pity for a dime

THE COPPER PENNY - @wilmingtonstarters​

Jenny sat on a stool, listening to the loud chatter around her. Most nights, she come have a few drinks with some friends but tonight her ass was currently planted on a stool with no one in sight. Her mind had been on the secret that Tessa had told her at prom, something that had been hard for her to keep to herself since she knew Kevin felt the same way… but it wasn’t like she had a love live that was worth talking about. She turned her head when she heard a voice next to her, her eyes flickering from the person to the empty stool. “Please, sit… Go for it.”

                      "You sure?” Calvin asked with a brow cocked and his hand balancing the bottle of beer he grabbed from the bartender just across the way. “You look like you’re pondering on the next great debate, so I wouldn’t wanna intrude.” Nonetheless, he chuckled some.

              “Until today, he’s been pretty allusive. He’s kept his distance.” Now probably wasn’t the best time to admit that she’d suffered his interest before her initial departure. It was only now that she was back that he decided to make himself more known. “Why do you think I came to you?” She knew she couldn’t do this alone anymore. There was no use in fighting the inevitable. And in this case, if she continued to fight this fight solo, there was a good chance things would escalate beyond even her control and capabilities. “Do you think it’s fucking easy to come to you with this?” She bit her lip, not wanting to go into it too much. “’Cause it’s not.” For plenty of reasons. “I didn’t see his face, no. He made it pretty hard to get a good look at him.” She admitted, mind reverting back to his tactics, very obviously avoiding any direct light, and ensuring he remained behind her, keeping her firmly in place with his hands on her hips as he introduced himself in a more physical nature now. “He just said I looked beautiful, and that we’d be together.” Guy had a skewed sense of reality, that was for sure. “Apparently this is his way of courting me.” She joked, desperate to play this off, but knowing there was no real way for her to do so; but considering humour was her way of dealing and hiding the abundance of fear washing over her, this was the best she could do.

                      When Calvin moved to press into the lockers behind him for a bit of support, his jaw clenched and fists curled at his sides. The grip he made had been so damn harsh and strong that crescent like shapes appeared on the skin of his palm from the trimmed fingertips. One straightforward, physical reminder that he was indeed planted on earth and there was some sick and twisted man out there who thought something like this had been okay. What was it? Between those who crept in on Caleigh with their eyes wandering her on stage, or his sister and her many suitors who thought they had been entailed… going as far to think about the gut-wrenching comments made to Taylor that didn’t even dare to reach an extreme when Calvin was so easily in the picture. He didn’t fucking get it and never would, but for those who he held in his life, for those who he cared for, he’d stretch his protection for as far as he could. This had to be some sick kind of joke. He couldn’t even stomach the thought of otherwise. “Christ, Thalia. No. Don’t fucking…” his head shook once again. “Don’t make it about that. None of that is important when you’ve got someone in your home. You don’t keep this…” He could lecture all he wanted, he knew, but it would be wasted breath when the past couldn’t be altered. Rolling his tense shoulders back, Calvin then tugged at the tie around his neck that suddenly became obnoxious, heaving a breath then clearing his throat. “You’re not going home tonight until you get the locks changed tomorrow. I’ll call somebody to get that done.” He then stood back up, straighter. “And you’ll… we’ll go to the station. You heard his voice, right? You’ll give a description. We’ll get this on record and…” He glanced up at her. “You don’t keep this from me. This isn’t funny, Thalia.”

     “You know… there are worse things than having to see your ugly mug daily,” the winemaker teased. Unable to help herself, despite being on a break while things were slow, when Calvin leaned back in his chair indicating that his polished plate meant he was done India picked them up and set them aside. Either his waitress or the busser would come by and swipe them up in a minute or two. “It’d actually be nice to be in touch with you a little more often.” If he came in more frequently then they would have more time to catch up and be a little more involved in each other’s lives. “Just alright?” Something in the answer told the brunette winemaker there was more, and his shrug confirmed her suspicion. “What is normal anymore? The wedding was stunning.” If only slightly lonely considering she had no date. That wasn’t a big deal though, India still enjoyed herself and had been happy to be there. “Did it give you some ideas now that you’ve been in a serious relationship for what… more than a year?” The collar had to have been tightening around his throat, India figured he’d been getting a lot of that lately. “I’m okay, working and living life a bit. Getting production on my wine, I got a few good ratings and that’s going pretty well. I’m trying to keep it somewhat small though.”

Nadia chuckled softly. “I’ll take any sort of good.” She teased as she lifted her eyes up towards him. “Just -… Does look decent? I don’t know… the last time I made one of these was back before my twenty-fifth birthday.”

                      "As long as you know,” Cal chuckled and shook his head, though he plucked the resume from her hand anyway. One quick glance over would tell Calvin that she was more than qualified simply because she knew how to work a page... not too wordy, just enough evidence of her skill. And while Cal hadn’t made a single one of these in his lifetime, ironically, he had seen plenty upon his promotion and need to review. “Looks good to me. You sure know your way around a Google doc.” The cop laughed. “What made you look for new? A fresh start?” 

“You would.” Another eye roll, followed with a long swig from her water bottle. She had come to quench her thirst and rest her feet, and so far, Calvin had distracted her from both. Pulling up one of the few bar stools, she sat on it, resting against the bar sideways so that she could look at him as they talked. “Something in the medical field,” Amy confirmed with a nod, unsure if she could have put it better herself. What else do you call the work she could do with her incomplete training as a doctor? Hopefully something more meaningful than what Calvin had christened it, and soon. “And why do you think I left?” She wondered, puzzled by his train of thought and whatever conclusions he might have drawn on his own. “It was everything I needed it to be, and it’s reminded me why I wanted to become a doctor in the first place.” Which, hopefully, she will be. Soon. Following his gaze as it rested on Caleigh, Amy smiled and drank some more water from her bottle. “Calvin McCoy, you’re head over heels, aren’t you? It’s a good look on you, I gotta say. And I’m happy for you,” she said as she patted him on the shoulder briefly.

                      Calvin’s lips turned up into a brief smile which had been rare for a guy like him. Always so stoic, neutral, but truth be told in that very moment it was good to see Amy again. The animosity was gone, never much on his end for her but rather the ladder, and it had been clear that she had begun to move on with her life. Much like him, she was at a much better place in her life. Kicking ass, so to speak, which easily impressed the cop. “Cut me some slack, Taylor. I was only allowed to get to know you for so long before my balls would’ve ended up in the blender.”  He laughed. “So, let’s change that. You want to become a Doc, huh? You think you’re gonna resume the schooling or whatever you have left now that you’re back?” He was curious as to what she had been doing while she was away,  but figured this would be the opening of the getting to know part, giving her a chance to fill him in if she had wished. Upon her question, Calvin shrugged, then clicked his tongue. “Fresh start, some place new? But you missed home too much.” He smirked. Shaking his head, Calvin could feel the red tint began to creep upon his neck, but he couldn’t exactly deny it, either. “Maybe I am. I won’t deny it, but c’mon, everything looks good on me.” As cocky as ever, the cop grinned wide back at the woman.  

BESPOKE COFFEE & DRY GOODS - OPEN @wilmingtonstarters​

Nadia sat at the table, her eyes resting on the piece of paper in front of her. Basically, the woman spent her whole life working for Dryden Co and now she was looking at starting over at the age of thirty-three. It was surreal, there were a few retail jobs in there but she didn’t know how she could go from office work to something like that. She exhaled as she glanced over her shoulder, noticing someone heading in her direction. “Hey –” she made a face slightly at herself. “Would you mind lookin’ this over and seeing if there is something I need to change?”

                      "Not too sure what good I’d be but yeah, hand it over. I’ll take a look.” The cop moved from his spot near the edge of the coffee shop that was somewhat private, away from the bustling rush. Plucking the sheet of paper up, Cal ticked his brow. “What am I looking for to be exact?”

            Was he just going to stand there and give her grief over only now just revealing what she was dealing with? ‘Cause if so, she was going to wholeheartedly regret spilling the details. Up until this point, it was all pretty harmless. A few letters, and notes. But now? Now he was getting into her place. He was getting bold. And tonight he proved that by turning up and making himself known. Unfortunately, he hid his face, hands coursing over her hips from behind as he whispered in her ear, slipping yet another note into her hand before fleeing into the crowd. She wasn’t prepared, and that alone was a startling thought. “What the hell was I supposed to say?…— I found a letter or two in my place, and a  photo of me? He’s never done anything physical. He’s never made any threats. There’s only so much the cops can do until he actually does something.” Not to mention she didn’t know who he was. She knew how this went. She’d seen enough documentaries on the matter, or news clippings. “—Fuck.” An exasperated sigh fell from her lips, fighting back further tears that threatened to make themselves known, not something she wanted Cal to witness further. She’d shown enough of that. “He got in, okay?” She began, her weight shifting on her heels as she rested against the wall behind her, her entire body sliding down, no regard for her dress as she pooled on the floor, desperately trying to shelter herself. “I found a photo taken from in my room. He left it on the kitchen counter this morning.” He was taking her safety away from her a step at a time. The loft where she resided rapidly becoming nothing but a prison, that only he could enter, whenever he pleased. “And he’s here. Somewhere. He had his god damn hands on me, and I just fucking froze.” Paralysed by a fear that nobody would truly comprehend. Something so foreign to the strong woman who was always proud of her independence and capability of looking out for herself.

                      "That’s exactly what you fucking say, Thalia. Verbatim. You don’t keep this quiet.” The fist that sculpted against his hip had been done out of frustration and anger, feeling such a thing begin to boil beneath the surface. Each and every claim had only infuriated him further, but truth be told, it would infuriate anyone who stood witness to such a thing. The mere thought of Chloe’s drug dealer had sent him over the edge, quite literally, not to mention her latest landlord... then, now the knowledge of some daring soul that thought it was his right to enter someone’s home... then touch them by all means. Jaw set in place, Calvin forced himself to quiet down until Thalia had been finished. If he knew one thing, his badgering would have just made her shut up, which both the protective side and the cop side couldn’t exactly afford. He exhaled a deep breath and turned until his back had been pressed into the lockers behind them, then sunk down to find himself on the floor near her side. “You’re strong,” He began, jaw locked and head shaking. “but you’re not fucking invincible, Thalia. You can’t... he broke into your home. He took...” It was then that he paused and brought his clenched fist to his mouth. “You didn’t see him? What did he say?” 

     “Because you don’t venture beyond your usual haunts, Cal.” Rubbing at the back of her neck the winemaker sighed at the bit of relief the action brought her. A smile was on the brunette’s lips eyeing how he’d scarfed so much of the tapas down already. If he thought it was good enough then maybe the captain would do her a solid and spread the word to his friends and those that worked for him. Business was good and steady for her but India wouldn’t complain about a bit more. Especially since she was working on production of her wine. “Of course. One for my favorite police officer.” Teasing, India winked before disappearing to grab him a fresh beer. “This one’s on me. I haven’t really seen you since the hurricane and I never got to personally thank you for all you did around here.” There was still the matter of her assault case but the winemaker figured that was dead in the water. “How’ve you been?”

     It took almost everything in Caleigh not to thinking anything of the way Calvin pulled away from her. That muscle beating in her chest sank to her stomach and she pulled a deep breath into her lungs. Something heavy was wedging between them, something more serious than she had imagined since her boyfriend had begun acting a little off recently, and she didn’t know what to do. “Figured what out?” Repeating her question, there was a slight agitation in her tone. The baker was trying to keep her cool and to give him some time to get it out but her nerves were getting the best of her and her anxiety was building. “Wait… this is about Chloe?” The Raleigh girl’s chest tightened some wondering if she was in some kind of trouble. “Oh, wait… that dealer that was like obsessed with her and in love with her or whatever?” His sister had always been a pretty girl, always garnered too much attention from the boys. Which sometimes wasn’t good when it came to having a protective brother. “Hi baby,” Caleigh cooed at Sadie when she curled up with her and put her head on her lap. Immediately her hand went to stroke her soft head, still smiling some when a cerulean gaze panned back up to Calvin. “Babe… come on, what the hell is going on?”

Was there ever a conversation with Calvin that didn’t involve countless eye rolls? Amy honestly couldn’t remember, as she─naturally─ rolled her eyes in response. “Hilarious, McCoy,” she simply stated, shaking her head at him. If she could have it her way, the past would not be rehashed, ever, but it was out of her hands and she had to accept that while she might have moved on, others may not have. Or they just wanted to get more kicks out of it, like Calvin right then. “Where haven’t I been?” She sighed, wondering how to pinpoint all the physical and mental places she’s been to in the past year. “Working and traveling in South America, I guess that sums it up. What about you? How come you’re finally tied down? The women of Wilmington must be weeping with sadness. Or men─ I don’t judge.”

                      "I think I’m funny, yeah.” Calvin continued to smirk upon shrugging both of his shoulders. That had been all he would have said on the matter... since, after all, he’d grown tired of hearing about the rumors ages ago especially since the rumors painted him in all the wrong ways. Except this time he couldn’t resist, as it had been the first time he wasn’t on the receiving end of the joke or lecture. He still vividly remembered the distaste in her sister’s tone the last time he had ran into Aubrey, like it had been his fault. Alas, given the time and space, it was almost as though that was a whole other life time. “Little bit of everywhere then, huh? Something in the medical field, right?” He asked to reassure his knowledge or what he had assumed, then propped himself down against the bar with his elbow balancing against the granite, sipping from his beverage. “I guess I can assume why’d you leave. How was it though?” Another sip, then he sucked the liquid between the tight spaces of his teeth. “Hey, I wouldn’t judge either, but nah. We’ve grown. We’re over that phase.” The smirk on his face proved that he had been joking but his gaze moved back to Caleigh briefly. “Guess it was just about time, y’know?” 

“It’s sort of perfect, isn’t it? Like salt and pepper on an apple. It doesn’t sound good, but it’s like the Magic Kingdom Nighttime Spectacular for your tastebuds.” Looking up at Calvin, Jamie seemed to adorn a devious grin then. “It’s cookie monster ice cream, obviously. Nice shade of blue with some chocolate chip cookies mixed in, plus the toppings. It’s a completely transformative experience from start to finish.”

                      "... can’t say I’ve gotten into that either. Guess the closest I’ve gotten is a bit of salt on your watermelon or M&M’s in some popcorn. That count?” Cal asked with his head cocked to the side, still attempting to wrap his mind around the thought. But hey, he couldn’t be one to really judge on strange phenomenons when it came to chowing down on something. He stood witness to plenty chowing down on bananas dipped in ranch dressing or chugging down a whole jar of pickle juice after all... but they also had their pregnancy hormones to blame. “Sounds decent but now I’m concerned about the shade of blue. You going through something you wanna talk about?” Joking, of course, a smirk slipped up and plastered over the cop’s face.

WEDNESDAY, July 1st at the McCoy loft.

     “Alright man… so, the fuck’s been up with you?” It hadn’t hard to notice that something with his best friend was off but for the most part he minded his business until Calvin was ready to bring it to him. They were similar in the fact that they tended to work through things on their own and then casually bring it up later with one another. However it didn’t really seem like the police captain was making much progress on moving through whatever was plaguing him at the moment. With Caleigh out with Naomi, the Long Beach native figured he’d take the opportunity to find out what was going on and do what he could to help his friend sort whatever it was. “If ya got somethin’ goin’ on that’s givin’ ya trouble then ya know ya can come to me right? I mean we been through this, haven’t we?” For more than a decade they leaned on one another. They were brothers, that’s what they did. “So what’s up?”  ( @calvinxmccoy​ )

     He’s fucking with me. He knows what he’s doing. Somehow he figured it out.

     The baker’s head cocked to the side as she tried to follow mysterious words coming from her boyfriend. Calvin was clearly struggling with something, not just the fact that the awful man known as Declan was looming around their town with something clearly up his sleeve, but the captain was struggling to put whatever thoughts he was having into words.

     He knows.

     A sharp inhale was breathed into her lungs the moment her boyfriend further pulled away from her and Caleigh wasn’t exactly in the position to chase after him. In the past she would’ve grabbed his sleeve, gotten onto his back, or placed herself right in Calvin’s lap but with limited movement all she could do was sit there and stare at his profile. “He figured what out, babe?” It went without saying that as long as Declan breathed air he would fuck with his children, mostly Calvin taking the brunt of that, and the old man always knew what he was doing. He was sick. It was safe to say the raven topped baker hated her boyfriend’s father and without any apology or forgiveness over the past — she had been against the surgery that saved his life. Declan never deserved that from Calvin, and Chloe and his other sister were far better off without him in their lives. Something that was only further cemented by his little visits and harassments toward her. “Babe… he knows what?” Reaching out, she was able to grip his sleeve just barely with the tips of her fingers. His shirt fell from her grasp the second she gave a little tug. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

“I am a saint, thank you,” she preened. She was fairly certain that word had never been used in conjunction with her before, but she couldn’t deny liking the sound of it… “That, and I’m a massive fucking hoe. I’ve reclaimed the word, I’m allowed to say it… What made you skip out on yours? Too cool?” 

                      "And fucking humble, huh?” Calvin chuckled upon shaking his head, clearly amused. It was clear that the woman payed no mind to embracing it rather than shying away from it. He could appreciate that. “Nothing wrong with that.” He added on, then shrugged his shoulders. “My girlfriend I, we uh... I wouldn’t say too cool for it, but it wasn’t exactly our style.”

            A deep exhale fell immediately from her lips as he began to question what was going on, and her self defence tactics wanted to kick in and tell him that everything was ‘fine’ and just wonder off back into the crowded room for a sense of comfort. Alas, Calvin was the only person she knew she could trust. At least right now. “I just…— I’ll tell you over there.” The blonde desperately trying to get her words out as she fought back the sense of fear that washed over her, taking his lead as she made her way over the closed off student bay, side by side with the male next to her. It wasn’t until they were alone that she allowed herself to give into the tears that began to fill her eyes, only brief and only a few, but nonetheless, more than she was wanting to share at this point. “I think I let this go on too long.” Her words had no real context. Nothing he was able to fully comprehend. And with one fail-swoop, her hand brushed against her cheek as tear stained trails dripped down. “I think someone is following me.” There we go, a little more of an insight as to what struck a chord in the blonde. “He’s here. He got into my apartment. He’s taken photos of me and left me notes…— Cal, I don’t know what to do.” It was escalating faster than she had anticipated, and it’d started before she’d left town, immediately striking back up again upon her return, a clear indicator that it was someone local, considering it had ceased upon her move out of town.

                      With brows furrowed together, Cal wasted very little time in following Thalia to the secluded area, out of earshot to fill him in on the blanks on what was going on with her. His mind had been churning with what could have gotten Thalia so... startled, so to speak, but he truthfully was pulling blanks. There was very little in this world that prompted tears to fall from Thalia’s face, something Cal could relate to and something he understood, so that simple feat just told him it was beyond serious. Then, well, she spilled just enough. Cal’s jaw clenched upon spinning around on his heels in the hallway and he narrowed his eyes at her. “Why haven’t you said anything?” He asked, the first thing that spilled from his mouth, despite knowing that a lecture wouldn’t get him too far. Following her... taking pictures... in her home?  He probably understood why she didn’t say anything... he kept his own fair share of secrets. Standing straight with his spine upright, he faced Thalia and cleared his throat. “What the fuck do you mean he’s been in your apartment?” 

MONDAY, June 29th at The Vine.

     Taking a seat at the table beside the police captain’s, India let out a sigh and slipped her feet out of her heels. It was late lunch or possibly early dinner time for some, but the winemaker had been up and on the move since early that morning. “I can’t remember ever seeing you in here,” India commented without a glance his way just yet. It had been a long time since she’d seen or spoken to Calvin, they missed each other at the wedding despite both being in the respective parties. She’d been mostly keeping to herself the last few months especially, feeling disconnected from pretty much everyone. “Are you enjoying?” A soft smile on her lips, India finally glanced his way and jutted her chin gently at his partially eaten plate of tapas. Despite it being a wine and tapas establishment, there were other beverages served, such as beer… “would you like a refill?” Naturally, she was a little curious how he’d been and how things had been going since the hurricane and big accident, but she didn’t want to launch right into that.  ( @calvinxmccoy​ )