#sedeciim

just smile and laugh. aj practically ran off stage when it was time for a commercial break, her cheeks a bright red as she headed back to her dressing room. a smile tugged on her lips as she disappeared into her room.

after the segment, april had spent her time setting up the game, an excited grin on her face the entire time. she waited as patiently as she could while jimmy finished up his show, even if it left her fidgety. the clock seemed to mock her as she sat on the couch, her feet tapping the floor in time with the ticking. she’d been a nervous wreck on the show, but as far as she could tell, everybody loved it and she wasn’t going to argue with the fans. hearing the door squeak open moments later, aj jumped up and met him at the door, a grin still plastered on her face.

❝are you?❞

she dragged him over to the couch and handed him his controller before sitting back down next to him. ❝no cheating. only i’m allowed to do that.❞ she decided to be yoshi this time; practically bouncing up and down in her seat while she waited for jimmy to choose his character.

jimmy’d be lying if he didn’t admit a part of him was excited to do this. the feeling of a controller in hands placed him back in his dark childhood bedroom, the lights of some sort of mario game reflecting off his face as his dark hues focused completely on the tv screen. he remembered it as if it was only yesterday because it was one of the good parts of his childhood. the few moments when he wasn’t screaming until his throat burned and he swore if he let out one more anger filled shriek that he’d be muted permanently, and the parts where he wasn’t so filled with passive aggression that it made him shake. video games calmed him; it was why he played them before and after the show with his guest. it keep him from doing irrational things his brain ached for him to do.

IT WAS COMPLETELY and utterly wrong to do what he did, Luke understood that but it didn’t make him shameful or regretful that he did it. It wasn’t like his feelings and story were copyrighted by her. In fact, she didn’t hold anything of his anymore, not since she had left. All those feelings he experienced, all the pain he went through when she left his life as if she had never been there in the first place, were all his and the fact that he made a movie about it was completely natural. When one got creative juices from painful experiences, one wrote about it. It was the simple rule poets, screenplay writers and any other kind of writer had been following for years because they all knew pain connected people. Everyone had a painful, heartbreaking experience and Luke just wanted to share his. He didn’t really think he’d get this far in the journey, with his movie actually being something that was talked about on the streets and in the newspapers, but it was and even though he didn’t feel any different, the young man was now rich. Rich and lonely, of course, but that was a different story.

PATIENCE gone thin was hidden behind jimmy’s polite smiles and kind actions, but as he walked down the hall all he kept thinking about was throwing something. anger had built up in the new york native even though it had no business being there, for he had a good night all except for a few mess ups here and there. minor fails where major fails to jimmy, though, and even half a rating lower than any of his competition set the tone for jimmy’s week. so far, jimmy kimmel was taking the lead and although it didn’t leak into his attitude, jimmy was fuming. honesty, he wanted to explode – to tell off all of his employees – but he wouldn’t dare. public imagine was much too important to him to do something as silly as that.

stopping at his destination in front ms.jeanette’s dressing room, jimmy let out a large sigh. one quick game of mario kart and a friendly conversation, then he’d be out for the weekend to let all this built up anger out. he could practically feel the cool wind hitting his skin as he sat upon the porch of his manhattan home or, more commonly known as the only escape he got from his hectic lifestyle to himself. saying he’d grown bitter and tried over the years was most definitely an underestimate.