ʟᴜᴘᴇ, ᴍɪᴍɪ, ᴍᴇɴᴀ

"I don't know. Rory would have started laughing and I would have felt obligated to point the sprayer at her and make an even bigger mess." Which would likely have been frowned upon by apartment staff in a way that chasing his kids with a water hose never was by the neighbors. In another, they seemed to laugh at the neighbors, but maybe because Dante was willing to invite them over to barbecues and help with trimming the hedges. Would Daniel have been amused, or despaired of them, seeming almost embarrassed to be related to them? Some teenage moodiness was to be expected, but sometimes Dante worried - which was to be expected of a dad.

Filomena gasped but was too amused to fake the seriousness she meant to convey, “  On our baby? You wouldn’t!  ” Not only would it have started a war, but Mena for sure knew their home would have turned into complete chaos. Their family would have broken down into two immediate groups: Boys vs Girls. It set Mena’s chest aflame to be able to visualize it all so easily and yet be confronted by the drastic changes in their unit now. How Daniel would have immediately taken to Dante’s corner, ready to back up his dad while she took her place beside Aurora. How they would have possibly spent all night laughing about the day even though they’d spend more time cleaning the mess than playing in it. She missed them. Missed it all; their home, their routines, their family being together. 

val had always thought yoga was a hoax. until she started going to her current therapist at the behest of her sister. the first few sessions, val plastered on her best fake smile and agreed that she would definitely utilize her apartments studio. with zero intent to do so, but the sweet older woman she'd been seeing on a biweekly basis didn't need to know that. she had 100% underestimated that the same woman was incredibly good at picking up on her bullshitting. and definitely took the lecture about how therapy wouldn't work unless she took it seriously, pretty well all things considered. so, the past three weeks, val found herself on a cute mat she'd splurged on in the hopes it would give her the boost she needed every time she lugged it from her apartment. and she was beyond pissed to discover her stupid paid professional was right. the first time she'd done the pose she was currently engaged in when the other woman approached her? she'd cried so hard she had to call her therapist. she shook the memory away with a smile, motioning with her head to the empty space. "of course! sorry, i'm usually lost in the clouds when i'm in here. thinking through work and all that." val crinkled her nose at how adult she sounded before offering up an easy smile. "do you find time to... yoga often? i'm a beginner myself. feels less ridiculous every time i do it though."

“  No worries.  ” she assured them with a smile still pleasant on her face, “  It’s one of the many reasons I enjoy yoga so much.  ” At least since moving to New York. Back home she had all the time in the world to enjoy simply running down the street while her kids rode their bikes, or even take herself to the gym with her best friend. After her move, she barely had time outside of work for much of anything, even less when she came home to have time with her babies and - occasionally - make dinner. Picking up yoga had helped her work through the whole of her hectic move, and kept her active on top of helping clear all the troubling thoughts surrounding her divorce. “  Started about a year ago now. I don’t do it religiously but whenever I have some time I try to melt it into my day.  ” Mena adjusted herself beside them, “  It’s honestly great for us busy heads. What got you interested?  ”

between the thumping of the bass and her heart beating like a drum, belle wasn't sure which rang louder in her ears. the sudden calm she felt when she saw guadalupe walk through the door didn't last long, as she was immediately pulled back to their last conversation and the way it had ended. still, the liquid courage she'd been sipping on helped, at least a little, and had served it's purpose when she slid the little note under the door to apartment 605 a few hours earlier. somewhat brave, yet incredibly stupid, she thought now. if she was lucky, lupe would just think of it as an olive branch. for her, maybe it'd be the closure she needed. either way, not her best idea given where they stood but it was too late to take it back now. belle took a moment to stare unabashedly while she had the chance. dark brown hues traced a slow, familiar path up and down, taking in the most perfect sight. dressed in her favorite color, no less. the detail felt intentional. personal, in a way coincidence could never be. she let lupe melt into the crowd, just long enough that she wouldn't feel ambushed by the redhead, glancing back in her direction ever so often as to not lose complete sight. once she'd deemed enough time had passed and lupe finally stood alone, belle drew in a steadying breath and crossed the room. if she thought too hard about what she wanted or should say, she'd lose her nerve. with a light hand at lupe's lower back to announce her presence, belle stepped around to face her, close enough to catch her attention fully. "hey.." her voice dropped, softened by uncertainty. "i was hoping to see you here." she smiled sheepishly, careful to keep her eyes on lupe's own. // @venomouslick

Finding the note on her floor earlier that afternoon, Lupe immediately knew who it’d come from. No one else had the gall to be so forward with her - not when she gave no one the impression she was interested. Not knowing what to do with it, she put it away with all of her private memorandums of Belle and forced herself to forget it. Though she didn’t have to go into church that day, she did have a couple of students coming over to work on a new movement piece. That had kept her distracted enough to pass the day, before she had to get ready for the ball. 

"I can see how that would be an issue, which brings up a different problem. People normally talk more about this more about Fourth of July, but they say that fireworks can also be triggering for people with PTSD. So while they're an impressive light show, it also prompts emotional distress in certain groups both animal and otherwise." He could hear it in his voice, the slightly formal tone that came with writing something to present to someone else, and Ethan considered the empty glass next to his hand and the idea of having another. There wasn't anything better for him to do, after all, and it was all part of tradition to get wasted, wasn't it? "More like polling the crowd to see how the shift is landing. Some changes stay, and others are immediately reverted back with an apology." Like Cracker Barrel, which was somewhat ridiculous to him, but behold the power of an upset consumer base. "But who knows, it may not be a bad investment idea. Marketing is all about finding gaps that need to be filled and finding solutions to problems. Or in some cases, creating a problem so you can sell the solution, like websites that get paid to host ads and also get paid by members to remove the ads." As the bartender set down the woman's drink, Ethan offered her a shrug and a faint smile before pushing his drink across the bartender. "Doesn't matter, thanks for the answer. Bartender, get me another?"

She wasn’t sure whether to laugh at how serious his entire speech was, or to take notes for a pop quiz next time she ran into him. “  Oh yeah?  ” Lupe asked, slightly more intrigued though his game seemed more time wasteful than not. She didn’t mind it though. There was nothing else to do, and while she was already avoiding a certain red head, entertaining his company was amusing and enjoyable. “  How’d I do?  ” she asked just as she went to take a sip of her drink. After this one she’d go hide in her apartment for the remainder of the night. Keep her wits about her. Guadalupe glanced from him to the bartender, raising a brow when he pushed his drink on over but held her tongue. Disciplining adults was not at all beneath her, but she also didn’t know him well enough to get so comfortable. Not that it had stopped her before. “  I think you may just have a fighting chance. You do sound pretty well versed on the matter.  ” Though who he’d sell to, she hadn’t the smallest of clues.

"Well, you know kids, sweets are usually a winner - Halloween was always carnage back home." Which wasn't to say he didn't love it, but it was always a lot to deal with in the moment and there were certain things that you found yourself missing even more once they were over. "Teddy Graham flavor? Just original. I know I've tried some cinnamon ones, but I didn't know they had other flavors. Let me guess, they have a chocolate?" It seemed like there was always a chocolate everything, after all.

Guadalupe grinned, knowing well just what he meant. She didn’t get to see it in New York as hectic as it was back home, but even so the memories were enough. Luckily her church didn’t really acknowledge the day itself, though they did offer treats to the youngsters. “  Oh there’s so many! Chocolate chip, regular chocolate, honey graham, there’s also cinnamon and I’m pretty sure even strawberries now. They even make them super tiny to look like bears. It’s the cutest thing in the world, but definitely not good for dipping.  ” Talking about it now made her want to buy some. 

She had her kids to thank for her flexibility more than any amount of yoga or pilates she pretended to do in the comfort of her home. “  Thank you, you too!  ” she replied with genuine delight, as she brought herself down to a sitting position - crisscross, apple sauce, as her children liked to call it. “  I’d say it's more of a ‘whatever gets me out of the apartment thing’ for sure, but a bit of getting back into things. I normally just work out from home but moving here everything feels extra… closed off?  ” Mena wasn’t sure if her words made any sense, but being in an apartment was not familiar to her. Living so close to other people - and so many at that - felt very intrusive. She figured stepping out and getting to know the building a little more would help. “  Thought I’d give this a try. Your twisted triangle looks too good for beginner, however. Been doing this long?  ”

"Mhmm. Maintenance is usually pretty good around here, so it shouldn't be anything too serious." As far as Dante could tell, all the building materials were pretty good and problems weren't left long enough to develop into worse issues, so he wasn't worried that it would be some huge gut job that he wouldn't be able to explain. It didn't bother him that she forgot to ask maintenance and came to him - Dante loved being the guy that people came to, or at least he loved that Mena came to him.He wasn't going to hold forgetting something as small as a sink sprayer that she probably wouldn't use against her, not when their kids needed to be picked up.It wasn't like it was the shower acting up and even if it had been, Dante would have preferred the mall to shower at his apartment than for her to wait longer than pick up the kids.

His accusation only fueled her laugh as she shook her head in denial. “  I did not! Swear it.  ” Her hand went up in response, clearing herself of all the responsibility, though she should have probably checked it before asking for his help. It didn’t matter though. She was happy that her sink worked properly, and elated to have him standing before her dripping wet. There was no disguising her satisfaction even if she did attempt to curve her grin. “  But I do maybe wish I had. Your face was priceless! Geez, I wish the kids would have seen this.  ” Aurora would have had a field day right along with her, though Daniel’s reaction perhaps would have been more muted. It had been for the last few months now. 

Filomena thanked her with a small smile and began to get herself set up. She hadn’t been to an organized group gymnasium in so long that she felt odd despite there being nothing to stress about. Nothing to worry about even, as everyone seemed to be doing their own thing as far as she could see. “  I guess, both and neither?  ” Though her reply was more a question than a response.  “  I’m not used to having free time so I’m a bit… out of sorts? Yoga seemed good for that.  ” Hopefully it helped her alleviate thoughts.

if geo wasn't at the university teaching, she was at home grading papers and assignments, and if not that, she was much closer to drinking another glass of wine than doing something productive. today though, she decided to go with the latter in the yoga room. with it being just one floor above her, there was no excuse not to exercise anymore. she was only getting older and stretching was a huge part of her routine now. while struggling a bit with the current pose the online instructor was on, she looked up to see the other woman. "please, of course. plenty of space," the redhead paused to take a sip of water, "mon dieu, i didn't realize how much it'd hurt to start working out again. i'm sure you'll be the pro between us, yeah?"

“  Thanks.  ” she said, placing her items on the ground as she watched the red head maneuver. A smile overtook her feature at the observation - however wrong it would be. Mena didn’t do group workout sessions as much as she bullshitted through whatever routine she felt that given day. As far as she was concerned, any movement was good enough. The woman before her didn’t seem out of shape in the slightest, however, she would have pegged her for a regular. “  Not in the slightest. For what it’s worth, you don’t look a lick out of shape.  ” Mena averted her eyes from her form to avoid looking like a complete creep. Instead she focused on setting out her own mat before the instructor could move on to the next exercise. “  New Year's resolution?  ” she asked, with curious wonder.

It was only day-something of New Year’s Resolutions and Vanya’s body had already begun giving up on her. If yoga was supposed to reconnect her spirit to her body then the latter was–and, as she felt her bones crunch, very audibly—telling her ‘fuck you’. Vanya, as with all years of doing resolutions, would probably be among those in the mass exodus of fitness visitors by month’s end, but her spirit received regular concessions by virtue of the crowd of spectacularly toned women who’d arrive en masse to the scheduled yoga sessions. That was enough for one to believe in the miracles for the rest of the years, hurrah. Today was no exception. 'Yeah, no problem.' A quick nod, playing it cool, as she made a show of brushing down her own mat. 'Come here often?' Her mouth was dry suddenly. 'That wasn’t a line.' Hook, line... stinker!

She chuckled, reaching for her mat to unravel to keep from staring at the woman’s look of devastation. “  No, it was.  ” Mena empathized, humor adorning her tone and expression while she took a seat to start with a light meditation. The rest of the room seemed to be doing their own thing as well, so she figured the instructor was still not present. If there was one to begin with. “  This is my first time here. I’ve just moved upstairs last week so I’m trying to take advantage of everything this place has to offer.  ” For the price they were paying, she refused to ignore all the add ons. Filomena normally worked out from the comfort of her home, but her home had never been this cramped before. Small for certain, but with room for expansion and a yard for her kids to play in. “  Based on your question, I assume you don’t come here often?  ”

The silence that greeted him felt like Mena admitting he was right, that she couldn't ignore the truth in his words and that once, she knew him better than anyone. Sure, that had slipped by the end, but that's because Mena had changed, not him. Even a year into their divorce, and maybe he was still too uncomfortably close to the man that she married and later divorced for her taste. The only things different about him? He wasn't as much of a romantic anymore, wasn't as optimistic, she'd burned his trust in things like happy endings and the air singed anew when she was near. If only he hadn't lost his ability to understand her, that would have been nice, it would have meant he could have fixed things before - No. He'd been down this path too many times before. Pointless by now, pointless since those papers showed up.

It’d been too long since she’s felt so light-hearted about anything surrounding Dante, but his look of bewilderment and gentle smile made her think of their early days. Her crazy ramblings -  which she was sure would do nothing but push him away - and him so effortlessly accepted it all even though she could tell he didn’t always process. She bit the inside of her cheek, snickering silently while he yet again failed to comprehend. Though her words were dressed and she for certain hadn’t meant them unkindly, pretty was simply better than calling him dumb. Back then, and even presently, she couldn’t deny just how alluring she found it in him. Anybody else and the sentiment would not be applied. 

"Don't have to do a lot of things, Mena. You know me." He did things because someone needed to do them, and even though it was a habit that he was trying to break, it had been present for their entire marriage. Maybe she was forgetting that, and it stung still to know that he wasn't the person she fell back on and he wasn't the obvious choice for help anymore. Not unless she was desperate and down to her last choice, then she would show up, but did it really count if they didn't talk and it became a thing they pretended didn't happen? With her new career and independence from him, Dante wouldn't be surprised if she was trying to get rid of him. Even though he'd been happy just moments ago, Dante could feel it slipping away into irritation as she seemed to dismiss him. He'd gotten the boxes there for her, so now she had no use for him. Again.

It was hard not to give into the shiver his words brought on. Did she know? Mena wished it was that easy to answer then, but nothing had been easy for them in a very long time. All the things she thought she knew, all the words she so desperately clung to when they first met somehow felt fraudulent in present times. She didn’t want to give into the belief that nothing they had was real, that every time they said I love you or each embrace or caress was tainted, because she knew better. Didn’t she? A deep breath was all she could do to keep herself from shutting down. There were boxes that needed handling, and without his help, she had to get it moving if she hoped to have dinner made for that night. Though, ordering pizza for lunch was starting to sound real nice. 

"That's what I said." Ethan said, a little pleased that she was paying enough attention to point that out. "But then you mentioned safety and noise, which aren't related to looks. The lack of noise is part of why they aren't a multi-sensory experience, because you don't have the noise or the smell." And perhaps it was strange of him, but Ethan liked the smell of fireworks in the air. Better than that one guy he knew in high-school who loved sniffing gasoline, he thought. "I imagine there are pros and cons to that as well. If it's noisy, it can alert the hard of hearing to look up again during smaller shows with gaps between them, but if you have children, then they may not like the sound. Of course, for big shows, most aren't close enough for sound and smell to be a factor, so moot point." Something that many people didn't seem to catch onto with Ethan was that he mainly argued for the sake of arguing, to see how people would react and if they could change their minds or not, and not because he was deeply invested in one specific outcome. "A few billion each year, yeah, and most of them are imported from China. Which is where they originate from, as memory serves, so you could say they have experience, but it's also a potentially overlooked market here."

Guadalupe nodded her head, acknowledging that she had indeed brought up safety. While she listened to him speak, she began to wonder just where had this conversation stemmed from. What his purpose in the discussion was, and if perhaps he was interested in getting some fireworks - or drones - of his own. It would surprise her, seeing as they weren’t allowed to set off fireworks without a license in the state. Then again, she didn’t really know if he had one in the first place. “  The noise is also a problem for a lot of us pet owners.  ” she added in between his breath. It may not be top poll when it comes to many people, but pets were the baby of the younger generation. Daisy herself had to be dressed in an anxiety vest during certain holiday times. She couldn’t help but smile at his knowledge, which prompted her question, “  So what, are you looking to invest in some fireworks or drones? I’m intrigued. What’s got you so invested in this subject?  ” Lupe knew absolutely nothing in regards to market price and value beyond the 4 for $1 she got on plantains at the local Trader Joes. The bartender approached with her drink then, leading to her digging in her bag for a $20. That should cover and leave enough for a tip, and since she needed no more than one drink, there was no need to open up a tab.

"Is this like yeast rolls being softer than normal rolls?" He asked, trying to find a corollary that he knew only for Lupe to beat him to it. "Oh, now that makes sense. Have you ever tried putting a Teddy Graham in your hot cocoa? That's pretty good, but it leaves a mess in the bottom of the cup - especially when your kids are young enough that they leave the Teddy Grahams in there until their heads fall off." Dante had been glad when Rory finally outgrew that and stopped wasting so many cookies just to make a mess. But mess was a part of having a kid, just like mess was part of being in the kitchen. Giving a quiet laugh at Lupe's remark, Dante ignored the chance to make a dirty joke, although if it was because he had too much respect for Lupe or because it didn't seem appropriate even as a single man was unclear.

She hadn’t, but it sounded quite nice. “  A bit on the sweet side, no?  ” she asked, without a single objection to trying it out for herself soon. Possibly in the next couple of days, maybe even offer it as a snack option for the teens of the church. Guadalupe laughed, already foreseeing the mess it would all create but messes sometimes improved morale. Especially after a long day of sermons, which was almost daily with the holidays so close. “  I’ve never had. Do you have a preference for which flavor, or just original?  ” They often had it with peanut butter or Nutella, but accompanied it with plain white milk. 

Lips twitching into the ghost of a spine at hearing Mena call out to the kids only for them to keep running, it was easy to fall back in time and think about the kids running off to play with neighbors, or just leaving the door open behind themselves as they ran out to ask him a favor the moment he got home. From there, he remembered even further back, the kids being smaller and bringing them home, Danny racing to be the first to hug his mom and Rory crying because she wanted to be first, but had to wait to get out of her car seat. He wasn't usually so nostalgic, melancholic, but it has been nearly a year since any new memories like that were made, and perhaps that made the old ones stand out more. But there wasn't any time for dwelling in the past, not with Filomena asking about the boxes. "I haven't checked under the seats yet, but no worries about it getting lost like you would with a moving company." He said, trying not to take her words personally. "Think I'd rather move boxes than have to deal with unpacking and finding space for everything. The kitchen's not the same as -" Dante cut himself off, shaking his head. "Apartments, rooms are always smaller, right?" He'd been about to compare the kitchen with their old home, but hopefully she thought he meant her previously place in New York. Conversations with Mena felt like minefields now, with Dante not sure what to say without a fight coming, but they had to find a balance again - for the sake of the kids, if not for themselves.

“  I guess so.  ” Turning to the mess of boxes in the apartment, there was a sense of emptiness that lingered since their first big move. She hadn’t had time to really give it mind before, leaving a great deal of boxes stacked in corners for months before getting put away. This time, she wanted to focus on it better. Take the necessary steps to fully go through her things and make their place feel more like home… even if that feeling had long been forgotten. “  Thank you, by the way. You really didn’t have to.  ” Mena wasn’t sure just how many times she’s said the words since he offered on Christmas. Though she wouldn’t have declined him, the kids also didn’t leave them with the choice to do so. Aurora had jumped at the chance for the family activity as she so put it and a single glance at Danny had kept her silent.