living my best life

The stranger looked slightly embarrassed, but she laughed, and so Connor smiled. “It’s alright! We all get caught up, sometimes. And hey, there are worse things to stare at.” He grinned, a light in his eyes. “Whatcha working on? You seem to be writing pretty fast there.”

Katherine smiled with a gentle shake of her head, “oh, how modest of you,” she teased, “but you make a point,” she leaned back, running a hand through her hair, careful not to disrupt the precisely traced middle part. “Oh, it’s just a list of Youtubers, I’m sending a few things out to them so I can get some feedback on a few products..”

Delilah’s life had been a blissful haze lately. A part of her still felt in shock that her life had actually gone to this point — she was able to look at herself in the mirror these days and see herself for the strong and beautiful woman she was. She knew her friendship with Katherine was a huge part of what helped with that. So of course, Delilah was more than happy to hang out with her friend. She’d been running around her apartment excietedly making sure everything was picked up, grinning when a knock sounded. “She’s here, Binx! Katherine’s here!” She giggled as her cat meowed in response. She threw open the door and squealed softly. “Kat! Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you so much! Never, ever again. How are you, lovely?!”

Katherine was happy just hearing the excitement in Delilah’s voice when she saw her and it was such a relief too, especially with the mood she found herself in. “You sound so happy,” Kat smiled, “I’m doing okay, honestly, I could be a little better, but I’m mellow. I missed you so much, sweetheart.”

Ah, communication. His big problem. If the world lived in silence for the rest of the eternity, he would be more than happy. He nodded, though, because he knew Kat was right. There was constant lack of communication and neither him or the redhead ever seemed to get better at it. Basil looked up at her and chuckled softly. Kol was… complicated. He wasn’t one to immediately turn to aggression on people he considered important and Basil should have talked to Kol sooner instead of hiding everything that was happening. “This is probably the corniest thing you will ever hear me tell you, but… I wish my sisters were as wise as you”, he said with a smile that grew a bit wider, but was suddenly cut with a lip bite ar her next words. “Well… you do know Sutton Holloway as far as I know”, he commented as he reached for a paper napkin and started folding it. “Oh, so I should just go back to my Illinois self; a bit dangerous, but yeah, I can do that”.

Katherine laughed, leaning her head back, “yeah, it’s a bit corny, but there’s not enough corny in my life, so I happily accept it and the compliment, of course,” she leaned her cheek against her palm. “I do,” Katherine nodded, “yeah, I mean, I don’t know if dangerous is the word, although it is pretty hot, but be fearless, keep your cool, be sweet and go with the intention of listening effectively. Like every smart woman, she’s to be feared, sure, but I think she might have a soft spot for you from what I’m learning, right? Use that...properly.”

“That’s the problem, Kat. I am not sure she’s truly interested in me. It’s just… so annoying… the whole situation, I mean”, he commented looking down. When the waiter came back he asked for a milkshake, his mind could be a mess but sweet tooth was, as always, untouched. “I find no flaws in your reasoning, I feel bad because I think my friend deserves some good in his life too”, Basil shrugged. “It’s alright, sorry for dumping my problems here with you; I’m sure the busy life follows you around with all these people”, he commented with a half-smile. “We haven’t talked in almost three months, I found out she was avoiding me, so I guess it is not an option”.

“If you’re not sure, then it’s not fair to her or you to make a decision for her, right? You need to communicate with her, ask her what’s going on in her head in regards to you.” Kat nodded in agreement, “no, everyone deserves something good in their lives, but laying hands on someone who’s supposed to be a good friend over something that’s not your control is another thing, isn’t it? If he can’t handle a rejection and feels the need to get violent with you, maybe he best work on himself first, no? But I suppose i’m speaking generally, because I don’t know your friend, so I’m just...you know...spouting out what makes the most sense to me.” Kat placed a hand over her chest, “Oh my goodness, don’t apologise, i’m glad that you felt like you could trust me enough to come to me, do you know how big that is? I don’t know these people, I don’t owe them anything,” she quickly glanced behind him at the photographers. “Stop being a teen drama pussy and start being a bad motherfucker who talks nicely to girls and gets answers, are you on my frequency, babe?”

“If they were smart, they would have used the b for brunch but instead they felt they needed to give their burgers some promo for some reason. Then again, I’m just a photographer who doesn’t have a career in advertisement, so maybe I just don’t see the brilliance in their marketing move.”

“Burgers? They’re changing their entire brand to make it stand for burgers?” Katherine rose her eyebrows, “I don’t know about you, but that sounds like an obnoxious business move, because now they have to get their burgers famous to the same level as their pancakes and with McDonalds around, I don’t know if they’re really about that kind of challenge, you feel me?”

“This whole IHOB controversy is making me miss Waffle House. Sure, it was trash food but it could arguably be the best part of the bible belt.”

“IHOB? With a B? What’s that even meant to mean?”

Max sighed, “Stuff I need. Stuff it’s going to be a pain in the fucking arse to replace. God damnit–I’m gonna be on the phone all day tomorrow..” Suddenly freezing, she felt her back pockets, letting out a large breath when she felt her cell. Credit cards could be canceled, and her phone could be shut off, but Max had a lot to do with the internet, and all someone would need was her passcode and a WiFi connection to screw up that aspect of her work. “I fucking hate it here. I’m getting so fucking sick of the people here.”

“If you need someone to get on the phone with you to cancel things and order stuff or whatever, I can be over to help, it’s nothing to stress so hard about. Let me know what you need done and I’ll do my best,” taking a deep breath, Katherine nodded in agreement regarding her gradual distaste for the city, “I know exactly what you mean.”

“Okay, I’m just going to say it right now and I don’t care who it triggers. But I think Starbucks is overrated, overpriced, and not that good.” He grimaced as he took a look at the cup in his hand.

“But...” Katherine gestured to the cup in his hand, “you can’t talk shit if you have one, you little hypocrite!”

                   M O O D B O A R D : Katerina Khoury

                                  “I hate rarely, though when I hate, I hate murderously.”

“Yeah, but I first told him I wasn’t interested, I even gave him advice on how to get to her, so it felt like betraying his trust”, he shrugged. “Nope, they aren’t dating, because she doesn’t like him, she never did apparently”, Basil explained and then grunted with crossed arms on the table. “I am feeling so stupid right now”, he smirked. Using the tone Kat was using made it sound like just a bunch of unnecessary drama —which actually was—. The girl and I stopped talking because she wanted to have sex and I didn’t and I think she only wanted that which sucks, because I was really falling for her. It’s just… stupidly complicated, but uhm, this is the first time I have feelings for someone so… I guess everything was a bigger deal for me than it really is”, he commented with a little frown. “There were just so many things that put me out of my comfort zone”.

“Don’t feel stupid, it’s the reason we’re talking things out, right? Getting you another perspective. Doesn’t mean it’s the right perspective, because what do I know about matters of the heart? Anyway! That’s not really your fault, then, is it? If he likes her and she’s not interested in him, but you instead, I know it’s hard, but he’s going to have to get over it, no? Because you had something pretty good and if he was really your friend, he’d give you your space and give you a chance at something good in your life. Again, what do I know?” Katherine ran her fingers through her hair, she sighed softly. “I’m sorry that happened, that sounds terribly hard to go through, especially alone. Don’t invalidate your feelings, it is a big deal. is getting her back not an option?”

‘Are you giving me a perfume-laced-talking-to while I have no pants on?’ he inquired, less terrified of being pummeled, now, as he heard the sound of her voice through the thick door he’d come to be at the end of nearly every time he was in one of his ‘emergencies.’ The tall, scruffy Greek hadn’t realized the size of his client’s husband until he was dashing out of her door, standing now in front of Kat’s for mercy. ‘Tea sounds like a dream,’ he mused, clinging to his shirt as he shuffled quickly inside. ‘Don’t suppose given your proclivity to opening your door to idiot men named Apollo you might have a pair of pants that’d fit me somewhere, do you?’

“Maybe I am, I can’t help it, I love smelling good and people at my mercy,” she shrugged softly, her hair falling over her shoulder as she tilted her head to look at him, only imagining the colossal mess he’d gotten into. “Come on, then,” she hummed, opening the door a bit wider to let him in. “Unfortunately, I don’t, but I do have pyjamas that are super comfortable and everything is unisex if you don’t care, right?” Kat started up the stairs, threw open the doors to her room, again again the doors of her closet. Going into her large drawers where Kat kept her fluffier winter pyjamas, she got out a pink matching set that were unbelievably soft to the touch. “The top is a hoodie and zippy because the pullovers are so annoying, like, my hair, you know?” Katherine laid them out for him, “I would offer a hot shower, but I’m not running a hotel,” she smirked, especially when Apollo knew he could help himself at her place. 

“Should I also add that I had the first huge fight ever with my sister because all of this? But I… kinda solved that already, so it’s off the list”, Basil commented with a little shrug. He had always lived under so much pressure, that was probably why exploring always seemed like a good option when he was overwhelmed, but lately, he couldn’t bare to be alone with his thoughts. “I have been keeping myself busy at the hospital as a coping mechanism to avoid thinking much about it”, he solved, “honestly, I don’t know what I want… maybe just talk about this with someone… normal”, he said dropping a dry chuckle. “Ah, this person is not my friend anymore because this girl I like and I apparently had like a thing going on and my friend has or… had a huge crush on her, so he found out and well… you can imagine how that turned out”, he said touching the light bruise that remained on the side of his lip.

Katherine listened intently, closing her notebook and looking straight to him, trying to make sense of what he was saying, piecing them together to make sense in her mind. “That sounds a bit elementary, doesn’t it? You and your friend stop being cool because you got to a lady first and he didn’t like it so––” she trailed off and rose her eyebrows, “so you lost your friend and the girl? are they at least together now?” she frowned softly when her eye caught the remainder of the bruise on his lip, it would truly be a shame if he took the punch and lost both people in vain. 

joey just laughed as she looked over at the other woman. “you know i would do it again all for you..plus you enjoyed it” winking at her with a grin on her lips. “trust me, stripping is a sport, it’s harder than you think…and yes i am so ready to get out of here, you’re the sweetest” joey said to her as she slowly got up off of the couch. “where are we going?? ohh maybe burgers??: 

“I did enjoy it because you put on such a great show! Come on!” Kat smiled, “oh, honestly I could get addicted to the dancing, I imagine there are a lot of people who blow their accounts on you, how could they not? That’s so gangsta..” she smiled, biting the tip of her tongue. “I am the sweetest, aren’t I?” She playfully flipped her hair, got up and offered her hand to Joey, “burgers? I think I’ve got just the place, you down for drinks too, then?”

Basil couldn’t help a little chuckle at her words. Something that he stressed so much about before ( appearing on a stupid tabloid ), seemed rather stupid now. “Yes, I am sure you can drop a bunch of girl-power on them and they will leave you alone”, he nodded. “No, no. I’m good, really. But thanks for the offer”. When the waiter came back with the menu, he started shuffling through the pages to the drinks section. “Well, one of my friends is out of the country on mission, another one is not my friend anymore, the other has too many problems to deal with mine and another one is amazing but has no touch or whatsoever to talk about this”, he started, “I don’t know if you knew about this already, but I have… had… a crush on a girl, but everything went south in literally five minutes and it’s been almost two months and we haven’t really talked and I am feeling like crap because I have never gone through anything like this before”.

“There’s absolutely no way you’re going through all of that,” Katherine began, “anyone taking on that many thoughts at once would explode! how are you not in a million tiny pieces? Would you like some help? Or do you just want me to tell you everything is okay? Because I’m at your service for both. What’s this about the person who isn’t your friend anymore? What in the world is happening?”