threads, tea & thai food

Josie could understand what Thalia was talking about. While it was a different scenario, her father had never been particularly present either. She didn’t really know where he was at, and he checked in with her mother much more quickly than he did with his daughter. Josie spent most of her formative years with her mother, her mother’s current husband, and her abuela. The husband swapped out off and on. “I get it,” Josie said with a nod. “I spent a lot of my teenaged years trying to get my dad’s attention,” she continued, not going into too much detail. Her tone was a little amused as she said it, mainly just to keep it lighter. “He wasn’t around much either.” “I can do that! I can handle simple jobs,” she said with a laugh and a nod. Josie reached for the butter, reading the label on the stick and chopping off the appropriate amount. She chuckled as Thalia retold her Thai food story. “I try to eat healthy when I can. I’m a model, so there’s that line you have to dance when it comes to weight and food. I try to be good about it, and then give myself cheat moments occasionally.” Models had so much to deal with when it came to weight. Sure, there were different varieties of models, and it seemed like even plus sized models had their own weights they had to meet. The whole industry was good about shaming women, and after so many years dealing with it, she was kind of ready to take another path. It didn’t seem like it was going to be possible, though. “What do you do?” she asked, keeping on with the same topic.

“I think I had too much of my father’s attention,” she replied, trying to match her tone with Josie’s. “It was a little...suffocating.” A lot of people didn’t get it. Thalia had a father who loved her and wanted her to succeed and was willing to give her all the tools to do that. The only problem was that it had to be his dream she had to succeed at. 

Thalia measured out the flour and poured it into the metal mixing bowl in front of her. She pushed a smaller metal bowl to Josie for her butter when she was ready. Her eyebrows rose at Josie’s job and she realized that she recognized Josie in her daily jaunts through all the magazines, blogs, pictures, and videos of designers. Thalia knew that models had a lot to balance and it was taxing. She sympathized completely. “I hope that today counts as occasionally,” Thalia replied, gesturing at their ingredients. 

“I thought about going to some of the panels,” Veronica started to say as Thalia mentioned the classes. “But I thought the classes sounded more interesting, and none of the panels really applied to me.” There were a lot of interesting ones, but they were all more relevant to other people. The tattoo booth was also a no go, because there was nothing in particular she felt like adding as of now. “I’m trying to broaden my horizons,” she laughed. “I’m not sure any of the things I’ve tried have really been me, though. I guess we’ll see how much they all stick. Who knows? Maybe this class will be the one that sticks.”

She had thought about it too, but Thalia had a feeling that the panels would make her want to work, rather than relax or focus on herself or potential friends. So, she had passed on those, scanning the list for classes that might make her feel constructive. 

“We always end up losing the decorations.” he explained, thinking about the time him and a co-workers were frantically trying to figure out where they put the candles and streamers thirty minutes before they were supposed to present cake and sing to their boss. “Everyone around my office kind of runs around like decapitated chickens. We’re so busy taking care of a million other things. We thought just printing out the decorations would solve it, but here we are. Maybe I’ll suggest we just keep them out the whole year.”

The mention of trying to be sociable struck a chord. Ned barely hung out with anyone that wasn’t work related or that he lived with. Maybe he needed to talk to people more– definitely not the hippie who’s pits were probably hotter than the ozone layer though. 

“Yeah, I’m a workaholic myself. Everyone wants to always tell you to ‘relax’ and ‘have fun’, but they don’t get that it is your idea of a good time, you know? I only really came to this festival thing because I thought I could do some networking for my clients.” His two clients who were probably out fucking around at archery or the tattoo booth. Ned looked at his phone and debated on sending a text, but he stopped himself. If he wanted to be more sociable in the new year then this was a good step forward. “What do you do for a living?”

Thalia could understand that. If she didn’t know her own organized chaos then she would be losing things all the time. It was good that at Heathers there wasn’t many costume people besides her and the Head. She could make her own crazy system and no one would change it on her. She couldn’t imagine working in an office with people organizing and re-organizing all the time. “I think a party corner could do wonders for morale. Or instead of decorations, you all go out for lunch and have the decorations at the restaurant.”

thalia-acindina‌:

Dollie did a little happy dance on the spot, delighted that Thalia had decided to go with the name she’d suggested. “Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong,” she joked. “I should bring Steven along to my next audition, and try to sell us as a double-act.” It would certainly make her stand out amongst the crowd, she supposed.

“Your handwriting is really pretty,” she commented. “Where did you learn to write like that?”

“I don’t know how many people go into auditions with plants, so you would definitely have the casting director’s attention,” she affirmed with a smile. “Who knows? Your bold strategy might be exactly what they’re looking for.” Thalia was sure people had done weirder things, but this kind of thing would be categorized under sweet and endearing. 

Thalia was taken aback by the compliment and blushed a little in response. “You think?” Thalia scrutinized her handwriting. She always liked it, but didn’t think others would. Her father would comment that for a tech consultant her writing was too fanciful. It needed to be clean and straight-forward. She tried to change it, but it wasn’t something she could let go. No, that was her family. 

♡ ˙ ˖ ✧ —  A LITTLE INTRODUCTION FOR THALIA ACINDINA MORENO

NAME: Thalia Acindina Moreno AGE: 26 HOMETOWN: San Francisco, California CURRENT RESIDENCE: Shared apartment with her best friend in Los Angeles, CA ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Scorpio MTBI: ESTJ

Her mother left in the middle of the night and she hasn’t been in contact with her or any of her mother’s family since then

Her family is incredibly wealthy and her father owns a very profitable tech company and her step-mother owns a well-known start-up app 

Doesn’t speak with her family, thinks they have it all wrong and are very immoral

Moved to LA in 2016 with her best friend/half-sister and worked in IT while doing costuming for indie productions

Now has a semi-popular IG page, a blogging spotlight on a up-and-coming lifestyle website, and is an assistant costume designer on Heathers

Doesn’t make friends super easily, she focuses on her work a little too much

She is a sucker for tea and thai food

She enjoys her nights out on the town and can be often seen leaving other peoples’ places the next morning or in the middle of the night 

TRAITS

+ ambitious, sweet, confident, creative, independent

- stubborn, naive, bad at romantic commitment, spoiled

CONNECTION IDEAS:

Neighbours !!

Her college (ex)boyfriend, who is the son of a famous actor

A model who is starting out and models for Thalia’s Instagram page

The barista at the cafe that she frequents (she always orders chai tea)

Anyone that wants custom designs for a good price/advertising

“Audrey as in Little Shop, although I guess Hepburn could work, too,” Dollie admitted. “You could tie a scarf around her pot and draw on little sunglasses. She’d be the most fashionable house-plant in LA.”

Dollie blushed slightly as she realised that she’d forgotten to do something so simple as introducing herself. “Dollie. Steven and Dollie. Mcclairy.” She tried to mask her awkwardness behind a very obvious fake cough. “Thalia is a lovely name, by the way.”

Thalia let out a little giggle at that. “I am very into a fashionable house plant. They’ve got to match their parent in some way right?” She paused, looking at the little cactus. “I think combining Hepburn and Little Shop will be perfect for this little one. A dangerous, yet fashion-forward cactus will be perfect on my windowsill.” 

“My family has been in America for a few generations. My abuela grew up there, but they moved when she was young. My parents just happened to both be Colombian, and they met in New York. My dad’s family has been here even longer.” She really enjoyed her yearly trips, still even taking part in them as an adult. She could do without all the close, personal time with her family, but the trip itself was mostly enjoyable - especially when she broke off onto her own. “What made you stop going?” she asked, hoping that she wasn’t prying and wouldn’t mind at all if Thalia side stepped out of answering the question. Josie nodded as she listened, definitely understanding. “I get that! I always enjoy a new, fresh slate… not that I always use it to it’s complete advantage,” she laughed, even though it was a little painfully true. The instructor began calling the class’s attention, directing them to reference the recipe at their table and gave them a brief overview, but ultimately was going to have them follow the recipe and guide them as they went in their pairs. She looked over at Thalia. “Ready or not, I guess we’re doing this!”

She didn’t really mind answering the question that Josie posed. As long as her father’s name or his company or anything like that came up, she was pretty good at talking about her past. It hurt, there was no questioning that, but it was better to let it out than try to keep it all in, especially when it came to her mom. “My mother left a long time ago, without a word. It was hard to see her family after that. And I stopped going to Puerto Rico when I came out here.” 

“Pretty much never know what you’re gonna get around here,” she mused aloud. Vee knew she had her just as snarky moments, but typically, the snark only showed itself if someone did something to prompt it. While she was waiting for the instructor to start the class, she opted for some polite conversation. She wasn’t one who cared much for silence, and after years of being in the limelight, she had taken to tryin to get to know the people around her - just in case. Everyone here was in the business in some way and to some degree, but that didn’t mean anything. “Nice to meet you too! Have you been liking the event? Take any other good classes?”

Thalia couldn’t agree more. It was a little bit the reason the past few years she hadn’t made an effort. But, the big reason was that she cared more about making money and designing in her spare time. She had to pay her dues before she could start down the path. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll happily save yours.” Elaine grinned. She doubts ‘life-saver’ would make the top fifty attributes on a list to describe her, but she could give it her best try. She grimaced lightly at the thought of having to perform these steps in a real-life situation. Her experiences with near death had been few and far between and she hopes to keep it that way.

“I think that’s why we have ambulances.” Elaine whispers with a wink. “I really doubt we’ll ever have to put these skills to use.”

“I’ll make sure to save you into my phone as ‘Life Saver’ so if I ever need one, they just have to call you up,” she teased lightly. As much as she loved to work and sketch and sew, there was something to be said about just having a fun conversation with someone. “Knock on wood. Knowing my luck, I’ll walk out of this class and have to use it immediately.” 

Ned wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings either. He was too distracted looking for a place to sit that the woman bumping into him made him jump. “Oh– no don’t worry.” he assured when he saw the phone. Work never really seemed to stop even on his days off. When you worked for as needy people as he did then your phone never stopped going off, so Ned understood the eyes glues tot he screen curse. “Yeah, thank you. I think you beat sitting next to the guy not wearing deodorant.” he muttered out the side of his mouth, motioning his head in the direction of a hippie who was definitely not in the wrong class. Ned smelt him when he immediately came in and he’d rather sit next to a stranger than a stranger who smelt bad. “I’ve never been a huge tree hugger, but my office is trying to go green. All those meetings where they show us pictures of what the Earth is going to look like in 10 years if we don’t stop using the copying machine to print out birthday decorations for people in the office finally got to me. The guilt brought me here. What about you?” he explained, sliding into the seat. Ned noticed her phone light up with another notification. “Work?” he asked, “I get it. My clients text me at 3am sometimes. It’s crazy.”

“Why thank you,” she said, with an amused tone. “I’m glad that I smell nicer than the man who hasn’t worn deodorant since he pledged to do more for the earth. High praise.” Thalia knew how important it was to preserve the Earth, but smelling bad wasn’t a way to do it. With the little money she had, she tried to be a little more conscious, but there was only so much she could do with the little she had. 

“I mean, you could just have some reusable birthday decorations,” Thalia suggested. “Like a little bin with various decorations. Then you could have fun, as well as be sustainable.” Her roommate was much more conscious than she was, but with her own initiative and all of the hints and rants from Penny, she had learned. “A little bit of guilt, a little bit of curiosity, and a little bit of trying to be sociable.” Thalia wanted some social time to not be out on the town because that wasn’t really meaningful. She met new people, but often it was only for a night or two rather than an actual friendship. Reaching out at work and in the community was the best way, at least that’s what Penny told her. 

Dollie studied the woman’s plant for a moment. “Pink,” she decided for her. “Definitely pink. It will go with it’s flower better, I think.” She smiled brightly as the woman introduced herself to Steven. She already felt like a proud parent. She hadn’t even had Steven for ten minutes yet, and she already knew that if anything happened to him she would cry for days.

“My heart says Audrey, but that might be a bit much,” she said, giggling. Audrey was definitely a theatre-nerd name for a plant, and Dollie knew that that was why her mind went straight to it. “What’s your name? Maybe we can think of something that goes with it. Like ‘Jack and Jill’ or ‘Mary Kate and Ashley’.”

The young woman wasn’t wrong. The pastel of the little flower worked well with the pink of the pot. Thalia just really liked yellow. But knowing her eyes would be pleased with the matching pot, she placed the pink pot front and center of her workstation. She placed her cactus in the center of the pot, placing a bit of dirt into the new pot. 

“I actually prefer my victims nameless.” Elaine teases, flexing her fingers out in front of her in  preparation of mimicking the CPR movements. “It makes it easier, you know?” She tilts her head with a shrug before breaking out into a laugh. “Sorry. I’m Elaine. I promise I don’t usually make it a habit to joke about murdering strangers. But we know each others names now, so are we really strangers?” She ponders for a second, feeling a slight rush of adrenaline from the day coursing through her.

Thalia joined in on the laugh, quite amused by Elaine. There was no shortage of personalities in LA and she probably should try to connect with more of those personalities. “But you do make a habit of joking about murdering acquaintances?” she replied with a raised eyebrow and smirk. “We’re supposed to be saving lives here.” 

Obviously her family was not the only one from Colombia, but anytime another person mentioned that, she couldn’t help but get a little excited to come across another Colombian. “My family’s from Colombia, too! I mean, none of us have ever lived there, so it’s mainly just distant relatives that are there now, but we go every year for a trip.” Her family had made money in New York a few generations ago, and no one had ever looked back. They had all seemingly come to Los Angeles along with Josie, primarily because her family didn’t need to be in New York to hold onto that old family money, or for her mother to find someone else wealthy to marry. There were just as many wealthy people in Los Angeles, just a different breed of people. “It was good,” she said, although it really wasn’t anything particularly fancy. Josie went to a party with her husband, but it was more his friends than anything, so she could’ve done without that particular gathering. Still, she had to be social, and Andrew had wanted to go. “Just another year, though. It feels a little sillier every year to celebrate the Earth just making another trip around the sun.”

Thalia beamed at Josie. It was always wonderful running into someone that knew how it felt to be Colombian, at least in part. “I never lived there, but my mother did. She came to America when she was 17. But my father’s family is actually from Puerto Rico. So we always had yearly visits to both Colombia and Puerto Rico, at least when I was a kid.” When they went while she and her sister had been young, everyone was so happy. It was a simple time, but as each year went on, each visit got less happy, but it was much happier than being at home. 

“Oh, it’s okay!” Veronica said, waving it off. It didn’t bother her; truthfully, it only ever bothered her when someone ran into her if they ignored that it happened. The moment anyone apologized for it, she was already over it. She had only just walked into the class, scanning to see what was even available or if this would be another class she entered in, only for it to be too full at the time. Luckily, there was a few more open chairs, and she happily nodded her head and took one of them with the other woman. “I’m Veronica, by the way,” she said.

Her phone beeped from the inside of her bag, which prompted Thalia to stop in the middle of the aisle of the zero waste class she had decided to drop-in on. People were moving in and out of the classroom, which she paid no mind to. Reading the email, her brow furrowed as she realized her personal Sunday would be replaced with writing a last minute piece for the style column she wrote. 

                                                         first-aid / saturday fourth / open @thejunglestarters​

Elaine loved self-improvement, not that she believed she needed much improving. The competitive perfectionist that resided inside her heart loved rising to the challenge of harnessing a new skill. It’s why she’d fought her way into securing a ticket to the LA Resolutions pop-up event, she never could resist brandishing pre-existing in talents in conjunction to learning something new. And this was going to be The Year of Elaine. Except in the first-aid skills class they were asking you to pair up for the practice of CPR. So, the year of Elaine plus the person beside her. “Do you want to partner up?” She asked brightly. “I promise I won’t crush your chest.”

“That’s the best offer I’ve gotten all day,” she replied with a smile. The class had been useful so far, if not tedious. Besides, she knew how to put on a band-aid and apply pressure to a wound. Thalia was in LA, as long as she could do that, she could just call 911.