golightly

     lana was not in the best mood. she had met up with a few friends from high school for breakfast earlier that day, and she was not in the mood to do anything else the entire day. she wanted to go home, get something to eat, and maybe get in a little bit of a workout. but, thanks to a friend that had decided pulling a prank on a pregnant woman would be just hilarious, she had to drive 45 minutes all the way to the whole foods in nashville to return the unwanted prank present: a snotsucker. 

     “don’t even ask.” she replied to the familiar face, letting out a sigh. “i fucking hate my friends.” the young blonde complained, but didn’t really mean it. 

Holly couldn’t help but smile. Hell, the sight of that thing, an entire display of them, had been enough to make her snort. “What even is that? Like, what does it do?” She saw the picture of the baby on the front...was he blowing snot into the mother’s mouth? That couldn’t be it, and yet, Holly could literally think of nothing else.

“What in the world is that?” She couldn’t help but say aloud, the thing too bizarre to have warranted quiet viewing.

“I didn’t know if you were going to be hungry or not.. and Jude never eats, but I do.” Sophie explained, motioning towards the already set table in the kitchen. She wanted to treat their guest the way she deserved to, despite having a lot in her mind. It kind of helped her, cooking, because it kept her focused on one thing at a time. “I made pancakes but there’s also toast..” And coffee, there was all the coffee she wanted in this house. Sophie hadn’t made that, just in case Holly wanted it to be fresh. 

“I don’t really sleep lately.” The words slipped, instantly making the brunette feel guilty. Oh, well – Holly already knew too much. “They are doing random patrols.. that’s what he said. He was checking on us, make sure we’re okay since we’re so far away from actual civilization.” Sophie joked, reaching for her own cup of coffee. “He apologised and everything.. I’m sorry if he woke you. He said he was kind of new, and often confused which switches to press. Anyway, I invited him over for coffee, but he was so embarrassed he left right away.” 

"Thanks, that’s really awesome of you,” Holly said, and as she waited for the coffee to percolate, grabbed a plate. It would be rude to turn her pancakes down. Grabbing two off them off of the stack, she placed them on her plate. 

“It’s okay,” she reassured in her own small way. “I’m pretty sure I’ve got insomnia too,” she joked, but it wasn’t exactly a joke nor was it a lie. But she didn’t want to burden Sophie with the extent of her issues, the girl already had enough on her plate. “Aw, did he say that?” she smiled. “Looking out for us, that’s nice.” Despite the incident with the sirens making Holly jolt upwards in bed last night and a sweat of terror, now knowing that there was a cop patrolling their area certainly made her feel safer being so away from everything. “That’s actually sweet of him. He sounds cute. —was he cute?”

“The Liberty Bell, sure,” came Josh’s response as he frowned down at the ridiculous list in front of him. This was too much for him right now, he should have stayed sober, because apparently any ideas he could have had definitely weren’t forming. “But don’t have time to go there or feel like breaking the law right now. So I guess just a bell…? Wherever the hell we get a bell that looks like that from.”

"Yeah, maybe they just mean any old bell...” This was too much of a conundrum for Holly’s brain right now. She was happier going off to take a picture of a hot dog. That was probably the easiest thing on the list. “Are these answers open to interpretation? What if we just found something that rang a bell, and just video recorded the sound...” 

When she responded, it was made clear pretty damn quickly that it was definitely her, Ben would recognise her anywhere. They’d spent enough time together over the years, even if it had been very off and on. “Hey…” the greeting was soft, still a little shocked that she was even standing there. What was this? Some kind of fucked up New York reunion? How did people keep on ending up here.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She could ask the same of him, of course, and probably would, but the question needed to be asked. His reason was pretty solid, at least, he’d always thought so, even if they were in the middle of fucking nowhere. He didn’t really care much on her reasons, though, was just pleased to see another familiar face —- and one he really didn’t mind seeing in the slightest. 

She couldn’t decipher whether Ben’s question was one made out of surprise or hostility — and that took her back a little bit. Was he displeased to see her? Then again, she felt equally so at seeing him, but her reasons were entirely different, and had much more to do with Holly herself than with Ben. “Um. I’m here visiting Jude for a bit,” she lied.  “Do you know Jude? He’s uh, Rick Nolan’s son,” Holly said, just about the one reference she could think to make. Rick was a world famous billionaire and CEO, there were few who hadn’t heard of him.

It had been a fairly quiet day so far all in all, something that Jonah was extremely grateful for. He wasn’t in the mood for drama or giving out bad news. If the day could go ahead smoothly, that would be good enough for him. He’d lost track of how many appointments had passed when the young woman stepped into his office, someone new to town that he’d do his best to make feel at ease. He glanced up from his computer when she stepped into the room, rising from his seat to greet her and kindly reaching a hand out to shake.

“Welcome to town,” he said with a slight nod of his head. He recognised her accent slightly and a small smile flitted across his features, another New Yorker? They’d get to that. “Take a seat…” He gestured to the empty seat across from him as he sat again, and then leant back slightly in his chair. “What can I do for you today?”

Holly shook his hand with a smile, and then took a seat in the chair opposite him. Why did he look so familiar? Her brain scanned her face database from where she could’ve seen him from. He was a local doctor, so probably nowhere. Maybe he looked like some celebrity she’d run into. That could be it. “My name’s Holly,” she introduced herself, shifting her hefty handbag onto her lap. “And I just moved here to Beaumont. I filled out a form at the front desk, the lady told me that means I’m registered here now?” It had been so long since she’d seen anyone beyond her regular therapist, she wasn’t sure what to do or say now, feeling almost like a child.

And the result is in…

HOLLY DAVIS, YOU HAVE WON A YEAR PASS TO THE BEAUMONT PICTUREHOUSE!

Josh was a little on the drunk side. There was no getting away from it. He’d pretty much been in that state all weekend. So God only knew why he’d thought it was a good idea to take part in the scavenger hunt. Staring down at the sheet of paper in front of him, he let a breath go out slowly, and then looked around him a moment. “Where the hell we supposed to get this?” he questioned to the person beside him, idly jabbing a finger at the list.

Holly decided not to participate in the hunt and trivia two-parter, but she had gamely watched Jude and his friends try to win points for their team. Now, armed with pieces of papers with ridiculous requests, people were running all over town attempting to find said items. “A liberty bell? I don’t know. Isn’t that thing in like, Philadelphia or somewhere?” Holly asked, about as equally confused as Jude’s friend was.

“This is actually my first fourth of July in Beaumont and… this place is bizarre. Why are there guns and strippers everywhere?” she asked, brows raised to emphasize her befuddlement at the scale of it all. Exaggerating a little bit, sure, but somehow the small town celebration felt way more over the top than the ones she had experienced in Nashville, and Bastille Day back home was definitely no match in terms of sheer patriotic madness. “Someone actually walked by my house and shouted ‘USA USA’ at 1 am.”

"I don’t know...wish I knew,” Holly shrugged. She was used to classy Fourths in the Hamptons, where everyone would gather on the main deck with sparklers and champagne. Not whatever this was. But it did reek a little of the celebrations back home in Laurel (although she hardly ever considered it home, New York was home). “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. And it’s not like we’re even in the deep South, either. It’s bizarre.”

“Of course he did.” If Jude wasn’t one of his best friends, he would add the word pussy whipped. “Why?” As if he wasn’t in any place to ask Holly why she was staying in Beaumont. Well, Miles had an excuse on his own terms – he just needed a hiatus from his hectic life in NYC. “I am visiting Jude.” He attempted to shrug but given he was laying on the grass like a snake, it was quite impossible. “Drinking, having fun, partying.. You know, the usual.”

"Why, what?” She knew exactly what Miles was asking, but in his seemingly dead and hungover state, she would buy some time by stalling. “Oh, I see. And did you have fun last night?” she raised a brow. Miles Graham was not exactly someone she wanted to see in Beaumont. In fact, there was no one she wanted to see from her life in the city in Beaumont. But if it had to be anyone, let it be someone harmless like him. She couldn’t even remember the last time they’d hooked up, and now, practically looking like the corpse bride it wasn’t like he’d ask for it either. “Good to see you’re still living the Miles life.” 

“This random dude came up to me with the best pickup line of the year and I kind of regret not giving him my real number now. He was all ‘Baby, you remind me of the constitution because you look like a national treasure’, like, it was a fucking good one. What was I thinking?” 

"Oh I’ve heard that one before. You really fell for that?”

Things were happening this month, things Sophie couldn’t quite understand nor explain. Could she say she was surprised her boyfriend invited someone to Beaumont only to turn into a big misunderstanding? Not really. It wasn’t the first time she had seen Holly the two knew each other from New York and although the brunette had no idea how friendly her boyfriend had been with her, she wouldn’t allow the young woman to leave in the middle of the night. She could stay until she figured something else out. They had space, so it wasn’t really a problem. 

She tried her best to be as welcoming and show all the hospitality she could, but Holly still witnesses some private things she shouldn’t have. Sophie felt guilty, poor girl didn’t sign up for this mess when moving all the way from New York. Sighing softly, the sound of her voice caused her to half smile. 

“Good morning.. I hope you’re hungry. I made breakfast.” 

"You made breakfast?” Holly’s brows climbed high, adapting the look of happy surprise. “Wow. You shouldn’t have,” she said, about as appreciatively as she could muster. Just about the only thing she felt like lining her insides with right now with, was coffee. But maybe she would muster a bite or two of toast or something like it, for show. 

Moving across the room to turn the coffee maker on (after all, both Sophie and Jude had told her to make herself right at home), Holly glanced over at Sophie. “How did you sleep last night? That cop coming was so random.” A policeman had stopped by at 2 in the morning last night, saying he was just patrolling the area, and asking if everybody inside was safe. He’d accidentally turned on his sirens too, which had woken a half asleep Holly right up.

“Hi Holly,” Although Miles wasn’t really sure whether he was hallucinating or he was actually looking at Holly. “Am I? Did that son of a bitch really leave me here instead of inviting me inside?” He tried to stand up but it was pointless, he sat on his ass and looked at the brunette. “What are you doing in Jude’s back yard?”

“He went into town to pick up dog food, Sophie asked him to.” Seeing that he was so out of it, Holly couldn’t help but be amused. She approached him, looking down at the pitifully scrawled creature in the grass. Her lips curled into a smile, hands on her hips, arms akimbo. “I’m staying here. What are you doing here?” 

@xoxoholly

Ben couldn’t exactly say he spent all that much time at the movies. It was ridiculous really, because he did enjoy watching other peoples work, and definitely a hell of a lot more than his own. It was a quiet afternoon, he hadn’t had all that much to do, so he’d headed in the direction of the Picturehouse. Just as he was reaching for the door in head inside, though, he found himself pausing in his tracks, a familiar figure in the near distance. Holly? Surely it couldn’t have been, it was entirely possible he was imaging it. Then again, Jude and Sophie had moved here, equally unexpected. He wasn’t going to ignore it, though, and stepped away from the door again, calling out, ”Holly?”

Sophie had told Holly that there was a movie theatre in town, and that, of course, piqued her interest. She loved going to the movies, escaping for an hour or two in some silver screen dream and forgetting her troubles. Especially now. So, when she heard that the cinema in town was playing Casablanca, she grabbed her straw brim hat, pulled on her sunnies, and decided to walk there. It was roughly a forty minute walk from Jude and Sophie’s, but it was definitely worth it. She passed a Dollar General on the way and watched two kids duel with pool noodles in the parking lot. Indeed, life had a much slower quality here than it did in New York City, and even having been here just under two weeks, Holly could already feel herself somewhat calmer. 

She stopped through the store and got herself a diet Snapple half and half — and continued on her way to the Picturehouse. The building was small, much smaller than Holly had anticipated, and only got smaller as she approached it. Being high noon, the heat was definitely bearing down on her, but luckily she was protected with SPF 50. These thoughts whirled around her head when a guy at the door caught her attention. Could it be? No; it couldn’t.

But he was calling her name. “Holy shit,” the mumble left her lips. Slowly she closed in on him and the door, with nowhere else to turn really. She wasn’t sure why she wanted to run and hide, but that was generally her first instinct now on running into anyone she knew. Well, there was no escaping this, but maybe there was still chance that he got a different Holly. “Hey,” she said as soon as she got within earshot, waving back at Ben.