i want you to want me

vada listened to the woman’s response and rocked on her toes slightly, she’d been meaning to read those for the past ten years and here she was “um, no i haven’t. unfortunately. although i could probably tell you the title of every one in order. my grandfather has all of them, they are his favorite.” she looked down briefly, embarrassed that she had such easy access to them but had never picked one up, only admired them from a distance. “maybe i’ll have to finally give those a go.” 

Klaus nodded at her. He wasn’t trying to like, pick her up or anything but he didn’t want the girl to feel alone at the bar. “You brought your work to the bar with you? That is a new one. I don’t bring mine but to each it’s own I guess.” He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Well, the offer stilll stands if you want to ditch the work and remember that life needs a little fun everyone once in a while.”

“Nothing wrong with children movies. They are usually cute and lighthearted, which is perfect.” she answered with a smile before looking down at her phone, the clock reading 11:30, “I was going to head to the farmers market down..if you wanted to tag along with me? All this movie hunting has made me hungry and I’m in need of some fresh veggies and fruit back at my apartment.”

Cat: score. I got you to chuckle.

cat: that's true....but as a comedian I think I should have some of my own material, ya know?

cat: not that im a comedian, cause wow..haha, im not.

cat: BUT if i was, i would come up with some original stuff

cat: i hope...

lorraine: okay, true, i guess being a comedian you should have your own stuff.

lorraine: but just to joke around with friends, it's not bad to borrow jokes

he tends to work in sporadic spells rather than on the sort of tight schedule that most journalists are accustomed to. if the newspaper was a larger operation that was churning out a new edition every day, then monroe is sure that he would’ve been fired ten missed deadlines ago. “i missed out on using this excuse back then because i didn’t have a cat when i was in middle school,” he explained, “and everyone knows that the cat ate my homework excuse is acceptable either right up until middle school or right up until an individual no longer has a cat. it’s like a savings bond.” he sounded very sure of himself for someone who had no idea what he was talking about. ( he doesn’t know what a savings bond is. ) monroe shuffled through the papers on his desk again until he located his paltry grocery list. “let’s see … ” he cleared his throat. “ … vegan - friendly popcorn and w … ” monroe’s gaze flickered up to lorraine. his boss. “ … wheat. i bake bread.” he tossed the paper back onto his desk and hastily covered it with the bill from tonic twist. “i think we should use my drawing.” he reached for his sketch of the infamous jersey devil again and held it up with a proud smile. “look at how cute his ears are.”

NAME: r. monroe 

RINGTONE: default ( but it feels like the jaws theme if she changed her ringtone for people ) 

PICTURE:

LAST TEXT RECEIVED:  [ monroe ➡️  lorraine ] no comment 

monroe winced as lorraine held up the page. there was indeed a glaring blank space where his article was supposed to go. ( the article he didn’t write. ) “tillie was retaliating,” he offered, “i bought him store brand cat food when i know that fancy feast is his favorite. it was my fault, really.” he offered a rueful shrug as part of his last - ditch effort to sell her the excuse, but when his boss just requested something from him, monroe deflated. “uh … ” he sighed, gaze sweeping over the mess of papers on his desk. “ … alright, let’s see what i’ve got.” nothing, he already knew. “grocery list … ” all he had written down was weed and vegan - friendly popcorn. “ … bill from tonic twist ‘cause i got super fucking wasted last weekend … oh, how ‘bout this picture i drew of the jersey devil ? ” he flipped the paper around, showing it to her with a triumphant grin.

“That’s definitely a good sign,” she replied, her voice soft as she continued to think before letting out a soft sigh, “I really need to get more cultured when it comes to movies. Food I could pick, a game? Easy. But a movie? It’s like my brain just shuts off. Birdcage, perfect, I’ll pick that.” Even though she had absolutely not clue what it was about. “Hey!,” she started, “Uh, are you heading home after this?”

He’s not going to lie, he’s had a rough couple of nights by not sleeping and getting into yet another bar fight on purpose. His face was a little beaten up and he tried not to acknowledge it as much as possible. When he decided to go to Lorraine’s this morning, Cooper hoped that one of her kids wouldn’t mention it or point it out. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture or questioning. Being completely sober instead of wasted like he was last night, Cooper really wanted to see Lorraine and talk to her about anything but him and how he was doing and how he was feeling. That’s why her kids were his favorite too, they always put a smile of his face not matter what mood he was in and if he were being honest, the Detective missed them. It was perfect weather out so Cooper didn’t mind waiting a little. 

He figured Lorraine was putting dishes away or doing something with the kids, however the food for lunch was getting cold and his arms were getting a little tired. Getting out of his thoughts, the thirty-six year old smiled big as soon as he saw Lorraine’s face “Took yesterday and today off. I needed it.” He answered, the cuts on his face from the previous night were bad and he oh so hoped she didn’t say anything. 

Watching and hearing as the kids came running out the door, he smiled big again and then opened his mouth to speak “How are my favorite rugrats doing?” He questioned excitedly “Uncle Coop is here today and we’re going to be having so much fun.” Cooper laughed a little at knowing how cheesy that sounded. Looking at Lorraine he sighed “I went a little overboard with the presents. Please don’t kill me. It’s been a while since Ive done this.” He laughed and then handed Lorraine the bag of food “I bought us lunch too. I’m not sure if you or the kids have eaten yet, so I figured I might as well.” Walking into her home, and into her kitchen he placed the bag full of toys and clothes on the table and relaxed his arms for a few minutes letting out a fake “huff”. “So.. I figured we can go to the park, play some ball with the kids or have a picnic and let them run around like crazy after we eat here?” He questioned, now folding his arms across his chest “How’s my best friend been?”

lorraine liked the days she could spend with the kids, but of course she sometimes craved the adult company of her friends.  it was a bit of a long wait between when the older kids were home, so even while lorraine loved spending time with the kids she always noted when someone else would be home.  but it was the winding down days of summer so she would take what she could get.  as school started that week.  by tuesday lorraine would be home alone around this time working and waiting for the kids to get home from school.  

she eyed cooper’s face, noticing the scratches as soon as she spotted him.  but, lorraine decided not to say anything.  she was sure if it was something important, cooper would say it himself.  she did, however, look at him.  a knowing look.  a look that said she noticed.  but she kept her mouth shut as the kids excitedly greeted their uncle cooper and backed away from the door so that he could come into the house.  “mom did the same!  she’s working from home to spend the last summer days with us.”  penelope explained with a grin, nodding her head as she turned to look at lorraine.  

spinning, spinning, spinning … monroe slapped a hand on his desk to stop the repetitious motion of the chair when he heard his name. “huh ? ” he tipped his head back, glancing at his boss with a lifted brow. the mock up. his gaze widened in alarm before it occurred to him that lorraine might notice. “uh … ” he glanced at the papers on his desk and struggled to suppress a grimace. he had nothing. not even a rough draft or some scribbled notes. he gave lorriane his most charming, dimple - revealing smile and a sheepish shrug. “sorry, teach. cat ate my homework.” his age is kind of an inside joke at the westmere weekly offices, the other employees often referring to him as the kid and ribbing him for weeks after he’s the only one at their table to get carded when they meet up for post - deadline drinks at sports side.