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[milliecohen]

"It's more convenient when the drinks are cheap and you're a lightweight. My bank account is grateful." If it really came down to it, Millie would have tried to turn on the charm and get some sucker to pay for her drinks instead, but she wasn't pressing her luck. "Good question. It's probably gotta fit the vibe. I think we'd clear the whole bar out if we tried to play anything like Taylor Swift. So, what are we thinking? Maybe something a little more... retro? Nineties grunge or eighties hair band?"

"The shitter the drink the more shitfaced you get," Lavender agreed with a shrug of her shoulders. "They might? The real question is: what do you request that they will actually play?"

[milliecohen]

"Yeah, count me in," she answered with a shrug. "If anything, I can just get drunk since I don't think I'd know any of their songs. Like, if it hasn't been announced by Ryan Seacrest on the radio, the chances that I've listened to it are pretty slim to none."

"Most of the tickets at the Stone Pony go for that much...50 bucks tops...unless you buy VIP meet and greet or something." He didn't think these guys were selling meet and greets though, and if they were, he didn't particularly care for it. "So that's a yes?"

[milliecohen]

"Sorry, I got nothing, but my advice is to do a couple of shots beforehand. Just throw back some tequila and after awhile you won't even be able to taste how shitty your drink is." Millie took a sip of her own mediocre drink before setting it back down. "You know, maybe you just have a refined palate. You might have better luck at a place that doesn't serve bottom shelf liquor."

who — anyone!

where — sandoval dollar

Somewhat leaning over to the nearest person, it took Uzochi maybe two seconds before she started doing her usual: talking. “Dude, sorry to be a bother, but do you have any reccs? If I keep drinking shit like this—” She then pointed at the glass in her hand, which looked like it was barely touched. She's definitely apologizing to her wallet later for all of the wasting. “—I'm going to regret trying to do adult things.”

[milliecohen]

From the sudden bout of uncomfortable silence between them, she thought Alex was about to reject her offer. It seemed to be that way after he brushed her off, saying she didn't owe him. And it would have been a nice touch to turn the tables on her and make her feel the sting of rejection, just as she was sure he must have felt when she stopped responding.

"First...?" Millie repeated as she eyed him suspiciously, almost encouraging him to finish his sentence. "Okay then, let's get a drink." She willingly took the lead and walked into the lobby of the hotel, making her way to the elevator. That uncomfortable silence followed them, and she thought about breaking it to tell him that it wasn't anything personal. Instead, she pressed the button to summon the elevator and turned to him.

"So, what kind of work reasons would cause you be all horny for the hotel?" Direct and a little crude. It wasn't like this experience could get any more awkward anyway.

"Good to know," he nodded, pursing his lips together into a thin line. Alex let out a half-chuckle, half-sigh, and rubbed the back of his neck like that would somehow stop him from sounding like a total idiot. "No, you definitely don’t owe me anything," he said, waving his hand like that was even close to being convincing. But internally, he was in a panic mode. Wait. Was this... a date? Did she just ask him out? His brain was short-circuiting. Yeah, no. No, no, this was just a drink. People grab drinks all the time, right?

Except... it was kind of date-y to go to a rooftop bar. Well. Shit.

Still, there was no way he was letting her pay. The idea of Millie picking up the tab on what might or might not be a date? Nah. What kind of guy let a girl pay on a first... whatever this was.

"A drink sounds great," Alex finally said after a long pause. You would think, with all that time he took, he'd come up with something better. "Although, I won't let you pay on the first," he cut himself, shaking his head slowly. "Nevermind. Yeah, a drink sounds perfect., he said, motioning toward the doors.

This was going well. Perfectly fine. He was DEFINITELY NOT spiraling at all.

[milliecohen]

Millie took a sip from her drink and winced as the liquor burned her throat. It was cheap but effective. "Shitty music to go with their shitty drinks, I guess. I swear they've already played this song twice already. Do you think they take requests?"

who: open to everyone

when: any time, but preferably evening

where: sandoval dollar

Lavender scrunched her nose as she listened to the latest track that played over the speakers. Without checking who she was speaking with, she spun around and mentioned, "God the music here really sucks sometimes."

[milliecohen]

"Seriously? That seems pretty cheap. Are you sure these guys are even still relevant enough to be on tour?" She did her best to hide the noticeable hint of a grimace. "I really wish I could say I have something better to do, but tragically, I don't."

"It was 40 bucks actually, but it's whatever." Sam knew he could've tried selling it at the doors night of, but he was really fucking lazy. And it wasn't even a fully sold out show. "You interested?"

[milliecohen]

"I was joking," she clarified as she bit back a smile. She hadn't expected him to take her so literally, but it was a little amusing to watch him squirm. It seemed like no matter what she said, the conversation was going to be a bit awkward.

Millie stood there, rocking back on her heels. There wasn't really a way for her to make an exit without looking a complete asshole, especially since it seemed entirely plausible she could randomly run into him again. And now that he was actually standing in front of her, she felt a tiny twinge of guilt for dropping their conversation with no warning — even if it was a little on brand for her to do so. She never liked to face the consequences of her own actions.

"So... are you actually going to go inside or just keep standing here? There's actually a pretty cool bar on the rooftop if you want to get a drink. I probably owe you once since, you know..."

His eyes widened when Millie hit him with that question. Stalking? Him? Jesus, this was getting more awkward. He held up both hands defensively, a weak laugh slipping out. "Whoa, whoa, no, no. Definitely not stalking."

He cleared his throat, trying to regain some composure. Of all the people he could run into while trying to sneak into some hotel for architectural inspiration purposes, it had to be Millie. What kind of a karmic punishment was this?

And, okay, full disclosure: she was way more attractive in person. That much had been obvious from her profile, but standing in front of her now, it was like reality cranked her attractiveness up to eleven. His theory about her ghosting him suddenly made perfect sense. She was clearly out of his league. Like, not even on the same playing field. It was like trying to flirt with someone who was already mentally checked into first class while you were stuck in the economy.

"No, really," Alex continued, trying to salvage what little dignity he had left. "I came here for, uh… for work reasons. You know, checking out the place, seeing what materials they used… not in a weird way. Just… I like hotels?" God, why was he still talking?

[milliecohen]

The one silver lining to being back in town was that her dogs had more room to run wild. Even her apartment was bigger than the one she had in the city. Iggy was having the time of his life, making new friends, while Ozzy made himself comfortable and played with a toy at Millie's feet. He had never been too fond of sharing, which was partially why she hoped bringing him to Wonder Bar would socialize him a little.

"Deal," she immediately replied, her interest piqued by the offer of a free drink. It couldn't have come at a better time as she had just finished her first glass of the night. She cast a glimpse at the others arm and shrugged. "I mean, what else would you get? I'm all for creative freedom, but you already have a pretty specific theme going on. Why mess up a good thing, ya know?"

for: anyone location: wonder bar, evening hours

At least once a week Daphne tried to make it to Wonder Bar with Chewy. It's one of her favorite things to do with Chewy, and Chewy was happy to get the chance to play with other friendly pups too. Even the people she met who came without dogs were pretty cool, so it was no wonder that the spot had quickly became one of her favorite places around town. She was a couple of drinks in as the thoughts of another tattoo come swirling into her head again. Chewy was very preoccupied playing with his plushie chew toy, happy to be out of the apartment for a bit. Without a second thought, Daphne turns to the nearest person to her. "Hey, could I ask your opinion on something? I'll buy you a drink for your troubles." She pauses for a second, before asking, "do you think I should do another horror movie tattoo? I can't decide if I should add another one to the ever growing collection," she nods to her arm, " or if I should switch it up and get something else."

[milliecohen]

Millie stood still as Alex seemed to fumble his way through his explanation. This was a painfully awkward coincidence. If she had been more of a romantic, she would have conjured it up to fate, but the reality was the town was much smaller than she remembered. Something like this was probably bound to happen eventually.

Admittedly, he was more attractive in person. The dorkiness was obvious but endearing. Probably just one of those people that fell victim to looking worse in their pictures or hadn't learned their best angles yet. But from their short conversation through the app, he hadn't seemed like her type — emotionally unavailable and more interested in staring at his reflection than holding a conversation. He was just nice, so she may have ghosted him. Oh, well. It's not like she was actually looking for a relationship to tie her to this town for the rest of her life.

"So, did you actually leave something in the lobby, or are you stalking me?"

Much to his luck, he apparently didn't just strike up a conversation with a random stranger. Out of all those people, he ended up approaching the woman who’d ghosted him after their Hinge chat. I mean, who would blame her for that?

He narrowed his eyes as if he was actually trying to remember her. Soon after, he let out a loud chuckle, a sad and desperate attempt to hide the fact that he knew who she exactly was. Gotta give it to him though, he was truly committed to the act. Meanwhile, the brunette was just standing there, like a living, breathing proof of his poor flirting skills.

"I don't think so," he said, trying to put on a poker face that was as convincing as Lindsay Lohan's I never said that face.

The awkward silence lingered until Millie’s brain finally made the connection. Alex cringed, fully realizing this could have been simply avoided if he picked a more catfish-y photo for his Hinge profile. He truly should have listened to Ethan on that one. "I swear, I didn't know it was you," Alex paused to scratch his neck. “This is just a really, really awkward coincidence.”

[milliecohen]

"That emo shit was never really my thing, but I can't say no to a free ticket. It is free, right?"

time: afternoonish location: somewhere on the boardwalk

"I got a spare ticket to New Found Glory next week. You down to, uh, relive some childhood nostalgia?"

[milliecohen]

There was a short list of places in Asbury Park that Millie deemed worthy enough to feature on her Instagram. Not that anyone was actively paying attention to anything she posted anyway. She scrolled through her camera roll, silently judging the pictures that she had taken only a few minutes prior and deleting all of them with a frustrated sigh. God, this was so fucking pathetic.

Out of the corner of her eye, she had noticed another person standing in front of the hotel, but she tried not to draw any attention. She could rationalize why it was okay for her to be standing outside of a hotel without any intention of going in, but it was much harder to reason why the Ted Bundy look-a-like could stare down the doors like he was ready to storm the place.

Noticing that he was moving closer to her, she quickly straightened up. "Uh, nope. Just standing here." She made sure to flash him a glimpse of the phone in her hand, ready to fake a phone call and excuse herself from this conversation. But with a better look at his face, she did a double-take. She swore she had seen that thin-lipped, unassuming smile before.

"Wait, do I know you?" And then it quickly dawned on her, and her face fell. She wished she hadn't said anything and just walked away, but it was too late. Awkward. "Ohhhhh, shit."

who: open to everyone

where: in front of the asbury hotel

Alex stood outside The Asbury Hotel, squinting at the revolving doors like they were his arch-nemesis. How many times had he been here this week? Four? Five? He'd lost track. At this point, the front desk staff probably thought he was lurking around the place for a heist—or worse, a Yelp reviewer.

He tugged at his perfectly ironed, oatmeal-colored button-down and checked his Tissot watch, even though he wasn’t meeting anyone. Okay, Alex, he thought. You just need to get inside, blend in, and no one will question why a random guy is inspecting the cornices again.

To be fair, this wasn't his fault! He was sent here to find out how the fuck The Asbury Hotel had managed to capture that effortlessly cool boutique hotel vibe, and it wasn’t like you could just Google “how to make a hotel look cool without spending the next Avatar movie budget.”

Spotting someone in front of the hotel, Alex saw his opportunity. He walked toward the person, flashing the most non-threatening smile anyone could muster. "Hey, are you heading inside?" he asked, voice an octave too high with fake casualness. "I, uh, forgot something in the lobby the other day." Which wasn’t necessarily a lie — he'd actually forgotten to inspect the ceiling beams up close.

[milliecohen]

FULL NAME: Millicent Rae Cohen NICKNAME(S): Millie AGE: 30 BIRTHDATE: August 9, 1994 STAR SIGN: ☼ Leo ☾ Virgo ⬆ Gemini HOMETOWN: Asbury Park, NJ NEIGHBORHOOD: Meadowlark Apartments JOB: Fashion Writer

born in asbury park, the second child of elijah and lorelai cohen

her parents have always practically suffocated millie and her older brother, levi, with their support — which was obviously great, if not a bit annoying

she's spent the last 10+ years in nyc after briefly attending nyu (blame her childhood obsession with olsen twins) for journalism and growing her career

she has 2 dogs, iggy pop (a very original name for an italian greyhound obvs) and ozzy (part chiweenie, part demon)

she started a fashion blog while she was still in high school but didn’t actually begin to take it more seriously until she was in her second year of university

it was then that she began making money from the blog, ending up on pr lists, and getting invited to various fashion weeks

but with only a few credits shy of finishing her degree, she chose to drop out due to the success of her blog and struggling to juggle it with schoolwork

it was great at first, she started to write freelance articles for publications like nylon, vanity fair, and teen vogue (when she tells ppl she will purposely drop the "teen" in order to brag) and was even sent as a fashion correspondent to award shows — she even swears that she was being considered to host the celebrity interviews at the met gala before they decided to go with some random influencer

the only major downside was that many of her relationships quickly deteriorated when she failed to keep in touch, burning many bridges in the process as she believed she was on to bigger and better things

her romantic relationships — typically with shallow male models or "influencer" types — never lasted longer than a few dates or one-night stands, while her platonic friendships were almost all purely built with the intention of leeching off of one another for personal gain

but all good things must come to an end and after finding it difficult to compete with rapidly evolving internet trends, the popularity of her blog went downhill with people turning to younger and more on-trend influencers

she wasn’t making the kind of money that she used to and eventually couldn’t afford to live in nyc, and at the insistence of her parents, she moved back home with her tail between her legs

her only stipulation was that she get a place of her own instead of moving back in with her parents, much to their chagrin

she's quietly finishing her degree online so she can at least say that she's done something with her life, instead of feeling like a complete failure, and perhaps allow her career to flourish into more than just fashion based

PERSONALITY: + confident, charismatic, creative, generous - restless, critical, melodramatic, stubborn

CONNECTIONS:

old friends — even though she grew up in asbury park, she did a real shitty job at keeping in contact with people after she left. maybe they didn't care, maybe they hate her guts for peacing out without saying bye

roommate — it would be nice to split the rent with someone, as long as they're okay with having two small dogs as additional roommates

[milliecohen]

ZOEY DEUTCH via instagram