Realistic or Modern Something New (redletalis x Woohoooo)

[redletalis]

It was raining friggin' cats and dogs. It was like all the entire bad weather in the world had decided to gather over the city and unleash the rainstorm of the ages. People were rushing back and forth underneath their umbrellas - if they were lucky enough to have them - or they were huddling under whatever shelter they could find. Some were brave enough to run from shelter to shelter, and many had sought sanctuary in whatever store that was closest when the weather unleashed its wrath.

It was almost enough to remind him of home!

Aziel was one of the poor fools huddling under an awning. He had of course not brought his umbrella today - the weathermen had been lying, damn it! - and he was currently being further and further pushed towards the edge of the safety zone by a mother and her utterly despicably behaving spawn from hell. While trying to ignore that cacophony on one ear, he was trying to listen to what David was saying on the other ear, holding his cell phone so hard against his ear that it was starting to ache.

"I don't care if the bloke said that!" he had to shout in order to be heard over the sheer noise, British accent clear as, well, rain. "There is no way that Pehov's group could ever handle a project such as that. Pehov's barely keeping his head above the water as it is!"

"Well, Pehov's going to get that very same project whether he can handle it or not, unless you can get your ass to the meeting!" David shouted right back, the phone not doing anything to soften his volume. Which was just as good because currently the Spawn From Hell was throwing the tantrum of the ages. "We can't afford to lose this contract to him! I don't care if you make like the witch from the 'Wizard of Oz' and melt in the rainwater, just get your ass to the meeting on time!"

"I know, mate, I know! I swear I'll get there on time, trust me!" Aziel looked around desperately. There was no taxis in sight on his side of the street - at least none that were free. But right there, across the street, one stood at the curb. Bright and yellow it was like a shining beacon of safety and hope in a world of very wet grey and irritating children.

Aziel didn't think twice about it. He ran out from underneath the awning - just in time to avoid being hit in the face by a MacDonald's toy thrown by tantrum-throwing kid - and ran out into the rain. He barely stopped as he wove in and out between the driving cars, ignoring the screeching breaks, angry shouts and car horns going off behind him. Grabbing the handle of the taxi he threw open the door and practically dove into the vehicle.

"I'm in a car, David, I'll get to the meeting in time!" Aziel put the cell phone away, ran a hand through his wet hair to hopefully remove some of the water, and leaned forwards. "Driver, I need to get to the Whitney Museum of American Art as soon as possible. I'll pay double if we get there quickly."

 

[Woohoooo]

No one ever, really, tells you how difficult the transition from college to the real world is. Sure, you hear the occasional "you don't know how easy you have it." But never did Acacia think she would be one of those people frantically waving for a taxi along the side of a insanely busy intersection, during the morning rush, with only ten minutes until work starts when the drive alone is twenty. Not to mention her boss asked her to come into work early today and her alarm clock coincidentally didn't go off. Lovely morning she's having. At least it was a beautiful sunny summer day, not a cloud in the sky. Or so the weather man had said it would be. Actually, it was more like a torrential down pour. She stood there whistling and waving in her dark grey dress skirt, and a navy blue cardigan whilst holding her only means of shelter, a messenger bag, above her head.

Somehow, she managed to land a job as writer at the local paper after she interned there (for free) for two years. She is still currently the youngest writer on staff, and no one takes her seriously. They still boss her around like she's the intern. Especially since she's always a untimely mess and spills tea on herself at least once a week. But she's certain her time will come if she just toughs it out a little longer.

Finally, a bright yellow taxi pulled over right in front of her and Acacia jumped in without even looking around to offer it to anyone else. The driver was looking right at her and clearly the cab was meant for her. She really had to get to work and manners got you no where in the city. Of course if she was running early or even on time she would have surely offered the taxi to someone else. But she had to get to work. "Hi, I'm headed to the paper factory," she called while climbing into the taxi to the driver while a nicely dress man seemed to have the same plan she did. Acacia used her blue eyes to give this guy a once over. He seemed important, and professional, unlike how she often felt herself. But that didn't mean much, she had somewhere to be too.

The taxi had stopped in front of her, not this guy. Right? Where did he come from? "The Whitney Museum of American Art?" Acacia asked as she began mentally racking her brain for the location of it in reference to the location her job. "My stop is on the way, would you mind if we just shared the ride? I'm late for work, I can't wait for another taxi," she urged, pushing the water off of her bag before tucking some soaked strands of blonde hair behind her ear.

 

[redletalis]

He had just barely stopped speaking when he noticed the other person in the taxi. For a second Aziel closed his eyes, desperately hoping that she was a hallucination or something similar. Or that she was getting out rather than getting in, and that he had heard her wrong. He really couldn't afford to give this taxi up for anyone else.

Turning slightly, he looked at the girl. The woman was young and blonde, dressed in a business-casual manner, and she was looking Aziel up and down. There was something of an awkward silence between them before the girl spoke up again, begging for them to share the car since, apparently, they were headed in generally the same direction.

"It's da same t'ing for me, star." The driver spoke up in a heavy Jamaican accent. He shrugged his shoulders, Afrocentric beads clacking together on his wristbands. "Da Paper Factory's on da way ta da Museum, star. Me not lose any time if me make da extra stop. It not cost much extra eit'er, mon."

"Alright." Aziel sighed. "Alright, give us both a ride and drop the lady off first, but do step on it, mate. It appears that neither one of us can afford being late for our engagements. I'll pay for the entire thing, mate, just drive."

"Aye, mon." The Jamaican driver grinned at them in the rear view mirror, and then they were off. The taxi swerved into the traffic, forcing several cars to break abruptly, and proceeded to weave in and out between the traffic.

Aziel ran his hands through his hair again and again in an attempt to dry it at least a little bit. He did make certain that no water dropped on his companion, she was wet enough as it was. Instead he focused more on grumbling quietly as he tried to arrange his wet hair into something vaguely stylish. "Good grief, of all the days that it had to rain cats and dogs. It is like the friggin' Apocalypse out there. I swear 'tis raining horizontally rather than vertically. I want a good chat with whatever weather god arranged for this weather."

 

[Woohoooo]

Acacia was prepared to put up a huge stink. She needed to get to work as soon as possible, and this taxi was her best bet. Fortunately, a fight wasn't necessary as the man easily agreed to let her tag along which was a huge relief. "Thank you," she murmured to both the driver and her travel partner as she filed her messenger bag in front of her legs and tried to dry off as best as one can while sitting in a taxi.

It wasn't all that common to hear such a obvious British accent in these parks. It was one of the first things she's noticed about the man. That, and his eyes. "You're telling me," she laughed, "this is not what the weatherman predicted. I checked." Mentally, she made a note to start carrying around an umbrella since this was not the first time she had gotten stuck in the midst of a total down pour.

"I'm Acacia, by the way," she offered him her small hand where each of her fingernails were daintily painted a pretty shade of mint green. "I really do appreciate you sharing the ride, I'm late for work as it is and I'm not sure how much longer I could've handled standing in this mess, if I'm honest," she admitted with a soft chuckle. She had been standing out there for quite a while. It would be a miracle if she didn't catch a cold.

 

[redletalis]

Well, it was nice that she at least didn't seem too down by the horrible weather and the slightly awkward situation they were in. Her laugh was nice enough, and she had a very good point about the weather. It was bad enough to almost make him worry about any potential flooding.

Looking over at her for a moment, he then took her hand - it was smaller than his, and more dainty, he couldn't help but notice that right away - and shook it. "Think nothing of it. I apologise for bursting in on your taxi in such a manner, so thank you for not throwing me back out. The name is Aziel. It is very nice to meet you, Miss Acacia."

A small smile spread on his face. Even if the day had started out quite bad, at least he could enjoy a nice ride with a so far pleasant young woman. It helped that she looked quite nice, too. A brief check of his wristwatch made Aziel relax even more. Like the Jamaican driver had said, even with a slight detour to drop Acacia off Aziel wouldn't be late for his meeting if the traffic stayed as it was.

"If I may ask, what is it that you work with, Miss Acacia? You mentioned the Paper Factory, was it? Do you work for a newspaper?" he ran a hand over his forehead to remove a few dripping trails of water. "As an intern, perhaps? Or maybe a journalist?"

 

[Woohoooo]

Although Aziels hands were much larger than her own, his handshake wasn't too aggressive or anything of that nature. It was the handshake of a gentleman. Occasionally, she'll get a handshake from someone only using three fingers as if she were made of glass. Or one with a death grip that leaves her hand aching for hours. This was neither of those. It was the perfect medium.

"No, I'm not an intern, at least not as of three months ago," she explained as the taxi driver weaved in and out of traffic in an attempt to get her to her destination. "I'm a journalist, yeah. Right now I'm only doing local columns, but I mean, I've got to start somewhere." Her parents weren't too thrilled with her major of choice. They would've prefer something with a little more promise, like engineering or nursing. But writing was her passion and they couldn't very well take that from her. "I'm hoping to eventually move more into digital journalism eventually to reach more people and be able to move up. But for now traditional is where I'm at." Acacia had the next few years of her life totally planned out unlike most of her peers. But she is a determined little lady.

"What about you? The Whitney Museum of American Art, huh?" She asked, raising her eyebrows curiously. That location made his profession a lot less...obvious. Maybe he was just going to admire the art. What would she know. "Are you an artist?" She had to admit upon first glance he didn't exactly scream artist but it was possible.

 

[redletalis]

"Congratulations on your promotion, then. I'm quite certain that you will reach your goals with a mindset like that. Have you ever considered doing some blog-posting of some sort on the side? Perhaps starting your own blog or joining another more well-established one? I know that a lot of journalists get an extra income and some more to spice up their curiculum vitae that way, especially these days when blogs and vlogs are the be-all end-all of digital news information."

Outsid the car the rain wasn't letting up at all, and the poor window wipers were working overtime to keep up with the deluge. The streets were emptying rapidly of even the most harty people who were now giving up on defying the weather. Traffic was slowing down slightly as people became a bit more wary thanks to the low visibility. Aziel frowned a bit out the window next to him, silently praying that he wasn't going to be late because of this whim of the weather.

"Hmm?" he turned back to his companion. "Ah, I apologise, I was wool gathering. Yes, the museum." He nodded. "I have a meeting to get to, and this is one meeting that I cannot miss. I'm an architect." Aziel added that last bit once he realised that he hadn't explained what he did. "Unfortunately I cannot blame my lateness on the rain. It was purely my bad time management. Yet another reason as to why I'm glad that you've allowed me to share your cab. I really do appriciate it. I do hope that you'll allow me to make it up to you sometime?"