lolamendoza

[lolamendoza]

Most people didn't seem to think Lola got it. That she understood why they pulled away from her and turned their backs to her. So many of the people and families she'd grown up around were tied to their ways of life and their traditions, Lola respected that. Where she saw progress and opportunity in her life no one respected that. The world was constantly evolving and changing, she wasn't resistant to that, and no shame to her parents but she wanted to improve upon the struggles that they'd had. "I usually have lunch there. It's convenient." It was easy to tell Tanner didn't want to speak with her. Her inner voice said to leave it alone but Lola often didn't stop yapping when she should've. "It's hard to beat The Pink Lady, though." And just because she worked at the resort and for Obsidian Holdings didn't mean she couldn't support local businesses as well. "You should come by sometime. It's really nice there. We could have lunch together and catchup." Maybe Tanner could see they weren't all bad?

At the voice Tanner glanced up from her phone and over her shoulder. There stood the too pretty and too disappointing Lola Mendoza. They'd all grown up together; the long haired brunette, Bear, and herself. All apart of the same class. Maybe they hadn't been all that close any of them yet Tanner still believed their should've been some community and solidarity. Somewhere along the way Lola had been lost to the temptations of the other side and she really struggled with that. A reluctant smile curved her lips, she really hated the ease in which Lola felt comfort in bringing up her family. "I haven't decided yet," she released in something of a sigh. "You? Shouldn't you be off enjoying the spoils at that fancy ass resort?" Some part of her had a hard time being too abrasive with Lola despite everything.

[lolamendoza]

MELISSA BARRERA via lilly_keys on Instagram (April 22, 2023)

[lolamendoza]

Working on half of a sandwich and a basket of sweet potato fries, her long hair whipped to the side when she turned her head suddenly. A smile instantly appeared on her face upon noticing Carson joining her. She immediately made room for him. Phone switched to the other side and that file transferred over to the empty chair across from where Carson was making himself comfortable. "Carson, hey, you here for your dad, or...?" It was some kind of love language when someone else shared your interests and actually paid attention to the things you recommended for them. Somehow her grin grew even broader at learning Carson enjoyed her last rec. "Busy as hell. These fancy people like to party when it comes to special days." Meaning the upcoming holidays, of course. "How about you, though? I've got plenty of offers for you, but how do you feel about something with a bit of a supernatural twist to it?" That was actually even more of her bread and butter.

Closed Starter For: @lolamendoza Location: Castle Rock Resort

Carson was early. His father had always instilled it in him to be punctual, and working in the field he did made Carson especially conscious about doing everything in a timely manner, and doing it right. Knowing his dad, though, the dude would be out on the golf links for at least another thirty minutes. Carson shot him over a quick text to let him know to find him in the bar, where he planned to order a diet soda and scroll instagram. They were relieved when their eyes fell on a familiar face. "Lola, hey, what's up?" Carson hoped he wasn't bothering her. She was probably on her lunch break or something, but he took a spot at the same table as her, face lighting up. "How's shit? I gotta get more of those True Crime podcast recs from you. The last one had me on the edge of my seat."

[lolamendoza]

・ where » pastry paws ・ who » @julie-hollis

A soft smile stretched across her lips as her palm smoothed over velvety fur. "Honestly, best thing anyone has ever come up with. Coffee, books, and cats — what more could anyone want?" Lola had a black cat at home. Spiritually and energetically they were great for protection and with her interests she felt her little feline served her well. The cuddles and purrs were also highly appreciated. It'd been a good chance that she'd run into Julie, she'd been meaning to stop in and make an appointment before the holidays at Shear Beauty, and she didn't waste time in chatting up with the woman she'd known since they were girls. Most of the time their chats took place with Julie's hands in her hair so this was a nice change. "Are you getting anything specific or just here to browse? I can't believe it's already time to start thinking about holiday gifts."

[lolamendoza]

・ where » the pink lady ・ who » @tannerpresley

Growing up in the same class she'd always admired Tanner. The mechanic was someone strong willed and held true to her principles. Sometimes Lola wished she could've been more like her. At least her family would likely be more proud of her. They praised her having been the first to go to college and get a degree, they just didn't really support her choice of employer. Not many people she'd grown up with had. Now she was standing in line behind one of the majority that didn't approve. Still, she always tried to play nice. She still wanted to belong with her fellow locals. "So, what're you getting today? Is it a treat yourself kind of day or are you grabbing something for your folks?"

[lolamendoza]

“You’ve always pressed a finger to your wounds to make sure you could still feel the blood in your veins, so why are you so surprised that you’re always devoured by this addicting type of aching love?”

— it’s time for a change, j.l.

[lolamendoza]

📷 Melissa Barrera by Christian Hogstedt

[lolamendoza]

When his eyes shifted to her lips, or maybe it was her mouth in general, Lola felt a flip in her stomach. Did she go too crazy? Suddenly she was feeling a little self conscious. She hadn’t expected this man to pay all that much attention to her. How had she even wound up hanging out beside the big bad executive anyway? This morning clearly hated her. Out of all of them there were the most worrisome whispers about him and Lola had a big problem with rambling when she was nervous. Something in her fight or flight system said to talk a person to death, or, at least, distract them and disarm them to a point they don’t want to harm you?

"Please don't tell me you didn't hear about it?" This was a bad road to go down. To allow her the time and space to open up all of her thoughts. "Seriously, lay off the gym once in a while and stop prancing around the board room." Foot in mouth. Please. "But like there was a big congressional meeting where they somewhat openly talked about the aliens they've discovered in the ocean," yes blabbering on was a good distraction from the accidental disrespect, "and it's fucking crazy because like yeah the ocean is actually space. Space isn't flying upward into the sky, it's actually going down into the depths of the ocean and there's a whole ass other world down there." She was being a little too loud but her eyes were wild and there were too many thoughts and things she had to get out, and despite better judgement she moved closer to him for a minute. "There's a whole other ocean under the ocean! Did you know that?! And don't even get me started on Antarctica." Now she was flabbergasted by the own ideas she was pushing forward. Still, she took a break to grab the coffee she thought was her own and took a drink from it.

It was too late, clearly, for Lola to realize it wasn't her own. She fought the grimace at the bitterness of the drink and likely looked like she'd gotten suckered in the mouth and was trying to brave through it. "Oh fuck," she muttered and looked at the label on the cup. It definitely had his name on it. "You know one sugar wouldn't hurt you. Or a pump of syrup." Well this was awkward. Lola attempted to laugh lightly and silently prayed in her head that this wasn't some murderous offense and offered him his drink. "Sorry I slobbered all over it." Then, still nervous, and apparently unable to shut up, Lola completely embarrassed herself. "You know if you wanted to kiss all you had to do was say so." Cheeks beginning to flame red she couldn't understand why the ground wouldn't open up and swallow her whole.

Even if he would have wanted to respond, it wasn't like she'd given him much of a chance to anyway. It was what he was good at, listening while others talked circles around him. He studied her closely, gaze bouncing between her dark hues and full lips as she rambled on about... aliens? It was a lesson learned, truly. If he didn't want conversation, he shouldn't leave opportunities open for such.

Despite the lack of relevance, he'd hung on her every word, missing the fact that they'd called his name and pushed his order to the front. "Can we take it back to the aliens for a second?" Zay wasn't much of a conversationalist, even on a good day, but he recognized the woman and truth be told, he was interested in what she brought to Obsidian's table.

A brow shot upwards and his gaze dropped, her fingers covering a few letters on the cup, but revealing enough for him to know that she'd swiped his order. The very order he'd waited oh so patiently for. "Why? So, you can have it?" His dark hues caught hers, his tone veering on teasing. Maybe she hadn't noticed, or maybe she had. He couldn't tell which amused him more.

"You grabbed my cup," he finally pointed out, patience holding out to his surprise.

[lolamendoza]

"Well, what are your kinds of thrills?" Even if the executives scared her a bit it seemed her genuine curiosity outweighed the fact that it was likely smarter to just leave the man alone. Lola was pretty sure his type didn't want someone so low on the totem pole trying to get to know him. Even in the simplest of terms. The woman had a bit of a rambling problem when she was nervous but she was so intrigued by the world and all its offerings. "Cool," she commented with her head nodding and began strolling with him in that direction. "Oh," she anxiously began rubbing her fingers at the side of her neck, "umm I was thinking of pitching some Thanksgiving feast. Open to all so people could come together and mingle. Share a meal. You know like the legend or what that day supposedly represents. It might be too late now to put that together so really just gearing up for the holidays." Lola grinned, most people didn't assume the area got cold enough.

"Just a different kind of daredevil interested in different kinds of thrills," Joel replied with a vague smile. If he was going to die or suffer a grave injury, he'd rather be scaling one of the world's tallest mountains instead of sitting on an old plastic seat on a creaky carnival roller coaster. Rather than say all that out loud, he already knew the locals resented anyone who didn't find charm in the "simpler" things in life, he decided against it. Instead, he considered Castle Rock's event manager, that was how his uncle introduced her awhile ago before the move, and that was what stuck. "Hoops will do," He said after a moment. "What's next on the docket for Castle Rock? I imagine a carnival's off the list?

[lolamendoza]

[lolamendoza]

“Dude, what does it even matter, like… it’s been confirmed there’s aliens in the ocean.” Spoken without eloquence or decorum from the university educated woman. Her mother would be so proud. “Not that it’s even a surprise.” Her eyes rolled at the audacity of the conspiracy theorist labels now but she felt vindicated in some weird way. Having grown up in Arizona she’d been going on about this since she was a kid. “They’ve known about it for years, they’ve been around longer than us,” Lola continued. “Lockheed’s just been storing them away and,” a hand wildly tossed out in a big gesture, “studying them and calling us all crazy. Like, what the fuck?” Her order was up. It was actually her second coffee of the day and it was still morning. Maybe she could do without this one she was already pretty wired. The coffee Lola had grabbed wasn’t even hers, if she hadn’t been so distracted with too many thoughts she would’ve noticed it was his. “And here you are obsessed with sugar.” In that moment she was an old woman shaking her head in disapproval at this younger generation. “You know that stuff’s gunna kill you right? You should probably lay off it.” Clearly she hadn't been paying close attention to him. Lola had room to speak with her daily caffeine intake? If anyone tried to take this coffee from her at this point she’d likely throat punch them. 

location: prickly perk character: open

He liked his coffee as bitter as many people thought he was. Flavorings and other sweeteners were entirely unnecessary. It made standing in line for an order as simple as his frustrating to say the least. He'd listened to every order with a look of disapproval painted on his features. By the time it was his turn, his blood had damn near been boiling. He rattled off his order, a classic in his opinion and with a tap of his card, he stepped to the side where a few others awaited their orders. "Busy place," he muttered more so to himself, but loud enough that the person next to him could've heard it. He reached for his tie, centering the material out of habit with a minor adjustment. In two hours, he'd be pouring over contracts and other various documents to ensure every move or potential move was legal and if it wasn't, it was his job to figure out a way around it. When an order was called off, the male scoffed, his simmering temper getting the best of him. "What's the point of ordering a coffee if it's mostly sugar?" This time, he didn't measure his voice, uncaring of who heard him speak something as true as what he'd said.

[lolamendoza]

"There's no daredevil in you?" As much as the screeching and slight rocking of ride gave her an uneasy feeling she still put on a front of bravery. "Isn't that all part of the thrill?" When it came to carnivals Lola very rarely got on any of the rides. There was zero confidence in their build quality and she'd seen one too many videos of what happens when these things go wrong. "I'm pretty good at those hoops games if you want to challenge me. Orrr we could see who's stronger in one of those strength tests."

Starter for anyone and everyone

When: Present

Where: Fall Carnival

"I don't know about that ride," Joel said referencing the pendulum in the shape of a pirate ship. The thing about carnivals and fairs and circuses and events like it was that the rides were disassembled and reassembled. How did they keep track of all the bolts? Did the ride operators travel from city to city, or did they just hire part-time workers and slap-and-dash the training. "It's screeching a little too much for comfort. I think the bumper cars seemed alright, though. Can't go wrong with a game either."

[lolamendoza]

Thankfully this wasn't an event she had a hand in putting together. Personally Lola thought there would've been a better turnout if they hadn't made this a couple's or paired event. As she stood off to the side she felt like the kid who got picked last for teams in gym class. That had never been her so she was assuming the feeling, but more or less — she felt awkward as fuck. She'd wanted to come to this because she thought she could learn some cool new techniques and maybe learn something new to cook. Instead this was more of a date night thing where dates laughed cutely together and fed each other samples. "At this point I'm skeptical anything gourmet is going to happen." Lola grinned as she rolled her eyes. "This is like a Valentine's type of thing? Or am I just being a Bitter Betty?" Realizing she was bitching and leaving her hanging rather than answering her question Lola took a step forward. "I do need a partner, sorry, yes. I will try to hold my commentary."

Open Starter Where: Anvil When: Not Another Boring Dinner (cooking lesson)

Now that her kitchen was being actively remodeled, Jem had run out of reasonable excuses for her less-than-impressive cooking repertoire. It helped that Obsidian staff got a discount on the class--always interesting employee benefits from the company, she'd give them that much.

But without a robust social circle, Jem had wandered into the foray all by her lonesome. And they were meant to be learning in pairs or groups...flashbacks of her high school physics class came whirring back until she shut that down. No time for wallowing in memories of adolescent awkwardness. She even ran her tongue across her front teeth like she expected to feel braces.

With a shake of her head, she looked around to see if she could spy someone by themselves. When she finally spotted a solo soul, she approached with as much faux confidence as she could muster. "Any chance you're also in need of a cooking partner? I didn't know we were meant to bumble through gourmet cuisine in pairs."

[lolamendoza]

BASICS »

Name: Lourdes Mendoza Rivera

Nickname: Lola

Birthday & Age: July 4th, 1990 & 34

Hometown: Paxton, AZ

Length of time in Paxton: 33 years

Occupation: Events Manager for Castle Rock Resort

Affiliation: Obsidian Holdings Employee

Gender & Sexuality: Cis woman & bisexual

DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER »

Born in Mexico and raised in Paxton, Arizona Lola considers herself a local. The once ranching town turned (not without heavy opposition) progressive is where she grew up. Her father worked on various ranches and farms, maintained good connections with the cowboys that seemed to truly be the heart and soul of the town, and her mother was a freelance worker. More often than not she was a maid that had a schedule cleaning up local businesses after hours. The struggle to make ends meet had a lasting effect on Lola and the foundation her parents had set for her and her siblings when it came to working hard were why she worked so hard in school. 

Like most teenagers Lola had a bit of a rebellious phase. Even if she maintained good grades in school she gave her parents and siblings a bit of headache getting up to no good. Especially when it came to her first boyfriend and first love, a boy her parents didn't approve of, since they often accused him of leading her astray. The reality was that he had actually tried and tried to reign her in a little. Lola never pushed things too far, never got into any real trouble, it was mostly testing the boundaries and wanting to feel young and free. When she went into university after high school she made her parents proud as the first of her family to work toward a degree.

The intensity of school and the weight of what it meant, not only to her family but to her own future, something that was closing in on her faster than she wanted, had forced Lola to buckle down. Sure, she still enjoyed a good party and all the events, there was a lot on the line though. Upon graduation she made it into Castle Rock Resort working as an events manager. There were so many rumors surrounding not only the position but also the resort and it's parent company. The pay scale and such a strong offer right out of university was too good not to turn down. Not for someone that had grown up hard and wanted to give back to her family. Lola pushed the questions and the negatives somewhere in the back of her mind and practiced 'ignorance is bliss'.

What she didn't know couldn't hurt her, right? Even if as time went on Raina Hall's ghost and the mystery of what had happened to her only grew more worrisome and harder to ignore. She liked that she was a fairly invisible employee of the too powerful conglomerate Obsidian Holdings. Collecting a paycheck was great and not being someone that stuck out to them was even better. Especially after years of collecting information from things seen and heard around the resort and at Obsidian Holdings related events. As a prideful woman she held her head high in public and displayed the confidence of someone that had earned the trust to do and keep the job she had. In private? Away from anything Obsidian? Lola felt quite different.

Maybe that was why she fed bits of information here and there to fellow locals. People she either grew up with or had some admiration of, especially those that her family was deeply connected to. On one hand she loves the income she earns from her career at Castle Rock Resort and the life it affords her, on the other there's some guilt in seeing how Obsidian Holdings moving it's business into Paxton has affected the town as a whole. Change is never easy, and Lola finds herself struggling with which way of life is better. Feeling the positives and negatives of both sides, she's been unable to make a choice and draw a decisive line.

Growing up and becoming and adult, caught between a rock and a hard place, hasn't been all it had been cracked up to be when she was a child and teenager. Most days Lola wishes to go back to something simpler. Getting her heart broken twice, once by a cowboy and once by a man in a suit, hasn't helped these feelings she has at all. Life has become all about doing her job well and having a good time where she can find it. It's better that way in avoidance of the war between her heart and mind, between right and might. As she gets older she's become more jaded and cynical about the world around her. Is that because of her involvement in a cutthroat environment or has heartbreak just broken her spirit down to the point of letting egoism win.

PLOT ARC »

The Replacement is a Paxton local. They weren't born in town, but it feels like they lived there their entire life. When the true crime Reddits talked about Raina Hall and the occasional opinion piece appeared (and swiftly disappeared) they hadn't paid it much mind. Castle Rock Resort is their livelihood; the Replacement might see some suspicious activity, but everyone has their secrets, right? Especially, rich people. The Replacement is loyal enough to Obsidian on paper, but occasionally they let some developments slip to their friends and family. They haven't found themselves in HR's office, yet (likely because they're low on the totem pole and easily replaced), and they intend to keep it that way.

[lolamendoza]

Melissa Barrera "You Monster" Press