Elina (ilmatar) wrote in morningstar_mnr, @ 2009-07-22 11:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | anastasia, emily |
Wednesday, Emily & Anastasia, Michael's Bros Spa (and lobby)
Anastasia stood in the lobby anxiously awaiting the arrival of her friend. Emily was taking her to the spa today for a belated birthday gift, and she felt like some quality girl time and some relaxation would surely help her through this funk. They would be taking a taxi over so they could drink some wine while they relaxed, and she was looking forward to that too.
No men, no problems, just relaxing.
A few minutes fashionably late Emily appeared from the elevator to the lobby with her bag over her shoulder and sun glasses on her forehead.
"Hey girl! Have you been waiting for long?" she asked as she reached Anastasia and gave her a hug.
Anastasia turned at the sound of her friend's voice and gave her a huge smile.
"Nope, just got here," she said, hugging Emily back. "Can I tell you how freaking excited I am for this? God, this is going to be a good day."
"I know! Sounds like you need it! Lord knows I do. A full day of activities that are mostly about us laying around and having facial masks and massages. How wonderful is that?" Emily grinned and glanced towards the glass doors of the lobby. "Have you called a cab yet?"
Anastasia nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes! God, I am absolutely dying for a massage. It should be perfect!" She looked out of the glass doors. "There's our cab now!"
"Excellent! Let's go get pampered!" Emily said and they walked out together and climbed into the cab. Emily leaned forward to tell the driver where to go and as he took off she leaned back again. She look through her rather large bag until she found an advertising leaflet of the spa. "This is it. Anything in particular you'd like to try?" she asked handing it over to her.
Anastasia took the pamphlet and leafed through. "Hmm, I hadn't really thought about it much beyond massage and facials. Have you ever been to this spa?"
"Nope, but I do know the owner. I swear - everyone who's anyone lives in the Manor. Oh, did you hear that there will be a spa in the Manor as well? Then we can get facials and massages every week if we want to!" Emily laughed.
"I heard that!" Anastasia said with enthusiasm. "Dear God, can you imagine? The Manor will be it's own city soon!"
"All we really need is a grocery store and we don't really have to go anywhere! We have a coffee shop, a bar, gardens, a pool, a spa, a laundry room..." she was counting with her fingers and paused, "not to mention that we have our own maintenance team and security as well as social events... And some of us," she poked at Anastasia, "are even working at home so that's one less reason to get out!"
She grinned. "Well, for the summer anyway. If they'd move the college in come fall I'd never have to leave the Manor grounds!"
"Oh you teach classes there, right? Lucky I have the restaurant too. Or maybe I could open a bistro in the Manor somewhere..." Emily tapped her chin with her fingertips grinning but she wasn't seriously planning it.
"Oh dear God woman, no," she said. "My ass would never forgive you if I could eat your food all the time!"
"Oh come on, I can do healthy food!" Emily defended right away and swatted Anastasia's arm gently. "...Sometimes. When we're not talking about desserts..." Then she looked out of the windows and recognized where they were. "Ah - I think we're almost there. Good thing we left early to avoid the worst traffic, huh!"
She chuckled, squeezing Emily's arm so she would know she was just teasing. "But I could never pass up your desserts! And they're to die for. You'd have to make them."
She glanced out the window to see the spa and did a little squee-dance in her seat. "Yes it was a good thing! I'd hate to have traffic cut into my massage time."
"No one get in the way of my massage!" Emily said excitedly and did a similar little dance. The cab driver was shaking his head silently at them when he pulled over in front of the Michael's Bros, and Emily was sure to pay for the ride.
They got out and went into the warehouse together. It was hard but they managed not to give into temptation and go shopping - instead they found the elevators and went up the the top floor's new spa. Emily had reserved full treatments for both of them so checking in for them was fairly straight forward and soon enough they were lead to the changing rooms.
Anastasia changed into the little white towel thing they'd given her to wear, hoping she was going to the massage first. "Are you getting a massage at the same time as me, Em?" She asked as she changed.
Emily changed as well and put her long hair up on a fuzzy bun on the back of her head. "No point going to a spa together if we're not doing things together, right?" she answered smirking and adjusted the towel's attachment on her chest. "So - massage, facials, steam sauna... what else? I can't have a manicure because of my job," she said sounding a little disappointed.
Anastasia twisted her hair up into a artfully messy knot on top of her head and grinned. "Aww, but surely you can get a pedicure? Pedicures are heavenly. And maybe a mud peel and some jacuzzi time while we drink wine?" She shrugged. "I'm down for anything as long as it's in no way painful!"
"I don't think these people are capable of anything painful," Emily said. "Or if they are, I'm gonna demand my money back. But that sounded heavenly! Pedicure, mud peel,jacuzzi, wine! Here we come!" she grinned and started to find the way to their first stop in the pamper town.
"We better go out the back way when we leave," Anastasia said, following Emily into the massage room. "When I get relaxed, so does my grip on Trevor's credit card and he'd have my ass if I spent any more money here!" she said with a chuckle.
"Oh I wish I had someone else's credit card to use," Emily sighed smirking. She watched as two benches were prepared for them and they were asked to get comfortable. Emily knew her shoulders and neck were probably completely jammed up so she already had the feeling that she would make strange noises while being massaged.
Anastasia's head tilted, considering. "Well, it's not as nice as one might expect. Using someone's credit card, I mean," she said, laying down on the bench that was prepared for her and turning her head to smirk at Emily before the massage began. "Dear God. I'm so tense. This had better last for hours."
They didn't really have any idea of how long the massage actually lasted but it did feel like a blissfully long time. By the end of it they were both entirely relaxed and the only muscles that seemed to work were the ones in the face since both of the women were smiling wistfully happy after the treatment. They were guided to the next room where they got to lounge some more while they received very gentle facial massages and beauty masks. After that they headed towards the steam sauna, completely unable to do any quick movements. Luckily they sure had no need to.
"Think about it," Emily said slowly as she leaned back in the steam sauna with towels wrapped around her body and her hair and a clay mask that smelled really nice on her face. "We're gonna be like princesses when the spa in the Manor opens. This. Every week if we wanted to."
"Mmm," Anastasia agreed. "Those two guys certainly knew what they were doing opening a spa in the manor like that. They'll make an absolute killing." She stretched and sighed, shifting in her seat to get in an even more comfortable position. "So how is Vinnie?"
"Mmmh, Vinnie," Emily sighed and a wide smile spread in the middle of the clay mask. "He appeared on my doorstep yesterday and took me to a picnic! We hadn't been on one since last summer when we were just starting dating. So yeah, he's dandy. How's Trevor?"
"Aww! A picnic. That might be the sweetest thing ever!" she grinned at Emily. "So handsome and so charming. Trevor...Has been working a lot. It's a busy time of year for him, so he's been stressed and stuff." She gave Emily a small smile. "But I heard you met Gavin! Or I think it was you? Anyway, isn't he a sweetheart?"
"Yeah, we sort of met in the Mocha some time ago! He was funny. You know, not in your usual boring every day way. Seemed like a really nice guy," Emily agreed.
Anastasia smiled. "That he definitely is. He's not as...Boisterous as Trevor. But he's very genuine. I'm glad you've met all the men in my life now!" Anastasia said with a laugh.
"Wow, all two of them," Emily laughed. "Hard to believe they're brothers though, but I wouldn't know anything about sibling relationships. All I know is that in the Orsini family they fight just as much as they love. Or maybe they fight because they love. I'm not sure about that yet," Emily pondered. "Don't know if you knew but yeah, I'm an only child of a highly educated couple. Sometimes I feel like a social experiment."
"I know, right?" Anastasia said, still chuckling. "Hopefully you don't have any trouble remembering their names!" She tilted her head as she listened to Emily talk and chuckled at her socialexperiment comment. " Aww, well if you're a social experiment, you're a very good one," she said with a smile. "I'm the only child of two artist types. Go figure, huh?" she said with a grin. "Dad was a professor. Mom was a ballerina."
"My dad's an engineer, mum's a psychologist. Yours sound wonderful but - was?" Emily asked with a frown.
Anastasia's brows arched momentarily. "Oh, I guess I've forgotten to mention that my parents are dead. They died in a car accident when I was seven."
"Oh - oh wow!" Emily stood upright. "You were seven? That's horrible, I'm sorry to hear that! Did you get foster parents then?"
She nodded. "Something like that. I got a Godmother, although who decided to make her my Godmother I'll never know," she said, shaking her head. "Anyway. Yeah. Been just me since I was seven. Well, until I met Trevor, that is."
Emily's brow stayed low and she pursed her lips. "Sounds like she wasn't the best mom-substitute?"
Anastasia chuckled a little and she shook her head. "No. Not the best. She and my parents were like night and day. I'll never understand how they even liked each other, let alone how they came to the decision that she was the best person suited to raise me." She shook her head, putting it all out of mind. "But that's neither here nor there. Are you close with your parents?"
Emily hesitated for a bit and then nodded. "I suppose I am. They're still at home in California along with most of the family. I sort of left with doors banging when I was sixteen, I came to New York to study. They didn't like my choice of career at all, but already then I knew that there was nothing I would rather do," she shrugged. "Ever since then we've kept close contact and they haven't approved of most the choices I've made but... we've been there for each other, you know."
"Oh, so you're from California, then?" Anastasia asked, her head tilting. "I don't think I knew that. What part?"
"Los Angeles, pretty near to mid-city, so not really the beaches and definitely not Beverly Hills," she laughed. "The kids from Beverly were snotty anyway. Where are you from?"
"We moved a lot," Anastasia said with a nod, "Even before my parents died. I was born in Chicago. Lived in Denver, Seattle, San Diego, and when my parents died we lived in Salt Lake City. That's where I lived until I was eighteen with my Godmother."
"Salt Lake City isn't that bad," Emily said. "Although I've only been there like once or twice on brief visits but still. So when did you meet Trevor? Was it love on first sight?" she grinned.
Anastasia shook her head. "Oh, I hated it there. Not because of the city necessarily, but because of what it represented to me. I got out as soon as I could, went as far away as possible for college, and that's where I met Trevor." She smiled. "I don't think it was love at first sight exactly, since the first time I saw Trevor he didn't even know I existed. He was just big and handsome and popular, you know? Everyone knew who Trevor was. And then one day I went into the Art room to finish a project and he was in there for a class and it was like all of the sudden he noticed me. He came over and we started talking and..." She shrugged and smiled. "It progressed from there. But what about you and Vinnie? Did you just meet in the Manor, or were you set up or what?"
"In the Manor," Emily answered and paused looking up, thinking back. "I think it was - yes, on the same day I met both Vinnie and Wayne for the first time - the two men of my life?" she laughed. "I went to the pet shelter house in the City because I wanted a cat to keep me company. I got Wayne from there, and when I returned carrying the kitty in his box, I noticed that someone was moving in. It was Vinnie. He thought I was a vet, I think," she chuckled. "And he ended up carrying the kitty box to my apartment for me. Such a gentleman from the start. And, you know, then it just progressed from there."
Anastasia smiled. "And how long ago was that? You two have been together for a while, haven't you? He seems terribly sweet."
"Umm, last years May or June? Something like that. We sort of realized that were both horribly boring people with no cool hobbies, so we picked up dance classes together. And we've been at it for over a year now! But he still hasn't agreed to dance tango with me with a rose between his teeth," she sighed.
Anastasia laughed. "Aww, no rose yet? That's no fun. Although he is a man. Trevor would rather eat mud then do any sort of formal dancing, especially with a rose between his teeth." She giggled. "But it is sweet that he takes the dance classes with you. Does he enjoy them?"
"For over a year now he's insisted that he does actually enjoy them. Either he's a very good liar or he's speaking the truth," Emily answered with her eyes wide. "And he seems genuinely excited every week to go to the class! Strange, isn't it? Not that I'm complaining at all. Trevor, however, does seem like more of a... 'rawr I'm a man, hear me roar!' kind of a guy," she agreed.
Anastasia giggled. "'Rawr I'm a man, hear me roar!' is very Trevor. He's...Something else." She shook her head. "But I think it's amazing that you and Vinnie have something like that that you enjoy doing together. It must make for good bonding, right?"
"It kinda does, yeah. In the beginning it was a good excuse to get close, and now it sort of... keeps us connected you know?" she explained. Then Emily tilted her head and asked carefully the thing that she had been curious about since their last good chat. "How's it going with you and Trevor now? Any bonding yet since, um, last time?"
Anastasia blinked and tugged at the gold necklace she was wearing. "Well, he remembered he forgot my birthday shortly after and gave me this necklace and made a big production of telling me how sorry he was and assuring me that things were going to be different. They haven't been," she said quietly. "I think he's seeing someone." It was something she hadn't voiced to anyone, not even Gavin or Tristan, but it was a thought she couldn't get away from. She had to admit to it sooner or later.
Emily drew breath. "Oh but - well hey but, but." Several things to say crossed her mind and she started on all of them but they felt silly and useless. She edged to sit a bit closer toAnastasia . "How do you know? Maybe it's just, maybe he's just," she tried again but then shook her head. Emily paused for a while looking at her friend with sad eyes. "What are you going to do?"
Anastasia bit her lip, shrugging and looking entirely sad. "I don't know. I guess I'm just going to hope I'm wrong for the time being. I haven't seen any actual proof, just odd behavior from him and a feeling that I can't shake. If I find out he is I'll... Leave, I guess? I don't know." She sighed and sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "I guess I should have unloaded all of this before the massage, huh?" she said with a rusty laugh.
"This may sound harsh but - don't stay with a man who betrays you. You deserve better. So you get to the bottom of this and I'm hoping beyond hoping that it's something else. Maybe the company isn't doing so well, maybe he's worried about something like that. You never know," Emily said and wrapped her arm around Anastasia. "How ever it goes, keep on unloading on me. And we still have the jacuzzi coming up where we can forget the worries again?"
Anastasia lay her head on Emily's shoulder. "I hope so too," she said softly. "I love him too much for him to just shatter my heart that way." She sighed wearily and lifted her head to give Emily a little squeeze. "God, I hope you never have anything to cry about, but if you do, you know I'm here, right?" she said with a smile.
"And you know I'm right here too. That's what friends are for, right - for crying together?" Emily chuckled. "Ow - this mask is starting to dry on my face, my cheeks aren't moving anymore. Should we go and have them washed off?"
Anastasia laughed and touched the mask on her face. "God yes. And let's pray it doesn't take all our eyebrows with it."
The two women got up together and sauntered out of the sauna. Luckily the masks came off easily but they did get their eyebrows sculpted as well as pedicures for both and Anastasia had a manicure while Emily was sighing wistfully looking at her polished and pretty finger nails. The day continued with all sorts of pampering and the topics of discussion got sillier as they started enjoying wine. They dined and drank and got relaxed and pampered properly all day long - and it had indeed been a good idea to take the taxi instead of their own car when in the evening they were coming back home to the Manor.
Anastasia climbed out of the back of the Taxi rather gracefully considering the amounts of wine she'd consumed, and immediately started giggling. "I can'tbelieve that stodgy old cab driver wouldn't turn the radio on for me! I'm lovely at stationary, interpretive dance," she said, still giggling.
"Oh oh - oh," Emily said excitedly pointing her finger up as she got out - nonchalantly holding the door for support. "You should expand your artsy repertoire! You should pick that up as a performance art. Go to random places where the radio is on and do your stationary intro-interpretive dance!"
Anastasia giggled louder and only stumbled a little over the curb. "Oh my God, can you imagine? Trevor would die!" She leaned her head back and really laughed. "You'd come see me, right? You'd be my fan club?"
"Oh totally, with little supporting flags and banners!" Emily giggled and mimed waving a little flag in her hand. She bend to say thanks and bye to the cab driver who shook his head and drove off when Emily shut the door. "Right. Now let's hope Vinnie isn't by the desk because I think I'm just a tiiiiny bit, um, tipsy," Emily giggled more and hooked her arm with Anastasia's.
"I'm not," Anastasia said rather proudly and delusionally. "I make such a classy drunk, no one can ever tell," she said with a hiccup and a grin. "Although, I suppose I could have Vinnie ring Gavin and have him come help me onto the elevator."
"Oh pffft, we'll help each other. See if you lean against me and I lean against you we're almost not falling over!" Emily said sounding like it was the best idea ever. She pulled the glass door of the lobby open and let Anastasia go in first.
Anastasia giggled and swung an arm around her friend's shoulders, smiling brightly at anyone who thought to give the two, giggly women a curious glance. For a moment the lobby was filled with loud giggling and chattering as they passed through to the elevators but soon enough Frank by the security desk sighed of relief as they got on safely together and went home.