Yo ♥️ Cuba

“Nice to meet you Claudia,” she nodded her head as she took another small hit of her rolled blunt. It wasn’t the greatest quality stuff, but it did the trick. She let it dangle between two of her fingers as she kept on talking to the other. “Yup, I just moved here a few days ago, all the way from across the pond. I had a hell of a flight.”

Claudia chuckled when the Brit told her she was from ‘across the pond’ because that was just adorable. Claudia turned to face the woman to walk backwards for a few beats. “What brought you to the city then?” She asked, raising her brow then turning to face forward again as soon as she was next to the woman once again. 

“i’m from la, actually,” ronnie answered. the change of pace had been pretty drastic between the two cities but it was also thrilling. ronnie was having a really good time exploring the city so far, “it’s been an adjustment but i’m enjoying myself. how long have you lived here?”

Her eyes were still fixated on the toy that Ronnie has pointed out to her. She was really contemplating this purchase. She was poor. And about to go back to school. She should be saving, not spending. “LA?” She raised her brow and gave the blonde a tiny smirk. “Damn, I mean...I moved here from Miami about five years ago. So that was quite the culture shock too. New York is a whole different ball game, but honestly you seem like you’re going to fit in well here.”

    “Okay…” Kam was doing some facts in his head, trying to decide what kind of cheese he wanted on his sandwich, because that was a big deal, and he was holding up the line, but like - this wasn’t JUST an every day choice. This was CHEESE. Once he made his choice, swiss and muenster, because what a marriage made in heaven, he looked over at the person next to him, and let out a sigh as if he’d just pushed out a kidney stone or something. He was THAT worn out from the whole affair. “Y’know, if You think about it, cheese is just a loaf of milk.” okay, Kam.

“Oh my god, I was thinking that, too!” She agreed, happy that they seem to almost be one minded. She really likes talking to Claudia. Next, she laughs when the other can relate. Bless. “I think it has to do with genetics and all that. I never paid a whole lot of attention in biology.” Was that the right subject? “Ah, well at least something good comes out of the temporary pain.” she giggled. “Bathe in Aloe vera. Where I’m from, it rarely got up to 85 but it was easy to get burned if you were in the sun all day. The first time I applied sunscreen to myself I somehow missed a spot the shape of a triangle right here.” She points to the space between her eyebrows. “I couldn’t tell you how that happened if I tried.”

ronnie smiled appreciatively. it felt good to be making friends again. it was a little risky to move across the country where you had nothing and new no one, but ronnie was finally settled in and things seemed to be going swimmingly. she focused her attention on the selection of vibrators for sale. “this is my favorite one,” ronnie said, grabbing one off the shelf. “doesn’t have as many bells and whistles but definitely gets the job done.”

“Where are you from?” She raised her thick brow. Claudia knew what it was like to be new in the city. She came to Kingsboro five years ago, and knew no one. When she moved though, she was going to college, which made it easier to make friends. That was how she met her best friend, Ellie. The green eyed young woman set the vibrator that she was holding down to inspect the one that the blonde had pointed out to her. “Simple, yet effective.” She joked, reading the packaging.  

“Glad we are on the same page,” Jo let out a causal chuckle as she extended her hand to pass the blunt to the other’s direction. Being in a large city, filled with a sea of faces she didn’t know, it was nice to see that somebody would accept her kind offer. “Like I said, I was feeling nice,” she nodded her head as she watched her take a quick hit. “Name’s Jo, by the way.”

Claudia very gladly grabbed the blunt from the young woman and took another hit, holding the smoke in just a little longer this time before she turned her head to the side to breath out. “Claudia, Clauds, Fern bush. Call me whatever you want as long as you’re bringing the weed.” She joked, passing the blunt back. “You knew here, chica? I haven’t seen you around before.”

“Claudia you painted an entire painting of me with an apology attached. I think you’ve done your fair share of apologizing.” He smiled, and then reached across the table for her hand. “Look, i’m happy for you and everything you’re becoming, doing and achieving. I’m your friend and the last thing I want is for this friendship to strive on you apologizing to me a million times for the same thing over and over. It happened, it’s in the past and you don’t need to dwell on it. I’m here! So just be grateful for that and try not to dwell. It’ll do more damage than good and you know i’m right.” He winked, letting go of her hand and sitting back to sip his coffee again. “So what have you been up to lately? Besides painting and peppermints.” 

“Alright, alright, está bien.” She finally gave in. “I painted that picture forever ago though. I just bothered giving it to you now though. I really thought about just throwing it out or fucking burning it or something after we broke up but something told me not to. I just couldn’t get rid of it. So I’m really glad I kept it. And I’m even more glad that you like it.” She smiled, giving her ex’s hand a firm squeeze. It meant a lot to her that they could sit here like this. Even though they weren’t in love anymore, Jace would always have a very special place in Claudia’s heart. “You’re right.” She nodded, running her now free hands through her hair. “Well, I’m going back to art school starting the fall semester. So in like a week and ha half.” School. That sounded so daunting. “I’m nervous. School didn’t go so well for me the first time around, but I only need to go for another four semesters and then I’ll have an art degree.” She said. “Are you sad about Rocketman ending?” 

Jo was still trying to get settled into the city, despite being here for a few days now. This was nothing like London, nor the rest of Europe. New York seemed just as lively but she felt….lonely? The girl really didn’t know too many people here, besides her brother and some of his close friends. She was aimlessly walking through a park near her friend’s place, contemplating picking up some job applications and see who might hire her. She was smoking a joint when she saw someone walking towards her. 

“Hey, wanna hit? I’m feeling friendly?” she extended her hand out, seeing if the person would take it or not.

Claudia decided to work through the park today to get to work. She was early, and there was nothing like taking a scenic route through a gorgeous NYC park. Her nose twitched immediately when she smelled her favorite thing in the world. Weed. Someone was chilling. She was relieved when the woman smoking offered her a hit. “Fuck yeah.” She said, not hesitating even for a moment to take weed from a stranger. “I’m in luck today then.” She joked, taking a hit from the joint and reaching to give it back to her. “Gracias.” 

“ronnie,” she said with a friendly smile. “i’m so glad i met you. i always have such a hard time deciding and you just made that so much easier! i’m gonna need to keep you around,” she teased, tossing the bright pink dildo in the little discreet shopping basket she’d picked up at the front of the shop. who would have thought ronnie would meet so many new friends at the local sex shop? she really should have come here sooner.

Claudia just shook her head and laughed. “Chica, consider us friends. Soon enough you’ll know that I’m one of the most blunt people you’ll meet. Me and my room mate, Bea. I’ll always tell it to you straight.” She mused, turning her attention to the vibrator she had been eyeing for a few minutes now. “Now my dilemma...Do I really need another vibrator? This would be like my fourth one. But this one has so many different settings.” She said, eyeing the box and picking it up to read the back of it.

Jace squinted at her comments. She was really apologizing for fucking that up but in a really weird and sick twisted way, Jace was kinda grateful she did. “I think everything happens for a reason.” He added, awkwardly sitting his coffee back down. “To be honest, had you not, I would not have met Loren and who know, Claud. Maybe you wouldn’t be sober?” He asked, shrugging. “I was not the perfect man and I’m learning every day. Even though we didn’t work out, don’t be sorry. These things happen and honestly, now I have Loren and I wouldn’t if it weren’t for us. You know he makes me happy, so don’t feel so down.” 

Claudia had actually been thinking a lot lately about her relationships and how the affected her using and recovery. She really did think that if it weren’t for so many failed relationships giving her a kick in the ass. She blinked a few times and looked down at her coffee. She was a little jealous that Jace had found someone, then again maybe she had someone too. But she wasn’t quite sure where that one was going yet. “I think you’re right.” She finally spoke, then gave him a genuine smile. “I’m happy for you. Really. I guess I’m just really sorry for the way things ended.” It had been weighing on her. She had already apologized numerous times, but she still felt like she needed to apologize again. “Last time I apologize. I swear.” She promised with a tiny giggle.

“some of them are for pleasure and some of them are for interior design,” ronnie grinned. “this one is gonna look great on my mantle,” she decided, looking it over again. “just got to dress it up a bit first.” she picked a bright orange one up off the shelf next and held them both up for comparison. “which do you like better?”

Claudia nodded her head. She respected the fuck out of that. “Word.” She said, simply. “That one.” She said, pointing to the first one. “It’s going to look great if you dress it up all nice.” She giggled. The fact that this woman had her own collection of dildos was really cool and even a little eccentric. Claudia liked to keep company like that. Because that’s exactly what Claudia was. “I’m Claudia by the way.” She said, being her typical friendly self.

     〝 we all are missing this.〞 Howler’s voice was uppish, after all, it was a subject he mastered in art-school. when talking about something he knew; and he was sure about, his lips curled up in a quirky, yet somewhat charming way. 〝 memento mori. 〞the phrase eternized in that black and white skull in the canvas, which he gesticulated with unconscious movements towards. 〝 the constant reminder that we are all going to die someday. 〞he bit his lower lip for a second, fascinated with the idea; not the idea of death itself, but the idea of living until that day, and enjoying each and every moment of it. his mother said he’d always make such a big deal out of everything, even though she knew he’d always been right about all. an old soul in all the effects. 〝 it’s the more realistic way of saying carpe-diem. you know. for the pessimists like me. 〞finally shoving both of his hands back into his jacket, Howler took a step back, looking at the person visiting his place of painting. 〝 do you like it?〞

Howler was an unexpected friend of her’s, but she was thankful for that. They met so randomly. At an art gallery. It was random, yet so perfect. It was there that they discovered their mutual love for art. The Latina told him all bout her journey with art and with her recovery; how art helped her through the worst parts of getting clean, and how that journey inspired almost all of her artwork. Almost. She had some special muses, of course. “Poetic.” Claudia joked, as she peered over at the canvas. A big smile appeared over her face. It was absolutely gorgeous. “Sí, I love it, Howler. It’s fucking gorgeous.” There were a lot of artists in town - of course there were - it was New York City after all. “You never did tell me what brought you to the city.” She stated. Kind of random, but Claudia was random and it just came to her head. She was blunt as all hell and was always going to say what was on her mind. 

one thing that ronnie had always believed to be true was that dicks made for great art work. she browsed the ailes at sexy stuf on the hunt for a new dildo to add to her growing collection of shelf art. she picked up a bright pink one and looked it over. “all you need is a coat of glitter, maybe some rhinestones, and you’ll be good to go.“

Claudia was once again at Sexy Stuf. This time, however, she wasn’t just shopping for herself. Things had been going pretty well with Brie, and she wanted to bring up the idea of exploring a little more in bed. She did like that vibrator thing Claudia did after all. “So do you use the dildos or just collect them?” Claudia asked with a curious raise of her brow. Finally, someone in town as open with her sexuality at Claudia was.