yingliquigley (yingliquigley) wrote in 20somethings, @ 2021-11-18 17:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | c: benita álvarez, c: ying-li quigley, d: 2027 11, ~ complete, Ω: rp |
RP: Avoiding the usual questions...
Who: Benita & Ying Li
What: Lunch between co-workers
When: 11/18/27; noon
Where: Downtown, Muggle London
Warnings: None
Completion Status: Complete
Ying Li had been surprised when Bennie texted her asking if she wanted to get together for lunch, but Chi had been more absorbed in work than usual lately and so she’d been more isolated than she was used to. The somewhat solitary life she lived suited her just fine more often than not, but without his company in the evenings and without any work at the moment, she found herself, well, bored.
The women had agreed to a muggle Indian restaurant in downtown London, not far from the Eye, and met up just before noon. Ying Li took note that Bennie was an early-arriver, like herself, and liked that. They had worked together for months but Ying Li tended to keep to herself on set and Bennie could more often than be found squirreled away with their co-stars Jeremy or Kenzie or their producers Robert and Silviya. They simply hadn’t had much time together off screen. Of course, they had quite a bit of on-screen time together, being that their characters were best friends.
Come to think of it, Ying Li knew very little about the younger witch at all. And so she had dressed somewhat casually and then gone to meet Bennie feeling more curious than anything.
“Lynn! You made it!” Bennie greeted her outside the restaurant enthusiastically and she gave the younger witch a smile.
“Benita,” she said, her accent soft, especially when compared to the half Cuban, half southern English of her co-worker.
“Oh, please, call me Bennie. You’re the only one who doesn’t,” Benita said with a laugh. Ying Li was accustomed to her coworkers calling her Lynn - it was her public, professional name, after - but outside of work situations, she was a bit more formal. She gave a smile in response, unsure what to say but not showing it. She was very good at keeping a placid, easy look on her face. Honestly, sometimes she wondered if she’d be half the actress she was if she hadn’t met Chi and suddenly had to live a double life of niceties and half-vague truths. “I’m so glad you could make it! I wasn’t sure if you’d want to hear from coworkers during our time off but I really felt like I hardly got to know you at all during filming and figured if we get a second season, we should get to know each other.” Bennie’s smile was so bright and her eyes so open, Ying Li had a moment of realizing to herself that this young woman would be a real star, and there was zero doubt about it.
“Yes, if,” she said, and then, “though I’m afraid to say there isn’t very much to know.” People at work knew her older brother also worked for WeeVee Productions, and with Silviya, and that her parents were celebrities in their own right (Fin has a Quidditch star & now Championship winning Head Coach, and Cho as a ‘hero’ of the war). They knew she had been a Slytherin at Hogwarts, though she didn’t know how much her American coworkers would care about that sort of thing. That was about it. Then again, it wasn’t like she could tell them any real details about her life. Her life with Chi. And really, he was her whole life. She had a hard time seeing anything as having been significant before him, and certainly nothing would be, after.
“Are you kidding me?” Bennie asked as they were seated at a small table away from the windows (just in case, they had requested it). “You have this awesome career - modeling, WeeVee acting gigs, a cool producer older brother,” Bennie gave a dreamy sort of look at mention of Niall, something Ying Li had gotten used to since joining the production company. She laughed.
“That’s really about it, though, what about you?” Figuring her best way was to deflect, Ying Li planned on simply keeping Benita talking about herself. “This is your first television production, right?”
“Oh, Dios, yes! And it’s so different from theater.” They took a moment to look through their menus and ordered and then Bennie was off to the races. “I did theater for a few years in Miami, after school, it was muggle theater. But anyway, yes, television is a huge change - in theater you don’t get to redo a scene if you mess up. Or I should say, you don’t have to redo a scene thirty times for one take. But everyone’s been really great about helping me through the changes,” she sighed.
“Like Jeremy?” Ying Li gave her co-star a knowing look. Of course, there had been rumours, but she wasn’t one to indulge in gossip. Goodness knew, she didn’t want anyone gossiping about her (she knew they probably did anyway, with her being so... mysterious.
Benita had the good grace to blush. “Yes, like Jeremy. We were classmates at Ilvermorny in the States, and he had done some commercial work here so knew a lot of how it works. He’s been a big help,” she answered somewhat sheepishly. Ying Li wouldn’t push her on their relationship, though, it simply wasn’t her nature. Didn’t seem needed, though, as suddenly Bennie was grinning, “And I think it’s been nice to meet someone who understands the demands... It’s like with all the hoopla that came from suddenly being the star of the show, he’s a calm in the storm, you know?” Ying Li smiled a genuine, wide smile and nodded. She did indeed know. She felt that way about her Chi. He was so pragmatic - except when it came to his love for her - and their home was a safe space of love, quiet reflection, and easy companionship.
“So, a calm in the storm?” She asked, and Bennie nodded enthusiastically.
“We’ve been...” She hesitated, “We’ve been seeing each other. We’re keeping it quiet, of course, for work purposes,” she added hastily.
“Of course,” Ying Li replied, “Your secret is safe with me. I’m happy that you’ve found each other in the midst of all of this, as long as you make each other happy.” It would be what she’d want someone to say to her if she ever shared her relationships. She supposed one day she would have to.
“What about? Are you seeing anyone?” Ying Li knew it was an innocent question, as one would ask anyone in a ‘getting to know you’ conversation - and she had been asked it before (in particular by her mother, the hopeless romantic). She shook her head with another placid smile.
“No.” It always - somewhere deep inside - hurt her to answer this way. But her dearest Chiu-Wai was 26 years her senior (now 49 to her 23), and they’d met when she had still been in school. She understood why they had to keep their relationship the secret it had always been. Her mother, Cho, had ended up with an older man, but Finbar was far from twenty-six years older than Cho. She shook her head, her smile never wavering, “I prefer to focus on my career for now,” it was her go-to line, even before she’d begun acting.
The answer was vague enough that she’d rarely been questioned further, and it had the same effect this time.
“Of course! That makes a lot of sense. You’re going to have an amazing career, of course, you’re a natural. And I can’t wait to see where they take our dynamic duo next year, well, hoping we get our contracts extended.” Bennie seemed to deflate a little bit. They had heard nothing from WeeVee - nor from Silviya or Robert - about a second season. The entire cast and crew were just sort of in limbo. “You know, Kenzie is auditioning for movie roles, ones she could do outside of filming if we do get picked up, but still, it makes you think, you know?” Ying Li nodded. Of course, she didn’t have the worries the others had - she had her modeling to fall back on if needed, and she didn’t actually have to work at all. She saw her career more as a pastime, even with the sometimes 16-hour filming days. Her Chi traveled a lot for work, and it kept her busy and happy, and that was all she needed it for. Her paycheck simply went into her private Gringotts account, as Chi had insisted. They both lived off of his wealth and his accounts. That was her Chi, though, always making sure she was comfortable and taken care of, even if it meant she was that without him.
The rest of lunch passed this way - Bennie asking questions, Ying Li deflecting subtly and redirecting the conversation back to her companion. She learned more about Benita’s past and current relationship with Jeremy, her family and home in Miami, her time in muggle theater, and her hopes for life after By the Grace of St. Mungo. When they parted - after Ying Li had insisted on paying - it was a light hug and a metropolitan kiss to each cheek and promises to be in touch throughout the limbo of off-season going forward. Ying Li felt a lightness to her step as she saw Bennie off, the American girl headed down into the muggle Tube to get home.