nofrillls:
rodeo
Rani viewed the bulls and their riders with an air of phony interest. All the while, she covertly fought against the inclination to yank every strand of hair from her own scalp. Anything was better than devoting a moment more to these men with miniscule egos and even smaller… hell no. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the back of her grandma’s head disappear. On its own, it wasn’t enough to steal a reaction from her. With Astrid thrown into the mix it was different. Rani already suffered from a deep concealed guilt for the account of the times she disrupted her life since they had their falling out. She retained no control over how their paths crossed at the hospital, but in the general public, it was avoidable. Take that night out of the equation, she did her best to ensure that happened. Rani rubbed her temples once before she hurried up to catch up to the older woman. It was too late. She had already accosted the nurse and hugged her tightly. “Jeddah, what did I tell you about running off like that,” she grumbled, sidestepped the prospect of eye contact. “We really should be going. We don’t want to intrude on the woman’s night off.” Rani kept it impersonal, griped with herself for not being strong enough to before.
{ @astridortega }
Seeing the town get together like this was exciting. Astrid was admittedly delighted to see all the children racing around looking at the animals with awe in their eyes, and the adults seemed to be just as enthusiastic about bull riding and elegant horses doing what they did best in these parts. The bareback riding had definitely been fun to watch earlier but when someone had taken a nasty tumble, Astrid had realised a few people were suddenly looking at her to hike her own boots up and get stuck in as first-aid. All part of the fun she supposed. With a big grin on her face, Astrid watched several children rushing around claiming they were next for the bull ring but the sight of an elderly woman practically rushing toward her suddenly got her attention. “Hi!” She greeted enthusiastically reciprocating the hug more than enthusiastically, pleased as ever to see the familiar face. However, it was the face that followed that sent a cold chill down her spine. “It’s not a bother.” She stated quickly, focusing on the older woman instead of Rani. Just don’t look...it’s that simple. “You’d be surprised I’ve had to patch a few people up today even though it’s my day off and you’re intruding least of all.” The words were only spoken to one of the woman, but she gave Rani a slow glance. Then she paused before speaking again. “You both look well.”
