#amore:start

working at the bakery was something of a challenge for isabella; she’d not been here too long, maybe a few weeks at most and it was really a case of convincing the owner to give her a chance. could bella bake? not exactly, but she was willing to get stuck in and learn. today, however, she was working at the cash register and serving customers, one of whom was picking up a custom order. the grl disappeared into the back to fetch it, carrying the box as carefully as she could as she brought it out to the front, only for her foot to trip beneath her and the cake inside tumbling onto the floor with a splat. “oh my god! oh my god. i am... so sorry.”

for most of her life peaches had been running some kind of business. if it weren’t the farm, it was her wedding planning. and if it wasn’t that, then she was taking care of family, and now, she was taking care of her nephew full-time. it wasn’t easy and the move had definitely been a big change but it was well worth it. peaches was pretty happy with her decision, after all her nephew had the best schooling, he was getting private piano lessons from a rather talented pianist, and peaches well, she was enjoying the cozy scene rather than the hustle and bustle of the city life. she was at casablanca’s, having a dry martini with a friend of her’s when she thought of something silly. “alright, so tell me somethin’.” she started, took a sip of her drink and then sat it down. “how old is too old to get a tattoo? askin’ for a friend, of course.”

devon felt awful for standing their friend up the previous day. it had been an honest mistake, really. they’d overslept after a night of hell after it seemed their neighbours had decided to have a screaming match with each other in the middle of the night before making up just as loudly. not even shoving pillows over their head had been able to block out the sound, devon ended up retreating to their living room and instead caught up on below deck (which resulted in binging an entire series) and next thing, they were KO on the couch and slept through their coffee date. so, now devon was standing outside of their friend’s door but there was no answer. they couldn’t be sure if it was because they might’ve been mad, or maybe they were out, so devon picked up the phone to give them a ring. “hey, it’s dev,” they said, “i’m so sorry about yesterday! i’m outside yours now to make it up to you. c’mon, my treat, yeah?”

“see, i’m not a fan of massages,” johan said, “but getting my nails done? now this is surprisingly relaxing.” the man chuckled as he glanced to the person who had accompanied him to the beauty salon. it had been ages since he’d pampered himself and it was nice to just be able to sit back and enjoy a little much-needed self-care. “my hands are always so gross and stained from working at the aquarium, it’s actually disgusting how much the smell of fish sticks to them. i know come tomorrow when i’m in with the sea lions that they’re going to be horrible and oily all over again but screw it.”

holden had a day, he decided he wasn’t going into work, he wasn’t going to sit at home. he felt like he was just spiraling in his own mind and everything was far too overwhelming for him to want to actually do anything. but he wasn’t going to just sit in his house and sulk, or he’d end up on the wrong side of town doing something stupid he shouldn’t be doing. levi was out of town, so fuck it, why not screw up some without the man telling him he was fucking stupid? but before it got to that point, holden went down to the manor - sure, it was in the middle of the day, but there had to be someone there he could talk to. “you know, i used to think that i could be a drag queen. kinda wondering if i could still pull that off with my big beefy muscles.”

it’d been some time since juni had gone to the zoo in san amore, the weather today wasn’t awfully chilly, just a slight breeze and brisk chill but she wasn’t walking around in her fuzzy bubble coat, so to her, that was a good enough sign to go to the zoo. she had a glass of lemonade in one hand, the zoo’s specialty drink it seemed, and a little pretzel dressed up like some tiger fur in the other. “you know, this was a good idea. who says zoos are just for kids, right?” she said and then took a bite of said pretzel. “i still say hands down the arctic wolves are the best attraction.”