“Nothin,” Joel replied with an absent shrug even though he knew he was on phone. “Workin’ on some notes. “Clare went to find some peace and quiet,” He smirked to himself.
Well that eased some of Brand's tension. He tried not to sound too relieved when he replied, "Yeah?" He sat back in his desk chair and spun it around slowly. "You bugged her that much?"
“I am a man of many talents,” Joel replied.
Brand smiled a little bit. "At least you're using your powers for good." He stopped the chair in front of his desk so he could pull his beer bottle over for a quick sip. "So you might be able to leave in the morning?"
“Yeah,” Joel answered. “Provided we can get a shuttle or some other transportation back over to the airport sometime around...like...five A-M,” he shifted and leaned back in his chair as he spoke. “Assuming, of course, that the airport actually reopens, then we are on standby for a flight at 7:15,” He explained.
"Can you, like, throw your weight around as a best-selling author to get higher on the standby list?" Brand joked with a small smile.
Joel laughed. “If I was a little drunker and Clare was still here just so I could see the look on her face when I tried that...I just might.”
“She should do it for you. That should be her job,” Brand shrugged.
“Eh, I’m sure she’ll use it to her advantage if it becomes necessary,” Joel replied. “I’m sure there are tons of people trying to pull similar on the operators right now anyhow.”
That made Brand snort. "Yeah, I'm sure the Denver airport's just packed with celebrities right now."
Joel shook his head. “I don’t mean celebrities, I’m sure there are super vip business travelers with multi-assloads of miles and entitlement, and probably more who are possibly more annoying than Clare is when haggling with them.” He reasoned with a smirk.
"People who're more annoying than Clare when she's got her mind set on something?" Brand asked. "Color me skeptical."
Joel laughed. “I have driven her pretty batty during this tour. She’s pretty determined to get out of here and get home, away from me,” He smirked.
"Good," Brand said. It was a relief, honestly.
“Are you upset that we’re sharing a room?” Joel asked. The answer was pretty obvious, but Joel though it should be acknowledged…maybe?
Brand looked down at his beer bottle and twisted it around in his hand. “I mean, I don’t like it,” he admitted after a moment. “I know nothing’s gonna...I just don't like it. Considering, y’know. History.” He cleared his throat. “But I mean, you're just sharing a room. Not like you're sharing a bed or anything,” he added with a quiet laugh.
Right. Joel chuckled as nonchalantly as he could. “Yeah, we lucked out there,” He said. “Well, I mean, we lucked out with a room at all. Not that I would have had a problem sleeping in the airport,” There weren’t many places Joel couldn’t fall asleep if he had to, just like there weren’t many foods he wouldn’t eat. “I should probably get back to some notes, though, before Clare comes back and tried to prod for information on new story ideas again,” He sighed.
Brand nodded. “Lemme know if anything changes, with the flight.” He hesitated a moment before adding, “Miss you.”
“I will,” Joel answered. He smiled to himself a little. “Yeah, I miss you too,” He said. “I’ll be home soon,” He assured before he hung up so that he could get back to his notes to pass some more time while avoiding telling Brand that he and Clare were indeed sharing a bed for the night. Little white lies were alright, right?