#ft. aylin carrigan sadik.

[luckylewis]

closed for: @aylinxc-s

where: driftwood

"There she is," Lucky beams, giving Aylin a wave along with the greeting as he rises to his feet and moves around the table he had been sat at, looking nothing but pleased to see her as he pulled out the chair opposite him for her. He's gotten accustomed to people moving out and moving on, it was a rare silver lining when someone came back.

[luckylewis]

Lucky: You know if you needed a hand with unpacking I would have made time, let me know 🙂

Lucky: Let’s do 10, looking forward to it!!

@aylinxc-s

Aylin: Perfect! Aylin: I have never been more free in my life so whatever works for you, I'm still just unpacking boxes. ( @luckylewis )

[fiaxsouza]

Closed: @aylinxc-s

Location: Dinner Party

Fia didn't mind the opportunity of dressing up for a good dinner party. Seeing that she would be in town for the time being, she figured it would be a good opportunity to network and meet some other women from the community. Considering she wanted to launch her own PR company by next spring, it'd be best to make connections and foster some new friendships that was in alignment with her vision. As she helped herself to another crostini, she turned her head as another woman approached. "You're Aylin, right? The relationship counselor? Are you able to tell me like your juiciest client story?" Fia knew there was a level of decorum and privacy, but she was curious to know if her own relationship pale in comparison to others.

[luckylewis]

lucky 📲 aylin.

Lucky: Hey, it's Lucky Lucky: [2 minutes later] Lucky: The weird guy from the parking lot 😅

[luckylewis]

lucky 📲 aylin.

Lucky: Welfare check :] Lucky: Also just missed ya Lucky: You been good?

[luckylewis]

👀 hottest people in town?

"Man, I hate these. But if I have to answer then I guess Mac, Aylin, Kate, Sterling, Angel, Cricket, Christina, Emerson and Finn."

@macaulaymontgomery / @aylinxc-s / @katexharmon / @sterlingxlevin / @firefighterrojas / @cricketcampbell / @christinaxwagner / @emersonxcassidy / @finn-brooks

send my muse “👀 + a question” and they’ll have to answer with 100% honesty.

[luckylewis]

closed for: @aylinxc-s

“Oh my god, sorry,” Lucky apologises as he almost sends a beer flying out of the hand of a Cersei Lannister after he tried to step by her — kind of funny, given his Jon Snow costume but he knows that wouldn’t have been the case if the drink had actually spilled.

He takes care to not cause anymore collisions as he locates the Sidney Prescott he’s seeking, a grin on his face as he delivers the gin and tonic he got for her at the bar to her when he was ordering his own Jack and coke.

“For you.” He says as he passes the glass to her, taking a glance around to see if a masked person was lurking by. “Are you here with that Ghostface that’s floating around or is that just a coincidence?”

[luckylewis]

closed for: @aylinxc-s

where: a pharmacy

In Lucky's grand attempt to be more present -- literally and figuratively -- he had finally sought external help for the internal struggles he had been grin-and-bearing it for the majority of his life. It was a daunting move, one that led him down a path of doctors and diagnoses and eventually, some semblance of an answer.

The knowing should have made things easier, but now he was faced with a new kind of anxiety, the sort that came with first fills of a prescription and the unnerving unknown of how he would be effected by what he was being told was an aid.

He had been on a deep scroll of his friend Adam's instagram, liking a recent post about how he had secured a flat to live in in London when he absent mindedly picked up the prescription that the pharmacist waved him over for, too distracted to notice it was one of two sat side-by-side on the countertop.

It wasn't until he was outside and off his phone did curiosity get the better of him, peeking in the bag to see the colour and shape of the box of pills and the instructions stickered to it which was when he noticed something amiss.

"Ah, shit," He said to himself, looking up to see if anyone had exited at the same time at him and if he could how tell if they looked like someone who would be called Aylin.

[luckylewis]

Aylin's words make him smile initially, a swell of pride sweeping through him at even having positives to report for once. For a long stretch, he felt like doom and gloom clung to him like a curse, greying every aspect of his life until he felt like he knew what it meant to be colourblind.

( It didn't feel like that these days. )

"Jobs in my actual field, or at least what I studied at uni. I did software engineering so that's the space I'm looking in right now, though I think I'd take just about anything to get out of the vets."

He had done long enough there and he had the paw scratches on his wrists from wiley cats to prove it.

The threat to circle back to the topic of Mac only makes his smile brighter, which was always what the thought of her evoked for him. If not for Aylin's next words, he would have shared as much. His expression falters then, memories of the only divorce he had ever been in close proximity to swirling. His parents one had been the worst of the worst he had thought, with bitterness and resentment so potent that he felt like it poisoned the bloodline in different ways until Theo and Titan came along.

( Even then, he could only hope when it came to the nephew he would never know. )

"I'm sorry to hear that," He says genuinely, though there had been a brief and stupid stint where that news would have been all he wanted to hear. He knew Aylin well enough to know that she wouldn't have entered into that decision lightly though it didn't make the ringless finger any less jarring, "What made you decide that's what you guys needed to do? You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."

@aylinxc-s

Aylin casts her gaze across Lucky's features, taking in his micro-expressions as he spoke. When they'd first met, he'd been a lot like her - a little lost and unsure of himself. But now, he was practically glowing.

It made her smile widen as he listed off the various reasons he was doing so well. She felt a swell of pride on his behalf. "I'm so happy for you, Lucky. It sounds like you've got so much good happening around you," her tone practically drips with sincerity. "What kind of jobs are you looking for?" Since it's the last thing he mentioned, that's the first question she asks. "But don't think I don't wanna I've skipped over this person you're dating. Because I will be circling back around to hear all about it."

As the tables turned onto her, Aylin dropped her eyes to the menu that lay in front of her. "Oh.. uh, you know, I missed my family and my friends." She contemplates whether to bring her current situation up. But if she could tell anyone, it was probably Lucky. "But also.." her ringless hand went to rest on the table. "Ari and I are getting divorced so.. I moved back here."

( @luckylewis )

[luckylewis]

The embrace was as welcomed by him as the prodigal psychologist, a brief reminder that she still managed to have the same effect on him no matter how much time had passed. There was an ease that came with Aylin's presence and it's not one he experienced often around other people.

( For a brief interlude, the ever-barking racing monologue in his own head managed to simmer down to something easier to ignore so his focus could be present. )

He sits back down with a renewed comfort to him, the mild consciousness he always felt when he was by himself in the busy cafe no longer afflicting him.

"I'm not too bad," He caught it then before it's pointed out to him, the latest small change his therapist was insisting he try make. Re-frame in the positive rather than defaulting to a negative. "I'm good, been good. I've had a great summer, my kid's happy, started dating someone I really like and now I'm job-hunting and I'm very close to breaking free from the little ankle shackle they keep around my ankle at the vet's reception."

Did that count as negative? He hopes his attempt at a joke undercut the possibility.

"How about you? What brought you back?"

@aylinxc-s

Walking through the glass doors of Driftwood, her eyes scanned for her friend. An immediate smile split as soon as she saw him waving at her, a gesture that she immediately mirrored. "Hey!"

Leaning towards him, Aylin gave him a short hug before taking the seat that he'd kindly pulled out for her. "I'm so happy to see you," she said as she settled in.

In truth, she was happy to see any friendly face and Lucky was by far the friendliest. Aylin wished she could say that she was back and better than ever, but it simply wasn't the truth. And the only person who often got the truth out of her was Lucky.

"How have you been? Tell me everything that's happening with you."

( @luckylewis )

[luckylewis]

Lucky: I can't say I've ever seen it, no. I have heard of it though so now I'm tempted to actually go watch it. I will do and I'll report back on my findings 🤣 Lucky: That's cool, doesn't have to be anything outrageous. Mocktails and soft drinks are fun too. Sidney Prescott, dope. That's a reference I actually do know. I love the Scream movies Lucky: I'm going as Jon Snow 🗡️ won't be able to miss me and my direwolf Lucky: Her name's Sunny. Yeah, this is my first proper actual place that she has her own space in. It's way better than the old apartment I was renting Lucky: Exactly, someone has to do it, may as well be me Lucky: I have yet to fall prey to the puka shell allure but I'll keep an eye out for those signs so I can try avoid the full transformation Lucky: Oh wow, you're adopted? That's cool. I don't think I've ever met anyone who is so you're now officially a first for me Lucky: You're not oversharing at all, it's interesting to learn about your life. Sometimes I feel like my life's so damn boring there's not much point in sharing anything about it with anyone. Now I'm realising that's just the shitty thoughts in my head talking 😅

Aylin: You know that movie Serendipity? With Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack? It was like that but for people with depression and set in a dark pharmacy parking lot 😂 Aylin: Oh yay! I'll definitely take you up on that, I'm not much of a drink though. I'm going as everyone's favorite final girl. Sidney Prescott. What about you?? Aylin: That's so cute! What's her name? Is this the first place you've had together? Aylin: I mean, this time of year is like that! A lot of kids are hopped up on scary movies and fructose corn syrup, they could probably do with being called whippersnappers. Aylin: Oof a puka shell necklace?? Now there's a throwback. There's every chance you might just pull off such a bold fashion statement! If you start throwing up random shaka signs though? Might be too far gone Aylin: I love my parents, they're great people but you know, every family has stuff. My mom can be a overbearing, my dad can put pressure on without meaning to. Being adopted can make you feel like you've got extra stuff to live up to, I try and not let it get to me but it does Aylin: Sorry! I feel like I'm massively oversharing

[luckylewis]

Lucky: In retrospect, not my finest hour or most well thought out introduction Lucky: It's not easy. Sometimes this town can feel really big and claustrophobic all at once. Trips me out Lucky: Are you doing anything for Halloween? Lucky: I've been good, moved recently into my sister's old place so I've been getting it set up so it's more kid friendly for my daughter Lucky: Had a slight existential crisis two days ago when I ended up beefing with some kids playing ding dong ditch and realised while I was stood on the porch saying knock on this door again and you'll know about it I sounded like my dad Lucky:

Aylin: The lack of a dimly lit carpark definitely helps things Aylin: I'll remember to change that on my police report.. kidding! Aylin: Good, I guess! Trying to get out more, but pretty unsuccessful. Aylin: How about you? Doing well?

[luckylewis]

Lucky: Think it technically falls under a meet cute even if it was more chaotic than anything Lucky: I get that. Aurora Bay's a weird spot. It's picturesque as hell but if you stare at the picture for too long and too hard it starts to feel a little uncanny valley Lucky: Oh no way, me too. You're going to have to let me buy you a drink if I see you there. What are you going to dress up as? Lucky: Yeah I do 😄 she's four and she's definitely digging it so far. Lots more space for her to claim as hers and I'll gladly let her Lucky: Honestly, I was just short of saying whippersnappers. It was a sobering moment and I was already sober 🤣 Lucky: I feel like you just said the quiet part out loud. By that logic it's my destiny to either have a midlife crisis in my forties and start wearing puka shell necklaces and over saying the word dude or boating around with a wealthy older dude Lucky: Oh no. A stray dude. It's starting... Lucky: Do you get along with your parents?

Aylin: It's okay! Makes for a funny story now Aylin: I love this town but sometimes it does feel like that - like I can't go outside without bumping into someone I know so I just prefer to stay home Aylin: I'm going to that costume party at Sharky's, I've never actually been there before so I hope it'll be fun! Aylin: You have a daughter? How old is she? I bet she'll love the new place Aylin: Hahaha you went full dad mode. "Get off my lawn, you young whippersnappers!" Aylin: As a psychologist, I feel it's my duty to tell you that we all eventually turn into our parents in some way. Aylin: Mine is passive aggressive dish cleaning while saying everything is fine when it's not 🙂 Its very my mother

[luckylewis]

Lucky: Hey!! No way, I'm stoked! Lucky: I'd love to catch up, I'm not working tomorrow and I don't have my daughter until the evening. Can you do sometime in the morning? Driftwood? @aylinxc-s

aylin ✉️ lucky

Aylin: Hey you! I'm back in town for the forseeable future. Don't suppose you'd want to catch up for a coffee? ☕️ My treat! ( @luckylewis )

[luckylewis]

Lucky: I can see that. Tis the season to be merry and a little Unwell 🤣 Lucky: I hope you're getting a break/some time to yourself though Lucky: I'm getting ready for it, turns out there's so much thinking involved when you have a kid. Elf on the shelf shenanigans, presents, Santa visits. It's all go. Fun though, don't get me wrong Lucky: You entering that decorating competition or w/ever it is? @aylinxc-s

Aylin: Sorry! I've been so swamped with work at the moment. People need triple the amount of therapy in the lead up to the holidays. Aylin: I'm good though! Just busy helping people not murder their relatives. How about you? Gearing up for the silly season?? 🎄🤪🎁

[luckylewis]

Lucky: Less lurky too 🤣 Lucky: Mr. Accidental Meds Stealer is actually my full government name Lucky: How've you been?

Aylin: I remember you 😂 Aylin: This meeting definitely less confronting than the last haha Aylin: I had you in my phone as Mr. Meds Stealer