ooh scandalous!

This winter was proving to be a cold one. Snow was always welcome, in his book, but this… was a bit much. Since where Bailey and Remy lived had already been shoveled, he decided to go over and help his mom by shoveling out her driveway and the sidewalk around it. He’d been out there for a bit, salting, shoveling, and there was still quite a bit to do.

the only snow ashley has any tolerance for was when she was on any ski slope or enjoying a little aprés ski situation. the winter was being utterly awful and it was showing no signs of letting up any time soon.

Tina took the screwdriver without question. At first. She had been so in the zone with her repairs, that the simple shape of a person was really all she had noticed when she asked for help. It wasn't until Ashley's shoes clicked on the ground beside her that Tina finally looked up.

as soon as tina opened her mouth, ashley regretted the inconvenience of helping her and held the restraint of taking the screwdriver right back off tina and driving it into her hand. nevertheless, she held in her temper.

"correct," he nodded, listening intently as miss armbruster carried on her analysis. lorelai had been hellbent on not having her business aired around town, even when her life was on the line. gabe would try his best to honour that, but finding out what the hell had happened was more important. wasn't it? "i think you're quite right about that. i fear it's no coincidence that even when buried in a crowd of casualties, it's the important few that emerge. my ex wife among them, yes. as always, it boils down to the hardest question of them all... 'why?'. although, truth be told, i'd settle for leaving that for after the crook is caught."

"people are so desperate for it to be over, and they're happy to be told that the person they arrested did it and there's no other questions asked. seems strange that there was no leads for so long and suddenly someone is arrested to be charged. your ex wife must be someone important for them to be targeted."

some of the richer families in town that normally abstained from mixing with the general public had come out to help with the donations and the town clean up. leading the charge of that had been ashley armbruster, a welcomed change to the normally cold and stand off-ish demeanour you were normally met when you encountered her.

it was nothing, is what anyone would normally say in response, but ashley armbruster coming down from her high tower certainly was something these days. "situations like this call for all hands on deck, even people who don't like to chip their nails"

While Tina and James had ultimately decided not to attend any Halloween events, it was only a blessing in that they were safe at home, not stuck inside some uncomfortable, overcrowded place. That did not mean that Tina was safe from the inner workings of her own brain, of course, but that wasn't a conversation she was going to open with anyone just yet.

ashley wasn't about physical labour, a woman of her stature wouldn't be caught dead doing that whether it was for a good cause or not. recently developing what people would call a conscience had been an inconvenience for ashley, and yet the horrors persisted which in turn had lead ashley to join the group of volunteers helping to clean up the damage caused form the storm.

Bailey chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "You know, I think you might be right, on that front." It wasn't every day that he met someone who didn't know their own interests, and he had to admit, he was intrigued. "I've got the time," he shrugged. "Lets start in general areas of interest. Artistic, creative, intellectual, physical, and social are usually the main ones."

her life was so drastically different that she wasn't even sure what most people did on an average day, never mind her considering where she would even start with that "i've been brought up around social events and i guess there's always been an interest in fashion and art there. i suppose strategy games as well, i would play them with my grandmother when i was younger. intellectual conversations have been hard to come by. sometimes i wonder if i actually like those things or if it was what was ingrained in my since birth"

with carl at the hospital on shift, ellie took to the streets with dug to help join in the community efforts of cleaning up any debris after the high winds from halloween that had whipped through the town looking for trouble.

ashley wasn't about physical labour, a woman of her stature wouldn't be caught dead doing that whether it was for a good cause or not. however, she wasn't dumb and knew how that would look. recently developing what people would call a conscience had been an inconvenience for ashley, and yet it persisted.

"Galas and socialite events, huh? Well, it sounds like you could use some real, average life experiences." Bailey was never one to be rude without reason, but that sort of thing felt a little... stuffy. "Take your family out of the equation for a minute; what do you like to do?"

"yes, it's the norm in the social circles my family run in. i've had some average life experiences, though our definitions of average might be a little different" her average life experiences were filled with riches and an entitlement most could only dream of. what did she like to do? she hadn't had much like for anything in the longest time "i-i'm not sure. it's complicated"

"Ladies and gentleman of Redwood Hollow, we have a chicken on our hands!" She shouted, hands around her mouth to project her voice. Cameron could only laugh. "Wow... You must be so fun at parties!" She exclaimed, in an overly cheery, obviously sarcastic way. "I actually do know designer items and their costs pretty well, I just don't wear them every day as a front. And frankly, I'm sort of surprised you could afford them."

ashley rolled her eyes at the idiocy. ignoring the sarcasm, she shrugged "i'm delightful at parties, but you'll never know, we don't associate in the same circles." there were few people that ashley would entertain at parties and this person was not one of them. "you clearly don't know them that well then. considering my name and reputation. that's okay, don't worry, not everyone is smart enough to be switched on, you can go back to jumping in leaves"

Deziree wondered how easy it would be to create a "coffee accident" while she was pouring, but figured Ashley would sue her to the high heavens. So she refrained, and did her damndest not to say exactly what she was thinking.

she eyes deziree, just daring her to make a move that would give ashley cause to go on the warpath and destroy any idea of a life that deziree still had.

Cameron chuckled, shaking her head. "Then take them off," she replied with a smirk, as if that was the obvious solution. "Also, I'm not so sure that's accurate..." She knew cars, and if any shoe cost more than that one, well... "Sounds to me like you're a chicken."

"the whole outfit is expensive. i'm not wasting it to act like a child and dive into some leaves." she disputed, rolling her eyes. "sounds to me like you don't know designer items and their costs. you trying that reverse psychology material on me won't work and i have better things to do that waste time running though piles of mulch"

"I dare you to go jump in that leaf pile." Cameron smirked, folding her arms over her chest. "C'mon, don't be a wimp. What's the worst that could happen?"

the last thing she was going to do was jump in a pile of dirty leaves, she was wearing valentino for crying out loud. "i'm not doing that, i'm not insane and my shoes alone cost more than that car" she said pointing to the vehicle.

“You’ve never been to a corn maze?!” Bailey's eyes were wide, almost unable to process what he was hearing. "That's like a fall rite of passage."

she was confused to why a corn maze was so important "no, i've never been. it's not something my family would ever do" appearances were key with the armbrusters. "my family are all about galas and socialite events"

Deziree was starting to realise that 'going unnoticed' in this job was proving futile. Every second customer knew her by name, which would have been a good thing in any other setting, and every fifth asked about her mother. Deziree poured the piping hot coffee, attempting a sincere smile.

back in town after another vacation away, ashley entered the diner and took a seat. she was messaging the ashley's group chat annoucing her return to the girls and looked up when she saw coffee being poured "neither is fine" she answered, then noticing who was pouring the drink "you work here? did you lose a bet?"