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 Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 5:31 pm
She'd complained to some college girlfriends over lunch how relationships stank. How they were difficult, and problematic, and how even finding Mr or Mrs Wrong was downright difficult for her these days. "What happened to the clubs?" Stasia asked. No, Jada had been forced to say. No clubs for her, with her sporadic work dates. "What happened to the cute blonde?" Lucy had asked. Moved to New York, Jada had said with mild regret. That abusive relationship would be... long-distance, at best. They'd gorged themselves on dessert and Emily had bought her a 6-pack before they separated for the night. Two days later, she was informed that she was going to be made a project. "Blind dates?" Jada repeated, looking dumbly at her friends. She had been assured that they did, indeed, mean blind dates- a nice lunch or dinner with a person probably not considered by herself for the purposes of striking up a friendship, or romance. Something. Token protests? No, they didn't work. Genuine protests? Little better. In the end, she had wound up with a name and a cheat sheet- Something that would give them something more to talk about than the usual 'Hi, I am a stranger, let's eat!' Quote: Lian Esposito**Ask him his full name - Likes spicy food. - Likes sports. Pretend you do more than watch the men run. - Animals - Brutally honest- try, try again. The 21st, lunch, The Lattetude Cafe. It's right next to Thai Tanic. Spicy, remember? He's a cutie, pretty eyes. Good luck! Emme Fabulous. So here she was, sipping on a Latte in the "Latte"tude cafe, wearing her cheesy Christmas sweater and waiting on a total stranger to join her.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:01 pm
Lian had given up on pursuing romantic relationships a while ago. Apparently, when women dressed up in fancy clothes and makeup he was supposed to lie through his teeth and compliment them rather than blatantly state how overdone their appearances were. He had received more than enough slaps and food tossed at him to last a lifetime of failed dates. The last thing the man wanted was another date—especially a blind one set up by a friend. He did not need help, darn it. Yet here he was, walking toward a café with some sort of cheat sheet in his hands.
He grumbled. Even though he had repeatedly told Emme not to do this she just had to pull the ‘you owe me a favor!’ card. Lian pushed the entrance door open and walked inside. He glanced around, but had no idea where Jada was. Rather than stand around like an idiot he chose to walk over to the register and order something. “Grande café latte, please.” His fingers tapped against the counter as his gaze went from one table to the next, trying to figure out which one was her. Fortunately, there was only one table with one woman, and once he received his drink he quietly walked over.
“Are you Jada?” His tone wasn’t very amiable, nor was his expression friendly. He didn’t move to occupy the seat across from her, fearing that somehow he had gotten the wrong girl and perhaps Jada was actually late.
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2011 6:36 pm
A few hours ago she might have come across as overdone, when her makeup was more than just "freshened up" and her curls were loose around her face instead of pinned back by santa stocking hairpins. Even when her sleeves were down and not scrunched up just above her elbows. She didn't look slovenly- no, Jada was not the kind of girl to try slovenly- but she didn't exactly look like she was enthused about a date either.
When approached, she glanced up- and up, and up- until she met bright blue eyes. "Only if you're Lian." The heiress reached out under the table with a foot, shoving out the chair across from her, and smiled wryly. "Looks like Emme got us both, hmm?" He looked more like he was going to his death than meeting a friend.
Maybe they could curse their mutual friend as a bonding ritual. "Please, take a seat. Might not be my first plan for a Wednesday afternoon, but I'm not going to bite your head off." Her mouth wasn't that big, regardless of what her friends said.
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 4:23 pm
He didn’t pay particular attention to Jada’s appearance. As long as she didn’t look like a pig or had just recently rolled out of bed he could deal with whatever she chose to wear. However, he did pause a beat to examine her Christmas sweater and hairpins. “…Interesting choice of attire,” Lian managed to remark after some hesitation. Usually his comment would have been more snappish or curt, but for Emme’s sake he would attempt to be somewhat courteous. While he didn’t want to go on a blind date he was determined to at least see this through.
“I am,” he confirmed as he slid into the empty chair. He drank from his latte before placing it on the table. “Indeed she did.” Arms crossed, Lian leaned back against his seat. “Perhaps you should.” So this can be done and over with. Sighing, he knitted his brows together as he stared at the cheat sheet Emme had generously given him. “So you ride horses, right?” He looked a bit uncomfortable. Conversation was not his strong point, especially idle chatter. “How…is it?”
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Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:20 pm
"Interesting how?" It was the holidays, so she thought his word choice was pretty interesting all in itself. Then again, he looked like he was trying very hard to be polite. Jada would much rather he tried to be the 'brutal' that Emme had mentioned so she would have an excuse to refuse any more of her friend's attempts at a setup.
"Well, it is nice to meet another friend of a friend, regardless of the circumstances." she said it after a moment's pause, debating his comments. "I'm not a cannibal, so I'd really rather not bite your head off, if it is all right with you. Or we can at least save it for a day when I won't be the obvious culprit."
And then there it was. A mild, almost-opening; she took it gleefully. Animals! "Actually, yes! I have a Hanoverian, Lady Luck. Do you know much about horses?" Probably not, if he'd asked what it was like to ride horses. Still. "I also have a cat, Castor. He's a Toyger. Emme mentioned you liked animals." So she had come prepared to talk about them... it was about all they really seemed to have in common.
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Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 12:59 am
Lian glanced at Jada before he leaned forward, folding his hands and placing his elbows on the table. Then he stared at her for reallyyy long time, debating whether or not he should tell her the honest truth. Well, his bluntness was a defining trait to his friends and classmates, so surely Emme had said something about it. Un-sugarcoated truth could be rather shocking without warning. “Your sweater,” he began slowly before sighing and cutting to the chase, “I hate it. I hate Christmas sweaters in general.” He looked back at her outfit. “Although I’ve seen worse designs.” His gaze drifted up to her hairpins and his brows furrowed. “I’ll repeat that same comment for your pins.”
He mentally braced himself for the woman’s reaction while he reached out for his latte and sipping it. “If you insist, but just know cannibalism is always an option if worse comes to worse.” Was Lian actually trying to be humorous?
The man almost breathed a sigh of relief. Almost. Animals were a good topic. It was a safe topic he could discuss for quite some time. “Just the basics, and whatever else my mother bothered to teach me,” he answered. “A Hanoverian? They’re supposed to be excellent horses for competitions, correct?” If Jada observed closely she could see a spark of interest in Lian’s eyes at the mention of the Toyger. Cats were his favorite. “Toygers have lovely coats, but are quite expensive.” He averted eye contact, keeping his folded hands in front of his mouth and face to hide his flustered expression. “Yes, I do.”
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Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:40 pm
She couldn't say that she hadn't asked for it. And Jada had known that the boy in front of her was going to be blunt in his assessments. Frankly, she kind of appreciated it. But still. The sweater was pretty understated for a Christmas sweater. Red, with white deer across the front, it barely qualified! So what if he took it in the spirit which she meant it? But her pins? Heretic. She could have sulked, but Jada did try not to sulk for strangers she didn't know. "I can appreciate your opinion." she said finally. "And agree that you've probably seen worse designs. I know I have." The heiress took a drink of her latte, glancing down at the small piece of paper.
"I'd really rather try that Thai Tanic place next door before I start taking bites out of my date?" The last word wasn't really accurate, was it? Was this a date? No, not really, but it was too late to take back the hesitant lilt to the sentence, the lilt that made a statement into a question. "I'm sure you're delicious, but you look the sort to run faster than me."
That was safe, right?
"Lady won some ribbons, actually, back when I competed. She's gorgeous. Sixteen hands and change, black as coal, with a lovely little star and blaze that is as clean as if it was cut with a knife. As for my Toyger, I named him Castor. He was free- a friend found him, stray. His vet looked for a chip, and there was nothing. He's got no pedigree, but he's pure as they come, I'd put money on it. Been thinking about getting him a friend, but not sure what he'd get along with. Castor's the suspicious type."
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:53 pm
It might have been helpful to know that Lian was not a holiday person. He didn’t enjoy celebrating holidays. Most discussions of celebrating the holidays usually evoked a scoff or tired sigh from the man. To him, the only advantage to holidays was gaining a large amount of time to do whatever he pleased. He didn’t like all of the effort his family put into hosting large dinners with the extended family. Something more low-key would have been preferable.
Also the horrendous Christmas sweaters his sister jokingly gifted him every year were pretty damn horrendous.
He quirked an eyebrow at Jada’s response. Lian had half-expected something more angry or indignant. Hmmm. “I suppose it’s one of the better designs I’ve seen.” But he still didn’t like it. The man took another sip of his drink. “This is supposed to be a blind date, which is still a date,” he confirmed with a brief nod. “If you’d rather go next door to get something to eat then we can go there if we want.” It didn’t matter to him which place they decided to go to. Lian actually grinned. “I do a lot of sports so I run pretty fast, but who knows?”
Lian nodded his head. “She definitely sounds beautiful. What kind of competitions did you?” He cracked a tiny smile at Castor’s history. He was no stranger to strays. His house was full of them because his mom couldn’t bear to leave behind a stray. Not that he minded. “Suspicious? You could try gradually introducing another pet into the house so he could get used to them. Are you thinking of getting another cat or something else?”
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