Colby sighed and stared up at the decorations above her, letting out a quiet noise from the back of her throat. When people had begun to talk about this event she’d barely showed any enthusiasm but the more she thought about the event, the more she’d been intrigued by what Wilmington festivities had to offer. Wilmington festivities and gift giving. Not exactly an easy concept given her recent move to the city but Colby never backed down from a challenge. Not when the end goal of her challenge was a certain blonde who she thought she’d hit it off fairly well with. Not in a weird way but they’d talked quite easily. Not that it had really helped her to buy a gift. So instead she stiffened her back and made her way through the crowd of people who smiled and beamed with cheer. She wasn’t fond of really formal wear but she’d spent enough time in it for piano rehearsals and shows. Simple black dress with cuts at the sides of her waist still existed somewhere in the bottom of her makeshift wardrobe and she’d been thankful for it tonight. By the time she approached the blonde she’d been looking for she was already beginning to wish she had just got a dumb present and got on with it. “So…” She began, stepping around the woman to be in front of her. “Happy Holidays from….well….me.” Her lip twitched slightly. “I don’t really do gifts but what I can do is….you and me….dinner someplace nice. I’ll pay for all of it. As my gift….to you.” She paused and distracted herself briefly with a dancing couple nearby. “Or whatever. I’ll pay for you and someone else to go. it’s still the same gift essentially.”
@hollystarling
There weren’t many people Holly had hit it off with in North Carolina. Maybe it was her own strange foreign nervousness, or maybe it was a fear (no matter how baseless) that everyone had already formed this preconceived notion of her. Notions of a wayward girl who had somehow managed to be a wife and mother for years, then board a plane and leave without a second thought. Oh, let’s not leave out the ‘cleaning out their join account’, too. No, if there was such thing as a karmic system, Holly Starling was suffering from quite the deficit. So she hadn’t thought twice about entering into the Secret Santa drawing - except, she had somehow ignored the part where her name would be drawn in return. So when the familiar - and stunning - dark-haired girl approached, Holly offered her a smile that was surprisingly easy. After it was apparent that the girl didn’t know the strings that ensnared Holly so tightly, it was easy to be Holly. A girl who could laugh without feeling a tinge of guilt, and smile without somehow still wanting to cry. Colby had offered her a chance to be someone she missed - and she’d proved herself to be good company at an otherwise dismal job. The bartender couldn’t ask for more. A greeting was on her lips as the smaller girl spoke, but it gave way to a look of amused puzzlement. The offer surprised her - and brought on the resurgence on guilt. There was nothing wrong with a friendly dinner though, right? And when had she allowed everything in her life to feel so damn complicated? Silencing her ever-racing thoughts, she felt that smile widen - and hoped her hesitancy hadn’t been clear in her expression. “I’d love to.” She said, surprised at the ease of the words. "I feel like it’s fair to warn you... I’m... complicated. Not in the ‘no one understands me’ pity-party kind of way. It’s just... more of a tangled, spider-webby kind of mess. If you want an out, I’ll totally settle for a Stabucks gift card.” She added, voice taking on an airy lightness that only meant one thing for Holly - I’m giving you an out.
