Helin didn’t do particularly well when it comes to holding conversations with people she doesn’t know ; she isn’t a social butterfly and she often finds herself drained by the gatherings. She can’t remember how many times she’s admitted to ‘ i’m not very good at small talk ’ – Helin often finds that small talk can be so mystifying that it might as well be a foreign language. Just like now, she’s wondering, ‘ what should i talk about? what if this person thinks i’m boring? or a worse: fool! what if i get trapped into something i don’t want to talk about? how do i escape? ’ Suddenly, small talk feels much more complicated than the simple exchange of a few pleasantries.
Yet, for other people, like the brunette before her, striking up a chat with a stranger seems so natural to her. Not knowing what to do with herself in this particular moment, Helin’s stance is stiff, her spine as straight as can be, and she holds her cone with both hands. ❛ ─ I’m a veterinarian, yes. But I do really like cows. ❜ She smiles now, the cows a clear point she’s happy to talk about. ❛ They’re super friendly once they know and trust you. ❜ Picking a few bits of information from the woman, Adele, Helin decides to ask: ❛ You said you’re a human doctor, do you work up at the hospital? ❜ It never hurts to ask and it never hurts to practice what you’re terrible at, right?
For a moment, Helin remembers her first non-routine surgery right out of veterinary school. She was the only veterinarian working that day, on a Monday, at a two doctor practice in Storrs. She was terrified that day, but under pressure and placing her emotions elsewhere, Helin was able to get through it … Now, why was holding a conversation so much harder than that surgery?
❛ So, a tough month, huh? No wonder you lost it. ❜ Helin grins, it’s playful and friendly. And then she turns a little bit more … Solemn. She understands what that feeling is like, and she sympathizes with the woman. Setting her sights outside of the shoppe, the veterinarian get’s a little idea that might help the both of them. ❛ Thank you for the cones, Candice, ❜ Helin waves to the worker before motioning for Adele to leave with her, a small, kind, ( and even a little hesitant ) smile on her lips. She doesn’t know if this woman has anywhere to be. This could go embarrassingly wrong. Outside, Helin snags a bench on the sidewalk of Mystic - a nice spot where they can watch others pass them by from a distance. Placing her purse to one side of her, Helin settles into the bench before sneaking a glance over at Adele, though her eyes are then quickly directed elsewhere. ❛ Would you like to talk about your month? ❜
The other’s tense and stiff posture gives Adele cause to release the slightest of laughs; it wasn’t her counterpart’s discomfort that she was laughing at, either, but rather their... polarity. It seemed painfully apparent to Adele, at least, that the other couldn’t be less comfortable just diving into a conversation like this one. But, to Adele, this particular social pattern was familiar. Perhaps it was a product of learning how to sell yourself from a young age. The morbid direction her thoughts had taken on caused a slight frown to tug at her lips for a moment, before the brunette quickly re-centered herself in the present moment. No use dwelling in or on what didn’t suit her, after all.
“Yes, I am a human doctor. Uh, plastic surgery, yeah, over at Lakeview. New to the area,” she responded, feeling somehow inadequate. When asked about her profession, she didn’t launch first into things like trust or integrity, she talked about technique and expertise and time in the field. Was it borne out of a desire to constantly prove herself as more than a pretty face, or a desire to keep up with her (decidedly male) counterparts, or both? Did it matter?
Adele followed her fellow brunette’s lead and thanked the shoppe attendant before they proceeded back into the still, night air; the original scene of the ‘crime.’ The brunette couldn’t help but spare a glance in the direction of her spilled and still melting ice cream. Surely, there was a metaphor or a lesson, something to be found in all that.
“I think,” Adele began, when prompted. “The stress of moving to a new place where I don’t know anyone is.. a lot, right now. I mean, my siblings have also slowly migrated here for one reason or another, too, but... Well, we aren’t that close. I guess I just feel... alone.”
The middle Hawthorne found herself shocked, a little embarrassed, and perhaps gleefully rebellious. Her mother would’ve hated to hear how candid and emotional she was being, in the presence of a perfect stranger.
