Phil gave me this sweet little smile. "You sure? We can talk about it, if you want. I-" Then he cut himself off.
"Thank you", I said, smiling softly at him, "that's sweet." I took his hand and gave it a tiny, quick press to show that I was grateful for him being willing to listen if I did feel the need to talk, before putting my hand back in my lap again. "Just a random case of the blues, though."
"No worries. The mood wasn't exactly joyous beforehand. I guess I just..."
"Hm, you're right, there's..."
"everyone was so ready to do things this morning." He looked around the chalet. "But they all just went their separate ways. I mean, I don't even know where the new guy went! He could be dead for all we know." He exhaled in this shaky kind of way. I have to stifle a snort-laugh, at the last part. This 'I'm definitely not supposed to laugh right now'-thing combined with being taken off guard by something a person just said. He leaned fully up against me, and I leaned back, closing my eyes again, smiling a little. It all felt so comfortable, like... here we are, two not-so-joyous people leaning against one another. It felt good and he was warm. He continued to speak. "It seems like I just got here, and everyone's already leaving, y'know? It was so nice to have friends again, but now they're all leaving, and I-" He huffed. I raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Wh..."
"I don't want to ruin the rest of the trip with my moping, though."
"Your moping?" I did that laugh-thing again. "I think I'm the main offender when it comes to that."
"We've only got a couple of days left, at most. Why not make the best of it?"
"One should try to, yes." I smiled a wry little smile. "I have no idea how I'll manage since I'm well, moping, but I'll do my best to make anything of it."
"We should probably go help out Ophelia and Ezra. That wound looked pretty bad." He shifted off the couch and my side suddenly felt all cold due to lack of contact. I tilted my head.
"Hm... If... I think I'll do that if they ask for it. I fear it could be a bit awkward if too many people rushed to one's aid, at least for some people, I mean..." I smiled a little at him. He's so kind and helpful, that guy, he always seem so ready to help and support others. That's a trait I just love in people. Unless my help was needed I'd stay in the couch for a while, not due to me not being willing to help, I just didn't want to make it awkward for any part.
"Then we're getting a picture of those snowmen. Despite my beautiful array of scarves, I think your snow-thing beat my horde of snowmen. Besides, it seems like something your Granada friends would appreciate."
"Sounds like a good idea." I laughed a little. "I'm curious to see your snowmen and their fashionable attires. My snow... thing." I snickered. "Don't call her that to her face, though." I frowned. "Well, to be fair she hasn't got one, so..."
Post edited by Lightfield on
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
"Man, looks like that stung" Alejandro said, once we'd finally made our way back.
We were greeted with concerned faces, by both Alejandro and Phil. I shook my head at them both as if to say "Its fine", but after that journey, I wanted nothing more than to collapse in my bed but it was probably a bad idea to leave the wound so exposed. I let go of Lia, and hobbled my way to the kitchen to get to the first aid box, using pieces of furniture as support on my way. I soaked a towel in some spirit and braced myself for the inevitable. I covered my skin with it and desperately suppressed the urge to scream, letting out a muffled grunt instead. I covered it up with a bandage and did the same to my swelling ankle. It was messy bandaging, but it would work for now. I put a little pressure on my foot, it still hurt but it was better than before. I stood in the kitchen for a while longer, and as I overheard bits of Alejandro and Phil's conversation, my mind wandered to just moments before. I stared into open space, it was nice talking to someone about things. I thought that if anyone, it would be someone like Annalise to beat it out of me eventually, but I was glad that it was Ophelia. Now we both had a piece of each others secrets. She was like me in many ways, but more spunky and generally more likeable. I liked her. I should say something like "Thank you". Eventually.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked, as I slowly walked back into the living room.
Ezra shook his head, like "I'm fine", and I gave a slight nod in return. As I had suspected that's how he'd react. He went to the kitchen, presumably to clean his wound. I cringed. Now that must really sting. He returned to the living room after a while, it looked as if it was quite painful to walk.
"Where is everyone else?"
"Beats me." I shrugged. "It was quite empty when I went inside to have some coffee." I took a swig of aforementioned spiked beverage. "Wouldn't surprise me if Annalise and Ivy are drunk and happy somewhere, and Vivi, Devvie and..." I frowned. "...ehm..." I smacked my forehead with my index finger. "Kylie!" I continued to speak in the same weary voice as before. "Those girls. Were stuck somewhere because their high heels and the snow weren't the best of friends." I yawned. "And Angelica being there shouting 'mooommyyy'." I took a deep breath, sighed and shook my head, rolling my eyes. "Sorry. Not funny. Even though I wouldn't be the least surprised when it comes to Fox and Ivy. Hope that pain of yours will get better soon." I leaned back on the couch, closing my eyes. I hope the rest of the people are having fun. I picked up the coin agan and started to spin it on my palm.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
Just a little bit of a note: It's Day Time and I've made up some locations which is highly fictional. And I'm so sorry it's long!
I followed Phil to the basement while wandering and examining some "forgotten treasures" of the basement. I snorted, "I'm not a fan of a basement being the storage room." I say to no one. Ophelia left the basement and Ezra drove off with his snowmobile. I just stood on a corner watching Phil and Alejandro talking about some ancient vases.
But after that, they all planned to create a snowmen which I think I'll refuse. I followed Alejandro outside where I saw a bench and a snowman looking pretty much hideous like Alejandro. "Hello there, little fella, what's your name?" Alejandro said and tried to fix the snowman.
"I think it should be called Magorian since it pretty much looks like you." I say and chuckled quietly, "I'm joking." I continued and started to look at the ground, examining the snow. I'm hyped, yes, because I've not seen so much snow in my whole life. So, I started to touch the snow, which was cold that hurt my hands, and tried to draw something.
But the almighty Alejandro left me and so I just stayed outside and get relaxed for a bit and I saw Ophelia and Ezra walked to the Chalet, but they don't seem to notice me since they're in the front of the chalet and I'm here all by myself, so I just didn't mind them. Ezra looked struggling to walk and my heart pounded for a while. Refusing my dark thoughts, I just didn't enter the chalet for a while. I heard Angelica calling, "MOM!!!!!!!!!!" and Devon, as well as Kylie, are walking to me.
I gave Angelica a hug and she seemed to notice the horrible snowman standing on Ezra's chalet. She frowned, "Who in the ugly underworld made this monster?" She said. I laughed. "Alejandro" I answered. She frowned at me for a while,
"Mom, Why do we have someone like Alejandro living on our apartment?"
"Well, uhm, it's because they need shelter obviously."
"But why Alejandro? Why not some kind of a cute guy?"
The thought of her made me gasped,
"Sweetie, are you fantasizing about cute guys?"
She looked embarrassed and reddish, so she looked away.
"MOM! We're talking about Alejandro! He's not cute nor handsome!"
"Oh cut it you two, it's freezing, let's go back." Devon snapped.
"I would suggest going to walk, can't we?" Kylie suggested. I nodded.
"Sounds good. We need to experience France and this winter vacation."
And so we all journeyed ourselves and looking and examining at the small beautiful chalets. Greeted some people "Hey!" and "Hello!" with our best kindly smiles. Devon hunted some boys, Kylie snapchatting as usual with her duck-y face and pouty lips, Meanwhile, Me and Angelica observed some of the Christmas decorations placed on other chalets. Then I found a map of the place and looked at it. The map says that we're on the chalets' (obviously) area and at the north of it is where you can find the mountain which described having a cable cars and some skiing area. A lake, which I think you can't fish, is where the skating is and the main attraction which is called the Très Belle Park.
"What have you found?" Devon started and looking at the map. She examined it. "Ohhh so here's a map. We should definitely inform everybody about this!" She exclaimed. Meanwhile, Kylie had bought herself an Ice Cream and Angelica, which I hadn't noticed she left me after staring at the map for too long.
"Seriously, an Ice Cream while it's -10 degrees Celsius?" I said.
"Oh come on, Winter doesn't bother us, right Angelica?" Kylie said and looked at my daughter. My horrible but pretty daughter nodded.
"Yep" She said and licked her strawberry Ice cream.
Me and Devon sighed and so we headed back to the chalet, tracing some identifiable footsteps we left, but we've decided to go in the other route which made myself have a mini-heart attack.
A snowmobile crashed into a tree. I clearly noticed from whom it was.
"That snowmobile is from Ezra!" I said. Devon looked at me.
"And it crashed." She said.
A panic soared through my stomach,
"And he's hurt. Haven't you three seen it?"
"Nope. We hadn't notice him after y'all went to the basement. We left through the back door." Kylie interrupted while licking her vanilla ice cream.
"Gosh! We need to get home!" I said.
We all rushed to the chalet in a hurry. I saw Phil, Ophelia, Ezra, and Alejandro on the living room. Thank God, Ezra looks so fine but I let my concern and panic betray me.
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-"
"I'm a nurse!" Devon shouted, I glared at her. I sighed,
"Seriously, were you hurt?" I said to Ezra.
"Your moping?" Alejandro said, laughing. "I think I'm the main offender when it comes to that." I waved his comment away.
"You're always so upbeat and happy-you deserve a chance to vent a little. Though after the moping ends, we're going to do something about it, as you said. Which, if it doesn't include checking on Ezra, must definitely include getting pictures of our snow-thi- snow-people." Just as I had hopped off the couch, Ezra wandered back into the room, waving off Alejandro's concerns.
"Where is everyone else?" I shrugged.
"They all disappeared a while ago. Hopefully they'll be back soon." Alejandro launched into a detailed description of where they could be, and I found myself laughing at the heels-stuck-in-snow part.
We sat around chatting for a while, before I made my way towards the back window. It had started snowing again, and I did not want to go back out, even for pictures. I snapped some photos of the snowmen (and, like, two hundred pictures up Alejandro's snow sculpture). I texted the best ones to Alejandro, and made my way back towards the living room. We really did need to start a group chat of sorts. To send pictures of beautiful snow sculptures when we were all split up. And other things, of course, but mostly that.
Vivian & Co. came walking in, screaming at Ezra. I winced at the noise, and fought the urge to cover my ears. "No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying." I looked at Ezra with a slightly panicked gaze. "Right?"
"You're always so upbeat and happy-you deserve a chance to vent a little."
"I... I am?" I tilted my head, giggling a bit. I never have any clue about what impression I make, but perhaps that's for the best sometimes. "Hm..." I squinted and tilted my head to the other side before nodding. "You may have a point."
"Though after the moping ends, we're going to do something about it, as you said. Which, if it doesn't include checking on Ezra, must definitely include getting pictures of our snow-thi- snow-people."
"People." I nodded, a slight smirk on my face, and finished my coffee. Even though I wasn't in my best mood, the coffee, ironically if one just looks at it from an outside eye and only views it as a regular cup of coffee, had calmed me down a tad - I didn't feel as antsy as before.
Phil got up, presumably to take photos of the snow th... people. I reached that conclusion with my brilliant mind by checking my buzzing phone, where pictures of aforementioned snow people were sent to me from Phil's number.
"She looks mighty fine", I said to Phil when he returned. "Ah, but seriously. Your snowmen are really nice. I love all those facial expressions... That one to the left looks pretty ticked off to say the least."
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-" Vivian and her merry gang showed up. I was taken completely off guard by the loud shout, I gasped, wide-eyed, putting my hand to my chest.
"You scared me to pieces..." She made me jump good, my coin had flown across the room. Although I did understand why they got freaked out, if they saw a crashed snowmobile.
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying." Phil looked at Ezra, some kind of panic in his eyes. I couldn't help but letting out a throathy laugh at his facial expression. "Right?"
"Actually he's already dead", I mumbled through the corner of my mouth. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now." I realized what I had just said and put my hands up in the air, gunpoint. "My apologies! I don't know why I'm saying these things. I swear, I'm not making fun of anyone of you." I bit my lip and shook my head. Moping Alejandro tends to get a bit... strange.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
Alejandro said that the house had been empty for a while, I nodded then laughed quite a bit at what he said. About heels getting stuck in snow. I could definitely imagine something like that happening to Devon especially. She seemed like a 100% city girl, and I wondered if she actually was enjoying the snow etc. or if she secretly hated it here- minus the French guys.
“Ivy and Annalise are definitely up to something wild.” I agreed.
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-“
"I'm a nurse!” Devon screamed.
“I’d rather die.” I mumbled, with a chuckle.
"Seriously, were you hurt?”
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying.” Phil looked at me like he was unsure of his own words. "Right?”
"Actually he's already dead” Alejandro said. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now."
I laughed a bit, slightly uncomfortable. Vivian had rushed in with an obvious feeling of panic, along with Devon, Kylie, and her daughter.
Alejandro caught himself and added, "My apologies! I don't know why I'm saying these things. I swear, I'm not making fun of anyone of you.”
“No need to kick up a fuss,” I side-smiled at Vivian “I’m fine. Really.” I repeated to them all. I looked down at my injuries. “The brakes must have frozen or something.” I lied.
Because, as if I was going to tell them all that it was my own fault. Would be too embarrassing, and exhausting to explain. Even thinking about it, I could feel myself start to get angry again. If I were more able, I’d leave the room but in the moment, it required too much effort even in thought alone. So I internally calmed myself down. I couldn’t wait to get out of France, and just be back home at the apartments. I was ready for the New Year, but it also slightly terrified me, because it meant that another year had passed by and I wasn’t any more responsible than I was before it. Which meant, I was another year closer to breaking my promise to my sister.
“I’d rather die.” Ezra mumbled, with a chuckle. Devon frowned but chuckled.
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying.” Phil said, "Right?”
"Actually he's already dead” Alejandro said. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now." He continued. I shot him a glare and looked at Ezra.
“No need to kick up a fuss,” Ezra said and side-smiled at me, “I’m fine. Really.” He continued and looked down at his injuries which made me gasp a little bit, “The brakes must have frozen or something.” He said. I nodded.
"Thank God, Ezra. Because I don't know what to do and what to explain to your foster mum if something really horrible had happened to you. Come on, next time be careful." I said and was sure I'm sounding like a real mother. Well, I'm a real mother.
"Mom, you're really sounding like a mother. I'm sure he'll be fine." Angelica said. I nodded.
"Well, me and Angelica saw a map of the place and there are a lot of activities over there," I say and pointing out of nowhere (Well, outside actually), "I think we should REALLY get going," I continued then looked at Ezra with a worried, concerned look, but also frustrated that he got into an accident, "But how can we proceed if one of us, especially the one who brought us here, was injured?"
Synopsis: Assuming that the Winter Vacation ended successfully with a lot of fun and skiing, they all went back to the Apartment after a couple of days as Vivian had stated. 2016 is also ending in this roleplay, so they'll (maybe) throw a fun party. Scene Change: Day (because let's assume they arrived at night)
It felt great to be back at the apartments - as much as I enjoyed our time in France I had gotten really homsesick after all, longing for some tranquility and alone-time. The first thing I had done when I got back had been to have some lovely, lovely sleep in my own bed - ah, I had missed it. The flight back hadn't been that terrible this time... mainly because I was out cold the entire ride after two anti-anxiety pills, calming me down so much I fell asleep about ten minutes after the plane was up in the clouds. I had spent the most of this day relaxing, as well as taking care of my webshop, a lot of orders had been placed - oh, sweet money, how I long for thee.
I was in bed, drinking iced tea and making use of a few gifts I had gotten for Christmas; savouring a piece of the Irish cream-chocolate Ezra had given me as well as reading one of the books Lia gave me. It was really good actually, quite captivating. I made a mental note to myself: ask Antonio if he ever read it. It wouldn't surprise me if he had. His apartment is like a small library after all.
On the topic of gifts, there had been a lot of packages for me to collect that had been sent to me by post. Joke gift from Antonio: a T-shirt with the text Jesus loves you. Serious gift from Antonio: an absolutely delightful perfume, all spicy and oriental. I had sent him a book with cheesy pick-up lines as a joke gift, and a really nice belt that would probably hang loose from his hips. Angela had sent me a silver necklace with a small square pendant decorated with a little glass-"diamond". I had sent her a bag of expensive coffee beans, that girl is a true coffee connoisseur. Lots of gifts from relatives, and some sweet little gifts from other friends of mine. Christmas all over again.
I wondered if anyone had any special plans for New Year's - I hoped we would come up with something big-ish. New Year's is serious business after all. Happiness and Champagne and cheering. I tend to get very, very, very drunk on New Year's, but this year I was going to hold back a bit on that if there would be a party (even though I'll certainly drink Champagne even if it won't be one). My birthday had been a complete booze-fest on my part after all, I didn't need to get that drunk again anytime soon.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
I woke up with a really good mood. though I woke up early. I'm so excited since the Christmas Vacation is over for my daughter, Annabeth. Annabeth is a daughter of mine, mind you. She's a demi-
Okay, I'm joking.
But seriously, Angelica is going to school after days of Vacation. Yes, I'm sending her to school rather than sending her to our room, doing nothing and possibly watching some p-
Okay. Gonna stop myself there.
So, I woke up like 5:30 AM in the morning and prepared some breakfast (Bacons and eggs and some pancakes) to our tenants and, as well as, Angelica. I woke her up 6 in the morning and she ate breakfast really slowly, which I had to stop myself from shouting and waking up our roommates. She then prepared herself to get ready to school. By 7:00 AM, the school bus arrived. We got a little bit dramatic for a while (HONEY, PLEASE BE GOOD. DON'T BE A BEACH TO YOUR TEACHERS) (YES MOM).
Then, I left a note to the tenants next to the foods I cooked and headed back to my room to sleep again. Oh, I'm sure they will wake up at like 12 NN or something. But anyways, the contents of the note is here:
Dear PeplePoeplePeeple Tenants,
Angelica is going to school today because Vacation is over. I cooked some foods for y'all to enjoy. Bye!
While France was fun, I was more than ready to head home. Alejandro was already passed out next to me when we lifted off, so I spent the flight reading and napping. Once we got home, I dumped my bags on my floor and promptly passed out on my bed. Sunlight was streaming through my window when I woke up. I groaned, and rolled out of my bed, not even bothering to change out of my PJs. I shuffled into the kitchen, bleary eyed and tired. Vivian left some sort of note, but honestly? I was much more interested in the food next to it.
I piled some eggs and bacon on my plate, and sat down at the breakfast bar, still kind of huffy. Jet lag hit me hard when we got back, and if not for my rumbling stomach, I would probably be curled up in my covers. Despite my mood, the peace and quiet around me was nice and calming. I seemed to be the only one up, judging by the serene quietness of the house. It felt good to have some silence, for once. As much as having roommates was great, it was so loud all the time. Obnoxiously loud.
Nicotine and caffeine called my name... and to be fair I was getting rather hungry as well. I put on my dumb I'm Spanish, let's party-T-shirt Antonio had bought me as a joke gift many moons ago, along with a pair of sweatpants. I just couldn't bother today. After going out for a smoke - and being eternally grateful to Mother Nature, the weather gods and that dang groundhog I had been taught about - I went to the kitchen to brew some coffee and find something to eat. Phil was already there, sitting at the breakfast bar with a plate of eggs and bacon, looking more than tired. Phil. Not his food.
"Good morning", I said to him, giving him a little smile. I like to believe my voice isn't too grating for tired ears, it never reaches a loud volume... at least not in regular, everyday situations. Then there are other occasions, but those are few and far between. Especially these past few months. If one doesn't count... stuff. Such as shoutouts.
Just as I was going to browse for something edible that didn't make me feel nauseous... I'm not good with bread and cereal and stuff in the morning... I saw that some kind soul had already cooked. Good ol' Vivi had left a note about her taking Angelica to school, and that she had made some food for us to enjoy. I smirked and reached for a pen in my fabric bag to scribble a little "thank you" underneath her text.
As soon as the coffee was finished (and I, of course, had poured enough milk in my cup for the coffee to turn almost lukewarm) I grabbed a plate, helped myself to some eggs and bacon and sat down on the kitchen counter. I chuckled quietly to myself. I probably looked pretty much like I did the first time Phil saw me - dressed in "I can't bother today"-clothes, sitting on the counter with bacon and coffee. The big difference was that I wasn't hangover today, thus being a little less... whatever I am after a night of drinking.
I figured Phil wouldn't be in the mood for small talk, but to show some politeness I asked him; "Did you sleep well?"
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
It felt good to be back in the apartments. Being away for a while was nice, but I had no idea I would lose my cool whilst I was there. I honestly thought I was over the anger of my past but, evidently not. I wiggled my foot as I sat on the edge of my bed. The swelling had definitely gone down, and any scratches had already started to heal over. There was a lovely air hostess on the flight back, that gave poor injured me, some extra TLC and her phone number, in case of emergencies and such. I’d long lost in from the moment we landed though. I was more conceded about getting my beloved cat back. I abandoned the others, and took my luggage with me to go pick up Blitz, who acted like she was having the time of her life at the pet shelter, but obviously missed me as she purred and purred in the cab, the whole way back to the apartments. When we got back, as I expected, she immediately attacked the Santa cat toy that Phil had gotten her, and sat eyeballing the dead santa from on top of her new scratching pole from Ophelia. All night. Really doesn’t trust those beards.
I’d spent most of the morning in my room, enjoying the scent of home, and I’d finally decided to get up and get dressed.
I gave myself a once over in the mirror, then made my way downstairs in search for something to eat. In the kitchen, Phil was having breakfast in his PJ’s looking sleepy, with Alejandro sat up on the counter dressed down and enjoying coffee and breakfast.
“Mornin’” I said, walking straight over the food. I read the note Vivian had left, and made myself a plate. “Angelica’s at school aye? Maybe they’ll teach her some manners.” I half-joked, taking a seat at the dining table.
It felt good to be back at the apartment, back at home. It was nice to back somewhere familiar, and to have your own bed back. I slept surprisingly well, the flight back went a lot smoother than the first, and I was just feeling generally good about things. I put it down to it nearly being the new year. I liked new years. It's as if you get a fresh start, even if I wasn't good at keeping resolutions.
I eventually crawled out from under the duvet, when the scent of breakfast wafted up the stairs and my stomach started to growl at the smell. I was in a 'I can't be bothered' mood, so I found an old hoodie of the floor and decided that it would do.
It seemed pretty quiet as I headed downstairs, but Phil, Alejandro and Ezra were already in the kitchen. I mumbled a "morning" and chuckled a little bit at the note Vivian left. I hoped Angelica would enjoy school, it would probably do her good to be around people her own age. I made a mental note to thank Viv for cooking and helped myself to some egg, and found a packet of grapes out the fridge, placing a few onto the plate. I sat up onto the counter, enjoying the peace. It was so relaxed. I presumed everyone was just tired and glad to be back.
So we're back in the apartment which is a relief, and that means back to normal and back to having some fun again. Not that I really didn't enjoy the France Vacation, but it was sure so boring. Well, I got out of the bed and did some morning routines. Next, I headed downstairs seeing Phil, Ezra, Alejandro, and Ophelia on the dining room, looking busy and quiet as heck.
"Good morning" I say and grabbed the note that looks Vivian-ish, I read it quietly. Oh. So Angelica is being sent to school? Good. So, I got myself a plate, made a hot chocolate drink, and sat on the table. I placed the pancake and the bacon on my plate and started eating.
I looked at everyone, "How's sleep?" I say to them and slowly taking a sip of the hot chocolate.
Ezra, dressed in these really nice clothes... at least someone had bothered... entered the kitchen and almost immediately went for the food Vivi had cooked. "Mornin'".
"And good morning to you, Ezra. Love your outfit", I said after taking a sip of my coffee, giving a little smile. "How's Blitz doing?" I figured that he must have missed his beloved cat, they seemed to be quite the dynamic duo, those two.
"Angelica’s at school aye? Maybe they’ll teach her some manners."
"Hopefully..." I chuckled at Ezra's comment. "If so, it will be interesting to study the progress." I frowned, trying to imagine it. It wasn't an easy task. I had never seen her playing with another child, which made me wonder how often she met other kids. It would probably be good for her to get to know some other children. Unless she still would play that princess-act, that is.
Enter another person who couldn't be bothered with dressing up all nicely - Ophelia, mumbling a "morning", as she helped herself to food as well as some grapes. Hm, grapes. Perhaps I'll have some for dessert later on. She, too, decided that the kitchen counter was the place to be.
"Mornin' Lia", I said. "Slept well?"
People arrived quickly after one another, now it was Whattawhatta, taking an interest in the pancakes and making herself a cup of hot chocolate. Note to self: make some of my own later on. Because it's delicious.
"Good morning".
"Ah, good morning." I smiled at her. I wondered if she had enjoyed the trip, since she seemed to be quite the city gal, and I suspected that a snowy mountain perhaps wouldn't be her dream vacation.
"How's sleep?", she said to us.
"Oh, not bad. It was really refreshing to sleep in my own bed again. How about you, did you sleep well?"
Actually I was feeling so alert it was worrysome. I should be even more tired, but perhaps the change of scenery, the good sleep I had had and just the overall feeling of "my own apartment, the alone-time I had had, my little kingdom of organized chaos" got to me like a highly enjoyable virus infection that didn't gave me fever or sore lymph nodes.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
Alejandro had complimented my look today, and I realised that I actually didn't have any plans today, so I really didn't need to dress up.
"How's Blitz doing?"
"Great. She loves her new stuff." I smiled, thinking of her furry little face.
Ophelia soon joined us, followed by Devon.
"How's sleep?" She asked
"Good." I gave her a thumbs up, as I chewed on a big mouthful of food.
"Oh, not bad. It was really refreshing to sleep in my own bed again. How about you, did you sleep well?"
I chuckled a bit. Good old Alejandro, so polite. No wonder he'd been quite popular amongst us all. Who has time for pleasantries when there is food to be eaten? I finished up what was on my plate and dumped it in the sink. Normally, I'd just leave it in there because eventually I'd either be forced to clean up or someone would just do it for me. At least thats the way it worked with my old roommates, "God Ezra you're so lazy." I just hate washing up. But, this wasn't my old apartment so I washed up after myself, quickly before anyone could add to it.
"So what are we doing for New Years? I vote getting Phil drunk again." I smirked
"So what are we doing for New Years? I vote getting Phil drunk again." Ezra smirked. I laughed, then turned to Phil, while pouting and putting my hand to my heart to show sympathy for the poor man getting teased. I hope he wouldn't get upset, since he seemed less than happy when whiskey was poured at the chalet.
"You know, I was just about to ask the same question, about plans for New Years. I don't think you should try to get Phil drunk again, though, you seemed to be forgiven last time, but who knows what happens if you do it again..." I did a little "heh"-laugh, then I turned to Phil. "I have to stress that I'm not making fun of you in any way." I bit my lip. "I don't have any concrete ideas, though, but I definitely want to do something, and something quite special..." I tilted my head. "Pah. I'm not good with these things... concrete plans, that is."
2012: Fancy dinner with family. Champagne. Then I left, and me and a friend named Beatrice got to Antonio's place. Then a few screwdrivers. Then a nightclub, more drinks, where we got chased across the club a few times after some dancing until a nice gentleman offered me, Antonio and a girl named Betty Betty cigarillos so we could breath fresh/polluted air. Then get inside again, dance, get chased again, dance and drink more. Then waking up in an unfamiliar but nice place, severely hung over.
2013: Rushed meal. Plans of going to a nightclub. We didn't reach our destination because we all got so plastered we just stayed at my place having long, deep discussions until we pretty much passed out.
2014: I don't remember, but Angela, Antonio, Annie, Lucas and someone named G-something were there.
2015: Sushi, heckloads of booze and friends. Fireworks.
I'm bad when ot comes to planning.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
Ah... The apartments, the air conditioner , the wifi , the tv , my car. Then all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door, I was a bit confused but I answered the door, it was Corey, he told me that he... er... you don't wanna hear. His car broke down. It was fun filling it up, well looking at the car was, and he bought an Ice-Cream I ate mine a bit later on my own. Then my girl, Amy Morgan , rung me and asked if we would meet at some point. After that I just sat down and had a nap because I was tired from the journey back from France.
Ezra walked in eventually, looking extremely put together. I was slightly embarrassed by my pajamas, but my lack of effort was luckily mirrored by Alejandro. I wasn't the only one who looked like I just woke up.
The kitchen filled up quickly, as everyone else started to wake up. I'd pretty much tuned out all the conversation, until I heard Ezra saying, "...I vote getting Phil drunk again." I mustered up a glare in his direction.
"Not happening. I'd rather stay sober enough to get blackm-funny videos of your guys's drunken antics. Also, I trust you guys about as far as I can throw you. I'm scared to think about what you'll do to me when drunk. Let alone if I'm drunk as well." I smiled into my coffee, laughing a bit. "Can't wait to see you guys totally hammered, though." Surprisingly enough, I wasn't lying. No one here was an angry or scary drunk, which was a relief. They were all actually kind of... fun. I certainly didn't mind being around it as much as I thought I would.
Alejandro shot me a look, putting his hand on his chest. I smiled back. At least someone wasn't set on getting me plastered.
"This has, like, nothing to do with anything we've been talking about, but does anyone know where the new guy is? He's been kind of... absent all morning."
"Not happening. I'd rather stay sober enough to get blackm-funny videos of your guys's drunken antics." Ezra got a little glare from Phil, and I chuckled.
"So you intend to shoot blackmail... Oops! ...funny videos of us, eh?" I tilted my head and smirked. "I believe I don't have much to fear. I don't exactly do scandalous stuff when I'm drunk. At least I like to believe as much. At least mostly."
"Also, I trust you guys about as far as I can throw you. I'm scared to think about what you'll do to me when drunk. Let alone if I'm drunk as well." He laughed a bit. "Can't wait to see you guys totally hammered, though."
"Then I'm eager to show you." I chuckled and stuck my tongue out. "But this time I won't get plastered enough to become eejit-Alejandro and make shoutouts to people that aren't present. Nobody wants to see such things anyway." I did my head-tilt again, but this time I mixed things up a bit by tilting it to the opposite side. "Out of curiosity, how do you usually celebrate New Years?"
"This has, like, nothing to do with anything we've been talking about, but does anyone know where the new guy is? He's been kind of... absent all morning."
"Beats me." I shrugged. "Don't see him around often. A bit of a loner, that one, I figure." I finished my coffee and put the cup next to me. Way too lazy to get off the counter just yet, this one.
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
"So you intend to shoot blackmail... Oops! ...funny videos of us, eh? I believe I don't have much to fear. I don't exactly do scandalous stuff when I'm drunk. At least I like to believe as much. At least mostly." Alejandro tilted his head and smirked. I chuckled dryly.
"Oh, we'll see about that. Based on all your stories, I have a hard time believing you don't get up to some weird stuff. Or become.. what was that? eejit-Alejandro?" I shook my head, staring at Alejandro, a faint smile on my face. "D- do I want to know what that is?"
Alejandro asked about what I usually did for New Years, and I just shrugged. "Nothin' much. I used to spend it with my friend, Shawn. Er, he's more of an ex, but also... not? We were never really "official", per say. Not that that matters. After we lost touch, I didn't do much of anything. I did hang out with my neighbors, some years. But even then, it was mostly just heated games of Monopoly and cake.
"What about you, though? I recon you've gotten up to some crazy stuff during New Years."
"Oh, we'll see about that." Phil chuckled dryly. Oh, what now, didn't he believe me? "Based on all your stories, I have a hard time believing you don't get up to some weird stuff."
"I, ah..." Little 'hah'-laugh. "Weird stuff, yes, that's not impossible... But yet, hm, no scandals."
"Or become.. what was that? eejit-Alejandro?" He shook his head, looking at me, a faint smile on his lips. "D- do I want to know what that is?"
"Oh no, no. I won't become that guy, I promised myself. Aah, and it's nothing, nothing too terrible. It's just when I forget my limits and act like a complete flute. Eejit-Alejandro might become sentimental for no reason whatsoever, he's bad at the art of walking steadily and talking without slurring, and his accent is as slippery as oil. Sometimes he embarrasses himself. But he's a friendly fella. Anyhow, you won't meet him anytime soon anyway, no need to think about him." I did a 'heh'-laugh, sighed and shook my head.
He told me about the ways he used to celebrate New Years, which sounded pretty calm and pleasant even though it wasn't much.
"What about you, though? I recon you've gotten up to some crazy stuff during New Years."
"Hm, well... At times, I guess. Odd things have happened for sure. Mostly it's just pretty unplanned things, I celebrate it with friends, we usually just eat something nice, drink something nice, go out somewhere or have small home parties." I didn't need to mention all the exessive drinking, strange unfamiliar places, exessive whatever, overall weird let's not go there, countless of anecdotes me and my friends still tell one another and memory gaps after all. "And drinking champagne as well as looking at people burning their fingers off when they lit fireworks. No, seriosly, thankfully I've never witnessed such an accident. That would be terrible... But odd things certainly has happened." I frowned. "Like the time me and a few friends basically got chased through a night club." I shook my head. "People can be so desperate..."
Add a dab of lavender to milk, leave town with an orange and pretend you're laughing at it.
I sat on the counter, leaning against the cupboards, just listening. I'd never really celebrated New Years before, not in a special way at least. At home, we just waited for midnight and went to bed. Nothing fancy. One year at the clinic we camped in the garden and had a picnic in the rain.
"We should get some fireworks," I said. I always wanted to do the whole fireworks thing, not that I trusted myself or anybody else with them. Especially not this lot, "or maybe not." I chuckled to myself.
Alejandro and Phil started talking about drinking, I half listened to the conversation. It seemed like at any excuse to get drunk, they would. Not that I had a problem with that, they were fun to be around. Even with dubious amounts of alcohol. I decided, that if i really was going to have my sisters in the new year, I would stay as sober as possible. Only a little bit at the most. Hangovers and overly excitable kids don't mix well.
Comments
Phil gave me this sweet little smile. "You sure? We can talk about it, if you want. I-" Then he cut himself off.
"Thank you", I said, smiling softly at him, "that's sweet." I took his hand and gave it a tiny, quick press to show that I was grateful for him being willing to listen if I did feel the need to talk, before putting my hand back in my lap again. "Just a random case of the blues, though."
"No worries. The mood wasn't exactly joyous beforehand. I guess I just..."
"Hm, you're right, there's..."
"everyone was so ready to do things this morning." He looked around the chalet. "But they all just went their separate ways. I mean, I don't even know where the new guy went! He could be dead for all we know." He exhaled in this shaky kind of way. I have to stifle a snort-laugh, at the last part. This 'I'm definitely not supposed to laugh right now'-thing combined with being taken off guard by something a person just said. He leaned fully up against me, and I leaned back, closing my eyes again, smiling a little. It all felt so comfortable, like... here we are, two not-so-joyous people leaning against one another. It felt good and he was warm. He continued to speak. "It seems like I just got here, and everyone's already leaving, y'know? It was so nice to have friends again, but now they're all leaving, and I-" He huffed. I raised an eyebrow, confused.
"Wh..."
"I don't want to ruin the rest of the trip with my moping, though."
"Your moping?" I did that laugh-thing again. "I think I'm the main offender when it comes to that."
"We've only got a couple of days left, at most. Why not make the best of it?"
"One should try to, yes." I smiled a wry little smile. "I have no idea how I'll manage since I'm well, moping, but I'll do my best to make anything of it."
"We should probably go help out Ophelia and Ezra. That wound looked pretty bad." He shifted off the couch and my side suddenly felt all cold due to lack of contact. I tilted my head.
"Hm... If... I think I'll do that if they ask for it. I fear it could be a bit awkward if too many people rushed to one's aid, at least for some people, I mean..." I smiled a little at him. He's so kind and helpful, that guy, he always seem so ready to help and support others. That's a trait I just love in people. Unless my help was needed I'd stay in the couch for a while, not due to me not being willing to help, I just didn't want to make it awkward for any part.
"Then we're getting a picture of those snowmen. Despite my beautiful array of scarves, I think your snow-thing beat my horde of snowmen. Besides, it seems like something your Granada friends would appreciate."
"Sounds like a good idea." I laughed a little. "I'm curious to see your snowmen and their fashionable attires. My snow... thing." I snickered. "Don't call her that to her face, though." I frowned. "Well, to be fair she hasn't got one, so..."
"Man, looks like that stung" Alejandro said, once we'd finally made our way back.
We were greeted with concerned faces, by both Alejandro and Phil. I shook my head at them both as if to say "Its fine", but after that journey, I wanted nothing more than to collapse in my bed but it was probably a bad idea to leave the wound so exposed. I let go of Lia, and hobbled my way to the kitchen to get to the first aid box, using pieces of furniture as support on my way. I soaked a towel in some spirit and braced myself for the inevitable. I covered my skin with it and desperately suppressed the urge to scream, letting out a muffled grunt instead. I covered it up with a bandage and did the same to my swelling ankle. It was messy bandaging, but it would work for now. I put a little pressure on my foot, it still hurt but it was better than before. I stood in the kitchen for a while longer, and as I overheard bits of Alejandro and Phil's conversation, my mind wandered to just moments before. I stared into open space, it was nice talking to someone about things. I thought that if anyone, it would be someone like Annalise to beat it out of me eventually, but I was glad that it was Ophelia. Now we both had a piece of each others secrets. She was like me in many ways, but more spunky and generally more likeable. I liked her. I should say something like "Thank you". Eventually.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked, as I slowly walked back into the living room.
Ezra shook his head, like "I'm fine", and I gave a slight nod in return. As I had suspected that's how he'd react. He went to the kitchen, presumably to clean his wound. I cringed. Now that must really sting. He returned to the living room after a while, it looked as if it was quite painful to walk.
"Where is everyone else?"
"Beats me." I shrugged. "It was quite empty when I went inside to have some coffee." I took a swig of aforementioned spiked beverage. "Wouldn't surprise me if Annalise and Ivy are drunk and happy somewhere, and Vivi, Devvie and..." I frowned. "...ehm..." I smacked my forehead with my index finger. "Kylie!" I continued to speak in the same weary voice as before. "Those girls. Were stuck somewhere because their high heels and the snow weren't the best of friends." I yawned. "And Angelica being there shouting 'mooommyyy'." I took a deep breath, sighed and shook my head, rolling my eyes. "Sorry. Not funny. Even though I wouldn't be the least surprised when it comes to Fox and Ivy. Hope that pain of yours will get better soon." I leaned back on the couch, closing my eyes. I hope the rest of the people are having fun. I picked up the coin agan and started to spin it on my palm.
Just a little bit of a note: It's Day Time and I've made up some locations which is highly fictional. And I'm so sorry it's long!
I followed Phil to the basement while wandering and examining some "forgotten treasures" of the basement. I snorted, "I'm not a fan of a basement being the storage room." I say to no one. Ophelia left the basement and Ezra drove off with his snowmobile. I just stood on a corner watching Phil and Alejandro talking about some ancient vases.
But after that, they all planned to create a snowmen which I think I'll refuse. I followed Alejandro outside where I saw a bench and a snowman looking pretty much hideous like Alejandro. "Hello there, little fella, what's your name?" Alejandro said and tried to fix the snowman.
"I think it should be called Magorian since it pretty much looks like you." I say and chuckled quietly, "I'm joking." I continued and started to look at the ground, examining the snow. I'm hyped, yes, because I've not seen so much snow in my whole life. So, I started to touch the snow, which was cold that hurt my hands, and tried to draw something.
But the almighty Alejandro left me and so I just stayed outside and get relaxed for a bit and I saw Ophelia and Ezra walked to the Chalet, but they don't seem to notice me since they're in the front of the chalet and I'm here all by myself, so I just didn't mind them. Ezra looked struggling to walk and my heart pounded for a while. Refusing my dark thoughts, I just didn't enter the chalet for a while. I heard Angelica calling, "MOM!!!!!!!!!!" and Devon, as well as Kylie, are walking to me.
I gave Angelica a hug and she seemed to notice the horrible snowman standing on Ezra's chalet. She frowned, "Who in the ugly underworld made this monster?" She said. I laughed. "Alejandro" I answered. She frowned at me for a while,
"Mom, Why do we have someone like Alejandro living on our apartment?"
"Well, uhm, it's because they need shelter obviously."
"But why Alejandro? Why not some kind of a cute guy?"
The thought of her made me gasped,
"Sweetie, are you fantasizing about cute guys?"
She looked embarrassed and reddish, so she looked away.
"MOM! We're talking about Alejandro! He's not cute nor handsome!"
"Oh cut it you two, it's freezing, let's go back." Devon snapped.
"I would suggest going to walk, can't we?" Kylie suggested. I nodded.
"Sounds good. We need to experience France and this winter vacation."
And so we all journeyed ourselves and looking and examining at the small beautiful chalets. Greeted some people "Hey!" and "Hello!" with our best kindly smiles. Devon hunted some boys, Kylie snapchatting as usual with her duck-y face and pouty lips, Meanwhile, Me and Angelica observed some of the Christmas decorations placed on other chalets. Then I found a map of the place and looked at it. The map says that we're on the chalets' (obviously) area and at the north of it is where you can find the mountain which described having a cable cars and some skiing area. A lake, which I think you can't fish, is where the skating is and the main attraction which is called the Très Belle Park.
"What have you found?" Devon started and looking at the map. She examined it. "Ohhh so here's a map. We should definitely inform everybody about this!" She exclaimed. Meanwhile, Kylie had bought herself an Ice Cream and Angelica, which I hadn't noticed she left me after staring at the map for too long.
"Seriously, an Ice Cream while it's -10 degrees Celsius?" I said.
"Oh come on, Winter doesn't bother us, right Angelica?" Kylie said and looked at my daughter. My horrible but pretty daughter nodded.
"Yep" She said and licked her strawberry Ice cream.
Me and Devon sighed and so we headed back to the chalet, tracing some identifiable footsteps we left, but we've decided to go in the other route which made myself have a mini-heart attack.
A snowmobile crashed into a tree. I clearly noticed from whom it was.
"That snowmobile is from Ezra!" I said. Devon looked at me.
"And it crashed." She said.
A panic soared through my stomach,
"And he's hurt. Haven't you three seen it?"
"Nope. We hadn't notice him after y'all went to the basement. We left through the back door." Kylie interrupted while licking her vanilla ice cream.
"Gosh! We need to get home!" I said.
We all rushed to the chalet in a hurry. I saw Phil, Ophelia, Ezra, and Alejandro on the living room. Thank God, Ezra looks so fine but I let my concern and panic betray me.
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-"
"I'm a nurse!" Devon shouted, I glared at her. I sighed,
"Seriously, were you hurt?" I said to Ezra.
"Your moping?" Alejandro said, laughing. "I think I'm the main offender when it comes to that." I waved his comment away.
"You're always so upbeat and happy-you deserve a chance to vent a little. Though after the moping ends, we're going to do something about it, as you said. Which, if it doesn't include checking on Ezra, must definitely include getting pictures of our snow-thi- snow-people." Just as I had hopped off the couch, Ezra wandered back into the room, waving off Alejandro's concerns.
"Where is everyone else?" I shrugged.
"They all disappeared a while ago. Hopefully they'll be back soon." Alejandro launched into a detailed description of where they could be, and I found myself laughing at the heels-stuck-in-snow part.
We sat around chatting for a while, before I made my way towards the back window. It had started snowing again, and I did not want to go back out, even for pictures. I snapped some photos of the snowmen (and, like, two hundred pictures up Alejandro's snow sculpture). I texted the best ones to Alejandro, and made my way back towards the living room. We really did need to start a group chat of sorts. To send pictures of beautiful snow sculptures when we were all split up. And other things, of course, but mostly that.
Vivian & Co. came walking in, screaming at Ezra. I winced at the noise, and fought the urge to cover my ears. "No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying." I looked at Ezra with a slightly panicked gaze. "Right?"
"You're always so upbeat and happy-you deserve a chance to vent a little."
"I... I am?" I tilted my head, giggling a bit. I never have any clue about what impression I make, but perhaps that's for the best sometimes. "Hm..." I squinted and tilted my head to the other side before nodding. "You may have a point."
"Though after the moping ends, we're going to do something about it, as you said. Which, if it doesn't include checking on Ezra, must definitely include getting pictures of our snow-thi- snow-people."
"People." I nodded, a slight smirk on my face, and finished my coffee. Even though I wasn't in my best mood, the coffee, ironically if one just looks at it from an outside eye and only views it as a regular cup of coffee, had calmed me down a tad - I didn't feel as antsy as before.
Phil got up, presumably to take photos of the snow th... people. I reached that conclusion with my brilliant mind by checking my buzzing phone, where pictures of aforementioned snow people were sent to me from Phil's number.
"She looks mighty fine", I said to Phil when he returned. "Ah, but seriously. Your snowmen are really nice. I love all those facial expressions... That one to the left looks pretty ticked off to say the least."
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-" Vivian and her merry gang showed up. I was taken completely off guard by the loud shout, I gasped, wide-eyed, putting my hand to my chest.
"You scared me to pieces..." She made me jump good, my coin had flown across the room. Although I did understand why they got freaked out, if they saw a crashed snowmobile.
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying." Phil looked at Ezra, some kind of panic in his eyes. I couldn't help but letting out a throathy laugh at his facial expression. "Right?"
"Actually he's already dead", I mumbled through the corner of my mouth. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now." I realized what I had just said and put my hands up in the air, gunpoint. "My apologies! I don't know why I'm saying these things. I swear, I'm not making fun of anyone of you." I bit my lip and shook my head. Moping Alejandro tends to get a bit... strange.
Alejandro said that the house had been empty for a while, I nodded then laughed quite a bit at what he said. About heels getting stuck in snow. I could definitely imagine something like that happening to Devon especially. She seemed like a 100% city girl, and I wondered if she actually was enjoying the snow etc. or if she secretly hated it here- minus the French guys.
“Ivy and Annalise are definitely up to something wild.” I agreed.
"EZRA, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU? WE SAW YOUR SNOWMOBILE? ARE YOU HURT? SHOULD WE CALL A DOC-“
"I'm a nurse!” Devon screamed.
“I’d rather die.” I mumbled, with a chuckle.
"Seriously, were you hurt?”
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying.” Phil looked at me like he was unsure of his own words. "Right?”
"Actually he's already dead” Alejandro said. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now."
I laughed a bit, slightly uncomfortable. Vivian had rushed in with an obvious feeling of panic, along with Devon, Kylie, and her daughter.
Alejandro caught himself and added, "My apologies! I don't know why I'm saying these things. I swear, I'm not making fun of anyone of you.”
“No need to kick up a fuss,” I side-smiled at Vivian “I’m fine. Really.” I repeated to them all. I looked down at my injuries. “The brakes must have frozen or something.” I lied.
Because, as if I was going to tell them all that it was my own fault. Would be too embarrassing, and exhausting to explain. Even thinking about it, I could feel myself start to get angry again. If I were more able, I’d leave the room but in the moment, it required too much effort even in thought alone. So I internally calmed myself down. I couldn’t wait to get out of France, and just be back home at the apartments. I was ready for the New Year, but it also slightly terrified me, because it meant that another year had passed by and I wasn’t any more responsible than I was before it. Which meant, I was another year closer to breaking my promise to my sister.
"I'm a nurse!” Devon said.
“I’d rather die.” Ezra mumbled, with a chuckle. Devon frowned but chuckled.
"No need to scream, you guys. He's not dying.” Phil said, "Right?”
"Actually he's already dead” Alejandro said. "This is an authentic, bona fide ghost you're seeing right now." He continued. I shot him a glare and looked at Ezra.
“No need to kick up a fuss,” Ezra said and side-smiled at me, “I’m fine. Really.” He continued and looked down at his injuries which made me gasp a little bit, “The brakes must have frozen or something.” He said. I nodded.
"Thank God, Ezra. Because I don't know what to do and what to explain to your foster mum if something really horrible had happened to you. Come on, next time be careful." I said and was sure I'm sounding like a real mother. Well, I'm a real mother.
"Mom, you're really sounding like a mother. I'm sure he'll be fine." Angelica said. I nodded.
"Well, me and Angelica saw a map of the place and there are a lot of activities over there," I say and pointing out of nowhere (Well, outside actually), "I think we should REALLY get going," I continued then looked at Ezra with a worried, concerned look, but also frustrated that he got into an accident, "But how can we proceed if one of us, especially the one who brought us here, was injured?"
Scene Change: Day (because let's assume they arrived at night)
It felt great to be back at the apartments - as much as I enjoyed our time in France I had gotten really homsesick after all, longing for some tranquility and alone-time. The first thing I had done when I got back had been to have some lovely, lovely sleep in my own bed - ah, I had missed it. The flight back hadn't been that terrible this time... mainly because I was out cold the entire ride after two anti-anxiety pills, calming me down so much I fell asleep about ten minutes after the plane was up in the clouds. I had spent the most of this day relaxing, as well as taking care of my webshop, a lot of orders had been placed - oh, sweet money, how I long for thee.
I was in bed, drinking iced tea and making use of a few gifts I had gotten for Christmas; savouring a piece of the Irish cream-chocolate Ezra had given me as well as reading one of the books Lia gave me. It was really good actually, quite captivating. I made a mental note to myself: ask Antonio if he ever read it. It wouldn't surprise me if he had. His apartment is like a small library after all.
On the topic of gifts, there had been a lot of packages for me to collect that had been sent to me by post. Joke gift from Antonio: a T-shirt with the text Jesus loves you. Serious gift from Antonio: an absolutely delightful perfume, all spicy and oriental. I had sent him a book with cheesy pick-up lines as a joke gift, and a really nice belt that would probably hang loose from his hips. Angela had sent me a silver necklace with a small square pendant decorated with a little glass-"diamond". I had sent her a bag of expensive coffee beans, that girl is a true coffee connoisseur. Lots of gifts from relatives, and some sweet little gifts from other friends of mine. Christmas all over again.
I wondered if anyone had any special plans for New Year's - I hoped we would come up with something big-ish. New Year's is serious business after all. Happiness and Champagne and cheering. I tend to get very, very, very drunk on New Year's, but this year I was going to hold back a bit on that if there would be a party (even though I'll certainly drink Champagne even if it won't be one). My birthday had been a complete booze-fest on my part after all, I didn't need to get that drunk again anytime soon.
I woke up with a really good mood. though I woke up early. I'm so excited since the Christmas Vacation is over for my daughter, Annabeth. Annabeth is a daughter of mine, mind you. She's a demi-
Okay, I'm joking.
But seriously, Angelica is going to school after days of Vacation. Yes, I'm sending her to school rather than sending her to our room, doing nothing and possibly watching some p-
Okay. Gonna stop myself there.
So, I woke up like 5:30 AM in the morning and prepared some breakfast (Bacons and eggs and some pancakes) to our tenants and, as well as, Angelica. I woke her up 6 in the morning and she ate breakfast really slowly, which I had to stop myself from shouting and waking up our roommates. She then prepared herself to get ready to school. By 7:00 AM, the school bus arrived. We got a little bit dramatic for a while (HONEY, PLEASE BE GOOD. DON'T BE A BEACH TO YOUR TEACHERS) (YES MOM).
Then, I left a note to the tenants next to the foods I cooked and headed back to my room to sleep again. Oh, I'm sure they will wake up at like 12 NN or something. But anyways, the contents of the note is here:
Angelica is going to school today because Vacation is over. I cooked some foods for y'all to enjoy. Bye!
Love,
Vivian Desteen Villian Burrito.
XOXO
While France was fun, I was more than ready to head home. Alejandro was already passed out next to me when we lifted off, so I spent the flight reading and napping. Once we got home, I dumped my bags on my floor and promptly passed out on my bed. Sunlight was streaming through my window when I woke up. I groaned, and rolled out of my bed, not even bothering to change out of my PJs. I shuffled into the kitchen, bleary eyed and tired. Vivian left some sort of note, but honestly? I was much more interested in the food next to it.
I piled some eggs and bacon on my plate, and sat down at the breakfast bar, still kind of huffy. Jet lag hit me hard when we got back, and if not for my rumbling stomach, I would probably be curled up in my covers. Despite my mood, the peace and quiet around me was nice and calming. I seemed to be the only one up, judging by the serene quietness of the house. It felt good to have some silence, for once. As much as having roommates was great, it was so loud all the time. Obnoxiously loud.
Nicotine and caffeine called my name... and to be fair I was getting rather hungry as well. I put on my dumb I'm Spanish, let's party-T-shirt Antonio had bought me as a joke gift many moons ago, along with a pair of sweatpants. I just couldn't bother today. After going out for a smoke - and being eternally grateful to Mother Nature, the weather gods and that dang groundhog I had been taught about - I went to the kitchen to brew some coffee and find something to eat. Phil was already there, sitting at the breakfast bar with a plate of eggs and bacon, looking more than tired. Phil. Not his food.
"Good morning", I said to him, giving him a little smile. I like to believe my voice isn't too grating for tired ears, it never reaches a loud volume... at least not in regular, everyday situations. Then there are other occasions, but those are few and far between. Especially these past few months. If one doesn't count... stuff. Such as shoutouts.
Just as I was going to browse for something edible that didn't make me feel nauseous... I'm not good with bread and cereal and stuff in the morning... I saw that some kind soul had already cooked. Good ol' Vivi had left a note about her taking Angelica to school, and that she had made some food for us to enjoy. I smirked and reached for a pen in my fabric bag to scribble a little "thank you" underneath her text.
As soon as the coffee was finished (and I, of course, had poured enough milk in my cup for the coffee to turn almost lukewarm) I grabbed a plate, helped myself to some eggs and bacon and sat down on the kitchen counter. I chuckled quietly to myself. I probably looked pretty much like I did the first time Phil saw me - dressed in "I can't bother today"-clothes, sitting on the counter with bacon and coffee. The big difference was that I wasn't hangover today, thus being a little less... whatever I am after a night of drinking.
I figured Phil wouldn't be in the mood for small talk, but to show some politeness I asked him; "Did you sleep well?"
It felt good to be back in the apartments. Being away for a while was nice, but I had no idea I would lose my cool whilst I was there. I honestly thought I was over the anger of my past but, evidently not. I wiggled my foot as I sat on the edge of my bed. The swelling had definitely gone down, and any scratches had already started to heal over. There was a lovely air hostess on the flight back, that gave poor injured me, some extra TLC and her phone number, in case of emergencies and such. I’d long lost in from the moment we landed though. I was more conceded about getting my beloved cat back. I abandoned the others, and took my luggage with me to go pick up Blitz, who acted like she was having the time of her life at the pet shelter, but obviously missed me as she purred and purred in the cab, the whole way back to the apartments. When we got back, as I expected, she immediately attacked the Santa cat toy that Phil had gotten her, and sat eyeballing the dead santa from on top of her new scratching pole from Ophelia. All night. Really doesn’t trust those beards.
I’d spent most of the morning in my room, enjoying the scent of home, and I’d finally decided to get up and get dressed.
I gave myself a once over in the mirror, then made my way downstairs in search for something to eat. In the kitchen, Phil was having breakfast in his PJ’s looking sleepy, with Alejandro sat up on the counter dressed down and enjoying coffee and breakfast.
“Mornin’” I said, walking straight over the food. I read the note Vivian had left, and made myself a plate. “Angelica’s at school aye? Maybe they’ll teach her some manners.” I half-joked, taking a seat at the dining table.
It felt good to be back at the apartment, back at home. It was nice to back somewhere familiar, and to have your own bed back. I slept surprisingly well, the flight back went a lot smoother than the first, and I was just feeling generally good about things. I put it down to it nearly being the new year. I liked new years. It's as if you get a fresh start, even if I wasn't good at keeping resolutions.
I eventually crawled out from under the duvet, when the scent of breakfast wafted up the stairs and my stomach started to growl at the smell. I was in a 'I can't be bothered' mood, so I found an old hoodie of the floor and decided that it would do.
It seemed pretty quiet as I headed downstairs, but Phil, Alejandro and Ezra were already in the kitchen. I mumbled a "morning" and chuckled a little bit at the note Vivian left. I hoped Angelica would enjoy school, it would probably do her good to be around people her own age. I made a mental note to thank Viv for cooking and helped myself to some egg, and found a packet of grapes out the fridge, placing a few onto the plate. I sat up onto the counter, enjoying the peace. It was so relaxed. I presumed everyone was just tired and glad to be back.
So we're back in the apartment which is a relief, and that means back to normal and back to having some fun again. Not that I really didn't enjoy the France Vacation, but it was sure so boring. Well, I got out of the bed and did some morning routines. Next, I headed downstairs seeing Phil, Ezra, Alejandro, and Ophelia on the dining room, looking busy and quiet as heck.
"Good morning" I say and grabbed the note that looks Vivian-ish, I read it quietly. Oh. So Angelica is being sent to school? Good. So, I got myself a plate, made a hot chocolate drink, and sat on the table. I placed the pancake and the bacon on my plate and started eating.
I looked at everyone, "How's sleep?" I say to them and slowly taking a sip of the hot chocolate.
Ezra, dressed in these really nice clothes... at least someone had bothered... entered the kitchen and almost immediately went for the food Vivi had cooked. "Mornin'".
"And good morning to you, Ezra. Love your outfit", I said after taking a sip of my coffee, giving a little smile. "How's Blitz doing?" I figured that he must have missed his beloved cat, they seemed to be quite the dynamic duo, those two.
"Angelica’s at school aye? Maybe they’ll teach her some manners."
"Hopefully..." I chuckled at Ezra's comment. "If so, it will be interesting to study the progress." I frowned, trying to imagine it. It wasn't an easy task. I had never seen her playing with another child, which made me wonder how often she met other kids. It would probably be good for her to get to know some other children. Unless she still would play that princess-act, that is.
Enter another person who couldn't be bothered with dressing up all nicely - Ophelia, mumbling a "morning", as she helped herself to food as well as some grapes. Hm, grapes. Perhaps I'll have some for dessert later on. She, too, decided that the kitchen counter was the place to be.
"Mornin' Lia", I said. "Slept well?"
People arrived quickly after one another, now it was Whattawhatta, taking an interest in the pancakes and making herself a cup of hot chocolate. Note to self: make some of my own later on. Because it's delicious.
"Good morning".
"Ah, good morning." I smiled at her. I wondered if she had enjoyed the trip, since she seemed to be quite the city gal, and I suspected that a snowy mountain perhaps wouldn't be her dream vacation.
"How's sleep?", she said to us.
"Oh, not bad. It was really refreshing to sleep in my own bed again. How about you, did you sleep well?"
Actually I was feeling so alert it was worrysome. I should be even more tired, but perhaps the change of scenery, the good sleep I had had and just the overall feeling of "my own apartment, the alone-time I had had, my little kingdom of organized chaos" got to me like a highly enjoyable virus infection that didn't gave me fever or sore lymph nodes.
Alejandro had complimented my look today, and I realised that I actually didn't have any plans today, so I really didn't need to dress up.
"How's Blitz doing?"
"Great. She loves her new stuff." I smiled, thinking of her furry little face.
Ophelia soon joined us, followed by Devon.
"How's sleep?" She asked
"Good." I gave her a thumbs up, as I chewed on a big mouthful of food.
"Oh, not bad. It was really refreshing to sleep in my own bed again. How about you, did you sleep well?"
I chuckled a bit. Good old Alejandro, so polite. No wonder he'd been quite popular amongst us all. Who has time for pleasantries when there is food to be eaten? I finished up what was on my plate and dumped it in the sink. Normally, I'd just leave it in there because eventually I'd either be forced to clean up or someone would just do it for me. At least thats the way it worked with my old roommates, "God Ezra you're so lazy." I just hate washing up. But, this wasn't my old apartment so I washed up after myself, quickly before anyone could add to it.
"So what are we doing for New Years? I vote getting Phil drunk again." I smirked
"So what are we doing for New Years? I vote getting Phil drunk again." Ezra smirked. I laughed, then turned to Phil, while pouting and putting my hand to my heart to show sympathy for the poor man getting teased. I hope he wouldn't get upset, since he seemed less than happy when whiskey was poured at the chalet.
"You know, I was just about to ask the same question, about plans for New Years. I don't think you should try to get Phil drunk again, though, you seemed to be forgiven last time, but who knows what happens if you do it again..." I did a little "heh"-laugh, then I turned to Phil. "I have to stress that I'm not making fun of you in any way." I bit my lip. "I don't have any concrete ideas, though, but I definitely want to do something, and something quite special..." I tilted my head. "Pah. I'm not good with these things... concrete plans, that is."
2012: Fancy dinner with family. Champagne. Then I left, and me and a friend named Beatrice got to Antonio's place. Then a few screwdrivers. Then a nightclub, more drinks, where we got chased across the club a few times after some dancing until a nice gentleman offered me, Antonio and a girl named Betty Betty cigarillos so we could breath fresh/polluted air. Then get inside again, dance, get chased again, dance and drink more. Then waking up in an unfamiliar but nice place, severely hung over.
2013: Rushed meal. Plans of going to a nightclub. We didn't reach our destination because we all got so plastered we just stayed at my place having long, deep discussions until we pretty much passed out.
2014: I don't remember, but Angela, Antonio, Annie, Lucas and someone named G-something were there.
2015: Sushi, heckloads of booze and friends. Fireworks.
I'm bad when ot comes to planning.
Ah... The apartments, the air conditioner , the wifi , the tv , my car. Then all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door, I was a bit confused but I answered the door, it was Corey, he told me that he... er... you don't wanna hear. His car broke down. It was fun filling it up, well looking at the car was, and he bought an Ice-Cream I ate mine a bit later on my own. Then my girl, Amy Morgan , rung me and asked if we would meet at some point. After that I just sat down and had a nap because I was tired from the journey back from France.
Ezra walked in eventually, looking extremely put together. I was slightly embarrassed by my pajamas, but my lack of effort was luckily mirrored by Alejandro. I wasn't the only one who looked like I just woke up.
The kitchen filled up quickly, as everyone else started to wake up. I'd pretty much tuned out all the conversation, until I heard Ezra saying, "...I vote getting Phil drunk again." I mustered up a glare in his direction.
"Not happening. I'd rather stay sober enough to get blackm-funny videos of your guys's drunken antics. Also, I trust you guys about as far as I can throw you. I'm scared to think about what you'll do to me when drunk. Let alone if I'm drunk as well." I smiled into my coffee, laughing a bit. "Can't wait to see you guys totally hammered, though." Surprisingly enough, I wasn't lying. No one here was an angry or scary drunk, which was a relief. They were all actually kind of... fun. I certainly didn't mind being around it as much as I thought I would.
Alejandro shot me a look, putting his hand on his chest. I smiled back. At least someone wasn't set on getting me plastered.
"This has, like, nothing to do with anything we've been talking about, but does anyone know where the new guy is? He's been kind of... absent all morning."
"Not happening. I'd rather stay sober enough to get blackm-funny videos of your guys's drunken antics." Ezra got a little glare from Phil, and I chuckled.
"So you intend to shoot blackmail... Oops! ...funny videos of us, eh?" I tilted my head and smirked. "I believe I don't have much to fear. I don't exactly do scandalous stuff when I'm drunk. At least I like to believe as much. At least mostly."
"Also, I trust you guys about as far as I can throw you. I'm scared to think about what you'll do to me when drunk. Let alone if I'm drunk as well." He laughed a bit. "Can't wait to see you guys totally hammered, though."
"Then I'm eager to show you." I chuckled and stuck my tongue out. "But this time I won't get plastered enough to become eejit-Alejandro and make shoutouts to people that aren't present. Nobody wants to see such things anyway." I did my head-tilt again, but this time I mixed things up a bit by tilting it to the opposite side. "Out of curiosity, how do you usually celebrate New Years?"
"This has, like, nothing to do with anything we've been talking about, but does anyone know where the new guy is? He's been kind of... absent all morning."
"Beats me." I shrugged. "Don't see him around often. A bit of a loner, that one, I figure." I finished my coffee and put the cup next to me. Way too lazy to get off the counter just yet, this one.
"So you intend to shoot blackmail... Oops! ...funny videos of us, eh? I believe I don't have much to fear. I don't exactly do scandalous stuff when I'm drunk. At least I like to believe as much. At least mostly." Alejandro tilted his head and smirked. I chuckled dryly.
"Oh, we'll see about that. Based on all your stories, I have a hard time believing you don't get up to some weird stuff. Or become.. what was that? eejit-Alejandro?" I shook my head, staring at Alejandro, a faint smile on my face. "D- do I want to know what that is?"
Alejandro asked about what I usually did for New Years, and I just shrugged. "Nothin' much. I used to spend it with my friend, Shawn. Er, he's more of an ex, but also... not? We were never really "official", per say. Not that that matters. After we lost touch, I didn't do much of anything. I did hang out with my neighbors, some years. But even then, it was mostly just heated games of Monopoly and cake.
"What about you, though? I recon you've gotten up to some crazy stuff during New Years."
"Oh, we'll see about that." Phil chuckled dryly. Oh, what now, didn't he believe me? "Based on all your stories, I have a hard time believing you don't get up to some weird stuff."
"I, ah..." Little 'hah'-laugh. "Weird stuff, yes, that's not impossible... But yet, hm, no scandals."
"Or become.. what was that? eejit-Alejandro?" He shook his head, looking at me, a faint smile on his lips. "D- do I want to know what that is?"
"Oh no, no. I won't become that guy, I promised myself. Aah, and it's nothing, nothing too terrible. It's just when I forget my limits and act like a complete flute. Eejit-Alejandro might become sentimental for no reason whatsoever, he's bad at the art of walking steadily and talking without slurring, and his accent is as slippery as oil. Sometimes he embarrasses himself. But he's a friendly fella. Anyhow, you won't meet him anytime soon anyway, no need to think about him." I did a 'heh'-laugh, sighed and shook my head.
He told me about the ways he used to celebrate New Years, which sounded pretty calm and pleasant even though it wasn't much.
"What about you, though? I recon you've gotten up to some crazy stuff during New Years."
"Hm, well... At times, I guess. Odd things have happened for sure. Mostly it's just pretty unplanned things, I celebrate it with friends, we usually just eat something nice, drink something nice, go out somewhere or have small home parties." I didn't need to mention all the exessive drinking, strange unfamiliar places, exessive whatever, overall weird let's not go there, countless of anecdotes me and my friends still tell one another and memory gaps after all. "And drinking champagne as well as looking at people burning their fingers off when they lit fireworks. No, seriosly, thankfully I've never witnessed such an accident. That would be terrible... But odd things certainly has happened." I frowned. "Like the time me and a few friends basically got chased through a night club." I shook my head. "People can be so desperate..."
I sat on the counter, leaning against the cupboards, just listening. I'd never really celebrated New Years before, not in a special way at least. At home, we just waited for midnight and went to bed. Nothing fancy. One year at the clinic we camped in the garden and had a picnic in the rain.
"We should get some fireworks," I said. I always wanted to do the whole fireworks thing, not that I trusted myself or anybody else with them. Especially not this lot, "or maybe not." I chuckled to myself.
Alejandro and Phil started talking about drinking, I half listened to the conversation. It seemed like at any excuse to get drunk, they would. Not that I had a problem with that, they were fun to be around. Even with dubious amounts of alcohol. I decided, that if i really was going to have my sisters in the new year, I would stay as sober as possible. Only a little bit at the most. Hangovers and overly excitable kids don't mix well.