The one perk that Gin had found that had come from quitting her job with the GMFT was that she rarely saw Alice Lark anymore. Of course, it meant that she didn’t see Milo nearly as often either (that was partly her fault, as she tended to avoid him because of Alice). Still, Alice was more easily evaded these days and it made it easy to pretend that Alice didn’t exist at all. Bingley was small, but Gin could manage to go days (if not weeks) without seeing her stupid face. 

Today, Gin decided to stop by Fulton’s Outdoor Emporium. Truth be told, she was in the mood for some company and since her only friend (Milo) wasn’t exactly an appealing option, she decided to say hello to Warner. 

They weren’t exactly close anymore, given the break-up, but it had ended on good terms and she could always trust Warner to be up for a friendly chat, if she wanted one. He was always kind to her (sometimes too kind - it was part of the reason she’d had to break up with him). But today she was weirdly in the mood for one of his awkward conversations. 

She was surprised (although should she really have been?) to see Alice Lark, instead of Warner Fulton. “God, is there a reason you are here?” 

Her eyes flicked to the nametag pinned to her sweater to where Alice was sitting, behind the counter. Was she actually working here now? 

Of fucking course she was. 

God, she’d forgotten how it was so obvious that Warner was in love with her, too. And he’d gone and given her a job (after he had said to Gin that she could come to him about openings in a few months if she was still out of a job. Apparently, Alice was hirable on the spot). 

“So when are you planning to move back to Idaho or Indiana or wherever the fuck you came from?” Gin asked, crossing her arms. She’d been wanting to drive Alice out of town since she got here, but she realized then that Alice just might be the one to drive Gin away.

With Milo wrapped in Alice Lark, Gin found that Bingley had lost its charm. 

To be honest, the only thing that was keeping her here anymore was her mom. She wouldn’t have admitted it if you had asked her, but Milo had made life in this small town exciting (so much so, she forgot how lame Bingley could be). Milo was still her best friend (he always would be, whether he liked it or not) but things had been strained lately between them. 

Milo’s infatuation with Alice Lark had driven a wedge (one that Gin was beginning to think was ireservsable). If Milo wasn’t with Alice he was talking about her. It was disgusting (and so goddamn annoying). It made Gin want to throw something at his head (sometimes she did). Gin was often irritable and sarcastic, so her jealous behavior didn’t strike Milo as odd (plus he was an idiot who wouldn’t have noticed how Gin felt about him, even if she had chucked everything she owned at his head whenever he mentioned Alice).

There was only so much of the Alice-obsessed Milo that Gin could take and since the GMFT had had its layoffs, she and Milo hadn’t seen that much of each other. You once rarely saw one without the other, but now Gin found herself needing space and they could go days (sometimes more than a week) without seeing each other. 

Today she’d been sitting outside on the front steps of her apartment building, smoking a cigarette, when she saw him walk up the street towards her. She was somewhat surprised to see that he came alone. Had he been with Alice, she might have gone inside before he could speak to her, but the truth was, was that she missed him, so she stayed planted right where she was. 

gin (about ruby): she’s the worst person i’ve ever met