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 Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 9:46 am
Everyday, she had been fighting the urge to leave again. The need to move to flight and hide herself from her problems plagued her constantly. An ever renewing survey in her mind of whether she should bother to keep staying in this town. The fact her parents were still living here knowing the things that went on; guilt prevented her from really leaving. What else was there to do in the face of so much turmoil than to go grocery shopping.
Cherry found that certain places felt like safe zones to her. She could find almost pockets of zen when she would visit them. The grocery store was one of her favorites. No matter where she went; she still continued baking. She always preferred hand picking her ingredients whenever possible.
Here shopping her list for the spiffy menu she was preparing for the cooking video blog she was launching; she found solace. No guilt. No pressure to learn how to fight. Noone to run away from.
She parked in front of a dairy cabinet taking her sweet time in exploring her choices and options. Without much regard for the fact she was making it virtually impossible for anyone else to open the door she was in front of. She smirked at a few looks she got from people who were getting impatient and wanted her to move out of the way. She even went so far as to ask a woman staring her down if she wanted her to pass her something.
"Can I help you? I can pass you something if you want. I'll be done and move when I've decided what I want."
It was full of her normal bravado as she cut her eyes at the next person she felt standing near. She crossed her arms purposely drawing it out and taking even longer.
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 10:54 am
The recent winter season hadn't been especially kind to Noah. It wasn't usually, since it was when his business saw the highest boom in catering orders and patronage, but 2014 in particular had seen Noah withdraw when things needed him most. It wasn't easy to fail, but it was even more difficult when his failure was derived from the emotional apathy that came from his sister's death in the first week of December and his father's following after in the final days of the year.
January, Noah had glimpsed at the books for 17 Waverly and only spiraled further into isolation and depression. Now, he was rarely leaving his half restored house.
Today, though, he kind of had to. He was low on food and even though he was shaggy and unkempt and lazy he still had to eat.
Which is how he found himself standing in the dairy aisle scratching at his unshaven jawline, seriously pondering if he really needed milk or if he would just be content to drown himself in beer and pizza for the next week
Well, until he heard a familiar voice. At first he didn't know who it belonged to, just that he had heard it before and not in a while. But when he glanced over to see one Cerise Clayborne, his shoulders suddenly hunched up and he cringed. He wasn't exactly in a state he wanted to meet up with old friends in.
He tried to pull his cart back and hurry away, but in his haste tripped over one of the gathering shoppers trying to get to the same display and ended up failing his slinking away with a grand clatter and fall over a stack of cans instead.
"Oh, ******** class="quote">Graceangel
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Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 11:38 am
Ya. Her stint at the dairy case had her in especially rare form in her insolence towards other shoppers. She finally made her selection with some theater. She thought she was having quite a show. She hadn't even seen Noah at first. Well, or more like not at all until after the sudden uproar of commotion.
The sound of the display crashing to the floor rattled her. The unexpected sound spooking her reflexes, and she nearly dropped the eggs she had then grabbed. She squirmed double time to catch them close to her and not drop them. "Geezzz"
She looked to the source of the tumultuous sounds of cans hitting the ground and grumbling workers. Then, she saw other people who had also fallen by way of being caught by surprise. Her eyes stared at the scene in front of her. She walked closer to gawk with the rest of other people getting a good look at the mess.
She narrowed her eyes as she walked up and stood next to a sight for sore eyes. She bent down a little offering him a hand. "Need help getting up? Let me help you, so you can save face in the middle of this crowd. You're looking quite a spectacle right now. The fright of the sound of it nearly made me drop something that would have been unpleasant."
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Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 9:40 pm
Noah was in a state of mind where even a kind word seemed to bristle him on contact. Still, once she had helped him up and he brushed himself off and made some effort to put some distance between himself and the display, he seemed visibly regretful that he could only offer her a small grunt of acknowledgement. At least at first.
"Yeah, I... thanks," He grumbled, scratching at the thick stubble on his jawline and looking around, tucking the six pack of beer under his arm. It was all he really felt compelled to retrieve.
"I mean it," He added, feeling like his tone didn't properly convey it. "Long time no see, Cherry."
Graceangel I'm sorryyyyy for taking so long ; ;
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Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 4:05 pm
Some people might be put off by such an initial response. Maybe take it as a blow or diss of some sort. Cherry had such raging vanity at times; she would just presume that the overflowing saturation of her exquisite sense of amazing merely made it hard for someone else to think or even talk. She couldn't disagree with such a reaction. Who wouldn't react like that?
In fact, it was likely manifesting itself as an expression of playful smugness crept into her features. When he stepped away from the display, she put a safe measure of distance between herself and that display as well. She also took one from him just in case he had a severe case of accident prone slip ups that afternoon.
"No problem. Happy to help. You ever need anything; anything at all. Feel free to just ask."
Well, she was her after all. That meant she couldn't help but fluff a bit of her curls with a balled fist before putting said on a hip. Smiling away one of her charming smiles. Had it really been that long since she saw him?
Thinking about it, she honestly couldn't remember the last time she saw him. Her eyes had a blink of an earnest flash where she debated on just how much open and honest she even cared to be about life.
"Um.. well.. yeah. Probably noone saw me for a while. I kind of took a sabbatical from life. I went to visit some family in France. It was nice to get away for a while. I'm sure the details of my life are pretty boring and inconsequential. How are you? You look adorably yummy as usual."
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Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:01 pm
Noah couldn't help but give her a little bit of a smirk back, but once he became self aware, it faded just a bit.
"I uh... really?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand and giving a little bit of a shrug. He felt like s**t. Physically he was still in shape, but his face showed signs of sleep deprivation and he was shaggier than normal.
Well at least whatever she had been doing sounded more fun. In his head she had been fine and France probably suited her.
"Well uh... you uh. You look good," He said, shifting the six back from one arm to the other. He had noticed she hadn't been around for a while, he was glad it was because she was off somewhere doing something that ostensibly seemed fun.
He shifted his weight, unsure of what to say. Small talk was hard. He didn't know what was going on with him besides things that were horrendously awkward or off limits or tragic. In a month he'd lost two family members, and in the next one came back at half capacity. That wasn't the kind of thing you announced in the grocery store after not seeing someone forever.
"I should... I should maybe check out," He said, feeling heat rising in his cheeks under all the stubble.
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2015 12:29 pm
She could see well enough the roughness about him. Her shrewd eyes picking up lots of small details, but her smile and friendly expression didn't waiver one bit. Far be it from her to tell anyone if they looked really bad unless it was something they needed to immediately fix... like a rip in their pantyhose or something in their teeth.
"Why thank youuuuuuu," She smiled even harder and radiated the mirth of her vanity feeling quite affirmed. "Do you want to put that in my buggy? I can push it up there for you. And... hey.... are you busy? After this? You should come with me. I'm making something new for this secret food video blog show thing that goes on YouTube that I'm working on.I'm still kind of newish to some of that internet stuff. Might be great for exposure." So she said as she took it upon herself to gently take the six pack out from his hand and arms. She set it gingerly into the basket next to her stuff.
Her determination planted itself steadfastly, and she felt it grow as inspiration to make him feel better took root. While being an outrageously selfish person, if she liked you well enough to care or bother; Cherry excelled at cheering others up. Her kitchen was her sanctuary. When bringing people there, she always succeeded at whatever outcome she was after.
As a good friend and all, his why of how he got to looking like this was irrelevant. If she could help him forget his troubles even for a little while, she counted that as rather nice. She herself knew that when it seems like trouble in life won't go away; being able to forget one's troubles at least helps some.
What more... her folks were out of town on a cruise she had sent them on. The house was all hers. Taking Noah home to drink and bake with didn't seem like a bad idea for an afternoon. That thought solidifying in her mind made her eyes gleam. "You should definitely come with me." She tucked a hand lightly behind the crook in his elbow where the beer had been a moment before pulling him along with her.
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:31 pm
"I--... u-uh, okay" Noah groggily agreed, setting the six pack in the cart, allowing himself to just go with the flow as she guided him along.
He was still practically a zombie, and he was so stuck in his haze of self pity and self loathing that it took him several seconds to piece together the words. "Right, ah, uh... food blog."
He tried to shake off the fatigue. "Sounds interesting. Really, it does," It was the kind of thing he might've done if he was any good at internet tech stuff. But he wasn't, and he wasn't exactly presently minded right now.
"I appreciate the offer and all, but I'm really not good company these days, sorry, Cherry," He mumbled, scratching at his jaw again and shuffling where he stood.
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Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 10:02 am
Her eyes regarded him carefully. The longer she was with him; she took in all these other subtle gestures and mannerism showing his mood and state of mind. Or, at least what could be discerned by the eye. An eye that often was sizing up men in a club when she was on a prowl. At night it was hungry and looking for its prey; here, she was seeing someone who was... well...
What could she say about him? That he had been utterly dear to her? That would probably be an overstatement since it'd been at least a year since she saw him last. Ooops. Yeesssh. Still, face to face, she found herself liking him just as much as she did before.
"Don't worry. It's a secret project, and a lot of the stuff I have to learn is new to me to make it happen. Just a little step along the way to being famous or s**t like that."
The one thing she truly and ultimately lusted after until recently in life. Still, as life was changing, she had to cling to that ambition to avoid losing her sense of self.
That confession. She nodded her head in an understanding way as her eyes softened. She stepped up closer to hug him lightly. "Oh, Noah. Usually when people say they aren't good company; that usually means they badly need some. That settles it. You need to come with me. I'll take care of you."
Then, she did take him by the hand dragging him with her. Her resolve growing steadfast and unmovable. With things as they were in her life, she saw no reason or limits as to how to make him feel better. She had a half dozen tricks up her sleeve. They were usually used to seduce people. Who said you couldn't use some of them to just make a person feel better.
Then, a quiet and unsettling echo in her mind made her take pause. *Careful there Cerise. Start doing nice and unselfish things for people... Might ruin your perfectly bad girl reputation for slutty selfishness. People might think you're a good person underneath all that crap.*
Really, she only had two other people that she really had serious personal consideration for. Maybe today would make up for the year of being a no call no show kind of friend. If she were willing to be perfectly honest, she could use a friend too. Moreover, she was starving for certain things in her life.
A gentle soothing rub of her hand on his arm as she pulled him in. "Yeah. It'll be great. You'll see. You'll like it more than you think you will."
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