#thread:ember

this couldn't be happening right now. she was, of course, the last person to leave the office yet again and her care wouldn't start. "come on, don't do this to me." she whined as she, yet again, attempted to turn the key only for the car to make little to no noise. a puff of air escaped her lips and she reached for her phone, making a call to anyone and everyone she could actually think of that would come save her ass. the icing on the cake was the fact that no one answered and so, she shifted to her last resort who did answer and did agree to help her.

his familiar vehicle pulled up within half an hour and she climbed out of her driver's seat, "irza, i know you're busy and all, but i really didn't know who else to call-" ember paused as she saw his outfit, "and you're not exactly dressed to help me with my car," he actually looked really nice, not that she'd say that out loud. "but do you think you could give me a ride home?" she assumed he would, especially since he was already here.

ember and irza were still a new couple and so, she wasn't sure if they were going to end up going to the mayoral ball together or not but she kind of hoped that they would, especially since she bought a dress specifically to impress the man she was very obviously falling for. once the two had decided they were going together, she found herself excited to be able to be by irza's side as his girlfriend during such a public event. after all, this was going to be their first time romantically together in front work people and she was both excited and nervous.

smoothing over the pale pink dress, she walked out of their shared bathroom and offered irza a smile. "well, mr. mayor," she started softly as she further approached him and took on the task of fixing the collar of his shirt. "are you almost ready to go?" she asked, her eyes looking up from what she was doing to meet his eyes. "i think if we hang around too much longer, i might second guess my decision on this dress and change." and it was because she didn't like it but it was because she was normally more covered for work events. "you don't think it's…too much, do you?"

ember wasn't exactly stoked to be working with the mayor of all people and that was for a number of reasons. one, the two were rivals all though stanford and two, he beat her out of mayor. she still wasn't sure why the people of wilmington chose him over her, especially since she was a native but the election was over and now, she was trying her best to tolerate him in order to get things done in the parks department. she was sitting outside of tasty treats on her laptop waiting for the other to show. when he sat down, she didn't break her concentration, "you're late, you know? we were supposed to meet ten minutes ago." she pointed out.

while the attempted kidnapping felt like a life time ago, it was still very fresh in ember's mind. the feeling of the stranger grabbing her, the noises he made as he struggled with her, and the way he shoved her when he was caught. all of those things haunted her and so, despite not bringing it up anymore or even ignoring the conversation when others brought it up, she was very much still bothered by what happened and consistently looked over her shoulder.

tonight was like any other night. she was home alone waiting for her boyfriend to join her when she swore she heard something outside. panic set in, her heart racing and her palms sweating as she got up and peered out of one of the windows. in that moment, her brain convinced her that she was something. someone. making sure that the doors were locked, ember ran into her shared bedroom with irza and grabbed the baseball bat that was kept on her side of the bed right under the edge of it. as she turned around, her boyfriend was standing right behind her and well, she almost clocked irza with the baseball bat. luckily, she realized it was him and dropped it, a sigh of relief leaving her lips as she launched herself into his arms. "thank god it's you." she breathed out.

it felt like forever since the last time she'd fully allowed herself to let loose without her boyfriend's company. it wasn't that she thought she couldn't but it was just that she felt safest in his presence after everything that she'd been through. even so, she decided to go out with ava and have a couple of drinks since she did feel as though she hadn't been herself lately. with her drink in her hand, she peered over at her friend as she swayed to the music. "i owe you one. this was such a good idea." she shouted over the music.

ember tried to keep up with everyone in her life but it just had been that both her job and her relationship kept her pretty busy. she never wanted to be the girl that pushed her friendships to the side and so she'd made a point to join samira for brunch. "so," she started, offering a smile toward the other, "update me. it's been forever since we've been each other. in fact, last time we talked i think i was telling you how evil i thought irza was." she finished with a light laugh.

getting stood up by a tinder date was the absolute last way she wanted to spend her night. she rarely made time for her love life and it seemed as though when she did, she had the absolute worst luck. ember assumed that since she was already here, she may as well enjoy herself and she decided ordering an entire bottle of champagne was the way to do that. "hey," she turned to the girl next to her, who seemed to be enjoying her alone time, "do you want to join me?" she spoke in almost a pleading tone. "you could have some of this champagne, if you want."