" it was only a matter of time, " giuliana laughs with a slight shrug. " eventually people are going to come knocking when money's involved. i'm sure it might happen, ames. they both deserve to rot in hell. " her brow lifts when her cousin defends junior suites, and lets out a quiet laugh. " i guess you're right, especially if you're staying at the four seasons or trilith guesthouse. " giuliana didn't go south of atlanta very often, but when she did, she was staying somewhere of means. giuliana plucks up another strawberry slice and chews thoughtfully, sinking her teeth into her lower lip. conversation with her cousin flows easily while watching the other woman prepare their plates, and brushes a loose tendril of hair from her braid behind her ear. " oh god, i completely forgot about wife swap. those ladies used to lose their minds over someone letting their kids watch a little television when they get home from school. " natascha lets out a soft laugh while straightening her posture and thanking amara for the food. " looks delicious, " she compliments while picking up her fork. she laughs, poking her fork into her food while she settles in her seat and mulls over her question for a moment. " i don't know, i tend to run a strict program. " maybe not so much during her younger years, but it explains why she's single now. " and i guess it'd depend on our husbands, you know ? i mean, i'm not seeing anyone seriously, but i think it'd be a major turn off if they didn't. plus, no one should ever be putting up with you. either they love you or they can go to hell. "
⎯⎯ " okay to be fair , i couldn't expect your husband to do anything more than just put up with me if we had to swap places for two weeks ⸺ i don't know if i'd be able to fill shoes as big as the ones you'd leave , " had always looked up to guiliana in more ways than one , an admiration that most would find hard not to embrace when growing up with someone like her by their side . place is set on the chair next to where the other was sitting , another bottle of red uncorked and therefore conveniently left no choice but for the two of them to finish as much of it as they could before the night was over . " does not seeing anyone seriously mean you're seeing someone . . . unseriously ? " can't help herself from prodding , ever nosey and always with the least amount of shame , especially when it came love lives that had nothing to do with her own . " ooh wait ⸺ let me guess . . . " there's a pause as prongs stab into rigatoni , waving hot pasta around in the air in front of her as if that were at all going to help her think . " did you finally let that barista from d & h have your number ? and don't pretend like you don't know what i'm talking about because every time we go and he's there you never pay for your drink , " could say amara was a little jealous , concept of pretty privilege wasn't lost on either of them but guiliana always seemed to reap the benefits more often . " oh ! did you meet someone at the wedding ? " she says , then a gasp , dramatic as ever , a giggle slipping past her lips , " was it you love shack that night ? i thought i saw you slip out early , " teases , bite of pasta taken between her teeth .
glass of wine is finished, settling delicate glassware on the island with a soft push. she hums while reaching over into her purse that's resting nearby. " well, i'll say the bad words for you. he's an ass, ames. what he did to you wasn't fair and i know you know that. " this isn't the first conversation she's had like this— the eldest of three, helping her siblings through heartbreaks and friendship breakups that nearly tore them in two. arched brow lifts when she hears the giggle that escapes amara, but she won't press her on it. at least, not right now. hand finally grasps dior compact mirror and butter mochi eadem lip balm. " no one ever goes to those meetings so i'm surprised the amount of people came that did. didn't the goldman kids come out too ? i'm surprised they showed their faces after their dad was arrested for fraud. " she casually applies lip balm while she drops random knowledge. she had a thing for researching financial crimes once settled in bed. giuliana shrugs with a hum. " villa in bora bora, you say ? sounds much better than a junior suite at the marriott. " a laugh spills then, and she reaches to refill her wine glass, reaching for a strawberry slice from the charcuterie board on the island. " god, that'd be classic television, wouldn't it ? you know, i'm shocked no one here has made it onto real housewives yet. maybe forever will be the first one, but she might get reemed for not living in atlanta like the ladies of potomac. "
⎯⎯ " oh my god he finally got arrested ? maybe him and he who shall not be named will be cellmates and rot in prison together forever , " despite her previous sentiment , there would always be one ex she knew she would never be able to resist taking a dig at ⸺ but in her defense , at least he deserved it . " hey , don't knock those junior suites until you try them . if we're talking value for money i can proudly say that room is top of the line , " means it too , would've been a lie to say she hadn't treated herself to a staycation or two in one of those , a little home away from home never hurt anybody . words from giuliana are listened to while carbonara is spooned out of the pot and arranged in a more appetizing display on a dish amara still isn't sure qualifies more as a plate or a bowl . " oh please , the ladies of potomac would probably be terrified after spending a week down here but that would be such a good crossover episode . . . like wife swap but ten times worse , " portion of food is walked over and sat in front of other femme , only then going back to the pot to make a serving of her own . " do you think you could ever do that ? like , if you and i had our own husbands and then we had to switch for a week do you think yours would be able to put up with me ? "
STATUS : open for anyone ! ( 1 / 5 ).
TIME : 1:30pm.
LOCATION : briar bend courthouse square.
olivia pouts. " i thought you said you were coming to help me. " hands are filled with two woven tote bags, both holding an unnecessary amount of books. she sets the totes down on a nearby bench and releases an exerted breath while her brows knit. " you know, help me get these bags back to my car— " thumb points behind her in the opposite direction. " which is over there, by the way. " olivia's nose crinkles. " where are we going, anyway ? will i be able to get a sugar cookie ? "
⎯⎯ " i am helping you . . . we're just taking a little detour on the way , " the last thing these two needed were more things to add to what felt like an endlessly growing collection of things to carry , her own shoulders weighed down by a backpack stuffed full of newspapers and magazines the nearby library was eager to get off of their hands . " we'll get you that sugar cookie , babe , don't worry ⸺ i just wanted to stop at that music shop a few stores down , they're running a spring cleaning sale and they have a coldplay cd i wanted to grab my dad for his birthday . . . it's a worthy cause , i swear . "
⎯⎯ " i don't mean to sound dramatic , but i think the jetlag might actually kill me this time 'round , " the end of a long two weeks in europe couldn't come fast enough , what was supposed to be a quick pop in to visit some family in london quickly snowballed into an impromptu vacation that somehow felt more like an intervention that couldn't be named . " i was only meant to be gone a week but my dad basically fucking kidnapped me and drug me around the circumference of tenerife , " sun kissed skin is evidence enough of that , soft laugh pushing past her lips as fingers dig through ysl leather , plucking a paper wrapped souvenir shot glass from within and sliding in across the table . " picked this up for you on the way out , though ⸺ thought maybe we could christen it tonight ? i need a night out . . . a proper night out , " she coaxes , eyes softening to a pleading look , " come on , you know you want to . " ( accepting )
if something here piques your interest , or you just want to plot in general , please feel free to message me ! i am always ( and i really mean always ) down to brainstorm and flesh anything out ᢉ𐭩
── 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗲𝘀
ex fiance : he was meant to be her prince charming , a high school sweetheart that , if you asked her years ago , she was sure would be her first and only love . the two were practically inseparable throughout the entirety of their relationship until something changed , a harbored secret from his side of the relationship driving a wedge between them that snapped the red string of fate she'd led herself to believe was connecting them . for this plot , i'm hoping for him to have hidden something from her that's less along the lines of adultery and more along the lines of . . . embezzlement due to one financial issue or another ( thinking very much the o.c. jimmy cooper type if you're familiar ) . . . but definitely open to any other ideas ! so long as there was something to happen that caused the cold cut off instead of just them drifting apart or a lack of love between them . note : amara is from newport beach , ca , so her ex fiance would have to be from somewhere in that area !
half sibling(s) : lots of people underestimate what good ( or even dirty ) money can buy , and a private detective is definitely a lot lower on people's lists than it should be . this person would be a half sibling of amara's on either of her biological parent's side to which she is currently unaware of just how deep their relationship goes . maybe your muse knows , and went out of their way to get close to her to see if they really hold any resemblance to one another or maybe they're both blissfully unaware but at some point the secret will come out , and they'll all be forced to face the truth .
sibling(s) : amara and your muse were adopted into the rhodes family at any point in their life . the family is very tight knit , headed by their two fathers , everett and joshua rhodes , who adopted all of their children either from the foster care system or through independent agencies . amara is the youngest of three and still has a very close relationship to at least one ( but hopefully both ) of her siblings , all of which moved to briar bend independently of each other yet the first to arrive still likes to claim that the other two followed them there . the story of how your muse came to be a part of their family is completely up to you , but please feel free to reach out to discuss any details as i hope to build this family collaboratively and make sure all of the siblings have their place in the family dynamic ! ( 1 / 2 emine rhodes , also on the main )
⌗ miscellaneous
family friends , cousins ( would have to be at least half black or half white ) , best friend(s) , confidants , fellow night owls , those she runs into regularly around town either on her morning run or during her daily cafe visit , clients from her event planning business , perhaps a business partner / investors that helped get her business off the ground ( especially upon the move ) , friends with benefits ( former ) , flings ( former ) , someone who knows of the affair and of amara's existence for one reason or another . genuinely seriously anything and everything , always happy to brainstorm too if these ideas don't sit right in your heart
── 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗻 - 𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁
call me back : this muse and aria are estranged to say the least , an old friend that aria has been waiting to re-enter her life after an abrupt dismissal with just as little explanation as there was a goodbye . maybe aria and this muse were once best friends , attached at the hip ( either while she was in london or after she moved to briar ) and for one reason or another the two lost touch despite the fact that your muse promised they’d stick together no matter what . aria tried her hand at repairing the relationship but there were so many missed calls unreturned and letters unopened that aria decided it was best to move on , despite the fact that she never stopped wondering where they were and when they would come back .
sugar talking : a relationship that had more money thrown at it than emotion . this muse and aria embarked on a brief pr relationship because it would’ve been beneficial for their public images for one reason or another . staged dinners , meaningless gifts , perfectly placed instagram posts and yet their relationship still remained hollow . aria didn’t want it all to be fake , tried to put in a genuine effort to try to get things to be more than surface level , and maybe they even did , but there was always that lingering feeling that everything was forced and calculated that made any authentic attempt at feelings feel tainted .
sweet serotonin : these two only ever see each other when they’re not their natural selves . whether it’s a consistent and solely drunk hookup or a friend that only comes around to enable aria into one bad decision after another , aria and this muse always seem to gravitate towards each other when there’s something in their system ⸺ and perhaps they’re too scared to find out how they’d act when there’s not .
loud : a hook up gone awry , aria and this muse found each other hard and fast , physical chemistry sent through the roof so high that they skipped the friends and went straight to benefits . how things went wrong is completely flexible , could be a classic case of ghosting or maybe cold feet once nights started to tip toe into a territory that dared to take them beyond what they had in bed .
friends / roommates from college : while she was at columbia aria spent waayyyy too much time in her apartment which likely meant that she and her roommate(s) were probably pretty close ! i’d love to see a little bestie dynamic that’s like even though they don’t live together now they basically still do because they’re at each other’s places or hanging out all the time . her friends from college don’t necessarily have to be people she met in college , if your muse was in new york around that time they easily could’ve met at clubs or parties or just by chance .
pub crawl guests : this one’s pretty obvious , but i’d love to see some guests she’s had on her show ⸺ i’ve been picturing the show to be a little bit like chicken shop date / day drinking where it’s kind of flirty but at the same time it’s just her being witty and nosey and kind of prying into everyone’s business but like in a fun way . would love to conjure up some viral moments between our muses too !
close family friends : i don’t know why but i just feel like rich families like always have that one other rich family that they always go on vacation with and celebrate holidays with and the two families are basically like one . i think this could be great since aria’s an only child and it’d be really nice for her to have someone that has been that constant in her life so much so that she doesn’t really feel like she’s been left out of the whole sibling thing because she already has one .
exes : i have a couple of ideas for this , i think aria’s had at least one or two serious , publicized relationships throughout her life ⸺ one that ended on better terms than the other . i would personally love to see someone who kind of used aria as a pr stunt , maybe they were one of the more flirtatious guests on pub crawl and their relationship blossomed into what she thought was something more but it turns out they just wanted that virality to promote a project or something along those lines ? and then i also think it could be kind of cute to have like a college sweetheart type of deal ? maybe they dated while she was in her last years of school and for a while after and literally everyone was like convinced they were gonna get married so when they broke up it was kinda like . . . is love even real ? but honestly i’m kind of down for anything when it comes to ex plots , so i’m also happy to brainstorm !
spinning out waiting for you to pull me in . i can see you're lonely down there , don't you know that i am right here ? [ . . . ] an introduction to aria eden - west , the information obsessed .
── 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
ꕥ ‧₊˚ ⋆ ( cis woman, she / her , magazine editor ) ⸺ spotted drifting through briar bend lately is aria eden - west , the twenty-nine year old aries. they're kind of the type that tends to linger a little too long in conversations at dust & honey cafe. if you ask around town, someone will tell you they always order their dirty chai tea latte , wear a stack of custom made rings in mixed metals across her fingers , and carry themselves like the information obsessed — though whether that confidence is earned or carefully rehearsed depends entirely on who you ask. their friends insist they’re more headstrong than avoidant , but critics around briar bend have a different story, usually involving sticking her nose into business that it doesn't belong in . of course, in a town where family names are older than most of the buildings and everyone knows exactly which gates lead to which estate, people tend to keep their secrets tucked away where no one can find them. unfortunately for aria , the whispers circling their name lately seem to suggest she has , on multiple occasions , been caught drunkenly skinny dipping mesquite lake , once getting arrested for it but they let her go — and when the thorn starts circling, it usually means those whispers are about to get a lot louder.
── 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀
full name : aria catherine eden - west birthday : april eighteenth birthplace : london , england age : twenty-nine occupation : magazine editor & show host , height : five feet , eight inches scent : dolce & gabbana light blue education : dual bachelor's degree in film and media studies & creative writing from columbia university , master of science in journalism from columbia university parents : elena eden - west ( mother , ceo & creative director of weston co . jewelry ) & thomas eden - west ( father , chef & restaurant owner )
── 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
personality : patient , passionate , adaptable ( mostly ) , loyal , headstrong , tactful , grounded , observant , charismatic , sometimes passive aggressive , perfectionist , avoidant , obsessive , competitive goals / desires : to build a name for herself , to elevate celine to stand with publications like vogue , grow the palate podcast into a future talk show , find a love like her parents’ , build a family of her own fears : being consumed by work , disappointing her family , slipping through the cracks , forgetting to be human , losing her joy hobbies : collecting teas , writing fiction , cinephile tendencies , jewel case cd collecting , cooking for loved ones , junk journaling habits : rubbing her eyes , picking off her nail polish , devices always on light mode , typing a stream of consciousness then editing later , humming when it’s too quiet
── 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘀
has been living in briar bend ever since she was about 14 , her parents moved here after her dad got an offer to work at the bend's first michelin star rated restaurant before opening his own .
a girl that has one of those bags that's always overflowing with stuff , genuinely like mary poppins anything you need she has in her bag
almost the entirety of her mother's side of the family has roots in the u.s. , but because aria's father is english , they lived in the uk for a large chunk of aria's life and only returned just before aria started high school which has left her with an accent she fights incredibly hard to keep .
celine ( her magazine ) is headquartered in new york so she's often traveling there for work but chooses to continue living in the bend because if she allows herself to get too immersed in her work it becomes quicksand she can never pull herself out of . she also owns a studio space in atlanta where she films pub crawl when it's in season .
── 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
you grow up with the world at your fingertips . everything you want is given to you before you have to so much as ask . it’s the typical life that’s afforded to a child like you , educated in the nation’s best private schools ⸺ it’s comfortable , you’re comfortable , but why does that make you feel so guilty ?
technically the first “ true “ nepotism baby in your family considering that your mother didn’t get to reap the benefits of weston co.’s success until she was well in her 40s and your father built his entire career from the ground up . not that you’re complaining , people would kill for this life and you know that you’re lucky to live it . you don’t resent it , in fact you cherish it , but you can’t help from asking yourself one thing : what have you done to deserve this ? a question both you and the tabloids seem to keep asking .
as you grow up , you realize that while your parents find their joy in creating , you find yours in learning . all throughout school , you spend your time with your nose happily buried in a book , not so much so that they were all that you had but enough to where no matter where you were, you couldn’t wait to go home and read a chapter or two before bed , flipping pages in the dark no matter how many times your doctor warned you against it . you find yourself drawn to your studies , craving the somewhat stuffy smell of the library and the validation that made it impossible to wipe the smile from your face when yet another assignment made its way back to you with near perfect marks . you excelled at every subject , but writing was always where you found yourself returning the most . the only one ever excited to be assigned a paper on any given day , you love getting lost in the process of research , in the art of discovery and the relief that comes in finding what you’re looking for .
you want more out of life , as grateful as you are for your parent’s support you feel terrible taking it from them — is it true what everyone says ? would you really be nothing without your family name ? going to college feels like the only way to get away from it all , to silence that voice in your head that tells you the only thing you’ll ever have to show for yourself is a company you don’t even really own . you go to columbia , but not without scrutiny . impossible not to overhear the whispers of your peers that swear they have you pieced together , that are completely certain your family’s name ( or perhaps their generous donation ) is the only reason you’ve made it this far . they put a chip on your shoulder , and it’s only up to you to figure out how to get it off .
it’s not until your senior year that you find the thing that would eventually become your life’s purpose . céline was meant to be nothing more than your final project , a theoretical magazine complete with three articles on art , entertainment and current events that was supposed to be for your professor's eyes only . but you’ve never found yourself working so hard at something in your life , not only determined to make your final project your best one yet but actually interested in the process at hand . you found yourself excited to go home to write and research , so many nights spent watching the sun rise while you fooled around indesign tweaking the smallest details until they sat just right on the page .
you’re not quite ready to own a company yet , the thought of inheriting the one that’s had your name signed on it sign the day you were born still sometimes makes you feel sick , so you’ll have to find another way to turn this into something more sustainable for the person you are right now .
you reach out to a couple of friends who reach out to a couple of friends and before you know it you’re being asked to pitch an idea for a youtube series , one that puts a new edge on the predictable world of celebrity interviews — and thus , pub crawl is born . it’s probably not the best idea , inviting celebrities for a day of recorded and publicized drinking all while asking them questions about their lives and careers , but maybe that’s exactly the point . pub crawl becomes an instant success , rising to viral fame after tom holland came to the show and completely spoiled the upcoming avengers movie after he’d gotten tripped up by one of your tricky questions .
it’s been a hit ever since , each season only growing bigger and bigger until you find yourself being invited to interview celebrities at the red carpet of some of entertainment’s biggest events . people love you , they find your interviewing insightful yet playful , flirtatious yet elegant , captivating in every way as is obvious by the millions of views garnered by your interviews at the grammy’s , oscars and of course , the met gala .
you get three seasons deep into pub crawl before you realize that though hosting this show makes you happy , it doesn’t make you feel complete . sure , it’s fun picking your guests' brains about their most recent projects but it doesn’t feel like enough . you want to talk about what’s really going on in the world , about art , history , fashion , design , and give voice to the people who do it best . so , céline is pulled back out from the depths of your google drive , a dream you’re now determined to make into a reality especially now that you have all of the resources to do it on your own . for the next year , any time that isn’t spent filming pub crawl is dedicated to turning cèline into the publication it’s meant to be , gathering a team of writers , editors and designers to make certain that it lives up to the potential you’ve always known it had .
it’s been four years since its official launch , and while most of the reception has been positive you definitely won’t be winning a pulitzer any time soon . the critics sound like a broken record , dubbing céline as yet another passion project by an out of touch product of nepotism funded by money that was never yours in the first place . you’re tired of feeling like you have to prove yourself to people , trying to make them see that your worth is in more than just who you are, but what you can do — so , you stop trying to .
romy's eyes widened in disbelief. though, really, if she were to meditate on it for more than a fleeting moment, she'd have to admit that she'd encountered many a man who'd probably get agitated at the prospect of making any sort of minor decision. they'd see it as beneath them, a waste of time. little did they know that all of the power was in the small decisions, the subtleties. at least 'big daddy'—a moniker romy had always both detested and found delightfully amusing—differed there. maybe he and his bride would prove all the nay-sayers wrong. she hoped so.
"not really," the blonde admitted, gaze shifting over the scene like an animal scanning a landscape, "i've never really been in the bend long enough to catch many weddings." or birthdays, anniversaries, grand openings and final closings. it was like, every time she left and came back, the game that was briar bend had been reloaded with a software update. "as much as i'd love to. like i said, very shakespearean." romy took another small sip from her glass. "but you probably see this sort of thing every other day, right? where does this land in comparison to all of those?" the woman opposite her seemed to have it all together, not to mention she was beautiful. romy could only imagine that, if she could handle this with mostly ease, everything else was a bit of a breeze.
⎯⎯ " i guess you could say that . . . but it's also my job to see these things every other day so i feel like it doesn't really count , " can't remember the last time she'd be anywhere in this town as simply a guest , hard to imagine walking into in an environment like this without some sense of responsibility following her like a shadow she wished she could get rid of . " this is definitely one of the more . . . um , eclectic weddings i've planned i guess i'll say ⸺ i don't really know how else to describe it other than a very uniquely once in a lifetime experience , " nods , a soft laugh pushing past her lips . " but i will say it's engagement season and a lot of people in their circle seem to be a little bent on one - upping this so i figure these will only get more interesting as the year goes on , " thought of it brings on a small sense of dread , reminders of a calendar already booked through the rest of the year . " did you just move here then ? i mean , if you haven't been to very many of these then surely you haven't been in the bend for too long , huh ? "
open starter ft, frankie stevens (accepting)
location, the saddleback diner
"i missed my flight so i guess you're stuck with me for a few more hours ." sing-songs a loose syllable , tucked beneath some champagne she had earlier that morning . after the wedding , she figured briar was in need of some cleansing and she was desperate to run before things bound her there longer than she wanted to be .. or maybe , just maybe , subconsciously , she woke up late with a hangover on purpose . didn't feel like getting dressed until ten minutes before she was supposed to leave , "i haven't been avoiding you ."
⎯⎯ " sure , ms. runaway barbie , " laugh pushes past freshly glossed lips as bag is once more shoved into her corner of the booth , a fry plucked from frankie's plate . " i know you weren't , you couldn't if you wanted to ⸺ i live right next to you , remember ? " knowing smile is flashed across the table , eyes shifting only to cut deeper into her syrup soaked waffle before taking another bite . " where are we off to now ? y'know maybe next time you jet away i'll shove myself in your suitcase as a surprise . . . i think after that wedding i need to disappear for a very long time , and preferably somewhere with a beach and a giant cocktail . "
this was breaking every rule in the book, but cooper had stopped caring about rules a long time ago. the cigarette hung loose from the corner of his mouth as he reached in, plucking the lighter from her hand without asking. “fuckass shrimp,” he muttered under his breath, striking the flame and catching the tip of the menthol. a sharp inhale followed, smoke filling his lungs. he exhaled slow, eyes dragging over her in a way that was more tired than anything else. “should be takin’ your arse home, love,” he drawled, voice roughened by smoke and whatever was still buzzing under his skin. “past your bedtime n’all.” rich, coming from him.
he was the reason the bar behind them looked like it had been hit by a storm. chairs knocked over, voices still raised inside, someone shouting about calling the police. cooper stood in the aftermath of it like it was just another tuesday night. the cut at his temple said otherwise. it was a nasty one — split skin, blood slipping slow down the side of his face, catching along his jaw. he dragged the sleeve of his jacket across it, smearing it more than anything, jaw tightening when it stung. “fuckin’ hell,” he hissed, wincing, shoulders rolling once like he could shake it off. his gaze flicked past her then, toward the parking lot, landing on the ford f-150 sitting under a flickering light.
“yeah,” he muttered, more to himself than her. “home.”
⎯⎯ " excuse you , " scoffs as lighter is stolen from her hands without so much as a warning , still felt like a surprise every time he made a movement that seemed more sudden than quietly calculated . " oh come on , coop ⸺ don't be so lame , " words are groaned as head is thrown back with a hefty sigh , hard to not sometimes feel like she was back to being a teenager again , grumpy old man bossing her around as if she couldn't fend for herself . at least this one was getting paid to do it ." oh fuck off , " she says , teasing , resisting the urge to swat at his forearm in lieu of the damage she'd already caused him tonight .
makes her lips twist to see him wince like that , entirely her fault to begin with ⸺ always had an aptitude for catching the eye of the spur's sleaziest patrons who never knew quite when to stop . but cooper was there to protect her , he always was , cleaning up messes that half the time she wasn't even aware she was making . she waits until he's distracted with his own cigarette before pulling a wet wipe out of her back pocket , had to make sure he wasn't paying enough attention to insist that he'd be fine before she presses it to the cut for a moment , using the other side to swipe dried blood from his skin . " okay well maybe if you didn't wipe your disease infested jacket on it , it wouldn't hurt this bad , " she says , holding the damp wipe to his cut to help stop the bleeding . gaze catches his shifting towards his truck and she can already feel a knot tangling in her stomach . couldn't stand the thought of going back there right now , surrounded by nothing but the torturous echo of her own thoughts and constant glimpses of a part of her family she never really felt she knew . " don't make me go home , i hate it there ⸺ even with helena that house is too fucking quiet at night . . . it freaks me out , " ⸺ " please ? "
olivia has to strain her ears to hear her friend and gently scratches the back of her neck. " i have more of a hate - hate relationship with this place. " delicate fingers grasp sugar rimmed plastic cup, poorly mixed margarita half finished. brows knit upon seeing novelty item pulled from bag. " is that a shrimp ? " olivia downs the rest of the sticky drink before tossing the cup into a nearby trash can. " sounds like we're going to saddleback ? " adjusts prada shoulder bag while linking her arm with charlie's. " we go for food and maybe cedar room after ? "
⎯⎯ " lie all you want , livie . . . if you hated this place so much you'd have dragged me out of here a long time ago , " and they both know its true , most nights out usually brought to their end by a not-so-subtle tug of charlie's hand yanked her in the opposite direction of whatever trouble she was about to find herself getting into . " of course it's a shrimp , babe , what else would it be ? " says it like it shouldn't have been a cause for question , letting the end of her cigarette catch the light before novelty is shoved back to the depths of her purse . " fuck , yes , i love the cedar room ⸺ drinks are way overpriced but the gossip usually makes up for the service charge , " an arm is slung around olivia's shoulders as they walked , one of the few people charlie felt comfortable clinging to in every sense of the word . " saddleback's just down the road , isn't it ? should we split a stack of pancakes like usual ? " thoughts of barbecue have long left her mind , a drag taken , ash dusted onto the sidewalk nearby . " i honestly fucking hate these things but i couldn't find my vape anywhere ⸺ i was flipping my house upside down like my mom when she loses the remote . . . maybe i have a problem . "
𝞋𝞎 ˖ ⊹ the furrow in beau's brow eases the moment she’s close , like the tension has somewhere to go that isn’t clawing its way out of him. her scent reaches him first — warm , soft , something sweet and familiar that settles low in his chest and lingers there. it steadies him in a way nothing else quite can. his hand finds her waist without thinking , fingers curling just enough to draw her in , like he’s grounding himself in her. there’s no hesitation when he leans in — just a quiet certainty — his head tilting as his lips meet hers , slow at first , then firmer , more certain. like he’s claiming something he’s already decided is his.
“mmm …” the sound is low , almost indulgent , felt more than heard as he lingers there , catching the taste of her gloss , letting it sit on his tongue like he’s committing it to memory. his thumb shifts slightly against her side , absentminded but deliberate , like he’s aware of every inch of her under his hand. he pulls back just enough to look at her, not far — never far — his gaze dropping to her lips before dragging back up , darker now , heavier with intent. “think i might be in the mood for somethin’ sweeter ,” he murmurs , voice roughened at the edges , the words brushing against her mouth more than spoken outright.
⎯⎯ it's second nature to find her place between his legs , drawn close enough that it feels impossible to resist what feels like an invitation for a seat on his lap . " miss me ? " words are muttered against him , taste of coffee and a morning's worth of stress melted between their lips ⸺ all the answer to that question she needed . hands find themselves holding to either side of his face , like the only way to hold something that precious was to let it sit in the palm of her hands . funny to think that she still gets nervous when he looks at her , can feel the pigment in her face shift to something deeper as eyes search her with a look she could only compare to hunger . " you gonna let me spoil your appetite ? " words trail , liberty taken of sitting down atop his pressed slacks , his face pulled impossibly closer to hers as lips are caught once more , just barely pulling away enough to move her thumb to swipe her gloss from the corner of his mouth . " if we don't eat soon i'm gonna leave something on your neck you can't cover up with that collar , " teases , letting kiss after kiss trail across his skin , edges of his jaw littered with evidence of her presence .
⎯⎯ " excuse me , mr. langford ? " words are accompanied by two soft knocks on a cracked door , head peeking through what little space she could manage to get it through . " i'm here for that lunch meeting . . . about the gala ? " there wasn't a meeting , there never was , an audible smile not helping the fact that she was almost sure beau's assistant was onto them in some capacity . she lets herself slip in , door and it's blinds shut , bag full of their lunch cautiously rested atop of a conference table along with her purse , slow steps crossing over to behind beau's desk . " come on , counselor , " she starts , arms slid around his shoulders from behind his chair , a kiss pressed to his cheek . " you're due for a break , i brought us some lunch ⸺ " another kiss , close enough to his ear to whisper , " . . . and that pie you like from saddleback . " ( @cocosugars )
cooper let out a quiet huff at that, something almost like a laugh but rougher around the edges, smoke slipping from his mouth as he leaned his shoulder back against the stone. “yeah,” he muttered, glancing out over the dark stretch of the grounds instead of at her. “been told that once or twice. not usually as a compliment.”
his gaze drifted back after a second, softer this time — or as soft as he ever got. there was a flicker of something there, brief, buried quick. he knew her. not well enough to claim anything, but enough that it settled differently in his chest than most people did. “not every girl cries,” he said after a beat, voice lower now, less sharp. “some just… don’t make a show of it.” a shrug followed, one shoulder lifting like he didn’t care as much as he did. “or they’ve already done all their cryin’ before they get there.”
he took another drag, slower this time, buying himself a second before answering the rest. “work,” he said simply at first, like that should be enough. then his mouth twitched, faintly annoyed at himself for even continuing. “no prior connection. just got handed the job and told not to piss him off.”
a pause. “didn’t go great, for the record.” his tone stayed dry, but there was something almost amused under it — like he knew exactly how ridiculous the whole thing sounded. at the mention of boredom, he glanced back at her properly, brow lifting just a fraction. “you get used to it,” he said. “quiet’s part of it. means nothin’s gone wrong.” another beat, then, quieter — more honest than he probably meant to be:
“besides… not the worst gig.” his eyes flicked away again, jaw tightening just slightly before he added, almost as an afterthought — “she’s alright.” not elaborated. not explained. just left there, stubborn. because whatever the hell was going on between forever and silas quill — whatever choices she’d made, whatever life she’d stepped into — cooper wasn’t about to stand there and pick it apart. he tapped ash over the railing, voice dropping back into something steadier, familiar.
“end of the day,” he said, “he’s givin’ her a life most people’d kill for.” a small shrug. “not really my place to judge what she does with it.”
⎯⎯ feels almost impossible to not let her eyebrows furrow . everything about this situation feels ominous in a way she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to try and figure out . skin of her cheeks finds itself warmed as eyes turn to her direction , suddenly feels so seen , so exposed in a way she couldn't put her finger on . " i can imagine , " she sighs , cooper seemed like the type of man that was much less malleable than silas quill preferred . rough around the edges , curt , one of the few people she's met that don't seem to beat around to bush even when it comes to the small things . it was refreshing . eyes break contact just as his do , back to staring blankly into the a field so lush and green that if she didn't know any better , she'd think it was endless .
" that's a sentiment i think a lot of people in that building lack when it comes to them , " head shakes , heart tugged the more she thinks about it . " he is giving her the golden ticket though , if you think about it , a name like quill in a place like this ? i think that's why so many people have something to say . . . status like that almost always comes at a price , " a tale as old as time ⸺ when money was barely an object , most things came as a cost you couldn't see . " i do hope they're happy though , they've already made it farther than half the people in that room , matter of fact i'm sure most of those women inside gawking at her are either already on their second marriage or using this reception as a real life tinder to market themselves into someone's trust fund , " huffs , eyes finding the other again in a panic . " god , please don't tell anyone i said that . . . "
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