solid foundation.

Samuel snorted. “I know my way around LA.” Perhaps the accent suggested he’d just come off a plane yesterday, since he hadn’t lost a lick of his posh drawl in all his years of being in American purely due to stubbornness, but he hadn’t been able to run a company without a bit of jetsetting over the years.

Still. A lot could have changed since the last time he took that ferry over. And the thought still made his heart skip a beat.

“All right. If you believe you know a better coffee place on this little tourist trap of the island…then I invite you to show me. And, if I’m sufficiently impressed by the atmosphere, then I might let you cover the bill.”

Faith playfully held her hands up in surrender, “says most people living in this state, but I’ve yet to be proven right.” She shrugged, though honestly she didn’t know her way around LA so who was she really to argue about anything about LA. 

The idea of a quick breakaway to LA was sounding slightly better.

“Well, I never said - what is better? what exactly are we comparing it to?”  This didn’t seem like a battle she was at all going to win. Since coming to Catalina, she had often gone to the same places for coffee and even then it wasn’t that great. She didn’t believe him, that might seemed a little too strong for her taste. “You mean, you will, I think the wrong word slipped out of your mouth.”

“Small island. We’re lucky there’s only two versus one. You’d get upcharged out the ass here if there was. They can afford it because monopoly,” Aiden responded. The other garage was constantly in competition with her place, but Aiden Fox was Aiden Fox. Her quality was just a little better than the others. If she had more than her bare-minimum kit, she could power up the tire after patching and get the other woman to the garage and be on her merry way. “Well, I’m tooting my own horn. I know I’m the best.”

She could sell her a tire easily and have her pay less than the other place. 

“I’m also an engineer and a certified mechanic and those other guys wouldn’t know their ass from their elbow.”

Faith let out a small snort, “I mean even with the two, if you wanted to, both of you guys could still somewhat drag the prices up, it’s not like most people will take their cars off the island just for cheaper prices.” Then again, both companies would have to not completely low ball the other in the name of business. “Better to know you’re the best than to be second best.” Though again, before this moment Faith didn’t know she even had a garage, not that she had really used it either.

Faith slowly nodded, “can I ask why you decided to work in a garage instead of one of those big companies?”

“If you’re sure” said Harper. She grabbed her phone from where it had been resting in the cupholder and handed it to the other woman. “I don’t blame you about leaving your car, though. I’d be worried I couldn’t find mine again.” Harper didn’t exactly have a great sense of direction and usually relied on GPS to go anywhere she was unfamiliar with. Which is why her phone had been in the cupholder to begin with. Stepping out of her car, she shut her trunk again, since it seemed they weren’t going to try and put on the spare. “What happened to your last spare, by the way?” Harper didn’t know much about cars, but she knew enough to believe that driving without a spare was a gamble.

Sure wasn’t the word but it seemed like her other options weren’t exactly calling tot her either. So what else could she do but deal with what she dealt with. “There’s also for me a slight fear that someone might steal it or break it down for some parts, I’d rather not have to buy a whole new car, if I don’t have to.” It seemed impractical, especially with an island small enough like Catalina, but she wasn’t taking unnecessary chances. “Thanks” she nodded, taking the phone, slightly curious about the phone in the cupholder thing, but it wasn’t her business. Faith cringed slightly at the question, “I used it not too long ago and I got the tire fixed after the spare ran into some issue but I forgot to buy a whole new spare, won’t forget again.”

“Ah, no, don’t say that,” Edward said, laughing. “I pulled over to help you and then you tell me I’m wrong, how very rude.” He chuckled. “So you see,” he said. “I can’t have my old English mum calling me up, especially not at this hour. It’s quite late there.”

“What can I say, I’m a lawyer, we sometimes have to tell the truth even if it hurts, usually it hurts everyone else. Which is great for me, sucks for you.” She grinned.  “Ah like she’s in England? Yeah I definitely don’t want to be responsible for disturbing her night even more, I guess you’re stuck with me a little more then.”

He left out a sign to let the worries of the previous meet leave his system ― at least for now ― so he could enjoy the company of an old friend. “You are definitely one of them, Faith.” He admits through a chuckle before taking a sip of his coffee and makes himself comfortable on the chair. There few people he trusted and actually admired in life and if you are lucky enough to make on that list you have a friend for life with Theo, just don’t ever fuck his loyalty because you will stand on a list no one wants to. It’s a two-way street, you cannot expect someone to give you one hundred percent of their loyalty and not get it the same back, all his friends knew it and fewer have forgotten to the point of ending up losing his friendship. He was lucky in that sense, his friends have someone become short of an extended family. “Specifics don’t make life taste better it makes life get complicated, we don’t like complications, my friend. Our jobs have enough of that as it is.” He comments, opening the box in front of them to get himself a velvet cupcake. "You will forget everything wrong as I say, always, because you love me so goddamn much. Just admit it.”

Faith bit back before she could argue for more ‘claim’ over his life, this was already enough and although she was playing it off, it truly meant a lot. Though the last thing she was going to do was admit it, he knew, didn’t know the extent of how she felt, but he knew parts and that would be enough. It would have to be enough because that all she could handle. “Partially true, our jobs have a lot of complication, but that’s why not just everyone’s doing it. If our jobs were any easier, well we’d either have a lot more people in it or we’d possibly be doing out jobs wrong. You know I like the certainty that we’re doing it right, no matter how stupidly complicated and upside down the world is.” Gazing into the box she did a double glance before settling on a vanilla cupcake. “I still think some specifics make life taste better though, some, before we start a whole ‘nother ‘life is too complicated’ round of depression.” Though she had to admit, her life was starting to settle, so maybe she wasn’t really one to be truthful about the complications of life in the moment. Faith gave him a soft snort, “delusions of grandeur I’m sure is a symptom to some medical condition out there, when was the last time you saw a doctor?” Raising her cup to her lips.

       “Ha-ha,” he said, keeping his tone flat to show his lack of amusement, his face constrained, but put the the shirt back on the rack nonetheless. He continued to walk, fingers sorting through the hangers to see if he could spot anything he liked that Faith would approve of. Not that he needed her approval, but he was always sort of programmed to seek that validation from the nearest living, breathing human. “No, no you don’t need to remind me. And I know you didn’t go to law school just to be some dude’s fashion secretary, but like… I need your input on what would look good to a lady, okay? And you’re like… the only lady that’s within a five-feet radius from me right now. Just help me out, please?” he said, trying his best not to sound too desperate. He was only trying to dress up to meet with his wife (future ex-wife, that is) and he wanted to look as put-together as he could, not because he was trying to win her back, but because he wanted to show her that he was doing okay. That the divorce wasn’t devastating the fuck out of him. That he wasn’t going to end up in the ER with god knows what in his system. That is to say, both things weren’t unlikely to happen, but he had to convince her otherwise, not with words, but with fashion.

“Tough crowd, huh?” She cringed, glancing back at the shirt, it really wasn’t that great, but maybe she had been slightly harsh. Faith had thought it was funny, Hayden obviously didn’t agree, but what did he really know. Other than it wasn’t actually funny. Trailing behind, she grabbed a shirt off another rack, as he spoke, nodding along as Hayden ranted, her attention on the shirt before putting it back on the rack, “I feel like in your attempts to possibly encourage me to help you, ‘you’re the only lady close to me’ isn’t your best bet.” In fact, it wasn’t at all motivating, but he was asking and she was here and she had no reason to turn him down. Faith sighed, “what is it you’re going for? Are you going on a date? Trying to land a deal? These are two different clothes, the clothes depend on the situation. Regardless of what you wear though, you can walk in with the freshest clothes but if you’re trudging around in them or don’t feel like their yours, no one’s gonna care.” Faith pulled a light blue button up shirt, “you’re fit, try this on, roll up the sleeves, nice and even, not messy, for some reason forearms are sexy, I don’t make the trend.” She gave it to him. Pulling out another shirt, “matches your eyes, try it with a peacoat or a leather jacket.”

special delivery to; @faithvaughn​

At the end of that meeting, he wanted nothing more than to punch a few gentlemen in the face; a bunch of assholes that did not even had the courtesy to buy him dinner before screwing him over. If the firm did not find a way to get him back on the game… He did not even wanted to think about it. Soon he finished greet them goodbye, there was one office he for sure knew he needed to pay a visit, it has become a tradition. He would never come around and not get the chance to sit with Faith, to tease each other and have some good laugh as they are used to. With a box of the best treats he could find and two large cups of coffee, he knock on the glass door before enter and take the sit across her table. The same boylish smile on his face from the day they met. 

“Two large coffee with all those specifications you invest in have and, my personal favorite, a box of cupcakes and donuts.” 

A mental break. That was all she needed for the day. After what felt like non-stop nonsense of trouble and meetings and trash people. No that was mean, they weren’t trash, they just did incredibly stupid things and seemed to leave every ounce of proof or had no sort of defense for themselves. Which was obviously where she came in, but it just seemed like they could make her life somewhat easier. That combined with what felt like even less time to focus on cases she wanted to spend more effort on, she felt overwhelmed, slightly annoyed, and resisting the urge to hit her head against her desk. The distraction drew her attention, eyes up, a smile crossing her face as she sat back in her chair. It was like God heard her prayers.

“I though I was your personal favorite?” She joked, head tilted to the side. “Specifics make life taste better... and coffee.” Faith grinned, “I will forget everything wrong you’ve said just because of the sweets though.”

“Ah, I’m a teacher, I have an excellent truth detector,” Edward said, smiling softly as he tapped his temple with one finger. He smiled softly. “She’s an old English grandma, she knows everything,” he said. “A radar will go off if I’ve been anything less than gentlemanly. Grandmothers know all.”

“Normally, I’d say trust the teacher instinct, but it’s going against my very words so I think, you’re wrong this time.” She shrugged, a smile still very apparent. “Ah that extra sense, well I can’t be the cause of you getting in trouble now can I? I feel like it’d come to bite me in the butt.”

Samuel pursed his lips in thought, considering Faith’s words. “Well. It sounds like I should take you to coffee in LA, then.” Not as far of a jaunt as it could be, given the ferry. “Could consider it an experiment. See how far we get.” But, even as he said it, he regretted offering. He hadn’t been off the island in three years, it was true, and something about the thought terrified him.

He’d leave it up to her, he decided. Likely she didn’t want to go so far away with a perfect stranger either.

Samuel chuckled, even still, more an exhale of amusement than heavy sound. “I don’t mean to be vain, I assure you. Would you rather I boost your ego instead?” It could be payment for the coffee - though part of him still twitched at the thought of someone else paying for his things. Perhaps he could change her mind before they reached whatever cafe they went to.

Was she willing to possibly risk her life on a trip out of the city to get some coffee. With a stranger? A perfectly handsome stranger who tried to bite her head off within minutes of - was she willing to risk getting murdered. For coffee? “Do you know good coffee places in LA?” She definitely wasn’t leaving the island for mediocre coffee. Why was she even considering it?

Maybe they’d settle small. So what if they were the real Bermuda Triangle.

Faith shook her head, ego boost wasn’t the thing she needed nor wanted at all. It was better to pass it on than anything. “If you really wanted to give me an ego boost, you’ll let me pay.” It was easy and she was offering. “Otherwise no, my ego is doing relatively fine where it is.”

LOVE IS IN THE AIR…… MEME

37…“How is there one entire day dedicated to love?”

Faith leaned back in her chair, holding the mug in both of her hands as she thought of the question. “Do we mean the origins of St. Valentine or what you actually said.” Because they were two different questions. She could answer one with a fact, with a definitive, with the latter, she could only make assumptions, were they working in assumptions now? “Because we’re a society that values love over many things. Love yourself, love others, love is everywhere. We’re all so damaged, that love is pressed more.” She spoke, lifting the glass to her lips. “Plus some people need the encouragement to actually show their emotions. This is the one day where people can’t fully attack you for how sappy you get for your person. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t let them enjoy it. I’m thinking the after chocolate sale is the greatest reason.”

LOVE IS IN THE AIR…… MEME

4…If you were Cupid for a day, which two people would you shoot your arrow at to make them fall in love?

Oh, no that’s not my style. I don’t force people together, it’s just not a me thing. I think if people are going to find love, it’s not going to do with me. Would I subtly mention things? Maybe but I’m not going to be expressive about it.

24…Have you ever changed yourself for love?

“Hell, don’t make it sound creepy.” Samuel snorted, lips lifting at the edges. “It would certainly explain a lot about my life if we were all dragged here against our consent in the first place.” He rubbed his beard absently.

It was a theory that Miriam would’ve loved. And that gave him pause.

Like every time she came to mind, he had to take a moment, take a breath. And then her memory slipped on.

He flicked his gaze to Faith’s face when she spoke again, returning to his faint smile. “Oh, on the contrary, I’m not opposed to being gawked at when someone is simply enjoying what they see.” It was the judgment that rubbed him the wrong way. “I could give you an excuse to actually look at me, if you’d like. Buy you a coffee, maybe?”

Faith laughed, “I can’t help it, maybe we just have to try and leave and see. Now that I think about it, I haven’t really left the island since I’ve been here.” Maybe Catalina was the real Bermuda Triangle. Faith mused, “now you have me curious.”

Of course, here she was.

“I think I’ve boosted you ego a lot, huh,” she joked. Though at his next question, she was wondering if she maybe had. Faith ran her tongue over her teeth, a small smile crossing her face. “You just want someone to stare at you, hmm? Uhm, but no, I’d like that. Let me pay, to make up for it. Please, it’s the least I could do.” 

Edward chuckled slightly as she spoke. “You’re just saying that because I’m your ticket home,” he teased, a slight smile touching his lips. Ever since Allison had cheated on him, his self-esteem had taken an expected hit. “Oh, no, I’ll wait,” he said, in his teacher voice. Calm and authoritative, a little stern. “It wouldn’t do to leave you all alone in the dark. My mother would have my hide.”

“How’d you guess?” She teased, before shaking her head. “No, you look good though, really.” She reassured, she really wasn’t just saying that. Him helping her was just a plus. Faith blinked at the tone change, surprised. “I mean, I won’t tell her, so you could slip away with no worries.” Really though, she didn’t want to keep him if he had another place to be. “If you’re sure though, then I’m not gonna lift a gift house in the mouth.”

Aiden had been in this predicament a time or two and she could definitely sympathize. “Limping the tire will be just a little better than a spare,” she replied. That and the fact she never really lent it out. It was more important to have it and not need rather than need it and not have it. She made quick work of jacking the car up, bicep muscles burning as she worked the crank. 

“If you could hand me that bag right there, that’d be swell.” First thing she needed to do was gauge how big the hole was, unless it was a screw. “Do you have any idea what it was that you hit?” Her fingers moved around the tire in an attempt to find a protruding items. The question of her garage had her smiling just a little. “Catalina Auto. It’s the better garage of the two.” 

Though at the very least, this woman should think about rotating her tires sometime soon. 

Aiden grabbed the tire iron to unscrew the bolts around the wheel and it was times like this that she wished she had a drill or the strength of a man to pull it off. Grime stuck to the palms of her hands as she moved it off the wheel well. It was highly probably a good idea to have put her gloves on, but grease and grime were her friends. 

“If I can’t patch it, I can toss up my spare and have you follow to the garage.”

“Hey, whatever gets my car far enough to get it some actual replacement is good enough for me.” It was just easier to ask for a spare than to ask someone to help patch up her tire and try and get them to call for a tow. The last thing she wanted was to really be any more of a burden than she already felt, which she did. 

Faith moved the the bag she requested. Watching the girl walk. She shook her head, “honestly, not really sure, but I was too far from a gas station or anywhere reliable before I realized so, it sucked.” And it was unfortunate. “Is that your unbiased opinion” she joked. “Huh, is there really only two garage’s on the island?” She hadn’t made use of either yet so she hadn’t done her research. Gosh this island was small.

“That’s fine too. I’ll just pay you at the garage too then.”

Nathalia thinks for a moment, wondering if she really does have an extra tire ready in the back of her trunk if she were ever to be caught in the same, unpredictable situation that Faith finds herself in the moment. Nathalia, as of this second, can only believe that she does have an extra tire ready. Though, as someone who has never had to worry about such things, well… To put it frankly: Why would she start now? “… Mmm, let’s go with whichever answer makes you have all the more confidence in me.” The model winks at her friend playfully. “Of course you can charge your phone!“ She exclaims in a tone that allows the other to know that she didn’t even need to ask in the first place. "I have a charger in the car ready to be used at all times just in case. One time, I had no charge left after a rager in the middle of the desert, and the only way to get a ride back into town was to either send a code to your driver or wait until morning for a bus to pick you up. Obviously, I did not want to do the latter… Woefully, I had to because no one had a phone charger. Never. Again. Now? I bring a charger with me everywhere. Also, you can leave your keys on top of the front, right tire. The tow people are just around the corner.” She says, her eyes drifting from Faith to her phone as she was in contact with the person who was picking up Faith’s car. Nathalia waves a hand in dismissal before crossing the road back over to her own vehicle. “Don’t even worry about it. Funnily enough, I was actually on my way to see you, anyway. This was good timing on all of our parts.”  Nathalia grins because, mostly, it was just semi-bad luck on Faith’s end. “Duh. Of course I already know where we should go. When have I ever not had a plan for us?” Nathalia asks Faith rhetorically. When it came to herself, Nathalia never had a plan. She could walk aimlessly for hours on end with no destination in mind. But, it was different when she was with friends and family. She became a planning machine. She hated feeling like she was dragging people around for nothing. “I was thinking Iris & Eve. The rooftop has a stuning view.” And she liked the familiar territory. Nathalia closes her drivers door and turns to Faith to say casually, "By the way, I’m thinking about hiring you.” The impish look in her eyes is hiding by the aviators she wears, but it’s not hiding by the way her brows rise and the smile that’s being held on her lips. With that, she turns the key and on comes the engine.

Running a hand along the top of her car door, Reagan gave a half shrug of her shoulders and nodded. “Oh, it absolutely does. She’s a monster out there on the streets and you wouldn’t even realize it.  Figured the Jeep needed a break today, so here we are,” she said with a wave of her hand, as if it were absolutely no big deal. Laughing as she pulled the bag out of the back seat, Reagan started to dig through to find what she was looking for. “Not a car, but just about everything else you could need in here. It’s my work bag, we always have to make sure we’re prepared for any sort of weird disaster.” Whether it was vehicle trouble or something far more dangerous, Reagan was used to having an eclectic mix of items on hand to MacGyver herself out of any situation. Kneeling down next to the flat tire, Reagan poured some water on it, adding a bit of soap to see where any breaks in the surface were that needed patching. “Is it just the tire or do you have anything else you need looked at?”

"Maybe I’ll go take one for a test drive soon, or maybe I’m just being swept away by your car and overthinking it. Mine’s been good to me till now.” She patted the side of her own car. She didn’t really need a new one, but who didn’t want something new and shiny every so often. Again, she didn’t really need anything. Faith grinned, shrugging playfully, “so still somewhat blackhole ish.” Obviously not but it was useful. “Kind of like a doomsday-ish bag then? I mean it sounds like a smart thing to always have regardless of work or not.” It definitely would help her in this situation and probably many more.  She bent down next to Reagan, staying out of her way but watching to see what she was doing. “As far as I know, just the tire, I’ll probably let the mechanic go through it when I drop it off though.” Better to be so much safer than sorry, really. “Do you have plans after? Let me treat you as a thanks, and you can’t say no, only accepting a rain check.” One which she would make sure she followed through with.