broken merry go 'round

We get bored so we get married. And just like dust we settle in this town. On this broken merry go 'round and 'round and 'round we go. Where it stops nobody knows. And it ain't slowin' down. This merry go 'round.

[ryanhilarymiller]

cameronxmiles·:

The man was utter shit when it came to hiding how he actually felt. He always did end up wearing his emotions on his sleeves, even after years of Cassandra telling him that he shouldn’t and that he should try to actually learn how to fake it because there would come a day where the situation would call for it. And behold the day was here, as he stood in front of Ryan he wondered how he was going to play this off. Was there really anything that he needed to say? Andrea had spoken words that triggered him to think, but that was all he had done. Clearly one could not be convicted for the thoughts that ran through their head, right? He had thought about killing his investors on various occasions but there was no warrant demanding his head, so that had to be proof. “I know, I just don’t know how to take help, you know? Especially since the death of my parents.” 

Ah yes cue in the sad story, that would distract the journalist in front of him of what he was hiding. Clearly he was not thinking with the best head at the moment, “It would make sense. I just don’t know how the division of tv services works, do I give you my Netflix and Amazon Prime for the HBO Max pass? Or do I throw in my Sports channels? Do you watch sports?” Now that was genuine question. Till this day he hadn’t seen her wearing a sports jersey or have a pin or anything that reflected that she was a fan of any team of any sport. She fucking knew – of course she knew something was up. This was the same woman that he considered one of his closets friends. Someone that he had turned to when his entire life had been turned upside and now he was hiding a part of him from her. My my how the tables had turned here, “My parents death anniversary is coming up and so is damn Christmas and I just don’t feel much for celebrating for the holidays but you know my nephew does and just trying to balance all those emotions,” A low move, a goddamn low blow to bring up his parents into this. This was how grave the situation was, it wasn’t a complete lie and for that reason alone he was able to sell it.

-

Ryan wished she was more skilled in the department of being nurturing and sympathetic, something most women seemed to just automatically be blessed with. But alas, somewhere along the way Ryan seemed to skip over that chapter of life. Though if nothing else, this was an opportunity. She did feel like she was getting better at being a supportive girlfriend. She’d tried her best when his parents had passed, something she could certainly bring herself to relate to. And when Andrea had left with nothing but a broken heart, Ryan worked hard to cheer him up whenever she could. She was quick to nod when he began to open up to her. “I do. I get that very much.” Ryan was struck by how much that could likely apply to her life too. She wished she could open up the way Cam did. “I guess I never really thought about it that way. And I know I’m not exactly the most available girlfriend ever but--I really do want to try and help Cam.”

She knew why her marriage had failed and on a good day carried the blame of its implosion. Cam was a second chance. Ryan felt like he was overthinking the whole sharing a streaming service thing which hurt a little bit, though she wouldn’t push. But then all too quickly came an opportunity for her to in fact, open up. “Yes, I watch sports.” She began, normally prepared to leave it at that. She forced herself to continue, “I just have a weird relationship with watching sports--really high highs and really low lows... But I love sports.” She nodded, always having hoped for an opportunity to bring sports back into her life in a healthy way. Death anniversaries, another pain she was all too familiar with, as was a curmudgeonly Christmas mood. “The holidays are really hard when it comes to loss. I try to live vicariously through those that have all that Christmas joy, but it doesn’t always work out that way. You can be a Grinch or a Scrooge with me, and it’s not like I put up a tree or anything.” Ryan placed a hand on his knee as she sent a soft, sympathetic smile his way. She was still unsure if this was what he needed but wanting to do the best she could.

[ryanhilarymiller]

georgie-wallace·:

“This is why out of the two of us, you are clearly the better adult here.” Georgie groaned, laying down on the couch dramatically. “But Christmas shopping is so part of the tradition. How can you just completely ignore that? It is almost like you are going against the universal rules.”

“See, but you are better at holding onto to the magic of childhood, I on the other hand clearly have a cold dead heart--like Grinch. Adult Grinch.” She rattled on, joking of course. “But Christmas shopping takes up so much time and malls are incredibly busy. I’m bad with universal Christmas rules George,” She managed to admit as she pulled her glass of wine up to her lips.

[ryanhilarymiller]

midwestbelle·:

‘‘Damn right,’‘ Aubrey agreed with Ryan as she looked around. ‘’I mean come on, you burn yourself a few times here and there and still don’t learn. Can’t be me,’’ A chuckle fluttered out of her chest. ‘’So what presents are you buyin’ this year?’’

“See, you get it, the power of crossing things off your to-do list is the true magic of the Christmas season.” Ryan was a bit disturbed by how genuine that statement actually was for her. But the holidays weren’t exactly her favorite time of the year. “Electronics for my brother, clothes for my dad, and gift cards for mom.” She nodded in solidarity, “Okay I do actually still need to buy a gift for Cam. But that one should be easy.” In fact, getting a gift for her boyfriend was decidedly harder than her family. “What about you Aubrey?”

[ryanhilarymiller]

wstaylor·:

                    “Yeah, well, I ain’t that efficient. I’m a bit more of a procrastinator myself.” That probably had to do with the fact that he was pretty damn busy with the job and he was the worst gift giver. He never knew where to start and typically wound up giving some lousy presents if he didn’t have help. “I get the sentiment though. Spoiling yourself for Christmas? Can’t relate, but sounds awesome.”

“Procrastination is not in my nature, but what is, is planning. See it’s not about efficiency, it’s about my system.” Ryan did not have the time to spend on getting her family members special gifts, curated specially for each family and all of that mumbo jumbo, thus her system. “Yeah Wes, because I’m a lonely sucker.” She mocked herself. She had friends, a boyfriend, a family, so the words were said in jest, though somehow a loneliness always seemed to be present in her bones.

[ryanhilarymiller]

miguelxcastro·:

He slid her drink over to her. “Think that makes the most sense. In the divorce you got half of our financial gains and the car – think the least I can get is peace in my own establishment, even if I did build it when we were still together. Since you know you can’t cook to save your life. Yet that judge still wanted to take your side.” In all honesty Miguel hadn’t cared enough to fight and had given everything that had been asked for. Dude didn’t even push his own attorney to fight. “Right, I forgot he’s the real deal. I am sure he has a good plan for the future. Tell you one of the stories that you should tell at your wedding is how you two used to date members of the same family. I’m sure every love story has that element.” Placing the cloth onto the wooden table, he drummed his fingers on the edge before looking up at her, “How many vacations did you actually go on me versus the vacation I took with my sister because you couldn’t be bothered to leave work?”

Ryan took a sip from the drink setting it down slowly as she let some silence fill up the air in preparation for her response, “As if I was supposed to get less than half? And the car, I can’t exactly walk to work like you can every day. I always wanted to have two cars anyway, you were the one that insisted we only needed one. And now look, you can have none.” She cocked her head offering him a look before interlocking her fingers in front of her. Ryan’s lips curled in on one another her eyes widened looking away from him. It was truly amazing how utterly frustrating he could be. She could never just have a drink in peace. “Mmm, yes, do you know what my favorite story is going to be? How I was always there for him whenever someone decided to break his heart--or his face.” She deadpanned in his direction at the last statement. “So, though you will not be receiving an invitation, at least you will know that you played such a lovely role in bringing us together.” Finally feeling like she had a leg up on him only lasted moments though before she was knocked down a few pegs once again. “How many times are you going to dredge this one up Miguel? What, you didn’t get it all off your chest the first eight times? Please go on, I’ll wait. Assuming this will be the last time. But just before you do--you know that story won me an award right?" She smirked at him, knowing full well how this argument had always gone.

[ryanhilarymiller]

oaklynnxbeckett·:

“You know maybe just maybe if you would’ve done that before then you would still be married to that hot piece of ass you let go? Don’t get me wrong you managed to get yourself another piece of ass but if it’s not broken why change it?” Lynn’s unfiltered words just flew out of her mouth without any thoughts to them, majority of the time Lynn did her best to not think overthink anything when she was far away from the Becketts. “Your record says otherwise, Miller. Divorce decrees do not lie my friends. It’s ok, I’ll be your Rachel. We can go to Las Vegas and you can trap me into a marriage.” 

“Right--because I forgot you are both a relationship expert and you wouldn’t be caught dead working over the holidays. Silly me I must have had you confused for the other Oaklynn.” Her head shook at Lynn, before raising a brow. Ryan didn’t prefer to discuss her love life with--well anyone except those who were directly involved. And even then, she was mostly just flying by the seat of her pants. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head listening to Lynn drone on about her marital track record. “Now that is something I can get behind. But then, I wouldn’t be a Ross because you and I would ride off into the sunset and never look back which would leave me with only one divorce. Ross has three.” 

[ryanhilarymiller]

oaklynnxbeckett·:

“I tend to just take a work shift and get to avoid the entire holiday.” One could not pay Lynn enough to actually stick around for her family dramatics. With her mother halfway losing her memory and her sister’s marriage going down the drain she did he best to avoid adding another fire onto her life on top of the ones she was paid to put out. “Maybe this year we can just use your check and go to Las Vegas and get drunk. Get you married off again and you can be the female Ross.”

“Yeah they pre-record a lot of the Christmas broadcasts. I’ve been trying to get my way onto the Christmas work schedule but my boss is all, Ryan go home, spend time with your family, and I am like--the hell would I want to do that for?” Ryan pulled her water bottle up to her lips before managing to quickly swallow it down before nearly choking on it. “Oh my god, you bitch Oak. I cannot believe you just called me a Ross, I’m such a Monica.” She deflected.

[ryanhilarymiller]

miguelxcastro·:

“No.” he immediately placed a stop to Ryan’s entire ramble, as his eyes shut and his head shook left to right as he thought about how this was his life now. “Ryan, we both agreed on the divorce that the restaurant was the one place that was mine and you wouldn’t come…where is your boy toy?” He refused to acknowledge that Cameron and his ex wife could be anything serious. Yet as the words came out he was pouring her another drink because it was Ryan and the day that Ryan didn’t get what she wanted – he was certain that was the day the world came to an end or he had died. “Besides, we both know that you just put your bonus in your savings and don’t do anything with it.” Adventurous wasn’t something that went with a workaholic. 

Ryan was about to continue before she was stopped by Miguel, her mouth hanging open for a moment as she let him continue, following his order--for now. “Wow. That’s what we’re going with? How am I supposed to know when you are going to throw that minor detail in my face.” Ryan waved him off. This usually meant something was bothering him but given the fact he was replenishing her drink was a good sign. She pulled the glass up to her lips before rolling her eyes, “See, why do you say it like that? Boy toy. He is not my boy toy.” She was tired of reiterating this to him over and over again but she would sure as hell defend Cam and their relationship every single time. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

[ryanhilarymiller]

cameronxmiles·:

Cameron had been raised knowing that omissions were as heavy as lies and there he stood to deliver perhaps the best act of his life with not disclosing Andrea’s various comments. He wanted to hide behind the fact that he was protecting her but at the same time, he was aware that he was protecting himself as well. It didn’t take much to know how the line of discussion would go, Cameron would confess what Andrea said and Ryan would then follow up with questions about how he had responded and how he felt – and if Cameron wasn’t ready to have that talk with Andrea then he sure as hell was not ready to have that discussion with Ryan. Even though he was aware of how fucked up that was. The moment she said that she was proud of him, felt oddly similar as to when Cassandra had smacked him behind the head when he would fuck up. “Tonight – I just want to spend it with you. Work can wait.” That was such a rare line that it even felt foreign to him as the words fell out.

He got his plate and went to sit beside her. It had been so easy to go from friends to more with Ryan because there was a connection there, or was there? Was this what people said was the twilight zones of lovers and friends? Had they actually made the transition or were they both healing from their past? Maybe he would never really know. “You want to just have one subscription for both of us?” Commitment, ironically that had never been something he had ever struggled with, and yet with something so simple and stupid with Ryan he found himself paralyzed like a deer in front of headlights. “What subscription do you have that has all the apps together? I don’t think fishing would be it. I was thinking more like a day at the beach – think you could do that?” He wondered, “Ok what do you have so far on this story? Give me an elevator pitch. Ready set go.” 

He kept speaking, but his words seemed divorced from his mind. Ryan was happy to let a lot go, especially when they didn’t always have the most time to spend together. She’d learned that in relationships, she needed to make the best of whatever time she could carve out for them. Thus, focusing on the good and happy moments tended to be her modus operandi. However, there was clearly something that was bothering Cameron which went beyond his work load. “Well I’m here to help--when you’re ready.” She offered with a furrowed brow, evidently unable to let go of upholding the status quo just yet.

Ryan assumed herself to be the one to fear commitment, his question catching her a bit off guard. Maybe she was being too hasty with that offer. It just seemed practical to save money like that if they were both going to pay for an HBO streaming service. “Oh I don’t have one with all the apps I just meant--wouldn’t it make sense for you to just use my HBO password as opposed to you paying for it?” She now questioned the idea herself. “Yeah, the beach sounds better doesn’t it.” Ryan now, beginning to trail off herself, was lost in thought, worrying that she’d overstepped with her offer. No. She had not. She refused to question herself like that. And she despised feeling like she was tip toeing around Cameron like this. “Cam,” She reached out for his knee, “What’s on your mind? I know it’s more than work.” They’d always been friends, long before they’d gotten together. She knew when something was up. Only just now realizing that her tendency to lean into the happy moments seemed to push him into bottling his feelings up with her, which was definitely an unintended effect of her poor girlfriend skills.

[ryanhilarymiller]

zach-covington·:

“Deals are deals are deals. It’s all a big scam anyway, but you know me. I’m a sucker for thirty percent off of a Dewalt tool kit I don’t actually need.” That was the kicker of it all, really. After getting through the better part of a bottle of wine, Zachary was rather susceptible to online ads, or, worse, The QVC. “Just the cursory bottles of wine or brandy for coworkers, really.” Zach shrugged. There was really only a handful of people he’d consider gift-giving to, but then he wondered if giving a gift to Penelope would be suitable at all. Even if he knew, inevitably, he’d cave in, give something entirely too personal, effectively ruining their détente, he couldn’t help himself. “It might as well be the exact same system, but they’re slapping a new number on it, and I’m personally sold.” Zach chuckled at that. “But you know me. I’m more of a Nintendo guy at the end of the day. Probably just going to troll eBay for more ‘64 games.”

“Well we gotta spend our money on something don’t we? Not like we need to start prepping for college funds, and private schools, and all the other nonsense that goes along with children. We worked hard for that Dewalt tool kit we don’t need.” Ryan was by no means, an over spender but in fact, an excellent saver. However, she still left room for her to pamper herself quite a bit. “Well that makes things easy. Why is that family members somehow end up being the hardest to come up with gifts for? You’d think you’d know them well enough by now.” The question was mainly rhetorical because Ryan knew why it was so hard to buy for her family. Christmas was always a sordid affair at the Miller home. “Of course, the classics are the best of the best. You find any good stuff you better invite me over for some games. I am too impatient for deals on eBay.” Her finger went up and pointed towards him as he spoke, “That’s what gets me though, only certain games go with certain systems. I genius business plan to keep the money rolling in. Those games are childhood!”

[ryanhilarymiller]

zach-covington·:

“Whereas on the contrary, I adore Black Friday deals. And now, from the comfort of Amazon Prime.” Zachary loved to dote on the capitalist precipice that Christmas found itself in. An avowed atheist, he’d always focus on the aspects of the holiday that totally demeaned what Christmas ought to be about, in an ideal world. “I was thinking about using my bonus to get a PS5. Not for any particular reason, but if I’m going into my late thirties single, I might as well prepare myself.”

-

“Isn’t that what Cyber Monday is for? See I can’t even keep up anymore. Just glad that all my gifts are wrapped up and in boxes already. Got any special gifts to give out this year Covington?” Her eyes wiggled as she smiled at him in anticipation of his answer. “Now that’s an idea I hadn’t even considered. I mean, I’m perfectly happy with my PS4, I wonder what the big differences are. I feel like they always say it’s ‘so much faster’. But I never really notice the speed making a difference either way.”

[ryanhilarymiller]

“See, this is why I always get my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving, you beat the rush and the grubby big box executives have all the deals going well before it’s actually Black Friday anyway.” Her head shook, “Plus then my Christmas bonus is all for me, as it damn well should be.” 

[ryanhilarymiller]

cameronxmiles·:

Did he have to tell Ryan what Andrea had said? What he had wished he had said? These were things that would tell anyone with some common sense that they should end the relationship that they were in because it was not going to end well. Yet here was Cameron running forward with this bomb and just hoping that the timer would go off on its own and not do too much damage. “Coding to be honest. I am getting more visitors than I thought that I would get so the traffic has been killing our website. The donations that people are giving exceed my projections which is amazing – then I have been having meetings with investors regarding the future of my company.” Which was all too quick if he was being honest, he had just started this monster off and now it had its own life. Oh and you know my ex just dropped her emotional bomb onto my lap and I have been running with that – that was what he should’ve said. Instead though he kept silent about it all. Taking the contents out of the bag he opened them each and slid them over to her.

“I believe so. I honestly just got HBO because they took FRIENDS from Netflix and I can’t live without my daily dosage of Chandler and Joey, you know how I get. But Sean is around here so hopefully maybe one of these days he can teach me how to fish.” Not that he was looking forward to that because – fishing? Who has fun killing the little guys? But apparently he needed to expand his friendship circle because running from his ex to his current girlfriend was getting too emotionally draining. “Are we talking about Pizza gate? Harvey W? or that cult that, that Smallville chick was involved in? Refresh my memory here.” 

-

Ryan stopped fussing with the food and dishes when he answered her question. She hadn’t expected the stress lines on his face to crease so deeply. While Ryan seemed to thrive when stress was thrust upon her, she knew this was generally abnormal behavior on her part. Ryan crossed the room to close the distance between the two of them. She leaned up to place a kiss on his lips, lingering for a moment there. “That’s amazing Cam. I’m so proud of you.” She smiled in admiration of him, “Hopefully tonight you can relax and let that all go though?” Ryan offered, guessing that relaxing might be what he needed most. “Unless you’d rather talk work so you can get more done. You know I’m always here for that too.” A smirk filled up her lips as she realized her workaholic self in that moment. Though from what she knew of Cam, he was not so much the type.

With that she moved to bring the dishes and sit in her spot on the couch, patting the spot next to her for him to join her. “Isn’t so annoying how we have to hop, skip, and jump to these different streaming services. But you should cancel it and just use my subscription. No sense in us having two.” How domestic was sharing a streaming service? She’d shared ones with friends plenty of times. It was fine. Mild level commitment, she deemed. Safe level commitment. “Do you think you’d like fishing? I can’t decide if it would be relaxing or I would become impatient too fast.” She grabbed the remote, now in search of the documentary in question, “Oh definitely the one that the Smallville chick was in. This is some serious investigative reporting to dive into. I mean, can you imagine Cam.”

[ryanhilarymiller]

pennybrxdley·:

location → a coffee shop, somewhere in sahalie falls with → open to anyone

It wasn’t like Penelope didn’t love Thanksgiving - she did. She loved any opportunity to gorge herself and spend the day drinking wine and spending time with her family, but this year was going to be different. Her siblings were away, Charlotte at college and Sean…somewhere, and her parents had decided to go to the Maldives instead. Which was all well and good for them, but just left Penelope with no plans. Sure she could probably beg a space at the table with Sam and his family, but Penelope Bradley had never begged before and she wasn’t about to start. “God I don’t know” she sighed, glancing back over at the other. “It’s not like I want to spend Thanksgiving on my own, but…I guess this year it’s just going to be me and reruns of Friends”. She laughed ruefully before raising the coffee cup to her lips, blowing softly against the liquid so it wouldn’t burn her tongue. “How about you? Got your plans sorted yet?”

Thanksgiving was most certainly among Ryan’s favorite holidays, though that was definitely only because it had some of the best of food of the year. And if there was one thing Ryan did love, it was a good home cooked meal from her mom and dad. Always in a rush, Ryan didn’t always have time to make the delicious meals she so enjoyed eating for herself. “Okay well I would definitely invite you over to my house Penn, but I can promise you want no part in whatever drama awaits on Thursday. And I would never want invite someone into that mess.” She shook her head in concern, “Sorry. But--there’s got to be someone whose would love to have you for Thanksgiving? As iconic as Monica is dancing with the turkey--it is Monica right? There’s no way you can spend it alone.” Ryan pulled her coffee up to her lips, letting it’s sweet warmth flow down her insides, warming her up as the chill of winter began to close in on them outside. She rolled her eyes as she placed the cup back down on the table, “Just good ole’ Thanksgiving at the Miller house. I’m not sure if I should invite Cam or not. Like I said, I would never willingly put anyone through a holiday with the Miller’s but then, it’s probably weird if I don’t invite my boyfriend to Thanksgiving.”

[youcanletgo]

[ryanhilarymiller]

mativaldcs·:

     If not for her masochistic habit of driving around to salivate over houses she could no longer afford Mati wouldn’t even be in Nettle Oak that night. If not for her consistent inability to remember she now had to fill up her own gas she sure as hell wouldn’t have found herself stranded there. With nothing short of pure contempt she eyed her silver Camry, wanting for all the world to give it a solid kick. Unfortunately, its ancient, rusting carcass was already one sneeze away from total collapse. And Mati? These days she couldn’t cover the cost of a single roof tile in that neighborhood let alone shell out for a new car.

     The useless hunk of metal, it seemed, was safe to putter on another day.

     Her mood, on the other hand, was unsalvageable. Every last bit of her annoyance was still alive and thriving when Mati stomped to the nearest door and pummeled it with her fist. By the time it opened her mouth had contorted into something closer to a slash of teeth than a smile. 

      “Ryan. Hi.” It was Ryan, right? Mati forgot to pay attention to the names of those she met almost as often as she forgot to pull in at the pump.For a moment she considered the possibility that she’d gotten her name wrong. Then, she reminded herself that a little mix up was the least of her worries right now.With great effort she worked around the stubborn knot in her throat and (somewhat sufficiently) swallowed her pride. 

     “I think I ran out of gas—” again— “and my phone’s dead.” Or, you know… turned off for lack of paying her bill. But would she admit that? Absolutely not. Mati just stood there, blinking as if those words alone were explanation enough, and let silence reign. Three seconds passed. Do not tap your foot. Five. Do not tap your foot. Nine. Do not tap your— Restraint gone, Mati began to tap her damn foot. She loathed asking for help. Her lips immediately pursed like she’d sucked on something sour. “Can I… I mean… would it be possible if I, I don’t know, came in to use yours?”

-

Of all the people Ryan was going to find behind her door, she had to admit she was fairly shocked to find Mati. It wasn’t as if she was bothered by it, in fact she didn’t have much of a strong opinion either which way when it came to the woman. She was a bit quirky, to be sure, but that only served to intrigue Ryan.

Ryan enjoyed meeting new people. Generally speaking she’d always found people and their motivations fascinating to follow. Plus, she believed that her interest in people was a part of what served her in being the successful lawyer that she was. As there weren’t a lot of new people for her to meet and get to know in the town she’d lived in her whole life, running into Mati was always nice, even if it was just for the fresh air.

Never the less, her brow furrowed at the woman which softened as she explained her presence. Eyes darted once she heard the woman’s foot tapping. Yep, and there was that quirk. The foot tapping only served to bring a smile to her face, one of slight amusement. “I mean yeah of course. Just got lost in the wild streets of Magnolia Springs?” She questioned.

It seemed a bit strange to her that she’d managed to both run out of gas and also let her phone die. But Ryan was happy to go along with it. “So who did you want to call though? I could just go and pick you up some gas myself so you can fill the tank.”

[ryanhilarymiller]

margothughes·:

Margot tilted her head to the side slightly, feigning confusion over the made up contract she referred to. “I know I would remember if I’d agreed to having Taylor Swift move in with you too. At this rate, the girl should be paying rent on this place too,” she said, glancing over her shoulder to Ryan with a smile. She wasn’t truly bothered by the constant Taylor Swift and had even grown to enjoy it. Anything that made her happy was fine in her book and that included her relationship with Cam, no matter what she may say about it. “Don’t listen to me. You know I’m just bitter because I’ve been single for over a decade. I’m just worried he’ll steal you alone from me. If that happens I’ll be forced to get a cat and really solidify my fate of ending up old and alone.” Margot took a big gulp of her wine, shrugging at the mention of her patience. “Don’t really have a choice, do I? Gonna exploit my only marketable skill and what not.” 

Ryan shrugged with a look of utter innocence, her fingers splayed as her mouth dropped open, indicating that the issue of Taylor Swift getting between them was entirely out of her hands. “And that is a conversation you are more than welcome to have with her. I would just like to point out that she doesn’t take up very much space, nor does she leave dirty dishes in the sink so that is about as good as rent where I am concerned.” Something about dirty dishes had just always grossed Ryan out. It wasn’t something she could really explain but definitely a roommate quirk of hers. But her brow furrowed immediately, “So you’re going to miss nights with me and Taylor after all.” She joked before her face became more serious. “No, c’mon Margot, we are so far off from moving in together. Besides he’s working all the time anyway. I’ve been here like every night this week and we’ve barely even texted.” She reasoned. “And you’re not going to end up alone, are you kidding? Some single dad is gonna waltz in with his adorable little monster child and ask for lessons from the hot dance teacher. Boom. Rom com waiting to happen.” Ryan lifted the wine up to her lips as her head shook. She had a weekly regimen of Vitamin C and other immune boosting herbs to protect herself against the gross kid germs Margot always came home with. “Oh my god, that is not your only marketable skill Margot. But I mean, couldn’t you like, teach professional ballet to adults or something? Less...stickiness.”