Morningstar Manor

Anastasia's hand shook a bit as she used her key to open the door to the apartment she shared with Gavin. It had been... Well, months. And she couldn't take it anymore.

She had to check on him. Had to see him. Had to make sure he was okay.

Emily left the restaurant after a morning shift of talking with the owners and staff, making a lot of phonecalls and rummaging the storage rooms for anything to help with the book project. She hadn't even bothered to change to chef's whites - the kitchen staff was sure to handle the lunch without problems, and she had plenty of other things to worry about.

The large brown leather bag on her shoulder was stuffed full of books and folders that she needed to take a closer look, but first: coffee with Gregori. She entered the Auberge, and didn't need to look very hard to spot the big man in the delicate French-style coffee shop.

Stopping for a cup to relax with after work, Jazz didn't at first pay any mind to the copy of The Herald on the table next door, but when she caught the words "Morningstar Manor" during an idle glance curiosity got the better of her and she lifted the abandoned copy for her own reading pleasure.

She didn't know who Olivia Page was (other than, apparently a senator's daughter and a radio host) so that story held little interest for her, but the other one...well, that was more entertaining. Chuckling and mouthing a silent, amused 'wow' she made a mental note to show it to Tom when she got a chance. This was just the sort of thing he'd have a few sneering comments about. And those were always fun.

~.~

Someone else in the Mocha had read The Herald today, but he wasn't nearly as amused. Hubbard had hounded Riley all day, needling him, taunting him about his much publicized move to Morningstar Manor.

It all made sense, Hubbard crowed inbetween takes, Riley was lonely and looking for a boy toy of his very own! It set Riley's teeth on edge - not the topic of the insults, Riley was secure enough in his sexuality to not let something that petty bother him, but the fact that Hubbard was daring to in the first place! Moving to Morningstar had been a strategic one-up, a boost in stature that the rivals had both known Hubbard would be hard pressed to duplicate. But now that the little prick had ammunition to fire back with....It wasn't quite as satisifying a victory anymore.

Mood still foul, ego still smarting, Riley took his copy of The New York Times (a real respectable paper) and settled at a table outside.

The Herald's newest issue had a couple of stories that were sure to catch the eye of the Manorites, and have the City talking about the Manor again.

( Truth behind Olivia Paige's dramatic weight loss: dumped by divorced CEO! )

The paper also featured another interesting story:

( Morningstar Manor: The biggest and most exclusive gay community of the City )

(OOC: That's right, the first stories about the Manor written by Robin Reed, aka Susan the maid.)

They had found a good campsite the first night, to break them in gently, but tonight they were in a more isolated spot and Nia was speculating loudly about the possibility of bears.( Read more... )

Olivia sat at a table in the Mocha with her laptop open in front of her staring in horror at the Yahoo! News clip she'd called up on the screen. A disembodied foot that was decisively female had shown up on the Governor's front lawn this morning.  A few tests had concluded that it belonged to his daughter, Adriana Lucas, who hadn't been seen for at least five days. The authorities were apparently launching a full blown investigation to find the rest of her and to figure out who had done such a thing.

Olivia had known Adriana, at least in passing, from her party days. She was sort of a bitch and had a serious drug problem, but Jesus... Even she didn't deserve that. She shook her head as she shut the computer down and picked up the Herald, only to find her own face staring back at her, along with Robbie's. She tossed it aside after reading the headline with a roll of her eyes. She wished her biggest problem was being dumped. If that was all she had to worry about, she'd be doing good.

****

Declan had gotten a call about the Herald article this morning, and now that he was off work he was reading over the article while he sat in the Mocha on the couch, sipping his coffee. He was always taken aback by how prejudiced articles like this were, and it was sad that the world was still in such a position that two consenting adults being together was still considered 'news.' 

"Ay, that pecker a yers makin' the news again, is it?" Callan remarked dryly as he plopped down on the couch next to Declan and read over his shoulder.

"I guess. I would've thought they'd have gotten their fill of this months ago when Jack and I first got together and there was the big scandal," Declan said with a shrug. "Sometimes people with penises like other people with penises. Old news."

Late in the evening, Jazz's phone beeped as it received a message from Thomas.

Gorgeous morning shifts! That's why we're going shopping on Friday and dancing on Saturday. Any objections?