Morningstar Manor

Hiding out? Cleo? Not a chance, but the pile of study books and notebooks on one lounger, while she lay on the one next to it did sort of indicate she'd been there a while. Which even if that hadn't given it away, the cooler full of empty soda's and a bowl that looked suspiciously like it might have held fruit salad did anyway. Yes, with Jazz still doing her heartbroken best to be as miserable as possible, Cleo was revising like crazy up at the pool house. Well, mostly revising, with a slap she closed the text and huffed as she added it to the other lounger, before twisting lithely and getting up off the one she'd been lying on. A few steps and she was diving into the pool to swim a few more laps in an effort to break up the monotony of Business Ethics, Economic Forecasting, and what she called "stockmarket one-oh-none" in trading practices.

Those few laps done, and at a fast pace besides, she lifted herself out onto the side and padded back to the lounger, eyeing the hot tub as she did so, maybe in a bit she'd go bubble away the terrible thoughts she was having about quitting school and taking up some brainlessly fluffy career option. She sighed as she settled back on her lounger, pulling a towel over her to help her dry off a bit, still arguing with herself, but not realising she'd spoken out loud.... "Yes, but brainless and fluffy you are not, however hard you try, so give that one up and keep studying."

Pajamas from the drawer in the big dresser in the bedroom; the pretty silk robe from the hook in the bathroom, the toothbrush next to his from the shiny silver holder on the counter....

Jazz had a list and she did her best to follow it without thought, to ignore the trembling in her hands as she gathered up every small piece of herself scattered about Tom's apartment and dropped them into a simple Micheal's Bros. box she'd saved from the trash.

A pair of heels from the end of the neat line of men's dress shoes in the closet; the lovely polished hair brush from the nightstand.

She lingered for a moment by the bed, idly picking hair from the brush as she pictured the watch she'd given him for his birthday sitting in the box amongst his other shinies and wondered whether or not she should take it...but, in the end, she dropped the brush with the rest and hefted the box into her arms, leaving the jewelery behind.

It'd been a gift, and whatever he decided to do with it (sell it probably, a vicious part of her hissed) was his business. Not hers.

Not anymore.

( She's never coming back. )

Cleo had been out, she had college in the morning, but right now she didn't much care about that. Jazz had been moping, and pining, and pining and moping, and Cleo had decided she wasn't going to do the same and had been out dancing and flirting and staying safe with bottled water and not spending too long with any one partner on the dance floor. She was tired, her feet ached, and she was sticky. But, she had to creep into the grave dark apartment, without turning on lights, or making a sound, because if she woke Jazz up, there would be, in no uncertain terms, Hell, To, Pay.

She knew that.

But she'd had enough of the frustration of tiptoeing around everything, and sort of accidentally slammed the apartment's front door as it slipped from her hands and crashed closed. "Oooops," she snickered softly, "bad door!"

She gave up on tiptoeing and sauntered down to her room instead, humming a little under her breath, one of the tunes she'd been dancing to earlier, oh, was that a noise? She paused, by her bedroom door, waiting for the inevitable arrival of what could only be described as 'dead Jazz walking', well, if she was only half awake anyway.

Jason had the night shift tonight and that was fine by him. He didn't sleep much anyway. But he still had about half an hour before he was technically on duty - though most would tell you he was never off duty - and so decided a coffee as in order. Large Mocha Latte in hand Jason found a table where he could watch the room and took a seat.

***

Jack had just come off a 24 hour straight shift and stumbled into the Mocha in search of food and drink. It might seem silly to be going for coffee when he was now free to head back to his little apartment and crash but he needed the routine of a coffee and a muffin to unwind from work. Then there would be a shower and bed.

Jack's uniform shirt was already unbuttoned half way down his chest to show the white singlet beneath but now he untucked it from his trousers and let it hang completely open. He gave Joy his usual wicked smile - even if it was a bit tired - and she flushed and fluttered and soon he had his coffee and chocolate chip muffin and was finding a table.

***

Deacon had slept like a rock in his own bed for far longer than he probably should have but that was fine by him. He'd needed it. When he did finally get up today he'd worked out hard in the gym, showered, gone grocery shopping for real, and now - getting ready to head into the station for a late shift and to get caught up on his paperwork - he headed into the Mocha dressed in jeans, black boots, black button up and his leather jacket, gun tucked inside in its shoulder holster. Getting in line for the counter he tucked his hands in his pockets and smiled. It was good to be home.

Cleo was sitting in the conservatory, sipping on a soda, and trying to finish the assignment she had to hand in tomorrow. She wasn't happy with it, and this was her third rewrite after telling Jazz it was done, which was why she was down here and not in the apartment!She muttered something under her breath, then looked up, blushing slightly, swearing in French was all right, so long as nobody heard. All she heard in return was the rustling of the plants as the fan turned lazily overhead in a hint of breeze from somewhere.

With a sigh Cleo put her head back down into her books, only a couple of paragraphs left to go now! Then, she heard footsteps, and looked up again, who else was in the conservatory?

Ang was settled in the pool, drifting and lapping alternately, an exercise that Alec had agreed to, and which she was making the most of having left Gavin with his father for a bath and bedtime routine they mostly had down pat. Her mind was racing though, through the essay due next week that she had almost finished, but was indefinably unhappy with. She'd missed something, something, "Conditioning!" She suddenly sat up in the water, unaware that someone else was in the pool house, "I forgot about the damn conditioning!"

----

Emma was in the Gym, the phys ed component of her year was not going well, and she was doing her best to improve that with a few miles on the treadmill, and some light weights, but, really, could she have known less about what she was doing? Just then, she was sat on a mat, supposedly stretching, but in reality, mostly in a dream about opening an exhibition in a gallery, her exhibition, a brilliant success...... strangely enough she was smiling, despite the hunched posture and oddly extended leg that she was bent over.

----

Icene had finished emptying her apartment. The last of her belongings had gone, either to Adams, or the local good will. She'd advised her parents of the apartment number change, but only her father knew what was going on. He'd confessed her mother was slipping still further, and Icene was now worrying over a black coffee, that thankfully remained such, whilst shredding a muffin into crumbs.... should she go home? Could she do anything? Would she just make it worse? And if her mother was as far gone as her father said, would she even realise who Icene was? She sat, without realising she was crying, as a single solitary tear drifted down her face, slowly freezing until a small bead of ice fell from her chin into the mess of crumbs on the plate.

----

Gregori was cheerfully stuffing mailroom boxes with small samples of chocolates, he'd left a box that first time for Ashlynn, and that had given him the idea, now he dropped half a dozen chocs, in bags, into each box in the apartment, complete with a business card, and a small copy of the 'menu'. He was humming a Christmas Carol, because there were no good halloween songs.

----

Cleo browsed the library shelves, wondering, not for the first time, why she'd picked the courses she had. All this studying was not helping her find a date, and with halloween coming up, surely a costume for the rumoured ball was far more important than an essay. She found the book she was looking for, and turned, only to drop the book as someone else was right there, "Oh madre de dios! You made me jump!"

----

Spencer had been in meetings, and was feeling tired and drained. But there were chores to be done, so tonight he was staring blankly at the washing machine as it revolved rhythmically before him, the towels tumbling in and out of the soapy water, his mind seeking only rest and respite from worry and stress. Christmas was coming, the store was gearing up, and yet, he just couldn't find any enthusiasm for any of it. It worried him.

----

Jane was quietly clearing up the daycare centre, slowly cleaning up the spilled paint, the ground in clays, and setting things to rights. Alongside her were a couple of the last remaining children, who's parents hadn't yet arrived to collect them, even though officially the daycare part of their work was over. She was happy though, because the children were helping, and it was all good, however imperfectly they did it, they really were helping! "That's it, one more brush into the pan, and yes! You've got it! Well done," she smiled at the young boy, "Now, can you get it to the bin without spilling it?"

She looked up to see another parent arriving, "Evening! We've had a lovely day, everything all right?"

Eve had worked both of her jobs last night, leaving her no desire to get up early and unpack her new apartment. She'd stayed with a friend, called to verbally give permission for the moving guys to drop off her things, apologized to a very nice sounding Mr. Abrams for the inconvenience, then verified the delivery of her things. On her way here, she picked up a gift card for the theater to drop off to Mr. Abrams.

She thanked the man who held the door open for her, pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head and looked around. Man, Drew wasn't kidding when he said the wait was worth it. This place looked better than The Empress.

After work, and classes, and a trip to a local ethnic grocery, Jazz was finally home and she was, in spite of the long day, in a bright mood.

"Cleo!" She called as she breezed into the apartment, bags swinging, keys dropping into the bowl inside the door with a clang. "I got'em!"

Coming home from work, Thomas did not go up to the 12th floor on the elevator, but stopped in the second. He had not called ahead to check if either of the Gonzales girls were home, but he decided to try his luck, and knocked on their apartment door.

It was, perhaps, a bit cruel, and, Jazz imagined, that it had to feel incredibly frustrating. But, even though she was sure she'd have to check for booby-traps before she touched and did anything for the next few days, it had been a laugh and half to watch Cleo stalk about as she'd gotten ready for dinner, obviously feeling hard done by.

She'd told Cleo last week they'd be having dinner for her birthday, but other than that, and a cheery "happy birthday" greeting at breakfast, the day had been uneventful and Jazz had made no further mention about the importance of the date.

Jazz figured the surprises to come would be all sweeter if Cleo had to sweat for a while first.

Now, as they crossed the parking garage, heading for Jazz's car - Jazz dug theatrically in her clutch, making a show of looking for something as they walked.

When she was certain they were close enough that there was no way Cleo had missed the car in the usually empty spot next to Jazz's convertible, she pulled the set of keys from her purse - little VW logo out - and held them out to her sister, saying, "I didn't have time to get 'motorists beware' warning posters made for everyone, so try to take it easy, huh?"

Cleo was feeling very relaxed, she'd spent the day making the most of the sunshine, lounging around the gardens in a bikini skirt and top, throwing on a cover up in a ridiculously hot pink floral design to fetch herself drinks and food from the Mocha, and reading up on a text for college. Yes, even on her fun days Cleo managed to get some work in somewhere! Now though, she'd finished the book, even made notes, and was enjoying a long cold soda with a sandwich before she needed to head back up to the apartment. Not that she expected Jazz to be there, she'd been kind of absent again just lately, probably involved with Tom upstairs. Cleo sighed, please god she never wound up so wrapped up in a man as that.

Of course, with so many good looking men around here, even Cleo had to admit she was spoilt for candy to look at. Probably just as well most of it came attached to a partner, but, hey, she could still look right?

Emma had put the phone down after a long chat with Ang, and yes, Alec too, even Gavin had gurgled at her, and finished her cup of tea, then fetched up both dogs, and headed for the gardens. They needed a longer walk tomorrow and she was thinking of taking them out for a long hike, but for now the gardens and a dozen or so laps, along with assorted fetch and tug of war games would have to do. So for a while she was settled on the lawns, throwing tennis balls in various directions and laughing as Faith and Lily raced each other to bring them back.

Spencer was hiding out in the Gazebo, he was fairly sure his mother was likely to call, so had left his cell upstairs, and instead bought some paperwork with him to read while he sipped on his coffee. A whole batch of papers had just slipped from his grasp though, and were now drifting about in the breeze as he tried to catch them without spilling his drink - if only he'd thought to put it down.

Icene was basking in a secluded corner that had sunshine, not working on her tan as much as trying not to burn, but then, she had plenty of sun cream, at least on the bits she could reach. An ice cold, and staying that way, bottle of white wine sat next to her, along with the one glass she'd poured and was currently sipping. She had a veritable picnic in the bag by her feet, but, so far, no-one to share it with.

Jane was not too far from her apartment windows, in a more shaded spot, wearing a large floppy brimmed hat, and a long-sleeved but very cool loose cotton kaftan type thing. She'd bought it on a whim because the pale blue fabric was covered in little white daisies with yellow centres, but she really wasn't sure even now that it was a good choice. Bare feet peeked out from under it as she struggled to keep her attention on the book she was trying to read. Any distraction from a childcare textbook would probably be more than welcome!

Gregori was just outside the Mocha doors, on the phone to his builder, and slugging down a bottle of water fresh from the Mocha's fridge. He was not in the best of moods, but the sunshine was helping, along with abject apologies and promises of cost reductions... after a few more exchanges he hung up and sighed, then rolled his head on his shoulders before leaning back against the sun warmed wall and almost, but not quite, wishing he smoked or something.

Cleo was in the tenant gardens, admiring the plants, and occasionally pulling a random weed out of a plot here or there... and if she pocketed a few leaves of bay, or a sprig of rosemary, well, nobody would notice right? She did draw the line at pinching strawberries though, leaving those well alone in the plots where they were, just, oooh, garlic chives! Those would be good. She wondered how difficult it would be to get a plot, then she could maybe grow her own herbs outside, they usually tasted better than indoor grown...

( Read more... )

Included in the attachments are photos: several beach scenes, a pair of villa shots, a photo of the car, a photo of Tom looking handsomely windswept and relaxed while driving the car, another photo of Tom - this time dripping wet in full dress and looking like he might set fire to the camera pointed his way, and finally a snapshot of Tom and Jazz together - looking tanned and happy poolside.

She'd woken up in some strange one room place, which smelled funny, and was most definitely not the apartment she shared with Jazz. Her clothes, or what she thought had to be her clothes, were strange too, not what she would normally wear, and although she put them on to return to the apartment, they went straight into the bin once she took them off again. She'd showered, for too long and under water just slightly too hot, scrubbing at her skin and hair to make sure they were clean as clean could get. Then she'd stood there, under the hot spray, trying to figure out why she felt so confused, sad, almost lost. As if she'd been looking for something, something so important that she just had to find it, but, she had no idea what it was. It took her a few minutes to work out she was crying, but then, she couldn't stop herself either.

It was some time later before she was sitting on the sofa, wrapped in pink, sheep patterned fleecy pj's, bright pink socks, and a thick fluffy blue and pink check blanket. She could just about smell the chilli shepherd's pie she had started, and feel the warmth of the hot chocolate through the mug she was holding. She still felt wrong though, as if there was something missing, not just because Jazz wasn't home but worse than that, and Cleo sat there, alone, feeling cold still, unable to get warm. She wanted desperately to call Jazz and tell her to just come home already, because right now, she needed so badly to just know her sister was all right. That and a hug.

"And this is where we store the trolleys after the day is over, you stock it up before you leave right?" The woman showing Cleo round was bored, another new one, young, supposedly hard working, would probably leave in a week when she figured out it wasn't all fun and laughs. It was hard work working at the Manor, you had to know that, and live up to the standards expected.

Cleo nodded, "Of course, makes it easier to start the following day if it's already loaded up," she smiled, "it's better to use these products too, they are all good, not like hard lye soap and hot water, very hard on the hands, but does make the mission floor lovely and clean."

Her grey dress was replaced by the maid's uniform, her black shoes by a pair of white sneakers, and her hair braided carefully to hang down her back. "Are there any clients I need to be wary of? Or any that are, dangerous?"

The older maid laughed, "They're all dangerous honey, if they're men, just, do your job and get out of their way, stay out of it if you can."

"Of course," Cleo nodded again, "I'll do my best to stay out of their sight as much as possible."

She had a job, with accommodation! The man at the bus station was owed a ten dollar bill, and she knew her sister was with that circus. As soon as she finished here, she planned on going back down there to look for her.

In previous visits over the years, Jazz had picked plenty of pockets in the happy little square, but Monday had been the first time she'd ever been caught. Chances were good that no one would recognize or bother her - cities were good for breeding folk who minded their own business - but there was always the possibility....

And, of course, if she bumped into Him again...well, it bore a little caution. Yesterday she'd expanded her hunting grounds to a different part of the city; today, she was lying low and sticking close to the circo. Doing a bit of legitimate work for a change. Handing out some free passes to the fortune teller.

Because Carla was weird like that.

It was an evening for reading. Well...sort of.

Jazz had found herself a table near the entrance of the Mocha and when her attention wasn't on the comings and goings of fellow tenants through the Lobby, she was flipping through the latest addition of Victoria's Secret. Looking up from the cute little sun-dress she was eyeing, she watched a pair of children stampede through the Lobby followed by a harried looking guardian with a small smirk, then returned her gaze to the magazine, carefully dog-earring the page before turning it.

~.~

Joe was in the library. He had, apparently, finally met his literary match. At long last he'd found a book even he couldn't stay awake through.

It was propped up on his belly now, his hands laced together over the spine as his chin rested on his chest, a soft 'not-quite-a-snore' whistle escaping him as he dozed.

Cleo was feeling mighty happy today, she'd handed in her last assignment yesterday, had only a couple of piddly little tests to sit, and was generally at a loose end, so she'd been shopping this morning and bought back some yummy stuffs from the foundry market for lunch, along with a couple of other, more idiosyncratic, purchases with which she was remarkably pleased. Her iTunes selection had her dancing round the kitchen as she laid out lunch, vague noises having indicated that Jazz was indeed still in the apartment. That in itself was unusual, but a little imagination and Cleo had turned a tapas lunch for one into tapas and anti-pasto with a nice salad for two.

She was still singing along to the iTunes as she danced through the apartment to knock on Jazz's door, "Hey sis? Lunch is ready when you are! I just know you are dying to see my latest finds too! I think they'll really liven up the apartment!"

That, and probably that alone, would bring Jazz out of her room, Cleo thought smugly, although seriously, she didn't think the large hot pink feather boa, a startlingly shiny pink and black fascinator complete with sequins and feathers and two small pots planted with herbs really should have that effect.

The Mocha was strangely quiet, but to Cleo it was better than the absolute silence of the apartment. Jazz was at the hospital, Cleo wasn't sure if she'd even come home, they'd sent some texts, but, Cleo was worried. She'd tried calling Olly, but he was out, or just not answering his phone. Sometimes she knew he mislaid it. Idly she stirred the iced latte in front of her, for some reason she'd bought it, but she wasn't interested in drinking it now.

With a sigh she leaned back, wondering if there was anything she could do that would help anyone after last night. She wasn't sure anything would help, but, she felt so, so ineffectual just sitting there. With a groan she leaned forward, resting her head on her arms. She hoped Tom was all right, along with the other badly injured people, but she was still kind of in shock after it, even though she'd been trying to help where she could along with Emma. She still wasn't sure exactly what had happened to start it off, but, what she did know was that it had been very very bad.

The air inside apartment 229 was thick with savory smells of food when Jazz got home after a slow day at work. In the kitchen food (and a sink of dirty dishes) was waiting, along with a note from Cleo.

Emma Brooks invited me to dinner with her family, but I didn't want you to feel left out! So here's all the best in Irish dining made just for you! xxKissesxx - Cleo

Fanning herself gently with the note, Jazz looked between the food and the dishes, appreciating the thought but wondering if it was really worth it. There was a lot of food there and with the dirty dishes waiting....She wrinkled her nose and started to sigh - but then had an idea. She knew what would make this better!

Putting the note aside she opened the cupboards and starting pulling out Tupperware dishes and lids. It didn't take her long to get the goods packed up and stored away in a basket for easy carrying. After a quick change into a simple, olive colored dress (seemed Rhiannon had been right about there being at least one shade of green Jazz could wear) she picked up the basket and headed out into the hall, hitting the call button for the elevator when she got close enough.

While she waited she used her phone to send a text to Tom.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day, handsome - wanna help me fill my 'kiss me I'm Irish' quota?