bloomin' marvelous.

“Lily — hi!” So, the thing about Molly and one of their neighbors, Lily, was that the two of them always seemed to bump into each other when either one or the other was in a hurry, never really getting the chance to exchange anything other than quick hello’s and goodbyes. Though for once, today Molly had no time limiting her presence, just on her way home from work. “Well, it’s been a crazy morning at the restaurant, so I don’t know… Why — what’s your worst?”

Lily shook her head in response to the question, just honestly relieved to be seeing a friendly face. “Crazy clients today,” she answered. “I swear this festival’s driven everyone nuts. I have no idea how that’s actually possible, but they’re all expecting miracles” She laughed, just wanting to forget about it now, having had the longest morning ever. “Seems it’s one of those days —- or morning’s at least.”

“Don’t mention it.” Stacking some of the rolled mats in the storage closet in the back, Carmen turned on her heel. Lily-Grace she said her name was. She was pretty in a doll-like way, all pearly skin and rosy cheeks. “Lily-Grace,” she repeats, folding her arms but managing a smile as she looks at the other. “So, Lily-Grace, whatchu been teachin’ that requires so much maintenance? I wanna guess plyo, but I’m shit at guessin’.”

Once all the mats were away and Lily had come back to standing after picking up her last coupe of bits, she flashed a smile in the other woman’s direction. She nodded as her name was repeated back to her and she moved to casually rest her hands on her hips. “That would be yoga,” she answered. “First class of many I hope.”

          Clearly Lily was more invested in looking around, as opposed to jumping right in, as evident in her response. Nonetheless, Ava was looking for a way to kill some time today. However, after some realisation, it seemed as though her red-headed friend soon decided to tag along, admitting they were ‘game’ for going on the coaster in question. “You are?” She proceeded to question, ensuring this was definitely the case, before dragging her present company into an activity she had no real interest in. “Well, if you are, follow me.” The young woman soon headed towards the entrance of the ride, passing the height restrictions and listed wait time.

“Oh god, right? Sometimes I find myself two years deep on someone’s tweets and I don’t know how I got there,” Allie admitted. She had never really seen herself as someone who would be obsessed with social media yet here she was.

Laughter certainly escaped Lily when the other woman admitted that and she couldn’t help but admire her for being so incredibly honest about it. Very few people would be, to be honest. “That’s never a good thing,” she said with a playful grin.

“That is true, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look at them while I am waiting for the right man to come along.” Alexandria replied, sending the woman a small wink. “I think the hospital has a policy against dating anyway.”

“Really? They say that, but I’m pretty sure no one actually listens...” Lily said with a shake of her head. “Most work places do, don’t they?” She didn’t really know much about what work places did, seeing as she’d only ever worked for herself following a small stint at the local flower shop.

                                “Yeah, I mean, look back at how we used to come back after a day of playing around outside—- we’d be filthy, hardly recognizable. I’m sure we had our fair amount of germs and dirt,” Adam said, chuckling lightly. “It’s weird though. I was so concerned about it at first, about her getting her shots and everything being clean and sterile, but now that she’s older, I’m slowly learning how important it is for her immune system to just kind of… let her be,” he said, frowning only slightly. “It’s hard though.” It was, but he had a lot of help from people who knew a lot more about babies than he did, thank god. “Yeah? Perfect—- it’s been a while since you updated me on your life anyway. You can begin now,” he requested with a grin.

Adam’s words caused Lily to chuckle and she nodded her head, thinking back to when they’d been kids and the mess they’d always got into. It wasn’t unusual at all for them to play out in the woods and around the lake, which would always equal dirt, dirt, dirt. “Yeah we did and it definitely didn’t do us any harm,” she said with a grin. “At least, I don’t think so, no one’s ever had any complaints.” She had to agree with what he was saying, though. “It certainly won’t harm here, she’ll be good.” At Adam’s request, she was laughing, her nose wrinkling. “I’m not sure there’s all that much to update on.”

It had been another busy morning for Lily and not of the positive variety, she was doing her best to push that fact aside, though, making her way back to her place. That was when she spotted Molly and a small smile crept across her features upon setting sights on her neighbour. “Hey!” she greeted her, raising her hand in a wave, her voice cheerful. “Please tell me you’re having a better day than me,” she chuckled.

                 “Good point. You’re so wise, old Lily,” She teased, but then quickly held her hands up in surrender— “Okay, that was the last one I promise, I’m stopping now,” She laughed, her mouth split into a large effervescent grin. 

“Wouldn’t even be a little surprised if I were. I hope I was one of the villains with at least a couple of redeeming qualities though,” She japed, laughter locked behind her lips but still detectable. 

“Of course I can. I mean, I love a good mind fuck show like Westworld where you’re afraid to blink because you might miss something important, but sometimes you just need something less… intelligent but decorative.”

“It better be the last one. Because if you carry on, I think this friendship is pretty much over, you know?” Laughter, she was only kidding around and thankfully Sofia was, too. it was nice when you could kid around with your friends like that, not everyone had that, something she couldn’t help but think was pretty sad.

Tilting her head, she thought on that, and then nodded her head. “So Maleficent from her movie, then? I could see that working,” she answered with a light smile.

A smile crossed her features in understanding. “I get that,” she said. “I’m not going to lie, I used to be absolutely obsessed with Lost. Couldn’t get away from it. Wouldn’t miss an episode. Yeah, I know that was a few years ago now, but that show was teenage Lily’s life.”

“I try and not rely on it but it is just so addicting. Whenever I think I’m free, I find myself scrolling through Twitter for hours without even being cognizant of doing it.” Before moving, Allie wasn’t that kind of person but now that she was in Lanford full time, she found herself lost on the internet more often than not.

Chuckling softly, Lily nodded her head, understanding completely. “I think everybody does, whether they admit to it or not,” she responded. “Some days I can get sucked into instagram, not going to lie. It’s hard not to when there’s so much to explore on there.”

“I mean, I am not against the idea.” Alexandria replied, letting out a soft chuckle. “Although, I am also fine with my partner working normal hours. I just can’t end up with someone who works insane hours like me if we are going to have a child.”

“That rules out any of the handsome doctors are your work places then, no McDreamy for you,” chuckled Lily lightly, sipping on her drink as she looked over at her friend for a moment. 

“Word of advice,” Carmen started, already stepping in to wipe down one of the mats that was spread across the floor. “It always takes longer than you thought it would. You’re prol’ly gonna wanna block out half an hour more than you think you need.” Finishing with the wipe, she rolled up the mat and tucked it under her arm. Then she held out her hand. “I’m Carmen Valdez, personal trainer here. Figure we’ll be seein’ each other a whole hell of a lot now.”

At the other woman’s words, Lily nodded her head, knowing now that she was more than likely right. It was all a learning curve, though, and she’d get there eventually with things. Just a case of learning the ropes. “I’ll try and remember that for next time,” she responded with a smile, continuing to tidy things away. “Thanks for the help.” As she rolled up another mat, she glanced to Carmen and nodded. “Lily-Grace... and I guess that we will.”

         “Yeah, I wish people would just chill with their health idealism at this point, it’s getting ridiculous, and who the fuck knows what to believe anymore. Do what’s best for yourself, and then you should be good, right?” That’s what she was buying into at least. “No, this is pretty depressing for such a sunny afternoon, isn’t it?” She produced a chuckle that was light an airy, far from the subject and her mind these days unfortunately. “Yeah, I guess so. The good thing about work is that you’re never bored though, right? Don’t you have any vacation time coming up though?”

“That’s what I think, at least. I know I enjoy my yoga and all, but honestly, I wouldn’t push anything on anyone if they weren’t interested. People have to do what makes them happy and so long as that doesn’t hurt anyone else, why the hell not?” She nodded in response to Skye’s words, letting a gentle smile cross her features. “Definitely,” she responded quite simply. “That’s definitely true. The more to do the better. But, uh, I guess. I decide my own vacation time as it’s my business and all. I might take a week out soon. Aside from weddings there’s not much going on this time of year.”

“Oh yes! I love the way you described that! I never thought about it that way, you know, calling it the ‘Instagram effect’,” Allie said, thinking of all the things she’s done or thought of simply because someone else had posted it. “Like how many times have I pretended to be happy online just because that’s what I thought people wanted to see?”

Lily nodded her head. “That’s what I lot of it always is,” she responded. “People don’t post their miseries and those that do are accused of attention seeking. Social media’s evil... in my opinion, at least. I mean, I do use it, but not as much as some people do —- I definitely don’t rely on it.”

“I’m sure.” He nodded, following it up with a laugh. “You didn’t have to know Rafe to hear him or hear about him. I still take pride in the fact I was on student council. Granted, I could never be the president because my 2.0 GPA was never outstanding but still… This is my proof I was the good one. Maybe I just liked pulling your hair, ever think of that?”

At Zach’s words, she nodded her head, considering that for the briefest of moments. “Well, that is true...” she responded then, her face breaking out into a bemused smile. “You know I didn’t follow any of that stuff. I’m the one who had to drop out, that kind of completely fucked up my GPA and chance of anything,” she said then, shrugging lightly. It was what it was, but it was still a kind of sore spot for her. “And you know what they say about boys pulling your hair and picking on you?” she teased with a laugh.