dance with me

winnie mearns. 27 years old. ballerina. var sc_project=11426496; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="d5be7dfc";

[winnie-mearns]

januaryandrews:

“Stay still!” January said as she tried to freeze the moment with her new camera. Photography was her new hobby, her therapist advised her to find a distraction. Her reaction startled the other person, their sudden movement ruined the shot. All those years she cursed paparazzis for taking those horrendous candids of her, now she was doing the exact same thing to a stranger. Except the stranger wasn’t a washed up children’s-show presenter who was cut short when she’s discovered by her producer smoking crack in her dressing room. Life was funny, wasn’t it? A sigh escaped from her lips first, she quickly pulled herself together and faked a smile. “I am going to take another one, try not to move this time.”

Winnie glanced up at the sound of a camera, her face immediatelly pulling into something that had to resemble a grimace. For someone who spent her entire life on stage, she was incredibly awkward when it came to things like this. “Trust me,” she started, a wry smile crossing her face. “You can find a much better subject with someone else.” 

[melancoliedesames]

[adoringaliciavikander]

[winnie-mearns]

carterbakerr:

“I sure did, but believe me. I wasn’t so confident to walk around someone’s home until I had a few martini’s.” She admitted. “ Like Popeye needs spinach I need booze.” She chuckled and pulled out a sleek red pump, marveling at its beauty. She was definitely a shoe girl. She smiled, and looked back to her. ‘ Great! I promise I’m not gonna frame you for a crime or anything…Even though I look really, really sketchy.”

“You know, I don’t think there’s much I wouldn’t be confident enough to do after a few martini’s,” Winnie answered back, her tone ever so slightly wistful. Sure, she was a wine girl....or had been....but she would go for any sort of drink right now. “Popeye? I’m gonna be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that for a reference before. And I hope not! I don’t usually trust strangers, so I’m really going out on a limb here,” she added with a laugh. 

[winnie-mearns]

lila--johnson:

“No, no. I get it, trust me.” she said, shaking her head. “But, so far, the kids aren’t showing any signs or symptoms of either.”

“That’s lucky. Hopefully they caught it early enough that your kids stay healthy. I’m sure that has to be stressful.” 

[winnie-mearns]

alcxwill:

“Soliciting is legal, as long as there’s no sign posted forbidding it, and, luckily for me, there wasn’t one,” Alex replied with a nod. “Do you even know what crazy bread is? Because you’re the first person I’ve met who has actively turned down the offer. I’m a little shocked if I’m being honest.”

“Really? That many people gave in because of some kitschy named food?” Winnie asked, a wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows. “Sorry, no idea. And if I’m being honest, it doesn’t sound that appetizing,” she added, shrugging up her shoulders. 

[winnie-mearns]

kylehowland:

“It definitely wasn’t my client,” he argued as he knew that he made sure that his clients always cleaned up after themselves. Kyle then smirked at her. “Have you been watching me?” he had to ask, his body relaxing a little more now that some of his anger had dissipated. “I’m pretty sure it was Steve with his client. The fucking asshole never cleans up after himself.”

“Uhh...ok. Except for it was. Unless you usually loudly work with people who ‘aren’t your clients’,” Winnie said, rolling her eyes. He could deny it, but he had spent 45 minutes with the guy before he had gone over to the free weights. It was impossible to ignore, douchebag’s like that were loud and constantly in the way. Plus, they never cleaned off the machines after sweating all over them. “I don’t have time to argue with you about this, and that wasn’t my intention. Just trying to let you know.” 

[winnie-mearns]

alcxwill:

“Pizza delivery!”, Alex called out, doing his best impersonation of an actual delivery guy. What he was really doing, well, was borderline genius. You know those sad as hell ASPCA commercials that make you cry? The ones you can’t help but want to donate to? He was banking on them. Waiting outside the door with a cute little piggy bank and tablet ready to go with the latest slideshow of injured animals at the clinic, he was sure he was gonna get some donations. “Just kidding. I’m actually Alex Williams, one of the vets down at Back Bay Clinic. Think you could spare a few minutes to check out all the little critters we’re trying to raise money for? You won’t regret it, promise. Plus, if you make it to the end of my slideshow and donate some change, I’ll even throw in a coupon for some free crazy bread at Little Caesar’s. C’mon.”

Winnie heard the voice at her door, her eyebrows wrinkling together. She hadn’t ordered anything, and if she had - well, it wouldn’t have been pizza. She ignored it, sure that they would realize they had the wrong apartment after a moment. No such luck, though, and Winnie got up with a sigh, heading to the door to tell him he had the wrong place. When she opened it, and the ‘delivery man’ started off a spiel. “Crazy bread? I don’t even want to know what’s that made of. You made the wrong selling point with that one,” she said, leaning against the doorframe and tilting her head up to look at him for a moment. “Is it even legal to solicit from door to door like this?”

[winnie-mearns]

carterbakerr:

“ Forced?” She questioned. “ Is this like, someone you love inviting you over to their parent’s house ? Cause I can understand how this party would make you feel like a penny surrounded by quarters.” She added while carefully sliding a box of shoes out of its place. “ Me? Well, I saw a nice house, an unattended door, and some great martini’s. Guess you can say my curiosity got the best of me.” She shrugged. “ I don’t know anyone here, yet they all kinda just smiled at me anyway. If anyone does ask…just agree that I’m your friend you brought along.” She chuckled.

“Ah, something along those lines,” Winnie said with a laugh. “No way, you crashed? I’d never be brave enough to do something like that. I just got dragged along because my friends were complaining I hadn’t been out in forever,” she added, letting out a little sigh. She looked at the woman, amused, though a bit worried as well. Was she planning on stealing something or was she really just curious? “Well, it’s a fairly decently sized party. They probably assumed you were someone’s plus one. Guess there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be mind,” she finally answered. 

[winnie-mearns]

declanflanagan:

“I needed new topics to ramble about. I only had my kids, and tattoos before. Now I can tire people with rambling about crossfit too”, Declan said, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. That wasn’t even a joke, he was a rambler. “No, but… not to ramble about it, but crossfit is awesome. Ever tried it?” he said, tilting his head at her. “There’s a crude joke about flexible women in there somewhere”, Declan said. “Yeah. I don’t know what the fuck happened there. I feel like I just got her and now she’s planning her tenth birthday in a month. Makes me feel like I’m fucking sixty.”

“Kids, tattoos, crossfit.....a good range, really. I’m sure almost everyone can relate to at least one of those,” she said with a smile. “I haven’t. I don’t really have any desire to bulk up, and that seems to be the main objective. At least as far as I can tell?” Winnie asked, her head tilting to the side as she looked over at him confirmation. “Don’t be gross. I get that too frequently from people who mean it seriously. And I can imagine. I mean, I feel that way sometimes just looking back at my own life. I don’t have a growing human to remind me. How old were you when she was born, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

[winnie-mearns]

drjulianvogel:

“Do you have any drink recommendations? I want to branch out and try new things…I know some places have special drinks.” Julian asked the person beside him while he looked at the drink menu. He wanted to drink and relax for the night because he didn’t have to work tomorrow. “I guess it doesn’t really matter what drink you get as long as it’s strong enough,” he teased. 

“Oh, um....” Winnie glanced over at the male also dining alone, her expression showing that she was caught off guard. She did frequent this restaurant, and she was sitting alone, so she supposed that could invite conversation, though she hadn’t been expecting it. “My only recommendation tonight is water. Sorry,” she added, giving him a small, tight smile. It used to be a nice cold glass of sauvignon blanc, but well. Getting sent to rehab would change that.

[winnie-mearns]

lila--johnson:

“So, I got two different notes today. One from Parker’s school and one from Elena’s daycare. There’s been a couple cases of pink eye in Parker’s class, and some of the babies in the infant room at Ellie’s daycare have bronchitis. Now I have to watch my kids to make sure they don’t develop anything. Here I thought sick season was done with.”

“I hope you don’t take offense to this but.....I really can’t afford to get pink eye right now. Or bronchitis. So....I hope you don’t mind me completely keeping my distance,” Winnie replied, her nose crinkling up with an apologetic look on her face.

[winnie-mearns]

emilysullivan:

“Feeling like I’m going to be a spinster for life seems like my motto, or something,” Emily wrinkled her nose and offered a laughter, if anything, this marriage was truly giving hope to other people and she couldn’t really complain about it. “I guess that it’s nice to see people being lucky enough to find love twice in their lives, and I know how grandma was in love with papa, I mean, she moved to Boston because that was what he wanted and they had one of those great loves, you know? He fought in war, she was a nurse, they met in the battlefield. I mean, like the movies.” She smiled feeling a bit nostalgic from the way they used to tell her tales. “Ah yes, so adorable. They make you believe in everything with the whole bending rules they’re doing. It’s nice. I’m always up for love. I’m going to watch their wedding with Grandma, the same way we did with William and Kate’s, with plenty of English treats and everything.”

“That is........insanely romantic,” Winnie said, her mouth a little open as she heard Emily’s stories of her grandparents. Where was that in her life? “She’s definitely lucky to be able to have found love a second time,” she murmured, letting out a little sigh. “Waking up at, what? Four-thirty in the morning for it? Definitely worth it.” 

[winnie-mearns]

ryan-dempsey:

“I’m flattered you would think I have the patience and foresight to execute an ‘elaborate pick-up line ploy,’ but really, it’s not,” he assured her. “There is no catch, as crazy as it sounds, and trust me, I don’t blame you for thinking there is. Nothing good really comes free nowadays.” The slight smile on his face stayed put. “I’m not going to be offended if you say no. I get it––it’s a crazy proposal. But my offer stands.”

Winnie hesitated, her eyes sweeping over the male as she considered for a moment. It couldn’t be a terrible idea, could it? To meet a new guy and go out with him and get a fresh start after all that....rehab business. After all, it’s not like there was....well, any other opportunities that she had. “It does sound crazy,” she agreed, blinking as she took in a breath before shrugging. “You know what? Why not? I don’t do crazy things often enough. Maybe it’ll break up the monotony. And I really could use a massage.” 

[winnie-mearns]

kylehowland:

His mouth gaped open and closed for a second when she brought up the fact that someone left the free weights all over the place before he narrowed his eyes at the brunette. A part of him grew rather annoyed with her already. “What the fuck?” he asked before shaking his head. “What the fuck do I look like to you? The fucking janitor?” Kyle asked in an offended manner. “I’m not the hired help. Go find someone else.”

Winnie blanched a little, her eyebrows raising up as her eyes widened at him, giving one slow blink. “Hate to break it to you, but I’m pretty sure in the gym you do count as the hired help. Especially since it was your last client who did so. But I was just letting you know....not implying you had to do anything,” she murmured, holding her hands up to try and get this unnecessarily angry guy to back off. She was on her way out anyways, all too easy to take a step back and continue on her path back towards the locker room. 

[winnie-mearns]

frankiexlopes:

Folding a leg beneath her, Frankie smiled faintly, understanding the struggle all too well. After her stint in rehab she’d put on a significant amount of weight and it had taken a good while to fall back into her routine. “Boston Ballet…that must be exciting, almost seems like a dream job. How long have you been with the company?” She asked, though she could sense the touchiness of the topic. Body language wasn’t hard for her to read. “Oh, nothing in particular, just trying to stay in shape really, also helps with my anxiety issues. I’m curious though, how does your training as a dancer differ?” Fingertips chased the condensation on the edge of her glass and her gaze lifted to meet that of the other, whatever moment they’d been having seemingly passed.

Winnie shrugged up one shoulder. She supposed maybe it was a dream job - after all, so many little girls wanted to grow up to be a ballerina. And she did love it, but at the same time, people assumed because it was a dream job that it was easy a lot of the time. That it wasn’t as demanding as it truly was, and she disliked downplaying that. “Since I was sixteen actually. Only job I’ve ever really known,” she replied, her head tilting to the side with a faint smile. “Oh, mostly it’s just trying to strengthen but also lengthen the muscles. You don’t want to bulk up as a dancer, definitely keep it lean, you know? And I’ve always been a firm believer of working out easing anxiety and mood and everything, as well. There’s not much a good sweat session can’t work out.” 

[winnie-mearns]

samharden:

Sam was having a bout of bad luck. In just the past few months, he got stalked, a face full of coffee, a few slaps, and then some–not to mention that a girl he had been slightly seeing got engaged to his ex-roommate out of the blue. Maybe it was karma for the way he was such an asshole to women, and maybe it was all supposed to be a wake up call for him, a reckoning to not be such an idiot because he got hurt one time. Talking to Winnie again felt like he was on a quest to figure out where he had gone wrong and why he did what he did. When he had unexpectedly run into her at the sandwich shop, he took the instance as a means of reform. It was time to do better, and maybe a dinner with Winnie would help him find his way.

Carrying a bag of groceries in one hand and a bottle wine in the other, he came up the stairs of Winnie’s new apartment and came to her door. The place was completely unfamiliar, and when he knocked on the door and saw what was on the other side, things felt even more foreign. Had Winnie gone through a dramatic, sudden change since they had last spoke? “Hey,” he repeated, his eyes glancing around the area as he took a step inside, “Uh, yeah. Wow. I’m sorry–” He shook his head as he took a few extra steps inside and added, “This whole place looks really nice. So much for the old place, huh?” He glanced back at Winnie, a smile coming on to his features as he took a step forward and held his arm out for a hug. “It’s good to see you,” he said, the arm with the wine coming around her shoulder.

“It was time for a change,” Winnie replied, her lips pursing for a moment before she returned his smile, giving Sam a stiff hug in return, immediately noticing the bottle of wine in his hand. Right. That was going to be awkward to try and get out of. “I had been in that apartment since I was.....twenty-one, I think? I loved it, but....it was time to move on,” she said with a sigh, stepping away from him and titling her head towards the kitchen. “I’d say I’d give you a tour, but there’s not much to show. Kitchen-slash-dining room here, living room-slash-bedroom through there. Come on all the way in, though. The kitchen is tiny, as you can see, so hopefully that doesn’t affect your culinary mastery too much,” she added jokingly as she deftly changed the subject, not wanting to get into the reasons behind her move too deeply.

“So....um. How have you been?” Winnie asked, clearing off the table so he could set down his bag of groceries for the dinner and start unpacking them. She wrung her hands together, her eyes moving over him for a moment in awkwardness. “And how can I help? Put me to work, please. I don’t want to just sit here....plus, I’m still not entirely sure I trust you,” she said, a small, teasing half-smile crossing her face.