#manhattan.start

" this cannot be happening ! " deep voice rumbled as he opened his car door , stepping out of his car , stress smeared all over his face . " a flat ?! a damn flat tire . " furious didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling . " and a dead phone , any chance i can borrow yours ? or better yet , do you have a cable so i can charge mine ? " at least that way he could still check his emails .

dimmed  lights  and  house  music  playing  in  the  background,  not  too  loudly.  two  of  mila's  favorite  things  about  soho  house  was  the  fact  that  it  was  members  only,  and  quite  private.  it  was  forbidden  to  take  pictures  inside,  which  meant  there  were  less  eyes  on  the  ballerina.  “  do  you  think  they'd  take  suggestions  for  music  ?  ”  she  questioned.  she  didn't  mind  it,  but  she  always  thought  they  can  do  better.  “  i  feel  like  i've  already  heard  this  song  playing.  ”

daisy  was  a  little  overwhelmed  which  would  surprise  absolutely  nobody  who  knew  her.  these  sort  of  events  made  her  imposter  syndrome  kick  in  at  full  force.  she  had  always  been  an  outsider  to  the  world  of  fame  and  she  had  grown  used  to  the  feeling  for  the  most  part.  but  this  felt  like  it  was  just  reminding  her  of  how  much  of  an  outsider  she  truly  was  on  a  different  level.  nevertheless,  she  tried  to  push  that  thought  to  the  back  of  her  mind  and  enjoy  the  moment  as  much  as  she  could.  and  hey,  a  petting  zoo  seemed  like  a  cute  idea.  she  had  grown  up  around  farm  animals  just  by  nature  of  her  hometown  and  going  to  county  fairs.  "never  got  to  pet  a  monkey  on  any  of  the  farms  back  home."  she  laughs,  musing  to  herself  and  to  whoever  is  around  really.  

a twig snapped, shattering the relative quiet of the near empty archery range, and instinct spun risa around. her focus broken, grasp loosened on the bowstring. in a blink, the arrow was loosed and sent flying in the wrong direction. risa gasped as it struck the tree next to the person.  ❝ shit ! sorry ! ❞   bow fell to the ground. she didn't want to think how much worse that could've ended. then again —  ❝ you really shouldn't sneak up on someone. ❞

"when my assistant said i had a guest , i didn't expect it to be you ." wipes under his nose as if hiding the evidence took away from his growing addiction . bottle safely tucked away once they entered his space as he leans back in his seat , scattered designs loitering his desk with faint lipstick marks on the collar of his disheveled shirt . "i was just about to head out ." liar , "can it wait ?"

returning  to  new  york  —  to  the  chilling  and  bitter  streets  ,  she  missed  the  sunny  slopes  offered  by  st.  moritz  already  ...  the  holiday  blues  were  well  and  truly  hitting  ,  and  hitting  harder  than  she  ever  thought.  running  across  town  to  another  business  meeting  ,  she  barely  had  enough  time  to  breathe  but  today  offered  a  relaxed  garden  party  ,  invited  by  a  client  and  she  was  somewhat  of  a  people  pleaser  after  all  —  couldn't  say  no  when  the  potential  to  lose  business  was  high.  "  i  didn't  realise  you  knew  these  people  ,  too.  "  she  greets  the  other  ,  an  expression  that  subtly  pleads  for  help  in  avoiding  other  attendees.