at the edge

leila hashem. 29. software developer. converting caffeine into source code.

[elfauno]

[leilahashem-blog]

carter-rose:

Carter praised herself for being able to speak to a stranger so easily, it gave her a small inkling of hope that things here wouldn’t be as bad as she thought they would be. “Oh for sure,” she agreed with the girl’s statement. “I’m glad I ran into you though - serves as a reminder for me to get my eyes checked soon,” she smirked playfully. “Oh don’t worry about it,” the brunette waved off Leila’s apology. “I’m Carter,” she offered. “It’s a busy street, probably not the best to walk down with impaired eyesight.”

Leila let out a relaxed laugh. “Well, I’m glad I could act as a reminder. Something good ought to come from me wandering around, desperate for someone to help me to cross the road.” She had cleared her schedule for the rest of the day, well aware trying to get any real coding done would most likely prove entirely unsuccessful. Better take it easy. “Carter. It’s good to meet you.” Leila nodded, thinking for a moment. “Let me buy you a coffee as a thank you. If you’re not terribly busy, that is.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

sashadaniiels:

“ It depends on what kind of dessert you’re looking for. If it’s light and fluffy, I have lemon cheesecake bars with blueberry sauce or red velvet sugar cookie bars with cream cheese icing. If it’s ice cream based you’re looking for there’s frozen strawberry shortcake with ice cream or chocolate cookie and salted caramel ice cream sandwiches. For a pie mood, there's butterscotch pudding pie, which is a specialty of mine… anything with butterscotch is a specialty of mine actually, and then there’s the High Tea menu if you want extra fun, the sky is the limit here really. ” 

Nodding along as the woman spoke, Leila let out a low whistle. “All of that sounds great,” she eventually commented, clearly impressed and beyond spoilt for choice. Suddenly the lackluster salad she’d had for her actual meal didn’t matter quite so much. Her gaze wandered for a moment as she struggled to decide what she actually wanted; the desire to order ten different desserts was pressing. “Butterscotch is your specialty? It would be rude not to try that, then. I think I’ll have to go with the pudding pie. It does sound fantastic.” 

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

[leilahashem-blog]

giselle-blackwood:

The fresh air ran its fingers through Giselle’s hair, sending the ends of it dancing in the wind. The sun was beating down and warming up her cool skin tone. She was set off to meet a few friends before she was locked up in her room for the rest of the night to do work. When she heard an unfamiliar voice speak to her, she turned her head, using her index finger to pull her sunglasses down and get a good look at the girl in front of her. Her brow quirked up higher on her face before she pushed her shades back up the bridge of her nose as she continued walking, only quicker this time. “Fine,” she replied. “But once I get to where I’m going, you’re on your own,” she informed the unknown girl.

Leila nodded. “Well, yes, that’s what I expected. I wouldn’t expect anyone to drop what they’re doing in order to help a stranger get around the city.” She knew where she was and was only concerned because the neighborhood happened to be on the busier side; meandering about with blurry vision seemed like a dangerous thing to do. Sure, she could be bit of a risk-taker at times, not always patient enough to consider what the safest thing to do was, but a line had to be drawn somewhere. “Thank you. Where I’m going is literally around the corner.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

13hale:

Tyler watched her cleaning off her shirt the reaction was a bit of a surprise as taking him a moment to comprehend what he’d done. “Right” He said followed by an almost mumbled apology if anyone could call it that. He grabbed a few more napkins from behind him and held them out to her not being used to apologizing. “Can I make this up to you?” He asked her somewhat feeling more bad he could say sorry then actually dropping the coffee

Leila didn’t say anything for a moment, too busy wiping off the coffee before it had the chance to cause any more damage. “No, it’s fine. At least it wasn’t hot.” It was a damn good thing she didn’t particularly care for the shirt she was wearing. It was one of those unnecessarily expensive business casual button-ups she must have received from her parents. “Happens to the best of us.”

[leilahashem-blog]

carter-rose:

“A-all right,” Carter smiled at the girl as they began walking. She tried to fall a step behind for the girl to lead them in the right direction. She took her time to absorb the surroundings, to try and remember where a few things were. She chuckled at the girl’s statement. “I know what that’s like,” she replied. “Those things are the worst.” She kept an eye out for any nearby coffee shops as she kept an ear out for the conversation she was currently in. “I switched to contacts a few years ago, but I can’t seem to get away from those drops.”

Glad she had found someone willing to help her navigate her way to the coffee shop, Leila relaxed considerably and cracked a friendly smile. “Right? I’ve had them every few years ever since I was twelve but they continue to be the absolute bane of my existence. Still important, though, getting your eyes checked.” Leila for one had the strained eye of someone who spent most of her time staring at computer screens. “I’m Leila, by the way. I don’t think I introduced myself before begging you to walk with me. Sorry about that.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

itsjustfvith:

She nodded with his head after listen the words of the girl. “Oh, that’s better, so we dont have to walk a lot” comment with joy in her voice “i feel you , it must be uncomfortable walking around and don’t see well”

Leila smiled, walking slowly and looking around as if making sure she was actually safe. “It is, very uncomfortable. I was going to ask a friend to come and get me but I somehow forgot. You should do that, have someone come and pick you up from after that sort of an examination.” She paused for a moment. “How are you doing, by the way?” 

[leilahashem-blog]

sawyer-craven:

“I don’t mean to bother ya,” Sawyer started, tapping the nearest person on the shoulder in the middle of the sidewalk. “There’s this thought I have in my head and it’s gonna drive me bonkers if I don’t let it out.” There was hardly anyone she knew in Portland, having moved here just months ago and she didn’t keep in touch with her old friends back in Texas. It was hard for her to contain her thoughts, especially when one was as heavy as this one. Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, she folded her arms across her chest. “I think most people remember the exact moment they realized they were grown up. Because of something said to them, or something they saw… Do you remember that moment?”

Leila hadn’t expect to be stopped by a complete stranger, let alone be questioned about something so, well, deep. “Okay,” she replied, mostly just confused. Apparently she was about to engage, then. Chewing the inside her cheek, she fell silent for a moment while trying to remember the first time she had felt like a complete grownup. “I’m not sure. I guess I don’t remember,” Leila eventually admitted. “It might have been the first time I said I was going to visit my parents’ for the holidays instead of saying I was going home.” That must have been it. “Do you have a distinct moment like that?” 

[leilahashem-blog]

isaiahkhoury:

Isaiah stood in line at the Starbucks between his apartment complex and school. He had projects to look over and grade for the next day, so he needed an after work caffeine fix to get him through it all. He stepped forward as the person in front of him moved the line closer to the counter and tapped his toe absentmindedly. The person at the counter was ordering multiple drinks, holding up the line a bit, so he turned to the person behind him. “Have you tried their new drinks yet? I hear the Matcha Lemonade and Hazelnut Mocha Macchiato are good.” 

Eyes glued to the screen of her phone, Leila hummed softly under her breath as she waited for her turn. She was in no real hurry and didn’t mind the wait since it allowed her to indulge in a bit of mindless Instagram scrolling. “Excuse me?” she replied, having realized she had been addressed by the person in front of her. “Oh, right, the new drinks. No, can’t say I have tried either of those things. I think my coffee preferences might be really boring.” She pocketed her phone, not wanting to appear rude. “And yourself?” 

[leilahashem-blog]

sashadaniiels:

Sasha pressed the M&M against the cold surface of the ice cream to complete the face and flashed a smile to the child who could barely see over the counter who clearly had tear stained cheeks. “ Look, Olaf the ice cream clown just for you, so lets see that smile and eat him before he melts, okay? ” the girl asked of the kid as she slid the bowl over the counter to them and watched as they nodded and accepted it happily before walking away happily to one of the booths. It wasn’t until she looked away from their direction that Sasha noticed someone watching her. “ Can I help you with something or? ” She asked with a raised brow as she brushed her hands against her apron from behind the counter.  

“Oh.” Shit. Had she been staring? “Yes, you can. Sorry about that,” she apologized after clearing her throat in the hopes it would make talking a little easier. “That kid reminded me of my nephew. Haven’t seen him in a while,” she explained truthfully, letting out a short laugh. Her twin brother and his family had recently moved abroad, meaning Leila didn’t get to see them nearly as much as she would have wanted. “Anyway, I came in for dessert. Is there anything you would really recommend?” 

[leilahashem-blog]

13hale:

“You’d think for the money we pay they could at least try not waste my time with professors canceling class” Tyler sipped his coffee talking to himself as he read over the email. He’d nearly finished his coffee before standing up and bumping into the person in front of him the lukewarm drink now on them and his own shoes. “Damn it” he cursed looking up at the person no sign him even considering an apology.

Leila pursed her lips together, struggling to hold onto the neutral look on her face. The coffee shop was full - apparently half of the neighborhood had been hit by a sudden need of caffeine - and she didn’t want to engage in a useless argument. Grabbing a clean napkin from the table next to her, she glanced at the young man. “Better pay attention to your surroundings. It’s very busy.”

[opal-aurora]

[leilahashem-blog]

opal-aurora:

“Quiet and reserved, interested in how and why things work. Excellent skills with mechanical things. Risk-takers who live for the moment. Usually interested in and talented at extreme sports. Uncomplicated in their desires. Loyal to their peers and to their internal value systems, but not overly concerned with respecting laws and rules if they get in the way of getting something done. Detached and analytical, they excel at finding solutions to practical problems.”

[leilahashem-blog]

itsjustfvith:

Faith was leaving his job when Leila talk to her. In her lips a smile was draw, and assent with his head. “Of course ill do it” express while taking the arm of the opposite “so, where it’s your house? maybe it’s in the same direction that mine” 

“Thank you, thank you,” she breathed out, beyond relieved. “I’m actually not going home. I need to meet up with someone at a coffee place. It’s just around the corner but I’m a bit worried I might bump into someone.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

rivercleary:

“Honest to goodness my gram is living a way better life than I ever could. I just picked her up from the hospital, do you know why? Because she broke a rib having a romp with her married boyfriend. I can only dream of being that cool at sixty-seven.”

“And she told you that? I mean, of course she did. People over a certain age can’t help themselves; they need to discuss their ailments and the reasons behind them. Anyway, your gram sounds like a living legend.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

carter-rose:

Carter stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. She had had a long day at the office and all she wanted was just to curl up in her bed. She had gotten a grasp on the route from her new home to the office, but if she was meant to go anywhere else, she would be out of luck. When the light finally changed, she let out a sigh of relief, but before she could make her way across, she heard a voice call out to her. “Walk with you?” the girl questioned shyly. “Well,” she glanced down the road. “I guess I could, but let me warn you,” she let out a small laugh. “I don’t know much about the area.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a weird thing to ask. I just think everyone would be better off if I didn’t wander into the traffic or do something equally dangerous.” Leila smiled briefly, incredibly grateful the young woman had proven to be decent about her request. Getting into an argument of some sort was the last thing she wanted. “That’s alright, I know where we are. The coffee place I need to get to isn’t far from here,” she explained and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think the doctor went a little bit overboard with his magic drops.” 

[leilahashem-blog]

“I should’ve brought the damn sunglasses,” Leila muttered as she made her way through a group of people she believed to be tourists; the dilating eye drops her doctor had used during the examination had left her vision blurry and her eyes light sensitive. She was well aware she should’ve asked someone to come and pick her up but somehow that had escaped her mind. And now, well, now she was in a situation where she couldn’t risk crossing the road. Spotting a face she hoped to be a friendly one, Leila stopped dead in her tracks. “Hi, excuse me. Do you think you could sort of walk with me for a bit? I know that’s a weird question but I just had an eye examination and I don’t see very well.”