𝐖𝐇𝐎 : open to anyone ! ( 0 / 3 )
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 : nighttime, half past ten.
𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 : the curb outside neon rainbow.
she ought to just go home. least, that's what she tells herself, sitting perched on the curb outside the bar, head between her knees. not cause she's drunk, no. after one rum and coke? she wasn't even close. but, cause a couple of her ex's friends showed up at the bar after tess finished that single rum and coke. and, the last thing tess needed was her ex getting a report that tess was spotted sitting alone at the bar, looking sorry as shit for herself.
was she? feeling sorry for herself? fuck, probably. she spent a lot of time doing that these days. but that wasn't the point. the point was that her ex didn't need to know she was. so, tess slunk out the front door ( hopefully ) without being noticed, and made camp on the front stoop.
not like she should be surprised they'd show up there. not really. it's not like tess got their favorite bar in the divorce. just the shop, and what was left of her dignity. the thought makes her laugh. a dry, choked noise that catches in her throat. "fuck, man," she mumbles to herself, and looks up. finally looks up. she reaches into the front pocket of her shirt to fish out the half-finished packed of american spirits tucked there, flips open the lid, and pulls out the lucky, sliding it between her lips. figures, she could use all the luck she could get right now.
she reaches back into the pocket then, fingers scissoring around for the lighter. and then, remembers: she'd lent her lighter to one of her clients at the shop earlier today. they'd never returned it. tess groans, cigarette still dangling from her lips. then, returns the cigarettes to their rightful place in her pocket, and stands.
"hey, 'scuse me," she turns just in time to catch someone walking by. going into the bar, or just passing by, it doesn't matter to her. what matters is the unlit cigarette clenched between her front teeth. "sorry to bother you, friend. but, uh, you got a light, maybe?" she thinks, she sounds a bit pathetic. maybe it's just in her head, but she can practically hear the scrunch between her eyebrows, and the twinkle ( or lack there of ) in her eyes that just screams, have pity on me, please! she grimaces at the thought, then quickly fixes her face, doing her best not to offend.
every time gabriela lit up a cigarette, she could hear her mother reciting 'fumar es malo' over and over in her head, yet she just kept up her habit anyway. she had managed to reduce it, only lighting one up when she was stressed or working herself too hard, so she liked to think of that as progress. it was the latter this time, with the bar full of people and her staff acting as though she hadn't spent so much time training them to keep it together, so she'd insisted that they get it together before deciding she'd needed some fresh air. perhaps she shouldn't have left them to their own devices, but the boss deserved a break too, right?
as soon as she'd stepped out into the cool breeze, it was as though the chaos inside was immediately shut out. the thumping of the bass from outside the door felt more peaceful, like she could think clearly even with that in her ear as she took a drag from her cig. it was calming her nerves, giving her a chance to remember why she'd opened the bar in the first place. not that she ever really forgot or regretted it, of course. busier nights were good for business, but after multiple nights and not enough sleep, gabi would briefly whine about it before snapping herself out of it. tonight had been no different, and the quick smoke break was all the reprieve she needed. for now.
she was heading back in when she heard the familiar voice, and she stopped in her tracks to face teresa as she pulled her lighter back out. "you know smoking's bad for you, don't you?" she teased. "why are you out here anyway? not enough women of your caliber in the bar tonight? or an old string you don't feel like dealing with?" as much as gabi listened to the woes of her patrons, she only genuinely took an interest in the problems her friends were dealing with, so she did want to offer teresa a listening ear.
setting: the neon rainbow, with gabriela trevino @violescnts
they can hardly remember the last time they'd had a drink – it must have been during a very bad day some years ago, but it seems that just had to change today because her virgin cocktail tastes very slutty. it's enough to make her leave the corner she had been chatting with jasmine, grabbing both of their drinks before she heads to the bar again. there's a different bartender than the one she'd ordered from, but with her back turned, kenny can't really make sense out of it. "hey, my order's wrong." they say, hopefully loud enough to be heard through the booming sound. it's just when she turns around that they notice who it is. fuck.
gabriela had been thankful that the bar hadn't been too busy at the moment, giving her time to check her inventory and make sure the bar was stocked. she preferred to be prepared before the place filled up, mostly to prevent her or her staff from having to run downstairs in the middle of a rush should they pour up all of the top shelf before they closed for the night. she'd just sent her employee out for a smoke break and started tending the bar herself when she heard a patron complain, and gabi rolled her eyes almost instantly. "i doubt that." she responded dryly, only to stand back up and come face to face with someone she might have been avoiding for as long as she could remember. "what's wrong with your drink, kenny?" maybe she should have greeted them properly first, but fuck it. "
gen smiled and looked over at the other before nodding. “Ahh, I see.” I have the perfect arrangement for you then.” She said and took a nice bouquet of sunflowers and brought them over to the other and placed the vase on the counter. “What do you think of these, if not you can pick something else.”
one thing gabriela had never understood was why someone had decided that flowers had to mean a certain thing, or which ones meant what, but she figured asking someone who obviously knew about it was better than guessing. as genevieve went to gather up a flower, she studied one of the other arrays of flowers, mostly sizing them up by color and which ones were the prettiest until the other woman was presenting a bouquet to her. "what do sunflowers stand for?" she questioned, unable to stop her curiosity now that she was here. "i always thought of them as being happy, or you know, something you'd give to a friend. a nice gesture, but not really romantic, right?"
it was another day at the flower shop for genevive and she was excited to see all the wonderful arrangements she was about to make for everyone in the small town of bear creek. She placed the first one in the window before hearing the door open. “hello, welcome.” Is there anything I can help you with today.”? She asked with a smile as she went over to her note pad to begin writing.
hearing the greeting as soon as she walked into the shop, gabriela was grateful that it wasn't too busy since she would definitely need some guidance. "so disclaimer: i don't know a thing about flowers, other than some of them being pretty to look at." she stated, giving the woman a small smile despite how hopeless she was. "if i wanted to get someone a bouquet of something other than red roses, but still with the same meaning, what would you suggest?"
Landing a job at The Right Tune had been a bit unexpected for James but with the amount of time he spent there over the years, pouring over the records, it was probably bound to happen sooner or later. And finally after nearly a month of working there, his nerves seemed to settle the smallest bit, and he felt more at ease behind the counter. Though his trusty post it notes nearly covered every inch, full of reminders and helpful things to get him through a shift when he was on his own for a period of time. Like he currently found himself.
With not many people coming in within the last half an hour, James had switched the music over to something more Jazzy, something that was more his speed. Pushing himself up onto the back counter, legs swinging as his fingers absentmindedly tapped along to the beats and tempos of the music. Always itching to get behind his old drum set but this would do for now. Head bobbing along to the music, completely lost as Tommy Dorsey crooned on and played over the speakers, almost startling where he was sitting when he heard someone come in.
"Shi-shoot." He laughed, instantly reaching over to turn the music back down some, not for sure when he had turned the volume up to a questionable level at best. "Sorry about that- Welcome in." James greeted them, his eyes bright- more alive than they seemed most days, finally pushing himself off the counter.
having not stopped into the record store in a while, gabriela figured it would be a good way to kill a little time while she waited for one of her siblings to make it back into town. as soon as the calm tempo rang through her ears, she couldn't help but appreciate whoever was in charge of the overhead music, since she was used to hearing some crappy rock music or some random oldie that only people her parents' age would know. this was much better for the vibe of coming in and leisurely perusing the aisles. she hadn't even noticed the worker until his slip up, and she couldn't help but laugh right along with him. "it's fine. a little profanity never hurt anyone." or at least that's what her own motto was due to never having a filter.
heading for the first aisle, she studied the man's face before recognition set in. he was a few years younger than her, perhpas had been in the same grade as one of her younger siblings, but she was sure she'd seen him around over the years back then. "james something, right?" she asked as her hands trailed over a record in front of her. "i didn't know you worked here, but i guess that explains the music. you've got some good taste." gabi complimented. "they should let you curate what plays in here at all times. last time i came in, i'm pretty sure that one journey song that's overplayed was on repeat. kinda ruins your own experience looking for something new, you know?"
look who goes there! is that gabriela trevino? i’ve seen them often around cedar ridge, which may be because they are the owner of neon rainbow. they’ve been in town for twenty-five years and i’ve known them to be disciplined but also opinionated. for some reason, shy by renee rapp reminds me of them, as well as ripped jeans, the lingering scent of citrus, and neon lights.
— stats
full name: gabriela ibarra trevino
nickname(s): gabi
age: thirty-six
date of birth: march 22, 1990
place of birth: laredo, texas
current location: bear creek, co
gender: cis woman
pronouns: she/her
sexual & romantic orientation: lesbian
occupation: owner of neon rainbow
family, relationships, etc.
mother: paola ibarra
father: andrés trevino
sibling(s): one older & two younger
— backstory
(wip, but also tw: parental death)
born the second eldest child of two immigrants, gabriela grew up with the knowledge of what it took to work hard for what you wanted. her parents married young and had their first child while still in mexico, but once paola was pregnant with gabi, andrés knew he needed better for his growing family. both he and paolo grew up with very little, watching their own parents work themselves to the bone to provide even the bare minimum, which still wasn't always enough to keep food on the table or a roof over their heads. he wanted more opportunities for not only for himself, but for the children he and his wife wanted to shower with love and the basic wants and needs (and then some). they knew the only option was to move to the states, so with their first born in tow, they crossed the border and settled into laredo, texas. andrés found work doing construction, and by the time the fourth trevino child was born, gabi and her older sibling were then stuck helping their mother raise the two younger children. it was exhausting, especially when they were still children themselves, but they sucked it up and dealt with it anyways.
when gabi was 11, her parents decided they wanted a change, so they loaded the family up and hit the road. it didn't seem like they had a destination in mind, but a few days after they'd hit the road, they arrived in bear creek, colorado. once they'd settled in, paolo decided she was ready to do more than just sit at home, so while andrés went right back to construction jobs, she'd taken a job at the town's daycare so she could both contribute to the household and bring her youngest to work, finally freeing her older two to live their own lives. gabriela couldn't have been more thrilled to have her own life back, so she tried one sport after another and experimented with a few different hobbies just because she could now. only basketball stuck in the end, and by middle school, she was quite the standout, and she'd be lying if she said the popularity wasn't nice.
by the time gabi got to high school, all of the attention started getting to her head, as she dreamed of going off to college, and maybe even the pros one day. but when she wasn't in practice, she started to get caught up in partying, ending up stumbling her way home drunk at all hours of the night. her parents thought nothing of it until she started to skip class, causing her grades to drop and her spot on the basketball team to be at risk. andrés hadn't moved his family here for any of his children to drop the ball the way that gabi was, so he started to implement a little tough love to get her back on track. she didn't like it, but eventually she got her shit together and straightened back up. the rest of high school sailed by, and luckily, her little detour didn't stop her from landing an athletic scholarship to the university of denver.
gabi's first year of college was a whirlwind, to say the least. although she’d had a few one night stands with other girls in high school, it was during that first year that she realized she was very much a lesbian and not just experimenting. but then tragedy struck the trevino family when her father suffered an injury at work that ultimately led to his death days afterwards. paola was devastated, so gabi headed back home to help out with her younger siblings while her mother dealt with her grief. after all, she didn’t have much going for her at the time, so it felt right to step up when her family needed her.
a few years later, gabi went to one of the community colleges and earned herself a business degree — she didn’t know anything about running a business, but she knew that her father had wanted his kids to accomplish more than he ever did, and it was one of the only majors the community colleges nearby offered a four year degree in, so she figured what the hell. she worked at a few businesses in town for a while, saving up money and taking care of paolo now that all of her kids had entered adulthood and figuring life out for themselves. but eventually, she grew tired of working for other people, of taking orders from people who treated their employees like they were less than because they weren't the boss. she wanted something of her own, something she and her family could be proud of. maybe it was the gay in her, but bear creek not having a place that catered to the queer community didn't sit right with her. so after doing a little research, finding an empty retail space that could be transformed into a bar, and finding the funding for it, neon rainbow came to be. she loves being her own boss, but her favorite part is being able to provide a safe space for the community (and allies).
alexis rose appreciation week
day six - favorite quote
as your publicist, and your daughter, and now the moderator of the sunrise bay fan forum, there is more to this story. if you want to go through with this after watching that video…
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