Tabitha Jones (sleeplessbear) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2009-05-25 17:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-06-02 |
A Little Bubble Bath, Some Wine....
Who: Tabby and Rowena
When: Late evening
Where: A grocery store
Milk. When there was a six year old in the house, the stuff seemed to disappear. By the time you realize it's gone, you've got breakfast to be made in the morning and with a little boy who liked to get up at the crack of dawn, Rowena knew that she wouldn't have time to run out for the milk the next day. So Raina had agreed to watch Caius while she went to the grocery store to grab a gallon of milk. Or fifteen gallons with the way Caius drank the stuff down. She didn't bother grabbing a shopping cart because she knew what she was after. She headed straight for the coolers to locate that particular item.
Tabitha Jones probably ought to be buying milk. She was just about out of that, too. That, however, didn't mean she was going to. Instead, she was lingering in the liqueur isle, which was one of the ones directly between the door and the milk, trying to decide how many bottles of vodka she should get, and whether she wanted to throw in a bottle of whine or not. She was out of that, too. All the alcohol in the house was gone as of a couple days ago, and after a brief attempt at getting to bed early, well... it was obvious what she needed, and a bar sounded too loud just then.
It was somewhat funny to Rowena how going in for one item lead to looking at all the others. It didn't help that she and Bella had been talking about going out for drinks. Passing by the liquor aisle, she made a detour from the milk and wondered if maybe a glass of wine and a nice long bubble bath would be on the list of things to do. A girl needed a drink on occasion. Especially when the girl in question just happened to be preparing herself for a full moon to come around. The first of many horrible full moons she was sure. She looked up at the shelves and brushed a hand through her brown hair, noting the woman in the aisle with her. "Hard to decide the drink of choice, isn't it?" she said with a little grin directed at the woman.
Tabby, her hair still in a slightly-smushed afro-- smushed from her attempt to sleep on it-- looked up from the bottles and blinked a little blearily at the newcomer. A pretty little thing, actually, with a lot of character in her face and a very cute nose. Not someone she'd met yet in town, though that didn't mean anything, as she hadn't met Marcus, either. She smiled some, regardless. "Sometimes," she agreed. "Though I suppose it doesn't really matter, either." She plucked up a bottle of wine to go with her vodka, checking the date before making a face and returning it. "Not a good year." Not that she was generally a wine snob, but... well, it really wasn't a good year.
Casting a glance at the pretty young thing, Tabby asked, "What are you thinking of getting?"
Rowena glanced up at the shelves again and then back at the woman. "I honestly have no idea. Maybe some wine... maybe some champagne. Something to soak in a bubble bath with. Some candles a glass of something alcoholic and the radio on the classical music station. Yeah, that sounds like a nice way to unwind." she smiled. "I'm Rowena." she offered up, holding out a hand for the woman to shake.
"Tabitha. Tabby." She smiled a bit more, now, and shook warmly-- more carefully than she had with Marcus, so this time she wasn't pretending like she wanted to crush anyone's fingers. The mental image of this girl-- Rowena-- in a bubble bath with candles and champagne wasn't going to do much for her ability to get to sleep. Or not make the girl uncomfortable. Too bad, it was a nice image. "And for a bubble bath with candles, I might suggest... a blush wine." She pointed to one of the brands she liked. Yes, Tabby knew her alcohol.
Rowena smiled at that. "Pretty." she told her, assessing the woman's name and the shortened version of it, the way it sounded when she'd said it. Releasing her fingers, she glanced over towards the wine the woman had suggested. "Sounds nice." she smiled, taking a step towards the shelf to assess the choices. "Very nice actually."
Pretty? Tabby's brows went up in mild surprise, more used to getting laughs for the out-moded name than compliments, but she certainly didn't mind. "Well, thanks. And it does, doesn't it?" Maybe she'd get one, herself. Tucking the vodka bottle under one arm, she followed and bent to pull out a bottle. "Long in town?" she asked. "Or've I just never met you before? I certainly would remember if I had."
"Somewhat yes and somewhat no." Rowena began. "I was born here. Lived here for... most of my life. Left after high school for college. I've been back in town for holidays and things like that, but I haven't lived here since I was like... eighteen, so it's been a long, long time." she smiled. "How long have you been here?" she asked, deciding on a body and picking it up.
"A little over four years, now," Tabby answered, happy to stand and chat for a few minutes, anyway. Sleep could wait a little longer. "Transferred from Detroit in March, four years ago. So must've just missed you, right?" She was what, twenty-four? Maybe?
"I wish." she grinned. "I've been gone for... well about ten years now. Wow... that seems so long ago. But I'd just turned eighteen and I'm twenty-eight now. Crazy now fast time flies." She shook her head a little, at the thought of how ten years had passed in the blink of an eye. "It's a nice town though. I'm glad to be back. At least I don't have to worry about trying to figure things out, like where everything is. One good thing about moving back home."
"Huh. I really wouldn't've guessed you twenty-eight," Tabby said, a compliment to any woman, really. At least one who was twenty-eight. Tabby herself liked to hear it when someone thought she didn't look thirty-eight. "What brought you back to town after so long?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.
Rowena had to grin. It was nice to not look her age, especially when she was nearing the dreaded thirty. "Well..." she said, not about to tell the truth. "I got divorced about a year ago and my son... well, it's not the easiest thing in the world to work and take care of him and get to spend time with him, so I moved in with my sister."
"Oh." Tabby frowned at that, sympathetic and, yes, a little disappointed. Divorced. Ah, well. "I'm sorry to hear it. Divorce can be... very ugly. Especially with children involved." It always got a bit awkward about now, Tabby never knew what to say. "There's sure no harm in coming back where's there's family to look after you both," she finally came up with.
"It's not so bad really. I'm actually... glad to be divorced." she told the woman. "It wasn't right. He wasn't right. I wasn't right. We weren't right together." Rowena shrugged. "It's nice to be back, I missed my family and Caius needed to be around people that care about him. I'd rather him grow up here anyway."
"Where did you live, before?" Tabby asked curiously, shifting her weight back onto one booted heel and crossing her arms, vodka in the crook of one elbow and wine still held in one hand. "Ann Arbor's not a bad place, Scarlet Oak itself is a probably better one, for sure, but now I'm curious what you think it's better than." Even big cities like Detroit had something to offer.
"A town a couple hours from here." she told Tabby. "And it's not really the town I guess that I didn't like. I just... didn't feel like I could be myself there. That everyone I knew would know my ex husband and if I were to date anyone, they'd see me with him or her and run back and tell him all about it." she shrugged. "I just didn't like having that hanging over my head. The thought that people were watching me and waiting around for me to do something they could tell him about."
It could've gotten weird about then, since they were delving into fairly personal and potentially loaded stuff, but Tabby was neatly distracted halfway through making some kind of conciliatory statement that felt muddled even to her own tired mind, as she processed what Rowena had slipped so casually in there. "So now you've come back here for a new start that isn't, new but still f-- or her?" she interrupted herself, blinking.
"What?" Rowena asked, tilting her head a bit. Then she realized what she said and she nodded. "Oh, yes. Or her." she said quietly, ready for the 'oh my god, you're a lesbian?' conversation to start. At least that was what she was expecting at that particular moment.
What she got was a broad, vaguely surprised smile and the half-teasing question, "So does that mean you won't edge away and look at me like I'm dirty when I try my hand at flirting with you? It's been a while, I might be a bit rusty." Which, in and of itself, was kind of a flirt. Rowena was quite pretty, after all, and it wasn't every day she ran into another woman who'd even consider dating another woman.
Rowena flushed a little at that, having definitely not expected the other woman to be bisexual or a lesbian. Not that it mattered which. She wanted to flirt with her? That was quite flattering and she grinned. "I won't try to edge away." she told Tabby. "Wouldn't think of it."
That blush was absolutely charming, and probably a good sign-- though just because she'd found a fellow female woman-lover didn't mean she should jump the poor thing. They hardly knew each other. Still, she definitely merited getting to know better. Tabby chuckled, a deep sound. "Well, what a nice surprise. As soon as you said divorced, I was so disappointed, and now I've at least got hope."
"Hope." she agreed. "Of course I do still have a man of the house." she pointed out. Usually, no matter how much a person might like children. Entering into a relationship with someone that had them wasn't ever easy. Not that she knew she'd ever get that far with this woman. With Tabby, but at least it was a thought. "You'd have to pass his inspection first to go anywhere." she teased, giving a little grin.
Ah yes, the son. Tabby arched her brows significantly. "Well, in order to do that, I'd better have some way to meet him, huh?" Which meant, to her mind, a phone number. God, when was the last time she'd asked for someone's phone number? "I'll give you my number if you'll give me yours," she offered, smiling. "And we can see about this test from the little man." After a date or two, maybe. Or not. Tabby would take what she could get, these days.
Rowena smiled at that. The woman still wanted her number knowing that she had a child? It didn't happen very often. A lot of people wouldn't even give her a second glance after hearing she'd been married before to a man. She shifted her bag on her shoulder and pulled her phone from her purse. "I think I can do that." she told the woman.
Tabby did the same, though she had to fish around in the disorganized shoulder bag she currently carried-- it looked like one of those hand-made affairs you'd get at a craft faire. In fact, that's exactly what it was. It took a lot of juggling of the two bottles of alcohol she was carrying, but she finally found it. "Aha!" she said, and held it out to Rowena with a vaguely triumphant expression.
She grinned as she watched the woman fumble for the phone. She took it and punched in her number, keeping her own bottle of liquor beneath her arm as she did so. Saving her number, she found Tabby's in the phone's information and added it to her own list, saying it out loud to make sure it was right before she saved it. Rowena handed the phone back to Tabby and smiled again. "Didn't know I'd get a number from the grocery store." she said, sounding pleased as she tucked her phone back into her purse.
"Me, neither," Tabby agreed, tucking the phone away and pulling the vodka from where she'd left it, inside the purse. "I just figured I'd get booze and go home. This's much more interesting." She flashed Rowena a smile as she looked back up from the procedure. "Should I look forward to hearing from you soon?"
"You should." she smiled. She'd call her soon, she was sure. Or maybe after the full moon so they could talk without her disappearing for a whole night. She didn't want to think about the full moon right now, or at all, but it was coming. She could practically feel it. She didn't know what to expect. Didn't know how she'd handle it. She just hoped that the basement contained her. "Definitely."
"Good, good." Little did Rowena know.... Tabby was the last person to be questioning where anyone went on the night of the full moon-- she wasn't going to be in any condition to notice. "You have a good night, now." She waved with the bottle of vodka, smiling, as she started towards the checkout stands. Damn, what luck she had. Hopefully the luck would continue, and she'd sleep.
"You too." Rowena said, taking her bottle and heading for the milk. The night was looking up and she couldn't get the grin off her face. A little bubble bath, some wine? Definitely a good night in her opinion.