7 Rings

Larisa felt like she was back in her teenage years. She had heard that apparently there were people trying to follow her around Ashcroft as she returned back so she decided to change her look, but a one she knew. So what was better than pretending to be back in her goth phase? Whenever someone looked at her, she’d give them a death glare and stomp off, like she did as a teen. It just seemed like second nature.

     unsure whether or not she should accept the female’s words as a compliment or something else charlotte gave her a polite smile. “ Well I hope that’s not just because of the free drink. “ she jested with a roll of her eyes at how corny she was being. “ So what is a socialite doing in Ashcroft ? “ 

“yes  ,  he;s  four.  i  swear  you’ve  met  him  before.”  johnny  spoke  as  he  pursed  his  lips  together. “then  again  ,  knowing  you  ,  you  were  probably  drunk.”  he  muttered  the  comment  as  he  put  his  hands  in  his  pockets. “you  are  not  a  realist.  you  like  to  think  you  are  but  you’re  not.”

“How drunk do you think I get?” She looked back at her brother, highly offended. “That was years ago but I’m a changed person, honest. I only drink on occasion now, i’m not a total alcholic.” She folded her arms and sighed. “I’m sure I’d love to meet my nephew, sober this time. And I am a realist honey, you just have your head in the clouds.”

   “ No shame in that, sometimes that route isn’t meant for everyone. “ not for her children, of course, but charlotte understood why some didn’t go further. “ Maybe – Anyway I’m Charlotte Armstrong. “ introducing herself with a raise of her glass. the blonde definitely wasn’t into the whole socalite scene, but she did read her share of tabloids so maybe that’s where she saw the woman. 

     𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐋  𝐇𝐔𝐄𝐒  𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍  𝐎𝐍  𝐓𝐇𝐄  girl  for  a  second  as  he  chuckles  at  her  words  before  they’re  back  on  the  original  source  of  entertainment .   ❛   that  advice  is  coming  a  little  late .   ❜   he’s  pissed  enough  people  off  and  broke  his  fair  share  of  hears ;  he’s  never  ended  up  with  ice  cream  on  his  head ,  though .   ❛   it’s  just  a  waste  of  perfectly  good  ice  cream  if  you  ask  me .   ❜   still  amusing  enough .   ❛   have  you  done  that  before ?   ❜

he couldn’t stand ENTITLED KIDS. rafael was simply trying to do his work in peace and quiet – but that never happened when he welcomed himself to strangers in a cafe. he had picked a seat in the back but … there was zero privacy when it came to ashcroft. “ yeah … nothing to do with you. i’m trying to figure out the best surgery that will help one of my patient’s the most. “ he finishes his coffee. “ i apologize for staring but i was moreso staring into space than anything else. “

“I guess I can get that.” She couldn’t, she’d always tipped even when the service was bad - but the customer was always supposed to be right. “Are you sure?” She asked glancing down at the money. Normally she wouldn’t on principle, but she did have to spend a small fortune on textbooks for her summer courses. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Larisa replied with a smile. “I’m always sure whenever I do things that I actually want to do them. Otherwise I’d be taking the money back. But you honestly seem like you need it more than me at the moment.” It was true, at the moment she just felt a walking atm machine and she decided some money to give away couldn’t be too bad, right?

the way she speaks reflects exactly how james felt initially a couple of months back ; the venom towards the act and believing that’s it, end of relationship. it’s conflicting with the process he’s been making while gen’s been on her trip and quite frankly, he doesn’t want to talk about it now. like a light switch, his mood is changing and he’s done. “you’re a very opinionated woman ― that’s good. could probably give quite a compelling case in a debate. what do you do for a living?”

𝖎𝖎  —  SHE   NODDED ,  SMILE   ADORNED   HER          face  like  always .  she  never  found  it  a  need  to  be  hateful  to  those  you  didn’t  know .  her  time  in  la  signified  that .  even  if  she  was  a  hateful  person  ––  imagine  the  reputation  the  singer  would  have  if  she  acted  as  such .          ❛   yep .  now  you’re  good  as  new !   ❜       

❛  i’ve  got  a  partner  &  i’m  old  enough  to  be  your  father.  ❜  i  mean  ,  his  eldest  was  twenty.  a  shocking  fact  now  that  he  thinks  about  it.  ❛  so  ,  i  definitely  wasn’t  staring  at  you.  ❜ 

     “ So are you coming home from college ? “ charlotte turned her attention from the bartender back to the young one. “ If not then I totally fail at thinking I know a lot of people in ashcroft. “ she jested softly with a shake of her curls. 

“i’m  not  a  buzz  kill  ,  i’m  just  looking  out  for  my  sister  and  the  aunt  to  my  child.” a  shake  of   his  head  for  a  moment. “and  if  you  think  people  are  only  interested  in  money  then  people  will  only  want  that.  try  and  have  an  open  mind.”

“You have a kid? I didn’t know about this.” She answered. To be honest, it was her own fault. With her being a socalite and keeping on visiting different places, she didn’t really keep in touch with Johny before she came back. “I’m a realist, big brother.”

       “   WASN’T  A  COMPLIMENT,   ”   HE  MUTTERED  under  his  breath,  doing  his  absolute  best  to  suppress  an  eye  roll.   “   good  for  you,  i  guess.  i  know  some  people  with  too  much  going  on,  but  i  can’t  say  the  same  for  them.   ”   and  by  them  he  also  meant  himself.

“As much as I’m sure I could think of something great to spend a hundred bucks on, I think that goes against what I wanna do here. This…” She broke off to gesture around the room. “Is supposed to be me earning the money I have. I could ask my parents for it but… I don’t know, thought I’d try the work thing. Turns out people really are crappy tippers though, who knew?” She finished, deciding a joke was the best way to end what she’d said.

“Honestly, I don’t really tip unless the service is really good and exceeds my expectations. But please, take it. I’m feeling somewhat charitable and you told me how much of a shitty person your boss is so I can only assume you may want to escape at one point before you lose your sanity.” Larisa responded, pushing the money closer to her.

rafael was COMPLETELY SURPRISED by the remark. kids these days always seemed to surprise him no matter what comes out of their mouth. “ just in deep thought – nothing to concern you. “ 

if you cheat, it’s game over. the few words ring through his ears like church bells on a sunday morning and honestly, he has always been a believer of it too until recently. there’s never been anyone but gen to jim, not through their entire marriage and even now, she is the one. his wife made a mistake whilst they were in their roughest patch ( heading for divorce, almost ) and being apart from has given him time to think. “under certain circumstances, i agree.” james adds, shifting in his seat to face her a little more. “it’s not a pleasant thing to go through especially with a family, a cheating scandal that is.” the businessman admits with a casual shrug. 

𝖎𝖎  —  SHE   WAS   PRACTICALLY   FLABBERGASTED   BY          the  remark  ––  the  question  almost  having  her  choke  on  the  glass  of  water  she  was  consuming .          ❛   oh  ––  no  i’m  so  sorry .  you  just  have …  something  on  your  cheek .   ❜          she  thought  it  polite  to  bring  up  ––  you  know ,  girl  power  and  all  ––  but  to  say  she  was  a  little  frightened  now  was  an  understatement .