dominic vanderbilt

Griffin could read Dominic’s body language. He knew the younger man was used to seeing him devoid of his senses at some high school party, not going door to door with a resume. The shift was a strange one on his side as well. It had taken him a couple weeks to realize that Dominic was the one that owned the lovely coffee shop that was right on Griffin’s route home. It had only taken him one night out, on the other hand, to realize that Dominic was still just as wild as he’d been as a young teenager, a few years Griffin’s junior. 

“Well, can’t keep up the social life without some extra cash.” Griffin winked with a smile. “It’s not like there are modeling contracts to be found in Edens.“ Dominic’s willingness to hire him, made Griffin think that the man was in desperate need of employees. It wasn’t like Griffin had ever made espresso in his life, or worked a register for that matter. “Yeah, don’t throw me in the deep end too quick.” Griffin joked lightly. “I promise to be very charming to your customers, and maybe even get their orders right.” He secretly hoped this meant a discount on coffee for himself as well. “I can fill out any necessary paperwork today, but then I’ve got to go meet up with Molly. When did you want me to start?”

"Right.” he nodded his head. It was bad that sometimes he forgot that money was an ‘issue’ for some. Dominic didn’t have to work, he had a trust fund. But the one thing his father hated was lazy people and thus he had been involved in the family business since he could say business. Slowly both the Vanderbilts and the Good family taught him everything that he would ever need to know about money, land and their power that it holds. “Don’t worry, the people here are great and they’ll teach you everything you need to know. We’re just about to be a little short-staffed right now and the manager is taking too long to hire someone. It’s only a part-time position, but people tip well. Especially when you get their orders right.” he chuckled lightly. “Do you have a couple of minutes to talk to the manager? He can have you fill out everything and explain the job duties and expectations. We’d need to start as soon as possible though since it’s Mina’s last week. So does next Monday work for you?”

“Yes I know. It brings me joy to make people worry.” Kate shrugged and glanced back at her phone - before grabbing a chip from the bag she held in her hand. “You get laid? When? When was the last time you got laid Dom? I’m worried about you. I’m about to make you a Tinder account like I did for Bull.” Kate was only teasing him, but she did want to go to the party tonight - and Dom was coming with her whether he liked it or not. “I need a grilled cheese sandwich before we go.” 

"That’s not something that should bring anyone joy, but okay.” he chuckled lightly. The man rolled his eyes playfully, knowing she was just teasing so he didn’t bother taking it to heart. “Not that it’s any of your business, but just a few days ago I got laid. I have this thing called fuck buddies. It’s people you on the low, y’know? You should try it.” the man said, chuckling lightly. “If you ever make me a Tinder account, I will drop you as a friend. I’m not gonna hook up with girls I meet on the internet. What if they’re all weird and smelly? No, thanks.” he said, shaking her head. “Kate, I asked you before we came upstairs if you wanted something to eat and you said no.” the man shook his head. “I’ll text Sue to make you a grilled cheese. Is that all you want?”

WHERE: Harbour & Marina WHO: @domvandcrbilt​

Ever since he was a kid, Brian had always loved spending time down at the harbour & marina. It was one of the only times he felt as if his father actually wanted to be around him and took an interest in his sons life. Growing up, there had been some good memories made on the family yacht. Spending weekends with his dad helping with the upkeep, learning the in’s and out’s of the yacht. However the older Brian got, the more infrequent these weekends became, until they stopped all together. Although the weekends visiting the yacht with his father may have stopped that didn’t stop Brian from coming down and visiting the yacht. At first it was just a place to escape to when his family got to much for him, but before long he realized it was a perfect place to throw parties and hang out with friends and drink.

Sitting on the back deck, beer in hand, joint in the other. Brian stared out at the crowd of people moving up and down the marina as he sat in deep thought. It wasn’t until his gaze passed by a face that he recognize that he snapped out of his own thoughts and moved over to rest on the railing of the yacht. 

“Aye! whats a Vanderblit doing in these parts” Brian called out to the other down bellow, a friendly smile on his face as he did. “Wanna come on up and join me for a drink?… it’s kinda lonely up here all by myself. I could use the company”

Dominic’s favorite hangout spot was his father’s yacht. It had been that way ever since he was a teenager and needed a place to smoke without his parents (his moms specifically) finding out, a place to bring girls, to throw parties or to just be alone. Today he just needed a place to escape a little bit. His brother’s death anniversary was coming up so he felt a little bit in a funk. He could’ve easily gone home to smoke there, but his mother had been blowing up his phone all day about accompanying her to some dinner stuff that he was simply not in the mood for. At least in here, he chill and enjoy the fresh, briny smell of the sea. 

He was walking down when the familiar voice brought him out of his deep thoughts. Dom looked up and chuckled lightly. “You stole my idea, bro.” he said, immediately noticing the joint in his friend’s hand. “For sure, though. Have you been hiding or something lately though? I feel like I see Jess more than I see you.” the man said as he went up to join Brian.

@domvandcrbilt​

It had been function after function since Charlie came home from Connecticut, and now that she was a graduated woman, from Yale no less, all her parents wanted to do was show her off and parade her around as if she didn’t just get fired from her first job - though her parent’s forgot to mention that small fact when introducing her to all their friends. She wast starting to envy her sister for no longer having to deal with this. Just as she was about to sneak away to get some fresh air - Charlie ran into an all too familiar body. “I would like to say I wasn’t expecting to see you here, but I would be lying.” 

Dominic was used to running into Charlotte. Not only were their parents friends, but their moms attended the same charity events and --of course-- brought their younger children with them. For the most part, he kept his distance. The way things ended between the two of them was bad. --Shit, their whole relationship was a wild roller coaster ride. There were so many ups and downs, arguments and jealousy. He didn’t want to make things more awkward than they already were. As usual at these events, Dominic snuck into the bathroom to hit his weed pen. There was no way he could get through without being just a little high. He was walking back to join his mother when the two accidentally bumped into each other. “Yea, I saw your mom earlier so I figured you were around here somewhere.” he shrugged lightly and cleared his throat. “You look good.” he mentioned, doing his best not to look into those blue orbs. 

He hadn’t had to look for a job in nearly eight years. Griffin wasn’t even sure he had any applicable skills at this point. Industry knowledge was so oddly specific. His “employment history” was just modeling agencies coupled with anecdotes about being flown out to L.A. and New York. Not the most promising record of work ethic for the small businesses of Edens Town. Nevertheless, Griffin was accustomed to having expendable income and he needed a job if he was going to keep that up. 

He had approached the employee with a humble nod and introduced himself. “Griffin Holloway. You might know my folks? Or my brother? I just moved back to town a couple weeks ago.” He gave the other person a winning smile and a tilt of his head. Hopefully his teenage days of raging parties and petty vandalism were a distant memory in this town. “So, if you’re hiring, it would really help me out. I’ve got a resume, if you want to give it to whoever’s in charge.”

@edtstarter​ 

With Valentine’ Day just around the corner, there were a lot of changes coming up on the first. Dominic stopped by the store to make sure they had received the new cups, posters and that everyone was up to date with the new menu. One thing that concerned him was the position at the store still being opened and Mina was due to leave anytime now. Dominic tried to work some shifts, but that wasn’t something that he could continue doing since he was more responsibilities now. He was sitting at one of the tables, replying to some company emails when the other approached him. Dom smirked a little bit, definitely not used to this side of Griffin. “Dude, you actually came at the perfect time. We need someone like asap.” he said as he got up to greet his friend. “I didn’t know you were looking for a job, I would’ve been told you already.” he said, chuckling lightly. “I’ll have to talk to the manager to catch them up to speed and you’ll have to submit paperwork and stuff. But you can consider yourself hired.”

It had been a long day, and he was still trying to process everything that had happened. Isabella still wasn’t feeling well, and for the most part he had been with her in the living room, trying to distract her from it all when he heard the knock on the door. He had wanted to ignore it, pretend he wasn’t home and not have to deal with anyone else today, but then he heard the second knock. Kissing Isabella on the top of the head, he left the room to go to the front door. “Dominic? Dianna’s not here” he said, moving aside to let the man enter if that was what he wanted, though he imagined it was Dianna he was looking for. @domvandcrbilt​

where: dominic’s house

with: @domvandcrbilt​

          “Dom!” Jessica called out for him as soon as she was granted access to his house. They were neighbors, so she was hardly ever barred when she wanted entrance there and he wasn’t around to greet. “Dominic!” She called out again when she wasn’t replied the first time and began climbing the stairs two steps at a time, praying that by the time she pushed his door open she wouldn’t find him with limbs tangled on another body. She had done it once a while back and there was not bleach enough to wipe out the image of Dominic having sex from her mind. She knocked on the door of his bedroom once and then twice. “I’m comin’ in, I swear to baby Jesus if you’re fuckin’ your flavor of the month, I’m gonna rip your dick off,” she said before closing her eyes and opening the door. “Can I open them? Am I in a safe environment?”

Despite it being the middle of winter, the weather was surprisingly nice. The crisp cool air felt just right as he sat out in his balcony looking out into the massive backyard with a joint in his hand. These days he was working a little longer than usual since he had more stores that he needed to oversee. It was more responsibilities than he was used to, but he felt ready for it and was happy that his father saw it too. The downside was that these days he was smoking a lot less since he was only doing it when he was home and hanging out with his friends. His mind was off somewhere thinking about the past month, he didn’t hear the knock on his door at all. What brought him out of his thought was the sound of the woman’s voice. A light chuckle left his lips and he got up and walked back into his room, only to find Jess already in there. “Yea, you can open your eyes. You keep letting yourself into my room and you’re gonna keep finding me in positions you’d rather not.” he teased, shaking his head as he walked closer to give her a hug. “To what  I owe the visit? You missed me too much or something?”

@domvandcrbilt​

“Let’s go to the beach. I heard there was a party there tonight, and I want to see how drunk I have to be to swim in the ocean in the middle of February.” Kate said as she looked down at her phone, sitting on Dom’s bed. The two of them had become close and Kate considered him to be one of her best friends - she hadn’t seen him since before the holidays, and since everything had passed the two of them could continue on to their regularly scheduled programs. “You need to get laid, I could totally be your wing man.” 

“You’re literally insane, you know that right?” Dominic said as he glanced up from his phone to look at his friend. Usually he is not the type to become close with people easily, but Kate was someone that grew on him fast. She was fun and always herself --which is what he liked the most about her. He would call her his girl best friend, but sometimes she was literally like one of the boys. “I would actually like to see that though so I’m down.” he chuckled lightly. “--Hey, I get laid! But you’re right I do need to get laid. Hopefully there’s hot girls at this beach party and some hot guys for you. ”

          Dianna took in the sight of her brother. Sixteen years had them apart in age, it was always incredibly hard for Dianna not to play the part of mother sometimes, the both of them were not lucky when it came to parents, but she attempted to see the silver lining — they had each other. Her sisters on her mother’s part she never really managed to get along with, in fact, ever since she had wiped the Alderidge out of her name and took the Millison upon her marriage with Rowan, their relationship had gone nothing but South. It was a shame, really, but she also didn’t blame her mother for poisoning her father’s name to the rest of her family— hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… and even more if that woman was involved in a public cheating scandal when Dominic’s mother became pregnant for the first time before moving on to be the cheated one. Her father liked them young and young women loved money. “You look tired,” she didn’t mean it as a criticism as she passed a hand through his hair, putting in place the disarrayed locks probably from working all day— it took years to manage the not a hair out of place look, but she appreciated that Dom was still boyish in his appearance, he was far too young to act like a man, “and I don’t mean the working all the day tired, you actually look… I don’t know,” she couldn’t quite pinpoint. She motioned him to sit in one of the empty tables with her and looked around, always loving the direction her brother decided to take The Grind— it was a hip place now, mostly young adults on their way to work and definitely a lot Instagramming their meals, they were quite Instagrammable. “I’m sorry, I didn’t… I didn’t tell anyone I was back. I didn’t tell Rowan either— father knows because the man knows everything, but I am still pretending I am working in Raleigh. Look, I have something to tell you and I need you to not make it public right now because I don’t know how I’m going to tell Rowan or even if I should,” she swallowed thickly, “I’m pregnant Dom. Three whole months along.”

Dominic didn’t have a lot of people that he could go to for stuff. His father just cared about business, his mother was overly involved and too worried with image and his brother....he couldn’t handle the stress that came with being a Vanderbilt. He felt grateful to have his sister. After his brother’s death, she was one of the few people that he could really turn to when he was struggling. He was a private person so it was hard for him to open up about anything, but it felt good to know that if he needed to open up, she was there. “I’m good, Di.” he brushed it off while wondering just how the fuck she could read him so easily. She was the only one that’s noticed. The situation with had him feeling just off these days. He kept telling himself that it was better this way anyways. There were so many reasons as to why they shouldn’t date. He didn’t know what he was thinking letting himself get caught up. Still, he missed them. It was taking a lot for him not to send them a text or stop by their house. He followed them to the table and grabbed a seat across from her. He listened as Dianna spoke and furrowed his brows when she explained that she had something to tell her. Only took her a couple seconds, but he was on the edge of his seat the whole time wondering what could be so important that she didn’t know how to tell her husband. Divorce? Affair? ---A baby?! “You’re pregnant? --Wow. That’s huge, sis! Congratulations.” he whispered the last part. “Why are you worried about telling him, though? I mean, this is what you guys wanted....Maybe it’s what you both need after everything you guys’ been through. A little miracle.”

          “Dominic…” Renata offered him a smile as he saw the boy approaching, her eyes immediately searching around for the sight of Luisa but not really seeing her and wondering why. Wondering if the small stunt Luisa and Arturo had pulled on the Christmas’ party had anything to do with it. “Always the gentleman, I see—” she patted the spot next to her. She had found that the easiest bar in the town to get exactly what she wanted was Legends, people didn’t look at her like she wasn’t legal to drink yet, instead, she made sure to slip a bigger tip on the bartender’s way and with a little flirtatious smile she got whatever she wanted. As usual. “What do I owe the honor of your presence? No parties to host today?”

Dominic smiled, “I try” he said, chuckling lightly as he took the beer that the bartender placed in front of him and took a sip. “No, I’ve been too busy for those lately. I come here from time to time to enjoy a couple of drinks and watch the game though. I’m sitting at the table over there if you would like to join me.” he said, pointing over to a table towards the back with a perfect view of one of the screens. Dominic was definitely serious about his sports. “I texted Tuck to see if he’d join, but you never know with that one.” he chuckled lightly.

That wasn’t the reaction she had been expecting. It seemed like so far when Xiomara showed how assertive she could be, people either apologized profusely and stayed out of her orbit or bit back with as much force, but he seemed to be… even-keeled. It fascinated her, to say the least. “That would be good, yeah. That way I don’t have to track you down somehow later, though it probably wouldn’t be hard with how tiny this town is.” She held her hand out to take a copy of his business card, raising a brow at his question. “You’re certainly not the first to ask. Hopefully just passing by, but I’m grounded here for now until God knows when. I assume you’re from around here?”

“I know we’re a small town, but I don’t know how far you’re gonna get just asking around for the handsome guy that ran into you at the coffee shop.” the man said with a small smirk as he looked at the brunette. She definitely had one of those faces and attitudes that are not easy to forget. Definitely would fit right in in Kings Park. Dominic reached for his wallet and pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “It could be worst. Edens in a nice place to stay a while. I’m Dominic Vanderbilt by the way.”

It seemed like nobody in this town seemed to be able to watch where they were walking. First at the Christmas party, now this. Xio had just grabbed her drink from the barista, sunglasses perched on her nose as she was getting ready to leave when she was bumped into, the cold brew sloshing around violently and spilling out of the cup, drawing a string of curses in Spanish before she looked up to tell the person off. “Do you make a habit of taking up more space than you’re supposed to or is it just my lucky day?” Letting out a frustrated sigh, she looked at her outfit, noticing a few splotches of coffee that had soaked into her blouse. “You’d better hope this comes out otherwise I’m charging you for it.”

“Must be your lucky day.” he responded, taking a second to really look at the Spanish girl and the damage this time. There was no denying that she was from King Park, he knew designer when he saw it. But hers was a face that he did not recognized. Dominic had enough time at galas and events and mingled with enough people to know a little bit of who’s who in his neighborhood. Must be related to someone, he assumed. “I am sorry, though. I should’ve paid more attention to where I was going. I could give you my card if you want to send me a text if the stain doesn’t come out.” he suggested. Seeing as they were in his business, he felt obliged to take care of this. “I’m sure you’ve been getting this a lot, but are you new to town or just passing by?”

“Replaced you with who exactly? Milo? You know the dude lives with me, right?” Tucker jokingly said as he leaned back against the back of the couch with a beer bottle in his hand, completely contented just being there with his best friend. “Nah, no can do, man. All my side hoes think they’re my main hoes and the last thing I need is another girl crying over me, aight?” Tucker joked with a shake of his head as he took a large gulp from his beer. “Nah, I wish my life was more exciting than it actually was, but with the holidays, the streets have been pretty quiet and I got bored enough that I tried Tinder. Met this hot chick who told me her name was Catalina at first when it really wasn’t but she was pretty upfront about it at least,” Tucker shared with a chuckle. “Other than that, I’ve just been trying my best to get the hell away from my mom, and hanging out with Renata, and Kate too now that she’s back. What about you? How was your family vacation? Your hot cousin’s still single right?” Tucker joked. 

“I don’t know, man. I’m just sayin’“ he said, chuckling lightly. “I can’t stand you.” he rolled his eyes playfully as he shook his head. Joke and all, Dominic could actually picture a girl crying over him. “Are things really that dry that you had to meet girls on Tinder? That’s pretty sad, man. I told you to come with my on vacation, you should’ve taken up the offer. I spent my holidays with Swiss models. Go ahead, be jealous.” he teased, taking one big hit of the joint before offering some to his friend. “What’s going on with your mom now?” he asked, after exhaling the smoke. “Vacation was cool, I was high as shit the whole time and tried to spend at least time with the grownups as I could. And my hot cousin is still single and off limits, Tuck --- unless your sisters are on the table, then we can change some things.” he shot back, only joking of course.

Maybe it was just the fact that Lu still thought of herself as an optimist but when Dom came over at work to pick her up, she truly believed that he was ready to accept her apology and that they could spend more time together since they hadn’t really been able to during the entire holidays. However, the silence in the car made Lu’s heart sink and it took all of their self-control to not cry right then and there, already understanding deep in her gut that this wasn’t going to be as they had hoped. “I did. The whole family came over so that was nice,” Lu said quietly as they held onto their hands on their lap, praying that this sinking feeling was just that – a feeling. Nothing more that that. Clearing her throat, Lu turned towards Dom with the smallest of smiles. “Did you? I saw on Instagram that you, um, you went to Switzerland? That… that must have been really nice,” she murmured, hearing how her voice shook so slightly – a clear sign that she was way more nervous than she was letting on. “I’m really sorry about… the whole mistletoe kiss, Dom,” Lu blurted out, unable to beat around the bush anymore. “It’s not… it’s not going to happen again and I’m… I’m really sorry I made you look stupid. That really wasn’t my intention,” she whispered. 

The man nodded his head and responded, “that’s good.” he kept going over it in his head how to bring up the topic. but figure he should maybe leave it until they got to her place. it just made more sense that way. “It was okay, I guess. My family isn’t exactly fun.” the man responded with a slight shrug. The only thing that he appreciated about the vacation was the distance that it gave him so he could clear his head and decide what he wanted to do. When they apologized, he looked over momentarily before bringing his focus back to the road. “I’ve been thinking about that a lot, y’know...” he said, falling silent for a couple of seconds. Dominic honestly didn’t even know where to begin and his current state was definitely not helping. “You knew I’d be at that party. Did you just like not care or something? Not that I’m saying you owe me any kind of loyalty. I get that we’re not together, but that’s still a fucked thing to do when you know I’m around. This whole time  -- literally this whole fucking time your friends have come at me ‘cause they thought I was gonna break your heart or whatever. But I guess it’s only cool when you’re getting involved with them” he couldn’t help the scoff that left his lips. Dominic was always more blunt while under the influence. “I don’t do complicated, Lu.”