simple

brin  looked  up  from  her  coffee  and  chuckled,  "it’s  fine,  we  could’ve  rescheduled  or  just  like  met  up  and  someone’s  house  and  had  a  time  in  –  instead  of  doing  breakfast.“  brin  looked  at  her  friend,  she  looked  beyond  exhausted,  she  felt  slightly  guilty  because  she  had  bugged  to  hang  out  since  they  hadn’t  seen  each  other  in  a  while.  "i  ordered  your  breakfast,  and  you  coffee  just  the  way  you  like.”  brin  smiled  softly,  and  took  a  soft  sip  of  her  coffee.  "yeah,  the  holidays  are  always  busy…“  brin’s  holidays  weren’t  really  busy,  her  father  and  brother  couldn’t  come  out  to  see  her  and  she  couldn’t  go  see  them.  brin  spent  her  holidays  at  the  club,  and  if  she  wasn’t  at  the  club  she  was  sitting  on  her  couch  wrapped  up  with  a  book  and  her  cat,  onyx.  "but  it’s  fine!  we’re  here  now,  and  i  can’t  wait  to  catch  up.  how  have  you  been?”

Her face immediately fell, Tara’s expression twisting into some sort of cross between grief and remorse. She never handled the more tragic cases well, Tara being the first to find some way to shoulder the blame, even when any control of the outcome had been completely ripped from her hands. Empathy was something the officer came by honestly, and on days like this one it made her job that much harder, a bleeding heart and desire to protect the innocent two of her biggest double-edged qualities. She’d been the first on the scene of a domestic dispute that spiraled way out of hand: a fight between a young married couple fueled by rage and alcohol escalating to violence. It was a tragic and all too common tale, one that hit Tara particularly close to home, considering Cyrek’s long and heartbreaking history with abuse. She’d seen this type of ordeal one too many times before, but seeing someone get shot right before her very eyes? That was certainly a traumatic first. “No, you’re fine.” Tara said softly, struggling to make what was intended to be a reassuring smile meet her eyes. “I’m sorry I snapped at ya - you were jus’ bein’ kind.” Guilt was etched into the woman’s features, now not only for the recent death of the victim weighing heavily on her conscience, but for lashing out at someone that had simply taken the time out of their day to make sure she was hanging in there. “Sure, if ya want. But I can’t promise I’ll be very good company right now.” A listless laugh fell from her lips, Tara finding it difficult to even attempt to stomach the rest of her meal. “I appreciate the gesture, but you don’t need to spend your lunch break worryin’ ‘bout me. I’m… as okay as I’m gonna be, I guess. I’ve just… I’ve never seen somethin’ like that before. It’s my first call that’s ended in a fatality.” 

Lunch dates were a thing Weetzie did because, well, if she didn’t get out the house on her days off, she risked staying in bed all day. “Yoooo. It’s totally okay. Sorry I got started on this without you,” she says, a bit guilty. She listens as she chews. “God, I don’t know how you do it. And here I thought my job was pressure.”

Waiting for people to meet her for lunch was not foreign to the chef, given her sister’s lack of punctuality. On the bright side, she was able to catch up with her reading while she was waiting and temporarily stall the waiter by repeatedly asking for refills of her sweet tea in the meantime. Anabelle was a patient person when it came to others and given that she was off-the-clock, and the restaurant had no dinner service this evening, meaning she had no reason to go in. Looking up when her friend finally entered the Primm and Proper diner, she smiled and patted the spot across from her when she had grabbed the other’s attention. Dogearing one of the pages, she set the book aside on the table and took a drink from her half-empty sweet tea, deeming she would need to run to the bathroom by the time she left at the rate that she had been guzzling down the drinks. “I understand. Kids having mishaps and getting themselves hurt over the holidays?” Amusement tinged her voice, recalling her own son had gotten a bit too excited with the snowboard this year and thumped himself in the forehead with it when he had stepped on it wrong. She used to overwork herself, but she would like to think that she was better at it now, and nursing was a different animal where the higher-ups were bound to be on call and in high demand, often short-staffed. “It’s no worries, the holidays were busy for me as well. We can catch up over food. No big deal, water under the bridge for me.”

Isobel stifles a yawn, as she enters the building. “Sorry I’m so late, I had to drag myself out of bed. I’ve been working for a week straight, and my body is dying. I have no idea how I am even awake right now.” She laughs, while trying to maintain eye contact. “How have you been though. I haven’t talked to you in a while, which I truly am sorry for. The holidays are always crazy at the hospital, so I never really get a break.”

“Please tell me you’ve got a good reason for interruptin’ my lunch break,” Tara looked up from her half-eaten sandwich, her tone implying obvious exasperation. She didn’t particularly favor coming off as rude; in fact, she hated it. Kindness was something that the rookie tried to extend to most, but when your only window of solace during the day from hell is interrupted, patience isn’t exactly abundant. “I got ‘bout thirty minutes left to myself before I’m back on duty, so whatever ya need, mind makin’ it quick?”