Bradley Krasner (_kissthecook) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2010-02-01 23:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | 2009-07-02, bradley |
You take me in, no questions asked
Who: Autumn and Bradley
When: 3pm
Where: Owl's Nest
To say that Autumn was depressed, would be the understatement of the year. She'd spent all morning crying when she woke up to find Graham gone. And Rigby hadn't even said goodbye to her. They were leaving town for good and he couldn't be bothered to say anything to her. It hurt more than she wanted to admit. Her life felt so empty now with Graham and Rigby gone. By lunchtime and Autumn was still crying, Suri was about ready to dial 911 just to get her some sedatives or something. Autumn talked her out of it and tried to snap out of it, but the best she could do was eat a small orange and sleep until she woke herself up crying some more.
Knowing that she had to go and talk to the people at Owl's Nest, Autumn reluctantly got up and started showering and washing her hair. It was still very painful to lift her arms enough to wash her hair and she just allowed the hard water pressure to be the one to get the shampoo out of her hair. It took twice as long as a regular shower and as soon as she was out, she popped some ibuprofen for the pain.
Autumn slipped into a comfortable dress and added some comfortable shoes as well as accessories. After blowing her hair dry, she sprayed some no frizz in it and she was on her way out of the door.
When she arrived at the Owl's Nest, Autumn let herself in and walked into the kitchen and back offices. It looked like Bradly was the only one available to talk, so she approached him, a small shy smile on her face. "Hi Bradly, I'm Autumn, in case you didn't remember. Do you mind if we talk for about 10-15 minutes?"
Bradley was in the middle of slicing up cooked chicken for one of the salads that had been ordered. Upon hearing a familiar voice, he glanced up briefly to spot the petite woman before him. Pausing, he gave her a gentle smile, flicking a few strands of hair out from his face. Damn ponytail couldn't hold back all of his hair it seemed. "Autumn, yes, of course I remember you. You called out due to being in the hospital the other week. You look like you're fairing well."
But Bradley knew better than that. His inner element was telling him that something was up, at least health wise. He took a moment to focus and tried to zero in on it. Definitely not a broken bone or anything, but it was something different - something emotional was broken. Before he went any further to pinpoint what was wrong, he looked on back down to the chicken to finally finished cutting it up and garnished the salad with said chicken as a topping. Handing it off to one of the other chefs. Bradley grabbed one of the hand towels to wipe his hands clean and then motioned for Autumn to follow him. "I have some time to spare. Not the dinner rush, so no worries." Leading her to one of the back rooms, he flicked on the lights and pulled out one of the more comfortable chairs for her to sit in. "Here, have a seat. Don't want you on your feet all the time with the kid and all."
"Thank you," she murmured as she followed him to one of the back rooms and sank into the chair he offered. Driving had really hurt her ribs and now she understood why the doctor told her not to drive for six weeks. Something about pulling on the steering wheel to make turns and twisting her body to look out the window really aggravated her injuries. Not to mention the sex last night with Graham had been wonderfully gentle both times until the end and then they really let go and Autumn was paying for that today. But she refused to think of Graham and tried to push those thoughts out of her head.
"I just wanted to let you know that I need to extend my leave of absence. The doctor said I can't drive for six weeks and I drove over here and now I understand why. Plus, I'm still really sore and I'm supposed to be taking it easy and not walking around a lot." Autumn took a deep breath, playing with the wooden ring she wore. "I am so sorry about putting the restaurant in a bad position and I fully understand if you need to hire my position."
After closing the door, he had sat down on top of the desk instead of one of the chairs, propping his feet up on the edge of a chair instead. Laid back as always, that was for sure. As he listened to Autumn's words, Bradley nodded his head in response to her, removing his glasses to put them off to the side. Damn things were so annoying. "You know you could have just called. I'd hate to see you put yourself in so much pain just to get here!" He gave her a rather concerned look. While he typically worried more about those closer to him, like Josiah and his family, he couldn't help but worry about poor Autumn. The woman had been through so much and was actually in pain just getting here? Taking in a deep breath, he tried to stop worrying, though that was easier said than done for an earth elemental. Bradley was actually more concerned about if she was ok with getting home than whether or not she could work for several weeks.
"Will you be out for six weeks or so then? I doubt you'll be fired or replaced, so no need to worry about that, but I do need to talk to Josiah about it for a final call. It's his place, after all." He smiled at Autumn, letting out a gentle chuckle. The concept of owning a restaurant was beyond him. He simply wanted to cook and that was the extent of his power. Well, that and tell some newbie they fucked up. That never got old. "I mean, I don't know how desperate you are for the job. I'm sure we can work something out with one of the coworkers to pick you up and so forth if need be, but if you need to rest, then dear god, get some rest, Autumn!" He did his best to be lighthearted, but he had a feeling that wouldn't be enough. Something else was going on, but he wasn't going to poke and prod for information. If something was eating at her that badly, she'd just say so.
Smiling gently at his concern, Autumn waved off his protests. "I needed to get out of the house for a few minutes. Besides, I didn't really think driving was going to be as difficult as it turned out to be. I guess those doctors really do know best, huh?" she let out an embarrassed giggle, her cheeks blushing faintly.
"I-I don't know if I need the whole six weeks," Autumn said. "Between getting pregnant, my dad dying, my family disowning me, getting attacked and now a good friend and my somewhat boyfriend left for good and I'm all alone again. So yeah, I need a few weeks to get myself together. I'm really sorry." Autumn had always prided herself on being a reliable, dependable employee and she hated that she was letting down her employer. At some point though, she realized that she had to come first and she has to take care of herself. That's what the time off would hopefully do for her: give her time to heal from physical and emotional wounds and pick up the pieces of her life to move on one more time.
Well... that was one way to put everything out on the table. Even though she completely unloaded onto him, Bradley kept his cool and not once flinched at her words. He was used to people running to him for a shoulder to cry on or merely lend an ear for their rants. Autumn was just joining the ranks of those who had went to him before, and Bradley absolutely didn't mind one bit. In fact, he appreciated her letting it out instead of keeping her emotions bottled up. And that had to be what he almost nailed earlier - she wasn't exactly mentally stable. Probably to the point where it was starting to take a toll on her physically. Then again, after the roller coaster of a ride she went through, who wouldn't?
"Don't apologize, it's not your fault, Autumn." He wasn't sure what to do at first, whether it was give her tissues in case she needed them or give her a hug. Seeing that she wasn't crying and was still healing, neither seemed to be a proper option, though something else popped into his mind. "Have you eaten at all today?" Probably came off as random, but there was a method to his madness.
Autumn had a faint blush on her otherwise, pale cheeks because she'd completely unloaded on the poor man. She hadn't meant to spill all that, just felt the need to explain that if it weren't for terrible extenuating circumstances, she wouldn't even begin to think of taking a leave of absence and leaving the restaurant short handed. "I still feel bad...and please tell Josiah that too."
She blinked up at him when he asked if she'd eaten that day. Her brow furrowed as she tried to think if she had indeed eaten and she was pretty sure the last time had been the few bites of her lasagna from the night before. Shaking her head she replied, "No, I haven't actually." As if on cue, her stomach rumbled a bit and she grinned sheepishly.
And that explained everything. Lack of food wasn't good for someone who was in the middle of recovering. Poor Autumn was probably weak from not eating alone, nevermind being weak from recovery. He did his best not to chuckle when her stomach growled in sync with her words, but come on, it was a bit funny. Smiling softly to her, Bradley slipped off of the desk and placed hand on her shoulder gently. "Give me a second." With that said he emerged from the room and back into the kitchen, searching for something quick to give to Autumn. Soup was thankfully always at hand and simmering, along with hot bread rolls. Hopefully she liked minestrone. After grabbing a bowl along with a small plate of rolls, he slipped back into the room, nudged the door closed with his foot and handed the food off to Autumn.
"Best way to recovery is to at least have something in your system." Both physically and mentally. The concept of not eating for long periods of time simply baffled Bradley, but then again he was always looking for an excuse to cook. "Do you need anything to drink? Water? Tea? Juice?"
Autumn accepted the food gratefully. She didn't want to be picky but she checked the soup to make sure it didn't have meat in it and was happy to find that it was vegetarian and stuff full with all her favorite vegetables. The smell wafting off the soup made her mouth water, so Autumn set the plate of bread on the desk in front of her. She took a mouthful of soup before answering his question, "Could I have some water with lemon, please? And grab you something to eat and sit with me." She didn't like to eat alone but she also knew he had to go back to work soon. Eating a few more spoonfuls of soup before biting into a warm roll, Autumn glanced up at Bradley, "Thank you so much for this."
Upon hearing her request, Bradley just smiled and nodded, slipping out of the room again to track down a waitress who could fetch him said glass of water with lemon. He didn't have time to make something for himself to enjoy, so settled for a bowl of roasted potatoes that had been in the corner of the flat grill simmering. Was better than nothing. Entering the room again, he handed to water Autumn, then returned to his perch on the desk, unraveling his hair from the ponytail it was in and shook it loose. "Is everything else fine? I'd like to think that if you went out of your way to drive here that you did so because something was on your mind." Seriously, a call was good enough for Bradley. Then again, he didn't have the liberty to drive from place to place and sometimes had to settle with just calling. He understood completely, but he couldn't help but worry. What else was new.
Smiling at him as he walked back in with potatoes, Autumn finished up her roll and went back to her tasty soup. "I just felt like this is something I should tell y'all in person," she shrugged. Truth was she was feeling all out of sorts and just wanted to be around people. She knew that this was something she had to do eventually so killing two birds with one stone, she could come here and tell them while being around people. She so badly wanted to work in her garden and be with her element again, but with her ribs the way they are she couldn't do it. "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? You're an earth elemental, aren't you?" He kind of screamed that in the way he dresses, his compassion, his affinity for cooking. Autumn desperately wanted another earth elemental to talk to, to help her get reconnected with her element while she couldn't garden.
Bradley was in the middle of munching on his food when Autumn had brought up the question and visually didn't act fazed whatsoever. Anyone who worked at the Nest long enough figured out that he wasn't entirely human, nor was the Williamson family. Bradley was still protective over the identity to the family, fearing it would put them through unneeded danger, but for himself? Not so much. Placing his bowl to the side, he swallowed the mouthful and cleared his throat. "An earth elemental?"
He then brought his attention to a pot of flowers that were on the desk, ones that Bradley actually grew himself. It was intended to... well, bring some more life to the office, though Josiah sort of gave him an odd look and chuckled. The flowers appeared semi-wilted, probably due to the lack of attention they were receiving. Reaching his hand out to the flowers, they almost instantly responded to his presence, fully blossoming and perking back to life with vivid colors. It even looked like they were trying to reach out to his hand. Bradley couldn't help but smile as he heard the tiny flowers thank him for the attention, stroking one of the petals lovingly before looking back to Autumn. "You could say that."
Autumn sat transfixed as he made the flowers not only perk up but bloom and reach out to his hand. It was amazing! "Wow," she breathed. "I can bring plants back, but it takes a lot more thought and concentration than what you did. And even then, they don't look like that." She reached out and grazed a petal with her fingertip, noticing that yes they were real flowers. Bringing her hand back she took a sip of water before asking, "How'd you do that?" It totally escaped her that she pretty much told him she was an earth elemental as well. Not that she really cared if he knew... other people, yes, but fellow elementals, not so much.
He couldn't help but smile a bit at Autumn's reaction. Yeah, he got that a lot when he brought plants back to life. Wasn't really a typical thing people saw. They were usually stuck in awe or damned him to hell, like his ex. Thankfully Autumn was the prior. "When you've been around as long as I have, you tend to just pick it up eventually. Suppose it helps I have my own garden at home." Garden was putting it lightly. Bradley more or less had a freaking forest surrounding his cottage fully took advantage of that. "I take it it's safe to assume you're one, too? Either that or just an avid gardener." He was leaning more towards the first option, especially with how her personality came off, not to mention the earth tones present in her attire. Though Bradley had to stick to wearing the typical chef attire, he did stick to earth tones outside of the restaurant.
"I have a garden too that I work in all the time, but I'm hardly as advanced as you!" Autumn wondered if there was something that she wasn't doing or if she was doing something wrong. "Yeah, I'm an earth elemental. I did some research after the Light of May and figured out I was about a level four. I have a little familiar, a teeny dog named Suri. What level are you? Do you have a familiar?" Autumn ate the last bit of her soup, washing it down with another roll. "Thank you so much for the food," she told him, giving him a warm smile.
She was done with the soup already? Bradley had barely put a dent into his potatoes. Seemed liked she needed food in her body more than she realized it. He was just happy that she was eating something to give her the energy to do something. Picking up his bowl, he took another bite before continuing. "I've mastered my element, actually. Suppose that's why that was so easy for me to do." Bradley motioned to the pot of flowers with his chin, then chuckled a bit at the thought of familiars. "Tiny creatures must be a trend for earth elementals. I have a baby lop-eared bunny named Bean. He likes to curl up in pots that size to sleep in." He probably could get away with bringing Bean into work due to how tiny the bunny was, though Bradley preferred keeping the bunny in his garden where he was safe. Not to mention he could munch on all the veggies he wanted when Bradley wasn't around.
Autumn's eyes grew wide when he said that he'd mastered his element. "Wow, you're a master? That's so cool! No wonder you could bring that flower back just like that." She'd often wondered if she was missing something that she should be doing in order to advance in her element. It was a goal of hers to master her element, of course. "How did you do it? Master I mean?"
She gasped as he told her of his tiny bunny. "Oh, I bet he's just so cute! You have to bring him to work someday, I'd love to meet him!" Other than Suri, Autumn had never had a pet and really had only seen bunnies when they were wild and tried to eat her garden at home. Those bunnies she shooed away, not thinking they were cute in the least. But Bean sounded so adorable. "Maybe I can drop by with Suri sometime. She's the cutest little thing too."
"Just practice, I suppose," Bradley shrugged, not entirely sure how to explain how he was able to pull it off. "I've always loved being outdoors in the woods, so I guess it came naturally to me. Besides, if you work hard at something for long enough, you'll reach the end goal eventually, right?" He took a few more bites of his potatoes before continuing. "I'd love to bring Bean in but I think he'd be really scared." Then he paused and thought over a far more plausible idea, at least to him. "Perhaps you should stop on by my cottage and you can meet him. Also bring your puppy along, too. Not to mention it'd be easier to work in our element with a garden present than in a restaurant, no?" Bradley had never mentored anyone before, probably because he never found another earth elemental. He knew Linnea was water and Jace - dear freaking god save everyone in Scarlet Oak - was a newly discovered fire, but earth? Not so much. Plus it gave him a chance to give into his nurturing instincts and help Autumn bond with her element some more, not to mention bond with a kindred spirit.
"Like be my mentor? Really? That'd be so incredible!" Autumn clapped, completely excited by the prospect. She'd always wanted a mentor and she couldn't imagine a nicer one. She too had never met another earth elemental and was totally thrilled that she not only met one but that he would offer to be her mentor!
"Oh! And you should come to my house too and see my garden. I'm so proud of it, even if I haven't been able to work in it much lately because of my ribs. Too bad our magical healing of plants can't translate to healing of people," she laughed. She didn't know how Bradley did it, but she was feeling much better now.
It was great to see that Autumn was taking so well at the prospect of him becoming her mentor. Hopefully it would work out relatively well on both ends. "Actually, it does once you've mastered your element, you just have to be careful. It's a very tiring process on both ends." As much as Bradley wanted to help heal Autumn, he knew he had a long night ahead of him and didn't want to be both drained and suffering from a headache. Not to mention he knew there could be various complications involved. Speeding up the body's natural healing didn't necessarily mean they would heal properly, and Bradley didn't know all the details behind Autumn's injury. He certainly didn't want to bring more harm than good to her.
"And now that I think about it, it might be better if I go to your place. You're still healing up, after all. Would that be fine with you? Pick a date and I'll be there." And knowing Bradley he would make a huge ordeal out of it, especially if Autumn was still recovering. Probably clean up her house, do any tedious chores that needed to be done, and cook her a meal of some sort.
Wow, Autumn had no idea that it was possible for a master earth elemental to heal the human body. While she'd love to ask Bradley to do that with her, he said it took a lot out of both people so she didn't want to ask him and inconvenience him. But wow, to imagine the power of that! It'd be so cool!
"Sure, I'd love to have you over. I can even cook you something for a change." Autumn was, in her own right, a great cook. "And my schedule is completely open. I'm just relaxing and focusing on healing, so whenever is good for you I'll be ready! Oh, will you bring Bean with you?" She desperately wanted to see the tiny bunny familiar.
Oh god, the idea of someone cooking for him always put Bradley in a pickle. He thought the act was nothing but selfless and generous, it truly was, but he was such a picky eater. When it came down to it, he only ate what he or Josiah cooked, sometimes Isaiah depending on the night. Not wanting to sound rude, he merely smiled to Autumn. "You shouldn't overwork yourself if you're healing, Autumn. It's truly not a problem for me to cook for you. I insist, if anything. And of course I'll bring Bean. He loves meeting new people." Bradley finally finished off his potatoes, a bit sad that the bowl was now empty, then looked on back to Autumn. "I have to work all tonight and tomorrow. Does Saturday work for you? Didn't know if you had plans for the fourth or not." He was probably going to make an appearance at the Williamson household some point at night, but aside from that he was open.
Autumn pouted a bit at not being able to do something for him. Maybe she'd think of something
to do for him to repay him for all his kindness. Seeing that he finished off his potatoes and knowing he had to return to work, Autumn stood up carefully, wincing a bit at the pull of her ribs. "Saturday sounds great actually," she told him. "I know you have to go back to work, so I'll get out of your hair, but thank you so much, Bradley. I appreciate the food, the talk, the help." Autumn rose on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you Saturday? I have nothing planned, so just call when you're getting ready to leave and I'll give you directions."
Wasn't every day that Bradley received a kiss on the cheek from a young lady like Autumn. He merely chuckled at her actions, passing it as an act of appreciation of some sort. She did have a southern accent, so for all he knew she was showing off some of that southern hospitality. Nodding his head, he patted her ever-so gently on the shoulder before gathering up the dishes and escorted her on out of the office. "But of course, will be looking forward to it. You take it easy until then, Autumn. Drive carefully." He was tempted to have one of the younger boys in the kitchen drive her home, but he knew better than that. Autumn was an earth elemental just like himself, which meant she had to be stubborn as hell. He decided to let this one slip for now, but he couldn't help but worry.