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gurugirl · 26 days

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Shy | librarian!harry -patreon teaser

2 part story only on Patreon!

Summary: Harry's a painfully shy librarian and he finds Y/n very sweet so when she gets the nerve up to ask him to join her to see her friend's band play he gets nervous about going but figures it'll be his only shot.

1,122 word teaser

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As more of her friends arrived everyone pulled tables together and Y/n made sure she kept Harry with her, next to her the whole time. She kept checking in but he was becoming withdrawn bit by bit as her friends were stealing her attention. She tried keeping him in the conversation, asking him his opinion, touching his arm but it was difficult when he would hardly make a peep or look anyone in the eyes.

But the breaking point was when the band was on their second song and Harry had to use the bathroom. He hadn’t been gone long but when he came back a guy was sitting where he had been who had his arm along the back of Y/n’s chair and Y/n was grinning at him the way he wished she’d do to him. And it was probably nothing. But who could know? Harry didn’t know why she invited him. She’d been perfectly nice to him the whole time. And he could tell she was trying to babysit a little. Trying to keep him in the conversation and pulling him along with her but Harry didn’t want any of that.

He hated situations like the one he was in. Meeting new people wasn’t his thing. He wasn’t good at it. So, with a sigh, he pulled his cell phone out of his back pocket and called for an Uber. He’d leave and make it easier for Y/n to enjoy her friends. He didn’t want to feel like a burden and that’s how he felt. And he certainly wouldn’t walk up to the guy sitting in his place and tell him that was where he’d been sitting.

Y/n realized Harry had been gone for quite a while. The band was starting their third song and she looked around the buzzing café and didn’t spot his lavender sweater and dark curls anywhere. She got up and went toward where the bathrooms were and noted both the men’s bathroom doors were open and no one was inside.

Her heart dropped when she thought about what he might have seen as he left the bathroom and Paul was sitting where Harry had been. And now she figured it was possible he just left. She could tell he’d gotten progressively more uncomfortable as more of her friends arrived.

When she didn’t spot him outside either she felt a pang of sadness and hurt. She knew he wasn’t trying to be mean by leaving without saying anything but still… She’d taken a chance and invited him out. Her first attempt at making a move with him and he just left.

Sure she understood that he was painfully shy but not even a heads up that he was leaving? She wished she’d gotten his number but of course, she’d have to wait until Monday to visit him at the library to find out what had happened.

. . .

Harry regretted leaving like he did. After he got dropped off at his car he realized it would have been much kinder to say goodbye. But it was too late and now he’d gone and blown it with the girl of his dreams because he couldn’t get his act together. He was destined to be alone for the rest of his life. He wasn’t built for relationships and pursuing a lover.

Hell, he was still a virgin 28. Which was another issue he hated to think about. To tell someone that? Anyone? Social suicide. And certainly, Y/n would think he was some kind of freak.

He couldn’t even bring himself to eat that night. He felt awful for being awful. Y/n had been nothing but kind to him and he just left like an idiot. Surely that would be the end of that. He’d probably never see her again.

Except he did see her again. First thing Monday after opening up the library and starting the pot of coffee for Lin and Priscilla. He walked out when he heard the door chime with the idea that it was one of his co-workers but instead, it was Y/n with a frown on her face and a stack of books in her arms. The ones she had only checked on Saturday. There was no way she’d read them all so quickly.

She placed the books on the counter and Harry readied himself for a terrible interaction with her as his heart pounded in his chest.

“Why did you leave like that the other night?”

Harry dropped his gaze to his feet, “Um… I’m sorry. I felt really bad for that. I wasn’t thinking… I got nervous and just left. I’m sorry, Y/n.”

“Why?” She kept her eyes on him, his face downcast toward the floor.

“I’m too shy. I can’t talk to people. I saw someone sitting next to you and thought maybe it was better if I just left.”

“Well, that was kind of a jerk move. You really hurt my feelings. At first, I even felt bad about it. Like it was my fault.”

Harry’s eyes shot up to hers as he shook his head. He hadn’t wanted her to feel bad.

She continued, “But then the more I thought about it I realized… you probably just don’t even like me to begin with. So… I’m sorry I invited you to something that you hated and that spending time with me was so awful you had to sneak out. But I won’t bother you ever again. I’ll find a new library to go to so you don’t have to ever see me after this. I just wanted to drop the books off and tell you that you hurt my feelings.”

Harry could have cried. He even felt the smallest bit of liquid forming in his eyes as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and shook his head, “No. Please. Y/n… I’m really sorry. I’m awful at this. I do like you… I’m socially awkward and I didn’t mean to do anything that made you feel bad.”

He rushed his words out as he watched her dig into her purse to pull out her library card and place it on the stack of books with finality.

“I’m sure you’re sorry. All I can say is that I put myself out there and invited you so I could get to know you. I thought maybe you wanted to get to know me too. That was probably presumptuous of me. And now I just feel embarrassed.”

Y/n turned but Harry followed. He was desperate and felt like he was about to fall through the earth… that he’d be swallowed by gravelly dirt and sticks and worms and would never be able to claw his way out again.

A/N: If you're interested in reading more consider joining my Patreon! xoxo

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strongislandsuperfan · 1 year

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The Prophecy of the Pipebomb

There's a saying that goes, "Everything eventually comes full circle." Its never been more true than this point in pro-wrestling.

Any pro-wrestling fan, whether casual viewer or lifelong fan remembers the night of June 27, 2011. A day that will always live in sports entertainment history & infamy.

CM Punk has never been one to hold his tongue, but he does it in such an articulate manner that it makes you sit and think....and sometimes cringe, depending on your perspective.

To give some backstory on this moment, CM Punk had secured a one-on-one match with John Cena for the WWE Championship at the next pay-per-view, Money in the Bank. With his contract just weeks away from ending, CM Punk made it clear that he had no intentions of resigning. Instead, he planned on walking away from WWE as the company’s champion, potentially taking the WWE championship belt to another wrestling promotion.

When the promo starts off, it sounds like a typical build up to the anticipated match with John Cena, but things quickly turn south, going into an epic tirade of disgust over the WWE roster, the WWE stars of the past, and utter contempt for the McMahon family, while giving shout outs to Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, his then-friend Colt Cabana, and the Ring of Honor Wrestling promotion. Disillusionment at its finest, but I don't blame him.

The most important part of this promo was the venting, which felt all too real, as if years of animosity had been building since CM Punk's arrival from the independent circuit. First, he was thrown into WWE's developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling. Then, with the renewed but poorly handled rebirth of ECW, then a move over to the main WWE roster. A move to the main roster should have been the golden ticket to the big time but, he wasn't given the shine he deserved. If so, then he would have been promoted in the main title sequence on Monday Night Raw, as CM Punk stated.

Another important aspect of this promo is how he verbally laid into the McMahon family & John Laurinaitis. It's no secret that CM Punk is not fan of the non-sensical aspects of backstage politics, but understands that it is a reality that has to be met head on. Valid points were made, regarding legacy, broken promises, talent being taken for granted & not getting its proper due respect, simply because a wrestler doesn't look "main event" enough to get over with the fans. CM Punk was not only right, but proved the old-timers wrong, by becoming the main event draw that the fans demanded, but up until that night, he was still being denied.

Let's be frank about this; if it wasn't for CM Punk bringing that point up, guys like Kofi Kingston and Daniel Bryan, two men that don't exactly fit the mold of the main event talent we all watched in the 80's and 90's, wouldn't even touch the WWE title, let alone be in the conversation for a shot at the WWE championship belt. To further add to his case, CM Punk took the Kobe Bryant approach in pro wrestling and spent hours, sometimes days, honing and perfecting his craft. There's a reason why he's been voted independent wrestler of the year, before signing with WWE.

Just when CM Punk was about to get going on the McMahon’s legacy and how Vince’s death won’t fix anything, even if it is put in the hands of his son-in-law, Triple H and his daughter, Stephanie McMahon, the mic gets cut. The audience, left in disbelief and excitement.

The now infamous pipebomb promo generated the kind of buzz wrestling promoters could only dream about. It shocked the pro wrestling world as a whole, ranging from praise to threats to conspiracies and skepticism. Some heard this pipebomb promo and dismissed it as a "work", meaning that it blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. Others, fully agreed and took a stance with CM Punk. Others within the WWE and some hall of fame stars of the past, were either angered or put off by the rant. I believe this was due to the fact that the wrestling industry as a whole, as well as the WWE was losing the power it once had. The industry wasn't ready to change just yet.

Pro wrestling fans had now become MMA fans and the talent from the independent circuits were not seen as appealing or as a "top guy" that could carry the company, reminiscent of the days of Hulk Hogan. The talent that the old guard was relying on, such as Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, also had to contend with their egos. John Cena was the go to option, while relying on superstars of the 90's, such as The Rock, to make their guest appearances for an immediate million-dollar box office draw. Nostalgia is fine, but it gets tiresome after a while. Fans just don't want to see heroes of the past. We want to see what's fresh and new & still relatable as well. That was another point that CM Punk was trying to make.

However, to be fair, this is still a business and no matter how many moonsaults you can do or catchphrases you have, you still have to draw a crowd and generate a box office draw that'll leave the fans wanting more and if the new guys can't handle it, then the best interest of business has to take over and protect the namesake of what it was built upon. That was the point the WWE was also trying to make.

Both perspectives are not wrong. They just needed to put their pride aside and hear each other out.

I can look back and say, this was more than just a promo. It was a prophetic word, that told of what was wrong with the sports entertainment industry, who would be proven wrong & whose futures would or could meet a self-inflicted end. Now, things have come full circle....sort of. I am no oracle, but its astonishing how this has played out.

As it was spoken, Triple H & Stephanie McMahon have taken the reigns of the WWE, bringing about major changes to the company. Since Triple H has taken over creative control, surprisingly, the quality of the WWE has gotten better. Not to mention, that the athletes that were either treated as an afterthought or never seen as a main event draw, were finally given their shot at the main roster and as a main event draw. This has drawn praise not only from the locker room in WWE, but even from former stars as well.

On the other spectrum, the microphone master, CM Punk, became the main event draw in AEW Wrestling, a status that should have been given in the WWE. After his end in 2014 in the WWE, he made his way through the MMA circuit, then back to WWE as a TV commentator while dabbling in acting and writing, then, on a fateful August night in 2021, made his much anticipated return in AEW. This brought back fans of Punk and pro wrestling, witnessing their favorite folk hero return again, in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Every aspect of those words spoken that night has manifested.

Fast forward to 2023.

Vince McMahon retires from his long standing position at WWE, now taken over by a new generation, only to be taken back, again, put up for sale and daughter, Stephanie McMahon stepping down as CEO of the company. This caught everyone off guard. I cringe at the thought of the WWE being sold to an entity that might not have its best interest at heart. It happened to WCW and ECW in the early 2000's. We would hate to see history repeat itself. We all grew up watching these pro wrestling superstars give us the type of heart-pounding moments that you would only see in comic books or science fiction films. To think of anyone else to have control of this is bewildering and sad, like a child watching their father walk out, only to be introduced to a stepfather that could never replace the bond created by the biological entity that helped make life and childhood in general, fantastic. I still don't know what to make of it. Who would of thought that you can put a price tag on one's ego?

WWE was our pre-school. Our live-action hero story. Our Saturday day care, once the cartoons went off at 12 PM and we were switching between Soul Train on WPIX channel 11 and whatever exploitation film that was broadcasted on channel 9, before it became the UPN network. We can't imagine this company as anything else, let alone in someone else's hands. Unfortunately, its happening.

While the complete opposite of wishful demise has not happened to the forever reigning, now up-for-sale powerhouse, WWE, the career of a once promising, generational talent, has taken its own turn. Whether it was for better or for worse, is depending on your point of view. Some argue that CM Punk has become the very thing he spoke out against on that June night in 2011. In some aspects, that might have been the case. In other aspects, maybe it was justified. Regardless, due to months-long controversies within AEW, the main event status has since dwindled due to a toxic backstage culture & a self-inflicted observation that CM Punk spoke over himself during his epic rant in 2011. It was not only the jealousy of others that took him out. His ego became his number one enemy.

For the record, I have nothing against CM Punk. I don't agree with all the perspectives or personal politics he carries, but, I get him. His persona motivates me. His rise in the ranks of the independent wrestling world to the big time is almost Rocky Balboa-like, filled with awe and wonder. I only wish that his time with the WWE and AEW could have ended on a more peaceful note, going out like a warrior, on his own terms, with a roaring ovation as his swan song. I still want that for him. His fans still want that for him. Even if he doesn't want it, I don't blame him. His disillusionment is understandable. CM Punk was the rebel with a cause, who came at the right time, even if the powers that be weren't ready for it.

June 27, 2011 was more than just a controversy. It was prophecy, spoken into existence. Many of us didn't understand it then, dismissing it as a work or off-color controversy. Now, we see that it has manifested. Both these perspectives have one commonality; sometimes, its our love and passion that can take us out rather than our hate or grievance of being treated as an after thought that's constantly taken for granted and not appreciated until its gone out the door.

The pipebomb promo, in all of its unbeknownst and unassuming glory, has stood the test of time, bringing changes to a proud industry that would only give the "Hulk Hogans" of the wrestling world the spotlight while eerily consuming the egos & passions of those that we never expected to be in the positions that they are in. Whether you see it as a positive or a negative, again, its all perspective.

Both futures remain hanging in the balance. As a fan, I hope that it reaches a certain peace that many can walk away happy with.

#wwe raw #wwenetwork #wwe superstars #pro wrestling #sports opinion

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blueskyerising · 1 year

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Fantasy Booking WrestleMania 39 & the 4/3/23 Monday Night RAW

Before we get to Part II of how I’d book the Fall of the Bloodline, I thought it’d be appropriate to touch over on how my version of WrestleMania 39 and the post-Mania Raw would go down like, since I only briefly mentioned the main event. It won’t be a complete wholesale change of the two nights, but the changes made will hopefully make sense.

A lot of the changes will be more evident on the post-Mania RAW, which notoriously got a 0.63 rating on Cagematch and was plagued by being changed wholesale by Vince McMahon. Again, my version of things

Night 1

- John Cena def. Austin Theory to win the US Championship: this result would set up something for Cena on the post-WM Raw (which I’ll discuss later) and push Theory into accepting the open challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship that I mentioned in Part I of the Fall of the Bloodline booking.

- Street Profits def. Viking Raiders, Alpha Academy, & Ricochet/Braun Strowman: basically plays out the same as it did in real life.

- Seth F. Rollins def. Logan Paul: ditto with this match, though Seth gets the win after he does the tree of woe Stomp.

- Damage CTRL def. Becky Lynch, Lita, & Trish Stratus: The heels win here largely due to Becky accidentally hitting Trish, leading to her getting pinned. No heel turn from Trish just yet.

- We get a backstage segment with the Usos and Paul Heyman. Jimmy and Jey want to take care of the Sami & KO “problem” on their own and refuse to let Heyman or Solo Sikoa accompany them for a match.

- Dominik Mysterio def. Rey Mysterio: I love the idea of Dom winning this match, just so he can have something to brag about over his dad. Some cheating and interference from Damian Priest is how that happens. Then, after the match, Dom & Priest look to continue beating down Rey, but Bad Bunny steps in to stop the attack.

- Rhea Ripley def. Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship: the actual match was one of my favorites of the weekend so it just pretty much stays as-is, untouched in the fantasy booking.

- Pat McAfee def. The Miz short and sweet. No changes.

- Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens def. The Usos to become the Undisputed Tag Team Champions: Again, this plays out the same way as it did in real life.

Night 2

- Brock Lesnar def. Omos: Remains the same.

- Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez win the Women’s Tag Team Showcase: Liv ends up getting the win after she counters an attempted Ronda Rousey armbar into a surprise crucifix pin.

- Backstage, Roman Reigns & Paul Heyman are with Solo Sikoa, having tasked him to accompany his Tribal Chief for the main event later. It’s briefly mentioned that the Usos haven’t arrived at the arena yet in the wake of their loss last night.

- Gunther def. Sheamus & Drew McIntyre to retain Intercontinental Championship: Another of my favorite matches in the actual WrestleMania 39, so you can’t really change things.

- Bianca Belair def. Asuka to retain Raw Women’s Championship: I was strongly tempted to change the result here, but the story about the young contortionist from Bianca’s entrance having lost her mother the day before would make things seem like bad optics if Bianca lost. That said, I’d still have Bianca win here, but in a way to help set up a rematch. She never hits the K.O.D. successfully on Asuka, and the win comes after Bianca reverses the Asuka Lock into a pinfall win.

- Instead of the whole Miz/Snoop Dogg/Shane McMahon fiasco. We instead get LA Knight appearing and talking about how he’s mad that WWE would dare have an LA WrestleMania without LA Knight. Bobby Lashley shows up and we get an impromptu match that Lashley wins.

- Finn Balor def. Edge in Hell in a Cell: It’s hard to book around an injury that happens during the match -- in this case, Finn Balor suffering a rather painful injury after a wrongly-placed ladder shot in the real match. That said, the finish here would see Damian Priest sneak in the cell as one of the “medics” as he helps Finn get the big victory.

- Cody Rhodes def. Roman Reigns: I went into great detail about how this match goes down in Part I of the Fall of the Bloodline booking, which you can read here.

RAW after WrestleMania (April 3rd)

Hour One

- The show opens with Triple H’s address, announcing that the WWE Draft will be coming next month. He then introduces the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, Cody Rhodes. The new champ cuts a promo about how he finished the story and how he wants to proudly represent WWE as its new top champion. That’s why he’s holding an open challenge tonight to see if anyone can beat him. It’s answered by Austin Theory and that’s your main event.

- Match 1: Asuka vs. Mia Yim: Just a fun opener match to re-establish Asuka as a threat after her Mania loss. She wins, but it’s not the end of her night yet...

- In the Bloodline’s locker room, we see Paul Heyman talking to the Usos and Solo Sikoa. This is where we first hear Roman Reigns has gone on a bit of a sabbatical and has essentially left Heyman in “charge”. Heyman says that while the weekend for the Bloodline was a nightmare, the Tribal Chief isn’t angry about it. He tells the Usos and Solo that they just need to take care of some things real soon.

- Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens bask in the celebrations of the RAW after Mania crowd cheering them on after their big championship win. Chad Gable & Otis interrupt, which Sami & KO see as a sign that they want a fight, so we get ourselves a match...

- Match 2: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens vs. Alpha Academy: Sami & KO get the victory in a great 10 minute match, as this and Asuka/Mia Yim take advantage of hour one of RAW being commercial free. During the match, we see the Usos watching from the crowd, clearly not done with Sami & KO just yet...

Hour Two

- New U.S. Champion John Cena enters the ring and discusses how he taught Austin Theory a little bit of respect at WrestleMania and that he’s ready to take on all comers as the U.S. Champ. Enter Bron Breakker, who accepts Cena’s challenge. It should be noted that Bron is showing some heel tendencies here, which will continue on NXT the next night, when he attacks Carmelo Hayes. As for Raw...

- Match 3: Bron Breakker def. John Cena to win the U.S. Championship: I know what you’re thinking. A sudden title change seems too abrupt, but newly-turned Bron taking the U.S. Title with a dominant showing, then parlaying that into continuing his feud with Carmelo Hayes before graduating to the main roster proper would make for fun stuff.

- Match 4: Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Carmella & Chelsea Green: the first of four women’s tag team contenders qualifiers. Liv & Raquel win, setting up a match with the winner of one of the other two women’s tag matches on SmackDown.

- Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair addresses the crowd about her hard fought title retention at WrestleMania. She says she’s ready for a new challenge, but that’s when Asuka catches her by surprise and sprays her with the green mist! It’s clear that Asuka is far from done w/ Bianca and this leads to a rematch for the Raw Women’s Title at Backlash.

- Becky Lynch and Lita are being interviewed backstage as they try to brush over the little miscommunication between Becky and Trish Stratus at WrestleMania. They talk about how they’re ready to face whoever wins the women’s tag team contender’s tournament, as Trish just walks off without saying a word.

- Match 5: Damage CTRL vs. Shotzi & Natalya: The second of the four women’s tag team contenders matches. Dakota & IYO Sky win this one.

Hour Three

- Seth Rollins is out in the ring to celebrate his win over Logan Paul. He talks about how he’s the best wrestler there is and that Logan Paul now knows how it feels to be on the business end of a Stomp. That’s when he’s interrupted by Grayson Waller from NXT. Waller takes exceptions to Seth’s bragging and notes that Logan Paul was a personal friend of his. We get a tense staredown, but Waller backs off, stating that he’ll fight Rollins on his time. Seth ends the segment by getting the fans to serenade Waller with his favorite song in the entire world. Waller leaves in a huff, plugging his ears to drown out the fans singing Seth’s theme.

- Match 6: Damien Priest vs. Rey Mysterio: Rey wins with a 619, but after the match, Dominik Mysterio gets into Bad Bunny’s face at ringside, sparking an altercation. Judgment Day get the upperhand, as Priest chokeslams Bad Bunny through the announce table.

- It’s announced after this that at Backlash, Dominik & Priest will fight Rey Mysterio & Bad Bunny in a special tag team match.

- The whole Bobby Lashley/Bronson Reed/Mustafa Ali segment happens here, which leads us to...

- Match 7: Bobby Lashley vs. Mustafa Ali: Lashley wins this match, obviously. But after the match, Bronson Reed blindsides Lashley and beats him down for a bit before Lashley fights back. Bronson manages to avoid a Spear and cooly backs up the ramp, simply laughing and clearly not thinking much of his new foe.

- The Miz complains about how his weekend turned out at WrestleMania. He’s sick of the surprises, and that’s when he’s interrupted by a returning Randy Orton. He flattens Miz with an RKO.

- Main Event: Cody Rhodes def. Austin Theory to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Standard TV main event with Theory looking to make a name for himself after the biggest loss of his career at Mania night 1. Goes about 15-20 minutes (plus commercial break) w/ Cody retaining via Cross Rhodes. RAW concludes with Cody celebrating, as we can see Solo Sikoa watching the match backstage, flanked by Paul Heyman.

Conclusion

And that’s basically my version of WrestleMania 39 and the RAW After Mania to set up how things go down in the Fall of the Bloodline. Part II of that fantasy booking will be coming soon.

#WWE #Fantasy Booking #WrestleMania #Monday Night RAW #Cody Rhodes #John Cena #Seth Rollins

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rachelkaser · 1 year

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Masonry Monday: The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister

Mason’s latest client, Harriet Bain, is beset by trouble from all sides, as her sick father is being blackmailed and her fiancé seems interested in her stunning stepsister. Then the ex-partner behind the blackmail is murdered, and Harriet’s fingerprints are all over the murder weapon.

Who’s Who

Perry’s client: Harriet Bain, a plain girl who gets involved in a blackmail scheme to protect her father, which spirals into a murder

The victim: J.J. Stanley, a grifter who once helped Harriet’s father embezzled $50,000 from a bank and who’s forced to blackmail him ten years later

Suspects: Sylvia Bain, Harriet’s stepsister, who’s unusually controlling and stern with her sister and encourages the wayward fiancé's interest Ned Bain, Harriet’s father and Sylvia’s stepfather, who’s supposedly too sick to get out of bed . . . until he needs to see his blackmailing ex-partner Arthur West, an unscrupulous private eye who’s the primary instigator of the blackmail scheme Addison Doyle, Harriet’s roguish fiancé, whose mercenary interests in Harriet become a little too apparent after she’s arrest

The Setup

A man sitting in the lobby of a boarding house follows a drunk back to his room and rudely wakes him. The man introduces himself as a private investigator named Arthur West -- and he knows the drunk is J.J. Stanley. West says he knows that J.J. embezzled $50,000 from the Texas National Bank ten years previously. West says J.J.’s partner in crime was a now-successful businessman named Ned Bain. Texas National would reward West if he tells them, but he thinks he can get more money out of Bain. While J.J. is reluctant, West bullies him into complying.

A young woman, rather unflatteringly dressed [Editor’s note: I’m not being mean -- I promise this is important.] in a Citroen car arrives at the Colegrove Apartments and goes to 2A. West, who lives in the apartment, plays her a taped recording of a phone call between Ned Bain and J.J. Stanley. On the recording, Bain tacitly admits to the embezzlement charges. The woman is Harriet Bain, Ned’s daughter, and she’s horrified and runs sobbing from the apartment when West thwarts her attempt to destroy the tape.

Sometime later, in Perry Mason’s office, Della is getting some plane tickets together for him. Gertie tells her a woman wants to see Perry, and Della goes to ask if she can help instead. The woman is Harriet, who is devastated to hear Perry is shortly to leave for an extended trip to Europe. Seeing how upset Harriet is, Della invites her into the office and offers to listen to her story.Harriet calms down and tells Della she’s engaged to a man named Addison Doyle, whom her sister introduced her to.

Della asks her what’s wrong, and Harriet tells her about the blackmail. Her father has a heart condition and Harriet takes care of him, hence why she took West’s call. Not only could her father’s condition worsen if the blackmail proceeds, she’s afraid Doyle, who’s from an old money family, will break off their engagement if there’s any scandal. Della is sympathetic and, shortly after, pleads Harriet’s case to Perry.

While Perry’s not pleased to put off his trip to Europe, he’s intrigued when both Della and Paul have opinions on the case. Paul knows West by reputation, and he’s pulled this trick before: He pretends to negotiate the blackmailer’s price to the victim, then charges the victim a fee for acting in their interest, so he gets paid by both of them. He tells Della to postpone his flight (she already did that), to tell Harriet to meet him, and to get him the most powerful magnet possible on short notice that can fit into a cigarette case.

Enter Perry Mason, Attorney at Law

Sometime later, Perry and Harriet are back in West’s apartment, listening to the recording. He tells West he wants to inspect the tape to make sure it isn’t spliced. West won’t let Perry touch the tape, but he hold it out for inspection, and Perry leans in while taking out a cigarette. He asks how much J.J. will take, and West offers to bargain him down from $25k to $20k. He asks to hear the tape one more time, and this time the tape is completely silent. Perry and Harriet leave, saying they’ll reconvene when West gets the tape working again. After they go, West takes out a booze bottle and takes the recorder across the hall to J.J.’s room.

Back in Perry’s office, he explains he used the magnet to wipe the tape. Della asks if he destroyed evidence, but Perry’s convinced it was just a copy, and he wants to force West to use his original recording. West calls and asks Mason to visit, revealing he has the original copy. Harriet enters, upset -- her stepsister, Sylvia, angry that Harriet hired a lawyer, told their father. Ned Bain wants to meet Mason. Della calls the airline and postpones Perry flight again.

At the Bain house, Perry meets Sylvia Bain, who’s rather glamorously attired and says she’s against involving a lawyer in a family matter. Addison Doyle enters and Harriet introduces him to Perry before they go upstairs to meet Bain. Bain, who’s bedbound, says the blackmail is fraud -- J.J. backed him in a wildcat oil scheme that hit pay dirt made full return on the investment. He’s not going to pay the blackmail, but he won’t go to the police for fear of a scandal disrupting Harriet’s marriage.

Perry promises to return the next day, and asks if Bain knows where J.J. lives -- Bain says he doesn’t. As they’re leaving, they catch a glimpse of Addison and Sylvia, laughing and leaning in a little too close to each other downstairs. Harriet looks sad, but not surprised, and returns to her dad’s bedside. Perry goes downstairs, interrupting the liaison, and walks out. Doyle asks Sylvia why she let Harriet, whom she supposedly controls, get Mason involved.

Just past 11pm that night, Ned Bain gets out of bed, fully clothed. He picks up a monogrammed briefcase and sneaks out of the house. Harriet just catches a glimpse of him as he walks out of the front door. Bain arrives at the Colgrove Apartments and rings J.J.’s doorbell, across from West. J.J. lets him in, and Bain tells him that he’s going to finish this whole mess that night, and shows J.J. what’s in the briefcase. Downstairs, Bain’s cabbie notices a Citroen car pull up behind him. Bain returns, sans briefcase, and asks the driver to take him home.

The Murder

The next morning, Paul tells Perry that he’s discovered J.J. lives in the apartment across from West’s. They’re meeting Harriet at West’s apartment. He offers to accompany Perry and Della to the meetup, but Perry doesn’t think there will be trouble. At West’s apartment, a note tacked to the door has Perry’s name on it. In the note, West says he’ll be late and for Perry to let himself in. Della senses a trap, as West sounds like he wants them to search the apartment. They’re about to leave when there’s a loud scream from inside the apartment.

The door opens and Harriet comes flying out into Perry’s arms. She found the body of who she thinks is J.J. Stanley in the kitchen. Perry confirms this was a trap and goes to check the other apartment. It’s unlocked. He tells Della to stay in the hallway, and to pretend if West returns that they just arrived and were reading the note. He enters J.J.’s apartment and looks around. He notes the massive deep freeze full of food in the kitchen.

Della signals to him, and Perry sees her, Harriet, and West enter the apartment. He follows them in a second later. West says he was at a poker game and goes to make coffee. He enters the kitchen and sees J.J.’s body on the floor under the table. West goes to call the police, and Perry tells Della to cancel the trip. Later, Tragg and the medical examiner look over the body -- the latter gives a preliminary finding of death by ice pick to the neck, with the time of death around 3am that morning. An officer comes in with just such an ice pick, which he found in J.J. Stanley’s apartment. Tragg tells him to examine it for prints.

Later, in Perry’s office, Paul reports that Tragg knows Perry searched J.J.’s apartment, thanks to West leaving a tape recorder running by door. Tragg also fingerprinted the entire Bain family. Perry gets a phone call -- Ned Bain’s just had a heart attack, and they fear it might be fatal. He rushes to the Bain house, where the doctor tells them Bain will just barely pull through. The doctor says a shock or exertion could have caused it, and then he hands Harriet a tape he found under Bain’s pillow. Perry says he’ll take it for safekeeping.

Perry asks Harriet if she heard her father leave the house the night before, and Harriet says she didn’t. Downstairs, they meet Doyle and Sylvia, and Perry asks where the latter was the night before -- Doyle admits on her behalf that she was at his apartment, to Harriet’s shock. She walks Perry to the door, where they meet Tragg. He relieves Perry of the tape, and arrests Harriet on suspicion of murder -- her fingerprints are all over the ice pick.

Mason visits Doyle’s shoebox apartment, and reprimands him for not visiting Harriet in jail. Doyle says he’s not interested in comforting her, as despite his family name he’s a very poor man. He outright admits that his hipster writer vibe is just a mask to attract a rich woman, and that he’s prepared to shift his attentions to Sylvia. Perry warns him Sylvia might not be as interested as Doyle thinks. Later, Della tells Perry she’s ordered a copy of a specific book he wants and will bring it to court.

The Trial

In court, Burger asks Tragg about the ice pick and enters it as People’s Exhibit A. Tragg says it was an implement from the Bain family’s kitchen, and had Harriet’s fingerprints on it. They also found Harriet’s cigarette lighter in West’s apartment. On cross, Mason notes it's not unusual for Harriet’s fingerprints to be on an ice pick from her own kitchen. He asks if the police were able to transport the ice pick without destroying Harriet’s prints -- they were. Mason asks then, if they could do it, why not someone else who wanted to frame Harriet?

Burger then questions the medical examiner, Dr. Hanover. The doctor found two puncture wounds in the front of J.J.’s neck which caused death by hemorrhage. He also says the ice pick has bloodstains on it, the blood being J.J.’s rare AB blood type. At Burger’s request, he explains postmortem lividity and rigor mortis, and how he used them to determine the time of death at 3am. On cross, Mason asks about other factors, and Dr. Hanover says he also used body temperature. Mason asks if his calculation could be thrown off by environmental temperature changes, and the doctor says they could.

Burger then asks for the court’s indulgence, as his next witness is coming in on a stretcher. Mason, realizing this is Ned Bain, immediately objects to the cruelty of bringing a sick man to court, but Burger hands the judge a doctor’s affidavit that Bain can testify. The judge allows it, though he quells Burger’s intent to treat Bain as a hostile witness. Bain is brought into court and sworn in. Burger asks him about the blackmail scheme and whether it was based in truth. Bain won’t answer, even though the statute of limitations has expired.

The judge asks about the relevance, and Burger clarifies that, if Harriet knew the allegations were true, she’d have a motive for murder. Harriet stands up, sobbing, and admits that she knew. Burger asks when Bain last saw Stanley, and Bain says it was the night he was murdered. On cross, Mason asks why Bain saw Stanley, and Bain says it was to pay him off. Mason asks if Harriet knew he was doing this, and Bain says yes -- she got the money from the bank. Mason thanks him, and notes this means Harriet had no motive to kill Stanley.

The next witness is the cab driver who drove Bain to the apartment building. He said he was tailed the whole way there, and noted the Citroen’s license number. It was Harriet’s car. On cross, Mason asks the cabbie if he could see the driver’s face, but the cabbie says it was too dark. Paul shortly after enters with the book Perry requested, and hands it to him as Burger is questioning West on the stand.

West claims he was approached by J.J. with the tape, and admits that he was party to the blackmail scheme. Burger tries to identify this as Harriet’s motive. On cross, Mason has to be pulled away from his book to question West. He asks why West was paying for J.J.’s apartment and food -- and why he bought the deep freeze in the kitchen. He submits an alternate theory: Whoever killed Stanley placed his body in the freezer in order to phony up the time of death and make themselves an alibi. The judge is intrigued, and says he’d like to examine the freezer personally...

In Summation

Harriet Bain unfortunately joins the list of Perry Mason clients who lie to their brilliant lawyer for seemingly no reason than to make his job more difficult -- she lies that her father left the house and that she knew the story behind the blackmail was true. However, some other points of the episode are less clear, and that’s where the case becomes so confusing as to be tedious. But we’ll get into that shortly.

This case possibly has the greatest proliferation so far of unlikeable characters. Addison Doyle, Arthur West, and Sylvia Bain are all obvious in their unpleasantness. But even Harriet doesn’t get off unscathed, as it’s not even clear why she’s lying to Perry about the truth behind the blackmail when she’s the one who brought him in to deal with the blackmailer in the first place. Ned Bain sucks for not simply sending a rat like Doyle packing. Ironically, the only person who comes off easy here is the murder victim, J.J. Stanley.

Actually, now that I think of it, the opening scene doesn’t really make sense. Stanley point-blank refuses to help West blackmail Ned Bain, even saying he’d rather go to jail (and, judging by his living situation, he’s not really that far removed from three hots and a cot) West retorts, “For once in your life, you’ll do as your told,” and I fail to see why that would change the answer at all.

I know jealousy is a real emotion that people feel, but something about the way it’s portrayed in Perry Mason, at least with regards to women, always rubs me the wrong way. It’s almost always an older woman who wants the attention of a man who hasn’t noticed her, being jealous of the younger female lead who’s succeeded. This episode is even titled after said jealousy -- and I won’t spoil, but we later find out that the motives of the older woman in this case aren’t what they appear to be.

One of the reasons this episode doesn’t really work for me is the way they talk about Harriet. Everyone acts like she’s uglier than a warty toad, could never have a chance of marrying, and should do everything she can to hold onto Doyle’s superficial attention. But she’s played by the lovely Virginia Vincent, and even the most unflattering clothes and makeup can only do so much to make her look plain. In the final scene, the “makeover” she gets from Della only consists of a little makeup and taking off the cloche hat she usually wears.

The other reason is that the tape in question, which is the impetus behind all of this, isn’t as incriminating as the episode behaves. Ned Bain never outright admits on it than he embezzled money -- both he and J.J. are just vague enough that I am hesitant to believe it would hold up in court. The worry is not that he’ll be prosecuted, but that the bank will bring a civil suit against him. I still doubt that the tape would be enough evidence to hold up, even in civil court.

Which bring me to another question: Why was Ned Bain planning to pay J.J. off directly? The whole thing was West’s idea — it’s not like there’s any real way to cut him out when he’s the one holding the blackmail evidence, dubious though it may be. Also, it’s never explicitly stated how Bain was able to get dressed in a full suit, take a taxi across town, pay off a blackmailer, return, and then wait almost a full day before he had a heart attack when the doctor says he was in such delicate condition he couldn’t even walk to the bathroom.

This is the first time a judge in a Perry Mason case has gone to the scene to inspect evidence personally. As I have stated before, I’m not a lawyer, but even with my decent layman’s understanding of the law, I have no idea if this is a thing they can do. I would presume that, with the judge, bailiff, and clerk present, all the necessary court elements are there. The only time I’ve ever seen this happen is in a few episode of the old Animal Cops show, where a judge ruling on a case involving horses would go to the stables to see their condition.

One final note: This final scene of the episode might be one of the silliest ever. First we see Della waylay Perry, who’s finally about to depart on his long-awaited London trip (how a legal conference can go on long enough to outlast a murder investigation and trial is beyond me) to show off the “makeover” she’s given Harriet. Then she mentions that she got Harriet onto the same plane as Perry, and apparently expects her employer to be Harriet’s chaperone on a European vacation (Paul, briefly enchanted by Harriet’s new look, apparently thinks she means him at first). I know Della and Perry’s professional relationship is fairly tight, but I think that’s crossing a few boundaries.

The Verdict

Judgement: ⚖ (one scale out of four) A “homely” woman who’s beautiful is the least of this episode’s problems, and the case is a mess from the outset as there’s insufficient evidence behind both the blackmail and the murder conviction. The side characters provide the only real color in the whole episode.

#perry mason #masonry monday #raymond burr #paramount plus #della street #paul drake #s01e21 #the case of the green-eyed sister

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fatiguing-thoughts · 3 years

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"Healing” - Chapter 2 - Paul Lahote x Reader

Summary: A short snippet of a day in the Healing series.

Read part one here :)

Monday

The aching feeling in my chest weighed me down enough to keep me in bed. It had been a week since I had felt thrown away.

I couldn’t bring myself to detangle my limbs from the sheets, today was just a day where I couldn’t get up.

I ignored the dinging of my phone, unable to bring myself to answer it. I knew it was either Leah or Paul trying to get me to get up, but it was a futile attempt.

I knew Leah had patrol today, so she wouldn’t be able to drag me out of bed. Though, Paul will probably show up eventually.

But for now, I sat in the silence, the mind-numbing atmosphere of my bedroom. Void of noise, void of happiness, void of feelings. Numb might have been the best word to describe my state.

The guilt of almost feeling relieved was eating me alive. How could I be so sad, but so relieved at the same time? Like I could finally breathe air for the first time in months, though we only broke up a few weeks ago. But unhealthy relationships will do that to you.

I ignored the footsteps that approached my bedroom door, knowing that the heavy footfall came from one who could only be Paul.

Paul.

I retreated deeper into my sheets, pulling the blanket tighter to my cold frame; cold from the lack of blood that seemed to flow through me anymore. I felt as if I was just a body, life no longer inhabiting me.

“(Y/N), wake up.” Paul lightly says, shaking my shoulder.

“No.” I huff, pulling my face deeper into the pillow.

“Yes.” He cheerfully says as he yanks the blanket off my body.

“Please, I’m so cold.” I wine, curling up into a ball.

“Sorry, you gotta get up. It’s after 10. This isn’t like you.” He says, placing a hand on my arm.

“You’re so warm.” I shiver. “Come here. Please.” I wine.

“Uh… just for a minute. But then we’re going to that waterfall.” He hesitates before lying next to me.

“Mmmmh.” I mumble, scooting closer to him.

I felt him tense up before relaxing under my touch.

Touching Paul was magnetizing. It was like fire radiated around my skin. I soaked up all his warmth like my life depended on it.

Though, these feelings were absolutely horrifying.

Guilt ate me alive, and so did fear.

I couldn’t stop myself from clinging to Paul. He was the warmth I needed, the warmth I craved.

Though, the feelings I held for him brought butterflies to my stomach. These feelings made my solemn heart beat again, beating uncontrollably. It was like how I used to feel for Paul, but intensified.

But it was only weeks since my relationship ended, I was not ready to feel this way for anyone. I didn’t want to mistake my starvation of affection for feelings. This was such a confusing way to feel. Guilt mixed with the desire to be loved, to be given affection. To feel him near, to hold onto him. I couldn’t ruin what Paul and I had-- the best friendship one could ask for.

Plus, he never felt the same for me. Surely, if he ever did-- he would have told me over the years instead of burying it in another girl.

I couldn’t risk another heartbreak, especially so soon. Especially with someone I held so close to my heart for so long.

I couldn’t risk losing Paul.

But that didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate the warmth he brought me.

I felt his strong, feverish arm wrap around me, pulling me closer into his side. “Did you sleep well?” He whispers, studying the bags under my eyes.

“No.” My voice cracked. “I had a lot on my mind.” I admit, nuzzling my head onto his chest.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Maybe we can just take a nap, I don’t think I’m ready to talk about that yet.” I yawn, pulling myself closer.

“Alright, we can take a nap.” He sighs, smirking down at me. “But you’ll be leaving this bed today.”

“That’s what you think.” I shut my eyes, smiling to myself.

“No, that’s what I know.” He chuckles.

“Mondays are always hard.” I wine, before falling into a soft slumber.

Not too much later, I woke up to see Paul’s big brown eyes watching me stir awake.

“You’re finally up, let’s get going.” He says, lightly nudging me awake.

“Ughhh, fine.” I huff, sitting up.

“Alright, not to be a jerk but you gotta shower.” He laughs. “You stink.”

“Ouch.”

“Come on, get in the shower so we can go.”

“Fine. Please don’t leave.” I sigh, walking over to get my clothes from my dresser.

“Never.”

I heard him walking over to my bathroom, followed by the sound of the water running.

I grab what I needed to change into and make my way over to the bathroom.

“Thank you, Paul.” I sigh, walking over to place my stuff on the counter.

“Of course. I made it warm for you, I know you’ve been really cold.”

I smiled at the gesture, holding my hand under the water to test it.

“I’ll be waiting in your room.” He smiles, closing the door behind him as he walks away.

As the steam took over the bathroom, I felt good. I felt good to finally shower, to feel the heat consume my frigid body. It felt like Paul. It called me out of bed, reminding me that it was the best thing that I could do.

The scents of my shampoo and soaps brought me to a place of serenity. I simply just felt good for finally being able to get myself in the shower.

After enjoying my time in the shower, I got myself all ready to go before finding Paul in my room.

“What’s the plan for today?” I ask, sitting down next to him.

“Well, that’s actually a surprise. Let’s get going.” He smiles, standing up. __________________________________ Word Count: 1001

#paul lahote #paul lahote x reader #paul lahote imagine #leah clearwater #seth clearwater #jacob black #embry call #quil ateara #sam uley #jared cameron #twilight #twilight x reader #twilight imagine

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pagingevilspawn · 3 years

Text

Loving You Is A Losing Game - chapter ten

wc: 3k

pairing: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson, Alex Karev/Izzie Stevens (mentioned), Jo Wilson/Paul Stadler (mentioned)

chapter summary: alex and jo have an argument.

rating: teen audiences and up.

chapter category: angst. hurt/comfort.

warnings: implied sex, cheating on spouse/adultery, guilt, crying, yelling, implied/referenced domestic abuse, language.

A/N: this is terrible. majority of it was written six months ago, but i don't have the effort to re-write 2000 words. i'm going to be wrapping this up in a few chapters. my personal life is very hectic right now, so i don't know when that will be, but this series is going to be coming to an end in about four or so chapters. hope you enjoy!

____

~*~

"giving us up didn't take a lot, i saw the end 'fore it began"

~*~

six months. six months since that conference in boston.

five months. five months since they saw each other again.

in the six months they'd known each other, they'd spent three weekends together. the current one being the fourth. alex and jo lay in bed together as they’d done so many times before, his fingers running up and down his arm while she drew circles on his chest. this had become normal; a habit. being with each other was so completely and utterly normal.

how wrong was that? the fact that they felt more normal with each other than they ever had with anyone else in their life. how wrong was it that they were cheating, but yet it managed to feel normal. being with each other somehow managed to feel so right.

except now things weren't the same as it had been four months ago. four months ago, they craved the touch of each other, the ability to make one another feel something.

now they didn't just crave the touch.

it was torture to be away from her. he longed for her; her skin, her scent, her lips. he longed for her touch, her words, her slender fingers, her mind. he wanted it, every second of every day he wanted it. but no matter how much he wanted it, she wasn’t his to have.

she missed him. she missed him while lying on the sofa, while sitting in class. his hands, his secure hold, his witty brain, his skillful lips, the movements of his fingers as they twirled with her hair. she missed him. it was such a messed up situation that they had put themselves in, but no matter how much space he took up in her mind, he wasn’t her’s to have.

the saturday afternoon sun trickled in through the sheer white curtains, the orange glow gleaming against their skin. it was so sound, so serene, as if nothing could go wrong if they stayed like this. in all honesty, they wished they could.

the sound of a text tone going off momentarily pops their bubble, jo letting out a groan of protest as she recognizes the beep as her's. she begrudgingly untangles herself from alex's hold, immediately missing the warmth it provided. she fishes her phone out of the bottom of her bag, small smile on her face as she can feel his eyes on her backside. the smile leaves her face once she sees his name on the screen.

Paul: Going to be a day late. I'll be back on Monday.

Brooke: okay. hope everything is good up there

whatever bubble they had preserved was now destroyed; the guilt of everything they were doing finally catching up to her in one swift motion, like a tidal wave unexpectedly crashing on shore. alex notices the change of atmosphere in the room as jo stands at the foot of the bed, a look he can't recognize splayed across her delicate features. he sends her a questioning glance, which she only responds by setting her eyes downcast, focusing on the floor as if it were the only thing in the room.

the silence in the air is heavy, the usual comfort that it usually held was gone. it hadn't been like this for them in months, not since waking up next to each other for the first time and not knowing who the person they spent the night with was.

jo sighs, shaking her head as she begins to pace the room, stopping in front of the window and looking back at him. "we can't keep doing this." she whispers, her voice breaking halfway through.

alex throws his head back onto the pillow, closing his eyes and running a hand down his face as he lets out a breath slowly. "i know." he speaks softly.

jo feels anger rise up inside of her, not sure if it was directed at herself or the man on the bed. "really?!" she shouts, "do you know alex? do you know!" she throws her hands around , nearly knocking the glass off the small table in the process.

the man sits up from his position on the bed, thankful that he still had his boxers on. "you think i don't know jo?" he asks, dumbfounded at her words, brow furrowing in confusion.

"i'm cheating on my husband!" she yells, trying to stop her eyes from watering, to no avail. she knows he knew how wrong this was. how wrong all of it was. why hadn't they stopped? why had they even started to begin with?

"and i'm cheating on my wife!" he argues back, studying her as she looks down at her feet, avoiding eye contact as she turns the curtain fabric beneath her fingers, biting her bottom lip in a worthless attempt to prevent it from wobbling.

she lets a few beats pass, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. "i know." she whispers dejectedly, watching as the people below carried on with their days. she stared as couples held each other's hands while walking across the street, mothers pushed small children in bulky strollers down crowded sidewalks. dads carried their sons on their shoulders, providing them a sense of security along with feeling like they were on top of the world. elderly couples gave each other adoring looks, ones that hadn't faded no matter how many years they had spent together. all of them were oblivious to the turmoil occurring a few stories above them in room four twenty six. everyone on the concrete streets was happy. they were okay.

why couldn't they be like that? why couldn't they be normal? why couldn't they have simply avoided their desires that night?

why, why, why.

alex appears behind her, pushing back the other curtain to look at the view she was seeing. they were all so carefree. they didn't know what it was like to have this boulder of guilt hanging over them every second of every day, one subtle movement threatening to tip it over the edge and crush everything beneath it.

he sighs. "i know exactly what it's like jo." she takes her hand in his, her thumb beginning to rub back and forth over his knuckles, something she had learned calmed her down. his touch always seemed to relax her. it was something she could melt into, like the safety of falling backwards, knowing that she'd be caught before she hit the ground.

she looks at him, tearing her eyes away from the calming scene underneath them. "why can't we just stop?" she asks him, her eyes staring at him like he held all the answers she wished to receive.

"i don't know." he answers honestly, not having the heart to look at her, focusing his attention on the business man shuffling through the crowd, talking on his cell phone while simultaneously trying to keep his briefcase from hitting the others around him.

but they both did know. they couldn't stop because of their feelings. it had stopped being just sex a long time ago. stupid, god damn feelings.

they knew it was there. the flutters in their stomach when the other person laughed, the constant need to have their hands on each other, not to mention, how much it pained them to be away from one another. that wasn't how it was supposed to be. you weren't supposed to have these feelings for someone you were sleeping with. it was supposed to be just sex. simple, goddamn amazing sex and nothing more.

they were falling, falling into dangerous territory. they were falling where there should be a safe place for them to land, but rather instead, waiting for them was a pit of roses with jagged thorns that would cut their skin and tear them apart, ripping them and bleeding until scars covered their bodies to the point they could no longer tell who they were. they were playing with fire, it was only a matter of time before they got burned.

"we need to stop this." she whispers again, making him finally meet her gaze before he turns away again.

alex flutters his eyes shut, leaning his forehead against the cool glass window. "we do." he sighs, angling his head so he could look at her. "but do we really want to?" his eyes bore into hers so intensely she couldn't look away, no matter how hard she tried. they weren't sure who the question was directed to more, him or her.

she knew she needed to stop. she needed to stop betraying her vows. she needed to stop being unfaithful to her husband; she needed to. but when she was with alex, she was free. she could talk about whatever she wanted, she didn't need to try to impress him. she was able to be herself. she was able to feel good about herself around him.

her bottom lip wobbles as she shakes her head from side to side, shutting her eyes tightly, a desperate attempt to not let the tears escape. "no." she lets out a sob, slapping a hand over her mouth to stop her cries from becoming too loud. tears streamed down her face, a mix of anger, guilt, and sorrow made up the salty liquid. but underneath it was relief, relief that she had finally admitted to herself and to alex that she wanted this. "goddamn it, i don't wanna stop." she lets the words tumble out of her mouth as she gnaws on her bottom lip. she looks up at him, pleading that he felt that same way, hoping that she wasn't making something up in her head.

alex pulls her in by the side, not noticing how she ever so slightly winces, placing a soft kiss on the top of her head, an act so tender he hardly ever did it for anyone but her. "i don't wanna stop either jo," he whispers softly into her locks of brown keeping his chin rested on her head as he moves behind her, holding her from the back, securing his arms around her waist and clasping her fidgety hands in his. he rubs soothing patterns over her knuckles, causing her to lean back into him, her figure molding into his perfectly. she breathed out a sigh of relief, relaxing at his gentle, safe touch. she missed a lot of things about alex when they were away from each other, but his touch was always the thing she longed for the most, and not just his touch under the covers. she missed what he was doing right now; how he would draw patterns on her hips, or wrap an arm around him as she leaned into his side as they lay in bed, laughing at whatever played on the TV. she missed how he would rub soothing circles over the tight spots on her neck, just harshly enough to soothe the dull ache that sat there, but not hard enough to hurt. she missed the simple acts of tenderness that he would do without even realizing it.

what he always missed about jo was her eyes. they were what drew him in the first time he saw her, the thing that made him unable to break his stare, no matter how hard he tried. he couldn't figure out what color they were, even after a countless number of hours staring directly into them. were they golden or hazel? green or brown? he didn't know, because in the dark they looked hazel with flecks of gold, but in the light they looked like pools of honey that sparkled as if they were under the stars. her eyes always gave her thoughts away. fear, worry, happiness; her eyes told him it all. he practically felt dizzy every time she would look up at him through hooded eyelids, messy hair framing her face in a way that just seemed to make her even more beautiful. he could never say no to her eyes.

"we'll be okay," he reassures her.

she lets out a long breath, sinking even more into him, comforted by the familiar smell that she couldn't get enough of. "we'll be okay."

____

water cascaded down her body, washing off the suds and circling down the drain, makeup stained water collecting at the bottom and disappearing down the pipes. she felt disgusted by herself, a myriad of careful covered, faded bruises littering her abdomen and sides. makeup was the only way alex hadn’t been able to discover her secret, since he never held a tight hold on her, his touches always soft and gentle.

she’d had to cancel their meetings three times, coming up with different excuses on every occasion he asked. i have the stomach bug. paul’s dad cancelled their get together, he’s staying home this week. too big of a test coming up to not spend every second studying. he never batted an eyelash, because why would he? they were trying—trying so hard to keep what they were doing under wraps, in order to continue. so if that meant cancelling, he wasn’t going to complain, as long as he knew that he was going to get to see her again.

she didn’t want to know what would happen if he knew the real reason she was calling off his visits, nor did she ever want to ever find out. he was a protective guy, and learning about what his dad had done to him and his siblings when he was younger was sure to bring up buried memories that he had worked so hard to overcome.

with a sigh she scrubs the shampoo out of her hair, closing her eyes and resting her head against the cool tile of the shower’s walls . she traces the bruises with her fingers, relieved when they don’t make her cry out in pain. it had been a few days after all, giving her time to heal.

it was getting better. she knew now what made him mad, and how to avoid the contact of his fists. she knew not to overcook the chicken, she knew not to ever start eating before him, and she knew that he liked to have the house spotless by the time he got home. he worked on his feet so long every day that all he really wanted once he got home was to see his wife and arrive to a clean house and a good dinner. it was getting better.

(it wasn’t really, because it seemed as if every time she learned not to do something that set him off, another thing seemed to pop in that angered him. a never ending cycle is what is was, but she still believed that someday it was all going to be okay)

she rinses the last of the conditioner out of her hair, turning off the water and listening to the soft hums of the TV play through from the other room.

she takes her time, a ritual alex hasn’t questioned by now. she uses the blow dryer as an excuse, when she’s really using foundation to carefully cover the discolorations on her skin. alex’s laugh causes her to lift her head up, worried that he would come into the room, but she relaxes when she doesn’t hear footsteps padding towards the door.

letting herself smile, she revels in it; the moments of peace brought by these hotel rooms. at home she had to worry about the time she left for school, the appearance of the house, and what sort of mood her husband would be in when he got home. here, her biggest worries were whether or not alex forgot to order food for them.

when she's fully covered (hair done to not raise any suspicions) she enters the room once more, watching from the doorway as alex laughs at another thing on the screen.

she casts a glance to the table that sat to the right of their bed, she feels her heart drop, another wave of guilt washing over her.

their opposing rings sat there, off of their fingers and discarded safely onto the side table; a way to distance themselves from the true reality of what they were doing. her ring was silver. his was gold.

they only had another hour or so before they would have to leave, back to their homes and the people they truly belonged to. she lays next to him, leaning her head on his chest when he pulls her in.

“remember,” he starts, his voice muffled thanks to his lips being in her hair. “whenever you want to stop, we’ll stop.”

she nods. “and whenever you want to stop, we’ll stop.”

he places another kiss on the crown of her head, turning his attention back to the sitcom playing on the TV. they had discussed a while back, that once what they were doing got to be too much, all they needed to do was say so and it would be over with, no questions asked.

he had it bad for her. he lo— needed her. but if she ever chose to end this, go back to being the faithful wife she was while a ring still sat on her finger, he wouldn’t hold her back, he would never wish to cause her pain.

she had it bad for him. she lo—needed him. but if he ever chose to end this, go back to being the faithful husband he was while a ring still sat on his finger, she wouldn’t hold him back, she would never wish to cause him pain.

they had each other, but at the same time they didn’t; they couldn’t. because once the weekend was over they would go back to the lives they actually lived, no longer in a fantasy bubble they had created to pull themselves away from the outside world; the real world.

in the hotel rooms, they could live in a world where they were the only two that existed, nothing in the way of being with each other the way they wanted to.

their holds on each other tighten, and only one thing is going through the both of their minds, a silent mantra that helps get them through.

they'll be okay.

(but will they?)

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anextraordinarymuse · 3 years

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Time for another trip down the Nathan x Elizabeth rabbit hole

Because it's Monday, and you know what that means my dears - we have more Nathan x Elizabeth things to discuss! Hopefully this won't be too disjointed, but I have a lot of things I want to discuss, so bear with me if it is.

To start: Elizabeth sure is giving away a lot of advice that she should be taking. Honestly, nearly every talk she had this episode with Ned, Katie, and Florence had me wanting to leap through the screen and shake her. Are you listening to yourself, Elizabeth?? DO YOU HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING!? Actually though, I think she is - I think the fact that she's saying these things is a sign that she's moving into a better headspace now - she's making sense of herself again, and replanting her feet on solid ground. One of the things I have always believed is that if you can explain something to someone else, then you have a real understanding of that thing. And if you aren't sure, sometimes trying to explain it to someone else can help you: you'll either learn that you do understand it after all, or be able to identify the gaps. But Elizabeth doesn't look at all uncertain in the scenes where she's giving advice: she appears at ease, and thoughtful, and maybe a little inspired. In fact, the only times we really see any hesitation or doubt from Elizabeth this episode is when she's with either Rosemary, or Lucas. Interesting, huh?

From a purely positional standpoint there were a lot of interestingly staged shots in this episode. Note, I mean positional literally: the way they had the characters standing, and the way some of the shots were framed, definitely felt curious. And intentional. All of the HV couples are pretty lovey-dovey when they're together in this episode, with a few exceptions ... scratch that. They're all lovey-dovey in the scenes they're in together, with the exception of Elizabeth and Lucas. If a couple is in a scene together then they are touching in some way - in this episode, they either have their arms linked, or an arm around a shoulder, or have established contact in some other way. Notably, the only actual couple that we see not like this is Carson and Faith, but that's only in two of their scenes, and in both of those they are still standing close together and giving off a clear "couple" vibe.

This is not the case for Elizabeth and Lucas at any point this episode. In fact, they have little interaction this episode as a couple. Elizabeth talks to Lucas in the saloon about the Katie and Ned situation, but there is nothing in this conversation to indicated that they are involved in any way. No physical contact, no references to their relationship - if someone who had never seen this show saw this moment they would have no way of knowing that these two people were anything but friends. And even though they go to the wedding together, the same is true there. But, more interesting than that, is where the directors decided to seat Elizabeth and Lucas. If you go back and watch the wedding scenes, you'll see that there is a clear distinction between the two sets of pews: on one side, they've seated single people ... and then Elizabeth and Lucas. I mean single literally, not as a statement on their relationship. We have Fiona (single), Robert (single), Minnie (Married, but alone in this moment due to circumstance since Joseph is officiating and Angela is playing the piano), and Molly (single, for now), and then we randomly have Elizabeth and Lucas. But they're not touching, and they really don't even look at each other for most of the ceremony. Then, on the other side of the aisle, we have all of the couples/families: Nathan and Allie, Clara and Jesse, Faith and Carson, and Rosemary and Lee. Why such an obvious split? This was purposeful on the directors' part. This is a subtle but pointed nod to where Elizabeth and Lucas's relationship is headed.

But there are a few other interesting things to note in the wedding scenes. When Joseph is officiating, he says "You've declared your desire to be one, giving yourselves to each other in a life-long covenant. To be neither selfish, nor self-serving." Now, as the camera zooms in on Lucas and Elizabeth, there are some things to note: the way Lucas moves his one hand into his other hand as Joseph talks about the life-long covenant makes me think that he wanted to take Elizabeth's hand in that moment, but didn't. Instead, he folds his hands together and can be seen kind of rubbing his thumb over the back of his hand in what I think is a sign of frustration (because he wants to hold Elizabeth's hand). But Elizabeth's hands have been folded in her lap this whole time. The camera pans over a little to Elizabeth's hands and we watch her play with her wedding rings as Joseph says "to be neither selfish nor self-serving." Joseph says a few more lines, and then we get to this moment: "With humility, gentleness, and patience," and we see Elizabeth subtly glance to her side, where Lucas is sitting. There is so much to unpack here! None of this is coincidental. Elizabeth's relationship with Lucas is entirely selfish and self-serving, and it has been from the get go. (Note: self-serving means "having concern for one's own welfare and interests before those of others."). This is a moment where Joseph doesn't know, but we do, that he has essentially just a held a mirror up to Elizabeth and made her take a good look at her actions. But! The adjectives that Joseph chose are fascinating, because they are most definitely Nathan's: humility, gentleness, and patience. If I could only use three words to describe Nathan, they would definitely be those ones. Humble, gentle, patient; yeah, that's Nathan. Then, Joseph says, "... and keeping no record of wrongs, because you will be wrong." At this point, the camera pans to Nathan (and Allie), who have both struggled this season and been wrong in one way or another. So has Elizabeth, of course, but this moment is more about Nathan and Allie still having a loving, stable relationship despite their mistakes (some of which have made things a little harder on the other one at times).

Then we get to the reception where, once again, all of the couples are together - except Elizabeth and Lucas, who are not together and do not share a single moment together. But we get a lot of information about where this "triangle" is going from other sources at this point. I haven't mentioned it yet, but one of the things we see this episode is that Allie has found a new person to focus on lately: Paul. We haven't seen a lot of moments with her and Robert, but we do see Paul, Robert, and Allie together in the phone room, where Robert looks a little displeased with how happy Allie seems to be about getting to spend all this time with Paul. Remember, Allie's had a bit of a love triangle of her own this season: she like-likes Robert, who has decided he like-likes Anna. But now, when it looks like Allie might like-like Paul, guess who comes around and suddenly starts taking notice? Yep - Robert. At the reception, Robert compliments Allie's hair and then asks her to dance. This is obviously a sweet (and funny/innocent) parallel to the Nathan/Elizabeth/Lucas triangle. And, based on that little look on Allie's face when she finds out that Fiona likes to fish, and knows how, I won't be remotely surprised if we get a moment in 8x11 that's presented in a way to make Elizabeth jealous of a possible hinting at a Nathan/Fiona pairing. I don't think it'll be on purpose, but I'm wondering if maybe Allie will invite Fiona fishing with them or some similar situation will arise, and Elizabeth will see it - and be jealous.

Moving on, though. Aside from this scene, I think the last three-ish minutes of the episode tell us some very important things. First, we get the conversation with Lucas and Nathan where Lucas tells him to stop pressuring Elizabeth. Which Nathan handles surprisingly well despite how much it upsets him. This is what's important, though: in this moment, Nathan has no way of knowing if this comment is Lucas being a dick, or if he's saying it because of something that Elizabeth has said to him. It's entirely possible that Elizabeth told Lucas that she feels Nathan is trying to pressure her, and Lucas is simply warning him off. Elizabeth and Nathan haven't actually spoken since their moment in the Mountie office, where Nathan once again told her that he was in love with her - and she ran away. Again. So, I think it's entirely reasonable that right then Nathan might be feeling a lot of things: upset, vulnerable, discouraged, weary ... he has no way of knowing (yet) if Elizabeth is feeling pressured. He walks away, and walks past Elizabeth without a word. He glances at her, but doesn't stop, and doesn't even offer a hello in passing. He just walks by. And, seconds later - seconds after Lucas has just told him to stop pressuring Elizabeth - who seeks him out but Elizabeth? Unprompted, unencouraged, unexpected - there's a tap on his shoulder and there she is. HA! Who's doing the chasing again, Lucas?

(Side note: there's another thing about this moment that we're going to talk about on its own in a minute).

When Elizabeth asks to speak with Nathan outside, he looks both surprised and nervous. By the time they get outside, he looks downright anxious, honestly. I think he was prepared for Elizabeth to tell him that she felt pressured, and that he needed to move on because she didn't feel the same way (or something similar). But again, Elizabeth does no such thing. She tells him with earnest sweetness that she doesn't blame him for Jack's death; she finally relieves him of the burden that he's been silently carrying for three years. YES!!! And then Nathan takes her hands, and there's a lot to unpack here, as well. Now, some people think that this was a romantic gesture, but I don't. I think this was just a moment of connection between two people who have been bearing a heavy burden for some time; I think Nathan is just so relieved and grateful to know that Elizabeth doesn't blame or hate him that he can't put it into words, and tries to express himself through another avenue. BUT - again, the directors have chosen to present this moment in a very curious way. First of all, Nathan reaches for her left hand first - the hand with her wedding rings, and yet we don't see them in the shot despite having seen them prominently displayed in several of her scenes with Lucas. Secondly, the way that they chose to have Nathan and Elizabeth standing is absolutely reminiscent of a bride and groom at the altar. I mean, we just saw Ned and Florence in this position a few scenes ago. This actually kind of drives me nuts. WHY did they choose to frame the shot like that? And then we see Lucas through the window, clearly outside of and apart from whatever is happening with Nathan and Elizabeth. But there is NO REASON for this moment to be shot the way it was. And IN THE SAME episode as a wedding (just a few short scenes after said wedding, even).

Which leads me into another point: I have seen some people speculating/hoping that the "huge/shocking surprise" (or however Brian Bird phrased it) in the finale is a sudden wedding between Nathan and Elizabeth, or at least a proposal. Speculation that I have outright dismissed, honestly, because this is the show that took FIVE FREAKING SEASONS to let Jack and Elizabeth get married, and has drug out this damn love triangle for a whole season longer than it needed to.

BUT.

This episode has me feeling like I ... might be wrong. I mean, I've been wrong about pretty much everything else this season, I think, so who knows? But let's look at why I'm starting to think that those possibilities might not be so far fetched.

In 8x02, Nathan is going to look at Bill's land and he tells Elizabeth before leaving that he thinks it's time he settled down. When he does see the land, he immediately starts talking about building a house. Fast forward to 8x05, where Nathan and Elizabeth share that scene in her house where Elizabeth tells Nathan that he will always be the measure of the quality of man that Allie uses as "she chooses who to marry." The wording here stuck out to me (and others) as being somewhat odd, because Elizabeth doesn't talk about falling in love or building a family or anything - she says "chooses who to marry." Sounds like that wording applies to someone other than Allie, doesn't it? Now, fast forward to 8x07 and Allie surprising Nathan and Elizabeth with that moment in Bill's office. You know what scene looks like? A sudden wedding with a judge/justice of the peace. I don't say that because that's what I want it to be - I say that because I have been to weddings just like that, and that's what that scene immediately made me think of. It looked like a freaking elopement.

Now, on to 8x09, where we get quite a bit of this wedding/marriage imagery and symbolism. First, we get Lucas's conversation with Allie where he tells her about the man that tried to come between his parents. Now, the way the story is told, it's clear that Nathan and Elizabeth are in the place of Lucas's married parents (and thus, in the role of Allie's parents) and that Lucas is the other man, the interloper. So, now we have someone outside of Nathan and Elizabeth's relationship painting them as a married couple. Actually though, let's back up a second: in the beginning of this episode we get Rosemary talking to Elizabeth where she says "I wanna know why Florence and Ned took so long to commit to each other," and then goes on to outline that they've worked closely together for awhile, have known each other for years, and both lost their spouses a while ago. We literally start the episode with a mention of time, and how ridiculous it is that so much time has passed between Florence and Ned sort of being together, and actually committing to one another. Coincidence?

Later, in the party scene, when the men go to join the women to combine their parties, there's a moment where it shows the women from the front as the men walk over (who have their backs to the camera) and Elizabeth turns and half rises out of her chair. She looks at Lucas first, but her eyes are inevitably drawn to Nathan - she actually glances between the two of them a few times in quick succession, so it's easy to miss. But the real takeaway here is the way the shot is framed when Nathan takes Elizabeth's hands: he's holding both of them again, and he draws them closer to his chest, and then they just stand there ... looking like a couple at the altar, again. Of course, since Elizabeth is blindfolded, Fiona literally has to "give her away." Now, they're not alone in this scene, but it's framed so much like a wedding shot! Elizabeth is "alone" in the scene in that we can see Fiona's hands behind her, and a hint of the ladies sitting down in the background, but Nathan is standing squarely in front of her with a man on either side of him ... almost like there's a pastor on one side, and his best man on the other. (Side note: I laughed too hard at the image of Lucas as his best man, which is who it would be just based on position since the best man is always to the left of the groom in shots from this angle).

And then, we have 8x10. An entire episode about a wedding, in which Elizabeth has no significant scenes with the man she's actually dating, and nothing but significant scenes with Nathan. Alrighty then. Now, there are only two moments left in this episode that I want to talk about. First - and I only caught this because I watched the episode with headphones and captions on - is the moment that Elizabeth approaches Nathan at the reception. Nathan is talking to Bill, and if you listen closely he says: "I want to be married. I've been in this town three years ..." and then is interrupted by Elizabeth's shoulder tap. Y'ALL!!!! I WAS SHOOK! I mean, the statement isn't really surprising on its own since Nathan said way back in the beginning of the season that he wanted to settle down, but the fact that he just outright says it like that and that's the conversation that Elizabeth (unknowingly) interrupts!?!?! Second - this moment is then immediately followed by Nathan and Elizabeth holding hands once more like a couple at the altar, complete with Lucas in the window behind them simulating where the pastor would be standing to officiate? Damn. Everyone on this show just suddenly went "subtlety, who?" That moment of hand-holding outside still just boggles my mind, honestly, because there's just no reason for it to have been framed like that ... unless they purposely wanted to engender that wedding imagery.

Like ... at this point I'm kind of like, hell, I don't know, maybe the surprise in the finale is a freaking spur of the moment wedding. Even if it isn't, though, not only is it clear that Elizabeth is going to choose Nathan, but it's clear that they'll be getting married at some point. If we keep with the tradition of the last few years of having a wedding every season (or nearly that), then it would not surprise me at all if Nathan and Elizabeth get married in season 9. At this point, the only question is whether or not Faith and Carson will get married before Nathan and Elizabeth, or not at all.

So. This basically turned in to a novel, but there was just so much to talk about (and I'm sure I missed a few things I wanted to talk about!). If you stayed all the way to the end, thank you, and - as always - let me know what you think!

#nathan x elizabeth #nathan grant #elizabeth thornton #wcth #Jess' thoughts #seriously there was just so much to talk about #and I am finally excited for these next episodes again #after like a whole season of ... not being excited #no more love triangles okay? ever

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hopevalley · 3 years

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Season 8, Episode 1: Open Season

Work was busier than expected on Monday, but the deep dive into the first episode of S8 begins now!

Scene 1: Narration, Elizabeth and Nathan, Lucas

The awkwardness between Elizabeth and Nathan was...palpable at first lol.The best part about the non-narrated part of the scene is twofold: Nathan interacting with Jack is a well-needed and very nice touch, and of course it’s always nice to see that Nathan is patient concerning Elizabeth’s situation and reassures her that she can let him know when she’s ready to go to dinner with him.

My problem with the whole thing is that...if she hasn’t spoken up about wanting that dinner date yet, and she’s not saying yes she’d like to get dinner with you now, it’s like...any sane person would assume at this point in the story that Elizabeth isn’t interested in Nathan. Worse, Nathan isn’t the kind of man who wouldn’t take a hint. I’m pretty sure this is why the opening scene felt just a little bit off. I think they ought to have let Elizabeth be a little more enthusiastic about the idea while still failing to commit to it.

To be fair to the writers, I can’t imagine it was easy for them to figure out how to open this season after such a long time gap. They let a whole winter elapse between last season and this one. How do you explain literally no major development with the love triangle in that amount of time? Especially after the way the last season ended?

Random consideration: the camera focuses on Elizabeth’s face a lot and makes her wedding ring clearly visible.

Boom, the flashback with Lucas. I think having him leave out of jealousy was a better idea than having his mother fall ill (we’ve certainly seen that enough at this point), and maybe we should also consider the fact that while Lucas was gone, Nathan didn’t really jump on the opportunity to woo Elizabeth himself.

I wonder if we’ll get an explanation for that or not. What makes Lucas so sure that after 4+ months, Elizabeth hasn’t started courting Nathan? Maybe he kept in touch with someone in town? Or he just knows Elizabeth well enough to know she wouldn’t feel quite ready to commit in that time frame anyway?

I did really like Lucas’s opening scene with Elizabeth. Honestly, he was quite likable, here: admitting he was wrong, admitting his shortcomings, apologizing. All good things. “I’m ashamed I let my jealousy get the best of me... The worst of me.” That’s such a good line.

It didn’t feel equal in enthusiasm to the Nathan scene, but I’ll have more thoughts on that later. I do believe it was on purpose.

Scene 2: Clara and Jesse’s Fight, The Café

I like the concept of some marital discord for Clara and Jesse. Marriage is easier said than done and like any serious relationship, it’s a lot of consistent maintenance. It starts out pretty well, with Jesse sleeping in the other bedroom. At this point I fully expected to find out Clara kicks in her sleep or she snores a lot or something that’s funny to hear about but really difficult to actually deal with in real life. Color me disappointed later, but I’ll get to it.

Scene 3: The Mercantile, Ned, Florence, Carson

This just set up things with Faith’s situation so there’s not much to say, but as always I do love Florence. I hope she gets some good scenes this season. And I love Ned so I hope the same for him.

Henry coming in to mail a letter was interesting, though. I’m not sure it’ll mean anything in particular later, but...it’s possible. Then again, maybe he’s just here to set our expectations regarding Faith’s return (of course it’s a long trip from Chicago) or Carson’s worry (a bit unreasonable unless he expected to hear from her at a specific stop).

Scene 4: Nathan, Dylan

Dylan is such an incredible scumbag. The spurs were a nice touch. He says things almost fondly (“She’s growing up... My little girl.”) and then wants nothing to actually do with Allie.

The guy’s actually a pretty good actor. The way he segues into being glad for Allie’s sake that Nathan wasn’t the one killed. If the next words out of his mouth weren’t a demand for go-away money you’d almost feel those words were genuine!

Scene 5: Lee and Rosemary’s Return + Faith’s Return + Dylan Part Two

Lots of energy in this scene, both good and bad. I always appreciate what Lee and Rosemary bring to the show. I genuinely just don’t care that much about Faith. I’m ready to ship her with Cowboy Brett Brewer. He gets a name, which makes me wonder if he’s gonna show up again. :3

Lol at Carson’s jelly face:

I MEAN...

Not a fan of Faith’s outfit...but to be fair we’ve never really seen Faith outside of uniform. That just doesn’t strike me as something she would wear to travel in...?

Dylan approaching Jack and Jack speaking to him was so hilarious to me. “A puppy!” It’s extra funny after he looked afraid of Rosemary. Nathan intervening was undoubtedly for the best, but I can’t imagine why he would have approached Elizabeth or Jack. He doesn’t know who they are, or their connection to Nathan. Maybe too convenient. Might have been better to have him approach someone else entirely--like Opal.

Scene 6: Nathan and Allie

It’s great Nathan’s officializing the adoption but he had literal years to do this and only chooses now, when there’s a threat? Legally Dylan doesn’t have a leg to stand on even in that day and age (he did the abandoning in the first place + Nathan is a lawman)... It kind of ruined the cute moment for me, and I think it will come back in a bad way later.

I don’t mind Nathan’s inability to confide in Elizabeth in this situation. At this point, she doesn’t need to know, and the situation is just weird enough that he probably doesn’t think he needs to dump his own problems on her.

Scene 7: Carson and Faith

I’m the jerk who just chanted “BREAK UP BREAK UP BREAK UP” during this scene in my head. I just...don’t care about Faith and Carson.

Scene 8: Bill and The Gals

I hate that they keep retconning Bill’s ability to cook well with every passing season. In season 2 and 3 he was more than satisfactory. In S4 he made dinner for Dottie and it was really nice. Now he’s godawful and doesn’t taste his own shit before letting other people try it? Come on.

This is the kind of stuff the writing team needs to cut out of the story. It’s not funny.

Worse, outspoken Fiona lying to Bill? I just don’t see it. At least Molly told him the truth...but I still am just SO tired of seeing this shit. It makes me think new writers only watched the last couple of seasons instead of all of them.

Also, if Bill is literally running the cafe most of the time, if he was bad at cooking, then...the place would have shut down ages ago. What they should lean into if they wanna do a cooking joke is that Bill isn’t good at creating recipes from scratch. Maybe he doesn’t have a strong sense of taste (my husband has this issue so it’s the first thing that comes to mind) so he’s likely to over-do things like spice or sugar or salt on accident. There’s also a lot of room for jokes about his “taste” in things that can come of it (women, clothes, et cetera).

Scene 9: Lee’s Pants

Good scene, 10/10, wouldn’t change a thing. I hope this pants thing becomes a running gag. This is the good kind of humor I want in my life. And I like that Jesse wants to emulate Lee. It’s wholesome.

Scene 10: Rosemary and Clara

The ribbon as a tissue was funny, but it was just SLIGHTLY too over the top for me.

Scene 11: Faith and Carson Again...............

“Were you jealous of that cowboy?” I think he should be. The cowboy is better. I don’t give a damn about these characters. And I genuinely hate that the strumming is Carson’s Thing Now. At the very least we should get some Carson and Bill doing a duet together which would be cool.

It just felt like it was shilling Paul and had nothing to do with the characters.

Scene 12: Mmm Money

This is arguably the most interesting scene in the episode. Lucas nodded at Nathan. Nathan went to Lucas for money. Lucas didn’t need to get the scoop to find out why Nathan needed it to loan it to him. Elizabeth is officially the least interesting part of the love triangle.

They treat her like she’s such a prize to be won, but I’m starting to worry that she’s become the new Lorigail on the show.

Anyway this scene had some gay vibes and I liked them.

Scene 13: Rosemary and Elizabeth Catch Up

YES. GOOD SCENE. It starts off fun and it gets serious, and the transition feels really natural. “Did he have reason to be [jealous]?” I’m genuinely glad this is in the episode. It needed to be. I hope Rosemary continues to ask the hard questions.

Elizabeth needs to face either dating one of them, or dating neither of them so that everybody can get on with their lives. If you’re not that enthusiastic about either of them I’d say...maybe don’t date either of them idk.

Scene 14: Nathan and Bill Talk

"If he sees you with me, then...” The problem with this scene is uh...twofold, let’s say.

Issue 1: ThEN HE WILL WHAT, NATHAN? WHAT HAS HE EVER DONE BEFORE THAT WAS SO BAD if he’s not a hard criminal? Maybe an example would be useful here...?

Issue 2: The old Bill Avery would have heard “if he SEES YOU with ME” and mentally been like, “all right so it’s only bad if he SEES ME” and spied on Nathan.

Nathan wanting Bill to stay behind in case Dylan doubles back isn’t a terrible idea, but it almost comes across more like...the writers just want Nathan alone.

Scene 15: Oil

I like the discussion and that Hickam gets to do something. I feel like Henry is low-key advising against shooting the well, and that Lucas and Hickam will end up doing it and causing an issue. It’s just setting up for the future and it’s nice to see those kinds of scenes in the series again!

Scene 16: Jesse and Lee

I’d like this scene more if I felt it gave us ANY insight into the problem Jesse and Clara are having. It mostly comes across like Jesse gets home and does nothing at all until bedtime and Clara is lonely. Could have been a better scene. It’s mostly just repetitive right now.

Scene 17: Nathan Cancels the Date

“Tomorrow’s Saturday.” Nathan’s like uhhhhh. This actually works really well to do what it’s supposed to do. By that I mean, he seems “off” so Elizabeth realizes he’s a bit stressed and leaving town = mountie business = dangerous.

I kind of wish Rosemary and Elizabeth would talk more about this, but maybe that’s coming in an episode soon...?

Scene 18: The Barbershop

Just a cute nice scene that shows a good friendship between Fiona, Clara, and Faith. I like this stuff. Keep it coming, Hallmark!

(Skipping Scene 19 because it’s just Nathan riding around...)

Scene 20: Lee and Rosemary Scheme

I really enjoyed this little bit where they decide to buy something for Clara and Jesse and we don’t get to see what it is. Super wholesome and very fun!

Scene 21: Nathan gets Ambushed

This scene was absolutely wild. Probably one of the best scenes like this that they’ve ever done. Dylan taking Nathan’s hat, “Take care of my little girl” after he takes the money and Nathan’s gun. It was super good.

Also, not too fake that Nathan was on the ground that long. If you got roped off of your horse you’d have the wind knocked out of you super hard lmao.

Scene 22: Bill & The Girls

Clara and Fiona are so cute. Bill playing the “Dad” figure to them both is really nice and it’s good for him. “I’m a lawman. I get to sneak.” What a Bill response.

(Skipping Scene 23 since it’s just Nathan finding his horse.)

Scene 24: Lucas visits with Elizabeth

Lucas and Elizabeth are flirting via a nursery rhyme. I...don’t like that LOL. But Lucas’s “Helen Bouchard taught me to read and after that I was on my own.” She really sounds unloving. This was a pretty decent scene, though.

Also, Grand Isle Louisiana had a major hurricane in 1909 and 1915.

They also seem to have been hit by more mild hurricanes in 1916 and 1917, but the 1915 one was a Cat4, so...the most notable.

Scene 25: Rosemary and Lee in the Dress Shop

This tries to solve the issue of Clara and Jesse’s marital problems, but it doesn’t actually do that. “Let Jesse read when he gets home.” “I’ll talk to Jesse.” Meh.

Scene 26: Barbershop

“Why do this when you’re so good with women’s hair?” I fully expected Fiona to say, “That’s where all the hot gossip is, of course.” I do like her gumption, though!

Scene 27: Nathan Finds Dylan

“I had to let you ambush me, so I had grounds to put you away.” COLD BUT EFFECTIVE. I appreciate this.

Imagine getting to be this smug. I wish it were me.

Anyway, long-term thoughts on this are mostly that...there is just no reasonable way Dylan’s story is over yet. It’s too juicy of a storyline to let go this easily. Allie is going to find out what Nathan did and she’s going to struggle to come to terms with it, especially after her grandfather really did try to turn his life around. Why couldn’t it be the same for her father? Why couldn’t she get lucky like that?

I hope it feels satisfying, whatever they choose to do. Otherwise this was just wrapped up too neatly/too quickly.

Scene 28: Nathan Returns

Very good scene. Nathan’s in a good mood and he does my favorite trope of all time when one person in the relationship has a child: “Why don’t we all go?” You already all know each other, so why not? It’s wholesome and good, and it shows he doesn’t care how he gets to spend time with Elizabeth, as long as he does.

Also, it takes a lot of the pressure off of her for the duration of the date and at its conclusion. This was a cute and good scene, one of the better they’ve had, I think.

Scene 29: Jesse and Lee Talk

This was a nice attempt at a talk, but it really comes off like Jesse has stopped loving Clara for no reason. That his romantic interest in her is what is causing the failure in their relationship.

The problem is: WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS CAUSING IT. NOBODY EVER SAID.

I agree that love isn’t “just” a feeling or “just” an emotion. It’s ALSO a choice. Marriage is a commitment you choose to continue every day. That is all good.

“Choose love. Then you feel it.” is probably some of the worst dialogue they’ve put in the show, though. Yuck. It left a bad taste in my mouth. It feels like it’s shaming people who legitimately fall out of love or who are in bad relationships. “If only you chose to work harder.”

I don’t think that was their intention at all, but it really soured the scene. I would have MUCH rather have had Lee get Jesse to talk about what’s wrong and then offer him pointers on how he could do better. Maybe he’s stressed out and losing himself in books, or he wishes Clara would sit and read with him because that’s something he always wanted. Or maybe Clara would be down for reading time if he read to her while she did her sewing.

There’s so much they could have done here to really send this home, but it didn’t work very well. At the very least Lee could have said, instead of ‘choose love’: CHOOSE COMMUNICATION. Make sure she knows you still feel that way about her.

The biggest thing is like, Lee could also be very encouraging in saying like, the honeymoon phase doesn’t last forever but just because things settle down doesn’t mean the love is less.

THERE IS SO MUCH GOOD STUFF THEY COULD HAVE WRITTEN FOR THIS but they chose “Choose love. Then you feel it.” WTF. That’s awful advice.

Scene 30: Jesse and Clara

Him bringing her flowers was a nice touch, and her getting him the book was also nice. The tandem bike was SO unexpected to me and I loved it. It’s just goofy enough that it works. The best part is that they know it’s not going to fix anything, but it’s still a fun and nice thing to do, and that’s wonderful for Rosemary and Lee. They both like to make the people they care about happy.

Scene 31: Mama Bouchard

MILF ALERT.

Elizabeth is just so shook at all of this she doesn’t say a damn thing for so long it made my palms feel sweaty.

“Someone ought to take an interest in your writing, don’t you think?” I rewatched the episode to understand the tone, and it’s a little hoity-toity/uppity, but she actually doesn’t sound condescending. It’s good for an editor to meet the author, after all, and meet to talk about their writing/book. This has always been custom, even in the early 1900s. Authors didn’t usually get their work published by an editor they’d never met (though of course, you will find some exceptions).

From the little we saw, Helen seems fine. The preview for the next episode tells us she’s UH, AN EDITOR DOING HER JOB, so I’m not looking forward to the editor being the bad guy, but I guess I’ll have to deal with that when it arrives. (To be clear, Elizabeth has never proved to the audience that she’s a Good Writer, let alone a Great Writer. She’s also not experienced which means her work probably NEEDS SOME WORK.)

Anyway, Elizabeth is immediately rude as HELL. Nobody can make an excuse for this. Helen isn’t THAT big of a deal. There are other publishers. Your father is filthy rich. If she changes her mind about your book you can pub to someone via your father if you have to. Like...Helen wouldn’t have taken you on if she didn’t see any potential in you.

Even if it was a big deal, Elizabeth has NEVER been a flake. EVER.

This is a classic case of a writer forcing the character to go out of character in order to bend to what the plot dictates.

If I were Nathan, I’d drop Elizabeth like a brick.

How to fix this scene? I’ll honestly have to think about that for a while. This was the first hint of truly bad writing this season. The bit with Lee and “choose love” was careless writing, but this scene with Nathan is just Bad.

The thing is, I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. I know they put this in there so that it looks like she’ll choose Lucas because she never even goes out with Nathan, and then BOOM. I know it’s meant to be this big thing about how she’s scared to feel anything for Nathan because Lucas is the safer option and also a good man (so why would she fall for the more frightening option?).

But this was not the right way to do this type of scene. I hope to God in the next episode someone says something about it. Allie could tell her it was rude and it hurt Nathan’s feelings/you shouldn’t have said yes if you didn’t want to. It’d be fully in character for her. Rosemary could also say something similar. If they do, I might be able to forgive this...but if it’s not called attention to by the other characters, then it’s a massive failure as a scene to me.

Did I miss anything? Do you want my thoughts on something in particular? Shoot me a message HERE and I’ll do my best to answer!

#when calls the heart #long post #season 8 shenanigans #season 8 spoilers #episode write ups

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96harmony96 · 3 years

Text

Chapter one.

“We should head to a bar and celebrate.”

I wasn’t surprised by my roommate’s emphatic pronouncement. Cary Taylor found excuses to celebrate, no matter how small and inconsequential. I’d always considered it part of his charm. “I’m sure drinking the night before starting a new job is a bad idea.”

“Come on, camila.” Cary sat on our new living room floor amid a half-dozen moving boxes and flashed his winning smile. We’d been unpacking for days, yet he still looked amazing. Leanly built, dark-haired, and green-eyed, Cary was a man who rarely looked anything less than absolutely gorgeous on any day of his life. I might have resented that if he hadn’t been the dearest person on earth to me.

“I’m not talking about a bender,” he insisted. “Just a glass of wine or two. We can hit a happy hour and be in by eight.”

“I don’t know if I’ll make it back in time.” I gestured at my yoga pants and fitted workout tank. “After I time the walk to work, I’m going to hit the gym.”

“Walk fast, work out faster.” Cary’s perfectly executed arched brow made me laugh. I fully expected his million-dollar face to appear on billboards and fashion magazines all over the world one day. No matter his expression, he was a knockout.

“How about tomorrow after work?” I offered as a substitute. “If I make it through the day, that’ll be worth celebrating.”

“Deal. I’m breaking in the new kitchen for dinner.”

“Uh…” Cooking was one of Cary’s joys, but it wasn’t one of his talents. “Great.”

Blowing a wayward strand of hair off his face, he grinned at me. “We’ve got a kitchen most restaurants would kill for. There’s no way to screw up a meal in there.”

Dubious, I headed out with a wave, choosing to avoid a conversation about cooking. Taking the elevator down to the first floor, I smiled at the doorman when he let me out to the street with a flourish.

The moment I stepped outside, the smells and sounds of Manhattan embraced me and invited me to explore. I was not merely across the country from my former home in San Diego, but seemingly worlds away. Two major metropolises—one endlessly temperate and sensually lazy, the other teeming with life and frenetic energy. In my dreams, I’d imagining living in a walkup in Brooklyn, but being a dutiful daughter, I found myself on the Upper West Side instead. If not for Cary living with me, I would’ve been miserably lonely in the sprawling apartment that cost more per month than most people made in a year.

The doorman tipped his hat to me. “Good evening, Miss Cabello. Will you need a cab this evening?”

“No thanks, Paul.” I rocked onto the rounded heels of my fitness shoes. “I’ll be walking.”

He smiled. “It’s cooled down from this afternoon. Should be nice.”

“I’ve been told I should enjoy the June weather before it gets wicked hot.”

“Very good advice, Miss Cabello.”

Stepping out from under the modern glass entrance overhang that somehow meshed with the age of the building and its neighbors, I enjoyed the relative quiet of my tree-lined street before I reached the bustle and flow of traffic on Broadway. One day soon, I hoped to blend right in, but for now I still felt like a fraudulent New Yorker. I had the address and the job, but I was still wary of the subway and had trouble hailing cabs. I tried not to walk around wide-eyed and distracted, but it was hard. There was just so much to see and experience.

The sensory input was astonishing—the smell of vehicle exhaust mixed with food from vendor carts, the shouts of hawkers blended with music from street entertainers, the awe-inspiring range of

faces and styles and accents, the gorgeous architectural wonders…And the cars. Jesus Christ. The frenetic flow of tightly packed cars was unlike anything I’d ever seen anywhere.

There was always an ambulance, patrol car, or fire engine trying to part the flood of yellow taxis with the electronic wail of ear-splitting sirens. I was in awe of the lumbering garbage trucks that navigated tiny one-way streets and the package delivery drivers who braved the bumper-to-bumper traffic while facing rigid deadlines.

Real New Yorkers cruised right through it all, their love for the city as comfortable and familiar as a favorite pair of shoes. They didn’t view the steam billowing from potholes and vents in the sidewalks with romantic delight and they didn’t blink an eye when the ground vibrated beneath their feet as the subway roared by below, while I grinned like an idiot and flexed my toes. New York was a brand new love affair for me. I was starry-eyed and it showed.

So I had to really work at playing it cool as I made my way over to the building where I would be working. As far as my job went, at least, I’d gotten my way. I wanted to make a living based on my own merits and that meant an entry-level position. Starting the next morning, I would be the assistant to Mark Garrity at Waters Field & Leaman, one of the preeminent advertising agencies in the US. My stepfather, mega-financier Richard Stanton, had been annoyed when I took the job, pointing out that if I’d been less prideful I could’ve worked for a friend of his instead and reaped the benefits of that connection.

“You’re as stubborn as your father,” he’d said. “It’ll take him forever to pay off your student loans on a cop’s salary.”

That had been a major fight, with my dad unwilling to back down. “Hell if another man’s gonna pay for my daughter’s education,” Alejandro Cabello had said when Stanton made the offer. I respected that. I suspected Stanton did, too, although he would never admit it. I understood both men’s sides, because I’d fought to pay off the loans myself…and lost. It was a point of pride for my father.

My mother had refused to marry him, but he’d never wavered from his determination to be my dad in every way possible.

Knowing it was pointless to get riled up over old frustrations, I focused on getting to work as quickly as possible. I’d deliberately chosen to clock the short trip during a busy time on a Monday, so I was pleased when I reached the Crossfire Building, which housed Waters Field & Leaman, in less than thirty minutes.

I tipped my head back and followed the line of the building all the way up to the slender ribbon of sky. The Crossfire was seriously impressive, a sleek spire of gleaming sapphire that pierced the clouds. I knew from my previous interviews that the interior on the other side of the ornate copper-framed revolving doors was just as awe-inspiring, with golden-veined marble floors and walls, and brushed aluminum security desk and turnstiles.

I pulled my new ID card out of the inner pocket of my pants and held it up for the two guards in black business suits at the desk. They stopped me anyway, no doubt because I was majorly underdressed, but then they cleared me through. After I completed an elevator ride up to the twentieth floor, I’d have a general time frame for the whole route from door to door. Score.

I was walking toward the bank of elevators when a svelte, beautifully groomed brunette caught her purse on a turnstile and upended it, spilling a deluge of change. Coins rained onto the marble and rolled merrily away, and I watched people dodge the chaos and keep going as if they didn’t see it. I winced in sympathy and crouched to help the woman collect her money, as did one of the guards.

“Thank you,” she said, shooting me a quick harried smile.

I smiled back. “No problem. I’ve been there.”

I’d just squatted to reach a nickel lying near the entrance when I ran into a pair of luxurious black oxfords draped in tailored black slacks. I waited for a beat for the person to move out of my way and when they didn’t, I arched my neck back to allow my line of sight to rise. The custom three-piece suit hit more than a few of my hot buttons, but it was the tall, powerfully lean body inside it that made it sensational. Still, as hot as all that magnificent maleness was, it wasn’t until I reached the person's face that I went down for the count.

Wow. Just…wow. She sank into an elegant crouch directly in front of me. Hit with all that exquisite femininity at eye-level, I could only stare. Stunned.

Then something shifted in the air between us.

As she stared back, she altered…as if a shield slid away from her eyes, revealing a scorching force of will that sucked the air from my lungs. The intense magnetism she exuded grew in strength, becoming a near tangible impression of vibrant and unrelenting power.

Reacting purely on instinct, I shifted backward. And sprawled flat on my ass.

My elbows throbbed from the violent contact with the marble floor, but I scarcely registered the pain. I was too preoccupied with staring, riveted by the woman in front of me. Inky black hair shoulder length framed a breathtaking face. Her bone structure would make a sculptor weep with joy, while a firmly etched mouth, a blade of a nose, and intensely Emerald green eyes made her savagely gorgeous. Those eyes narrowed slightly, her features otherwise schooled into impassivity.

Her dress shirt and suit were both black, but her tie perfectly matched those brilliant irises. Her eyes were shrewd and assessing, and they bored into me. My heartbeat quickened; my lips parted to accommodate faster breaths. she smelled sinfully good. Not cologne. Body wash, maybe. Or shampoo. Whatever it was, it was mouthwatering, as was she.

she held out a hand to me, exposing onyx cufflinks and a very expensive-looking watch.

With a shaky inhalation, I placed my hand in hers. My pulse leaped when her grip tightened. Her touch was electric, sending a shock up my arm that raised the hairs on my nape. she didn’t move for a moment, a frown line marrying the space between arrogantly slashed brows.

“Are you all right?”

Her voice was cultured and smooth, with a rasp that made my stomach flutter. It brought sex to mind. Extraordinary sex. I thought for a moment that she might be able to make me orgasm just by talking long enough.

My lips were dry, so I licked them before answering. “I’m fine.”

she stood with economical grace, pulling me up with her. We maintained eye contact because I was unable to look away. she was younger than I’d assumed at first. Younger than thirty would be my guess, but her eyes were much worldlier. Hard and sharply intelligent.

I felt drawn to her, as if a rope bound my waist and she was slowly, inexorably pulling it.

Blinking out of my semi-daze, I released her. she wasn’t just beautiful; she was…enthralling. she was the kind of woman that made a person want to rip her shirt open and watch the buttons scatter along with her inhibitions. I looked at her in her civilized, urbane, outrageously expensive suit and thought of raw, primal, sheet-clawing fucking.

she bent down and retrieved the ID card I hadn’t realized I’d dropped, freeing me from that provocative gaze. My brain stuttered back into gear.

I was irritated with myself for feeling so awkward while she was so completely self-possessed. And why? Because I was dazzled, damn it.

she glanced up at me and the pose—she's nearly kneeling before me—skewed my equilibrium again. she held my gaze as she rose. “Are you sure you’re alright? You should sit down for a minute.”

My face heated. How lovely to appear awkward and clumsy in front of the most self-assured and graceful woman I’d ever met. “I just lost my balance. I’m okay.”

Looking away, I caught sight of the woman who’d dumped the contents of her purse. She thanked the guard who’d helped her; then turned to approach me, apologizing profusely. I faced her and held out the handful of coins I’d collected, but her gaze snagged on the god in the suit and she promptly forgot me altogether. After a beat, I just reached over and dumped the change into the woman’s bag. Then I risked a glance at the woman again, finding her watching me even as the brunette gushed thank-yous. To her. Not to me, of course, the one who’d actually helped.

I talked over her. “May I have my badge, please?”

she offered it back to me. Although I made an effort to retrieve it without touching her, her fingers brushed mine, sending that charge of awareness into me all over again.

“Thank you,” I muttered before skirting her and pushing out to the street through the revolving door. I paused on the sidewalk, gulping in a breath of New York air redolent with a million different things, some good and some toxic.

There was a sleek black Bentley SUV in front of the building and I saw my reflection in the spotless limo tinted windows. I was flushed and my brown eyes were overly bright. I’d seen that look on my face before—in the bathroom mirror just before I went to bed with a man. It was my I’m-ready-to-fuck look and it had absolutely no business being on my face now.

Christ. Get a grip.

Five minutes with Miss. Dark and Dangerous, and I was filled with an edgy, restless energy. I could still feel the pull of her, the inexplicable urge to go back inside where she was. I could make the argument that I hadn’t finished what I’d come to the Crossfire to do, but I knew I’d kick myself for it later. How many times was I going to make an ass of myself in one day?

“Enough,” I scolded myself under my breath. “Moving on.”

Horns blared as one cab darted in front of another with only inches to spare and then slammed on the brakes as daring pedestrians stepped into the intersection seconds before the light changed. Shouting ensued, a barrage of expletives and hand gestures that didn’t carry real anger behind them. In seconds all the parties would forget the exchange, which was just one beat in the natural tempo of the city.

As I melded into the flow of foot traffic and set off toward the gym, a smile teased my mouth. Ah, New York, I thought, feeling settled again. You rock.

I’d planned on warming up on a treadmill, then capping off the hour with a few of the machines, but when I saw that a beginners’ kickboxing class was about to start, I followed the mass of waiting students into that instead. By the time it was over, I felt more like myself. My muscles quivered with the perfect amount of fatigue and I knew I’d sleep hard when I crashed later.

“You did really well.”

I wiped the sweat off my face with a towel and looked at the young man who spoke to me. Lanky and sleekly muscular, he had keen brown eyes and flawless café au lait skin. His lashes were enviably thick and long, while his head was shaved bald.

“Thank you.” My mouth twisted ruefully. “Pretty obvious it was my first time, huh?”

He grinned and held out his hand. “Parker Smith.”

“Camila Cabello.”

“You have a natural grace, camila. With a little training you could be a literal knockout. In a city like New York, knowing self-defense is imperative.” He gestured over to a corkboard hung on the wall. It was covered in thumbtacked business cards and fliers. Tearing off a flag from the bottom of a fluorescent sheet of paper, he held it out to me. “Ever heard of Krav Maga?”

“In a Jennifer Lopez movie.”

“I teach it, and I’d love to teach you. That’s my website and the number to the studio.”

I admired his approach. It was direct, like his gaze, and his smile was genuine. I’d wondered if he was angling toward a pickup, but he was cool enough about it that I couldn’t be sure.

Parker crossed his arms, which showed off cut biceps. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and long shorts. His Converse sneakers looked comfortably beat up and tribal tattoos peeked up from his collar. “My website has the hours. You should come by and watch, see if it’s for you.”

“I’ll definitely think about it.”

“Do that.” He extended his hand again, and his grip was solid and confident. “I hope to see you.”

The apartment smelled fabulous when I got back home and Adele was crooning soulfully through the surround sound speakers about chasing pavements. I looked across the open floor plan into the kitchen and saw Cary swaying to the music while stirring something on the range. There was an open bottle of wine on the counter and two goblets, one of which was half-filled with red wine.

“Hey,” I called out as I got closer. “Whatcha cooking? And do I have time for a shower first?”

He poured wine into the other goblet and slid it across the breakfast bar to me, his movements practiced and elegant. No one would know from looking at him that he’d spent his childhood bouncing between his drug-addicted mother and foster homes, followed by adolescence in juvenile detention facilities and state-run rehabs. “Pasta with meat sauce. And hold the shower, dinner’s ready. Have fun?”

“Once I got to the gym, yeah.” I pulled out one of the teakwood barstools and sat. I told him about the kickboxing class and Parker Smith. “Wanna go with me?”

“Krav Maga?” Cary shook his head. “That’s hardcore. I’d get all bruised up and that would cost me jobs. But I’ll go with you to check it out, just in case this guy’s a wack.”

I watched him dump the pasta into a waiting colander. “A wack, huh?”

My dad had taught me to read guys pretty well, which was how I’d known the god in the suit was trouble. Regular people offered token smiles when they helped someone, just to make a momentary connection that smoothed the way.

Then again, I hadn’t smiled at him either.

“Baby girl,” Cary said, pulling bowls out of the cupboard, “you’re a sexy, stunning woman. I question any man who doesn’t have the balls to ask you outright for a date.”

I wrinkled my nose at him.

He set a bowl in front of me. It contained tiny tubes of salad noodles covered in a skimpy tomato sauce with lumps of ground beef and peas. “You’ve got something on your mind. What is it?”

Hmm…I caught the handle of the spoon sticking out of the bowl and decided not to comment on the food. “I think I ran into the hottest person on the planet today. Maybe the hottest woman in the history of the world.”

“Oh? I thought that was me. Do tell me more.” Cary stayed on the other side of the counter, preferring to stand and eat.

I watched him take a couple bites of his own concoction before I felt brave enough to try it myself. “Not much to tell, really. I ended up sprawled on my ass in the lobby of the Crossfire and she gave me a hand up.”

“Tall or short? Blond or dark? Built or lean? Eye color?”

I washed down my second bite with some wine. “Tall. Dark. Lean and built. green eyes. Filthy rich, judging by her clothes and accessories. And she was insanely sexy. You know how it is—some hot people don’t make your hormones go crazy, while some unattractive people have massive sex appeal. This woman had it all.”

My belly fluttered as it had when Dark and Dangerous touched me. In my mind, I remembered her breathtaking face with crystal clarity. It should be illegal for a woman to be that mind-blowing. I was still recovering from the frying of my brain cells.

Cary set his elbow on the counter and leaned in, his long bangs covering one vibrant green eye. “So what happened after she helped you up?”

I shrugged. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I left.”

“What? You didn’t flirt with her?”

I took another bite. Really, the meal wasn’t bad. Or else I was just starving. “she wasn’t the kind of girl you flirt with, Cary.”

“There is no such thing as a girl you can’t flirt with. Even the happily married ones enjoy a little harmless flirtation now and then.”

“There was nothing harmless about this girl,” I said dryly.

“Ah, one of those.” Cary nodded sagely. “Bad boys and girls can be fun, if you don’t get too close.”

Of course he would know; men and women of all ages fell at his feet. Still, he somehow managed to pick the wrong partner every time. He’d dated stalkers, and cheaters, and lovers who threatened to kill themselves over him, and lovers with significant others they didn’t tell him about…Name it, he’d been through it.

“I can’t see this woman ever being fun,” I said. “she was way too intense. Still, I bet she'd be awesome in the sack with all that intensity.”

“Now you’re talking. Forget the real person. Just use ther face in your fantasies and make them perfect there.”

Preferring to get the girl out of my head altogether, I changed the subject. “You have any go-sees tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Cary launched into the details of his schedule, mentioning a jeans advertisement, self-tanner, underwear, and cologne.

I shoved everything else out of my mind and focused on him and his growing success. The demand for Cary Taylor was increasing by the day, and he was building a reputation with photographers and accounts for being both professional and prompt. I was thrilled for him and so proud. He’d come a long way and been through so much.

It wasn’t until after dinner that I noticed the two large gift boxes propped against the side of the sectional sofa.

“What are those?”

“Those,” Cary said, joining me in the living room, “are the ultimate.”

I knew immediately they were from Stanton and my mom. Money was something my mother needed to be happy and I was glad Stanton, husband #3, was not only able to fill that need for her but all her many others as well. I often wished that could be the end of it, but my mom had a difficult time accepting that I didn’t view money the same way she did. “What now?”

He threw his arm around my shoulders, easy enough for him to do because he was taller by five inches. “Don’t be ungrateful. He loves your mom. He loves spoiling your mom, and your mom loves spoiling you. As much as you don’t like it, he doesn’t do it for you. He does it for her.”

Sighing, I conceded his point. “What are they?”

“Glam threads for the advocacy center’s fundraiser dinner on Saturday. A bombshell dress for you and a Brioni tux for me, because buying gifts for me is what he does for you. You’re more tolerant if you have me around to listen to you bitch.”

“Damn straight. Thank God he knows that.”

“Of course he knows. Stanton wouldn’t be a bazillionaire if he didn’t know everything.” Cary caught my hand and tugged me over. “Come on. Take a look.”

I pushed through the revolving door of the Crossfire into the lobby ten minutes before nine the next morning. Wanting to make the best impression on my first day, I’d gone with a simple sheath dress paired with black pumps that I slid on in replacement of my walking shoes on the elevator ride up. My brown hair was twisted up in an artful chignon that resembled a figure eight, courtesy of Cary. I was hair-inept, but he could create styles that were glamorous masterpieces. I wore the small pearl studs my dad had given me as a graduation gift and the Rolex from Stanton and my mother.

I had begun to think I’d put too much care into my appearance, but as I stepped into the lobby I remembered being sprawled across the floor in my workout clothes and I was grateful I didn’t look anything like that graceless girl. The two security guards didn’t seem to put two and two together when I flashed them my ID card on the way to the turnstiles.

Twenty floors later, I was exiting into the vestibule of Waters Field & Leaman. Before me was a wall of bulletproof glass that framed the double-door entrance to the reception area. The receptionist at the crescent-shaped desk saw the badge I held up to the glass. She hit the button that unlocked the doors as I put my ID away.

“Hi, Megumi,” I greeted her when I stepped inside, admiring her cranberry-colored blouse. She was mixed race, a little bit Asian for sure, and very pretty. Her hair was dark and thick, and cut into a sleek bob that was shorter in the back and razor sharp in the front. Her sloe eyes were brown and warm, and her lips were full and naturally pink.

“camila, hi. Mark’s not in yet, but you know where you’re going, right?”

“Absolutely.” With a wave, I took the hallway to the left of the reception desk all the way to the end, where I made another left turn and ended up in a formerly open space now partitioned into cubicles. One was mine and I went straight to it.

I dropped my purse and the bag holding my walking flats into the bottom drawer of my utilitarian metal desk; then booted up my computer. I’d brought a couple of things to personalize my space and I pulled them out. One was a framed collage of three photos—me and Cary on Coronado beach, my mom and Stanton on his yacht in the French Riviera, and my dad on duty in his City of Oceanside, California, police cruiser. The other item was a colorful arrangement of glass flowers that Cary had given me just that morning as a “first day” gift. I tucked it beside the small grouping of photos, and sat back to take in the effect.

“Good morning, Camila.”

I pushed to my feet to face my boss. “Good morning, Mr. Garrity.”

“Call me Mark, please. Come on over to my office.”

I followed him across the strip of hallway, once again thinking that my new boss was very easy to look at with his gleaming dark skin, trim goatee, and laughing brown eyes. Mark had a square jaw and a charmingly crooked smile. He was trim and fit, and he carried himself with a confident poise that inspired trust and respect.

He gestured at one of the two seats in front of his glass and chrome desk, and waited until I sat to settle into his Aeron chair. Against the backdrop of sky and skyscrapers, Mark looked accomplished and powerful. He was, in fact, just a junior account manager and his office was a closet compared to the ones occupied by the directors and executives, but no one could fault the view.

He leaned back and smiled. “Did you get settled into your new apartment?”

I was surprised he remembered, but I appreciated it, too. I’d met him during my second interview and liked him right away.

“For the most part,” I answered. “Still a few stray boxes here and there.”

“You moved from San Diego, right? Nice city, but very different from New York. Do you miss the palm trees?”

“I miss the dry air. The humidity here is taking some getting used to.”

“Wait ’til summer hits.” He smiled. “So…it’s your first day and you’re my first assistant, so we’ll have to figure this out as we go. I’m not used to delegating, but I’m sure I’ll pick it up quick.”

I was instantly at ease. “I’m eager to be delegated to.”

“Having you around is a big step up for me, Camila. I’d like you to be happy working here. Do you drink coffee?”

“Coffee is one of my major food groups.”

“Ah, an assistant after my own heart.” His smile widened. “I’m not going to ask you to fetch coffee for me, but I wouldn’t mind if you helped me figure out how to use the new one-cup coffee brewers they just put in the break rooms.”

I grinned. “No problem.”

“How sad is it that I don’t have anything else for you?” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Why don’t I show you the accounts I’m working on and we’ll go from there?”

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Mark touched bases with two clients and had a long meeting with the creative team working on concept ideas for a trade school. It was a fascinating process seeing firsthand how the various departments picked up the baton from each other to carry a campaign from proposition to fruition. I might’ve stayed late just to get a better feel of the layout of the offices, but my phone rang at ten minutes to five.

“Mark Garrity’s office. Camila Cabello speaking.”

“Get your ass home so we can go out for the drink you rain-checked on yesterday.”

Cary’s mock sternness made me smile. “All right, all right. I’m coming.”

Shutting down my computer, I cleared out. When I reached the bank of elevators, I pulled out my cell to text a quick “on my way” note to Cary. A ding alerted me to which car was stopping on my floor and I moved over to stand in front of it, briefly returning my attention to hitting the send button. When the doors opened, I took a step forward. I glanced up to watch where I was going and green eyes met mine. My breath caught.

The sex god was the lone occupant.

#camren #lauren jauregay #lauren jauregui #fantasy #fanfic #camila coelho

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slashhinginghasher · 4 years

Note

You, 87 years ago: (I seriously have an entire childhood planned out for Jesse based on nothing but that 2-second flashback in L2R2, but that’s a beast for a different post.) Us, checking watch: Is it time for this post yet??

How To Raise A Serial Killer

Paul Cromeans was a mean son of a bitch. Anyone in town would attest to that. He was drunk more often than he was sober and liked to talk with his fists. Rumor had it he’d beaten his wife to death and hidden her body in the swamp. Other folks said that was stupid, that she’d just gotten tired of being a punching bag and high-tailed it out of there. Whatever the truth was, she’d vanished seemingly overnight, leaving Paul behind with their infant son. When little Jesse was old enough to ask about his mother, Paul - who would never accept the consequences of his actions - told the boy that she’d been a gold-digging whore who ran off with a richer man.

He blamed the specter of his wife for all the woes in his life. When the windows leaked during hurricane season, it was because she had never taken good care of the house. When it became clear that Jesse would never talk, it was because she smoked and drank while she was pregnant. When he turned his fists on his son, it was because she had left him a lonely and desolate man instead of supporting him the way a wife should.

***

Paul worked nights cleaning the county funeral home. The pay wasn’t much: it was enough for Paul’s drinks and his smokes and to keep the bank away from their doorstep, but not enough for childcare. When Jesse grew out of his infant cuteness and the neighborhood ladies would no longer watch him for free, Paul started bringing him to work with him. He’d sit the boy on a chair in the foyer with strict instructions not to move, and shake him awake hours later when it was time to go home.

Jesse listened, at first. The funeral home was scary in the dark, the proprietor looked old and mean, and there were probably ghosts. He’d huddle in whatever chair his father plunked him down in, refusing to even let his feet touch the floor. But as time passed, he got older, braver, and more bored, and started to explore the shadowy depths of the building. One night, venturing deeper than he’d dared before, he’d stumbled upon the proprietor working over one of the deceased. It was a young woman, grey-skinned and nude on the metal table. Jesse froze in the doorway.

It was the first dead human he’d seen, and the first naked woman. He was eight years old.

He must have made some sort of noise, because the proprietor looked up from his work and beckoned Jesse inside. The boy obeyed, more afraid of angering the old man than he was of the corpse.

“Go on, then,” the proprietor ordered in his smoker’s rasp. “Touch her.” Jesse didn’t move. The proprietor scoffed at the boy’s hesitation and grabbed his hand, forcing him to touch the dead woman’s foot. Jesse cringed, half-expecting the body to move, but it remained as cold and still as the dead animals he sometimes found on the side of the road.

“See?” the proprietor said. “Ain’t nothing to be afraid of. She’s just meat.”

Shortly after that, Paul started leaving Jesse home alone when he went to work. Jesse didn’t think it had anything to do with the body, but he was too scared to ask.

***

School was hard. Not because Jesse was stupid - he wasn’t - but because he was smart and no one else knew it. His classmates pushed him around and called him names because his clothes were shabby and his daddy had punched Mark’s daddy at the bar last weekend and he physically couldn’t tell them to stop. Teachers ignored him because he couldn’t talk. When he did well on tests, they accused him of cheating, so he stopped trying. He still listened to their lessons, because they were interesting, but he sat in the back of the classroom and doodled skulls and broken stick figures in the margins of his worksheets.

His only friend was the old, kindly school librarian who let him eat lunch among the shelves. She had managed to dig up a book about sign language, and sat with him patiently as he signed the alphabet over and over with clumsy fingers. But she died of a heart attack when Jesse was ten, and her replacement wasn’t anywhere as sympathetic, and he was forced to return to the cruel company of his peers. He stole the sign language book from the library out of spite and practiced signing in the dirty mirror at home.

***

Jesse’s relationship with his father was rocky. Paul was often too drunk to read the notes Jesse wrote, and he refused to waste his time learning how to wave his hands around like a “fuckin’ fairy.” This communicative gap made even the most basic interactions more difficult than they should have been.

Their only common ground was hunting, where Jesse proved to be a natural. When Paul was in a rare good mood, he’d brag to the other men at the bar about how his boy could sneak close enough to a deer to slap it on the rump if he had half a mind to. And if Jesse seemed to prefer gutting the carcasses over shooting, well. Every man should know how to butcher his own kill.

***

Jesse had his first major growth spurt when he was fourteen, and entered high school a lanky, gangling giant of a boy. The physical bullying stopped, his sheer size enough to deter most people, but the name-calling grew worse, more targeted. The teachers saw his size and his silence and assumed he was some kind of idiot. He started walking with a hunch, wishing he could shrink down and disappear into the crowd.

High school was also where Jesse first noticed Lindsey Forrester. She had hair like corn silk, a smile like a movie star’s, and the bluest eyes you ever did see. Compared to the dead woman from the funeral home and the crinkled pictures in Paul’s Playboys, Lindsey was like a ray of sunshine. Jesse was pretty sure that even if he could talk, he’d never be able to form a sentence around her. Even though he was pushing 6’4”, she made him feel three inches tall. She didn’t make fun of him, but she didn’t talk to him, either. She was the only one whose attention he would have welcomed, and she didn’t even notice him.

So it was something of a shock when she asked him out in 11th grade. He said yes, naturally, and was even able to make her laugh through the awkwardness after she asked for his phone number out of habit. (It was the only time his muteness ever came in handy; he would’ve been mortified to admit his house didn’t have a phone.) He skipped class on Friday to scrub his father’s dirty old car to spotlessness, and stole Paul’s only nice shirt from the closet after he passed out drunk.

Jesse waited outside the diner for three hours before he accepted that Lindsey wasn’t going to show up. Come Monday, everyone was sneaking glances at him and snickering behind their hands. On Tuesday, Lindsey announced that she and Mark were dating.

He started to understand why his father spoke so harshly about his mother.

***

Paul’s liver gave up the ghost the summer after Jesse graduated high school, dragging the rest of Paul along with it. The coroner didn’t even bother with an autopsy; everyone knew Paul Cromeans would drink himself to death one day. No one expected Jesse to mourn, and he didn’t. He chose the cheapest burial option, turned the ramshackle house over to the bank, and left town with nothing but his hunting knife and his father’s beat up car.

It was fortunate they hadn’t run a toxicology panel on Paul.

***

Jesse returned to town only once, the year he turned 21.

No one knew where he’d gotten the money from. Rumor had it he was running drugs for the cartel in Miami. Other folks said that was stupid, that he’d just gotten lucky or maybe found a job with one of the new tech companies that were popping up everywhere. Whatever the method, Jesse Cromeans rolled into town with a new car, new tattoos, and a pair of designer sunglasses, and bought his childhood home back from the bank. Cash.

He’d filled out, too, his muscles drawing admiring looks from the girls who wouldn’t give him the time of day at school. Including Lindsey Forrester.

“I never got to tell you how sorry I was about your dad,” she murmured as she straddled him in the backseat. “You left town so fast, I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She and Mark were set to be married the following spring. Her engagement ring was currently somewhere under Jesse’s passenger seat.

“I was such an idiot for standing you up in high school,” she sighed as they shared a cigarette afterwards. “It was a bet, but I totally would’ve shown up if I’d known this was how things would turn out.”

“How much did you win?” Jesse asked.

“Nothing,” she said. “It was just a stupid dare between stupid kids.”

“Now that’s a damn shame.”

“Why?” Lindsey giggled, trying and failing to blow a smoke ring.

“Because that means you died for nothing.”

***

The last thing Jesse did was burn his old house to the ground. He didn’t add Lindsey to the growing collection in his glove box. She wasn’t worth the tape.

#jesse cromeans #chromeskull #laid to rest #my writing #it is very important that everyone knows I pulled this ENTIRELY out of my ass #zero percent based in canon except for the two-second flashback of a kid touching a cadaver in L2R2

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tutselutse · 4 years

Text

A Little Push

Sooo.... I’m obsessed witht the idea of Emma and Zoey as friends who won’t admit it, and, well, after writing many bants for them, this suddenly had to happen. You can blame @bi-gstupid and @nocoffeeforoldmen for enabling me.

Content: Zoey/Emma, drinking, casual hook up, mild sexual content, hints of Paulkins in the end bc they are soulmates ok? ----

Thinking back on it, Emma should have known they were heading towards this. However, it still took her by complete surprise when it happened. She glanced to her left, where Zoey was dozing off, with her hair splayed out over all the many pillows, under the sheet that didn’t fully cover her breasts. Huh.

They had been out drinking. A tradition they had developed over the last month and a half. Nora had broken her ankle and while she stayed at home, she had left Zoey in charge. On paper that sounded horrible, but since Zoey now was the boss, she had no one to suck up to, and that made her a lot more tolerable. Emma almost even enjoyed their shifts together. Not fully though, since Zoey and her friends were doing a production of Les Mis and Zoey would sing the Fantine songs over and over. But Zoey was a good drinking buddy. Hot enough to get free drinks and not selfish enough to abandon Emma for just anybody. She held her liquor well and talked shit about the other people in the bar.

Today they had been drinking beers mostly and having a laugh over that customer guy who was interested in Emma and not very subtle about it, but never got the nerve to do more than polite small talk. It was somewhat endearing, and it wasn’t like he was unattractive. Emma kind of enjoyed the polite small talk. He usually let her vent a little over whatever annoyed her that day. Zoey kept insisting she should date him. Or, in her words, totally bone him.

“I’m not gonna bone him,” Emma insisted.

“You’re so boring,” Zoey said and emptied the beer glass in front of her. Then she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Classy. “He really looks like he could use a good roll in the hay.”

“And therefore, I should do it?” Emma asked, eyebrow raised. She lifted her own glass and took a sip.

“You also need a good roll in the hay,” Zoey said with a sly grin. “Finish your beer, old lady. I’m getting us another round.” Then she stood up and left Emma to fume over being called an old lady. The other round turned out to be drinks this time. Then another beer. Another drink.

And suddenly it was the middle of the night and Emma was feeling perfectly drunk and ready to lie down. They emptied their glasses and got up, gathering their things. Outside a light drizzle was in the air. It felt nice and cool on Emma’s face and she stood for a moment with her eyes closed and enjoyed the sensation on her skin. A cool breeze brought out goosebumps on her arms and legs. She felt less tired now.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Zoey. “Wanna split a cab?” she asked.

Zoey looked at her for a moment, an expression in her eyes Emma couldn’t read. Her gaze travelled up and down Emma’s body and she bit her lip. And then, instead of answering, she had stepped forward, leaned down and kissed her.

What the fuck?

Emma froze, taken by surprise by the softness of Zoey’s lips. Zoey pulled back and gave her a questioning look. Almost defiantly asking Emma what she was going to do now. Emma stared at her, lips parted and heart pounding. Then she placed her hand on Zoey’s neck and pulled her into another kiss.

Zoey didn’t hesitate and immediately wrapped an arm around Emma’s waist, while deepening the kiss. She tasted like her last drink – rum and coke – and she smelled nice. Her body was soft and curvy against Emma’s, but there was nothing soft about the way she kissed. It was needy and hungry, with tongue and a hint of teeth. After several minutes of kissing and hands that got more and more curious, Zoey pulled back and with heavy breathing said, ‘I would like to split a cab.”

And that was how Emma found herself in Zoey’s apartment, making out against a hallway closet. It had been ages since she last hooked up with a girl, let alone someone she knew already, but Zoey’s feverish kisses, and hands under her shirt were causing her blood to boil and her body to yearn for more.

They were both still in their Beanies uniforms and Emma started to undo Zoey’s buttons fast and pushing the shirt off her shoulders, exposing creamy skin and a thin lacey bra. She trailed her fingers down the exposed chest, ghosting past the nipples and continuing down her stomach.

Zoey was undeniably hot. Pretty face, and annoying and distracting mouth and nice legs. Her eyelids fluttered as Emma touched her and it was incredibly satisfying to look at. Zoey kissed her again, more urgently, shoving her hand into Emma’s shorts, not even bothering to open them.

They stumbled backwards through the apartment, until Zoey opened what Emma assumed was the bedroom door. Zoey didn’t hesitate, shoving Emma unto the bed and straddling her, sending her a victorious eyebrow waggle.

They ended up having sex for what felt like hours. Whenever one of them was done, the other one took over. It was practically a competition to see who could give the other the most and the best orgasms. Finally, they both rolled away and caught their breaths.

“Sex with women is so fun,” Zoey grinned, lifting her head and resting on her elbow. “I’ve always wondered what sleeping with an older woman was like.”

Emma crossed her arms and frowned. “I’m not that much older than you.”

Zoey just giggled. “You take everything so seriously.” Then she stretched out on her back and closed her eyes. “Goodnight, Emma.”

Well, that was that Emma supposed. She just fucked Zoey from work. Zoey, who was rude and lazy and flirted with customers to get more tips and always sang some new musical theater song or practiced scales. Zoey, who was the only person she knew, who matched her level of shit-giving, who was really hot and a good kisser. Emma hadn’t thought of their bickering as flirting, but maybe it had been. There was some tension between them and now they had acted on it.

She fell asleep after turning around a few times to get comfortable, and woke up to sunlight and an arm stretched out over her. She turned her head and groaned at the sight of Zoey behind her.

“Move,” she said, lifting her arm off.

“Sorry,” Zoey mumbled and rolled away, “I’m used to spooning my boyfriend.”

“Your boyfriend?” Emma asked.

“Sam is kind of my boyfriend. I don’t know. We’re not exclusive, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Zoey answered, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “He gives good dick. But you were much better at oral,” she winked. Emma rolled her eyes.

“Oh really? The gross cop dude isn’t good at going down on women? I’m shocked,” Emma said sarcastically.

“Was that your way of saying thank you Zoey, you were good too?”

“Thank you, Zooeeeey, you were good too,” Emma mocked. Zoey threw one of her many pillows after her.

“Anyway, I’m glad it’s not weird. You’re an asshole, but I really wanted to fuck you,” Zoey said, standing up and walking naked around her room, picking up discarded clothes. There were a few marks on her from last night.

“Likewise, I guess?” Emma shrugged, “we agree this was just fun, right? Not a big deal?”

“Of course,” Zoey grinned, “sex is no big. Speaking off, you really should fuck the guy from Beanies.”

“But now I have gotten that roll in the hay,” Emma said with a smirk, “so now there is no reason.”

“Babe, there is always a reason,” Zoey winked, pulling on clean underwear. “I just got your machine started again. You’ll wanna get laid again in no time.”

Emma bit her lip as she thought it over. What the fuck was she talking about? “Did you-“

“Oh, fuck you, you gave me hickeys,” Zoey said, inspecting herself in the mirror. Emma smirked.

“And you fucking liked it,” she responded, climbing out of the bed. Zoey had been whimpering and begging for more when she gave them. From the look in Zoey’s eyes, she remembered as well. Emma went searching for her clothes and got dressed quietly. She really needed to brush her teeth. Zoey walked her out, still only dressed in underwear.

“See you at work,” she said, and Emma did finger guns back at her.

“See you,” she replied.

She spent the day sleeping eating greasy carbs and then more sleeping. She woke up to her Monday shift. It was one of the long days and she wasn’t looking forward to it. Zoey was in the break room, grinning when she saw her arrive. She hadn’t buttoned her shirt yet and the hickey was visible. Emma got images of her mouth against Zoey’s skin and her hand between her legs. She exhaled and fought the sudden arousal at the thought.

The customers kept coming, everyone else was clearly as tired and in need of coffee this Monday as she was. Emma noticed several cute girls, with pretty eyes and full lips, in dresses that hugged their curves. She noticed a few men, with sharp cheekbones or nice shoulders. Zoey was right, her machinery had started back up. A customer spilled a little as he took his frappe, and Emma wiped the table down.

“Hi,” a nervous voice said, and she looked up into remarkably blue eyes, “I’ve got an easy one for you. Just a cup of black coffee.”

Emma smiled at him, and it made his whole face light up. She poured him the coffee, keeping an eye on him at the same time. He was tall and cute. She accepted the payment, noticing his impressive full lips and that he had broad shoulders underneath the suit jacket. When she handed him the coffee, his fingers brushed against hers and she felt tingles run from her fingertips up to her elbow.

Maybe Zoey was right?

“I see you in here all the time, don’t I?” she asked, “what’s your name?”

“Paul,” he answered, offering her a small and sweet smile.

“Hi Paul,” she said, “I’m Emma.”

#tgwdlm #starkid #emma perkins #zoey and emma are good friends and neither of them will admit it #zoey x emma #paulkins #paul matthews #zoey from beanies

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doof-doofblog · 4 years

Text

"I Want My Son!"

Monday 19th October 2020

Good Evening everyone! Hope your week is going well so far. Tonight I'll be reviewing Monday's episode, my plan is to do two blog posts tomorrow so when Friday comes I'll be all up to date! I apologise once again for slacking a bit this week - it's been a busy one that's for sure! I'm just going to jump straight into it!

The episode starts with Ben and Callum discussing Phil in the kitchen. Ben informs his boyfriend that his Dad as been pacing all night, racking his head about Ellie and Raymond. He explains that they don't even know if Ellie is her real name, considering she's just taken 5 grand off them under false pretences! As Ben is explaining the whole situation to his boyfriend and how it's really hurting Phil deeply, something in the way Callum looked, could he help in someway? Will he able to find any information on Ellie at work? Will he do this to help his boyfriend and his Dad? Or even just to help Ben alone so he can find his brother, something is telling me that Callum will act and perhaps do a bit of digging off his own accord.

Outside on the Square, Max approaches Ian - it's been perhaps about week or two so since he's threatened him, demanding him to give him his money back. Ian happily informed Max that he should have his first instalment that morning ... however, it's what he happens to mention next to his son Peter which starts to ring alarm bells ... he's borrowing money off someone else to pay Max back! I'm just putting it out there, but I'm convinced it's Kathy! He's taking money off his own Mum just so he can pay off his debts! Is it the money he's received from selling Kathy's Cafe?! Has Kathy's Cafe been sold to someone else? Oooo so many questions that I need answers to! But Peter does look a bit suspicious of his Father after he questions him about it!

At home, Denise is confiding in her boyfriend, Jack, about her decision to give up Raymond. She explains that all she wanted to do was to give him a better life, a life she couldn't give him. She informs him that herself and Phil were never meant to see Raymond again, but now things have changed and she can't bare the thought of Phil getting involved with the toddler. Jack consoles his girlfriend and informs her that he is going to sort things out, one way or another and make it all go away. I'm unsure as to how he's going to do that, but I don't think he's going to find a way of getting through to Phil. When Phil wants something, he goes for it, especially where his family is concerned. Meanwhile on the Square Callum finds Phil in the gardens sitting on Dennis's memorial bench, he says to Phil that perhaps he could do Ellie for fraud in an attempt to get him his money back, but the next sentence spoken from Phil really touched me "I'm getting used to losing sons now, aren't I?!" - That is something that no one should ever have to say! I feel so devastated for Phil! I think I asked this a while ago but I am really eager to find out who you're backing in this current story ... are you Team Phil, Team Denise or Team Ellie?! I think I'm Team Phil - all the way!!! ... As Phil thanks Callum for the offer of the attempt to get his money back, Phil walks away looking very solemn.

Meanwhile, at the Cafe, Gray and Shirley are having a one-to-one. Gray is informing Shirley that he feels ready to have the children back living with him, even though it's only been a day or two since he attempted to blow the house up. Shirley informed the grieving Dad that his children are doing fine with their Grandparents. Suddenly, Mick walks in looking for Linda - it then that Shirley tries again to talk to her son, she asks politely whether she can take her Grandson to the park, Linda agrees, much to Mick's disapproval - as you can clearly see by the look on his face - but the only thing Mick mentions is how pally Shirley has become with Gray all of sudden, after slagging him off for having a go at Linda last week. Little does Mick know actually why she's started being there for Gray, they have no idea what she walked in on.

At the Vic, Bobby brings Sharon some boxes for the Queen Vic stock, he's quite reluctant to even pass the boxes over to her. She tries to reassure him that she's healthy but Bobby asks her politely to keep an eye on her temperature, just in case. The one thing I forgot to mention in last night's post was how Bobby was counting how many times he was wiping and cleaning the cutlery. 5 times he would count and make sure he'd washed everything thoroughly! He had even laid everything out on the kitchen table! This is definitely going to be some kind of OCD storyline for Bobby, what do you guys think? As Bobby walks behind the bar, Kathy let out a little giggle and announces she's made a match on her dating app. Ian isn't impressed with his Mother and insists she's too old to be dating - which I think is completely rude! You can date at any age, why can't the older generation have any fun?! It doesn't matter whether you're 17 or 70 - everyone deserves happiness, right?! I found it hilarious when Sharon cackled at the reveal of the name of Kathy's match - Iain (with an extra I)! I also noticed the fact that Kathy pointed out that the gentleman happened to be 43, to which Ian commented "Does he know you're 70?" - obviously us viewers know that Peter has changed her age on her profile, I feel so sad for Kathy at this point because she is actually acting incredibly happy and giddy to have finally met someone, and yet they aren't even aware of her real age - could things go wrong for poor Kathy? Or will she find the man may look past the age gap and fall for her properly?! Next thing, Peter asks his Gran whether she's aware of Ian borrowing money to pay Max back, of course she has no idea who he's borrowing money from - wait till she finds out it's her money, she'll be fuming!!

Oooooh no! The next scene makes me fear for Honey's future! She and Jay are delivering food parcels for neighbours - it's clearly something she must've been doing over the recent months during Covid-19! It appears her food parcel is for an elderly lady but instead, a young gentleman answers the door by the name of Paul. He thanks Honey for bringing the parcel round and compliments her by saying it's a fantastic thing she's doing for her community. He insists he takes her number so he can help out. Of course, our precious Honey is all smiley. But something tells me that this Paul is bad news! Recently it's been revealed that EastEnders is going to kick off a new dark storyline for Honey and it'll have something to do with a new love interest named Paul. This Paul!! I also read recently - I don't know how much truth there is in this but, Honey will end up being raped after having her drink spiked! Will Paul be the culprit? Will Honey be aware of what's happening? Will it be another consent storyline? Rape and consent is something that is covered a lot in soaps, but it's something that tragically happens to both men and women every day! It's something that needs to be portrayed and something that people need to talk more about, I feel that watching these dark moments happen in soaps, does help for victims to seek help and speak up and not suffer in silence! I'm sure EastEnders will cover this story carefully.

Oh it's been a while since we've seen that horrible Detective! Callum is in desperate need though, he probably can't find any other way. He asks him for help in finding information about Ellie Dawkins. It's only then that he finds out that he real name is Ellie Nixon that she's some kind of "Gangster Granny!" - I think Callum's idea is, if he gets information on Ellie to give to Phil, he'll be able to report back to him with information of Phil. But something tells me he won't really, he's just lying to help his boyfriend's Dad out. But will he stick to it?! The Detective (Sorry, I can't remember his name!) informs Callum that if he wants to know everything about Ellie it's going to take him all day to be given the information! Ooo could there be whole big file about Ellie and why is she so dangerous?!

Back at the Beale household, Kathy is excited to see that Iain (with an I) is wanting to take her out on a date. FINALLY Peter comes clean about changing her age on her dating profile. He approaches the subject carefully, trying to compliment his Gran by saying she doesn't look or act the age of 70 - which I agree she doesn't, but at first Kathy doesn't really mind suggesting that maybe 60 would be okay, but when Peter admits he went below 60 and put her age at 45, she's absolutely mortified that her Grandson has knocked a quarter of a century off her actual age! It's then that Ian walks in and Kathy confronts him about borrowing money pay Max back. It's clear to see that she's concerned for her son, she informs him that to help she will remortgage the Cafe, but Ian is quick to instruct her not to and that there'll be no need for her to do that, she insists that the offer is there if he needs to help! ... I honestly can't wait for Kathy to find out that Ian has been stealing money off her!

In the Cafe, Honey and Jay are discussing the new fella they've just met. Honey is unsure as to whether Paul was flirting with her, but Jay is adamant that he was and tries to persuade her to message him. He gives her a good point, she shouldn't let what happened with Adam ruin future possible relationships, she deserves happiness and she should go for it! Whilst he is trying to persuade her to go for it with Paul, he mentions that he's a bit worried that Lola is getting bored of him. Which is really sad really, he admits that during lockdown they've had to live apart and, to him, it feels like instead of going forwards, their relationship is going backwards. It's a bit of shame as I've always thought that Jay and Lola were a brilliant couple and they've been through so much together, perhaps the younger version of Kat and Alfie - in the sense that they belong together, don't you guys think?! However, something maybe tells me that Jay has a little crush on Honey or perhaps has feelings for her? I could be looking into something that isn't there - it even may even come down to the fact that Jamie Borthwick (Jay) has admitted he's had a crush on his co-star Emma Barton (Honey) for a long time! What do you guys think, would Jay and Honey make a good couple? It would be an interesting road to go down, considering Billy was always there to help bring Jay up as a kid when his Dad passed away, and Billy also being Honey's ex-husband!

At Ruby's club, Jack is meeting up with the Detective ... THOMPSON! That's his name!!! It's just come to me!! This looks like this is Jack's way of getting rid of Phil and putting Denise's mind at rest. He informs DI Thompson about the attack Phil played upon him at the end of the last year. He admits he didn't report it for personal reasons but asks whether he'll back him up just go get rid up Phil Mitchell for good! DI Thompson says it's a little bit too late, considering any evidence would be long gone, he informs Jack that Phil Mitchell isn't worth losing his job over. It's looking like Jack's attempt has failed, but will DI Thompson take this information and confront Callum about it? Does Callum even know about the attack? Will he use this information to put Phil behind bars? Who knows?!

Back on the Square, Shirley bumps into Mick, she seems ready and excited to take her Grandson out to the park, but Mick informs her that his son is at a friend's house. Something tells me he's done that deliberately just so his Mum couldn't spend time with him. Shirley tells her son just because he's angry with her, Ollie shouldn't have to miss out on time with his Gran. Mick only then makes a dig at his Mother saying he's just trying to be good parent - putting the dig in that she wasn't to him! It's then he sees Gray exit the Minute Mart and he calls over to his neighbour that the only reason Shirley is hanging around him is because she wants something, he informs him that the Slaters have asked her to leave so Gray should watch his back. However, Shirley has only had to leave the Slater household because Stacey moved back with Lily. As Mick walks off and Shirley walks in the other direction, Gray follows and informs Shirley that she's welcome to stay with him as he has spare bedroom. He points out that she did him a favour and he wants to repay her. Shirley agrees. I have to admit, I like the new friendship between Shirley and Gray - it's two characters that I would never have put together, but it's nice that they have this mutual understanding with each other and what each other have been through. But should Shirley be careful? What do you make of this new found friendship? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Returning to the Beale household, Peter is seen scrambling through the draws as if he's finding something. As he's doing this, Bobby approaches and asks is older brother whether their Dad will be okay. It appears that young Bobby is worrying that if Ian is borrowing money, is he going to eventually find himself in a deeper hole that he won't be able to get out of? Peter reassures his young brother and insists that their Dad will be fine, he always lands on his feet. With that, Bobby breathes a sigh of relief and leaves the room. As he leaves, Peter continues to search in the draws and finds an envelope addressed to Kathy. He looks inside and opens the letter - what has he found?! Will it be some kind of paper work which confirms the selling of the Cafe?!

Meanwhile at the Mitchell household, Callum comes rushing in to his boyfriend! He's found news about Ellie! He reveals to his boyfriend that Ellie Nixon is her real name, and the car crash that little Raymond's parents were in wasn't an accident at all, but in fact a retaliation attack. She is the reason they're dead. She and it seems the whole family are dangerous. Ben is dumbfounded to hear the news he's being given. He instructs his boyfriend to not tell his Dad. Phil cannot find out, otherwise it'll start a war between them and that is the last thing they need right now. But suddenly, Phil walks in - looking as if he's heard just a small amount of what they were talking about. What can't he know?! But they're stuck now, they're going to have to tell him! Raymond is his son and he deserves to know the truth - as does Denise! If Phil finds out the truth, will he also inform Denise? Will they team up to get Raymond away from Ellie?!

Back at the Beale household, Peter is reeling over the letter he had just found. Suddenly his Dad enters the room and Peter takes his chance to confront his Dad and asks the very important question - Why would Kathy offer to remortgage the Cafe, when it turns out she already has?! So that's what Ian's done, he's not sold it, he's remortgaged it - still, he's still stealing from his own Mum! Ooooo he's such a weasel isn't he? He convinces his son that Kathy didn't want anyone knowing and she told Ian in confidence that she's having cash-flow problems, he also plays the guilt-trip to his son, asking why does he think so little of him? Why doesn't he support him?! Oooo I don't like Ian right now, he's being sneaky and lying to everyone around him and I don't like it! He's going to be found out soon, surely? It can't be long until Kathy finds out the truth!

The final scene of this episode, we're back with the Mitchell's and Phil is reeling from what he's been told. His head is running away with him saying he'll get Ritchie involved and he'll track down a phone number and an address. But Callum mentions that he's got a phone number, Ben warns his boyfriend not to hand it over. But Phil is desperate, he takes no chances and dials the number that Callum gives him. Ben looking absolutely gobsmacked as to what is happening around him, warning his Dad that he's not thinking straight. I love how passionate Phil is in this moment, he dials the number and we here the dial tone ring, Ellie answers and Phil is quick to the point! He wants Raymond!!!

I am so excited to see what's going to happen with this storyline. In all honesty, I love any storyline involving Phil Mitchell at the forefront! Steve McFadden is absolutely incredible and I can't speak highly of the man, he's such an astounding actor, blows me away every time he's on screen! What do you think is going to happen next? I aware I am perhaps one or two episodes behind, but I'm going to try my absolute best to post up two posts tomorrow, that way by Friday I'll be completely up to date. I hope you've all enjoyed reading, I've quite enjoyed writing this post! I'll be back tomorrow. Goodnight everyone! Love you all! xXx

#eastenders #philmitchell #benmitchell #callumhighway #ballum #ellienixon #ianbeale #kathybeale #bobbybeale #peterbeale #honeymitchell #jaybrown #jaymitchell #mickcarter #shirleycarter #grayatkins #denisefox #jackbranning #maxbranning

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judgement-free-sideblog · 4 years

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Blood, tears and sea breeze.

Warnings: ANGST, mental health issues, graphic depictions of violence, blood, cursing, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of sex, substance abuse.

Summary: The not so peaceful town of Broadchurch face dead again, while Alec Hardy continues his journey to redemption will this school teacher be the key to solve the mystery or just another victim of the ever watching evilness that seems to reside in the town.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 8: I knew

The morning of the third day since Jonathan Norbury's body had been found had started roughly for DS Miller, she hadn't have the chance to talk to Brian, neither as the SOCO nor her boyfriend, since the work in the cottage had turn into an all night venture, and with the time pressure on them finding any evidence was the most important thing at the moment, even more than date night with her and Freddie

And on the other hand she was grateful he didn't showed up, because that would imply she had to respond to his proposal to move together, and she would say yes, of course since Tom and Freddie like him and she was actually having strong feelings for him, and then she would have to tell it to Alec, and she couldn't do that to him, no yet at least.

They haven't been together that long and yet she could remember every afternoon working late in his house, with Daze pretending to not knowing anything but still making a nice dinner for the two of them, their silent walks on the beach where their silences said more than any loud scream.

But that was the problem with them, even when she hate to remember Joe, at least they fight there was more to their relationship than the silent understanding of loving each other, the biggest proof was that when she asked him to stop he simply said yes, and they move on, and they just resume their neverending friendship just like that.

That's why she couldn't move on with Brian, because that would hurt him and made him more emotionally reclusive, she just hope that Brian would be patient enough to wait for her.

A knock on the door make her stand up in a jump, she took her coffee mug and kiss Freddie and a reluctant Tom goodbye and wave at his father, before meeting his friend at the door.

"Morning" She said with a smile that was received with a dead stare like every time. "You look well rested" she joke and he only rolled his eyes at her before taking the coffee mug from her hands and taking a sip.

"The victims mother is at the station, apparently she saw the news and came all the way from London to claim his son's body" Alec said once he was inside the car.

"Yeah, well she is probably going to be difficult to deal with, Paul says they are wealthy people who own a major franchise of electronics shops" Miller said putting on the seat belt and starting the car.

Clementine Norbury was already waiting for them in the office, she was dressed in a tailored black pantsuit, and had short blond hair just like Jonathan, and the sad look of a broken heart in her blue eyes.

"Mrs. Norbury I assume?" Miller Said entering the office.

"Clementine is fine" She said extending her hand to her and then Hardy.

"I'm sorry for your loss madame, your husband call this morning announcing that you would come and asking about the case, and I'm sorry but we can't discuss anything about the case with you" Alec said trying to be polite.

"That won't be necessary detective, Hardy was it? I'm here on behalf of my son more than my husband" She said calmly.

"Excuse me?" Miller said confused since she was ready to have to calm down a posh entitled lady and this was completely different.

"I knew" She started and she took out her cellphone from her purse and put it on the desk "I knew my son was being unfaithful to Y/N, and I'm concerned that person could be responsible for what happened to him"

"Did you know this person? Clementine?" Alec ask coming out from behin the desk and sitting next to her.

"No, my husband and I, we were not thrill when he start dating a woman from Broadchurch, no offense" She said and Miller fight the urge to roll her eyes at her "But then we met Y/N and the positive impact she had on him, and I truly believed he was finally on the right path" Her voice crack for a moment.

"The right path? Instead of what exactly?" Hardy asked.

"He was a rich and handsome young man in London, what would you expect?" She said and Ellie knew her first instinct had been right "My husband send him here as punishment but a mere year later he was a changed man all because of her friendship"

Ellie walked out for a moment to make tea for the woman, remembering how Y/N had said she was only marrying him in London to make Clementine happy.

"And you didn't like Miss Y/L/N?" Alec ask the woman, remembering something he had read in Y/N's diary.

"She is a lovely woman, but if I'm honest I don't understand why my son was with her, but he was and in the end I just want him to come back home, and if that little town teacher would make it happen I was not opposing to their wedding" She said honestly, something Hardy respected but she was still an awful person.

"Mrs. Norbury when was the last time you saw your son?" He asked after a pause. "From the train station surveillance tape we know he never take the train last Tuesday, weren't you suspicious that he didn't showed up at home?" He said and start looking trough the folders on his desk.

"We are not going to look good on your provincial fearful of God eyes detective, I know" She started "But no, I was not worried because we knew he had been seeing another woman for the last six months and she had convinced him to finish his relationship with the teacher is simple, that's how life works, he ask us to cancel the venue like a month ago, and I was under the impression he would break up with her"

"But he didn't, did he change his mind again?" He finally found the picture he was looking for and look at it waiting for her to respond.

"He called me Monday morning, he said he regretted cheating on her and that the wedding was still on, and that this woman, whoever she was might take things badly, but that he was sure it was over"

"You didn't know? Not even her name? I mean she must have been important since she convince him to call off the wedding" He asked and make a sign to Miller to don't interrupt them since she was coming in with the cup of tea.

"She was a fling, I never thought he will cancel the wedding to marry the other woman, she only remind him he was not made to be a husband, and he wanted to be free, he always said she was not important, so I didn't ask"

"Clementine, do you recognize this?" He said showing her the picture of the crushed ring and the engagement picture they took from Y/N's cottage "Is this the same ring as this one?"

"Where did you find that? Jonathan said some stole it when that girl had one of his attacks two weeks ago, is my wedding ring" She said visibly shocked.

"It must have been hard to listen it was lost, were you mad at your son Clementine?" Hardy said pointing at his face.

"Of course I was mad, but not with him, I call her and I might have told her that well that she was not the woman for Jonathan... but at the time I thought they will be breaking up"

"And what happened next? Why didn't they break up?" He asked now looking straight in her eyes.

"I don't know, after that night he was acting weird. He got mad at me for calling her, he started to second guess his choice, he felt guilty about something, at the time I thought he felt guilty for cheating but now I don't know" She said now fully crying.

"Thanks Mrs. Norbury, that will be all, we will be in touch if something new comes out" Hardy said and Miller gave her the tea, she took two sips and composed herself before she could speak again.

"My son was not always a good man detective, but he didn't deserve to be killed, please find who did this" She stood up and walk away.

"Did you knew?" Ellie asked once she was away "Thay they have fight about the ring?"

"It was a hunch" He lied, remembering his promise to Dr. Florence about the diaries. "But it seems that something else happened that nigh"

"I know, otherwise he wouldn't have send the girl to her psychiatrist right after, do you think the side woman might be guilty?" She said taking the picture with the crushed ring.

"Maybe, first we need to found out who that was" He said and then he add more to himself "Why do they always have to be cheating?"

"Well I assume not all men in Broadchurch think like you" She said with a sad smile.

"This one is freaky!!" Brian said entering the room with unannounced and showing them a folder.

"What do you mean?" Hardy said a little surprised by the term he used to describe a murderer

"The blood remember?" He said showing him a picture of the living room after they remove the body. "I believe that was too much blood for a guy that was strangled, and it was"

"Brian, please go to the point before Hardy's head explodes" Ellie said looking at her friend loosing his patience.

"Al right, the blood on the floor had been frozen, it was the victim's blood but who ever did this collect about two pints of his blood and save it to set the crime scene"

"That's..." Alec was trying to find a word to describe the new information.

"Told you, freaky" Brian explained that the prints coming from the beach were in fact Norbury's but nothing much coming from the Cottage. "His house is something else, those guys were into weird stuff" He said and showed them the other folder and, the provocative underwear and sex toys that they recovered from the laundry basket in the victim's bathroom that Miller had overlooked.

Hardy felt uncomfortable looking at those pictures, not sure why, and he suddenly remembered.

"I need you to check those for DNA" He said. And both of them look disconcerted at him. "They might belong to the other woman" He add and Miller immediately understand.

"Other woman, what do you mean, you think these are not his fiance's?" Brian asked confused.

"We have evidence that he was cheating on her, and this woman might know something about his murder" Ellie explained.

"Well in that case, he might had it coming, he was already engaged, this lad must had been crazy to cheat on her" He said and Ellie smile thinking that maybe not all Broadchurch men were idiots.

Brian left with Miller to have lunch and Hardy hurried to lock the door and take out Y/N's diary, he scan the pages until he found what he was looking for.

Monday, April 15, 2019

11:00 pm. I feel like a child telling you this, but after dinner I tried to... oh my god this is stupid. I tried to have sex with Jonathan and once again he rejected me, is not like is super important but it has been like two months now, you are right doc, after he comes back we will have counseling together

He was disgusted to know that Norbury had been cheating on Y/N, so shamelessly on his house, but this might lead them to find whoever killed him. And he was starting to feel wrong about not telling Miller the truth about the diaries, then his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and he put the papers away quickly before opening the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Sir, but we found the victims car on an abandoned parking lot, with his suitcase in it" Harford said with excitement.

"Ok, let's go check it out" Alec took his jacket. "You can drive" He add to Katie disbelief.

"You want me to go? Shouldn't I call detective Miller?" She said unsure about what was happening.

"If you don't want to go, sure call her" Hardy said stopping for a moment.

"No, I want to go, sure let's go" She said and walked next to him to the cold morning.

Tag list:

@allonsymexgirl @laciesaito @tf18unipups

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years

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3rd August >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 14:22-36 for Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Courage! It is I!’.

Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Matthew 14:22-36

Jesus walks on the water

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he would send the crowds away. After sending the crowds away he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, while the boat, by now far out on the lake, was battling with a heavy sea, for there was a head-wind. In the fourth watch of the night he went towards them, walking on the lake, and when the disciples saw him walking on the lake they were terrified. ‘It is a ghost’ they said, and cried out in fear. But at once Jesus called out to them, saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ It was Peter who answered. ‘Lord,’ he said ‘if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.’ ‘Come’ said Jesus. Then Peter got out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus across the water, but as soon as he felt the force of the wind, he took fright and began to sink. ‘Lord! Save me!’ he cried. Jesus put out his hand at once and held him. ‘Man of little faith,’ he said ‘why did you doubt?’ And as they got into the boat the wind dropped. The men in the boat bowed down before him and said, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.’

Having made the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the local people recognised him they spread the news through the whole neighbourhood and took all that were sick to him, begging him just to let them touch the fringe of his cloak. And all those who touched it were completely cured.

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 14:22-36

Command me to come to you on the water.

Jesus made the disciples get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once Jesus spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how strong the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

After making the crossing, they came to land at Gennesaret. When the men of that place recognized him, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought to him all those who were sick and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak, and as many as touched it were healed.

Reflections (5)

(i) Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

At the beginning of today’s gospel reading, we find the disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, battling with a heavy sea and a strong head-wind. We can all find ourselves in that situation from time to time. Perhaps, especially in recent months we may have experienced life as a struggle. We seem to be battling against all sorts of difficulties. Even what came easy and natural to us in the past, such as gathering to celebrate the Eucharist, has become more of a struggle as we try to follow various protocols that will keep us safe. In the gospel reading, the Lord who had been at prayer came to his disciples in their struggle. He may have been praying for his disciple and became aware of them struggling. The Lord is always praying for us. As Saint Paul says in his letter to the Romans, he is at the right hand of God interceding for us. Out of his prayer for us, he comes to us in our struggles, as he came to his disciples, saying to us as he said to them, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid’. Peter showed more courage than the other disciples as he started walking towards Jesus across the water. However, he soon took fright and, feeling himself sinking, cried out, ‘Lord! Save me!’ Even when we respond to the Lord’s call and show some courage, like Peter, we can soon find ourselves losing our nerve and beginning to sink. We seem to be going forward and then find ourselves going backwards again. Perhaps that is how many of us feel at present in this pandemic. Yet, just as the Lord reassured his disciples calling on them to have courage, he reassured Peter, putting out his hand and holding him. The Lord is always there doing that for us too. He puts out his hand and waits for us to grasp it. When life feels fragile and we feel vulnerable, the Lord is always there to hold us, to keep us steady, and to give us the courage to keep going until we come to land in a firmer place. This is how the Lord is always working in our lives and in response to his working we can do no better than say with the disciples in the boat, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God’.

And/Or

(ii) Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading, in response to Peter’s invitation, Jesus called Peter to step out of the boat and to come towards him across the water. Surely it would have been safer for Peter to stay in the boat, given that the sea was rough and the wind was strong. Why would Peter want to step out of the relative safety of his boat and to walk towards Jesus, and why would Jesus encourage him to do so, calling on him to ‘come’? Perhaps the evangelist is reminding us through this story that following Jesus will sometimes mean stepping out of our boat, the place where we feel relatively secure, and launching out into the deep. Today’s gospel reading invites us to reflect on the ways that the Lord may be calling us to take some new step in our relationship with him. The Lord is always calling us to ‘come’; he is constantly inviting us to grow in our lived witness to him. The Lord’s call to ‘come’ will take different forms for different people. Today’s gospel reading assures us that whenever we respond to the Lord’s invitation to ‘come’, he will be there to support us when the journey becomes difficult. He will reach out to us when, like Peter, we cry out to him, ‘Lord save me’. The Lord who calls us to journey towards him journeys with us as our strength in times of weakness.

And/Or

(iii) Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Different people react in different ways to the same situation. In the gospel reading this morning, there is quite a difference between the reaction of Jesus and the reaction of the disciples to the sight of a large hungry crowd in the wilderness. The disciples wanted Jesus to send the crowd away. Jesus wanted his disciples to make some effort to feed the crowd. ‘Give them something to eat yourselves’, he said. Even though they protested that they would not be able to find enough food to feed the crowd, Jesus persisted, and got them to bring the little food they could find to him. Then with that little, with those few resources, the Lord fed the crowd with the help of his disciples. The gospel reading suggests that the Lord will always encourage us to take on some service of others, even when we may feel that our resources are inadequate. If we are generous with those few resources, the Lord will then work with them and through them in ways that will surprise us. The Lord can work wonders through the very ordinary and sometimes unpromising looking resources and gifts that we possess. We have to do our bit, like the disciples in the gospel reading, but the Lord always does much more. Yet, if we are not willing to do the little we can with what we have, the Lord’s own capacity for ministry to others is curtailed. The Lord needs our resources, small and inadequate at they may seem, to continue his good work among us and in the world.

And/Or

(iv) Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Peter stands out from the other disciples in wanting to step out of the safety of the boat so as to journey towards the Lord who, himself, had journeyed towards the disciples in the boat. Peter’s precarious journey went well until he took his eyes off the Lord and began to notice the force of the wind instead; at that point he began to sink. Matthew the evangelist may be reminding the church of the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on the Lord especially when the elements are against us. There are times in our lives when the force of the wind threatens to overwhelm us and when our feet do not seek to stand on firm ground. It is above all in such moments that we need to keep our gaze fixed on the Lord who always stands before us saying, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!’ Even if we do take our eyes off the Lord and find ourselves going under we have only to cry out to the Lord like Peter, ‘Lord! Save me’ and he will reach out to hold us and keep us from sinking. The Lord is Emmanuel, God-with-us, and he is always stronger than whatever threatens to overwhelm us.

And/Or

(v) Monday, Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Our plans do not always turn out as we would want them to. Our initial reaction to things not working out as we had planned is generally one of frustration and disappointment. Yet, it often happens that some unexpected good can come to pass as a result of our plans not working out. When that happens, it is a reminder to us that we need to hold our plans lightly. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus planned to withdraw with his disciples to a lonely place, but his plans did not work out. The lonely place became a surprisingly crowded place. Yet, something wonderful resulted from Jesus’ plans failing to come to pass. The feeding of the multitude is one of the few gospel stories to be found in all four gospels. The reaction of the disciples to a hungry crowd in a lonely place is to call on Jesus to send them away so that they can buy food for themselves. However, Jesus wants to give them food freely, not have them go off and buy it. Making use of the small resources of food to be found among the crowd, Jesus somehow feeds everyone present so that they all get to eat as much as they wanted. The evangelist is giving us a image of Jesus as a generous host who freely gives to those in need. The same generous host graces us at every Eucharist. There, Jesus freely gives the gift of himself under the form of bread and wine to all who are hungry and thirsty, without distinction. Having received the gift of the Lord, we are then sent out from the Eucharist to give that gift of the Lord to each other by our way of life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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dearyallfrommatt · 4 years

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My late father loved Krystal burgers. Even after his diabetes blossomed into something his battered old body could barely control, if he came near a town that had a Krystal, he’d make Momma drive him by it. When my brother got married in Athens, GA, and a mix-up of Daddy’s meds put him in a serious fog, he had enough presence of mind to have us make a run to the one on Prince Avenue.

Long story short, the Krystal burger chain is filing for bankruptcy. Founded in 1932 and famous for those little hamburgers like you’d get at White Castle up North, the company has a hearing in the North District Court of Georgia Wednesday, citing debts up to $100 million dollars. Regardless how things turn out, some of the 320 restaurants in nine different states will remain open thanks to franchising, but that still makes life a little worrisome for the 5,000-plus people who work for the company now, mostly at part-time wages, of course.

The last time Krystal went bankrupt was 1997 and that was due to millions of dollars of unpaid overtime owed to employees. The company was bought by a private equity firm, Port Royal Holdings, for $145 million dollars. As an aside, the original Port Royale was a famous pirate haven back during what’s called The Golden Age of Piracy, roughly 1620-1720, before becoming a center for “legitimate” shipping and trade in the Caribbean, but I’m sure that’s a coincidence.

Since 1997, Krystal has bounced from private equity firm to private equity firm and has had eight different CEO’s. The last one, Paul Macaluso, left after the company eliminated franchises and management positions, not to mention slashing basic staff, in an effort to not actually turn a buck but the stave off their mounting creditors. The company declared bankruptcy the day their last loan deal with a creditor ran out. At the same time, the company’s dealing with an investigation into their payment practices and a “security breach”.

I doubt this will mean we’ll see the end of Krystal, but maybe. What’s most likely is that yet another private equity firm full of people who care nothing about anything beyond making more and more profit and damn the torpedoes, will swing in to rescue it, finding new and better ways to screw over workers. Because they can never make enough money.

I don’t understand rich people, I really don’t. People who can’t just enjoy their wealth and good fortune, I mean, the ones that have to have more and more lucre. Wrestling legend Jim Cornette - stay with me here - once said the main thing he could not understand about former boss and WWE CEO Vince McMahaon is why he couldn’t just enjoy his billions. He had to have more and, not only that, fuck over other people as much as possible while doing it.

For your edification, after the end of the Monday Night Wars in 1999, the only professional wrestling company that made money was the WWF. McMahaon - who bought the company from his father Vince Sr. in the late ‘70s for one dollar - was literally worth billions. On top of that, it didn’t look like the they’d ever stop making money bringing the rabid fan base the best in sweaty men in small pants pretending to fight.

And then Vince got greedy. First they tried to bring the world two billion-dollar flops in the XFL and a restaurant in Manhattan. I really don’t know from the restaurant except that it crashed and burned, but being a fan of football, I watched the XFL saga with fascinated horror. Going against the NFL is a rum’s game - ask the USFL and President Trump - but the XFL was set up to actually take down - or pretend to, keeping with the wrestling theme - the pro football juggernaut.

The lads from at Old School Wrestling can sum it up better and more entertaining than I could. After all was said and done, the league lost $138 million dollars with their deal with NBC, it cost Vince himself $69 million, and by the time the thing washed out, Vince was no longer a billionaire. In short order, the wrestling boom ate itself and money that could’ve been spent to give their employees some sort of health insurance security went to creditors. Even in the football league, the highest paid athlete made five grand a week and, of course, no health insurance for players.

Now, I’m not ragging on the WWE or even professional wrestling. I firmly believe that one of America’s greatest contribution to world culture is professional wrestling - no, seriously - and a full understanding of the United States’ development and evolution, at least in the 20th century. But this is a fine example of how greed destroys whatever it touches. Call it capitalism’s inevitable outcome or whatever you want to call it, but this is now seen as How Things Are Supposed to Be.

The last decade saw a plethora of long-running businesses go flat broke and have to shutter their doors. Financial experts blamed the death of Toys ‘R’ Us on Millennials not having kids and the spread of Amazon, for example, but the fact is the private equity companies - including Mitt Romney’s Ban Capital - cut and sliced everything they could in the run for more profits and less overhead. ‘Cause that’s all that matters.

I used to do an internet streaming radio show with a libertarian who once tried to enlighten to me the evil of taxation in maybe the dumbest way possible. A friend of his, he said, worked at a private equity firm, putting in 80 hours a week, and because of taxation, she was only able to bring home $180 thousand out of the $200 thousand she “earned” each year. Needless to say, that didn’t cut it.

But again, this is how the world is Supposed To Work. Providing a good consumers either need or really enjoy and in some way makes their lives a little better, that doesn’t even pretend to matter anymore. Taking care of your employees, paying them enough to live on and keep themselves hale-&-hearty because workers that aren’t living in terror of getting sick or a raise in rent are better workers, that’s not profitable.

Well, it is profitable and a smaller, self-contained businesses can totally do that, but the American Way is to gobble up as much as possible for some reason. Instead of enjoying your wealth and the sense of stability never having to worry about which bill you’re going to have to skip this month or if your landlord is going to increase your went for whatever the hell reason, our society encourages the very richest to accumulate and horde as much wealth as possible. If you can step on someone’s face in the process, even better.

And if you fail, no big worry. In 2008, Delta Airlines fired their CEO, Richard Anderson, after four months because the company lost over $70 million. Anderson nevertheless walked away with a severance package that included over $11 million dollars plus a corner office on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. More recently, due to on-going scandals involving their 737′s, Boeing booted their CEO Dennis Muilenberg after ballooning losses and deadly crashes of two of their planes. They did punish him by denying his full severance package, though. Luckily, he still walks away with $60 million in stock options and pension benefits.

So, what is the answer, I hear you say. Hell, I don’t know. These practices are an ongoing problem, but the acceptance of such behavior by the hoi palloi is even worse. We see this as natural and good, the American way. We elected a president who was born rich and was a big mover-&-shaker in a field his father already plowed, and companies under his control went bankrupt at least six times. Had he spent the last 50 years funding art galleries and weaving baskets, just letting the interest do it’s work, he’d arguably be richer than he is now.

Is socialism the answer? Can capitalism be saved? Do we need to look for an entirely different paradigm when it comes to economic survival? Again, I don’t pretend to have any answers. Indeed, my whole approach to anarchistic theory isn’t searching for a specific end result way to “make things work” so much as using the tools I can live with to get by as best I can while maybe making the world a better place along the way. But since no one is ever really punished or suffers from such actions that have proven to be, at best, a crap game, we’ll see more of this.

More profit, that’s all that matters.

#krystal #capitalism #anarchism #WWE #xfl #Delta Airlines #Boeing #greed in America

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