auckland

22 || lounge singer

[jessiebelieves]

selfosslac·:

Haukur smiled watching her take a sip “ thanks, im so happy with how my career is going so far. I was a bit worried about messing up when my father passed, like my head wouldnt be in the game ya know and i would loose opportunities, but then i just thought bout how proud he would have been and how this was something he had always wanted for me, to live my dreams” he said a sad tone in his voice but a smile on his face. “ thats awesome, yeah i bet its weird being away from home but youll get used to it” he thought out loud “ me? i just finished my second shift, so far so good and im from a town not too far away so i mean, yeah i like my home town but thats where i grew up, everything i know is there so that dosnt really count” 

Jessie smiled, letting the man speak as she listened. “I’m, um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she said softly. “It’s been getting easier as it goes on,” she said, “the people here have been cool so far.” Jessie had never been particularly good at making friends, but she'd already collected a few acquaintances at the hotel. She took another sip as he spoke, replying, “Oh, you’re from here?”

[jessiebelieves]

ofcologne·:

Logan frowned at the expression on her face. He was observant. It helped when he was so quiet. It made him focus on people rather than be distracted by his own talking. If he wasn’t wrong, she was in pain. “Are you… okay?” he asked quietly before the answer comes from her. “Ah, leg problems. Welcome to the club, I guess.” Someone else was not having a good day with their own leg, as well. He didn’t know what to reply to her joke. “Well… when the leg’s being a bitch, it doesn’t actually care,” he replied with a straight expression on his face.

Jessie bit her lip, willing the throbbing to cease. “Oh-” she said softly, realizing that this mean that he’d had leg problems as well. “It’s kind of a shit club to be in,” she replied. He didn’t seem very interested in speaking with her, which made sense considering she’d just thrown herself at his table in a cheap bet to get a seat, but she found herself interested in the man who’d possibly had a similar experience to her. “Thanks for letting me sit with you for a minute. I’m Auckland,” she said, reaching her hand out for a handshake.

[jessiebelieves]

phoenix-hqs·:

“Do you ever like, get propositioned from the guests?” Phoenix stood there, crossing his arms, and resting a shoulder into the wall as he considered the other. “And I mean serious offers, too. They’ll give you whatever you want for a fragment of your time and attention… Anyone do that before?” The male’s eyes wandered to meet the lounge singer’s. “And if they haven’t… Would you take someone up if they did?” There were things on his mind, that’s all. And he wanted to speak with someone without actually shedding light onto his own situation here. A hypothetical was safe ground– nobody could say he admitted to anything because these were for-instances and not confessions. @jessiebelieves·

Jessie nearly choked on her water. Of course she’d be in the middle of taking a sip when Phoenix asked this ridiculous question. She met his eyes, smiling teasingly and replied, “Why? You asking?” she winked. Joking aside, she took a second to think. “I mean I’ve gotten like, hit on, but not a serious proposition,” she said. “I guess... I mean as long as you like feel safe with them and you’re not doing anything illegal or dangerous? Like go for it, dude,” she shrugged. As long as people weren’t hurting each other, she thought, it was ok with her. “But if you’re uncomfortable or something like- I mean if you need anything-” she knew she hadn’t known the man for long, but she was nothing if not loyal. “You know where to find me.”

[jessiebelieves]

tibbyelliot·:

“i only get two or three, depending on how long i’m working, so… i try not to take too many. and if i save ‘em up, i try to guilt my boss into letting them add up to a really long break.” she chuckled, shrugging and taking another sip from her drink. “you didn’t answer my question, you feelin’ alright?” she leaned on the bar, her face closer to jessie’s as she tried to check her eyes for anything.

Jessie nodded. “Makes sense,” she replied before taking another sip of her drink. When the girl asked about her, she smiled softly, looking down into her glass. “Yeah, just tired, I guess. Long day.” Taking another sip, she looked up– directly into the girl’s eyes as her face came closer than Jessie had expected, and replied. “But-” she grinned. “This drink is definitely what I needed. So, thank you.” 

[jessiebelieves]

tibbyelliot·:

“you alright, babe? usually i’m the only one all zoned out.” she said softly, reaching out to adjust the strap on jessie’s shoulder before starting to pour the drink for her. “i’m makin’ myself one, too. my last break was, like… an hour and a half ago.” she poured drinks for them at the same time, passing jessie hers once it was done and adding a splash of cranberry juice in her own. “cheers.” she mumbled before taking a long sip and setting the glass down.

Jessie zoned in, eyes following the bartender’s hand as she reached out to fix her dress. “Oh- I- thanks,” she said, her skin hot where the girl’s fingers had brushed. Jessie put her hand over the strap, toying with it, and took the drink gratefully. She took a sip and set it down on the bar, grateful to have the cold liquid running down her throat to jolt her back to the present. “Why haven’t you taken a break earlier?”

[jessiebelieves]

tibbyelliot·:

it’d been a long night, but tibby wanted to make a decent amount of money before heading back to her room and she didn’t care if she had to listen to a thousand stories in order to do that. “wait, i’m sorry, what’d you want to drink? i’ve been making margaritas all night and that muscle memory shit is absolutely true, i’m tempted to make you one, too.”

Jessie was staring into space ahead of her, exhausted from her sets during dinnertime. The strap of her dress was hanging slightly off of her shoulder, her hair was falling in loose waves after taking it out of her braid, and her eye makeup was slightly smudged beneath her lashes. She blinked, sitting up and looking at the bartender. “Oh, I- Sorry, I was totally zoned out for a sec- Can I get a vodka soda please?”

[jessiebelieves]

@aucklandsings: look out tonight for a new song, guests ;)

[jessiebelieves]

sleepless, caffeine-filled nights

[jessiebelieves]

ghxstown·:

   “….oh dear,” denver sighed, watching in concern as his sudden arrival appeared to cause more trouble than he may be worth. he grabbed another handful of napkins, extending them, unsure if he was supposed to help soak up the mess… or if that would be crossing a line. he held back, just to be safe. “i’m so sorry - that, that was not supposed to happen… do you want a pair of my sweats? they may be… baggy, but - i couldn’t fall asleep. music wasn’t cutting it.” 

Jessie took the napkins from him, standing shakily to mop up the spill that had fallen onto the seat. “It’s ok, it happens, sorry I got so freaked out,” she said, her cheeks tinged pink in embarrassment. Auckland had always been easily frightened by loud noises, which, in her previous profession, made her alert and full of adrenaline in dangerous situations. Now, it just made her, well, damp. “I mean I don’t want to inconvenience you, but that would actually be great if you could, Den,” she smiled gratefully up at him. At first she’d been annoyed when she realized that there was another person at the hotel who was up at all hours of the night as well, but she was beginning to not mind so much as she got to know him. 

[jessiebelieves]

sleepless, caffeine-filled nights

[jessiebelieves]

ghxstown·:

   he’d never seen someone else in the lobby - not at this hour, at least. then again, denver didn’t make it a full habit to go wandering about, or even make too friendly with the other guests. he was there for work, and he tried to keep it that way… but sometimes, he slipped. like now. clearing his throat, kaden continued his trek towards coffee, pouring his hot cut and leaning against the counter, shooting her a smile. “up so late yet again, auckland?” 

Jessie’s eyes shot open and she startled in her chair, spilling coffee onto her lap. “Shit- ow-” She cried, sitting up straight in the chair as the thankfully not-too scalding liquid dripped out of her cup. Realizing it was Denver, she sighed. “Denver! You scared the shit out of me,” she whined, grabbing napkins from the counter to begin mopping herself up. Thankfully the leggings she was wearing were black, but now they’d carry with them the strong smell of coffee for the rest of the night. “Why are you even up?” she looked up at the man and asked, blotting her lap, taking care to work around her sore leg.

[jessiebelieves]

dublvns·:

“i was about to say, you don’t sound like a… kiwi? that’s what they call themselves, i think? but then my experience is from watching tv so who knows?” paddy pondered on that for a second, before shaking his head. “not important. ah yeah, i know that feeling. it feels so unnatural to introduce myself as dublin. i’d be a shite spy, i reckon.” at the question, he wondered how much to tell. he usually danced around it, not that he had a deep dark secret, but he turned it into a joke mostly, wanting to change the subject. “what, you think i have a big secret?” he joked. “nah, i was being too much of a hermit after… after someone close to me passed. me mum and dad shipped me off to clear me head a bit.”

Jessie laughed. “No, I’m from- Are we permitted to say? I guess the accent makes it pretty obvious, but I’m from the U.S.” She mock-whispered it to him. “Don’t tell anyone,” she winked. Maybe she should try putting on an accent for her shows – that could be fun. “No secret, just- is interesting hearing about all the ways people have come together here.” Her smile faded at his words. “Oh, I’m- sorry, um, sorry for your loss.” She felt like she had to offer something to him in return – she’d forgotten that sometimes, people were real and offered the truth in return to the question. “I, um, I got hurt and now can’t really do what I love, so- I’m here doing my second love and a shit ton of physical therapy for the time being.” No specifics, but enough to let him know that he wasn’t alone, hopefully.

[jessiebelieves]

bvdapests·:

“it takes a bit, the codenames, you know?” saskia said with a laugh. “it takes a bit of getting used to. but it does mean you theoretically can reinvent yourself, if only for a night.” her eyes slipped down to jessie’s hands, graceful fingers making patterns on the watery glass. “oh you know, just people forgetting that manners exist. nothing too terrible, or out of the ordinary, i’m afraid.” she laughed off the compliment, feeling her cheeks go hot. “they’ll see it was me and definitely not believe you described me as pretty.”

Jessie smiled. “Yeah, I’ve almost outed myself like a million times in the last week with my real name,” she laughed. Each time, her heart skipped a beat for a moment, although even if someone knew, would it really change anything? She wondered. “That’s rough, though. I know the feeling.” Looking up, she met the girl’s eyes which were- wow. Very pretty. “I’m sorry people were shitty to you. I haven’t known you long, but I can tell you didn’t deserve it.” This boost of confidence was due to- what? Her drinking? Her exhaustion? The girl across from her that made her heart skip a beat, as if she’d forgotten her code name? Jessie grinned back. “Well, I’m convinced.”

[jessiebelieves]

dublvns·:

“ya welcome,” paddy smiled in response, pushing his own seat back a little so he could face her a little better. “oh i don’t know about that, ya seem pretty cool to me.” he reached out to take her hand, flashing her another friendly smile. “auckland, ooh, like new zealand? haven’t made it there yet. i’m… dublin. sorry, still getting used to introducing myself like that.”

Jessie smiled, settling into the chair. “Yeah, like New Zealand. I haven’t made it there either, but it’s always been a dream of mine.” For different reasons before her injury than after, but he didn’t need to know that. She laughed. “I know, me too- I swear, I’ve almost given my real name out a million times. Nice to meet you, Dublin. What brings you to the hotel?” She knew some people wouldn’t answer that question. She knew others had fake answers prepared. She knew, still others like herself, who fumbled over the question, giving just enough away but holding just enough back that the listener knew it wasn’t the whole truth. 

[jessiebelieves]

bvdapests·:

“you’re welcome, thank you for keeping me company,” saskia returned. she rested her chin on her hand, facing the woman as she spoke. “you look like you fit right in, darlin’,” she smiled, shrugging a little. she remembered that feeling though, when she first showed up at du lac, trying to remember what name was going by here. “it won’t be long before you feel more at ease. depending on how long you stay, i think.” she paused to take a sip of her drink. “oh, you know when you have a day where everything that can go wrong does go wrong? that was me today. i couldn’t get anything right.”

Jessie smiled, biting her lip at the nickname. “I hope so. Thanks, though.” She accepted her drink from the bartender and took a sip before setting it down, her fingers tracing the condensation on the glass. “Do you want to talk about it?” She asked the girl, knowing the kind of day she meant. “I mean, even if you talked shit about someone, who could I tell? I’d just say some pretty girl at the bar told me so- they’d never believe me,” she grinned teasingly.

[michaela-westallen]

/a damn coffee

[jessiebelieves]

nairobi-keen·:

at this point nairobi was just done with this whole conversation. a worker having another worker’s back was cute but this was just beyond the line. way too much. “is it hotel policy that workers invade guests conversations and try to correct their behavior?”, she calmly asked as stood up to leave the place, holding her coffee. “hun, i really hope that you are not talking about compassion around workers to a black lawyer. i know a thing or two about how the system works and guess what? it’s different for both of us”, rolling her eyes this whole interaction wasn’t well thought in both parts, but adelola would make sure the other knew why her end was mistaken. “also compassion is good, but maybe you should think about strategy too. you have made this situations bigger than it needed, tangled two workers not only one and now i have a legal reason to complain about you both to your superiors. but, different of you, i really care about this woman’s job and won’t do it. next time you think you’re putting someone’s morning back on track just wait a second and think about. you might be making it worst”, tapping at the other’s shoulder, she starters to walk away, really not having any of this at all.

Jessie took a deep breath. She knew this was a lost cause, that it wasn’t worth getting upset about, that she would have to deal with about a million more stuck-up guests in her tenure at the hotel. Jessie bit her lip when the woman talked about the “system.” Though not in the same way, Jessie had felt its effects when she couldn’t continue in her work because of her injury and subsequent disability. Her cheeks pinked as she grew embarrassed- she used to be the one who saved the day, who came speeding in with the answer to the problem, and now it seemed like she was just causing more. Putting the top on her coffee cup, she took a breath in and let it go slowly. “Ok,” she said, pasting a smile onto her face. “You have a good day, ma’am.” She walked away, coffee cup in hand, with uneven steps, favoring her bad leg.

[jessiebelieves]

selfosslac·:

“ Yeah i guess you will, i got more of late shifts, as in dinner time so yeah we will be seeing each other bunch i bet” he chuckled with a smile “ handball is amazing, it really is. Yeah, i play for my boyhood teams in the big leagues now, and i´m on the national team bot the youth and the older actually” he said with the most genuine smile. He always lit up when talking and thinking about handball “ A month thats awesome. i just started” he admitted. “ do you like it here?”

Jessie returned his warm smile. She could see how much he liked handball when he started to talk about it. “Wow, that sounds really cool!” Screwing open the top of her water bottle, she took a sip. “Yeah, it’s been ok so far. Weird to be so far from home, but I think the people have been cool so far. How do you like it?”

[jessiebelieves]

ofcologne·:

Logan’s eyes shifted down to the singer’s hand as she gripped the empty chair nearby. He didn’t know if she was dizzy, although that was his immediate thought, but she didn’t look dizzy. She was singing normally up there and she came down to ask him. He looked back up at her as she asked him. “No, I’m alone,” he answered, keeping a straight face. He usually ate his dinners alone, anyway. He frowned at her request. It was odd and he didn’t understand why she was asking. “Um, sure, go ahead.” He’d see what she needed.

Jessie sat down quickly, hand moving towards her knee and soothing her throbbing leg. “Thanks,” she bit out, clearly in pain. She sat in silence for a moment while she tried to regain the composure she would need to continue the show after her break. “Sorry to intrude on you, I just needed to sit, um, my leg is-” She breathed in sharply as it throbbed again. “Not the best.” Not one to overshare with strangers, and in fact considering herself to already be sharing too much, her face pinked up. “I, um, usually don’t throw myself at cute guests like this,” she said, trying to make the whole unwelcome situation into a joke.

[jessiebelieves]

dublvns·:

“oh yeah?” he wiggled his eyebrows before laughing, he couldn’t hold the suggestive look for too long. not one to miss much, his eyes swept over her as she shifted her weight from one to the other, and he nudged the chair across from him with his foot, pushing it out towards her. “i am, and if you’re going to sing post malone just for me, i guess you better sit and prove you know the words,” he teased.

Jessie laughed along with him, but noticed him noticing her. “Thank you,” she smiled softly in thanks and took a seat next to him. “Honestly,” she grinned, “I am definitely not cool enough to sing post malone- in public or private.” Sticking her hand out to the man, she met his eyes. “I’m Auckland,” she said, still foreign to introducing herself with her codename.