A LITTLE WICKED —

The eldest Halliwell daughter often shied away from the spotlight; unlike most of her family, Ava couldn’t wish to be more disassociated from the rest of her family, with the exception of her sisters. Her siblings, just like her, had no choice in this matter. After all, if they could all choose their own family, then the brunette wouldn’t be stuck with the antics of Evelyn and Arthur Halliwell. Although finding her step-mother to be surrounded by a camera crew was a new one. Even after all these years, the heiress never failed to surprise her. As though the woman had the need to be more extravagant that she was already. Evelyn Halliwell could do all she wanted, for all Ava cared, as long as it didn’t at all involve her. So, the fact that the moment she set foot in the room and had cameras shoved in her face, was crossing a very fine line for her when part of the reason of her homecoming was to hide and drive as much distance between her and Nathan. Even now, her estranged husband was someone not to be ignored. She had seen his true colours and she was sure, this unwarranted attention that came with whatever Evelyn was up to, was going to ruin her life in the worst way possible. “Yeah,” The brunette nodded, a hint of a smile ghosted upon her lips. The sight of Reina standing before her was yet another surprise though; even more so when her step-mother’s name fell from the woman’s lips. “Call time? Do you know Evelyn?” She questioned, brows furrowing with confusion the more Reina spoke. But it was the sarcasm in her tone that reflected her sentiment towards Evelyn, and her smile couldn’t help but grow a little wider. “Oh god, don’t tell me Evelyn is going to be on TV.” Ava couldn’t help but groan, a defeated sigh fell from her lips. “I came to…uh, drop something off for Evelyn.” She answered, before adding the inevitable to her response. “We’re…kind of related. She’s my step-mom.”

Reina hums a bored ‘mhm’ when Ava asks if she knows Evelyn, and by her tone Reina can tell the other woman has the misfortune of knowing her too. She’s not expecting to hear that Ava’s the wench’s step-daughter, though, and the relation has her almost choking. “You’re kidding me.” If Reina had known that, she probably wouldn’t have given Ava the time of day in the first place. But she seems nice enough, and like she has at least some kind of brain, which is more than she can say about Evelyn. And her disdain for her step-mother seems pretty blatant, so Reina supposes Ava can stay on her good side for now. If she can get along with Evelyn’s biological daughter, surely her step-daughter can’t be that bad. “Well, for that I’m truly sorry.” Her condolences are more-so to show how much she dislikes Evelyn rather than to show any actual remorse for Ava’s situation, but she’s sorry for the other woman’s luck all the same. “She really didn’t tell you she was going to be on national television? And then invited you here to put you on national television?” Reina shouldn’t be surprised really, because of course Evelyn would pull some bullshit like that, but she honestly didn’t think she was cunning enough to think of any sort of master plan — no matter how simple the plan may be. All that botox has to have had some kind of impact on her brain function. “That woman’s a piece of fucking work. You know, if you don’t sign the release form they can’t use any footage with you in it. Unless she signed it for you, which I honestly wouldn’t put past her.”

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8 — White, dark, or milk chocolate?

At just the thought of eating chocolate, her nose wrinkles in disgust. “None. My God, I’m not about to put that shit in my body.” No carbs, no sugar, no dairy — unless she’s drunk eating cheese. That’s Reina’s way. “Maybe dark chocolate, if I absolutely had to choose.”

18 — What’s your favorite love song? & 21 — Romantic or platonic love?

Answered & answered!

27 — “You’re family — no questions asked.”

Family isn’t something Reina’s ever thought she’d have an abundance of. Growing up she never truly had one of her own, just a few different foster families until she settled in the last and final one that was more hell than home. It’s why she had such an affinity to Miles in the first place, she saw herself in the struggling kid trying to pickpocket her on the streets of Memphis. It’s why her throat closes and her eyes burn just slightly when he calls her family. Somehow, despite everything, Reina’s managed to build up this little family for herself against all odds and for Miles to remind her of that has her more emotional than she’d ever like to be.

Of course, Reina wouldn’t be caught dead showing said emotion. Quickly, she manages to get ahold of herself, clearing her throat as she rolls her eyes. Damn him for making her look like a soft bitch just with a few words. “Yes, Miles, I’m aware,” she shakes her head, masking her feelings with sarcasm. Much better. “I’ve been regretting it since I plucked you from the streets fifteen years ago.” @themilesellis

56 — Our muses at a floral shop

FLASHBACK DRABBLE —

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2 — Do you believe in love at first sight?

The short answer to this question is just a flat out no. “No one falls in love just from looking at someone. Thinking something like that exists is pathetic.”

3 — Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day has never been a huge deal for Reina. Of course she enjoys getting gifts and jewelry and the works but half of the time, they don’t come and the other half of the time, they’re just meant as an apology. She’ll take the gifts but a day entirely dedicated to love is just too much of a foreign concept to her. That doesn’t mean she hasn’t celebrated in a less romantic sense, though. “Five years ago, my daughter was born nine months after Valentine’s Day,” she says, though she doesn’t elaborate. “Take that as you will.”

9 — What do you think about PDA?

“Disgusting.” Reina’s stance on this is very firm, she’s got a lot of opinions about PDA and how aggravating it is to see people all over each other in public. Reina herself is a very private person and she’d never be caught dead getting all lovey-dovey with her husband where there are other people, and she thinks the entire world should abide by the same rule. “If I see two people sticking their tongues down each other’s throats or anything even remotely similar, I take that as an invitation to smash their heads together.”

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11 — What is your ideal first date?

“God, I haven’t gone on a first date in two decades, how should I know?” It’s been so damn long that she doesn’t even know what people do for first dates anymore. Honestly, she’s kind of thankful she doesn’t have to deal with that shit. A first date seems painfully awkward. “Of course, I’d probably like to be wined and dined somewhere very expensive. Who wouldn’t?”

12 — Which is worse — a physical affair or an emotional affair?

“An emotional affair would be much worse.” Reina would know, she’s had plenty of experience with her husband’s wandering penis. Physical is just… his dick slipped, whatever. Reina hates it but she’s so used to it by now that it barely phases her. An emotional affair would mean she’s not good enough, though, and that would probably kill her to find out about.

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14 — What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship? & 16…Diamonds, chocolate, or flowers?

Answered & answered!

21 — Romantic or platonic love?

“Neither,” comes a scoff, because clearly the L word is a sore subject. Reina would obviously pick platonic if she wasn’t so… Reina. She’s got so many good platonic relationships in her life, and of course she loves all of them in her own weird way. She’ll never say it but she loves Miles, who she treats better than her own sons let’s be honest, and she loves Cleo, who’s been slowly worming her way into Reina’s heart for the past few years. And she loves Rory, who’s probably the only person she’d outwardly call a friend and is the closest thing to a brother she’ll ever get. It’s a short list and it’s difficult to get on, but platonic love is in Reina’s wheelhouse despite what she claims.

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16 — Diamonds, chocolate, or flowers?

“Diamonds.” The answer comes to her immediately, she doesn’t hesitate before spilling the word from her lips. Would she really be Reina if she said anything other than that? “Always diamonds. What kind of question is this?”

17 — Which do you agree with? Love should always feel comfortable, or love should always feel new and exciting? & 18 — What’s your favorite love song?

Answered & answered!

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18 — What’s your favorite love song?

“Oh, God. Ew.” A love song sounds like something that’d be played over and over in Reina’s own personal version of hell. She hates shit like that, anything sentimental enough to be called a love song sounds terrible to her. There is some music she listens to that could be considered lovey-dovey if you really think hard about it, though. “Maybe Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. Or anything by Maroon 5. Adam Levine’s voice is my favorite love song.” Clearly, someone’s got a crush.

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14 — What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship?

Answered!

17 — Which do you agree with? Love should always feel comfortable, or love should always feel new and exciting?

That question earns a well deserved eye roll. “Nothing worth doing is ever comfortable.” God, where would Reina be in life if she cared about comfort over excitement? Probably in some suburb knitting until her fingers bleed and she dies of boredom. She may have settled down a bit since moving to the island but she’s not dull enough to prefer being comfortably in love over anything. “Comfortable is just a word sad people use to make themselves feel better about being boring.”

27 — “You’re family — no questions asked.”

They’re in Reina’s kitchen, with Cleo sitting on a barstool talking the brunette’s ear off as she actually attempts to prepare dinner for once in her life. The nanny’s taken a day off and she’s trying to focus so her kids don’t fucking starve to death, but it’s difficult when she’s in the presence of a woman sitting across from her who won’t shut up. Cleo’s been going on and on for what feels like hours, ranting and raving about Evelyn’s latest attempt to ruin her life. Reina’s happy to let her do it even if she’s mostly tuning it out, but the end of Cleo’s rant takes Reina by surprise and she stalls what she’s doing briefly, knife hovering over the vegetables she’s in the midst of chopping as her brain computes what’s just been said to her. “Oh, Christ,” she says, giving an eye roll. The sentiment is almost gag-worthy and Reina looks up briefly from the vegetables to fix the blonde with a look that screams ‘really?’ “Don’t get fucking sappy on me, Cleo.” 

Despite her disdain for feelings, however, she knows Cleo’s just had a tough day. It can’t be easy to have a mother who constantly wears on your self esteem and Reina understands the need for acceptance and family, she really does. It’s not usually in her nature to comfort Cleo, that’s not how they work, but Reina can see that the younger woman needs some kind of reassurance that she’s not alone in the world and for just this moment, she’s willing to give her that. “You’re family too, despite what Miles says,” she confirms, looking back down to continue chopping so things don’t get too overly emotional. That’s never been her style. “Always.” @cleohalliwell

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6 — What makes you fall out of love?

Reina will swear up and down she’s never been in love, so she doesn’t know what would make her fall out of love. Her husband’s been a piece of shit to her for twenty-two years and she still hasn’t left him yet, so that should say enough about what she’s willing to put up with. There’s maybe one thing that’d get her to go. “Poverty.”

14 — What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship?

Once again, how her marriage has withstood the test of time is beyond Reina, but it mainly has everything to do with money. Besides that, though, she can admit that when she and Jason are good, they’re really good. It’s rare, but it happens. “It’s important to remember that a relationship is, above all, a partnership.” No matter what’s happened, the one great thing that remains true about her marriage is that she always has a say when it comes to the business side of things. She and her husband make a great team when it comes to illegal activity.

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19 — Where is the most romantic place on earth?

Well, that’s easy. “Rodeo Drive.” She’s joking, kind of. Really, it’s her favorite place in the world considering it’s got all of her favorite stores right in a fucking row. To Reina, romance is disgusting, but there’s one place she might consider romantic if she absolutely had no choice. “We used to have a lake house we’d go to. That was always nice.”

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20 — What do you look for in a partner?

“Money,” she snorts. It’s the easy answer, one she’s never been shy to give. She’s not ashamed of how shallow that is, and anyone who knows her knows that she didn’t marry her husband for love. Aside from that, though, there are a few other things she prefers to find in a partner. “Power. And strength. I don’t like wishy-washy, I want someone steady and sure. I’ve never been attracted to a man who doesn’t know what he wants.” And someone who can put up with her crazy, but she’s not about to admit that there’s even any crazy to put up with in the first place.

29 — “This is the worst Valentine’s Day ever.”

At Arthur’s downright crabby statement, Reina’s eyes roll so far back into her head she swears she can see her brain. “Aw, Arty,” she retorts, giving the man a fake pout. “Are you upset you can’t find a woman that’ll put up with your attitude?” Harsh, maybe, but she and Arthur haven’t exactly gotten off on the right foot. He’s way too cocky for her tastes and truth be told, she likes the thought of knocking him down a few pegs. The fact that he quite literally works for her just makes it all the more satisfying.

Cocking her head to the side, Reina smiles, though there’s not an ounce of sweetness behind the curve of her lips. “You know, I’ve heard there are a ton of high class hookers in LA just waiting for some lonely sucker like you. You could always just pay to get your dick sucked.” @arthurkanemoto

It was a greeting that Paul was familiar with around these parts now. It had a year or so before anyone had started to use it, but once he found himself comfortable at the office he worked at and got to know the people around Catalina more, it would happen frequently, in bars, in the grocery store, when he headed to the gym on the odd occasion the weather wouldn’t allow him to hit up the trails. Nowadays it was as common as his actual name. When he glanced up to see Reina’s, though, he offered her a smile, a smile that became a laugh as she continued. 

“Maybe so, but one every now and again doesn’t hurt, especially after a guy’s just done a ten mile hike,” he answered her with a shrug, holding out his hands for a moment. “Let me off just this once?” Pastries weren’t exactly his biggest guilty pleasure anyway, he had plenty more that other people didn’t really know about and he didn’t go out of his way to advertise —- no, they only knew about those if they happened upon him when he was having a really bad day.

Reina’s never been one to let anyone off easy, and she’d be more than happy to poke fun at the unhealthy doctor thing just a little more, but Paul’s explanation for his pastry craving has Reina looking at him on disbelief. “Ten miles? Fuck,” she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust. It’s not so much at the prospect of exercise that has her grossed out as it is to the thought of being outdoors for so long. Reina’s never tried hiking, but she’s fairly certain she’d fucking hate it if she did. 

Still, ten miles doing anything is pretty impressive regardless of her distaste for nature, and she can appreciate the effort. “Eat all the carbs you want in that case. Who the hell am I to judge?” Giving him a once over, Reina pauses, doing everything she can to hold herself back from physically wincing at the man’s choice of attire. That doesn’t mean she’s not going to comment, though — she’s never claimed to be a saint. “I guess that explains why you look like a boy scout.”

LONELY HEARTS CLUB. tagging | @reinarhodes​ (FLASHBACK)

It had been a lonely six months since Miles had packed up his shit and followed his pseudo mother halfway across the country to Catalina Island. Was he worried for the affairs left unattended? Of course. But he had bigger concerns, like Reina refusing to leave the house and just go out. There was something to be said about cabin fever, and Miles did have a proclivity for boredom and doing dangerous things. 

Knocking once curtly, he nudged the door open and leaned against the frame, resisting the urge to shake his head at the sorry state of the room, and his mother. “You look like shit, Ma.” He casually observed, not daring to step inside the dungeon of darkness she had seemingly exiled herself too. “It’s Valentine’s Day. I thought you’d have some big plans, like….I dunno, calling Da or something.” 

As has been the usual for the past few months, Reina’s been taking up occupancy in her bed for God only knows how long. And not for the first time, Miles has managed to piss her off just with his presence at her door. Reina doesn’t move when he nudges the door open, she simply narrows her eyes at the sudden source of light before sneering in his direction. “Fuck off, Miles.” Deep down somewhere she knows he’s just making sure she’s okay, but a big part of Reina wishes he’d just leave her the fuck alone. Surprisingly, though, another part of her doesn’t actually want him to go anywhere.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean much to her but this is the first time in seventeen years she’s spent it alone, and it doesn’t exactly feel great. “I can’t call him. You know that.” Or maybe he doesn’t. Reina hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about the details of their situation, but she ditched their old phones as soon as she got the text that they needed to go and it’s not like it’d be a great idea to try getting in contact with her husband anyway. She’s not even sure if she can, she’s not even sure if he’s alive and able to pick up the phone. There’s so much unknown surrounding the past few months that it makes her head spin, which is why she’d rather sit in her room in silence than face reality. 

The woman doesn’t even seem to flinch, but Samuel’s had too many years of negotiations and business deals under his belt. He sees that hard line of her shoulders. No, she understands damn well what he’s suggesting, he thinks. And when she sits back in her chair, he figures he might as well make it abundantly clear.

“If they found me so easily, then they can find you too.”

There it is. That’s the real meat of this, the fact that they have a common enemy. He doesn’t know much about the Rhodes family besides what he’d gleaned from listening to de Santo say and a little poking around online, but he knows enough to understand that they were powerful enough, in their own time. That they had enemies. That those enemies have unfinished business. “Your family was in the paper to celebrate the opening of this restaurant. You, your husband. Two little girls.” And if Samuel could see it, so could de Santo.

He leans forward, tenting his hands, and holds her gaze. “We both…have a reason to remove a threat from our lives, wouldn’t you say?”

Finally, Samuel says what she’s been waiting to hear, the whole purpose of his visit to her restaurant. His enemy is hers too, they’ve finally come to that understanding, but that doesn’t mean she’s on board with him just yet — especially not after he brings up her family, and her temper immediately flares. “Don’t ever mention my daughter again or you will regret it. You’re treading on very thin ice here.” Reina means that wholeheartedly. He’s the one that came to her, not the other way around, and if he’s going to try to sway her helping hand in his direction, that’s not the way to do it.

Reina can see the scare tactic for what it is, clear as day and dangled right in front of her face. He’s basically telling her that the de Santos know where she is, that they’ll be after her family soon enough, and while that’s completely plausible, Reina’s not totally buying it. “Who’s to say they’re even looking for me, Samuel? We’ve been laying low, minding our own business. You’re not here because you’re concerned for me, you’re here because you need my help,” she says, stating the obvious at this point. “And my help doesn’t come cheap.”

There were a million things Noah could say to that - fear being a motivator - but he wasn’t a fool, and he knew that letting even just one thing slip from his mouth could get him fired. Yeah, fear was fun, if the other person was into it. Danger was fun. God knew he’d played with his fair share of interesting scenes. But Reina likely didn’t need to know a thing about them.

He did, however, let a little smirk sneak through even as he glanced away, letting it read all over his face that his thoughts weren’t the most appropriate.

“Well, even if I was gonna make a move, I don’t fuck around with jealous guys, so.” Jealousy was poison. It wasn’t a character trait, as far as Noah was concerned, but an excuse, or a warning sign that something else was boiling under the surface. If this lady’s husband was jealous, then likely he had some distant fear of abandonment or being replaced, and that meant a little twink like Noah would end up getting his face punched in probably just for looking at her. Bastard. Not for the first time, his opinionated mind flew hard and fast through judgment - all which quickly melted away when she mentioned needing a pool boy.

Noah blinked at her, everything else forgotten. “You’re shitting me. That’s not really a thing that people have anymore, is it? Outside of…erotic entertainment?” Somehow that didn’t feel better than saying porn, but it made him grin wider anyway.

Jealous is a little bit of an understatement when it comes to describing both Reina and her husband but she doesn’t elaborate on that, instead she grants him the point with a tilt of her head. “Smart kid.” Noah doesn’t exactly seem like the type that’d fare well in a physical altercation, so she can’t imagine he’d do too well in a fight against a guy who’s pissed at him for getting a little too friendly. Then again, being underestimated is a gift, and there could be more to the kid than she assumes there is. 

Reina’s not sure whether to be amused or baffled that Noah really thinks pool boys only exist in porn, and she cocks an eyebrow in disbelief. “Of course that’s a thing people have,” she scoffs. “Do you honestly think I clean the bugs out of my pool myself? Please.” The most labor Reina’s ever done around her home is pull a weed from the ground, and even then she was disgusted to have been so close to dirt and vowed to never do such a horrendous task again. Cleaning her own pool is obviously a no-go for her. “All you’d have to do is clean my pool, get me wine, and tell me how pretty I am. Sounds like a fantastic deal to me.”

special delivery for → @reinarhodes​ location: catalina island country club time: wednesday 12th february, 2pm

“What the fuck is all of this?” The brunette uttered to no one in particular. It was supposed to be a swift task. Evelyn Halliwell had been nagging at her to return the jewellery Ava borrowed for the masquerade ball. With the weekend after the event being spent at home trying to cure her hangover and the rest of the week spent being busy at the funeral home, she had simply just forgotten the expensive jewellery remained resting on her bedside table for the past two weeks. Although the mass texts from her step-mother was enough to drive her crazy, which was why she decided to return them on her day off from work today. This was supposed to be no more than five minutes, perhaps exchanging pleasantries with whomever Evelyn decided to hang out with today, but then she would be on her merry way back to freedom. Instead, she found herself entering into the country club with cameras and lights scattered everywhere. To make things worse, when she spotted her step-mother and handed over the velvet box, someone from the camera crew decided to thrust a camera in her face too. Ducking away from the camera immediately as the older Halliwell attempted to pull her into the room, trying to introduce her to the camera crew, Ava wiggled out of her grip and rushed away before she even allowed herself a chance to even question what was happening. She would find out later, via texts or something that didn’t require any unwarranted attention on her. “Get that camera away from me,” Groaning, the brunette covered her face as she weaved her way out of the room, almost bumping into someone in the process without even looking. “Oh— sorry,” She finally dropped her hand, turning behind to find that there was no more cameras within her proximity anymore, before turning back to the figure she nearly just bumped into. “Reina?” Recognition dawned on her from their last interaction at the bar. “Fancy seeing you here,” She started, a small smile stretched across her features, although still feeling flustered by what she just witnessed. “I wouldn’t head in there if I were you, it’s madness in there.”

Even for Reina, the vast amount of crew and lighting in the country club is a lot to take in. She’s still getting used to all of it, and having a camera suddenly shoved in her face the moment she gets to her filming location hasn’t exactly been an easy transition. Of course, she’s not about to let any of these fuckers near her without getting her hair and makeup done first, which is why she’s running a tad late to her ‘lunch with Evelyn’. Truthfully, she’s been dreading the whole ordeal and doesn’t really want to be there at all, but she’s got a job to do and quite frankly, spending an afternoon berating Evelyn Halliwell just because it’s expected of her doesn’t sound all that bad. She’s rushing into the country club, looking more at her phone than what’s in front of her and it’s a miracle when she doesn’t completely smash into someone coming out of the room she’s about to walk into to film her entrance. The near collision has her fuming but when she looks up sharply with a heated look in her eye, the fire’s all but put out when she takes note of her almost-victim and the call of her name. If it were anyone else, Reina would be chastising them within an inch of their life, but her recent encounter with Ava at the bar saved the other woman’s ass from a proper dressing down. “Ava, right?” Reina looks the woman up and down, a hint of a smile gracing her lips as she realizes Ava must be completely unaware of what the fuck’s going on here today. “I’m afraid I don’t have a choice, I’ve got a 2 o’clock call time. Can’t miss lunch with my good friend Evelyn.” The sarcasm in her tone is evident with the slight raise of her eyebrows that’s followed by an eye roll, and Reina spares a glance for the inside of the room where Evelyn is surely waiting for her before looking back to Ava. “What are you doing here? I was told they closed to the general public so we could film.”

The euphoric bliss Dahlia always endured after her soccer events or, in the later years as the involvement of going to the gym became a moment to mirth, it was how she fell in love with the idea of owning her own studio. Traveling abroad did wonders for the Lyon twin. The first adventure started off in Crema, Italy, taking two weeks to spend time with her elder grandmother, who thrived in the Italian commune, who spoke fluently and basically ran the whole locale. The visit was reassuring after the catastrophe of news that shaped her entire world, this experience was an opportunity to grow further cultured and take time to heal herself. An assortment of cities were ticked off one after another ─ Lake Como, Florence, Madrid, Prague, just to name a few. It was a yoga retreat in Portugal which shifted her into this new state of awareness and uniformity with her mind and body. It had stuck to her like glue. Now, after all of these years of traveling before returning back to the isle and getting a job at the local yoga studio, which later became her own business, all of her hard-earned investments placed into the community Dahlia worked tirelessly upon, to the point where everything just surprisingly made sense. Working in the medical field wasn’t suited for her. Even with the immense growing dust upon both Yale diplomas, as they further proceeded to occupy space on her sandy painted walls in her office, it was all about getting into the school rather than putting the education to use. Whilst some people disapproved of her life choice, both of her fathers and sister stood by it because it was her life and her conditions to putting herself into an atmosphere where she’d most likely be spending an enormous amount of time as the years advanced on.  As her love for Little Sprout further blossomed, new methods of expanding her brand and her ability as a business owner flourished to a brand new line of athletic wear. Little Sprout and Co. An idea, which circulated her mind after the business’ first year anniversary, into giving woman affordable yet eco-friendly clothing wear that breathed and did not stick to your body during this vigorous hour-long classes. It always brought Dahlia high spirits witnessing familiar faces come into the studio and ready to tackle the day. If anything, it put all of her worries aside on people getting bored and never showing face. But, they kept coming back. Reina get coming back and it elevated her well being. As a merciful, soul hitting Yoga soundtrack from Spotify played faintly in the background, a peony aroma candle lit on the check-in counter danced effortlessly to the sounds flowing through and greeting those ready for the morning. A gentle laugh escaped off her lips, “Trust me, I do. Brand new week, it’s time to work off anything from the weekend as we…. kick ass.” Leaning slightly, the later of her words darted off in a whisper, typically not using it to describe how to tackle the week but at the moment, it felt ideal. “What’s been going on with Iris and Eve? Drama or just too much paperwork?” Angelic tone questioned. In the past few weeks, the stygian tressed female in a high up-do visited the establishment in awe at the wonder brought to Catalina. It was in return showing the support that Reina had given to her business. “Do you think it could be the location and the employees?” Not that she knew anything about the line of owning a restaurant. The woman heard a grand ordeal from her father, but even then, it was a slight mush. “My dad owns a restaurant if you ever want to pick at his ear and get pointers. I’m sure he’ll be great with pointers.” She suggested. “But don’t worry, we’ll do some moves to release those upper knots. I have it all planned out for us.” 

Dark brows shoot up as Dahlia leans in to whisper the words kick ass, which is a phrase Reina has never in her life felt the need to filter — and she’s kicked plenty of asses, although more-so in the literal sense than what Dahlia is referring to. This is where the two of them differ so drastically, Dahlia’s practically a fucking martian to the older woman and yet for some reason, Reina likes her. And it’s a feat, because Reina doesn’t really like anyone. There’s just something about Dahlia’s energy that puts her mind at ease. When Iris & Eve comes up, Reina waves her hand, dismissing any problems Dahlia might think they’re having with the restaurant. “Oh — no, no. It isn’t anything like that, my staff’s fine. Thing are just crazy over there. Every time I step foot in the place I feel like my head’s about to explode.” Even if things were going wrong, Reina would rather set herself on fire than tell anyone that. They really are doing great, though, which is exactly why she’s wearing herself so thin. A thriving restaurant means a busy schedule and Reina’s dreading the day things stress her out enough to give her wrinkles or worse, grey hair. “It’s good that it’s busy but my God, it’s so fucking stressful.”

Of course, there’s no owning a business without unsolicited advice flying her way and she’s not entirely surprised when the other woman feeds her some shit about her father and his restaurant, and Reina has to really fight the urge to roll her eyes. She’s sure Dahlia means well, in fact she’s sure Dahlia’s never meant anything but well, but Reina’s really not fucking interested. “I’m sure your father’s great but I think we’ve got it covered, thank you. I’ve done this before a time or two.” Or thirty, but who’s counting. The promise of a good workout keeps her from getting too irritable, however, and she’s quickly able to turn her attitude around and keep herself from completely snapping at Dahlia. “You’re a saint, sweetheart. I want to come out of here feeling like overly stretched rubber band, nothing less.”