RIGHT PUNCH TO THE GUT!

divya is cool; and while there is no solid, widely agreed upon definition of ‘cool’ — she thinks she’s pretty cool. some days are spent under sweltering studio lights filming something or other, but most days are spent beachside, reading a book, or sunbathing, or a plethora of other things that don’t constitute having a regular job. there was nothing regular about her career. she knows it. she owns it. so, when she’s spending a rather late mid-week work night at a 70s themed karaoke-slash-piano bar and lounge, she acknowledges the poetic joie de vivre of getting to simply enjoy things.

there’s a rather nasty rendition of celine dion’s my heart will go on happening, and divya takes this as her cue to get some fresh air. she’s standing there two minutes tops, when a familiar face appears at her side. she tilts to the side, catching his eyes with a lopsided smile (because yes, she had a few drinks in her). “hey! piano man! your cover of that one song from elvis… the one about love…” hiccup. she holds a hand up, excusing herself, “whoa, sorry.         anyway, your cover of that elvis song is really good. why aren’t you playing the piano right now, piano man?”

arguably one of the best things to come from relocating to mirabella; happy drunks enjoying an active nightlife with singing and dancing and not, like, rotting away in the back of seedy dives or starting fights in venue backstage pockets. taylor himself is bone-sober at the moment, but finds he feels a pang of fomo seeing how rosy-flushed and lithe divya looks when she greets him with -- “oh god, is that what people call me when i’m not around? don’t tell me it’s catching on.” regardless, his lips part around a laugh, and he offers an arm out for her to hold for balance. like a little gentleman!  “thanks! i’m available for weddings, funerals, and most other presley themed events.” despite how flustered and awkward he feels accepting compliments about his work, taylor is tickled all the same. “it’s my night off, piano fan. i’m just as surprised i’m out here as you are. guess i was pulled in by the sweet sound of … is that celine?” like they’re old friends. “you're not leaving already, are you? at least let me get you a drink.” of water, obviously. “you can use my employee discount and everything.” 

Birdie knew that Taylor knew the answer, but she appreciated the fact that he was playing along and not just blurting out the answer. She'd definitely have a student shout it out, and she'd need to remind them that only one person was supposed to be answering at a time, but that was just part of teaching young children. "We're looking for What is a star..." Birdie replied using her host voice. She smiled at the employee as they dropped off the food, and turned back to Taylor. "Strawberry, obvi..." Taking the knife from him and using it to spread a little bit of strawberry jam onto the end of the scone. She took a bite and handed the plate over to Taylor, licking the jam from her lips. "What does that say about me?" Birdie raised her brows. "That I'm sweet?" Her head was already nodding a little because she was sweet like a strawberry.

“what is a star. of course.” feigned chagrin, shrugged off easily as taylor had a long swig of his americano in the time birdie indulged on their shared treat. “your kids are going to love this. i used to go crazy during classroom games, and i’m pretty sure my teacher back then was born in a cave and raised by bears — so her games weren’t nearly as nice and organized as this is.” busy hands shifted to the plate. with the same knife, he cut into a satchet of raspberry jam and dutifully spread some on a broken chunk of pastry. “exactly. and raspberry’s for the real crazy folks who suck at space knowledge.” he made quick work of his bite and then slid the plate back over. “what are you going to do with all your new free time?” 

shoulders scrunched toward her ears, vivian leveled the bartender an inquisitive smirk with no real reproach. in fact, she liked savannah’s look. always preferred to sit at this side of the bar on busier nights, in hopes of being looked after by ‘not that scary’. “are we talking 2007 era, radio-friendly version of misery business type of emo, or more whingy, whiny i wrote haikus and circa survive?” to be safe, she cycled through a self-made playlist titled only with a frown-faced emoji and picked the most popular track halfway down. within a few seconds, the beginning bass of la dispute’s woman (in mirror) began to stutter out of the speakers overhead. she then set her phone down and clapped her hands together, fighting a grin. "is this a pass or fail system?“

“those exactly,” taylor agrees, mirth alight in the grin that stretches his lips and withstanding the forlorn sigh he gives his own work. “it was supposed to be a representation of my feelings; total, all-consuming rage, and, uh, the all-consuming ache for a snack.” sometimes taylor likes to talk and talk, just to see how long he can keep someone listening. he appreciates tessa meeting him halfway; like they’ve both passed an impromptu screening of his own design. “jellyfish is a twenty-five point word - i’ll take it.” so he goes about refashioning what was originally meant to be floral too. brush dripping purple watercolor, he looks the picture of focus as he doubles over the spindly legs of his blobs. but he’s still tuned into tessa, brow furrow mawkish as he suggests, “i sure hope so. otherwise we’ll have to take up knitting, and i’ve heard that’s a dangerous game. you planning to gift this to somebody? or is it to be discovered and appreciated posthumously, a la van gogh?” 

taylor beams, in the big dumb way he always does when someone hits the ball back in the fun little games he offers. he feigns a deep sigh, hand falling over his heart as he sways wistfully where he stands. “yeah? that’s a much better explanation for why his hair is so big than others i’ve heard.” closer now, he takes a look at the flower headband, along with the rest of her appearance — party ready, he has to guess. “you look like you’re celebrating something. or, well, you were. right now, you look like someone who is, god forbid, partied out.” he teeters even standing still, unbridled energy radiating off of him like top 40 music from a karaoke bar. “you’re okay, right? i don’t have to wonder and worry after you all night, do i?” 

status: open

it had been a rather slow evening so far at crimson & clover. but, that how it seemed to be whenever savannah was scheduled to work a weeknight shift. only seeing a couple strangler regulars come in and leave rather quick, she was itching for a rush ... or at least someone interesting to chat it up with.

when her next customer took a seat at the almost empty bar, she sighed as wiped down the table with a rag. "look, the last three songs that have been played on the touch tunes have been ... questionable. if you play the next song and it's actually decent, your first round is on me."

she’d only just set her teeming purse on the bar when savannah’s wager reached her ears. vivian failed to bite back a wry smile, equal parts amused and just a little rattled by the wide berth between queuing a decent song and playing straight garbage on aux. “alright, alright. at least start me off with a glass of water. i’m nervous.” nevertheless, she drew her phone out of the depths of the purse and opened touch tunes’ dashboard. as she began to scroll through titles and track times, she asked of the familiar bartender, “what are you in the mood for? what kind of vibe are you wanting to curate for …” she picked her head up and took a cursory glance around the bar. save for the two of them, there were maybe two other bodies in the corner - that or shadows playing tricks. vivian looked back up toward savannah, tickled. “i guess for you and me.” 

influence was not something vivian had in droves by any means. color her a little shell-shocked, maybe even flattered, when her suggestion went straight to the heart. quick to pay for her own loaf after, she’d opted to shove it under her free arm and just, like, walk around with penguin limbs for the rest of the market. so she floundered at the offer, momentarily stuck for an answer that didn’t sound way self-deprecating. “no, i’m okay,” she laughed, waving away the other’s kind bid for help, “i did this to myself. i hardly come out shopping - thought i wouldn’t find anything worth taking home.” quick to redirect off herself, vivian nodded toward khadija’s bag, noting with an impressed air, “this clearly ain’t your first rodeo, though. any good stalls i might’ve missed?” 

"Oh, I hope so! That would be so fun," Birdie laughed, making a show of crossing her fingers in hopes that one day one of her former students would end up on Jeopardy. They filmed it in Culver City, so it was entirely possible. God, what she would do to get on Jeopardy herself! Leaning forward, Birdie scoops up her purple note cards from the table. These are the 'hardest' questions of the bunch, because she can't go completely easy on Taylor! "Hmm..." She hums, reading through the questions. "Here's a good one," Birdie said, shifting towards him and putting on her very best announcers voice. "The sun is not a planet it's a...?" She looked at Taylor expectantly. Her class had loved astronomy when they'd gone through it a few weeks ago. She knew they'd all be chomping at the bit to answer this question. But the odds of her getting the first bite of his scone were slim to none, that was okay though as long as she got the second bite.

taylor knew the answer - or, he was pretty sure he knew it, having absorbed worlds worth of useless trivia from obscure television and long-winded internet rabbit holes alike. meeting their impromptu game show halfway, he drew his spine upright and folded his hands together over an imaginary buzzer. ‘a star’ rolled around behind his teeth. but the look of excitement on birdie’s face, paired with the effort gone for all of these little notecards and the way taylor just dotes on her, beautiful and kind — what came out instead was a defeated sigh, taylor throwing his hands up in exaggerated defeat. “i don’t know. is it made out of cheese like the moon?” usually proud and competitive, but weak-willed against the pull of endearment. just in time, too, as a cafe employee dropped off an ornamental plate with a fluffy scone sitting pretty in the middle. “you stumped me, babe. i’ll never live this down. damn the sun. you want strawberry or raspberry jam?” he reached out to take the cards from her hand, replacing them with the safe end of a butter knife instead. “very telling of a person, by the way, which flavor you use."

whenever she could, tessa made it a habit to support community events, even ones that she hadn't helped organize and was required to show up to. while it was both good for networking and finding sources of inspiration, she loved feeling a part of mirabella. the rush of seeing old friends and meeting new acquaintances and sometimes finding new hobbies to explore all equally attractive. although tessa doubted that this hobby would end up making the list, nose wrinkling with a tinge of frustration as she studied her 'artwork'. a splash of colors dotted her paper - attempts at blooms that maybe weren't quite distinguishable even though tessa had done her best to listen to the instructions. her eyes squinted as she considered her painting, tilting it slightly to see if a different angle might be better before turning to her neighbor. "can you tell what this is? i feel like i might be verging into abstract art, and that's being generous." while she'd dabbled in acrylics and aided in graphic design for event posters and invitations, she hadn't quite figured out how to deal with the more fluid, malleable medium of watercolors. it wasn't quite the relaxing event she'd hoped for, even as she'd done her best to quell her perfectionist tendencies and leave the painting as it was rather than trying to fix it. "how's yours turning out? are you having more luck?"

it was all going so horrendously bad — he couldn’t have been more grateful for tessa offering him a temporary out. paintbrush clattering to the front of the easel, he leaned over to have a good, long look at what she had created. “a representation of your feelings seems a little too on the nose,” he mused, mirth drawing the corners of his lips into a sympathetic smile, “it’s cool! really. i like the colors you chose.” hardly the person to go to for art critique, at least not in this medium. he picked up the corner of his piece and held it up, showing it off for what it was; misshapen blobs with long tails of color that have warped into an even more misshapen blob at the bottom. he dropped his voice to a loud whisper, laughter shaking his voice as he added, “they really just let anyone come to these things, don’t they?” steadying his canvas and picking his brush back up, he nodded to her work-in-progress appreciatively. “i do like yours. reminds me of, like, a funky meadow.” 

"The grind never stops!" Birdie teased, making more room for Taylor to join her. "I'm planning this game for my class to play during the last week of school... it's Jeopardy, basically, to test them on what we've learned this year, but still have fun!" She was going a bit overboard with her questions, but she wasn't planning on bombarding her students with all of them. She just had to narrow it down later. Birdie perked up at the mention of a fresh coffee and a scone, but she deflated when she looked at her watch. "Probably not a coffee... I'll be up all night if I drink any more caffeine today." She'd already had her usually 3 cups. "But we could split a scone, I won't say no to that!" She smiled at Taylor. "And then I can quiz you to see if you're smarter than a 1st grader..." Birdie waggled her brows teasingly.

“that’s sick, birdie.” he pores over written questions with earnest fascination. “y’know, i think, statistically, odds are at least one of them’ll end up on the real deal show one day. they’ll look back to you as the one who started it all.” there’s not nearly as much order to taylor’s workday as this - in fact, the coffee at his side is his only hope to make it to the evening, when his own workday begins. “alright, okay. but if you find yourself up all night anyway,” he nudges her in the side with the ball of his elbow, “i’ll be around.” he shifts in his seat, turning to face her as he reclines against the back of the couch. settling in, getting cozy in anticipation of a challenge. “i have one coming in a few. you’ll get first bite if i don’t get the first question right.” as if unable to sit still for more than a minute, he scoops up a highlighter and flicks the cap off and on absentmindedly. “do your worst."

Birdie's usual organized chaos was scattered around her, taking up half a leather couch and a table at the local coffee shop. School was nearly out, but there were still a few things she needed to do for her class of first graders. She wanted to send them off to second grade on a high and make sure they remembered how much fun they had in her class. Birdie liked working in public because she'd usually see someone she could talk to, and Birdie loved talking to people. She never minded sharing her space, even if someone didn't want to chat, so when she saw someone approach from the corner of her eye, she looked up with a smile. "Oh, hi," Birdie quickly grabbed up her colorful papers and things to make room. "Please, join me!" She smiled widely. "Ignore the chaos, I'm like a colorful tornado blowing through..."

what’s better than popping into the cafe for a pick-me-up americano and coming across a pick-me-up in human form? taylor struggles to think … and then doesn’t bother to, taken now with dropping into birdie’s space with a grin to match. “damn, birdie,” spills past his lips, lithe with admiration, “i don’t think there’s any ignoring this. aren’t they supposed to be going on summer break soon? aren’t you?” there’s, obviously, no real malice in his tone. he clears a small corner of the table and sets his takeaway cup there — might as well get comfortable, huh? curiosity pushes him to pick up a small stack of notes, rifling through like he has any notion of where it’s meant to go or what it’s meant to be. “of course you have good handwriting. what’re you working on? anything i can help with?” stack set down, but taylor leans forward where he sits and continues to peruse with his eyes. out the side of his mouth, he asks, “can i get you a fresh coffee or something? they have those scones you like - one left in the display, from what i saw.” 

farmers market

khadija found that early morning farmers market runs always made her feel more human. she spent so much time at the tide building, or at her desk, and so getting out and breathing fresh salty-sea water air made her remember how alive she was. there a lot of things about mirabella that khadija could complain about, living here all of her life, she has a grievance or two, but weekend farmers markets were such a sweet spot. she's got a tote bag that is far too big for her thrown over her shoulder, and there's already far too many punnets of blueberries in it, her favorite of all the berries. she's standing in front of a selection of breads, mouth already watering, when she let's out a theatatrical huff of breath "okay, i can't decide, garlic and rosemary or sun-dried tomato and mozzrella? this is life or death, as you can see."

where khadija was smart to bring a bag-too-big, vivian’s feeling the strain of having brought a bag-too-small. she adjusts the tiny net bag that hangs off the crook of her elbow, the contents inside ( a jar of hot honey and two gala apples the size of her fists ) shifting weight in her arm in a way that draws a look of disdain on her face. it’s what she’s wearing when khadija draws her attention, and vivian blinks out of this temporary discomfort to weigh the two options in her head carefully. because it is life or death, naturally. “sun-dried,” she decides after idle rumination, “and then you swing back around to the stall by the entrance, get yourself a tub of goat cheese — you’ll be golden.” inspired then, she reaches across the space to pick up one of the packaged loaves behind the display. a wry smile pulls at her lips as she adds, “and it looks like they’re selling out fast!”