#&.interactions

[barrisms]

@adriannasotc​

location: Adrianna’s front door time: 3 in the am

The silver mental key had been jammed into the lock a series of times before Barrett resorted to a closed fist against the door. Loud enough to wake the dead at three in the morning, especially when accompanied by his less than angelic slurred speech. “What the fu—” The intoxicated psychiatrist found his profanity cut short when the key slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground. “...oh shit.” He stared blankly at the floor. He could get that, yeah. Easy enough. 

The moment he bent down to retrieve the shiny object, his head hit the door. Too close, way too close. “Son of a bitch!” Barrett yelled as he pressed his palm against the top of his head and once more resorted to the casual knocks that became more feverish in intent with each second that passed. He’d get complaints in the morning, especially from Mrs. Adams two doors down. She really had a vendetta against Barrett. Probably because he hardly said a word to her and insulted her daughter that one time. In his defense, he didn’t know she was related to the woman. But what had truly been an astonishment was that Barrett was under the mindset that if he continued to knock on the door, his assumed door, it’d magically open. That theory confirmed when it did, but by Adrianna? “I just...my key isn’t working in my door.” Barrett shoved his hand in the pocket of his jacket to retrieve the key but pulled out a stick of gum instead. Spearmint. “Wh-why are you here? And how’d you eve get in here?” He slurred the question. “Did you climb into the window?" 

[jcbisms]

@avahalliwell​ — you...

location: Near the open dance floor.  time: After 9pm. 

For siblings who seemed to be at odds with one another, Nathan had really pushed it with the favors. First, he’d been overly generous with the concern for his youngest brother's racing incident. In hindsight, Jacob should have taken notice of that but the offer of the vacation house in Catalina, an island he had never stepped foot on until now, had once again put Nathan in a favorable light to their parents. One-uped again and with the same damn vacation home too. Nathan two, Adam, one and Jacob...half a point seemed generous.  

Then, Nathan had sprung the wedding on him. The first in a series of favors Jacob would pay him back with because that home in Ventura came with a price, one Jacob had willingly agreed to pay the moment he had taken his big brother up on his offer. Mistake number one. Mistake number two was that he didn’t see it coming. Not even when he was well into downing his fifth? No, sixth? drink near the end of the evening with an aged and clearly denying balding male. No, Jacob would have willingly continued to listen to another half hour of the benefit of a higher sheet thread count if it meant he could avoid the all too familiar face of Nathan’s wife, Ava.

Trentino wouldn't have even been able to direct a better reaction that started when his blue eyes caught sight of her. Followed by a sudden inability to swallow the alcohol he then chocked on, but to refrain from dramatics he didn’t drop the glass or proceed with a spit take, despite how satisfying that would be given his present company. His grip around the cold glass of his drink tightened once he had stopped the sudden coughing fit and pushed away the man who proceeded to slap the palm of his hand against Jacob’s back. This guy needed to go. 

Still, Jacob didn't move, rather he found the rest of that alcoholic beverage to be the cure for the obvious hallucination of the she-devil. But on second and third glance with narrowed eyes to focus his attention, Ava hadn’t gone anywhere. He should say something, but he didn’t. No, Jacob just opted to continue this moment of agony and stare. 

Did Nathan know about this?

[naisms]

@jennskates​ — long days and broken glass. 

location: Blue Sage Apothecary. time: early morning. 

Naomi had continuously attempted to stretch the knick from her neck periodically throughout her early morning shift at Blue Sage Apothecary. She needed a new mattress, but a new mattress meant money, something she. was in short supply of these days. The impulse buying and late night infomercials didn’t help much either. Though the thought of how much new bedding she could afford was replaced by another when green eyes had come to focus on the bottles she had been mindlessly setting on the shelf nearly too tall for her short stature to reach. All this time working here and Naomi didn’t think to reap some sort of benefit by finding something to cure the kink. But that was a thought that had gone just as quickly as it came. One that was now proceeded by profanity. “Shit,” Naomi murmured when one of the glass bottles she had just stocked the shelf with fell to the ground. Of course it shattered everywhere, the clear liquid puddled around her white hightop converse. The real cherry on top though had been the individual who proceeded to walk forward right into that glass mess just to ask a question that was clearly labeled on the bottle.

“Oh, no sir you’re going to —”

“Is this glass?” He was stern in his delivery as he glanced down to the obvious remnants of the bottle crushed beneath his feet. 

“Yes,” she sighed. “Sir you’re stepping on glass please step back.” 

“I could sue.” 

Really? That’s where this whole thing was going? Naomi gave him a narrowed eyed glare, a moment of her less than professional behavior that flickered across her features. She cleared her throat. “Okay,” she breathed. “Sir you’re not injured and I was going to clean this up so —” 

“You saw this?” The man turned to question another customer, a young unsuspecting woman. Blonde hair, a comparable stature to Naomi and someone she had recognized as a frequent customer. “Hey, girl,” the man gave a snap of his fingers and pointed to the glass beneath his shoes and puddle of liquid by Naomi’s own. “Negligence, isn’t it,” he clarified.

This was going to be a long day. 

[jckisms]

@roadklls​ — that’s my car. 

location: parking lot in north side.  time: late evening. 

“She’s a bitch,” Jack murmured as he paced around the parking lot. His wandering gaze never seemed to stay in one place, or on one car for too long before he’d go on to the next. And who did he have to thank for his sudden need to steal a vehicle? His lovely sister of course. She had fucked him over. Bonded by blood, his own sister had been the one to take away any meaning Jack had left in his life and now, his car. "Took my damn car.” Sure, that was four years ago but it was his and the money she got for the parts she sold belonged to him too. He kissed that good-bye the moment he put two and two together upon his return to Red Ridge. Now he was left to his own devices. Jack passed one car after the next without so much as a second glance to those cars that had price tag worth phoning the cops for. “Rich asshole.” The observation came as the tall male eyed one of those perfectly clean white Tesla electric cars. 

But Jack’s own self serving monologue had come to an end the moment he realized he wasn’t alone. A tall man lurking in a parking lot, didn’t seem to raise suspicion at all...”Shit.” He began to dig around in his pockets until Jack produced a lighter, close enough to appear like a key fob as he pressed the top of the metal with his thumb repeatedly. The smile he gave the couple that passed him failed to reach his gaze. The same couple that had glanced back to look at Jack who finally came to rest on the hood of the first car within his proximity. A 2004 white Ford Explorer. Easy enough to lift, possibly. 

There was only one issue, once again he wasn’t alone. The couple may have left but now there was some woman in the parking lot making her way for...God, was this her car? Jack’s gaze fell to the lighter in his grasp. His brows knitted together and his lips pursed. His jaw strained, teeth pressed firmly down as his index finger began to once again tap against that metal lighter, but as he looked up, his shifty gaze once again caught sight of the same individual. Shit. 

[jcbisms]

@emmaainsley​ — exactly what it looks like. 

location: near step beach.  time: early afternoon. 

This wasn’t...alright, it was exactly what it looked like and the alarmingly bright no trespassing sign positioned dead center on the chainlink fence didn’t exactly help the feigned attempt at ignorance on the matter. He was halfway over, leg swung to the other side which left Jacob to straddle the fence. His knuckles had turned white from how tightly he gripped the metal to keep his body from tipping to one side or the other too much, but what really caused Jacob to nearly tip over had been her. The petite brunette. She came out of nowhere, or so it seemed. Enough so that when Jacob turned to look he visibly jumped (as much as he could). “Jesus,” he breathed. “Is this...do you always....frankly, it’s rude.” Jacob gestured between the two individuals. “Sneaking up on someone like this.” Though any other comments were quickly dismissed when that gesture caused his balance to waver. His blue eyes grew wide momentarily and his hands desperately found their grip on the metal once more. Once Jacob regained his balance, he paused. His forward gaze slowly turned to look down at the woman. “I’ll forgive you for that one but,” he sighed. A defeatist tone in the words to follow as he held his hand out, as if she could reach. “I just...do you...come here.” He waited. “Please, come here.” 

[jcbisms]

@elizcbethkennedy​ — cue the cards 

location: outside Lizzie’s home.  time: 2:30pm

Someone had once told Jacob boredom birthed creativity, or something along those lines. Whatever they said about it, he was bored. Left to wander around the Ventura home with little to keep the driver entertained that otherwise hadn’t been exhausted since his arrival. Such as his phone which was carelessly tossed onto the light-washed leather couch in the living room and the large flatscreen Jacob had passed by as he paced from one room to the next. He’d even exhausted the bored eating habit which left a mess of overpriced dairy-free graham crackers, that were probably marketed to kids given the packaging, littered across the grey and white marble countertop in the kitchen. 

But that boredom certainly did give way to something. Within twenty minutes time Jacob stood outside his home with enough supplies to warrant an arts and crafts project for a kindergarten class. It was amazing what the old modeling posters of his older brother Nathan could be used for. So those large posters, along with a box of sharpies in various colors were placed on the ground by his feet as the male allowed a wandering gaze to fixate on the neighboring house, the balcony to be specific. His hands fell to his hips as blue eyes squinted and his form leaned forward slightly. That’d help him see. Was that? “Elizabeth?” Not that she’d be able to hear or if Jacob wanted to continue yelling. Which is where that boredom of his came in handy. He waved, held up an index finger for her to wait once he caught her attention and proceeded to use the back of the poster to write the words: HI LIZ. HOW R U? in a black sharpie. Then held it up, backwards at first. It took a minutes before Jacob turned the poster over and still yelled out the very words he wrote in case she couldn’t read. “How are you?”  Love Actually had nothing on him. 

[jcbisms]

@anxliese-atwater​ — the cherry on top. 

location: near an empty table #6.  time: post dinner.  

Somewhere between drunk and tipsy. That’d be the best way to explain the newfound confidence Jacob began to exude throughout the duration of the evening, post-dinner but pre dancing. He was one of the few stragglers who stayed behind at the tables with no innate desire to move, save for if he saw the woman in the disco ball dress because Margot hadn’t suffered enough from his intoxicated advances. But apparently, she wasn’t the only one. 

The male shifted in his seat but paused before he made any sudden movements to rise from to his feet and follow the crowd. Maybe a little more drunk than tipsy was the verdict on his blood-alcohol level, but Jacob hadn’t even come to realize it himself until he thought he was seeing a ghost or memory come back to haunt him, something like that in the form of the tall, leggy blonde Annalise Atwater. Now, he could have kept his head down, he could have even just said hello and good-bye but for some reason, the idea of reminiscing with Anna was the first thing that came to mind and the very first idea he acted upon. 

“Anna,” Jacob called to attention as if his blatant staring hadn’t been enough. “So you’re here,” he gestured to the woman casually, “you look great. I’m here too, still don’t know what you’re doing here.” But the cherry on top of that clearly intoxicated influence of a reunion hadn’t been complete without the later regrettable jab. “You wanna not be here? Take a drive? That was fun last time, wasn’t it?”