*/ cruel world !

[rcseandherthcrns]

kang, h.

today hyewon decided to go shopping. she needed to step away from homework and just needed to get out and get some fresh air. not to mention shopping was one way to keep her distracted from doing homework. pulling up to the shopping center, she looks around for a place to park her range rover and soon finds a spot and pulls it. grabbing her backpack purse, she slips it on and gets out while locking her car. approaching her first store, she walks in and inhales the scent of the store and starts to walk around. hands running along fabrics of clothing that she finds cute. a smile spreading along her lips while walking down a few more aisles. it isn’t until she hears a familiar voice that caught her attention. turning her gaze, she smiles at the older female. “ oh, mrs. calloway, hi. ” she greeted her with a smile while approaching her. “oh you know i love to help.” she added and eyed the two dresses she was holding. “ i’d have to say the pink one. ”

hyewon really was far, far too sweet. the same amount of sickeningly sweet that liza aped, except she was real. it really was almost sad, that anyone so kind could exist. it made liza realize how different of a life she must have led, with all of her needs met. she hadn’t had to beg and connive and con her way through life, just to survive. liza smiled wide at her; that realization just made her all the angrier. she glanced down at the dresses; of course she’d say the pink one. “that’s what i was thinking,” liza agreed, keeping her voice light and sing-song. “and how are you doing, hyewon? how’s your mother?” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

donovan, s.

if there’s one talent she’s always had, it was making connections. whether it be friends or acquaintances for work, connecting with people was one of the few things she could do well. it was what made public relations such a perfect job for her. she liked meeting new people, too, so when the calloways first moved to town, she hasn’t hesitate to reach out to them. catching sight of liza across the store, a smile breaks across her face as she makes her way across to her. “i always like a redhead in green. it gives those poison ivy vibes that would be perfect for you.” her eyes turn to the racks in question, scanning over what was on the rack. she had a work event soon that she needed something new for. “have you seen anything red that’s caught your eye?”

liza paused for a moment, thinking, “poison ivy... oh!” she perked up, “like the batman woman! oh, that sounds so fun!” still, that made liza cringe internally. shit, was that too... dark, then? would that give off the wrong impression? well, she was in baby pink and angelic white every other day, so one night of dark green wouldn’t hurt. “is... is that what everyone will think? should i buy some flower barrettes and jewelry? i think that would be, what’s the word, cheeky?” fortunately for sam, liza’s eyes always caught any red she saw. to this day, it was her favorite color. still, she tapped her fingers against her chin, looking around like she didn’t have the exact piece in mind. “there’s that red blazer over there, oh! and i saw a lovely crimson jumpsuit, too, but you’d have to be a, uh, a jumpsuit person.”

[rcseandherthcrns]

donovan, k.

“ uh, i don’t know much about dresses.“  or anything for that matter. the honest truth, when was the last time katie had even worn a dress ? not even she could remember, which said it all. she pauses for a moment glancing at both dresses and there’s a gentle shrug of her shoulders, she didn’t really have much of a opinion. “ the pink one is nice, i’m not a pink person but i think it’d look nice on you.“

“well, that doesn’t matter,” liza insists, pulling out the sickly sweetness from somewhere she barely knew she had. “beauty is not about perfecting it, it’s about picking what works for you.” and neither of these dresses worked for liza, but they worked for mrs. calloway. if she was able to choose, she would be wearing red silk and black velvet instead of pink chiffon. “lucky for you,” she says with a smile, putting the green dress away, “i am a pink person.” she presses the dress against herself, as if admiring it for a moment, before she looks back up at katie, “and what are you shopping for, love? anything special?” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

calloway, z.

zara barely managed to conceal the eye roll at her mother’s antics — in russian, please. “da.” she dropped the syallable far too flat, letting the word sound far more american than russian — but zara always did have a rebel streak through her. wether that was her long gone birth parents or not, she never was sure. she liked to think she was at least a little bit like them — that it wasn’t all liza’s influence.

“the help?” zara scoffed, her arms crossing over her chest. her hip leaned against the counter. “mom, the help you’re so worried about are currently fighting with the help from three other houses over who bought the good lysol to bleach the floors. i seriously doubt they’re listening, — and even if they are, aren’t that big a threat.” in truth, she couldn’t see much of what hillston had going for it — and she wished this job would wrap itself up already. how hard was it to get a recently comatose man to sign a few legally binding contracts? he wasn’t even supposed to be reading on his own — and yet, look at them. 

liza’s hand at her cheek, her following words — it’s everyone else. you need to be careful. — caused zara to stiffen. unprompted, isaac’s face flashed through her mind’s eye. she knew she was playing with fire when it came to the rhodes son. she knew that there was something about him — something intoxicating and all consuming, something that she never wanted to live without. and yet…. “relax.” she snapped.  “i learnt my fucking lesson. and how you took my cut of the last job as penance.” her voice dropped darkly and she switched briefly back to english. “i’m not gonna go falling in love with anyone else.”

liza gave the girl a flat smile at her unimpressed reply. it was as if zara thought she was making her speak russian to torture her, instead of to conceal their conversations. or perhaps she was just playing the part of the indignant daughter. she chose the latter interpretation, just to calm herself down. 

“people can fight and still gossip, you know,” liza chided, “need you forget they’re still people, they’re still nosy. and if word gets out, well, people will hear.” it was nearly impossible to forget that zara was still a child, unaware of the possible consequences of her actions. “just trust me, darling, hm? be careful.” liza had yet to steer zara wrong yet, so she hardly saw what all the fuss was about. 

she raised her eyebrows at the other woman snapping, but she wasn’t particularly angry about it. that anger could be useful, liza knew, especially since it seemed to be directly more inwardly than outwardly. zara, after all, knew the mistake she made. “good,” liza replied in russian, “because you think too much with your heart instead of your head.” it was something liza had said to her many, many times, and it remained true. 

[rcseandherthcrns]

mills, c.

corinne hated shopping - she was someone who would much rather do it online. even now, she found herself scrolling through the retail section of the web comparing designs and prices; she would always be a bargain hunter, no matter what salary she was on.looking up from the screen briefly as the other posed the question, her natural reaction was to shrug but she didn’t think that was appropriate. “i’d go for the green, it looks good with your skin tone.” the doctor really didn’t think that her opinion would have much weight on the other’s decision no matter what colour she preferred. whenever her wife would ask her, she would do the exact same thing and then the woman would spend thirty minutes justifying each choice to herself only to go with her first instinct. shopping in person was exhausting…

liza looks back at the dresses, as if considering again, before nodding to herself. “i think you’re right, doctor,” she says, putting the pink dress back on the rack. “it does look good with my skin.” corinne doesn’t seem like she really wants to engage with this, but... well, it’s not in mrs calloway’s character to shut up. “you know, i’ve always been a little afraid of wearing too much green. when i had just come to america, i had bought this beautiful emerald green coat, but my classmate told me with my hair, i looked like christmas.” she gives a small giggle, though the story is, obviously, fake. “it’s funny, isn’t it? how these little things stay with you?” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

calloway, r.

it had been months , and if rex was being honest , he still wasn ‘ t USED to this . waking up with no memory was one thing , and he might have been fine if it had just been that , if he had been amnesiac and ALONE . but waking up with no memory AND a wife and daughter ? that was … that was something else , as he looked at them and tried to feel the love he knew he was SUPPOSED to , but only managed to summon GUILT and the beginnings of FAMILIARITY instead . he hoped they couldn ‘ t tell , didn ‘ t want to cause them more hurt than he already had , being in a coma for five years .

he looked up when liza walked in ( still searching his memory frantically , desperately , trying to come up with ANYTHING , any recollection he could give her ) and smiled when she did , the kiss feeling more NATURAL than it had at the beginning . he could get used to this , maybe , eventually , with time . “ morning , love . that sounds good with me , there are still a few places around town i want to see . “ maybe that was his favorite thing about hillston : he wasn ‘ t expected to know anything about it yet , got to START OVER without any of that aching emptiness he felt damn near everywhere else .

there was something desperately sad about rex, searching and guilty, but... but liza tried not to let that affect her. perhaps he’d forgotten his whole life, perhaps he was much like a lost child, but liza would give anything to forget her whole life, to start from scratch. what beauty a blank slate of a mind must be, not one that’s been poisoned, over and over and over again, like her own. liza knew she was wicked, but that’s because she didn’t have the luxury to be kind. 

mrs. calloway, however, had that luxury, so she was all smiles as she poured herself a cup of coffee, reaching for the bowl of fresh fruit. “oh, excellent, like where?” she adds, after she takes her first sip of coffee (black, as she’d taken it since she was a girl), “i wouldn’t mind walking around the park, if we have time. i’d love to be able to see any signs of spring.” flowers blooming, birds chirping... that honestly made liza roll her eyes, but she could pretend to love it. “how is your back feeling, solntse?” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

sinclair, c.

Charlotte wished retail therapy worked as good for her as it did for most of her friends; still as fun as it was to buy stuff ( something she indulged on quite a lot ) her real peace of mind only came when she was practising karate, no matter how many dollars she spent on things to fill her closet. Still, she figured buying a thing or two wouldn’t hurt anyone, which leaded her to the first store she crossed ( and that she figured could have something for her ) and started browsing. Her mind clearly somewhere else when she heard the other woman, it took her a second to focus on her question. “The green looks better. But you seem more like a pink type of girl.” She replied truthfully, looking down at all the clothes she had picked and leaving most of them to the side, except for a single shirt. “Is it for a special event?” 

liza had always been a fan of red, herself, but mrs. calloway... she was a pink kind of woman. “i am, that’s why i thought i’d change it up a little.” as it was, liza’s closet right now was mostly lilacs, pinks and whites. she wondered if she was leaning too hard into the innocent thing, but... well, it didn’t hurt. “oh, it’s for my first event,” liza replies, “i mean, for my, er, for my business, i mean. the first event that i planned. you know the newmans? it’s their fiftieth anniversary party, i’m so excited.” liza puts the pink one back on the rack, turning to charlotte with a massive smile. “are you shopping for anything, charlotte? or just for fun.” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

calloway, z.

starter / @rcseandherthcrns​

the coast was clear — no sign of rex in the house, no sign of any other ears that may be listening in. zara, of course, knew better than this town — there were always people listening in, looking to pry gossip from unsuspecting neighbours. ( god, the gossip tree did more for her research into the rhodes family and calloway histories than an actual google search did — a fact she’d never let slip to the people of hillston, lest they decide to close ranks to the outsider. )

“so. are we allowed to talk now, or are you still going to pretend that rex has the house bugged?” zara rolled her eyes, one hip leaning against the counter — arms crossed in a picture of stubborn, twenty-something defiance. her words litlted with the hint of her russian accent — revealing the true nature of what and who — she was. “because he doesn’t. he’s clever but he’s not smart. he buys this whole… thing.”

liza was paranoid, and with good reason. she wanted the tangled web of gossip that plagued this town to serve her, not ruin her. after all, it seemed that the residents of hillston had nothing better to do but pry. so, when zara spoke up, liza replied in her mother tongue. “in russian, please.” 

she smiles, still playing the part as she reaches over to fuss with zara’s hair. “i’m not worried he has it bugged, zara. i’m worried of who will hear. you should know the help are paid to be invisible.” and they had ears and lips and a working tongue, just like everybody else. “it’s not rex i’m worried about,” liza informed her, putting a hand on her cheek and smiling like a doting mother. “it’s everyone else, zara. you need to be careful.” she hoped that zara understood what she was alluding to. 

[rcseandherthcrns]

fair, v.

“ it’s always a delight spending time with you too.“ vera promises, unlikely that the words would have left her mouth if she hadn’t meant them. it just wasn’t who she is as a person. “ i was helping out another teacher. i also had extra kids in my class because another teacher was homesick. then i got a call from my parents.“ the mention of her parents left a bitter taste in her mouth, like she had just eaten something bitter. also leaving her with an unsettling feeling, god did she dislike even the mention. it was always an unpleasant experience, always the same thing too regardless of what week or what month. sometimes she even debated changing her phone number altogether, and then she just felt plain guilty for the mere thought. “ i’m so excited for you ! i’m really happy for you, and that the couple is lovely. “ she beams widely at her newfound friend. “ sounds good to me, i’ve been in the mood for tea and cakes ever since you mentioned it.“

liza ponders that for a moment. was that what happened when a teacher was away? she always thought they’d call in a substitute; any school in hillston should have the means to do it. but she knew she couldn’t point out that discrepancy out loud; she was supposed to be simple, sweet. at the mention of her parents, though, liza allowed herself to pout, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder sympathetically. while mrs. calloway didn’t have any regular intelligence, liza had decided, she had emotional intelligence. “i’m sorry to hear that,” she says, holding eye contact as if this is something deadly serious. “i, i don’t mean to overstep, but... but my relationship with my parents is also strained." she gave  her shoulder one last squeeze, before leading her into the salon, where a spread big enough to feed six people was set out. “thank you, vera, you really are so sweet.” she waited for her guest to sit before she sat herself, getting to work on the tea. “how is evan, is he doing alright?” 

[im-tryingtoloveyou]

I have something in my eye

[vnheroics-deactivated20200428]

@rcseandherthcrns .

[rcseandherthcrns]

fair, v.

vera had enough trust issues for her and a least a dozen other people, or at least that’s what she thought. but oddly enough ? she still liked making friends even if she’s always a tab bit weary at first. but she couldn’t turn down the opportunity to make a new friend. she didn’t figure it could hurt and she didn’t have any plans. so here she was, there’s a friendly smile on her features as she steps inside, and takes off her tan capelet coat. “ i’m doing good. thank you for inviting me for afternoon tea. i really appreciate it. i’m good and my week has been long but good. “ as the brunette hands over her coat. “ thank you, how are you and how’s your week been ? “

liza takes her coat, still smiling. she really should get botox now that she can afford it; she’s gonna get wrinkles sooner rather than later at this rate. “oh, but of course,” liza insisted as she hung up the coat. “it’s always a pleasure spending time with you, dear vera.” perhaps that was laying it on too thick, but sue her, liza was having fun with it. she pouts a little bit, “why long, love?” she shrugs, “my week was just fine. i have my first event planning job! i’m very excited about it. it’s a fiftieth anniversary party, and the couple throwing it are just the cutest!” she hurries vera over to the salon, “come, come, we have the teas and cakes all set up.” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

sinclair, j.

justina truly never believed that she’d be able to find anyone who had matched her alcohol tolerance so perfectly until she had met liza, the woman could drink wine like it was nothing and justina liked that about her, which is why it was no surprise that the two had gotten along so well. she’d be lying if she said that she didn’t start awkwardly dancing and singing when she got so wasted she could barely move, but her tolerance was a bit more controllable than most and most of the time she was fine after a few drinks. “yeah, it is, but i don’t know, i needed to venture out and try new things more.” justina replied as she drank from her glass. “you’ve never seen a small town like this before? somehow, i find that a bit hard to believe.” she teased. “i don’t think i could ever stay in this place, too many bad memories.”

there was a part of liza that almost understood that. the restlessness, the need for more, but... but as she thought further, she doesn’t think she’s ever really experienced it. oh, she’s been restless, but only out of paranoia, out of fear. she ran and ran and ran to keep the consequences of her actions at bay. but now... now that she was in a position she could see herself in for the foreseeable future, she didn’t have the urge to run. she wanted nothing more than to stay. “no! i haven’t,” liza insisted, “i was born in a city, grew up in a city, i’ve really only lived in cities. perhaps i’ve visited small towns, but i never really had the time to enjoy them, yes?” she put on a solemn expression, nodding to herself, “that makes sense. that’s... well, that’s why we came to hillston, after all.” she takes another sip of wine, continuing, “but i’ve, ugh, i’ve spent so much of my life travelling, going here and there with rex. and i was proud of him, but...” she smiles to herself, surprisingly honest, “i’m glad i have a place to call home.” 

[trcshqueen]

─── erin van vuren.

[rcseandherthcrns]

ever since liza had met justina, she joked that she’d found the only woman in hillston who could match her drink for drink. of course, liza’s tolerance was rock-solid, and she’d tease in her high-pitched, sing-song lilt that if she was a lightweight, she would have been kicked out of russia a lot sooner. but, drinking aside, there was another reason she loved to spend time with justina; she was just this side of disastrous. they were on their second bottle at this wine bar, and neither woman seemed to show any signs of slowing down. “but this town is just so cute,” liza continued, pouring justina and then herself another glass. “sometimes i just can’t believe it’s real. i’ve always lived in cities; i didn’t even think places like this existed!” she giggled to herself. “ugh, i don’t think i could ever leave this place.” 

@divcsfm

[rcseandherthcrns]

mathur, s.

                            𝒕𝒉𝒆  𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍  𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏  𝒐𝒇  𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏  was  still  new  to  shantipriya  .  her  arrival  had  already  marked  a  few  months  in  but  she  simply  rotated  between  the  tourist  traps  sprinkled  throughout  the  town  .  fed  up  with  the  routine  she  was  eager  to  branch  out  so  she  decided  to  seek  help  from  a  pedestrian  occupying  the  same  sidewalk  as  herself  .  ‘  excuse  me  —  ’  the  actress  asked  politely  with  a  smile  .    ‘  do  you  have  any  recommendations  around  town  ?  you  know  ,  like  local  coffee  shops  ;  restaurants  maybe  ?  ’  

liza was constantly shocked by who she was able to rub elbows with here. hollywood producers, ceos, a former president, and now a famous actress was asking her for help just... on the street? she should have weaseled her way into a rich household sooner. “oh,” she says, putting her finger on her chin. “well, i am new in town, so i’m not an expert, but i’m always happy to help. oh, there’s a lovely little wine tasting room, they have new selections every week, and lots of cheeses and other snacks. it’s wonderful.” after a moment, she offers her hand, “my name is liza calloway, by the way. it’s lovely to meet you.” 

[rcseandherthcrns]

truthfully, this had to be the most demanding job on the planet. being so perky and friendly all the time... not only was it tiring, it was annoying. she annoyed herself. however, as with all high-paying jobs, it came with it’s fair share of perks. a live-in housemaid, as many spa days as she wanted, and, her favorite, a ton of retail therapy. however, just because she was relaxing didn’t mean she could break character, and when she saw a familiar face across the store, she perked up and waved at them. after all, mrs. calloway never passed up the chance to chat someone up. “hello! you’ve come at just the right time; i’m having a tiny dilemma.” she held up the two dresses she was looking at, “which do you like better, the pink or the green?” 

@hillstonreblog​

[rcseandherthcrns]

if you told liza a year ago that she’d have to play doting housewife every day for the foreseeable future, she would have laughed in your face and told you she’d get sick of it by the end of the month. but, every time liza was even slightly annoyed at her facade, she’d look around her beautiful house, at the egyptian cotton sheets and the cavernous closet and the beautiful paintings. it all reminded her that she’d do anything to keep herself and her daughter here. 

that’s what gave her the mental fortitude to hum joyfully to herself as she came down the staircase, fresh out of the shower, wrapped up in the softest and warmest robe liza had ever worn. when she turned the corner to the dining room and saw her new husband, she smiled, coming over to kiss him before sitting down. “good morning, solntse. i listened to the radio this morning and it said it was going to be fifty degrees today, and sunny! we should go for a walk together.” after all, exercise was a vital part of rex’s recovery process, and a doting wife would encourage him to exercise at every chance. 

@vnheroics