silk chiffon.

Serafina paced as she waited for the photographer. This was a job that was unusual for Serafina. She was the one typically behind the camera taking rudimentary pictures of the homes she had restored or lovely little trinkets.

This time, Serafina would be in front of the camera as part of an advertisement. The idea of her face all around Maplebrook and other places made her cringe. The photographer had been eager to agree to the job, so Serafina was trying to ease her nerves with this knowledge.

And who really looked at advertisements any way? Serafina thought as she adjusted her cream blazer.

There was a quick rap at the door and Serafina walked through the extended front entry hallway to greet her.

"Hello! I'm Serafina Arden. You must be Lalita? It's so good to finally meet you!! Come in, come in!" Serafina rushed her very rehearsed easygoing greeting. She gestured for Lalita to come in. "Did you find the place okay? Is the lighting alright?" Serafina finally took a breath. "Forgive me, I'm all nerves."

So. Lots of pressure.

She took a deep breath before knocking on the door, her hands finding their way to the camera slung around her neck and fiddling with the setting adjuster while she waited, trying her best not to freak out. "That makes two of us," Lalita admitted with a laugh that was more exhale than laughter. She didn't want to admit so early that this was her first actual photography gig, but it felt safe enough to admit she was nervous. Plus, she couldn't help it - this woman (Serafina, she had said) immediately seemed to put Lalita at ease.

"This place looks great," Lalita said honestly, finally taking a beat to look around. "You flipped this? Do you have a team behind you, or is it all you?"

when: september 14, evening

who: sebastian warren ft. lalita kumar ( @sundresscd )

She pulled over, because it felt too rude to obviously rubberneck this vehicle and then keep on driving, but also because it had been a while since she had gotten the chance to work on somebody else's car. The idea of getting her hands under the hood of an unfamiliar car sounded like a challenge - one Lalita couldn't help but relish. Getting out of the car, the air filled immediately with a sweet scent, and Lalita added that to her mental notebook. She was almost positive she knew what had happened now.

"You don't have to call the Spiked Wheel," she said, hovering her hand over the engine to ensure it wasn't too hot to touch. She had barely glanced at the man, too busy assessing the situation in front of her and looking for more clues. "You've got a coolant leak, most probably. If you're lucky, I could fix that for you right now." Lalita wasn't often very lucky, but she hoped this figure was for the both of them. She didn't want to admit it, but she could kind of use a win right about now.

the lighthouse had become her pride and joy in the last few months handling every aspect, knowing it's in and outs in ways she never had the chance to before as a maid, receptionist, event planner or even manager. she had given her everything to the business in the past nine years and she expected to continue doing so for decades to come.

so she found herself at the reception, typing away on the front desk's computer to arrange the next week's calendar when a voice called for her attention, making her look up as a gentle smile immediately appear on her features. "hello, welcome to the lighthouse— lalita kumar. give me a second please" she excused herself as she entered the database of the guests, typing out the name given to her. "yes, i can see your name. no checkout date yet correct?" she questioned, her attention returning to the other, the smile on her face never faltering. "is this your first time in maple brook? i can show you some interesting places to visit if you need it— and offer a 'welcome to town' meal by our lovely chef on the house. i'm violet, i'm happy to help any way i can with your stay."

But then...what would that look like, even? Even if she did check out, the only place she could return to would be her life in New York, which sounded much less exciting than it actually was. For such a big city, New York was oddly suffocating, and Lalita knew it wasn't the life she wanted for herself. She just also didn't know if this was, either. She felt like she had the choice between a rock and a hard place.

Is this your first time in Maple Brook? "Is it that obvious?" Lalita said with a dry smile, though of course it was. In a small town like this, she probably stuck out like a sore thumb - not because anything about her particularly screamed city, but because she probably looked so obviously uneasy. What was she doing here? "Oh, you don't have to..." she began at all the offers, but she wondered if it was all futile. It also felt rude to deny someone so determined to make her stay pleasant. The least she could do was try to enjoy herself, right? "Well, maybe a nice meal would be okay," she said instead, and she couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, Violet. You're too kind."

and then he heard his name being called by an oddly familiar voice. "huh?" a blink and he looked up, gaze swinging over to land on none other than lalita. he blinked again. "uh - i'm getting coffee." as if that wasn't obvious. even as he said it, though, he drifted in her direction and away from the impatiently buzzing line in front of the cashier, his look of surprise morphing into that of an awkward and unexpected greeting; eyebrows pinching and mouth opening, on the verge of saying something before he rethought his words. should they hug? or was that weird? they weren't exactly old friends, but... ford wasn't sure where else to place lalita in his mind, the confusing sting of rejection still alive and well, having mentally tucked it away somewhere to never examine once he'd figured she'd likely blocked his number. but, ford being ford, smiled in the moment, blue eyes darting down and up her body to take lalita in before meeting her gaze again. "i had no idea you were in maple brook. what a small world."

Lalita didn't know too much about Ford's inner workings, and that was on purpose. She didn't want to know anything about the person she found herself repeatedly in bed with against her better judgment - what if she realized she was making a worse decision than she previously realized? Or worse, what if she ended up liking him as a person? So there was no way to know if he would do that sort of thing. She didn't think he was a creep - he didn't seem like it - but you never really knew anymore, did you?

She had gotten herself too worked up, and there were several seconds following his sentence where Lalita was simply staring at him. A sentence that fully contradicted her train of thought, but she decided to ignore that for now. Instead, Lalita opted to just bite the bullet, ignoring their conversation up until this point. "Okay, I'm just going to ask," she began, taking a deep inhale. "Are you...are you here because of me?"

when : the 21st of september, sunday night, just before the game begins

with : open (0/3)

It was weirder, then, when news came out that they slept with the same woman. I guess it didn't come out as Lalita's night was very much one she kept close to her chest, but finding out about Cordelia and Helena was very odd for her. It made her avoid this actress she had wanted to meet her whole life, despite living in the same small town as her.

She didn't want it to be obvious, though, that she was avoiding her, so when the familiar voice called her over, Lalita tried her best not to freeze (even though she wished she had somewhere to hide more than anything). Instead, she approached the actress, and took a very delicate seat next to her. "Oh, can't you tell?" Lalita said, referencing the simple face paint she wore, though her mind was clearly elsewhere (evident by her not-so-subtle avoiding of eye contact).