i want to believe

Aubrey O'Connell. 32. Director of the Calderwood Historical Society. Friend to ghosts, ghouls, and grumps.

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

ofdaxtcnsx‌:

“I’m personally offended by that, I’m a complete gentlemen, you should know that, Aubrey.” He pouts playfully, before a chuckle leaves his lips. Dax always made a point to let her know how much he appreciated her support with just about anything and Dax did the same for her. She was perhaps the one person he trusted to share woman problems, though his cousin was pretty vocal about that well. “Quiche truck it is, I’m not not keen on eating sushi from a food truck.” He responded as they began nearing towards the trucks, and was surprised to see a crowd gathering around the few that were parked. “Do different food trucks come each day?”

“I don’t know that anyone is keen on it, to be completely honest. The line always seems a bit shorter there. Or maybe that’s just me projecting because it doesn’t sound good to me.” Aubrey led Daxton towards the small line at the quiche truck with unerring accuracy. Although there were lunch options closer to the Historical Society, Aubrey was a firm believer in taking a few minutes for yourself during the work day if at all possible, and the street full of food trucks was the perfect spot for that. “There’s a bit of a change, but there are a lot that are here every day. We can walk around a bit if you want to see what else is here.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

brewingwes‌:

Wes chuckled as he sat down next to Aubrey. Beaming from ear-to-ear, Austin scooted himself between the pair and, without preamble, launched into a thousand questions about when the fireworks would begin. After Wes satisfied Austin’s curiosity, he turned back to Aubrey. “I’m always busy with kegs, but we’ve gotta make an exception sometimes. Besides, I’ve got a good bartender working.”

“You mean you trust someone else with your beer empire? That must be some bartender. How are things going with the bar? I assume alright, since I haven’t gotten to spend a night with my favorite kid’s program guinea pig recently,” Aubrey said, adding a teasing nudge to Austin’s side. 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

masonash‌:

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” Mason scrambled next to Aubrey, slightly tipsy from the several beers he’d had earlier with a new friend. “Happy Fourth, Cuz.” Maybe they weren’t blood related, but being his step-dad’s niece was close enough for Mason to consider Aubrey family. It had certainly been nice to know she was in the neighborhood if he needed anything since he’d moved there. Showing him the best place to sit for the Fourth of July fireworks was no exception. He pulled out his phone, quickly shooting the rest of his party a text describing their location. “So what’s it like then? Do they put on a real show, or is it just duds?”

“Happy Fourth!” Aubrey replied, giving Mason a brilliant smile.  She made a show of peering around him as if looking for a crowd to be with him. “You didn’t leave Regan to watch the baby, did you?” she teased. Never one to say no to more family and happy to have some new neighbors as well, Aubrey had welcomed Mason and his family to Calderwood when they arrived in town. At his question, she nodded. “It’s a decent show. No faces in fireworks or anything, but it’s pretty good. Especially if you have the best spot, which you do of course.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

brewingwes‌:

Despite working all day, Wes promised Austin they would watch the fireworks together. The boy practically bounced with excitement, and after receiving permission, he jetted across the sand to find the perfect spot. “Can my daddy come too?” Austin flashed a toothy grin. Moments later, Wes appeared. “Yeah, Aubrey. Am I allowed?”

“Well, well, if it isn’t my favorite and second favorite McCoy boys,” Aubrey teased, giving Austin a squeeze of welcome. “I supposed I can handle sitting with you two. I’m surprised you had the chance to take off for a while to watch these,” Aubrey added, directing it towards Wes. “I would have thought you would too busy playing with kegs.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

sonnydelarosa‌:

“They’re locals, so it gets old after the second fight. A tourist argument, though, about appropriately priced grape juice good enough to beat out pirates? I had to be there. I almost don’t believe you.”

“Ah, well. They can’t all be exciting. It’s not the first time I’ve heard people arguing about wine. Come on any of the ghost tours, they get drunk and then all the dirt comes out. It’s actually pretty entertaining until they start yelling at each other and scaring the kids.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

ofdaxtcnsx‌:

“Anyone who has you as a cousin is no danger of that, cuz.” He remarked with a rather amused grin as the two stepped outside and made their way down to the streets. His eyes darting around before returning ahead to where they were talking, mostly he was letting Aubrey take the lead because she knew the best places to eat. “Okay, I’ll try not to be too picky.” He added playing along before nodding, “That’s fine, because god knows I’ll never end up going there by myself so might as well be with you.” He paused as they began walking in the correct direction and then glancing over at her, “You’re positive the food is safe enough to eat?” Dax knew he was being a little bit ridiculous with that question.

“What’s a girl to do if not to keep all of you fed and in line?” Although Aubrey didn’t particularly see herself as anyone’s caretaker, she liked being there for Dax to support him when needed. She knew he sometimes took more of the Carlysle family pressure, something she could occasionally escape if only because she didn’t actually carry the Carlysle name. If nothing else, she was a listening ear, same as Dax was for her. “Positive,” she confirmed rather than tease him. What was the point in trying to broaden someone’s horizons if you teased them as you did it? “All of the option I’ve tried have been good. I wouldn’t recommend the sushi, maybe, but the quiche truck is shockingly delicious.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

A lifetime of experience had told Aubrey exactly how early she needed to arrive at the beach in order to get the best seat for viewing the fireworks. Not that there was a bad seat, necessarily, but she had her favorite spot, and she parked herself and her blanket on the sand before most people had grabbed their tacos. As more and more people migrated to the beach, she watched the crowds, looking for familiar faces and entertaining herself with people watching. A shadow blocking the last rays of sunlight made her look up, a smile crossing her face. “Hello! I think this spot practically has your name on,” she greeted, cheerfully patting the empty spot on the sand next to her. 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

sonnydelarosa‌:

“I can’t really know for sure what they’re going off about.” Sonny nodded to the bickering husband and wife owners, “You only ever hear bits and pieces. A few days ago it was ‘and that’s why we’ll never have another cat’. Oh the many ways that one could go.”

Aubrey barely restrained the urge to turn around and look at the couple herself. “Are they tourists or locals? The tourists are the ones you always have to listen for. I had one on one of my tours the other day arguing over whether or not they should have spent a thousand dollars on all their wine in Napa. I had to break out the story about the pirates early just to keep them from fighting.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

austincr0ss‌:

Austin was lucky that the stranger had obliged so quickly, this was one of those situations that could have gone down hill badly. He knew it too which is why he was grateful when the brunette played along.

“Yep, my busy busy girlfriend.” he mentioned with a forced laugh, shuffling in to the new stranger to make them look like they actually knew each other. When the woman left and his make-believe partner spoke to him, Austin was too busy running a hand down his face with a distraught expression. He nodded slightly. “I’m pretty sure I made it clear.” he said before frowning. “I don’t know, I hate saying no to people. I think I need to take some classes on assertiveness.” Austin sighed, before looking to her. “Thanks for that. I was running out of ideas. I know I’m probably losing a lot of man points the more I talk but yeah, she was a scary woman. She told me I had nice thighs. Who even says that?”

“No problem. I’m a terrific wingwoman, ask anyone,” Aubrey said, waving a hand in an overly grand way as if pointing to dozens of followers. The fact was that working around people did make her a decent wingwoman, if only because she could usually find a good conversation starter to either pull people in or push them away. This situation was a bit different from the norm, though. “I don’t think it has anything to do with man points, but I would recommend learning to say no. Maybe a Ted Talk on power poses? Put those apparently nice thighs to work.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

ofdaxtcnsx‌:

Daxton was in the midst of combing through the stacks of endless paperwork when Aubrey strolled through the door. Appearing a bit startled as he looked up, his pen fingers pausing in the midst of signing because he quickly tried to wrack his mind to see if he’d accidentally forget to meet up with his cousin. At that moment a rather a apologetic look appeared on his features, “Did I forgot our meeting?” Then paused when her latter words made him realized she had stopped by unplanned and a smile curved his lips. “To be honest, I barely take lunch at times so why not? I can’t say no to my favorite cousin.” The male stands up, putting away his papers and grabbing his phone and his blazer and walking over to her. 

Aubrey was someone he was always happy to see, she was perhaps the one person he consider family in every sense of the word. Someone he could look up to and someone he always trusted with his eyes closed to have his back, in the same way he had hers. “Shall we?” He asked falling into step beside her as the two made their way out. “Is there something your craving in particular, I’m not too pick today.” he teased, since they both knew just how picky he was. 

“All the more reason then. We can’t have you wasting away. It’s poor form of cousins to let cousins not have lunch.” Aubrey strode out into the sunshine once more, looking up at the sky before smiling at Daxton, returning his tease with a laughing, “Not too picky today, he says.” She paused, dramatically tapping her chin as if considering all of their options.  “I was thinking Clary Street? It’s not so hot I feel like I’m going to melt, so we might as well enjoy the food trucks while we can. Plus, options.” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

Aubrey strode into the lobby of an office in the Carlysle City Center on a mission. The weather was perfect, and she was on top of all over her paperwork and had checked everything off her to do list for the day. She deserved a break, and she could think of someone else that could probably use a break for a couple of hours.

Luckily for her, her target was waiting in the lobby, rather than buried beneath a pile of work. “There you are, just the man I was looking for,” she teased as she strode towards Daxton. “Do you have time to take off and have lunch with your favorite cousin?”

@ofdaxtcnsx

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

dianaxpalmer‌:

Diana had taken up running a few weeks ago on her therapist’s suggestion. They had said it was a safer coping mechanism than a series of one-night stands, but so far… She wasn’t sold. The trail running down to the beach went right past her backyard, though, so it was relatively easy to get on it and jog for a while until she reached the sand. 

The big problem was she hadn’t done a lot of exercise since high school. 10 years ago.

Now that school was out and most of her days were free, except for the odd professional development seminar, she decided to try running as soon as she got up. It was only about nine, but the sun was out in full force and it was h o t. It was only half a mile to the beach but she barely made it, folding over as soon as her sneakers hit the sand. “There’s no way I’m gonna be able to make it back.”

Alex would never get used to the different between the Atlantic and the Pacific. At the end of the day, they were both oceans, with the typical beaches that one might expect, but the whole vibe felt different. Or maybe it was all in her head. Still, it was nice to be able to continue her habit of running along the waterfront whenever the weather allowed for it. Upon reaching the beach, she paused for a minute to stretch and just let the sound of the waves soothe her. Not a bad start to the day. 

She glanced over at the sound of another person’s footsteps, straightening from her stretch to continue on her own run back to her apartment. The other woman’s words made her stifle a laugh, not wanting her to think that Alex was trying to make fun. “Sometimes sitting on the sand for a few minutes helps,” she offered. “Depends on your opinion of sand though. Not much of a runner?” 

[aubreyoconnell-blog]

austincr0ss‌:

In his younger years, Austin would attract a lot of female attention. He still did from time to time but nowadays it wasn’t as flattering as it used to be. After a sensible two beers at the bar, Austin had began a friendly conversation with a woman by chance. She took a rather strong liking to the mechanic. Upon announcing his need to leave, she immediately tried to convince him to go home with her. “Ah, come on…does the headache excuse work with men?” Austin spoke, visibly uncomfortable. His expressions remained playful, hoping to play down the situation but after the woman insisted, his eyes scanned to the nearest person beside him. Not caring if it was a man or woman, he grabbed their hand. “This is actually my partner. So, I’m sorry for any misleading information but I’m not on sale.”

Aubrey had to admit that her mind wasn’t exactly on the world around her. Her thoughts were on drinking a glass of wine and then the research she might start once she got home, paying only enough attention to make sure that she didn’t run into anyone. 

When she made contact with someone else, she momentarily thought she might have failed at even that much. Aubrey took a quick glance down at the hand that had grabbed her own before looking up at the woman in front of her. An understanding of the situation dawned quickly, and she flashed a brilliant smile. “Yes, that’s me. Running late after work, you know how it is. I’m sure he appreciated the friendly company while I was late, didn’t you, honey?” She wrapped her free arm around the man’s, closing the distance between them from awkward grab to could be intimate if you squint enough. Luckily, the other woman wasn’t interested in pursuing it further, as she strode off without another word. 

Aubrey released his arm with a slight laugh, shaking her head. “I hope you at least tried to tell her no like a normal person before taking your chances with grabbing the nearest stranger.” 

[darlingshane]