Realistic or Modern City Living

Collapsed · Sep 15, 2020

Nick didn't know why Brooklyn decided to order enough food to feed a family of fifty, but he wasn't complaining, not even as he had to lug all of it up five flights of stairs. He liked the place that she ordered from, and he knew that none of it would go to waste--even if he was literally the only person eating it. Mexican food was never a bad choice in Nick's book. Though Brooklyn hadn't explicitly stated that Roman would be eating with him, it was one of those things that didn't need to be said, as it was common enough for Nick to just assume it would happen one way or another. The three of them were a solid little trio, and even if none of them had consciously concluded it, they had become a family of sorts... at least in Nick's opinion. He and Brooklyn were obviously a pair, and Roman was like a brother. It was strange to consider how close they had become over the years because they were both fairly introverted, but despite the cheesiness of it, it kind of attested to the idea that some people were just meant to cross paths in life. He would have been surprised to hear that Brooke had invited Cara, but he wouldn't have been bothered by it. Perhaps it was because Nick didn't like conflict, but he would have wanted to see it as a good thing instead of a potentially awkward one. The ball was basically in Brooklyn's court in terms of putting that behind them or not, and while yes, Nick understood that it wasn't something she could just "get over", if she could do that, it would obviously be the best case scenario for everyone. Maybe Cara in all of her friends-with-rich-people-kind-of-benefits ways had proved that to Brooklyn this weekend.

"You didn't tell me you ordered enough food to fill the entire building," Nick said, picking up the bags he had placed down in order to free a hand to open the door. He didn't notice that Roman was there yet, as it took a few seconds to regroup and pick everything back up. He used his foot to kick the door shut behind him. "You tell me you don't want me to smoke all of the time, but then you do this and set me up for the perfect late night munchies session. I'm not complaining, but..." His voice trailer off as he headed into the kitchen, only then paying enough mind to his surroundings to notice that he wasn't alone with Brooklyn. "Ah, Killens. What's good, man?" he said, still preoccupied by all of the food that he was setting down on the counter. "You think they gave us chips and guac?" he asked, pulling things out of the bag. Words were scribbled on each container with what was stored inside, but the writing was nearly illegible. It didn't matter much to Nick, as he would eat anything and enjoy it, but he was craving the chicken enchiladas this place had, and he was about to call dibs on it if he could find it. He pulled the lids off of most of the containers before finding the one he wanted (to start with), and smiling in success. Chips and guac would be the mid-meal appetizer at this point, if it was included, since he could barely sit down before digging into what he was claiming as his. "How's the rat race treating you?" he said, looking to Roman with a smirk, as if he suspected the answer to be that he was miserable. Roman had been working for a few months now, and though maybe it came up momentarily in passing, it wasn't something that Nick had dug into too deeply. "What is it that you're doing, again? Life insurance or some shit?"

BurningBridges · Sep 16, 2020

"I'm the one whose relationship she played a role in destroying," Brooklyn said casually. While in the past, she did have a tendency to bring things like this up with the purpose of starting a fight (typically with Nick), there wasn't any ill emotions behind her words right now. It was safe to say that time had made the wound sting less, but this was still Brooklyn, and to act like she couldn't still hold a grudge was just silly. Even if she could talk about it now without carrying any anger or grief with it, it was the kind of thing that could be done only on her terms. If someone else tried to speak of it in such a casual way, she wouldn't take well to it. "And if I'm fine with her eating with us, then I want to know what she did to you behind closed doors to make you so against it."

"The better question is what's wrong with you to have to seriously ask that."

"I'm just saying! You seem pretttttty obsessed with her, but if you're really against it, go tell her yourself. She just got home a few minutes ago." Nick arrived then, so Roman was let off the hook... for now, at least. She got up to help Nick, but only after hearing him tearing off the plastic covers of multiple containers. Really? She would have enjoyed a few more sips of her drink before being thrust into this chaos, but she shouldn't have been surprised, since Nick was like a bull in a china shop when it came to food, especially when he was high. He would ransack the refrigerator, leave empty bags of chips lying around, and eat as if he hadn't been fed in months. She didn't think he was high right now, but that only made him shoving his grubby little fingers into all of her containers all the less excusable.

"Oh my god, you seriously don't know how to act!" she said, groaning as she stood up to clean up the mess he had made. She didn't sound as annoyed as she wanted to, but as shocking as it would sound considering how often they fought, it was sometimes hard for her to be mad at him. He was a complete idiot, but a cute one, so he got a pass sometimes for being dumb. She rolled her eyes as she sorted through the rest of the food, opting to leave it all in its containers rather than plate it, because this wasn't some fancy dinner party where she was putting on a show for anyone.

She moved to the fridge, grabbing a beer for Nick and giving it to him while she waited for Roman to make himself a plate. Once he had taken his helping, she filled a plate for herself as well, and found the chips and guacamole that Nick had requested initially, carrying that to the counter they were sitting at and placing it in the middle. "As I was telling Roman," she began, actually curious to hear how Roman would respond to Nick's question, but feeling the need to put the warning out there first. "I invited Cara to eat with us. I don't know if she will since I guess she just came home for the first time since the weekend, but just a heads up." After another sip of her drink, she added, "But yeah, that reminds me that you have been sketchy about this job. Is it even a real thing?" She only knew it was real because she had seen him a couple of times coming to or from the job in formal attire, and she knew he wouldn't do that for fun. Still, it was random, and they had never really discussed it.

cure · Sep 17, 2020

Roman was close to accepting Brooklyn's challenge, but he knew if he actually was bothered about having to see her he wouldn't have been that upset about it to go find her. If she came out, he would have had no problem telling her to take a hike. While he was only going to bat with Brooklyn now because of Brooklyn and not because of Cara, he was fine with a change in the conversation thanks to Nick's arrival. The food smelled good enough to remind him that he actually was pretty hungry. When was the last time he had a meal? "It's going," he responded, albeit distractedly. Like Nick, Roman could eat like it was his first time having a stomach or functional taste buds. So he wasn't intentionally trying to be vague, even though he really had nothing more to say than it, but his priority was on the food Nick brought in. As Brooklyn caught Nick up to speed, he groaned dramatically. It might have seemed odd that it was so easy for him to slip back into disliking Cara, and so well, even if it was obviously performative. Since she wasn't here right now, it made things easier. Plus, with Brooklyn being obnoxious as always, projecting felt like child's play. While he still wasn't thrilled about this super random, super weird situation Brooklyn had created, he was kind of looking forward to at least seeing her. He wasn't all too intrigued in having to play stiff with her, namely because they had finally just climbed over that little obstacle, but it would be better than not seeing her at all.

"Have I been sketchy, or have you been unreasonably nosey?" He wrinkled his nose at Brooklyn while shoveling a large helping of food into his mouth. He intended the conversation to end there, but upon looking at the pair, he understood that their inquiries weren't rhetorical. On Brooklyn's part, he knew she was teasing. Even if they hadn't crossed paths while he was journeying to or from work, there were other signs that were similarly affirmative. He hadn't shown up in bruises and purple eyes in a while, he was no longer nocturnal, and now that he didn't take pills that were basically sucking his life force, he looked healthier. Still, he was awkward about it. It wasn't even necessarily wanting to avoid further teasing that kept him going into detail about what he did; it was also one of those jobs where explaining what you actually do is far more confusing than using a generic, surface level description. He wasn't embarrassed about his work either. He actually enjoyed it and found it challenging, something he had shied away from in recent years, but over the past months had rekindled his appreciation for. Roman was too self-contained to geek out about it, especially now. That wasn't the Roman that they had befriended; not exactly. Most important, it wasn't the Roman that had won him these friendships—this family. Perhaps he wouldn't feel as such if he didn't have a reason to want to hold onto this relationship. Such ones as these were a scarce, primarily nonexistent, resource in his childhood and adolescence. If he had such a poor track record for things like this, it was no wonder that he would want to prolong it as much as possible.

Most of the times, he wasn't thinking about this makeshift family of theirs. The three of them was just normal by now. For him, it only came up incidentally, like in moments like this, even if this one was more subconscious, or like when he was filling out his paperwork and had to include an emergency contact. Anything could happen to anyone, but he knew what the likeliest emergency for him would be. He didn't plan on slipping up, but to be fair, he also had also never planned to spend his twenties slowly killing himself. Roman wouldn't admit it to himself, but he didn't get clean for his sake. He didn't do it to honor Brooklyn or Nick either, but deep down there was a sense of guilt in feeling like a mess. Neither of them really ever brought it up, but he knew if something happened to him, there would be other people affected, and they were people he cared about. Oddly and nevertheless, it was that version of himself that he didn't want to let go because it hadn't worked against him. His subconscious associations told him quite the opposite. He knew it wasn't like they were going to abandon him and relinquish their friendship if he evolved from that, but if he already felt like he was the one who would likely shake things up for the worst, he wasn't keen to disprove that theory now, even if the circumstances were different.

"It's just this stupid thing," he said with a shrug. "It's, like, finance stuff." That was what would tell anyone and not something he was giving to Nick and Brooklyn because he was being shy. It was still pretty vague, but he wasn't going to just say he worked at a hedge fund and designed algorithms to create portfolios he ended up trading. For one, it made no sense, but he also was hesitant to make his job sound overly important or for it to signify that he was super smart. By now it was no secret amongst them that, intellectually at least, he was far from stupid, but it was the same thing that was used to exploit and isolate him as a child. He was quite fine in glossing over that. Again, he knew Nick and Brooklyn weren't going to commodify him, but when it came to anyone nowadays, he still wasn't interested in potentially going down that road. It wasn't the best feeling when you knew people weren't actually interested in you as a person. It was really the main reason he was actually being secretive about his work with Cara. The working for her dad thing didn't de-incentivize him from doing so, but he didn't want Cara's perception of him to change. Which was maybe an odd desire considering how tainted her perception had historically been. "Pretty mind numbing, but I needed something so I could avoid seeing you lot twenty-four-seven. Well, mainly you," he said, shifting his gaze towards Brooklyn. He studied her plate for a second before reaching over to grab what looked tasty. Sure, there was plenty of enchiladas, and literally everything else, to go around, but what was the fun in that? Plus, everyone knew food tasted better when it wasn't on your plate. "That looks tasty," he said as grabbed an enchilada with one hand and thwarted Brooklyn's protest with the other. "First you invite Cara just to spite me, and now you're being stingy." He leaned over the counter some so that he could Nick, while also maintaining enough distance to not get struck in the face by Brooke. "Please tell me why your girlfriend is so intent on spoiling what could be such a sweet family get together.

electric · Sep 17, 2020

Elijah's initial, first second, reaction to seeing Chanel wasn't quite like hers. While his presence raised immediate red flags for her because she only knew half of the story, with that half being very incriminating in appearance, he knew that he wasn't actually dating Ruby. There was no alarm bell ringing in terms of his moral compass, and for a split second, he was glad to see the girl who had made his weekend one for the books. And damn, he sure as hell had good tastes! There was no alcohol, or darkness, or formal attire to disguise Chanel right now, and she still looked just as tasty as she had the other night. The look on her face and the way that she responded to his presence quickly reality checked him, and he got the memo without her needing to make it any more obvious. He didn't realize that Ruby still wanted him to play this role, especially since, as far as he knew, it wasn't like her parents were about to show up tonight. Did she really care about her roommates' opinions this much? He would have appreciated a heads up that he still needed to play this role, but it wasn't a huge deal. Elijah could go with the flow, and that was exactly what he did.

He wiped the look of surprise off of his face pretty quickly as he smiled, albeit a bit awkwardly, in regard to Makayla's grandiose introduction for him. He wanted to pull Ruby aside as she took the food from him, feeling inclined to confirm to her who exactly he was supposed to be playing right now, and why, but he didn't have the opportunity to. Chanel "nicely" kicked him out of the kitchen, and the younger girl that he had met briefly over the weekend had her hands on his and was dragging him into the living room. Her sexual innuendo about his hands had his friendly expression changing to a "hold up, what?" one once he realized what she had said, but she moved past it so quickly that he didn't have to respond to it. He wasn't sure what to think of this girl. She must have been, what? Fourteen? Fifteen? Somewhere around there. The way that she behaved made her seem younger than that, and she was also pretty small in stature, so it obscured his ability to pin her age down even more. He had met her over the weekend for just a quick second as she came over to the table he and Ruby were eating at outside, but she had run back over to the pool before saying much more than a hello. Ruby had been so preoccupied and worried about the party (and probably more so Makayla, but Elijah didn't know that), that she hadn't explained anything about Holly to him, outside of her being one of her roommates. As she held stuffed animals to him with names that sounded like something a three-year-old had come up with, he glanced back at the kitchen, wondering if they were all hearing what he was hearing too. Was this kid on drugs? Was she... you know... "special"?

He reluctantly accepted the stuffed animals, and squeezed their legs and bodies, assuming that they had one of those buttons inside of them that vocalized phrases when pushed. "Uh," he began awkwardly, once he couldn't find anything. "Am I supposed to push something somewhere? Why don't you show me how to do it?" he said, handing them back to her and again, glancing towards the kitchen for help. Damn, he thought, Ruby could have just mailed him a thank you note in the mail instead of this! He was still excited about seeing Chanel, since he figured he would never see her again, thinking under the premise that Ruby was at the party because she was Cara's friend, and that Cara was the one who knew Chanel. Seeing now that Ruby knew Chanel, and unknown to him still, also lived with her, made things all the more exciting. Maybe it didn't have to be a one night stand after all. "Hey, kid," he said, sitting down on the couch as he spoke quietly to Holly then. She clearly knew Chanel too, maybe she could help him out and give him some leverage here. "You know what, I have a question for you. Chanel's your friend, right? Does she have a boyfriend, you think?" Elijah wasn't looking to fill that role right now, but if she didn't, it would give him clearance to attempt to pursue that one night stand into a regular thing. Weird start to the evening, but when life gives you lemons...

Bandit_ · Sep 17, 2020

If Makayla had even the faintest idea that Chanel was in panic mode right now, she wouldn't have egged the whole thing on. As much as she felt like Ruby needed to lay in the bed she made, she liked Chanel enough that she would have settled down and not specifically went out of her way to make things more uncomfortable. She didn't know this though, and because she was now energized and purposely trying to make this bigger than it needed to be, there wasn't much focus left in her brain to dedicate to reading the rest of the room, outside of Ruby. She could read that Ruby was uncomfortable, but that was the whole point. She didn't care of Elijah was uncomfortable, and she had no reason to think that Chanel would be uncomfortable, so she didn't feel like she was doing anything wrong. Besides, it's not like she was being that crazy.

She followed the girls into the kitchen, paying little mind to Holly who pulled Elijah into the living room. Typically, she would have been all over that, as she specifically went out of her way to ensure that Holly did not bother Ruby or Chanel's guests when they did come over, but this time...well, he deserved it. Not really, but indirectly, and just because he was involved in this little scheme made him just as guilty in Makayla's book, even if he didn't actually do anything wrong. Had she been paying attention enough to catch Holly's comment about the size of his hands, she probably would have chided her for being so inappropriate, but she wasn't paying attention enough to hear it. "Chanel, tell me he's not the most gorgeous man you've ever seen!" Makayla gushed as she approached the girls in the kitchen. She felt inclined to help them set things up, but it felt like one of those "two many cooks in the kitchen" moments, so she just hovered nearby. "Who would have thought that Ruby would be into that," she mused in a tone speaking to how impressed she was (pretending to be). "Our beautiful little doctor and that fine, fine, fine piece of meat, and damn, we've got ourselves a power couple."

The food did look and smell good, but Makayla couldn't pay it much mind right now. She unscrewed the cork on a bottle of wine and poured herself a glass, before pouring ones for the two other girls, as she just assumed they would want one too. Ruby was probably going to need more than one glass to get her through this dinner, and it was probably childish that Makayla got a kick out of that, but it was what it was. She wasn't jealous of Elijah, and she didn't want Ruby to get it twisted and think that that was where this was coming from. As someone who was so determined to support herself and be independent after being forced to for so long, she had always struggled with relationships (although it wasn't often that she was in a situation where one was really plausible, since she didn't socialize often). Accepting Ruby's offer to date in a serious manner had been a big step for her, even if it may not have seemed like one to someone else who had more experience in that arena. For Ruby to then, literally not even twelve hours later, go and act like relationships were silly, frivolous things that you could act out to appease other people irked her. She wanted to cop a man to hide Makayla? The girl she had basically begged to date her the night before. Nah, Makayla didn't play that way. She wasn't going to smile and say "okay Ruby, no problem!! Go ahead and play relationship with this random fine ass man and I'll be waiting for you when you get home with a smile on the face!". Ruby picked the wrong with if she thought Makayla was Boo Boo The Fool over here. And then to bring him over? Instead of just letting the whole thing blow over and giving Makayla time to be dramatic and then eventually get over it, she really thought that bringing him around again would somehow make things better. Well, she was definitely wrong on that one, but at the very least, Makayla was going to have some fun with this. "I don't even need to see him naked to know that man is good as hell in bed too, and I know Chanel knows it too," she said with a playful smile.

A_Writer · Sep 18, 2020

Holly frowned, snatching the giraffes back when Elijah proved to be incompetent, untalented, and definitely not of the Eliza Thornberry quality. As Elijah sat down on the couch, Holly walked to the chair farthest away from him to set her giraffes down. They would be safe there, she hoped, far from Elijah's big pinching hands. She returned to him as he called her over, asking about Chanel. Of course they were friends. Best friends. Best of the best of the best of friends. That was a silly question to ask, and even though she was skeptical of him now due to him handling her cousins roughly, she laughed at his inquiry. The second part, she was less sure about, but only because she took "boyfriends" as meaning boy friends in this context. Chanel did have boy friends, but not as many as girl friends, as far as Holly was aware. She was friends with Collin, and Nick, and Roman, and Mr. John, the man who came in to fix their sink a few weeks ago. She was friends with her dad, and her brothers, and maybe God. Did Chanel go to church? Hmm.... that was something Holly didn't know about her. Holly herself didn't go to church. She had been there a handful of times when she was younger, maybe seven or eight, when her mother joined a church to exploit their charity resources, but that was it. She remembered it being kind of scary. There were people saying chants, and singing loudly, and if she even tried to ask just one little question, her mom would squeeze her arm so tightly that she felt like it was going to fall off.

"Chanel doesn't go to church. She is not a child of God," Holly said, laughing again. The comment made sense to her, since it was just her vocalizing the answer to her own question, but it wouldn't click to her that Elijah didn't magically know what her train of thought had been to lead her there. "She does have some boy friends. Many, many, but not that many. But they're all very old. Well, not as old as you, but still old. But not so, so, so old. In the middle kind of old." Only because she had just been talking about Ruby and actual boyfriends, did her mind then move on to that. "But she doesn't have a real boyfriend, like you are to Ruby. Well, we're not sure if we're going to let you marry Ruby yet, because...because Ruby never told us she had a boyfriend til we were at Cara's house, and when we were at Cara's house we were too busy to think about you and see if we like you. Because we like Ruby. We like Ruby a lot, a lot, and she shares a bathroom with me and Makayla, and Chanel has her own. So if you need to take a shower, you should probably use Chanel's because we don't want a boy in ours, and your big hands will break our door knobs, and we can't have that right now because..." She wasn't sure where she was going with that ramble, and her eyes drifted past Elijah and back towards the kitchen. Girls were better than boys. Even though Elijah was new and interesting, she still liked Chanel and Ruby better. "And just so you know, if you're not nice to Ruby, our friend Nick is going to kill you. His hands are bigger than yours so...so that won't be good for you. You'll be crushed like a little ant and we won't even be sad." She laughed then, her mind jumping to Flik from A Bug's Life, and the silly 3D show he was in when they went to Disney World. "We would be sad if you were Flik, but you're not, so that means your days are numbered," she said, laughing again as she threw out an idiom that she wasn't even entirely sure the meaning of. "What's your favorite kind of dog?"

lauren. · Sep 20, 2020

Keeping Makayla away from Elijah seemed like a smart idea now that it was clear that she wasn't willing to act like an adult, so Ruby offered a gracious smile as Chanel suggested he hang out in the living room for a few minutes. "Yeah, we can lay it all out," she said, nodding in agreement as Chanel grabbed the dishware. Even as Makayla joined them, Ruby tried to keep her attention trained on setting up the food. She barely glanced at the glass of wine Makayla had poured for her. Though she did feel like it was warranted tonight, she also felt like it could be dangerous. It wasn't like she was going to drink three bottles of wine by herself, but still, she didn't want any excuse to possibly say something out of character or out of line. As she finished plating the last of the items, she had to ask herself why she thought this was a good idea. Maybe she was optimistic to a dangerous fault, one that wasn't benefiting anyone.

It was a blessing that she hadn't taken a sip of the wine yet, because as Makayla went on about how she assumed he was good in bed, she knew that she probably would have spit any liquid in her mouth out at that moment. Flashing Makayla a discretely disapproving glance, she said, "I wouldn't know. We haven't slept together." She immediately regretted saying it, not because it was such a bad thing to say necessarily, but more so because she really had no idea where she was going with this story. Was she dating him, or was she not? If she was pretending to be dating him, did claiming that they hadn't had sex when the story was that they'd been together for a few months really work? Ugh, she should have just kept her mouth shut and smiled along.

For someone who started this lie, Ruby really needed to improve her liar skills. While her statement was factually true, the way that she responded was awkward. She wasn't good at playing the part of a fake girlfriend. Who was she trying to fool, acting like she was dating this man and hadn't slept with him yet?! This was no random Joe plucked from the side of the road, this man was beautiful. "Oh yikes. Do you think he's gay? Not to worry you, girl, but you might be playing the beard if he's never tried to sleep with you. You're too cute for that 'wait til marriage shit'!" The irony wasn't lost in Makayla suggesting that Ruby might have been Elijah's beard when he was really hers, but that was purposeful.

Chanel only responding nonverbally to Makayla's gushing. It was the best medium she could think of that wouldn't make it seem so obvious just how uncomfortable she was feeling. Makayla clearly had no way of knowing, but it felt like she was deepening the wound. Instead of verbally agreeing with her, she simply nodded her head and raised her brow as if to say, 'Well, that is true.' And it was, which was also what made things worse. She couldn't control her reaction, however, when Ruby admitted to never sleeping with him. She quickly set the plate she was holding down, using it as though it would help maintain her balance. "You haven't slept together?"

Agreeing with Makayla might have helped her case in distancing Elijah from her, but her memory simply wouldn't allow such pretending. "Definitely not in the closet," Chanel said, resuming transferring the pasta to the plate in front of her. It was truly as if the universe heard from the grapevine how nice her life had been going recently and, upon hearing the news, became determined to undo every good thing. First he's Ruby's boyfriend, then Makayla confirms how beautiful he is, and now it turns out that she slept with him before Ruby. The only thing that could make this list complete was if she somehow ended up pregnant and Ruby had been egging Elijah on about wanting to start a family. It was an extreme thought, but this was a clearly extreme situation. "Why haven't you though? Are you two, like, honeymoon phase and not seasoned vets?" She didn't really want to hear the details, but perhaps if they were only very recently dating, it would ease her conscience some.

This wasn't even a real relationship, and while her claiming that she hadn't slept with Elijah was true, it didn't mean anything since they weren't dating. With that being said, she still somehow felt embarrassed and nearly attacked when the girls expressed their shock at her claim. She didn't know why, because again, it was a lie and therefore their reactions meant nothing, but it was just a lot at once. She really hadn't planned on this becoming this, and Ruby wasn't the type who enjoyed being in the spotlight to begin with. This didn't even feel like being in the spotlight, though. She felt like she was sitting in an interrogation office, bright lights shining in her eyes as she was grilled for a crime she didn't commit. She didn't make eye contact with either of the girls, and found it easier to continue to set up the food. There was so much of it that it was an easy out, and she worked to line it all up on the counter so that everyone could help themselves and make a plate.

Glancing over her shoulder, to make sure that Elijah still wasn't in earshot, she said, "No, he just comes from a really religious family and he wants to wait until he gets married." She was probably digging herself in deeper with that, but she knew that if she claimed they had only been dating for a few weeks, Makayla would call her out on that lie being different than the one she had told her family. "It's not that big of a deal though," she said, offering a weak smile, before stepping back to examine everything. It looked, it smelled good, and most importantly, it seemed like the perfect distraction to end this conversation. Just as she was about to suggest that they call the other two in, she changed course. "Thanks for the help," she said to Chanel, before looking to Makayla. "Before I forget, there was a weird leak in the bathroom that I wanted to show you. I don't know if it's worth calling the repairman for, but let me just get your opinion quickly before we eat so it doesn't slip my mind," she insisted, already taking a few steps towards the hallway. She didn't want to sit down and have to sit through this painful conversation again in front of Elijah, so she knew she needed to nip it in the bud, before subjecting poor, innocent Elijah to Makayla's spitefulness.

Ruby tried to brush past things after she claimed that Elijah was too religious to condone premarital sex, but that was a coverup that Makayla couldn't resist laughing out loud at. She really wanted them to believe that a man that looked that good, in New York City of all places, was celibate? If this proved anything, it was that Ruby really was as innocent as she seemed, because she clearly had little street smarts via life experience. Either that, or she was just terrible under pressure and couldn't lie to save her life. Though Ruby had already attempted to redirect her by asking her to come into the bathroom to look at something, Makayla paused to say, "What that means is that he's got five side hoes he's sleeping with while he butters you up, thinking he's some holy, man of god, husband material. You're a doctor, don't think that aspirations: housewife shit doesn't come from men too when they see dollar signs in women!" She looked to Chanel then with a knowing look. "We're going to have to feel him out," she stated in matter-of-fact tone, before turning and following Ruby out of the kitchen. A smile had already formed on her face by the time that they had reached the bathroom. "Let's see this leak you speak of, darling."

BurningBridges · Sep 20, 2020

"Maybe we'll get lucky and you'll find yourself a nice little girlfriend there, so you finally leave us alone," Brooklyn retorted, only going there because Roman had just grabbed food off of her plate. Her comment held the same unspoken playful sentiment that their back and forths always had, but it was something she hadn't even considered until she said it out loud. While Brooklyn obviously didn't think of Roman as being a virgin, she also didn't know anyone that he had ever hooked up with. He was clearly still in that stage in life where he just wanted hookups, one night stands, and such, instead of real relationships, but maybe joining the "real world" via his jump would be the catalyst he needed to move forward socially as well. It wouldn't have bothered Brooklyn if Roman got a girlfriend; she didn't think so, at least. It would just depend on who the girl was. Like any close friend would do, she would need to determine whether they were good enough for Roman or not, and while she constantly teased him for being of little worth, it didn't need to be said that she obviously didn't actually think that. He wasn't going to let him date some ugly bitch, or someone with an attitude. No way, that definitely would not fly. It needed to be someone cute, because Brooklyn didn't want to be godmother to an ET-looking child, and it needed to be someone tolerable enough to withstand their presence during the many double dates that they would go on.

"And I didn't invite her to spite you," she corrected, before taking another bite of her food. "I invited her because I don't plan on that being the last time I spend a weekend at a beachfront mansion in the Hamptons. Our goal for next time is for her to fly us out there on a helicopter, so put your nice face on and be a good boy when she comes out," she instructed, noting that she had probably added a tad too much tequila to the drink as she tasted the strength of it. "And don't do that freakish clown smile you do sometimes," she added, referencing a flaw that was completely made up, just as an attempt to make him feel self-conscious. "It gives me Ronald McDonald vibes, and it's not cute." As she dipped a chip into the guac, she showed how easy it was to go from making fun of Roman, to being more serious, as both were just normal parts of their casual conversational dynamic. "And don't act like we're stupid by just saying 'finance stuff'. The two of us," she said, briefly motioning between herself and Nick, "Have been making money money since before your dumbass was born. What do you actually do, and where do you actually work, sketchy ass bitch?"

electric · Sep 22, 2020

Elijah wondered if this was what it felt like to be on shrooms. Holly started off her response with a claim that had no relevance to what he was asking, and proceeded to drag him down a tangent about how he would be killed if he hurt Ruby, taking a shower here, breaking doorknobs, and someone named "Flik", before finishing off by asking him what his favorite type of dog was. He stared at her blankly for a few seconds, a pause that felt well needed after that firestorm of words. Was he the crazy one here? He really wasn't sure, and he found himself glancing over his shoulder in hopes that Ruby would appear and offer him respite. Part of him wanted to ask this kid what her deal was, maybe see if Ruby had put her up to this as some joke, but as he looked at her face, she seemed too hyped up for it to be unnatural or forced. It wasn't that she was annoying or mean spirited (clearly not the latter), but it was just a lot for Elijah to take in all at once, when he didn't even know her. He figured that he was going to be walking into a chill dinner, have a few beers, then head out. He honestly figured that it would be the last time he would see Ruby for a while, too. Not purposely, as if he was sick of her, but just based on the idea that they didn't hang out all that often before this, and she had made it seem like it would be a one-time favor. Maybe she would hit him up again next year when it was time for the actual wedding between her brother and his girl, and Elijah wouldn't mind playing the part again for that, but he didn't think she would need him beyond that. Walking in now to see that other people, apparently, believed them to be dating too, had thrown him off. Maybe that was why everything coming out of Holly's mouth seemed harder to process too.

"I like all kinds of dogs," he answered, deciding that there was really no other option than to play into this, despite how strange it felt. "When I was a kid I really wanted a Dalmatian, like those ones they would always show helping the firemen and stuff, but my parents wouldn't go for it. They said it would bark too much and that no one would walk it or take care of it, so I got a fish instead." The fish died less than a week later, proving that Elijah wouldn't have been able to take care of the dog anyway, but that seemed irrelevant to include now. "What about you? What's your favorite?" he asked, getting back on his feet. It wasn't like they were cooking a meal in there, the food had to be ready to eat by now. "Let's walk and talk," he suggested to Holly, as he headed for the kitchen.

A_Writer · Sep 23, 2020

Oh! Dalmatians! 101 Dalmations! 102 Dalmations! Pongo! Holly laughed. Those were fun movies. Having to get a fish didn't sound as fun as getting a dog. Fish wouldn't know how to talk, or fight crimes, or carry newspapers in their mouths. "I want a Golden Retriever, or any kind of dog!" she volunteered, just as enthusiastic as anyone who knew anything about Holly's interests would expect. "Or a Husky! They look like Cara and Collin!" she added, just referring to how noticeably blue their eyes were. "If you had a Dalmatian, you could name it Spotty, or Black and White Cookie, or Miley Cyrus, or Annie from the movie 'Annie'. She's an orphan... well there's two movies, and in one of them she's an orphan and in the other one she's in foster care, so it's different." She had already begun following Elijah into the kitchen, which was just a few feet from the living room. Chanel was in there, which shouldn't have been surprising, but it still made Holly smile with excitement. Makayla and Ruby were no longer in there, but Holly didn't pay any mind to that. She also paid little mind to the food that was set up nicely on the counter, because talking was more fun.

"Chanel! Hi, hi, hi! Eliza wants to know if you can show us a picture of a Dalmatian on your phone because those are his favorite but his mom and dad won't let him get one because they're allergic!" she said, making up the last part on a whim, because it seemed hard to fathom that someone would deny someone a dog for any other reason. "And Chanel, your mom is allergic too, right?" she pressed, before laughing out loud. She remembered a picture of a Dalmatian that she had seen on the internet a while ago after searching "do dalmatians bite in real life", following Makayla refusing to let her attempt to pet a dog on the other side of the street earlier that day, and insisting that it would bite her, as an excuse. It had startled Holly at first because it looked scary, but it only took a few seconds for her to find its tiny little baby teeth in the front to be impossible not to laugh at. "And if Eliza gets you a Dalmatian for your late birthday present, would you be happy, very happy, or so so happy, because I was going to tell him that that would be a good idea!"

cure · Sep 23, 2020

Well, if Chanel thought there was even the slimmest chance she could escape Hell, she now knew that that exit had been blocked off due to construction until further notice. She was glad that the two of them left, though, and she didn't even register what Ruby had said or else she would have perked up and wondered about what was going on in the bathroom. It didn't involve her anyway since she had her own, but still. Pretty much everything was done, must to his distaste. She needed to do something. She needed to keep her mind busy so that she could get a break from all of the swarming thoughts. Fuck, fuck, fuck...

"Hey!" She greeted Holly with a wide smile and a slightly nervous, if not a little bit startled, chuckle. She didn't get a chance to actively ignore Elijah's presence because she quickly consumed with trying to keep up all of the words coming out of Holly's mouth, seemingly out of order. She opened her mouth to correct her about her mom. "Actually, she—" Chanel didn't get any further before Holly kept going. She paused in a moment of silence and looked at Holly. It wasn't only to process what she had just said, but to provide enough of a period of quiet to appropriately gauge that was nothing else. She actually didn't even register that Holly was calling Elijah by the wrong name. The names were nearly identical and only separable on a tonal technicality. Subconsciously, she registered it, but her brain knew what Holly meant, and corrected her for her, similar in the way it could correct typos as you read. "I'm done accepting gifts, Holly. I'm very grateful for what I have, so I'll just have to wait until next year." She was hoping that Holly would have kept Elijah occupied for longer, but she clearly hadn't gotten the memo that her expectations needed to be subzero when they involved him. "Elijah's completely incapable of such a nice gesture anyways. Big gifts like that only mean anything when they're from people you like—like you! Although, I still don't know why you didn't name your giraffes after me and Cara since you always call us giraffes."

Chanel had met Holly's giraffes. She lived with the child, so she truly had not an ounce of choice. She obviously wasn't actually bothered by the name choice, and if anything, it was much more fitting, the names they did have. "Oh! Holly, could you go blow out the candles in my room? I think they're still burning. And tell Ruby and your sister to hurry up so we can eat and i can sit next to you!" She took Holly's shoulders and turned her around, giving her a little nudge. When the girl was out of earshot, her smiled faded and she turned back to the counter. They should have enough tupperware for this, right? She wondered to herself as she opened the cabinets and surveyed them for a quick count. She only needed to know because she wanted to take everything to the recycling, and if she didn't have to make two trips, that would be better for her laziness. Maybe she would need two trips depending on the way the evening went. Something told her she would need another out, and they probably wouldn't be as simply and seamless as this one. She closed the cabinets, giving up on the estimate for no other reason than she just wanted to be out of the apartment. The cabinet doors bounced against frame, a response to Chanel's force. She tore the bags off the counter and began crushing them between her hands until they were small enough to fit in one of the large bags that would use to transport everything. "Imagine being so boring that you can't even keep Holly's attention for two minutes," she thought aloud, though her comment was as conspicuously pointed as it was intentional. She scoffed. "The girl has better standards than me."

Collapsed · Sep 23, 2020

Nick laughed at Roman's remark that was directed towards him, but kept his mouth shut otherwise. Not literally shut, since he was still shoveling food into it, but figuratively so. He had half a mind to toss in a comment about how he was okay with the two of them going at it because if Brooke was bickering with Roman now, maybe it would wear her out for the night and she wouldn't have the energy to do it with him later, but he decided against it. Some things were better left unsaid.

Although Nick found Roman's answer about his job to be sufficient, Brooklyn didn't, and pressed for more information. He wondered if Roman was being sketchy, and his own apathy was getting in the way of realizing that, so he glanced at Roman with a hint of curiosity as he awaited his response. Brooke made a fair point, that it was random that Roman had started working suddenly now, but in truth, he wasn't sure what he would do with the information even if Roman did share it. Did she really care what his exact job title was? As he had said himself, it was clearly something boring if it was in the line of work of finance, so who cared what the specifics were around it? He couldn't think of a reason for why Roman would purposely attempt to be deceitful about it, since it really couldn't be spun to be deep in any way whatsoever. Even if he mentioned the name of the company, it wasn't like Nick would have known it was a company that had any relation to Cara, and even if he did, he wouldn't have cared enough to even comment on. "You guys wanna get some drinks at At Bar after this?" he suggested, attempting to give Roman an out to steer the conversation in a different direction. The little neighborhood bar around the corner was always a good time, especially since most of the bartenders were familiar with them due to their frequent visits, and Nick's business relationships with many of them.

lauren. · Sep 23, 2020

"Would you cut it out?" Ruby hissed, immediately after closing the bathroom door behind them. Her tone was surprisingly sharp (though that was relative to her normal demeanor), but it mostly stemmed from how stressed and overwhelmed she felt right now, versus actual anger. "You can be angry at me, but please don't drag this on while he's here. He was doing me a favor, and I get that I messed up and again, I am very, very, very sorry, but please just put this on pause until he leaves." She was already embarrassed about the conversation that they just had in front of Chanel, so all she could do at this point was prevent the painfully awkward mood from continuing into dinner.

"Cut what out?" Makayla said with theatrical innocence, placing a hand on her chest as if she was shocked that Ruby would accuse her of doing anything. She knew what she was talking about, obviously, and she knew that keeping their problems concealed from everyone else would be the polite thing to do, but she didn't think she owed that to Ruby right now. If she was looking at things from a broader viewpoint, she would have conceded that maybe she could throw Ruby a bone this one time, after all she had done for her, but she didn't think it was fair to look at it like that either. Actually, it was one of the reasons why she was so reluctant to being anything official with Ruby. Ruby had done a lot for her over the past few months, more than Makayla could ever repay her for. She had the upper hand, and as being the person who constantly was in the position of having to take more than they could give, Makayla was well aware of the power difference that came with that. No, Ruby didn't flaunt it, and she didn't ask for anything in return, and she didn't make Makayla feel less of a human for accepting help, but still, she couldn't help but to fear that Ruby might one day throw it back in her face. She felt like Ruby deserved to own up to her mistakes just the same as everyone else, and yes, she was apologetic about it, but the wound was still fresh, and bringing Elijah around tonight just felt like she was rubbing salt in it. She had no reason to care about what Elijah felt towards her. It was true that he hadn't done anything to purposely wrong Makayla, but even if it was pretend, he was the person who was interfering with her supposed "relationship", so there was innately going to be tension there, at least on Makayla's part, regardless of whether it was fair or not.

"Please, Makayla. I'm literally begging you to just drop it until he leaves." Her voice had softened dramatically, and was more pleading than anything now. Aggression wasn't in her character, and was something that rarely showed through on Ruby's part. Stress was usually was triggered it more than actual anger or hurt, but as seen now, it was typically quick to dissipate into something less armed.

It wasn't nice that seeing Ruby like this made Makayla smile. It wasn't a smile that stemmed from enjoyment out of seeing her beg, but it also wasn't necessarily a nervous smile or something like that either. If Makayla had it her way, they wouldn't be in this situation at all, but Ruby had forced her hand. What was she supposed to do? Fake a smile and act like she was okay with Ruby being such a hypocrite, and then bringing the man who was involved into all of this into their home as if it was truly okay? Nah. Maybe a difference in upbringing was what was to blame here, but Makayla had never been the type to sit back and smile through disrespect. At least not in situations where the only option outside of doing that was being physically harmed. "Only because you asked so nicely, I'll consider it," she said, leaning forward to kiss Ruby in a manner that was nearly teasing in itself.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief internally when Makayla seemed to fold. She didn't blatantly admit that she was going to back off, but the kiss had to mean something. A knock at the door interrupted their conversation, and Ruby pulled away quickly, just out of instinct for how they had been before this weekend. Where they stood now, now that she had ruined what they had agreed upon that night, was a conversation that they still had to have, but now clearly wasn't the time for that, and Ruby pulled open the door. She wasn't surprised when it was Holly standing there. She figured that Holly needed to use the restroom, so she stepped out with Makayla, offering, "Dinner's all ready, and I think you're going to like it even more than the brownies!" before heading back towards the kitchen. Though she had no reason to believe that anyone other than Makayla was a threat to Elijah's comfort, she felt bad leaving Chanel alone with her guest, who she assumed to be a stranger to her.

lauren. · Sep 23, 2020

A shower felt much needed after travelling. Even though Cara hadn't taken public transportation during today's commute, she still felt like she was covered in grime, just from the few seconds she had stepped out of the car and entered the apartment building. The air always felt heavier, stickier, and dirtier when she returned to the city after having been gone for even just a week or so. She loved Manhattan, and she was used to walking past piles of trash that towered above her head, being accosted by homeless people on the regular, and seeing rats scamper across the street, but it didn't mean that she liked those parts of the city. It was only early in the warm weather season, and she was already dreading how humid and gross the city always felt when it got really hot. Luckily, she did have the summer house to spend most of her time at, and it was what she planned on doing this summer, with a few vacations scattered in between.

Her shower was quicker than it normally would have been, but only because she was tired and hungry. She was still reluctant to sit down and eat with Brooklyn and Nick, and by the time that she had gotten dressed, she was leaning towards politely declining. She wasn't sure that she was in the mood to socialize, nonetheless with them. Plus, as she read Roman's text, she knew that she would have preferred to slip across the hall and eat with him instead.

To: Roman
Starving

. What should I order?

To: Chanel
Let's not forget that you forced me into drugging you

! I took one for the team to ensure you had a good night so don't even try that

!!!!!

Doing cocaine had come all too naturally to Cara that night, speaking to how it wasn't as out of character for her to do as she wanted the world to believe, but that didn't matter now, because there hadn't been any consequences to the drug that night. They had fun, and she saved Chanel from smelling disgusting from smoking weed, so that was what really mattered.

Cara didn't expect Roman's question about being hungry to be related to the food that Brooklyn had offered her, so when she emerged from her bedroom with the intention of declining their offer, she was surprised to see him sitting there, eating their food. She wasn't sure how to react to his presence with the others in the room, especially now that she was caught off guard already. Instead of heading straight to them, she smiled, and made her way to one of the cabinets where they stored liquor. "Hey," she offered to the three of them, but mainly to Nick and Roman whom she hadn't seen yet today, as she busied herself with making a drink. Though she didn't consider herself to have many hobbies, and she definitely didn't considering making drinks to be a hobby, she would give herself credit for being good at it. She was a cocktail lover, and it was fun to make cool drinks. She didn't mind spending money on ingredients that would be used once, with 99% of it being tossed after she made a small batch of drinks, so it was a fun pastime for her, and came in handy when she wanted to drink at home.

cure · Sep 24, 2020

Nick was chill enough that switching the conversation topic to something as innocent as getting drinks afterwards didn't translate to Roman as him looking out. While he would have appreciated it even if he knew that was the case, like now, he was still going to take the bait. "Sure," he said quickly before just as swiftly changing his tone and attention to Brooke. "Why are you such a freak?" Anyone could annoy Roman, but few could actually rile him up, and Brooklyn was one of the ones who was in scarce company. His voice raised, though he wasn't yelling or screaming at her, nor was there even any real aggression in his tone. "Use all that 'money money' you've been making to buy some business of yours to mind so you can stay out of mine, stalker." Unlike before, Roman wasn't being vague out of shyness. This was about principle now. Who did she think she was to always boss him around? "Get away from me." He leaned over to grab Brooklyn's seat and push her closer to Nick. While he was busy ensuring that she remained as far away as possible, he missed Cara passing by as she made her way into the kitchen. "One day I'm going to push you in front of a bus," he threatened emptily as he straightened back up and turned back to his food, albeit with a defeated pout. Brooklyn was a bully, plain and simple, and Roman was an unacknowledged victim. He deserved better; from his friends, and from the world.

Cara's voice pulled his attention away from the abuse he had been enduring, and it was a welcome respite, though it didn't translate in his expression when he looked her way. Here he was being terrorized and tormented when he could be enjoying the same meal with someone he actually liked. He didn't actively dislike Brooklyn. He only presently ever did, and since she was presently beside him, riding his last nerve, she was presently disliked. The thought made him cast a cool glance back toward Brooklyn as he shook his head in disappointment. She didn't even know what she had done. She truly was a master at her craft. "I can't believe you," he said with true disappointment in his voice. "You'd really sacrifice my happiness just so you could spend another weekend at the Hamptons."

electric · Sep 26, 2020

Call him stupid, but Elijah was taken back by the blatant way that Chanel was making it clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. He looked at her in sheer confusion, trying to piece together what he was apparently missing here. He hadn't been that drunk this weekend, not even by the time the end of the night hit and he found himself tangled in her sheets. He didn't think that he had said anything that would have offended her or allowed him to be so off putting to a point where she could hold such animosity. It surprised him that he was the only one who seemed to view that night in a good light, and again, perhaps it was just idiocy, but he could only take it as an ego hit right now, assuming that he hadn't been as good in bed as she had made it seem in the moment.

He chuckled, trying to play it cool, and again, wondering where the hell Ruby had went. Screw a free dinner, at this point, he didn't think anything would be worth such an odd an uncomfortable evening, especially since he had been here for ten minutes or so, and this was the reception he was already receiving. "Nah, I told her the food was probably ready," he explained, though he knew that she wasn't actually looking for any sort of explanation, and apparently, just wanted to insult him. "Small world, running into you here. I didn't realize that you and Ruby lived together." Had she not just told Holly to go blow out the candles in her room, he would have assumed that Chanel was just one of Ruby's friends who was here to have dinner too. It really was a small world, given that not only were they friends, but roommates too.

Although Chanel had warned him that night that she wasn't as glitz and glam as she had appeared then, he was surprised to see that this was where she lived. It wasn't that the apartment seemed to be for someone of a lower class, or that it wasn't nice, but he really had taken her for a child of a millionaire type. The kind of person who would live in one of those fancy doorman buildings that towered one hundred stories into the sky, and had every amenity one could imagine built in. Considering that he knew Ruby was a doctor and lived here as well, it didn't really mean much because for all he knew, Chanel had more money than she was showing too. Plus, this area of the city was expensive to live in regardless. Still, it was something he noticed. He was still curious about the younger girl who had just run off, too, and what her relationship to Ruby and Chanel was. He knew that she lived here too, but were they all strangers? Maybe she was Ruby's cousin or something, and Ruby and Chanel were friends? There was that other girl too, who had opened the door for him. He vaguely remembered being introduced to her on Sunday morning, but he couldn't place her name or where she fit into all of this.

As he soaked in the smell of the hot food laid out in front of him, he was tempted to just start making himself a plate, but he had enough manners to feel inclined to wait for Ruby to get back, or for one of the others to start doing so first. Though he already felt pretty out of place, Elijah wasn't one to hold back, and he didn't want there to be an elephant in the room until he was able to escape this dinner. "I had a really nice time on Saturday, but I'll read the room and guess that I did something that offended you, so if I did, please let me know so I can properly apologize." Her face earlier had alluded to that, but her comments had solidified it, and the awkward tension in the room contributed to it as well. Elijah still had no idea whether Ruby had told her that he wasn't actually dating her or not, and because this fake relationship was something that he assumed to be a one time thing, it felt bizarre to consider that Chanel actually believed that, when it wasn't something that was even on his radar up until ten minutes ago. Because of this, his mind led him to believe that something else was awry.

A_Writer · Sep 27, 2020

That made sense. Elijah definitely wasn't as good of a gift giver as Holly was, so it was understandable that Chanel couldn't envision him getting her a gift as nice as a dog. Holly laughed when Chanel mentioned that her giraffes could have been named Cara and Chanel, since Holly frequently said that they were like giraffes with how tall they were. It was such a silly claim though, because of course she couldn't have named her giraffes that! Her giraffes were obviously boys! That would just be offensive. She was on the verge of asking Chanel what her name would have been if she was born a boy, but before she could, Chanel gave her an important job to do. There were very few things that would seem more important than something that justified being able to go into Chanel's room and touching her stuff with permission. Chanel's physical redirection was barely needed, because Holly was already ready to bound down the hallway to go smell all of Chanel's candles. She knew that that wasn't the exact job that Chanel had given her, but how was she to know that a candle wasn't lit without taking off the lid and checking first? And if the lid was already off, well... then she had to smell it! She was already imagining how vanilla-y the vanilla ones would smell, and how others would make her feel like she was walking through a field of flowers. Yay, yay, yay! This was so exciting!

She hadn't really paid much mind to Chanel's request that she check on Makayla and Ruby too, so when she knocked on the bathroom door, it was only with the purpose of informing Makayla that she would be entering Chanel's room with permission!!!. When Ruby came out, talking about the food, Holly couldn't have been less interested, and was only minorly thrown off because she hadn't been able to announce her exciting news before Ruby ever so rudely spoke first. She shook her head, getting back in her head space as her smile returned to her face. "Chanel told me that I can go into her room to--"

"No." Makayla didn't need to hear any more of what Holly wanted to say. She was sure that if Chanel had actually told her that she could go into her room, it was because Holly asked and she felt like she had no choice but to say yes. Holly had no business being in there, and Makayla had no business Venmoing Chanel for whatever Holly was to break.

"Yes, she said that I need to make sure her candles are all blown out! Official business! I am a firefighter slash lifesaver slash lifeguard slash starfish!" She was already turning away from the bathroom doorway to hurry down the hall, because she wasn't going to let Makayla ruin the best day ever!!!! for her like that.

BurningBridges · Sep 27, 2020

If anyone loved to play the victim card, it was Roman. Brooklyn rolled her eyes, albeit through a smirk, as she scooped some guacamole onto another chip. He was such a drama queen, it was funny. If he didn't have such thin skin, then maybe she wouldn't have found pushing his buttons to be so amusing, but he was easy to get a reaction out of, so it made the game more fun. Obviously, it wasn't as shallow and poorly intended as that sounded on the surface, as the nature of their relationship played into it too, but either way, he was a cry baby. He liked to act like she was rude, which she oftentimes was, and yet here he was expressing right in front of Cara's face, that they were using her for her Hamptons house. Brooklyn didn't care on a moral level, and would tell Cara that to her face if she felt like it, but oh, what a hypocrite he was. A hypocrite and an idiot. Even though Cara was dumb, Brooklyn didn't want her to know that she was only being kind to her to use her. That would defeat the purpose, because she didn't think Cara was that dumb, especially because at the end of the day, Brooklyn's kindness was likely worth very little to someone like Cara. As difficult (or impossible) as it would be for Brooklyn to admit, Cara had the upper hand in their roommate relationship as it was, and a tiny bit of kindness that was basically just being civil probably wasn't going to win Brooklyn free-vacation brownie points. At least not with this moron exposing her like that. She made a mental note to smack him later on, after she finished eating. She didn't need to get her hands dirty from his greasy hair while she was trying to eat.

"You're an idiot," was the only response he was worth right now, or so she told herself that, though she was really just too preoccupied with eating. If it had registered to Brooklyn that there wasn't an extra chair for Cara, she would have told Roman to get up (simply because he was being annoying right now, and if he got up he would be annoyed, and if he didn't he would look like a jerk, so win-win). However, she wasn't hyper focused on Cara's arrival or presence, and though she did want her to stay and eat something, just so that Brooklyn had the basis to begin to start collecting some leverage, she wasn't obsessing over it. After all, this was still Cara, and little had to be said outside of that.

Art Bar didn't sound like a horrible idea. Brooklyn did have to work tomorrow morning, but her waitressing job was the kind of job that she could show up to hungover. The number of times she had a six o'clock shift, after getting out of her night job just an hour before at five o'clock had proved to her that she could deal with people without killing them even when it felt impossible. Art Bar wasn't a crazy scene as it was, so there wouldn't be any harm in going there for a few drinks, so long as Roman stopped being so annoying. "And fine, I'll go," she added, looking to Nick. "Only so that you're not stuck alone with this loser."

lauren. · Sep 27, 2020

Cara made herself a Cosmopolitan, purposely doing so slowly to kill time. She could hear the others chattering, but by now, had lost any interest in eating with them. She had assumed it would only be Nick and Brooklyn, which wasn't a pair one would imagine Cara would want to eat with to begin with, but Roman being there somehow made things worse, despite her liking him better than the other two. It would have already been awkward with Brooklyn and Nick, but adding Roman into the mix solidified that they were hanging out as a friend group. This was Cara's apartment, and she had every right to exist within her own space, but it wasn't about that. It was just that there was simply no draw to spending time in a place that she assumed she wasn't truly wanted in, especially when she didn't particularly want to be there herself. She wasn't venomously opposed to the idea of breaking bread with Brooklyn and Nick, but she also wasn't dying to do so. While Cara had some internal conflict regarding her existence within her different friendship spheres, the dilemma was never that she didn't have enough random people that she could be friends with if she wanted to. She wasn't lonely and in need of literally any body to occupy the space beside her. She did sometimes crave true friends who were more down to earth, at least now that she had fallen closer to earth mentally (relative to where she stood in life a few years ago), but Brooklyn and Nick would never be people who Cara would feel inclined to step out of her comfort zone to befriend. There just wasn't any benefit there for her; none at all.

Though the food smelled enticing and Cara was hungry, again, the benefits of existing in this uncomfortable scene just simply couldn't outweigh the negatives. What was she supposed to do? Make a plate after no one had acknowledged her, and then go eat by herself? Yeah, no thanks. She put the liquor bottle away, as well as the mixers, and carried her drink into her room. She was mildly annoyed with Roman. The least he could have done was offer her a heads up that he was coming over to her apartment. She didn't understand why he pretended that he wanted to eat dinner with her if he clearly had other plans. Call it dramatic, but it momentarily made her question whether a relationship with him would actually ever be realistic. She recognized how close he was with Brooklyn and Nick and didn't have a problem with that, but if he was just going to make plans and blow her off in favor of hanging out with them, when she barely got to see him as it was... well, what was the point then? Why not go back to just sleeping together? She could surely find her own Hamptons fling to satisfy her when he wasn't in sight even more quickly than he had found that ugly troll the other night.

While most of her felt like she was better off staying in her bedroom for the rest of the night, she set her drink down, gathered the things that she had for Chanel, and reemerged from her bedroom just seconds after entering. She didn't offer them an acknowledgment or explanation now as she passed, though her silence didn't have any cold or angry tone to it either, and she headed across the hall to knock on Chanel's apartment's door.

cure · Sep 28, 2020

Elijah and Chanel were more than just not on the same page; they were in different chapters of different books in completely different genres. Her incredulous expression to how blatant he was being right now when Ruby was right down the hall didn't do her thoughts justice. And to act like he didn't know all in the same breath?! Scandals withstanding, while Ruby and Elijah being a pair wasn't something that Chanel could have imagined, they were both attractive enough that it wouldn't have been the craziest thing to her. In fact, what struck her as being oddest wasn't that the two of them seemed so diametrically opposed and random, but that they seemed totally incompatible. Ruby was so sweet—and now seemed saccharine next to her boyfriend—and more than that, she was smart. It would seem to Chanel then that Ruby, who she viewed as being the most adult person she personally knew outside of her relatives, would be able to steer clear of guys like the one standing before her. The fact that Chanel was a couple of years younger and degrees less informed than her roommate eroded any and all hope Chanel held for the future. It was a dramatic conclusion, but for her, it wasn't far off base, especially given her history. What was it about her that magnetized guys like this?! She stared at Elijah quite intently, though this time, her expression had shifted. She wasn't trying to stare him down as before. She was merely trying to find some fault in his facade, something that would indicate to her that he wasn't being serious right now. This wasn't the guy she slept with her, and on her birthday of all days. He singlehandedly ruined her birthday!

Chanel opened her mouth to speak before ultimately furrowing her brows solemnly and turning her attention away. Ruby reappeared, for better or for worse. She turned around and gave her a playful wink regardless. "Thank goodness," she said. "I thought I was gonna have to call in for backup trying to keep this one away from the food." She continued to clear the counter of any plastics, moving out of the way when she was. "I'll get it," she called when there was a knock at the door. Please don't be anymore hookups, she quietly prayed as she headed to the living room. She wasn't sure who to expect, and even though they just spoke, Cara wasn't top of her list of guesses. It was certainly a much more appreciated surprise than it would have been in any other circumstance, and the look of relief on her face when she went to hug her friend spoke to that. "Cara!!!" she exclaimed, pulling her in for a squeeze. For just a few seconds, she squeezed her extra tight. "What's u—" she began, her cheery tone not yet warmed up as she let go and took a step back. The light did come back to her eyes, and more genuinely this time around, when she noticed Cara wasn't empty handed. She laughed excitedly. "I was just telling Holly no more presents until next year, and I totally forgot!" She stepped out of the way and extended her hand towards the others in the kitchen to elaborate on what she meant. "Ruby's, um, boyfriend is over for what is literally The Second to Last Supper. Have you eaten? We've got plenty." As she made her way to the kitchen, she look towards Ruby, not wanting to seem rude for offering food that wasn't even hers. "Oh, is that okay?"

lauren. · Sep 29, 2020

"Of course, of course!" Apparently Cara was here too, but that wasn't something that Ruby was concerned with. At least not immediately. They had enough food to feed the entire floor, and she was more than happy to feed another person in general, so there was no chance that she was going to object to that. However, another person also meant a larger audience for Makayla, and that didn't come with any positive spins. She just hoped that Makayla was actually going to act like an adult now, if for no other reason than out of respect for Chanel who was innocent in this whole thing and knew nothing to make sense of the awkward tension Makayla would create. "The more the merrier," she said, forcing a smile to her face.

As she turned away from the girls, she looked to Elijah, whose appetite Chanel had just playfully commented on. "Oh, dig in!" she insisted, her smile turning to a more apologetic one as she studied his expression for a moment. While he wasn't an open book, she could read some discomfort on his end, but she had no reason to think it stemmed from anything other than the uncomfortable welcome he had received by Makayla, and Ruby's inability to offer him attention since he arrived. He didn't know anyone here, after all, and the purpose of this dinner was to thank him, not hate Ruby for being a bad friend. "And I'm sorry for all of that," she whispered once they were deeper into the kitchen. "I... it's a whole big thing," she said, deciding that explaining the situation would be a lot more difficult than it needed to be. Since Makayla was (hopefully) going to chill out for the rest of the dinner, it didn't seem necessary. "But I wasn't planning on this growing into you still playing this character, I promise. I'll get it sorted out, but could you please, please, please just roll with it for the next hour? I owe you big time, seriously!"

Elijah still felt like things were moving too quickly. Chanel didn't respond to him before hurrying over to answer the door, and by the time that she opened it to reveal that it was Caraline, Ruby had already returned. It was only then that it clicked to him that it was Ruby whose presence was probably making this weird. Not in any way where Ruby was to blame, but because him being here lined up with this story of him being Ruby's man, and him being Ruby's man was obviously not the best association to have as the basis of hellos when re-meeting an expected-to-be one night stand. It was something that could have been avoided, but now that he was pretty sure that was the cause of her distant approach with him, he felt some sense of relief, because it would be an easy, quick fix. Even when Ruby approached him and quietly pleaded with him to maintain this act, and even as he nodded in reassurance, he felt more at ease. So he would play the part until the evening was over, and then tell Ruby to clear the air, get Chanel's number in the process, and everything would be fine. "Don't worry about it," he insisted, as he reached to put a slice of pizza on a plate. "I got you." He didn't see Ruby as being indebted to him, but if something came up one day, sure, he would ask her to help him out. Right now, he had nothing on his mind, so it seemed like a minor inconvenience (and only because of the Chanel thing) to keep it up.

"Thank you, a million times over," she said, reaching out to squeeze his arm in a gesture of appreciation, since hugging him seemed over the top and inappropriate considering that they weren't that close. Although she had initially been hungry, her appetite was waning now as the anxiety set in, so while she hovered in the kitchen, she opted to wait to make herself a place until the others had settled in. She did, however, find herself reaching for that glass of wine that Makayla had poured for her.

Collapsed · Sep 29, 2020

Though Roman and Brooklyn both agreed to get drinks later, they continued to bicker for a few moments. Cara made an appearance, though Nick was in the midst of devouring taco, so he barely noticed her until she returned for the second time. This time, she didn't stop in the kitchen, and instead, headed out. She was dressed in clothes that looked more fitting for the indoor, air conditioned temperature rather than the warmth outdoors, so he wasn't sure if she was leaving the building or just going across the hall, but he didn't pay much mind to it. He didn't think that she had felt slighted in any way, and honestly doubted that she had even agreed to eat when Brooklyn had offered it. It seemed pretty unlike her, especially since one of their last interactions involved Cara telling the three of them that they were trash. It wasn't something that any of them took to heart, or at least Nick didn't, but he figured Cara had been fairly serious in the declaration. It was strange how Brooklyn and her managed to coexist peacefully in this apartment still, but that obviously wasn't something that Nick would ever bring up, considering his role in disrupting that peace in the first place. He did miss living with Brooklyn, but at the same time... it was probably for the best that they both had their own, separate spaces to retreat to now when things got rough. It was healthier, and because they were right across the hall anyway, it didn't really disrupt things when things were good. A win-win situation.

Nick's beer was empty, so he got up to get himself another. He figured Roman could take another two, so he grabbed two before heading back. "Guess she wasn't hungry," he commented, referencing Cara as he grabbed a bottle opener to open his drink, before tossing it at Roman. "It's the thought that counts," he added with a shrug, as if it would be of some consolation to Brooklyn. "We still get credit for asking." He probably should have expected a scoff or eye roll from that, as it was sort of patronizing in a way that it wasn't intended to be, but before taking another bite, he changed gears slightly. "This weekend was fun, though. Gotta give her that." He looked to Roman then. "Were you as surprised as I was at how... not bad that was? I figured the pretentiousness of it would outweigh the fun, but it was actually a pretty sick time." Then again, Nick had Brooklyn there, so that was really what made it a good time. The property, amenities, and party were all great, but if he hadn't had someone to enjoy it with, it would have been just a "business trip" for him. Her insistence on doing more romantic things were sometimes inconveniencing in the moment, but this was a good reminder of how they made the memories all the more nostalgia-worthy once they were over.

lauren. · Sep 30, 2020

Cara laughed, returning Chanel's hug. It wasn't as shocking of a greeting as it may have been coming from someone else, because Chanel was just typically so full of love and cheer that it fell into expectations. As she handed Chanel the things in her hands, she smiled at the comment about no more gifts. It reminded her that she wanted to know what all Chanel had gotten. If there were any next-season, hard to access gifts in there, Cara was definitely going to have to borrow them for a night out. She was sure Chanel's friends had gotten her some cool stuff, and even Cara's friends who may not have known Chanel didn't come empty handed. Never! The gifts probably weren't so much as to benefit Chanel and make her happy, as they were to one up each other. It was a sick culture, where even giving gifts to strangers became a competition to show each other up, but it certainly benefitted the recipient.

Cara couldn't address that curiosity of hers though, as Chanel and her headed inside a bit, and she referenced Ruby's boyfriend. Ruby's what? Ruby having a boyfriend seemed surprising in itself, maybe to an unfair extent. She was such a nice girl, pretty, intelligent, well educated... she really was like the complete package, total wife material. Still, she was also just the type of person who Cara found hard to imagine with a guy. Not in the sense that she could imagine her with a girl; no, that wasn't even a thought in her mind. She just saw Ruby as being... was innocent the word? Something like that, at least. Quiet and meek, not the type who would be out mingling at bars or using dating apps. If Cara had to picture her with a guy, he would be geeky. Glasses, unkempt hair, maybe a scientist or something. Or a history professor. The guy that was standing in the kitchen, who Chanel was apparently referring to, could not have been Ruby's boyfriend. No way. She looked at Chanel in amused disbelief, as if she was pulling her leg. Maybe Ruby's boyfriend was real, but he had to be in the bathroom or something. This guy was Chanel's friend...there was no way that he was with Ruby. As he and Ruby cozied up in the kitchen, whispering to each other words that Cara couldn't make out from where she stood, it became more clear that this was...somehow... the person that Chanel was referring to.

"Since when does she have a boyfriend?" Cara hissed to Chanel, pulling her back a few steps closer to the doorway. "And him of all people?" She wasn't analyzing Elijah closely enough to notice that he was familiar looking.

"I don't know, I don't know!!" Chanel seemed just as bewildered as Cara did, which was somehow comforting in a way. It wasn't like Cara knew Ruby extremely well where not knowing something about her life was shell-shocking, but it was more so that the situation itself was odd enough that it was noteworthy.

Since Cara was hungry, this was a perfect opportunity to escape the awkward, strange situation that Roman had created in her apartment. Besides, she trusted food that came from Ruby and Chanel far more than she trusted food that came from Brooklyn. She gave Chanel another 'WTF' look before continuing into the kitchen. As she picked up a plate, she looked to Ruby with a smile, "I didn't know you had a boyfriend! Where have you been hiding him?" Cara had no recollection of Ruby asking her at some point late on Saturday night if it was okay if her friend stayed the night, and even if she had, the term "friend" didn't equal to "boyfriend". The pair were gone before Cara had woken up on Sunday, so she missed Elijah's initial entrance. Even though she had seen him a few times throughout the party, she also didn't recall that, at least not off of the top of her head, so he was safe in that regard. Still vaguely familiar looking, but not to a point where she couldn't brush it off as coincidental.

"Oh, I-- we really haven't been together for that long, and it's not something we're really making a big deal out of," she insisted, pretending to busy herself with looking in the fridge for something. She didn't know why she was so uncomfortable with lying, when presumably, this wasn't affecting anyone other than Makayla (with that being an entirely different story). She wasn't a fan of attention to begin with, especially not when it was focused on a lie. Plus, now that Makayla had half-agreed to let this go for now, she didn't want Cara to give the girl something to work off of again. "Can I get you guys a drink?" she said, looking between the three, though she knew Makayla had poured Chanel a glass of wine. "We have wine, beer, probably liquor somewhere..."

She remembered the nice cocktail she had sitting in her room, but it wasn't worth going back to get. "I'll have whatever's open," she said, noticing the glasses of wine on the counter already, only assuming that it wasn't something cheap and disgusting. Ruby was quick to fill the request, seeking any opportunity to keep herself busy right now, and Cara began to put some salad onto a plate as she looked to Elijah. "So, where did you two meet? Are you a doctor, too?"

A_Writer · Sep 30, 2020

Makayla sighed as Holly bounded towards Chanel's room. Pick your battles, pick your battles. It was a mantra that ran through Makayla's head twenty times a day, at least. Holly going into Chanel's room would typically be a battle that would be worth picking, but Holly's claim that Chanel allowed it barely allowed her to feel slightly more at ease with it. She would let Holly go in for two seconds, and then snatch her out, and hope that Chanel wouldn't need anything between now and then. She followed her over to the bedroom, but hovered just outside of the doorway, feeling uncomfortable with stepping inside herself. It was completely Makayla being overly cautious and dramatic, but it was engrained in her to overcompensate when it came to boundaries. Since Holly disregarded any and every boundary known to mankind and they were known as being a pair, it was up to Makayla to balance that out by being overly respectful when it came to things like this. Watching Holly prance into the room like it was hers instantly made her anxious, but she tried to be patient. "You have five seconds to do what she asked you to do, and if I find out that she didn't actually say you could be in here, you're going to be in trouble."

"Five seconds is not enough time to check all of Chanel's candles!" Holly chirped, though her cheerful tone suggested how she wasn't worried about that. She was definitely going to take more than five seconds for this. It was important business! It was hard for her to focus on the candles once she was actually in Chanel's room. Her bed looked so soft and bouncy, and she had so many photos that Holly wanted to look at. She wanted to look inside of her closet, and try some of her lotion, and see what she looked like wearing some of her fancy shoes. The excitement of it all had Holly giggling to herself as she struggled to decide where to start. "I wish Chanel and me were Siamese twins," she said, looking back to Makayla as if to confirm that that would be super wonderful.

"Five, four..." Holly was close to getting snatched right out of there, just because of that dumb comment, but Makayla was patient. More patient than she felt she got credit for sometimes (from Ruby, at least).

"Okay, okay!" Back to the game plan. There were no flaming candles in sight, but there was one that didn't have the top on it, and it smelled so nice. Holly raised it to her face as she inhaled. Like the forbidden fruit, for some reason, her brain told her that it would be a good idea to lick it to see what it tasted like. As Makayla's annoying voice started again with the countdown though, she pulled it away before giving in to temptation. "But I'm not done!" she complained pleadingly, as she picked up another candle and took the top off to smell it. "And Chanel really wants me to help her with this!"

"Come, it's time to eat." Makayla spoke a bit more sternly now, but even she was surprised when Holly actually came out of the room without more of a fight. She knew that Holly was fascinated with just about everything, but especially things related to the people she found to be cool, like Cara, Chanel, and Brooklyn. Her intentions and obsessions were laid in innocent foundations because she truly just idolized the girls, but again, boundaries.

Holly did leave Chanel's room, unfortunately after only smelling two candles, but she didn't linger and slowly return to the kitchen with Makayla. Instead, she ran past her excitedly, happy to report to Chanel that none of the candles were lit and that she took care of everything. "Chanel!" she called out, before the girl was even in sight. When she was in sight, she became background noise for the moment, because... Cara! Why was she here?! Or better yet, why was she not here all the time?!

"Hi Cara!" she said, bouncing on her toes with excitement as she approached the girls. "I didn't know you were coming over!" She turned her head to Chanel then, because she had an important thought that just wouldn't leave her alone. "Um, Chanel, I was just wondering why you don't have a picture of me and you in your room with all of the pictures of everyone else you love and adore. And I was wondering if, because you know how at your party you had a lot of friends there. Lots and lots of friends. Tall friends and short friends and... well, you didn't have any friends in wheelchairs but you probably have friends in wheelchairs in real life. They just couldn't roll all the way to the party because... because their arms would probably, maybe, get tired and you can't carry them because you're not that strong. Your legs are strong, but your arms are weak. Weak, weak, weak. But anyway, since I'm going to a new school in September, I wanted to know if you'll teach me how to make that many friends. Or just one or two. Because... because, well because at my old school I didn't have friends like your kind of friends that will come to your party, and I want some," she explained eagerly in more words than was necessary. She took Chanel's hand and squeezed it with excitement. "And then I'll have friends, you'll have friends, we'll all have friends. Or if you can't teach me maybe you guys can shrink and come to school with me in my pocket!" she added, looking to Cara then too, and laughing at how silly that sounded. Pocket sized people. "Like Polly Pocket!"

lauren. · Oct 1, 2020

Ruby didn't respond to Cara's question, partially because it was directed to Elijah, and also because she almost hoped Elijah wouldn't answer it either. Maybe that would get everyone to just stop asking about them, if even just out of the awkwardness of being ignored. Holly proved to be a blessing from god, emerging just when Ruby needed her to. She wasn't really processing anything Holly was saying to the girls, but she was sure that her impossible-to-ignore presence would be a good distraction this evening.

As Makayla reemerged from the hallway, she followed Holly into the kitchen. She wasn't paying attention to Holly's rambling now, though she did take note of Cara's presence, and offered her a small wave as she slipped past them and over to where Ruby and Elijah were. She missed Cara asking him if he was a doctor, which she would have scoffed at, and watched in amusement as Ruby tried to construe a story for why they were together. She could just say that they reconnected from high school, since that was partially true, but with Ruby's track record, Makayla knew that her lie would be far more extreme and humorous. "Oh, and Ruby," she said, touching Ruby on the arm as she passed by her to grab her wine glass. "What you asked me earlier about that thing... the answer is no," she said, her voice casual and even chipper, not signaling to anyone on the outside of their private conversation that she wasn't being very nice.

It probably seemed dramatic, but Ruby felt the color drain from her face at Makayla's defiant, sugar coated claim that she wasn't going to give her any breathing room tonight. At this point, Ruby was considering just asking Elijah to go home. It would save the both of them a whole lot of stress and embarrassment. She didn't even blink at the idea of refilling her wine glass as she offered Makayla a clearly forced smile. "Holly, why don't you ask Makayla to help you with that?" she asked, when Holly requested Chanel's help in making friends. It wasn't right; no, it wasn't right at all, but Ruby knew exactly what response she would get from that.

"Because Makayla doesn't have any friends!" Holly answered directly, just seeing it as an honest response and nothing more.

Ruby looked to Makayla, a tight lipped smile on her face then. "Hmm, you're right. I wonder why."

Realistic or Modern City Living

New Member

Junior Member

‏‏ephemere‎

not a lurker

New Member

peculiar

-

Junior Member

not a lurker

peculiar

‏‏ephemere‎

New Member

-

-

‏‏ephemere‎

not a lurker

peculiar

Junior Member

-

‏‏ephemere‎

-

New Member

-

peculiar

-

Users who are viewing this thread

Similar threads