icanshutyouoff (icanshutyouoff) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-01-18 12:38:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | 2009-06-30 |
An old friend back in town
Who: Fina and Chase
When: Afternoon
Where: A small cafe
Chase had been in town a while, but he had been so busy that reconnecting with old friends hadn't been an easy thing to squeeze in. With some free time and an afternoon off, he called up Fina and asked her if she wanted to grab a cup of coffee. Luckily she was up for it. He needed some friendly conversation darn it and Fina was just the one to do it. Once he arrived, he decided to wait to order until the girl arrived, but he settled into one of the little tables and waited for Fina to arrive.
After the morning she'd had, the call from Chase was a welcome one. Perhaps it could help her recover her terrible day. So far, after dealing with K-lee, she was rather annoyed. But the chance to see an old friend certainly approved her day. Fina headed in, lacking a little of her usual bounce and looked around for him. When she spotted him, she gave him a little wave and headed over. "Hey, stranger. This is nicer than an email."
It was definitely nicer than an email. Seeing an old friend was always more personal than typing to one and Chase preferred it any day. "Hey you." he smiled, getting up from the chair he'd perched himself on and giving the girl a hug. "Definitely is. I'll have to stick around town if I want more face to face visits, I think." he chuckled. "I wasn't sure what you'd want so I waited to order. How've you been? It's been forever."
Her smile widened just a little when he got up to hug her. She slipped her arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze, the hug being just what she needed. "I have had the worst day. But face to face visits are like a million times better than emails." Fina sat down and relaxed into the chair across from her friend. "What finally brought you home? We missed you."
Chase frowned a little at her talk of the 'worst' day. That didn't sound like a good thing, not at all. As he settled down on the chair he shrugged at her question. "I just wanted to come back." he said. "I missed home and figured the dust had finally settled around my 'famous' self." he chuckled. Of course it hadn't, people still knew exactly who he was. "So tell me about this 'worst' day." he said. "What happened?"
She shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, rubbing at her neck. The light scarf she now had wrapped around her neck, the one she hadn't worn that morning, hid the small red welts from where K-lee's spelled blood had touched her skin, stinging more than she cared to admit. "Just had a run in with my best friend's ex and she's a total bitch." And a witch, but still, that wasn't coffee talk.
"And now I'm here with you. That certainly improves my mood. So, does everyone still talk to you about what happened?" Personally, it hadn't been a topic of conversation for them for a very long time, unless it came up like it had today. But Fina wanted to hear about him, how he was settling in to being home again. "I'm really glad you're back."
Chase frowned at the talk of the best friend's ex. "That sucks." he said, shaking his head a little. "But yeah, you're here with me now and I'm way more important than the best friend's ex." he chuckled. "Yeah, though. People do still talk to me about it. That or look at me like they recognize me and stuff and are too afraid to ask about what happened. I guess it's just something I'm going to go down in history for." He wished people would forget, but it was hard to not remember something that painful and public.
Fina laughed a little. "Definitely. Friends trump bitches any day." He had always been a nice guy, even when he was a jock. There weren't many she could say that about. "Suppose so. Unless, you know, you do something like take over the world or something cool like that." She grinned at him and relaxed a little, hiding her hand under the table, wishing that K-lee hadn't done quite a number on her.
"Course they do." he chuckled. "Maybe I'll make plans to take over the world." he said with a nod, rubbing his chin a little in through. "Don't know how I'll do that, but I guess I'll just have to come up with a decent plan."
She just laughed. "I can't picture you sitting in a room, with like a cat on your lap or something, talking about your evil plans." Unless he just talked everyone into letting him take over the world, she honestly couldn't see him taking it by force. Still, picturing him as a Dr. Evil-like character was pretty funny. "Did you order anything yet?"
He had to laugh at that. Dr. Evil was definitely not on his list of things to become. "I haven't ordered anything, no. I wasn't sure what you liked so I figured I'd wait. My treat, though. So get whatever you want." Chase told her.
"You don't have to do that," she said. Fina was used to taking care of herself, though having as many big brothers as she did, it wasn't unusual for someone to want to take care of her or pay for her or something. Her stomach rumbled and she blushed a little. Food would probably be a good idea. She picked up a menu and glanced at it. Chicken salad. Perfect.
"No, my treat." he smiled. "A picker-upper for your bad day." Chase insisted. "I won't take no for an answer. Looking through his own menu, he tried to decide if he wanted something to go along with the coffee he'd been craving. Deciding on a salad, he sat his menu down. "So besides the bad day today, have you been up to anything?" he asked. "Good things, I hope."
Her smile was warm. "Thanks, Chase." Glancing around, she wondered where their server was, but turned her attention to her friend at his question. "Got a promotion at work. Worked hard for it, but I'm now working towards my own radio show." She smiled. Fina hadn't had a chance to tell him about that. Or about Rigby. "And my boyfriend is living with me, which is nice. I'm glad to have him around. You should meet him!"
Chase smiled right back at her brightening up. "Awesome." he said. He was glad to hear that she had her boyfriend around. The smile on her face about the promotion was good to see too. "I should." he nodded. "We'll have to all hang out sometime."
The waiter moved over to them and she ordered the chicken salad sandwich. Absentmindedly, she scratched at her arm and couldn't help the shiver of her hair brushing against her neck. Fina hoped he didn't noticed; it was embarrassing enough that she had been cursed by K-lee. "Maybe we'll have dinner sometime soon. I'll have to see what he's got planned. He's a musician too, so he plays gigs and stuff."
Chase ordered his food and coffee and when the waiter left, he tried to decide if he wanted to let her know that he'd see that little shiver. Maybe it was nothing at all. He gave her a little confused look, but he moved on, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. "We will." he agreed. "Just give me a call when you both have some time and we'll work things out." he smiled.
"Sounds perfect. He's really awesome." Fina wasn't one to gush about men in her life, when there was one, but Rigby was different. She'd given him her heart. That could be a scary thing sometimes, and yet amazing in other moments. "I'll make dinner or something. And yes, I can cook. I know that wasn't a skill I had before, but I picked up a few things." She grinned at him.
Chase could see that she really seemed to like the guy. "I'm glad you've found someone." he admitted. "Must be nice." He had dates since high school, sure, but there wasn't anyone he thought he'd settle down with and now that he was back home, he was certain that most of the chicks his age were already biased about his accident. Being conked on the noggin didn't make you a moron, but ladies didn't always agree with that truth. "I guess I'll have to see this cooking in action." he teased.
She smiled warmly at him. "Well, then we'll just have to find you a girl, now won't we?" Maybe it was the romantic in her. But if she was happy with Rigby and Roxy was happy with Charlene, then surely there had to be someone out there for Chase. Sometimes it just happened when you least expected it. "We'll figure out a time and place and you will be amazed, I assure you," she teased right back.
"Sure." he said with a smile. "Good luck on that." Chase told her. He doubted it was going to happen any time soon, but it might. In his head that was a big might though. "And of course it will. I won't settle for less than amazing, Miss Fina."
Now she had a new mission. She couldn't think of anyone right off the bat, but there had to be some girl out there for her friend. Fina occasionally read a romance novel or two. (No, she most certainly did not have a stash of them beneath her bed. Definitely not.) So soul mates wasn't something that was lost on the redhead. Reaching across the table, she touched his arm. "Trust me. We'll find you a girl."
Chase chuckled, but nodded anyway. "Good luck with it." he said. "Play matchmaker. Maybe that's what I need anyway. I do a crappy job of finding girls by myself." he admitted. "Might do me some good to have someone else try for a change."
She grinned. "I'm going to take that as a challenge and do my very best to fulfill it." Their food arrived and she smiled at the waiter before turning her attention back to Chase. "So how is everything else?" she asked, curious how his work was going. It felt good to catch up. She felt more like a normal person than she had all day.
"Awesome." he said with a smile. Maybe she'd find someone to fit his mold. Maybe. It couldn't hurt to try and he wasn't about to turn down a little matchmaking trial and error. If nothing came of it, it wouldn't make a difference. He'd still be in the same position he was in now with at least a date or two. "Everything else is pretty good." he said. "Been settling right back into things really easy. I think I should have come back a long time ago. I've missed Scarlet Oak."
"Scarlet Oaks has missed you, my friend." She held up her glass to his for an unofficial toast. "I'm really glad you're back." Fina relaxed a little as they sat there, eating, swapping stories and talking about what brought them back home to the place they had both, she was sure, missed when they were away. LA was cool, but Scarlet Oaks would always be home and it was because of her family and friends like Chase.