gold dust woman

F L O R A R H O D E S intro:

• florence “flora” rhodes

• personal assistant of owner of Ash&Altar

• may 6th 1993

• nyc born and raised

• + thoughtful, adventurous, confident

•  - spoiled, cynical, controlling

• favorite band: fleetwood mac 

• loves: nature, painting, s t a r r y nights, cigars

• hates: strong scents, clutter, sci- fi, mondays, being called florence

F L O R A R H O D E S bio:

Flora has mastered the saying „best of both worlds”. With one foot in a harsh and unforgiving bussiness world, she never forgets her love for painting and all things creative. Born in New York to wealthy and succesful parents, Flora always wanted to follow in their career- driven footsteps. But the darkside of her admiration of her parents, was their loveless marriage, which later ended in divorce, made Flora cynical of love and fearful of commitment. This led her to a life full of one night stands and meaningless relationships. Her adoration for all things tactical  and analytical made her persue a master's degree in business administration, which led her to work as an assistant to a succesful bussiness owner. Will she ever find true love and settle down? Or will she always be afraid of getting hurt?

Flora developed her fascination with art since she was a little child. From drawing on her bedroom walls to begging her parents to take her to art museums, just to stare at famous art pieces. Her odd character traits made her stand out from every person she‘d ever met, but that didn‘t stop her from becoming popular and loved in every enviroment she was in, from kindergarden to University, she was always surrounded by people. Whether it was her captivating energy or wealthy upcomings, she loved the attention. She never acted arrogant or selfish though – her parents always tried to teach her to be kind and down to earth, and that‘s what she always tried to do, altough when things don‘t go her way, her personality may take a turn in a different direction. When people first meet her they can‘t help but notice her thoughtfulness and joyfulness which fills in every room she walks in.

Her leap into business wasn‘t unplanned or unwanted – the girl is tactical and careful and her organizational skills are out of this world. She loves to communicate with all kinds of people and always finds a way with to connect to every person she meets. So her desicion to envelop herself in working as an assistant, was more than planned, as she loves all aspects of this job. She never regretted her decision of not persuing art as her career path as she felt that painting is an emotional outlet. She never shares her creative side with anyone anymore, as she feels it‘s too personal.

Jordan laughs at this, shaking his head in amusement. “If you were a cop sweetheart, you’d know who I am,” he says. Half the cops in New York hate him, and the other half love him. The half that hates him think he’s trouble and the other half have had enough run-ins with him to realise he ain’t too bad. That, and J’s pretty sure they think that, if they get on his good side, he’ll nark on his friends. Fat fuckin’ chance. “Besides, cops don’t get kicked out of casinos.”

First impressions are criminally misutilized, he thinks. Most people would see the woman get dragged out of the joint and think she was no good, but Jordan’s pretty sure he’s just found his entertainment for the night. “I’ve seen worse,” he replies honestly. “Probably given worse first impressions too.” Probably can’t remember half of them. “You’re alright.”

꧁꧂

“i’d know who you are, huh?”  she smirks “so you’re a troublemaker yourself, young man? but i mean you’re probably not as mischievous as i am, but go off i guess” she let’s out a slight giggle

of course no one should judge anyone based on first impressions - but Jordan made quite the impression. he was definitely not someone she surrounded herself with, but it was nice for her to finally meet someone who felt real, and wasn’t stuck up like all of her friends and family “you’re not bad yourself” she smiles “and thank you for saving me from god knows what your friend would’ve done after kicking me out. i owe you one”

𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔬𝔶~

“I’m not tense!” He replies, smiling at her to hopefully convince her of the fact – and he’s not, he’s just not good with people, at least without a buffer. “Thank you, I try really hard to be a good friend – it’s one of those things I’ve got going for me.” Good friend to a fault, really – he’s so easy to use and be taken advantage of. Jer nods, walking over to the door to open it for her because his mother had raised him with manners. “After you – I’d hate for you to catch your death out here in the brutal New York street.”

꧁꧂

her eyes widen as he opens the door “wow, jer, you keep on surprising me” she had a good feeling about him, and the mystery kept her intrigued. as they’re walking inside she can’t help but suggest “how about i buy us the first round? as a thank you for keeping me company? i still have some change, those bastards can’t bring flora rhodes down” she jokes but her smile fades away quickly after noticing her exboyfriend - one that tried to make flora commit to the relationship more than she was ready for. their breakup was messy, so seeing him brought up some types of feelings “can we please find an open booth quicker?” she says with a nervous smile while her eyes keep turning to her ex

‘Never, but now I don’t feel like I can ask you to show me the joys of it.’ Maisy pointed at the closing doors behind the woman. ‘Doesn’t look like this is your spot anymore.’ She said it with a smile — this was to the woman. The sympathy of Maisy Ackerman doesn’t tend to lie exclusively with bouncers, and the woman’s ‘winning’ exit itself showed very great promise. With an almost laugh, Maisy asked, ‘What happened in there?’

꧁꧂

she gives the woman a sarcastic smile “trust me, i’m better than it seems” she takes out her pack of cigs and as she’s lighting her cherry flavored cigarette she mumbles “i’m good at the game but bad at losing” she takes a drag and let’s the smoke out “and cheating at that point” she continues “and you? what led you to walk alone at midnight on a street like this?”

                   Jenny laughs, “Nothing’s stoppin’ you!” She holds her arms out for a hug. She’s generally a very affectionate person anyway and Flora could probably use a little comfort. Even if she’s pretty sure she could have avoided all of that by simply not cheating in the first place. “I’m not much of a gambler myself. The most I ever did was bettin’ on the Derby horses growin’ up. And you know even then it was just with candy.” And she never won. And she always threw a fit until she got her candy back.                      She stands carefully and brushes her dress out a little before holding a hand out to help Flora up with another bright smile, “I can offer both those things! Coffee and conversation. Can’t promise it’ll be any good, I spent all my good talking points today already but it’ll be a conversation at least!” That last client of hers this morning had really tried her patience. She had to pull out all the good stories just to keep the woman engaged. 

꧁꧂

she isn’t the touchy- feely type. so she gives her an awkward hug and continues with a smile “well, i’m sure you’re more interesting than most of the people i’ve talked to today. all they spoke about was some illegal shit” she takes a deep breath “so i’m honestly down to talk about puppies and flowerfields. anything to take my mind of what happened” she jokes “i’m flora, nice too finally meet a sweet, down to eath person”

𝕥𝕜~

Tommy arches an eyebrow at her, like he’s trying to figure out if she’s serious or not – or if she’s just one of those girls who was raised on big money, looking for a little trouble ‘cause she’s never seen it before. A girl like the boy he once was, fresh from under Mommy’s watchful eye. It endears her to him, the thought of it, and he offers her another crooked grin. “Alright, let’s go then, dove. Down to the bar, right down there.” He points to the neon sign hanging off the corner of a brick building. “They got good appetizers.”

꧁꧂

flora hated letting her guard down. growing up in a rich, powerful family had it’s upsides, but constantly being surrounded by people belittling her, making her feel like she’s just a “rich girl” made flora the way she is today - someone who is unattainable and cold. she hated admitting it, but she needed warmth.

“tell me Tommy” she says as they enter the building “all those little illegal places you talked about - do you go there often?” 

Alexa felt her face become a little caught off guard by the woman’s words. She squinted her eyes a bit, trying to study the woman’s face a bit more and bit her lip. “Um… I don’t know… I mean, I own a flower shop? It’s called The Art of Arrangement?” She shrugged. She studied the girl a bit more and then her eyebrows shot up. 

“Oh! You’re… fuck. You are…” she chuckled nervously. “L-Luther’s assistant. Right. Sorry. It’s been a while! How are you?”

꧁꧂

the flower shop connected all the dots for flora. Alexa. not only does she make the prettiest flower arrangements in the city, but she does have a huge impact on her bosses life

she noticed Alexa getting nervous and right away tried to make the situation less awkward for both of them “as you can see i’m flourishing” she smiles “i’m begging you don’t tell luther about this, he’s going to make fun of me for the rest of my days” she giggles and continues with “and how are you Alexa? i haven’t seen you around in a while”

-

Esmeray chuckles softly, definitely noting the emphases that the women places on the word friends. She wonders just how much Luther has disclosed to her about their relationship, or whatever you would call what is that they were doing… or had done? She really wasn’t sure. “It has its perks.” She chuckles softly, a grin appearing on her lips before she raises her glass up to lips, taking a long sip of the whiskey. “However I am sure that you could probably gain far more interesting stories from his other friends.” She informs her. Esmeray isn’t a dumb girl. She isn’t naive enough to think that she’s the only women sharing his bed with him at night, no matter how special Luther might make her feel in the moment. 

꧁꧂

flora figured she wouldn’t fully open up to her. they were strangers after all. but flora didn’t need to know every single detail about their relationship, besides, luther tells her enough she needs to know “i hope i didn’t give you a wrong impression” she takes a sip of her drink “it’s just that luther really is fond of you” she smiles “plus you’re one of the only normal ones he talks about” she jokes.

“ No worries” Aksel murmured with cigarette in his lips as he stuffed his pack back in his inner pocket. He looked at the bouncers watching her and then looked at her with a wry smile. “Seriously, what the hell did you do to get you thrown out? “ He chuckled taking another drag and breathing it out. “ Sorry I thought I knew you  from ash&alter.” He murmured. “ You look like someone who I have seen there a couple of times.” He said with a small shrug. “ Like I said… not trying to hit on you, its just you kind of look familiar.” 

꧁꧂

she chuckles as she lights the cigarette “well, believe it or not, people aren’t fond of you when you overreact about losing” it wasn’t the whole story, but it should do for now she thought 

“i’m honored. i guess i have an unforgettable face” she wasn’t shy about her looks, confidence wasn’t something she lacked “yeah, i guess you probably remember me from ash&altar, i spend most of my days there” as she takes a drag “i know you’re not hitting one me. there are much better pickup lines than that” she jokes

Something about a movie theatre always hits better than watching a movie alone in his living room. Sure, he was technically still watching the flick alone in the theatre, but he was among a diluted audience, so he likes to think it doesn’t count. He’s half-way into his second tub of popcorn (after getting through the first before the movie ended) as he passes the building, chuckling as the woman is escorted out. “No, that’s how you get kicked out of a casino,” he muses.

꧁꧂

she laughs back and agrees “you’ve figured it out” she picks up her bag from the ground and mumbles under her breath “i can’t believe i did this” she then turns to the man and quickly brings her guard back up again “i’m sorry you had to see that, people just take everything to seriously”

Fresh air was the only thing on Maisy’s mind that night. A walk to clear the head, some inspiration to go on enjoying another evening. It gets lonely. Boring, frankly, and even though she’s ignored the desperate temptation to start a conversation with near enough every person that’s looked her even close to the eye on the street (ex-small town friendliness — something that’s totally almost been warned out of her since moving here [but it has also been months, she was aware the habit should’ve died those same ago]), she can hardly ignore a direct attempt at contact from someone else. Her face brightens in the darkness. 

‘Wow! God,’ she called back. ‘I’ve never seen a game end like this before. Do you keep these guys? They’re the pot?’  The bouncers, she means. She gives a side ways, almost apologetic glance to them, before looking back at the Totally Ultimate Poker Player. 

꧁꧂

the first thing she notices about the woman seemingly making fun of her situation - was her style. the girl looked sick, that’s for sure “i’m glad my failure made your day” she glances back at the club noticing her apologetic look “i figure you never played poker before, huh?”

𝕥𝕜~

“If you’re really that opposed to it, why don’t you just come to a bar with me?” Tommy offers, arching an eyebrow at her as he flashes her one of his charming, crooked grins. “The night is young – and you, too, are young. Too young to turn in so soon.” He cocks his head to the side. “Flora – the only places I know of are seedy little illegal dens. Not sure I should take a girl like you there – what about a drink instead?”

꧁꧂

she grins at his comment about the illegal places he goes to. there’s nothing flora enjoys more than a d v e n t u r e. of course she just couldn’t let herself get into more trouble than she already had that night “i live for illegal dens” she jokes “no, but actually you got me all wrong. i go anywhere the wind takes me” she smiles “but tonight, i’m glad the wind has led me to you and i’m not going to do stupid shit. so i’d love to go a bar with you” she gives him a serious, dramatic look to try and intimidate him “but it’s not because i’m scared of your sleazy little casinos” she actually wasn’t. she was scared for her wallet

𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔟𝔬𝔶~

you exude mystery.

Jer laughed at that, shaking his head, “Can’t say anyone’s ever told me that before.” He replied, his cheeks flushed lightly because that was usually a compliment, right? And Jer doesn’t get a lot of compliments from pretty ladies. At her next question, he opens his mouth then smiles, “I… came to bring a friend some money. He ran out, said he’d pay me back next week.” He shrugged then, “Just trying to be a good friend.”

꧁꧂

she notices his nervousness and giggles “come on don’t be so tense around me” she gives him a soft look and says “you seem like a great friend. too bad i didn’t know you when i was in there” she then gets lost in thought for a second remembering all the people in the casino “the people in that club looked... empty.” she shrugs it off quickly and continues “well but who am i to judge?” she notices the bar “so let’s go inside? it’s getting really cold”