walking on air

“Yeah, you too,” he retorts with a roll of his eyes. Some fans could be brutal. However, most people in New York were terrible anyway, so these weren’t of any concern. Plus, he didn’t have the time nor patience for negative attitudes. As he strolled along the busy sidewalk, he lets his eyes glance back over his shoulder–for literally just one second–and then collides with someone. Gabriel delicately placed his hands on their shoulders as he swiftly pushed himself back.

“I am so sorry!”

Molly, luckily, hadn’t been paying attention either, so when she was nearly knocked backwards onto her ass, she instinctively grabbed the arm of the person she’d knocked into, hoping to brace herself however ungracefully the act had happened. “Shit, are you okay? I promise, I graduated from walking class years ago. Gold stars and everything." She offered him a sheepish smile, shaking her head. “Did you spill anything? Or drop?”

“I got invited to a banquet that’s coming up that my friend’s company is catering and apparently the dress code is very snappy.” Chase frowned, face screwing up even more as he tried to decide what the hell he was supposed to do about the mess he’d talked himself into. “What do I even wear that won’t make me look like a complete and total sewer rat? Seriously I’m not good at fashion, I’m a writer. Half the time I wear my pajamas.” He offered his companion a sheepish smile. “Any ideas? Or am I a lost cause?”

“A clown suit would do wonders for your public rep,” Molly offered, not unhelpfully, as she smirked. “Do you not own a suit? I thought all men over age 25 owned at least one suit. What do you wear to weddings? Your underwear?” she asked innocently, nudging her friend with a chuckle. “Seriously, go to any Saks store and ask them to find you one, it’s not rocket science.”

I completely agree and wow wine drip, why didn’t I think of that? The best cleaning that gets done at my place is usually when I’m upset or some kind of mood. If I’m already angry might as well take it out on my dirty floors. 

Oh my god, same. Whenever I’m pissed, my house gets cleaned so well. I don’t know if it’s about scrubbing my feelings away or some shit, but it’s the most productive coping method I’ve got that isn’t drinking boxed wine every night. Plus I’m a little bit of a neat freak, so it helps.

Sounds good for next time. Getting a glass of wine and painting my nails for a half hour then back to work sounds like a much better compromise than just working to the bone then crashing the moment I hit my bed.

God, yes, wine. Always wine. If I could have a wine drip 24/7 and not have to worry about looking like I have serious problems, I probably would. It would make dealing with work stress so much less horrible. I try to go by the 20/10 method sometimes too, especially when it’s unpleasant stuff like cleaning.

“I’m more like a real estate agent i guess close enough.” she said giving her a smile. “Honestly the tings is if i did lose my patience with anyone i would have no one to sell houses too because the person would tell there friend, how do you not lose your patience working at a hospital?” Teri would shake the girls hand. “It’s nice to meet you too Molly.”

“You too! That’s so true, most customer service positions require lots of patience,” Molly said sagely, nodding. “I lose my patience a lot internally, especially if the people are difficult, but it’s just one of those grin and bear it moments, you know?” She shrugged. “Patience is a virtue and luckily I’m a good actress.”

“It is rough, it’s there lose.” Teri said with a smile. “No they did not sign the paper work witch is good in a way i don’t wanna go through a lawsuit my job can be hard enough as it is.” she smiles back at the girl. “You just have to deal with it anyways I’m Teri by the way.”

“If it’s houses you’re selling, I’m assuming you’re a realtor?” she asked with a kind smile. “I’m not sure how you have the patience for that. I work at a hospital so I’m not really allowed to lose my patience, but working in a job like that, I definitely would. I can’t deal with flaky people.” She offered her hand to shake. “I’m Molly, it’s nice to meet you.”

After spending how long almost going crosseyed from working it feels weird to take a break. Like what would I even do, see a movie? I think I’d just spend the time remembering things I should do later.

“I know this feeling all too well. How does one remind themselves that it’s okay to relax even when you’ve got work coming out both ends?” She shook her head with a sigh. “It never ends, truly. My method of coping is usually just to paint my nails and try again.”

Teri is on the phone with one of her clients after hearing they don’t wanna buy the house she his sold to them. “What do you mean you don’t wanna buy the property are you kidding me i have all the paper work done. you know what forget the next time you wanna buy a house don’t come to me.” she said hanging up her phone then looks over at the person. “Sometimes people i deal with can be annoying.”

“That sounds rough,” Molly commented with a grimace. “Did they already sign the paper work or did they back out before? Either way, sounds like a lawsuit to me.” She smiled placidly at the woman, shrugging one shoulder. “I don’t know how you deal with that.”

“You should come with me sometime! I go everywhere all the time and it gets lonely. We could make a girls trip and when I’m working you can go explore. Only if you can get some time off work though of course.” Noelle nodded, “Yeah.. I just feel so strange adopting something that I know I don’t have as much time with, it’s hard.”

“Oh my god, that would be amazing. Honestly, I’d love to! The last vacation I went on was Disney World when I was 10, and I didn’t even get to enjoy it because my sister got the chicken pox.” Molly laughed, shoulders lifting in a shrug. “It would be nice to get away from work for a while. I have vacation days built up.” She nodded her understanding. “I get it. I’d love to get a second one and a puppy, but mine I’ve had for years, so she’s pretty used to me and my schedule now. If only they could come everywhere with us.”

“That’s charming,” Asher deadpanned, rolling his eyes at Molly. His friend certainly knew how to get under his skin, after all. “What price are we talking here? My kidney and a lobe of liver? These are prime organs and I don’t have many to spare.”

“You can keep your organs,” Molly mused with a chuckle. “I have as many as I want at my disposal, perks of working in a hospital,” she teased with a grin. “Just get a bunch of raid and diatomaceous earth. It should solve all your bug problems in no time.”

“Yeah, no, hard pass. I can’t handle any kind of infestation, my daughter will absolutely lose her shit. She can’t handle a spider without having some sort of epic meltdown. What’s she going to do with multiple roaches?”

“Make friends with them?” Molly offered unhelpfully, chuckling at Asher’s comments. “They’re just roaches, as gross as they are. I’ve found effective methods of getting rid of them even though I’m fairly sure my neighbor is a hoarder. I’ll share, for a price.”

Cam nodding, feeling the same way. He never wanted Bel to make the same mistakes he did, and he was worried about her all the time. It made him feel like he was her babysitter all the time when she was a grown woman. “I’ve been worried ever since I left and she stayed at home, but I guess now that she’s here I’ll just make sure she doesn’t cause chaos in town.”

“Sisters, can’t live with them, can’t live without them.” Molly nodded her understanding. “That’s the responsible thing to do. I’m almost glad mine hasn’t shown up here, but I think she’s planning to once she graduates. That’s exactly what we all need, to play guardian to younger, sillier siblings. Why doesn’t it pay well?”

“Same here. I have more money than I have ever had and yetI’m still constantly scraping the bottle of the barrel. It’s weird right? I wonder if that thought process will ever go away… probably not.”

“I was raised pretty frgual, I’m sure I’ll be stuck with that until I die. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, maybe one of my kids can actually have a college fund or at least a really nice bike.” She shrugged, and smiled. “Or I could blow it all on something senseless like a full body tattoo.”

“That’s a good point. I travel so much and Eddie is used to it but it wouldn’t be fair to a puppy you know? And I could take it with a lot but not everywhere or all the time.. but I kinda wanna be selfish and do it anyway.” Noelle laughed and shook her head, “Nah probably something smaller and that doesn’t shed as much. I love Eddie but that fur.. it’s a nightmare”

“Oh, shit, you’re totally right,” Molly said and nodded. “I’d love to travel as much as possible but it’s one of those things I both can’t afford and am tied to my job.” She made a face. “I’d feel terrible getting a puppy because my dog is selfish, but if I got another one, I think I’d adopt an older one who has more patience and just needs a home, you know?” She chuckled. “I get it. The fur is crazy especially in spring and summer.”

“Maybe I should get one.. I think that Eddie could use a friend.. and a little one so that he doesn’t feel intimidated or anything like that, you know what I mean?” Noelle laughed with a little nod, “That sounds like the perfect dog if you ask me.” 

“You should! I’ve been considering getting a second one just because my apartment is lonely and I think she could do well with a friend when I have to work for far too long, you know? I’d love to get a boy too. I think my place has too much estrogen.” She made a face and laughed. “Would you adopt the same kind?”

“A corgi named Bartholomew.” Noelle’s face practically lit up. “that’s the best thing I have ever heard in my entire life.” She nodded, “Eddie is in that with other people, but he absolutely loves and adores me and will protect me from whatever so I’m not really going to complain about it.”

“Right?” Molly exclaimed, her face also lighting up at the idea. “If I had enough money, I’d adopt one in a heartbeat.” She smiled, and nodded. “That’s a good thing. Mine is too busy hoarding my socks and putting a dent in my couch to care about my safety, but she’s good at telling when I’m sad or stressed so I really can’t fault her too much, you know? They’re too sweet.”

“That’s why I stole most of the food growing up because who has that type of money for a few bananas that are going to go bad? I’d rather just take a banana and get out of there and save the money for like… meat or something.”

“Been there, done that. My family grew up dirt poor so my mom taught us some colorful ways to get by, but we lived and here I am earning more money than both my parents ever did and still living in that crappy mindset.”