she designed a life she loved

If there was one thing motherhood had afforded Maisie, it was an arsenal of exasperated sighs and eye rolls, which she now used to full effect. If the words hit closer to home that she would have liked, she certainly didn’t show it. She’d become numb to feelings like disappointment and hurt, and had instead channeled them into a bitter inner-rage she was able to stoke when the inclination presented itself. “Seems to me like we’re both in the same place, now aren't we?” she replied sarcastically, though she felt like their lives couldn’t be any further apart.

Though she tried to stifle it, Cassie couldn’t help but let out a bit of a laugh. “Yeah, sure.” At the moment their positions might have been interchangeable, but in the grand scheme of things, they both knew that wasn’t true. Cassie took a deep breath and began again, this time in a calmer tone. “Look ... if you want to go on believing sororities are evil, fine. We don’t need to be friends. But you need to cut the bullshit preconceptions when it comes to applying them to me. Your son isn’t in my class this year, but he easily could be in the future, so there has to be at least a modicum of mutual respect here.”

She hadn’t meant to start a fight. She blamed the combination of sleep deprivation and alcohol for destroying whatever sort of filter she had left. But the babysitter kept texting her, and she needed to pump but had stupidly left her breast pump at home, so she was crabby and sore, and Cassie in all her preppy, well-toned, and well-rested glory had been the last thing she needed at the moment. 

“Oh please, everyone has a charitable organization these days,” she scoffed. And that wasn’t to say that she didn’t believe that all charitable work was noble - that was a value that had been instilled in her from a young age - but charity done only for the optics it would bring was hardly worthy of the cause. “It helps with the guilt of knowing they spend the other 90% of their time being vapid, drunk bimbos…” 

“Pi Beta Phi is the oldest women’s fraternity and was established in 1867. This isn’t new - it isn’t a part of a trend.” Cassie could feel the sharp edge that came out when she was trying to stress her point.

Cassie tried to dim the oncoming eye roll by closing her eyes, but she wasn’t sure it worked. The mounting disdain she felt bubbled under the surface. Maisie seemed fine at first - she brought up NYU, a time that Cassie was fond of - but that quickly shifted into the obvious odds they were at. Maisie made it clear that she did not approve of Cassie or other girls in sororities, even if she didn’t say it outright. However, she had just challenged that sororities did anything positive at all for the communities they were involved with, a claim that Cassie felt obligated to respond to.

“Look, I understand the efforts may not be apparent to you, but the Pi Beta Phi Foundation supports multiple different reading initiatives across the United States and Canada that make a real difference in communities. The Champions are Readers initiative, for example, helps kids in pre-k to grade three across the US improve their literacy skills.” Cassie knew Greek Life wasn’t for everyone, but she wasn’t going to let someone speak poorly about an association that she loved and was proud to be a part of. “Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, sororities do a lot to help their philanthropies.”

“Thank you! You are a life saver.” She took the phone, extremely grateful for the young woman’s help. This just seemed to be the cherry on top of a already wonderful day but finally catching a break made it seem like today might not be so bad after all. She called one of the agents, letting them know the situation and they promised to get someone out to her soon. 

“It is a beautiful day which is the only lucky thing about today. I got someone coming for me. Well he said he knew where I was so lets hope he knows what he’s talking about.” The agent was pretty sure of her location and she hoped it wouldn’t take too long. Not that she had much going on but she’d hate to waste anymore of this girl’s time as she waited around. 

“It’s really no trouble.” If it were a Saturday back out west she would’ve been racing off to her next appointment or coffee chat, but in Portchester all that was waiting for her was a cup of coffee and quizzes that needed to be graded. “It’s not too large of a town; if they make a wrong turn it shouldn’t take them too long to turn around and get here.”

Willa was having one hell of a day. She was on her way back to her apartment when the cheap rental had crapped out on her outside of town. She had only been in Portchester for a short time but had no clue where she was going. She tried calling the agents who were currently watching her son and his nanny while she ran some errands but for some reason, she couldn’t get signal which was just adding to this spectacular day.

She was jogging up a hill, wondering where the hell she was when she spotted someone in the distance. She silently thanked whatever higher power was finally helping her out. The other woman’s friendly smile calmed her nerves about approaching a complete stranger which didn’t happen often these days. “Oh hi. I’m doing a lot better since you showed up. I hate to bother you but do you happen to know where the nearest phone is? My car broke down and I’m just completely lost.”

“If you’re referring to a payphone, I’m not sure, but you’re welcome to use my cell phone if you need to!” Obviously, the woman needed to, so Cassie wasn’t sure why she added that last bit. It probably came out of the same part of the brain that caused you to say “you too" to servers when they said to enjoy your meal.

                                   “Yeah, it’s a friendly little place,” he said, but he sounded a lot less enthused about it than she did. Doing what he did for a living, that usually tainted people, and even the idyllic Portchester left little room for hopeful optimism for him. “Born and raised here,” he explained with a simple nod of his head, a smile pressed to his lips. “You?”

“Same. But I was gone for a long time - school and then living out west for a while.” She tried to maintain the same cheer, but it didn’t quite ring true with that line. Though she was growing to love Portchester, she still missed the life and friends that she’d left behind. Hopefully one would visit soon or she’d find the time to get out there, but things were always busy.

Hey was not a name but yet humans always stopped when it was directed towards their direction, why? Well, she hadn’t really figured that one out. Yet here she was completely at a half and facing the young woman that was standing in front of her, she seemed to not be completely there but not ill enough to actually trigger her urge to want to diagnose her. “I am good – how about you? – allergies?”  It would explain why she appeared to be disoriented. 

Cassie mentally paused for a moment. Allergies? Did she look like she was sick? At this point it was clear Cassie and the girl weren’t acquainted, but that didn’t really matter now. “Nope,” she smiled. “Just a bit blind without my glasses - I couldn’t tell whether you were someone I knew or not.”

“Bubba, I swear to God, you better stop pulling you little bastard.” Rafe hissed at the chubby little thing, never understanding how a puppy could have so much force. If only his sister hadn’t taken his other dog, his older dog, with her on a run and left Louis with them instead, allowing Bubba to follow lead. Little shit, he thought. He was merely trying to switch the leash into a different hand when the dog decided to bolt off into the direction of the girl. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Rafe ran after him before slowly coming to a halt, watching as his dog studied the younger woman. Clearing his throat, he watched carefully before speaking. “I don’t think he can answer, but if I can answer for him I’d say he’s just grand.”

The moment was bittersweet. “Well, that’s good. Puppies should never be sad.” She wanted to head to the shelter then and there to grab one of her own.

                                     “That’s alright,” Archer said with a light shake of his head, as if to dismiss the need for an apology. He was slowly ( very slowly ) getting used to how friendly people were around here— his mom would probably scold him for forgetting in the first place; this was his hometown after all, the place he grew up. “That was considerate of you,” he noted. “And for what it’s worth, I think it’s getting more and more normal to greet even strangers around these parts, yeah? I’m Archer,” he said and extended a hand formally. “Now we’re not strangers anymore.”

“Thank you, I think it is.” Her hand extended to meet his. “It’s one of the things I love about Portchester.” That and the colourful fall leaves. They were there with her in New York too, but they didn’t hold the same magic as they did here.

With her apartment space still being furnished and her belongings being shipped to her new place, Corrine’s mother was more than happy to have her eldest child reside in the childhood home once more. Picking up take out for the two of them to watch yet another shitty reality TV show together, Corrine couldn’t help but smile and wave at the brunette. Sweet ol’ Cassie MacKenzie greeted her. It had been quite sometime and from what Corrine’s mother informed her, she was a grade school teacher. “Long time no see stranger! I’m doing great,” the Townsend beamed as she approached the woman to give her a quick hug. “How have you been? You look amazing!” 

“Aw, thank you!” Cassie embraced the quick hug. “You look gorgeous, as always.”

“And I’m alright. The more time I spend here, the less ... empty things feel.” Cassie hadn’t had a chance to catch up with Corrine since they’d both been back, but she was sure Corrine knew about her parents’ passing - everyone knew. If people didn’t read about it in the paper, then they heard about it from other townspeople.

                                   ‘Leads’ didn’t exactly exist in this case, 18 year old evidence not just something you came across, which for Archer meant, that he’d have to do the old school thing and go snoop for it. He knew from experience now, that cases like these had gone cold for a reason, and that finding new evidence was gonna be hard—- but he was nothing if not dedicated to his job, and especially when it came to this case in particular. It had him searching all over town; today in the finer end. He was lost somewhere in thought, in theories and ideas, when suddenly a voice pulled him from his reverie, a second or two ticking by before he realized it was most likely aimed at him. “Hey,” he mumbled back, chin lowering in a short, acknowledging nod. “I’m fine. You?”

“Pretty good.” The visuals were still blurry, but Cassie got from his voice that they probably weren’t acquainted. “I’m sorry if I bothered you. I don’t have my glasses on right now so I couldn’t tell whether you were someone I knew or not.” She offered a convincing smile. “Figured it was better to say hi to a stranger than ignore someone I possibly knew.” God, she had to learn when to stop talking sometimes.

Usually, Ryland wouldn’t be caught dead in this area. Too many snobs for his taste. Especially this early in the morning but the last time he went running in his own neck of the woods, there was no sidewalk to run on. They were all encased with trash–the things he saw, seriously he wondered about some people. Keeping an eye on any other people out this morning. He watched briefly as a woman perked up, saying hello to someone who he believed could possibly be her neighbor her something. The guy in question dodged her and went back inside. Which in turn, Ryland paused and stopped. “So, I think that guy was too afraid to ask–but seriously what’s your secret? You know, being this chipper so early. I’m curious.”

As if a deer caught in headlights, the small, slight man from next door ran inside at her invitation of conversation. He mumbled something that Cassie assumed was supposed to pass for a response, but she couldn’t make out a word of it. She was about to take a moment for herself before going inside when another man appeared, much more willing to talk.

Cassie was about to laugh, but she stifled it into a smile instead. “I don’t know. Practice, maybe? Monday to Friday I’m surrounded by second graders - perhaps their enthusiasm has rubbed off a bit.”

As she reached the edge of her property, Cassie paused. Leaves spiralled down around her, calling attention to the shifting weather. Deeps hues of red, orange, and yellow filled the ground in front of her, while something dark appeared in her periphery. Without her glasses on she couldn’t quite tell who it was, but she waved and offered a smile anyway. “Hey! How are you?”