evelyn hammond

“Maybe you should. Although I’d like to think I could take on whoever feels the need to try and snatch you away,” she grinned. There was part of the truth in all of this. She had taken such a huge plunge on actually starting to date the other woman that a part of her was still somewhat wary about all the things that could happen. She could always decide that this wasn’t for her anway. Or she could figure out that she wasn’t that into Emory like she had thought she was. And of course there was always the most terrifying possibility of them all – and that was that perhaps Emory was just an experiment.

However, for now she decided to push that thought away, wanting to not let it taint their day together. Especially because she seemed to be serious enough about at least her own sexuality that she thought about coming out. “What kind of ideas have you had in terms of going about that?” She then smiled at Evelyn when she came closer towards the water. “Come on,” she said, grabbing the other’s hand and pulling her along the beach with her towards a spot that was just a little bit quieter. “Maybe we can stay here?” she asked, already setting her bag down on the stones. “Unless of course you’d rather like to go somewhere else.”

“You know, I don’t doubt that –– and I know this is all hypothetical, but now I really want to see jealous Emory in action.” She bit her lower lip as she smiled wide, fairly convinced that a jealous Em would be very cute and also very capable of keeping competition at bay. Not that anyone else could even dream of stealing away Eve’s attention from the other woman. When she was with Emory, other options or possibilities didn’t even occur to Eve, frankly. She saw other beautiful women here and there, and was now suddenly aware of an acceptance of attraction to them ... but that was all fleeting and certainly never made her have any doubts about the lawyer. Of course, they weren’t anything serious ( yet ), and Eve didn’t mind taking things slow. But if Emory herself decided to take a step back, Eve would admittedly be disappointed, a little heartbroken even. 

“Gosh –– in all honesty, I have no clue. I feel like it’s more than just a conversation you have over a phone call ... but I can’t exactly see them in person right now. What would you do if you were in my position?” Surely this was something Emory would have a solution for, having gone through the nerve-wracking process once before. And she hadn’t said her parents had responded negatively, so surely she’d give Eve a solution that wouldn’t result in anything going downhill, right? “Yes, this is perfect, let’s stay here,” Eve agreed cheerily as Emory found them a nice little spot, and she set down her own tote bag and the picnic basket she’d brought along. “So, do you want to eat yet or wait a bit? I should mention I brought some white sangria in this thermos I just got that keeps it ice cold.” She wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

Ciara clung to her sister as the tears freely fell down her cheeks. Sniffling, she buried her face in the other’s shoulder. As close as she is with Sasha, when it came to talking about her mother Ciara usually either deflected, evaded and avoided the topic. In some instances she made it appear as if she were unaffected by it, but that is not the case. In comparison, Sasha had fond memories to look back on while Ciara wished she had an ounce of that experience. All she had of her mother was photographs and faded childhood memories. “I’m handling it…” she lied, and purposely Ciara didn’t pull back for a moment or two until she was ready to look into Eve’s eyes. “Can this just stay between us? I don’t want to worry anyone. I’ll be fine…promise.” At that point she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince; Eve or herself. “I just needed a shoulder to cry on, I guess.” shrugging her shoulders, she cast her gaze downward. 

Eve could feel the grief that was poured into the embrace, the desperation as Ciara clung to her and buried her face in her shoulder. And the gallerist WELCOMED it, feeling a surge of protectiveness and intense endearment for her half-sister. She was reminded of her younger brother back home in the states and her similar desire to protect him and make everything better, and that was just how she felt about Ciara right then. If there was some way to truly take away the young woman’s pain, Evelyn would have followed through with it. "Of course it can,” she assured the brunette, pressing her lips into a tiny, sympathetic smile. 

Daniella laid the city map she had just bought out on the bench in front of her. This was just great. Not only had she lost her phone — god knows where she had left it, honestly — but she also had no idea how to get back home. Sure, she had been living here for almost a month, but in between actually figuring out where she would stay and what she would live of, Daniella hadn’t really had the chance to explore very much. At least not yet. “Fantastic…” she mumbled to herself, her hebrew accent lacing every word. A sigh left her. “That’s what I needed today exactly…”

Eve wasn’t usually one to stop for strangers, but seeing the map splayed out in front of the woman as she walked towards the gallery with a green tea latte in hand brought back strong memories of first living in London. She recognized a newbie in need of help when she saw one, having been one herself once, and so she approached the bench with an eagerness to help. “Hi there ... having some trouble finding your way around?” 

“A little ominous, but I agree …” Eve gave a short laugh, a little unsure of how to respond to such a mysterious sentiment. What had prompted it out of the other woman? “Are you trying to elude to you secretly being a spy or something else I totally never would have guessed about you?”

Eve’s eyes grew soft as Sasha imparted this piece of wisdom on her, and she gave a little nod at the advice she so needed to hear. Though Eve knew Sasha’s past dealings with love had left her burned, her younger sister clearly still had some faith in it.

“I think I’ve already started to learn that,” she murmured with a slight smile, her eyes still betraying just how close to the heart this really was. “All I can think about is how much love I feel for her, how much I want her to know that I feel it. And I want to be loved back by her more than I’ve wanted anything in my life.”

( 💋 - Pull my muse in for a kiss in the moonlight )

After a lovely dinner, Emory and Eve had decided to go for a stroll in the park, neither seemingly ready to go home just yet. As they walked hand-in-hand, nearing the familiar fountain they sat by during their first outing together, Eve became suddenly sentimental and looked over at the beautiful woman beside her with soft eyes. To think if she’d never run into Emory on the street that day and asked her to have lunch with her, maybe they never would have ended up where they were now. A simple shared lunch on a park bench had completely changed her life. 

They began to slow as they approached the fountain, and Emory softly remarked, “It’s so beautiful right now, with the moonlight shining on the water.” Eve had come to a full stop then, and reaching up, she brushed windswept dark hair away from Emory’s face. “You’re beautiful,” she remarked without shame, taking in the way hints of light fell upon the other woman’s face, shadows soft obscuring the other half of her features. Eve leaned in, pulling Emory closer very gently to give her a passionate kiss, the moonlight now spilling onto the both of them. 

With the other woman’s eyes taking in Emory’s frame, she could feel the heat rising up within her. It was almost embarrassing what an effect the other woman had on her. Truthfully, Emory would never do anything to force Evelyn into something she wasn’t ready for. Yes, the desire she felt for her was there, but the last thing she wanted was for Eve to feel like she had to do something just because of her. She wanted to make sure Evelyn was as comfortable as she could be with her and if that meant waiting then she would. It was ironic, in a way. She had chuckled about Ivy’s decision to wait to sleep with Nicola, and had said that ‘poor Romeo’ must be incredibly frustrated. And yet here she was, exactly in the position Nicola was in.

“Well, if I won’t have to worry about men trying to steal you away, I sure as hell will have to worry about the women once they realize you play for our team,” she shot back. And who knew, if Evelyn got a taste for the whole thing, maybe she’d decide she wanted to experiment a bit further and not immediately get into a serious relationship with the first woman she had feelings for. “Well, you wouldn’t have known me then so you wouldn’t know what you were missing,” she winked. After about ten minutes when they reached the actual beach part of the city, Emory closed her eyes, taking everything in. Thanks to the street almost right next to it, they would have to get closer to the water to actually hear it, but simply being here was already more than enough. Slowly she took a few steps over the stone beach, smiling at the other. “You wanna go further towards the water?”

It was a little foreign to Eve, the desire she felt for Emory. Sure, looking back she could now see the attraction to women had been there all along, though she’d simply been oblivious to it ( or suppressing it? ). But even as she was clearly teasing the other about these naughty thoughts, the truth was, they were very real and VERY distracting. And this was only their second date, which made Eve feel that much more embarrassed about how much she was craving the other in the ways her imagination suggested to her. But she wanted to do this right and the last thing she wanted to do was screw up the one good, genuine thing she’d had in honestly her whole life, so she kept her thoughts in check. For now at least she had the gently touches and holding hands, the little things managed to make her heart pump just as much as the ideas in her head. 

“Maybe I’ll keep it a secret just a bit longer to help you out, huh?” Eve joked with a snicker, though she actually still hadn’t officially come out to any of her friends or, most importantly, her adoptive family. She hadn’t quite figured out how to go about it, but she knew she couldn’t wait forever. She wanted everyone to know how HAPPY another woman made her feel and how she was finally feeling like the most genuine version of herself she’d ever been. “I’m joking, of course. Ever since our first date I’ve been trying to think of how I’m going to come out.” Should she Facetime her family? Or limit it to a phone call to avoid the possibility of seeing disappointment on their faces in the worst case scenario? She had no clue, but maybe Emory could help her out, having been through it herself already. As they finally made it to the beach, Evelyn breathed in the salty air and tilted her face up to let the sun warm her cheeks. 

It had been several weeks since the Black and White Party where Evelyn had run into a young man named Sammy Briar –– the son of a very well-known stylist and designer who also happened to be a client of Eve’s. She should have figured a woman with such a good eye for style and aesthetics would have a son who was equally creative, but as she had gotten to speaking with Sam, he had truly shown though he was his mother’s son, he was also very much his own individual. Eve was currently in the process of putting together a new exhibit and and speaking to Sam had helped get some gears turning. He especially convinced her that for this showing, she wanted to put young, underexposed talent on display. 

It was a somewhat RISKY concept –– a lot of her older clients were people with loyalty to familiar artists or types of art. But her gallery had not gained its reputation for being safe or only appealing to certain people, and thus she had every intention of bringing these young, talented people the exposure they deserved. And that was where Sammy Briar came in –– she had done some research and seen some of his work, and she was very pleased. Though she didn’t often display or sell photographic art, she thought his work would add a unique flair to the exhibition concept she had in mind. 

Eve was now re-entering her office, having been informed by one of her assistants that Sammy was waiting for her. She’d invited him to the gallery to speak once again and to propose her exhibition idea and see if he would be interested in creating works that would line up with her theme. She genuinely hoped the young male would accept her offer, and certainly what aspiring artist of any media wouldn’t want to appear in a Hammond Gallery exhibition? 

“Sorry if I kept you waiting,” she began as she walked into the spacious office, shutting the door carefully behind her. “I was dealing with a bit of a mix-up downstairs. I’m so glad you could make it, Sam.”

“What do you do for a living?” as Tristan, curious now.Then he nodded. “Knowing you’re lucky is a good thing. I think it keeps you humble.” Not that anybody would say being humble was Tristan’s strong suit. But at least he knew he’d been born lucky.

“I own an art gallery –– Hammond Gallery, if you’re ever interested in checking it out,” she told him without shame, lips quirking upward just slightly. “I try to be humble, though I expect I fail at it more often than I’d like.” 

She bit her bottom lip as Evelyn said that she had just raised her expectations. Emory had a bit of a cocky side to her and she knew she was good at what she was doing when it came to physical things, but she also didn’t want to be too straight forward. “Good, you *should* have high expectations,” she just said, giving her a flirty wink. She leaned towards the coffee table, picking up her glass of wine and taking a sip, her eyes never leaving the woman next to her. There was part of her that wanted to make sure she didn’t go too far. However, Evelyn had said that she liked her and if things progressed well then this was undoubtedly the direction it was going into, right? Plus, in Emory’s opinion, a woman should never set her expectations too low, no matter if she was heterosexual or not.

“Is that all it takes to make you feel accomplished?” Emory asked with a grin. Admittedly, if it was her in Eve’s position she’d probably feel the same way. There was just something about having a certain effect on a woman that made you feel like the luckiest person in the world. And judging by Evelyn’s reaction, it seemed like she was just figuring that out. Emory reached out, once again lacing their fingers together as she looked at her. “I’m really glad you came here tonight,” she said honestly. Even though Emory had never expected her night to go like this, she wouldn’t trade the outcome for the world.

The reply plus the wink made a breath get stuck in Eve’s throat and her eyes, certainly betraying some of the desire the simplest words had managed to stir up in her, followed Emory as she reached for her wine glass. She got a grip on herself rather quickly though and simply mimicked the other, picking up her wine glass to take a much needed sip. Her mind was spinning with quite a few possibilities, inappropriate ones, but the wine helped to subdue those visions just a bit. It was amazing what she was experiencing now that she was admitting genuine feelings for the first time in her life and actually being really into someone. And, frankly, she had no doubts that Emory could make her feel things she’d never felt before –– one kiss alone had proven that. 

“Pure, chaste thoughts, uh-huh.” Emory couldn’t help but chuckle. How quick the cards had turned. They had only had their first date about a week ago and already Evelyn was taking the reigns when it came to flirting. Emory was happy she was getting more confident, she would definitely not start complaining now. She really liked Evelyn, there was not a single doubt in her mind about that. The only thing she was still unsure about was the question whether this was as real for Eve as it was for her. But she assumed that time would tell. “Are you liking what you’re imagining then?” she then asked, a grin forming on her features.

“Well, from where I’m standing you don’t look a day over 27.” She was teasing lightly, knowing that she most likely would have guessed the other to be in her early 30s. Once they had made their way through the barrier, Emory herself slipped on her own sunglasses, adjusting the bag on her shoulder, before looking over at her date and smiling. She reached out, offering her hand for her to take, giving a gesture with her head to come follow her. “You know what I love? Brighton is only an hour away from London and yet there you have the beach only ten minutes from the station. It’s amazing if you just need some time out for a day.”

Eve was doing her best to prove to Emory that she was doing okay with all of this –– that since coming to the realization she liked women, rather being afraid and unsure she was now more certain and definitely more happy. Emory had taken a huge plunge admitting her feelings to and agreeing to start dating a woman who had previously identified as straight. But Eve was determined to prove to her that she hadn’t made a mistake and that she was ready for this. And the more she thought about it all, the more she knew she’d been ready for this for quite a while ... it had just taken a nudge in the right direction from a very beautiful and caring lawyer. “My imagination is definitely not disappointing me,” Eve teased, her eyes ( unconsciously? ) flicking down, then back up the other’s form. 

Part of Emory couldn’t really believe that she was really lucky enough that Evelyn truly wanted to go out with her. Sure, part of her was still somewhat worried that she was only an experiment to the other, something she would drop once she figured out it wasn’t for her. She hadn’t voiced those thoughts to Eve herself, but in the back of her mind they were still very prominent. Still, she pushed them away for now, somewhat foolishly hoping for the best after their first date had gone so well. Emory herself had been very respectful the entire time, only really allowing herself small touches and gentle kisses, rather than taking it too far and maybe scaring the other off.

But it seemed Evelyn had enjoyed it all, judging by the fact that she had been the one to ask Emory to go to Brighton with her. The lawyer was excited about the development. She knew that they both loved the water and thus the suggestion had been perfect. Of course Emory had been to Brighton several times before, knowing exactly that from the station it was just an easy ten minute walk down to the beach and the pier. While on the train, a comfortable silence had settled between them and Emory had allowed herself to just look out of the window for a moment, before she was ripped from her thoughts by the gentle voice of the woman sitting across from her. The truth was, she hadn’t been thinking about any of that, but… She chuckled. “Well, now I am, thanks for that,” she teased in return. “I take it that that’s what you’ve been imagining?”

Sometimes Eve wished she could read Emory’s mind –– not to be a total creep or anything, but often she genuinely wanted to know what the other was thinking, especially if it did have to do with Eve. But they’d arguably been pretty transparent with each other over the course of their relationship. Eve had told Emory things she’d never spoken aloud to even those closest to her, and she felt that Emory was always truthful with her when she asked more about her too. However, when her attention was caught, Emory SLYLY avoided the question with a question of her own that brought a grin to Eve’s face. “Your welcome,” she quipped, uncrossing her legs to cross them the other way in her seat. “If I said yes, would you be offended? Because if so, definitely not, only pure, chaste thoughts over here.”