dreamer

“’Course I am,” she said with a chuckle, brushing herself off before straightening up. “You know I’m resilient and good at bouncing back. Otherwise I’d spend too much time in hospitals!” She pulled a face at her friend, pretending to be utterly let down. “Hey now, this isn’t supposed to be about your good catch, this is supposed to be about protecting my image as a graceful wonder!” Cass couldn’t keep up the facade though, letting out another laugh and shaking her head. “Seriously though, Ava, what are you doing out and about?”

“You’re making a great point there.” Ava agreed with her friend, giving her a once over to make sure she was okay but visibly relaxed once she realized all was good. “Oh, I wouldn’t dare to harm your image. Besides, it wasn’t about my skills. It was all about you and what a great catch you are.” A smug little smile appeared on her lips as she spoke, shrugging once innocently. “Oh, I was just going to grab some take out for lunch and head home. I’d rather not burn down the kitchen for another day and I could do with some Indian right now. What about you? Beside stumbling and tumbling.” She asked, her tone indicating her obvious teasing.

Rhiannon carried some case files carefully as she sauntered down the streets of Philadelphia, heels clicking on the pavement that gave off the air of confidence that she exuded especially on that day. She was making headway on an important case and only had to ensure that her cards were played right going forward. “This is a glorious day,” the brunette muttered to herself, not realizing that she might’ve jinxed it once hot coffee was flying in her direction. “I’m fine, I’m fine,” Rhiannon assured the other woman uneasily, as she scanned the files that she was holding. Some coffee had gotten on one of the pages, not enough to destroy it but definitely a noticeable stain. “I just need to get somewhere to dry this off.”

Ava gaze fell on the files the other woman was holding, her eyes going wide as she placed her belongings on the floor, immediately digging out a pack of tissues from her bag. “I’m so sorry.” Ripping the packaging open, she handed her four tissues in one go. “Are they ruined? Please tell me I didn’t just splash something super important.” Her tone was almost pleading as her eyes fixated on the coffee stain ripping into the pages, cursing herself in her mind. 

Elliot smiled and quickly grabbed a fry as soon as the waiter brought them over, nodding a thanks before turning to Ava. “That is true, I’d hoped I’d have met a fun guy doing any of those things by now, you know the type; Elliot Spencer from Leverage, Reno Raines from Renegade. Somebody at least.” She joked, nudging her sister. “You’re always welcomed on any of my treks, we haven’t done any of those together in awhile.” She knew that her sister hadn’t been the same since California had happened, but she was slowly and steadily trying to get Ava back into her wild escapades, just like the old days. But if her sister just wanted to chill and watch a movie, you can bet Elliot would drop whatever adventure she had planned and crash on the couch with the older woman. “That’s also true, dad is like our number one fan. Pretty sure he told every single guy at prom that I was absolutely amazing, just like my big sister.” She winked playfully. “Leftover pizza? That sounds good to me, I have a freezer full of Ben & Jerry’s that isn’t being eaten. I can bring swing by my place and bring some over after we’ve devoured our fries of course.” She replied, taking a few more and biting into them. “My gosh I forgot how much I loved these.”

“It’ll happen. Probably when you least expect it. Love works in mysterious ways. Or in the very least attraction does.” She reassured her with a grin as she chewed on a fry. Elliot was a catch, to say the very least. She wasn’t worried about her in the slightest. If Ava had managed to almost get married, her sister would go even further in no time. “I’ll take you up on that as soon as work becomes a little bit less hectic. I still need to submit a few drafts to the director in LA so I’m trying to get that done.” Ava admitted with a sigh, stuffing multiple fries in her mouth. Unable to stop herself, she muffled her words over a closed mouth due to the fries, nodding along. Giving herself a second, she then chuckled once she was good to go. “Yeah, he really likes to go for it, doesn’t he? Kind of terrible and amazing at the same time. Probably more terrible than amazing when we were in our teens, in the middle of puberty with questionable crushes.” But hell, Ava wouldn’t have it any other way. “Sounds like a dream. I’m sold. You can crash at my place if you’d like? Your drawer is still filled with spare clothing.” Ava suggested to her younger sister, secretly hoping for one of their legendary PJ hangouts. “How can you forget about loving fries? Are you okay? Do I need to force you to go on vacation? I will mail you in a box to some tropical island if I have to.”

How about         Meet you halfway?

Well, other than the fact that I’m a human being with a body which doesn’t always look like I want it to, sometimes I struggle with my job at the shelter. I didn’t have year-long training, I just had the money to help. But these are human lives, women and their children who depend on me to do my best for them. And sometimes I’m not confident in my choices, sometimes I just need to hope that what I’m doing will work out for them. But hoping isn’t exactly confidence. 

Romantic Comedies. I can’t get enough of them. Shoe getting stuck in a manhole cover and the girl gets rescued from a rolling dumpster? Sold! Sitting by the love of your life, telling her your love story while she forgets you each day? I’m all for it! Because nobody puts Baby in the corner!

Communication and being comfortable? I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anyone doing one specific thing and it working on me. As long as you’re having fun, the mood is there or is being set and everyone is on the same page, it should work its magic. At least on me. 

I’m well into my adult years and single, have been single for a while actually and I live on my own. Take a guess.

Well, love, first and foremost. The decision to marry someone needs to be based on that. And then there’s everything else you need for a good relationship. Communication, similiar goals, ways to compromise, trust. If you know someone well enough and your goal is to marry one day, I suppose it just happens naturally. Because the future would look so much better with them than without them. But I’m not married, so maybe I’m not the best at giving this advice.

I tend to avoid phone calls. I’m okay with texting but I hate talking over the phone. But in my line of work, I’m forced to do just that. Call people, have people call me - it’s terrible. So whenever I’m home, I just won’t pick it up or mute it. I probably beat the world record of missed phone calls but I’ll just avoid them whenever I can. As a functioning human being, I’m not really proud of it either. Oh, and I also absentmindedly chew on my pencils. So be warned and never try to borrow one.

I’m actually quite good at taking time to just kick my feet up. I love my work and I tend to keep myself busy but there’s nothing better than filling up a bathtub and soak in it until you’re a human raisin or putting on a good movie and just shutting your brain down. I’m not the type to go to a spa or for a massage but my equivalent of that is painting my nails at home. Which I did yesterday. So here’s your answer.

When I need advice and someone to talk to, I go to my parent’s place. I know it might sound silly but my mom and dad always know the right thing to say. But I feel like it’s kind of cheating to say that since it’s not really the place but the people there that make me feel better. So for the sake of it, I love going to the Spruce Street Harbor Park whenever the season starts. Going there at night and seeing all the colorful lights just feels magical. But my favorite Philly place are the Magic Gardens. I could spend a lifetime there.

Cassidy winced at the sight and began to brace for a very unpleasant reaction. But to her surprise, none came. Instead she was able to nod sympathetically. “I think so. I’m really sorry I would’ve picked it up but as soon as Leo finished he tried to eat an acorn so I turned around to get it out of his mouth and, well…” She trailed off looking down at Ava’s feet. Leo let out a small woof as if very pleased with himself which earned him a stern glance from Cassidy. He was not helping the situation. “How bad is the damage? I’m happy to pay to replace them. Leo made the mess but I’m the human so I’m responsible.” Cassidy offered.

Ava swatted the air in front of her as if to dismiss the woman from her guilt as her foot kept working the grass, trying to get as clean as possible. “It’s okay, it happens to the best of us. And that’s the culprit, huh?” She asked as the dog barked, getting her attention. Stretching out her hand for him to sniff, she knelt down and started to rub his ear as soon as he got accustomed to her smell. “How could you be upset with such a cute face? Especially when acorns are so very fascinating, right, little guy?” She couldn’t help but grin a little bit as she looked back up at the woman. “It’s alright, I’ll just hose them down at home. Besides, they lived through their best years. It was time to replace them anyway.” With one final pet, she stood back up. “Honestly, it’s fine. If anything it’s a lesson learned for me to be careful where I’m going.”