so good to hear your voice my darling!’

‘Dad! Thanks for calling!’ I was astonished. I had always had a good relationship with my father—or at least, an understanding one. He was the only member of my family I’d told about James. I knew he wouldn’t judge me for leaving my husband the way others might.

‘How’s Mum?’ I asked, trying to hide my worry, but his voice was sorry and concerned.

‘I tried to keep the papers away from her for as long as I could’ he admitted. ‘But she found out, through colleagues at work’. My chest turned cold and tight: I knew it, it was my worst fear realised.

‘Is the story really bad there?’ I asked gingerly.

‘Oh yes, it’s been top news on every paper this week’ he sighed. I thought I detected his own disappointment in me. It broke my heart to hear it.

‘Dad, I’m really sorry—it’s been bad for us here too’ I sighed.

‘So this band of his…Metallica?’ Dad asked me unsure, ‘So are they very famous in America?’ he asked innocently.

‘Yes, Dad—they’re pretty big everywhere really’ I said.

‘Oh right’ he replied, perhaps he understood my problem better now.

‘Will you come this weekend to California to meet him and see Anthony? I’ll fly you out’ I offered again kindly.

‘Of course darling, I will be there. But your mother, I’m sure you’ll understand that she will not. She is having a very hard time of it. She can’t understand at all.

‘Is she really mad?’ I asked. My father thought on my question for a moment.

‘No, she’s just blaming herself. She’s trying to figure out what would make you do it, why her daughter might want to sleep with men for money, when you are so smart and so clever and educated and able to master any job you put your mind to’. I knew his question came from both of them, I heard his thoughts in his words too. I answered him as honestly as I could.

‘Because at the time, it was what I wanted to do, it was what I needed to do. I had to get through college somehow—and I was very lonely, Dad’ I admitted sadly. I hadn’t confessed that to anyone, not even Ray.

‘I always thought you seemed lonely’ he admitted sadly. He had known about my job for over eight years, and he had kept my secret diligently. The conversation came to an awkward halt.

‘Your sisters will not be coming either I’m afraid’ I was surprised they would not. Dad explained why.

‘Sarah is pregnant—she is due at Christmas time in a three weeks’ he explained, and Amy is I’m afraid, on the same side as your mother. She is less than understanding of your exploits that we’re reading more and more of each day’ he explained. I nodded silently down the line. I had expected it of my much more conservative younger sister. My other sister’s pregnancy was a complete surprise to me. I felt horrible for being so estranged from them.

‘Well Dad, I look forward to seeing you then this weekend’ I smiled. I was pleased for that much at least.

‘I will be there with bells on, my love’ he admitted. I knew just how lucky I was to have a father like him.
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Auluna Raie
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Shark-Tastic!
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Wow, go Dad! I always figured he'd be a good sport. Say, will he be pulling the "You hurt my daughter and I swear..." routine? :biggrin
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Auluna Raie
February 4, 2012, 9:49 pm
Wow, go Dad! I always figured he'd be a good sport. Say, will he be pulling the "You hurt my daughter and I swear..." routine? :biggrin
I don't think so--he's much more relaxed than that. One look at James and his house, and he'll see that he's been married before. I think her Dad will just trust when he sees them together that James knows to take good care of Hannah.
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Auluna Raie
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Shark-Tastic!
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kirks_wife
February 4, 2012, 9:55 pm
Auluna Raie
February 4, 2012, 9:49 pm
Wow, go Dad! I always figured he'd be a good sport. Say, will he be pulling the "You hurt my daughter and I swear..." routine? :biggrin
I don't think so--he's much more relaxed than that. One look at James and his house, and he'll see that he's been married before. I think her Dad will just trust when he sees them together that James knows to take good care of Hannah.
Oh come now! Not even a mild, good-natured threat? :nanner:
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Auluna Raie
February 4, 2012, 9:57 pm
kirks_wife
February 4, 2012, 9:55 pm
Auluna Raie
February 4, 2012, 9:49 pm
Wow, go Dad! I always figured he'd be a good sport. Say, will he be pulling the "You hurt my daughter and I swear..." routine? :biggrin
I don't think so--he's much more relaxed than that. One look at James and his house, and he'll see that he's been married before. I think her Dad will just trust when he sees them together that James knows to take good care of Hannah.
Oh come now! Not even a mild, good-natured threat? :nanner:
There's a big surprise coming next chapter, you'll see! :wink :nanner:
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Auluna Raie
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Shark-Tastic!
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kirks_wife
February 4, 2012, 10:03 pm
Auluna Raie
February 4, 2012, 9:57 pm
kirks_wife
February 4, 2012, 9:55 pm

Quoting limited to 3 levels deep
Oh come now! Not even a mild, good-natured threat? :nanner:
There's a big surprise coming next chapter, you'll see! :wink :nanner:
Oh crap, the paps saw me in the Bay!

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:lol: :lol:

The next chapter is Anthony's first birthday. The clues as to the big surprise are there in the last few chapters. :wink
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Shayniz21
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ive read all the fics you have written and this is great, but back to what im trying to say, clues?? i can even begin to think what will be the suprise in the next chapter, more!!!
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CarpeDiemBaby
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// Sunglasses indoors.
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Wow! what a trouble! :o

but Hannah's dad is awesome! :heart:

More please!!! :wavey
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Shayniz21
February 5, 2012, 1:55 am
ive read all the fics you have written and this is great, but back to what im trying to say, clues?? i can even begin to think what will be the suprise in the next chapter, more!!!
Thank you so much! I'm very pleased you enjoy my fics! :biggrin :wavey

I will have more up very soon!
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fiometal
February 5, 2012, 3:24 am
Wow! what a trouble! :o

but Hannah's dad is awesome! :heart:

More please!!! :wavey
Hannah's dad is awesome. She's lucky because she needs a few people around her that support the decision's she made in the past.

More soon! :D
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Some_Kind_Of_Monster
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☠ (R.I.P) † Return Is Possible †
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I get the feel, that if something will go wrong between Hannah and James, her dad will kick James' ass :rolleyes: :lol:
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