#wrote down all the money spendings from the past week that i had receipts for on hand and/or remembered | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wornoutmouse · 3 years ago

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@midoriyaprofessionalslut

I can't even begin to describe the ask I received so I'm just going to leave screenshots😅😅

Also in the new mha season, I thought Tsu was being petty when she called Mineta Grape-Juice and Shoji Tentacle. But nope, those are their hero names.

Side note: I feel like when Mineta gets old and knows how to work his quirk better, he'll be able to control if they stick or not.

Slight racism, usual smut.

NOT PROOF READ SO LET ME KNOW IF U SEE SOMETHING

If you imagine Mineta as in the picture above and with a mature voice, this is more enjoyable. Or you can imagine someone else entirely.. Cause even as someone who's tolerant to Mineta I can't imagine him getting any hoes much less smashing (at least not on top). It would be like watching a chiwawa top a mastiff.

"This is some bullshit." You shuffle through various papers on your desk, each containing the receipts of Pro-Hero Grapejuice's celebratory purchases. Most of it was random appliances that could in no way be used on a day-to-day basis, but there were others….a shiver goes down your spine, there were others that were just downright perverted. "What even is a nub tickler?"

Being an accountant was something you were good at, the numbers came easy and it was interesting to see the income and ways of business that different people in power displayed. Planning meetings and getting the occasional phone call made everything a breeze, but it wasn't what you wanted to do. Or in better words, this was not whom you wanted to work for. Even being number 6 causes the workload to be higher than should be physically possible in the hero world. That's one of the reasons you never gave praise to the rankings because no matter how low in the chain, a hero’s work is always taxing.

Shifting in your seat you look at the analog clock on your desk. 3:45, you were supposed to come to work at 5:30 which means you once again have no time to sleep. Having these late nights had increased 10 fold whenever Mineta went up in rank even by a little. His way of celebrating was spending his money carelessly and leaving you to fix the balance. Though you supposed it may be your fault for never objecting when he barged in your office showing his trinkets as well as leaving his credit card.

"Yeah, it's time to go." You muttered as you read the words, "Dwarf Cow in the left lot of Wisconsin."

The next hour, you take a detour from your office for the first time in months. Heading down the hall you watch the walls go from the pale greys to deep purple and violet splotches splattered along the wall before it inevitably melds into solid purple walls as you get closer to the front door of his office.

Hesitantly you knock on the door and wait until a muffled "Come in." Rings through the thick wood. The room itself was just as flamboyant as the walls leading to it. A beautiful fuchsia carpet on the floor made you realize that calling in your two weeks would have been better than walking into the Willy-Wonka factory that was this office. Various spherical decorations hung from the chandelier, and even something as simple as the legs of his desk was made up of crystal spheres.

The man himself sat perfectly balanced on a large purple ball most likely of his own creation, meanwhile, various children sat around him slipping and sliding on smaller balls in an attempt to copy him. "Ah, here is my beautiful assistant!" The compliment made you cringe as you fiddled with the end of the sleep-wrinkled white blouse you had worn for 2 days straight. "Can we talk sir? It is important." Mineta raised an eyebrow at your formal speech before shrugging.

In an extravagant display of balance, Mineta does a handstand on the ball with one hand before flipping to the other side. "Well kids it's time for me to get done as a hero’s job is never over and blah blah blah the gift shop is giving out free plushies and you can keep your ball." The teacher does her best to usher out her students and the sound of childish screams resound down the hallway even though the door was shut. "How can I help you Y/n?" Mineta offers you his ball to sit on and you reluctantly take the offer as you grate in multiple directions in order to stay afloat.

Mineta watches you with hidden interest as he interlocks his hands underneath his chin. "I didn't know you even knew my name?" Mineta Laughs exposing his annoyingly perfect teeth. It was hard to associate this face to the pictures you see when you search for his early years. "Of course I know your name, I stole your nameplate off your desk 2 months ago." Ah, so that's where it went "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

You sighed, "I would like to put in my two weeks." Mineta goes slack-jawed before composing himself "Why?" Mineta looked at you earnestly, completely confused on why you'd want to abandon your post as his secretary- I mean assistant. "Working for you has become a hassle with your lack of financial maturity." Mineta mock shivers, "Oo big words, me no likey." Mineta hops onto his desk as if he weighed nothing more than paper and squats in front of you, "How about this, you don't quit and instead help me learn how to...how did you say it? Be financially mature." You lean back in your chair unconvinced that he was taking this seriously.

With the final nail ready to be hit, Mineta adds, "How about I give you a raise of 10 percent and a promotion?" You stand up in your chair with an eager grin, "That sounds great!" Mineta smirks to himself but you did not pay any mind to it. "Great, how about we discuss this over food, dinner date?" Your internal celebration screeches to a halt, " Dinner Date-" Mineta looks at you shocked, "Dinner date? Great idea, why didn't I think of it myself!?" A firm hand slides you towards the door as Mineta starts a complimentary speech giving you no room to object, "This is why I need you, you're so smart, I wish I was like you, tomorrow at 11?" You sputter trying to slip past his arms, "11 but I-?!" Mineta loudly gasps again, "There you go doing it again I'm so lucky to have you, tomorrow at 11 my treat!"

The door is shut in your face and the sound of the lock clicking seals your fate. What did you get into?

Cut to 4 years later and you are still not sure of that answer. Simply being bis accountant you had a glimpse of his perverted tendencies, but as his girlfriend, it was further exposed to depths you never could have found yourself imagining. You shuffle papers in the printing room as you do your best to ignore the faint tingling sensation in between your legs. Yet another whim you found yourself following on Mineta’s behalf despite the ever-present fear of being caught. The vibrator comes to life before going back down as quickly as it came. You toss a middle finger to the camera in the top corner of the room knowing he was watching.

"Miss L/n, can I ask you something?" You slap your arm down to your side in embarrassment. I hope he didn't see that. Your coworker walks up to you holding a small stack of papers. "Yes, how can I help you?" The man shows you various forms as he talks, for once you were thankful for Mineta not embarrassing you in front of others. "Oh I see where you went wrong, this right here would be a 20% increase, not 18%." The man applauded you and graciously wrote down your explanation. "Thank you so much, my name is Kaminari by the way."

"Ah hello, Kaminari, and no worries I'm always glad to help!" You turn back as your papers finally scan through but can't help notice Kaminari lingering. "Say Y/n?" You open your mouth to respond only to close it again as the vibratory comes back to life strongly. "Hmmm?!" Kaminari peers at you, your reaction was strange but he couldn't figure out why. "Um, never mind, have a nice day Miss. Y/n, maybe we can get together over coffee or something?” You shrug turning away from Kaminari in fear of your eyes rolling up. The man sways from foot to foot awkwardly before leaving the printing room.

Snapping out of your personal flashback, you look over at your fiance signing autographs for his adoring and objectively feminine fan base. While it was extremely unnerving how unknowingly close they were to your home, you weren't resentful of their gushing.

Your engagement and your overall relationship had not been made public in fear of your personal life being exploited by paparazzi. That doesn't mean, however, the next thing you witness doesn't get your blood boiling.

A girl, no older than maybe 22 waltzes up to Mineta with the confidence of Muhammad Ali in a ring match. Her raven black hair fell flawlessly down her back with not a single split end. Almond eyes decorated with precise coal blink rapidly to draw attention to her seemingly natural eyelashes. With 4 inch wedges. a black halter top, and cuffed jean shorts, it was clear she was someone on a mission. She effortlessly pushes past the nearby fans as they stop to quack at her rivaling beauty. A smirk draws itself with her soft pink lips as she hears people muttering around and about her.

"Wow she's so pretty"

"They would look good together just look at them."

"Ugh, such an attention whore, not giving the rest of us a chance!"

"I bet a 20 she's his type."

"Is she famous?"

The chatter comes to a close as the girl hands Mineta a notebook, "Can you sign right here?" Mineta flips open the book and his eyes widen a fraction before he puts on his heroic voice, "Wow it looks like you got all of Japan's heroes in this book!" The girl smiles as she watches Mineta scratch his signature, "Don't be afraid to leave your number in there too Mr. Minoru." Mineta pauses at the statement for continuing his elaborate handwriting, "I don't think that would be very plus ultra of me so I'm gonna have to pass." Smug pride fills your chest as you watch the annoyance cross the girl's face.

Mineta finishes signing and hands her back her book, she, in turn, forces a small piece of paper in his hand before holding his chin and kissing him. At that moment nothing else mattered but beating that bitches ass as you yanked her black hair and dragged her to the ground. "This ain’t Wattpad bitch get your hands off of him!!" You turn to Mineta making him flinch with a sharp glare as you yank her hair again, hopefully pulling a few strands out. "You just gonna let her kiss you and not do anything!?" Mineta stretched his hands towards you cautiously, "Y/n calm down, if you would have given me a chance I would have settled it-" "No, settle it now!"

Your rage is diminished by the judgmental looks coming from the fans and you realize your brazen display was out of order.

"Who is she"

"I think she's the secretary l, so why is she so mad"

"Delusional just cause you're with him all the time doesn't mean you're together"

"I hope he fires her."

"This is why we shouldn't let them in Japan"

The girl whose hair you have in a chokehold stands up unbalanced before pushing your hands from her hair. Satisfied at the disheveled look of her previously perfect strands, you turn to walk back to Mineta, your anger having been sated, "Black Bitch." You turn around and go charging towards the girl again grinning when she flinches. Your rampage is stopped as Mineta wraps his arms around your waist and picks you up, "Sorry for the disturbance, we deeply apologize!"

It's almost comical how your mouth spews vulgarity that would make a sailor blush as Mineta drags you behind your apartment building. He ushers you through the back door leading to the washroom, "I can't believe she'd do that in front of me, and you let her!" Mineta shuts the door quietly, leaning his ear against it to listen out for any lingering fans. You sit on top of a washer still ranting as your blood cools down. "The nerve of some of these people is outrageous, even if she doesn't know about us that is still sexual harassment!"

Mineta doesn't look at you and instead peeks through the blinds lining the washroom windows. "I think they are gone, come on." The two of you sneak out the door and walk at a moderate speed all the way back to your front door. In hindsight, you knew that causing a scene like that was a bold move on your part. If anyone was recording the whole ordeal you knew Mineta’s name and possibly yours would be in the headlines by later this evening.

As the last one entering, you lock the door behind you, forehead scrunched together with apprehension. "Mineta I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me. I just saw her touching you and saw red." You face away from the door with an earnest look on your face. Mineta has a cheeky look on his face that can only mean trouble. Despite your similar slim build and height, Mineta easily corners you against the door. "I know exactly what got into you." Mineta’s pointer finger taps your nose. "Jealousy."

You sighed, putting your head down nodding, "Yeah, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just-" "shhh." Mineta lips your head back up with a hand under your chin. "It's fine Y/n. It's not like I expected a perfect little cocksleeve like you to be okay with sharing." You stare blinkingly at Mineta. 'Oh, he's in one of those moods huh?' As expected from such a fiend like Mineta, he was quite possibly hard the whole time he was watching you beat that girl's ass, and for some reason that irked you even more. “Mineta I’m being serious.” The words leaving your mouth did not phase Mineta, he holds your hips and pulls you close to him in order for you to feel his bulge.

“Oh come on, after seeing you be so possessive for me, how can you not expect me to be a lil turned on?” Mineta’s hands circle your ass before slapping it, “Made me feel special.” Rolling your eyes you lean into the lingering kisses he begins to leave on your shoulder. His grip tightens as he shuffles you to the nearest surface. “Makes me feel all giddy inside to know that you do this only for me and no one else.” Minoru unbuttons your dress pants and removes your belt, “But doing that in front of all those people was stupid.” A shiver travels up your arms from the feeling of lips caressing your ear. Mineta dips his hand into your cotton panties and immediately draws attention to your clit.

“Look at me, Mineta Minoru with a girl like you that would fight for me. Who would have thought?” You ball your fists on the table, hanging your head low. “You’re not going to make this easy for me are you?” Mineta slips his other hand beneath your blouse to cup your breasts. Short l rub down your slit collecting your slick. The feeling was warm and buzzing just underneath your skin, the bastard was well trained on how to slowly but surely bring your pleasure to its peak and hold you there. Your muscles begin to feel more and more like jelly, you sigh “Oh God..” Mineta pushed his body further on yours, rutting against your body. Up until now, his other hand was simply resting on your skin but once impatience overcame him, he used it to pull down your pants.

“You know this will be in articles tomorrow right?” Two fingers curl inside of you making you squeal, “Y-Yes!” Something hard and slick smacks against your bare ass as Mineta removes the bottom half of his hero costume. “So how are you going to compensate me for what I’ll have to deal with tomorrow?” You turn your head to the back with a small pout on your face, “She shouldn’t have touched you.” Mineta coyly smiles before pressing your head down against the table. “You should have let me handle it.”

Mineta was an average of 5 inches in length with conservative girth. But so far he’s been the only man that really added proof that size doesn’t matter. Mineta pulls away from you and leans down to riffle through his pants. You hear a crisp pop of a cap being opened and a slick splatter is heard afterward. A shaky breath leaves Mineta’s lips as he lubes his cock up. Penetrating is a struggle at first, the longer it takes for him to push it in the more both of you become frustrated until he finally pulls your waist back against himself. “S-So good!” The pleasure causes his childhood lisp to slip through as he waits for you to acclimate to the stretch.

You shift your feet when Mineta refrains from moving. "Tsk, you really don't understand the meaning of patience do you?" Your hands suddenly become cool to the touch as Mineta covers them with medium sized spheres temporarily gluing you to the table. "Mineta this isn't fair! Please just a little bit to the left!" Now having you helpless Mineta puts one hand on your back while stroking the base of his cock. "It's not about being fair, it is about teaching a sneaky brat like you to know their place." Mineta begins to move but it's not right, he needs to go more to the left, "Mineta what are you even talking about!?!"

A sigh leaves Mineta's lips, "Don't think I forgot about that slick shit you tried to pull with Kaminari." Mineta watches your ad shake and bounce everytime your hips meet. Your arms twitch and pull at themselves wanting to find purchase on the flat surface. Groans leave your lips as Mineta comes closer to hitting your spot, "Slick shit?! Y-You're the one that wanted to do that stupid little piano in the first place!" You couldn't see it but Mineta had a deep seated glare on his face. He loops his fingers underneath his yellow scarf and rolls it around long ways.

"I'm really tierd of your mouth. What you think because I let you beat that girl out their I'll let you beat me?" The middle of the scarf is put in your mouth and your head is pulled back by it. Mineta holds both ends of the scarf to slam into your cunt. "Just a greedy little bitch aren't you?" You scream into the cloth as Minetas cock finally hits your spot just right. The constant pulling on the corner of your mouth burned everytime the fabric rubbed against the sensitive flesh. Your feet rise to your toes in a fruitless attempt at getting a break from the pleasure. Mineta holds his scarf in one hand and pushes down your waist. "Didnt you want this? Don't run from it now."

Your pussy squelched around his cock the faster he went making you go cross eyed. "Fuck you feel so damn good. The table rattled and scraped across the floor with every thrust. "oh fuck, I'm gonna cum!" Your nails scraped the table as you closed your fist, had you had claws it would have been a whole different story. You beared down on his cock, trying, begging to feel more inside of your walls as he moved faster. Suddenly your argument fel worth it.

Mineta knew many things about himself. He knew his birthday, he knew where he was in life, and he knew he had come 6 minutes ago and was bordering hysteria as he pumped his overestimated cock into your wet heat. Each drag made years collect in his eyes. Tiny whimpers left his lips and his hands squeezed your sides harder and hard. "So fucking warm. Squeezing down on my dick like that."

He bowed his head and rested on your back, kissing the sweaty skin as he pushed through the painful pleasure. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Mineta slaps your ass before pulling out and shoving his fingers inside your pussy. "Cum for me, Y/n. That's it cum on my hands." Mineta's fingers were the only thing that never really grew on him. They were relatively short but thick so even three of them were able to stretch your hole the way you needed.

"Y-Yes, right there shit!" Your cum drips down his arm soiling the fabric there as you squint around him, "That's it give it to me." Mineta buried his face in your pussy licking you clean like a man starved. It wasn't until you whined did he stop and pull his fingers out.

Luckily for you, his spheres were just about coming close to their time constraint. You stand up rubbing your wrists and drinking some water Mineta brings you. A snort captures your attention and Mineta holds up his phone, "Not even an hour." Writing in thick bold words read.

"Obsessive Secretary Snaps on Camera!"

You snort, "I'm the obsessive one huh?" It was going to be a long day tomorrow

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foodbytesback · 4 years ago

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The Rise and Fall of Bon Appetit

Sometimes life comes at you fast. Sometimes, that means stories in the food industry break in such rapid succession that you have no time to blink in between. Sometimes, it means someone found out about something racist you did a few years ago. What happens when it’s both? Ask the fine folks at Bon Appetit.

In recent years, Bon Appetit made a name for itself, rising from the ashes of dying print media, through its Youtube channel featuring a diverse cast of personalities. But over the course of this past week, many of the publication’s executives have been found to foster a toxic workplace culture, rife with racism, sexism and homophobia.

Before I get too deep (because this is going to be a long one), I feel the need to point out that while this story’s breaking happened to coincide with Black Lives Matter protests across the country and gained traction from people’s outrage towards inequality, the events that have unfolded should not be blamed on “cancel culture,” “political correctness run amok” or any other reactionary dismissal of critical thinking. Adam Rapoport didn’t lose his job because Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter came to be because of the damage that many in positions of power like Rapoport have done in both mainstream media and society as a whole.

[Also, yes, there are going to be a lot of links to Instagram posts that have been screenshotted and uploaded to Twitter. Clearly the real takeaway from this debacle is that I need to get an Instagram account. Also also, thanks to Tumblr’s new rules about offsite links, you’ll have to go to my main site for the full receipts.]

Preamble

Shortly after the killing of George Floyd, Adam Rapoport, Editor-in-Chief at Bon Appetit, wrote an editorial highlighting some of the coverage they’ve given to black chefs. Many criticized this as being superficial and performative, with others saying that BA has, on numerous occasions, shut down articles relating to black culture for not being “trendy” enough or otherwise was discriminatory towards black employees. (Also, the repeated use of “uprisings” instead of “protests” seems a little suspicious.)

An article from Eater criticized the role BA played in the appropriating and whitewashing of many cultures’ ingredients and cuisines (gochujang, Aleppo pepper, and sumac seem to be some of BA’s favorite ingredients) that had become prevalent in food media in recent years.

While it’s a fairly minor offense in comparison, it may also be worth bringing up the time Rapoport accidentally called Priya Krishna “Sohla,” the name of his other Indian employee.

Monday, June 8th

Food writer Tammie Teclemariam posted a screencap of an Instagram post made by Rapoport’s wife, which depicted the two of them donning Puerto Rican stereotypes as Halloween costumes, brownface and all.

Many were quick to declare their outrage and demand that Rapoport either resign or be fired. Meanwhile, Sohla El-Waylly, one of the leading stars of the Youtube channel, was one of the first BA employees to speak up, and disclosed that this kind of behavior was just the tip of the iceberg. She said that BIPOC workers have been paid disproportionately for their work, including not being paid a per-video commission that the white stars of the Youtube channel receive.

Molly Baz, one of the aforementioned white stars, announced that she would no longer make videos for BA until all of El-Waylly’s demands were met. One by one, their white coworkers chimed in in agreement.

Former staff photographer Alex Lau also wrote an extensive tweet thread about his experiences at BA, including how he had futilely tried to fix the system from within.

By the end of Monday, Adam Rapoport had resigned from his position as Editor-in-Chief.

Tuesday, June 9th

Since Rapoport’s official resignation did little to fix many of the systemic problems in place at BA, many began to turn their attention to other senior members of the staff.

Some came for Andrew Knowlton, the Restaurant Editor, for behaviors such as gaslighting an employee for trying to bring up racist practices in the offices.

Others called out Matthew Duckor, a VP at Conde Nast and BA’s former “Head of Video” (Did a 3 year old come up with that job title?), for a series of old racist and homophobic tweets. He tried to apologize by saying that he was young and didn’t know any better at the time, but many were quick to point out that he was, at the youngest, 20, aka for all intents and purposes An Adult when he wrote those tweets.

Tammie Teclemariam returned to ask current and former BA employees to DM her information about Duckor that they didn’t want to go public with themselves, ranging from his hand in the aforementioned pay disparity to making inappropriate comments towards women.

Teclemariam also did even more social media muckraking and found that Drinks Editor Alex Delany had once decorated a cake to look like a Confederate flag, while others found things like a Vine where he says the f-slur and some questionable comments about women on this Tumblr. He later deleted his Tumblr and Twitter, and issued a cookie-cutter apology on his Instagram.

She also vague-tweeted that Brad Leone, one of the most beloved stars of the Youtube channel, is “possibly not a great guy,” but later added, “don’t fret.” At that point, some began to accuse her of just trying to stir the pot.

Ultimately, Matt Hunziker, director and camera operator for Leone’s show, reported that the higher ups were ignoring the situation regarding the pay disparity, and that they were not “learning and growing.”

Wednesday, June 10th

By this point, journalists were able to do more thorough investigations and put together exposés that were more than a blurb about an accusation followed by a nut graph.

Business Insider published an article where they interviewed 14 current and former BIPOC employees of Bon Appetit. In addition to information already discussed above, it also described events such as an incident where several BIPOC staffers were told they weren’t allowed the test kitchen. (Carla Lalli Music, the Food Director at the time, would later defend her stance in the affair on Twitter.) Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, a black woman who served as Rapoport’s personal assistant, recalled that she would often spend her day doing menial tasks like polishing her boss’s golf clubs or trying to teach his wife how to use Google Calendar. In another incident, Knolton called Rick Martinez a “one trick pony” for only developing Mexican recipes, which is what he was being forced to do so BA could tout “diversity” bonus points. Martinez would also say that the magazine under Rapoport’s tenure “went from old and irrelevant and white-washed content to young and trendy white-washed content." (Martinez would also upload a more graphic description of the treatment he received to his Instagram that same day.) Later that day, Business Insider would also report that Duckor had left the company.

Vice would liken Rapoport to Michael Scott from The Office, but noted that that kind of bumbling, endearingly insensitive bad boss archetype isn’t as charming in the real world where real employees are being affected. Parallels were also drawn between the Youtube channel and The Office itself, stating that the “quirky workplace” facade put on in the videos helped hide the more sinister practices that lurked beneath the surface, and that the notion that they were “one big family” often pressured BIPOC into doing more than their fair share for the greater good.

Jezebel showed email transcripts where Rapoport argued the semantics of having his costume be called “brownface” when he wasn’t wearing makeup, and had to be explained to, like a child, that the term refers to the racist caricature and not the literal act of putting brown makeup on one’s face. What a douche.

Bon Appetit published an official apology on their site, a whole two days after the controversy began. Many believed that their empty promises of “learning from their mistakes” were a day late and a dollar short.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, former BA writer Alyse Whitney said that senior editor Andy Baraghani had, on several occasions, used his influence to undermine her efforts. Whether this had to do with racism, sexism, or just Andy being petty is up for debate, but still constitutes as unprofessional behavior to say the least.

Thursday, June 11th

As interest in the story seemed to wane for many in the industry, Claire Saffitz, arguably the face of the Youtube channel, released another statement on her Instagram. She said that her relative silence was due to taking time to find the right words, and that the same-old promises to “learn and grow” that most had been giving felt empty and performative. Unlike many of her white coworkers, she directly apologized for being complicit in the toxic environment and for not using her status to try to leverage even pay for her BIPOC coworkers.

Another BA Youtube personality, Amiel Stanek, also released a statement in response to BA’s official press release, where he demanded Conde Nast to stop avoiding action by setting vague timelines for changes or making excuses for not giving BIPOC workers raises like “the money just isn’t there.”

Associate editor Christina Chaey also opened up about her experiences with being pushed into more and more videos to “diversify” them- all without compensation.

Friday, June 12th

The biggest scandal of the day was that, as Teclemariam predicted, Brad Leone is possibly not a great guy. A leaked screenshot of an Instagram DM showed him making callous, almost Trump-y comments regarding El-Waylly’s demand for better pay. He also allegedly said that if Delany were to be fired (as of that day he had been sent on leave), he would quit.

Saturday, June 13th

The New York Times published an article suggesting that the issues prevalent in BA’s management may go all the way to the top of Conde Nast. Highlights include Chief Executive Roger Lynch chastising the whistleblowers within the company for raising their concerns in such a public manner and an account of an incident where he gave his black assistant a guidebook on how to speak “proper” English.

The Sporkful released a special episode of their podcast containing interviews with several current and former BA BIPOC workers. Nikita Richardson divulged that after she was laid off, a story she had already done all the leg work for was picked up and credited to Amanda Shapiro, a white staff writer who is now acting Editor-in-Chief in lieu of Rapoport. Sohla El-Waylly confirmed that the self-congratulatory editorial Rapoport wrote in the wake of George Floyd’s death was the real beginning of the end, and that the racist photo was just the final straw. She also described a company-wide Zoom meeting held after the photo began to be spread around where Rapoport issued a half-hearted apology, and began talking about how he would “fix the brand” before El-Waylly demanded he resigned. Furthermore, she revealed that after her Instagram posts began circulating rapidly, Duckor had offered her a new contract with increased pay, but she is refusing to sign it until all BIPOC have received similar compensation. She also said that she had a hand in the wishy-washy statement that BA had published on Wednesday, and said that it originally had taken much firmer stances on the issues but their PR office made them tone it down. Also, she commented that Leone, for the most part, just seemed like she “genuinely think[s] [that he] just found out racism is real.” Ultimately, she was glad that the story was getting as much coverage as it was, since it made her feel that her voice was finally being heard.

Sunday, June 14th

Baraghani released a statement on Instagram apologizing for his behavior, saying that trying to achieve his personal goals in BA’s toxic, competitive environment made him lose sight of solidarity with his fellow BIPOC.

While that may seem like the end of the story for now, it’s important to note that, even with the resignation of two executives, nothing has truly been done to fix the systemic problems at hand.

#bon appetit #adam rapoport #matt duckor #alex delany #sohla el waylly #molly baz #carla lalli music #andy baraghani #brad leone #clair saffitz #amiel stanek #tw racism #tw homophobia #tw sexism

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cali-holland · 4 years ago

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Priceless- Tom Holland One Shot

Pairing: Tom Holland X Reader

Prompt: You’ve never liked people spending money on you or being at large parties, but Tom seems to forget that as he goes a bit overboard when celebrating your birthday.

Word Count: 3100

Warnings: swearing, mentions of alcohol

Masterlist Tom Holland Masterlist

*Gif is not mine*

A/N: I wrote this weeks ago and forgot to post it, my bad if it’s shit- it’s unedited; also I have no clue how much student loans are in the uk or if they even exist so i made it based off the us average and i’ll just stop rambling now oops

~~~

“Tom, this place is really nice.” You breathed out in awe of the dimly lit, but extravagant restaurant. While you felt almost embarrassed by your simple little black dress and non-designer shoes, your hands began to shake a little, thinking about how expensive this dinner must be.

“Anything for my special birthday girl.” Tom beamed, pulling out your chair for you to sit down.

“I wish you would’ve told me we were coming here. I would’ve dressed better.” You said quietly as you sat down in the chair, eyeing the women in fancy dresses at the tables surrounding you two.

“What are you talking about? You’re the best dressed person here.” He sat down across from you, adjusting his tux as he did so, and a sharply dressed waiter came up to the table, offering you two champagne immediately. Before you could kindly decline the offer, Tom insisted on the drinks.

“We’re celebrating tonight.” Tom stated, holding up his champagne flute out to you once the waiter had left. “To the best day of the year: happy birthday, Y/N.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, clinking your own glass against his before drinking the expensive liquid.

Being with Tom for the past two years, you were used to the sweet date nights and the amazing birthday gifts; today was just different though. He’d never taken you to such an expensive restaurant before, not one that is so pricey that they don’t even bother to add prices on the menu (which upset you because you couldn’t even choose the cheapest option). You loved your boyfriend very much and you were appreciative of all the romantic dates he took you on and of the incredible gifts he’d give you, but sometimes it concerned you how he’d so willingly spend his money on you. He’d give you a million dollars if you asked for it, no matter what day it was. That is exactly why he didn’t know about your student loans or any of your past due bills- you were a staunch believer in making your way on your own, and that meant not using your boyfriend’s seemingly endless cash flow to help yourself out.

Tom knew you weren’t a fan of him spending money on you, and he also knew you weren’t one for big parties or celebrating your birthday. The diamond necklace that sat on your neck from your last birthday was proof enough of how Tom used your birthday especially as an excuse to give you more expensive things.

“You know I’m paying you back for this, right?” You said as you looked over the menu. Tom laughed, shaking his head.

“You’re not paying for your birthday dinner.” He replied, taking your free hand and holding it in his.

“I’d let you pay for the full meal if we were at McDonald’s, not at some 5-star restaurant.” You stated.

“I think it’s only 4-star.” He joked, but his smile dropped when he saw your frown. Tom lightly squeezed your hand in his. “Let me spoil you tonight, please? Just for tonight.”

“You’re unbelievable, Holland.” You rolled your eyes at him, but still cracked a smile, your thumb gently tracing against the back of his hand.

“I love you, Y/N, but I’m paying for tonight.”

“I love you, too.” You smiled, and he leaned over the table to kiss you.

After a rather delicious five-course meal, you and Tom got into the car, and he took off his suit jacket. While he removed his tie, you took the opportunity to look at the dinner receipt from his jacket pocket.

“Wait, stop!” He reached to take it out of your hands, but it was too late because you had already seen the receipt.

“£400? Are you crazy?” You exclaimed, blinking to make sure you’d read the receipt right- that wasn’t even including his very generous tip (which you weren’t going to complain about that bit).

“Was it not a good meal?” Tom questioned, taking the receipt back from you and putting in his pants pocket this time.

“It was the best food I’ve ever had. I just wish you wouldn’t spend so much on me.” As he pulled out of the parking lot, you took out your phone, pulling up Venmo.

“No, you’re not allowed to pay me back.”

“Well, I said you weren’t allowed to spend that much money on me.”

“It’s your birthday, please let me spoil you a little.” Stopped at a red light, he turned to you and pouted. You sighed, locking your phone.

“For your birthday, I’m taking you to a ridiculously expensive restaurant too.” You pressed a kiss to his cheek before the light turned green and he had to start driving again. It took you a minute before you realized he was going in the wrong direction of your flat. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we could go for some drinks before going home.” Tom suggested, but something about his smile made you think it wasn’t a spontaneous thought.

“Yeah, why not?” You replied, not seeing the harm in just going with him. It’s not like you had a choice since he was already driving there anyway. You really just wanted to go home and have a nice night with him, but he was excited about whatever surprise he had planned for you and you weren’t going to ruin that for him- you already felt guilty enough about the dinner (although you did actually really enjoy it, all expenses aside).

“What are you up to?” You asked as he parked the car in front of a strange building. It was too dark for you to even try to guess what it was.

“Come on, love, you’ll see.” He smiled, getting out of the car and hurrying to open your door before you had the chance to. He held your hand, walking you up some sketchy looking stairs. It wasn’t until you got to the roof of the two story building that you really got confused. It was far too dark for you to decipher what was going on.

“Happy birthday!” A large crowd of people shouted, the lights kicking on to illuminate the roof. You smiled, speechless, seeing all the people cheering for your arrival. You weren’t even sure that you recognized a good amount of them.

“Happy birthday, darling.” Tom grinned, wrapping his arms around you. He gently kissed the top of your head, proud of his work.

“Wow, thank you.” You told him, sounding effortlessly enthusiastic about the party. Music started playing from the large speakers, and people started dancing along to the beat, getting back to their own conversations.

“Follow me.” Your boyfriend tugged on your hand, dragging you through the crowd to the far corner of the room, where a birthday cake was sitting in the middle of a large table. The cake itself was the size of a small table; in fact, you were sure it wouldn’t be able to fit on your own kitchen table. It was the most beautiful birthday cake you had ever seen for yourself. Covered in white frosting, it had your favorite flowers and lace all around it with “Happy Birthday, Y/N” written in your favorite color across the middle.

“Do you like it? I got it from the nicest bakery in town. My mum helped me with designing it, and I know we already had dessert at the restaurant, but you can’t have a birthday party without-” You cut off Tom’s nervous rambling by kissing him softly.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you.” You reassured him, giving him another kiss to calm his nerves and to calm yours as well. You already knew how expensive dinner was, and something told you this party and that cake definitely wasn’t on the inexpensive side of things. His heart was in the right place, but it was just too much for you. Needing another distraction, you spoke up again, “Drinks?”

“Right this way.” He led you over to the rooftop bar, ordering you both a couple cocktails. As the bartender worked on the drinks, Tom got a call and stepped out to the stairs for some privacy.

“If you’re the birthday girl, why are you looking so down?” The bartender asked you, a kind smile on her face.

“Is it wrong of me to say I’m not into big parties like this?” You replied with a small laugh, “I’m grateful for it, but it’s not my scene.”

“So I’ll make this extra strong for you.” She joked, but still had a heavy hand as she poured tequila into the mixture, “You know, you’ve got a pretty remarkable boyfriend there. I’ve worked here a long time and no one’s ever rented this whole place out.”

“I’m sorry?” You questioned, not sure what she meant.

“This is a rooftop bar. We don’t do individual birthday parties, but,” She trailed off whistling, “When someone offers up that much and they’re a celebrity, can’t exactly say no.”

She laughed and slid your finished cocktail over to you. You knew she meant nothing bad by her words, and yet you still felt your gut twist as you looked around the party at everyone socializing. It was a sweet gesture, yes, but did Tom really have to dent his wallet for it? With how much he was spending for today, you knew it had to have some effect on his wallet.

Just before you could take a sip from the cocktail, your phone dinged. You looked at it in confusion as a notification came through from your bank account app: “new transfer pending”. Your heart started to race, thinking someone was somehow scamming your money, but when you looked, you saw a ridiculous amount of money being transferred into your account with the memo: “happy birthday, darling”.

You shot up from your seat at the bar and marched off to find Tom. He was still at the stairs, having just gotten off the phone with a small smile on his face. He must not have processed the angry look on your face as he started, “Your birthday gift still isn’t here. I’m sorry, I really wanted it to arrive by today.”

There was a lace of sadness in his voice, clearly disappointed, but you couldn’t focus on that. Instead, you held up your phone, displaying the new transfer on your bank account. “What the hell is this?”

“That’s for your student loans.” Tom said, the happy smile returning to his face. “I don’t know how much you owe because you won’t tell me, so I just kind of guessed.”

“Tom, you can’t just give me 15,000 pounds!” You exclaimed in frustration.

“Is that not enough? I can-” He started, reaching to take out his phone again.

“No.” Tom paused at your harsh tone, “Stop giving me money. It’s suffocating me. The world already thinks I’m a golddigger just because I’m dating you and they know I can’t afford diamond necklaces.” You pointed to the shiny piece on your neck. “I know your heart’s in the right place, but I can’t keep feeling like this, like I’m your charity case first and your girlfriend second. I want to be with Tom Holland, the dorky boy from Kingston that I fell in love with, not Tom Holland, the celebrity that just flaunts his wealth every chance he gets. If you want to make me happy and make me feel special on my birthday, make me a cake yourself or something; I’d much rather have something priceless with sentimental value than have something expensive that you bought just because you could.”

It was Tom’s turn to be speechless now, completely taken aback by your words. You sighed lightly, stepping forward to give him a quick kiss.

“Thank you for tonight, but I think I’m just going to go home.” You left down the stairs quickly, calling for a cab as you did so, leaving Tom abandoned at your own birthday party as he tried to process how his genuine actions backfired so much.

You didn’t sleep well that night, too caught up in knowing you’ll have to talk to Tom about all this eventually. It wasn’t something that you wanted to break up with him over, unless it got too out of hand, like if another 15,000 pounds suddenly appeared in your bank account. As much as you needed the money and appreciated the thought, you couldn’t accept it. You loved Tom because he was so considerate and thoughtful, and you knew he was only doing this because of that loving personality of his.

It wasn’t until later that night that you started to grow worried about your relationship. Normally, if you two ever fought (which only really happened once and for some reason neither of you remembered now), it would take only a couple hours before one of you apologized, and it had been hours since you left Tom, hours since you last heard from him. You had texted him last night to let him know you got home alright, to which he replied later that he was also home, but there was no “we need to talk” text or call.

Just as you were about to go lose yourself in a pint of self-pitying ice cream, you heard a knock at the door. You were expecting Tom on the other side when you opened the door, but you weren’t expecting him to be holding a covered platter and a gift bag.

“Is it too late to celebrate your birthday properly?” Tom asked, hopefully. You smiled, stepping out of your apartment to give him a kiss.

“Come on in.” You replied softly. You opened the door further for him to step inside beside you. He placed the gift bag and the platter down on the coffee table in front of your couch.

“I’m sorry for last night. I overdid it. I just wanted you to feel special.” He said, sitting down on the couch and you sat down beside him.

“I don’t need a fancy dinner or a big party to make me feel special. You make me feel special whenever I’m with you.” You reassured him, and he picked up the platter, shakily handing it to you.

“I can’t promise it’ll be any good, but I tried.” Tom admitted sheepishly as you unwrapped the aluminum foil around the platter. You smiled in awe, looking at the two layer round chocolate cake on the glass platter, which you now recognized as Nikki’s. It was the exact opposite of the cake from last night- a messy frosting job with no flowers, lace, or letters. You could even see the cake sticking out from under the frosting when it was spread too thin.

“You- you baked me a cake?” You asked, looking over at him. You felt tears prick at your eyes and Tom let out a nervous laugh.

“You’re not supposed to cry. Does it look that bad?” There was a sense of worry in his voice, but he felt relieved as you leaned over to kiss him.

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” You set the cake aside to come back to it later.

“I didn’t make the frosting though. I tried, but it was too runny.” He stated, making you giggle.

“That’s when you add more powdered sugar.” You explained and he handed you the gift bag next. “Is this what was supposed to be here by yesterday?”

“Yes. It arrived this afternoon. There’s actually two things in there.” He replied, a smile playing on his face while he wrapped an arm around your waist. You reached your hand into the bag and felt around. You didn’t need to fully unwrap the tissue paper to know it was a jewelry box, your eyes subconsciously widened at the feeling.

“It’s not what you think it is.” Tom laughed, knowing you’d think it was a ring.

“Not like we don’t know my answer to that.” You teased as you took out the gift. You opened the small black box to see a thin silver necklace of your birthstone resting against the velvet backdrop.

“Now, if you don’t want it because of last night, I- I can take it back.” He offered, scratching the back of his neck. “I know you don’t want me spending excessively, but I saw this weeks ago-”

“Tom, I love it.” You gently took it out of the box, handing it to him so that he could put it on you.

“Okay, so the last one,” He started nervously, before rambling, “I’ve been working on it for a couple weeks, I just needed the one last thing to actually finish it though, so I couldn’t really do it until today. I can always fix it if it doesn’t look right. And, yeah, just open it.”

“Well, now, I’m intrigued.” You laughed, slowly pulling the last gift from the bag. Tom tensed beside you, but you were far too overwhelmed, holding back tears, as you looked over the blue photo album. You turned through the pages, taking in each photograph he had put in it, reading each comment he’d written under it. It was like a story of your relationship over the years, and there was still plenty of room left in the back of the book for the future.

“See, the book was late, and that kind of set me back. I didn’t mean to ignore you today, but between the book and the cake, I was preoccupied.” He laughed lightly.

“You’re by far the best boyfriend ever. I love you so much.” You turned to him, letting a few tears escape. He wiped them away, cupping your cheek and kissing you.

“Happy belated birthday, darling.” He told you softly once he’d pulled away. You quickly got up to grab a couple forks from your kitchen before sitting on his lap on the couch. You balanced the photo album in your lap, so you could continue to go through it, while Tom held the cake platter.

“Let’s see how good this cake is.” You teased, clinking your forkful of chocolate cake against his. Tom watched as you ate your forkful first. The sweet chocolatey taste you were expecting wasn’t there; instead it tasted bitter and almost like bananas. You swallowed it and smiled, trying to play it off, but Tom could tell.

“It’s shit, isn’t it?” He asked, putting a forkful in his mouth before you could respond. He groaned at the horrible taste.

“Did you store it next to bananas?” You laughed.

“Only for like a hour!” He defended.

“I think you put too much baking powder in here. It shouldn’t be that bitter.”

Tom sighed, setting the platter down on the table. You smiled at him, still laughing a little at the cake, “You tried, and I love you for that.”

“I love you too.”

~~~

Tag List: @viagracex @theamazingtomholland @harrisonosterfieldhazmyheart @joyleenl @t-o-m-holland @lonikje @sleepybesson @sunkisseddreamer @hollandsamor

Tom Tag List:@quaksonhehe @tomkindholland

#tom holland #tom holland fanfic #tom holland one shot #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland fic

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shannygoatgruff · 4 years ago

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Only Fan(s) - A Thriller

Genre: Thriller

Pairing: Modern Ivar/OC

Warning: Language, sex, stalking, obsession, kidnapping, sexual assault

Rating: MA+18

Summary: Sometimes OnlyFans subscribers want a little more than internet pictures. Sometimes they want to be your ONLY fan…

Header by: @flowers-in-your-hayr

Thanks to @xbellaxcarolinax for being my beta.

Disclaimer: This story will deal with some topics that might be a little uncomfortable for some people. As always, I’ll try to tackle the hard stuff as tactfully as possible.

a/n: I wrote this months ago and let it sit on the shelf. I’m finally ready to dust it off and give it another go...so let’s see what it do...

Part iii - Trifecta

Torren Sykes hadn’t lived what anyone would consider an exciting life. In fact, in her twenty-three years, she had only just left her mom’s double-wide trailer in East Bumble Fuck less than a year ago. Not quite 365 days later, she still didn’t have a pot to piss in, nor a window to throw it out of.

Truthfully, she usually didn’t know where she would be getting her next meal - that sort of thing wasn’t really a big deal to her. She actually liked the mystery of it all. There was something undeniably sexy about not knowing what the day would bring - who she would run into, or have to take something off of to survive. If someone else had to get hurt so she could make it through another day, such was life. She’d won. Those other people just needed to be better at playing the fucking game, plain and simple.

Besides, pulling a caper or two kept her on her toes. She learned how to pull off the best of them from her mother. It’s not like adulting was one of Leslie’s strong suits.

If only her mother had been more like her Me-Maw, now that woman was a saint. For reasons that Torren never cared to ask, she lived with her Me-Maw until she was five years old. Leslie would periodically visit her to drop off the obligatory present on Christmas or her birthday if that bitch remembered. Not that they were ever good presents – just some cheap ass, unwrapped items she happened to pick up at the dollar store. Torren couldn't remember a gift that she had received wasn't still in the plastic bag with the receipt in it.

Cheap, whore.

Just once she would have liked a real baby doll from Toys-R-Us, instead of those cheap, hard, plastic dolls that the hand molds weren't cut out evenly, and the jagged edges cut the shit out of her face when she tried to sleep with it. But, that was Leslie. Torren didn't choose her; Leslie sure as shit didn't choose her daughter.

It became painfully clear to Torren that her mother didn’t want anything to do with her after her Me-Maw died. Unfortunately, she found herself as her mother’s unwitting roommate at a very young age, forcing the girl to spend a lot of time alone.

By the time she turned nine, Torren was convinced that her mother was a prostitute and she was a trick baby. It was the only explanation she could come up with seeing as how her mother never worked but always had enough money to pay the rent, keep the lights on, and have plenty of booze, chips, and hot dogs in the fridge.

Not that Torren had many other life experiences with a working parent to compare her situation to, but it just seemed pretty fucking difficult to have a job if one were passed out drunk all the fucking time. Besides, who had time to work when during your waking hours you were spending them with one of your many, many boyfriends?

Torren used to wonder if one of the multitudes of men that would traipse in and out of that trailer were her father - but the more she got to know what type of person Leslie was, the more she realized that whoever that guy was, had gotten the hell out of dodge.

Lucky son-of-a-bitch.

But for all of Leslie’s flaws, she did manage to impart her three philosophies of life onto her daughter - the three things that Torren still lived by to this day. It was the least she could do. God knows that whore sure as fuck didn’t do anything else for her.

Mama’s Life Lessons #1 - There is no such thing as too much black eyeliner

As trivial as it sounded, it proved to be a precious lesson. Shortly after she had moved into the trailer, Leslie had forced Torren to sit on the bed and watch as she got ready for another one of her "dates". She had told the little girl that beautiful eyes were the one good gene that ran in their family. “You got to learn how to work ‘em,” Leslie exhaled a long plume of smoke at her reflection in the vanity mirror, “You listenin'? This's important. This right here," she held up the black liner pencil, “is gonna be your best friend.”

Of course, Torren had no idea what she meant. How was a pencil going to her friend? She didn’t really care so much as what her mother was saying to her at the moment, it was more of the fact that she was actually talking to her that made Torren hang on to every word.

That’s why she picked up the black liner pencil from her mother's cluttered vanity table and leaned over to look in the mirror. She tried tracing her bottom lid, the way her mother had done, but at six it was a little easier said than done. She had just learned how to color inside the lines with a fat crayon; mastering the art of applying liner would have to wait a few more years.

Leslie, however, was not willing to wait that long, "What the hell's amatta wit'chu, Dumbass? You doin' it all wrong," she said snatching the pencil from the girl's hand. Grabbing Torren roughly by the chin she said, "Gotta teach you every goddamn thing. Hold still." She mumbled more curses and said something about her good-for-nothing mother not teaching her brat anything useful.

By the time she had finished cursing her name, Leslie roughly turned her daughter's head toward the mirror, "Yeah you got those eyes. Now, learn to use ‘em.” Leslie dropped the pencil onto the vanity before picking up her drink and shooing Torren away.

That was the day that Drew Watkins bought her an ice cream. It had to be the eyeliner. It was a true fact, not just another one of her mother's drunken theories. Eyeliner and her eyes...she didn’t know how she used them, but they worked.

From that day on Torren opted to never step foot outside without heavy black liner again.

Mama’s Life Lessons #2 - As long as there are men around that want to fuck you, you will never need to work

It wasn’t like she going to go out and get a real job. She wasn’t raised with much of a work ethic. She was too young to remember if her Me-Maw worked and what she gathered from her mother was that there would always be men around to take care of her.

Leslie told her that she didn’t need to work because working a man was a full-time job. If she were doing that right, she wouldn’t have time for a fucking 9-5. It didn’t matter if he was in a relationship, gay, or the fucking Pope. As long as he a dick and she could bend over, and her eyes were done, her rent was as good as paid.

If she wanted more than just the basic bills paid, she would have to rethink what all she was willing to do - but just make sure she didn’t do too much otherwise she couldn’t guarantee a steady paycheck every week.

This sage advice didn’t make much sense to 8-year-old Torren, but as the years progressed she started to work it into one of her life’s mottos. She would never want for anything. She could always rely on the kindness of strangers and when that got to be too boring, she could always take it, just to spice things up a bit.

Mama’s Life Lessons #3 - If you want something do whatever it takes to make sure you get it

As a child that grew up with the television as a babysitter, Torren Sykes knew that she was destined to love Ivar “Lothbrok” Ragnarsson since she was a little girl. Ever since that day she turned on the TV and saw this adorable blue-eyed boy drawing Mickey Mouse ears saying, “I’m Ivar Lothbrok and you’re watching the Disney Channel,” she knew that he had to be hers.

He was co-starring on a show called The Baker Boys, about three foster kids, who had come to live with a family that owned a bakery. Ivar’s character was named Simon Baker - a mischievous kid that lived with his grandmother until she died and never felt like he fit in with this cookie-cutter family.

His life was just like hers - minus the cookie-cutter family that loved him and all. She was actually with more of an alcoholic whore that didn’t give a shit if she lived or died, and not pulling stunts in a bakery with flour and messing up orders like him, but she still saw them as kindred spirits.

When the show got canceled she was devastated. How dare the world try to keep her from her man? Didn’t they understand this was love? Didn’t those people at Disneyland know that he was the only person in the world that understood her?

As if on queue, she happened to find the Season 2 DVD box-set at the library one afternoon. Her mother had kicked her out of the trailer because she had a date and couldn’t have the dumbass child around fucking things up for her. Torren had nothing else to do - at 11-years-old, she had no money, and nowhere to go. At least the library was air-conditioned.

She wanted that box-set. Slipping it into her backpack unnoticed was the easy part. Trying to get it past the alarms would be harder. She watched for a while, paying particular attention to the way the check-out system worked.

When the librarians changed shifts, she let a smile cross her lips as she picked a few random books from the shelves.

Her beautiful eyes went as big as saucers when the alarm buzzed, and the young male librarian looked down at her, still clutching the large reference book to her check. Carefully she had stepped across to the other side of the alarm sensor waiting to collect the books she was checking out.

“I’m sorry, you can’t check out reference books,” the young man said, blinking his hazel eyes at Torren, the corner of his lip tugging into a smile.

She let a pout fall on her lips as she lowered her large eyes down to the book in her arms, “Oh...sorry.” She handed the book back, “I didn’t realize I still had it.” And like that, she walked out of the library with her prize.

She had stolen for Ivar...now if that wasn’t love what was?

The only thing that had threatened their love through the years is when Ivar got married. It damn near broke Torren’s heart. How could he be so cruel? She didn’t give a fuck that the marriage was short-lived. She even understood why he had to do it. He had gotten that bitch pregnant, and he didn’t have much choice. But, he cut her deep.

Didn’t he know how much she loved him? Didn’t he know that she stuck by him when he had joined 6cess and had seen him in concert 3 times? She still had the autographed photo of the two of them from the signing at Spring Hills Mall - when she was wearing that blue midriff cardigan and ripped jeans and he had his arm around her. That shirt brought out the color in his eyes. She even wore Happy, which he said was his favorite perfume. She thought it smelled like Comet, but she stole a bottle of it from Macy’s right before the photo-op to smell good for him.

And he went and pulled this shit?

Besides, Johnny Law said that she was still too young for him and that he could get arrested for being with her. She knew that he had to pretend to have a normal life so that no one would know about their love affair. She was just understanding like that. It gave her time to grow up a little more so that when they could he be together, the law wouldn't be standing in their way. She really didn't give a fuck, but she suspected he did. Why else hadn't he come for her?

Torren didn’t even like their music. She wasn’t a boyband kind of girl, but for him, she would make the exception. She was more of the gangsta rap or heavy metal type girl. But if Ivar was serenading her, she’d listen to sappy, wrist-slitting, emo, shit rock all fucking day long, because she loved him.

She hated that he had gotten that whore pregnant, too. She understood that he had to pretend that they had a normal marriage. She knew that when he was fucking that bitch, he was really imagining it was her. The years apart had made him a master at hiding his true feelings for her. He couldn't give anyone cause for suspicion. If he let on the truth he could risk losing everything…his house, cars, job, and his kid. That whore was trying to keep them apart. But, she was just a small obstacle that posed no real threat to Torren.

She did not doubt that she would be his daughter's new mommy. The kid would probably be sad at first that she wouldn't be with that other woman like Torren had been when her grandmother died. But, the kid would get used to it. Torren was going to be a whole hell of a lot better at being a mom than her piece of shit mother was to her. That was for damn sure. She was going to teach her stepdaughter all about eyeliner, and how to dye her hair.

She was going to teach her what party clothes every woman should have in her wardrobe and how to get a man to do whatever she wanted by just batting her eyes at him. She would even share her secrets on what pills to mix and what dosages to give for submission, making a man catatonic, and if she was really good, she'd teach what to put in a drink to kill someone. Hell, she even planned on giving the child her most discrete drug contacts. That would of course have to wait until she was older – at least 13. She was going to be such a good mommy.

Ivar's daughter was going to love Torren as much as Torren loved him. They were going to be the perfect family.

Torren was as hopelessly devoted to Ivar as he was to her. He had waited for her to become legal. Just months before she was old enough to legally consent to sex, and get married without parental permission, his marriage started falling apart. She knew that Ivar was trying to make a clean break from his wife, and get his daughter used to the idea of them being apart before he could come home to her.

Torren had been thoughtful and respectful enough to give him that space to make sure everything was right before she stepped into the role of the new Mrs. Lothbrok. He had to test the waters, make sure that she still wanted him as much as he wanted her. He had to get back into the swing of things…have sex constantly to make sure he could keep up with her. She knew that "the prude" wasn't doing it nearly as often as he needed to - why else would he have an Only Fans page?

Torren was the only one that could feed his appetite, and he hers.

Now, they were both finally ready. She was mature and developed. She knew what she needed, and it was him. He had his fun before her, but now he was auditioning again and getting everything back on track for them. He had a great relationship with his daughter and his dumb ass ex-wife finally understood that their relationship was a fling that went too far.

His face told her everything that her heart already knew. He loved her.

Why else would be looking at her like that? She could feel herself blush when he smiled on Instagram like that into them. Then he gave her that smile. That was her smile; the one that he reserved for her during their private times. Yet, there he was doing it in front of an audience of millions, and he didn't care who saw it. He had to let her know that it was time for her to come home. It was like a sleeper cell being awakened.

She didn't have a choice. She did what any other woman in her position would do. She packed a bag, threw it in the car she stole a few days before and drove. Armed with her trifecta of knowledge and determination, she prepared to face the obstacles that were bound to get in her way. There was nothing that was going to stop her from getting her man.

Nothing.

Part ii || Part iv

Tags: @ideagarden-blog1 @youbloodymadgenius @xbellaxcarolinax @a-mess-of-fandoms @didiintheblog @conaionaru @peachyboneless @flowers-in-your-hayr @heavenly1927 @zuxiezendler @waiting4inspiration @saldelys @didiintheblog @revolution-starter

#OnlyFan(s)#modern ivar #shannyland #trifecta

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vsquadgoals · 5 years ago

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Golf Club (G.D)

A/n: This idea randomly popped into my head and wouldn’t go away until I wrote it so here it is.

Summary: Y/n is a cart girl at a country club in CA and she often works with Sean Dolan, she becomes part of the family and extremely close with Sean until he passes. Once Sean passes the only way she can cope is by leaning on a certain twin.

Y/n was a cart girl at the best country club in California, she ended up getting the job one summer when her best friend told her about it and she never left, it wasn’t just the money that made her stay, she honestly just enjoyed the job. She had been doing it for about 2 years now since she turned 21, it helped her pay her way through college and keep up with her rent. Most of the girls that she worked with were in it to flirt with the rich men and the large tips, Y/n however of course enjoyed and needed the money but she also had fun with the members and they all came to learn quickly that she wasn’t the type to help them cheat on their wives, that didn’t stop most of them from flirting though.

She carts for Sean Dolan and his family along with other members the difference is the Sean requests her and if she’s available he gets her. Now I know what you’re thinking but it wasn’t like that, Sean wasn’t like that. He was the kindest man she knew beside her own father. Sean wasn’t like the other men at the club, he was very kind to her and treated her with total respect while the other men were constantly flirting with her, begging her to come with them on these lavish vacations that she had to promise not to tell their wives or families about. She of course always politely declined. Sean usually came alone but once and a while he would bring his two twin boys, well maybe not boys, they were probably a year or two older than she was. Sean has taught his boys to treat y/n the same way he did, with the utmost respect and not like the other members kids do. Most of the members kids looked down on girls like her treating them like they were less than them, most of them assuming they’re sleeping with their dads or trying to sleep with them themselves. Sean was a very wealthy man and if you saw him outside of the very expensive club you would never know it, he was so down to earth and never flashed his fortune. Sean was the order of Dolan Construction, the most popular construction company in most of California, any big project being done was probably one of his jobs. Grayson and Ethan Dolan sometimes got a little cocky about their family money, but Sean always quickly put them in their place and taught them to be grateful.

Y/n loaded her cart with everything she needed including various alcoholic beverages for the members to buy while they were on the course. Once she pulled the cart around to the front of the club, she was greeted with Sean’s bright smile along with Grayson and Ethan. “Good morning Mr. Dolan.” She said quickly grabbing his clubs from him and putting them on the cart, Sean rolled his eyes and chuckled, “Y/n this is the last time I will tell you, call me Sean, We’re far too close for you to call me Mr. Dolan.” Y/n smiled at him and nodded before apologizing, Grayson and Ethan climbed onto the cart as well after saying their hellos to her. “So, how are your classes going my dear?” He asks once they get to the first hole and Grayson is up first. Sean was always so interested in what was going on in her life, it was nice for someone to ask about her for a change. “Fantastic, graduation is in a few weeks Mr- Sean.” Sean chuckles at her slip up and nods. “That’s great, you’ll have to tell us when and where so we can come and support you. Y/n blushed and smiled looking down at her tennis shoes. “You don’t have to do that.” She says shyly. Ethan smirks and pats her shoulder as he walks past her. “Of course, we do Y/n, you’re family to us we wouldn’t miss it for the world, and they didn’t. Y/n gave all the information to Sean before they left that day and they we’re practically front row, the entire Dolan family, clapping and cheering when her name was called and she crossed that huge stage her legs shaking a bit from nerves. After the ceremony was over, she was met outside by the Dolan family who found her fairly easily since her father stood so tall, they could see him hovering over almost everyone. Sean and Lisa hugged her tightly congratulating her on all of her hard work finally paying off, once they finish congratulating her, they were talking to her parents who they had met once before. Cameron is the first to hug her. “Thank you, guys, for coming, it really means a lot.” Y/n beams her heart so full in this moment. Grayson is the last one to pull her into a hug his arms squeezing tightly around her waist. “Congratulations.” He whispers into her ear making shivers go down her spine, that was new. Y/n blushed and smiled at Grayson. “Thank you.” She says her voice sounding so small. Grayson hands her a long skinny box and smiles wide. “This is just a little gift from us all.” he says forcing it into her hand. “Oh no, no. I can’t accept this.” She says now looking toward Sean who shakes his head. “Sorry my dear, I’m sure we’ve lost the receipt, so you have no choice but to take it.” He says smirking at her and winking. Y/n frowns at him before its replaced with a smile as she slowly opens the box revealing a silver chain with a beautiful diamond crusted gold club on it. She giggles and bites her lip trying to convince herself not to burst into tears in front of everyone, she looks at Sean and smiles wide tears threatening to spill, Y/n hugs him tightly before hugging the rest of them. Y/n had told Sean multiple times during their long talks on the course while he golfed how much this job means to her, if it wasn’t for it she wouldn’t have been able to afford school, and she wouldn’t have met the Dolan’s who were such a big part of her life now. It was the perfect gift, one day she would get a job in her career and she would have to leave the club and this huge, meaningful chapter of her life would be finished. Grayson took the box from her hands and took out the chair before placing it around her neck securing the clasp, she turns to look at him smiling and he takes the charm in his fingers smiling at it before putting it back against her chest. “Perfect.” He says making her blush again.

The Dolans took her and her family to dinner that night and it was perfect, spending time with her favorite people and watching her parents get along with Lisa and Sean. It was two weeks later, and Sean hadn’t come to the club all week, it was starting to worry her. She made the choice to wait a few more days before calling him to make sure everything was okay, the next day he was back, and a smile planted on his face as always. “Y/n.” He hugs her and smiles, she smiles and hugs him back. “You were starting to worry me.” She says once they separate his not reaching his eyes anymore. “Can we talk outside?” He asks and her smile falls from her lips and she nods following him out to a small bench on the side of the building. Y/n sits next to him turning her body to face the older man, he was looking down at his lap, she could tell something was wrong. “I’m sick Y/n, cancer.” Her face went white, she thought she was gonna throw up. “I-- What?” Sean looks at her with sad eyes and nods. “I wanted you to hear it from me. But I’m okay, I’ll be okay and I’m still coming here, nothing will change that.” He pulls her into a hug again. “I don’t want anything to change so pretend this conversation never happened. Y/n bit her lip pushing away her tears as best she could and nods. She would do that for him.

She saw Sean at least 3 times a week, even when he was sick. When Sean got sick it got bad pretty quickly, quicker then they anyone anticipated, even the doctors so, when he couldn’t golf anymore he would still come to the club just to see her and talk, check how she was doing, how her job hunt was going, he never let her ask about him, and when she did, he always waved her off and told her he was the picture of health even if he was far from it.

It was about a week before he passed away when he stopped coming, Cameron told her that he was too weak to make the drive to the club even with the boys help. She begged them to let her come and see him but they told her that Sean wouldn’t let anyone come visit, he didn’t want anyone to see him like this and remember him lying in bed weak and very, very sick. When her boss told her there was a phone call for her, she knew exactly what it was, she had been praying that this moment wouldn’t come since the day Sean told her he was sick. While she was working and, on the course, she wasn’t allowed to have her phone which is why they were calling the club. Grayson was on the other side of the phone his voice shaking and weak it made her chest tight. “He loved you so much y/n he talked about you all week begging us not to let you come, he didn’t want you to remember him like that. I’m sorry we couldn’t, you were another daughter to him and we’re so grateful for you being a friend to him.” Grayson stops talking and clears his throat trying to push away the tears that hadn’t stopped since last night when he finally passed. Y/n was leaning against the wall in the office clinging the phone to her ear. “Grayson…” her voice cracked, and a small sob slipped past her lips “I’m so sorry. Please tell me what I can do.” Y/n’s voice was shaking as well and she was holding onto that necklace like it was going to leap from her chest and she would lose it too, just like Sean. She didn’t know what to say, his father had just died and here he was apologizing to her and thanking her. It was almost a full minute before Grayson was able to compose himself and speak again. “We’re okay right now. I’ll have my mom send you all of the service information.” Y/n nodded before realizing he couldn’t see her. “Thank you Grayson… he was the best man I knew, I loved him very much, he was another father to me and I’m so grateful to have been able to spend so much time with such an incredible man like him. He talked about how proud he was of you and Ethan more then you guys probably know…” she clears her throat again “he loved you guys very much.” She can only muster a whisper for the last part and soon Grayson is thanking her holding back a sob before he hangs up. Y/n left work right after she got off the phone with Grayson, she stayed in bed and cried for three days until she had to pull herself out of bed with the help of her mom and shower making herself look presentable enough to go to his services.

After Sean’s services y/n took 2 weeks out of work but she cried every single time she was alone until she fell asleep for two months straight. She had only heard from Grayson since his father's services, he would text her almost every night when they both needed someone the most, they would text and sometimes call each other and just cry on the phone together for hours. It was officially 5 months since Sean had passed and she was slowly getting back into the groove of things at the club, she had put a halt on her job search not being able to focus while she was on an interview lately so she figured it was best to put it on hold for now. None of the Dolans had been to the club since Sean passed except for Lisa which surprised her the most, she would come at least once a week to use the pool, play tennis or just to chat with Y/n, it was a pleasure to see her every time, she treated her like family just as much as Sean did, she was grateful for that. Lisa told Y/n that the reason the boys hadn’t been to the club was because they were helping her run Dolan Construction since they had worked so closely with Sean in the business. She understands of course and little to Lisa’s knowledge she already knew this information since she regularly talked to her son Grayson. Her friendship with Grayson was just that, a friendship, they both needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to talk to that understood. Of course, Grayson could talk to Ethan or Cameron, but he could never let them see him cry or talk to them the way he could talk to Y/n and he wasn’t exactly sure why he was so comfortable talking to her, but he loved it.

It was Saturday morning and Y/n was packing her cart a little slower today, Saturdays were a hard day for her usually because it was a day that she always spent with Sean and the twins. Y/n brought her cart around to the front of the club to pick up her member, she stood from her seat and fixed the skirt of her uniform making sure she was all covered, she wasn’t in the mood for some old dude to try and grope her today. Y/n walks to the front desk to find out who she was going to be with today but before she could get an answer from her manager two strong arms were wrapping around her waist and lifting her off the ground making her squeal. Ethan set her back on the ground chuckling, “Hey stranger.” She says smiling wide and wrapping her arms around him hugging him. Ethan frowns a little. “I know I’m sorry. We’ll make more time for you, I promise.” He says teasing a little but mostly being serious. Y/n makes her way to Grayson once Ethan lets go of her, Grayson smiles wide and wraps his arms tightly around her waist hugging her close. “Hey Sweetie.” He says kissing the top of her head making her blush. “Hi Gray.” She pulls away from him not wanting to make Ethan suspicious but quickly realized he wasn’t paying attention. “So, who are you guys with she asks hopeful.” Grayson rolls his eyes. “Who else? It’s Saturday Y/n obviously we called like last week to make sure you were free.” Y/n smiles wide and wraps her arms around him again. “Thank you, Gray. I was really struggling this morning.” She admits quietly to him and he nods kissing her head again. “I know, me too.”

The three of them had such a great time, the twins were having a great game and they were having so much fun goofing around and reminiscing about Sean, all good memories of course. It was moments like these that they needed to help themselves cope with the loss, talking about the good times and remembering him happy, healthy and goofing around. Y/n and Grayson were leaning against the cart while it was Ethan's turn to putt. “You should come to dinner tonight.” Grayson says to her nudging her with his elbow. “We miss having you around.” She looks up at him and smiles shyly at him. “I don’t want to intrude.” He rolls his eyes and puts his arm around her shoulders pulling her into his side. “You’re never an intrution Sweetheart.” He tells her making her blush. “What time should I be there?” She asks making him smile. “Dinner is at 6 as usual.” He tells her before pushing himself off the cart and grabbing his club from her hands and taking his turn. “E, Y/n’s coming tonight.” Grayson tells him not bothering to look at them, Ethan’s face lights up and he smiles wide. “Thank god!”

It was around 5:45 when Y/n’s uber pulled up to the Dolan household. She straightened out her sundress before she walked to the front door and knocked, Y/n always tried to dress up a little bit when she went to the Dolan house even though Lisa and Sean always told her she was welcome no matter what, but she liked to look nice. Cameron was the one to open the door a wide smile on her lips but very tired eyes meaning she was still struggling like the rest of them. Y/n pulling her into a very tight and loving embrace. “Hi.” She mumbled as the older girl nuzzled her face into her friends' neck. “I’m so glad you’re here, I missed you.” Y/n smiled and nodded. “Me too.” She followed Cameron into the house and into the kitchen where Lisa was just starting to pull everything out of the oven, even though she could afford one of the best chiefs for the family instead of cooking herself she would never do it, she always said that she loved cooking and would cook for her family as long as she could. Lisa also told Y/n a few times that she cooked way better for her family and knew what they liked way better than any chief ever could which always made her giggle. “Oh, thank god you’re here.” Lisa sang before putting everything on the counter and wrapping her arms around the small girl squeezing her tightly. “Don’t ever stay away from us this long ever again, you have to promise me that you will coming to dinner every Saturday.” Lisa says as she holds the girl arm's length away, Y/n giggles and nods. “Pink promise.” She agrees making Lisa smile and nods. “Good.” Cameron had left the kitchen to do who knows what and Y/n leaned against the kitchen island watching Lisa closely. “Do you need help Li?” She asks making her smile over her shoulder at the girl. “Don’t be silly, my kids never help me in the kitchen, and they won't start now.” She says winking making Y/n smile and blush a little, she could never get over how grateful she was for them bringing her into their family with open arms the first time Sean had invited her over for dinner. “The twins should be downstairs.” Lisa tells her. “You don’t have to hang out with this old lady.” Lisa teases making Y/n gasp. “Don’t ever call yourself old again Lisa, you’re far from it.” Y/n hugs Lisa before leaving the kitchen to find the boys.

Y/n knocked lightly on the basement door, Sean had furnished the entire basement for the twins and they had a living room, their own bedrooms and a bathroom down there. Ethan opened the door and smiled at the girl in front of him. “Hey beautiful.” he says before opening it wider so she could come down the stairs. “Hey E.” Once she was at the bottom of the stairs standing in the living room, she turned to look at the older twin. “She kick you out of the kitchen again?” He asks making her giggle and nod. “Ruthless.” He says chuckling. “Well Grayson should be out of the shower any second so you can wait out here if you want. I have to change before we eat.” Y/n nodded and sat on the couch crossing her legs after Ethan left the room. Y/n took her phone out of her purse and looked through her emails while she waited, she had sent her resume to a few hospitals hoping to get an interview, she was starting to feel more ready to start the search again. Just as she was about the read an email from her top choice hospital, she heard a door close making her look up. Y/n made eye contact with an almost completely naked Grayson, he was still wet, and his soaked hair was hanging in his face, a towel wrapped very loosely and low on his hips. Y/n’s eyes widen, and she blushes unable to look away. “Y/n? Shit sorry, I didn’t know you were down here.” She bites her lip and finally looks down at her lap and shakes her head. “Sorry, Ethan let me down, he said to wait out here for you.” Y/n told him shyly, Grayson smirked when he saw her flushed cheeks. “Give me two seconds.” He says heading into his bedroom to quickly get dressed, he quickly came out of the bedroom again clothed this time. She looked up at him and smiled shyly. “Sorry again.” She says making him chuckle as he sits next to her. “No worries sweetheart, I should’ve known you would be down here soon.” Grayson puts his arm over the back of the couch behind her. Before they can talk about anything else Ethan comes into their living room and nods toward the stairs at the two of them.

Dinner was delicious as always and Y/n compliments Lisa making her smile and thank her. “So, Y/n/n, how's the job search going?” Cameron asks making Y/n turn her attention to her. “It’s okay... I stopped looking for a while until a few days ago I started sending my resume out again.” Y/n tells her, and they nod except Grayson, Y/n had told him that she couldn’t handle the interview process anymore, but she didn’t tell him that she slowly started putting herself out there again. “You didn’t tell me that.” Grayson says making Ethan look at him a little confused, sure everyone knew that she talked to each of the Dolan’s besides just at the club but you could tell by Grayson’s statement that they talked more then she talked to the rest of them which Grayson hadn’t told his family. A small smirked danced on Lisa’s lips, she loved Y/n so much and always prayed since she first met her that she would click with one of the boys but her and Sean never pushed. Y/n bites her lip and looks at Grayson nodding. “I only sent it to like 3 hospitals, one of them though is my DREAM hospital in the area. Their NICU unit is the best in the state.” Grayson smiles listening to her gush over the potential job, he knew how much she loved the career path she chose, and how eager she was to get into the field. Lisa watched Grayson and Y/n talk quietly to each other, the way Grayson looked at her made Lisa’s heart swell there was so much love and affection in his eyes. Sean had always told her that he thought if Y/n dated either of the boys it would be Grayson, they were far too similar not to end up together.

Y/n stood from the table and started collecting everyone’s plates and ignored Lisa who is telling her to put them down. She brought them into the kitchen with Lisa on her heels. “Y/n. You know you’re not allowed to clean up or anything around her.” She tells her taking the plates from her hands making her frown. “At least let me help please.” Lisa sighs and opens the dishwasher. “I’ll hand them to you, and you put them in but that’s it.” Y/n smiled happily and nods, it was a win in her eyes, she never let her even do that. Y/n hummed while she took the dishes from Lisa’s well-manicured hands and putting them neatly into the dishwasher. “So, you and Gray have been talking a lot?” Lisa asks making Y/n blush bright red. “Um... Who-” Lisa giggled and shook her head. “A mother can tell Y/n, plus the way he looks at you tells me everything I need to know.” Y/n didn’t know her face could get redder but here she was. “I hadn’t noticed.” she said biting her lip continuing to put the dishes into the machine until they were done. Y/n leaned against the counter and zoned out her mind racing now. Lisa put her hands on Y/n’s shoulders and smiled at her. “I also see the way you look at him and it was the way I looked at Sean. I don’t want to pry or anything, but I see you as one of my children and I’ll always tell you how I’m feeling and be honest with you.” Y/n smiled at her and hugs Lisa tight. “I appreciate this family more then you’ll ever know.” She whispers making Lisa smile and kiss the top of her. “Now don’t tell Grayson I said anything to you about this, he’ll kill me.” Y/n giggles and nods. “My lips are sealed.”

Y/n was sitting on the couch in the basement next to Grayson while they watched a movie, Ethan had made plans with one of the guys from work, so he had left almost an hour ago. Y/n pulling the blanket Grayson had given her up to her chin as she leaned into his side her eyes glued to the tv, but her mind was focused on the way his fingertips were lightly rubbing up and down her arm. Suddenly goosebumps raise on her skin and her whole body shivers. Grayson looks down at her and smirks a little. “Sorry.” He whispers and she bites her lip shaking her head. “It’s okay, I liked it.” She admits making him smirk more and continue to graze his fingertips over her soft skin slowly and she hums happily. Y/n glances over at Grayson her bottom lip still in between her teeth a smirk dances on his lips again. “you okay?” He asks her finally looking down at her and she nods blushing a little. She watched as his tongue stuck out and ran slowly along his bottom lip, she didn’t realize she was holding her breath until was letting it out. Grayson’s hand went up to her chin and pulled her bottom lip from her teeth. “Please stop doing that.” He breathed, she looked at him confused before realizing his eyes were dark and full of lust. Grayson ran his thumb over her now swollen bottom lip. “You look so pretty with this lip in your teeth, but it does some things to me Sweetheart.” His voice was low and deep as he talked to her, she was looking at him her eyes slightly wide not believing the words that are coming out of her sweet Grayson’s mouth. Y/n faught the urge to bite her lip again as his eyes traveled down from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes. He placed his hand on her cheek and ran his thumb over her lip again and her eyes fluttered shut. Grayson moved his face closer to hers “Do you know what you do to me?” he asks, and she can feel his breath against her face meaning he was closer to her then she realized. Y/n didn’t think she would be able to answer with a calm voice, but he was too close for her to move her head. “no.” She whispers her voice small and shy.

Grayson smirks and grabs her hand kissing each knuckle softly. “Do you wanna know?” He asks and she quickly nods. He lets out a breathy chuckle, I love the enthusiasm.” He kisses her knuckles again before he places her hand against his throbbing bulge that is aching against his tight zipper. Y/n gasps and her eyes shoot open looking Grayson in his hooded eyes “Gray...” She whispers still palming him through his pants. “Hmm?” He hums not trusting his voice. “Kiss me,” She whispers looking from his eyes to his lips. Grayson’s fingers wrap around her throat pulling her closer and attaching their lips finally, her wraps wrap around his neck and she shift herself onto his lap straddling him not breaking their kiss. Grayson’s hand stays around her throat while his other arm wraps around her waist. As she pushes herself down on his lap rubbing against his bulge, she hears the creak of the basement door opening, she quickly climbs off his lap and sits next to him putting the blanket back over her body trying to act natural. Ethan came down the stairs and Y/n wipes her mouth and tries to cover her cheeks with the blanket pretending the watch the movie, Grayson crossed his legs trying to hide his very noticeable bulge. “What are you guys watching?” He asks them standing in front of the couch looking at the tv. Y/n clears her throat and runs her fingers through her hair. “Spenser Confidential.” She says mentally cursing her shaky voice. Grayson smirked to himself glancing at Ethan who looked at Y/n confused “You good y/n?” He asks her making her blush and nod and hum back in response. “You wanna watch it with us E?” Grayson asks catching Y/n off guard. Ethan nods and sits on the other side of Y/n who looks at Grayson confused, Grayson takes half of the blanket covering her and puts it over himself as well. Once Grayson was sure Ethan was focused on the movie, he puts his hand on her bare upper thigh dangerously close to her panty line. Y/n tries her best not to react to his fingers rubbing so close to where she wanted him the most, but a small gasp slipped from her lips when his pinky brushed over the wet spot on her panties. Grayson and Ethan both look over at her and her face flushes read, she clears her throat. “Sorry... just um... remembered something.” She says making Grayson chuckle and Ethan wrinkle his brows even more confused now. Y/n looked at Grayson glaring at him making him smirk, she pressed her thighs together tightly and cleared her throat. “I should probably get going home, it's getting really late.” She says before standing up and removing Grayson’s hand from her thigh in one swift motion that thankfully Ethan didn’t notice. Ethan looked at him phone and his eyes widened. “Holy shit its almost 1AM. You can’t leave now its too late for you to be taking and uber at this time.” Ethan tells her and Grayson stands after adjusting himself to hide his boner. “I’ll give you a ride.” He says and Ethan nods. “Good idea.”

Y/n hugs Ethan goodbye and follows Grayson out to his baby blue Porsche, once they're in the car and driving she glares at him. “What?” He asks trying to hide his smirk. “Grayson Bailey Dolan are you out of your mind?” She asks him making him chuckle. “Oh, come on sweetheart you loved it.” He teases making her roll her eyes. “Not in front of Ethan.” She says crossing her arms over her chest. Grayson raises his brow and glances over at her before placing his hand on her thigh on the same spot he had it before. “But right now is okay?” He asks and another gasp slips past her lips. He nods and smirks. “I thought so.” His finger brushes against her panties again this time she moans and spreads her legs a little more instead of closing them like before. “mmm good girl.” He coos while his eyes stay focused on the road while he drives toward her apartment. Grayson starts rubbing her clit through her panties, Y/n leans her head back against the headrest and bites her lip trying to hide her moans which makes Grayson rub faster. “Now, now I wanna hear those pretty moans Sweetheart.” He tells her and she slowly releases her lip from her teeth and her mouth gapes open her eyes closed. Grayson looks over at her and groans before slipping his hand under her panties before rubbing her clit again. “Oh you look so pretty like that.” he says making her blush and turn her head to look at him. “Gray.” She moans breathlessly. “What do you want, Sweetie?” He asks smirking and slipping his fingers through her wet folds gathering her slick before rubbing her clit again. “I want you to fuck me.” Y/n whimpers and Grayson shakes his head. “One day Y/n. Right now, I’m gonna take care of this little pussy before we get to your apartment okay?” Y/n wines but nods as he picks up the pace on her sensitive bud his fingers rubbing circles on it. Y/n’s eyes roll back in her head and she's a moaning mess, it's not long before she feels the knot in her stomach threating to release. Grayson pumps his fingers in and out of her a few times before bringing his attention back to her clit. “So tight and wet.” He groans “I’m gonna cum Gray.” She moans grinding her hips against his hand making him smirk. “Well come on Sweetheart, cum on my fingers.” she wastes no time, she tightens around nothing grinding her hips against his fingers that continue to play with her clit and she moans his name loudly as she releases. Grayson smirks and glances over at her loving how he can turn her into a mess like this just with his fingers, he couldn’t wait to see what she would look like after his cock. After letting her ride out her high Grayson is pulling his fingers away, he looks at them and smirks at her. “Look at the mess you’ve made.” He teases before sucking her juices off his finger as he pulls into a parking spot in front of her apartment building.

Y/n watches him and bites her lip, she undoes her seat belt turning toward him. Grayson grabs the back of her neck and pulls her into a kiss, she smiles against his lips kissing him hard. Once they pull away from each other with red swollen lips Grayson smirks at her and kisses her forehead. “I’ll see you soon Sweetheart.” He says before pecking her lips. Y/n frowns a little. “You’re not gonna come in?” She asks and he shakes his head. “Ethan will get suspicious. I’ll see you in a few days okay?” Y/n nods and pecks his lips again before getting out of the car and walking into her building, Grayson waits until she is out of view before he drives away.

A/n: Let me know what you think!

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detectiveharmony · 5 years ago

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How I Planned My Wedding

Hi guys! I realize this isn't normally the sort of thing I write. Usually, I write book advice that has to deal with writing, editing, publishing novels, and everything in between! But as I have recently been married, I thought I would release the secrets of dark magic I conjured in order to plan my wedding.

1. Set a Budget

The first thing is first. Set a budget. If you ask yourself if this is really necessary, yes, it is. It is 1000% necessary. While you are setting a budget, I would also get a binder to make your wedding binder. Whether you want to or not, you are going to be purchasing a lot of things for your wedding, and it's best to keep all receipts together in case you need to return some things.

Now, as far as setting a budget goes, I just downloaded a free spreadsheet online and printed it out. If you don't want to print one out, there are a lot of websites that have online budgeting and spreadsheets. Weddingwire.com and the Knot App were especially helpful for me because they had super helpful checklists plus budgeting, registry trackers, and online RSVP. I kept budgets on everything I made. My printed budget looked something like this:

I didn't use all of the spaces, but it at least kept me on track. The goal is to set the absolute most you are willing (and have the ability to) spend on any certain thing. This was sort of a game for me. I'd set the amount, and see for how much cheaper I could get it, with quality, in reason. Mine and Josh's total wedding budget was around 11K. I think we actually ended up spending around 7K. A lot of our services were gifts from friends, and for that I'll be forever grateful. Which brings me to my next point:

2. Find Talented Friends Who Are Willing to Help

I would first and foremost like to say that just because you have a photographer friend does not mean you should go up to said photographer friend and blatantly ask them to take pictures of your wedding for free. It's cheap and demeaning to them, especially if that is their only source of income, or if they work a job with low income. Even if they have plenty of money, they are not going to be willing to take 6-10 hours out of their day plus weeks in editing to take pictures of your wedding with no compensation. The same principle applies to other services. What I am meaning is to search out friends who render services, and ask them for quotes. In my experience, 9/10 times they cut us a deal or even offered the service for free as a wedding gift. If you are part of a church family, I would definitely recommend looking there first. In the spirit of the Lord, most people are more than happy to help you for free without you even asking. My church family is where my cake, sound, and officiant services came from, and they were all more than perfect. It's also worth noting that I tipped my friends anyway, even though they didn't ask to be paid, because I really appreciated their services (even though some of them returned the tips and refused any type of payment).

The talented friend also applies to friends who have also been married before, who are good with money, or good with budgeting if you don't know where to start or how to begin.

3. Set a Guest List

When you are setting your guest list, it's important to remember that you don't have to (and probably shouldn't) invite everyone you have known since kindergarten or on your Facebook. The more people you have at your wedding, the more expensive it's going to be. In our case, if our guest list exceeded 100 people, our security cost would double, so I tried to keep it at a minimum, only inviting close friends and family. A lot of people didn't understand this, and you'll probably make a lot of people mad in doing so, but it was important for me to cut costs wherever possible. At the time I was financing an 11k wedding by myself on a 20k salary. Long lost cousin Susie wasn't a priority on my guest list. People I hadn't seen or spoken to in years weren't a priority. I gave my husband a pen and paper and told him to invite whoever he wanted, but he also understood that we were trying to save money. Every penny saved helped, and honestly, the day went by so quickly I don't even remember a lot of the people who were there. If people truly care about you, they'll understand that married life is hard and will be eager to help you in any way they can, even if that help is not coming to the wedding. Most of my friends and family were understanding when I explained to them that we didn’t have the money to invite everyone we wanted. And at the end of the day, it's your wedding, nobody else's.

4. Do as Much as You Can Ahead of Time

If you want to be so stressed out that you are incapacitated, then wait until the last second to book all of your services. I recommend, if you can, to book at least a year ahead of schedule. I didn't, and around four months before my wedding I was wondering how everything was going to get paid for.

You will end up financing a lot of things, especially the more expensive things. Unless you have boat loads of cash just laying around, of course, and a lot of places will turn you down if you don't have an adequate time frame to finance. The most important of these are the wedding ring, your catering service, the venue, the cake, and your wedding dress. A lot of DJ and music services will also require you to book ahead of time. We did, but I ended up stressing anyway because our DJ canceled on us 2 weeks before the wedding.

The process of looking for these people is pretty straightforward. I just googled the service I needed and made inquiries until I found someone within my budget. The venue will be slightly different though, as you'll want to tour venues and see which best suits your needs. It's also worth mentioning that before you choose a theme for your wedding, look at venues first. I originally planned for us to have a vintage wedding, but then we got married in a barn in Texas, so it ended up being a country fall wedding.

The very minimum amount of time you want to have for your dress is six months, unless you are having a friend or family member make your dress. Besides it taking a long time to pick a dress out (for some of us, anyway), bridal boutiques need time to clean and do alterations on your dress. I went with David's Bridal, but I personally wouldn't recommend them. The first time I picked up my dress from cleaning, I was deathly ill, I had to wait for 3 hours after they said it would be done, and when I picked it up and drove almost two hours home, I noticed the next day that my dress had oil stains all down the front of it from the sewing machines. They eventually fixed it, and my dress turned out to be gorgeous, but I would rather not have had that stress, especially when I was running fever and lost my voice. Not to mention the arm and leg I paid for my dress. I know a few who have had similar experiences, but I also know some who have had great experiences with David's Bridal. Either way, it's up to you.

Weddingwire.com had some great timelines to follow for booking all of your services. If you are past the month mark for booking your services, don't worry about it. I did the bulk of my planning in the last 6 months of my wedding (not recommended).

5. Wedding Shower and Wedding Registries

I forget how early I made my registries. I think maybe 5 or 6 months in advance. Even if you are already living together and have house stuff, making wedding registries is a good idea because you can update all your stuff, or get new stuff that you've wanted for a while. People are going to buy you gifts regardless, so you may as well have lists people can shop from to avoid ending up with a bunch of duplicate gifts or useless stuff that will just sit in the garage or in the corner of the junk drawer in your kitchen for years to come.

I registered with a variety of places. Amazon, Target, and Walmart were my top choices. I would especially recommend getting an Amazon registry because a lot of people are last seconders, and prime 1 or 2 day shipping will still give them a way to buy your gift even if it is the last second. Amazon was my most highly trafficked registry. Walmart was second, but a lot of people don't like shopping Walmart online because it can take up to two weeks for items to ship, and even if you go in store, most stores carry different products. Just because they have it online doesn't mean every Walmart (or any Walmart near you) carries it. When making your registries, don't be afraid to put anything and everything you could possibly want or need on there. I wish I had put more stuff on mine because nearly everything got purchased. I amended my registries right before the wedding, but very few gifts were purchased at that time.

Your wedding shower is typically two months before the wedding, around the same time you send out the official invitations. A lot of people I knew didn't know what a wedding shower was, so here you go: A wedding shower is an event where people bring gifts to the new couple to usher them into their new life together, helping them settle in. No matter what you do, weddings will end up being expensive, and if you buy couples gifts, even small ones, it helps them out a great deal in the long run by helping them save money on house things they won't have to otherwise purchase.

6. Wedding Day Preparation

Assemble a wedding day crew. Find people who are going to help you set up decorations, organize, direct, and put everything away once the event is over. It's easiest if you assign small duties to everyone who is helping you. I made lists of all my bridesmaids names, plus my grandparents, brother, parents, and aunt, who also came to help me set up. Under each name I wrote what I wanted them to do. It can be simple things like, “Decorate tables,”, “Set up head table,”, “Be in charge of handing out cake after the cake cutting,” or, “Decorate main stage.” Whatever small thing will make it easier for you, designate it to someone you can trust. My family was wonderful and helped me out more than I could ever thank them for.

I also had a table chart everyone could reference, so when we were moving tables and chairs around, everyone had a picture of what I wanted everything to look like so they knew what I wanted without asking me. It's also important to set a wedding day timeline. Even before the ceremony starts, you want to have given time frames for any activities, including decorating, salon trips for hair and makeup, a love note exchange, or whatever else you want to do before the ceremony and during it. Unless, of course, your venue let's you decorate the night before, which ours didn’t.

7. Last Bits of Advice

Your wedding day is going to happen one way or the other. Some things are just going to go wrong, and you have to let it happen and not worry about it. You're going to be married at the end of the day anyway.

Do as much reading as you can on planning a wedding. Every little tip I read helped, and in the end, I think my wedding was perfect. The only thing I would have changed was shortening the ceremony a bit so we would have had more time for family pictures. The wedding itself ended earlier than I thought, but I wasn't going to complain. I was exhausted, and thankful to get to go to bed early.

As my last piece of advice, turn your phone off on your wedding day and give everyone someone else's phone number to text or call for important questions. I designated my maid of honor for this task, but you could also use your mother or anyone else for this. Turn your phone off on your honeymoon too, or if you can't turn it off, don't answer text messages. And if you are that person who calls or texts on wedding day or honeymoon, unless it's of dire consequence, don't be that person.

Happy wedding planning!

#wedding #wedding plannning #love #fall wedding #wedding planning help #wedding planning ideas #wedding ideas

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agenthost · 4 years ago

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Ten Tips For Launching Your Real Estate Investing Career

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gladio-to-meet-you · 6 years ago

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Unbelievable Customers

So it's a bit delayed... but here we go kiddos!

It may be a bit rough, so I apologize, but this is the first thing I've been able to complete since I started this accidental mini hiatus.

But most of these have happened to me at my old job to some degree. A couple are a bit exaggerated for effect but they're actually very minor exaggerations. People working in the food/customer service industry get treated horribly by customers and it's ridiculous to me. Being polite to someone is gonna get you much further than yelling at them and making unreasonable demands.

Ignis

You were no stranger to weirdos and creeps coming into your restaurant to eat, it wasn't like there was a policy to ban them or anything. They usually never came more than once or twice. Except for one guy, he kept coming back every weekend and it was hard for you to let the younger female employees to deal with him. It was like he had a radar for when Ignis would come in to see you because he would conveniently show up after the Prince's Advisor had left.

But there was one guy that didn't seem to catch onto the fact that Ignis was dating you. Even with you always doting on him when you had a free moment. Not even the looks you two shared apparently clued him in on the existing relationship. He had taken to following you at a distance around the restaurant's dining area, asking what were pretty normal and innocent questions. You got annoyed but could brush it aside and keep your smile on your face. It was as you were gathering up a bussing tub full of dirty dishes that the guy threw out an...odd complement. He told you that he liked your shoes as you walked towards the back and all you could do was blink in confusion. In the back, you looked down at your shoes and ended up shrugging it off.

Ignis had heard and shot you an amused look when you passed him by minutes later. You rolled your eyes playfully and set about cleaning up the dining room. Everything went smoothly until you got to the table in the far corner and you found what looked to be a piece of trash left behind. After taking a closer look at it, you realized it was a folded up note so you unfolded it to read it. 'Dtf?' was written sloppily followed by a phone number. You stared at it, broom clutched in your other hand, trying to puzzle out what it meant when Ignis came up behind you. "What're you reading, love?" He asked, peering over your shoulder. You let him read the note and looked at him in confusion when he plucked the scrap out of your hands. "What rubbish, don't worry about this," he said without hesitation, leaving you so he could tear it up and throw it away. It wasn't until you were at home that he explained it and you squawked in outrage.

Prompto

Prompto had come in after the lunch rush was over with, so he leaned against the counter, flirting with you as you stocked the cups and wiped the front counters down, enjoying the smile that was lighting up your face. He had even stolen a kiss after making sure there were no customers in the restaurant. "What do you want do when you're off??" He asked excitedly, practically vibrating with his enthusiasm about getting to spend the afternoon together. You guys hadn't had much free time recently and he was planning to take full advantage of it, as long as you weren't too tired!

You had just opened your mouth to answer when you heard the phone ring in the office. You held up a finger, let go of your rag, and dashed off to the office in the back to answer it. He could hear you greeting the caller, thanking them for calling and asking what you could do for them. Then there was silence. The silence stretched on for a while longer before he could hear you speaking again, but it wasn't loud enough for him to catch anything. When you fell silent again, you came back up front, phone jammed in between your cheek and shoulder as you went back to cleaning. "Ma'am, ma'am - if you - ma'am - excuse - IF you'd let me speak, I could answer you." You finally cut her off loudly, scrubbing forcefully at a sticky spot on the counter before moving on to start wiping down the food trays. "As I said a few moments ago, we can remake the food for you or we can give you a refund. BUT as you said, you won't step foot back in here again, so WHAT is it you want me to do to fix this? Because you've tied my hands behind my back."

The tray you were wiping got set down, along with the rag, and you disappeared into the back again. You let out some "uh-huh"s and "mm-hm"s as you went, leading him to believe that you were trying to work the caller's temper down while trying to remember whatever it was that they were demanding. He drummed his fingers against the countertop as he waited and he beamed at you when you finally reappeared, sighing heavily. "Did you really ask them what they wanted you to do?!" He exploded joyfully, laughing. Your face flushed as you shrugged. "I didn't know what else to do. She was unwilling to cooperate!" You groaned, hiding your face behind your hands as you slumped over the counter. As he reached out to ruffle your hair, he knew you needed a way to blow off some steam after you were done for the day and went about plotting the best way to do so.

Noctis

Noctis didn't often venture into your work, even more so alone, because of his status as the Prince. But he had taken the chance to come by later in the evening, close to closing time so he could accompany you home. He sprawled out in the chairs in front of the counter for people waiting on to-go orders and pulled his phone out to occupy himself while you finished up. He didn't want to get in the way of you or your employees and had found, through experience, that that was one of the best locations to wait.

The door opened about 30 minutes before closing, as you were doing the nightly counts for the front part of the store. You quickly wrote down the number for the salads left and set your clipboard down, smiling brightly at the lady that had just come in. "What can I get for you?" You asked her as you walked down to the register, ready to take an order from her. "Do you have anything you can give me for free?" She asked a bit unkindly as she eyeballed the food containers sitting under the heat as your employee that was in charge of making the food started cleaning up their work station and putting unnecessary things up and the dishes in the back. When you opened your mouth to speak, she started speaking over you loudly and rudely, garnering Noctis's attention.

She gave you some sob story about her being in a new state with her niece in the car and that they were out of money, but they were hungry. She kept her gaze on the containers and started leaning over the counter to get into your personal space. You took a step back and cleared your throat before speaking, explaining the policy your restaurant was under from the owner to not give out any leftovers if there were some. It was as Noctis sat up that she reached out and snagged the front of your shirt to drag you closer to her. "You won't feed my niece?! You're a monster! You wouldn't make a good mother if you're this heartless!" She snarled at you. Noctis took that as his sign to intervene and forced her to leave. "She was in here earlier, I saw her leaving as I walked up, she had food. You did the right thing, babe. It's not like you could've given her food even if she wasn't lying, so don't feel bad." He assured you, reaching across the counter to take your hands in his.

Gladio

He had come into your place of work to grab a bite to eat while on his break. You had not only taken his order but insisted on making it so the line worker could take a quick breather since there wasn't a rush. You walked his food out to the booth he had settled in with a grin, telling him to enjoy before you were walking away with a wink. He stared after you until you disappeared from sight and then started eating the food he had ordered. Of course you had made it exactly how he liked it, he would've professed his love for you if he hadn't already been with you.

He was minding his own business as he finished up his sandwich until he could hear raised voices coming from the register. The phrase that had him snorting was the indignant demand of "let me speak to your manager!" He leaned out of the booth to watch, hoping he wouldn't have to toss the loser out.

You smiled brightly at him, gesturing to yourself. "I am the manager and as previously stated, unless you have the food and the receipt, we cannot do what you're requesting. If you'd like to order something now, I would gladly go make it for you so it's following our regulations!" His face practically turned purple with rage before he was storming out, leaving the supposedly messed up order on the counter. Only to come back, snatch it up, and stalk out muttering under his breath. You smiled at his retreating back and called out a bright "have a lovely day!". Gladio's loud laughter drew your attention as he doubled over, hands on his knees. "Kill 'em with kindness, huh?" He asked you when he straightened up. You just smirked slyly in response.

Nyx

Nyx knew that Sunday afternoons were the busiest time of the week for your restaurant, but he came in anyway. He waited patiently in line for a good twenty minutes before getting to the register, only to pout when he saw it was one of your employees taking the orders. As he ordered and paid, he inquired about you, and the bubbly cashier gestured to the windows into the back where you could be seen expertly handling the large lunch rush by yourself, running between stations and making sure the food in the two ovens came out without being burnt. You glanced up briefly, seeming to scout the line left before a flat, unimpressed look took over your face, leaving him wondering what was going on.

It surprised him to see you dash off to the back of the restaurant, past what could be seen, and come back seconds later with a scale. You set it up but kept working, not giving it a second glance, so he shrugged off his curiosity and went to take his seat to wait on his order. He stayed within sight of the larger window so he could watch you work, catching glimpses of your smiling face as you laughed at something one of your employees said through the window to you. You even caught his eye for a second and blew him a kiss, making him beam at you. He couldn't clearly see what you were doing and ended up focusing his attention on his food once he got it.

A commotion and an irate customer is what ended up grabbing his attention. Specifically, it was the slam of a bowl on the counter followed by "You've got that little bitch working back there and she made my food wrong! There wasn't enough and it was stone cold when I got it!" He watched your face take on a carefully crafted smile as you took off your gloves and tossed them in the trash, snagging something before coming around to the front. You set the scale down and motioned for the nervous employee to move away. "I assure you, sir, that you had exactly the right amount of pasta and sauce. I even waited to make it until the rest of your order, those baked items, were done and that your order got priority going out to keep it from getting cold. I've brought this scale up so I can weigh your food and show you just how much it weighs versus what we're supposed to portion out."

Perhaps it was because he knew you so well, but Nyx could see the determination to prove him wrong in the way you stood and the way you clenched your jaw as you smiled at him. You went on to explain exactly how many ounces of pasta was supposed to be in a bowl and how many ounces of sauce, taking the bowl from the counter and placing it on the scale that had been zeroed out based on an empty bowl's weight. What neither of you expected was for him to snatch the bowl back and throw the contents at you before he stormed out. Nyx felt his blood start to boil but was immediately stupefied as your employees rallied around you and let out a small cheer, congratulating you on having dealt with him. He was immediately concerned that this was a weekly occurence for you.

#ffxv headcanons #ffxv headcannons #ffxv reader insert #ignis scientia #iggy #ignis x reader #prompto argentum #prompto #prompto x reader #noctis lucis caelum #noctis #noctis x reader #gladiolus amicitia #gladio #gladio x reader #nyx ulric #nyx #nyx x reader

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loteriart · 4 years ago

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Ten Tips For Launching Your Real Estate Investing Career

Eight Approaches for Getting Started in Real Estate Investing Introduction This article is just the fundamentals for getting started in real estate investing. This is not a how to content but an article that gives you some information about things to do begin. Everything in this article is tools that can be applied to helping any individual get started in real estate investing. I am going to give you my seven keys to getting started. Nothing is right or wrong though reflects the point of view of the author. Laws and legal practices vary from state to state, and laws can change over time. The author does not vouch for the legality of the opinions, nor is there any intent to supply legal advice. The author strongly encourages the reader to consult with professionals together with an attorney prior to entering in any real estate transaction or written agreement. The author is not a writer but he is a real residence investor. There will be grammar mistakes and errors, so do not be too critical of the grammar but focus your energy of what is being said. With that said prepare yourself to think a little differently and additionally expand your mind. Let's get started on an amazing adventure. The Seven Tips are as follows 1 . Desire 2 . Goal Setting 3. Learning What To Do 4. Attending a Real Estate Investing Seminar 5. The Billings Montana Market 6. Finding a Trainer 7. Your Real Estate Team 8. Just Do IT 1 ) Desire Before we get in to the bolts and finger nails of real estate investing in I want to talk to you about hope. If you are going to be successful at anything in life as well as real estate investing you have to have the desire to do it. Desire is defined as longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction and / or enjoyment. Desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies powerful intention or aim. In real estate investing if you don't have a good desire to learn and grow as a human being and genuinely get satisfaction out of it, then real estate investing is going to be difficult to do. When I go out and look at a property it brings my family a lot of enjoyment. Every aspect brings me joy from speaking to home owners, figuring out how I can make a deal work, to purchasing the house and to finding a good homeowner or tenant for those house. Real estate investing may not be for everyone but real estate wasting can offer anyone the financial freedom we all crave pertaining to. If you do not have the desire for real estate investing that is ok, it could possibly still help you to live your dreams and help you to receive where you want to go in the future. Why is real estate investing an excellent avenue for anyone to live out all of their dreams? Let me consult you a few questions. Do you have enough money to do anything you want? Do you have everything you want? No debt? A nice house hold? Great Marriage? The freedom to do anything regardless of how significantly it costs and the time it takes? If you have all of these matters then you are one of the few people in America who does. Most people may be doing the job fifty hours a week and making just enough to pay his or her bills. In today's day and age most people are living pay check to repay check never really knowing if they will make enough paying the bills that just keep piling up. If you cannot match your monthly bills how are you going to plan for retirement or transmit your kids to college or have time to enjoy life. The response to all of these questions is becoming financially free. Now it will not be easy everyone will have to get off the couch in addition to out of their comfort zone. Real estate is proven to be one of the simplest ways to get your out of the rat race of the nine to all 5 and begin living the life you deserve to live. Everyone desires something different out of their life. Some dream of traveling the whole world, spending more time with family, volunteering, golfing, laying about the beach, giving back to the community, or anything that will make these folks happy. There are thousands of things that make people happy. Rendering it in real estate takes a person who has a strong desire to adjust their lives for the better and think big. Any individual can become a great real estate investor. It is going to take a lot of do the job and can be a struggle at times but in the end it will be the most amazing feeling ever. The people that make it in real estate investing most of have a few things in common. First they run the real estate investing business like any other business out there. Subsequently they get out there and network with anyone along with everyone. Some people might be like me and have a hard time actually talking to other people. If you are that is ok, anyone can learn how to become a people person, it just takes hard daily perform. You have to push yourself past your comfort zone. The third problem is that you cannot be afraid to fail. Everyone features failed at something but the most successful people outside their learn from their failures. The fourth thing might be that you have to put a good team together. I will go into adding a team together in a later chapter. The concept of positioning a team together is so that when you don't know one thing you have team members that know what to do and can help you utilizing questions. The can also make sure that you are not working yourself to demise. You do not want to be the person doing everything in your business. Going through everything is a receipt for failure. You have to put together decent people who you can trust and rely on. The fifth detail is that you need a mentor. Sixth and final will be desire to do it. No one can become successful at something if they won't want to do it and don't get satisfaction out of what there're doing. 2 . Setting Goals Having goals is one of the most prominent aspects of achieving what you want in life. You don't want to just simply have your goals up in your head you want to write them all down and past what you have wrote on the structure somewhere or in the bathroom mirror. You want to review the goals daily and read them out loud to your self. This way you remind yourself everyday why you are establishing your business. How should you start to write down you goals? First of all you should think big, and by big I mean BIG. If your goals are too small you will easily reach them and have nothing else to look forward too. You might want to start off by asking yourself the question if I had the money and time in the world what would I do, whatever would I buy, how would I spend the time, and how would I spend my energy levels. Are you starting to write these down? Well you should be. Take into account what you want, spending time with family, traveling the world, the best passenger cars, a castle, owning a small country, running for web design manager, having the biggest real estate investing business in your area or near you. Whatever your dreams and what you want out of your life, prepare it down. Some of my goals are becoming free, touring the world, having a Ferrari, having 10 vacation homes across the globe. Right now I am just trying to get you out of your comfort zone for thinking and let your imagination run. There are several methods of set goals. I have learned a lot of ways you can set you will goals and there is no right or wrong way. The perfect ways that I have found to set your goals is to break these products up into two categories. First your short term desired goals. This should be goals from a month out to all-around a year. The second is your long term goals these goals presently think big goals and what you see for your foreseeable future. For year one I like to first make a list of exactly what I want to achieve this year and I will give you an example of easy methods to do that. For year one you want to be very precise first you want to list what you want your income to be at the end of your year, next how much cash in the bank you want (this is certainly money in your checking account, not assets). Next you want to number how much you are going to give. Giving is a very important, this can be supplying to charity, giving of gifts to friends and family, presenting to your school or anything you can dream of. As long as anything you give brings joy to others who need it well over you. Next list what bad habits you have that you'll want to eliminate. Weather is be quitting smoking, spending a lot on junk, drinking too much, working too much, not paying out enough time with family, too much TV, not exercising and many more. We all have bad habits that need to be changed for use to grow as human beings. Under each of these bad practices list out some steps that you can take in order to give up them. If you bad habit is being lazy and not working out enough what can you do to change that. Well you can get a new gym membership or a home work out program. Commit your body you following through with a plan to work out 3-5 months a week. For you to change these bad habits you have to be fully committed and follow through with a detailed plan you place for yourself. After you have your plans in place you should start list of several things you want to achieve or do in the next year. It is start a successful business, spend time with family, travel to 2-5 places and so on. Now under each of these you should also write find plan on what you need and what you need to do in order to achieve these dreams. Finally you should take all of this information you have a write for page on what you see your life being over the next time. Doing this is a great exercise to really see what you want out of daily life. Goals Year One This is what I am going To Do This Year Source of income: $500, 000 Cash: $100, 000 Give: $20, 000 Bad Habits that will be changes: Over Sleeping 1 . Retire for the night at 11 p. m. 2 . Use a timer and even set it for 8 hours 3. Set typically the timer on the other side of the room Buying things that you don't need: - Going out shopping less 2 . If you have the urge to obtain something think to yourself is thing item going to guidance me to achieve my goals of becoming financially free? 3. Tell friends what you are doing, so they can help to eliminate you. What I want to Achieve: Start a successful Real Estate Shelling out Business: (you should write a detailed step by step plan in everything you need in order to achieve your goal) Travel: Where do I would like to visit? 1 . Gators football game (what I need to complete the work, money, etc) And last your own page about what you prefer to achieve using words like I will and only positive sayings. For long term goals you don't need to be as specific at this time, but you should list them and under them record a few steps or smaller goals that need to be completed before you are able to achieve them. With the long term goals normally think big. Another good exercise for long term aims is to make a collage of you goals. Put pics of the house you want on it, places you want to travel, a picture of this family, a number of what income you want in or everything else you can think of. 3. Learn Knowledge builds confidence not to mention destroys fear. If you are starting any kind of business you need to find out the ins and outs of that business. The best way I have found to learn regarding real estate investing is to read all about it. But knowing it you have to apply what you have learned. Learning and checking is just one step to take. There are thousands of books that can be found about real estate investing and everyone has something you possibly can learn from. You don't just want to read real estate investing books nonetheless. You also want to fill yourself with motivational and authority books. Every successful person that I know if a reader they usually all spend at least thirty minutes a day reading something that will probably teach them about improving their business or supporting themselves to become a better person. Some of the best books that I would certainly recommend reading are listed below. 1 . Rich Dad Very poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (read this first as well as ready everything in the rick dad poor dad collection, great books to start with and will expand you mind) second . Be a Real Estate Millionaire by Dean Graziosi 3. Utilize your way to financial freedom by Preston Ely (this is an E-Book) 4. Four hour work week through Timothy Ferriss 5. The Attractor Factor 6. Quite short Sale Pre-foreclosure Investing by Dwan Bent-twyford and Sharon Sestrepo 7. Keys to success, by Napoleon Mountain 8. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Huge batch 9. How to win friends and influence people 10. Any Book by John C. Maxwell (he seems to have tons of amazing leadership books) 11. Getting Started in Realty Day Trading by Larry Goins 12. The E Myth by Michael Gerber 13. How to be a quick go real estate millionaire by Ron Legrand 14. The Power regarding Full Engagement 15. The It Factor 16. Things by Anthony Robins There are tons more you can read and yet these will give you a great start. You should also read books in negotiating, sales, motivation, and biographies on American internet marketers. I hope this list gives you the knowledge it has given me personally. If you learn and apply what you have learned from all these books there is no reason that you should not become very thriving. 4. Attend a Real Estate Investing Seminar Attending a genuine Estate Investing Seminar can be one of the best places to learn in relation to real estate investing from some very well known experts. There are certain seminars going on all over the country every weekend. If you live in an enormous city it will be very easy to find one. If you live in any town like Billings Montana you might need to travel a little solutions to find one. Now most of the best meeting cost dollars to attend them. Some range from five hundred dollars for two to three days and some can be up to $20, 000. There are a few i would recommend. Than Merrill is a great speaker to go take note of. I have learned a ton from him. You can find his enterprise online by Google searching him. Also rich pop poor dad has seminars all over the country. I attended one among their seminars in Billings Montana for only $500 dollars and learned a ton from it. There is also Preston Ely, Larry Goins, and hundreds of speakers out there. If you find an amazing book that you really enjoyed, then just simple seek that person online and see if they are speaking somewhere or perhaps offer a seminar close to you. Another reason I recommend going to a fabulous seminar is because they get you pumped up and encouraged. I have not yet found anything else that just becomes you feeling like you can do anything. When you get back collected from one of of these seminars you will have tons of energy and knowledge. Each and every time I get back from one all I want to do is going through and do a deal or ten. These seminars might also provide you with several opportunities to purchase amazing real estate investing devices, software or learning material at a fraction of the price tag. Believe me when I tell you all of the low priced seminars sell you something. But a lot of times what they are trying to sell is without a doubt some really good stuff. Another reason to attend a seminar is to network with other investors and build interactions with them. You can meet other investors who you can mate with on a deal, sell a deal too, individuals will provide you with deals and so on. You should have hundreds of business cards fabricated and try to give them all out. You never know how a whole lot one business card you hand out can make you. 5. Learn About the real estate market in your area Most real estate traders start their career off my investing around their current address. This is why I do my real estate investing in Billings Montana. You possibly can venture out when you have more experience. The reason behind this is because we experience more comfortable with the areas and know the areas healthier. It is also easier to get local real estate information that we demand. Investing in your local market is also cheaper to start out, there is much less travel costs, you can see what you are buying and it can provide you a feeling a comfort. First you have to decide which will part of town is the best place to invest in. This can be determined by particular real estate investing you choose to do. I have not gone over the forms of real estate investing but some include rehabbing (fixing up and also selling), wholesaling (finding deals and selling them to other sorts of investors), buying to rent, and there are a few others. They're the real estate strategies that I use for the most part. When viewing the market you need to see where other investors are shopping for their houses. Most of the best deals will be found in minimal to middle class neighbors hoods. By low When i don't mean drug infested war zones, what I mean will be blue collar safe neighbor hoods that might have rather older houses and houses that are not on the more expensive price side. Now you can find deals in the higher priced next door neighbor hoods but most will be in the low to mid income neighborhoods. When looking where others are selecting ask local realtors, other investors or appraisers. Once talking with investors ask them several questions such as the things neighborhoods they prefer, what type of houses they buy (3 bed 2 bath), and what they do (rehab, rent, wholesale). You should not look at other investors as contest but try and work with them. There are different types of markets which includes appreciating markets, flat markets, and deprecating markets. Appreciating markets are markets that there is no enough houses or perhaps very high demand for houses which causes the price of houses to move into. The reason there is a high demand for housing can be because of project growth, a very appealing area, or several reason. Even markets are markets that have no or very little development. This means that there is not a lot of demand; buy just enough to occupy every ones needs. Depreciating markets are where there is also a lot more houses than people to fill those house. The causes house prices to start going down. This can be because of a substantial employer leaving the area, a natural disaster or just over making. There is an old saying buy in a bust and market in a boom. In depreciating markets you can pick up numerous deals, while in appreciating the house prices are going to be much higher plus harder to find great deals. The deal will still be out there you just must know where to find them. Learning your market is another primary to becoming successful. Real estate Brokers and experts in your area could possibly be the best source of information for you. Learn to use them to find out how much market you are in. If you are in Billings Montana our company is in a pretty stable market. Billings Montana has not personally seen the ups and downs that other markets have experienced. I will really need to say that I have been noticing a little bit of a downward development but not much. Once the first time home buyer credit has ended with we might see a little more decline. Every market may vary by neighborhood, so make sure you know you market most certainly. I have seen the same houses just one mile apart reselling for totally different prices. 6. Find a Mentor Having a instructor to help you can be your biggest learning experience. Mentors can help you through any questions you may have, walk you step by step through the committing process, give you moral support, you learn from their verified system, and also network you with others in the business. Each successful real estate investor that I know says they will owe a lot of their success to the mentors they have and received in their lives. I have had one of the best mentors around, my dad. He is teaching me something new every day and forcing me to become successful. When trying to find a mentor I would suggest network with the investors at your local real estate investors golf iron meeting. There is a real estate investing club in Billings Montana that meets once a month. You can find information about real estate investing night clubs in your area by searching for REA or real estate investors team then your area in Google. When you go to the meetings check with who the biggest investors are. Then ask if you may get together with them sometime and discuss real estate investing. Question them if they would consider working with you to get their career looking. Offer your services as a bird dog. Bird puppies are people who go out find deals or leads with regards to deals and give them to other investors. A bird doggie gets from $500 to $3000 dollars depending on the put up. Make sure that you have a bird dog contract signed with the purchasers saying that if you find them and deal and they order it that you get paid a certain amount of money. Being a bird canine helps you to build credibility with the investor and they are more likely to trainer you if you have something to offer them. If you would like to contact others with a question go to my web site Big Sky Place Solutions LLC. 7. Your Real Estate Team Building a simple yet effective team can make your life as a real estate investor a lot easier. You may be only one person and cannot do everything or possibly be an expert in every aspect of real estate investing. Going at a venture alone can become one of the most frustrating experiences you will ever come across. Many people have become frustrated and quite real estate investing as they quite simply try and juggle too many things. Make sure that when putting an important team together you provide everyone with win-win chances. When someone knows that working with you is going to make individuals money they will put you as a higher priority on the list. But you have to prove it to them that you are bona fide. People to have on your real estate investing team include o Real Estate Agents ( find the top agent for volume of revenues in your area and other agents who work with real estate investors) u Real Estate appraisers (find an appraiser that has done a handful of hundred jobs or more and make sure they carry flaws and omissions insurance) o Real estate contractors (good rehabilitation crews that can get the job done in a timely manner, have 3-5 crews as well as on every deal get 3 estimates done. Wish for referrals from them and make sure they are licensed) o Real estate attorneys (every investor needs an attorney, they can help to protect your own assets, make sure you find one that works with investors) o A home management company (can manage your properties and will grant you leads on property they are managing that might come up just for sale) o Title companies (take care of the legalised process and make sure there are no liens against the place you are buying, choose one that does hundreds of closings the year) o Home inspectors(charge about $400 but will give a great inspection and could save you thousands in the long run) o And your Mentor All of these people can help you in various aspects of real estate investing. You might find that there are a couple others that are ideas to your business but this is just a list of a few. 8. Just Do it There is no better phrase out there then JUST SIMPLY DO IT! Once you have learned all you can networked with buyers in Billings and learned real estate investing strategies nothing left to do but get your feet wet. There is no more effective learning tool out there then doing a deal. Once you have accomplished that first deal you will know what to expect and find out that should be not as hard as you thought it would be. You will have learned everything you did right and what was frustrating. Take that feel and ask yourself what would have made it run smoother. Put on that to your next deal. Then the next deal could be easier and it keeps getting easier as you go. I'm going to say that every deal is different from the last but who what makes this business fun. You have to be creative and always keep regarding learning and growing with your business. The average person never purposes what they learn. Don't be average apply your understanding. When going out and doing your first deal act like you will have done 1000's of deals. The fastest way to transformation a habit is to act like it is true. Five house keys for success 1 . Specialized Knowledge 2 . Tools of any professional 3. Have the mindset of a winner 4. Guides 5. Money and the knowledge of leveraging it (you do not have to have millions to invest in real estate, there are many strategies out there to try other people's money, or no money at all) It is going to conclude this article about getting started in real estate shelling out. I hope this gave you some ideas about how you can get began. I didn't give you any strategies at this point but seek some in upcoming articles. These are simple steps you can use to start learning. If you read this article thank you for listening.

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mnmcostablanca1-blog · 5 years ago

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Eight Tips For Launching Your Real Estate Investing Career

Eight Tips for Getting Started in Real Estate Investing Introduction This article is just the basics for getting started in real estate investing. This is not a how to article but an article that gives you some information about things to do to get started. Everything in this article is tools that can be applied to helping anyone get started in real estate investing. I am going to give you my eight keys to getting started. Nothing is right or wrong but reflects the point of view of the author. Laws and legal practices vary from state to state, and laws can change over time. The author does not vouch for the legality of his opinions, nor is there any intent to supply legal advice. The author strongly encourages the reader to consult with professionals and an attorney prior to entering in any real estate transaction or contract. The author is not a writer but he is a real estate investor. There will be grammar mistakes and errors, so don't be too critical of the grammar but focus your energy on what is being said. With that said prepare yourself to think a little differently and expand your mind. Let's get started on an amazing adventure. The Eight Tips are as follows 1. Desire 2. Goal Setting 3. Learning What To Do 4. Attending a Real Estate Investing Seminar 5. The Billings Montana Market 6. Finding a Mentor 7. Your Real Estate Team 8. Just Do IT 1. Desire Before we get in to the bolts and nails of real estate investing in I want to talk to you about desire. If you are going to be successful at anything in life including real estate investing you have to have the desire to do it. Desire is defined as longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment. Desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim. In real estate investing if you don't have a desire to learn and grow as a human being and really get satisfaction out of it, then real estate investing is going to be hard to do. When I go out and look at a property it brings me a lot of enjoyment. Every aspect brings me joy from talking to home owners, figuring out how I can make a deal work, to buying the house and to finding a good homeowner or tenant for the house. Real estate investing may not be for everyone but real estate investing can offer anyone the financial freedom we all crave for. If you do not have the desire for real estate investing that is ok, it can still help you to live your dreams and help you to get where you want to go in the future. Why is real estate investing an amazing avenue for anyone to live out all of their dreams? Let me ask you a few questions. Do you have enough money to do anything you want? Do you have everything you want? No debt? A nice house? Great Marriage? The freedom to do anything regardless of how much it costs and the time it takes? If you have all of these things then you are one of the few people in America who does. Most people may be working fifty hours a week and making just enough to pay their bills. In today's day and age most people are living pay check to pay check never really knowing if they will make enough to pay the bills that just keep piling up. If you cannot keep up with your monthly bills how are you going to plan for retirement or send your kids to college or have time to enjoy life. The answer to all of these questions is becoming financially free. Now it's not going to be easy everyone will have to get off the couch and out of their comfort zone. Real estate is proven to be one of the fastest ways to get your out of the rat race of the nine to five and begin living the life you deserve to live. Everyone wants something different out of their life. Some dream of traveling the world, spending more time with family, volunteering, golfing, laying on a beach, giving back to the community, or anything that will make them happy. There are thousands of things that make people happy. Making it in real estate takes a person who has a strong desire to change their lives for the better and think big. Anyone can become a great real estate investor. It is going to take a lot of work and can be a struggle at times but in the end it will be the most amazing feeling ever. The people that make it in real estate investing all have a few things in common. First they run their real estate investing business like any other business out there. Second they get out there and network with anyone and everyone. Some people might be like me and have a hard time talking to other people. If you are that is ok, anyone can learn how to become a people person, it just takes hard daily work. You have to push yourself past your comfort zone. The third thing is that you cannot be afraid to fail. Everyone has failed at something but the most successful people out their learn from their failures. The fourth thing is that you have to put a good team together. I will go into putting a team together in a later chapter. The concept of putting a team together is so that when you don't know something you have team members that know what to do and can help you with questions. The can also make sure that you are not working yourself to death. You do not want to be the person doing everything in your business. Doing everything is a receipt for failure. You have to put together good people who you can trust and rely on. The fifth thing is that you need a mentor. Sixth and final is the desire to do it. No one can become successful at something if they don't want to do it and don't get satisfaction out of what they are doing. 2. Setting Goals Having goals is one of the most important aspects of achieving what you want in life. You don't want to just have your goals up in your head you want to write them down and past what you have wrote on the wall somewhere or in the bathroom mirror. You want to review your goals daily and read them out loud to yourself. This way you remind yourself everyday why you are building your business. How should you start to write down you goals? First off you should think big, and by big I mean HUGE. If you have any kind of concerns concerning where and how you can utilize immobilien moraira, you could call us at our web-page. If your goals are too small you will easily achieve them and have nothing else to look forward too. You should start off by asking yourself the question if I had all the money and time in the world what would I do, what would I buy, how would I spend my time, and how would I spend my energy. Are you starting to write these down? Well you should be. Think about what you want, spending time with family, traveling the world, the best cars, a castle, owning a small country, running for president, having the biggest real estate investing business in your area or in the country. Whatever your dreams and what you want out of your life, write it down. Some of my goals are becoming free, traveling the world, having a Ferrari, having 10 vacation homes all over the world. Right now I am just trying to get you out of your comfort zone of thinking and let your imagination run. There are several ways to set goals. I have learned a lot of ways you can set you goals and there is no right or wrong way. The best ways that I have found to set your goals is to break them up into two categories. First your short term goals. This should be goals from a month out to around a year. The second is your long term goals these goals are you think big goals and what you see for your future.

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adsthumbrealestate · 3 years ago

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Eight Tips For Launching Your Real Estate Investing Career

Eight Tips for Getting Started in Real Estate Investing

Introduction

This article is just the basics for getting started in real estate investing. This is not a how to article but an article that gives you some information about things to do to get started. Everything in this article is tools that can be applied to helping anyone get started in real estate investing. I am going to give you my eight keys to getting started. Nothing is right or wrong but reflects the point of view of the author. Laws and legal practices vary from state to state, and laws can change over time. The author does not vouch for the legality of his opinions, nor is there any intent to supply legal advice. The author strongly encourages the reader to consult with professionals and an attorney prior to entering in any real estate transaction or contract. The author is not a writer but he is a real estate investor. There will be grammar mistakes and errors, so don't be too critical of the grammar but focus your energy on what is being said. With that said prepare yourself to think a little differently and expand your mind. Let's get started on an amazing adventure.

The Eight Tips are as follows

1. Desire 2. Goal Setting 3. Learning What To Do 4. Attending a Real Estate Investing Seminar 5. The Billings Montana Market 6. Finding a Mentor 7. Your Real Estate Team 8. Just Do IT

1. Desire

Before we get in to the bolts and nails of real estate investing in I want to talk to you about desire. If you are going to be successful at anything in life including real estate investing you have to have the desire to do it. Desire is defined as longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or enjoyment. Desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim. In real estate investing if you don't have a desire to learn and grow as a human being and really get satisfaction out of it, then real estate investing is going to be hard to do. When I go out and look at a property it brings me a lot of enjoyment. Every aspect brings me joy from talking to home owners, figuring out how I can make a deal work, to buying the house and to finding a good homeowner or tenant for the house. Real estate investing may not be for everyone but real estate investing can offer anyone the financial freedom we all crave for. If you do not have the desire for real estate investing that is ok, it can still help you to live your dreams and help you to get where you want to go in the future.

Why is real estate investing an amazing avenue for anyone to live out all of their dreams? Let me ask you a few questions. Do you have enough money to do anything you want? Do you have everything you want? No debt? A nice house? Great Marriage? The freedom to do anything regardless of how much it costs and the time it takes? If you have all of these things then you are one of the few people in America who does. Most people may be working fifty hours a week and making just enough to pay their bills. In today's day and age most people are living pay check to pay check never really knowing if they will make enough to pay the bills that just keep piling up. If you cannot keep up with your monthly bills how are you going to plan for retirement or send your kids to college or have time to enjoy life. The answer to all of these questions is becoming financially free. Now it's not going to be easy everyone will have to get off the couch and out of their comfort zone. Real estate is proven to be one of the fastest ways to get your out of the rat race of the nine to five and begin living the life you deserve to live. Everyone wants something different out of their life. Some dream of traveling the world, spending more time with family, volunteering, golfing, laying on a beach, giving back to the community, or anything that will make them happy. There are thousands of things that make people happy.

Making it in real estate takes a person who has a strong desire to change their lives for the better and think big. Anyone can become a great real estate investor. It is going to take a lot of work and can be a struggle at times but in the end it will be the most amazing feeling ever. The people that make it in real estate investing all have a few things in common. First they run their real estate investing business like any other business out there. Second they get out there and network with anyone and everyone. Some people might be like me and have a hard time talking to other people. If you are that is ok, anyone can learn how to become a people person, it just takes hard daily work. You have to push yourself past your comfort zone. The third thing is that you cannot be afraid to fail. Everyone has failed at something but the most successful people out their learn from their failures. The fourth thing is that you have to put a good team together. I will go into putting a team together in a later chapter. The concept of putting a team together is so that when you don't know something you have team members that know what to do and can help you with questions. The can also make sure that you are not working yourself to death. You do not want to be the person doing everything in your business. Doing everything is a receipt for failure. You have to put together good people who you can trust and rely on. The fifth thing is that you need a mentor. Sixth and final is the desire to do it. No one can become successful at something if they don't want to do it and don't get satisfaction out of what they are doing.

2. Setting Goals

Having goals is one of the most important aspects of achieving what you want in life. You don't want to just have your goals up in your head you want to write them down and past what you have wrote on the wall somewhere or in the bathroom mirror. You want to review your goals daily and read them out loud to yourself. This way you remind yourself everyday why you are building your business.

How should you start to write down you goals? First off you should think big, and by big I mean HUGE. If your goals are too small you will easily achieve them and have nothing else to look forward too. You should start off by asking yourself the question if I had all the money and time in the world what would I do, what would I buy, how would I spend my time, and how would I spend my energy. Are you starting to write these down? Well you should be. Think about what you want, spending time with family, traveling the world, the best cars, a castle, owning a small country, running for president, having the biggest real estate investing business in your area or in the country. Whatever your dreams and what you want out of your life, write it down. Some of my goals are becoming free, traveling the world, having a Ferrari, having 10 vacation homes all over the world. Right now I am just trying to get you out of your comfort zone of thinking and let your imagination run.

There are several ways to set goals. I have learned a lot of ways you can set you goals and there is no right or wrong way. The best ways that I have found to set your goals is to break them up into two categories. First your short term goals. This should be goals from a month out to around a year. The second is your long term goals these goals are you think big goals and what you see for your future.

For year one I like to first make a list of what I want to achieve this year and I will give you an example of how to do that. For year one you want to be very specific first you want to list what you want your income to be at the end of the year, next how much cash in the bank you want (this is money in your checking account, not assets). Next you want to list how much you are going to give. Giving is a very important, this can be giving to charity, giving of gifts to friends and family, giving to your school or anything you can dream of. As long as what you give brings joy to others who need it more than you. Next list what bad habits you have that you want to eliminate. Weather is be quitting smoking, spending too much on junk, drinking too much, working too much, not spending enough time with family, too much TV, not exercising and many more. We all have bad habits that need to be changed in order for use to grow as human beings. Under each of these bad habits list out some steps that you can take in order to quit them. If you bad habit is being lazy and not exercising enough what can you do to change that. Well you can get a gym membership or a home work out program. Commit yourself you following through with a plan to work out 3-5 days a week. For you to change these bad habits you have to be totally committed and follow through with a detailed plan you set for yourself. After you have your plans in place you should start listing several things you want to achieve or do in the next year. This can be start a successful business, spend time with family, travel to 2-5 places and so on. Now under each of these you should also write a detailed plan on what you need and what you need to do in order to achieve these goals. Finally you should take all of this information you have a write on page on what you see your life being over the next year. Doing this is a great exercise to really see what you want out of life.

Knowledge builds confidence and destroys fear. If you are starting any kind of business you need to learn the ins and outs of that business. The best way I have found to learn about real estate investing is to read all about it. But once you know it you have to apply what you have learned. Learning and reading is just one step to take. There are thousands of books on the market about real estate investing and everyone has something you can learn from. You don't just want to read real estate investing books though. You also want to fill yourself with motivational and leadership books. Every successful person that I know if a reader and they all spend at least thirty minutes a day reading something that will teach them about improving their business or helping themselves to become a better person. Some of the best books that I would recommend reading are listed below.

1. Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki (read this first and also ready everything in the rick dad poor dad series, great books to start with and will expand you mind) 2. Be a Real Estate Millionaire by Dean Graziosi 3. Flip your way to financial freedom by Preston Ely (this is an E-Book) 4. Four hour work week by Timothy Ferriss 5. The Attractor Factor 6. Short Sale Pre-foreclosure Investing by Dwan Bent-twyford and Sharon Sestrepo 7. Keys to success, by Napoleon Hill 8. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill 9. How to win friends and influence people 10. Any Book by John C. Maxwell (he has tons of amazing leadership books) 11. Getting Started in Real Estate Day Trading by Larry Goins 12. The E Myth by Michael Gerber 13. How to be a quick turn real estate millionaire by Ron Legrand 14. The Power of Full Engagement 15. The It Factor 16. Anything by Anthony Robins

There are tons more you can read but these will give you a great start. You should also read books on negotiating, sales, motivation, and biographies on American business people.

I hope this list gives you the knowledge it has given me. If you learn and apply what you have learned from these books there is no reason that you should not become very successful.

4. Attend a Real Estate Investing Seminar

Attending a Real Estate Investing Seminar can be one of the best places to learn about real estate investing from some very well known experts. There are several seminars going on all over the country every weekend. If you live in a big city it will be very easy to find one. If you live in a town like Billings Montana you might need to travel a little ways to find one. Now most of the best meeting cost money to attend them. Some range from five hundred dollars for three days and some can be up to $20,000. There are a few that I would recommend. Than Merrill is a great speaker to go hear. I have learned a ton from him. You can find his company online by Google searching him. Also rich dad poor dad has seminars all over the country. I attended one of their seminars in Billings Montana for only $500 dollars and learned a ton from it. There is also Preston Ely, Larry Goins, and hundreds of speakers out there. If you find a great book that you really enjoyed, then just simple search for that person online and see if they are speaking somewhere or offer a seminar close to you.

Another reason I recommend going to a seminar is because they get you pumped up and motivated. I have not yet found anything else that just gets you feeling like you can do anything. When you get back from one of these seminars you will have tons of energy and knowledge. Every time I get back from one all I want to do is going out and do a deal or ten.

These seminars will also provide you with several opportunities to purchase amazing real estate investing tools, software or learning material at a fraction of the cost. Believe me when I tell you all of the low priced seminars try to sell you something. But a lot of times what they are trying to sell is some really good stuff.

Another reason to attend a seminar is to network with other investors and build relationships with them. You can meet other investors who you can partner with on a deal, sell a deal too, people who will provide you with deals and so on. You should have hundreds of business cards made up and try to give them all out. You never know how much one business card you hand out can make you.

5. Learn About the real estate market in your area

Most real estate investors start their career off my investing around where they live. This is why I do my real estate investing in Billings Montana. You can venture out when you have more experience. The reason behind this is because we feel more comfortable with the areas and know the areas better. It is also easier to get local real estate information that we need. Investing in your local market is also cheaper to start out, there is less travel costs, you can see what you are buying and it may give you a feeling a comfort.

First you have to decide which part of town is the best place to invest in. This can be determined by what kind of real estate investing you choose to do. I have not gone over the types of real estate investing but some include rehabbing (fixing up and selling), wholesaling (finding deals and selling them to other investors), buying to rent, and there are a few others. These are the real estate strategies that I use for the most part. When looking at the market you need to see where other investors are buying their houses. Most of the best deals will be found in low to middle class neighbors hoods. By low I don't mean drug infested war zones, what I mean is blue collar safe neighbor hoods that might have somewhat older houses and houses that are not on the higher end price side. Now you can find deals in the higher priced neighbor hoods but most will be in the low to middle income neighborhoods. When looking where others are buying ask local realtors, other investors or appraisers.

When talking with investors ask them several questions such as what neighborhoods they prefer, what type of houses they buy (3 bed 2 bath), and what they do (rehab, rent, wholesale). You should not look at other investors as competition but try and work with them.

There are different types of markets such as appreciating markets, flat markets, and deprecating markets. Appreciating markets are markets that there is no enough houses or a very high demand for houses which causes the price of houses to go up. The reason there is a high demand for housing can be because of job growth, a very appealing area, or several reason. Flat markets are markets that have no or very little growth. This means that there is not a lot of demand; buy just enough to fill every ones needs. Depreciating markets are where there is a lot more houses than people to fill those house. This causes house prices to start going down. This can be because of a large employer leaving the area, a natural disaster or just over building. There is an old saying buy in a bust and sell in a boom. In depreciating markets you can pick up several deals, while in appreciating the house prices are going to be much higher and harder to find great deals. The deal will still be out there you just have to know where to find them.

Learning your market is another key to becoming successful. Real estate Brokers and experts in your area can be the best source of information for you. Learn to use them to find out what kind of market you are in. If you are in Billings Montana we are in a pretty stable market. Billings Montana has not seen the ups and downs that other markets have experienced. I will have to say that I have been noticing a little bit of a downward trend but not much. Once the first time home buyer credit is over with we might see a little more decline. Every market can vary by neighborhood, so make sure you know you market well. I have seen the same houses just one mile apart selling for totally different prices.

6. Find a Mentor

Having a mentor to help you can be your biggest learning experience. Mentors can help you with any questions you may have, walk you step by step through the investing process, give you moral support, you learn from their proven system, and also network you with others in the business. Every successful real estate investor that I know says they owe a lot of their success to the mentors they have and had in their lives. I have had one of the best mentors around, my father. He is teaching me something new every day and pushing me to become successful.

When trying to find a mentor I would suggest network with the investors at your local real estate investors club meeting. There is a real estate investing club in Billings Montana that meets once a month. You can find information about real estate investing clubs in your area by searching for REA or real estate investors club then your area in Google. When you go to the meetings ask around who the biggest investors are. Then ask if you could get together with them sometime and discuss real estate investing. Ask them if they would consider working with you to get their career going. Offer your services as a bird dog. Bird dogs are people who go out find deals or leads about deals and give them to other investors. A bird dog gets from $500 to $3000 dollars depending on the deal. Make sure that you have a bird dog contract signed with the investors saying that if you find them and deal and they buy it that you get paid a certain amount of money. Being a bird dog helps you to build credibility with the investor and they are more likely to mentor you if you have something to offer them. If you would like to contact me with a question go to my web site Big Sky Property Solutions LLC.

7. Your Real Estate Team

Building an effective team can make your life as a real estate investor a lot easier. You are only one person and cannot do everything or be an expert in every aspect of real estate investing. Going at a project alone can become one of the most frustrating experiences you will ever encounter. Many people have become frustrated and quite real estate investing because they try and juggle too many things. Make sure that when putting a team together you provide everyone with win-win opportunities. When someone knows that working with you is going to make them money they will put you as a higher priority on their list. But you have to prove it to them that you are the real deal. People to have on your real estate investing team include

o Real Estate Agents ( find the top agent for volume of sales in your area and other agents who work with real estate investors) o Real Estate appraisers (find an appraiser that has done a few hundred jobs or more and make sure they carry errors and omissions insurance) o Real estate contractors (good rehab crews that can get the job done in a timely manner, have 3-5 crews and on every deal get 3 estimates done. Ask for referrals from them and make sure they are licensed) o Real estate attorneys (every investor needs an attorney, they can help to protect your assets, make sure you find one that works with investors) o A property management company (can manage your properties and will give you leads on property they are managing that might come up for sale) o Title companies (take care of the legal process and make sure there are no liens against the property you are buying, choose one that does hundreds of closings a year) o Home inspectors(charge about $400 but will give you a great inspection and could save you thousands in the long run) o And your Mentor

All of these people can help you in various aspects of real estate investing. You might find that there are a couple others that are keys to your business but this is just a list of a few.

8. Just Do it

There is no better phrase out there then JUST DO IT! Once you have learned all you can networked with investors in Billings and learned real estate investing strategies there is nothing left to do but get your feet wet. There is no better learning tool out there then doing a deal. Once you have completed that first deal you will know what to expect and find out that it is not as hard as you thought it would be. You will have learned what you did right and what was frustrating. Take that experience and ask yourself what would have made it run smoother. Apply that to your next deal. Then the next deal will be easier and it keeps getting easier as you go. I will say that every deal is different from the last but that what makes this business fun. You have to be creative and always keep on learning and growing with your business.

The average person never uses what they learn. Don't be average apply your knowledge. When going out and doing your first deal act like you have done 1000's of deals. The fastest way to change a habit is to act like it is true.

Five keys for success 1. Specialized Knowledge 2. Tools of a professionalA This is going to conclude this article about getting started in real estate investing. I hope this gave you some ideas about how you can get started. I didn't give you any strategies at this point but look for some in upcoming articles. These are simple steps you can use to get started. If you read this article thank you for listening.

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padasteph-nie · 7 years ago

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The Fourth Wall

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Epilogue

Characters: Stephanie (OC), Dustin (OC), and a few more

Pairings: Obviously Stephanie and Dustin, considering they are married.

Word Count: 2,204

Warnings: I can’t give it away. If you handled the rest of the story, you’ll handle this.

A/N: This is the final chapter. :( Thanks so much you guys for reading through this whole thing. All I’ve ever posted before this were one shots. So this was a huge deal to me. The story is personal, and it was something I thought about for a while before I wrote it. Obviously I wanted to see it done, but I really wanted to share it with the fandom. Something we all can maybe relate to in a way? Either way. Original characters are based off real people, but the story is not. Or is it?

The Fourth Wall - Masterlist

Stephanie’s Point of View

“Eeeeeekkkk!” I squealed, “This is the third time we’ve been here and I get more excited each time!

“Welcome to the Hyatt,” the front desk lady said, then she saw the key card Dustin was holding, “are you all ready to check out?” I nodded with excitement. She spied the shirt I was wearing that sported an anti-possession symbol, “you must be here for the convention.”

I nodded again, “Yes! Today is the last day for it, unfortunately, but it is also the day we get our photo ops!” I smiled largely at the lady.

“Sounds fun! Enjoy!” She printed our receipt page and sent us on our way.

We always check out early on Sunday, since we never stay overnight. We like to get our stuff in the car and ready so that when we want to leave, we can just go. Our convention landed in the summer, right after the guys started filming the next season that hasn’t aired yet. I was super excited to hear what they could tell us, even if it wasn’t much. Dustin was excited too, but I think what he enjoyed most was seeing me this happy. “We better get down to the photo op line, they already called our number.” He pointed out.

We were the last in line for the ops. The line always felt so slow, but once you’re in that room, time freezes. We watched them do different poses with different fans. They were always laughing and having a good time. It was hard to not stay smiling. Once there were only two more people in front of us, Jared looked at me, and did a double take. I blushed at the notion. “You’re screwed now, honey,” I elbowed Dustin, “Jared’s checking me out, I’m gone.” He rolled his eyes and we both laughed. I smiled watching Jensen lean in to hear whatever Jared was whispering, they were really like brothers in real life. But I guess spending every waking moment for more than ten years with someone can do that to you.

It was our turn and we walked up to them, “Hi, Jared. I’m Stephanie.” I went to high five his already held up hand, but he paused.

“What was that sweetie, I didn’t catch that?” Jensen came around from behind Jared.

“I’m Stephanie, and this is my husband Dustin.” I introduced us.

Jensen smiled and patted Jared on the back, “alright. Any specific requests? Or would you like hug poses for you and your man?” He teased.

“Oh definitely hugs!” Dustin joked. We all laughed and lined up in a pose. The camera flashed and I said thank you. “I’ll meet you outside,” Dustin smiled.

“What?” I asked him. He pulled out another photo op ticket from his pocket and handed it to me. “You bought me my own photo op?!” I smiled and hugged him.

“Yes! Happy early birthday! Now go! You’re going to make them late for their panel!” Dustin pushed me back toward the guys.

“I guess he doesn’t like sloppy seconds!” Jared laughed.

“I think this definitely deserves a smush hug!” They both came in and smushed me on each side. “Funny thing, Stephanie is it?” Jensen asked.

“Yeah, Stephanie,” I replied trying to keep my smile and look at the camera.

Chris snapped the photo and looked at it, “retake. Jensen, stop talking.” He laughed.

Jensen waited for the next photo before he continued, “funny thing, Stephanie. Jared here pointed you out and said you reminded him of someone he knows, said her name was Stephanie.”

“Is that so?” I turned to Jared, “Maybe we were lovers in the past,” I joked.

“Actually, I didn’t know her. It was a dream I had once.” He corrected.

“Dude, whatever you do, don’t make me be the one to tell Gen you found the girl of your dreams and it wasn’t your wife.” Jensen hit Jared playfully on the shoulder.

“I wasn’t even me, man. I was Sam in the dream. It was a while ago though. Honestly, I’m not sure I even remember what she looks like. It just kinda creeped me out. No offense.” Jared shrugged it off.

“I’ll gladly take the title of being Sam’s dream girl.” I laughed.

“That’s my girl.” Jensen put his arm around my shoulder, “Take what you can get.”

“It was nice meeting you guys!” I hugged Jensen and then turned and hugged Jared.

“You too!” They replied simultaneously.

I met Dustin in the hallway, “you are the best husband a girl can ask for!” I hugged him tightly.

“Did you convince either of them to take you home? If so, I want child support!” He laughed, still engulfed in my hug.

“No.” I backed off, “but Jared said I looked like a girl from one of his ‘Sam’ dreams.” I batted my eyes and poofed my hair.

“Great. Hopefully he didn’t sleep with you, otherwise you have a death wish.” Dustin belted a laugh as I hit his shoulder.

“That is horrible,” I laughed with him. “Let’s go get our seats before the panel starts.”

We sat down after making our way to the convention hall. It wasn’t even ten minutes and Rob and Rich were on the stage, announcing Jared and Jensen. But when they announced them, only one came out. Jensen. “Hey guys!” He spoke into his microphone. “Sorry for Jared’s delay. He is always late.” He laughed uneasily, “actually, I’ll tell you the truth, it’s a funny story.” Our last photo op was a girl that apparently looked like a very vivid dream Jared told me about a while back. It was a big deal actually, It kinda of tripped him out for months. So anyway, he seen this girl and leaned over and said, ‘hey Jensen, that looks like that chick from that dream I told you about.’ And yes, he said chick.” The crowd laughed. “Anyway, she introduced herself and her husband, and her name happened to be what this dream girl's name was. He totally stalled, but it was cool. I saved him.” The crowd laughed again. “Matter of fact, where are you dream girl? Come up here.” I looked at Dustin uneasily and he nudged me to go. “Ah, there she is, come up here sweetheart.” He waited for me to come up the stairs on the side of the stage to join him. “This is Stephanie everyone, say Hi.” The whole crowd yelled ‘Hi Stephanie’ “She is apparently a striking comparison to this Stephanie that was in Jared's dream. Now before you get all upset over Jared dreaming about someone other than his wife, I’ll tell you he was dreaming as Sam.” Jensen turned toward me, “So now that he’s not here… I have to tell you. You gave this man a run for his money.” He joked. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

I leaned into the microphone he was holding out for me, “Ummm… tell us more?” I laughed and the crowd cheered.

“Savages, you all are savages.” Jensen paused, “I love it.” He smiled and shook his head. “Anyway, he said it was the most vivid dream he ever had. He was Sam, but he knew Sam wasn’t real. Something about this girl getting stuck in the fictional world. She was killed by a werepyre.” I froze at the coincidence.

“Vaewolf, Jensen.” Jared said over a microphone from somewhere backstage. The crowd cheered as he made his entrance. He avoided eye contact with me as he walked up and stood on the other side of Jensen.

“Whatever.” Jensen snorted. “Anyway, so he thought he had to be Sam and save this girl, but she got killed, or got out of the fictional world. The dream just ended with the director calling cut and she was gone. So naturally, emotional Jared over here, was guilt-ed for weeks over something that never even happened.”

“Dude. I’m telling you it was super real.” Jared defended playfully.

“Anyway, so Stephanie here walks out of the photo op room, and Jared starts having a fit.” Jensen laughed.

“Way to embarrass me.” Jared blushed.

“Well you explain to us why you were late then, Mr. Padalecki,” Jensen retorted.

Jared put his arms down and fidgeted with the microphone stand that was in front of him. “It’s not going to be less embarrassing, but fine. So she leaves the room and I’m freaking the hell out. I’m like, ‘Jensen, I swear she looked just like her!’ And this isn’t good, because it really messed me up, ya know.”

“Get to the point Jared, tell us why you are late. Don’t avoid it.” Jensen teased.

Jared pushed Jensen playfully and continued, “well mid-freak out, Chris, the photographer is like ‘hey come look at this photo.’ So we walk over there and take a look. He took two photos because Jensen was talking in the first one. Chris was laughing at how his face froze,” Jared looked over at me, “You’re going to love that photo by the way. Priceless. Make sure you crop his face and put it all over social media for me.” I smiled and agreed. “But anyway, so we are laughing at this photo, and the whole time I still have this lingering freak out as I’m looking at the girl, and the picture is just too uncanny. Then I remember, the girl in the dream first started realizing she was in the fictional world because of the picture she had on her phone. It was a professional picture and she couldn’t remember it. But she remembered Chris was the name of the guy that took the photo.” I stared dead at Jared’s face. He looked out of the corner of his eyes, feeling the tension that came up. My chest started tightening and looked out in the crowd for Dustin., but I couldn’t see past the stage lights. “So, being the oddly obsessed person I am, I ask Chris to show me the ‘good shot.’ I shit you not…” He caught himself, “Sorry, I kid you not, it looked like the same pose and everything of this photo she had.”

“So… naturally, he fainted.” Jensen shrugged like it was no big deal. Everyone laughed. Then someone in the audience yelled, ‘show us the photo.’ “Hey yeah! Schmelke, is that possible? Can we put it up on the screen?”

Jared looked at me to make sure I was comfortable with that. He squinted when he realized I was basically on the verge of having a panic attack. He walked over and put his hands on my shoulders, bending down to my eye level. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked. I lifted my arm up and showed him the scars that were healed over from that day. The only cuts that scarred coincidentally were in a claw-like pattern. He looked at them and then looked up to me and whispered, “What the fuck?”

I leaned in a little closer to him, “do you believe in alternate universes? Like people existing in different places at the same time?” I kept my voice down so only he could hear.

He stared into my eyes, just as frozen as I previously had been, “I don’t know… I mean I haven’t put much thought into it, but I can't say for sure that I don't believe.” He reached down and touched my scars.

Jensen’s voice boomed over the microphone, “I think we got it worked out! Chris said we can put it on the screen as long as he could show you the messed up one first. Worth it.” He nodded. “Give us second, we’ll have it up for ya.”

“Does any of this sound familiar to you?” Jared asked me, still examining my arm. I nodded my head slowly.

“Alright,” Jensen boomed again, “we got it, any last words before we unveil your secret photo to the world, Stephanie?”

He walked over and put the microphone to my mouth. Jared stood up straight, watching me intensely. I never broke eye contact. “Stardust to Ashes.” I said flatly.

Jared sat down in the chair that was right behind him. Jensen’s eyes went between the two of us, confused on what just happened, “I’ll take that as a go for the photo.” He laughed.

In an instant, I was looking at the screen, but it wasn’t projected over a stage. It was a small photo on my phone. I held the phone in my hand, freaking out. I was surrounded by black, in place that doesn’t exist. “Wake up. Not again, Stephanie. Wake UP!” I yelled. “This is a delusion.” I tried to reason with myself. Just then, my phone rang, and the screen read ‘Dean.’

I hesitated but answered after a few rings. “Stephanie, you okay in here?”

My phone disappeared and I was standing in my room, in the bunker, facing the door way. Dean Winchester was standing there, waiting for my response. “Uh, yeah, I was just getting ready to jump in the shower.” I walked over to a dresser, and déjà vu hit me. I opened the bottom drawer, remembering where I kept my pajamas. I had tears on my face and I wiped them off on my hoodie.

I was expecting him to call my bluff, just as Sam would have. But he didn’t, “oh, okay. I’m about to make dinner. Burgers alright with you?” He asked.

I smiled to myself, “yes, that would be perfect.”

And it was;

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#The Fourth Wall #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #fanfiction #series #my first series #possibly my only series actually #hopefully not #sam #sammy #sam winchester #dean #dean winchester #the end #or is it?

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baker-ginny · 4 years ago

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Ten Tips For Launching Your Real Estate Investing Career

Eight Approaches for Getting Started in Real Estate Investing Introduction This article is just the fundamentals for getting started in Parc Canberra investing. This is not a how to content but an article that gives you some information about things to do to start learning. Everything in this article is tools that can be applied to helping any individual get started in real estate investing. I am going to give you my seven keys to getting started. Nothing is right or wrong and yet reflects the point of view of the author. Laws and even legal practices vary from state to state, and laws can change over time. The author does not vouch for the legality of the opinions, nor is there any intent to supply legal advice. The author strongly encourages the reader to consult with professionals not to mention an attorney prior to entering in any real estate transaction or written agreement. The author is not a writer but he is a real residence investor. There will be grammar mistakes and errors, so do not be too critical of the grammar but focus your energy of what is being said. With that said prepare yourself to think a little differently and also expand your mind. Let's get started on an amazing adventure. The Seven Tips are as follows 1 . Desire 2 . Goal Setting 3. Learning What To Do 4. Attending a Real Estate Investing Seminar 5. The Billings Montana Market 6. Finding a Trainer 7. Your Real Estate Team 8. Just Do IT one Desire Before we get in to the bolts and finger nails of real estate investing in I want to talk to you about hope. If you are going to be successful at anything in life as well as real estate investing you have to have the desire to do it. Desire is defined as longing or craving, as for something that brings satisfaction or perhaps enjoyment. Desire stresses the strength of feeling and often implies powerful intention or aim. In real estate investing if you don't have an important desire to learn and grow as a human being and genuinely get satisfaction out of it, then real estate investing is going to be difficult to do. When I go out and look at a property it brings others a lot of enjoyment. Every aspect brings me joy from speaking to home owners, figuring out how I can make a deal work, to purchasing the house and to finding a good homeowner or tenant for those house. Real estate investing may not be for everyone but real estate shelling out can offer anyone the financial freedom we all crave just for. If you do not have the desire for real estate investing that is ok, it could possibly still help you to live your dreams and help you to receive where you want to go in the future. Why is real estate investing an excellent avenue for anyone to live out all of their dreams? Let me consult you a few questions. Do you have enough money to do whatever you decide and want? Do you have everything you want? No debt? A nice house hold? Great Marriage? The freedom to do anything regardless of how a whole lot it costs and the time it takes? If you have all of these matters then you are one of the few people in America who does. Most people may be doing the job fifty hours a week and making just enough to pay his or her bills. In today's day and age most people are living pay check to repay check never really knowing if they will make enough paying the bills that just keep piling up. If you cannot match your monthly bills how are you going to plan for retirement or transmit your kids to college or have time to enjoy life. The response to all of these questions is becoming financially free. Now it will not be easy everyone will have to get off the couch plus out of their comfort zone. Real estate is proven to be one of the simplest ways to get your out of the rat race of the nine to all 5 and begin living the life you deserve to live. Everyone desires something different out of their life. Some dream of traveling the whole world, spending more time with family, volunteering, golfing, laying about the beach, giving back to the community, or anything that will make them all happy. There are thousands of things that make people happy. Rendering it in real estate takes a person who has a strong desire to transformation their lives for the better and think big. Any individual can become a great real estate investor. It is going to take a lot of do the job and can be a struggle at times but in the end it will be the most amazing feeling ever. The people that make it in real estate investing most of have a few things in common. First they run the real estate investing business like any other business out there. Subsequently they get out there and network with anyone as well as everyone. Some people might be like me and have a hard time actually talking to other people. If you are that is ok, anyone can learn how to become a people person, it just takes hard daily perform. You have to push yourself past your comfort zone. The third problem is that you cannot be afraid to fail. Everyone seems to have failed at something but the most successful people through their learn from their failures. The fourth thing is without a doubt that you have to put a good team together. I will go into adding a team together in a later chapter. The concept of positioning a team together is so that when you don't know one thing you have team members that know what to do and can help you through questions. The can also make sure that you are not working yourself to demise. You do not want to be the person doing everything in your business. Going through everything is a receipt for failure. You have to put together decent people who you can trust and rely on. The fifth detail is that you need a mentor. Sixth and final will be desire to do it. No one can become successful at something if they won't want to do it and don't get satisfaction out of what there're doing. 2 . Setting Goals Having goals is one of the most prominent aspects of achieving what you want in life. You don't want to just simply have your goals up in your head you want to write these products down and past what you have wrote on the structure somewhere or in the bathroom mirror. You want to review your own goals daily and read them out loud to your self. This way you remind yourself everyday why you are making your business. How should you start to write down you goals? First of all you should think big, and by big I mean BIG. If your goals are too small you will easily reach them and have nothing else to look forward too. You might want to start off by asking yourself the question if I had the money and time in the world what would I do, exactly what would I buy, how would I spend the time, and how would I spend my energy levels. Are you starting to write these down? Well you should be. Take into account what you want, spending time with family, traveling the world, the best passenger cars, a castle, owning a small country, running for web design manager, having the biggest real estate investing business in your area or near you. Whatever your dreams and what you want out of your life, prepare it down. Some of my goals are becoming free, touring the world, having a Ferrari, having 10 vacation homes across the globe. Right now I am just trying to get you out of your comfort zone regarding thinking and let your imagination run. There are several solutions to set goals. I have learned a lot of ways you can set you will goals and there is no right or wrong way. The perfect ways that I have found to set your goals is to break individuals up into two categories. First your short term dreams. This should be goals from a month out to all-around a year. The second is your long term goals these goals presently think big goals and what you see for your foreseeable future. For year one I like to first make a list of the things I want to achieve this year and I will give you an example of easy methods to do that. For year one you want to be very precise first you want to list what you want your income to be at the end of your year, next how much cash in the bank you want (this will be money in your checking account, not assets). Next you want to record how much you are going to give. Giving is a very important, this can be supplying to charity, giving of gifts to friends and family, presenting to your school or anything you can dream of. As long as everything you give brings joy to others who need it well over you. Next list what bad habits you have that you'll want to eliminate. Weather is be quitting smoking, spending a lot on junk, drinking too much, working too much, not paying out enough time with family, too much TV, not exercising and many more. We all have bad habits that need to be changed for use to grow as human beings. Under each of these bad practices list out some steps that you can take in order to give up them. If you bad habit is being lazy and not working out enough what can you do to change that. Well you can get the gym membership or a home work out program. Commit your body you following through with a plan to work out 3-5 months a week. For you to change these bad habits you have to be fully committed and follow through with a detailed plan you place for yourself. After you have your plans in place you should start list of several things you want to achieve or do in the next year. It is start a successful business, spend time with family, travel to 2-5 places and so on. Now under each of these you should also write find plan on what you need and what you need to do in order to achieve these aims. Finally you should take all of this information you have a write regarding page on what you see your life being over the next time. Doing this is a great exercise to really see what you want out of daily life.

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finn-nelson-for-the-win · 7 years ago

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Changing Priority- Chapter 14

So I meant to post this yesterday, that way I would spread posting 3 new chapters over the span of 3 days…but after work and whatnot yesterday, I was way too tired to edit and post this. So yeah…I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, thanks for reading/reblogging/liking/following/etc. and just basically boosting my ego and inspiring me to keep writing and posting for you all.

Chapters 1-13 can all be found right here!

Unfamiliar Territory

Rae had spent all of Friday after she got off work trying to recover from her hangover and catch up on sleep, cleaning, and Netflix binge watching that she had been neglecting for the past week; however, this left Saturday as Rae’s only free day to run some necessary errands prior to the new semester of Uni beginning on Monday.

After spending a couple hours tending to the plants in her garden on campus, Rae walked to the Campus Bookstore to purchase all of the necessary textbooks that she needed for the upcoming semester, at least according to her professors.

Nine books…nine FUCKING BOOKS!?! ALL FOR ONE CLASS?

“Ugh, you have to be shitting me…” Rae mumbled, earning a chuckle from one of the student workers at the bookstore that was restocking the books on a shelf a short distance from Rae.

“Do you need help finding any of your books? I see you’ve amassed quite a collection already…” asked the short, lanky boy as he took a short break from placing books on the nearby shelf.

“Uhm, yes, actually! This book right here, ‘Art Across Time: Volume B’…I know you guys have it brand new to purchase or rent, but do you have any used copies to purchase or rent? This one book costs more than I was planning to spend an all my books this semester, combined!” Rae replied incredulously.

“Yikes, yeah, that book is a pricey one…unfortunately, if it isn’t on the shelves, we don’t have it. If you don’t wanna pay this much you might be able to find it online for cheaper, but I wouldn’t bet on it…”

“Ah, I see…well, thank you anyways.” Rae said politely as she debated purchasing the book now or taking the risk of being unable to find it online.

“Sorry I couldn’t really help, but let me know if you need any further help…”

“Don’t worry about it and yeah, okay. Thank you!” Rae added, giving the worker a friendly smile, before deciding it best to get the textbook now regardless of the price.

Rae walked out of the aisle of alphabetized books sorted by course titles AIS through ART and found an unattended counter to set down the growing pile of books she had been carrying to give her arms a rest before pulling her cell phone from her purse.

Rae opened up her mobile banking app to ensure that she had enough money in her account to purchase all the textbooks she would be needing and gasped audibly when she noticed her account balance.

Holy shit! It looks like the direct deposit from my tuition refund finally hit my account!

Rae breathed a sigh of relief because her hard work the previous semester had paid off and she had not only received a high enough GPA to maintain her academic scholarship, but also to qualify for the tuition assistance her job offered. Between the two scholarships, Rae had more than enough money to cover all her expenses for this semester while still having a decent amount of money left over.

Rae knew that it was already getting late and the bookstore would be closing soon, so she sighed and picked up the stack of books she was going to be purchasing before walking to the opposite side of the store.

Well…so much for that tuition refund I got…

Rae waited in line for the next available cashier to ring up her purchase and tried to mentally prepare herself to spend roughly three paychecks worth of money on a total of twelve textbooks.

***

Rae had been putting off thinking about the current situation between her and Finn with some success over the past day and a half, but as she began the nearly hour long walk back to her apartment with her recently purchased textbooks, her thoughts began to wander.

In a much more sober state of mind, Rae was not nearly as affected by what she had discovered while browsing Finn’s Instagram as she had been Thursday evening on the floor of Izzie’s kitchen, but she was still confused.

As much as I love Izz and Archie, they’re too emotionally invested in Finn and me becoming a thing to give me a straight answer about all of the questions holding me back from making the first move with Finn.

I need an unbiased opinion in the matter…

As the sun continued setting, the chilly January evening air began to set in and Rae found that she was less than halfway to her apartment and her fingertips and the tip of her nose had nearly lost all feeling.

I suppose I have nowhere else to be tonight, so I have some time to spare…

Rae crossed the street a short distance up the road and walked towards the café that she had been frequenting for the past couple months. When she walked inside, she skipped the line that she would normally stand in and decided to grab a table and warm up a bit more before putting in her order.

Shit! What if I see Eric the Barista today…will it be awkward?

Rae pushed the thought to the back of her mind after a quick look toward the counter where the only employees she could see were a number of girls around Rae’s age and the man in his mid-forties that Rae has always assumed to be the owner or manager of the café.

The warmth was slowly returning to Rae’s fingertips and rosy cheeks as she skimmed through the various required readings she had purchased or rented for all her classes. When Rae began to feel bad about loitering at the small table in the far corner of the café as she people-watched and took advantage of the coffee-scented warm atmosphere that had a vague familiarity to Rae, she decided that if she wanted to stay any longer, she needed to order something.

Rae stood from the table and left all of her belongings behind to save her spot as she walked up to the counter with her credit card and cellphone in-hand.

“Hello! Can I have a hot chai latte with soy milk?” Rae said to one of the female baristas behind the counter that she often saw when she came in before work most days.

“Sure thing! For here, I’m assuming, since you have all your stuff over there, huh?” Rae chuckled and nodded as the barista entered Rae’s order into the machine in front of her, “And your name is…wait, I know it…don’t tell me…”

“Rae!”

“Seriously, Eric? I was just about to guess that!” the Barista jokingly complained as she wrote Rae’s name on the order.

“Hey, Jessie, this drink is on me today…” Eric said to the barista that had taken Rae’s order as he walked up to the counter and gave Rae a toothy smile that made his simple steel lip ring stand out against his impossibly perfect, white teeth.

“Ah, you’re too late, buddy!” Jessie replied as she handed Rae the receipt and her credit card back, “You’re all set, Rae. We’ll call your name at the other counter when your order is ready!”

Rae thanked Jessie and gave Eric a small smile before walking back to her table in the far corner of the café.

Almost as soon as Rae had sat back down and put her card back into her purse, she heard her phone buzz a few times against the table where she had set it down and she pressed the home button to unlock her phone.

Chloe: So guess who I just finished FaceTiming that is apparently much more up-to-date on the situation with your sexy coworker than me, your best friend for nearly a decade…

Chloe: No guesses?

Chloe: Abbie! I feel so out of the loop…is this punishment because my family went to Italy for Christmas and I couldn’t come visit you like we had considered back in August?

Rae: No, that’s not it at all. It’s just a lot to tell you about via text and I’ve been really busy with work lately. Plus, last I heard, you didn’t have internet access, so I didn’t know that FaceTiming or video chatting was an option for you.

Chloe: I was dying without internet and I felt so dead to the world, so I caved and paid a fucking insane amount of money to get wi-fi at our hotel for the rest of the week.

Chloe: We leave tomorrow, but maybe we can FaceTime tomorrow? Or once I’m back home if there’s a day we are both free? I want to know everything!

Rae: Yeah, I don’t know when I’ll be free since my classes start on Monday, but I’ll let you know.

Rae locked her phone and dropped it into her purse before sighing and covering her face with her hands.

Chloe is probably the last person I want to discuss the whole situation with Finn with until I figure a few more things out.

Rae was brought back from her thoughts by the sound of someone politely clearing their throat to get Rae’s attention. She lifted her head from where she had been resting on her hands to see Eric the Barista standing behind the chair opposite of her with her latte on a small plate in one hand and a small platter of various pastries in the other.

“Oh! Were you calling my name? I didn’t even hear you, I’m so sorry…” Rae replied with an embarrassed smile as she removed her elbows from the small table to allow Eric to set down her drink.

“Don’t worry about it! When I finished making your drink I saw that you were busy on your phone and I had a spare moment, so I decided to just bring your drink directly to you and greet you properly,” he replied with a shrug after setting her latte down before continuing, “I also wanted to drop these off for you…”

Eric placed the small rectangular platter down on the table as well and Rae soon realized that the platter had a small slice of coffee cake, banana nut bread, and lemon poppy seed cake.

“Oh, I didn’t order those…” Rae mumbled.

Though they DO look really good…

“I know, but I thought you seemed a little out of it today and thought you might like a little snack if you plan to stick around here sipping your latte for a while. I didn’t know what you liked, hence the variety, but they’re all fresh and I can assure you that they’re halfway decent!”

“Thank you, Eric. That was really nice of you…completely unnecessary, but still nice,” Rae replied as she turned the plate to examine the different pastries, earning a chuckle and smile from Eric.

“Eric, wait…” Rae found herself calling as Eric slowly turned to walk away from her table.

What the fuck are you about to do, Rae…?

Is this a good idea? Probably not. Will it make things any worse than they already are? Probably not…

“Yes, Rae? Do you need anything else?” Eric asked, slipping back into customer service mode so fluidly it was clear to Rae that he had a lot of practice with this.

“You mentioned that you had a spare moment…I don’t know if you had something else you needed to do or whatever, but uh…I could use the company, if you want to that is…these pastries are best when shared with a friend, right?”

“I suppose I could stay and chat for a few minutes…” Eric said with a wide grin as he untied his apron and hung it over the back of the chair opposite Rae before taking a seat.

“So Rae…if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were keeping tabs on me to ‘accidentally’ cross paths with me while I’m at work, since Saturday evenings aren’t your usual time for coffee…”

“My ‘usual time’? Who is keeping tabs on who, now?” Eric laughed at how Rae had turned the tables on him, but she quickly continued, “I honestly didn’t even see you when I came in and then you just show up out of nowhere…”

“Yeah, I actually spend most of my shifts in the back where the kitchen is. All these fresh baked pastries don’t bake themselves, you know!” Eric replied as he tore off a small piece of banana nut bread that Rae offered him on the plate and popped it into his mouth.

“Huh, I never would have taken you for the baking type…they’re quite good though, so my compliments to the chef,” Rae added as she used a fork to cut off a small piece of the coffee cake and brought it into her mouth.

“So how are you, Rae? Like I said earlier, you seem a little off…unless you frequently visit small coffee shops at night and sit with your head in your hands like you’re in the middle of a mental breakdown or an existential crisis..? Which if you do, that’s fine…I’ll only judge you a little bit…” Rae chuckled dryly because Eric was not far off from the truth, but his friendly tone seemed to be all the encouragement Rae needed to open up a bit more about what was on her mind.

“Well I was walking past here and was really cold, so I came in to warm up. But you’re kind of right, I am a bit off, I suppose. I just have a lot on my mind and I’m trying to process everything but I’m not really making any progress.”

“Would you care to elaborate at all, Rae? I’m a great listener, or so I’ve been told…”

Rae looked up from her latte that she had been staring at for some time and saw Eric turned around slightly in his chair and having a silent conversation with Jessie from where she stood behind the counter.

Less than a minute later, Jessie approached their shared table with a smug smile and placed a cup down in front of Eric before walking away.

“I could feel a story coming on and I thought a cup of tea would pair nicely with whatever story you were about to tell me…” Eric relied when he noticed Rae’s look of confusion as he dropped the teabag into the cup of hot water to steep.

“Ah, I see…well almost immediately before coming here I spent nearly a month’s rent on textbooks for the semester that starts on Monday at my Uni’s campus bookstore …which I’m not too thrilled about…”

Eric nodded to show that he was still paying attention as he removed the teabag from his cup and took a cautious sip to avoid burning himself.

“But mostly I’m just sort of…confused and maybe a bit…uhm, conflicted about something…”

“About what?”

“Uh, about a boy…that I work with…”

“Ah, I see,” Eric replied as he took another sip of tea and tore off another small piece of banana nut break, “what is there to be confused or conflicted about?”

“Well I’ve been working with this guy for a few months now and I thought he was a total jerk at first, but slowly we became friends and I got to know him a bit…well long story short, I had a few friends insisting that he was flirting with me for a while before I even grew to like him and see him as more than just a coworker, but now I do like him…a lot…and I don’t know what to make of his feelings, since his actions have more or less remained unchanged and I am always getting mixed signals from this guy…”

Rae had not intended to go into this much detail when telling Eric about everything that was on her mind, but as she sipped her chai latte and he drank his tea and they both nibbled on the pastries he had brought, the words kept coming and she told him almost every minute detail about the situation as Eric sat listening and reacting quietly when appropriate.

“And so now there’s my childhood best mate, Chloe, the one I mentioned earlier…well, she wants to chat with me so I can fill her in on everything that is going on with my coworker and I don’t know what to say, you know? I obviously can’t say ‘oh he still flirts with me at work, but after I got shitfaced the other night I found him and his ex on Instagram and gave myself a panic attack because it seems like if he really liked me he would have made a move by now, since he’s had like two months to move on from his ex-girlfriend’ but I mean, that’s the truth…”

Rae had run out of things to say and she sat in silence for a moment and took another sip of her drink that had cooled down a bit too much and was barely even warm at this point, but Rae was too distracted to notice or care.

Eric sat in silence, nodding slightly as he drank the last bit of tea in his cup, processing everything that Rae had said and trying to gather his thoughts to say something.

“Hmm…that’s quite a predicament you’re in, Rae…do you know what you’re planning to do or to tell her? Because it seems to me that before you can tell her what’s going on, it may be best for you to figure it out with yourself.”

“I have no fucking clue what I should do at this point. This is all unfamiliar territory for me, Eric. I don’t really find myself being the object of men’s affections very often—if that’s even what this whole situation really is—so I’m still struggling to navigate my way through what everyone is telling me and how I feel.”

“I find that very hard to believe, Rae, but okay…do you mind if I give you my input? A little bit of insight into the mind of a guy from the perspective of a guy…”

“Not at all! Please, I’d greatly appreciate it actually, since I already know what everyone else I would talk to has to say about this whole thing.”

“Well, I can’t speak for all guys, of course, but it seems to me like if he is stalling to avoid making the first move, it’s because he’s nervous that he’s going to screw it up. Based on everything you told me, I don’t doubt that this bloke is interested in you. But if he has been interested in you for a couple months now and it has mostly just been flirting, he’s probably in a similar position as you are and he’s trying to decide the best way to go about this that won’t backfire on him if you do not reciprocate his feelings…This coworker of yours seems kind of shy, so as a shy guy myself, I can tell you that it’s fucking nerve wracking when you finally decide to be more obvious with your flirting if you aren’t even sure that the person you’re flirting with will react well…” Eric looked away from Rae and began nervously examining his fingernails as he gently bit the inside of his bottom lip which made his lip ring wiggle in place slightly.

“I suppose you could be right…it’s kind of reassuring to hear that someone like you who has never met my coworker and is not particularly biased is coming to the same conclusions as all my closest mates and coworkers. So clearly I’m not reading too much into things with him, right?”

“Right! So if that is the case, he might need a little bit more confirmation from you that you are interested in him…I’m not saying that you need to make the first move or let him, uh, ‘whack it in you’ or, uhm, ‘explore your secret garden’ as some of your friends have suggested,” Eric began with an embarrassed chuckled before continuing, “but I think it could do both of you some good if you can both be more forward with your flirting just so you are both confident that the feelings are mutual.”

“I think you’re right, Eric. Thank you for letting me vent and complain about the woes of my pathetic excuse of a love life to you.”

“It’s been my pleasure, really. I really hope all this works out for you, Rae! I know it’s not my place to say this, but I just don’t want you to rush into anything you’re not ready for and I don’t want you to regret not doing anything, so I’d say just take your time figuring things out but let the pieces fall as they will and try not to force anything…If it’s meant to be, then it will be.” Eric gave Rae a smile and stood from his chair before putting his apron back on.

Rae suddenly realized how long they had been talking for when she saw that the majority of the patrons who had filled the café before had left and they were down to a very small crew of employees who were mostly just talking behind the counter, since there were no new to customers to attend to at the moment.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you so long! I hope you don’t get in trouble for taking such a long break instead of working!” Rae said with concern as Eric stacked the plates and cups they were now finished with for him to take away from the table.

“In all honesty, I wasn’t even scheduled to work today, so I can’t imagine I’ll be in any trouble.”

“If you aren’t supposed to be working, why are you here then?” Rae asked in confusion.

“It’s kind of hard to say ‘no’ when your family owns the café…” Eric replied with a dramatic eye roll as he started walking away.

Eric was a short distance from Rae’s table when he slowed to a stop and turned around, a look of hesitation and inner conflict obvious on his face before it was replaced with the toothy smile Rae was used to seeing on his face when he was taking customers’ orders.

“I’m really glad I got to see you today, Rae. I hope everything works out how you want it to with your coworker, because I could tell how heavily the stress of all of that was weighing on you when you first got here. Be sure to come in and see me again sometime soon, okay Rae?” Eric gave Rae a quick wave with one hand before continuing his path towards the kitchen and disappearing behind a door.

***

Sunday morning Rae had woken up in an unexpectedly good mood that she decided had to be attributed to her conversation with Eric the Barista the prior evening. Their discussion had given Rae a lot to consider, but more than anything, it had given her a new sense of clarity that certainly did not go unnoticed by her coworkers during her shift at work.

“You certainly seem excited today, Rae. You do realize that the semester starts tomorrow, so what reason do you possibly have to be as happy as you are?” Archie asked with a joking scoff as he took a seat at the table Rae was sitting at in the break room.

“Ugh, don’t remind me about classes starting. As it is, my bank account is still trying to recover from buying all the textbooks I’m going to need,” Rae said with a cringe.

“If you truly must know, Archie, I am quite happy today I suppose…I just feel so at-ease with, well, everything.”

Archie furrowed his eyebrows and gestured with his hand for Rae to continue, so she took a deep breath before continuing the conversation that she had known would be brought up at some point today.

“So do you remember what I told you Friday at work about me drunk crying on Izzie’s kitchen floor on Thursday evening? Well, I basically gave myself a panic attack because I was overthinking the whole situation with…‘Alphonzo’…after I sort of stalked him and his ex-girlfriends’ Instagram pages…” Rae replied, trying to ignore Archie’s noticeable surprise as she casually told him more about her recent drunken antics.

“So there’s that…and do you remember the guy from the café across the street that I mentioned had paid for my coffee and was flirting with me a bit…?”

“Yes, I remember that too. I also remember the look of jealousy on Fi—Alphonzo’s face when you were talking about that, so if your goal was to make him jealous: mission accomplished! Seriously, he did not stop glancing over his shoulder at you for the rest of his shift on Friday and then—ugh, I really shouldn’t be telling you this, so you have to swear that you never heard it from me, okay?—and then yesterday he was asking me a bunch of questions about you and the barista you were talking about…”

“Are you serious, right now? How did the even come up in conversation!? What kind of questions was he asking?” Rae asked slightly embarrassed that she had been a topic of conversation when she was not even at work.

“Well someone else came in with a cup from the café and Peter and Melissa were chatting about what you had said and were wondering if ‘Rae’s not-so-secret admirer’ had been working or not and so he was asking me if I had ever seen the barista you were talking about, if I had ever gone to the café with you and seen you interact with this barista…If I thought you were interested in this barista more than you were letting on when you told the story…and he was asking me about whether or not I thought you liked how forward the barista was in terms of giving you free coffee and leaving a note on your coffee…stuff like that mostly. He was trying to be casual about it all, but I know him too well.” Archie replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

“Wow…that’s kind of a great and crazy coincidence because yesterday evening I went to the café and I ended up talking to that barista, his name is Eric by the way, for like two hours…about Finn…”

“Wait, so let me get this straight, Rae. You spent two hours last night talking and getting relationship advice about the bloke you like from a guy who two days prior gave you free coffee and flirted with you and professed his love for you in the form of a note on the side of your coffee cup…?”

“Well, uh, sort of? I mean, he didn’t profess his love to me on my cup on Thursday! He just complimented me and told me how much his day is improved when he sees me come into the café…and…holy shit, I fucking friend-zoned this poor lad, didn’t I!?!”

“It sort of seems like it, Rae. I mean this guy, Eric, clearly likes you enough that he wanted to give you free coffee and make sure that you knew how much he appreciates you coming into the café when he’s working…and then you pour your heart out to him about another guy…”

“Aw, now I just feel like a terrible person, Arch! Eric was so supportive and he seemed happy for me because I was happy after talking it all through with him, but like, I’m pretty sure I would react the same way if I just got hardcore friend-zoned and wanted to play it cool…” Archie reached out a hand to pat Rae on the back to help soothe her as she continued, “Eric is like…really attractive, too! And he was so nice about everything and he didn’t even make the situation too weird or anything!”

“That’s a good thing though, right? That Eric was able to put aside whatever feelings he may or may not have for you and give you genuine advice because he wants the best for you…”

“Yeah, it was so nice getting the opinion of a guy on the whole situation with Finn…”

“Uhm, excuse me? What am I if not a guy? A potato!”

“That’s not what I meant, Arch, and you know it. I just meant a guy that wasn’t wrapped up in the whole situation and a close mutual friend of both people involved…”

“I guess you have a fair point…” Archie said with a chuckle before realizing how much their conversation had veered off-topic, “Oh, so the reason you’re so happy today is…because you talked to your Barista Buddy and…?”

“Oh, yeah! I talked to him about the whole situation and I feel like I have a good idea of what I need to do and how I can show ‘Alphonzo’ that I’m interested without putting myself out there too much and then at some point one of us will have to take the chance and make the first move, but I’m not as freaked out about all of this as I was up to that point.”

By this point, Rae and Archie’s break had already ended, but they had simply continued their conversation back at their desks in hushed whispers to avoid being overheard.

“So what now?”

“Well, I guess I just sit back, relax, and wait for—“

“Finn! Hi, how’s it going?” Archie called in greeting before sharing a nervous smile with Rae.

“Hey, Archie. How are you this morning, Rae? You look really nice…are you dressed up today for something, or someone, special?” Finn asked as he took a seat at the empty desk on Rae’s left side, opposite of Archie.

“Hiya Finn! And thank you, but do I really seem like the kind of girl that would dress up and alter my appearance for the benefit of another person?” Rae scoffed, feigning that she was offended at his implications but smiled as she continued, “I’m just giving you a hard time, Finn…I dressed up for myself today, mostly. It just feels nice to get dressed up and look pretty from time to time, I guess!”

Rae looked down at her outfit as she adjusted the sleeves of her cardigan and plucked off imaginary bits of fluff and debris. Rae had paired one of her favorite dresses that had a very short multi-toned blue flowy skirt and a pale denim bustier top with navy blue tights, a long gray cardigan that was nearly longer than the dress itself, and neutral taupe ankle boots with a small, chunky heel. Rae’s hair, which she had straightened earlier that morning, was beginning to re-curl itself because of the humidity of the chilly January air, but it appeared to be done intentionally leaving Rae’s hair in bouncy, gentle purple waves opposed to her usual mess of ringlets and spiraling waves. She completed her look with very simple makeup, focusing mainly on drawing attention to her eyes and naturally long eyelashes and completing the look with subtle berry-toned lipstick.

Rae seldom looked in the mirror and felt completely happy with the image staring back; however, Rae felt happy and she could see a uniquely happy glow in her appearance that made her feel truly beautiful today and it felt nice to know that others were beginning to take notice of the change as well.

***

Monday morning Rae awoke earlier than she would have liked and began reluctantly getting ready before beginning her hour-long walk from her apartment to campus.

After taking her first Computer Programming course last semester, Rae’s interest in programming and design had been piqued; however, after sitting through an hour long class this morning in which the professor introduced the Programming for Media Arts course Rae was enrolled in this semester, she had a sinking suspicion that she would likely grow to love or hate this course, but it was entirely too early to tell which.

Rae walked out of the building and had to stop to allow her eyes to adjust to the bright gray light of this overcast January morning after sitting in almost complete darkness during her programming class.

When the brightness was more bearable, Rae pulled her phone from her pocket and began to check the time when she could vaguely hear someone calling her name.

“Rae! Rae-Rae!”

She looked up to see someone on a bicycle riding towards her that was waving with both hands to get her attention from some ways away. It was not until this person on their bike got much closer and Rae could make out the tattoos on their arms that were peeking out from the sleeves of their jacket and the messy brown hair tousled by the wind that she realized who had been trying to get her attention.

“Good morning, Finn!” She called when he was only a short distance away from her.

“Hey Rae! I’m running late but I’ll talk to you later…” Finn replied without slowing his speed, calling over his shoulder and trailing off as he rode his bike further out of earshot of Rae.

What time is it? 10:09 AM…

This is great…Finn is already nearly 10 minutes late for his shift to work and yet he still makes a point to say “hi” when he sees me.

Rae did not even try to wipe the smile off her face as she walked to grab a chai latte from a coffee shop on campus before walking to work.

Since it was Monday, Rae’s scheduled shift did not begin until noon, but as she walked into the office building that she worked on and it was still a quarter to eleven, Rae decided that it was better for her to be early to work and take the extra time to work on assignments for one of her online courses using the Wi-Fi at work rather than risk being late to work if she went back to her apartment or remained on campus.

As Rae sat in the break room at work, scrolling through social media on her phone after figuring out which of her online classes would require more immediate attention, Rae began regretting her decision not to grab something to eat before walking to work. Between work and the three hour long Business Marketing class Rae had later that afternoon, she quickly realized that she likely would not have a chance to eat until after she was done with her class that evening.

Rae was debating buying a snack from the vending machine in the break room when she heard the quiet scraping of a chair next to her being pulled out from under the table where she sat.

“Hey there, Chop!”

“How’s it going, Raemundo?” Chop replied as he used a fork he had grabbed from the drawer in the break room to stir the Cup of Noodles he had just pulled from the microwave.

“It’s going,” Rae said, chuckling as a rogue noodle dangled from Chop’s mouth as he took the first bite of his noodle soup, “how are you today? Did you have any classes yet?”

“I’m good, thanks!” Chops said before stopping to get another mouthful of noodles, “And nope, no classes today, but I’ve been at work since 8am! Do you have classes today?”

“Yeah, I had class earlier this morning. And I have a two hour shift at work starting at noon and then class again after that…This semester has me constantly running back and forth between classes and work,” Rae explained with an annoyed eye roll.

“That’s awful, Rae! I’m so sorry!”

“It is what it is…”

“It looks pretty cloudy outside today, I wonder if it’s going to rain,” Chop mused when there was a lull in the conversation as he looked out the window to the parking lot for their office.

“I hope not! I’m walking back to campus after work,” Rae replied with a small frown after she looked outside the window as well and was fairly certain that it would begin raining within the hour.

“Well, I can give you a ride! You said you’re working a two hour shift? We get off work at the same time!”

“Thank you, Chop, but no thank you. You’re done for the day after this and I’d hate to put you out and make you go out of your way just to give me a ride to campus. I don’t think it’ll rain, or if it does, I’m sure it won’t be so much that I can’t walk the twenty minutes or so back to campus.”

As if right on cue, mere moments after Rae decline Chop’s offer, a sudden boom of thunder followed by a downpour of rain began, making both Rae and Chop jump slightly out of surprise before chuckling at the irony of it all.

“Uh, I’m sure the rain will stop soon…” Rae mumbled, not even fully believing her own words.

“It’s no trouble, really. Finn and I live less than a mile from campus, so it’s not even going out of my way, honestly! Just let me know, okay? But if it is still raining after work, I will not take ‘no’ for an answer, Rae! I will be driving you to your next class because I simply cannot have my Raemundo walking in the rain!” Chop said as he pointed a finger at Rae, adding emphasis to the point he was trying to make.

“Fine, but I’ll let you know if anything changes.” Rae replied as Chop threw away the empty Cup of Noodles container and waved goodbye to Rae before exiting the break room to get back to work.

Rae was still looking out the window at the rain pouring down and collecting in puddles that would undoubtedly flood the parking lot by the time the rain began to let up—if it let up—when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her from behind in a surprise hug.

“Guess who…” Rae heard this person sing-song and Rae instantly smiled when she realized who it was.

“Hmm…whoever could it be?” Rae replied with a chuckle as she turned her torso slightly to return the hug Rebecca was giving her.

“Are you on break or are you just coming in at noon?” Rebecca asked as she pulled out the chair Chop previous occupied and took a seat beside Rae.

“I start at noon, but I’m only working for a couple hours”

“Yay, we get off work at the same time! That’s perfect!” Rebecca exclaimed, nearly bouncing out of her chair with excitement.

“Uh, what’s perfect?” Rae asked as she quirked an eye brow up in confusion.

“I was just realizing how hungry I am and I don’t know if you have class immediately after work or not, but if you don’t…Will you do me the honor of being my lunch date today?”

“I’d love to!” Rae said with a smile.

“Splendid! I have to get back to work right now, but I’ll be waiting for you out here in the break room after work and we can go from here!”

Rae waved goodbye to Rebecca and continued scrolling through social media on her phone until it was close enough to noon that she could justify logging into her computer and getting to work.

Rae switched her cell phone to silent and walked into the main office area. After scanning her badge at the small machine on the wall, Rae began walking towards the closest open desk when she was very nearly knocked to the ground by someone who had hurriedly stood from their chair and began walking without watching where they were going.

“Oh shit, my bad, girl! Are you alright?” Finn asked as he placed a hand on each of Rae’s shoulders to steady her after he had inadvertently collided with her.

“Yeah, all good, Finn!” Rae replied with an embarrassed chuckle.

“Phew, that’s a relief…I saw you today when I was riding my bike through the middle of campus on my way to work!”

“I know. I saw you too,” Rae began with a small chuckle, “and said I ‘hi’…and then you said ‘hi’ and that you were running late and would talk to me later”

“Yeah, you didn’t seem to recognize me when I was first trying to catch your attention, so I was almost afraid that you weren’t really you or something!”

“Nope, it was me, I was just distracted and when you were riding you bike I didn’t recognize you until you got a bit closer,” Rae chuckled nervously as Finn dropped his hands—which she just realized had been resting on her shoulders during their entire conversation—and gave her a quick smile before side-stepping to walk past her.

Rae noticed that the desk beside Chop was empty, so she set her badge down on the desk and pulled out the chair to take a seat.

“Long time no see, baby girl!” Chop called, giving Rae a wink as she began logging into her computer and Finn returned to his desk on the opposite side of Chop.

“I know! I haven’t seen you in so long…how are you?” Rae replied catching on to the joke immediately.

“I’m good thanks…not much has changed in the last, oh, twenty minutes,” Chop replied with a laugh.

During this short exchange, Finn kept looking from Chop to Rae in confusion as he waited for them to explain what inside joke he was being left out of before finally Chop clarified.

“Our Raemundo here was sitting in the break room before her shift and so I sat with her during my break and we were chatting a bit,”

“Ah, I see.” Finn replied with a nod as he returned to work, only slightly averting his attention away from Chop and Rae’s conversation.

“Which reminds me! While I appreciate the offer, Chop,” Rae began after quickly glancing over at Chop as she continued checking her email, “I made plans for lunch as soon as I get off work and they can give me a ride back to campus when we’re done. So I won’t be needing a ride after work. Thank you for offering though, Chop. That was really considerate of you!”

“You, uh, you offered to give Rae a ride home from work today?” Finn asked unable to hide that he had been tuned into their conversation.

“Well not home, because she has a class after her shift, but yeah! It started to rain really hard during my break and she and I get off work at the same so I just figured…”

“Oh, no, that makes sense. That was nice of you Chop…The offer stands for me too, Girl. If you ever want me to give you a ride somewhere after work, just let me know!” Finn replied after quickly regaining his composure and shooting her a crooked grin.

“Uhm, a ride on your bicycle?” Rae asked, raising her eye brows and unsuccessfully containing a smile.

“No, of course not,” Finn mumbled as a blush spread across his cheeks, “I do have a car…I just didn’t want to drive my car and have to find parking if I only worked for a couple hours today…”

“No need to justify yourself to me, Finn. I was just having a little fun with you,” Rae replied with a smirk which only caused Finn to blush a deeper shade of red and seem more embarrassed as he nervously bit his lower lip, “I appreciate the offer nonetheless and I’ll be sure to keep it in mind, thanks!”

The clocks on the wall chimed, signaling that it was officially noon, and Finn stood from his desk chair and began walking toward the exit, turning back to give Chop a nod and Rae a wave and small smile before walking out of the building.

@eveerez @tinakegg @hey1tskat1e @bitchesbecrazy89 @kneekeyta @milllott @protectfinnnelson @arathewallflower @jackiewalsh2013 @pink-royaute @i-dream-of-emus @lurkernolonger @bitchy-broken @nutinanutshell @mallyallyandra @borntosik

A/N: Hello, my darlings! Okay, forreal though: what did you all think of how savagely Rae *accidentally* friend-zoned Eric the Barista by venting about all her boy troubles? (This was certainly not my proudest moment, I must admit...) 😅😬😅 Do you still think Eric poses any threat to Finn's chances with Rae after reading this chapter? 🤔 I know some of you were probably worried about that possibility after I introduced him into the story in Chapter 12...

The end is nigh (just kidding...sort of...) and there's only one more chapter to be posted this week, probably late tonight or early tomorrow morning. Big things are in the works and there's a lot of stuff happening both in this story line and in my real life, but yeah...this should be fun. 😅

I look forward to hearing what you all think of this chapter and the next one to come...14 chapters down, and 1 more to go (for now)...let's do this shit! 😁

#mmfd #my mad fat diary #mmfd fanfic #my mad fat diary fanfiction #Changing Priority #chapter 14

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