venus retrograde

[storiadair]

THE FREE SPIRIT - Astoria Dawn Adair

pinterest. Playlist (TBD).

CHARACTER INSPO: Molly Gunn (uptown girl), Daisy Jones (Daisy Jones & the six), Tiffany Maxwell (Silver Linings Playbook),  Penny Lane (Almost Famous) & Elizabeth (Hulus The Great)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: parental death, death, parental alienation, mental health, cheating, grief

FULL NAME: Astoria Dawn Adair 

NICKNAMES: Stori

AGE: 27 (28 in April 2023)

BIRTHDATE: April 15th, 1996 @ 12am

ZODIAC: Aries sun, Pisces Moon, Sagitarrius rising 

HOMETOWN: San Francisco, California (a tour bus and hotels all over the world)

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Half Moon Bay, California 

NEIGHBORHOOD: Westside

OCCUPATION: Photographer

MBTI: ENFP- T

ENNEAGRAM: 7w8 the oppurtunist

ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral

TEMPERAMENT:  Sanguine

+ whimsical, charming, energetic, resilient, empathetic, social, visionary, perceptive, bold

- forgetful, procrastinator, impulsive, dramatic, indecisive, restless, disorganized, overly idealistic 

ABOUT

Stori likes to pluck the romance out of her childhood. The poetry in her father's music, the songs written for her- the love letters to her mother. It's easier than the truth. Her father was a musician with a promising career, and her mother was a music journalist with whom he couldn't help but fall in love.

The small family spent months on the road. For the first few years of her young life, Stori thought her room was the pull-out bed in the tour bus where she tucked her dolls in for the long nights' drives from state to state. 

The inconsistent childhood didn't matter because she was the light of her parent's world. And they were hers. Stori loved them endlessly and wanted nothing more than to spend every tour with them. However, the older she got, the more apparent it was that she was struggling on the road, and in stepped her grandmother. A widowed photographer from San Francisco whom Stori fondly called Grand Daisy. 

Stori was rebellious and pushed back against this new arrangement. Her parents were often still on the road, only home a few short weeks at a time. There was more than one occasion when Stori would run away to convince her parents to let her back on the road. 

After this last tour, they vowed to take a break and stay home more, but Stori was never one to wait around for anything and ran away in one of her attempts, only this time, the police picked her up. She believed she was in trouble, only to be given the worst news of her life. 

There had been a car accident, her mother died on the way to the hospital, and it was touch and go with her father for a few weeks. Then, when he finally came to the news, it was as if a switch had flipped inside him, and the grief consumed him. Her father was physically there, but it ended there. 

The grief they all experienced put a wedge between her father and the world and brought Grand Daisy and Stori closer than before. With her father turning in on himself, her grandma was the only adult in her life she could rely on. The two grieved and mourned together, and by the time Stori was eighteen, Daisy had retired and asked her to move with her to a small town outside the city where she could retire in peace. 

At just eighteen years old, Stori replanted herself in another new place. By 27, she may have come to wonder what would have been different if she had never left the city- if things would be better. But that's the thing about life. You can't go back. 

She'd met a boy- married the same boy in Vegas. It seemed like the thing to do. The adrenaline of it all was worth it. She liked it, and she liked him- until she loved him. Things were never as good as she could imagine them, and roughly two years into their spontaneous relationship, a fight opened the door to the catalyst and cheating. 

Stori didn't wait for him to ask for forgiveness. She doubted he would. She packed a bag, took his car keys, and left, pretending she'd never made HMB her home. 

In the seven years since she'd left the small town, Stori has been all over the globe finding new ways to reinvent herself into some new love affair. Some great impossible adventure. She jumped from odd jobs to the arms of waiting lovers and back again until Grand Daisy called with one of the few things that could bring her back to the city. She was getting married. 

Now that Stori is back with her Grand Daisy, seeing her life flourishing, she's unsure if she can leave and is teetering the line between putting down roots and going after the I dos. She has a while to decide. In the meantime, she's helping Daisy plan the wedding she never got the first time around and deciding if she wants to face old wounds or avoid them for seven more years. 

QUICK FACTS

 Stori has ADHD. She was officially diagnosed in her early twenties. 

After she left HMB, she made her way all over the west coast and was even briefly entertaining film when an opportunity to sail the Mediterranean on a yacht took her away for seven months. 

Stori has lots of interests but seldom do they hold her interest long. She's never kept a job longer than a year. 

The only being outside Grand Daisy she's had a consistent connection with is her dog, an old thing that goes by many names, but his government name is Butterscotch. She's had him since she was nineteen. 

Daisy taught Stori how to use a camera after her mom passed, and it's been one of the few things she's stuck with. Her style is life in motions documentary style and sometimes Bodoir.

Sometimes it feels like her father died too, and Stori holds onto the memory of when things were good by keeping a few tokens from the "before" times. 

Stori sings and plays guitar

TIMELINE -

1996 April - Birth

2009 - Mom passes when she's 13

2012 - Moves to Half Moon bay at 16

2013 - Meet Jackson at one of his shows, and they start playing in his band together

2014 - The two get married in Vegas after a show where they perform

2016 - They split after Jackson cheats on her

2017 - Goes To L. A tries her hand at acting

2018 - hops on a yacht and spends 9 months sailing around the Mediterranean

2019 - 2020 - manages a small up-and-coming band, dates the drummer, and travels with them on a regional tour photographing the whole experience

2020 - Spends a few months in NYC working with a wedding planner as a photographer for wedding season

2021 - 2022 - Travels with people she meets here and there and works on her photography business

2023 - Stori returns for Grand Daisy's wedding

FAMILY

Lennox Adair - estranged father 

Summer Adair nee Vale - deceased mother 

Daisy-Anne Vale - Grandmother "Grand Daisy"

Jackson Darby - estranged husband

[storiadair]

“mothers and daughters existing as wretched mirrors of each other: I’m all you could have been. You’re all I might be.”

[just-foster]

Working at the hotel meant Foster was occasionally called upon to help cater a wedding on the grounds. He didn't actually mind it that much, considering the fixed menu meant a smaller prep and with the restaurant closed to the public, they got done earlier too. He was hoping to sneak out unnoticed, but the sound of someone calling his name squashed that hope before it could take root.

He turned to see Stori waving at him, and despite being happy to see her, he reluctantly walked towards her, ears turning hot at the scene she had made. She had always been more comfortable around money, but these kinds of crowds made him feel itchy. Like it was obvious he was the hired help, and everyone viewed him with an air of suspicion. "No, I, uh, I can't take responsibility for that one. Though word is they thought it was more important it come authentic from France than fresher and more local."

[storiadair]

Her nose twitched upwards, and Stori shook their head, "That's fucking disgusting." She mused and tugged at her ear. "I will never understand sacrificing fresh and delicious for the novelty of something ridiculous." Her camera hung around her neck, and she snapped a few photos of the food spreads, "The couple doesn't strike me as the sort who cares more about quality. I'm sure I overheard the bridesmaids giggling about how the groom was basically with them all." She rose her brows for emphasis as she plucked a fruit from a tray. "So what here did you make? It's been years since I've seen you and thus years since I've had something that wasn't take out or microwaveable."

[hunter-calhoun]

Hunter sighed because he knew that meant they'd be here a while. "Yeah I know who you are, I was just tryin' to be polite is all." He chuckled and looked her up and down once before he nodded and flipped his blinker on so he could pull his truck over to the curb and park it. "Well make up your mind honey are we gardenin' or gettin' ice cream? Or both?" Hunter was about eighty percent sure he knew what she meant by gardening since it had been some sorta sexual innuendo somehow in the groupchat earlier but he was always a gentleman and wasn't gonna press his luck.

[storiadair]

"Novel." She replied evenly, a flutter of a smile, "A long while at least." Stori beamed, "I always choose both whenever I can. Gardening does require sustenance, does it not?" She waited for him and stepped up onto the sidewalk where she looped her arm through his, "What's your favorite flavor? Apparently you can tell a lot about a person based on the sort of ice cream they pick."

[storiadair]

Stori & Jackson (Jackson's place) @jackson-darby

I won't take any excuses this time, little Dove. I'd assume you made him up if I never met the boy. Now I fully expect my grandson-in-law to attend all wedding events this way forward. Show up with bells and the boy. As the bride, I get to make these requests, so now arguing. He will never be too busy for his family.

Grandy Daisy's words rang like a bell in her mind, wedding bells, warning bells. She wasn't sure, nor did she have time to second guess what she was about to do. She should have called and asked in advance, but Stori knew better than to give Jackson a chance to get out of any sort of responsibility. So she did what she did best, showed up unannounced, dressed for an event they both needed to attend in less than an hour. Banging on his front door, Stori sang his name, giving him a dazzling smile as he swung the door open, "Well, you're not dressed at all for a rehearsal dinner." She pouted and extended out a dry cleaning back with a suit she'd picked out for him earlier in the week after she knew she didn't have a choice. "Good thing I have the perfect thing for you to wear. Get dressed."

[storiadair]

Theo & Stori

@theodawkins

Theo had been a friend who transcended years. Someone who had seen Stori through childhood into an awkward and lonely adolescents. They'd both lost parents and in a lot of way Stori felt like Theo was one of the few people who could understand her in the valley of that loss. So when she found they were in Half Moon Bay she did not hesitate to look them up, like a fiery shooting star Stori ran into their arms, jumping like a long lost friend return from some perelous mission. "Theo!" She called warmly, tilting her friends chin, "You look whole- no damage yet from your insane job?" She smiled stepping back, "Tell me you're not busy and you have time to blow off the rest of the day for me."

[ohserene-deactivated20230627]

❛❛ they're not bad words! ❜❜ she exclaimed, although from the way her features turned crimson, one would think they were. it wasn't that she thought they were negative at all, in fact she was quite sure all of those things could bring people joy and pleasure and happiness. she simply wasn't one of those people. it wasn't she discounted it entirely, but even as a teenager she hadn't found the appeal to most of the things gushed over. sure, the romances in her books were fun and exciting, but they were fiction. that was the closest she had gotten to… well, anything. suddenly grateful for stori's unspoken words, she allowed her arm to be looped, leaning into the touch with affection as she chuckled softly to herself. ❛❛ the apps? ❜❜ she had heard of tinder, vaguely. although she couldn't bring herself to attempt to understand the practice when the concept didn't sing to her. the posting, the swiping, the messaging– it all sounded a bit overwhelming. ❛❛ apps sound.. confusing. ❜❜

[storiadair]

Stori nodded, resting her head against Serenity's for a moment "Okay- Okay." She soothed, "So how do you like to meet people then? No apps, no tinder, bumble, plenty fish, zoosk, hinge, match, raya none of that- would you ever do speed dating?" Stori queried a pique of her brow. "I tried it once. It's a bit silly and not much chemistry but it's fun and helps when you know they'll be occupied with the next person in a few minutes so it's less stress about if you'll put your foot in your mouth or reveal your red flags too quickly."

[elspethsalazar]

“i know. i know he’s an asshole. i know he messed up. believe me, i’ve been chewing his ear off about that for the longest time. whether it’s got through his thick skull, that’s another matter. all i can tell you is that we know he messed up, and i wish i could apologise for him. you don’t need to tell me everything,” elspeth could more or less fill in the gaps. they were intelligent, even if they perhaps didn’t apply themself to their fullest ability. either way, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the group fell apart. elspeth knew all about running away. when rosa lost her life, when the town she had grown up in her entire life turned against them for a drunken mistake, their family had no other choice but to flee. they slung their belongings in the trunk and drove to start a new life, a good life—or at least, that was what they had hoped. elspeth was unsure whether she could call this life a particularly good one, but at least she was free. with the building blocks at her disposal, the bassist was able to rebuild an existence out of the rubble. some days, clawing through dust and detritus seemed all too much. 

eagerly she leaned over the table to take hold of the airpod. it was twisted into her ear, and they sat listening to the notes, the melodies, the lyrics that floated from stori’s tongue into the microphone. this was what they had always been missing. although the songs were passionate, written about past experience, infused with emotion, there was something raw about the new material. there was a certain level of talent that flooded from heartache. all the best albums had been created off the back of tragedy. perhaps hearthead suzy would be the same—a group of shattered hearts were bound to create masterpieces, so long as they could exist long enough without chewing each other’s heads off. “it’s amazing,” they spoke once the recording tapered off. elspeth was reluctant to remove the headphone, but they graciously returned it to the other. already, sparks were flying through their mind. “this is exactly what we need.” 

“isn’t that all the more reason to do it?” elspeth was both the devil and angel on stori’s shoulder. on the one hand, they understood that barging back into her ex-boyfriend’s band would be like a bomb detonating, and yet it made complete sense. it was the shock they needed, a disruption to the status quo, a break of the dam to let water run free. “we won’t know whether it’ll work unless we give it a try. i say we do it. i don’t think a gig in san fran is something we can pass up,” it sure beat the inconsistent bar stages they had been booking as of late.

[storiadair]

"There isn't much to tell," Stori admitted with a shrug of her shoulders and an unreadable expression that covered the ache five years in the making. "He cheated on me with Ivy. So I left." Her expression fell a moment before Stori smoothed a smile onto her face, "I'm over it." She lied, "I'm over him." another lie she told without stuttering. It was easy to lie, to string together meaningless words and create a tale from hopeful musings that were only just the tip of the iceberg. She'd been doing it for as long as she could talk more than a few sentences at a time. Making up stories to make herself feel better about her life. Even after her mother had died she made up different tales from time to time to make her loss more palatable. She could spin anything into ribbons of hopefulness, of intrigue of fulfillment with a few chosen words to make herself seem less sad than she actually was.

Her music didn't hide it as well, it was easy to write a song about loss and heartbreak about what could have been, should have been, and all the moments of almost when most people attributed lyrics to their own lives without picking apart what they meant for the person who created them. Stori palms her earbud and mulled over the opportunity for all of ten seconds before she nodded. "I'll do it. I'll come back and I'll bring the lyrics. Whatever. The worst that will happen is Jackson will be...Jackson." Stori flipped red strands away from her face, "Everyone else will love me." She teased, "So who gets to tell him? We can rock paper scissors for it?"

[nainadesai-deactivated20231123]

Naina couldn't help the laugh that escaped her at Stori's honest response, "you know--as long as it's done with love, maybe I won't mind so much," she chuckled softly before her eyes widened at the other's words. "Please give me the information for that place asap, that would be the perfect way to spend a day off and I would be indebted to you for life." She paused for a second before grinning, "any cute single racers hang out there though? Because sometimes I feel like a trophy wife lifestyle would be best for me, but alas--I haven't found anyone in Half Moon Bay yet that suits the criteria," she grinned at the other before taking a sip of her drink. The reason for their meeting was forgotten at this point but Naina didn't mind--this was a fun time with her friend and while the words the other said did surprise Naina, she let the other say what she wanted and didn't try to grill her for answers. "I mean--that's very true and I'm all for that. Taking care of you and your needs should always be the biggest priority."

[storiadair]

Stori was already typing away on her phone finding the website for the race track and sending the link to Naina before she could finish the full sentence. "Done and done. I expect life debts to be paid in full." She smiled, dropping her phone back into the opening of her bag. "I'm sure you could snag one up- I think I'd get tired of being a trophy wife. What will I argue with my spouse about?" Stori paused, "I s'pose if I ever have a second spouse I could be like a trophy wife. I'm sure I could find something to argue about." Stori teased while piling her red locks into a claw clip, "Do you think there is a line?" She asked curiously, "Like is there a point where I'd just be selfish to put myself first?"

[jasperjsmith]

“well, not solid gold,” his eyes trained on the ceiling, holding the specimen tenderly in his small fingers, “i don’t have that kind of money. but maybe a little pattern on top of it, some gold flakes. something cool. i mean, it’s cool enough as it is, but… it can be cooler,” jasper was thankful he had found a roommate that appreciated the creepier decor. there were still remnants of halloween decorations hanging on the back of his bedroom door—for them, every month was october. “yes!” the excitement erupted from his mouth like a missile. he shuffled his boots against the ground, his eyes flitting to follow stori as she searched through the boxes. parting his lips, he stammered over the words as they came. “we could go look for some lava lamps. they’re always at the markets, thrift stores—maybe we can get one that was from the nineties. authentic.” the crashing of boxes caused his lids to fall closed, squeezing shut, his eyes scrunching into lines. “i haven’t. and so long as you plant them in the spring, it should be fine. we can keep an eye on them.”

[storiadair]

"I think I have some gold leaf in the crafting cupboard." She explained, waving a hand towards the kitchen. In a closed cabinet by the fridge, the shelves were lined with various crafts. Half-finished embroidery, canvases, paints in whichever colors caught her eye and so much more that you were bound to find whatever it is you needed. Be it modpodge, glitter or gesso. Some sandpaper too probably if she was remembering correctly. "Okay." Stori lamented, "San Francisco has the best vintage stores. Maybe even an oddities shop or ten with other creepy little things you could decorate with." Stori pulled the bag of bulbs from the box and tossed a look over at him, a brief grimace. "Do you have those earplugs-the ones that lower volume? I forget what they are called." She asked as she plucked a bulb from the bag, "I could plant them now yea?"

[dannyxrattana]

Danny tried not to let any surprise show on his face at the comment about her husband, but he wasn't so sure he was all that successful. Instead, he coughed awkwardly and nodded. "I also had to share my ex-girlfriend with three of her friends and her roommate, so understandable. Now, I was planning to break up with her, not marry her...so we do differ there." Once they were hand in hand, Danny began pulling her out of the crowd. "No, my car isn't big enough to carry a dead body, and I'm not risking getting blood on the seats."

[storiadair]

"Four times?" Stori held up four fingers, whispering between them, "Married or not sharing with that many people is awful crowded." Shrugging, "I did marry him before the cheating at least. That came after the I do's and whatever. You ever get married in Vegas it's a real wild time. I can't wait to do it again." She said letting him lead her from the crowd. "You can kill someone without making them bleed." She pointed out, "But that feels a lot more personal unless you have knowledge on how to poison someone. Ya know like wolfsbane." Stori rattled on, "Do you drive a fancy car?"

[drewhayes]

andrew couldn't help but laugh. "i had to read it in high school and once again in college for some reason. we read a lot of fitzgerald oddly enough. i think my college professor was just into his work because there was no reason we should have been doing things over him at that point." he shook his head thinking back to how strange it was. "i spent the majority of my life lying, i don't want to do it at my own home." he admitted to her. "i'm a simple man who stays thirsty, sweetheart." he pointed out as he took another drink of his margarita and then sat it down on the edge of the pool before swimming toward the middle more towards her. a brow raised, "and what are those ways?" he asked curiously. "it seems as though i have ran all out of ideas."

[storiadair]

"Give a man the title of a classic, and you'll be forced to read his plagiarized work for life." Stori rolled deep brown eyes and sighed for dramatic effect. She'd never had any interest in going to college, she had far too many fleeting ambitions to trust herself to stick to one. "Your college professor sounds like he might be pretend-pretentious. I know it's like sacrilicious or whatever, but I find most the classics to be a real fucking drag." Floating on her back, she turned her face towards him, "I mean, Mary Shelley is a real badass goth babe I could not get through Frankenstein. I opted to do extra credit art based on the book, and the teacher suddenly had a critique for everything I drew- she didn't like my busty Bride of Frankenstein." Flipping up she looked upon him with a lightened interest, "Do you lie for business or pleasure?" Stori laughed a delighted sound as he swam closer, "All these fine things but empty on ideas." She clicked her tongue chiding him playfully. "You can borrow my ideas but I expect credit." Stori explained, "All the best pool parties I'd attended had either marco polo, play mermaids - you look like you'd make a great merperson and of course skinny dipping."

[hunter-calhoun]

Hunter was jamming in his truck to some old school Garth Brooks, a wildly different afternoon than the redhead in front of him was probably having, and bopping along in the traffic. He was never in much of hurry to get anywhere, that might be the southern roots in him, so sitting here in the sunshine with his shades on was all good by him. Until the woman turned her car off all together and got out, making her way over to his driver's side window. "Uh, I don't think you're 'sposed to just leave your car like that, miss." He frowned but then nodded at her assessment of who he was. "I'm always a lay in the sun kinda guy but I can offer my gardening services too if they're needed." He lowered his sunglasses to meet her eyes.

[storiadair]

Stori slid her shades to the crown of her head, "Traffic isn't going anywhere. There is a cow and her calf up there holding up a berry truck." Stori said, spinning her keys around her finger. "We're more or less parked for the foreseeable future, darlin'," She said with an infectious imitation of his accent that gave way he was simply not from the area. "I've got a pretty decent green thumb but from time to time it's I'm sure I could use some help. " Stepping closer, "I'm Stori....not miss unless you insist." She smiled warmly, nodding off towards the sidewalks. "You wanna pull over and go get ice cream or something. I'm going anyway better than sitting in traffic hoping something decent comes on the radio."

[jasperjsmith]

jasper and stori's home ! ( closed for — @storiadair !​ )

“isn’t this cool?” he spoke, trailing stori like a stray kitten with something bone white caught in his fingertips. “it’s a cow skull—i got it at the market last week. it’s in perfect condition. i was thinking i could paint it, maybe decorate it with gold…” it was a long way from piping roses on the tops of sponges with his sisters at the kitchen counter, but an artistic venture nonetheless. jasper was like a magpie, latching onto anything shiny, curious, or a little creepy. despite their differences—the catty disagreements over washing up or laundry loads—something that united the roommates was their shared affinity for the strange and unusual.  “i’m not much of an interior designer, but… i don’t know. it might spruce up the place.”

[storiadair]

Stori was tearing the living room apart, flipping pillows onto the floor and turning out storage boxes when she realized she didn't even remember what she was looking for and just kept looking, figuring it would come to her in the process. She tossed a cursory look back at what Jasper was showing her. Taking a pause and a second look when she realized it was bones. "Like gold flake stuff or more solid?" She asked, poking gingerly at one of the sharper points. Stori's smile was genuine, "A regular western haunted mansion." She gestured about at the bobbles and collectibles that wouldn't normally go together except for here. "Minus the mansion." She shrugged. "I don't care where you put it, but I want another lava lamp. I think blue would be nice." She said, only just now remembering what she was looking for, "My bulbs!" She said, returning to her haunt, "Have you seen them? I think I was supposed to have planted them already but it should be fine, yea?"

[elspethsalazar]

“have you really?” elspeth’s head rang with potential. perhaps, if stori had been working away behind-the-scenes just as she always did, then they would have a shot at something huge. their lips pursed, and she leaned back against the seat. “to be honest, it feels as though i’m the only one holding down the fort anymore. don’t ask mako anything, he doesn’t know shit. jackson is always off god-knows-where. i can rely on serenity, but technically she isn’t part of the band…” although they considered her as such, her presence being so vital that, without it, it felt as though hearthead suzy had an open wound. “we need you. or at least, i know i need you. i think we’re all thinking it, even if nobody has said it out loud. i wish we could have worked things out,” but elspeth understood heartbreak; perhaps it wasn’t the same, but her ventricles remained strung together with thread and tape, “you know, i’d love to hear something. if you have songs that you’ve written.”

did she feel bad, going behind the backs of the other members? maybe she would have done, if they had ever carried their weight. instead, she would work her magic and tell them when it was just that little bit too late. “you can trust me, you know. you can tell me shit and it won’t get back to jackson, or any of them. i just want things to go back to normal, how they used to be when everything was… when it was perfect,” when they could see their name in lights. when elspeth’s fantasy seemed more like a side-step. for now, booking real shows and recording songs anywhere other than old cassette tapes seemed like a pipe-dream. “there were a few auditions for a replacement but nobody ever felt right. we’ve still been practicing, rehearsing, writing material—” elspeth wasn’t sure she would ever be able to stop creating, “—but nothing has really been done. not yet. there’s space for you,” and they left the sentence open, a carrot on a string, hoping that stori would reach out and bite.

[storiadair]

"I get bored on wedding shoots." Stori half lied, wedding days were so busy that she barely had a moment to sit, drink, breathe, let alone write a song, but in the quiet moments after the nights ended, she found herself bursting with the muse, unable to get her own wedding song out of her head. So she wrote. She wrote of her mother and their relationship that never got to heal, of her father who couldn't look her in the eyes- her Grand Daisy, the people she called friends, and more often than she cared to admit, she wrote of Jackson. The confusing way you can love and loathe in everchanging measure. Some days all she had in her was hate for what he'd done. So much of it that there was no room to even have a bite to eat. Others she missed him...missed this all so fiercely that she did everything she could to fill up the cavernous feeling that she felt all over her body. "Mako-" she asked, "Small world." Stori mulled over it, "Have you tried bullying Jackson?" Stori smiled a coquette grin and sighed, her smile falling into contemplative unrest.

She had an idea as to where he was. None of them were entirely favorable or ones she wished to think about. "He fucked Ivy, Elspeth." Stori said it aloud more as a reminder for herself than the other. "He not only did it but he let me leave. He didn't ask me to stay. There was no-" Stori grimaced and her fingers curled into her palm. "I don't want to rehash it with you." She said more gently. "I wished a lot had been different. If just one thing had been maybe-" She exhaled, "I couldn't face him after it all." So she stole his car and hit the road. Went as far as the piece of junk would take her then hoped on the first yacht that was offered. "Actually." Stori pulled out her phone, passed over an air pod to Elspeth. "I have my recordings on my phone. Nothing like what it would sound like with a proper band, but just me sitting in my bathtub for the acoustics." She clarified and scrolled through a few of the songs. "I'm a little intoxicated in this one but it is my favorite."

Stori shifted her hold on her phone, "It was never perfect, El." She hated to say it, "It was always messy and sometimes terrible, but-" Stori chewed her lip a bit, "It was ours. It was wonderful. I wanted it to work. All of it." Stori couldn't tell her no and there was a small chaotic part of her that wanted to show up a reminder of who she was and who she could be- "Jackson might shit a literal brick." She said flipping a fiery strand away from her face. "I have a few connections from my dad. I could probably get us a decent gig in San Francisco-" Stori got a head of herself, "How about you listen to this first and if you still want me to come back, I will."

[storiadair]

Listen here X

Pretty girl magic - Moonlight Scorpio

Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac

Brown-eyed girl - Van Morrison

Cemetary - Aviva

Queen of freaks - Aviva

Lola - The Kinks

Good looking - Suki Waterhouse

Moves - Suki Waterhouse

Flowers in December - Mazzy Star

Bella Donna - Stevie Knicks

I wish I never met you - Babygirl

Melrose Meltdown - Suki Waterhouse

First Day of my life - Bright Eyes

[storiadair]

Hunter & Stori @hunter-calhoun

downtown

Driving in stop and go traffic was a nightmare, but being stuck in traffic that was not moving was another irritation all together; Abba blasted on her radio and her windows down allowed the breezy spring air to wrap around her- she could almost ignore the blaring of horns, as if that would make traffic suddenly not be a problem. She rolled her eyes ready to wail into the idiot behind her, when she laid eyes on a face she recognized and suddenly her fury was forgotten for the time being and Stori turned her car off and got out to bound over to the man with a bright smile, "Hey there, you're the lay in the sun and garden guy. Clover" She greeted sweetly giving him a spur-of-the-moment nickname.