sincerely, lydia.

Lilith rolled into town like a ghost in the night. Everything happened so quickly and she moved within a 2 week period. Not her old friends, family, absolutely no one knew she was moving to L.A. It had been a day or two settling into her new empty flat before she decided to search for work. Lilith didn’t have much to her name just her guitar, her voice, and a dream. Lilith was poking her nose into every hipster dive cafe that should could see. Finally, she was trying just any cafe out there. “Hey!” She exclaimed as she walked up to the table. Her own anxiety rolled through her like waves into the tips of her fingers. Which tapped along to the song inside her head. “Uh… You know what? Yeah. What’s your best cold drink?” She asked, “I’ll get whatever it is…But actually I’m here because I’m looking for work. I’m a musician, just me! And I don’t know if you have an open mic night or you would like some nice live music in here. By the way really nice place! So I was wondering if you’d be interesting in talking about it?” Lilith smiled as wide as she could trying to be the southern belle her mom always taught her to be. 

                                   first impressions could be nerve wrecking... and lydia was MORE than intimated by how comfortable and straight to the point the fresh face was before her. the city of angels. - as they called it - lydia was sure of it. there was always something so refreshing about the days. the people came to fit into a dream that was always locked inside of their heads. she saw others passions filling. it energized herself to keep going to the beat of her own passionate drum. 

              a lithe finger tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ( pierced. four times, a lover of hoops. )  “   yeah.  ”   lips thinned in a stretched grin. mentally she was sorting out which drink was actually the best. lydia would pick apart a persons brain to figure out which best suited them, it was a game to her - and looking at the other, she was already concocting a special order.  “   i have time to talk now if you’d like ?  ”   whimsically polite. the brunette had an air to her. lydia’s fingers lifted in the air signalling for one of her employees to watch the counter.   “  collectively its a space for serenity. music is calming, and poetic in it’s own right,   ”    moving around the counter. 

TASK 001; 𝕔𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤   𝕚𝕟   𝕞𝕪   𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 ⭐

quite honestly, gabi could’ve kept complimenting lydia all damn day. it was extraordinarily easy to do so. because of course she noticed the blushing. took pleasure in garnering that reaction. the corners of her mouth twitched into the faintest of smirks. slowly taking off her hair tie, she shook her hair loose. now this was more like it. “well, yeah – insomnia’s got like, a thousand hit points, so we just got to find the weak point, keep ramming it, duck their attacks, and we’ll be golden,” gabi said like it wasn’t the most absurd thing she had said in a while. insomnia wasn’t like that but she was keeping things light and breezy. her fingers delicately held a strand of the other woman’s hair, twirling it around. “well i love it. a plus look. if humans don’t walk into poles looking at you like that, then there’s seriously something wrong with them.” 

momentarily, gabi found herself distracted watching her walk in. god she was useless sometimes. right, okay, get your legs moving.

“i’m coming. geez, woman…” sidling her way inside, gabi kept fixing up her hair with her fingers, brushed off beads of sweat with the back of her hand. “girl, puh-please…” she placed a hand on her chest, almost as if she was offended at the absurdity of such a statement. “me? afraid? of? anything? never…” she presented herself as fearless. but lydia, on the other hand, was a terrifying prospect. more than jumping out of a plane. and it just wasn’t about respecting girl code. it went a lot deeper than that.

gabi had never been a fan of silence. it meant being alone with your thoughts. making her way inside she felt herself at a loss. no hustle and bustle. no music being played in the background. no buzzing or beeping from the machines. no conversations being had. it was a foreign concept. one she hated. “so, uh…’” sitting on the edge on one of the tables, she let her legs dangle and looked at the other woman expectantly. “think we can get some battle music playing? y’know, to pump us up, get us in the mood?”

                                was this what insomnia did to a person ? made them rattle off such ridiculous strings of sentences ??   “  we sound nuts. .. and you are sounding super nerdy. like our life is a simulated game. - don’t they call it... ”   she tried to shake her head for the thought. thinking was just DIFFICULT when tiredness was clouding every crack and corner.   “   a boss fight ? is that what conquering insomnia is ?  ”   her body was moving. feeling like time was festering how her body was feeling. neglecting to take care of herself, she wondered if this meant continuously staying up all day ? her eyes stinging to the light of the sun... or worse, ... sleeping in all day... and then staying up throughout the night. what a horrible spin she was about to be on. 

                               peanut butter. before gabi arrived, she had googled remedies. peanut butter was one of the number one foods to help calm your body to a need for sleep state.  “  want a spoon ? ”   twisting off the lid of some overly priced organic peanut butter, her spoon didn’t hesitate to dig in.  gabi’s sense of humor was refreshing. even though, lydia knew the woman could be flirtatious, but that was just her nature. lydia hadn’t dared to over think any of her comments, or the lithe touch she did to her hair. naive was something the cafe owner could be. 

               “  is Beethoven considered war music ? ”   a dip at her own humor chimed. spoon in her mouth, the brunette moved to find the remote. spotify was such a BLESSING.  “  it could be too deeply poetic for us. we need something that makes us feel pumped up,... and energized ... that way we can just exude all of our energy and collapse in defeat. ”   her giggle was light, contagious. almost endearing. this was lydia; remote in one hand, spoon in mouth, other hand now googling top songs to amp you up. as strong willed as the woman could be, she was nearly innocent in her own form.  “   oooh, theres a playlist. ‘ pumped up war music.’ “   another giggle, she hit play. removing the spoon from her mouth and she’d begin to take a few steps trying to dance ? feel the energy ? - or just laugh through it. 

By far Alfie’s favourite part of her job was when people brought in older vehicles. Nothing quite beat getting to work and look at cars she’d never come across before. Especially when they were in good condition. Those were the cars that were harder to figure out but oh so rewarding to fix. And they didn’t come much nicer than the merc that her brother had called her over to take a look at. Alfie had never gotten to work on a C107 before so this was already going to be the highlight of her week. 

After running through a bunch of standard tests, Alfie returned to the reception area where the owner was sitting. “Hey sorry about the wait. Odd rattling noise, huh? Well your engine’s all fine but from what I’ve seen I’m willing to bet it’s an issue with your exhaust system. When’s the last time you had her serviced?” 

                                       “  almost ...  ”   she needed a pause. how much time had gone by ? time could be mind twisting. especially when juggling a business. hell, lydia actually didn’t drive a whole lot. most places were within walking distance. she’d need to estimate.   “   almost a year ago... maybe a little over...   ”    the brunette hadn’t known all too much over cars. sticking to such things as coffee, and baking served her knowledge better. an older car... what was the right amount of time ? every SIX months ? clearly she was lacking...    “   i should have come sooner...  ”    considering she was unexpectedly landing herself in this place.  “  honestly. im excellent at losing track of time. -  ”   a curl at the corner of her mouth and she was grinning. 

                           it was a good moment to regret not focusing on such things. maybe if she had just taken a time to be more proactive with her father and learn anything automotive related. she could change oil.. but lets face it, she wouldn’t. lydia KNEW she was far too clumsy for that. leave it to the professionals; like this woman.  “  exhaust system. right. - don’t judge me.. - but is that necessarily ... bad ?  ” 

see, that’s my secret. i always have a plan. 

even if that plan involves binge smoking and watching always sunny all day. i think that if there was an apocalypse, i’d probably be doing.

“It looks divine,” Holly said with a nod of her head, whether or not the woman had made it herself, it did truly look delicious. Fishing into her purse, Holly pulled out a crisp twenty dollar bill and tucked it into the tip jar. She recalled many summers and weekends worked at places like this during high school and college, and often times a generous tip could make someone’s day. Plus the woman had been so kind as to just give it to Holly, she hoped it was a way to thank her. Picking up the plate, Holly jutted her head toward a comfortable arm chair in the corner. “I’ll be over there. I’ll be sure to tell you how the muffin is.”

                          you JUST met this woman. don’t get ahead of yourself.  let her be. - lingering would be overdoing her stay. for all she was aware of, is that holly was just trying to enjoy her time, and lydia hadn’t wanted to over crowd her with her fangirling moment. not to mention, the brunette was certain if she said anything further... she’d SURELY embarrass herself.  there was a silent ‘ thank you.’ and warm grin, appreciative over the generous tip her eyes caught holly placing in the jar.  “    if you need anything.. i’ll be over here. -   ”    stop. talking. lydia. right. - awkwardly sifting, the woman rubbed the palm of her hands on her apron and turned. baking something right now would help ease the nerves that were beginning to creep up the back of her neck. 

“I’ve spent an entire day in the lab with a legion of cranky graduate students just coming out of midterms…a sweet conversational detour in the form of coffee beans and pastries sounds absolutely divine.”  Lana says, lips curling into a grin.  Like her own, Lydia’s cheeks had the red kiss of alcohol, and she finds the young bakery owner absolutely charming.  “By all means, Lovely Lydia, swoon me away.”

                       a professor ?  it made sense, lydia picked up quickly on the woman’s professional etiquette, and the eloquent way she spoke. an intelligent one. if lydia wasn’t careful, she’d drink a little more, and embarrass herself with the comparison between the women.    “  if i spill the beans.  ”   pun intended towards the coffee bean subject, lydia was proud of herself. such an awkward one, quirky, and precious.  “   you’ll have to promise that you’ll stop by the cafe and say ‘hello’ sometime.. it’s just across the street, so don’t give me excuses.   ”   a giggle.. if she was sober, her words wouldn’t have been slightly threatening, and bold.  “   okay.  ”   eyes looked up to the ceiling in a quick thought. the alcohol was swooshing her brain a little, making it difficult to focus.  “   okay, so in mecca.... way back, like,  ”   her hand waved in the air,    “    early 1500′s... around then... coffee was banned, because people thought those who drank it were thinking radically because of it... that it stimulated them in some crazy way....- and also, ancient arabian culture a woman could ONLY divorce her husband if he didn’t like the taste of her coffee.  ”   what a dork, to know such things. 

honestly, carson was still trying to reel in her intermittent smirks and chuckling thinking about the absolute horror show lydia let her watch at the cafe, so she wasn’t entirely sure she’d be the most reassuring right now. “no, no, really– really it was great,” but it was obvious, even as lydia wasn’t looking at her, the smile in her fake reassurances. 

“i just–” the brunette couldn’t hold it in any longer, “–why did you think it was a good idea to ask for her number after that? honestly, i fuckin’ envy your confidence.” carson gave her a nod of approval. it really did take a lot of… something to pull off what lydia managed to today. “hey, just say the word and we’ll go hella far. you know i’ve always wanted to pull some witness protection program shit.” a shrug, then a glance at the other woman. “in this case i think it’d be more like the victim protection program, and i can’t really tell who exactly is the victim in this situation ‘cause… well, it was pretty awful on both sides, jesus fucking christ. golden.” 

                                  it’s a rush of nerves, to put yourself out there. lydia could turn on a faucet and EASILY fill herself with anxiety. the thought of putting yourself out there in any dating form induced such feelings. it was all uncontrollable, and embarrassingly awkward. - and she HATED feeling so out of her element. uncontrolled. the cafe owner couldn’t even digest the others faux reassurance. there was zero confidence boosting happening, and it wouldn’t even be believable. it was apparent how incredibly, PAINFULLY awkward she could be. 

                “   this is why i smoke.   ”   - to chill my self fucking down. - she didn’t want to spiral in hyperventilation. running out of town, and changing her identity may have sounded extravagant and dramatic to the situation, but in some twisted sense it seemed like the only move to make.  “  - or maybe i’ll just stay in the back for a solid week... and then maybe she will have such an interesting life that she’ll forget my face... or ... you know.. if i lost her as a customer that doesn’t seem like the worst thing either right now... please, i know im awful at this.. but can you just please sedate me... or maybe feed me with some confidence ... or wine. WINE is always good.   ” 

Big bet. Let’s hope so, I’ll upload it to Youtube and get some coin during all this.