don't touch me, i'm expensive

"it'll always be graced with your latest updates, i don't plan of unfollowing you. hey, self-plug wherever you can. it can get you talking to the right people." she shrugged "i know, i feel the same. to drag nate and anne into his mess is shocking. then you've got gabriela and elena and their parents by extension as well. i don't see why he thinks his whole family should be dragged down with him, let them live in peace. it's crass and in poor taste" the whole thing is exhausting and quite frankly disrespectful towards the innocent archibald family members "that sounds fun, was it a solo trip or were you jet-setting with friends?"

"that is my music to my ears, ceren. thank you! i'm always saying that... you have to be bold in this world, don't you think? no, honestly! it's just awful for the whole archibald family, minus the obvious. you know how hard it is around here when it comes to name and reputation. i applaud them for being so brave, truly." and thank the goddess it wasn't lola! at least, she could keep a lid on her current sitch for as long as she needed. "oh, solo trip. i loathe to spend the holidays with my family - messy divorce, workaholic mother, new step-dad and then my dad who is a kindred spirit. unfortunately that means we both crave adventure too much to make solid plans."

"it's my home away from home. i'll take being considered a gain to the city" he smiled "can't be picky when the place has just opened, it's been finding it's own clientele which happens to be rich upper east siders which is good." wes nodded his head and pulled out his phone to fire up the booking system. he typed away booking in a floating table for lola and her friends "consider the table reserved for you all."

"nothing better for business than we platinum card holders, right? i'm sure you'll only be on the up and up." and if asha knightly wrote a glowing review? with encouragement from her bestie? it could only be good for everyone involved. "yay! you're a gem. major compliments to the chef."

atticus bass had a number of vices - smoking, drinking, sex, occasionally less than legal substances...and lola mercado. they lived in the grey area of whatever it was they were. the problem with lola was that whenever she was around atticus didn't care about what was going on around him and that was part of the problem. she was a distraction and it left her open. "and who encourages it?" he stated, her hand feeling like it was burning through his chest.

"oh, are you saying i'm the bad influence?" a very telling and teasing smile was clear on her glossy lips as she said it. of course she was the bad influence. to his credit, atticus was mostly work but she felt she could sway him over to play more than anyone else. in fact, she was sure of it (and goddess help whoever tried in her place!).

"lola, saying it's a teeny tiny fender bender does not fill me with confidence. describing anything as teeny tiny automatically implies its a much bigger problem. uhhh fortune favours the brave isn't a get out of court free card, you know that right?"

"what! it was teeny tiny. you should have a little more faith in me, jessica. you'll sleep better at night, trust me. it is the way i use it. i mean, maybe not in today's shoes but with my thigh high jimmy choo boots... there's no traffic court on this earth that would deny me."

he didn't know who this woman was. given her age she was likely one of roni's little friends or something like that, but he really had no interest. "i have socials for contractual obligations of marketing projects but i'm not on socials. i have no interest in them and if my niece can't convince me to have anything to do with it then you're not going to"

lola had been in full salesperson mode until he said that. she was so genuinely gagged! that she forgot her whole pitch. her non-sexy charm, her je ne sais quoi. what did he mean he wasn't on socials!? wasn't roman ravenwood like, big time hollywood vibes? "wait, sorry- you're not on any of your socials? you don't even tweet? insta live? no reels, no tik toks, no... god, i guess, facebook posts..." lola shook her head, holding her hands out. "what about your brand?"

"You aren't wrong about that, and I have had enough trashy hot. My last ex was in a punk band, and they sucked so bad. Exactly, you never know what is gonna happen next. I would rather go for it and fail then doing nothing." Dawson was a dreamer and wanted to follow his dreams forever. "Thank you, I appreciate you. I am going to go grab a drink and make a loop."

Freddie watched her carefully as she slowly processed his words and took a tentative seat across from him. All at once, he felt powerful, but also dangerously close to losing control of his carefully curated image. He didn't know this woman–not more than her live streams allowed–so he didn't know how much he could trust her with, or how capable she was of figuring him out, but still he couldn't seem to help himself. "Freddie Redlynn." He grinned his most charming grin and held out a hand, "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"Lola Mercado," she said after a pause, reaching out to take his hand. For once she didn't add a 'duh' or make some comment about how she so didn't need to introduce herself. What's more, when he asked her if she wanted to tell him what was going on... she did. That was probably the biggest shocker! In hindsight, Lola would realise how lucky she'd been that on her first night out post cut off, she'd run into him and not literally anyone else. "My mother...," she started, voice low, and still calming from the previous moment's spiral. She could say it. Come on, say it. "She cut me off."

"may your algorithm be filled with joy and online shopping fun" she smiled over at lola. ceren and lola may not be the closest of friends, but ceren always had time for her and enjoyed her company. "yeah...totally. throw out the map." she repeated, suddenly feeling under the microscope "the whole howard archibald crashing the party was overwhelming and i had to get out of new york for a while...anyway, how was your holidays?"

"oh my gosh, thank you. you're such a sweetie. may yours be just as fabulous and inspiring, and also full of my latest updates - a moment for my shameless self-plug. wasn't it just, though? and i mean... fool me once, fine, but fool me twice? how many times can howard archibald fall from grace and drag anne and nate down with him. it's totally heinous behaviour," lola gasped but she also knew it was totally juicy gossip. her outrage may have been a little exaggerated that way. as for ceren's festive frolic, lola wasn't going to judge. "mine were so much fun. a total jet-set, here, there and everywhere."

"i am. i figured what better place to open a restaurant than in the city that never sleeps. ah, i don't think they'll be missing me that much." the accent was terrible but he had heard worse impressions. "you're always welcome to a table. i'd never say no to new customers"

"so true, there truly is nowhere like new york city. i don't know if i believe that... but their loss is our gain. aw, thank you! i'll take it as a compliment despite the lack of exclusivity. okay!" she grinned, clapping her hands together excitedly. "how about we soft book in for this weekend? just the girlies - moi, asha and emilia."

he wouldn't indulge anyone in their compliment seeking process, except her. he'd indulge lola's demands any day. "you? having more requests? never" he teased, eyes focus squarely on the one person that could hold his interest for more than a brief conversation. watching her biting her lip almost sent him over the edge but he managed to remember where he was and more importantly who was watching. atticus leaned down enough to dip his lips to the side of her ear and whisper "what i'm going to do about it can't be done in public spaces or we'll end up arrested"

lola was about to roll her eyes at him when he leaned down and whispered in her ear. it was hardly the first time she'd ever been so close to atticus bass but it still send shivers up her spine. they could have been the only two people in the room right now... but they weren't. her breath caught in her throat and she felt like her brain had like, totally short circuited. "you-...," she breathed at last, pulling back the teeniest bit from him, her hand settling on his chest- "are so bad."

"you did what? okay...well...that complicates things, lo. did you way for the damages? give insurance details? it's a miracle you haven't been sued by them"

"it was just a teeny tiny fender bender, jessica. no big deal. oh - allegedly! well, this is supposed to be my month so... fortune favours the brave."

Dawson grinned at Lola. "It is a very old tale for artists. Plus, look at him, anyone would be lucky. Ramesh is. We have been on a few dates." He hadn't seen Ramesh in a few weeks. They had made a night out of their last date, and Dawson had needed a few days to recover after that. "Thank you, I am always trying to meet new people, friends or otherwise."

"It's practically meant to be! I mean, it would be rude not to at this point. Oh, so true... Peter is like, classy hot which is a lot harder to find than you'd think. Go you, we love this. Life is for the living, Dawson. You have to grab every opportunity you can before it's too late." And by 'too late' she meant 'your mom cuts you off'. Not that anyone needed to know that little detail. "I've got your back, babe. I'll be manifesting an iconic match for you tonight."

atticus held onto her tightly, whispering words of reassurance that he had her. he had her. she was safe here and he would personally see to it that if anyone tried anything, it would be their last. he could see it on her face the moment he saw her. that real, genuine fear. he hated that it stole a part of her innocence.

he was never going to get through reading any of these scripts at this rate. it was a risky move of hers to take the seat across from a man who hated his personal space being encroached upon. it wasn't of any interest to him at all that her supposed people were emailing his people. his people knew better than to bother him. "this is a coffee shop, i'd hardly count it as fate"

"maybe not with that attitude," she smiled brightly. normally, she would flirt her ass off when she was faced with a stoic stranger. unfortunately, something told her that particularly method would not get her in here. why were so many of her go-to moves so sexy? damn it. "i just think that you and i could totally blow up if we shot a few reels together... i mean, nothing says 'renaissance' like going viral. you're on your socials, right?"

not a man that enjoyed much social interaction outside of work, roman sat in a coffee shop reading the morning news and working on the daily crossword from the new york times before he would start reading his pile of scripts his agent had passed to him. hearing server bringing over his coffee he sat back in nodded in thanks.

lola had been impatiently waiting for her non-fat vanilla latte when she overheard roman ravenwood in the corner. oh my god! lola had been trying to get an in with him for her socials for like, ever. until the resurgence of the 'brat pack' in fnb, he'd been impossible to tie down. plus, thanks to lola's current financial situation (ugh), she didn't exactly have 'people' to handle these things for her at present. this was her chance!

Legs draped over her lap, as she leaned back in the seat. "I would've picked up a better meal if I knew I'd get a show." All she had was a snack and a temptation to find out if she still hated hotdogs as much. Michelle leaned over to them, her eyes still on the models on the catwalk. "Is it too rude to say I think a couple of these designers should get back to sketching. Some of these designs are ugly and not in a haute couture way."

"Tell me about it. I'm all for being spur of the moment but must we really be out here in the 'great outdoors' for it?" Lola rolled her eyes behind her oversized sunglasses, turning to face Michelle again. It was good for Lola to be seen supporting the show, even if she couldn't really care less about it. Like, hello? Practically anyone could just wander over here. "Well... I heard that the designer for this line just found out their fiancé was spending every other night with someone else. And by 'someone else' I mean the designer's sister."