darling divine @ebeauforts - Tumblr Blog

Posts

violajanettes-deactivated201311

Oh, my. Oh, dear.

I really, truly do need the strongest coffee that humankind has to offer.

ebeauforts

Tough morning? I'd suggest an Espresso macchiato, should do the trick.

#she works at expresso yourself how perf #c #c: viola j

jmcnairs

Ivory Road ➵ James & Evelyn

jmcnairs

For some reason James felt that he should be ashamed or embarrassed about the fact that Evelyn felt the need to dismiss Charlie, clearly not believing that the turn the conversation had taken was suitable for her younger brother’s ears. And it wasn’t, really. Despite that fact, he felt neither of the emotions one ought to have felt and instead his old, almost pig-like tendencies creeping back as a means of self defense, in a way. From what he was defending himself the man hadn’t the slightest idea, but there was something about the situation that made him feel oddly vulnerable yet also at ease. This ease, however, only resulted in his own discomfort and confusion, which provided another reason for him to appear so presumptuous.

"It’s no’ a hand-out," he reassured her all too unreassuringly, seeming far from sincere and much more preoccupied by the fact that she’d denied his request to have coffee. Not once did he put two and two together, realizing that the fact that the blonde had seen him getting coffee—at the shop where she happened to work, no less—with another woman might deter her from the idea of going on any sort of date with him. He knew he probably shouldn’t force the notion any further; in fact, he could practically see the feisty infuriation sparking like wildfire in her scrutinizing gaze. "But if y’insist," he began, taking a single, dangerous step towards her, slowly plucking the cheque from her hand, "I’ll settle for tea instead."

He knew he was pushing it, knew he was honestly on the route to getting slapped and very likely never seeing Evelyn nor Charlie again other than in brief passing on opposite sides of the street, and certainly on the route to losing a what could very well have been a customer who returned again, if not multiple times in the future. Yet there was a greedy, arrogant voice in the back of his mind—possibly the voice of himself from seven or eight years back—who egged him on, encouraged him to continue pushing Evelyn’s buttons just to see how far he really could go about it all, as risky as it was.

Though he barely knew the woman standing across from him, James was fairly certain that there was only a very slight chance he would be able to convince her to have coffee (or tea, or any sort of beverage) with him. That chance seemed to be dissipating exponentially with each second that passed, and although it seemed outwardly, and even inwardly, to an extent, that he was only behaving the way he was to get some sort of reaction out of the blonde, a minuscule portion buried deep in side James knew that he genuinely wanted to learn more about Evelyn and simply wasn’t sure how to go about doing such a thing. There was no denying one thing, however. This was not the optimal way to go about anything in regards to Evelyn Beaufort.

ebeauforts

Was there really a moment, not very long ago at all, where Evelyn had actually given James the benefit of the doubt? Because it seemed almost impossible to the young woman now that she could have ever thought him to be anything but the insufferable being that he was. Had she actually given him the impression that she’d say yes to such a proposal? Evelyn now assumed that it was due to her phone-call, and maybe he’d mistaken her foolishness for something more like a genuine desire to speak with him. Evelyn kept cold eyes on the man now, watching him carefully as he stepped closer towards her, though made no attempt to move back herself. It was her house they were in after all, and she’d be damned before he made her feel inferior on her own ground.

When he took the check from her hand, she’d almost thought he’d leave it at that, and yet once more her good opinion was wasted. I’ll settle for tea instead. His tone was almost mocking, and Evelyn could feel the tingle in her fingers as her mind screamed at her to push him back, her throat aching to scream. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction, however. “Do you enjoy provoking me? Look, I’m sorry if I gave you the idea that…” she drifted slightly, not knowing the exact words that would fit the situation, but instead found herself just growing angry as she revaluated.

“I mean, do I actually strike you as the type of girl who would just go out for coffee or tea with you? Do you think that there is some sort of obligation on my part just because you’re nice to my brother or because you offered to do a job for free?” Finally breaking the eye contact with him, she looked away with a façade of amusement. “Do you see so many women that you’ve just forgotten somewhere along the way that some of us have at least a smidgen of self-respect or—god…” she thought now back to the moment they met eyes in Expresso Yourself, and the confused look on his part. Perhaps he had just been weary for her to see him with another person, having planned this all along. “The answer is no; I don’t want to get coffee or tea or any sort of beverage with you.”

#p #p: ir #p: james m

electragregory-deactivated20131

Victoria Court.

ebeauforts

Oh, that's a nice place! I used to have a friend that worked at the pub there, but he's off in Paris now, eating croissants and drinking coffee that's probably better than what we have here.

#c #c: ellie g

electragregory-deactivated20131

The real prize is getting to my hotel room and watching cheap English TV. I’m particularly fond of Eastenders.

ebeauforts

Oh god, EastEnders? I'm sorry to hear it. Though, between you and me, I've been known to record Emmerdale a few more times than I'd care to admit. No place yet, though? What hotel are you at?

#c #c: ellie g

electragregory-deactivated20131

But was it worth the suffering we experienced watching her?

ebeauforts

Keep your eyes on the prize, Ellie, and there will be minimum suffering. That prize being, of course, when we get off for the night.

#yes pls she needs friends #ya imogen is perf it makes me mAD #c #c: ellie g

electragregory-deactivated20131

Falling in love with a cute boy/girl at a coffee shop sounds really nice, but all I see is middle aged women in yoga pants and eleven year olds with iPhones.

ebeauforts

Yoga pants left a pretty good tip though, you've gotta admit.

#she works at expresso yourelf too!!#c #c: ellie g

sergeantbatista-deactivated2014

#why #evie*

jmcnairs

Ivory Road ➵ James & Evelyn

jmcnairs

It was fairly evident that Evelyn was clearly surprised by James’s appearance, though instead of mirroring her slightly shocked looked with his own apologetic or even bashful one, the young man couldn’t help but look all too pleased with himself, a crooked glimpse of a self-congratulatory smile flashing across his features. Setting the thick receipt book onto the kitchen table before carefully lowering the cabinet down to lay on the floor and lean against one of the legs of the table, he dusted some imaginary dirt off his hands, wiping them on the sides of his pant legs, before finally addressing Evelyn’s comment. “Ay, I did. He was a bit too jaiked up from las’ night to do th’job, though. So here I am.”

He shrugged, breaking eye contact with her only to glance down at the work he’d done on the cabinet. “Ah.” He pointed to it, silently reminding himself that he’d left his toolbox out in the trunk. Without warning the Scot disappeared, though he returned only a few moments later with the large, rusted thing, quite stereotypical and suiting for any carpenter or handyman.

"I dinna s’pose y’ken all tha’ much about cabinetry," James said upon reentering the kitchen, placing the toolbox on the floor and opening it with a loud, high pitched squeak. "No offense, lass," he added a few seconds later, looking up at her with a grin to ensure he didn’t exactly have any intentions to insult her while he was installing the door to her cabinet. "But it’s no’ difficult, so I’ll just put it up righ’ quick and be on my way." He made it evident that he wouldn’t be accepting no for an answer as he didn’t even pause to hear her response, but the man still expected at least a few words of protest from the young woman, which he, in fact, did receive.

Still, he only shook his head, silently fetching the hinges from his box and marking their place on the door with a flat pencil. He worked speedily and thoroughly, yet for some reason his usual silence while on a job felt off and out of place, even among the brief din of his screwdriver as it attached the hinges to the door. Not even two minutes later the cabinets of Evelyn’s kitchen looked perfectly whole and complete, without any sign of a ten year old’s curiosity getting the better of him.

Standing back to admire his own work, (though it wasn’t the most impressive thing he’d ever done by any means) James cast a sideways glance at the blonde beside him and, spotting the cheque book in her hands, began to shake his head, turning to face her. “Y’ken, it really wasn’t tha’ difficult of a job. Already had everythin’ I needed, didn’t need to buy any supplies. Y’don’ need t’worry about it, really.” Already anticipating her objection to his words, however, the man continued, testing his luck as much as he could manage. “Although, if ye’re ever free for coffee…”

ebeauforts

Evelyn said nothing. She figured that, even if the right words could come to mind, they’d only sound ridiculous coming out of her mouth. So she instead set her handbag upon the kitchen table and waited patiently for the man to return from wherever he’d gone to. The young woman didn’t very much like the way he made her feel, in fact there was almost a sort of shameful curiosity she felt whenever in his presence. What the shame was for exactly, she did not know, but it was there nevertheless. James was a complete stranger to her, and in other situations it seemed that Evelyn would have now gotten over any reserves and eased up a bit, but why not now?

When he returned a few moments later, Evelyn immediately straightened up and tensed, watching him with a hesitant gaze as he grinned towards her. “No that won’t be necessary, really I can— Er, can probably handle it fine on my own.” Her protests were, however, met with a cold shoulder and she gave up just as soon as she started. The stubbornness of Scot’s was not an unheard of stereotype, after all. Leaning against the cabinet, Evelyn cast a glance at the man as he worked, watching the ease and accuracy with which he moved. It was a simple cabinet, sure, but he was doing a hell of lot better with it than she reckoned even her father could.

Charlie had grown steadily more and more curious since first the toolbox was opened, and now sat on the kitchen table with eyes fixated on the mans work. He had a cookie in his hand, left over from their lunch with Klara, and the boat he’d been given in the other. Now that Evelyn thought of it, the young boy really had no male figures in his life. Her father was only ever around on birthdays, her brother off living his own life in Stockholm, and their grandfather, though he tried, was simply too old and comfortable to spare too many trips to Cromer. It made a bit more sense then, his fascination with the carpenter.

When James had stood up, Evelyn was ready with a rehearsed thank-you and the cheque at hand, but in no way prepared for a single word that came from his mouth. Over the past four years, she’d built up a sense of normality and little uncertainty. What Evelyn had now was comfortable; she had a home, a child to look after, a job, and an education in the making. It was more than she’d ever had before and it was all in one place. She was comfortable, and now James had threatened the whole concept of it. “Charlie,” she began, not breaking eye contact with the Scot, “Could you excuse us for a moment.” The tone of her voice seemed to strike a chord with her brother, and he did as he was told with no dispute. “I don’t know what I ever did to make you think that I need hand-outs, but I can assure you that I do not. So, please take the cheque, and I’m going to pretend that you did not just ask me for coffee.”

#p #p: ir #p: james m #unleash the kraken pls

jmcnairs

Ivory Road ➵ James & Evelyn

He really didn’t plan on being the one to make the delivery to Evelyn Beaufort’s flat. In fact, he’d even thought he’d had someone set to do the job, but the man had backed out at the last minute and left James with no other choice. It wasn’t to say that he was completely opposed to the idea of seeing the blonde woman again, though he tried to convince myself it was more about seeing her little brother, who was brilliant beyond his years yet also incredibly innocent at the same time—a combination that made James wish he could go back to being a ten year old once more. Regardless of any motivations for or reservations about doing the delivery, James had to do the job nonetheless, and he soon found himself hoisting a kitchen cabinet into the passenger seat of his beat-up truck—putting the piece in the bed of the truck would likely do more harm than good, given the cabinet’s fairly small size—and pulling out of the wood shop’s driveway, setting off for Vicarage Road.

After a fairly short drive—though getting anywhere in Cromer was a fairly short drive, regardless of destination or starting point—the Scot finally arrived at Evelyn’s flat, only then remembering the extremely awkward telephone conversation that had occurred between the two of them the afternoon before. That, coupled with an equally awkward sort-of-run-in at Expresso Yourself, where she apparently worked as a barista, resulted in a small pit appearing in the pit of the young man’s stomach. Though he didn’t realize it, seeing as he wasn’t the type who psychoanalyzed himself or really give much thought to his own actions, James’s immediate reaction to feeling insecure or uncomfortable about a situation was to either further close himself off or put up a cocky exterior. In this case, he unknowingly prepared himself for the latter of the two options, adopting a small, nearly undetectable smirk as he removed his key from the ignition, climbed out of his truck, and carried the cabinet and receipt book to the door of the blonde’s flat, pressing firmly on the buzzer at the building’s entrance.

James was not surprised when Charlie answered the door, but he was slightly shocked at his own reaction to seeing the young boy, as his face spread into a wide grin and he shifted his weight to hold the cabinet with one hand simply so that he could playfully muss the kid’s hair. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the bravest sea captain t’fare the mighty town of Cromer. Yer sister here, lad?” Before he knew it Charlie was leading James into the kitchen, chatting off his ear for the entirety of the brief journey. And then, of course, there was Evelyn, and the man’s boyish smile instinctively faded into that awfully familiar smirk. “Y’expectin’ a delivery, lass?”

ebeauforts

She was sat in the kitchen, hand beneath her chin and eyes resting on some point outside the window, mind drifting. The night before had been lost, a string of feverish phantom images were all that remained in its place. It really was Evelyn’s fault though, as it had been countless times before when she allowed herself to be talked into watching a horror film with Gemma Neumann. It was a bit embarrassing; considering it really could have been avoided with a simple ‘let’s watch Downton Abbey instead’, but then there was the fact that she was never really good at saying no.

Most of her day, in fact, had been spent trying to purge the nightmares from her mind, eating stale pancakes with jam while Charlie worked on homework. It was a lazy day, as many before had been as well, but Evelyn didn’t find herself minding in the least. She knew that, eventually, there would come a day when Charlie would reckon himself too old to hang out at home, and sooner there would be the inevitable task of her finding a proper job. It would be these days the blonde would have to remember, the little memories that would make the days to come all the more bearable.

Emilie’s departure for work was what pulled her from her thoughts, and she mumbled an unenthusiastic farewell to the other blonde before letting blue eyes fall on the empty gap beside her. “Monday,” her voice mumbled out, the realisation hitting her just then. Her most recent discussion with the Scottish enigma brought a twist to her stomach, and she groaned loudly at her own idiocy. Evelyn Beaufort was more than adequate at plenty of things, but making important phone calls had never been one of them. Luckily, for the sake of her pride, she wouldn’t need to see the man again lest Charlie decide to balance on some other wooden accessory… or he walk into her workplace again. Seeing James at Expresso Yourself had been unexpected, though to see him in the company of a woman was not so hard to believe.

“I’ll get it!” Charlie bellowed from his room almost immediately after their buzzer sounded, and Evelyn wasn’t sure which sound was the one that startled her more. The young woman was a bit confused, as James had told her to expect a phone call, but then again they had spoken the day prior so perhaps he felt there was no need. As Charlie’s voice neared her, Evelyn grinned a bit and rolled her eyes, amused still at his unwavering enthusiasm about the previous days’ events. She stood up and crossed to the counter, reaching into her bag for the cheque she had ready, and in doing that was not at all prepared for the Scottish drawl behind her. “Wha – ” she sputtered, turning around wide-eyed to view James and Charlie in the doorway. “Ha,” Evelyn smiled, albeit uneasily, and nodded. “I thought you were sending someone.”

#p #p: ir #p: james m

ebeauforts

Business Lunch ➢ Klara & Evelyn

klara-dillstrom-blog

Klara”s eyes shone with amusement and her lips pulled tightly into a grin as she watch the two boys trek off to see the ship that Charlie was excited about. She was both relieved and glad to know that the two of them had hit it off so well and seemed like she would not have to worry about Filip getting bored or restless. It was hard at times, when it was usually just the two of them to keep her son entertained. Luckily a few of her students were around his age and would play with him before and after their lessons, not to mention the neighbor had a daughter close to his age, but even then Klara sometimes feared that having no family besides herself would make the young boy feel lonely. That didn’t seem to be the case in this instance, as he was quick to just leave her behind to go off with his new friend and she turned her attention back to her host.

"I’m happy to see they get along so well. Filip was so excited when I first told him about Charlie and having lunch together that he was practically bouncing the whole ride over." She shifted the platter in her hands once more before Evelyn designated a spot for her to place it down upon the table. Once the bowl was out of the way, Klara placed the platter down and fixed it into position before peeling the single layer of clear film that covered the top of it back. She tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear as she looked back up at Evelyn, nodding her head to the woman’s question. A satisfied smile sweeping across her lips at the mention of the blonde having been craving it. She was really glad now in her choice. "Yeah, I just figured I needed to bring something because I couldn’t let you just make an entire meal for my son and I and not provide anything myself in return. So I thought this was the best choice, you know something that sort of went with anything?" She shrug her shoulders slightly with a small chuckle as she watched the blonde retrieve two wine glasses and place them onto the table. At her suggestion, Klara happily agreed and took the bottle opener that was being handed to her.

"Yeah, I can do that." She reached over for the Wine bottle and began to uncork it as she continued to listen to Evelyn speak. Klara wasn’t the strongest person around but with a bit of force she was able to pop the cork right off. She reached for one glass, filling it a third of the way full before moving to do the same with the other. Though her eyes stayed focus on her task, she shook her head, still listening to the younger woman. "No, no. We didn’t have any trouble at all." She said, looking up as she placed the bottle down and handed a glass over to Evelyn. "Then again, I always look everything up on several map websites to try to find the best route. Sort of a habit of mine but I don’t like driver any longer than what is necessary, especially with a little one fidgeting in the back." She straighten herself and smiled brightly at Evelyn, "But actually, we don’t live all that far off from one another so it was a pretty quick trip to your house." Klara had been thankful for that. She wasn’t the biggest fan of driving. "Oh, and might I say what a lovely place you have here." She said, eyes sweeping across the interior of the house.

ebeauforts

Evelyn nodded at Klara’s words, turning the glass in her hand upon accepting it from the other woman. “I do the same thing but, for different reasons. You’d have thought after been driving for so long I would be less likely to get as lost as I do, but…” she tilted her head as she drifted off in the words, looking at her friend with a guilty sort of grin. “Even after living here for four years I still find myself getting confused and lost out on the road, it’s ridiculous. My sense of direction is honestly the worst, I don’t even want to think of how I would manage without maps or navigation systems.” She allowed silence to fall between them, turning the glass in her hand once more as a few embarrassing memories of the topic at hand came to mind. “Oh, I’m sorry, please sit down though! I don’t think the kids will mind if we eat first,”

She pushed back a wooden chair with her foot, sitting down with a soft sigh before speaking again. “Thank you, it’s not much but I have grown rather fond of living here.” Evelyn’s eyes moved from the brunette’s to view the space about them. When first her and Charlie had moved in, it seemed much too large for the both of them. Evelyn imagined most of the houses on Vicarage were meant instead for those with large households and various sources of income, not for a college student and child that would hardly be there during the hours of the day. It had been a modest, unassuming house with an abandoned quality to it, and that was what motivated her really to start looking for another roommate. “My roommate, Em, did a lot of the decorating. She’s here a bit more than I am, what with my work and school, but she went out tonight with her boyfriend.” Evelyn looked back at the older of the two, feigning a look of disgust at her mention of Em’s significant other.

“But you live close, do you? That’s nice, it’s a nice area, I mean. How are you and Filip fitting into Cromer, anyway?” She brought the glass to her lips then, waiting now for the other to speak. The blonde woman could hardly remember what it was like to live in a new place anymore, she was much too used to by this time in her life. Four years was, though it didn’t always feel as though, a long time. All she could remember from her arrival to Norfolk was the stress of moving boxes, but there was no loneliness or homesickness in regards to her previous homes.

#p: bl #p: klara d #p #my replies are getting shorter and shorter im sorry #the struggle is real