Fic: It's Always What You Didn't Say (5/8)
Part 4
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(Before)
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His mom kept calling him. It was how he started to tell time. The less frequent the calls, the later it was during the day. Holly had completely stopped doing her job and just forwarded every call right to Mark's phone, hoping maybe it would annoy him enough that he'd stop. Mark hated to admit what a good plan it was, because it started to work at some point during the day.
He sighed angrily and answered the phone.
"What?" He snapped.
"Mark, are you alright, son? Your assistant called me a hundred times. Everybody's worried about you."
"I'm fine, Mom."
"Don't lie to me, Mark. Chris told me what happened. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm sure," Mark said, rolling his eyes.
"Mark, denial won't help. I know how close you and Eduardo were."
"We haven't spoken in months. We're not even friends anymore."
"Mark," She said in that motherly voice that said I carried you for nine months, don't try to bullshit me.
"Mom, I'm fine," Mark repeated.
"I'm coming to California," She said.
"No, don't!"
"I'm sorry, honey, but your friends are worried about you, and frankly so am I. I've booked the soonest flight, and I should arrive some time tomorrow morning."
"Mom, don't come to California," Mark said in a steady voice. He was trying to be patient, but he didn't want to be having this conversation in the first place. He was only doing it to humour hr and make her go away. He wasn't in the mood to talk her out of a flight, no matter how much he didn't want her to come to California.
"Only if you promise me you'll get off that computer of yours and get some sleep."
"I will, I promise."
"Alright. I'll call you later, honey. And I'm sorry about Eduardo."
Mark hung up.
He didn't switch off the computer. He didn't even move from his seat. Of course, Holly told his mother because he got a series of incessant phone calls after that. He unplugged his phone and switched off his cell, before continuing with his work.
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(After)
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It turned out the the campsite did not have a cult, just a normal camp. The guy at the B&B was just old and had a morphed sense of what the youth were doing these days. But still. A camp was just as lucky. Eugene had mentioned rebellious PIC hiding in camps. If so, than this was definitely their best bet at finding one.
He wasn't worried about the PIC when he got there, though. Their mission that night was coffee.
As soon as they'd gotten out of the car, they walked through various tents and caravans with the oddest people set up. Some were sitting outside watching them. Some were watching TV, some were cooking over a bonfire, there was a child banging a rhythmless tune on a conga drum. For minute it even looked like the drum had changed colour, but it was still the same when Mark blinked.
Eduardo had wasted no time with his priorities. He found the guy who'd stolen the coffee-machine in less than a minute, and was already begging for a cup.
"Please, I just want one cup!"
The man with the coffee machine had white spiky hair, and a large bullet-hole in the back of his jaw. "No way, I ain't falling for that again. You people are always sayin' ya just want one cup, then you go an' steal it from me again. Just like Clark and his stupid B&B," He said in a thick, Cajun accent, raising his voice at Clark's name.
"I don't think he can hear you from here," Stella muttered under her breath.
"I don't want to steal, I just haven't had a single good cup of coffee in- "
"Save the sob story, kid. We all 'ave to suffer down here. Don't mean I'm gonna give ya any o' my coffee."
"I'll pay you," Mark said from behind them.
Stella gave him a proud look and Eduardo just seemed completely taken aback.
Mark shrugged apathetically. "I'm a billionaire."
"Not here," Stella reminded him.
"I'll give you everything I've got now, then."
Eduardo was gaping at him. "Mark, you don't have to- "
"Shut up, Wardo. I'm getting you your coffee," Mark said, even though Eduardo hadn't spoken.
Eduardo continued to stare at him with a look of pure wonder. He had this expression on his face, as if no one had done anything nice for him in years. It was logical to assume they hadn't, seeing as he'd killed himself. The look was filled with so many emotions that it made Mark's heart swell a little.
The man looked back and forth between Mark and Eduardo with confusion. Stella looked oddly proud of Mark.
"Alright," The man croaked. "I'll make ya a cup." He stood up and turned around to root though his tent. Mark could see another large bullet hole in the back of his head, and gawked at it curiously.
Stella hit him on the arm. "Don't stare!" She hissed.
Eduardo was standing beside them now, and was still looking at Mark like he had two heads.
"You didn't have to do that."
"I think a simple thank you will do just fine, Wardo," Stella said. She looked smug even though Mark was the one who did the random act of kindness. Maybe it was the weird proud mother thing from earlier. Mark didn't bother himself with it; Stella was weird.
"Alright, it's gonna take a few minutes," The guy said as he re-emerged.
"How much do you want for it?"
The man peered at Mark with a suspicious look. His eyes shifted to Eduardo and the lines on his face softened. It was probably the Bambi eyes. Eduardo had that effect on people. "Ah, it's alright. 'S just a cup o' coffee."
"Are you sure? It's no trouble," Eduardo said politely.
"I'm givin' ya a free cup, kid. Don't change my mind," The man said. "I'm Harrison, by the way."
"Eduardo. That's Stella, and Mark," Eduardo told Harrison, nodding to them.
Harrison gave the three of them a once-over. "What brings the three of you to this shithole? You look like you belong in clubs and bar-fights, not at a crummy campsite off the highway."
"We're looking for the People in Charge," Mark explained.
Harrison raised his eyebrows. "The PIC, eh? And why would ya wanna find them? 'Cuz you know they don't just let you change your mind."
"I know that," Mark said. "I'm here by mistake."
"Mistake how?" Harrison asked, frowning.
"I didn't kill myself," Mark answered.
Harrison nodded, mulling Mark's answer over in his mind. He held up a finger, pausing the conversation to bring out Eduardo's coffee, then took a seat on a lawn chair that was perched in front of his tent, and cocked his head at Mark.
"I can help ya with that, y'know. I know a boy, says he met a PIC once."
"How?" Stella asked.
"Well, that all depends on how much the information's worth to ya," Harrison said slyly.
Eduardo sipped his coffee, and made a relaxed face.
"If you were gonna exploit us, you should have just done it with the coffee," Mark sneered.
Eduardo finished his cup, whispering to himself, "That was the greatest thing I've ever tasted."
"So you don't want it?"
Mark opened his mouth to insult Harrison but Eduardo cut him off, placing a hand on Mark's chest to stop him.
"Harrison, you've been here for years, right?" Eduardo asked. Harrison nodded. "So you know what it's like to feel so hopeless that you just want it all to end. I know too, we all do. Except Mark didn't come here for that. Mark's here because some one somewhere made a mistake. He still has the rest of his life to live, and to love, and to do something - something even bigger than Facebook."
"Facebook?" Harrison asked in confusion. Mark tried not to take it as a personal offense.
"The point is," Eduardo continued, unperturbed. "Mark's not finished yet. You must know what it's like to wish you could go back, even if just for a small cup of coffee. I haven't met a single person who hasn't regretted their choice at least once. You wanted the chance to live again even after you'd given up, but you were trapped here. Now imagine what that's like for some one who didn't even mean to be here."
Stella made an impressed face at Wardo.
Mark had seen him do this before, back in New York when he was trying to get advertisers, and new investors. This was what Eduardo was born to do. He was in his element when he was being a businessman. It was inexplicably fascinating watching him when he was doing this. Mark wondered how on earth his father had put him down so many times, when Eduardo was so clearly brilliant. It seemed impossible that this could be inadequate to anyone, that Eduardo could ever fail at this.
Harrison appeared to agree. He raised his head, trying to figure Eduardo out. "Alright," He said. "He lives up there," Harrison nodded to a banged up caravan at the end of the site. There was a red bench in front of it with half of it's paint chipped off. Clothes were hanging from a wire, to dry, and inside there was a bare silhouette of some one moving around inside.
"Thank you," Eduardo said, returning the cup back to Harrison.
"Feel free to come back for seconds," Harrison said. "You're an interesting one, Eduardo. Rarely run into ones like you these days. No one has passion no more."
Eduardo nodded thankfully, and pulled Stella and Mark up to the last caravan.
"That was amazing!" Stella exclaimed giddily. "You sneaky Brazilian, I had no idea you were so ... articulate? No, that's not it. Awesome. Eduardo Saverin, you are just awesome!" She gave him a half hug as they walked.
"Stella, if I could smile at you right now, I would. And thank you for finding the coffee," He said. His eyes were full of warmth and happiness. Mark felt the urge to smile. He never thought he'd be so disappointed that he couldn't. He wanted to hug Wardo, and thank him incessantly, and let him know how important he was to the world.
When they reached the caravan, Stella peered through the window to see if she could spy out the guy they were looking for. Eduardo raised his hand to knock, but Mark stopped him.
"Wait! Wardo. What do we say?"
Eduardo frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you don't just knock on some one's door and say 'Hello, I heard you have information on the People in Charge. Tell me everything you know.'"
"He's right," Stella called to them, stepping next to Mark. "You should probably add a please and thank you."
Mark glowered at her. Eduardo was enjoying this moment way too much.
"It'll be fine, Mark," He reassure him.
"Yeah. Besides, if the guy's a cranky asshole, Eduardo can sweet-talk him into helping us, because we know he can do that now."
"If only you'd met me sooner, maybe I could have sweet-talked you out of buying such a terrible car," Eduardo said as he knocked. Stella flipped him off.
The door opened. Mark's eyes widened and Eduardo's jaw dropped; Standing in the doorway, with a confounded expression, was none other than Divya Narendra.
---
Divya frowned. "The fuck?"
"This isn't happening," Eduardo mumbled quietly to Mark. Mark agreed but couldn't quite find the words to express it.
"Zuckerberg, what are you - what the hell are you doing here?" Divya spat. He noticed Eduardo and looked even more confused. "What, did you two make a suicide pact or something?"
"I- we're- " Eduardo fumbled.
"Harrison told us you might have information on the People in Charge. We need it," Stella said calmly. Mark silently thanked every higher power for Stella's existence.
"You're kidding me," Divya said.
"Look, we're not here for- we just want to find them," Eduardo said. "The PIC," He added as if it wasn't clear enough.
Divya eyed him suspiciously, then focused his attention on Mark. "How did you end up here?" He asked.
Mark shrugged. "How did you?"
Divya crossed his arms over his chest. "Why should I help you?" He asked, taking a deep breath. "I hate your guts."
"Because this isn't about Facebook or your stupid dating site, this is about some one's life."
"Whose?" Divya asked.
"Hers," Mark finally said, nodding to Stella. Eduardo and Stella both gave him confused looks. "You can hate me if you want to, you can even hate Eduardo if you want to - although that doesn't make any sense - but you don't know her. She's a good person, she's here by accident, and she's just trying to find a way home, so stop acting like a petulant brat who didn't get his way, and help her."
Divya clenched his jaw and bit back a retort. He turned to Stella. "What's your name?"
"Stella."
Divya glanced at Mark and Eduardo, then stepped down from the caravan. "Fine. I'll help you." He looked over his shoulder at them, and glared. "They stay here."
"That's reasonable," Eduardo said before Mark could protest. Divya gave them a tight nod and began waking away, signaling for Stella to follow.
She shot Mark an apologetic look, and ran after him.
Eduardo let out a heavy breath. "Next, we'll be running into Erica Albright," He said jokingly.
Mark frowned at him.
"Sorry," Eduardo amended quickly. "Too far, I know."
---
They set up the tent while they waited for Stella to return. As soon as it was up, Mark went inside and threw himself into code again. Eduardo lurked around for a couple of minutes before mentioning something about visiting Harrison and disappearing into the campsite.
Divya Narendra of all people. The universe was definitely playing some elaborate prank on him. Why on earth would Divya kill himself? What, did he gamble away all of Mark's money and hang himself to escape death? Or maybe he used Mark's money to pay for a drug addiction. Or maybe he got lonely after the Winklevii ditched him. He certainly didn't seem as powerful without the two sasquatches standing nearby.
Mark decided to stop thinking about it since all his theories were slightly bitter and involved his money in some way. He couldn't help it. Whatever reason Divya did this for, Mark did not feel sorry.
He tried to lose himself in code, but found himself too bothered to focus. This was stupid. He shouldn't be sitting here in a tent because Divya was too petty to talk to him. Granted Mark said Stella was the one who needed help in the first place, but it wasn't like Divya would have helped Mark if he knew the truth. This was ridiculous.
He stepped out to find Eduardo sitting on the same lawn chair that used to be in front of Harrinson's tent, sipping another cup of coffee.
"I don't think I ever want to leave this place," He said admiring the drink in his hand. "It doesn't get better than this."
"How can you just sit there?" Mark asked angrily.
Eduardo looked up at him, confused. "Is there a reason why I shouldn't?"
"Divya Narendra's off telling Stella God knows what, because he's too immature to just, I don't know, get over it! As if he even has a leg to stand on! He didn't deserve that money, I'm the one who should be mad at him."
"I all fairness, you are," Eduardo pointed out.
Mark sat on the dirty ground next to Eduardo. He rested his arms on his raised knees. "This is stupid."
"Relax. Stella will come back and tell us everything," Eduardo assured him.
"What if he, like, corrupts her, and makes her hate me."
"She's not gonna hate you." Eduardo said.
"How would you know? He turned you against me, before." It was a stupid point to bring up, Mark knew. If anything, Eduardo had defended Mark against the Winklvosses and Divya. But he was so irrationally mad. He just wanted to know how to get out, and he'd like it if his fate wasn't in the hands of Divya Narendra.
"He didn't- I was just angry, and you ..." Eduardo trailed off. "Let's just not go there, alright?"
"Why not? We can't just keep avoiding this; It's hidden in subtext of nearly every conversation we have."
"Mark," Eduardo said in a warning voice.
"It's not a bad question to ask. I'm leaving soon anyway, and I just want to know why. I'm not gonna use it against you," Mark said.
"Well no offense, but last time I let myself trust you, you used it against me," Eduardo shot at him.
"Is that why you won't talk to me?"
"I won't talk to you because it's personal, and I don't want you to know!"
"So basically, yes."
"Mark."
"Why don't you trust anyone anymore? You used to trust everyone."
"And look where that got me," Eduardo scoffed.
"You're not here because I screwed you over," Mark said, because that was ridiculous.
"No, I'm not, but it was still- "
"What, a factor?"
"Let me finish," Eduardo said through gritted teeth.
"If that was a factor than your father was too. Half the reasons you screwed yourself out of the company was because you were trying to impress him."
Eduardo's back erected up straight, and a furious look took over his face. "I'm sorry. Screwed myself out? I didn't screw myself out, Mark."
"You wouldn't have made so many mistakes if it wasn't- "
"God, do you even understand why I was doing all those things? It had nothing to do with my father, hell, it barely had anything to do with Facebook!" Eduardo exclaimed. "I don't know how to make this more clear to you; I did all that because for some insane reason I was- "
"Eduardo," A hoarse voice asked from above them. They both looked up to see Harrison standing in front of them, watching uncomfortably. "I just came to see if ya were done with the cup. I only got the one."
Eduardo swallowed, and handed the cup to Harrison. "Yeah, thanks, Harrison. And you can have your chair if you want."
"Where are you going?" Mark asked as Eduardo stood up.
"To bed," Eduardo said in a biting voice. He childishly zipped up the tent behind him.
Mark rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you taking your chair?" He asked as Harrison began to walk away.
Harrison gave him a commiserative look. "You need it more then me, bud. You ain't sleepin' in that tent tonight," He replied.
Mark crossed his arms and sat himself in the chair, sulkily.
It was fine. He could wait out here all night. All he had to do was code, and he wouldn't even notice the time passing.
And then he remembered he left his laptop inside.
Fuck.
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Part 6