i try to be strong

closed starter for: @jasmineaxiong​

WHERE: The Conifer Lounge

WHEN: April 23rd, 2020

TIME: 7:07 pm 

It was a good thing Albany knew almost everyone in town, or else someone may have turned her in for flashing her fake ID around like it was a police badge. “I’ll have a lemon drop martini,” she demanded confidently, “Extra sour.” The brunette turned her attention back to the deck of cards precisely laid out in front of them. It felt like forever ago since Albany had last hung out with Jasmine. Somehow, despite the age difference, Albany had grown quite fond of her. She’d gotten to know Jasmine over the months through her father who was also an attorney at the same law firm. Unlike most of her father’s stuffy colleagues who cared more about their vacation homes and keeping up appearances, Jasmine was actually pretty fun to be around and a part of Albany even looked up to her. Maybe all lawyers weren’t as uptight and lame like her father. 

Albany bunched the cards up in her hands and handed them to her friend across the table. “Okay, so you just shuffle the cards and ask any question you want out loud,” she began, “Then the top three cards will be your answer. It’ll be super fun. I promise.” 

Jasmine turned a blind eye to the fact that her colleague’s underage daughter had met up with Jasmine at the bar. Of course, she knew better than to ever tell her colleague, mainly because she didn’t want to be accused of being a bad influence. Through the age different was nearly a decade between the two, Jasmine saw Albany as someone who intrigued her, mainly because she was too into things that Jasmine hadn’t even thought to explore. “Make that a gin and tonic,” she mentioned to the bartender before turning her attention back to her friend.

She took the cards and began shuffling them, making sure that she didn’t bend them. Years of playing poker in Spanish class had trained her up for this moment, simply shuffling cards. “Okay, so I want to know where my lief will be headed in the near future,” she was unsure if the question was too vague. “Thanks for doing this by the way. It’s much better than paying some random old lady a bunch of money to tell me about my life.”

He doesn’t need to admit that he had an entire basket of onion rings, right? Certainly not now that they’ve cleared the basket out of his way, leaving him with nothing but a full glass of Dr. Pepper at his side… Yeah, it’ll bother him if he doesn’t. “I had an appetizer,” he tells her with a shrug, taking a gulp of his soda and swiping his tongue over his lips. “But I’m starvin’, so don’t even worry about it.”

Despite the many ways they differ, particularly in their views on the subjects that have more to do with Jasmine’s career choice, Jaylen has always enjoyed her company. She’s got a spunk to her that’s fun to keep around, keeps him on his toes.

He flips the menu up into his hands, fingers tapping along the lamination on the menu leaving a wobbly sound in its wake. “I’m debatin’ between chicken tenders or, uh… a chicken biscuit or somethin’ though. You wanna get real romantic and split a dessert?” He waggles his eyebrows for extra effect, knowing his sweet tooth will kick in the moment he’s had a full meal.

“You ate a whole appetizer by yourself and you’re still hungry?” the judgment clearly seething through her words. She was joking of course, but Jasmine could barely get through an appetizer on most days. “As long as you didn’t order tater tots without me, I won’t beat you up,” she laughed. Tater tots were her absolute weakness and if she could, she’d open up her own potato shop to drown herself in potato everything.

“Those both sound like good options. Of course. I’m down to share dessert as long as you promise that we can feed each other like we just got married and we’re having our wedding cake. Your choice on the dessert though,” she played along. The waiter walked by and Jasmine placed her order. “Can I please get hash browns with two fried eggs, over medium, and a couple pieces of bacon well done. Oh, and an Arnold Palmer too, thank you.” 

She folded up her menu placing it on the edge of the table for the waiter to collect it when he was done with the orders.

  “Ooh, Paul Rudd? Yeah, he’s… okay,” Freya agreed, flipping the cover over to scan through the list of actor names in the tiny print on the back. She’d not even noticed he was in it until Jasmine said something - well, even better. “I always had a celeb crush on Angelina Jolie. She could- whew don’t get me goin’,” Freya gave a light laugh, tossing the cover to the coffee table, ready to just enjoy the movie rather than analyze the cast and crew. 

   Rolling her eyes at Jasmine’s fussing - first it was about bringing the pie, now not enough pie - Freya stayed behind as her neighbor finished in the kitchen, eyeing the ice cream when she returned. She never let her food mix like that, quite similar to how children eat, even now at the age of 25. It’s hilarious to eat dinner with Freya, all of her different food portions carefully separated on the plate. 

   “Just the one, though I did almost bring The Breakfast Club, too. Have you seen Grease?” Freya shot a glance over to Jasmine, but she also understood that she was serious about one movie only. “I feel like if I whipped out a second DVD you’d kick me out. Don’t even say you wouldn’t, I know you, girlfriend. Come on, just have fun, for me, please? You seem like you need it.” 

“That movie that she was in with Brad Pitt. Holy shit. I’m sure that’s when I realized that I was not 100% straight. She can seriously get it any day. Hell I’d let her be in a threesome with me. Like that would ever happen,” she laughed. “Or her as Maleficent. That latex suit just fit her like a glove. It’s so unfair how one human being can be so attractive. I can’t believe that we live in the same lifetime as her.”

“Have I seen Grease? Are you kidding me? It’s one of the greatest movie musicals that have ever come into existence. This guy at my high school dressed up as Danny and I swear I nearly became a teen mom,” she joked. “Yeah I’d probably lock my doors and ban you from ever entering my apartment if you made me stay up even later. I had to freaking remove my retainer,” she sounded like a grandma in that moment.

That was the one thing she loved about Freya, the fact that the other knew her so well without words being spoken. It had really been a stressful month and though she wouldn’t admit it to Freya, she really needed this. “Fine, only because you brought me dessert,” she joked. “How’s your week going? Anything fun happen?”

jasmineaxiong:

Jasmine laughed, appreciating the compliment. “Yeah, let’s hope it stays that way. This place needs more estrogen. I should find a way to make you a paralegal and we can get drunk on the job,” she joked. Jasmine enjoyed her work, mainly because she knew that no matter how hard she tried, she’d never be able to convince her mother to leave her father.  Despite the whole people expecting her to mediate over every little argument, Jasmine really enjoyed her job and loved that she was contributing to society, one way or another.

Jasmine raised her glass, put it gently on the table and knocked it back. “I’m going to have to Uber home at this rate,” she laughed, knowing that this was the first of many shots. “We sure are fine ass bitches,” she laughed. “How was your day? Anything crazy happen?”

“Holy shit… yes. I mean, I’d be the worst paralegal ever,” Mason snorted a laugh, “but imagine all the fun we’d have.” 

After knocking back her own shot, feeling the satisfying warmth of the tequila coat her throat and belly, she was quick to refresh their glasses. This time Mason sipped at hers. It wasn’t because she wasn’t trying to get drunk – she was definitely trying – it’s just that she wanted to slow the process a smidge, at least long enough to enjoy Jasmine’s company before she got completely wasted. 

Mason considered Jasmine’s question with a degree of seriousness. “Not really. Just the usual amount of craziness, unfortunately…” She paused. “Hold up. That’s not completely true. I got to watch a drug bust at the motel this morning. I guess that happens so often at Cherry Hill that I just forgot about it. Huh. Don’t know what that says about me. Or the motel.”

“My new goal is to open up a law firm that’s inside a bar. Get people talking, give them that liquid courage, know what I mean?” she joked. She knew that was against the law but it sounded like a fun idea anyway.

Jasmine looked at the shot glass that had seemed to magically fill itself. She took a sip of it, making sure that she was at least able to hold a conversation for the next ten minutes. Most of her nights consisted a glass of red wine on the couch with her dog watching Netflix. It was nice having friends that she could still drink with even if it was on a random weekday.

“Dude, that’s freaking cool as hell. Are you kidding me? I wish I was there. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so interested in murder and drug documentaries on Netflix. I probably shouldn’t admit that because people shoot me weird looks when I mention it, probably because of the whole Josie situation. I promise it wasn’t me.”

If someone had told DJ that she would go into an alcohol-induced rant about her feelings to someone that was, at best, a new friend back then, then she wouldn’t have believed them. It wasn’t like her to talk about what she was feeling —- whether it be a positive or a negative emotion —- so any situation where that happened would have to have a good explanation behind it. 

The moment Jasmine opened the door, there was a smile on DJ’s face. All things considered, she was glad she had ranted to Jasmine —- it caused them to grow closer, in an unexpected way. “Any alcohol will do, really,” DJ commented, shrugging her shoulders, “but my faves are Baileys and white wine. Just for future reference.” She winked, playfully as she walked towards the table. 

“I’m doing well. Ish. I watched a lot of Netflix, does that count as fun?” DJ knew it didn’t, not really. “What about you? Any cases that make you wanna pull your hair out?” The brunette looked at the dog, smiling at it before looking at the woman again.

Jasmine smiled and pretended to write down Baileys and white wine on an invisible pad. “I definitely understand why those two are your faves. I’ve definitely put a splash of Bailey’s in my coffee a couple times in college,” she laughed. “Oh shit, what are you watching on Netflix?” she poured Daisy and herself a a glass of white wine, handing one of the glasses to the other. 

“You need to watch Too Hot to Handle. Maybe it’s because I’m just bored but some of those people are ridiculously good looking,” she mentioned. “Ummmm there are plenty of cases that make me want to rip people in half. For example, there was this husband that came in that told me about his wife’s infidelity and how he caught her but then he dropped the bomb that he too also cheated and then he went on a whole rant of how it isn’t okay for his wife to cheat on him but yet he pulled the same thing. That shit was so annoying. Like please don’t say that shit in front of me, a woman.”

Tommy was having a pretty easy day so far. Although, that being said, every day at the gas station was easy. He’d been working there for a few years now (time that had passed far too quickly now that he was steadily approaching thirty years of age) and he knew the place like the back of his hand, as well as knowing practically everyone that walked through the door. If newcomers came in he would make himself known to them, just as he had done when Jasmine had first rolled into town.

The tinkling of the bell on the entrance door had Tommy lifting his head up from his phone, unashamed to be slacking at work, and a grin met his lips when he saw who it was. Jasmine’s appearance in the gas station meant one of two things; she needed gas (the less favoured option), or she’d brought him food to share on her lunch break. Judging by the time, he was in luck that it was the latter. “Fuck yeah!” He practically leapt over the counter to greet her, pulling her into his arms for a hug and not minding his language despite being in his place of work. “Day’s fine, better now though ‘cause I am hungry.” He pulled back so she could see his smile, pure as ever. “Yours okay?”

“Good because I made my famous pad thai, a secret family recipe,” she laughed as she began to eat hers. “Yeah, mine was fine. I had a client come in before I got off for lunch and we were just talking about why she was getting a divorce and what steps she could take to protect her and her children,” she commented. “I felt so bad and man, it’s so hard not to get emotional when you hear about these things.” It was mainly because Jasmine could emotionally relate to these people, people who knew that divorce was the better option than keeping a family together.

“She kept me a little longer, which was why I was a couple minutes late. I hope the food tastes good,” she took a sip of her water. It was interesting how their friendship started and every time Jasmine saw Tommy, the same question ran through her mind: Did I see him naked? If she did, she had absolutely no recollection of it.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Frankie nodded her head and started to backpedal back to her car. “Thank you! I’ve got the jumpers!” Frankie called out as the older woman left to go get her car, “I’m this ugly red geo metro!” 

The short-haired girl didn’t have to wait long before the other woman pulled up in her car, and Frankie retained a grateful smile as she stepped out of the other car. “Yeah – it’s become a little bit of a chronic issue lately, but I think Hellboy still has a couple more years left in him.” Frankie had an idea that the old car needed a bit of work done on it to get it running more reliably – but she wasn’t really ready to deal with the price tag attached to it. “I appreciate you stopping,” she added as she grabbed her cables, “did I catch you on your way in, or out?”

“Your car isn’t ugly - it’s rustic,” Jasmine commented. Growing up with two brothers and a dad, Jasmine knew her way around a car. She grabbed the jumping cables, making sure to attach the cords to the correct color. “Of course, I wouldn’t leave someone here to be stranded and plus tow trucks take two hours to get here and they’re a waste of money,” she admitted. “I was on my way out. I just bought a set of candles for my mom for the next time I visit her,” she pointed to her passenger side. “I’m Jasmine by the way,” she extended her hand.

Jasmine settled and changed out of her work clothes into her favorite sweatpants. She opened the door, letting DJ enter. She already had snacks and alcohol placed on the table in case DJ wanted to help herself to either of those things. “I got you your favorite snacks,” she mentioned, pointing to the snacks in the center of the table. “I forgot which alcohol you like so I figured I’d just bring my whole collection to you,” she laughed.

“How are you? How’s your day going? Did you do anything fun?” Jasmine cracked open her favorite wine and poured herself a glass and began sipping on it. Ollie ran from his bed and into the kitchen area before sitting on the ground beside Jasmine. She quickly gave him a pet. “I guess Ollie wants some snacks and wine too,” she joked.

Jasmine usually ate her lunch in the office with the door closed and Netflix playing on her office computer. However, she figured it’d be nice to pay Tommy a visit. She occasionally brought him lunch, which was whatever leftovers she had from when she cooked dinner. Her special dish was pad thai and she had placed it in a Thermos with a disposable fork alongside her fried rice that she had made herself. She drove over to the gas station, the place that she met Tommy at two years ago.

She opened the door to the mart at the gas station and simply placed Tommy’s food on the counter. “Pad thai, my mom’s recipe,” she mentioned before opening the bag to take her food out. “You can have some of my fried rice too if you’re hungry,” she smiled, watching as some patrons walked into the store to pick up some chips and beef jerky. “How’s your day going?”

TIME/LOCATION: about 2 hours post red’s departure; spring celebration STATUS: closed to jasmine xiong (@jasmineaxiong)

All her Grams had wanted was to know that someone had put in for the apothecary sampler at the penny auction – and though the drawing had been delayed by Red Johnson’s unexpected interruption, the women chairing the event had eventually pulled themselves together and gotten back onto their schedule. True to her word, Frankie had darted out of the meeting hall where the Spring Celebration was being held the moment that she’d seen the basket donated by the apothecary raffled off. 

After winding through the lingering crowd of attendees, Frankie had made it out to the car park – notable emptier than how it’d appeared when she’d arrived a few hours earlier – and hurried into her red geo metro. Heaving a relieved sigh, the young woman fiddled with her keys before moving to start her car.

When she got nothing in response, Frankie’s expression creased with frustration, and she tried it again. She tried it about ten more times before accepting her fate with a hissed “fuck me,” and leaned back in her seat to glare at her steering wheel. When her head raised to glance out her windshield, Frankie spied another woman walking by – presumably a woman with a car in the park. 

Jumping out of the car quickly, Frankie hurried after the woman, shouting “hey!” to get her attention. 

“I don’t know if you’re coming or going – but can you give my car a jump?”

Jasmine had gone to the penny auction, hoping that she could find something to bring back to her mom when she visited in three weeks. She sat there, bored out of her mind, waiting for the candle set from Japan to be auctioned off. Her mother was obsessed with candles, to a point where her house was practically another Bath & Body Works Store. She was able to finally place a bid onto the item and was grateful that she won. Grabbing the prize in her hand, she made her way to her car.

She noticed someone shouting, but was unsure if the hey was directed at her. She turned around and quickly realized that the other was speaking to her. “Yeah, I can. Do you have the jumping cables? I left mine at home when I was cleaning out my car this weekend,” she commented. “Let me go move my car towards yours,” she said as she went up a flight of stairs to her car before moving it down a floor. Luckily the parking spot beside Frankie’s car was open and Jasmine parked there before getting out. “I hate it when my car battery dies. I wish they could live forever.”

The anxiety rushing up Maddie’s chest was disorienting enough that it took her a good few seconds to realise the woman she’d crashed into wasn’t angry at her but at the guy behind her. She blinked, taken aback, then wheeled around on her heel to watch the guy slink away, a shocked laugh bubbling out of her at the sight. It felt good for one of these encounters to end with the idiot just as embarrassed as she was. 

“Fuck,” she breathed, turning to the woman beside her. Now that she’d calmed down a little she recognised her as Jasmine, and smiled – the fierce defense made a little more sense. “That was– that was incredible. I’ve never seen Danny back down like that, like, ever.” Maddie bit down on her lip, aware she was rambling but not really sure how else to get her appreciation across. “Um, thanks, I mean. Sorry.” Maddie pulled a face, and pulled herself together, pausing as Jasmine’s actual question sunk in. “I’m alright – I’ll be alright. I mean,” she smiled self-deprecatingly, wrapping her arms across her stomach, suddenly hyper-aware of her weight again. “Nothing I haven’t heard before.”

Jasmine nodded, surprised that this Danny person backed down so easily. “Oh, so Danny’s his name, huh? I guess I’m going to have to make a call to one of my detective friends and get his home address so I can shove my fist into his face,” she commented, the adrenaline and anger still pumping through her veins. “Why the fuck are you sorry? He should be the one apologizing for making comments like that in public. I mean he shouldn’t make them, but to say that shit when there are people around? Unacceptable,” she ranted.

In that moment, she instantly felt protective of the other. To be honest, she never had to endure what Maddie had endured but she sympathized with the other. She quickly pulled Maddie into an embrace. “Sorry if you don’t like hugs,” she laughed as she quickly pulled away after. “I’m sorry that people are so rude and inconsiderate towards you. You glow and you are wonderful and all that matters if that you love yourself and you see your worth outside of the stupid comments people make because they’re dealing with their own problems.”

  “I didn’t really get to watch movies like this growing up,” Freya admitted easily, turning the DVD cover around to look at the front of it again. She’d heard good things, and had seen enough gifs and quotes on Tumblr that she felt like she’d seen the movie - but the sudden urge, and spotting it at the DVD rental store, had encouraged her to finally give it a watch personally. “But I can already tell I’ll love it. I follow a blog on Tumblr that posts all sorts of 90s stuff, like this, and other early 2000s classic memorabilia-” She was rambling. Oops.

   Freya let herself in, following after Jasmine, oblivious to the slight annoyance her neighbor had at being bothered this late. To Freya, time was but a construct, and had little meaning to her. The passing of days happened with her barely taking notice. She’d probably tell you it’s a Tuesday, if you asked, and be way off. “Well, you don’t have to eat it,” Freya sniffed, setting the pie down on the counter and pulling back the foil to tempt Jasmine even more. She helped herself to two little pie plates, forks, and the leftover popcorn, bringing the snacks out to the living room as Jasmine prepared the movie.

   “Here,” Freya handed off the second pie plate, a tiny piece on the ceramic, to Jasmine before settling down, tossing her legs over the arm of the couch and resting her back into Jasmine. Personal space was another thing Freya struggled to understand. “Alright, I’m ready to be amazed.” 

"Oh,” Jasmine looked at the DVD, not sure of what else to add on to her response that Freya never had the chance to watch these movies growing up. “Honestly, it’s such a good movie and I have a huge crush on Paul Rudd so I am definitely down to watch this,” she laughed. Up until high school, Jasmine’s parents didn’t care about what she did or who she hung out with, which meant that she had an endless amount of sleepovers at her friends’ houses, staying up late, calling boys, doing everything typical girls would do at a sleepover. This evening with Freya made her feel nostalgic. 

Jasmine grabbed the plate, not realizing how small the portion is. “Are you trying to tease me with your freaking peach cobbler? I’m expecting a whole damn pie next time,” she laughed. Jasmine clicked play on the TV and all the production company names appeared on the screen. During that time, she went and grabbed a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and placed it on top of the cobbler. “Only acceptable way to have peach cobbler,” she mentioned, taking a bite of it.

“You’re only here with one movie right? I cannot be having a movie marathon tonight,” she mentioned, still feeling slightly annoyed that her neighbor had come to pester her. In the past few years, Jasmine had become too serious, a person that some of her friends didn’t even recognize. The stress of family and work was getting to her and she needed to lighten up a little.

“Oh, sure,“ Mason said, playfully rolling her eyes. "You’re their best lawyer, Jazz. They’d sooner shoot themselves in the foot than fire you.” She shut the door behind her and plopped down in one of the plush leather seats next to Jasmine’s desk. She imagined many an aggrieved woman and man had sat in this very chair, complaining about their spouse and giving Jasmine large sums of money to ensure their ex wouldn’t screw them over. It was stuff like that that made Mason never want to get married. It all just seemed terribly messy. And divorce seemed like so much more of a hassle than a break up, so much more paperwork. After all, it’s not like they had break-up lawyers. 

With a wide smile, Mason procured two shot glasses from her backpack as well as a giant bottle of Patrón. “Your wish is my command.” Uncapping the tequila, she poured it generously into the glasses and then raised hers in a cheer. “To us,” she said, “Two fine ass bitches getting shit down in this weird as hell town.”

Jasmine laughed, appreciating the compliment. “Yeah, let’s hope it stays that way. This place needs more estrogen. I should find a way to make you a paralegal and we can get drunk on the job,” she joked. Jasmine enjoyed her work, mainly because she knew that no matter how hard she tried, she’d never be able to convince her mother to leave her father.  Despite the whole people expecting her to mediate over every little argument, Jasmine really enjoyed her job and loved that she was contributing to society, one way or another.

Jasmine raised her glass, put it gently on the table and knocked it back. “I’m going to have to Uber home at this rate,” she laughed, knowing that this was the first of many shots. “We sure are fine ass bitches,” she laughed. “How was your day? Anything crazy happen?”

where: outside Walker’s market when: mid-afternoon who: @jasmineaxiong​

Wade was a small town, and Maddie had spent her whole life there, smiling sweetly at people and letting them talk. That meant that, generally, she got on with most people she met. She was almost like a local stray cat – nobody wanted her around enough to invite her home, but they all crouched down to give her a stroke and walked away feeling a little bit better about themselves. The town was full of familiar faces who Maddie could stop and chat to while she picked out her groceries for the week, or filled her car with gas.

But, on the flip side, Wade was a small town, which meant it had its fair share of narrow-minded idiots, and to them, Maddie was an easy target. Too meek to stand up for herself, too big to go unnoticed, and too well-liked to go unchallenged: they weren’t as often as they might have been, but she rarely went a week without someone making a cutting comment about her weight, or her hair, or just her existence in general. 

Her usual tactic was to grit her teeth and pretend to ignore the taunts, then pick them apart with surgeon-like precision once she was alone and internalise them until she believed them. It wasn’t healthy and it wasn’t something she was proud of – sometimes she wished she was sure enough of herself to fight back – but it made the encounters end quicker, and when she was caught in public with that hot-cold-hot flush of shame washing over her, a quick ending was all she wanted. 

“Excuse me,” she muttered, pushing past the idiot making ever-so-original whale jokes as she tried to get to her car, trying so hard to disappear that she didn’t even notice anyone watching until she was practically on top of Jasmine. “Oh, shit,” she panicked, casting a frantic glance between Jasmine and the still-laughing man behind her, her embarrassment making her babble: “I am so sorry – I, um, totally wasn’t looking where I was going, my bad, god, sorry.”

Jasmine was making her weekly grocery run to pick up some ingredients for her lasagna and dog food and treats for Ollie. She normally would bring Ollie along but when she was getting ready to leave, she caught her dog passed out in the living area so she decided to go by herself. She was ready to pop inside the store when the insensitive comment about someone’s weight caught her attention.

She turned around and was quickly bumped by someone. Her head was still focused on the whale comments she was hearing. “No, you’re totally fine,” she attempted to reassure the other. “Him on the other hand,” she pointed to the man making jokes. “Do you think it’s fun to go around and make fun of people’s weight? I’m sure the citizens of this city don’t go around making fun of the small dick that you have,” she continued on. 

“You don’t get to stand here and make a comment about someone’s weight and think that it’s acceptable. Just because you’re a sack of shit doesn’t give you the right to do this,” she carried on, ready to throw hands at this point. “I think it’s best you walk away before my fist meets your face.” She watched as the man walked away. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry he said such a shitty thing to you.”

Jasmine had a long day at work. She was dealing with difficult clients who were asking her if she was able to draw up papers quickly although she already had a list of things she had to do at the office. On top of that, she got a couple texts in her group chat with her brothers about how their mom was crying again over the whole situation with her father. It was hard for Jasmine to concentrate on work when that was on the back of her mind. 

Thank goodness her day was almost over and she went down to her car, ready to get home and hang out with her dog and forget about what’s been going on. As she was about to pull out onto the street, she didn’t notice the car that was driving by and she made a slow right turn, hitting the back of the other’s car. She pulled over, beginning to panic and on the verge of tears. She got out when it was safe to do so and began to shake.

“I’m so sorry,” she instantly spoke. “Are you okay? Is the car okay? Are there any other passengers?” she questioned, hoping that this guy wasn’t going to try to go through insurance. It was her first accident, a minor one, and she wasn’t entirely sure if she should call the police or not.

Jasmine had quickly rushed home to get change, not realizing that there was construction on the freeway. She was running late for her dinner with her friend, Jaylen and quickly shot him a text the moment she got home to let him know she’d be a little late. She quickly changed out of her work clothes into a more casual outfit, jeans and a t-shirt.

She found her way to the local diner, a spot that she had relied on when she was craving really good hash browns. She pulled up to one of the empty spots and got out, stuffing her keys and phone into her bag. She walked into the diner, her eyes scanning the room for her curly-haired friend. She spotted him and quickly made her way towards. “I’m so sorry Jay. There was construction and I totally forgot about it,” she sat herself down across from him.

“Did you get a chance to order yet?” Her eyes scanned the menu, as if she wasn’t going to order her usual, hash brown, extra crispy with over medium eggs and a side of bacon.

@jasmineaxiong​

date: april 2nd time: 7:30 p.m. location: law firm office building 

Mason enjoyed visiting Jasmine at her office. Although she could never imagine herself in any kind of corporate position, she did like to get a glimpse into the world of office rooms and board meetings. It always made her think of American Psycho in one way or another, but that was likely due to Mason’s lack of knowledge on what it was actually like to work in an office and her innate (and frankly, troubling) urge for life to be vaguely like a horror film.

This was only the second time they were doing this. Mason had met Jasmine at the Conifer Lounge over tequila shots and they’d been drinking pals ever since. Mason also happened to find the lawyer smoking hot, which she imagined had a lot to do with what she did for a living. Mason did always had a thing for powerful, older women. 

Mason waltzed into the law firm, nodding and waving at some of Jasmine’s colleagues as they passed her on their way to their cars in the emptying parking lot. She took the sleek elevator up a couple floors to where she knew she’d find Jasmine’s office. She was pleased to find the door open for her. 

“Ayyy, girl,” she greeted the woman with a wide grin, “Guess who’s got two thumbs and a lethal amount of tequila in her backpack right now?”

“This bitch.”

Jasmine was finishing up some last minute paperwork that a client had requested. She had to hand it off to the person who was going to serve the paperwork to her client’s partner, asking for a divorce. She heard someone making their way into the office and just assumed that it was the person coming to grab the papers. “It’ll be just a minute,” she shouted before she recognized the person who had entered into her office.

It was one of her favorite people, Mason. Mason was a nice break from all of the people at work. Jasmine was able to have fun with Mason unlike her colleagues who only viewed her as a party animal, which wasn’t far from the truth. “Shhhh,” she quickly remarked when the other brought up tequila shots. “I need to finish up this paperwork before we start getting drunk,” she laughed. 

She looked at her email, realizing that the person who was going to come ended up getting stuck at work. She quickly replied back, offering to let the person swing by the next day to grab the papers. She turned off her desktop and made her way to the other side of her desk. “Have a seat. You better have some shot glasses because I can’t be having those in my office.” This wasn’t a normal activity for Jasmine, to be getting drunk at her workplace, but all her colleagues had left already and she was technically not working right now.

“I’m gonna get fired one day because of you.”