Brittany smiled, noting that the reception of her statement was pretty good. Confusing, yes, but good.
“You’re right, samurai are very busy. Especially the rodent variety, I’ve heard.”
When the girls’ conversation faded briefly, Brittany took a second to take in her surroundings. Maybe it was unwise to put trust into someone met on the street like this, but Eli’s presence was disarming and Brittany was too tired to second guess. She hoped she wouldn’t need to, and nodded when Eli offered the option to walk to the bar.
“Sure, that sounds good,” she said quietly. “Sleep is for the weak.”
When Brittany agreed to go to the bar, Eliana smiled. It would be nice to have someone there who wasn’t some weird leery old dude. “Cool, follow me” she nodded in the direction of the bar and began walking towards it.
“Sleep is for the weak, I hardly get any between working at the bar and trying to do music but we’ve gotta do something to pay the rent, right?” she shrugged. It was only a few minutes before they arrived at Sapphire. She held the door open to the busy bar, “Oh, please don’t be put off by the ahem - exotic dancers.” She’d forgotten to mention it was that kinda bar, she hoped the girl didn’t think it was weird. “They just so happened to be hiring and they pay half decently, ya know?” she explained as she took up her place behind the bar once again and washed her hands. She gestured towards an empty bar stool near her spot behind the bar. “What can I get you? It’s on the house.”
“i’m sorry! my mind went blank as soon as i heard about puppies.” this was the most pathetic apology she ever came up with, but at least it was filled with honesty. she turned her head from one side, looking at eliana, to the other, where the playground seemed to be. she grew more and more torn as she was trying her best to come up with a compromise. “i have an offer for you, one that you can’t refuse!” rachel declared. “i’ll go pet some dogs for fifteen minutes, then we go to grab a snack and we come back to our original plan. so we can be all happy! is that okay with you?”
It was kind of amusing how bad the Broadway starlet, Rachel Berry, was so infatuated with seeing small fluffy puppies. Still, Eli wasn’t heartless. “Honestly, I love puppies too.” She shrugged. “I don’t trust people who don’t like puppies.” she chuckled. “But yes, that sounds good to me. They have a vegan nacho truck which I have been dying to try.” And with that, she started off towards the playground where the puppies were, ahead of Rachel. “Keep up, Berry!”
Brittany panicked slightly, realizing that she probably needed a cover story for why she was out here. She cast a quick, anxious glance in the direction of the dance studio and then back to Eli. Fuck, look casual. She straightened up her posture and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears.
“I don’t know, I thought I heard one but I can’t find it. I wanted it to be my friend and teach me the ways of the samurai,” she said, figuring that saying something to confuse Eli would distract her from Britt’s slip-up and anxiety.
“I like the city at night. It’s peaceful.”
Okay, now Eli was confused. But also she was somewhat amused. “Well I’m sure he’ll come back and teach you his ways, he probably had important samurai business to attend to.” she nodded.
Eli looked up and down the street. She could hear the distant sound of her workplace down the street and besides from that, just the occasional person walking up and down. She got it. She liked the city at night too, and honestly spent a lot of time out at night because of working in a bar. “I get that. I often watch the sunrise over some twenty four hour pizza not far from here.” she shrugged. “I’ve gotta get back to work soon, are you gonna carry on with your walk? You could come to the bar for a drink if you wanted.”
“Fancy pants,” he smiled slightly at the mention of a business card. “I promise I’m not some snob, I’m just- they come in handy where I work.”
Brown eyes traced over her expression before nodding. “I promise I’ll use it responsibly,” he nodded in confirmation as he tapped the empty cup on the surface. He was a fidget when he was nervous and it showed.
He dropped his head a little at how she said his name. “Mr. Anderson is fine too but that one feels a little too formal,” he joked lightly to try and ease his own tension. “Cooper is usually for when I’m in trouble, so… Coop works.”
Eyes scanned over her board once more before meeting hers. “It’s not the board I’m concerned about,” he admitted. “Deal,” he agreed as he stood up and put his empty cup in the trash and pocketed his phone. He’d walked New York countless of times after spending a lot of his life here. It didn’t phase him. He’d lived in the rougher parts, had his fair share of confrontations too.
Starting to make trails down the grey concrete, he made note of the traffic and people around. He was an observant person, it went without saying.
“When did you start skating? I was gonna ask if you drive but New York is a useless city to own a car in. You spend half of your day staring at bumpers.”
“Where is it you work, anyway?” she asked, genuinely curious. He had business cards and mentioned knowing people in producing so she wondered if he was secretly some big shot. Not that it mattered. He seemed down to earth, if not a little troubled. “And don’t worry, Coop is fine.” she reassured him as she swung her bag back over her shoulder and picked up her board. She picked up her trash and also threw it away. “Are you worried I’ll get mugged?” she chuckled. The sun was practically up now, she was sure either way it would be fine. It was a weird feeling to be honest, nobody ever really showed much concerned for her.
She dropped the board to the ground once they were outside and hopped on, kicking off at a slow leisurely pace so that Cooper could keep up. The early morning commuters were out but it was still pretty quiet. It would be another hour or so before the streets filled with people going about their day. This was one of her favorite times of day.
Eli slightly tensed at the question. It was an innocent question really, but she couldn’t help it. “Um, never learned to drive no. But I’ve been skateboarding since I was like seven. My brother taught me so we could board to school together.”
Bianca was sulking on a park bench, stuffing clouds of pink cotton candy into her mouth to console her. Her festival date had outright no showed and she was not the type of girl to encounter a good old ghost. In fact, she was often in the opposite position - the marriage license and diamond ring stuffed in the back of her closet were proof of that. She had no right to be upset as it was likely karma coming for her ass but still. The dude had abs and drove a Porsche. She had every right to mourn.
Tossing the half eaten bag of cotton candy in the trash can, she lumbered towards the Ferris wheel. She’d already purchased two tickets for one of her favorite rides ever and now she was going to look completely pathetic going stag not once, but twice. A familiar face passed by the line she was standing in and a bright smile spread across her face. She had the chance to force someone to keep her company and she was going to jump at it. “Hey!” she shouted in their direction, waving frantically at them until they finally approached her. “Come on the Ferris wheel with me? I was stood up and I am way too extroverted to spend time flying solo, especially on a festival ride.”
You can bet your ass Eliana was only at this silly festival thing for the food trucks. Sure they were overpriced, but they did the most amazing loaded nachos she’d ever tasted in her life. It was surely okay to treat yourself sometimes, right? Anyway, she’d got her nachos and she was ready to beeline it outta this place. That was, until she heard a familiar voice calling out. She turned on her heel and spotted the source of the sound. She furrowed her brow and approached the girl who she was starting to think of as a friend.
When she explained why she was there, Eli kinda felt bad for her. “Who’s stupid enough to stand you up? Their loss,” she tutted. “Alright, I guess I can come on the ferris wheel. I hope it doesn't go too fast though, I’ve got a belly full of nachos.” she patted her tummy.
Bianca was half a slice deep when her newer coworker, Eli, asked if she could take the open stool next to her. With a mouthful of New York’s finest cheese pizza, she murmured “Oh my god, of course,” while she pulled her purse and jacket from the stool and placed it in her lap. Bianca wiped her mouth with a crumpled napkin and gestured to the space next to her. “I usually throw my shit on the seat next to me if anyone follows me from work and tries to hang. That of course doesn’t apply to coworkers, though,” she smiled. Eli was new in town though already on Bianca’s good side. She knew how to make a sick cocktail and never scammed her on the alcohol content. She was also just straight up adorable which made Bianca feel warm towards her. “Rough night though, right? The bar looked slammed every time I was on the floor.”
Eli propped her board up against the window and offered the girl a smile, “thanks, B.” She plopped down on the seat once it was free of Bianca’s belongings and wasted no time in digging into her slice of pepperoni. “If anybody follows you here, they’re weird as fuck.” she shrugged. She didn’t really put it past the guys who came to Sapphire, though. Some of them were okay, but most of them were just a bit too sleazy for her liking. She wondered how many of them probably had a wife and kids at home. She had to commend Bianca for dealing with them up on that stage.
At the mention of the night they’d just survived, she groaned. “Awful.” she shook her head. “We were understaffed, too. Someone didn’t show up because of food poising and it was too last minute dot com to get anybody to cover him. Not a fan. You killed it up there tonight, though.” And she was being genuine about that. Eli could dance at like, a party, but she could never do was Bianca did. She preferred to blend into the background, playing the music that made performers look and sound so amazing.
Brittany cut off her squeak immediately, embarrassed that she’d been caught so off guard.
“Did you see a rat?” she asked, before realizing that question is probably not a great first impression. She was sure this rat was a friendly one, but knew convincing others of this could be difficult.
“Fuck, sorry. Hi. I was just taking a walk and I thought I heard something,” she said, appraising the girl in front of her. “I’m Brittany.”
She thought the other girl looked vaguely familiar, though it was one of those feelings that could just as easily be false as it was true. Some people had presences that came across to Brittany as familiar when really she had no reason to think so. Friends often teased her about this over the years, so she never verbalizes these thoughts anymore.
Eli raised her eyebrow, a rat? They were in NYC, rats probably had a bigger population than humans in this city. Plus they were literally by a load of trash. “I didn’t see a rat, no. But I’m sure there’s some scattering about here. Why, did you lose a rat?”
She dropped her cigarette to the ground and stumped it out with her foot before picking it up and throwing it in the dumpster she was stood by. She wasn’t into littering. “Hi, Brittany. Bit late for a walk, isn’t it?”
She was only teasing really. She knew that this was the city that never slept. People would be around all night long, and she was one of them. But Brittany seemed like a sweet, if not a bit strange, girl and she knew that there were some not so sweet people out at night. The scuffle where she worked just proved that.
Cooper looked across at her and nodded briefly. “Here,” he took out his wallet and handed her his business card. “I’d give you my number in a less formal way but I don’t think my brain could recite a sequence of numbers accurately in this state,” he murmured with a faint smile. What she was saying spoke to him deeply. “Yeah.. yeah I know.. it’s an escape. Always has been.”
A hand on his shoulder was an unfamiliar comfort. “Thanks,” he croaked, not entirely sure what to say. Looking at his phone, he shot a quick message back before sighing softly. His mind wouldn’t settle but she had offered some peace.
“Eli… like the prophet?” the actor smirked softly as he recalled the name from all the times his mother dragged him to church on Sunday. “I will say I prefer Coop,” the man smiled with amusement. “Do you wanna walk back?” he offered. “I can go with you so far if you don’t want me knowing your address. I just- I’d probably wander around for another half an hour anyway, at least I can see you home.”
Eli took the business card and chuckled, “so fancy that you have these, I probably would have attempted to scrawl my number on a napkin or something”. She placed the card in the side pocket of her bag and zipped it so it wouldn’t get lost. “If you’re lucky, I’ll drop you a message so you can have my number too. I’d do it now but, phone’s dead.” she shrugged. She hadn’t been home in about seventeen hours afterall.
“Eli like short for Eliana.” she explained. Nobody ever used her full name. She didn’t hate it but Eli just seemed to fit her better. “I don’t think my mom was ever particularly into the scriptures.” she tried to joke, but her mind flickered once again, to her mother. More guilt. “Okay, Coop.”
The offer to walk her back was sweet, but she grimaced thinking of the slightly rougher side of town that she lived on. It was all she could really afford for now. Plus he looked very well put together. “Well... I have got my ride.” she indicated towards the brightly colored skateboard that was propped up against the window. “Tell you what, you can walk me a couple blocks. I probably live the opposite way to you anyway.”
“Warm, definitely. I don’t do cold. Massachusetts winters and I didn’t really mix. Los Angeles sun and I did,” he mused over the memories in his head. “It’s funny how I ended up closer to home than I originally planned. I get that.”
Cooper listened to her as he let her talk. He hung his head slightly before nodding. “Yeah I know people in that industry,” he spoke vaguely. “More the record label and producers side of the world but I can find out about any auditions for orchestra members or accompanists,” he offered quietly. “Piano- that’s my favourite. I do others too but there’s something elegant about a piano and how it sounds, how your fingers dance over the keys in patterns.”
The nerves were practically radiating off him as he held the empty cup in his hand and focused on that. He had fallen down a path, he had to be incredibly careful what he said now. Not for him but for the little boy across country.
Nodding softly, he tapped the cup on the surface his arms rested on. “Yeah, they’re in LA,” he murmured under his breath. “I can’t see him for a while and it’s never fun knowing they’re that little, they don’t understand why they feel like that and they get upset that it can’t be fixed quickly. I-.. I’m sorry,” he gave a weak smile. “It’s late. Something about late nights and no sleep brings melancholy.”
After a moment he straightened up. “I’m Cooper, I never- yeah. Feel like considering I’ve forced you to listen to me ramble that you are owed a name.” Most of the time when in public he gave people his middle name, James. Yet there was some unspoken trust in her that set his mind at ease.
Eliana’s heart fluttered at just the thought of maybe getting to do music. She wondered how he knew all these people. Well, she supposed if you hung around in the right places and said the right things you got to know the right people. “Th-that would be really good.” she stammered, actually a little take aback. It wasn’t often - it wasn’t ever really - that anybody offered to do something nice like that for her. “Yeah, piano was the first thing I picked up. I can’t say I have a favorite though... as long as I’m playing music, I feel peace, you know?”
She let her mind wander away, just for a moment, to a tiny human with curly brunette wisps of hair and big brown eyes. Her daughter. Could she even call her that? She didn’t even know where she was or how she was feeling. She shook it off quickly. There was no point dwelling, right? “He’ll be okay, kids are resilient.” she offered with a hand on his shoulder and a tired smile. Maybe she was telling herself that too. She wasn’t sure anymore.
Honestly, Eli hadn’t even realised how long they’d been sat there chatting away without even knowing each other’s names. It was weird because she felt pretty comfortable talking to this guy, maybe the first time she’d felt like she could properly talk to someone since moving to New York. “It’s nice to meet you, Cooper. Don’t worry about the rambling. It’s nice to talk to someone, for such a big city it sure can get lonely... I’m Eli by the way.”
Cooper cracked a smile at her comment and looked down sheepishly. “Appreciated,” he responded before his smile softened a little. It wasn’t often he let his true dorky side out.
Tilting his head as he weighed up the options in his head. “I’d say the bar gig is slightly better, not a lot but just slightly,” he murmured before glancing back at her. “Maine? I grew up in Boston until I was fourteen, then I moved to Ohio. It’s dull as anything there, I hated every moment,” he smiled to himself. “Wasn’t four years before I ran off to Los Angeles. We’re sort of state neighbours, well… we’re on the same neighbourhood at least,” he joked lightly.
“I don’t think that’s silly, I mean- I-” Cooper hesitated as he played with the paper cup in his hands, spinning it in circles between his fingers. “I like music too, playing piano is probably my favourite past time,” he admitted. “You ever applied to any jobs? Is that a dumb question? I just know some people get scared to even try because they’re afraid of failing,” he explained. “I can ask around and see if there’s any work going- what is it you play?” he interrupted himself.
Brown eyes flicked across before he recognised she had observed him. His phone lighting up once more. His throat felt tight and nerves crawled up from the pit of his stomach. It was killing him inside. He just wanted to explode, the worry was getting to him and he was doing all he could to not drive to the airport. “My best friend’s kid isn’t well,” he confessed. He’d taken up the offer of talking about it that was extended several minutes ago, the one he’d avoided. “He’s a good little guy and he’s- it’s dumb. It’s just a fever but still, it’s… it sucks.”
She nodded in recognition. She hated every moment of growing up in Maine. “LA? I bet that was nice... warm.” she hummed. “Yeah, I guess so. It’s funny because, in retrospect, I didn’t exactly move that far away at all. Yet I feel worlds away from where I grew up, y’know?”
The last of her coffee was now gone, so she really had nothing to distract her. The sun was starting to peek out from above the concrete jungle she now called home. She was a bit embarrassed to admit that she just didn’t have a clue of how to even break into the business or where to find jobs. It wasn’t like a normal job, where you just ask around or hand in a resume. “Uh - I haven’t applied for anything yet. I’ve only been in the city for a couple months, I’ve just been trying to settle I guess.” she shrugged. “I play piano too, as well as guitar and violin... would you really be able to ask around like that? You must have some connections?” she raised a brow.
Even the mention of a child made Eli’s tummy flip. She’d attempted to steer clear of anything to do with children or babies because her heart couldn’t handle it. This was why she ran away to the city, to escape it all. She offered him a weak smile, “it’s not dumb, you must really care about him? I’m sure your best friend has him all looked after, though. Are they back in LA?”
First of all, nobody calls her Eliana. It’s Eli (ee - ly).
She was born and raised near the harbor side town of Rockland, Maine. Life didn’t really deal her the most ideal deck of cards. She lived in a trailer park with a mother who hardly knew what day of the week it was and didn’t even know who her father was. Her older brother ran away from home when he was thirteen, leaving her to try and carry the weight of their mother when she was only nine.
Of course, she fell into the trap of misunderstood teen who gets into the wrong crowds. By time she was thirteen, she’d be hanging out all night with high schoolers who’d fallen down the wrong path. She would miss school. She’d get into fights. She felt lost. The only time she really felt alive was when she’d sneak into her school’s choir room when nobody was around and play around with whatever instruments she could find.
She would sit for hours, reading books on technique for different instruments, listening to songs and trying her best to play them by ear, reading music theory books so she’d understand the black markings in the music book.
As the years went by, she became pretty damn good at it. She was extremely apt in piano, guitar and violin. Not that she ever showed it to anybody. But she dreamed of getting out of that half ass town as soon as she could and studying music properly, maybe somewhere like Julliard. She’d heard of that fancy school in New York.
Thing is, kids like her hardly ever got the chance. High school came and went, Eli continued hanging out with the now grown ups who never left to make anything of themselves. They hung around day in, day out getting drunk and getting high. She joined them, trying desperately to escape from her reality. She’d wanted to apply for schools, to get out of there, but her mother needed her to look after her and who was she kidding?
She worked at a tiny diner near the trailer park during the day, checked on her mother, went out gallivanting at night, checked on her mother, repeat. And of course, she messed around with men. She did it to escape - get so hammered she couldn’t remember her name and end up screwing some guy twice her age in his car.
Her world came crashing down when all this came back to bite her in the ass. Twenty years old, pregnant. She couldn’t look after a baby. She was already struggling to cope with her mother and herself, much less a child. She didn’t even know who the father was. But then she thought, this could be a reason to change?
Seven months after finding out, her baby girl entered the world. She was going to give it a go. Her girl deserved the mom she never got. She named her Amelia. For two months, she struggled. Her mom was worse than ever, not adjusting well to the new addition. Worse than that, her mom was out of control. She could never leave the baby and her mom alone, not even to pee. But she needed to work to earn money. It was all piling on top of her and it all came to head one day. She was so exhausted that she’d fallen asleep, just for twenty minutes or so. When she woke up, both her mom and baby were gone.
Of course she panicked. Her mom wasn’t even lucid and her baby was helpless. She ran, fast as she can to find them. She looked everywhere. She eventually found them, by the harbor. They were both freezing. It was the scariest moment of her life. She never, ever wanted to feel that way again.
In the morning, she rang social services about Amelia. She explained everything - how her mother was a danger to the child and how she couldn’t even support them. She wanted Amelia to have a good home and a better life than she could ever give her. The same day, her baby was gone. It broke her heart.
She tried to carry on... started working at the diner again. But nothing was the same. Everywhere she went, she was reminded of Amelia. The guilt consumed her. She was drowning with the responsibility of her mother too. One day, finally, she snapped. Her mother was out of control and needed to be somewhere where she would receive the proper care that she needed. She had her admitted to a psychiatric ward and gave up their trailer in order to pay for the first few months of bills and to get her out of that damn town.
Flash forward, she’s been in New York for about two months now. She works a shitty bar job and is trying her hand at finally pursuing her gift in music. She rents a room and sends whatever she’s got left to pay for her mother’s care. It’s still a shit show of a life, but it feels better than anything she’s done before.
“Not as much as Captain America though, I may tear up if we discuss how they robbed him in that ending… sorry, passionate Marvel fanboy,” he confessed with his hands up.
Cooper looked across at her as he listened. “I did that for a while in Los Angeles. Used a fake ID to get a job working behind the bar. When they found out, they got me cleaning glasses,” he huffed softly. “Eighteen is a tough age to get a job,” he spoke with a small smile.
“One of those faces,” he quickly inputted.
Taking a sip of his tea, he watched his phone light up with another text message and ran his hand through his hair out of a nervous habit. Tapping the top of the device, he was lost in his head for a split second before looking across at her. “What’s the dream?” he asked softly.
She raised a brow at this grown ass man, having a full on Marvel moment. She supposed it was sweet, to be passionate. “I can tell, but don’t worry, your secret is safe with me”. she smirked, tapping her nose.
Her pizza was long gone now, and Eli was just nursing a lukewarm coffee. “Well, I’m can confirm I’m of age to be working behind the bar. Growing up in Maine, I worked in this shitty diner. Like middle of nowhere. And honestly I was a shit waitress, but I think the woman who owned it took pity on me,” she remembered before shaking her head. “I don’t know what’s worse, constantly smelling of grease from working in a diner or constantly smelling of booze from working in a bar.”
Eli’s eyes studied him, just slightly, as he interacted with his phone and seemed to go somewhere else for just a moment. Someone must really have wanted to get through to him, she thought. Still, it wasn’t really her place to pry. “Uh, music.” she admitted, sheepishly. Maybe it was just a pipe dream but she was here to make it happen. Thing is she hardly knew where to start. “I don’t wanna like, be a star or anything. That’s not me. But you know, play in orchestras and shit? Or play for rehearsals and auditions, that’d be cool. I dunno, it’s silly.”
At the comment, a small smirk crossed his lips for just a second before it fell into a questioning look. “Do you think you can get me some ice for that burn?” he teased lightly before shaking his head. “I’ve been skateboarding since I was twelve, I have the skills, the curb just.. caught me off guard,” he defended his pride and played with the wooden stirrer in his cup of tea.
His attention went back to the window he was facing before he could feel the gaze on him. The question left his shoulders tense as he clenched his jaw a little and shifted uncomfortably.
“Sort of,” he shrugged softly. “I’m struggling to come to terms with the death of Tony Stark, that scene still haunts me a year on,” he joked lightly. Humour was often a great disguise.
“Late night?” he asked indicating her bag as it told him she’d been somewhere. It was actually a refreshing welcome not to be recognised straight of the bat. With his name in the music industry growing and his recent title character in a Disney+ main title, it was becoming hard to blend into the background. A casual conversation in a pizzeria was a welcome sense of normality.
Eli chuckled, rolling her eyes at the man trying to protect his pride. “Suuuuure, I hear those curbs come out of nowhere these days.” she teased, settling into her early morning, not at all nutritious sort of dinner, sort of breakfast. She also noticed the tensing of the shoulders, the use of comedy to hide what was really going on. It was something she knew too well. She decided not to press. After all, she didn’t really know this guy. Did she? Well, he seemed familiar. Maybe he just had one of those faces. “I get it. Iron Man was a big part of all of our lives.” she nodded, playing along to spare him from whatever the deeper problem was, for now.
The girl shrugged, pointlessly stirring her coffee. “Always a late night. I work at a bar.” she explained. “Not exactly living the dream but it pays the bills.. just”. She took a big gulp of the coffee and let out a sigh. “I probably come here and waste my tips on pizza and coffee at a stupid hour at least three times a week. Can’t say I’ve seen you in here before though, even though you do feel vaguely familiar. You must have one of those faces.”
Cooper looked up from his phone as he dragged his hand down his face and met eyes with the owner of the voice. Taking a moment to register her words, he nodded quickly in response. “Sure,” he murmured softly.
Late nights were a deadly friend to the actor. One that he’d learnt to walk hand in hand with. His head was constantly teeming with thoughts that ruled his body. No amount of restless turning or staring at the ceiling ever cured it, so Cooper often walked the streets to cope. Something about the crisp air and the lack of people was welcoming. Those who were awake at that time were like-minded.
His son was sick. It was something that tormented him from the other side of the country. He knew his ex had a lot to deal with when their boy was under the weather and Cooper wanted to drop everything and go help. Yet.. he couldn’t. Cooper had responsibilities, filming schedules, commitments. Work was too important and he could just cancel on that. It messed with his priorities and his mind liked to play on that. It was a dangerous game when your mind worked against you rather than with you. Although it was a game he was familiar with.
Brown eyes dropped to skateboard tucked under her arm. “Sweet deck,” he murmured softly. “Got one in my apartment, though I ate pavement two weeks ago and its made me a little more reliant on my legs for a while.”
Eli took a moment to actually look at the guy she’d asked to sit next to. He looked a bit rough, like something was going on behind the scenes. But then she guessed everybody had shit to deal with, didn’t they? She certainly did. “Thanks.” she uttered with a half smile before gingerly placing her pizza and coffee down on the counter and dropping her bag on the floor underneath it.
She noticed his eyes drop to her board. Nobody was ever really surprised to see that was her mode of transport. She was generally a little bit of a tomboy, scruffy around the edges. It made sense. Her board was one of her prized possessions and also one of the few things that came with her when she moved to the city. “Sounds like you just don’t have the skills I do” she smirked, almost chuckling at the thought of him falling off his own board. But she didn’t laugh, she knew that hurt like a bitch. She propped the board up against the window and took a seat, eyes settling on the man beside her once again.
She knew that New Yorkers were not typically the type to converse with strangers all the time, but the guy looked like he could use the company. “Rough night?” she asked through a mouthful of pepperoni.
