#and monday is worker's day here. a day when absolutely everything is closed cause NOBODY is working and guess what i'll be doing? kjshdfkgf

[sherlock-is-ace]

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[wevegottogetaway]

A Meaning of Love

It’s been barely two months since Harry and y/n moved in together, and yet, they feel like they’ve never seen less of each other before. The past few busy weeks have forced their routine into a high tempo of quick morning encounters, even quicker lunch break phone calls and countless half-asleep take-out dinners (few nights ago, y/n had been that close to face-plant in her soup had Harry not tenderly rubbed her back and urged her to ‘finish your soup, love, befo’ I take yeh to bed’). 

By the time Friday finally rolls around, they are still both swamped in unfinished projects and boring paperwork that nobody really wants to sort out but that has reached its procrastination limit expiry date. And the worst is, even in the midst of this perpetual race against time, they still find some to miss each other and yearn for a quiet and relaxing evening.

Looking at the fancy clock in her office, y/n realizes it’s 7:26pm and she’s the only remaining worker on her floor (or probably all of them for that matter). Her head is throbbing and she has to read every sentence of the manuscript in her hands at least 3 times in order to get even the most remote idea of its meaning. 

Exhausted, she dejectedly throws the document back on her desk before leaning back in her chair and harshly rubbing her face with her hands. She finds herself thinking of Harry, counting how long it has been since they last shared a couple-y moment. She just misses it. The intimacy. The idle talk, the deep conversations, the laughter, the cooking sessions, the movie marathons, the other kind of marathons…just the time to share and simply be together. Recently, it’s been all about coordinating their schedule to the best time-efficiency possible and she absolutely loathes it. 

‘Fuck that’ she thinks as she starts gathering her stuff. When she’s done saving her work and turning off the computer, she makes her way to the elevator while pulling out her cellphone. In a matter of minutes she’s ordered food from Harry’s favorite place and is already on her way to pick it up. The frown previously etched on her face is finally morphing into a soft smile. She just wants to spend a casual evening with him, make him feel better after the hectic week they’ve had and maybe convince him to prolong said plan throughout the week-end too. 

Still at the studio, Harry thinks he’s gonna lose his last hanging nerve if he doesn’t figure out what in hell is missing in the bridge of his new song. It’s 7:35pm and he’s been playing the damn thing since 8 this morning but nothing’s working. The pressure and the fatigue have rendered him inspiration-less and simply left him in a slump. His head feels fuzzy, his thoughts are jumbled and no matter how much he puts his all in it, he knows nothing creative can spring out from stress and sleep deprivation. So he pauses the audio and turns to his fellow songwriters/musicians with a sigh. "Sorry guys, think we should call it a day. My brain’s fried anyway."

They all nod and make their way outside of the studio after sorting everything out. "Don’t worry, man, we’re gonna figure this out. It’s probably best we stopped now anyway, it’ll give us a fresh perspective coming Monday." Mitch tries to reassure his friend. 

"Hope so, yeah. I don’t know, I just…Righ' now, I just wanna go home an’ clear my head of everythin’."

"You’re right, it’s getting obsessive in there, and that’s never a good way to make music. ’S gotta be more natural than whatever that was" he says pointing his thumb back towards the building they just left.

"’S not just that though. Things are a bit crazy at the moment, an’ it’s like…I miss y/n in a weird way, yeh know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we just moved in together a few weeks back, right? But we barely see or have time fo’ each other. Her work’s keepin’ her busy as well...” It seems like he’s gonna add something so Mitch doesn’t interrupt his thoughts. “It’s like missing someone that is right next to you" Harry finally confides and it feels like some weight is being lifted off his shoulders with the confession. He’s been nurturing these longing feelings for a while now but had yet to express them out loud. 

"Tell ya what, Harry. It’s the week-end, take advantage of it, man.”

"Yeah, think ‘m gonna go get some food an’ maybe flowers. She’s been workin’ so hard lately, just wanna give ‘er a nice evening." It’s his turn to pick up dinner anyway Harry thinks, and there’s a flower shop right across from her favorite place. Maybe they could just take off for the week-end too. Go someplace tranquil and far away from the city’s hassle. 

That’s how half an hour later he’s finally pulling up on their street, take-away and sunflowers buckled in the passenger seat. Taking a long breath along with the rest of his purchases, Harry makes his way to the front door. When he finally enters their home, he’s immediately met with one of the most precious sight he could have hoped for: y/n in her sweats, humming to Here Comes the Sun as she gathers plates and cutleries to set the table. Harry feels already better and makes a bee line to his love with a wide smile adorning his lips. 

"‘lo, love. Missed yeh today."

She looks up at the sound of his voice. "Hey, you. How was your day?" But as she’s about to melt in his embrace, she realizes he’s carrying items of his own. "Wait, did you get dinner?" she asks somewhat worriedly. 

"Yep, I got yeh your favorite and these-" he hands her the bouquet, "are for you as well."

Now. When Harry imagined her reaction, he didn’t exactly picture y/n’s current expression. He’d thought maybe he’d be greeted with a ‘aww that’s so sweet’ hopefully followed by a kiss and the biggest hug in history. Or perhaps a blush creeping on her cheeks since y/n isn’t the best at receiving compliments and sweet gestures (getting her all flustered has become Harry’s favorite hobby ever since he realized that).

What he didn’t anticipate however, is the mystical look in y/n’s shiny eyes right now, like she was processing a hundred thoughts per second. She isn’t saying anything either. Just staring at him with love and wonder painting her irises. 

"Love?" Harry tilted his head slightly on the side in sign of inquiry. Then y/n just chuckled and took his cheeks between her small hands, completely bypassing the bouquet and take-out still hanging from his fingers.

"Thought it was my turn to get dinner," she smiled at the qui pro quo. "I got you your favorite too. And some poppies." That’s when Harry noticed the bag with his favorite restaurant logo printed on it, seating on the kitchen counter besides a vase full of freshly cut poppies (his favorite as well). 

Aligning his gaze back with hers, Harry awkwardly shifts around to place the food and the flowers on the counter by their side before engulfing y/n in a tight hug. His smile has grown tenfold and as he presses his forehead against hers, he thinks he couldn’t possibly fall deeper in love with her. So without further ado, he traps her lips between his and brings one hand to her neck. The kiss starts slow, eyes shut and hearts on the edge of imploding, savoring the moment. But then a small whine leaves y/n’s throat and it’s teeth colliding, breathed interweaving in-between, nose smudged against each other, and fingers kneading into heated skin. 

The break is sudden and filled with their erratic breathing. It’s the ridicule of the situation that sends them laughing: both of them buying dinner, the result of a simple miscommunication. It’s an honest mistake really, they’ll just reheat the second take-out tomorrow. But it’s also both of them going out of their way, out of their exhaustion to get something special for the other. The desire to make a little gesture because days are rough and as a team they get through that by uniting moral support forces. It’s the intimacy y/n was craving so much. The small details Harry knows about her and she about him, and the fact that even through the madness of it all, they always seem to go back in sync.

"I miss you so much Harry" y/n finally says while tucking her nose in the crook of his neck. She just wants to feel as close to him as possible, breathe him in, and never let go. And really, Harry’s not complaining. He just squeezes her tighter against him and presses his lips on her forehead for a moment.

"I love you, y/n. How ‘bout no work this week-end, hum? Just yeh an’ me, wherever you wanna be" his lips are still brushing against her skin.

"Please," is what she answers before leaning back to stare at his pretty face with a soft smile. "I love you too." 

➪ Masterlist

Hey guys, hope you liked that little piece. It is actually inspired by a true story; a so highly stereotypically French one, that I had to edit it for narrative’s sake. If you care to hear about it (no offense taken if you don’t!), prepare yourself cause I’m about to drop some serious French cultural knowledge on you. 

There exists two ways one French fellow can eat a baguette: there’s the well-cooked team who likes it golden and crusty (like my Mum), and then there’s the not-so-cooked team who likes it soft all over (like my Dad). The basics being now established, we may proceed with the real story.

One time, both my Mum and Dad were having such a busy day that they forgot to agree on who would buy bread for dinner (I did warn you it would be awfully French). They ended up both buying some, laughing at the situation once they met at home. But see, now when my Dad recalls this — in appearance — insignificant moment of their lives, he says that in that moment they’d made love to each other. Because when they got ready to eat, they realized that my dad had bought a well-cooked baguette for my mum while she had bought a not-so-cooked one for my Dad. And yeah, my Dad can be a hopeless romantic sometimes but he’s kinda right, isn’t he? Love is about putting the other above ourselves and making them feel special with the little things like giving up your favorite type of something just so your significant other can have it their favorite way. 

Anyhow, sorry if I bored you with my story (it is 3:52am as I’m writing, if you need some kind of explanation), I just thought it was something sweet to share. Please tell me what you think, I’d love to hear from you!

Take care xx

[elzariel]

Karma Fairy

This will be a LONG one, like, short novel long, but its been a long gig and I need to tell the world of this mess, hoping this'll pay my debt back to the karma fairy for letting justice rain on this.

The cast: Me MOS (manager on site) CB (cheeky bugger) HAH (horny asshole)

TLDR; HAH acts like he's the pro and brags to everyone, before talking shit about coworkers behind their back to other coworkers and boss, then doesn't do his job, expects boss not to find out he's skipping work, doesn't turn to work and when boss wants to ask him what the fuck, doesn't even answer his phone. HAH is in for a surprise when MOS will never hire him again and probably will cut ties with him all together, as he now knows what a shit person HAH is.   

Background info: I'v been with this company for half a year now, but have recently moved from another town. My old boss offered to introduce me to the manager at the new town and said they could easily get me more work there. I agree that I'd love to keep working for them, as I'v been cleaning for years on several smaller companies, but its never ended happily. Turns out cleaning as a profession is a swamp of bad customers and crap employers. Who knew. All in all, this company has been nothing but nice and I love working for them. The two managers I'v worked for were stellar gents, I trust them and will bend backwards to keep the customer happy for these people. My current boss at the company, is a friendly, no nonsense guy. I'v met him like, twice before I got to the worksite, but he seemed to get along well with my old boss, so I trust this guy. A little scatterbrained and bad at choosing workers, but we all make mistakes. Also kinda crap at making inventory on what needs to be done when etc. but its okay, he has a whole town's cleaning jobs to run for a fairly big company.

My new manager, MOS, asks if I want to do a short gig, since they don't have anything stable to give me yet. I agree, as I want work asap. This would also raise my experience and give me kudos in the company for accepting short notice work, since MOS called me a day before the gig starts. (turns out nobody else wanted to do it except me and CB) Gig is at an office type building, to clean before the new tenants move in. Space has been cleaned after the last tenant left, but they want us to deep clean the space, since new tenant has had problems with in-door air quality at their last place, meaning they're gonna be absolutely anal about new place being clean. MOS makes it clear to all three of us working there, me, CB and HAH that this is IMPORTANT. The dust HAS to be gone. From EVERYWHERE. There is no slacking at this job. This is one of those gigs where it has to be spotless or we'll have to just re-do it until it is.

On day one, I meet my work buddies for this gig. CB, darker skinned immigrant worker, speaks fairly ok english and a understandable version of the language of the land. Does the jobs given to him, or so we thought. Not a bad dude, just has a shit ton of work on his plate, including another cleaning company next to ours, this raises tension with him and MOS. HAH, dude says he's a veteran of the field. Has been cleaning "forever". Keeps mentioning how he's a pro at window washing and seems oddly fixated on windows, as if he thinks this is his only job here. MOS said he hired this guy because HAH didn't have work atm. Never said that HAH would only be doing windows. From that day on, HAH would constantly, and I mean CONSTANTLY, keep talking how the windows will only take him a day to do, including the outside. How this job, that has been scheduled for 70 hours or in other words 5 days, will only take us like two, so we can take it slow and laze around. (Of course not when MOS is around, but he openly talks about going slow with me and CB. Even bitches at me for doing the bathrooms "too fast" as we'll "run out of work" if I don't slow down.) When HAH wasn't boasting about how fast this'll be, he is talking about sex. Not kidding. This man spent 80% of the time his mouth was moving talking about fucking, dicks, vags, railing women and the sort. Now I ain't a prude, but damn son, reel it in a little. He's 49, going through a divorce, with kids my age (29) and it seems like he has no other topics besides being a fast worker and how many women he's banged. CB humors him, but I only answer with curt, short comments. I'm not interested. I'm here to work, not boost someone's ego. We get trouble almost immediately. HAH starts on indoors glass surfaces, while me and CB start trying to figure out how the heck we're supposed to clean the windows that are second story high, we have our own saga with fighting a scaffolding set that's not only badly installed, but at the wrong spot, trying to get it moved, trying to have CB not die falling from cleaning on this thing, etc. It is not fun, its driving MOS insane trying to get the guys responsible for the scaffolding to help us. It goes on for most of the time we're there. In the end, all higher windows have to be cleaned with a seriously dodgy ladder.

Trouble starts on the third last day. Its monday. I come in to find nobody there. Okay, I assume CB has been working too much again and can't come in today, or will be late. Its a trend, but I'm like, its okay. We're almost done anyways. On Friday, HAH left super SUPER early, saying he's done all he needs and we'll do the windows outside on monday when it gets warmer. I shrug, almost tell him to fuck off since he's done jack shit all week, even though he was supposed to help us with EVERYTHING, not just windows, but let him leave because its his fault when MOS comes by later that day and he gets in trouble. MOS got annoyed as fuck when he did come by, but said I could leave early too since we're almost done. (or were we, dun dun duu)

At around lunch on monday, I call MOS to ask about the bathrooms in the foyer, if they belong to the office space and if I should clean them too. Here's the convo: "Yeah those are part of the office too." "Hey I wanted to ask, where is everybody? I'm alone here and we aren't nearly done." "Oh uhh.. Yeah HAH was there this morning, but since the usual electricians didn't show up before 9am, he waited outside the door for an hour and left, without calling me to get someone to open the door." "What?! He left???" "Yeah I don't think I'm hiring this guy again after this. Old friend or not. He's getting all kinds of cocky.." "Well, yeah, he left super early on friday too, saying how he'd finish the outside windows on monday but I guess thats tomorrow then?" MOS apologizes and tells me he's gonna come by in a few to do inventory on what needs to be done and check up a bit on what has been done. We're going to have a check-up with the customer on tuesday around noon, so we'll know what the customer wants re-done by wednesday. MOS shows up in about half an hour, I tell him the list of stuff that needs doing, at this point its mostly the floors, one bathroom needs a quick dust-up since its been in use. We walk around and spot some dusty window frames. MOS looks suspicious af and starts touching ALL the window frames indoors. There's dust everywhere. HAH was supposed to wipe these as he cleaned them, turns out he didn't. While we're doing that, we spot a few ventilation vents that need to be vacuumed, nothing major. Some walls are scuffed and we comment on how that could use a touch up. All in all it looks ok. Rest of monday is spent with CB, who shows up late, getting upper surface dusting done and me finishing small stuff like the bathrooms and some of the walls. By the end of day, I'v seen MOS outside with window cleaning stuff finishing the outside windows. I'm starting to suspect he is so done with HAH at this point. This is tuesday. I come in fairly early, as I can only work for 3 hours that day. In between that tuesday and the first day there, I'v gotten a small bank job from CB to do three times a week + I'm doing holiday leave for a bigger job in town, cutting my available hours to 3 at the office space. This means I'm there for 3 hours, finishing up dusting high up surfaces, when I walk past where MOS and HAH are talking in a room. HAH is making snide comments on how he's surprised (me) can use the floor cleaning equipment. I listen in, take a deep breath, and walk away. Not worth it. I don't have the energy to explain to this jackass I have a damn degree, that has 40% of it concentrated on machine usage and maintenance. I can use any and all equipment a cleaning job needs, be it floor cleaners, polishers, watervacuums or those mini-zambonis. Client shows up around noon. MOS is busy walking the premises with them and I immediately realize there's trouble. The client(s) turn out to be a group of people, with various faces and job titles. MOS looks horrified about 5 minutes in and it just gets worse from there. HAH has done a shit job. Like, major shit job. CB did some of the windows high up, but since he's clearly never been actually taught how to do it, he did it in whatever way that felt logical to him. HAH was supposed to spot clean after CB, but this combo just turned into a mess where ALL indoors window frames had to now be re-dusted with a wet cloth. Yes. All of them. 1000m2 of space, re-dusted. That's 10 763,9 sq ft for americans. HAH had the balls to walk past me re-dusting with "I did that when I cleaned the windows you don't have to do that" which I curtly responded to with "No, the customer literally just said everything has to be re-done." This caused HAH to start doing the SAME THING I WAS DOING. We now had TWO people dusting these window frames, like idiots, while the customer is there. I was so very VERY close to throwing my rag at this guy, telling him to fucking find something useful to do, instead of passive-aggressively following me. I was already doing the job, what on earth! On top of this, the customer found dust. But refused to tell us where he found the dust from. MOS is flabbergasted. How does hiding where it is help us clean? We have no idea, we went through the whole location trying to find this mystery dust treasure trove. Got some hits, cleaned those. MOS is defeated and deflated, he is tired and done after the customer(s) leave. Turns out we have to re-do most light-fixtures, some windows needed a re-wipe, the floors are still not done. I leave on tuesday early, with HAH still shit talking to MOS, now insulting CB's work ethic and results openly, getting more and more racist by the minute. I exit before I have to hear what he has to say about my cleaning. So its wednesday now. Its technically our last day there and everything has to be perfect, finished and spotless before anyone can go home. What does HAH do? Leave early. I come in around 9:30, by 10:00 HAH is gathering his gear talking about how there's only the floor to clean and we should be done. CB is coming later to help right, you'll be fine on your own with 1000m2 flooring to clean! (again, 10 763,9 sq ft) Apparently only some of the offices floors need cleaning, mostly what is needed is two front offices, the big entrance room, a hallway and the foyer. All this time HAH is talking, he is clearly talking about using the small floor cleaning machine we have there. He even points at it, making sure I know how to use it etc. Before he leaves, I ask him to help me move all our equipment, scattered around the office, to the main lobby room and clean up a little. I'm thinking, he can at least do THAT, right?? No. No he cannot. He brings maybe third of the equipment to the lobby, helps with none of the trash, and just poofs into thin air. I'm like, ok, I'm fine with this. I start by checking that everything is ok, spot clean some walls, then start on the floor. I use the little machine we have. At the lesser used end of the hallway it works fine. It looks clean etc. But by the time I'm at the lobby end of the hallway, I'm seeing streaks on the floor. This is a trend that continues through the two offices and the foyer. After I'm done with the lobby/main entrance room, I realize this isn't gonna fly. The floor is super streaky and I can't figure out what is going on. I'm technically done now, all the floors are ran through once with the cleaning machine, but I just don't feel right leaving without asking MOS about the floor, if there's something to do, if I can leave etc. I text MOS if I can leave, I'm done with everything, I think, etc. Ask about the streaking. Then I start my lunch. I know he's at a meeting so getting an answer might take time and I'm in no hurry, as I have no other work on wednesdays, I can stay here however long that is needed. I don't hear anything in 45 minutes and decide fuck it, I'll call him. MOS answers instantly, laughing how he was just about to call. We laugh about telepathy and here's the convo: "So are the electricians gone? They were supposed to finish today right? Are you guys alone?" "What? No, I'm alone. There's two electricians here with me, they seem pissed too, I guess nobody is in time here." "Wait what? You're alone? Where's HAH??? Didn't CB show up??" "Uhh no?" "What in the actual fuck!? What happened???" "HAH was here until about 10am but he left, said everything was done, he had nothing to do so he'd be off" "What the fuck does he mean Nothing to do?? The floors are- are the floors done?" "Well see, there's this weird streaking problem.. I don't want to leave before you ok me to leave, since this doesn't look clean to me, tbh" "Give me 20 minutes. I'll be there. I'll give you a ride home later." "I'm in no hurry, I have no other work for today" MOS shows up in exactly 20 minutes. "The polishing machine hasn't done a very good job has it.." "What polishing machine?" "Huh? You haven't used the polishing machine on the lobby yet?" "No??? I wasn't told that was to be done. All HAH told me was to use the small machine and we'd be done?" "No, we need to use the polishin machine on the lobby, foyer and probably the hallway too, looking at the streaking, the shit's stained too deep for the small machine to penetrate it. Fucking HAH! What the hell does he think he's doing!? Why the hell did we bring the polishing machine and watervacuum here if its not used! Idiots!" At this point MOS starts cursing and I realize its finally dawned on him how much work there still is to do, and its just me and him now. MOS calls around trying to reach anyone to help, CB can't come he's already used his hours today, again. (Turns out he isn't even doing his jobs at the other places he cleans well, he has been lazying around wasting time and not following customer wishes/demands for a while, MOS tells me I might be getting stable work sooner than later, as it seems CB is gonna get booted too if his shitty work quality continues) Its now about 1pm and MOS asks me, looking desperate, if I'm okay helping him for the afternoon and for the next day as well. I agree, saying I'd gladly take the cash and how this vexes me too. The floor looks terrible + I want to look as good as possible to MOS now that I know both CB and HAH have screwed over their graces royally. We take a couple hours to use the smaller machine again the offices, but with the Good Stuff used with the polishing machine, resulting in clean floors. While I'm doing the offices, MOS starts on the lobby, with the Good Stuff + the polisher. GS is a very smelly, acidic chemical meant to strip wax off flooring, so its serious stuff, but also proceeds to get this grimy, black substance to come out the plastic flooring, making us realize some poor fucker waxed this floor, thinking it'd help (spoiler it didn't, don't wax plastic flooring) and that was causing the streaking, as the smaller machine can't strip wax but it can streak it. Thing is, when you use the polishing machine, you literally throw water and cleaning agent on the floor, run it over with the polisher then use the watervacuum to remove the dirty water. Its a two person job or it takes forever, since you cannot let the detergent and water dry, or you have to re-do everything. There was NO way I could have done this alone in a sensible time! HAH either knew this and was a cruel shit head or didn't know and wasn't the pro he said he was. By the time its 3pm, we have the lobby half done and the offices finished. The next day would be the hallway and the rest of the lobby. Before we leave, MOS tries to call HAH to ask him what the fuck is up, but doesn't get an answer. I tell MOS not to bother, HAH knows he's in shit so won't answer. MOS drives me home and on the way he expresses his regret in letting HAH in on the job, saying how if he knew what a bastard HAH'd be, MOS would never have hired HAH. MOS also tells me how HAH spent the whole tuesday shit talking CB and my work, how if HAH was alone he'd finished in 2 days. TWO DAYS. MOS says that was the point where he stopped listening and decided this man was beyond help. This is also when I heard MOS talk about how CB's other locations have been complaining a lot, saying how CB would leave equipment everywhere, would not clean the whole time he was supposed to be cleaning, would not show up at work etc. Got pretty much told I could have free pick when CB was fired later this year on his locations. MOS also mentioned how he was going to find out if there was anything he could do about HAH's pay, since he hadn't been at work or if he had been at work hadn't actually worked. I told MOS some pretty exact times when I knew HAH was working, meaning HAH couldn't bullshit his hours to MOS saying he'd worked when he hadn't.

Sadly, I didn’t go on thursday after all, as I realized I had a medical appointment I thought was on friday but was on thursday instead, so I have no other ending to this, except the knowledge that HAH will never work for MOS again.

I apologize for the HUGE wall of text, but it was a wild week and by the end of it, I could literally see karma fairy when I closed my eyes. I just wish I could be a fly on the wall when HAH realizes what a shit show this gig was and how its gonna affect his work prospects with this company.

Epilogue: Also, as a sidenote, yeah, this whole thing was a mess from the customer perspective too. By the time we got to wednesday, the electricians weren't done, they were supposed to have been done DAYS before we were to be done. There was new renovations that needed to be done showing up constantly. Several smaller jobs hadn't been done etc. I feel bad for the new tenants, who were supposed to move in on FRIDAY, with walls to be painted and crap still MIA. So its almost as if the picky customer got karma'd too. They were so hellbent on having the cleaning done perfectly, that the renovations weren't done anywhere near in time, meaning the nice clean floors and bathrooms? Now dirty again from reno guys using them for a good two days after we finished. And as we have picture evidence of our work, they can't come back saying we didn't clean. We did our job and their reno guys fucked our work up, not our problem.

TLDR; HAH acts like he's the pro and brags to everyone, before talking shit about coworkers behind their back to other coworkers and boss, then doesn't do his job, expects boss not to find out he's skipping work, doesn't turn to work and when boss wants to ask him what the fuck, doesn't even answer his phone. HAH is in for a surprise when MOS will never hire him again and probably will cut ties with him all together, as he now knows what a shit person HAH is.

[rabidwrestlingfan]

Perfect Song For A Perfect Lady

Author's note: Surprise fic for the absolutely amazing @wrestlingnoob! I love you! I wanted to do something special for you to welcome you back from your trip! 💙 I hope it's everything you wanted! 38. "Why can't you appreciate my sense of humor?" 69. "We need to talk." "How would you feel, if I told you I loved you? It's just something that I want to do I'll be taking my time, spending my life Falling deeper in love with you So tell me that you love me too Tell me that you love me too Tell me that you love me too" -How Would You Feel by Ed Sheeran "All I'm saying is that if you at all feel like you need a distraction, you can count on me." Joe told her with a smile. Daisy rolled her eyes, barely holding back her laughter. "I told you that I can do this by myself! Win or lose I'm doing it without help. No offense." She stated simply. The Scottish man in front of her held up his hands. "I'm just trying to help, sweetheart. I have no doubts that you can wipe the mat with her." Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Everyone decent?" Travis Banks asked from outside. "No, Trav. We're standing here in our birthday suits nonchalantly discussing tonight." Daisy retorted with a laugh. "Coffey owes me money then." Travis said sarcastically before opening the door. When The Prestige demanded their own locker room Daisy had kind of been roped into the deal. Hendry told everyone they were a packaged deal. "Why can't you appreciate my sense of humor?" The woman asked the Kiwi with a fake pout. "I appreciate it, Dai. I just like to compete with it." He answered with a smile. "Your match is almost up. Our deal still in place?" The mischief in Travis' eyes made her look away. "Yeah." She answered quickly before looking at her best friend once more. He knew better than to ask. "Walk me to the curtain?" She asked with a nervous smile. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" Joe teased before taking her hand and leading her out of the door. Daisy had done it. She'd become number one contender for the WCPW Woman's Championship. She had come through the curtain expecting a bear hug. Instead she only seen Travis. It wasn't that she didn't get along with the rest of The Prestige, she was just more comfortable with Joe and Travis. "Hey..." She greeted as her eyes still searched for her best friend. Travis pulled her into a hug nonetheless with a big smile on his face. "Look at you go! I told you that you didn't have to doubt yourself." He knew what she was looking for. He also had a sneaking suspicion about what exactly her friend was up to. "Lover boy said something about getting you junk food a few minutes ago. Think he got lost without you." It wasn't technically a lie. The Scottish man had talked about getting her sweets, just not necessarily in the last ten minutes. The woman punched his chest before quickly scanning to make sure nobody heard him. "Shut up!" She whispered harshly. "You and him are literally the only people here who don't see it. You're both fucking clueless. He made sure you could get in on a private locker room even though you aren't a member of The Prestige. He waits here after almost all of your matches. He walks you to the curtain. You guys hold hands more than any couple I've ever met. When are you going to realise he's completely mad about you like you are him? Because honestly all this longing and tension is ridiculous. I'm always worried you'll just rip each other's clothes off out of nowhere." He should've felt bad about embarrassing her. Normally he'd wait until she was at least tipsy to bring up the subject. "Ah, but you don't have a choice now. You won the match so I won the bet. I trust you not to go back on your word." She avoided his gaze as he held her stolen hoodie out for her. "Go talk to him. I'm going outside for some air before my match." Travis sincerely hoped he was wrong about Joe's whereabouts. He couldn't keep Daisy away forever, especially since she was already curious about Joe not being there after her match. He watched her walk until she was out of sight before going towards the exit. It felt like it took forever to get back to the locker room. Everyone had stopped to congratulate her on the win. Kay Lee had even promised to take her out for drinks later. Both women knew it was going to be an all out war for the championship. Daisy let out a breath of relief as she looked at the door in front of her. What if Travis was right? What if she was just over thinking everything and Joe really did feel the same? She didn't know what she expected to see when she opened the door, but Joe with his tongue down some backstage worker's throat wasn't it. Daisy froze in the doorway. This couldn't be real, could it? Surely Joe wouldn't have missed her match to try and get into some woman's pants, right? When he heard the squeak of the door hinges his eyes shot open. Seeing her there made him freeze. Daisy couldn't stop the tears from pooling in her eyes. How could she be so stupid enough to think Joe Hendry loved her like she did him? She bolted before he could even get his temporary entertainment off of him. Instantly he was going after her. He made it to the parking lot before seeing a face he cared about. "Did you see where Daisy went?" Joe asked his friend, slightly out of breath. "You're a fucking idiot and I want you to know that." Travis answered with a heavy sigh. The Scottish man cocked his head just enough to be noticeable. "Excuse me?" He really didn't know where the words had come from. "No. I'm not spelling this out for you. You messed up, you figure it out. But you aren't fixing it with whatever half assed apology you were just thinking up. You're going to have to work for this one." With that the Kiwi was walking back into the building. Joe stared at the parking lot with his eyebrows furrowed. What the hell was Travis talking about? Three weeks. She had gone a full three weeks without talking to what was supposed to be her best friend. No Monday morning gym sessions. No Thursday night movies. It was funny to see how much time he had taken up in her life. She was always pulled along with him to events if she didn't have any of her own. Now she had spent a majority of her time in her small flat. It was kind of sad. That night was another show of dodging both Joe and Travis. The Kiwi didn't really deserve her anger but she just couldn't help it. He knew what Joe was doing, or he at least had a hunch. He still sent her back to the locker room right after talking her up to confess her feelings. During those three weeks she'd had a private locker room at every show. She figured it was a peace offering of sorts. Suddenly the sound of a guitar filtered through the door as she finished lacing her boots. Daisy pushed herself to ignore it. Of course he would sing her favorite song outside of the locker room she had because of him. Joe didn't like feeling like he was losing. By the time the second verse rolled around she had the door open and was listening closely. She loved hearing him sing. She knew he learned the song for her. It made her heart skip a beat like a silly teenager. "And all of the voices surrounding us here They just fade out when you take a breath Just say the word and I will disappear Into the wilderness Should this be the last thing I see I want you to know it's enough for me 'Cause all that you are is all that I'll ever need I'm so in love, so in love So in love, so in love" Daisy noticed the crowd gathering around the hallway and quickly put her hand over his. She seen the instant sadness fill his eyes when she stopped him from playing. "We need to talk." She whispered before he could speak. With a nod he handed the guitar to her so he could grab the gifts on the floor. Once they were both inside the room and the door was closed the tension became near suffocating. In the end Joe caved first. "I fucked up. I fucked up so bad that even I can't believe it. It's just... two years. Two years I've been hoping that you felt the same. I watched you date those absolute cunts with a fake smile because at least they made you happy. Even if I knew I'd have to put you back together after they left. I listened to guys say the vilest things about you because they knew you were my soft spot. Coffey told me what the bet with Travis was. He told me how much of a dumbass I was." He stopped only to hold out the giant panda bear and bouquet of flowers he had brought. "I want you to know that I love you. Without a doubt in my mind I can say I've loved you since the night your car broke down and we cuddled in the backseat singing whatever songs we knew. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. I'm sorry I probably fucked up whatever chance I had with you." Daisy took the gifts with tears streaming down her face. All of her emotions were bubbling up at once. Suddenly she had launched into his arms, face pressed into the man's chest. He held her tightly without saying a word. "You learned my song." Her words were so mumbled she was surprised he understood them. "Of course I did. It's the perfect song for a perfect girl." She looked up meekly. How was he still so beautiful even when he looked terrified? "Take me to the little diner I love after the show." Daisy pecked his lips before leaving the room. "Fucking finally!" She wished she was surprised to hear the words as she walked towards the curtain. "Shut the fuck up, Banks!"

[newsnigeria]

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Russia: On sanctions

by Scott Humor

On Monday April 16, a well-oiled machine of anti-Russian sanctions experienced a major hiccup. This day the US Treasury promised to announce new sanctions against Russia’s companies and persons, if  the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley to be believed. Why would the US Ambassador to the UN do such things as announcing the US Treasury’s plans is everyone’s guess, especially since this Monday, when it was still earlier morning in the US, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave an interview to the BBC, during which he said the following words : “obsession with Russophobia which looks like, you know, genocide by sanctions.”

As far as I can tell no one in media paid attention to his words, concentrating, instead, on things that don’t matter, like Deripaska.

However, someone paid attention, because a few hours latter…

First it was National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow who suggested that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was “confused” when she announced Sunday the Trump administration would unveil new sanctions against Russia. Then White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to Haley’s comments in a press briefing Monday, saying the administration is “considering additional sanctions on Russia” but has not made a final decision.

While the blaming game of who got confused issued,  no one could say why administration’s  plans to “strangle” Russia economically by means of a torrent of sanctions got muddled.

The key here was Lavrov’s remark on the nature of anti-Russian sanctions as being a genocide. This indicated a complete reversal of Russia’s government attitude to sanctions that for the last four years have been mostly positive as in “sanctions help Russia’s economy to develop.” These sanctions are not anything new for this century, since the US started sanctioning Russia in 2001 more than 70 announced and countless hidden sanctions were imposed on Russia’s industries, companies, capital, education, culture, science and people. Multiple misnamed sanctions against Russia include the STAND for Ukraine Act H.R. 5094 and The US Bill H.R. 1644 H.R. 1644, the Korea Interdiction and Modernization of Sanctions Act.

After organized by the Western governments and treasonous Soviet leaders breaking  the country apart and sale of one third of its territories and people into the Western slavery, the US government and institutions organized ten years of Liberal Terror also known as The Rape of Russia. As a result, Russia had 10 million excessive deaths, which comparable to the genocide by the Bolsheviks terror and the fascist European invasion of the Soviet Russia in 1941-1945.

From Russians’ perspective, the Western nations have never for a day stopped their wars against them. Maybe that’s why everyone ignored Lavrov’s new definition of the Western sanctions as genocide. Also, the matter wasn’t that the US Treasury sanctioned  a few Jewish families who were placed by the “Russia liquidation team” to hold strategic economic assets and to transfer billions from Russia to British and American banks, while using these assets for creating socially explosive atmosphere inside the country. They had done it many times, once in Spring 2009, before the presidential elections by not paying to the workers in northern town of  Pikalevo causing dramatic protests for weeks. The government ended up paying 63 million rubles in wage arrears to the workers.

Vladimir Putin, who was a Prime Minister at the time, had to personally interfere to make owners to pay debts to outraged workers in the town of Pikalevo, 246 kilometers east of St. Petersburg, with a population of 22,200. Early this year all three crucial industrial facilities were closed down in the town. As a result local people have thrice taken to the streets to demand the restoration of heat and water supplies at least to hospitals and child-care centers. Before Putin interfered, demonstrators blocked the Novaya Ladoga-Vologda federal highway.

“You have made thousands of people hostage of your incompetence, ambitions and, probably, greed. That is absolutely impermissible,” Putin told then to Oleg Deripaska, as well as local authorities. “Nobody will ever be able to persuade me that regional authorities have done everything in their powers to help the people.”  See, Wage arrears arrive to protesting Pikalevo after Putin interferes. This was when the famous video of Putin forcing Deripaska to sign a new contract and saying “Give me my pen back” was taken and leaked.

Anyone with half a brain understands that the state can always take its “pen” back from placeholders like Deripaska and others “oligarchs.”  It helps that population in general sees as unfair and unjust that these people grabbed and hold assets developed and built in the Soviet Union. So, it’s hardly unlikely that Lavrov referred as “genocidal” push to strip assets from Deripaska, the Rothenbergs, and the Vekselbergs. Since in the most sanctioned companies the other major shareholder is the state, and the sanctions are not allowing the foreigners to buy the sanctioned individuals out, the state will get their shares one way or another.

Russia’s government’s dramatic turn in its attitude to sanctions continued with  Lavrov’s remarks and answers to media questions following a meeting of the SCO Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Beijing, April 24, 2018.

“As far as the results of the foreign ministers’ meeting in Toronto are concerned, its anti-Russian underpinnings are clear. Regrettably, this anti-Russian and very slippery line has been followed even by those G7 countries which assure us that they do not share the attempts to isolate Russia.

We will uphold our positions and wait patiently for our partners to realize that these actions are an absolute dead end and lack any prospects.”

Again, Lavrov emphasizes that the US sanctions are genocidal, racist, that they are targeting Russian nation and that they will bring those who impose them to “an absolute dead end.”

The main reason could be the sanctions against Rosoboronexport, the sole state intermediary agency for Russia’s exports/imports of defense-related and dual use products, technologies and services, and Russia’s ability to protect itself and its allies.

Lavrov never exaggerates and always states plainly and clearly of what it is. If the US continues on the path of sanctions it will meet its absolute dead end, because at this point as April sanctions are concerned, the US Treasury moved into territory described in Russia’s new military doctrine as a threat to existence of the nation.

The panic that took place on April 16th indicates that Trump’s administration and someone inside the US government got the message.

Scott Humor

Director of Research and Development

author of The enemy of the State

POKÉMON IN UKRAINE: Tactical War Game Introduction MANUAL (War Game Manuals Book

In case you have forgotten what happened in Ukraine, this book should refresh your memory with the incredibly precise and humorous chronicles: ANTHOLOGY OF RUSSIAN HUMOR: FROM MAIDAN TO TRUMP

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