Streets of Gold;

he tried to settle and not think about rita on her date, he really did. however his brain had decided to torture him and he found himself sitting on the couch, trying to watch a movie while he waited on his roommate to return home safe. he must've dozed off at some point thanks to the sound of what he could only describe as a one woman marching band waking him up with all her clattering around.

"i am totally cool and breezy, thank you for asking," she replied, imagining that she'd sounded extremely sober and not at all merry, shall we say? "oh my god, yes. is that- can we do that? i would love to do that!" suddenly, she was so far from cool-and-breezy it was laughable. rita stumbled a little towards him, steadying herself with his convenient and arguably broad shoulders.

"It's nice to meet you Rita," Anna grinned. "You're friends with Misty too? Maybe we should all hang out sometime as a group!" With that question, Anna couldn't hold back from over-explaining any longer. "Yeah, he is... but he was my boyfriend first," she replied. "I worked there first, because it's a family business. I thought it was a great idea since I would be able to see him every day so I begged my sister to hire him."

"Pleasure's all mine," she chuckled. Rita pondered her question for a hot minute, concluding that any gorgeous girl she'd made out with should be considered a friend. "Yeah, that sounds like fun. You seem like you'd be pretty good at sorting out that kinda thing, too." Rita's brows headed into her hairline as Anna starting spilling her guts about her ex - Hans - and Rita started to fill in some of the blanks. You couldn't move for Hans-and-Lottie fluffing it up in this town now. Probably not a great point to bring up.

"it does seem to be paying off since i moved here" she smiled and nodded her head "lovely to meet you rita, i'm belle. i'll keep that in mind, what's the code word we're sticking to?"

"you can never go wrong with a good book. bonus if it's a little smutty," she grinned. "aw, thanks, beautiful. lovely to meet you too and what a way to meet, huh? great question. i feel like we should keep it food themed... marinara sauce? or is that too big a mouthful?"

"it's okay, rita. it's just the tag" she reassured her and tucked the tag back in "there, all fixed"

"thanks, janey. you've saved my life if not the whole day. can i buy you a cup of coffee?" she offered, pausing while a grin pulled onto her face- "or a stiff drink."

Ariana blinked at the sudden question, giving the shirt a quick once-over before biting back a smile.

"Well, shit," Rita laughed, running her fingers over the side of the shirt for more telltale evidence she was totally inside out.

belle blushed at the compliment casually tossed her way. she turned to look at the restaurant that was advertising the single mingle lunch. she did want to get out to meet new people and no better time like the present "free focaccia you say...you know what? sure, why not. life is about stepping outside your comfort zone, or so i've read"

"sounds like a good book you've had your nose in," she grinned. listen, the focaccia looked really damn good. almost as good as her. "i'm rita, by the way. we should probably be on a first name basis in case they quiz us. if we get separated at any time, just shout the code word and i'll come running."

"talk about something that is already the talk of the town? sure, why not. i guess we can start with what you'd heard and we go from there"

"gossip is gossip, vic. pouring your heart out over too many beers with a friend is cathartic. usually. i heard that you and babette broke up. and you're really dragging out the reunion this time."

"There's just something about a loud, crowded room that really stimulates all of my senses," she explained. "It makes me happy!" Anna bopped her head to the music. "No I came alone," she said. "My apartment is nearby so I just walked here. My sister is at Town Hall but I figured this would be more fun. I did see my new friend, Misty. I'm going to teach her how ice skate soon!"

"Good, I'm glad," Rita chuckled, unable to stop herself from grinning at her happy-go-lucky vibe. It was undeniably infectious. Rita nodded along, opening and closing her mouth as she continued to talk excitedly. "Well, I hope you're having a ball. And hey, you know me now too. I'm Rita-," she added, saluting her- "Nice to officially meet you, sweets. Misty's definitely the kinda friend you want to have in your corner. I can just picture you both on the ice, you'll have to let me know how it goes."

outside of his family, rita had done well to get into his good books. she didn't start shit, she kept patrick in line and more importantly, she knew better than to keep him waiting for a drink. "fine. how's things in here? have you seen that son of mine?"

"everything's runnin' smoothly, especially for this time of night. you know we wouldn't let any of these knuckleheads step out of line," she added. most customers behaved at mount olympus but everyone behaved when hayden bodaway was there in person. "paxton, no. but i could take a guess on where he is-," they all could- "patrick's at home, last i checked. counting his blessings," she joked. "how's persephone and the kids?"

"i'll see what i can do for you, rita, but she really is on her last legs. there's only so much welding and bolting can do." he sighed inspecting the car. one of the handles coming off the door "see? it shouldn't do that. leave it with me and i'll see what i can do. i'll try my best for you, okay? but keep those expectations realistic"

"oh, shit," she gasped, covering her mouth to hold back a laugh. what truly terribly timing, here she was trying to plead for her baby's life and she was embarrassing her! "see, the thing is... this is how much i believe in you, guido. you're a miracle worker, are you not? thank you, i appreciate it. i'll try to keep it together, babe. much like you will with this old gal. how have you been anyways?"

a smarter man would try and talk her out of going on a date with someone who was so beneath them, but instead patrick stood there with his mouth gaping like a fish after he was gifted with a kiss on his cheek from his roommate. "o-uh- yeah sure." he managed to stumble through while he tried to compose himself "be safe! if you need picked up drop me a text!" he called out to her leaving, the door clicking shut and all he was left with was a burning cheek, silence, and a soggy bowl of cereal.

so... the date was not good.

it took a great amount of restraint for him to step away from her after he had finished zipping up her dress. seeing her struggle with the strap of her shoe, patrick crouched down and silently fastened the tiny buckle on the strap. he stood back up and returned to his cereal bowl"no fish in profile pictures, they're bad. i'll make note of that" not that he would be going on dating apps any time soon thanks to his current predicament with nagging feelings that were creeping up on him. "fish or not, he's still a loser and you're better than him"

rita opened then promptly closed her mouth as he crouched down, taking care of her heel as well. she didn't even have to ask. when he stood back up, she felt something stir in her chest. it was nothing, really. she was just... lucky to have him. "as you should. i think you'd do numbers on any dating app, babe. you are far too good to me, you know that?" she smiled, shaking her head. whatever she might have said next was lost as her phone buzzed. "oh, shit! that's flash outside. thanks for the assist-," she said, leaning over to plant a very quick kiss on his cheek before turning to leave. "be good, don't do anything i wouldn't do!"

"yeah, yeah, so i'll take a look under the hood and change out the tyres for you. anything else you want looked at while you've got your car in the shop?" he asked when he caught the car keys tossed to him.

"guido, i know that she's on her last legs, okay? i know. but i'm just not ready to let her go yet so you do what you've gotta to save her. if you need to give her a whole new heart, liver, kidneys... you do it. help me, obi wan mechanic-obi. you're my only hope."