Morningstar Manor

Declan sat in the Mocha still dressed in his suit from work except his collar was open and his tie was untied and draped around his neck. He was also contemplating hiring another assistant, if he could find someone qualified enough. That would mean less time at work, more time where he wanted to be, and less drama. Couldn't go wrong with that.

Bea sat outside the Manor in the gardens with Pippa on a leash reading through the mail she'd just picked up. She had on a rather awesome if not gaudy Super Mario Brothers corset that she'd ordered from this awesome little shop online, and to quantify awesomeness, she'd been invited to a HUGE convention. She decided right then and there to schedule herself heavily for the promotion of her second comic, due out at the first of May. It'd keep her busy.

Anastasia was in her studio behind the Gallery with the door propped open, letting the cheesey hip hop music she was listening to float out into the alley. She wasn't working really, but looking instead at the newest painting that she didn't remember doing. It was worse than the others, and just looking at it made her sick to her stomach with nervousness.

Sterrin walked through the Foundry market in a coral pink tank top dress that clung to her figure, completely and utterly bored as she had been all weekend. There had to be something interesting around here somewhere, but damned if she knew what.

Rhiannon was in her shop, laughing hysterically as Lee tried on a dress from her new summer line. Miri had given him the make-up treatment again, and the boy really was too pretty for his own good. He strutted through her store, making a few of the customers laugh too while Miri trotted along behind snapping pictures. 

Niles was out in the garage inspecting Piglet. He'd finally gotten her back after a complete body make over and more money than a sane person would spend on fixing a car. He could've bought another one just like her for cheaper, but it was the principal of the matter. This was Piglet, she was his, and he was going to keep her.

Even though he was going to Rhiannon's for dinner, Tristan had arranged a delivery for Anastasia. Nothing huge, just flowers and a box she could share, should she choose to. On the flowers was a note. Happy Easter. How about planning a bestie day soon?

~*~
There was a delivery going to another apartment as well, again because he couldn't organize it himself Eli had left the arrangements to his sister. Hopefully Bea didn't mind lots of candy and a lightly coloredbouquet. The note in her flowers said He'll be home soon, just remember he loves you and I'm here if you need anything else. ♥ Liz

It was three in the morning where Eli was. He couldn't sleep and just wanted to talk to Bea. The last package he'd gotten from her had included a better webcam and a microphone so he could talk to her. With the new accouterments tucked into his pockets, he traveled swiftly and stealthily to his work.

His key got him in the doors, and he carried the rest of his gear to not make noise. All the lights stayed off until he got to the office area, where he flipped on one light and started a computer. He plugged everything in, sat down and signed on. Her name was light up hen he logged on and he smiled.

oohhh baby what a sight for sore eyes...

Allan didn't much enjoy his times in the gallery. He was no kind of salesman - being a doing rather tthan telling sort of person - so found the office quite boring.

However there was Leena to flirt with and Sean to help with the framing and he would move stuff if asked to. It was part of the deal.

Also part of the deal was minding the desk when leena needed a break so he sat there, swinging gently in the chair and played solitaire on the desk computer.

Bea had been up since about five this morning since she had to be at that studio at six. It'd been a long shoot with lots of make up, hair, and interviewing, but it'd been fun. Callan was downright ridiculous, but he'd been funny and had made her feel at ease. They'd hit it off in a friendly sort of way and he'd also promised to give her some copies of the pictures to send to Eli. Declan had stopped in for a few minutes to oversee everything, and seemed very pleased by the proofs Callan was showing him of the pictures and the notes from the interview.  That made Bea feel a little better. 

After she'd gotten home she'd gone down to Eli's place with Pippa, changed into one of his t-shirts, and had taken a long nap in his bed. She periodically did that. It helped her feel closer to him, even though the sheets and the t-shirts no longer smelled like him or anything like that thanks to laundry. She still pretended they did, though. It was in his big bed that she picked up a notebook and decided to write him a letter.

Eli had gotten himself in a bit of hot water with their last conversation, and the result was a weekend of work. He did manage to set down and write her out a letter though, which wasn't as long as he wanted but it explained what was going on here.

( Letter #40 )

It was entirely silly and completely something he could do to brighten her day, so Eli had planned ahead and today Bea got a box delivered to her.

Inside was a note:
Sorry I can't be there to help, but hopefully your Pi Day goes well...
Love & miss you like whoa
Eli

She'd read that it was Travis' birthday through an update on his facebook before she'd headed out that morning to do some shopping. On her quest, she'd stumbled across a t-shirt that she thought Travis might like or at least find funny, so she'd wrapped it in the comics from the newspaper and headed down to the Raines apartment. He'd probably have big plans with his friends and girlfriend and brother, but she could drop this off pretty quick and get out of his hair.

Knocking on the door, she waited.

All Del's unwanted possessions had been packed away and he was left with one smallish bag, his wallet and his phone. Where they were going clothes would be optional and if Eris decided to take a trip to warm up Anchorage they were in sufficient funds to buy what they needed when they got there.

He got a last coffee and seated himself in his favourite seat in the Mocha to wait for his lady.

###

Gil was grabbing some quiet time in the library with a heap of recipe books and one of the computers. While the printer churred and chugged and spat out nice new inventory lists he leafed through the books wincing at the over coloured pictures and occasionally snorting at the recipes.

But sometimes he nodded and scribbled in a dog eared notebook. You could always learn something new.

###

Charlie was in the conservatory with a pile of printed off pictures and a pair of scissors. If anyone passed he went very still, trying not to attract attention. He was good at that - still hadn't lost the knack of self-effacement he'd found so necessary when he arrived.

But this time it wasn't because he was scared of the world and everything in it. It was because the pictures he was so carefully cutting out were of handsome, smiling and mostly naked young men and were destined for a very special project he had in mind.

He just didn't want to give offence.

###

Andy read a novel with a sense of utter luxury and sipped a latte from time to time without much enjoyment. Her doctor had impressed upon her that double shot espresso could be overly stimulating, in fact addictive and that she really wouldn't want a new born that was going cold turkey.

She turned another page, read a bit, and snickered. Harlequin Historicals. Priceless. And hardly stimulating anything at all, other than her funny bone.

Niles sat in a sprawl on one of the couches, unabashedly filling out the whole thing as usual, and checking his bank account through the internet on his phone. Somehow, he'd managed to net another hundred grand since last week. 
What the hell? he wondered silently to himself. He had to wonder if the old man had anything to do with it, though he wasn't going to call and ask. Instead, he just added it up to all the good luck he was having. Fuck it all, life was good right now. The best it'd been in years.

***

Bea was sitting just outside the Mocha window on her laptop, letting Pippa enjoy the surprisingly warm temperatures and play while she updated her website. She decided that she was going to have to stop looking at her google stats because it just freaked her out too much. Someone had actually Googled Beatrix James rape dungeon to get to her site? What the hell?

She loved her fans, but some of them made her sooooo nervous.

***
Rhiannon sat at a table with Harvey who was still wearing his eye patch and pirate hat from the birthday party she'd had for him yesterday. He was in high spirits, but Rhiannon was not. Miri and Lee were having a spat because of the pod person that must've taken over Lee's body recently, a shipment of her Spring line was delayed until next week when she'd promised orders today, and to top it all off, Everett was coming over tonight and he was pissed that he hadn't gotten an invite to Harvey's party.
Sighing, she pulled out her phone and logged into Facebook to update her status to: Ever have one of those days where you just feel like setting yourself on fire and running through a meth house? Yeah. Me too.

It was you wasn't it?
:D :D :D
I made Erik eat the one with the knockers!
Thanks honey
xx A

There was a large box filled with cupcakes on a black tray that looked surprisingly like an iPhone, complete with the apps.

Included was a note that read:

Look at how bored I am! I'm making fucking cupcakes into iPhones!!!!

Girl date? Stalking? Something full of flava?

PLEASE?!

- Bea

Bea had spent all day making cupcakes.

Yes, cupcakes. The cake part was easy - all she had to do was follow the directions on the box of cake mix. However, what she'd really went balls-out on was the decorating. She'd made faces and figures and shapes and cartoons out of icing and candy until she was blue in the face, and it was time to deliver.

Trying to stay distracted? Maybe. But it was good karma, right?


She figured it was best to start at the top and work her way to the bottom, so she grabbed the first batch and took them up to the fourteenth floor, dropping a bride and groom pair off in front of Erik and Andy's door with a note, not wanting to disturb the love birds, then went to knock on Charlie's door.

She had a penguin cupcake for miss Nia, and a mouse cupcake for Charlie, plus plenty of flubs in case they wanted more.

Anastasia sat at a table shifting through her sketch book with a wrinkle between her brows. Her sketchbook was full of small, intricate paintings that once again, she didn't remember doing. What the hell was going on?

Niles sat sprawled out on a couch, fiddling with his new iPhone and writing a happy song on the iPhone's piano app. Things were good. So good, in fact, that he didn't even notice the pretty, but sad looking blonde woman that flickered in and out of sight beside him.

Isabella sat at a table staring at a slip of paper in front of her. It was a prescription for prenatal vitamins handed to her by her doctor this morning when she'd gone to confirm that the three pregnancy tests she'd taken on her lunch break Monday morning weren't lying.
She was pregnant. She didn't think she'd be a good mother. How could she bring a baby into her life where there would be so many people, like her father and Max, to protect it from?
But oh, a baby. Micah's baby. Smiling just a little, she put a hand on her stomach and tried to figure out how she was going to tell him.

Smith stood in line, staring at the back of someone's head that was in front of him. Man, he really didn't like that guy. It probably even showed on his face, not that he gave a shit.

Bea sat at a table with her laptop open in front of her, composing a blog for her website. She'd made her website more interactive and started blogging, which seemed to be going over well with her fans. There were some bizarre ones, but weren't there always?

Declan sat at a corner table on his phone, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I can't crap out a deal for him, Mike. Tell him to call back after lunch and I'll give it a try." He hung up, but smiled to himself. He was still in too good of a mood from last night.

Olivia sat on one of the couches, idly flipping through a tabloid. Things were so different from the times when she'd been in these things constantly, she realized. That was a good thing, though.

Sterrin stood in line, ignoring everything around her as she shifted through some pictures on her phone. She hoped she never lost this anywhere, or at least hoped that with all of technology's advances they'd invent a self-destroy option for the phone soon for when people did.

Drew was in line as well, and he could feel eyes on the back of his head. When he turned around, he saw Laura's serial killer looking boyfriend giving him a stare down. He faced the front again and sighed internally. Awesome.

Kate sat at a table sipping cofffee and countng the chocolate chips in her cookie. This was supposed to be a double chocolate chip cookie, but it seemed average to her. "False advertising," she muttered to herself with a frown.

Rhiannon sat at a table with Harvey who'd decided he was going to wear an Optimus Prime helmet all day. He pushed it up just far enough to take a bite of his cookie and Rhiannon smiled as she flipped through a magazine, attempting to think of an idea as to what to fix for dinner tonight since her boyfriend was coming over. Boyfriend. It still made her feel a little giddy.

Bea had checked the mail first thing this morning before going to the grocery store and found Eli's letter.

She'd read it in the parking lot of the grocery store and was ashamed to admit that she'd started crying in relief. She hadn't heard anything out of him in 3 weeks, and the first sign that he was still alive and well had brought her to tears. She read his letter several times after getting home before carefully folding it and putting it in the box that she kept all of his letters in, even the ones he'd written her before they met officially.

Sitting down, she started to write a reply.

Bea - party Saturday Flamingo Lounge 8pm, make own way there, lift home! Emily's birthday. Hope you can come. xx


When Andy finished that one she thought a while before sending the next.

Hi Eris, hun. Fancy a bday party at the Flamingo? All girls but I'm sure we can find some guys to dance with. 8pm and we get a lift home. *hugs*

She didn't think it was Eris's kind of evening but really didn't want her hair set on fire if Eris felt slighted at not being invited.

Bea sat next to Andy in a cab as they made their way to the club, excitement making her smile. It was good to be out for a proper girl's night, and she was looking forward to the sort of novelty that only a room full of male strippers could provide.

"So what sort of place is it?" she asked Andy. "Is it like a choreographed stage thing like the Full Monty or is it like a regular strip club, where they have floor shows and dance on poles?"

Eli hadn't gotten Bea's letter until after Valentine's day. He hated the mail system, but at least he'd gotten it. The photo made him smile and the sound from the card caused a couple of the other guys to stop and try reading over his shoulder. He figured it couldn't hurt to show off the photo she'd sent so he did.

Later when it was quieter he sat down to write back. ( Letter #1 )

Sarah was drinking cocoa and eating muffins, why? Why not?

It was the Sunday thing to do!

Sometimes it was hard to know what to do when harbouring the type of news that might make another variety of woman squeal a lot. So far Andy had told the people that absolutely needed to know - parents, siblings, Uncle Ernil in the barber shop - but hadn't yet decided how to break the news to her friends, or her employer.

In the end she decided to let chance play it's part and if she saw someone she knew and liked she might just drop it casually into conversation. Yes, that would work.

So she snugged down in the Mocha with her laptop and if she occasionally spared a glance for her ring who could blame her? It really was very lovely.