the only constant in life is change

ŞADIYE “FITZ” FITZGERALD. PERSONAL TRAINER.

“Maybe we feel empty because we leave pieces of ourselves in everything we used to love.”

STARTER FOR: @sadiyefitz​ EXTRA: goldie’s cafe, a saturday, mid-afternoon

          as much as kennedy loved the whole aesthetic of being and working away at a cafe, the truth was, she didn’t do much of it — and if she did, she was more usually found at alley cat where the furry little workers provided ample distraction from anything she was supposed to be doing. in that regard, it’s probably a good thing she didn’t have homework to procrastinate anymore. there are moments when kennedy gets so absorbed into her work that her surroundings fade away into a hum of white noise : now is not such of time. she stares almost blankly at her laptop screen and the blinking cursor begging her to fill out a product description. instead she reaches for her now lukewarm but once iced latte to drink down the rest of it and casts a lazy eye around the cafe around her, passing quickly over others who are clearly hard at work, eventually settling on a woman all but slumped over the table in front of her — and like, mood.

          she needs a change of scenery maybe, and that has her beginning to pack up, stopping by the counter for another iced latte to go when she spots a man eyeing the still slumbering woman. kennedy liked to think she had a good intuition when it came to people, and right now her gut was telling her this wasn’t something positive.     “ make it for here, actually, please — ”     she tells the barista, swiping her credit card. soon enough, she has a new latte in hand and is making herself comfortable in the extra seat across from the other, pulling out her laptop again with an air of resignation. perhaps this was a sign that she really ought to keep working on her shop postings. if anyone noticed her get up ready to leave previously… well, hopefully they didn’t. kennedy takes a sip of her latte and buckles down ready to work. she’s unsure of how much time passes when the woman starts to stir, causing kennedy to pause in her typing, eyes flickering nervously toward her — she hadn’t actually thought this far in advance. she shifts her eyes intently back to her laptop screen, picking up her typing almost twice as fast.

✩ 

fitz was having a troublesome time getting used to the time difference between her hometown and ithaca, though it certainly didn’t help that she was still conversing with friends and family back home throughout the night when she was supposed to be sleeping, but.. her body still registered that time as daytime, so her sense of time had been muddled since her move. that was how she found herself dozed off with her cheek resting against her arms crossed on the table, but when boisterous laughter broke the quiet atmosphere of the coffee shop, she’d been startled awake and met with the presence of a stranger across from her at the table.

open starter ; daddy’s nightclub

As the music thundered below her, Valeria had taken solace in the rooftop that offered the slightest amount of peace that one could find in the midst of a nightclub. Even surrounded by a sea of people, she still managed to suffocated by her loneliness. “It’s funny,” she exhaled, though she didn’t dare look over at the person who’d decided to join her. “There’s so many people here and yet I don’t know a single person.” For someone who needed support, she’d picked the wrong part of the country to find it. “I guess that’s what I get when I move across the country thinking it’s the right choice.” No. That would have been going back with her family, yet the deed had already been done and she wasn’t going to back out now. “Are you from around here?”

✩ 

“unfortunately not,” fitz answered, though she was sure she could’ve answered with anything else and her accent would’ve given her away regardless of her admission. but she wasn’t unwelcome to the company, nor to the conversation, so she turned her attention from the view of the buildings making up downtown ithaca to meet the stranger’s gaze. “where’d you come from?” she wanted to ask why ithaca of all places, when the only reason she was there was for a specific person that she believed would be there, so.. maybe valeria was there for a special someone, too. “any specific reason that you’d choose this little town to escape to, of all places??”

“YOU WOULDN’T IMAGINE all the people who just drain you mentally.” The job wasn’t easy physically either but she had to listen to stupid pick up lines and watch drunk men try to pick up people. It was all a little sad and tired her out. So she decided that she would take a step away for a little bit. “It’s been better than the one I had yesterday so I can’t complain but not good enough that I’m willing to forego my smoke break. What about you? Having a fun night out?”

✩ 

“trust me, i don’t doubt that in the slightest,” fitz nodded in agreement and huffed out a laugh, taking another drag of her cigarette. she couldn’t imagine ever being a barman in her wildest dreams, she didn’t even want to think about the bullshit this girl came across every day. “you’re brave. i couldn’t deal with all of the men, to be honest,” she admitted. even being a soccer player- a woman in a man’s world, to most people, she’d come across plenty of men she wanted to throttle. “glad to hear it’s better than yesterday. i’d say my night is going.. quite alright, i suppose. got a free cig, met a lovely girl. not much to complain about, right?”

location: powerhouse gym closed: @quinnfitz​

It was one of those rare times that Taylor was barefaced, cheeks ruddy from the million years she’d just spent on the elliptical (okay, it’d only been 45 minutes, but her jelly legs said that it felt like a lifetime) with a sheen of sweat rapidly cooling on her skin. Her eyes were glued to her phone as she navigated through the locker room, scrolling down PowerHouse’s list of offered classes while kicking herself for not having her work schedule memorized. A mixed martial arts class was tempting, but the commitment was daunting. It took a few extra seconds of rifling through her gym bag to make her pause, gaze finally dragging away from the screen to peer in her locker. “What… Where –” Taylor pocketed her phone and started to sort through her stuff in earnest. Where was her wallet? Had she brought it out with her? But that wouldn’t make any sense. “Fuuuuuuck.” She exhaled the curse like a long hiss, yanking her bag out of the locker to turn and dump it on the bench behind her. Deodorant, a towel, dirty gym clothes… No wallet. “Hey,” she called out to the person nearest, catching their movement from the corner of her eye while shaking out an oversized t-shirt. “You haven’t seen anyone come in and out of here recently, have you? Maybe, like… skulking around?”

✩ 

fitz had only been working at powerhouse for about a week, just barely getting familiar with the lay of the land and learning the names of the few she’d started training already. it wasn’t too much work just yet, but she was ready for the pace to pick up and for her days to be jam packed. it’d come with time, though, she knew that much. she was leisurely making her way through the locker room after a personal training session with nothing but time to kill until her next appointment in an hour, when she was stopped by a voice calling out to her. with the question, she couldn’t help but cant her head to the side before realizing that they were probably only asking her because she worked there. “just ‘cause i’ve got a nametag, doesn’t mean i’ve been watching people come in and out,” fitz teased, a smile tugging at her lips as she let her body weight lean against the wall at her side as she crossed her arms over her chest. “did someone steal your clothes that you were supposed to put on after you washed up, like we’re in secondary school again?” she wasn’t sure why the thought had even come to mind, but it was enough to make her huff out a laugh. in any case, she was willing to offer her help in the case that something had happened. why exactly would someone ask if there’d been anyone sulking around? finally done with her teasing, she couldn’t help but give in to voicing the question on her mind, “why do you ask?”

“A TRUE ANGEL.” she said as she took the lighter from her and then began to light it up. At the suggestion return, she paused and thought about it for a moment before nodding her head slightly. “It would make you that.” She wasn’t going to give both and she wouldn’t call her that word but she knew that they used it rather nonchalantly in england. “Here’s a cig.” She handed her one. 

✩ 

fitz gave a laugh in response to her agreement of the question posed, and she certainly had respect for the girl for actually saying how she felt. “ta,” she thanked her for the cigarette, taking it and the lighter back to light it up. it’d been a bit of time since she last smoked, hadn’t done much since she tried her hand at quitting during her pregnancy.. but it still felt just as good. “hopefully you’re having a good shift? mid-shift cig break can’t be much of an indication towards it being very good, though.”

location: ithaca farmer’s market

when alexandria began fussing in the middle of fitz picking out some candles at the farmers market, trying to make her new house feel a little more like home, she wasn’t too worried. it was only when the cries broke out, the telltale sign that she was either hungry, tired, needed to be changed, or.. well, there were quite a few possibilities, and even after a year and a half of being a mother, it still never really made sense. there were different tells, other moms would say, different cries for each need, but fitz could never tell them apart. she worried that she was a bad mom, that even as she took alexandria into her arms and began rocking her, the baby could tell that she didn’t know how to make her feel better and started crying even harder.

— open starter / loco cantina / @ithacastarters​

“HEY, SORRY BABE,” Alaia said with a smile, turning towards a patron as she leaned on the outside of Loco. She was on shift behind the bar but she’d stepped out to have a cigarette, apart from the fact that her lighter was in her jacket which she’d left inside. 

“Do you have a lighter? I’ll get you a free drink once I go back inside.” That would likely be frowned upon but she’d use her tips to replace the money. At this point, it felt worth it. Double checking that she’d really forgotten it, she moved towards them and the group that lingered behind them in case they didn’t have one.

✩ 

“oh, ‘course i do,” quinn nodded, hand held out once she’d rummaged through the pockets of her jacket to grab the lighter she knew to be shoved somewhere for whenever she needed a smoke.. not that she ever actually carried cigarettes with her, usually relying on others since coming to ithaca; surprisingly, people were more polite in new york than they were in england. “mind sharing a cig in return, instead of the free drink? it’d make me a bit of a cunt to ask for both, wouldn’t it?”

location :  bar  argos  @  ten  pm 

status  :  open  to  everyone  <3 

@ithacastarters​

—  IT  WASN’T  THAT  lucie  was  bored  …  she  was  just  feeling  restless .  after  having  spent  one  too  many  nights  buried  to  the  neck  in  textbooks  about  medical  terminology ,  it  was  natural  for  the  blonde  to  have  accumulated  an  unhealthy  amount  of  pent  up  energy .  she  was  on  the  cusp  of  burning  fast  and  bright  which  eventually  led  her  to  visiting  the  local  bar .  “ so ,  tell  me … ”  lucie  began  casually  as  she  pressed  the  glass  of  apple  cider  beer  flush  against  her  lips .  “ when  was  the  last  time  you  played  a  drinking  game ? ”  her  feet  kicked  back  and  forth  from  her  seat  on  the  barstool ,  honey  eyes  bright  and  sparkling  and  curious  as  ever .  “ do  you  wanna  play  one  with  me ? ”

✩