“Thanks. It’s going to be better this time.” he said sheepishly before he made the drink again, this time trying to be more careful with how he prepared it. Alex was a good teacher, she did teach him very patiently. He was just terrible at this. He tentatively placed the new drink in front of her. “Verdict?” he said, taking a deep breath.
Ophelia smiled and nodded as she watched the other begin to prepare the new drink. She felt horrible, but she just couldn’t stomach the first drink. Of course with another smile, the new drink was placed in front of her. After taking a long sip, the new drink was definitely better than the first. “Much better. It’s okay to screw up sometimes, you should’ve seen me when I first started over at the Winchester.” She let out an embarrassed chuckle. “But no, yeah, this is great.”
Scarlette Loraine St. Cross was born the middle child of three siblings in the middle of Chicago, Illinois to a mother and pastor, Elena and Richard St. Cross.
Growing up, life was never easy for the siblings. Their father was secretly addicted to cocaine and their mother was an alcoholic. Scarlette and her younger brother, Marcus, were basically raised by their eldest sister, Kimberly, until it was time to go to college.
After Kimberly left was when things took a wrong turn. Now being the oldest sibling in the house at 17, Scarlette had to endure the neglect and abuse from her parents and their addictions. Eventually, their father was found out, being banned from the church and shunning the family.
Scarlette knew she had to get out of there, and so in the middle of the night she woke up her younger brother, and they both packed their bags and took off. Scarlette dropped her brother off at a relatives in southern Illinois, and the rest was up to her.
The young girl took off east, no set destination in mind. It felt like weeks when she finally found herself in South Carolina, driving straight into a small town called Wakefield.
Scarlette has been in Wakefield for five months, and soon landed the job as a librarian at the one and only Kirkman Library in town.
Nobody really knows what happened in her past, other than the fact she came from a religious family in Chicago.
Giselle’s eyes widened at the rabbit suggestion. She shot a rabbit once, well, a few times during hunting. Her father taught her how to use a gun, and so did her grandfather and uncles. They’d drag her on their hunting trips since they felt that it was a needed skill. Giselle knew that people kept rabbits as pets, it was a thing. As she nursed her drink she thought about it for a minute, “What if it gets bored? Poor thing, sitting in a cage all day until you get home. Get a fish. Fish don’t care.” She explained with a nonchalant wave of her hand. “Well, it sounds like we need to get you out of here and doing some activities.” Giselle said with a smile. “Tell me, what do you like to do?”
“What about a cat? Cats are easy. They’re kinda like fish, except I can cuddle them.” Ophelia chuckled a little, shaking her head. She’d always loved animals, so having one as a companion sounded nice to her. “I can harness train it and take it on runs with me.” A smile appeared at the sound of activities; it would be nice to burn off unwanted energy. “I’m a bit of a nature freak, admittedly. Anything to do with the outside.”
“Hell yeah,” Jaz replied, mustering up half of a smile. She wasn’t feeling loose enough yet to get as happy as she wanted, but she was starting to let herself relax. And why would she ever turn down a free drink? “It takes more than a drink for me to put out though.” She was more or less kidding, trying to lighten whatever mood cloud was hanging above her head. Nothing too much particularly was weighing her down, just a long week she needed to escape from.
Ophelia chuckled, taking another, slightly longer sip from her glass before gently setting it down. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but how about some fries, onion rings, and or mozzarella sticks along with those drinks? My treat, of course.”
“Hi sweetie!” Giselle said a little too saccharinely as she delicately placed herself on the barstool, tapping her fingers on the wood in front of her. “You want a dog? Dogs poop you know that? Cleaning up their shit can’t be fun, especially when its on your floor, Jesus fucking Christ.” She ran a hand through her hair and slumped over a bit, breaking her naturally perfect posture and her composure, she gave the young bartender a tiny smile before pushing a hundred dollar bill her way. “As much as this’ll get me in drinks and junk food. Its been….a day.” She vaguely explained, shutting her eyes for just a moment. “Nothing too strong though, I just need somethin’ to get me by, yanno? Gotta sober up enough to get home and sleep it off.” Ophelia was her favorite of the bartenders that worked here, hell Giselle even interviewed her and told her husband she was absolutely perfect for the job. She felt in her head that the two had a mutual understanding, maybe even a camaraderie of sorts. “Anyway, tell me somethin’ good. Whats got you at work so early?”
“What about like a rabbit or something?” Ophelia shrugged, smirking at the other. Giselle was one of her favourite customers, as it was always a joy to be in her presence. Eyeing the hundred, the blonde slipped it off the counter and right into the register. “You got it love.” Ophelia smiled and began making the girl’s first drink after entering in some food for her. Turning around slowly, drink in hand, she placed it on the table in front of Giselle, and then rested her elbow on the bar, chin resting in her palm. “I got bored. I took a run early, woke up early, did everything early today so might as well stick to it, right? Maybe they’ll let me off early.” She scoffed subtly, her voice almost dreary. “I feel like I have no life outside of work. Hence why I should get an animal.”
Carl sighed dramatically at her question. “Give me something to heal my broken heart, Oph.” he said, his chin resting on his palm and an expression of sadness on his features. Not that he was really sad. “Why are the pretty men always straight?”
Ophelia mimicked Carl, resting her chin in her palm as her elbow rested on the bar. “Oh, C, you poor thing. Comin’ right up.” the blonde cooed, before turning back around and making her friend his favourite drink. “I ask myself the same thing about girls. The prettiest are always straight. You’ll live though, I know you will.”
“You absolutely should!” Hugo said excitedly as he heard the other before taking out a bunch of flyers of Doggy Divine from his backpack. He quickly ordered his drink when she asked what he wanted before starting his lecture about animal adoption, which she probably had heard several times before. “I mean, when your shift is done I can totally take you down there and get you a puppy.” he finished, looking at her hopefully.
A bright smile appeared on Ophelia’s face at the sight of the flyers for Doggy Divine. “Do you just carry these with you or?” She couldn’t help but laugh as she carefully tucked the flyers into her back pocket and began making his drink, listening to his little speech which yes, she’s heard plenty of times before. “That’s amazing, hon, I’d love that.” She nodded slowly, focused on not spilling his drink as she set it down in front of him. “I get off in five, that cool?”
“Cheers to the freakin’ weekend.” She wasn’t usually off on the weekends, since they were prime real estate for appointments. But she needed a few days to herself and what better way to unwind than with a trip to the bar with a friend. She finished her first drink with just a few gulps. It burned beautifully going down her throat and she could feel it all the way to her stomach. Setting the empty on the bar, she nodded. “Keep ‘em coming until I’m so belligerent you have to kick me out.”
“Amen to that.” Ophelia mumbled, taking a swig of her glass. Feeling drained from work, she felt she needed some sort of release, and this was the best she could come up with on the spot. The burning sensation sent a warmth over the blonde, almost as she would describe a hug from a loved one. “Lemme buy you a drink, you look like you could use a little cheering up.” Ophelia chimed in, a smile on subtly rosy cheeks.
Ophelia had arrived to work early, humming along to the music quietly as she set everything up behind the bar. It boggled her mind knowing that just a year ago, she was nowhere near as lucky as she was since coming upon Wakefield. Her back turned, the young woman perked up a little, thinking on something. “I should get a dog...” She said quietly to herself before turning around, almost startled to see someone there. “What can I getcha, love?”
Open to: Everyone
When: Sunday morning
Where: Wakefield Pier
It probably had to be one of Jamie’s favourite places in town, the pier of Wakefield. It was often busy but on a Sunday morning like right now, even the pier was peaceful and quiet. She had walked down to the end of the pier and sat down on one of the benches there, listening to the waves and watching the sunny sky. It was cold but it was a beautiful late autumn day right now. Due to the sound of the waves and the wind, the blonde hadn’t expected the sudden noise that sounded from behind her and it made her sit up straight, her eyes wide and she looked at the person who had made the noise. “My God, I had not expected to see someone here at this time of the day.”
Ophelia had gone off for a morning run around Wakefield; it was a good way to really get to know the town. It was odd; she never would have imagined she’d have the life she does now, and after only a year being in town. Lost in thought, the blonde found herself at the pier, and coming to a walk, she made her way to the end. She’d noticed another figure sitting on a bench and tried her best to not startle the other to no succession. “Sorry, did I scare you? My bad. I was just on a run.”
Trigger Warnings: Spousal Abuse, Assault, Almost Murder, Ableism, Hints at Sexual Assault
Biography:
Ophelia grew up in a single parent home after her father caught her mother cheating on him with his best friend when she was at a young age.
After her parents split, she grew distant and almost reckless with her life, as they moved from place to place until they slowly became homeless.
Ophelia’s father soon found someone he called his girlfriend, Rebecca, but Ophelia didn’t seem to like her very much, but she couldn’t put her finger on it as to why.
After about six months of them seeing each other, she had offered Ophelia and her father to move in with her; her reasoning being ‘she was lonely in such a big house all by herself’. They agreed, desperate to get out of the risk of homelessness. That was when Ophelia found out exactly why she didn’t like Rebecca.
It was one late night when Ophelia was getting home from hanging out with a friend when she heard yelling and banging from the master bedroom upstairs that not just peaked her curiosity, but her anxiety as well.
As Ophelia walked up the stairs, gaining view of the slightly open door, she could see Rebecca’s hands on her father, which caused something to break in the girl.
The abuse continued for months, leading to two years when Ophelia was 20 years old. That’s when she knew she couldn’t just sit around and handle everything happening anymore.
Calling one of her friends, Eric Saunders, for back up in case things went bad, the two took it upon themselves to confront the woman, but neither of them saw what would come next.
Insulted, Rebecca waved off the accusations, claiming Ophelia was sleepwalking and hallucinating things, claiming Ophelia should be sent away to ‘fix her problems’. The was the older woman spoke to Ophelia set off Eric, not being able to contain himself anymore as he went after her with the closest object he could grab; a hat rack by the door of the bedroom, and nearly beat the woman to death due to rage.
Eric was sent to jail for attempted murder and assault, Rebecca being sent to the hospital for severe injuries. Ophelia and her father were homeless once again. They traveled until Ophelia’s 23rd birthday, finally landing in South Carolina. There, Ophelia felt she met the love of her life.
A man named Jordan came into the girls life as she was walking to her temporary job one day, as she was helping her father with paying the motel bill that they were staying at for the time being.
Ophelia felt it was love at first sight, but she didn’t know she’d fall into the same pattern her father did. They talked for days, days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months until they finally made things official.
Jordan was a hit with Ophelia’s father, but he didn’t know what happened behind closed doors. One night, Ophelia and Jordan had the motel room to themselves for the night.
Things escalated, as Ophelia had wanted to go out to get some food, but Jordan thought they were just trying to get away from him. It led from one thing to another, Ophelia left with bruises along her arms and wrists, some clothes torn, and tears streaming down her cheeks as she ran as fast as she could from the motel.
It felt like days that Ophelia walked in the middle of the night, cold and confused, probably lost as well. Around 3AM, Ophelia found herself in a small town named Wakefield, and the first place she went to was the Winchester bar to wash up, as it was the only place open at the time.
Ophelia was soon offered a job after a few days in a row appearing at the Winchester; it was obvious she was homeless and scared, but the job gave her confidence to live on. A year later and Ophelia has her own studio apartment and is working full time at the Winchester.
