#9 HOURS AFTER THEY WENT ON SALE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

avatar-anna · 2 years

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Better Off

(Part 2)

summary: Harry and Y/n are parents at a private school, and they do NOT like each other

words: 9-10k

Series Masterlist

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February

“Y/n!”

I was walking back to my car with Maddison after school when I heard my name being called. Hoping that there was another person with my name walking around nearby, I kept going to my car. Maddie had ballet class today and she didn’t like to be late.

“Y/n! Y/n Y/l/n!”

Looks like they were calling me. I turned around to find a blonde woman who looked to be in her early forties walking with purpose in my and Maddison’s direction. Leaning down to Maddie, I whispered in her ear. “Do we know this woman?”

“That’s Delaney’s mom. At the Christmas concert, you said her highlights looked as fake as her—”

“Okay, thank you my little parrot. I remember her now,” I said hurriedly, putting my hand over my daughter’s mouth. Good timing too because Delaney’s mother finally reached us.

“Goodness, you walk fast,” she breathed, laughing lightly at her own joke.

I gave her a weak smile. “Well, you know, people to see, places to go and all that.”

“Right, right. I won’t keep you long,” Delaney’s mom said. I really needed to be better with names. “So, as you know, I’m our classroom’s Room Mom.”

I did not know that. “Right! Of course. You’re Delaney’s mom, right?”

She seemed a little put off that I didn’t know her by name, but I didn’t spend a lot of time around the school outside of picking up and dropping Maddison off. She recovered quickly, though, and her smile returned to her face with ease. “Yes, I’m Molly. I actually came to talk to you about your participation and involvement in our school’s activities.”

Participation and involvement in our school’s activities? I went to school already, now it was my kid’s turn. Why would I have to participate? But I knew that answer wouldn’t fly with the likes of Molly, so I smiled and apologized.

“Sorry about that. I just have the craziest work hours.” True. “I keep looking for opportunities, but I’m always working on a case.” Half true. I was typically always on a case, but that didn’t mean I was looking for opportunities to help out around school.

“Yes well, you see, all of our parents are required to help out with at least one school sanctioned event each year, and somehow you managed to avoid doing so last year.” As she said the last part, she gave me a pointed glance. “I’ve been working on rounding up you and a couple of other parents from our homeroom who still haven’t signed up to volunteer.”

What kind of school was this? “Oh. Well, If you just send me an email or something, I’m sure we can work something out.”

I had no intention of participating in any school sanctioned events, but I found it easier to rebuff someone over email than in person. But it seemed Molly saw right through me.

“Oh, but we’re right here aren’t we? And I have the perfect opportunity for you. It can be a bonding experience for you and your daughter.”

And that’s how I got roped into working a bake sale at a Valentine’s Day carnival.

I didn’t even know why the first grade parents were in charge of the Valentine’s Day event. My kid was six. She wasn’t the targeted demographic for this holiday. I tried to voice my opinion to Molly, who had been on my ass all week to ensure that I actually showed up today, but she wasn’t having it. So here I was, in the school’s gymnasium on a Friday afternoon, which I had to take off work for, selling all sorts of baked goods to students and parents alike.

I was told there was supposed to be one other parent helping me, but they hadn’t shown up yet, which was making me mad. If I had to be here, then so did this other person. Slipping the little flask I’d brought with me out of my purse, I ducked behind the table and took a sip. I wasn’t typically a day drinker, but I’d already had to put up with parents complaining about the prices of the baked goods on the table before me, and I was not going to go through this by myself. Jose Cuervo was here to keep me company.

“I’m no expert on elementary school rules, but I’m pretty sure drinking on campus isn’t allowed.”

I froze, my hands stilling as they twisted the cap back on. Of all the people to help with the bake sale today, it had to be him. I was bad with names, but I unfortunately had no issue remembering his. I had said it numerous times on Halloween, after all. As much as I wanted to forget that night, my mind circled back to it more than I cared to admit.

After a full day of nursing my hangover, my night with Harry slowly came back to me. I finished the drink he offered to pay for, but when it was done, I surprised the both of us by telling him to stay. The drinks I’d consumed before I saw him had loosened me up a little, and I was less inclined to smack him, which apparently also meant I wanted his company at the bar. Sadie, Harry, and I talked for hours, laughing and drinking like we were college students and not adults with actual responsibilities.

And of course, because I became a total flirt when I had a couple drinks, my hand started to land on Harry’s arm, I gave him looks that were a little more than friendly, spurred on by the fact that he seemed pleased by my actions. Eventually, I stood up and declared that I wanted to dance. Sadie, who knew exactly where I was headed with that declaration, feigned tiredness and claimed she had to be up early the next morning. Harry didn’t even question it, standing up with me and waving to the bartender to close out his tab before moving to the dance floor in the next room over. While he did that, I quickly thanked Sadie and told her she was right. “I do need to let loose a little,” I’d said, hugging her as she collected her things.

“You absolutely do. Just be safe, alright? No buns in the oven a couple of weeks from now,” she’d replied, and after I assured her that my night with Harry would end after some dancing and possibly sucking him off in the bathroom, she was off.

Despite my promise to Sadie, and myself, really, I went home with Harry without question. He had been almost as intoxicating as the alcohol I’d consumed that night, so when he called an Uber for the both of us to bring us back to his place, I was all for it.

We’d hardly made it into the entryway of his house before we were all over each other. The second he turned to face me after locking the front door, I was on him, kissing him feverishly and like my life depended on it. The noises he made as I kissed his neck and jaw, as I gripped him through the sparkly fabric of his costume, only spurred me on, made me feel on top of the world.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I’d panted, helping him out of his costume. “I still hate you.”

“Yeah? You hate me? Is that why you’re about to get on your knees for me?” he replied. His smirk was so cocky and yet so alluring. It made me want to smack it right off of him and let him do whatever he damn pleased with me.

And the way he spoke to me had grated on my nerves in the best way, too. At home and at work, I was in charge and there weren’t very many people that I answered to. I took pride in my power, in being confident, in having a commanding presence when I needed it. And yet Harry’s words lit a fire inside of me just as much as pissing off stuffy old lawyers who underestimated me did. And by the way his smile grew, he knew it too. I knew then before we’d even really done anything that I was in for it, that the man in front of me, who I had loathed for months now, was going to ruin me, and I didn’t even care. As long as it was one night, I didn’t see the harm.

So for the last four months now, I’d been avoiding him like the plague. It was actually easier than I thought, seeing as I rarely saw him picking up or dropping off his son, which was fine by me. I never breathed a word of what happened on Halloween to anyone except Sadie, who got an earful from me when I made her tell me what the hell she was thinking for leaving me alone with Harry that night.

“I was thinking you needed to get laid and he’s hot,” she said, like that was all she needed to say.

“Sadie, you know I don’t like him, why on earth would I ever—”

“You actually liked him quite a bit last night.” Her smug grin made me blush. I knew I had a habit of flirting after having a few drinks, but I’ve always been able to control myself. What the hell was in those margaritas? “And, not that you’ll like, care or anything, but he’s actually quite nice.”

I opened my mouth to tell her about his shitty attitude in Principal Stevens’ office and every interaction I’d had with him afterwards, but she beat me to it. “I know, I know, he was an ass. That’s why I never said anything. But I didn’t see any harm in him taking you home. Sex with someone you hate can be really hot.”

And boy was it ever. By the time I woke up (again) in my own bed that morning after Halloween, everything had come back to me. Just thinking about that night made me blush—the things he did, the things I did, every dirty little comment he whispered in my ear. How the hell was I supposed to get through a whole afternoon with him when just looking at him caused flashes of our night together to flood my mind?

“Yeah, well, when you want a sip after dealing with these parents, don’t come crying to me,” I told Harry, doing my best to pretend that nothing had ever happened between us.

Despite how much I might have wanted to stay hiding underneath the bake sale table, I knew I couldn’t. I stood up and turned around to face him.

He looked good, like really good. He was dressed casually in another pair of jeans and a cardigan, but this one was a patchwork of colors and patterns. I looked down at what I was wearing, a pair of jeans and a hoodie I’d had since college, and my birks over socks with little pink hearts on them. I might have been a little underdressed for this stupid thing, but I didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t really care that parents and school staff were giving me disapproving looks, or if a few people asked if I was enjoying my time in college.

When my eyes flicked back to the man in front of me, I could tell he wanted to say something about Halloween, I could see it in his eyes. But I was going to pretend like it didn’t happen until I was blue in the face, so I spoke before he got the chance.

“So, those are fifty cents, those seventy-five, those a dollar, and those a buck fifty. Easy enough to remember. The cash box doesn’t like to open, but if you just kind of, like, pound the top of it with your fist, it gives a little.”

Harry was grinning, but I couldn’t understand why. I certainly had no desire to be here. The only thing keeping me going at this point was that Maddie and I were going to have a girls night tonight. She was around here somewhere with my brother Javi, playing games and winning prizes while I worked the bake sale table, which was not very popular, if sales were anything to go by.

It was silent for a few minutes while a kid who looked about ten came up to the table, stared at the table, and walked away from it without buying anything. Afterwards, Harry blew out a low whistle.

“This sucks,” he stated.

He was preaching to the choir. “Try actually being here on time.”

“Sorry about that,” Harry said, and he sounded genuine. “I got a call that couldn’t wait as I was leaving my house. Would’ve rather been here, believe me.”

I considered his words, and found them to be true. While I tried to be on time to everything, I knew that life got in the way. Lord knows I’d had Sadie take Maddison home on a few occasions because I was held up at work. “It’s fine, I guess,” I said, a little snark in my tone to let him know that it didn’t actually bother me that he was late.

More silence, which was fine with me. Because if we weren’t speaking, there was less of a chance he’d bring up anything that had happened between us four months ago.

For the next hour or so, Harry and I switched off helping out the few people who walked up to our table. He seemed to know most of them, and I half-listened as he talked about one thing or another with a parent. I also didn’t miss the way that the longer Harry had been here, the more people started to come up to our table, the more women started coming up to our table. It was a little creepy how they batted their eyelashes and laughed at the things he said that weren’t funny, but part of me begrudgingly admired the way some of them shamelessly flirted with him.

When the last one walked away with a little wave over her shoulder, I reached into my purse and pulled out my flask to give to him. “Here. You earned it.”

“Thanks,” he said, surprising me by how easily he took it from my hands to take a swig.

He passed it back, and I took a small sip myself before screwing the cap back on and stashing it back in my purse. “Now I know why Molly had you on bake sale duty. You’re great for sales.”

Harry chuckled lightly. “She’s quite persistent, isn’t she?”

I nodded in agreement and grabbed one of the brownies off the table. Tearing off a piece, I popped it in my mouth, only to grab a napkin and spit it right back out. “Holy shit, that was awful! Who made that?”

“Um, I think I did, actually,” Harry said, his voice sheepish. Giving him a funny look, he continued. “My ex, Devon’s mother. She said she’d take care of it.”

“Well, she sucks at baking,” I told him, tossing the wadded up napkin in the trash. “She should’ve done us all a favor and bought something from the store.”

Once again, Harry took me by surprise by throwing his head back and laughing. It was a cute laugh, I thought, but I quickly shook it away.

“Well, then, what did you make?” he asked when he sobered up.

“Those,” I said, pointing to frosted sugar cookies cut into the shape of hearts. “I wanted to do anatomically correct hearts, but Maddie said it would scare the children.”

“She might’ve been onto something,” Harry agreed.

“Yes, well, she’s the smart one in our mother-daughter duo. I just drive her from place to place.”

It was quiet between us again as more women walked up to our table, and I sat back and let Harry handle the housewives, seeing as they were there for him and not the baked goods. I was pretty sure some of them were even here before. Like I said, shameless. When they all flocked away again, I fished out the flask.

“Hold onto it. Something tells me they’ll be back,” I said while he took a couple more sips.

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Harry asked. Then, getting close enough so that only I could hear him, he whispered in my ear. “Because you don’t need to do that if you’re trying to get me to take you home again.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head, panic and excitement warring inside me. He had no business having a voice that low or gravelly.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, trying to feign cluelessness, but my voice was a little higher pitched than usual.

“I think you do,” Harry sing-songed. “And I think you enjoyed it as much as I did.”

I gulped, hating the way his voice alone was having an effect on me. Where were the housewives when I needed them? I chanced a look at his face, and we were practically nose to nose. He grinned, and that infuriatingly cute dimple indented his cheek.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” I blurted, standing up from the stool behind our table. I didn’t even have to go, but I needed to get away from Harry. He was entirely too charming, his smile a little too smug. I hated him. Hated him. I repeated this over and over and over again as I walked around looking for a restroom. Finding one, I slipped inside and leaned my hands against one of the sinks.

“Pull it together, Y/n,” I said, scolding my reflection. “He’s a cocky asshole with a nightmare son. That’s all.”

I turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on my face, hoping that the thoughts of kissing Harry again that had popped up again would go away. Just as I was drying my face with a couple paper towels, the bathroom door quickly opened and shut, and I heard the lock click before I saw Harry through the reflection in the mirror.

“What are you doing in here?” I hissed, my eyes widening as he closed the space between us.

“I thought—Well, I thought…”

“Well you thought wrong!” I whisper-shouted. “We are at our kids’ elementary school, there are children and parents everywhere, and I…hate you,” I finished lamely.

Harry had looked sheepish until that point. That cocky grin of his that I was regrettably familiar with taking over his face. “You hate me? I feel like I’ve heard that before,” he said, his nose pressing against my cheek as he pressed a tiny kiss to my jaw.

He was referring to that night. Halloween. I kept saying that I hated him, but it only seemed to spur him on. I would never admit it to Sadie, but she was right. Sex with someone you hated was thrilling, to say the least.

But he was using his gravelly voice again, the one that both grated on my nerves and sent chills down my spine. Not trusting my voice, I just nodded.

Harry didn’t seem to be swayed by the fact that I nodded. In fact, it only seemed to spur him on, and I hated how thrilled I was by that fact. He stepped closer until there was only an inch between us. “Then I’m very lucky to be hated by you.”

He leaned in so that his lips brushed right up against my ear, and I had to fight off the shiver that was desperately trying to wrack through me. “You wanna know why?”

I gulped again, unable to help my head from bobbing up and down. I felt his hands reach up to my waist and under my hoodie, his thumbs caressing small circles into my skin. My breath hitched in my throat as he spoke again.

“I’ve never been fucked so good in my life. So thank you for hating me.”

His words made me lose all my resolve. Threading my hands through his hair, I brought his lips to mine. It was rushed and hungry, nothing but tongue and teeth as Harry nipped and tugged at my bottom lip.

I absolutely despised how much I enjoyed it, but his lips were too soft, his hands a little too familiar with my body. My eyes fluttered shut as he moved down to my jaw, then the spot just below my ear. Unable to help myself, I gripped his hair harder, and he moaned against my skin. He actually moaned.

His hands reached higher and came dangerously close to my bra when I started to come to my senses again. We were in an elementary school bathroom, for God’s sake. Fuck, my daughter was around here somewhere.

“Harry,” I tried to say, but it sounded breathless.

I felt him grin against my neck. “Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Harry, we—fuck—we have to stop.”

He stayed where he was, his tongue soothing over where his teeth were and his hands splayed against my ribcage for a couple more seconds, but he eventually pulled away. Both of us were panting, lips swollen and red. I cleared my throat, feeling awkward all of a sudden now that we’d stopped.

“I’m, um, I’m gonna go before Molly kills one of us. Probably me,” I said, not making eye contact with him once. Quickly brushing past him, I reached for the door.

Harry had the common sense to wait a few minutes before returning back to the table. While I was alone at the bake sale, I pulled my hair out of my ponytail and combed through it the best I could with my fingers, trying to cover up the mark I knew was now on my neck.

I was not this person. The kind of person who made out in gymnasium bathrooms at a Valentine’s Day carnival for school children. Maybe that’s what it is, I thought. I’m feeling subconsciously lonely because it’s Valentine’s Day. Whatever the case, it needed to end. I needed to go back to ignoring Harry and keeping him in the back of my mind and focus on being the best mom I could be for Madison.

“Mommy!”

I turned around to see Maddison running towards me, Javi not far behind her. She came around the back of the table to where I was sitting and gave me a big hug. I peppered her face with kisses, holding her tighter when she tried to squirm away from me. She finally wiggled enough to the point where I had to let her go, but she stayed close to my side.

“How’d you do, mija? Win any prizes?”

I humored my daughter for a few minutes while she showed me what she won. It was all stuff I’d probably throw away within the next two days, but in the moment I was happy that she was happy. When she was done, I pointed to the table that still had baked goods on it.

“Guess what, Maddie,” I said, pushing her braids behind her shoulders.

“What?”

“The cookies we baked were a hit. Almost all of them are gone,” I told her proudly, pointing to where there were only two left on the little platter we brought.

Maddison’s face broke out into an even bigger smile than the one she was sporting before, and I smiled back at her. I didn’t really want to be here today, but seeing that smile made almost anything worthwhile. My brother gave me a funny look but didn’t say anything to me, probably clocking the way I was still a little red in the face. Instead, he slipped Maddison a dollar so she could buy something from the table.

“Don’t get those brownies over there. Absolutely dreadful, I hear.” I turned my head to find Harry taking his place back at my side. His face wasn’t flushed anymore, but his lips still looked a little swollen, and I prayed I at least looked better off than he did.

I think he was expecting Maddie to laugh or something, but she just tilted her head as she peered up at him. “You’re Devon’s dad.”

It was like a small bomb had been dropped, and I suddenly felt even worse about sleeping with Harry on Halloween and kissing him in the bathroom just now. To his credit, Harry looked embarrassed as well as he scratched the back of his neck. But his next words took me by surprise.

“Yeah, I am. He’s kind of a little shit isn’t he?” My jaw dropped as Maddison giggled. My brother nudged my shoulder, bringing me out of my stupor.

“Harry! You—You can’t say that,” I stuttered. I mean, I agreed, but that didn’t mean he had to swear in front of my daughter. Not to mention that was his kid he was talking about. Harry merely shrugged, and I felt a little sorry for him. I didn’t know what his situation was like, or what kind of relationship he had with his son, but he clearly didn’t like the way Devon was being raised and couldn’t do anything about it. At least that’s what I assumed from the little I’d heard about his ex and the way he talked about her.

“I gave him a stern talking to a few months ago, and I told him he needed to apologize for all of the trouble he’s been giving you. Did he?”

I knew that for as smart as Maddison was, she, like all six year olds, had a short memory span. She’d moved on fairly quickly, coming home from school with a skip in her step and no more tears because the boy who used to pull the bows out of her hair didn’t anymore. I thought back to Halloween, when I dropped off Maddison at school, and Harry had tried to talk to me then. Maybe he was trying to explain what he was telling Maddie now.

Maddie looked at me, a silent question in her eyes. “Go on,” I told her. Taking my hand in hers, Maddison nodded.

“He did. And he said he liked my backpack too,” she said, her voice shy as she spoke to Harry.

“You never told me that, mija,” I said to her. There was rarely a detail Maddison left out about her day, so why she didn’t tell me about Devon apologizing was beyond me.

“You always call Devon by the wrong name. I didn’t want to confuse you,” Maddie said simply.

“I don’t always say his name wrong,” I muttered, not once looking in Harry’s direction, but I could hear him chuckling quietly to my left.

“Yes you do. Even I noticed,” Javi said, and I cut him a glare for piping up.

Before I could say anything else, Harry and my replacement volunteers came to relieve us. Having recognized them, Harry stayed to talk, but I just grabbed my things, took Maddie’s hand, and started walking with Javi to the car.

As we walked, I asked Maddison what she wanted to watch tonight. It was time to go through the lengthy process of taking her braids out, which was never easy because Maddison always cried and I hated to see her in pain. So I started making a night of it. Anytime I had to take them out, we would watch her favorite movie, eat her favorite foods, and I let her stay up a little past her bedtime.

While Maddison’s father was as white as they came, she took after me in nearly every aspect, especially when it came to looks. Her complexion, while not quite as dark as mine, was still dark, her hair was curly like mine and my mother’s, and she had the prettiest hazel eyes like my father. She was beautiful and she was mine, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Y/n, wait up,” I turned to see Harry rushing to catch up to us, and it occurred to me that this was starting to be a pattern. Harry had jogged over to Maddie, Javi, and me, his hair bouncing up and down with each step. “You were going to leave without saying goodbye?”

I looked at him funny. “Um, yes?” I asked like it was obvious, because I thought it was.

Harry frowned, and I could tell he was thinking about our little moment in the bathroom. And while I could admit that he was an excellent kisser, I knew something like that couldn’t happen again. My hands were full with work and with Maddison (in the best way possible). I didn’t have time for entertaining or flirting with men in my spare time, no matter how attractive or good at kissing they were.

To Harry’s credit, he didn’t give up as easily as I thought he would. “Oh, well, I just came over to say that I’d love to, um, you know, like, get…coffee or something sometime.”

I looked over at my brother, who wiggled his eyebrows at me, and then I looked at Maddie. She watched my exchange with Harry with curious eyes, not quite sure why Devon’s dad wanted to get coffee with me, and quite frankly I wasn’t sure either. I was under the impression that what happened on Halloween was a one time thing, save for the one minor slip up in the gym bathroom today. There was also the fact that his son picked on Maddison the first month of school. It seemed like she and Devon had moved on somewhat, which I would have to ask Sadie and my daughter about later, but I still remembered the way Principal Stevens looked down her nose at me, how furious Harry seemed when I suggested that perhaps his son wasn’t totally innocent. Both of those boys were trouble, and I, and Maddie for that matter, didn’t need trouble.

I decided to let him down easy, and if he still didn’t take the hint, then I’d be more blunt. “That’s nice of you, but with Maddison and work, I hardly have time—”

“She’s free in a couple weeks,” Javi cut in. I whipped my head around to glare at my brother, but he just shrugged his shoulders. “Our parents are taking Maddison out for the day, so Y/n’s free.”

Harry’s brows rose, intrigued by this new bit of information. When he saw that I wasn’t arguing this fact, he grinned. Why did his grin always look so smug? Yet another reason to dislike Harry, more fuel to the fire. “Really? Well, I should probably get your number then, so I can call you about this coffee date of ours.”

“It’s not a date,” I said immediately, but it only made him grin even more.

I walked away from Harry after giving him my phone number. It wasn’t a big deal, I told myself. You can always brush him off over text. Or ignore his calls. Javi thankfully kept quiet as we all piled into his car, but I knew his questions would come later when Maddison wasn’t around. I knew for certain that he had picked up on the fact that something went down between Harry and me. As Javi pulled out of the school parking lot, Maddie piped up from the backseat.

“Mommy, why did Devon’s dad ask you to get coffee? Are you going on a playdate?”

These were the kinds of things I wanted to avoid. In the six years that Maddie had been alive, I kept my dating life, if I could even call it that, separate from her. I knew that none of the few guys I went out for drinks with were permanent, so I didn’t see the point of ever introducing them to her, and Harry was no different. We hooked up, that was it. It’s just that I typically didn’t have to worry about seeing a one night stand again in the pick–up line at Maddison’s school.

“He was putting the moves on your mom,” Javi said when I didn’t answer Maddie’s question. I punched his arm at a stoplight, but he just continued on laughing.

“The moves?” Maddison asked, sounding confused.

“Don’t listen to your uncle, Maddison. He’s being silly. And yeah, I guess you could call it a playdate. Is that okay with you?”

I had no intention of taking Harry up on his offer, but I was curious to know her answer. Part of me still didn’t want to have anything to do with Harry or his son because of Maddie, but she was much better at letting go of things than I was. Through the rearview mirror, I could see her playing with the sleeves of her shirt as she considered my question.

“I think so. Devon’s not really mean to me anymore, and you always say we have to be kind to the people around us right?”

“I do say that, don’t I?” I mused. “You’ve got a point, Maddie mine. Always so wise and mature.”

Maddie grinned, pleased by my words. “And Delaney said he has a pool at his house. Maybe if you go on playdates with his dad I can come too.”

Annnd there it was. Unable to help myself, I laughed, and Maddie joined in too. “You might be onto something, kid. We’ll see if we can do something about getting you into that pool.”

I didn’t want to get her hopes up, but after today, I didn’t plan on seeing Harry except occasionally in the parking lot at school. I didn’t like the way he looked so sure of himself when I gave him my number, like he thought it was some big victory. He could have my number, I had no problem with that, but that didn’t mean I was going to answer any of his calls.

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March

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Harry’s voice so close to my ear. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him leaning over the little desk he was sitting in behind me. I didn’t see him when I came into the classroom twenty minutes ago, so he must’ve gotten here sometime during Sadie’s presentation. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.”

A parent to my left glared at me through her glasses, and I mouthed a quiet sorry to her before facing forward again. Now that I knew he was behind me, I could feel his stare burning holes in the back of my head. I fought the urge to turn around and focused as Sadie gave all the parents an update on what our kids were learning at school. I knew that I didn’t really have to come, Sadie could’ve just given me an update outside of this parent-teacher meeting. But Maddie was excited for me to see all her work and projects displayed in her classroom, so I rushed out the building I worked at and sped over here to make it on time.

“Am I going to have to resort to passing you notes? I think I have some paper somewhere,” Harry whispered, but his voice wasn’t as close as it was before.

Turning in my own desk, I glared at him. “I am trying to listen. Leave me alone.”

Harry only grinned, having finally gotten my attention. He was dressed similarly to when I first met him in the principal’s office, not a full suit, but dress pants and a button up. I wonder what he did for a living.

“Why are you ignoring my calls?” he asked, his voice staying hushed so that we wouldn’t distract the other parents.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I am not talking about this right now.”

To my surprise, he looked a little pissed. “When then? You’re a very hard person to get a hold of, Y/n.”

I hated how much I liked the way he said my name. It brought back memories of Halloween when I was underneath him and he whispered it under the cover of night. Shaking my head, I turned back around before he could see what I was thinking about in my eyes.

Trying my best to focus on Sadie at the front of the classroom, I leaned forward on my desk and as far away from Harry as I could get. Harry thankfully didn’t bother me the rest of the meeting, and when it was over I quickly got up from my seat. He looked like he wanted to follow, but as I predicted, one mom, then two, came up to talk to him. Without a second glance in his direction, I walked towards Sadie.

“Excellent presentation, Ms. Larson,” I said, my voice overly formal. “You had me on the edge of my seat,” I told her proudly, coming to lean against her desk. Looking at the heels I was wearing, I could physically feel how long I’d been on my feet, and was definitely ready to get home and tuck Maddison in for the night and sit in bed while taking one last look at some of my work. Hopefully I could get away without Harry noticing so I could do that.

“Ha. I definitely wasn’t what had you on the edge of your seat. Don’t think I didn’t see you talking to Harry. What did he want?”

I blushed at being caught, but I was glad Sadie didn’t call us out on it during her presentation like we were actual students. “He wants to know why I haven’t answered his calls.”

“Funnily enough, so do I,” Sadie said, tilting her head to the side. “I don’t see the harm in humoring him. It’s one coffee date.”

I sighed, fighting the urge to run a hand through my hair. It was cooperating today and I had no desire to mess it up. I glanced over to where multiple women were vying for his attention. I didn’t blame them, he was a hot young dad who could afford to send his son to private school. And he has tattoos, my mind supplied unhelpfully. If it wasn’t for the way we’d met, maybe I could give him a chance, but I also didn’t need to be public enemy number one with all those mothers, either.

“Look at them, Sadie,” I said, my eyes flicking back to the way they all laughed a little too loudly at something Harry said. “You know how fast gossip travels among these people. If they heard something, I’d have a scarlet letter on my chest. I don’t want that kind of drama for my kid.”

I started helping Sadie pack up her things, not wanting to talk about me or Harry anymore. She could tell I was done talking, and left it at that. While she gathered her stuff, she told me how well Maddison was doing in reading and math, and I couldn’t help the proud smile that erupted on my face. Eventually, though, a couple came up to ask Sadie a question, and I let her be. Picking up my purse and hauling it over my shoulder, I started fishing for my keys so I could head home to Maddie. From the corner of my eye, I could see a pair of shiny black boots walk up and stop right in front of me.

“Done entertaining the bored housewives?” I asked, not even looking up from where I was rooting around my purse. Where were my keys?

“Looking for these?” he fired back, ignoring my jab. Picking my head up, I saw my car keys dangling from Harry's finger. “And before you make some wild accusation about me stealing them so you had to talk to me, it should be known that in your haste to get away from me, they fell out of your bag.”

I tried not to blush because that was exactly what I was going to do. I reached out to take them from Harry, but he pulled them back. I raised a brow at him. “Can I have my keys back?”

“Can you say please?” he asked, that same smug grin on his face. He was enjoying this, I thought. He liked that he had a little power over me. When I didn’t say please like he’d asked, just crossed my arms to show that my patience was wearing thin, he leaned over. “Come on, you’ve said it for me before. Begged for me even.”

My eyes widened. Harry had absolutely no shame. Blushing furiously, I pushed past him and stalked off. I didn’t care if he still had my keys, I’d get a ride home with Sadie, I’d call an Uber. What I wasn’t going to do was let him stand in front of me looking pleased with himself. I meant it when I said that I wasn’t the type of person to kiss some guy I hardly knew in elementary school bathrooms, and I certainly wasn’t the type to make flirtatious remarks or talk about a one night stand in my daughter’s first grade classroom. His comment was disrespectful and out of line, and I wasn’t going to put up with it.

I also didn’t need any of these parents knowing my business. I didn't miss the way the same mothers who had been talking to Harry earlier were watching our interaction like hawks. Harry was definitely more trouble than he was worth. Pulling my phone out of my purse, I started ordering an Uber. I heard the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway, but I ignored them and kept walking.

“Y/n, wait—” he started, but I was suddenly tired of this cat and mouse thing we kept doing. Turning around, I laid into him.

“Am I a joke to you?” I asked.

Harry looked surprised that I turned to face him, but that was quickly replaced by confusion. “What? No, of course not.”

“I don’t know what makes you think you can make comments like that when there are other people around. People who would very much like to hear it and spread that shit around like it’s everyone’s business. This is where my daughter goes to school. Her education, and my reputation, for that matter, is important to me.

“Do you know how many parents here think so little of me because I’m a single mother at my age? The last thing I need is for you to add more fuel to their fire, so what happened between you and me?” I told him, gesturing between the two of us. “It has no business being talked about in public where it could somehow reach my daughter’s ears. In fact, let’s just say it never happened. So do us both a favor and hand me my keys, and leave me the fuck alone.”

He looked startled by my outburst, but he didn’t hesitate in doing as I asked. Taking them from his hand, I turned on my heel and walked out the school’s front doors.

My heart was pounding, my anger levels steadily rising. The audacity of this man, I thought repeatedly. It didn’t matter if people might have heard what Harry said or not, that kind of stuff was private, and he obviously didn’t have to worry about being so cavalier about his sex life. The way the two of us were treated by the other parents at this school, despite us both being young single parents, spoke volumes. I saw the way some parents looked at me when I dropped Maddison off at school, knew exactly what they thought of me. There was clearly a luxury of behaving a certain way that Harry had and I didn’t. If that’s who he was, then fine, but it wasn’t me. That couldn’t be me.

Harry might’ve thought he was being cute or flirtatious, but I couldn’t afford to be scrutinized even more than I already was by the parents at this school. Not to mention the fact that it was wildly inappropriate and rude.

I felt a little bad for snapping at him, but I got the feeling that he was the type of person that if you weren’t absolutely clear about these types of things, he wouldn’t get it. I’d been giving him a little slack because I thought he was cute and he seemed like a decent enough guy, but I didn’t have time for games or decent enough guys. I had Maddison, and she was my whole world. And that world did not involve Harry.

***

A few weeks had passed and they were thankfully peaceful.

I had seen Harry pick up his son on occasion, but he kept his distance. Every time we made eye contact and he quickly looked away, I felt a little bad, but it was for the best. I could only imagine how much messier things would get if Harry had his way and we’d started seeing each other.

It had become a little difficult, though, because after everything that happened, Maddison and Devon had become friends.

It started with Maddie coming home and telling me she and Devon shared the toy cars he'd brought to school. I was happy that they’d come so far since September and that they could play together without any more issues or calls to the principal’s office. But as the days went by and she talked about him more—how they played tag at recess together, or when he showed her his new Black Panther watch—I knew that it was only a matter of time before she asked for a playdate.

Maddie had obviously been on playdates and gone to birthday parties for kids in her class, but I also hadn’t slept or fought with any of their parents. After the little parent-teacher meeting her school hosted a few weeks ago, and Harry and I steered clear of each other, I really didn’t want to have to make that phone call.

I ended up not having to make any calls because Maddison’s birthday rolled around, and she told me she wanted a Marvel themed birthday party and that all her classmates were to be invited. She looked so excited when she came to me about it that I couldn’t say no, even though I knew it would lead to some sort of interaction with Harry. I did my best to keep things as distant as possible, sending Maddison to school with invitations to put in each kids’ cubby for them to take home to their parents.

This was kind of a big deal for both of us. It was Maddie’s first big birthday party with all her classmates, and it was the first time I would have people over at our house. I didn’t mind the fact that Maddison and I lived with my older brother. In fact, I loved it, and I knew she did too. I just knew for a fact that these parents didn’t share a small one story home with their relatives, and I couldn’t help but feel a little insecure about it.

Pushing those thoughts aside, I focused on making this the best birthday party a first grader had ever been to. I bought party favors with the Avengers and Spiderman and other Marvel superheroes on them after work and before I had to pick up Maddison, I ordered a Black Panther themed birthday cake during one of my lunch breaks, and I even had some of my coworkers in my office sign a card for Maddison.

Before she was in school, I often brought Maddie with me to work, handing her off to some of my friends while I was in meetings and putting her down for a nap by reading cases aloud in my office. Because this immigration law office was the first one to take me in after I graduated, she’d grown up a lot there, and the people I worked with had watched her do all that growing up. They were even a little sad when she stopped coming in with me and started going to school instead. I still brought Maddison in from time to time on the days where I had to work and she didn’t have school. The small office and the people in it were like a second family for us, and I knew Maddie would appreciate the card and little goodies my coworkers got for her.

On Saturday afternoon, I got Maddie dressed up in the Dora Milaje costume she wanted and I couldn’t resist buying while Javi helped me put up the rest of the decorations in our backyard, most of which we spent yesterday setting up. Maddie’s friends were due any minute, and I still had to get ready. I just wanted everything to be perfect for her. She deserved the world.

“Mommy, don’t you have to get ready too?” Maddison asked while I straightened out her costume. When she came to me with her birthday party idea, she insisted that it be a costume party, so that’s what we were going to do.

“Yeah, baby, but the birthday girl comes first,” I told her, fixing the two buns on the top of her head. “Annnd done. Now give Mom a kiss and ask Uncle Javi if he needs help.” Maddison gave me a kiss on the cheek and scampered off to find her uncle.

Between working, getting ready for this birthday party, and taking Maddison from place to place on time, I didn’t have time to put a costume together for myself. It was on the warmer side today, so I settled for a blue Captain America t–shirt tucked into a pair of denim shorts, my hair pulled up into a ponytail. As I left our bedroom, I heard the doorbell ring. Time for the chaos to begin.

***

Maddison’s birthday party was fantastic. Every one of her classmates that she invited came, and some of the parents even offered to stay and help keep all the six and seven year olds in line. I was taken aback, to say the least. For most of my time at Maddison’s school, I felt like an outsider, but after spending some time with a girl’s father and another boy’s mother while the kids played pretend in the backyard, I felt like I had made some friends of my own.

One thing that unsettled me was Devon. Not Devon himself, who, after being on his best behavior the whole party, I came to like quite a lot. The weird thing was how he got dropped off. A woman about my age, his mother, I assumed, came to the front door.

Her hair was the perfect shade of blond and styled to perfection. She was tan, but judging by the very subtle lighter tone of her face, it wasn’t natural. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of obnoxiously large sunglasses that I could see my reflection in, and even though I knew we were probably about the same age, I looked like a teenager compared to her. In her jeans that I’m sure cost more than what I paid to put Maddie’s birthday party together and a white tank top tucked into them with an expensive looking jacket over it, a part of me wondered what she or Harry did for a living.

I couldn’t dwell on that, though. Not when she quickly said she’d be back in a couple of hours, and walked off without so much as a glance at Devon, her heels clip-clopping down the front porch of my brother’s house and leaving her son and me alone.

Devon had looked more than slightly uncomfortable, and in that interaction alone, I could see where him acting out at school came from. It didn’t make his behavior okay, but as a mother, my heart went out to him. Bending down, I took the little gift bag clutched in his hand and brought him inside and towards the backyard where some of the other kids were already playing.

“I love your costume. Is Iron Man your favorite superhero?” I asked him. Devon nodded, but he still looked sullen. I leaned down to whisper in his ear. “Don’t tell Maddie, but he’s my favorite too.”

Devon had the ghost of a grin on his face, and I hoped that once he started running around with his classmates, he would be smiling from ear to ear.

And he did. He laughed, he played with Maddison and the other kids there, and was incredibly polite to me, Javi, and the two parents that stayed to help out. Once I saw that Devon was having a good time, any feelings about his mom were forgotten for the time being, I focused on Maddison. From what I could tell, she had a blast—playing the games I planned beforehand, opening presents, and wiping cake frosting on my cheek after everyone sang her happy birthday.

When it came time for everyone to go home, it didn’t come as a surprise when Devon was the last kid to be picked up. I asked him if his mom said anything about when she was coming, but he just shrugged his shoulders and began to look like he did when he first arrived. Not wanting him to feel bad, I quickly moved on, bringing him and Maddie inside to watch a movie. After everyone else had left and Javi went out for drinks with a couple of his friends, it was just me and the two kids.

“Do you have anything on underneath your costume, bud? Maybe get comfortable until Mom comes to get you?”

Devon nodded, and I sent Maddie to our room to go get changed while I helped our last remaining guest out of his Iron Man suit.

“You and Maddie share a room?” he asked as I helped him with his zipper.

I was quiet for a moment while I held him steady so he could step out of his costume. “Yeah, we do,” I answered honestly. “We live in a bit of a smaller house, so we sleep in the same room. Like roommates.”

Devon blinked, long eyelashes framing bright blue eyes. “I kind of like that. My bedroom is on the other side of our house.”

I knew kids had a penchant for telling the honest truth like nobody’s business, but I didn’t expect him to say that. The few times I heard Harry refer to Devon’s mom, he called her his ex, and from that I had to guess that they didn’t live together, so I wondered where Devon fit in this equation. I didn’t want to ask out of respect for Harry’s and Devon’s privacy, but I was incredibly curious.

A few minutes later, Maddison came out of our room, bounding over to me in her gray sweatpants and the university hoodie I’d gotten for her last year. I put on a movie for the two of them in the living room while I figured out dinner for the three of us. While I considered ordering in or making dinner, my phone chimed.

Unknown: Hey, this is Harry. I’m so sorry. I know the party ended a while ago. I’ll be there within the hour.

After Harry and I exchanged numbers, I never saved his to my phone. It was easier to ignore his calls or texts when it came from someone that wasn’t in my contact list. Now though, I saved it and sent him a text back.

Me: No worries. We’re just hanging out.

I didn’t want to worry him, not when I had gotten a small glimpse at Devon’s situation at home. Obviously I didn’t understand everything, but I knew enough to be sympathetic. Going into the living room, I relayed the information Harry gave to me. Devon didn’t seem to mind, content to play with Maddison and watch their movie. I finally decided that I’d spent enough money on Maddie’s birthday party, so I got started on making rice, beans, and chicken.

“Maddison! Come help me set the table for us and our guest please,” I shouted from the kitchen when I was almost finished, and I heard her shout something back.

I brought plates of food over as Maddison put forks on the table. Devon was still sitting on the couch, but he was watching Maddie and I work with wide eyes. Grinning, I bumped my hip with Maddison’s and called out to him. “Come sit, kiddo. Dinner’s ready.”

Devon grinned and bounded over to where Maddison and I were getting ready to sit down around the dinner table. Sitting down with us, it looked like he’d never had a home cooked meal in his life. I was a little unsure at first about making dinner because I knew kids could be picky, but Devon picked up his fork and happily ate what was in front of him. Halfway through dinner, the doorbell rang.

“Sit tight, you guys,” I said, standing up to answer the door.

When I opened it, Harry was there, looking more frazzled than I’d ever seen him. Even though it was Saturday afternoon, he was dressed in a pair of dark green dress pants and white button down, much in the same way I’d seen him a few weeks ago. The minute I opened the door, he started rambling through an apology and something about being at a work event and it wasn’t his turn to have Devon this weekend and so on.

“It’s fine, Harry,” I told him, opening the door a little wider. “Would you like to come in? Devon’s finishing up dinner, hope that’s okay.”

He stopped his rambling and just stood on my front porch for a few seconds. He looked confused, I thought. I suppose after our last interaction, the way I was acting now might have been cause for confusion. But we were both parents, and young ones at that, I could understand running late for pickup, especially now that I knew a little more about their situation. It also made me feel a little bad for the shit I’d given Harry a few months ago, but that apology would come later.

I led him towards the kitchen where Maddison and Devon were still eating. “Hey, Devon, look who’s here.”

Devon lifted his head and beamed when he saw his father standing next to me. He ran over and hugged his dad, and I had to admit it was a very cute sight to behold. Walking over to Maddie, I leaned down to press a kiss to the top of her head and whispered for her to help me clean up the table. Maddison nodded and got up from the table, picking up the empty cups while I took care of the plates. Taking the cups from her and setting everything by the sink, I walked with her back to the kitchen.

“Well, we won’t keep you,” Harry said, his initial panic having worn off. But now I noticed he seemed tentative while speaking to me.

Devon frowned. “Can we stay a little longer? The movie’s almost finished.”

Harry sighed, rubbing a hand over his tired face. I wouldn’t have minded if they stayed, but it was clear Harry had had a long day today and probably wanted to leave. Not to mention the fact that Harry looked the tiniest bit afraid of me, which I kind of liked but mostly didn’t.

“You’ve had a long day, kiddo,” I told Devon gently. “And you know what? This movie will still be here the next time you come over, okay? Maybe you can bring over the lego set you were telling Maddie about too.”

He nodded and grinned a little, the dimple he got from his dad indenting his cheek.

Maddie and I walked Harry and Devon out. When we reached the door, I told Maddie and Devon to go play on the front lawn for a few minutes while I talked to Harry. They ran off, playing a game that only they seemed to know.

Harry turned to me, his face a mix of emotions. “Thank you,” he said when I handed Devon’s costume over. “And I mean for everything. I’m sorry it took so long to get here. Taylor was supposed to pick him up, but she bailed again, and I was on the other side of town—”

“It’s okay,” I cut in. “It happens, and Devon’s great.”

“Really?” Harry asked, like he couldn’t quite believe that those words were coming from me.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m not going to pretend to know what’s going on at home, but I know now that he was probably just acting out a few months ago.”

Harry’s shoulders slumped and nodded a little, and I could physically see the way that their situation weighed heavily on him. Playing with his lower lip, he looked me in the eye. “Look, I’m sorry. About the Parent Night at school. You were right, I shouldn’t have said those things, I wasn’t thinking.”

“No, you weren't,” I agreed. “But thank you for apologizing.”

“Seems like I do a lot of that around you,” he said, laughing a little but it sounded weak.

“I mean, in fairness, I probably owe you an apology as well. My kid did punch your kid.”

Harry’s laugh was a little fuller this time, and I grinned with him. Looking at where Maddison and Devon were playing on the front lawn now, I was glad they’d made up; it looked like he needed a friend, and maybe so did his dad.

“I think we got off on the wrong foot,” I said, making him look at me.

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” Harry joked. “But yes, I would agree.”

I stuck out my hand for him to shake. “I say we start over. Clean slate and all that.”

Harry grinned, grasping my hand in his. “I'm Harry.

“Nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Y/n.”

#harry styles #harry styles au #single dad!harry #single mom!reader #harry styles blurb #harry styles x reader #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles oneshot #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x you #harry styles fluff #harry styles writing

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northernstvr · 5 months

Text

I’m yours

“you’re so pretty it hurts”

chap.1 chap.2 chap.3

Pairing: Wolfstar x Reader

Warnings: slight cursing, nothing really else.

for the texting, the blue is remus, the pink is you ☹️ sorry for the sexist colors but it’s what i can see best 😭

Getting back to your flat the day after that..interesting experience with your friend you sighed and pulled out the piece of paper the two very charming men gave you, ‘who do i text first?’ you grunted and just put it the first number on the page, with the name ‘Remus’ written over top of it, the handwritting was much neater than his mates, who you came to realize was his boyfriend, or so your friend told you.

“Hello?” 9:48am

“Been waiting for your text, love.” 9:48am

“Stalkerish.” 9:49am

“Don’t be rash, we had a fun time hanging out yesterday.” 9:49am

“We?” 9:49am

“Sirius and I.” 9:50am

Setting your phone down, you let out a huff. Maybe they ARE dating and they’re just playing with your feelings like the fuck boys they make themselves out to be. Looking at the clock, you had 2 hours to shower and get ready to be at work. Putting your hair in two low pigtails and doing a ‘natural’ makeup look, you headed out the door and caught a bus to the small café you’ve worked at for years.

“Don’t ignore us, darling.” 1:03pm

“I’m busy.” 1:11pm

“Busy..mhm..busy doing what?” 1:11pm

“doing my job. I’ve gotta go. bye.” 1:12pm

closing out of your messages, you glanced at the small number digits on your phone 1:13pm, you had 2 minutes before your break was over. “Y/N, today’s a slow day, why don’t you just go home?” you smiled and sighed “alright, thanks penny.” gathering your stuff you went and clocked out at 1:17pm.

“are you still busy?” 1:20pm

“We want to see you” 1:21pm

you looked at the notifications that were filling up your phone ‘don’t want to see you though.’ you thought and pursed your lips. Looking at the long list of shopping you had to get through for next weeks visit from your parents. Feeling your phone vibrate for a third time you opened it and read the message.

“Please, we’re only in town for 3 more weeks and we’d really like to get to know you more.” 1:30pm

“I have a lot of shopping to get through.” 1:32pm

“we’ll accompany you.” 1:32pm

“Fine, im heading to the grocery store near the bar you guys played at, its 4 doors down to the left once your at the entrance.” 1:34pm

Entering the store you huffed, grabbing a basket and pulling out your list- your phone vibrated again, your mom was calling. “Yes mom?” you mentally groaned as you heard her voice screaming at you from the other side of the line, about what? no clue.

The boys had gotten to the store 10 minutes after your text was sent. “well, where is she?” sirius sighed as remus just shrugged. Hearing the faintness of your voice down an isle they both walked over too it, “mom i really- ok.” you just sighed which sent her on another rampage “mom? mom? can’t hear you- yo- your breaking up-..” you groaned and hung up on her. “You alright darling?” Jumping a bit at the sudden voice you sighed “fine. thank you.” you glanced up to the two. “Hi!” sirius chirped and snatched you up for a hug “hello.” wrapping your arms somewhat around him, trying not to make it awkward. “What’re you shopping for?” remus started, as sirius let you pull away from the hug, “dinner- or dinners…my parents and their 3 kids are coming down.” remus nodded and sirius raised an eyebrow “their 3 kids?” you nodded as you proceeded to go down another isle “Im adopted, moved out at like 16, they lived and still do, in a tiny apartment, 2 bedroom so 4 of us had to stay in one.” you huffed, shivering at the thought of your stuff just magically going missing “where do you stay now?” you mentally cringed “One bedroom apartment.” grabbing basically any bag of chips, sodas, Cookies, etc, they begun to question, “is this all their gonna eat?” you giggled slightly “the kids? yeah. my parents actually expect me to cook. but the meat and stuff isn’t on sale yet.” remus glanced towards sirius before they both nodded “well pay-“ you cut them off “no.” sirius whined and started arguing with you “why not?” remus started slowly guiding the basket towards the meat section which made you stop. “because, if i have the meet then i HAVE to cook- just simply telling them they have to suffer with Tv dinners-“ sirius cut you off with a finger to your lips “you survive off of tv dinner?” his face looked distraught “I live alone, why would i cook for one person and wash 3 dishes.” sirius almost went faint, “b-b-but-“ remus shushed him “Love, if that’s how you like it, so be it. but, why don’t you stay with us next week? Sirius and i are renting this house till we go back and i expect it’d be big enough for the 6 of you.” you shook your head “stuff’ll go missing.” remus shrugged “not like any of what we packed was really important, plus our instruments are with james and peter” Sirius cut him off “we decided to bunk separately.” you thought about it “fine but that doesn’t really-“ it was remus’ turn to shush you, “we have our own private chef.” he winked at you and grabbed your hand, leaving the trolley in the middle of the store, slowly guiding you out, “why don’t we go to the park instead-“ they both chimed up in sync you huffed and just nodded, to tired to argue with both of them.

Spending the day with the two big goofs were fun, despite not really wanting too “Love?” you hummed in response, he softly grabbed your hand “it’s late, come back to ours? have dinner with us?” you smiled and just nodded softly “alright.”

#remus lupin #james potter #sirius black #sirius x reader #wolfstar #remus x reader #x reader #slow burn

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reasonsforhope · 1 year

Text

"Women's rights activists in Honduras are celebrating a major victory, after President Xiomara Castro announced that her government will lift its near-total ban on the emergency contraception pill.

"Having access to PAE is life-changing for the women in Honduras, especially considering the alarming rates of violence," Jinna Rosales of the advocacy group Strategy Group for PAE — the medicine is known as PAE, for Píldora Anticonceptiva de Emergencia — told NPR.

"With a total abortion ban, PAE is often our only option here – it being accessible to all will save lives," the group said via email.

Castro announced the reversal Wednesday night, [March 8th,] in the final hours of International Women's Day. As she undid the policy, Castro noted that the World Health Organization says the pill is not "abortive."

The WHO's policy recommendation states, "All women and girls at risk of an unintended pregnancy have a right to access emergency contraception and these methods should be routinely included within all national family planning programs."

Legalization will undo a 2009 ban

For years, Honduras was the only nation in the Americas to have an absolute ban on the sale or use of emergency contraception, also known as morning-after or "Plan B" pills. It also prohibits abortion in all cases.

Honduras moved to ban emergency contraception in 2009, as the country went through political and social upheaval. Its supreme court affirmed the ban in 2012.

After Castro became the country's first female president, Honduras slightly eased its stance on the medicine. But when Minister of Health José Manuel Matheu announced that policy shift last fall, critics said i didn't go far enough, as the medicine would only be made legal in cases of rape.

At the time, Matheu said the pill didn't qualify as a method of contraception. But on Wednesday night, he joined Castro at her desk to sign a new executive agreement with her, opening the path to emergency contraception."

-via NPR, 3/9/23

#reproductive rights #reproductive care #healthcare #healthcare access #morning after pill #plan b #honduras #latin america #xiomara castro #good news #hope

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dykehayleywilliams · 8 months

Note

may I ask about the mitski curse or is it secret knowledge

*LONG POST INCOMING* It all started in 2016.

I've been a Mitski fan since 2014 when First Love/Late Spring premiered on Stereogum and desperately wanted to see her live. The chance finally came after I moved to New York; I had tickets for her show in February 2016 at The Knitting Factory. But then. A freeze hit the city that weekend, resulting in a pipe in the shitty apartment bursting so I missed the show because I had to wait for the emergency repair guy to come by. Okay, well that's a bummer, I though. I've been waiting for almost two years to see Mitski but surely I'll get another chance. July 2016. I was living in Texas for the summer, a few hours away from Austin, where Mitski had a show scheduled. Perfect! I can drive up to the show! My old, barely functioning truck can handle the drive! It did not. My car broke down two hours outside Austin.

November 2016. Third try to see Mitski in a year is the charm, right? Oh wait, I waited too long to buy a flight to my grandma's for thanksgiving and I had to fly out the day of the Mitski show because every other flight was $500 more expensive.

By 2017 I was starting to get worried. I had tickets to see her April 2017, but I got horrific food poisoning and couldn't get out of bed for three days.

I didn't get another try until late 2018 on the Be The Cowboy tour during her 4 night residency at Brooklyn Steel. Except Mitski's popularity had blown up significantly and I couldn't get tickets when they went on sale the first three shows. BUT THEN a fourth show was added, on a Monday night, and I finally got tickets! Perfect! Until I had a final project for one of my classes scheduled the same night that I could not miss without failing the class, and I desperately tried to find tickets for another night but none were available for under $300.

At that point I was convinced: I was cursed. There were no tour dates I was even able to TRY to make, and then in September 2019 Mitski played Summer Stage (two weeks after I moved from New York) and announced it would indefinitely be her last live show.

October 2021: Mitski releases Working for the Knife and announces a tour. The closest tour date to where I was living was 8 hours away, but I fought for my life for tickets and was determined I would finally break the curse.

I got COVID two days before Mitski's Denver show in March 2022.

BUT WAIT! Mitski was announced as one of the openers for HSLOT's European stadium leg! And my friends and I planned a bar trip to Scotland that lined up with the weekend of Harry's show in Glasgow! Okay, maybe seeing Mitski as an opener at a stadium show isn't ideal, but I was desperate. Except, of course, the stadium entry was a complete mess, and we didn't get into the show until the very end of Mitski's set. I had finally seen her live, but for 8 minutes and at what cost.

I wasn't happy, but I told myself it wasn't the end of the world because I already had plans to see Mitski at the All Things Go festival in October, so redemption would come soon enough. Then Hurricane Ian hit and my flight to DC that had a layover in Orlando was cancelled the day before I was supposed to leave. At that point, there was nothing I could do but laugh. Why did I think it would go any differently this time? No. I couldn't take it anymore. I dropped wayyyyy too much money on a different flight to DC with no layover. That flight was delayed by 5 hours, but I made it. Nothing was going to stop me.

Mitski's set starts. We're in the pit, I'm 5'2" so I'm on my tip toes, straining my neck to keep my eyes on Mitski. And then. Everyone's BeReals went off during Francis Forever and the crowd became a sea of phones. I was crushed. I had broken the curse, but 9 years too late.

#SORRY you were definitely expecting a short answer but this is one of the fundamental pieces of my lore #so yep. that's the mitski curse.

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homomenhommes · 6 months

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STORY: Ups And Downs 23

Stranger in the Crowd

When the warehouse doors opened at 6:00 p.m. for the reception, I was still on cloud nine from seeing my sketches on display for all to view…and perhaps to purchase. For 55 minutes, guests and potential customers drifted in until several hundred men had assembled in the massive structure. Some went straight for the artwork, though sales would not actually begin until 7:00, but most just milled around greeting old friends, making new ones, and exchanging phone numbers for subsequent hookups.

Then, at five minutes to 7:00, Aaron mounted a makeshift platform and whistled for everyone to listen up. Aaron thanked everyone for coming and assured them that they could find “that perfect Christmas present for the one you love.” He then acknowledged the presence of some of the artists whose works were on display. Most were from Connecticut or nearby states, but a few had traveled from Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, or Australia.

“And last but certainly not least,” proclaimed Aaron as he neared the end of the introductions, “we have the brilliant emerging sketch artist from California, Joe Campbell.” If I had been sitting down, I’m sure I would have fallen out of my seat. “Enjoy the show,” Aaron concluded, and before I could even think to thank him, Woody ushered me back over to the section where my works were hanging, and quite a few men followed us.

As the crowd admired my work, they peppered me with questions. “How long have you been drawing sketches?” “Who are your idols or mentors in the art world?” “Do you also paint?” “Where do you get your inspiration for your work?” “Will you be around all weekend?” “May I suck your dick?”

OK, so that last one wasn’t actually what was said, but I would not be bragging to say that I got hit on a lot, not just then, but throughout the weekend, and if I hadn’t had commitments to Mr. Block, Woody, and Aaron, I most definitely would have taken up some of these men on their propositions. Some of them were fucking hot.

Though I was besieged by fans, I kept looking over to Mr. Block and Woody to make sure I wasn’t needed for some chores, but they kept gesturing for me to stay put and revel in the admiration. By closing time at 9:00, that massive warehouse wasn’t big enough to contain my newly inflated ego.

“The doors will reopen tomorrow morning at 10 o’clock,” announced Aaron, “and don’t forget we will have a drawing session with two gorgeous young models.” I perked up at that announcement. I was not aware of this feature on the agenda, but I accepted eagerly when Aaron asked me if I would come in a couple of hours early to help him set up for the drawing session.

As Mr. Block, Woody, and I were heading toward the exit, Aaron ran up, grabbed my arm, and asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have any more sketches with you, would you?”

“I have my sketch book and my tablet back in my hotel room,” I replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, we sold out of the ones we had posted, all six of them, and I’m sure we could have sold more if we had had them.”

“Wow!” That was all I could say.

“Would you mind if I were to swing by your hotel and look at what you’ve got after I close up here?”

“Uh…oh….” I looked to my bosses to see if they had any problems with this plan, and when they nodded their consent, I gave Aaron my room number and rushed back to the hotel to organize my materials for his visit.

Since Aaron didn’t say how long he would be, I decided to take a quick shower after I laid out my sketches for him. The knock on the door came just as I was stepping out of the shower. Dripping wet, I quickly wrapped one towel around my waist and threw another one over my shoulders.

“Come in, Aaron. Please forgive my appearance. I didn’t expect you so soon.”

“No need to apologize, and your appearance looks pretty damn good to me,” he smiled.

Directing him to the sketches I had laid out, I invited him to look them over while I dried off and put on some clothes.

“Don’t bother on my account,” he said. Walking around behind me, he pulled the towel from my shoulders and began drying off my hair and my back. Then he reached around me with the towel and dried off my chest, belly, and arms. Before I knew what was happening, he removed the other towel from my waist and used it to dry off my butt and legs. When he reached around to towel off my lower abdomen and crotch, he pressed his body up close to mine. I could feel the erection growing in his pants, and he could feel the erection I had sprouted from his ministrations.

Gripping my head with his strong hands, he pulled my head back, leaned into me, and kissed me on the lips, slowly at first and then passionately. As he slid his tongue into my mouth, I swiveled around to face him, removed his coat, and then unbuttoned his shirt to reveal a deliciously firm and furry chest, the sight of which compelled me to take a deep breath before attacking his nipples as I fumbled with his belt buckle.

With his pants and boxer briefs down around his ankles, I dived at his cock, impaling my throat with his long, thick shaft. Practically disabled by the sensations emanating from his groin and surging through his entire body, he moaned with delight and finally managed to sigh, “My turn.” He lifted me up off my knees and threw me backwards onto the bed, where he lunged on top of me, returning the attack on his cock by virtually swallowing mine.

I was hungry to feel his big cock burrowing into my hole, but Aaron had a different idea. With me on my back, he straddled my body and sat on my stiff pole. I relished the vision of him bouncing up and down on my rod, as his face contorted with the impact of his prostate against my steel rod. I loved the sight, sound, and feel of his man meat slapping against my belly as he rode my cock like a wrangler. I delighted at seeing and hearing him gasp for air as his broad chest heaved with the strain of working so hard for his orgasm as well as mine. We had begun the exercise with drops of water covering my body, and now it was his body wet from perspiration that gave it a salacious glow.

As he leaned forward to kiss me, beads of sweat dropped from his forehead onto my face, some landing in my mouth, invigorating me with its salty taste. As he beat down on my cock, I met his actions half way, shoving my hips upward and my cock deeper and deeper into his hole.

His moans turned to screams as his prostate orgasm ignited the juices boiling up from his balls before they exploded from his hands-free cock, spewing white magic all over my face and body. My own orgasm quickly followed, blasting my gooey seed deep inside his thirsty guts.

With my firm cock still deep inside him, he collapsed forward onto my body, squishing his sweat and cream between our bodies. My dick plugged his hole for several more minutes before slipping out, releasing a torrent of white spooge cascading over my balls. I wanted to stay that way all night, but there was still work to be done.

Rising from the bed, we showered together, raising more temptations that we forced ourselves to resist.

“These are marvelous,” gushed Aaron as he assessed the sketches I showed him. “What’s this?” he asked, eyeing the set of four sketches I had drawn from my initiation at the Block estate, each one from a different perspective. There was my view of Tyler as he fucked me really hard, his view of me as I squirmed from the banging, and one view from each side.

“These are marvelous,” he gushed. “Is that you in the center?”

I confessed that it was, and he replied, “You know, this gives me an idea. Can I borrow these tonight?”

Of course, I did not object, though I did wonder what he had in mind.

The next morning, Aaron swung by the hotel to pick me up two hours before the day’s opening of the art show. He didn’t say anything about the sketches, he just went right to work. He showed me piles of lumber that had been stacked up in the back of the warehouse. “These are the modules of the platform that the models will stand on,” he explained. “We just have to move them over to the center and fit them together,” which was really quite simple. We also set up a couple of dozen folding chairs, placing a lap board on each chair.

Since I had a few minutes to kill before the doors were to open, I strolled over to the area where my sketches had been and saw that Aaron had replaced all the sold pieces with the four depictions of my initiation.

“I thought I heard familiar voices,” I said as I greeted Mr. Block and Woody, who had just entered the building with the crowd who had been waiting patiently outside.

“What’s wrong?” Mr. Block asked Aaron, who was engaged in an intense conversation with a very handsome young stud.

“Ward is here,” he said, motioning to the stud, “but Dimitri, the other model I had hired, just called to say he can’t make it. Something about car problems.”

“Can’t you just go with Ward?” asked Mr. Block.

“I suppose,” said Aaron, “but I advertised that there would be two models, and I hate like hell letting down my customers.”

“Well, it seems to me like your solution is staring you right in the face,” advised Woody, directing his gaze toward me.

“Who, me? But I’ve never done any modeling before.”

“It’s really not hard,” said Ward, reaching out to shake my hand. “I’ll go on alone for the first half hour. Just watch what I do, and then do the same thing—or whatever feels right—when it’s your turn. You’ll do half an hour, and then after a short break, we’ll go on together.”

I looked to Woody for his approval, but since it was his idea…. Then, I looked to Mr. Block, who just smiled.

“Well, I guess that settles it,” affirmed Aaron. “Ward, would you show Joe to the changing room?”

As it turned out, the so-called ‘changing room’ was really nothing more than a storeroom that had been drafted into use. Actually, it reminded me of the storeroom at my dad’s hardware store, which brought back vivid memories—some positive and some not so much.

I returned to the main area of the warehouse just as Ward was mounting the platform. He struck a variety of poses, changing about every five minutes, for the two dozen or so artists who were drawing his form. Occasionally one of the artists would ask that he turn one way or another or that he touch a particular area of his body in a particular fashion. It was all very professional but also very erotic.

Following a brief break, Aaron mounted the platform to introduce me, but he said something that surprised me. He introduced me as a “fellow artist” who had drawn the sketches that had all been sold out. “Because of the demand,” he added, “we have posted four more of his sketches which will be auctioned off tomorrow afternoon as one set. Bidding will begin at $400.”

That announcement just compounded my nervousness as I ascended the steps to the platform and took my position center stage. However, Ward stood amid the artists who were sketching me and encouraged me with his facial expressions and gestures. Every once in a while he would adjust his own stance or reposition his hands and arms to coach me.

Periodically, I glanced into the audience to see how they were responding, and apparently they were enjoying it very much. Mr. Block also had a big grin on his face, the kind of look my father used to give me when he was proud of something I had accomplished. Woody looked at me with his characteristic deadpan face, but I had been around him enough by then to know that his stoic mask was actually concealing a very satisfied smile.

When my solo time was up, the assembled artists surprised me with applause. I looked again to catch Mr. Block’s and Woody’s reactions, but they had both turned their heads to chat with another man whose face I could not clearly see. Every once in a while one of them would shift his stance, and I would catch a glimpse of the man. He looked somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t really tell.

“Fifteen minute break,” announced Aaron, “and then our two gorgeous models will return for a joint appearance.”

During that intermission, I was besieged by artists who wanted to compliment me on my posing or my artwork. Several handed me their business cards, which I could only hold in my hand since I had no pockets, and some asked if I would sketch them. When Aaron called Ward and me back onto the stage, I handed the cards I had amassed to Aaron, who had offered to hold them for me.

Ward was a real hunk and a sweetheart. In so many ways, he reminded me of Jeff Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan’s son and my mate on the football team, but even more so he reminded me of Viggo Sorenson, one of the Bel Ami Boys: handsome, athletic, agile, confident, passionate, affable (with a smile that was simultaneously boyish and devilish), hung, and a downright fucking hot stud.

As Ward and I stepped onto the platform, I once again scanned the audience, and still Mr. Block and Woody were engaged in rapt conversation with the man whose face I could still not make out.

Despite my initial anxiety, I felt very comfortable working with Ward. He was a natural. We started with simple poses—one of us sitting in a chair with the other one standing beside or behind him, reclining positions, etc.—until one of the artists asked if we would kiss. I assumed we would kiss “politely,” but Ward surprised me when he put his whole being, including his tongue, into it. His kiss was so passionate that I had a very hard time maintaining a frozen pose. I just wanted to grab him and jump his bones right there in front of everyone, and in reflection, I don’t think anyone, including Ward, would have minded if I had done just that.

Naturally, my cock refused to obey the rules of stationary posing. It sprang up and rubbed against Ward’s beautiful dick, which was also erect at that point. “Ignore it,” he whispered to me. “The crowd will love it.” The sensation of his breath on my ear just aroused me even more.

The artists may have called out other poses for us at that time, but frankly, I had already tuned them out. Ward and I just followed our instincts and did what came naturally, which was immensely provocative, and the artists apparently did love it.

“Thank you, everyone,” Aaron called time as Ward was about to lie on top of me. “Now go buy some artwork.” I think Aaron was afraid that Ward would actually enter me, and I must admit that I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t get the chance.

As Ward and I were about to descend from the platform, I glanced again toward Mr. Block and Woody just as Woody shifted his body enough that I could clearly see the stranger they had been chatting with. He was not a stranger at all. He was Eric, my brother.

To be continued

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fuck-customers · 8 months

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tws for self harm (alluding to it) ///

puts two weeks in at phone job. blocks all managers, leaves all cord (which. why the fuck are we using that. we were just fine using gm but someone just had to tell them about it and they wanted to be """hip""" and """cool""" with the times. hello fellow kids!) gcs, blocks all numbers.

goes into malwart to shop.

"why would you leave without telling us anything?"

i don't know, maybe me literally having thoughts to actually harm myself and play in traffic like fucking frogger were the clue. who knew!

"you could have called out!"

ive been literally trying to call out for three weeks straight with a guilt trip of "your coworker is too pregnant for me to work her anymore" (which. totally isnt my fault btw, she's had 4 months for me + nine for the coworker to hire a second person after she went on maternity. she sat on her ass for that long and then immediately hires someone literally the next day after i put my two weeks in), "i have to go home when its dark!" (its kentucky, sun doesnt set until around 9 pm in the summer and it's not my fault you live in illinois), and "i have fees taken out of my pay when you dont show up" (yet another guilt trip, which its literally less than $20 from what i knew of it), and with that you'd think you'd have a brain to connect the dots on that when your worker starts calling out to dodge shifts. things come up. things out of our control HAPPEN. and you're more worried about sales and making money instead of treating your workers like they're human??

there's also the fact that. she refused to cover shifts. the manager did. for my store specifically. and then she'd show up at 3/4 pm (almost) every day at the end of the week just to hang around and do nothing but be on her computer and micromanage me?? like okay man. ALRIGHT. that and they'd complain i wasn't making sales when it's literally the slowest store IN THE DISTRICT and they all have the audacity to say that it's a busy store?? literally over the four month course of me being there i've sold like 10 phones. TEN. and i get no help when asked despite being a new employee, and then threatened with my hours being taken away because im not making sales.

sufficed to say i'm pissed as hell.

Posted by admin Rodney.

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3mutantsinatrenchcoat · 10 months

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It takes a village to raise a family part 9

Part 8 , part 10

This amazing au is yet again made by the amazing @angelpuns

We are getting into the fun part! In the next few parts we are going to have new writing styles and new characters to follow along keep in mind my work is a fan work of their au nothing in my work is canon! So I highly suggest going and looking at their stuff about the au! It's really really great!

Possible cw/tw for child being hungry?

I raised the boys with the help of others in the village, but I mainly left them to the yuichi boy and his Aunt. My health dwindled and taking care of my own home was becoming a burden. Splinter was gone and so was my husband in the blink of an eye.

Of course I still went to see them when I could manage it, they also came to the stall sometimes. Other times I could see Leo hanging around that yuichi boy with a light inside his eyes that I know all too well.

The boys started growing food at their houses, I offered to help get them a stall to sell some of it once it got going. With their food I was able to make them new recipes, apple pie, stews.

By the time the first anniversary of the two leaving the sky had turned greyish, like something was wrong with it. Sometimes there was tremors in the ground. I was fortunate enough to always see the blue sky, as now my eye sight has decided to fail me.

Of course though, as I sit at my stall I recognized the boys. Or well, specifically Leo shouting my name as he ran up. I couldn't see his face anymore but I could tell he was smiling through his voice.

"check it out! Raph and I found this in the garden!" He placed a tomato in my hand, hefty and barely able to fit in two of my hands. My hands were smaller than a few but it was still exciting non the less.

"it's huge, what will you make with it Leonardo?" I smiled at him.

"uhh..I don't know, I think maybe you should have it?...for your tomato soup! And then we can all eat together tonight? With yuichi too! Of- of course-"

I smiled and nodded to him. "Go and fetch yuichi, I'll start cooking and bring over the pot around an hour to sundown. I don't want you kids in the dark."

"yes grandpa!" I could hear the smile in his voice again before he ran off.

I put the tomato to the side and sighed, it would have made Splinter proud to see how much his boys had grown in less than two years. They have grown into something truly special.

After a sale I heard the sound a parent is all too knowing of. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm fine, old man" a girl's voice sounds out, her voice filled with exhaustion.

I couldn't see more than a blur but I could tell she wore tattered clothes and dawned dirt on her face.

"dear, you don't have to lie." I grabbed the tomato and held it out. "Here, you need it more than I do"

"...are-..are you sure?" She slowly took it before I could hear the pop of the tomato being bit into, and the satisfied relief huff from her nose, her body slacked a little.

"you really did need it didn't you dear, when was the last time you ate?" I tried to get a better look of her, but of course I couldn't see any better.

"...I don't have any coin to give you-" she started before I cut her off. "I wasn't asking how much you had, I asked when you last ate."

"...i-..hm...a-... it's not important" she shook her head. "My family will make coins soon so it won't matter too long" her voice was sorrowful.

"if you ever need food or help, you can come to me.."

"you have a few kids to worry about yourself-" oh so she knew me? I didn't recognize her at all. I still don't.

"...thank you for the tomato.." she held her hand to her mouth but I couldn't tell what she was doing before she walked away.

I sat back and sighed, I could technically add another kid to the roster... A daughter, two sons, a Splinter, Yuichi and his sister, 6 grandsons and 3 grand daughters...what's another kid to that?

After all, that's what I do best.

That night we did in fact enjoy tomato soup and bread, however the boys were rather distraught about the legendary tomato ending up on squished by a passer-by.

We would however, the following week enjoy a soup made of several legendary tomato's.

#rise au #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #ruralau #grandpa flint #rural au #rottmnt rural au #it takes a village to raise a family

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ziskeyt · 7 months

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over the past few jobs i've had since like 2018 i've been very good at enforcing my time boundaries. recently, i've had a number of comments about this in the form of others who feel envious of my ability to sign off. so today i am here as a professional adult to tell you: you have to make your job listen to you. you have to tell your job when you work. i'm not magically some outlier about this, i'm not special, i'm just a person who read my work contract and makes my company adhere to what we agreed. the point is: you need to determine your work boundaries and you have to be the one to maintain them.

the job i really nailed down doing this was before i went to grad school and had to balance that time, and before i had my stroke and became disabled. i was just working a job as an admin assistant / marketing coordinator to four (4!) real estate sales people (realtors). if you know anything about realtors you likely know they work all the time. all of it. they are working. or schmoozing, but that's still work for them. so, in that industry a lot of admins end up working long hours to get reports out, create marketing collateral, fill in lease abstracts, what have you. it's extremely normalized. all the old guard of older women admins at every job i've had in real estate would work beyond the 9-5. so, how'd i do it?

perhaps it's because they were sales people that me saying i would work 9-5 but come in 8-4 on the days they wanted an 8am meeting helped, perhaps they intrinsically understood the value of my time. but i doubt it, because again, i worked in an industry where practically every other admin worked long hours for no reason. but i did tell them they could have my phone for emergencies and that was it, if they needed me once i went home it was going to wait until i was back in the morning. there are so very few, so minuscule in number, situations where your business job will ever have an after hours emergency that you need to work overtime unpaid for. everything else? it's not that urgent. they can wait. and they did. i worked my 8-4 on mondays and 9-5 the other days for months. you may think, "oh but if i leave at 5 and others are still working i might hinder my ability to get a promotion" and if you work at a place where that is the case, that is well beyond the only thing inherently wrong with your work environment and you should look for something else. i worked commercial real estate, not only did i get promotions, i was headhunted from competitors and offered better pay and positions. and in every firm i saw the admins working beyond their hours. every single one. and people would comment on me not working until 7pm in a jealous way, but again. i wasn't doing anything special. i just wasn't letting the company out of the agreement it made with me. during the time i was doing part time grad school and full time work i just told my bosses, (and my potential ones when i interviewed for those "our dick's bigger than yours" games cre firms play with each other), that i would work 8-1 on days i had to commute to school and make up my hours other days. i didn't ask for this. i laid it out to my bosses and said this is how it is going to be. i said if there was ever anything absolutely urgent they could try and email me while i was in class but i would be unlikely to respond. my work never suffered for me working my agreed upon hours, nor when i needed to shuffle them to accommodate school. and sure, if you have an unreasonable boss it is going to be incredibly difficult to get them to respect your time because they do not respect you. either you can try and make it work, try and fight for yourself every single day, or you get a new job. i have had garbage bosses who neither respected my time nor me as a person. i cannot advise how you change those people, only that you need to get the fuck away from them as soon as you are able. no job is worth your health, mental or physical. here in ontario you have the right to disconnect now, the right legally to turn off your phone and ignore your work emails and calls. you may not live in ontario so i do not know what your legal rights are, but i will say to read your work contract. get familiar with your rights as an employee. if you're confused about anything call your local law school they tend to have student phone banks for questions and i've used them for some help with employment law questions i've had in the past. the thing is, you sign a contract to accept a job, but the company also signed this contract. you are held to adhering to it in order to continue to have your job. so, too, you should hold the company to it in order to keep having you. You are the asset. make them remember that.

#Adult advice #Employment advice #also unionize if you can #this is primarily about salaried employees #but also if your hourly job expects you to work at all when you aren't clocked in they are similarly abusing your work contract #don't work beyond your contract #the company is not going to reward you for sacrificing your life for their profit

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calekinnieplus · 9 months

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HEYYYYY hi. Didn't have time to read Anything yesterday, but I read like 3 ½ hours today, so YAY! Reached chapter 828.

What happened today, you ask? (No you don't lol)

Well! Gehrman Sparrow proceeded to terrify the Tarot Club members by consistently providing Sequence 5 Beyonder characteristics almost every meeting. Last meeting, he put THREE characteristics on sale. And where did he get them, you ask? (no you don't)

WELL! Alger and Gehrman actually went ahead and explored the primitive island with a lot of rare creatures. And in there, two things of note happened. One was that they discovered Another Card of Blasphemy, Tyrant. Which corresponds to the Lord of Storms. And thanks to that, Alger now knows the Sequence 4 potion formula and the ritual. They also had some good loot there, like Beyonder characteristics.

Second thing was the mural. An ancient mural depicting the ancient sun god, also known as the Creator. And he was supposedly being eaten by the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, the Eternal Blazing Sun and the Lord of Storms. Didn't expect the origin story to be This literal, ngl LMAO

Like, DAMN?? Poor Derrick, after finding out about it from the Tarot Gathering, he was going through an existential crisis or smth. Actually, most of them were in shock. Unsurprisingly. A valid reaction tbh.

Oh, and the way Klein connected the dots from the Twilight Hermit Order to that unique island?? I don't say often enough how SMART he is?? Badass, yes. I say it often, because he genuinely is. But, although I am aware of it and always love that about him, he's so Incredibly Smart!! My boy <33

On another note, Hazel somehow got involved with a demigod from the Marauder pathway? Is that what's going on with her and the sewers?

Another thing! Dwayne Dantès! Even though it's his role now, I haven't mentioned much about him. It's so funny how, even while visibly older, the Rizz Klein has is too good. He's out there charming all the ladies. Wouldn't be surprised if some men, too ;)

Will Auceptin is also closer to being born !! Hehe he's so fun, I like him. It's refreshing in a way. He's such a prankster, a silly, goofy kid. Absolutely adorable.

Oh yeah, Audrey made an off-hand mention- IT'S ONLY BEEN A YEAR? OR ACTUALLY, NOT EVEN A YEAR? I mean, it makes sense. There was just one New Years. But damn, so much happened in a year. Klein advanced from Sequence 9 to 5 in a Goddamn YEAR. Incredible. The other members, too! They're going STRONG!

Welp! I think that's all for today. Actually, I think I'm putting these daily updates on pause. College is starting tomorrow, so I doubt I'll be able to consistently read 4-5 hours per day.

Well, I'll definitely continue reading as I have done until now. I'll continue posting the quotes I want to share, ones that amused me, surprised me, made me think of something. If I Do have a day where I read a lot, I might do an update, to keep things straight. Otherwise, this little habit will stop.

But not the binging, of course. The show must go on >:))

Praise be the Fool!

#vertigone rambles #lotm #lord of the mysteries #binging lotm #lotm spoilers #lotm volume 4 #klein moretti #gehrman sparrow #dwayne dantès

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moshintheteagaiwan · 2 months

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T. Kettle Part 9: The Seasonal Hires & The Bonus Program

Christmas was coming and I was ecstatic. I used to love Christmas time at the mall during my time at Teavana. There’s always been something about a mall at Christmas I loved. Most people on the other hand can’t stand the mall at Christmas, but I am also a big Christmas guy. I loved helping people pick out gifts for their spouses and friends. I love walking around the mall on my break and looking at all the Christmas store displays and the fancy decor the mall puts up for the season.

This was gonna be my first Christmas working at the mall in many years. The company had given the green light to hire seasonal staff and given us an actual useful amount of hours to use. I was able to fight for more hours since our store had the highest sales consistently and we would need more then what was given. The company did agree so long as we stayed above as certain sales point which was no issue for us. I went straight to work a hiring my seasonal staff.

I hired Zack, who would go onto stay with the team after the Christmas season was over, replacing one of my original staff. And I hired Maggie whom I met when she came in as a customer before Christmas. She had just moved here from Detroit to be with her husband who was from Canada. In Detroit she had also worked for Teavana and was an assistant manager for DavidsTea. At the time I had no room to hire anyone but as soon as a spot opened up she was the first person I called. She wanted to work for us so badly that she said she would put us first, even if she had another job at the time. How can you argue with that right?

When I hired my new staff, half had secondary part time jobs and half did not. I asked my entire staff how they would feel about me doing up the seasonal schedule in advance so they could work it out with their other jobs. They all agreed this would be best and so I made and sent out the entire seasonal schedule. Not too soon after issues began to arise with Maggie. She had another part time job that was roughly an hour away from our store. When I hired her she said she wanted as many hours as possible and given her experience I made sure to fill her up, but her boss at her other job would not even look at the schedule I gave her in advance and began double booking her for days I already had her booked.

This caused Maggie either have to give up hours with us and greatly reduce shifts. She was my most promising new hire that was quickly becoming my least dependable. I hired a third seasonal employee who at the time did not have another job. About 2 weeks into working with us she got another part time job. However, in this case she failed to give them her other schedule so more double bookings occurred. The difference between her and Maggie was while Maggie gave advance notice of the double bookings, the other new girl did not. Instead, she would call me a couple hours before her shift saying she can’t come in because she has to work at the other store.

I was offering more hours then her other job and for less physical labour, and I would ask her, “Did they book you to work today first, or did I book you first?”.

“You booked me first.”, she would answer.

“So then why is it that you can’t come in, when as you said you were booked here first?”, I asked.

“I don’t know”, she would answer.

This was becoming a pain in the ass, however Zack was a super trooper and would pick up several of these extra hours, as well as my original staff. It was very sad how things had been turning out with Maggie, because when she was in to work, she was a superstar at it just like I thought she would be. However, she would become very important to the end of the story.

Zack excelled beyond belief. I also met him when he came in as a customer and said I would call him as soon as I was hiring. He had no prior experience but picked it up like lint. He had a very annoying sales tactic though that somehow worked, hence why it was annoying. He loved Lapsang Souchong, which for those of you who don’t know, is a pine smoked black tea. It’s a tea you either love and adore or hate. It was very hard to sell because most people didn’t like it’s smokiness, but Zack on the other hand had no issue.

He would ask the customer what kind of tea they were looking for, and no matter what they said, he would pull down at least 2-3 options for what they did ask for and he would pull down Lapsang Souchong. AND IT WORKED! That was his thing, and as annoying as it was I let him have it because why not?

During a conference call with all the managers to go over Christmas promos, bundles, and products, we were also told of a Christmas bonus program. We had been asking upper management about this as most of us had come to know this kind of thing through Teavana and DavidsTea. Usually the way it worked was through a tier system, where the more you sold, the more of a Christmas bonus all team member would make. The system they introduced made very little sense to say the least and many of us managers could not follow it. They had taken a very simple idea and made it as complicated as they could.

Here’s the kicker. During this meeting we were told that this bonus program was for managers only. Meaning our team was to sell, sell, sell, and build up the store’s bonus tiers, and whatever you ended at, the manager, and only the manager, would get a bonus based off this. And we were also strictly told not to tell our staff about this. Well, I was not standing for that! How low and sleazy can a company be? My team is supposed to put in the hard work and only I get the benefits? Absolutely not! This is also how the other managers felt and we all agreed that not only were we going to tell our staff about this little bonus program, but we would use the bonus to go towards something for the team.

But after a couple headache filled weeks, and as things in the mall picked up, the store was ready to go, or so I thought. Then one day I got a call saying that the new T. Kettle store staging rep would be coming to make some changes...

To be continued...

#tea #teablr #loosetea #t-kettle #tkettle #t.kettle #teastore #lapsang #christmas

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chiveburger · 2 months

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kind of got fucked at the staff dinner two nights ago. our budget was $1000... and there were only six of us including our sales rep and we hit it somehow but not without me gorging myself with steak and lobster and aburi and nearing throwing up after 3 cocktails. not to be disgusting, but I was literally spilling out of my clothes like THAT'S how full I was. so I went home tired as hell and I woke up in the morning still bloated from the night before that I couldn't even eat breakfast before work. so I go into my 9 hour shift feeling fine but I couldn't get a break or eat lunch until late in the afternoon that I started getting gas and hunger pangs up until the end of my shift. It was so bad and all these bitches were coming in with weird requests like fuck off you sick fucks!!!!!!! I finally made it though and I went home and had baked seafood fried rice and tonkatsu. now I have the next three days off and I'm going to continue revamping my room and maybe editing some of my long awaited vlogs. I'm looking forward to it.

#borger diary

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canonicallyobserving911 · 2 years

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Buck & Eddie: 5 times Eddie called him “Buck” and the 1 time he called him “Evan”

Buck’s legal name is Evan; however he prefers for people to call him Buck. In CANON only a few people have called him Evan including Maddie, Eddie, Bobby and his parents. He stopped his own parents from calling him Evan even though they are the ones who named him. In 4x5 “Buck Begins”, he said, “Buck, Buck. It’s what people who know me, that’s what they call me”, which was a LIE! It was a lie because his parents don’t know Evan and other people who call him Buck don’t know who Evan is either including his found family at the 118. They know him as Buck because he doesn’t allow them to see Evan. Bobby called him Evan once after he first arrived at the 118 but Buck quickly corrected him and said call me Buck. After Buck saved Sale’ (sp?) in the warehouse fire, Buck came out feeling like he didn’t know who he was or who he was supposed to be. Bobby told Athena that Buck saved the last victim and then Athena said, “I’m sure whoever you saved, was just glad you were being Buck”. Buck replied with “I don’t even know what that means.” That’s when Athena told him, “You never give up. That’s what being Buck means to me. But whatever you do, don’t stop!” Reminder: Athena met Buck in season 1 when he was still reckless and boastful about being a firefighter; therefore she doesn’t know Evan either because she’s only ever seen Buck.

Buck is the persona he exhibits to make people believe he’s a strong HIMBO and confident firefighter who never gives up. The persona of Buck isn’t affected by Evan’s past that includes his parents neglecting and ignoring him both mentally and emotionally. Evan is the exact opposite of Buck because he’s insecure, suffers from abandonment issues and he doesn’t believe he will ever find true love. The truth is there are only two people who know Evan and they are Maddie and Eddie. Maddie calls him by both names interchangeably but she usually calls him Evan when she wants him to listen to her like she did in 4x4 “9-1-1 What’s Your Grievance” while they were having dinner with their parents. While Maddie calls him Evan and Buck, Eddie normally calls him Buck to get his attention but there was one time that he called him Evan.

Please note: this list doesn’t include all of the times Eddie called him Buck because it would be too extensive. Only the times he called him Buck to get his undivided attention were added.

Buck.

After Buck and Christopher got separated in the Tsunami, in 3x3 “The Searchers”, Buck was distraught over the fact that he couldn’t find him. He was on blood thinners and could hardly stand up straight but he didn’t give up and he kept searching for him well into the nighttime hours. He dreaded having to tell Eddie what happened but as fate would have it, Eddie was already at the VA hospital before Buck arrived and then Eddie saw Buck. When Eddie asked Buck why he had Christopher’s glasses, Buck explained what happened and how he hadn’t stopped searching. Thankfully, a woman had protected and carried Christopher around all day and she appeared with him in her arms while Buck explained what happened. Eddie went over to her and got Christopher and that’s when Buck collapsed into the arms of his 118 teammates. Eddie took Christopher back to Buck’s loft the next day to let him know that he still trusted him to take care of Christopher but Buck still believed he failed them. Eddie told Buck that he knew Buck loved Christopher just like he did and when he saw Buck was trying to avoid eye contact with him, he put his hand on his shoulder and his finger on Buck’s pulse point and said, “Buck. There’s no one in the world I trust with my son more than you”. He called his name to get his attention and then he told him how much he trusts him. Buck never gave up searching for Christopher and Eddie reassured Buck that he was still a capable and dependable person.

Buck STOP!

In 3x18 “What’s Next?”, Abby returned to L.A. but the train she was riding in crashed which brought the 118 to the scene. Buck crossed paths with her and she told him in front of Eddie that her fiancé was inside of the sideways up in the air train car. Buck was hurt and couldn’t believe Abby would come back after she ghosted him two years before and that she also came back with a fiancé. Buck promised her that he would bring Sam back to her. While Bobby, Eddie and Buck were inside of the train car, Eddie explained to Bobby that of the two victims, the girl should be saved because according to protocol she would have the best chance of survival. Buck was livid and started spouting a bunch of gibberish about how he knew a train car was a lot heavier than a firetruck. That’s when Eddie got angry and yelled, “Buck STOP! I know you made a promise”. He was trying to get Buck’s attention to let him know that he knew about the promise he made to Abby even though they (firefighters) aren’t supposed to make promises to anyone because they don’t know what the outcome will be. Also he wanted Buck to understand he doesn’t need to be reckless and risk his own life to save someone else’s including the fiancé of the woman who abandoned him. Eddie’s in love with Buck and he didn’t want to see him get hurt; therefore he yelled at him to get his attention. But Buck didn’t give up and ultimately he helped save Sam and the girl by sawing through the outside of the train car.

Hey Buck.

After Eddie got shot in 4x13 “Suspicion” and Buck saved him by pulling him underneath a firetruck, picking him up, placing him inside of the truck and performing medical care on his wound; he was in a coma after surgery and remained in the hospital for several days. Buck stayed with Christopher at Eddie’s house and whenever he had to go to work, Carla stayed with Christopher. Ana called Buck to let him know Eddie was awake in 4x14 “Survivors” and Buck literally dropped everything and ran to go see him. When he arrived at the hospital and he made it to Eddie’s room, he looked at Eddie and Eddie said, “Hey Buck.”, which made Buck smile. It was his 1-million-dollar smile that he saves just for Eddie and then he said “Hey.” When Eddie said, “Hey Buck”, it was to reassure Buck that he was alive and ok. Also Eddie wanted to know if Buck was ok too because his last memory of Buck was him covered in blood which caused Eddie to ask him “Are you hurt?” while they were inside of the firetruck. Buck never gave up on Eddie and he was devastated until he could see him with his own eyes.

BUCK.

Buck and Eddie were held hostage by two escaped convicts in 5x6 “Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1”. One of the convicts named Mitchell wanted to give his heart to his son in the hospital because he was waiting for a transplant and while Buck and Eddie were being held in the back of the ambulance, Mitchell told Buck to go with the other convict named Dom inside of the hospital with the injured guard, but Buck didn’t want to leave Eddie. When Mitchell said, “I’ll shoot you, then I’ll shoot him and then I’ll go to his house and shot his kid”, Eddie said, “BUCK.” to get Buck’s attention. He wanted Buck to get out of the ambulance so that he would still be alive to take care of Christopher if something happened to him. Buck was reluctant but he got out of the ambulance and did as he was instructed. He didn’t give up on Eddie because while he was in the hospital talking to Athena, he told her there had to be a better way to get Mitchell instead of taking the ambulance by force.

BUCK!

In 5x16 “May Day”, the Dispatch center was on fire and an electrician named Carson was hurt and trapped inside of an electrical room. Buck and Eddie went to save him but his leg had been damaged while he was trying to work. Eddie started providing him with medical care but he also told Carson that he would need to cut his pants leg to treat his wound. After he started cutting his pants, Carson yelled and started panicking. Buck thought telling him about when his leg got crushed by the firetruck in 2x18 “This Life We Choose” would help but he only panicked Carson more. Eddie said, “BUCK!” and shook his head at him as if to say ‘Buck, don’t!’ Carson was already panicking and Eddie didn’t want him to panic and go into shock so he had to get Buck’s attention so that he would stop rambling about his previous injury. Buck and Eddie worked together and didn’t give up. They rescued Carson from the fire.

Because Evan!

In 4x14 “Survivors” while Buck and Eddie were waiting for the nurse to bring Eddie’s discharge papers and meds to them so that they could leave, Eddie told Buck about his will. He told him that he changed it after The Well incident and that he named Buck to be Christopher’s legal guardian in the event that something happens to Eddie. Buck was shocked because he couldn’t believe how much Eddie trusted him but the change to Eddie’s will only legalized the arrangement Buck knowingly accepted when he started co-parenting Christopher with Eddie after he stepped in to help him during season 2. In 3x3 “The Searchers” Eddie said, “There’s no one in this world, I trust with my son more than you”; therefore the trust was already in place and had been between Buck and Eddie for several months before his will was changed. Also Buck didn’t realize it then but he had already been acting as Christopher’s legal guardian the entire time Eddie was in the hospital. When Eddie said, “Because Evan, you came in here the other day and said it would have been better if it were you who had been shot”, he was trying to get Buck’s attention to let him know that he matters. Eddie wanted him to know that he’s not expendable or indestructible but he was capable and worthy of love and trust. During their conversation Buck was starting to spiral and Eddie needed him to listen and not start doubting his own abilities and that’s why Eddie called him Evan. Eddie sees who Buck really is as a person. He knows him better than anyone else except for Maddie.

Buck corrected everyone who tried to call him Evan except for Maddie and Eddie. The one-time Eddie called him Evan; he wasn’t shocked nor did he become angry. He listened to Eddie and acknowledged the fact that Eddie believes in him. He knows that Eddie sees him for who he really is and he also knows that Eddie won’t ever give up on him. Eddie called him Evan once in CANON but it’s evident that he knows when to use it. Normally he can call him Buck to get him to listen but there was that one time he needed to get Evan’s attention and he succeeded. They love each other and will do anything for the other one. The question is, will Eddie ever call Buck Evan again in CANON? Only TPTB know the answer to that question.

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