“Hi Ava,” Mamie smiled, seeing her favourite guest. “I can make the reservation for you no problem, as long as you’re comfortable leaving us a credit card number to book under,” she replied. “Oh goodness, you didn’t have to get me anything! I was just doing my job,” she blushed a little, curiously eyeing the box. She had a weakness for pink and couldn’t help but reach for it.
“Oh perfect! I’ll get my card,” she replied, an easy grin still spread across her face as she moved to pull out her wallet. Flipping through the cards, she tsk’d at the number of cards before making a mental note to organize it later on. She held out the card for her to take. “I’m going to need, two rooms and there’ll be two adults in each room. And I’ll need them from the sixth of December through the fourteenth, darling.” Waving the other off she insisted, “Nonsense, you went above and beyond --- and we both know it.”
kelsi shrugged her shoulders, flipping through pictures on her phone before she found the one she was looking for. it was one of the gecko that she’d brought into her classroom, who her students had voted to name flynn. “he’s a leopard gecko.” kelsi explained when she flipped the phone around to show ava. “the class picked flynn for his name. the second name was goofy, surprisingly.” the brunette chuckled, which she could only think of the disney character–and she was sure that’s what her students had thought of too. “i got a stuffed lizard too, so they can bring that home on weekends instead of the real guy so the parents aren’t stuck doin’ everything for ‘em on the weekend they’ve got the stuffed animal, y’know?”
“goofy?” in ava’s mind that is a classic choice, though it also doesn’t really make sense for this little guy. “i can’t say i see it, though he’s definitely an adorable little critter. what do geckos even eat, though?” she was leaning towards vegetables, but she couldn’t say that she had ever really cared all that much before. “that is such a better idea, i remember bringing home the class pet as a kid and that was always a disaster. i think one kid even tried to take it home in his pocket. animals deserve better, you know?”
Bootleggers’ might not be his preferred watering hole, but a plate of hot wings and watching whatever game happened to be on sounded attractive tonight, not to mention a never ending drink beside his meal. He’d taken up a seat at the bar for a while now, swallowing down memories of when he and his brother would challenge one another to see who could eat more wings in one sitting or swallow down more beers in a row —
Even with the passage of time, it still stung to think of Thomas and how shitty of a brother Carter had been to him. But the drink seemed to numb the pain, if only for a minute. He waved a hand towards the bartender to bring another as his eyes wandered, a bit of a smile touching his lips when he spotted the familiar face waiting for what had to be a pick-up order. “Cousin! Sit, stay a minute,” he called to her, gesturing towards the seat beside him.
The fact that Ava was once again picking up take out annoyed her, but she was still struggling with cooking for one instead of two. Maybe she would have to start convincing her family to come over for dinner; if she could play host more than she’d eat fewer leftovers. That, however, was a concern for another time so, for now, she stood waiting for her order. A familiar voice caught her attention and her eyes flicked over to where her cousin was sitting, feet easily moving as she went to go greet him.
“Carter, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” She wrapped an arm around him a loose hug for a second before taking the offered seat. “You look good, how have you been?” Turning her head for a moment, she quickly ordered a drink for while she waited. She remembered Carter, remembered how judgmental she had been --- how truly awful he had been. It was embarrassing in hindsight but apologizing would mean voicing that confession.
At the spur of the moment, Daniel decided it was the best time to surprise his younger sister at work and invite her for lunch. They have a lot of catching up to do for the years they’d been busy with school and now the hectic schedule they have with work. With a huge smile on his way, he was making way to her office when he heard a voice so familiar. He completely stopped on his pace and turned his head back, locking his eyes on his cousin. “Oh god, Ava? What are you… doing here?” he asked, shocked yet still managed to pressed a soft kiss on her cheeks. “When did you come back?”
The shock caused her to stutter, stumbling over her words for a moment before managing to explain, “I work here, I’ve been back in town for about six months now.” She wraps her arms around for the world’s briefest hug before pulling away, as if suddenly remembering herself. “And what about you? Oh, it’s been way too long, hasn’t it?” The urge to apologize for not trying harder tugs at her insides but she manages to suppress the urge, biting down on the inside of her cheek.
“hey, you work for the herald, right?” he recognized the name that was called at the coffee shop. he always read the paper since his mother still had it delivered to her house. “I noticed that there was a spelling error on the crossword puzzle yesterday. Who do I talk to about that?”
“Hello? Oh yes, I do,” she replied, turning around with her cup now firmly in her grasp. “You know off the top of my head, I can’t say. Here let me check.” Pulling out her phone, she began to flip through the contacts list, paying attention to the ones with job titles as nicknames. “I can’t find it - you know what, why don’t you come back to the office with me and we’ll get that sorted out?”
“We should do something,” she suggested, chewing the inside of her cheek. “Because you know the last time I talked to ma I got whole speech about how a lady doesn’t break off an engangement out of the blue and I’m sure she’s not thrilled with you.” She gave him a sad glance that was seconds away from being puppy dog eyes. “I just, I want her to understand that it’s not about her. How do we do that?”
“Mamie!” she called out as soon as she eyes spotted the receptionist upon entering the Bed and Breakfast. “I brought you a gift, for how kind you were to me while I was staying here and I also want to know if I can make a reservation for some friends that are coming to visit or if they’d need to call? I was hoping to surprise them, but I know you have rules that you have to follow so either way is lovely darling.” Reaching a hand into her handbag, she pulled out a smart pink box and placed it on the counter where the other would be able to reach it.
“gemma darling, leave some for the rest of us,” she greeted, a grin tugging at her lips even as she gave the other a judgmental once over. “you never did learn how to share, did you?” she tittered for a moment before faking a sigh. “oh, i’ve certainly missed you.”
Grocery shopping was an art. Ben cut the coupons, he always found the best ones. Cam watched Harper at home, and Nick and Adam went through the store to get everything. They always split up, put on invisible blinders, only grabbed what they needed, and met back up at checkout. Once a week, every Tuesday at noon when the store would be emptiest so they could get what they needed and get out.
Except today, Mr. Adam Oliver Bailey was sick in bed, and Nick was ready to kill him if the flu didn’t take him when it left. One cart, shopping for six people, just him and his two hands. He had a tight budget, small window of time, and very short rope. If even one cart blocked his way today, so help him God, Nicholas would turn into Satan and cause a ruckus.
He didn’t want to, couldn’t be one of the reckless Bailey boys who didn’t know how to behave when their father wasn’t around, and what was Samson Bailey doin’ with those boys and that adorable little girl anyway if he couldn’t take care of them and—
None of that happened. Thankfully. Just a longer than usual line at one of the two checkout counters open, and Nick stuck trying to unload the weekly haul. In between lifting cereal boxes onto the conveyor belt, he caught the eye of the blonde standing behind him. Odd.
He knew this one didn’t he?
He squinted at her, stopping with the cereal box in hand. “Can I help you?”
Ava Lynn had tried to learn that she no longer needed to shop for the two of them, that the frozen wings and other party snacks no longer needed to find their way into her cart. Alongside the frozen foods were bottles upon bottles of wine and by the time that she stopped at the end of the line, she was bored beyond belief.
Her fingers itched for the glossy pages of a tabloid magazine, she could almost feel the photo spreads beneath her finger. It was in that moment, of boredom and exhaustion that she made eye contact with a familiar face, her lips setting into a comfortable frown, nose drawing itself into a sneer.
“I don’t suppose you ever could, darling,” she answered, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite herself.
Dani had spent so much of her life idealizing every aspect of her world. Someday, she reasoned with herself, the fairytale she’d carefully plotted out would come true, and then she’d be happy. She had placed a lot of hope in Kent Ackerman over the years. The most disappointing part of seeing him for who he really was wasn’t the loss of the fantasy–it was the fact that Bootlegger’s, her favorite bar, now reminded her of a crushing let down. She sat at the end of the bar at the Watering Can instead, her eyes red-rimmed, with a pitcher in front of her. “Men suck,” she sniffled to the person next to her. “Y’know? They just–they all suck. You think one will finally be decent, and then they just let you down too.”
@frostfordstart
“Trust me,” she slurred, words mixing together as she said them, swaying them slightly as she settled onto the barstool once again. “I am well aware of the faults of men. I should have stuck to women. They’re pretty and sweet and kind, and I just should have loved them. Instead, I ended leaving my fiance three weeks before our wedding, men are crap. Never fall for their lies!” She cheered, clumsily raising a drink to that thought before completely downing it. Despite almost slipping off the stool, she wore a bright grin.
ava lynn found herself doing a double-take at what she saw out of the corner of her eye - she had just been grabbing her coffee when she swore she saw her cousin. “daniel?” she called, voice unsure as she approached, coffee only grasped loosely in her hand as she blinked uncertainly at the stranger who looked oh so familar. “is that, really you?”
[ halston sage,twenty-six, cis female, she/her ] ━ did y'all see [ ava lynn cartwright ] walkin’ into [ splittin’ hairs salon ] don’t think i’ve seen ‘em too much around here, they must’ve gotten here about [ six months ] ago, but i think you can catch ‘em around town working as a [ copy editor @ the frostford herald ] I reckon they’re pretty [ confident & outgoing ] but I hear they can also be kinda [ aloof & unapologetic ] best make ‘em feel welcome. ━ [ drew, twenty-one, est, he/him ]
@frostfordstart
drew, your boy, here with more!
how do you even think about talking about ava lynn without discussing her family? her mother, who raised to be as sweet as the tea that they sipped in the summer, teaching her all of the things that a proper southern belle would ever need to know and her father who encouraged her to live an active lifestyle, and eventually to follow her dreams.
tanner, her dear brother, an absolute saint at times but still a pain at others - they were close in many ways despite the age gap. he would pick her up from parties when she was scared to call on their parents, but knew where to draw the line and try as she may she could never hold a grudge. they stayed close even after she moved away for university and then to connecticut, travelling back and forth to see each other and always finding time for one another.
as a child, ava lynn never imagined leaving frostford beyond for university - their parents might have had dreams of their family name ending up in the lights but the pressure wasn’t on their daughter as much. and so, naturally it wasn’t until she was already in university and met a boy - a charming boy, surrounded by friends and with access to all of the coolest parties - a boy that treated her like a queen and showed her off to the entire world - that she decided that she would never return, though she never said as much.
by the time graduation rolled around, ava was twenty-one and wildly in love, and there was little hesitation in her mind when she followed him back to connecticut after he proposed. she easily settled into a job at a nearby newspaper, earning a name for herself in the newspaper - excited and ready to start a life together, to settle down. and yet, he never seemed to settle into one thing. sure, she knew logically that he had a job working at his dad’s company - but most jobs didn’t involve that much golfing or drinking or partying, right?
but there were still good times, and she still loved him. it didn’t really start falling apart until they were in the middle of planning their wedding. it was the last fitting for her wedding dress, a day that she had built up in her mind since she was a little girl, and she was staring into the mirror with a building horror. she couldn’t do this. she went home, called all of the major players that she needed to, packed up her personal belongings and booked a flight home. and that’s how it ended.
she applied for nearly a dozen jobs before the editor at the herald gave her a call and the relief that she felt on her first day let her know that she had made the right choice. for now, it was just her and that was okay.
