rosie

“Here you go,” he spoke and handed her the phone. “I’ll give you alcohol, as soon as you delete every single photo of him on your phone. Come on. You need to do it.” It’s what Phoenix had done when he had broken up with his ex-girlfriend a year ago. He deleted everything about her - made sure there was no way of him to hear about her or whatnot. “Neither of them deserve you to sit around and mope. They don’t deserve you to be sad. It’s their loss, not yours.”

      Rosie slowly took her phone from him slowly scrolling through it with a small sigh. She could feel tears in her bambi eyes. Rosie couldn’t even think about deleting the pictures she had of Max, there were just so many. “That’ll take hours.” She explained with a small sniff before opening her camera with a loud sigh. “Smile.” Her voice was flat and emotionless “You’re gonna be my new background.” She told him simply before taking a picture of the blond a small laugh emitting from her. “Can I please have a drink now?”

mitzgerald’s 5 minutes of happiness in s2

“ – Holy shit!” Phoenix looked at the blonde and moved a hand to his mouth. “Shit. Fuck, that’s – Wow. That’s a dick move. By both of them.” He felt his chest tighten slightly, as her situation was quite similar to what he had gone through with one of his best friends being in a relationship with his ex-girlfriend, while she was still dating him. Phoenix narrowed his eyes slightly when Rose spoke about how he was gorgeous and he tightened the arms across his chest, feeling his forearms press against them. He swallowed as he listened to Rosie and Max’s story - about how they had met when they were thirteen - and how he had kept his distance at first, until he had asked her out after six years had gone by. “You went out with that idiot? Really? Even after, like.. He didn’t go out with you for six years and then suddenly he thought you were good enough? That’s insane.” Phoenix shook his head and frowned as she continued to speak about how she had walked in on her sister and him about to do it in her bed. This was ridiculous. When she pulled out her phone, she showed a picture of a male with a giraffe. He’s so cute. And look how cute that giraffe is. Phoenix looked at the screen then glanced at the blonde. “You know what? I’m sorry, but you’re still friends with him on Facebook? This – No, give me your phone.” He held out his hand, knowing it was a weird thing to ask a stranger. “Come on.”

     “Yeah. I did.” She muttered, remembering the day Max asked her out as if it was yesterday, a fond smile broke out on her lips before she sighed “Because I loved him and love is a bitch.” Rosie stated simply as she took another sip of her water. A slightly pained expression appeared on her face when he held out his hand, she shook her head a little. “Phoenix.” She read off his name tag “I don’t think I’m ready.” She whispered glancing at her phone then the male before admitting “He’s still my home screen.” That was what made her shove the phone into his hand. Rosie’s small hands covered her eyes, she knew someone was going to have to rip the Max bandaid off but she never would’ve guessed it would’ve been a bartender. “Are you done?” She asked keeping her hands over her eyes with small sigh, “Can you give me alcohol now? Pretty please?”

Okay, so I can talk about your day and you’ll listen? Phoenix smiled and nodded. “Basically, yeah,” he responded and grinned widely at the blonde as she requested ice in the drink. He bent down, grabbed some of the ice and put it in the glass, before pushing it forward so she could take it. “Now, go on,” he spoke and hummed, while leaning back against the counter behind him, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for her to begin speaking. “Wait… Your little sister was at the zoo with your ex-boyfriend?” he asked, slightly confused. Then, when she spoke about a giraffe, he furrowed his brows even more. “Okay, so wait a minute, hold the fuck up,” he stepped forward, pressing his hands against the top of the counter while looking at the girl, whom he had caught the name of as Rosie, when looking at the I.D she had handed him earlier. “Why are you breaking down over seeing him with a giraffe? I’m at a loss for words, to be honest.”

     “My little sister is fucking my ex-boyfriend.” She explained taking the water and taking a long sip through the straw sniffing a bit. Rosie sighed softly, this man didn’t know her, she would have to tell him the full story. The blond sighed heavily as she looked at the male. “His name is Max and he’s gorgeous. He’s tall, built, and his eyelashes are so beautiful. Anyway, I met him when we were 13 and instantly I just knew he was the one I wanted to be with forever.” A dry laugh left her lips as she mindlessly played with her straw “Max didn’t want to ruin our friendship though so he acted like I wasn’t madly in love with him, I don’t know why boys do that it’s so stupid, anyway this went on for six years. Until one day he asked me out, we started dating and it was so great. I was so happy and I thought he was too but––” The blond looked up from the drink to her makeshift therapist “I found him and my sister about to fuck on my bed. Of all places they could’ve done it they did it on my bed.” A small sniff emitting from the girl, she was tired of crying over this. “Currently my sister and Max are in a relationship. It kills me inside and when I saw him with my favorite animal I guess it was just too much.” She muttered with another shrug with a swallow. Rose shrugged a bit once again before pulling up the picture of a handsome boy with a giraffe a gentle smile on her lips, “He’s so cute...And look how  cute that giraffe.”

“ – You don’t look young, you act younger, babe. Big difference.” Phoenix grinned and took the piece of plastic, looking down at the photo and where it said that she was twenty-one. Looking up, he studied the blonde and then down at the card, laughing when she said that he sounded like a therapist. “Well, I am a bartender, aren’t I? Doesn’t that kind of imply me having to be one? Isn’t it written down somewhere that bartenders and taxi drives have to be like therapists? If it wasn’t for us, listening to a lot of peoples crap, I’m pretty sure we’d either have a hell of a lot more suicides or murders happening around here.” Grinning, he handed the blonde her card and nodded his head as he reached down for what she had asked for. “You want ice?”

      “I act like a mature adult who deserves a drink.” She replied simply her features breaking out on her sweet features. Her dainty hands took the card from him sweetly before sliding it back in her bag. “Okay…So I can talk about my day and you’ll listen?” She questioned raising a brow. The small blond nodded at his question "Yes please." She answered tapping her fingers on the bar. "So I was on FaceBook right? And I see my little sister with the love of my life at the zoo." Rosie could feel her emotions resurfacing at the thought of Max "And there was this picture of him with a giraffe and–" she shrugged her little shoulders digging in her bag pulling out a little plastic container of tissues to dab the corner of her eyes "and it just triggered me and I had a breakdown. Right there in my dorm." She muttered. She let out a small bitter laugh nodding a little at her story "All because of a picture of him with a giraffe."

Phoenix looked at the blonde, eyebrows raised as he noticed how she swallowed back on what was probably a lump in her throat. “What you get when you want to forget your entire day?” he said and laughed as he walked forward, leaning his forearms against the top of the counter while looking at the blonde who seemed to not be actually of age. “First of all, you need to show me an I.D. And not a fake one. Remember, I know the difference between them - I’ve worked here for two years. We get sent on courses, so.. If you want to forget your entire day, I suggest you go to sleep, darling. That way, you’ll have a new day waiting for you.”

         Rosie simply rolled her eyes pulling out her purse digging in the bag with a small sigh. “Do I look that young to you?” She teased handing him the piece of plastic, she was turning twenty-one in a few weeks so this wasn’t a big deal, right? The girl rolled her eyes again with a small laugh “You sound like a therapist.” she grumbled resting her cheek on her palm sighing softly as she ran a hand through her blond hair, “Can I just get pretzels and water? Pretty please?”

Phoenix was talking to one of his co-workers, about his week off work which he had spent in his childhood home of Santa Barbara visiting an old friend, having only gotten home the day before, when suddenly the bell above the front door rang throughout the room, signalizing that a new customer had entered the building. Nodding his head at Andrew, letting him know they’d continue their conversation later, Phoenix walked over and grinned that award winning smile as he threw the slightly damp cloth over his right hower, “Hey! Can I get you anything?”

        Rosie was underaged but not according to her fake I.D. Now Rosie only had the fake I.D to get her into a club with her friends, she never really used it after that but now felt like a perfect time to use it. The blond looked at the bartender swallowing the lump in her throat before giving him a sweet smile. “I don’t know what I want actually.” She shrugged a bit looking at the tall man behind the counter.  “What do you get when you want to forget you entire day?”

@carlsonyoung: I mean yeah obviously we would do this #hawwwwlywoodlife #amiright #playinitcool

“Of course, yes, thank you so much, I owe you,” she gently took the phone, sitting next to the other girl and quickly typing Wylie’s number. It only took her a second to explain where she was so late at night without any means to get home, and she only hung up when Wylie agreed to come and get her. Laney returns the phone to the girl, grateful. “Thank you so much,” she answers with a sigh of relief. “Honestly, I owe you my life, I’d be walking 30 blocks home in the rain, at night in the city right now, so you basically just saved my life.” 

      Rosie simply nodded playing with her perfectly manicured nails waiting for the girl to finish her call. The blond gave her a sweet smile nodding a little with a quiet laugh, talking to people wasn’t exactly her strong point. “It’s no problem.” She smiled with a small shrug as she took her phone back. Rose cringed a little at the thought of this small women walking alone in the city at night while it rained. “I couldn’t let someone as small as you go walking around this city.” She teased playfully before putting her dainty hand out to her “I’m Rosie. Pleasure to save your life.”

    Rosie looked up from her phone then around with a small swallow. “Uh...Yeah. Just––” She moved her dance bag off the chair she was sitting on patting the spot beside her as she eyed the girl idly. “Sit next to me while you call.” She explained holding out her phone.

      Duncan smiled at the girl across the table. “I won’t lie, the only Swan Lake i’ve seen is the barbie one, it’s Fay’s favorite,” he says idly, looking down at the two year old beside him, who’s sleeping peacefully beneath his jacket on the booth, “You’ll do fine, seriously, I have no doubt you’ll…..rock it.”

     “I love that Barbie movie.” She stated quietly a bright smile on her face, she kept her voice low for the little girl across from her. Rosie looked at the little girl adoringly with a happy smile, “You’re too kind but there is this russian girl who can do like forty pirouettes.” she sighed sipping her coffee once again. “How is she?” She asked quietly with a small smile.