Leyla took her seat at the hibachi table, shrugging off her jacket and rolling up her sleeves like she was settling in for some time. The chef hadn't started cooking, but the grill was getting hot, and the air was already smelling wonderful with soy and garlic, making everyone excited. She looked at the empty seat next to her, then around the table, a calm, watchful, and slightly entertained look on her face, waiting for the fun to begin.

"Just so you know," she said, not really talking to anyone specific, tapping her chopsticks gently on her plate. "I'm here for both the entertainment and the food, and I will be judging the knife tricks. Not in a mean way, though. Just… critically." She paused, then gave a small smile. "Are you going to sit down, or are you just going to stand there acting like you don't want the best view of shrimp flying through the air?"

"Glad to know it's not me being judged for the amount of garlic and fried shrimp I plan to eat." Emi quipped as she pulled the napkin out and over her lap. "I will, however, leave it up to you to catch all the frying shrimp, I'm here strictly to enjoy and not have to worry about cooking tonight, and possibly taking home leftovers so I don't have to worry about lunch tomorrow too. I consider that a win."

Once outside, Amara pressed her back to the cold brick wall and exhaled, slow and deliberate, like she'd been taught in therapy; nights like this always buzzed too loud, too bright, too much for her. Her breath fogged up immediately, briefly luminous under a street lamp before it vanished. She glanced back over her shoulder, looking through the fogged up window — looking at the party going strong inside. She repeated the exercise a couple more times.

Just when she was about to drop her shoulders and relax, she heard the door opening and instinctively wrapped her arms around her. "Needing a breath of fresh air, too?" Amara smiled softly and stepped to the side.

As she heard a voice turning in the direct she glanced up spotting a face, "Yes." Emi said, "I was getting a bit too warm in there, you know when the air gets thick and you feel suddenly like it's harder to breathe." Then again it didn't take much for the petite woman to get out of breath these days. "Figured some fresh air before everyone comes out for the fireworks was my best decision yet."

He tilted his head toward the taco truck menu, eyes scanning it with exaggerated deliberation. "Though, fair warning, some of these decisions might come with serious consequences. Spicy, cheesy, or both. You sure you want me to tempt fate like this?"

"It's a little bit selfish since I can't." she said, at least she couldn't do anything too crazy given her current state. When he said it was smart she laughed, "Well I've been told I'm smart a time or two in my life before but normally I'd be down for anything like extra spicy or make me regret my choices later, but right now I can't." In fact, she missed her extra spicy choices that she normally got to enjoy and other things in foods that were just off limits. You didn't realize how much you couldn't eat until you were told you couldn't. Glancing towards him she laughed, "I mean as long as you don't regret it immediately and why not both? Cheesy and spicy go hand in hand practically, or at least it seems a lot of people think so."

THE CHARACTER.

FULL NAME: Emi Choi-Goldstein

GENDER: Cis woman

PRONOUNS: She/her

AGE + BIRTHDAY: 37 + July 9th, 1988

LENGTH OF TIME IN WINDSOR BAY: From 16 till her divorce, returning now

HOUSING: Coral Coast

OCCUPATION: Senior Vice President of The Art Institute 

THE INTERVIEW.

What’s it like, living in Windsor Bay? Did you ever picture yourself settling down here or did you always know this would be your home?

"It's different than California, I can say that much for sure. My family moved here when I was sixteen. If you asked me then my siblings and I would have told you our lives were over and they were moving us to a little nowhere town. Which it absolutely felt like that after growing up in California. Think at heart I'm always going to be a California girl, it's something that's just apart of you, but Windsor grew on me through the years. After the divorce I was sure I'd never come back here. Packed up my bags, moved to a condo in Los Angeles and really didn't want to turn back. Sometimes it's easier to leave a part of you in the past, but when I was offered the position as Senior Vice President at the Art Institute, it's not something you can really pass up. To manage a position like that in LA you need to know the right people or have the right kind of money. So, no, I never thought in the end this would be my home again - but here I am."

If you could recommend one hidden gem around town everyone should try, what is it? What makes it so special?

"Is it too cheeky to say the Art Institute? Feels like it might be but it really is a special place. To be able to work with pieces of art from some of the biggest artists in history just has a way of captivating you. Not to mention it's a place we encourage up and coming artist to come, display their work, learn more about themselves as an artist. Now I'm not conventionally artistic but think it's the old saying "those who can't do, teach, well in my case, those who can't, manage."

What’s your family like? Are you still close, or have you blocked all their numbers?

"I'm lucky as far as family goes, my parents moved out of Windsor Bay and now live in one of those retirement communities in Florida. They wanted to soak up more sun and enjoy the beaches in their later years, which I can't even blame them. But, we make time for each other. We alternate holidays, sometimes we go there, sometimes they come back here. I actually just moved back into their home that they purchased on the coast that is absolutely breathtaking. My siblings? Well I love them, to pieces. We keep in contact a lot, have multiple different group chats that we're always in and out of. But, my greatest loves, are my twins they may not be born yet but they've changed my life in more ways than I can begin to explain, and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to show them all the great things just like my parents did."

THE PERSONALITY.

— + Empathetic, Creative, Reliable — - Overthinker, Stubborn, Impatient

Asher turned a corner while his gaze was caught on some new kind of Christmas candy already stocked on the shelves. He didn't even realize that another person was in his vicinity until he felt his body collide with theirs. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry," he immediately apologized, reaching out in an effort to help the poor woman he knocked off balance. "I need to pay more atten—" He stopped dead in his tracks like a deer trapped in the brightness of headlights. There was no way his ex wife was standing in front of him. His eyes immediately locked onto her noticeable baby bump and he could feel the color drain from his face. "Emi? Wh-what are you doing here? I thought you were in California?" So many questions flooded his mind, but he was too in shock to ask anything more just yet.

Being back such a short amount of time, realization had set in pretty early that there'd be the awkward run in. Emi had gone under the general assumption it'd take at least a little longer than the universe had obviously had planned for her — for them. Life would have been easier if she had stayed in California once she had moved back, only when the offer landed in her lap to become the Senior VP at the Art Institute there in Windsor Bay, a position she had done dozens of interviews and meeting for while there finally opened and she was their pick. Time had passed there was no way a position like that would just pop up out of the blue, only it had. The offer too sweet not to take, and without even a propers heads up had moved all the way back to the town that was her ex-husband's more than hers. Knowing Asher since her early twenties, introduced by their parents after her parents had needed some legal advice, never would she thought she would have ended up his wife. Let alone, now his ex-wife. They had always been like ships passing in the night, it had never been the right time. He had had other relationships, hell he had had a whole-ass other wife, not that she had known her. When he had been single, she had been dating someone. It all seemed like a fever dream, once they had managed to end up in each others orbits it had been unstoppable. They dated briefly before finding herself in a lavish wedding marrying into the Goldstein clan, who had welcomed her with open arms. Now, here she was, pregnant and returning back to a town that didn't fully feel like hers anymore. Like he had somehow "won" it in the divorce. Clearing her through she moved her basket slightly more in front of her, not that it could hide that she was expecting. Maybe it was more in a protective gesture, guarding her from all the pain they had put each other through. "I moved back." she said almost defiantly, feeling like he was saying she shouldn't be there. "I was offered the Senior Vice President position at the Art Institute." she finally said, "I couldn't pass up the offer."

The Food Stop had become Adrian's guilty pleasure. Sure, he owned The Lucerna and could afford a private chef but something about wandering between food trucks, smelling everything at once, and pretending he wasn’t eyeing the dessert options like a kid in a candy store made him feel… normal.

Today, he was on a mission. Gourmet mac and cheese first, then maybe the ice cream truck. His boots crunched against the gravel as he walked between trucks, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. Sunlight glinted off the edge of his shades, though he eventually pushed them up onto his head when he got too into debating whether to go spicy or cheesy. He paused, scanning the crowds with that habitual air of quiet calculation, a small smirk forming on his lips. Perfect spot for people watching. Or maybe for bumping into trouble.

Leaning against a railing by the taco truck, he tilted his head back toward the sky, letting the breeze catch his hair. "Decisions, decisions," he muttered, mostly to himself, though the faint trace of amusement in his voice made it sound like a challenge. "Do I start with something safe… or something that’ll make me regret it later?"

Moving back to Windsor Bay in the last few weeks had been a lot of work, that tended to happen when you were heavily pregnant with twins. Now Emi found herself at officially twenty-eight weeks along, attempting to unpack boxes, set up a nursery, and settling into her new job as Senior Vice President of the Art Institute. Today had been a lot of office work, mostly setting up her large private office to just the way she liked it, yes  — Emi Choi was that woman who enjoyed decking her office out with decorations, colored keyboards, and office supplies to match... a girl had to have her "thing" about her. About halfway through the day that familiar reminder that she needed to eat from her assistant meant taking a break, right now she was pulling well over twelve hours in order to feel like she was getting to a place to really be doing the job. Whilst a lunch had been packed, the food didn't sound appetizing any longer and it had been a little while since she had last explored the town she had moved away from a few short years ago after her divorce. Finding her way down to The Food Spot, a classic favorite for several in town Emi scanned her options. Spotting a few new choices, and the hardcore loved favorites, it was now making a choice that she wouldn't live to regret later on. Pregnancy heartburn? No laughing matter, no matter how many told her to simply pop an extra Tums or two. "Would it be selfish for me to say regret later because I cannot do that so I would be able to vicariously live through you?"