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molkolsdal · 4 years ago

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Pakistan's Transgender Community Is Hiding Out in a Hostile City

As Peshawar has come under increasing sway of an extremist view of Islam, its community of transgender hijras has been increasingly marginalized.

By Beenish Ahmed, 16/05/2014 Photos by Abdul Majeed Goraya

"My father used to beat me and ask, 'Why do you have to go around pretending to be a girl?'"

Now at 35, she says her cheeks burn and fists tighten if anyone refers to her as a man.

Khushboo, whose name means fragrance, classifies herself as a hijra, a South Asian gender designation that encompasses transgender and transexual people, as well as transvestites and eunuchs.

She has a different definition for herself and the estimated hundreds of thousands of other hijras across the region. "Our souls are female and our bodies are male," she says, dipping a rag into a red plastic pail filled with a chalky mixture of water and face powder. Surrounded by a group of several other hijras in a room they call their "office," Khushboo smears the dripping rag over her face and adds, "I've known I was a hijra since I was a child."

She used to wear her sisters' clothes. At 16, Khushboo slipped out of the house in one of their outfits and didn't return home for years. Along with another hijra, she settled in Peshawar, a city in northwestern Pakistan one night's drive from the costal city of Karachi where she'd grown up.

Peshawar has long been home to cultural traditions that insist on strict gender segregation, and the city has come under increasing sway of an extremist view of Islam in recent years. These intolerant, conservative beliefs are made brutally clear through the bombings and shootings that are now near-weekly occurrences. Taliban suicide bombers killed 85 worshippers at a church there last September, and militants killed thirteen people at a cinema showing pornographic movies in February. Lesser attacks are momentary blips on local news coverage featuring bloodied streets and blaring sirens.

Khushboo points to battered doors and broken windows around her. She says young men—"college boys" she calls them—wreak havoc on her and fellow hijras who are preparing for a dance performance later that night. Sometimes the men recite scripture and beat the hijras to shame them out of their profession as dancers, and other times they force them to dance or even rape them, she tells me.

Despite the extremism that has only further marred the city since her arrival nearly 20 years ago, Khushboo has an affinity for Peshawar because it's where she had a sort of rebirth as her new self.

Free from the abuse of her father and brothers, as well as the sense of dishonor she felt on behalf of her mother and sisters, Khushboo embraced a new life of openness—and was adopted into a new family.

"In this field we have mothers. We have gurus. We have uncles and aunts," she says, and then points to a girl who's rolling a spliff in the corner of the room. "She's my daughter. I'm a daughter of someone so she has a grandmother too. And," Khushboo adds, "She also has a father."

That last bit comes so quickly that I almost miss it. I inquire further about the girl's "papa" and Khushboo says, "Her father is married to someone else, but he loves me." She then goes on to explain what their relationship entails—and it's all very practical until it gets utterly tragic: "If I'm sick, he comes by and brings me medicine," she says proudly. "If I don't have money he drops some cash off. If I die, it's this man who will dress me up as a man and take my body to his house to carry out the cemetery. He might not explain the full story and just say that I was killed in the market or that there was some kind of shooting, but he's the one who will take care of the funeral."

I can't help but think that this grim possibility is one that Khushboo has discussed with her "husband"—and one that he too has come to terms with.

"In Pakistani society, there is a really strong [sense of] place and family," says Dr. Jamil Ahmad Chitrali, a professor of anthropology. "There is no alternative for anyone."

Based at the University of Peshawar, Chitrali has written about the city's hijra community. He says that by forging the same sorts of familial connections that they left behind, hijras create a social order that mimics the very society from which many of them fled.

"It's forcing all those revolutionary individuals who are against those binaries of man and woman to come into a structure which is reaffirming patriarchy," he says.

Pakistan's hijras have made some strides in recent years despite their rather isolated existence. In 2012, the Pakistani Supreme Court allowed for a "third gender" category to be added to national identity cards, which effectively gave hijras increased legal standing. It's because of this broader recognition that hijras could vote in that year's presidential election—at least five hijras even ran for office.

But the third gender classification has made little practical difference in Khusbhoo's life. "We live in a third world," she says, the difference between her life and that of a cisgender person just as stark as the difference between life in Pakistan, and say, Monaco.

And, she says, no matter what she does, she'll always be seen as different.

"Even if I give up dancing, everyone will still call me a hijra so what's the point? Why not do what I love?" She adds that even if she were to become a traveling evangelist, her family would still regard her with the same disdain. "I'm better off staying a hijra."

And that's the hardest thing that Khushboo has to face: her family. She got back in touch with them after five years of not speaking, and goes to see them in Karachi at least once a year. But when she does, she goes dressed as a man.

Though she moves about as a woman in Peshawar, Khushboo wears a black floor length, full-sleeved robe (or abaya), and a face covering (or niqab) that reveals only her eyes to hide herself from prying eyes. Even so, she's been thrown out of several houses by people who fear hijras will ruin their neighborhood.

While they occupy a marginalized space across Pakistan, hijras are probably worst off in Peshawar. In all of the other major cities in the country, they are frequent sites at traffic intersections or in shopping centers where they offer a prayer for a few rupees. Many passersby fear denying them might mean a curse and so will either oblige quickly or turn away completely.

I've spent a lot of time in Peshawar over the years, and have never seen hijras out in public the way they are in other cities. After speaking with Professor Chitrali, I learned that might be because hijras have a different role in the Pathan society that dominates the Peshawar area. In this part of the country, hijras aren't seen to have some sort of greater spiritual connection than cisgender people—instead, their role is celebratory. They're often asked to sing and dance at weddings and births.

"It's their performance which gives [a family] social recognition," Chitrali says, though the tradition is fading as weddings move from family houses into wedding halls. Some might have other professions—Khushboo says she has hijra friends who are lawyers and pilots and act cisgender in order to maintain their jobs, though they're free to "be themselves" with her and other hijras. Due to a lack of societal acceptance, many hijras live marginalized lives as low-income entertainers, but they've got a bit of a role as educators, too. Hijras sometimes teach—or even initiate—young men into sex. For many in Peshawar who live by strict religious and cultural codes that denounce almost any pre-marital interaction between the sexes as sinful, hijras provide a sort of in-between, or a "cushion," as Chitrali calls it.

"If you cross the domain of manhood into womanhood, that is against the culture, that is crossing your limits. But you can always move into the gray area, so this hijra community, in that sense, in a clear binary of man and woman among Pathans, [forms] a gray area." But he says that this "learning experience" is becoming less common with such how-to's readily available on the internet.

In Peshawar's increasingly religiously-motivated milieu, the presence of hijras—be they dancers or sex workers—is frowned upon and politicians vie for favor by pushing them out of their homes and worksites.

Seeing this, Malik Iqbal says he wanted to do something. "I sympathize with them because no one gives them any space," he tells me.

He rents out the office that Khusboo and her fellow hijras use to prepare for their dances.

"I didn't used to be on their side," Iqbal says. "Now I help them. I say they're humans too. We should have some empathy for that reason. Not just me, everyone should empathize with them as people."

But some believe Iqbal's connection to hijras goes beyond a shared humanity. Though he refuses to speak about it, Iqbal was arrested in 2010 for attempting to marry a hijra called Rani. Such a union would be illegal under Pakistani law, which only recognizes marriages between men and women. He has repeatedly denied the charge and claimed that police were trying to extort money from hijras at an event that wasn't a marriage but an innocent birthday party. Either way, the shock the story garnered reveals just how far removed everyday Pakistanis are from the hijra community. A big-grossing film called Bol, or Speak—released in 2011—may have helped some, but real connections like Iqbal's remain few.

And not everyone in close proximity to hirjas is sympathetic. Noor Illahi, who owns a grain shop down the street from the hijras' office, doesn't have a problem with the hijras themselves or even their work, but thinks they should find some other place to go. "My work has suffered because of them. The other storeowners and I, we think they should be given some place off to the side. It should be separate."

He's worked in his store for 15 years and says that sales have dropped fifty percent since the hijras set up shop next door a few years ago. "There are a lot of fights here now. They create quite a scene sometimes."

The raucousness has driven away his customers. Those who stop in the area are more interested in the hijras than the sacks of flour he has for sale.

"I'm not personally offended by them. But look," he says, pointing to a group of several white shalwar kameez-clad men loitering outside the hijra's building. "These poor people have earned just three or four hundred rupees all day ($3-4) and they'll come here and waste it all on them."

The men are all rickshaw drivers. One by one, they go on the record to deny being there to solicit sex. "We're just here to chit chat with them," one says while peering over his shoulder to see if any of the hijras have come out into the alley. "It's a totally innocent relationship that we have with them."

Back up in the hijras' office, the lights have gone out as a part of the rolling power outages that have frustrated Pakistanis for years. It might be another hour before they're ready to leave for their performance. When they do, they'll be cloaked in massive shawls and under the cover of night.

#long post #Pakistan #lgbtq #ASIA #transgender #hijra #gender #peshawar #beenish ahmed #Abdul Majeed Goraya

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fullsunalicia · 5 years ago

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loved rags and riches!! if you have time, could you also write a chenle version, like a crazy rich asians au or like a chaebol au? thank you!

broken hearts club — ZCL

it’s been a long time since someone has touched zhong chenle’s frozen heart. he’s closed it off to the entire world and dedicated it to his music and the empire that he’s going to inherit. somehow though, there’s a girl with a weakness for puppies who manages to light a match for the ice clump that sits in chenle’s chest.

zhong chenle as astrid leong - kind of. :-) i hope you enjoy love. thank you for requesting. <3

Over the years, the map to Chenle’s heart has been destroyed and burnt. Many have tried to recover it, retrace the steps as they try to remember. Not one person comes close, as the only thing Chenle loves is the music and the puppy he was gifted by his favorite cousin, Renjun.

The people call him a narcissist. His family calls him lost.

He calls himself Zhong Chenle. Nothing more, nothing less. He likes sitting together with his band mates and share several bottles of soju. Whenever soneone speaks chinese with him, it sounds like music to his ears. In Korea, far from home, the only chance he gets to use his mother tongue is with Renjun, and Chenle likes it like that. He couldn’t be further away from home, and all the pain that household has brought him.

Some would kill to be in his place. The only heir to a billion dollar sum, and even richer on his own. A famous musician who’s climbing the charts and breaking records everyday. Yet money has always been a curse to Chenle. It gave him heartbreak, distrust and emotional distance to everyone who’s ever been close to him. Chenle’s heart has frozen over, as cold as the arctic, the ice prince of the Zhong family. That’s what his parents have always wanted, anyways - his ex girlfriend out of their eyes, so that they could marry Chenle off to God knows who. When she had cheated on him, they have waited for Chenle with open arms to come back home, just to stab him in the back themselves.

A beggar. That’s what his mother had called Suyin, the only woman he’s ever loved.

Choi Suyin had carved out his heart and locked it in a chest, far away for anyone ever to reach. Like Davy Jones, only that Chenle has never betrayed. He was Calypso, heartbroken and full of fury, bound to his bones. Doomed to roam the world forever, without feeling anything. Detached from reality. It felt like Chenle was standing inside of a glass house, with no way to escape, only ever being able to look out. He recognizes the sorrow and the pain that’s coming to come crashing in someday and wreck him. But there is no way to ever set him free again and honestly, he isn’t even sure if he ever wants to. Love has ruined him; it has ruined his perception of people and of himself. Suyin had wanted him to make her a princess.

He can’t make her something she is not.

The whispers follow Chenle down the hall whenever he is home, though that’s a rare occasion. Fool, they murmur. A blind man. Almost robbed. If he could, he’d smash the glass of his cage and use it to wildly stab around, willing to hurt anyone who gets in the way. He wants them to feel, to suffer what he endures all day and night, a never ending nightmare. The torture of the shining jewelry, sent to him by his mother, serving as a silent reminder of what is waiting for him when the family forces Chenle’s hand and makes him return.

The ghoulish wedding that awaits him. Chenle counts the days, prays that he finds the key to the locker he never wants to see again. Dread fills him at the mere prospect of romance, but he’d rather be in pain for another thousand years instead of being married off like some worthless thing. Like his career never meant something, only some ploy of entertainment, never serious to his parents. It’s all about business, never pleasure, never happiness. To think about the company is more important than to think about your mental health. If that turns you into a psychopath, you’ll just have to make a business idea out of it and see where it gets you.

Therapy to the Zhongs is alcohol, and income. That was the very first lesson to be learnt. It’s deeply ingrained into his soul, and no matter how much time Chenle wastes at his attempts, he cannot wipe it away. Even for music, his first and true love, his mind goes to the sales first instead of the talent the song can pull out of him. Will his voice attract buyers? How should he dress to seduce the crowd? It’s all just a show, and all the roles are casted by him. What a show it is, though.

From the distance, it looks perfect. No stage fright, only elegance. The closer you get, the more you realize it’s a circus. Chenle is the biggest clown you’ll ever set eyes on.

The road to his heart is harsh and frozen. Maybe the damage is too great that anyone will ever be able to walk upon it again. But you’re willing to take the chance.

Chenle looks down as you pet the little Samoyed behind his ear, big smile on your lips. Honest; unusually so. He’s too used to choking on the sugar that keeps dripping from peoples’ lies. And here you are, jumping from stone to stone on the way to his heart, like you’re crossing some river. And you haven’t even looked at him yet.

“This dog is absolutely beautiful,” you hum, the happiness in your voice thrumming inside his head. Pleasing to listen to. “So beautiful, aren’t you? Of course you are. Pretty baby...”

You’ve taken the words out of Chenle’s mouth, but they weren’t exactly for Chan. If he was another man, he’d tell them to you. Because he isn’t, he’d rather choke on them than speak them aloud.

“He really is.” Finally, you look up. Your eyes are as pure as your mouth, see-through, easy to trust. It makes alarms ring in the ice prince’s head, and he’s pulling up the bridges to the castle in panic. He doesn’t know how you managed to do that with one look, and he honestly doesn’t want to know.

He can’t afford to find out. He can’t. Chenle is still reeling from the wound Suyin has inflicted him, running as deep as the ocean, straight through his heart. A cruel metaphor for cupid’s arrow. Still, you make Chenle want to pull it out and offer it to you. Curious whether you’d drive it back in, or break it and set him free.

The hope blooming inside his chest makes him wish for the latter.

Your beauty is already alluring just the way it is, but when your lips curve into a soft smile, you break all the viewers’ hearts in the loveliest way. It’s brighter than any jewel Chenle’s ever set eyes on, and he has already seen enough to last him a lifetime. Sick of them, actually. For you, he’d be willing to try and search for one that matches your radiance. “Love dogs too much to resist,” you admit. “I apologize for caressing the pretty boy out of the blue, but I’ve never been able to turn away from puppy dog eyes.”

“Me, too.” Chenle sinks into a squatting position so you’re both on eye level. It physically hurts to watch you blush. It hurts because he can imagine being the old Chenle who’d ask you on a date right here and there. Careless, without any worry in the world, he would take your hand and offer you the world like he had with Suyin. Because money is a burden, but it only became a curse the moment Suyin had conquered him just to enrichen herself. Become a Zhong, a legend. Have it all and spend it all. She never understood that love is more powerful than any money’s worth in the entire world. “Though that makes me a bad dog owner, doesn’t it? It gets kinda hard to be strict with him when he looks at me in such an adorable way. My baby..”

Chan presses his fuzzy head to Chenle’s palm. The only one in this world who’d ever love him just for being him. Chenle smiles and scratches the back of his baby’s ear, pleased with the rumble Chan lets out at that. Both dog and owner know the other like the back of their hand. You watch the wholesome interaction, the kindness in your eyes makes Chenle soft.

Right now, you’re knocking at the doors to his heart, begging to be let in like in The Princess and the Pea. He forces himself to turn away.

He’s a masochist, but this is too much for even Zhong Chenle.

“Never had a dog again after mine passed away when I was sixteen.” Your voice is a little bit distant now, hollow. Detached. Your heart has been broken in a different way than his has, but the pain is very similar. Chenle recognizes himself in the way you wrap your arms around your own frame, as if you’re trying to hold yourself together. To force the broken pieces to stay in place. He wants to tell you that you’re never going to be able to do that alone, but he’s too much of a coward who doesn’t trust anyone in the world. Not anymore. “Hurt too much. Felt like a betrayal. I still love dogs more than anyone else, but I think I’m just not ready to adopt another one. At least not in the near future.”

Chenle agrees, though you’re talking about two seperate things. He needs to quit love, like an addict checking himself into rehab. It’s a must, not a neccesity. Though it makes him sick to the stomach, he forces himself to stick to the company procedure. Business before pleasure. Business before anything.

❀ ❀ ❀

Love has never hurt you before. Never have you brushed hands with death and decay the way Chenle has, but you see it in his eyes. The passing ghost of a lover who once was. Where should be warmth is steel, the protective shell of a man who wants nothing to do with the world.

But how stunning that man is. Of course, your entire attention had been on the dog first, but when you locked eyes with Chenle - what an experience! The taste of heaven in one look. Sharp features, as dangerous as knives. Unruly dark hair, the color of the sky at midnight, colder than any breeze that’s ever shaken you up. You don’t believe in love at first sight, not in destiny.

Still, you came so close to it. You saw where the universe breathed life into Chenle. The shaping of dying stars and the brightest burning suns. He’s both Pandora’s box and the golden fleece in one. All you had managed to coax out of him was his name, and of course the one of the dog who you spent ten minutes playing with. You’ve not known about Zhong Chenle before, but you certainly do now.

The only son of his prestigious family. World renowned musician, the critics call his voice that of an angel. Of course he is an angel. Have they seen him? Instagram spits out more information than you’d expected to receive, but here you are, reading an article about his ex girlfriend.

Definitely not creepy or anything.

It’s certainly a explanation. The illness-ridden soul of a man so young, he is still clinging to adolescence. Grief is a terrible disease. You weirdly feel like you’ve stepped into a room where people had been arguing, and now the awkward silence is weighing heavy on you. You’d desperately like to walk out, but something keeps you there like an invisible anchor. The lure of someone as gorgeous as Zhong Chenle, with the promise of secrets as sacred as religious scrolls.

You wonder if you would be going too far if you followed the guy on Instagram. That face is too pretty to miss out on. But there’s also your curiousity that keeps drawing you in, makes your mind wonder and wander off to the countless possibilities of who Chenle is who he is. You need satisfaction to bring you back, or you’ll just stay a dead, curious cat.

One that definitely drops her phone on her own face when she sees that the mentioned more-angel-than-man has followed her back. The man has two point three million followers, for Christ’s sake! There would be no way for him to randomly pick you out from the countless names that fill up his notifications, right? Wrong.

There’s a private message waiting for you as you accept his following request.

[07:27pm] @zhcl: i see you found the pictures of chan already.

The tabloids speak of zero interest towards any other person that’s not family or bandmate. So why, pray tell, does Chenle indulge you?

You grasp the opportunity, anyways. You want to find out what lies behind the ice, waiting to be discovered.

[07:33pm] @yn: i was quite distracted by the handsome fellow that photographed him, though.

[07:34pm] @zhcl: very smooth, miss (y/n). were you blushing when you typed that?

[07:34pm] @zhcl: you look too cute to be taken serious when you do.

[07:35pm] @yn: flirting, are we?

You felt the chill when Chenle had spoken to you. The hidden danger behind a calm voice. Still waters which hide deadly sirens. You know now that he was hurt, terribly so, and it made you feel guilty about your interest in him. The world had treated him badly and here you were, acting like it was nothing. You clutch your phone, ready to be heavily told off and the follow to be retracted.

Your heart almost stops when your phone vibrates, the ring tone suddenly much too loud.

[07:39pm] @zhcl: is it working?

❀ ❀ ❀

Chenle’s mother never changes.

When he enters the house, several servants swarm him to help with shoes and jacket, but he passes them all. The hall is cold, freezingly so, unusual for his mother who seems to fuel the open fire with wads of cash. This is the house he’s grown up in, too big for the warmth of love and affection to be felt inside it. The family members too far away from each other to even interact, like stars in the nightsky. Related, but never touching, never in contact. When they do, it detonates a violent supernova, and that never ends good.

Chenle still remembers the smashed glasses at the end of the family event, thrown against the wall by a Huang cousin who’s name Chenle would rather choke on than ever speak again. A Huang, but not of Renjun’s siblings. A bastard, that’s what he is. He, who usurped his father’s power and wastes all his money on sex, alcohol and entertainment. It’s a blessing this guy will never inherit the family business, though he pities Renjun for having to do it. Just as much as he pities himself.

When Suyin had left, the people had started gossiping. Spreading rumors, spreading hope. The ice prince is on the market again, ready to be courted, to fall victim to a woman’s temptation. His parents had spent eternity dragging Suyin’s name through the mud, because she was just an ordinary girl. Not rich, not poor. She works the graveyard shift at a diner and sometimes helps out in her dad’s restaurant for some extra cash. Fashion enthusiast. Homewrecker. The poor girl that was left at the altar because of Suyin - he’s seen the engagement ring on her finger, and he knows what it means to that particular Huang.

Absolutely nothing. The means to an end. A way to keep some more money because of taxes that are shared as an married couple.

To Chenle’s parents, Suyin could have very well been living under a bridge. His mother wishes to wed him with a princess, royal born, not made. Merge companies with people she trusts and strip ressources of. Birds of a feather. Truly, the marriage of the century. Too bad that Chenle only marries out of love. Too bad that’s the thing he’s sworn off for the rest of his life.

His mind punishes him instantly for that lie, your face flashing infront of his inner eye.

Sweet (y/n). It’s a little embarrassing how quick he jumps at his phone at any sign that you could’ve responded, and it scares him to no end. You scare him, with your good intentions and charming smile. When you had agreed to meet each other again, Chenle had let himself be dragged to a café of your choosing. There’s still the lingering taste of coffee cake on it.

Your kiss still burns on his cheek. Never forgotten for a second. A constant reminder.

As clear as day, the memory plays out in his mind. You had looked up to him while he tasted your pastry of recommendation, head lost in the clouds. You’re always thinking about something. You have the same look in your eyes as the one in Renjun’s when he searches for words that can’t be put in the same context as Suyin.

“You know who I am.”

You had stealen his fork and scooped up your own share of the cake. That was rather cheeky of you, paying for the dessert even though Chenle was already getting his wallet out. You’re stubborn. “I’ve heard of you,” you had told him. After listening to so many untruths all of his life, even your honesty starts to hurt in his ears. It makes him uneasy. “But that doesn’t mean I know you. I would like to. Will you let me?”

Not once had you looked scared when Chenle’s hands had turned into fists, the veins on them becoming prominent. The sight of a tortured man who’s trying to keep it together. A face that’s mapped out with sorrow and anger and betrayal. “I could hurt you. I’m afraid there isn’t much left to get to know. I’ve thrown it all away. Did you hear of that?”

You had started cutting the cake in pieces, long lashes caressing your skin as you look down. The wish to touch you had hit him so strongly, it almost shocked him. Chenle leant forward and accepted the fork in his mouth while watching you intently, finding pure satisfaction in the way roses bloom in your cheeks because of it. Eye contact makes you shy. To you, it’s sensual. You lowered your gaze. “I did.” The fork scraped against his teeth. You took another bite on your own and this time, your eyes never left his. “But I enjoy a good treasure hunt here and there. You look precious, Zhong Chenle. I’d like to look for the pieces with your permission.”

Chenle was so certain his heart was dead, its’ last beat defeaned by the wood it was kept in. Despite that, he had felt the jolt as it spurred back to life, making Chenle believe it returned to him, and the fear that comes along with it.

You’re dangerous, like playing with fire. You instilled the desire to be burned inside an ice prince, and that is too much power for one person to possess. So why does he make no effort to stop you?

“Chenle.” The voice sounds too polite for a mother. She descends the stairs, expression neutral, the walk of a queen. In another life, she’d certainly be one. “Qin ai de. You finally came. I was getting rather tired of calling your phone the past few months. Where have you been?”

Avoiding you, he wants to say. Running away from this castle that’s too vacant and lacks the love to be called a proper home. This is a prison, and you’re the warden dragging me in with chains.

But he doesn’t. Chenle slips into the good son role and lets himself be hugged, even though the embrace is void of any warmth. “Busy,” he responds. “I’m a working man, mom. Singing is a career, you know, despite how much you’d like to ignore it. There must be a reason you supported it so much in my childhood days.”

“That’s exactly the reason, son.” His mother begins climbing the stairs again, an unspoken order for him to follow. Chenle suppresses a sigh and begins climbing, too. It’s only noon, but he already feels drop-dead-tired. “Because it was your childhood. I didn’t expect you to turn your back on an empire to play the singing fool for some teenage girls. I suppose that has its’ benefits, but it’s also rather sad to only see my son in the news and not in person. This is your home, Chenle. We’re not going to crown you emperor the second you step back into this threshold. You’ll take over the company when you want to, even though we’d welcome an early decision.”

Bile rises in his throat before Chenle can stop it. Venom, it’s all venom, and you’re the cure. He only has to get through this. Just a day, and then he gets to see you again. “Sure, mom,” he manages to answer. “I’ll think about it.”

“I didn’t expect you to visit. We have company, you know. They’re both quite lovely, though you’ll like the daughter more.”

This is the reason Chenle refuses to be inside this house for even a second. The looming threat of an arranged marriage. No one’s going to force him to take over the company, but his mother would rather take a bullet than ever allow a Suyin ever again. Even if she looks and talks like an angel that goes by the name (y/n).

The entire time, Chenle is silent. He doesn’t even try to acknowledge the fact that his mother is a terrible wingwoman, and a good way to pass the time is to imagine your face, retrace it in his memories. You, insisting to pay, because it’s “your treat”. You, who never steers the conversation somewhere he doesn’t want it to go. The strawberry blush that makes him want to kiss you until you’re breathless.

You’re a threat, (l/n) (y/n). The closer you get to Davy Jones’ keys, the more he wants to push you away and never see you again. At the same time, Chenle wants to go on his knees and beg you to set him free of this locker.

Nothing could have stopped him from taking the next plane home. His bandmates pick him up, but he’ would have liked it to be you. What he doesn’t like is the look in Renjun’s eyes, the man who is Chenle’s kindred spirit. Renjun knows too much. He saw too much. A shared childhood is both blessing and bother.

“Tell me about (y/n).”

“Absolutely not,” Chenle shoots back without hesitation. “See you, Renjun.” With a quick swing, he tries to force the door closed, but his childhood friend wedges a foot between wood and wall and lets himself in.

“Very reactive to that name, aren’t we, Chenle?” Renjun hums and drops on the couch. He accepts the whiskey Chenle hands him, but cusses the second the younger’s hand meets the back of his head. “You do that again and I’ll strangle you, Zhong, friends or not. Now tell me about the damn woman already.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Because you’re a coward.”

“Yes, I fucking am.” Chenle doesn’t usually curse, but talking about you is a weakness. He doesn’t love Suyin anymore, absolutely not. The years have passed and changed him, whether that’s good or bad. But not his wounds, not the injury done to his precious, ice-cold heart. He’s so afraid of being used, tossed aside like an old toy you don’t want to play with anymore. With just a few actions, you’ll be able to tear Chenle down and ruin him forever. He’s barely stitching himself up from Suyin’s attack and now here you are, pleading to be let in. The desire to allow that is immense, so enourmous it makes him lightheaded.

He won’t survive another girl. Not with this kind of life, with his circumstances, with his upbringing. Love him most or not at all. That is all Chenle can offer you, and maybe that’s unfair. But being just has never helped him with anything, and it certainly hasn’t stopped Choi Suyin from ramming her high heels into the shattered pieces of his broken heart as she walked away.

Renjun watches him over the rim of his glass. Silent, but not in the way where he has to think about not wounding Chenle with his words. Just ... confused. Right now, Renjun is offering advice, not shelter. “Chenle, give yourself a break. You’re human. You’re bound to fall in love someday.”

“Not if I can stop it.”

“You’re not a robot,” Renjun hisses, suddenly volatile, and the loud slam of his glass hitting the mahogany table makes Chenle flinch. Not what he had expected. “I’ve watched you rot for years now, and it has done nothing good for you. I am trying to help you, Chenle, trying to save you from drowning, but you’re thrashing around like a mad man. If you continue like this, you’ll sink yourself to the bottom of the river. Do you want to end up like that? Do you?”

The younger man rubs his eyes, tired. It’s been so long, so unbelievably long since hollowness hasn’t ruled over Zhong Chenle. His parents would never approve of you. It’s going to spike another family war.

Quite frankly, he doesn’t give a fuck.

After a few minutes of some peace and quiet, Chenle finally stands up. He rounds the table separating him and Renjun and bows down to hug him, the suprise evident in Renjun’s eyes when he leans back. “You’re a good friend, Jun,” Chenle tells him. His chest feels light. Maybe it knows that the familiar weight of his heart is returning to it. “A true friend. Thank you.”

He leaves his childhood friend on the couch, his mind already far away, in a place where he can put the keys into your hands without fear. Without hesitation.

They belong to you.

❀ ❀ ❀

“See something you like, Zhong?”

Caught in the act, Chenle looks up and meets your eyes. It would be rather disrespectful to comment on your thighs right now, but if the circumstances were different, if you were already his, he’d tell you all about how good they’d look around his waist. Nonetheless, he only shrugs. “That’s a pretty skirt. Shame I’m going to ruin it by throwing you into the sea.”

“Dont you dare!” Your threat is far from being taken seriously, but Chenle is only teasing you, anyways. You’re light on his arms, more doll than human, and he likes the feeling of you clinging to him for safety. It’s weird - warmth and feeling returning to him. It has been winter inside Zhong Chenle for eternity, and now that he’s pushed open the gates, he feels like he stepped into another realm.

Your skin is warm below his touch. If you dislike his arms wrapped around the back of your thighs, you’re certainly not complaining. The walk to the beach is quiet, except for the squeaks and laughs you let out when he intentionally stops and pretends to fall. “You’re impossible,” you mumble when he sets you down on the picnic blankets.

Excuse you? You’re the one who looks like they just fell down from heaven.

“Is there any reason you decided to kidnap me? Because I didn’t get to see Chan one last time, and that is utmost treason. I demand to see my lawyer.”

“You can see him later.” Chenle tugs you closer. Can you feel his heartbeat below your hands on his chest? The sound is so foreign. Since he accepted the fact that you’re a weakness he can’t ignore, he’s been experiencing arrhythmia non-stop. His heart is just not supposed to be there. An ice prince shouldn’t be able to be melted.

He’d really like to see someone who would withstand you, though. You are heaven and hell, in the shape of a mere human, light as a feather in his arms. There are not many in this world who can claim to have Zhong Chenle wrapped around their little finger. Truth be told, only one person has been able to say that. Now, you’ve snatched away the reigning title, and you’ve deemed Chenle’s lap to be an appropiate throne.

Never would he have assumed that you’d do it on your own accords, but Chenle isn’t complaining. He almost purrs when you straddle his lap, soft skirt pooling around your legs. He screws his eyes shut and tries not to think about the lack of clothes between you two.

Scratch that, you’re a devil. And you are fully aware. The giggle you let fall from your lips doesn’t really sound innocent. He wishes to shut you shut you up with a kiss. What he would give to be in a private room right now.. A dark corner... “What’s so funny, (y/n)?” Chenle mumbles before his thoughts can drift further.

“Just how easy you are to fluster.” You laugh again, not even hiding it this time. The wind breezes through your hair, messing up the curls in his place. Are they as soft as they look like? Chenle wants to find out.

“You mean like you are?” He kisses your cheek as you turn red below his lips. This is what love should have felt like. Freedom and carelessness, not the constant need to look over your shoulder. As easy as breathing. As calm as the sea. The keys to his heart are falling from Chenle’s grip, and he’s not sure he even wants to pick them up.

It’s so easy to let go when he looks into your eyes and sees his future.

“Chenle,” you whisper. His shirt crumples in your grip, but he doesn’t care. Chenle lets himself be tugged closer, his own heartbeat jumping erratically, still unused to being out of the box. The ice floes are melting. You’re breaking him free. When his lips finally meet yours, he forgets all about the years he wasted on irrational sorrow. There should be regret about how he’s denied himself of emotions and the world, but you wash it away with all the hope you’re giving him while your lips move against his. You taste like an antidote.

His parents will never accept you. They’ll have Chenle’s head on a plate and deliver it to a family of their own choosing, one they deem perfect as their in-laws, but he counts on you to fight them back, just like how you’re fighting your way into his heart. You didn’t need the map, you wrote your own. You didn’t need a fire, you used your soul.

The key turns in its’ lock. It’s a perfect fit, just like you.

#zhong chenle #nct dream #nct #zhong chenle x reader #nct dream x reader #nct x reader #zhong chenle scenarios #nct dream scenarios #nct scenarios #zhong chenle one-shot #nct dream one-shot #nct one-shot #zhong chenle fluff #nct dream fluff #nct fluff

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qabumble899 · 3 years ago

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“Honestly, it is gross,” she said. “It is really gross to go onto these websites and see, ‘5'6” green eyes, this is how much I charge,’”

KOB 4 called a person who listed their number on the website. She offered her services and rates, which she described as a donation.

Sex trafficking is a problem widely known in Albuquerque.

“That's the thing that we really need to start to focus on-- prostitute means sex trafficking victim and sex trafficking victim means prostitute,” Barber said. “They’re not anything different.”

Albuquerque Police Department Commander Mizel Garcia said investigating sex trafficking businesses isn’t easy.

“Investigating these businesses is very difficult, not just for APD,” he said. “Reason being – it's difficult to get the cooperation of the workers that work these businesses.”

APD said it’s aware of websites like the one KOB 4 discovered. However, they don’t have the ability to take them down.

However, officials believe they are making strides in fighting sex trafficking.

“We've had a lot more cases where the women are willing to help and we're seeing a lot more calls to the hotline in our state, a lot more cases in general,” Barber said.

One website user reached out to KOB 4 and said he believes the website does more good than harm.

“I just believe that it’s the kind of the least evil given that this is something that’s going to go on no matter what,” said a user who wanted to stay anonymous.

He claims the website creates a community. An easy outlet for law enforcement, a way to keep people—in his mind—safe. He also believes prostitution and human trafficking are very different.

“Somehow it's ok for me to go see a lady who wants to rub my back and rub my feet, and I can give her money for that, but she can’t rub those other parts of me because all of a sudden that’s just illegal,” he said. “Even if that’s her choice.”

To learn more about what the Attorney General is doing to stop human trafficking, click here.

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patheticwithanem · 4 years ago

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2020 in Retrospect

Hey friend,

I know it’s late, but I HAVE TO DO THIS. I kind of promised myself I’m writing about the year that was. I’m not exactly sure why; maybe it’s to put things in perspective going in to 2021? And today’s my fourth year anniversary with my employer, so I guess it’s perfect timing? (More on that later)

So I was going through my notes (I have this habit of writing down what happens on a daily basis - be it activities, emotions, drama, name it) and one thing’s for sure. 2020 SUCKED. It did. But I’m committing to this no matter what!

First things first: lots of profanities along the way. Well actually, I was about halfway writing the letter when fucking Tumblr decided to refresh and delete what I’ve been writing for about one fucking hour now. So I have to fucking do it all over again. If this is the Lord telling me to stop being sentimental about 2020, fret not my Lord! I’m one stubborn son of a bitch, so I’m carrying on.

Here’s how the rest of the year unfolded. 2020. Let’s go.

JANUARY. Reunions?

January 1. Had a get-together with a few relatives in Malabon. It was fun! I used to be so allergic to family reunions but I guess age creeping in changes you? You value people even more now? This was also the last time we’re able to spend some time with my uncle from Singapore. He brought his family to spend the holidays here. He’s a sweetheart and a great father who’s missed.

January 9. I attended a college dormmate’s wedding. I remember contemplating whether to go or not only to realize I’m actually lucky to be even invited given the fact that I chose to be distant for them for a long while. I also told myself that not showing up is so far from what I’m trying to be. Although I wasn’t there for the whole thing, I’m glad I did come. I was able to bond with my roommates once again whom I treated like brothers ten years ago and that was nice. A not-so-close dormmate even introduced me to his boyfriend and that’s huuuuge. The bride was beautiful too, and I’m glad she’s in the best place right now after all she’s been through. She’s a strong one, that girl.

January 11. Got invited to a birthday pool party of a colleague at work. I have to say I’m actually quite surprised I was invited to this. She’s always had my back though and always kind of looked after me, so I had to go. It was fun but I didn’t get drunk AT ALL.

January 12. AND THIS IS WHERE SHIT STARTED HAPPENING. The Taal Volcano erupted. It was awful especially for everyone living near the area because everything was covered with ash. It was also a day before my brother’s birthday and we thought the ashfall would be worse the next day so we decided to celebrate earlier.

January 19. Went to a fiesta. Did not expect to survive that at all. It was a different kind of neighborhood, but the people were nice.

January 25. Went to a public market with co-workers to buy clothes, eat chicken wings for dinner and then our regular fix of karaoke. Good times.

Anything else? I was able to book a birthday trip to Yogyakarta, which I eventually canceled because of youknowwhat. Tragic.

February. Blindside!

February 7. Blindside’s a bitch. Yes, that’s what I had written on my notes. I legitimately felt blindsided. So story: I have a friend who I found out was pregnant (let’s call her Ms. Preggy, sorry) and me and her bestfriend (let’s call him Work Son because he was my work son in a lot of ways) decided to hold an intervention for her. The four of us including a friend I’m going to call The-Now-Bestie (kind of a spoiler) whom I had a misunderstanding and was not in speaking terms with will be coming to Work Son’s place. Essentially, the goal was to make Ms. Preggy open up about her pregnancy and her issues with the douchebag father; make her feel that she has us and she doesn’t need to be alone in this. I think it went well, in that regard. However, the whole thing was awkward in epic proportions. It’s as if me and The-Now-Bestie didn’t want to acknowledge each other’s existence, and when we didn’t have a choice, we were sarcastic to each other. I also really felt like an outsider among the four that time; like I wasn’t supposed to be there and wasn’t really contributing to anything. It was a really lonely feeling. I decided to distance myself to them after that.

February 13. WINNERS AT WAR PREMIERE! Words can’t even express how excited I was to see some of my heroes again on screen! Parvati with that “phoenix rising from the ashes” confessional? Damn, girl! Still a fucking legend! It was also nostalgic Yul working his godfather magic once again. I’ve always seen him as a top-tier winner and someone I looked up to for what he represented to the Asian community and the history of Survivor. It was also nice seeing Kim, Tyson, Tony, Sophie, Natalie and Sandra. But I must say I kind of missed Todd. He was my favorite winner and was a great storyteller, a great strategist and a great character with an amazing comeback story. He would’ve been perfect for a season with this caliber of players. And as much as I hate Jeff Probst for shoving him down our throats, I wanted to see Cochran play with these winners! Caramoan’s my first season (a late superfan, yes) and he’s the very reason I got so hooked with the show. I used to think it’s a game where people like me never win. So to see someone like Cochran who’s awkward in every sense of the word (and owning it) win Survivor, it is very inspiring. I like speaking in metaphors and it’s funny how much metaphorical Survivor can be to how I see life now. I see Cochran and if he can win in Survivor, I feel like I can win in life, as silly as that sounds. Cochran sucked his first season, but he then went on to play this dominant game his second try while still managing to be the adorkable underdog that he is. I love that story. Man, I get so worked up when I talk about Survivor! I wish I had that same passion with anything else.

February 19. Mom slipped and had to be rushed to the nearest ER. Good thing there were no fractures and she was fine. I guess we can thank the fats for that? LOL

February 21 ‘til 23. WEEKEND STAYCATION! I needed this! Drinking at the hotel taproom with a live band? YES! Indian for lunch and surf-and-turf buffet for dinner? YES YES YES! That lamb chops, MY LORD. Thank you.

February 29. Leap Day. I started journaling again.

March. FUCKING COVID.

March 16. The Start of the Lockdown we all come to love now (punk, sarcasm).

March 17. Politics is so taboo to discuss especially over dinner. But then BAM. I had a major fight with my dad (and by major, I mean MAJOR in a get-out-of-the-house-in-the-middle-of-the-pandemic kind of major). It was basically about a comment he made that’s so misogynistic (towards the Vice President) that I just knew I can’t just let go. It was sooo bad I got all pissed, and when I’m pissed, I can get scary. Maybe it’s the voice or the eyes or both, but the fight got really heated on the verge of getting physical. Which now that I think about it is stupid just because of fucking different political views. Well, I can never get behind the President and they’re huge fans of him and I’ve come to terms with that but it’s just... bleh. I’m not even gonna try to rationalize it because I can’t. It’s just.. disgusting. Oh fucking well.

April. Wander-fucking-lust.

April 1. I started a 30-day Financial Detox which basically meant no unnecessary expenses. No online shopping, no paying for leisure. None. It was April Fools, but I was dead-set on saving! (Spoiler alert: I failed.)

April 6. Meltdown. I just really couldn’t hold it in anymore.

April 11. Dad’s birthday. After not talking for over a month (which is no easy feat in a tiny condominium unit), we acknowledged each other’s presence. By April 15, it’s like nothing happened anymore. He even gave me a home haircut (which for a beginner, is pretty good). On other news, I started watching The Politician on Netflix and t’was the day I started obsessing on Ben Platt and his music.

April 16. A year ago, I was enjoying sidewalk pho and almost making friends at Cu Chi Tunnels and the Saigon Skydeck of the Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh. Damn, covid.

April 18. That crazy border-crossing from Saigon to Phnom Penh a year ago. That was fulfilling. Damn, covid.

April 19. A year ago, I was experiencing sunrise at Angkor Wat. Wander-fucking-lust UGH.

April 30. That Town Hall shoutout from our company’s President because of reaching my quota from last month. That really felt good. As much as I hate to admit it, I like being validated from time to time. It definitely meant a lot especially coming from her who took a chance on me. I was patting my back.

MAY. Endure. Let Go.

May 14. KING TONY WON. Very well-deserved win. A disappointment of a season if you ask me, but props to the king for dominating an all-winners season. Respect for that. Also Natalie and Michele played great games as well and they should be very proud of themselves. I feel like a proud father to these winners HAHAHA!

May 16. Was pleasantly surprised with Dead to Me. That car scene between Jen and Judy on that ninth episode from the second season? Damn. That’s one of the few moments I teared up because of a TV show. That was powerful. All that tension building up and then that sudden release? I really felt that.

May 26. Why do I always feel all this fucking rage inside of me? I try to think of any triggers but I can’t seem to find one that’s actually reasonable. It’s like the isolation getting the best of me. I initially thought quarantine’s going to be a cakewalk for an introvert like myself, but it wasn’t the case. I feel like I’m losing my shit because I was stripped off of the usual things I have access to whenever I feel uneasy and anxious and angry like this. Endure, let go, I know. But it’s so much easier said than done, right?

JUNE. Breathe.

June 12. So the plan to sell the condo and find a new place is real. We went to this great place in Valenzuela and it was a great house and all but I felt weird. Maybe I was having trouble letting go? Maybe it’s just me being averse to change yet again?

June 15. Slept 6am for that How To Get Away With Murder series finale. That speech. VIOLA. Chills all over my body.

June 18. New phone was delivered. That was fast.

June 27. First time visiting the village we moved to. We were checking a different house this time and was already picturing us living there. Still felt weird, but maybe less.

Looking at it now, I realize almost nothing happened in this stretch of months. Pathetic.

JULY. Change (that’s not necessarily good lol)

July 3. The Anti-Terrorism Bill signed. FUCK THE CIRCUS THAT IS THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT.

July 10. Doomsday. The ABS-CBN renewal disapproved. FUCK THE CIRCUS THAT IS THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT. Also, that first house we checked was bought this day. First heartbreak.

July 22. Decided to donate to one of my elementary teachers to help finance school supplies for his students in the province. That felt good.

July 24. folklore’s goooood. This is the Taylor Swift sound that I love. (I had to write that down because that was a 2020 highlight to be honest)

AUGUST. Getting older. Again.

August 2. Donated to another cause: to help a really close friend’s mom (who’s a school principal) on financing their students’ lesson modules (they needed more paper so the donation was going to be used to buy more paper). That felt good.

August 3. Started obsessing on Dear Evan Hansen. I mean come on. HOW COME I ONLY KNEW OF THIS NOW?!?! The story, the acting, the soundtrack... it felt like I asked the Lord for a musical for me and he gave this on a silver platter.

August 9. Lasagna, baked sushi, lechon belly, pansit, cake. Weird combination, I know, but that’s me!

August 11. Discovered the Slowly app. Changed my life since then! I’m not even exaggerating. I guess it has to do with feeling extremely lonely amid the pandemic and getting this platform where you can talk to literally anyone while still keeping your anonymity. And it strips you off of instant gratification you’re so used to because you actually have to wait for your letters to be sent and to arrive. A great exercise for patience if you ask me! And since you have to wait, you make your letters longer and more worthwhile. It’s a platform free of judgment which relies heavily on building actual mental and emotional connections. It’s a gift, truly. NOT EXAGGERATING; YES I’M THAT LONELY.

August 23. The house search continued. This time, the South!

August 24. It was my first time watching a Korean drama and I gotta say I get the hype now. Korea makes great stories and they take their time when telling these stories. The story centering about mental health was definitely what got me to try watching It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, but the show’s so much more than that. That was a great watch.

SEPTEMBER. Finally some light?

September 1. Second year anniversary. I still really miss her.

September 5. My cat’s 5th birthday! Of course we had to celebrate for her with baked macaroni and burnt cheesecake.

September 11. Lost uncle. He gave a good fight.

September 19. SENSE8. It’s a show that doesn’t need any explaining. It’s the BEST. I love this cast SO MUCH. I remember thinking if I ever get a tattoo (which is unlikely), I’ll maybe have the title of that Sense8 series finale inked on me. AMOR VINCIT OMNIA. Love conquers all.

September 27. After a series of unfortunate events, we were led to this house on the same village we keep going back to, and the moment we saw it, we were sold. This is going to be our house. And it happened.

OCTOBER. Surprises?

October 6. Hooked up with someone I probably shouldn’t.

October 12. Booked a trip for next year because I’M HOPEFUL AS FUCK.

October 21. Had the best conversation I had in a long time.

October 22. Hooked up with someone I probably shouldn’t.

October 28. Organized a digital event for work. I’m still on the fence whether I’m proud of it or not. It was my first event, and I’ve wanted to do that for a long time. While I enjoyed all the preparation that came with it, from making that tactical marketing plan to coordinating with the organizers and my team, I felt like it was bland. There were lapses here and there and I know that we all tried the best we could, but maybe I just pictured it a little better in my mind? It wasn’t a flawless event and maybe I wanted it to be flawless. But it was fun. I never would’ve imagined me hosting an event, but I did.

NOVEMBER. Decisions.

November 14. So news came and we’re finally moving. The buyer of the condo got approved and it was only a matter of weeks to settle documents and payment and we’re good to go. I had mixed feelings about it. It took me back to that time we started looking for houses. I wasn’t exactly ready to let go of the place I grew with for the past five years. And I wasn’t also ready to let go of the convenience, and the relationships I only have started building with friends I found along the way. But at that moment I knew I had to be happy because they were happy. My family was happy. I knew I have to be happy.

November 21. Started all the packing. Packing meant decluttering and reminiscing, so letting go of more things which was overwhelming at first, but inevitable.

November 23. I had something checked in the hospital, and something happened and it wasn’t supposed to go that way but it did and it was so fucking bizarre lol

November 28. HAPPY MOVING DAY. It’s that day of the year. Stress was off the charts because of the time constraint and frankly, the lack of preparedness. Good thing a few people helped us with the rest of the packing. It was an impossible task for me and my sister alone so we were glad we got all the help we needed. I did most of the heavy lifting, so I had bruises all over my body for weeks, but after all was said and done, it felt surreal. Felt like everything coming full circle. That first night in the new home? I’ll never forget that. That was special.

December. The end of an era.

December 2. I went back to the condo to stay for a few more days. Get to feel the place one last time. Also lost a huge deal at work to a competitor. I usually really get depressed with these losses, but for some reason I felt indifferent about it. I guess it was my mind telling me I’ve mentally checked out of work already? That maybe it is really time to move on to something that’ll make me care about what I do again? Make me feel again?

December 4. Met someone (who we can call the Professor) I’ve been talking to for a while now. We’ve had some really great conversations leading to this night; talks at 3AM that’s kind of liberating? I was upfront about the moving and that I only have a few days left in the place which is probably why it happened. Professor was also upfront about leaving the country in a few months for an opportunity to work and do research in Japan for five fucking years. It was awkward at first; but we eventually warmed up to each other and spent the night together.

December 5. Things escalated pretty quickly. The Professor gave me a shower (that was weird but I was feeling it and I thought it was sweet and sexy?). We cuddled until we slept and there was breakfast prepared when I woke up. I don’t usually get to experience this kind of stuff so I really appreciated that. I was feeling it. I thought I can get used to this! I left the place and was invited back again so I stayed over for another night. We’ve had a few more interesting conversations. I was not expecting some of the things we discussed especially the talk about long-distance relationships. The Professor asked me what I think about it and I was honest; I’m not against it but it’s not something I’ll take a chance on if I wasn’t sure about it. Mantra’s always been connection first before commitment. I’m not the “take a leap of faith” kind-of guy; I needed to be sure. Or at the very least be really mentally and emotionally connected with the person. I thought that made perfect sense. I still do.

December 6. So it was finally goodbye. Me and my sister went to the nearest church to donate a few clothes and shoes and to attend a mass. Bid farewell to the Professor too and promised each other to keep in touch. I also had an awkward encounter with my sister’s “friend” who she sneaked in the condo for God knows what for. Pretty sure they did the nasty.

December 13. We went to our old house (the one I spent my younger years in) to get a few stuff for the new house. I only really wanted to get my old bicycle because I want to be biking regularly for the next year. I want to take that fitness journey seriously! So I got the bike and I got to spend some time with some childhood friends. Good stuff.

December 15. A teammate resigned at work. The funny thing is he did it after getting that 13th month bonus HAHAHA! I can’t blame him though after learning about the salary he gets when he’s performing three functions in the team. That’s insane. But it really made me wonder: am I still in this for the long haul? Or do I move on too?

December 17. So I had my work desk and wardrobe delivered. Felt so nice buying things for my room!

December 19. We got a new dog! Another French Bulldog. He’s pretty sweet. Someone’s not happy! (MY MOM)

December 22. And then this happened. We were supposed to meet after my dentist appointment (which I only used as an excuse to meet and I thought that was obvious) but the Professor never showed up. I waited for FIVE FREAKIN HOURS. I had like clothes with me because we agreed I sleepover but FUCK. Good thing a friend kept me company, but that was horrible. I thought YOU NEVER DO THAT TO ANYONE. I deserve better.

December 24. We had our house blessed. It was all super spontaneous; we invited a few friends and relatives over and had an intimate gathering. Mom got emotional (AGAIN).

December 27. So Ms. Preggy (from February - oooh that rhymed) had her son baptized. Since she lives a little father from the city, we decided to have a little staycation with some friends there too. The-Now-Bestie and Work Son was there, and we had beer and homecooked food and a slew of great conversations to cap off the year.

Also December 27. I knew I needed to get something off my chest. And I just had to say it.

“You’re so unfair. You shouldn’t have done that. Gave me false hopes. Gave me a “3-day trial period” only to disappear without any warning. Made promises you never intended to keep. You could’ve just told me you’re not interested anymore and I would’ve been fine with that but instead, you ghosted me. For the past few weeks since that weekend, it never seemed like you wanted to get to know me better. Or even just keep the communication going. It’s been one-sided and I wonder: has it always been this way? Maybe I’m remembering things differently. I told you I like you and I meant that. I’m still wrapping around my head why and how it happened to be honest. Maybe it’s that weekend? Maybe it’s the conversations leading up to when we first met? I don’t know. But things changed after that and I should ask you for an explanation but it’s really not the point. The point is I thought we can work something out and you hurt me. You may feel like you’re running out of time because of Japan but it’s no excuse to do that to anyone, really. You seem so sure about what you want so I hope you get whatever that is. Merry Christmas. Thanks for the memories.”

That was intense.

December 28. The Professor responded. “I apologize... I am getting attached... I had to “ponder on its implications to me in the long run”... I decided to slow down... It hurts... “That weekend that we met felt like I knew you before”... I am afraid... “You have no idea how hard it is to leave everything behind every 4-5 fucking years not because I wanted it but because I have to”... I still hope to continue whatever we have... “I will always remember you. Please don’t forget about me.”... YADA YADA YADA.

I know. You know me. I try to empathize as much as possible. But I mean, come on. These are things I already know. It’s not what I needed to hear.

December 31. I needed to say something one last time. There’s already a lot of uncertainties in the world with COVID and life and everything else. I knew I needed answers; I want the binary. I want the black or white for this one. I’m not taking the gray with me next year. So I asked the following questions:

“What do you want from me? Do you want to be friends? Or we stick with occasional catching up on Viber every once in a while (because that’s what it sounds like to me)?”

“What do you want to get from your last two months here? What are you looking for? Just make the most “fun’? Or look for something that will stick?”

“Have you told me anything you really didn’t mean?”

“That one time we talked about long-distance, were you asking me?”

Fast forward to now: I never got the answer I needed. I guess this is one of those rare occasions where no answer is the answer. And after a few weeks of contemplating about it, I am leaving it behind in 2020.

I’m actually at peace with that.

So there you have it. The suck-fest that is 2020. The first month of the new year wasn’t so bad. I feel this great energy. This year’s going to be different. I did tell you that this letter’s perfect timing. That’s because I’ve resigned and I’m moving on. A friend told me a while ago that he’s proud of me for finally taking action. The 2018 version of myself wouldn’t have done what I did and he was happy for me. I wanted a clean slate and I took it. That I was finally taking ownership of my life.

I was elated. My friend usually spoils me with compliments and encouragement and my ever reliable negative self-image tend to disagree with him but for the first time in a very long time, it felt right. I’m not usually excited for New Years, but I guess I am?

I say bring it on, 2021.

Until then,

Patheticwithanem

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galaxy-charm · 5 years ago

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Writer’s Month 2019 Day 26′s Prompt: Wedding

A/N: I didn’t really like the film Crazy Rich Asians, but the wedding scene hit me in the feels, so naturally, I’m going to do a Destiel!AU on it. Hope you guys like it! :D

—

Dean met Castiel’s gaze from across the aisle, lips lifted to resemble a small smile. Standing by Sam’s side, the groomsmen had his hands in front of him, ready to welcome his brother’s new bride.

And Castiel can’t help but stare back, at Dean’s beautiful, apple-green irises, suddenly drawn into their vibrant shades. Unwillingly, he stops himself, smiling a little and looking away. This isn’t his wedding, after all. When he gathers the courage to turn back, he sees Dean shaking his head ever so slightly, mouthing in confusion. What?

But he doesn’t get a chance to reply, for the musicians have already started their wedding ballad, the soft, light tune floating and submerging in the carefree air.

Wise men say

Only fools rush in.

Up on the platform, Sam releases a breath, clearly nervous, but Dean catches his brother’s eyes and gives him an encouraging nod. It takes a second for Sam to process this, but he nods in return, acknowledging a silent thanks. Down by the row, Mary Winchester witnesses their brotherly affection, and beams with pride at the boys she’s raised.

And today, she would get to see Sam married.

Shall I stay?

Three little children come bumbling down the aisle, chatting among themselves as they hold baskets of flower petals. Knowing of Dean’s fondness of children, Castiel turns to him. He predicted right, for there’s a bright smile on Dean’s face, silently laughing at how adorable his relatives were.

Would it be a sin

Dean steps down from the platform, a twinkle in his eyes. He greets the children with high-fives, and they press their tiny hands to his. As Castiel watches, he feels love unfurling in his chest, blooming in his heart. He hadn’t chose wrong in loving Dean, because the man was simply an angel in disguise.

If I can’t help falling in love with you?

The crowd hushes. There on the aisle, water spills over, flooding, eroding. Their gentle current pushes the flowers abandoned by the children, and the petals float, swept along by the waves of ocean.

Like a river flows

Surely to the sea,

The guests gasp in surprise at such a tranquil sight, standing and pointing. Undisturbed, the water flows down the aisle, until it bounces slightly to a stop by the platform.

Darling so it goes

Some things are meant to be.

On cue, the halls dim. The guests sitting on both sides of the aisle rise, with a prop in their hands. It resembles a stick, though it bends and waves with the movements, and the ends are lighted up by a single, glowing, green light. In the dark, they look like fireflies.

Slowly, the curtains part, and Jess steps through them.

She is meticulously dressed in a pearl-white gown, tight around her slim waist, but the fabric flares out into full volumes of folds and floor-length skirt. Her flowy, long blond hair suits her well, framing her sharp chin and cascading past her shoulders. A bouquet of flowers rests delicately in her hands, and her veil is fanned back behind her face like a silvery shadow.

Surely, Sam was a really lucky man.

So take my hand,

Holding on to her father, Jess lifts up a shimmering, star-studded boot, and takes a careful step into the ankle-deep water. Up on the aisle, Sam eyes are filled with tears, a gleam in the darkened light.

Take my whole life too.

Castiel dares a glance towards Dean, only to find that this whole time, Dean was distractedly gazing at him, too. Their eyes lock, and Dean mouth-whispers in the heart trending moment. I love you.

For I can’t help

Falling in love with you.

And for a while, the wedding has faded away. Now, it’s just Castiel and Dean, two lovers so far apart, and yet so near. The tears well up in his eyes and Castiel smiles a little too much, looking back at Dean and mouthing. I love you too.

Oh, and I can’t help

Between them, there is a quiet promise. It isn’t spoken out loud, but still they feel it in the deepest reaches of their hearts, twisting, touching, promising.

Falling in love with you.

Castiel turns to watch Sam press a grateful kiss to Jess’s lips, and the crowd bursts into congratulatory applause and wolf whistles.

Someday, Castiel hopes, this would be them.

—

Taglist (please let me know if you wish to be added/removed 😃): @hellfire37, @skittles-rainbow-cat, @legendary-destiel, @kiraawrites, @all-or-nothing-baby, @thesereneseason, @berrieseveryday

#destiel #supernatural #my writing #writersmonth2019

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uneautreanneeaparis · 6 years ago

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Dijon (pas de Moutarde!)

Our trip to Dijon was lovely. The weather cooperated and we had 3 days of sunny weather in the 70s. Unlike Julie and Bob’s train trip, ours was uneventful and quick. When we arrived around 1 PM we stored our bag near the train station and went off in search of lunch. We had forgotten that in the countryside, even in the larger cities, everything food related closes between 2 and 7. We resorted to a fast food place called Foodies and got burgers. They turned out to be excellent.

We then headed to the Musee de la Vie Bourguignonne which really excited me. I love seeing how life was in the past. We think this might be the weirdest museum we’ve ever been to. There were life-size dioramas of Burgundy life from the 19th century. The first one is of a contraption they put babies in so the mother could get her household work done! The second one is of a wedding.

They were full of detail and accompanied by explanations but the mannequins were eerily contemporary looking. Still, it was a window into a time period long gone by.

Our second day we spent at the Musée des Beaux Arts. It was under renovation the last time we were here so this was a much expanded museum. BTW, most of the museums in Dijon are free, which really encourages people to go, and they do. One of my 2 favorite paintings of all time is here—Fête Champêtre à la Cour de Bourgogne—because, unlike most of the paintings of that era which depict religious themes, it shows something of the life of the 14th century, albeit of the 1%!!

It portrays a party in the court of the Duke of Burgundy (he is the one leaning against the table in the middle). The museum added a digital display table that highlights all the different sections of the painting telling in detail what is going on.

After searching for the best dinner option we ended up at the same restaurant we had dinner at for our previous visit, Le Bistrot des Halles. Fanny arrived with her Italian beau, Alessandro.

Once again, the meal was excellent. Richard had the eponymous Beouf Bourgogne, Alessandro got Steak Tartare and Fanny and I got Gambas Snackée with Asian vegetables and a citronelle foam.

The shrimp were very tasty, cooked perfectly and the vegetables were in a slightly asian sauce which was divine. Everything was very reasonably priced and we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather as we dined on the terrace. If you are ever in Dijon, I recommend you make it to this restaurant for dinner.

We left late Saturday after hitting the mall where there is a Primark. Snagged a new blouse. We spent that last hours together at a wonderful outdoor cafe with great happy hour prices and delicious snacks.

We needed to have a little something for the train ride back so this was perfect. We all strolled to the station in the wonderful evening light and left with an invitation to Fanny and Alessandro to come and visit us in the US soon.—SH

#paris

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deliciouskoalaphantom · 2 years ago

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Wedding Photographerswolverha

Top Ten Tips For Planning A Wedding

youtube

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If you are preparing to have your wedding event throughout the summer season, think about having a winter associated style. If you desire a fancy wedding event cake, purchase a small one for just the wedding event celebration and buy a large sheet cake for the rest of the guests. Your guests will still enjoy it just as much as your smaller wedding event cake. Make sure to keep this article in mind before and throughout the wedding event, to make sure you do everything expected of you.

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littleredroseonthevalley · 7 years ago

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Red Rose - Chapter 8

Prologue Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Ch. 7 CH. 8 Ch. 9 Ch. 10 Ch. 11 Ch. 12 Ch. 13 Ch. 14 Ch. 15 Ch. 16

Summary: It is the night of the ball on the feet of the Neolaías. Old rivals might become friends, old friends might become more-than-friends, and disappointment puts Riley on an awkward position.

Rating: M - Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with non-explicit suggestive adult themes, references to some violence, or coarse language.

Notes: As promised, we’ll have Boiled Prince for tonight’s dinner. Enjoy.

Nevrakis Chateau, Valbona, Cordonia, Fall 2015

Riley slept fretfully that night. She replayed her last two conversations with Charlotte on her head repeatedly, which also served to propel further questioning within her mind as how in Heavens she’d go out of this mess.

Initially, Riley thought of Charlotte, of her promise, and believed that the blonde would not be opposed to her carrying out her part of the deal early, if it meant free passage away from the court. However, that thought filled her heart with regret, as she’d be leaving Maxwell unattended. The Beaumont’s did need her, and, while they help very little, she supposed she should uphold their House.

Even if Riley believes she might punch Bertrand one of these days.

Then again, their conundrum would only be solved if she won the competition, but she could not win. Not all the protocol, the money and the connections would make her palatable to the court, and she couldn’t expect anyone to entrust her with the crown if she was lying her ass off.

Aside from that guilt, she felt a cold feeling of dread every time she thought about leaving. She attributed it to not ever finishing anything. Riley was getting tired of running, of lying. Perhaps she should anticipate going with Charlotte, for as when she came back, she’d finally be a free woman.

Suffocating in her quarters, she kicked off the covers and went to the wardrobe. It was six in the morning. She put on make-up, her black contacts, some adequate clothing, picked up a book and left the room.

Nestling herself in some side ottoman at a drawing room in the chateau, she opened her book, trying to lose herself in the words. A maid came and went, shooting her a dirty look.

Nevrakis servants are nothing but loyal.

Forty-five minutes into her reading, another presence made itself known in the room.

It was Liam.

“Good morning, Lady Riley.” He said, content. “You are up early.”

The woman was adamant into ignoring him.

He, however, was not intimidated. “I see you are reading the book I gave you. How do you like it?”

“Damn!” Riley thought. She had not noticed she picked up the poetry book.

He studies her expression carefully. “Is anything on the matter? You seem lumpish.”

She closes her book with a snap.

“If you want to know it so, Your Majesty,” She addresses him like it tasted foul. “Why don’t you enquire our magnanimous host?!”

“Olivia? What has she done to you?”

The fury crackles in her coal-like eyes. “To me, nothing. However, when Drake refused to play along to yet another of her self-serving tirades, she brought Savannah into the discussion.”

Liam seemed surprised with the information but did not back down. “Riley, Olivia…”

“Don’t!” She forcefully cut him off. “I cannot believe you’re about to defend the wench!”

“Riley, please, calm down and listen!” Liam tried to argue.

“I do not care for either excuses or apologies.” She responded, coolly. “But be very aware, Liam, I will not stand for some pretentious, mentally-challenged, mean-girl wannabe to hurt my friends. So, please, contain her, or I shall take this responsibility, and I assure you that will not be pretty.”

Liam did not yet recuperate his line of thought when Riley continued: “Now, if you excuse me, I am famished. I am going to find myself some breakfast.”

With that, she passed through him and left the room.

As she marches the hallway, echoes of the past haunt her. “If that’s what you think of me, then it’s better if we stop seeing with each other.”

Riley closed her eyes, trying to keep her tears in her eyes and the memories in the past.

Nevrakis Chateau, Valbona, Cordonia, Fall 2015

Hana and Riley were getting ready together at the Asian woman’s room.

“Ta-daa!” Hana announced her platinum dress. “How do I look?”

“You’re gonna set the ball on fire! Everyone’s going to talk about your dress.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. In fact, I might force people into awkward conversations to that end.”

Hana laughed. “Now, come on, we have to pick your dress or else you’re going to be late to the ball.”

“One eye-popping dress, coming right up.”

Riley opened one of her trunks and lifted a white, cleaved dress. As it was sleeveless, she put on a white chinchilla stole, it was a particularly cold night. As an accessory, she used a diamond necklace which complemented her bosom.

“Wow…” Hana admired.

“I take you’re impressed.” Riley said, smugly.

“That’s one word for it.” Hana said. “Shall we be off?”

“After you, Lady Hana.”

As soon as they arrive at the ballroom, they spot Maxwell. They crossed the place to get to the younger man, who bowed at them.

“Ladies, it is sure a pleasure to see you.” Maxwell greeted them. “And, Lady Riley, must I say you look absolutely becoming? A diamond in the first water.”

“You are too kind, Maxwell. And off, too. Why so formal?” Riley confronted.

“Tonight, I’m representing the Duchy of Ramsford at this important social event.”

“Bertrand’s on your case?”

“He’s been calling me all night…” Maxwell lamented.

“I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Riley tried to motivate him.

“Ooh!” Hana pointed at a wall not far from where they stood. “Olivia hired a full orchestra!”

“I’ve heard you were quite a musician, Hana.” Maxwell complimented.

She, however, was meek. “Oh, no, I’m not…”

“Really?” Maxwell probed. “I remember hearing you were a virtuoso pianist.”

“I still play from time to time, but only for fun.” She said, meekly.

Riley intervened. “I would like to hear it sometime!”

“I actually found a piano in the parlor here. I was considering sneaking over there to play tonight… You’re welcome to join me, Riley.” Hana said, and as an afterthought added: “But, for now, we should be getting to our seats.”

“By the way, where are we sitting?” Riley wondered.

“About that…” Maxwell said, bashfully. “Turns out I’m sitting at the head table with Olivia and the Prince. But the two of you are at the farthest table in the back. I guess Olivia put together the seating plan.”

Riley could bitch all she wants later, for now she should be elegant. “I’m sure the company will be MUCH better at our table.”

“Hey!” Maxwell complained.

“Hush, Maxwell, hush and scurry to your table. With Olivia. And the Queen. And Madeleine.”

“Yeah, I see your point.” Maxwell said, like a kicked puppy. “I’d join you if I could.”

Riley twirled a strand of hair, teasing in a sing-song voice. “I’m telling Bertrand!”

“Err, I mean, Olivia has greatly honored me.”

“That’s better.”

Maxwell sighed. “Sorry to leave you guys, but…”

“Don’t worry about us, Maxwell. Riley and I will make the best of it!” Hana consoled.

“Yes, exactly!” Riley patted his arm.

As Maxwell goes to the head table, Riley and Hana find their way to the back, and spot a familiar face.

“Welcome to the table of exiles.” Drake said.

“Good evening, Drake.” Riley greeted. “I suppose I should have expected that.”

“It’s probably meant to be an even bigger slight that we’re with a commoner.” Hana provides.

Riley shrugged. “Olivia should really step up her game, then.”

“Thanks, Flowers. That actually means something, coming from you.” Drake thanked her.

“Drake, you don’t seem bothered at all to be seated in the back.” Hana assessed.

“What can I say? After enough years of getting treated like this, you build up a thick skin.” Drake said, neutral. “Besides, back here? Out of the spotlight? At least we can relax.”

Near the kitchens, they see swarms of servants carrying trays and trays of food to the hall.

“The food looks amazing. I hope they serve us soon! I’m starving!”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up.” Drake cut off. “Where we’re seated, we’ll be the last to eat. If there’s even any left by the time they get to us.”

“But… the lobster bisque…” Hana lamented. “Do you really think we’ll go hungry?”’

“Leave it with me.” Riley said, eyes fiery. “I’ll have some bisque even if I have to get them from the kitchen myself.”

She locks eyes in a tray. She walks over there and says: “Please… Can I have some? I’m so hungry I am about to faint!” She put her best pitiful face. “I haven’t eaten all day, I…”

“Time to shine!” She thought, all on the while she turned her eyes and fall backwards.

“Hey!” Drake exclaimed. He ran to her and catches her before she hits the ground.

“Please… Food…”

The server, scared, leaves some plates and ran away.

“I can’t believe that actually worked, Flowers!” Drake celebrated. “Just… warn me before you take a dive. I might not be able to catch you next time.”

“Oh, Drake! You know I like to keep you on your toes.”

“Well, let us examine our loot!” Hana said, salivating.

“Let’s dig in!” Riley said.

“I’m in lobster heaven!” Hana said, between bites.

“Solid work, Flowers.”

“Yes, thank you, Riley! We’d be lost without you.”

She smiled. “You flatter me. I’m sure the rest of the food will show up soon.”

It didn’t.

“The service here is terrible.” Hana complained, thirty minutes after the entrée.

“All by design.” Drake said.

Hana snickered. “Even if it is on purpose, it is not the worse service I ever had.”

Riley was surprised with this information. “You’ve had worse service than that?!”

“Believe it or not, I’ve been to a wedding where food wasn’t served until midnight. They got hideously behind schedule and decided to do an open call for speeches before dinner. It took hours!” She said, amused at her own expense.

“Oh, heavens.” Drake mocked the girl.

“Drake!” Riley elbowed him.

“I can tell you a real horror story.” He said. “Let’s get the scene. Casual get-together, lots of people I don’t know. There’s a bar, a man’s best friend. So, I figure I’ll grab a drink, I go up to the bar, and they’re out of whiskey!”

“Drink something else, then!”

“No, no, Flowers, you don’t understand. We’re talking about whiskey, the best of all drinks.”

“I refuse answering that.”

“It’s too bad we probably won’t see a real drink at dinner.” Drake lamented. “From what I know, Olivia has quite a stash.”

“From what you know?” Hana asked.

“I did some exploring and I happened to stumble across her wine cellar.”

“Happened, yeah, right.” Riley scoffed.

Drake smiled wickedly. “It’s pretty impressive, actually, and not a bad place to get away from all this for a while. Why don’t you join me there for a drink later tonight, Flowers? That is, if you’re not afraid of sneaking out after hours.”

Before she could answer, a server place two more plates of lobster bisque at their table.

“There’s no lobster in my bowl.” Hana bewailed. “It’s just… bisque. It’s the saddest soup I’ve ever seen.”

“I’m not usually one to complain about free food, but this is ice cold compared to what we had earlier.” Drake’s face morphed into a scowl. “Which means Olivia done this on purpose.”

Hana consoled. “At least, thanks to Riley’s quick thinking, we had a taste of the real meal.”

Before Riley could answer, the orchestra started playing. They were supposed to start the ball now.

Olivia and some guests knocked their glass goblets with their knives, announcing a speech from the host.

“Here we go.” Riley complained.

“Good evening, esteemed Nevrakis Chateau guests.” Olivia says over at the head table. “It means so much to me that you would join me in this place that’s so dear to my heart. I hope you enjoy the festivities tonight as much as I will. Now, everyone, please join me up front to begin the Cordonian Waltz.”

“But we haven’t even started eating!” Hana said.

“I don’t think she cares.” Drake said.

“And I don’t care for cold, lobster-less, cream. It’s disgusting!” Riley said. “Let’s do this!”

As the girls rise from the table, Drake hangs back, looking uncomfortable.

“Aren’t you joining us, Drake?” Hana asked.

“Waltzing isn’t my thing. I’ll be here with the…” He looked disgusted. “Food.”

Leaving Drake at the table, Riley, Maxwell and Hana head out to the dance floor, just as Liam asks Olivia to dance.

“Olivia, may I have this dance?”

“Of course.” She smiled, smug. “Anything for you, Prince Liam.”

She curtsies as the Prince sweeps her into her arms.

Riley narrowed her eyes at the scene. Hana, noticing her displeasure, said: “It’d be unspeakably rude for Prince Liam not to dance this waltz with the hostess.”

“Oh, believe me, I’m not angry about that.” Riley said through her teeth.

“That doesn’t mean you won’t dance!” Maxwell tried to defuse her displeasure. “In fact, Lady Riley, may I have the honor of this waltz?”

She smiled at him and offered him her hand. “It is I who would be honored.”

Maxwell bows. “My lady.”

As Maxwell took her away, Hana whispered in her ear. “I’m sure you’ll shine! Don’t forget what we practiced last night. When he steps forward, you step backwards, relax when he spins you and focus into a fixed point as in not to get dizzy.”

Riley smiled at her. “Thanks, Hana.”

The two of them join the dance on the hall. Maxwell puts his hand on her waist, in a ballroom pose.

“Oh, God!” Maxwell remembered. “Do you even know the Cordonian Waltz?”

“We shall find out!”

And so, they started dancing. A few steps forward, Riley could see Liam taking Olivia into a spin.

“Hope you’re ready for this.” Maxwell warned her.

He grasps her hands and start spinning her around. They swing around with the music, and Riley laugh light-hearted.

“Now, here we go… last move…” He said.

Maxwell twirls Riley so she’s facing away from him. He draws her close, his arms around her.

“I’m glad I’m dancing with you, Maxwell.” She said.

He stuttered. “Riley…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t say stuff like that.”

“I tend to avoid lying when I am able.” She smiled, not that he could see her.

“You’re a suitor!” He lamented. “You should always be thinking of Liam.”

“Well, perhaps Olivia should not have chosen this waltz.”

They sway together for several beats before Maxwell lets go of her hands, gently pushing her forward.

“Time to switch partners.” He said. “You’ll go through the same steps, so just do what you did with me, and you’ll be great!”

She glides forward, and on the next strain of the waltz, she gets paired off with Liam.

She frowned at him. “Your Majesty.”

“You are still angry with me?” Liam asked, dejected.

“I am not angry, I’m disappointed. You let Olivia and the other nobles walk all over someone you dare saying is your best friend!”

“I know that. And I’m sorry, but I cannot force Drake into the head table, I have to be a respectful guest.”

She sighed. “You may not be able to force people to enjoy Drake’s company, but he’s your guest, and it falls upon yourself to make sure he’s treated with dignity.”

“Riley, you should know…” He said, sadly. “You are special to me, and I despise the fact you think low of me, much more as I know you have a point.”

“And you are special to me too, which is why I expect that much of you. It’s because I like you, and I know you’re capable of great good.”

As soon as she finishes that sentence, Olivia marches over at them. “Ahem.” She calls upon their attention.

“Bless you.” Riley says, ironically.

“Thank you, Lady Riley.” She spats the name. “I believe he’s my partner now.”

She smiled faux-sweetly. “Isn’t it so?”

Riley let go of Liam’s hand and got back to Maxwell.

“Watching you two together…” He says. “I can tell that Liam cares for you a lot.”

She hummed. “I suppose… but that don’t really matter now, does it?”

He smiled bitterly. “When you’re royalty, the rules are different.”

Before she could answer, however, Maxwell seemed dumbstruck. She followed his line of sight.

There it was, Olivia kissing Liam deeply in the middle of the dance floor.

She whispered to Maxwell, seething with poison: “Such is desperation.”

He snickered, while Olivia wraps her arms around the Prince. After a long while, Liam gently breaks away.

“Liam…” Olivia smiled, satisfied.

He stuttered. “Olivia, uh, let’s… talk. Perhaps outside?”

Maxwell leads Riley away while the other courtiers gossip furiously about Olivia. As it stood, her boldness only earned her a few new enemies.

“We have a chance to play a little politics here.” Maxwell suggested.

“Sway the opinions of Penelope and Kiara against Olivia and to my favor?”

“Exactly!” He smiled, excitedly. “Look at Kiara. She’s clearly upset at Olivia’s display, and she’s all alone by the appetizers right now. This is what we call an opportunity. You should get on her good side. If you can drive a wedge between her and Olivia, it might weaken Olivia’s position. And Kiara having good things to say about your reputation at court wouldn’t hurt either.”

“Watch and be amazed!”

She crossed the ballroom and approached Kiara.

“Excuse me, Lady Kiara.”

“Oh, Lady Riley! How are you doing?”

“I’ve been very well, thank you.” Riley said, smiling.

“Great. What can I do for you?”

She smiled, conspiring. “I’ve come to speak with you. About Olivia. I’d like to hear your opinion about her little display.”

Kiara got visibly angry. “I cannot believe her.” She barked. “She wouldn’t have the guts to do that anywhere else. She has gone mad with power here!”

“Olivia has the upper hand now, yes. She’s the greatest threat here. It’ll take more than one of us to beat her.”

“Interesting,” Kiara considered.

“We need to stick together. Otherwise, we do not stand a chance against Olivia.”

“Are you proposing an alliance?” Kiara inquired, probingly. “I wouldn’t normally entertain the idea, but you’re fitting remarkably well. You certainly look like you could be an important ally.”

“And, not only I’m nicer than Olivia, I’m sure I’m more generous too. Olivia’s friendship is a one-way street. Why should we let her always get her way?”

“You make a fair point.” Her face scrunched in distaste.

“We all need someone to speak well about us. We can help each other out on that front.”

Kiara smiled, content. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“We need to have each other’s backs if we’re to take Olivia down.”

“You know, we could both benefit from a little well-placed support here and there.”

“I am very glad we think the same way.”

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should mingle with what time I have left. Good-bye.” Kiara bowed and left.

She flashed a smile to Maxwell, celebrating their success.

As the night ends and Riley is leaving the ballroom, she feels a gentle tap on her shoulder.

“Hello, Lady Riley” It was Liam. “As usual, you are a vision. You look lovely.”

“Hello again, Liam.”

“We haven’t seen much of each other these last few days, don’t you think?”

She pursed her lips. “Yes, it has been a hectic trip.” In retrospect, Riley ponders, the near-mob justice she suffered in Scutari should have been taken as an omen for this whole debacle of a voyage.

He sighed in weariness. “I am pulled back and forth by the demands of nobles, I feel so tired, but I lay on my suite awake at night and cannot sleep.”

“A suite, huh? It must be very nice.”

“Yes, it even has a hot tub on a deck, but I have been remiss in enjoying it. It does not feel as nice without anyone to share it with me.”

“What are you implying, Liam?”

“Please, just… come by tonight. Let me try to make it up to you.” He pleaded.

Riley sighed. “Look, Liam, there’s just one thing I’d like for you to do so as I can forgive you, and that is for you to commit you’ll do better from now on. If you promise me that, and still desire for my company tonight, I’ll happily accompany you.”

Before Liam could respond to that, Penelope approached them. “Prince Liam, if I might interrupt?”

“Of course, Lady Penelope, I know we haven’t spoken all night.” He smiled at the other woman. “Lady Riley, of course this is amendable, I hope you have a good evening.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. If you excuse me, Lady Penelope.” Riley bowed to them and left.

As soon as she was out of earshot, she sighed. This was starting to become exhausting.

As she left the grand ballroom, she hears the piano coming from the parlor. Riley recalled that Hana was intending to play it that night and decided to follow the tune. As she walked into the room, she could see the Asian woman sitting contemplatively by the instrument, looking out the window.

“Are you done already?” The black-haired decided to make herself known.

“Riley!” The other acknowledged, excited. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”

“Well, I’m always down for a good musical performance.”

“Oh, it’s hardly all that.” She responded, self-conscious. “I hope I didn’t set your expectations too high for this.”

“I doubt it very much, Hana. I’m most assured you’re great, like in everything I’ve seen you do so far.”

The tanned girl couldn’t sustain eye contact. “I have to admit I’m nervous to play in front of you.”

“Why?” Riley asked, confused.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve performed publicly.” She explains. “My parents used to trot me out at every dinner party or luncheon that happened to have a piano available.” Her face scrunched in distaste. “Until such time when they forced me to play at a hall and made an absolute fool of myself, missing every note and playing out of key.

“Everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve become… it’s all for my family. For them to one day marry me off to the highest-ranking man they can find. Playing the piano was the first thing I’d ever actually enjoyed. I couldn’t bear for them to take that too and make it theirs. I wanted just one thing for myself.

“Anyways, my lapse in performance caused them to drag me off stage. You should’ve seen the couples dancing. Without a beat to follow, they were running into each other and tumbling down left and right! My parents were mortified, but I saw it as a victory. And I promised myself I’d never play for anyone but myself again.”

“Oh.” Riley digested the information. “I did not mean to corner you. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Oh, no!” Hana assured Riley. “This is my decision. And that makes it entirely different. So, sit, please.”

Riley takes a seat next to the piano. Hana settles herself at the bench and takes a deep breath, her hands hovering delicately over the keys.

As she plays an unknown piece, Riley could attest to Hana’s talent. She played the difficult piece seamlessly, in deep concentration but with a soft flare to it. When the song ended, she turned to the other woman.

“There’s something so… exhilarating about playing to someone else!” Hana says, excitedly. “I’d forgotten what that feeling was like. What did you think?”

“It was…” The woman was searching for the right words to put it. “Beautiful and haunting, of sorts.”

“I’m glad you understood it. That song is actually one I composed myself.” Hana said. “I wrote it when I was twelve. That was such a lonely time for me. I would sit by a pond at the edge of our estate, watching the water lilies bobbing in the water as the sun set.

“I remember so vividly letting my fingers trail in the water, pretending to play magical piano keys floating in the pond. Sometimes I’d stay out for hours, just letting the melody run through my head. My mother was always very cross when she’d have to come find me out there. I’m afraid I was a rather morose child.”

“Oh, Hana.” She wrapped her arms around Hana’s shoulder. “You deserve more happiness in life.”

“Oh, I did not mean to complain. I’ve been very lucky, honestly.”

Riley snickered, but did not say a thing.

“To me, though, what matters is now, and I’m having a wonderful time with you tonight. Now, I’d like to teach you to play something.”

“Oh, I know how to play some stuff at the piano. My aunt was very good at it, though I fear I might be a musical disaster.”

“Let me see what you got.” Hana gave leave for her to sit at the stool.

Riley played Für Elise, in a slow tempo. “I’m sorry, but you won’t be taking much more out of me. I’m truly a disaster!”

“I disagree. I think you’re quite good, Riley.”

“Eh, I’m a one-trick pony.”

Hana was thoughtful. “You rarely speak about your family, Riley.”

“There’s not much to be said. My dad was a school teacher, my mom was a librarian. My father died young, then my mother left for Oregon, looking for a job which could support us both, and I ended up being raised at my uncle’s, in Rhode Island, who had two other children.”

“That’s sad…” Hana said.

“I don’t think so. My uncle, my aunt and my cousins were nice to me, and my mom would come by eventually to see me. By the time I was in high school, she remarried but I didn’t want to relocate across the country to live with them, as much as my stepfather was a good fellow.”

Hana watched Riley carefully, but didn’t want to intrude further. “It’s late and I’m tired, I’m going to sleep. Are you coming too?”

“No, I’m not sleepy yet.” She said.

“Okay,” Hana concurred. “Good night.”

“‘Night”

As she was leaving, Hana said: “Riley? Thank you for coming tonight. It meant a lot to me sharing this with you.”

“Well, I defend I should be paying for hear you play. If this whole marriage thing doesn’t work out for you, I am sure you have a future as a concert pianist.”

“You think so?” Hana asked, self-conscious.

“I know so.”

“Maybe one day…” She smiled dreamily and left the room.

As if on cue, Riley’s stomach grumbled in hunger. A lobster bisque certainly wasn’t as much of a meal. It was late enough for the kitchens to be empty and for it to be safe enough to steal something to eat.

She left the room, back to the lobby by the ballroom. From there, it was not hard to find her way to the kitchens.

As Riley fixed herself a sandwich, she saw the staircase for the cellar. She remembered Drake would be drinking down there and resolved to go down there, sandwich in hand.

Halfway down, Drake glances at Riley in between the empty glasses.

“There you are, Flowers. I started thinking you’d not show up.”

“I stopped for a snack.” She motioned to her sub. “Want halfsies?”

“No, thanks.”

“Y’know,” She said. “I’m actually glad to see you again tonight.”

“Aw, come on, Flowers! You’re gonna make me blush.”

“If you’re trying to dissuade me, you’re doing it wrong.”

He smiled at her. “So, what’re you drinking?”

“What are you having?”

“Nothing yet, Olivia has an extensive collection of wines. I’ve never even heard of most of them, but those I recognize, none of them cost less than eight-hundred euros.”

“Drinking Olivia’s wine?” Her eyebrows raised in excitement, all in the while her grin looped in mischief. “Good Lord, pass me the most expensive bottle you can find.”

Drake laughed softly. “If you want it, too, I brought some whiskey with myself. If you want, I can share.”

“Since you’ve been so kind to offer, I’ll drink the whiskey, but if you can find me the bottle, I’ll be taking that with me.”

He snickered as he passed Riley a glass. “Naughty.”

“But, Drake, tell me. You went down to a cellar to drink whiskey?”

“Actually, I came down here to get a commoner time for myself, where I don’t have to bow or kiss hands for a while.”

“See, it’s that I cannot understand. If you hate the nobility that much, why do you stick around?”

“It must seem ridiculous to you.” He says, weary.

“Ridiculous? No, but very confusing.” She sighs. “I just don’t understand why you put up with it. It’s been one night, and I’m tired and bitchy, and yet you’ve been withstanding it your whole life. Why?”

“It’s Liam.” He said, simple yet sadly. “It’s always been him. I would’ve left a long time ago, but Liam needs me. I know he has nobles and courtiers all over him, but most of them would stab him in the back if they thought they could profit out of it. I’ve seen so many underhanded moves that I don’t trust any of them anymore. And these are our friends! And this latest one…”

“Latest one?” She panicked inside but kept her cool façade. “What happened?”

“I… I’m not sure I should tell you. It’s still being resolved.”

Riley repressed the will of rolling her eyes. Drake had the annoying habit of trying to keep important information from her, one she wasn’t quite able to break him out of. “You should see it as an educative measure. You’re always saying for me to look out, it’d be nice to know what for.”

He sighed once again. “You remember Liam’s bachelor party?”

“What kick-started this whole debacle I’m in currently? Of course.”

“We found out that someone close to us that night was trying to sell pictures to the tabloids.”

She calmed down. “Oh God, who did that? Maxwell? Tariq?”

“We don’t know, we couldn’t track them down. I just got a message from Bastien saying we were able to stop the photos being printed.”

Riley pursed her lips. “Pardon my Third Estate naïveté, but I don’t recall anything scandalous taking place that night.”

“You know how the tabloids are.” He says, in a mixture of contempt and hatred. “A picture with a drink in his hands, and suddenly the Crown Prince of Cordonia is in a drunken rage.” He took a breath, trying to calm himself, to no avail. “And then there’s the picture of the two of you together.”

“Oh, Lord.”

“You know what was the headline the tabloid was going to run? ‘Prince Liam’s Drunken Fling Before the Ring’!” He spat.

“And you have no idea who would do such a thing?”

“Not really.” He said, clearly upset with it. “There are a lot of people who would be desperate for those photos. I just hope it wasn’t one of the guys. The pictures they had… those would be hard to take unless they were close to us…”

Riley put a hand over his shoulder. “I’ll watch out.”

“Good.” He says. “Money and power make people do crazy things, Flowers. I just don’t want to see you get hurt because of it. Sometimes I look at you and I see this baby deer who just stumbled into the hunter’s campsite.”

She laughed it off. “So, you think I’m cute?”

Drake stuttered. “That’s not what I… err…”

She laughed at his expense.

“Your unique talent, Flowers, seem to be putting me in my place.”

“Someone’s gotta do it.” She shrugged.

“What is it about you?” He huffed, more to himself. “You’re so frustrating, but…” He shook his head. “What about a toast?”

She drilled him with her carboniferous eyes but decided to let it go. “What’re we toasting to?”

“To the moments in between.”

“What now?”

“All the nobles think about are the big events. Balls, appearances, banquets. They don’t realize that the moments that matter the most are all the ones they’ve been missing. Moments like right now, just the two of us and some cheap whiskey. The ones that really mean something.”

She smiled at him. “It sure means something to me.”

Glad about her answer, Drake raised his glass. “To the moments in between.”

As they down their drinks, Drake says: “Perhaps I should send you off, it’s getting late and I don’t want to get you in any more trouble than I already have.”

“That’s thoughtful of you.” She laughed.

“I’m nothing short of a gentleman, even if not one by birth.”

He handles her the bottle she requested and smiles as she go up the stairs.

As she approaches her own room, Riley remembered about Liam’s invite. It was late enough for her to be able to sneak there inconspicuously there. Quickly enough, she was knocking on Liam’s door.

As he opens it for her, he says: “Welcome. I take it nobody saw you coming?”

“The great felines have got nothing on me.” She said, taking the hand that was offered to her.

“I want to show you something.”

He takes her to a patio outside, with a beautiful view of the Neolaías.

“Good Lord! The mountains… it’s incredible.”

He smiled. “Now you see why I wanted to share it with someone.”

She saw something that amused her and couldn’t pass an opportunity. “Did you light these candles for us?”

“Oh!” He was red as a tomato. “I… well, yeah. I wanted this to be magical.”

“Oh, sweetheart…”

“So… do you like it?” He asked, demure.

She got on the tips of her feet and kissed his cheek. “It’s beautiful, thank you.”

He smiles, happily. “Riley, I’ve never really had someone that I wanted so badly to please. I feel like I’d do anything to see you smile and know that I was the cause.” He does an uncomfortable pose, expressing his embarrassment. “Ahem. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get into the hot tub.”

“Oh, no, wait!” Riley said. “I snuck off to the cellar and got this bottle of wine. It looks old and expensive, so it must be good. We should open it.”

“Sure, but I don’t have a corkscrew.”

“Oh, just pass me a towel.” She said, and he complied.

She wrapped the bottom of the bottle with the towel and firmly knocked it against the wall.

A few good knocks and the cork was loose enough to be taken off by hand. “Ta-daa!”

He laughed. “How have you learnt that trick?”

“Oh, I’ve been a waitress, have I not? We pick up a lot working in the service industry.”

He took off his shirt to go into the tub. “Brisk.” He complained in good-nature.

She took off her stole, her earrings and the necklace. “Liam, if you don’t mind unzipping me?”

“Sure, ma’am.” He smiled as she turned her back and he undressed her.

“Wow!” She shuddered at the cold. “That is brisk!”

“Then let’s warm up.”

Liam holds out his hand, and Riley takes it, leading her into the hot water. She moaned. “This feels so good.”

“There are few things better than a hot tub in the snow.” He said happily.

She moaned in pleasure. “Just leave me here, in the whirlpool.”

His face turned serious. “Riley, I feel like I’ve been waiting for this moment the entire trip.”

“I know what you mean.” She sighed, happily. “We’re finally alone together. No Olivia, no Madeleine, no Queen, no court. Just us.”

“Exactly. I feel like I can be myself around you. You don’t know how rare that is for me. I’ve spent so long building up an image for the rest of the world… but you let me just be Liam.”

“Oh, well, I happen to like this fellow Liam.”

He smirked. “I’m glad to hear that. You may be the only woman here who truly knows me. Which is why I got to be careful with you.”

“Careful?” She asked, confused.

“I would never forgive myself if I…” He shook his head, as in to banish an offensive thought. “I’d never forgive myself if I hurt you in anyway.”

“I knew what I’m getting myself into. Besides, I trust you, I know you’re a good person, and I know, if it came down to it, you’ll have my back.”

“You’re far too kind with me.”

“It’s what I really believe.”

He snickered. “I thoroughly believe that if you thought I was a pompous ass, you would not hesitate to tell me. I trust you, Riley, everything you say.”

She smiled with some melancholy. “Perhaps you really shouldn’t,” She thought.

Liam, however, scooted closer. “Maybe that’s why I’m drawn to you.”

He leans in and kiss her passionately.

As he breaks the kiss, he caresses the sides of Riley’s face.

She laughed self-consciously. “What?”

“I am just thinking… what does love means to you?”

“Love?” She questions. “It’s a difficult concept to grasp, I think… It’s that feeling of dedication, of partnership, of commitment. It’s that certainty, that one person will always prioritize you, and you will always prioritize them.”

Liam fell deep in thought.

“What about you?” She asked, as in to avoid for him to become taciturn.

He laughed, almost bitterly. “I admit I’ve never thought much about it in the past. I certainly wasn’t raised with any romantic notions or expectations in my life. It was only when I saw my brother fall completely in love that I realized how important… how life-changing love can be.”

She remembered Charlotte speaking of this girl. Considering how it ended, and that is what made Liam aware of the power of such a feeling, it’s surprising he isn’t afraid of love.

“What are you saying, Liam?”

“I’m saying…” He took a deep breath, to gather his thoughts. “Oh, Riley, I shouldn’t be saying anything to you right now. Part of me is furious with myself that I’m not treating everyone fairly like I should. But the other part of me wants to damn all these princely responsibilities and throw myself into you.”

She sighed. “Liam, I’ve got to be honest with you. Should I leave? I don’t want to cause you grief, and I am sure I can manage not to make a fool out of myself, but in the end of the day, I’m a waitress from the US, I’m not fitting.”

He got restless. “No. Don’t go, yet. Let us live this moment, let us enjoy this little time together while it lasts.”

Liam wraps his arms around Riley, and she rests her head on his shoulder.

“I treasure all of our moments together, Riley.”

“I do, too.”

The two of them watch the moonlight over the mountains.

He whispers, a few moments later. “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah.”

“We should head in.”

“You’re probably right, but I enjoyed while it lasted.”

He smiled, widely. “Me too.”

“I’ll see you soon?”

“You know I can only stay away from you for so long.”

He kissed her goodbye, and so she left through the door.

“Father?” The fair-headed child asked, meekly.

“Yes, Theodora?”

“Why must I give away my dresses and my toys?” She pouted.

He laughed at the girl, who only pouted more. “I suppose ‘because your mother told you so’ isn’t an acceptable answer.”

“No!” She was adamant. “I like my dolls, and my dresses are so cute. I don’t want to give them away.”

“But haven’t we given you many new toys this year?”

She grumbled. “Yes.”

“Don’t you like them?”

“Yes, I do like them very much.”

“And the dresses? They fit?”

“No…” She answered, dejected. “One of them ripped when I tried to wear it. Mother had to had it fixed.”

“And I also see you’re dressed neatly, what makes me imply you won’t go on the nude if we get rid of some of your clothes.”

Theodora blushed furiously with the suggestion. “But, father, why can’t I keep those stuff?”

“Well, Dora, we are a privileged family. We can purchase whatever we may need or desire. But not everyone has the same luxury, some people must have do with very little, indeed. We, as privileged people, must tend to the needs of those who are less mighty than us. It’s the law of the world.” He smiled, kindly. “Besides, I am sure you were very happy when you were gifted those. Don’t you want for someone to feel as happy as you were then?”

“I… suppose.” She conceded.

“Good girl. Now, you can keep the toys you like the most, but I expect you to donate all those you don’t play often, as well as all the clothes you don’t use. With those, we’ll make a lot of girls’ Christmases very merry, indeed.”

She smiled, yet not completely convinced, but amendable to the idea. “Yes, father.”

Nevrakis Chateau, Valbona, Cordonia, Fall 2015

Drake was sleeping deeply and soundly, dreaming about something pleasantly nonsensical. His body felt light, that lightness proper of the relaxed.

Still on the daze of his dreams, he heard the persistent knock on his door. He thought about ignoring it, but that strategy wasn’t working fast enough.

He grumbled and walked unsteadily to the other side of the room and opened the door.

“Good morning, sleepy-head!”

“Flowers? What on Earth are you doing in here? What time is even it?” He looked at her head to toe. “What are you doing dressed as a mountaineer?”

“We,” She made a movement with her fingers to signal she meant them both. “Are going down to the village. I want to talk to the people over there, and I need your help. It’s seven o’clock, and you had more than enough sleep. Now, go shower that I’ll snatch some breakfast for us.”

“Go bother Maxwell.” He said, trying to close the door.

She placed her foot to keep it open. “Please. Have you ever tried to wake Maxwell up before ten?”

“Have you considered the possibility that I would not want to go?”

“I did, actually, but then I thought that if you didn’t help me, I’d have to go alone, and that would be much more dangerous.” She mocked the word.

Drake stopped for a minute to consider her argument. “You wouldn’t dare.”

She raised a defiant eyebrow. “Wouldn’t I?”

“Damn her, she’s going through with it!” Drake thought, frustrated. Finally, he acquiesced. “Fine, I’ll meet you out front in twenty minutes. And you better have coffee.”

“Yes, sir.” With that she left.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were pulling off Nevrakis Chateau.

“You could’ve worn something more tourist-y.” Riley said.

“But I didn’t want to.” He complained. “Why are we going to Valbona again?”

“Because I want to talk to the villagers about their standards of living. Didn’t you notice? They don’t seem to have electrification in most houses, most certainly none of them have appropriate heating, and I am pretty sure I saw a well when we were passing through here on Wednesday.”

Drake could imagine their human development wouldn’t rank high, what he struggled to understand is why Riley cared about that, and that was what he asked her.

“Because,” She responded. “Whether I get to be Queen or not, I should at least do some good to the people of Cordonia while I’m on the spotlight.”

That gave some fodder to thought, but before Drake could wrap his mind around the statement, Riley continued: “Which reminds me, we’re newly married and we’re spending our honeymoon at a ranch a few miles down the road. It’s better if we don’t attract too much of attention, and that wouldn’t be possible if we told them I was a contender to the throne.”

He grumbled. “I suppose that’s smart.”

“Good, here’s your ring.”

It was a beautiful piece of jewelry. A signet ring in gold and with a rose as its insignia. Drake, however, did not pay much attention to it as he slid it on.

Drake parked the car ways off the village, and they continued foot. When they arrived, Valbona was every bit as sad as Riley expected, perhaps somewhat more.

It reminded her of a stereotypical Balkan village: a bunch of badly-built, grey houses, streets with no paving, and poor, unkempt people herding animals.

Riley found a general store and pulled Drake over there. Inside there were three men and two women. She went to the man behind a counter and said: “Good morning. Do you speak Greek?”

He answered, neutrally. “Yes.” He spoke with a heavily accented Greek. Riley supposed his first language was Serbian.

“Do you have any flour and some eggs?”

“Yes, ma’am, how much will you need?”

“250 grams of flour and four eggs shall be enough.”

As he prepared her order, he commented: “I’ve never seen you two over here before.”

“Oh, we’re not from around here. We’ve just got married, and we’ve came to celebrate our honeymoon. I’m Elisa and he’s Daniel.”

Drake looked pointedly at her, but responded with a “Hello, nice to meet you.”

“Newly married?” An older woman approached them. “Good! Good! Marriage is good!”

Riley stepped up her game. She took a hand of Drake’s and looked lovingly into his eyes. “Yes, me and Daniel are very happy.”

Drake looked away, self-conscious.

“But,” Riley continued. “Do you know where I can get some electricity? There’s none where we’re staying, and I need to charge my phone.”

The clerk snickered. “There’s no power here. The Nevrakis take it all!” The woman also seemed very displeased with the mention of the name.

“The Duchess of Lythikos, you mean?” She pretended to be surprised. “How come?”

The woman took upon herself to explain, with her limited Greek. “Devil Woman comes. Suck all water and power to castle. Steal big taxes! Take daughters to work! Evil family, evil!”

She turned to the clerk. “She’s saying that the Nevrakis take all power and water from the village to sustain the castle?”

“Yes, ma’am. We don’t have much on our day-to-day, but when the royals come, we must do without water or power. We take some from the well, because between the ice and the Nevrakis, there’s no water at the river.”

“That’s inhumane!” Riley complained, loudly.

“That it is, madam, but who’s going to do something about it? The governor? The king? The prime minister? They’re all cut from the same cloth, and they get along very well.”

Riley was seething. How dare Olivia leave a village without electricity or water in the top of the freaking Dinaric Alps?!

“There’s no mayor? Water and Power Authority?”

The man scoffed. “The Duchess picks the mayor, and the company itself made the connection.”

Drake paid for her expenses and almost threw her over his arms, as in to avoid her blowing up in the middle of the general store.

“What are you even doing?!” He asked, back on the streets, far from being heard.

“Did you not hear them?! Drake, they spent last storm with no power! They’ve been drinking water from a well for a week! Do you know how unsanitary this is?!”

“Of course, I do, but there’s nothing we can do for them.”

“I can go on media, I can slap the living Hell out of Olivia, I can go to courts, I can do lots of things, Drake!”

“No, you cannot! Have you forgot you’re a contender for a crown? A constitutional crown?”

Riley seethed. “I am fucking tired of you acting like I have a shot at this!” Her knees gave up and she sat on the cobbled street. “You, Liam, Maxwell, Bertrand. Even Hana! I would love to be Queen, I would love to solve magically all the problems of the Beaumont’s, I would love to support Liam. But let’s face it, I’m no Cinderella, and this is real life. Princes don’t marry girls like me, and me being here is just causing more grief to us all.”

She started sobbing, while Drake, at a loss of words, just sat down next to her and threw an arm around her shoulders.

“So,” Riley continued. “At least let me try helping people while I’m here. At least let something good come out of all this masochism, all this egoism, all those long-lost dreams.”

Drake stuttered, trying to find something to say. “Riley, I…”

“No.” She cut him off, standing up and wiping her eyes. “No matter, let’s go back, it’s getting late and I don’t want for them to notice we’re gone.”

Riley strutted ahead, going for the car. Drake sighed, but followed.

Nevrakis Chateau, Valbona, Cordonia, Fall 2015

“Looks like everyone’s ready.” Maxwell told Riley. They were at the vestibule of the Chateau, waiting for their ride back to Valona.

“I can’t believe it’s time to go…” Olivia lamented, near them.

Riley snickered, but did not say a thing. Kiara, however, commented: “I’m ready to go back to somewhere warmer.”

As Hana went down the stairs with a few footmen in toll, carrying her luggage, she neared Riley’s side, and said: “Are you excited for the Regatta this weekend?”

“I hadn’t heard of it before.”

“Oh,” Maxwell remembered. “It’s a ceremonial boat race! The next big event of the season! You’ve been to a regatta before, right?”

“Nope, never have I ever.”

Maxwell was about to respond, but a car pulled off and Bertrand jumped out of it. “Let’s go, I want to be back to Valona by nightfall.” He grumbled, commanding.

Riley narrowed her eyes at him, while Maxwell grimaced. Hana laughed and hugged Riley goodbye, and soon enough left for her own car, already loaded with all her bags.

As they passed the village of Valbona, Riley asked Bertrand: “I must say I’m curious. Where do you go when you disappear like that?”

Bertrand scoffed. “That is just precious. To be monitored by a waitress!”

“You really cannot control yourself, do you?” Riley rose her eyebrow. “I’m just asking you a social question, you don’t have to answer it, but it would be nice if you did. After all, I’m making a sincere effort to treat you appropriately, despite my dearest wishes.”

The Duke grumbled but did not answer. Maxwell, however, tried to dispel the awkwardness responding to her question. “Bertrand’s a senator.”

“A senator?” Riley asked, confused. “You’re a politician?”

“Actually, all Dukes have a position at the Vouli.” Maxwell said.

Riley tutted, but did not say a thing. She still wondered why they needed a winning contender for the Prince’s hand. As it comes out, it isn’t political influence they’re after, either that or Bertrand’s a terrible senator and no-one listens to what he has to say, which she doubted.

As she thought about that, the engine lulled her to sleep. It was a few busy days, and she hadn’t slept properly in a while. She was very tired as a result, and soon enough she was dozing off.

Red Rose - Masterlist

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#red rose #the royal romance

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dynatom · 4 years ago

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Essential Aspects Of Restaurants With Banquet Halls Near Me

The Holiday Villa Function Center is situated on the island of Koh Lanta in the Thai province of Krabi. It's a function centre near the lake that offers a serene and peaceful setting for a variety of special occasions and activities. The system is architecturally built and provides a range of party venues that are appropriate for both private and business activities.You may find more details about this at restaurants with banquet halls near me.

Wedding ceremonies, business gatherings such as meetings and conventions, graduation parties, family activities, incentive classes, and other private events and functions such as anniversaries and birthdays may all be organised at the activity centre. It also features a broad variety of delectable food facilities, including suitable menus for all times and events, such as meals, luncheons, lunch boxes, buffets, and so on.

They have the most appropriate and convenient event venues for wedding parties. This function rooms will host both small and big wedding parties. They will handle anywhere from 40 to 200 people at once. They have wedding services such as a bridal chamber, a bride's fitting room, guest toilets, and other amenities. Floor designs, wedding manuals, wedding photography, wedding videography, accommodation rooms for wedding parties, and wedding managers are examples of wedding facilities.

Corporate meetings should be held in suitable purpose venues. Corporate activities such as lectures, dinners, and conventions are ideal for these party spaces. This event spaces can host both small and large groups. Half-day workshops, full-day conferences, two-day seminars, tea sessions, graduation luncheons, meals, graduation ceremonies, balls, anniversaries, birthdays, and commitment parties are also possible in the location rooms.

Food is available for both meetings and functions at the function centre. Vegetarian, brunch, tea, bush tucker barbecue, working lunch, bush tucker plated menus, Asian barbecue lunch, cocktail parties, banquet luncheons, plated three-course meals, and buffet dinners are all choices for party dining.

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memorylang · 5 years ago

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New Me, Stateside for New Year’s | #20 | January 2020

When I landed back in Mongolia, many asked me either, “How was America?” or “How was China?” I saw both, anyway. So in this travel trio finale, I reflect on the changes I’d noticed in and around me during my three weeks on vacation from Mongolia.

During my reverse culture shock in the States, I logged my findings. Some were physical, like my increased tolerances (resilience?). Others were perceptions. Food, friends and family are my themes~

Landing in the States

“Welcome back, sir,” smiled the U.S. immigration officer at SFO, when said I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer.

That felt different.

Usually immigration gives me trouble, not credit.

But I also felt more comfortable on the plane and in the airport, too, not needing to worry whether my shoes’ bottoms faced others. When travelers’ feet rubbed mine, they didn’t need to shake my hand. Those made life easier. Nonetheless, I felt odd seeing Americans nonchalantly have their shoes’ bottoms face people.

The House in Vegas

Returning to my family’s house that December 19 before Christmas, it felt more spacious than I remembered. Even our restrooms just felt larger than I recalled. Having our cooling fall from our ceiling, instead of heating from radiators below the windows surprised me, too.

Writing of the house, I also sleep way better in the beds at home. Amusingly, I slept in my older brother’s old bed, since, for the past four plus years, he’s slept in my old bed. My younger brother had moved into his old bed while I was away for university. (It’s complicated.) Based on the States, I felt, I could think up ways to make my bed in Mongolia more comfortable…

As I explained to friends in the States, I’d also experienced dreams including friends from both in my Peace Corps service and in my Nevada lives before. I noted, in the past, I would keep in touch with American friends while going abroad. This time, I would keep in touch with Mongolian friends while visiting the States. Those blending communities felt profound, since I loved when life’s separate experiences crossed. I hope I continue such habits beyond my service.

Before my half-brother and his wife left after Christmas, they commended me, I seem more confident and calmer since graduating university. We discussed at length some cross-culture techniques, regarding how I seek and engage motivations when I teach and learn.

On the Advent of Christmas, I’d returned through my closet for childhood things I’ve finally grown willing to part with. I gifted these to them, for their baby. When I returned to Mongolia, they shared with me a photo of him adoring his new toy. Hehe, what a life.

So Much Food

To end my first full day back at the house, I stayed true to my word from Mongolia. I just went to the fridge and freezer, grabbed a bunch of berries and banana, plunked them in a blender with pineapple(?) ice cream and milk, (plus peas,) then downed that awesome shake while I worked on my writings. Ugh, shakes.

I definitely satisfied my major cravings stateside. While I love Mongolian food, I’d forgotten the States’ food diversity! I enjoyed at least American (including Hawaiian), Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Thai goodness. Vegas has lots of Asian cuisine.

I hadn’t realized how much a half-Chinese American like me could miss pizza, burgers and bagels, but heck, I found that out, too. I ate pizza at plenty opportunities, amounting to at least a time or two per week. Freezer pizzas tasted rad. Even those staling discount blueberry bagels from Smith’s were great.

And, oh dang, microwaves! Not having to heat my food on a pan felt the best, haha. I’m such a tourist in our own house.

Into Our Community

Leading up to my return, I announced to friends I’d be back. Get-togethers arranged.

Sunday, we left home to see family friends. The constant Christmas music on the radio and Christmas lights on neighborhoods’ homes welcomed me. I even welcomed hearing car radios! I hadn’t heard as many radios in Mongolia, since I avoided taxis my first months. Buses just played downloaded music videos, if anything.

Outdoors in Vegas, I realized I could take the cool way better! I wore one or two layers when locals wear two or three.

At sushi, we enjoyed a welcome back lunch celebrating the returns of a family friend and me. I loved the fraternal bonds and companionship. Curiously, a family friend offered me a beer, which I finished myself. I felt surprised, considering I could hardly do that before leaving America. I guess Mongolian events like Teachers’ Day gave me practice. Later, at my high school Korean friend’s house, he offered me to try his favorite bourbons. Even those, I realized, tasted pretty good. Seems my drink palate’s changed. But I prefer not to invest that route.

Fireside Philosophies

That night with three from our high school alma mater, we lounged around a backyard fire pit with s’mores. Having had freshman classes with these guys, we’ve known each other almost a decade.

I felt particularly moved in an albeit geeky way, moments earlier, when we first reunited inside. He’s finishing his last semester at West Point. With a hand on my shoulder, he compared me to Ash Ketchum, traveling the world and making so many friends. “Someday, you’re going to be Hokage,” he smiled.

He’s fun. He reached out during my first autumn in Mongolia, after some four years apart.

Our party of four discussed our passions, dreams and goals. We’d all traveled afar for our studies and careers. We talked big ideas like cross-cultural evangelization, shared Asian and Christian philosophies and the flooring ethical codes and punishments of West Point. Turns out isolation isn’t just something Peace Corps Volunteers experience!

Vegas Since Christmas

Days later, after Christmas, I reunited with more friends.

First, I saw a game developer, who also graduated my high school, who saw me before I left for Peace Corps. Then I met up with my photographer Korean friend who married before I left for Peace Corps and has done well. He prefers non-K-Pop Korean music. He let me know our high school friend from freshman year who left to study in the Philippines just returned to America. We hadn’t seen him since 2012. I felt so excited, we drove to see him. What an experience. I picked up a huge Thai tea with boba and Hawaiian burger, too. Now that’s Vegas.

Then I met one of my best friends, a fellow world-traveled one, who’s also preparing his graduate application. We also met a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, who served in Bangladesh till civil unrest evacuated them. I’ll cover our coffee shop/bookstore conversations in an upcoming story. Another friend, too, a Catholic I met at university, wandered a mall with me before her own first study abroad. I felt so happy for her.

In there, I noticed what my older brother and his girlfriend meant, about Americans not walking up escalators (lifts), even wide ones. When I got back to Beijing, I saw people did as I remembered, standing on the right side to wait or stepping up the left to go quicker. I felt glad I wasn’t crazy. Though, it made me wish Americans didn’t desire such large personal spaces in public places… We must share.

Last Rides in Reno

Back to Reno! My final day there, morning after the wedding, I donned my Mongolian traditional shirt and reunited with my journalism school and the Honors Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. I reunited, too, that weekend with my fraternity brothers and friends. We talked big ideas, and I imparted notions sculpted by my months in Mongolia. Yet I felt so comfortable seated in the cars, taking walks and lounging between professors’ offices in the city I called home four years.

Many related my youngest sister’s been doing well in her sophomore year at my alma mater. Church-wise, she’s even going through the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults and dating her sponsor, who was my Knights of Columbus successor. (There’s a great coincidence from RCIA 2016 I may touch on someday.) The morning choir loves Sister dearly, though, even as they’ve missed my days, months and years among them. They’re family. Curiously, I even heard my dad’s been attending morning Masses there when he takes jobs in Northern Nevada. I’m glad he hears our remarkable pastor.

My sister and I actually had a falling-out the day I left our college town last May. So I’d written and sent her a formal apology while flying through Kyrgyzstan to Mongolia. Though we made amends over the seven months, I’m glad she’s had the good year I’d hoped for. Though my legacy hasn’t left its halls, I’ve wanted for her her own story. Even our youngest brother means to attend the Honors Program, its new director told me. Ultimately, my sister and I said goodbyes first this time, for she had to leave before my last day in the States.

That noon, still December 31, I also got lunch with my World Youth Day 2019 family. So fitting to end the year where we started it—together. I related the feeling of living the faith in the First Evangelism. They spoke words with such Spirit, I felt touched. They’ve really had my back this year. They kept in touch regularly since I came to Mongolia. I’ve needed that.

I spent the rest of my day slipping around campus, musing down memory lane and delivering gifts of шагай \shagai\ ankle bones I’d also given many for Christmas. I loved sharing Mongolian culture through my gifts. Mongolians wishing me over Facebook, “Merry Christmas,” on New Year’s Day, reminded me, as a Catholic, Christmas and New Year’s really do overlap.

There are so many more in Reno-Sparks I wish I could have seen again.

Northern Nevada’s New Year’s Eve

As evening neared, Dad picked me up from the University to take me near Lake Tahoe, where we would share dinner with the Catholic Regent and her Mongolian daughter-in-law, who first readied me for Peace Corps mere weeks before I went. Dad’s so social. Maybe someday I could match his way with making himself comfortable in a room of unfamiliar peers. Discussions of mining in Nevada and the Gobi Desert set in stone for me how similar my undergrad and current communities feel sometimes. Seriously.

Dad drove me back into town so I could ring in the new year with my newlywed friends. We experienced a multi-faith night hosted in the Reno Buddhist Center. Since I couldn’t find them, I sat in back. I spotted the University photographer who took my portraits at my senior year’s beginning and end, for having done well with my University scholarships and later becoming Senior Scholar of my school. She smiled at me with that familiar twinkle in her eyes.

I enjoyed a joke our kindly cathedral rector made, that evening, about Catholics coming late and leaving early. I hadn’t heard humor like that in Mongolia. He smiled with such affection when he saw me. Later than evening, as the fireworks came up, I approached the front. A woman had me and a classical singing boy join her beating the Taiko drum! What a moment.

The newlyweds joined me afterward, joyful to have spotted me down there. They introduced me to a Native American, an imam and other religious leaders who attended the wedding. They complimented my cantoring. I felt shocked they remembered. Then we took a big photo. We shared the most loving hugs.

Then, the couple and I went outside. Like our times passed, we exchanged goodbyes before my next big trip around the world. Then I got back in the car with Dad. After returning to Mongolia, I’d place throughout my apartment faith filled keepsakes from that beautiful wedding.

The New Year

New Year’s Day, I rode with Dad to Fallon, from where we left to Vegas after rest and a continental breakfast. Seeing his suitcases and the coolers in the hotel room before we loaded the car, I recollected years of road trips with my father and family. I still felt surprised how selflessly he’d driven me around New Year’s Eve, when I wanted to get places. I’d miss these road trips with my dad.

As I stared out the window, seeing the faraway mountains and thinking of that Thanksgiving car ride in Mongolia, I felt grateful to still have Dad well and healthy, after Mom. He still listened to dad rock. I liked that. We’d be home soon.

Through car rides like these, I finished one more big thing in the States. Across my weeks, I blazed through “Pokémon Moon.” This achievement was colossal, since I played in Mandarin Chinese and only touched the game once or twice annually for the three years since my sophomore year at university.

But ultimately, I left it behind in the States. I’m in Mongolia, a world of adventure. That’s my 2020 theme: Exploration. A game would surely distract if I brought it.

Leaving America (Again)

The last friend I saw before leaving Vegas and the U.S. again was also my last friend I saw before leaving for Mongolia the first time.

She seriously helped me pack in May, when I was a mess. This time, we ate out at a restaurant chain I’d seen only during my years in Reno-Sparks. We spoke for hours. Our reunions since college often wind up as these late nights. Though we relate about the voids left since our parents passed, we’ve known each other so long before. I’ve loved we can talk without retelling backstory. She’s one of those friends who’s so real, she knows me better than I do sometimes!

Anyway, seems I grew another way since Mongolia. This time in Vegas, I finished my packing myself.

Before the crack of dawn, I hugged my other siblings bye, before Dad zoomed me across the city for my flight away. That shiny Raiders stadium will probably be done the next time I’m back.

Return to My City

I experienced an amazing time with relatives and friends back in China on my return trip from the States to Mongolia.

January 8, back in Mongolia, I took an overnight sleeper train for my first time alone. I felt darkness’ void in knowing no one. I felt the waves of the rocking train, its lurches and bumps as it shifted and wheels screeched. I felt pensive during the odd morning hours when my sore back woke me. I thought about my identity and new words said before I left. More on that soon.

Peace Corps Mongolia continues.

You can read more from me here at DanielLang.me :)

#Peace Corps #memoryLang #unr #vegas #winter #Christmas #newyear #travel #blessed #love #holiday #Mongolia #memoir #story #Catholic #religion #friendship #family #Reno #university

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deliciouskoalaphantom · 2 years ago

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Wedding Photographerswolverha

Leading Ten Tips For Planning A Wedding

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iwastoldthisisgoodforme · 5 years ago

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7.9.19

Class. Felt a bit jipped since I was placed with lower level people so the exercise ended quite early.

Was planning to head to Lentils but Lorraine texted me after class (she had been sent downstairs with Dave so I thought she already left) and asked if I wanted to chill. I had to jump off the train since she wasn’t even at the station and waited for her. She asked what I wanted to do and I said I was hungry so she said we should go to Town Hall. She asked if I had anything going on later and I said nothing so she teased me for being a loner. On the train she gave me shit for wearing sunglasses since I looked like a douche but I told her my eyes are sensitive to light and I pointed out the old Asian people wearing sunglasses so she said I look like a FOB which I said is fine but I’m still not a douche. We discussed class since she went down with David and his teaching style but also talked about Libby. We said that she’s pretty nice but she is pretty insecure and doesn’t seem to realize it. When we got off at Town Hall I mentioned to her how Libby one time asked if I knew what’s been going on with her the past few months and when I said yes, she asked how I knew and I said that she always mentions it in her circs.

Lorraine suggested some food places including Pepper Lunch but we ended up going to the udon place that I ate at with Mina and Hyejin. While walking there she mentioned how Libby likes someone at the Pulse but she wouldn’t say who although she gave me his initials C.C. which I thought was Chris Combes especially when I asked if he’s a dancer.

She asked me how long I planned to stay at the Pulse and I had to fess up to her that this would likely be my last term. She seemed visibly upset about it and asked if there were any alternatives and I told her the deal with the farm work and trying to get a sponsored job. I also told her about how I had no idea what I’m going to do back in the US and explained to her how I can’t just hold a part time job in the US like I did here in Australia. I also was telling her how I was scared I would end up like my cousins who are single and not really going anywhere but she reminded me that I am not like them because I don’t want to live comfortably and I want do something more. I started telling her how I think a lot of what is holding me down lately is just being exhausted and being tired of trying so hard all the time only for me to fail like my struggles with engineering and relationships.

She asked me if I wanted to head to Tomntoms coffee and chill there. It was like a Korean starbucks from what she told me so I said I’m down, I’m always down. I think we started talking about people dating each other at the Pulse and I mentioned Zac and how he mentioned there was something going on with another girl. I said he never told me who it is and she asked me who I think it is and since I didn’t know her initials I just said she was in today’s class and she immediately guessed Courtney. I asked her why she though Courtney and she said that Courtney just has that personality that she thinks guys would like. I also brought up how Anna said something along the lines of “I want you Chris, I haven’t had you in so long” and how nobody seemed to be laughing at that except me but Lorraine said her and Amandine were trying to keep their laughter in.

After ordering coffee, Lorraine said she was going to use the bathroom and I realized Yuna had called me to my surprise. She apologized for bailing on me last night and she sounded sincere but I told her if I knew she was working so long, I would’ve picked another day. She was asking if I was free that night. I was having a bit of trouble hearing her so I stepped outside but went back in. She said she had some training to do but would be free later so she’d text me when she finished. Lorraine was laughing at me and said I was talking with an accent and asked if I was speaking another language.

When we settled in a little bit, she told me she was going through some things too. She said she had been second guessing her relationship because she doesn’t really put priority into it since she’s always busy with work or acting. She often gets home late. I asked her if this is because she’s just so busy and she wants to put in effort or if she just really doesn’t see him as a priority and she said it’s the latter. She doesn't really put in any effort to see him and said that he loves her more than she loves him and actually said she loves him but isn’t in love with him. But she did tell me she could see herself marrying him and that he was perfect in the sense that he was very accommodating in that he’s patient in letting her follow her dreams and that he would be willing to move to the US in 2-3 years like she wants. She told me James said it sounded like she’s breaking up with him but she said that she was just voicing how she thought and that she didn’t think it was fair to him. He told her she should talk to her high school friends about it since they knew her best. So she was planning to meet up with them later but she said she knew what they were going to say. I told her how I felt, especially about being with someone out of convenience.

She told me she shouldn’t been in a relationship because she’s selfish and she’s used to having things go her way. I asked her if she didn’t want to be in relationship but she said she did.

We eneded up bitching about the Pulse like the prices and how unstructured it is and how they make us figure out a lot of things for ourselves. Not only does it waste our time, it’s misdirectional and we’re wasting money. We talked about Tony’s activity earlier that day and how he had no idea what he was doing to make a good activity and yet he had already done a few yet still didn’t know what he needed to do. Not only that when Chris was questioning him about it, it didn’t seem like Tony really understand the point Chris was trying to make.

Yuna texted me and called saying she finished but I missed her call so I called her back. She asked where I was and when I said at a cafe near Town Hall she said she could be there in about 30 minutes so she would text me when she arrives.

Lorraine and I talked more for a bit but then she started fighting with her boyfriend over text so we didn’t talk so much after that. Yuna called me to tell me she’s in front of the woolies so I went to meet her. When I went to say goodbye to Lorraine, she hugged me tighter and longer than usual.

I saw Yuna sitting down waiting for me. She was facing towards the Woolies so she didn’t see me come from behind. She was quite excited to see me and gave me a big hug. She asked if I was hungry (I wasn’t that hungry because of the coffee but I could eat) and so we went to get food. I asked her what kind of training she had to do at work and she said crime training against robberies which surprised me. We passed by the hotel where Clara and I had drinks so I mentioned that place has a good happy hour so she said let’s go afterwards. I noticed while we were walking she would stay fairly close to me and our hands would brush up against each other sometimes. She wanted Japanese food so we eneded up going to the rice bowl place next to Marukame udon. She got a teriyaki chicken bowl while I got a curry plate (I realized I accidentally ordered one without meat). She gave me some of her food and I let her try my curry as well. She likes spicy food and added more spice to her food. I got her some water and showed her some pics from Hawaii and the wedding. She seemed a little bit reserved when we were eating at first but started to open up a little more as we kept eating. She asked about where I work and I showed her Kintaro’s work location. Yuna also asked if US was cheaper or Australia and I said living and working in Australia is more expensive. I asked if she missed Misaki and she said of course and I said she lost her cooking partner and she showed me some of the food she made in her apartment with Misaki and some of their classmates. She asked me if I had to exchange money when I came to Australia and I said I did and she asked why since we both used dollars. She asked what color and I said green, everything green. She asked if even the coins are green and I said no, silver except for pennies which are copper but she didn't know what that is.

Afterwards, we went to the Albion Hotel although we passed it. We ended up buying a pitcher of Sapporo and she was so excited to see Japanese beer that she took a picture. It was the first time she saw Japanese beer in an Australian pub. She said it was better to share and I know she can drink quite a lot so I knew we should get a pitcher. She said she’d get the next round. We ended up sitting at the same place Clara and I sat.

I asked if she likes sake but she said not really. I told her I started to like sake after working at Kintaro and told her about junmai, ginjo and daiginjo but she just started laughing because I knew more about it than her.

I told her that in the US we need to drive and showed her a picture of my car which she found cool. She didn’t have a car in Kanagawa but her parents did.

Vaguely remember talking to her about pasta and showing her ravioli. She likes Attack on Titan like me. Her favorite is Levi and Mikasa and I agreed but I told her I like Sasha because she’s so funny.

I told her about how we call raccoons trash pandas and how Aussies call the ibis, bin chickens, which she found amusing. I showed her the pet birds I had.

I asked if she did any sports and she said yes and showed me pictures of a skiing trip she went on here in Australia with her classmates.

I taught her a bit of english since she told me about the difficulty she had with lashes and rashes. She showed me some of the beer they have at the pub. I asked if she worked as a bartender before but she hadn’t. She asked me if there’s any words she can use besides cute and I told her adorable (I also said Yuna is adorable as an example). At some point I also told her how certain English words mean different things like tension, which is a good thing in Japanese (excitement) but is generally bad in English unless it is something like sexual tension.

At one point, she showed me some pictures from when she visited Hawaii and I was actually surprised since the picture of her looked quite different from how she looks now. I said she she is still cute but in Japanese which I guess sounded weird so I had to tell her in English that she looks pretty in both pictures. She also showed me a picture of her parents. Her dad is quite tall, even taller than me by but 1 or 2 cm.

She showed me the screenshots she took of her crime training and was saying how she didn’t understand it and asked if I understood but I said I didn’t without the background info. Her phone wallpaper was some Japanese model. She also told me that when she was younger she wanted to either work with animals or learn English but learning English was more practical so she picked that. She also showed me her dog. Her favorite animals are dogs and dolphins and we talked about how smart dolphins are. She told me the cafe she works at, Komma, is fairly new but all the employees are Asian. She said they’re nice but she likes working at the bar more because they’re Australian so she can work on her English.

She had to go to the toilet many times which surprised me since it’s usually me that needs to go. She bought some Carlton Draught for us to try and we liked it.

Yuna was craving ice cream so we walked over to Regent’s place. We saw some cheesecake at Uncle Tetsu’s so Yuna asked if I wanted to share so she bought one and we tried a chocolate one which was pretty good. Afterwards, we went to Matcha and shared the green tea and black sesame. Yuna really liked it because earlier I asked her if she likes dessert and she said she likes ice cream but doesn’t like cake or really sweet things. She kept mentioning how much she loved the dessert. When we sat down to eat it, she actually took a spoonful and fed me so I did the same with her. When we finished, I asked if she wanted to walk around so we went near Mooi and she looked at the earrings. She showed me which ones she liked but said they were expensive. We also tried on some sunnies, some hats, and some headbands with the LINE characters. She was shy about me taking pictures of her.

We walked around more Regent’s like looking at the doriyaki and were going to check out Daiso but it was closed. There was a picture of deer in Nara and I asked if she had been there and she said yes. I asked if she liked deer but she said not as much as dolphins or dogs. I remarked how everything in Australia closes early and how Daiso is expensive there which she agreed. We also checked out the restaurants nearby which I think she had gone to a few. We didn’t know what to do afterwards so we just walked around aimlessly. I asked what she will do tomorrow and she said she will go to a BBQ and invited me but I said I have to work. We passed by a bar she had been to and she said it was nice. I asked if it was expensive and she said not too expensive. We were going to grab just one drink but I got turned away because I was too red. We talked about how crazy that is. In Japan she said everyone is blush and drunk but nobody gets turned away. She asked if I miss the US and I said some things I miss like not being turned away at a bar. I asked if she misses Japan and she said only her family and friends. She also told me that in Australia it is easy to find Japanese food compared to when she lived in Malta. We also passed by her cafe and I told her I would visit her there but she said to visit her when she’s getting off so we can hang out afterwards.

When we passed by a conbini she asked if I like any of the candy there so I said yes and pointed out the sour patch kids and said they have it in the US also. I said they are sour and sweet but not too sweet. She offered to pay for it but I said it was ok. When we opened the bag she took one and fed it to me so I fed some to her too. She really liked them. We were heading towards Darling Harbor and saw a club nearby. She had never been to that club before so we decided to go. On the escalator ride I told her I wanted to try her cooking and she said she would make me a bento and asked what I like. I said anything is fine and she asked what kind of meat I like. When we were trying to find the next escalator we grabbed each others hands and started holding them. On the way down I held her and “Yuna, hontou ni kirei” and she smiled and said thank you. We stood in line for the club and she was trying to hear the music. We took out our IDs but she was shy to show me her passport. When we got in, the cover charge was $25 so we left since it was too expensive. She was really shocked about how expensive it was. When we left, Despacito was playing and she said she liked that song and started singing it. She had a really lovely voice. We mentioned going to karaoke.

We ended up walking around Darling Harbor a bit and held hands at some points and sitting and talking while feeding each other candy. We looked at the flavors and there was blackcurrant which we don’t have in the US and is apparently illegal. I asked if she liked coffee and she said she did so I said if she goes to Lentils in the daytime, I’ll make her coffee. She asked about Lentils since she forgot the name and said how vegan food is so healthy. We also talked about Thai food and I showed her my favorite, pad see ew. I told her how I get paid tomorrow for the floor manager so she said no wonder I work there. She asked if I’m busy next week and I said just Monday and Wednesday and when she asked why I said I have class. She asked what kind of class and I said acting so she was quite surprised. I asked her what season is her favorite and she said fall (she told me how people in Malta were confused cause Brits call it autumn) because she likes the fall colors and her birthday is in fall. She said she wants to go the beach but when it’s warm so she can wear a bikini and I said let’s go (I really want to see her in a bikini).

We walked back afterwards to the bridge but I told her I would walk her home. At times she would hold my arm and I put my arm around her to keep her warm. She showed me the bar where she works. I commented on how I was surprised that hotels here are bars. There was also the Pyrmont hotel we passed by and she said she had gone there with her roommates a few times and it was a pretty standard bar. We also talked about rent prices and her apartment where she lives on the 9th floor. She asked about renting a car and said she wanted to go to the beach so I said let’s go sometime. When we got to her place, she hugged me tight and thanked me so much and told me to text her and to tell her when I get home. Before I left I asked if I could kiss her and she pulled me against the wall so the guy couldn’t see us and we kissed each other a bit. I wasn’t sure how into me she was but she did kiss me on her own before I left.

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