Morningstar Manor

Kris had finished a permanent wave and sent his customer on her way reasonably satisfied - he wasn't that worried about her lack of enthusiasm because, from the lines on her face, discontent was a way of life - and took the opportunity to grab a cup of decaffeinated tea while he waited for his next customer.

Gabe was massaging, Evie had a queue for nails, everyone else was fully employed so he felt a little abandoned until he spotted the door opening.

Ah, not the person he had expected, but someone to talk to nevertheless. "Hi," he said, "welcome to Angels. Can I offer you some tea?"

Travis was lounging around poolside. The last time he'd been here, it had turned into something eventful. Good scenery and a good website that he'd poked about a couple times over the week. Maybe he'd see her again, maybe not.

~*~
Memphis was downstairs in the Mocha, flipping through an auto tuner magazine. Keeping up on the latest trends going was something of the mind boggling type. He just didn't understand why some kid would pay for an import car, then sink the money in to the performance aspect just to wind up with a car keeping up with the domestics. He chuckled reasoning that the kid could've saved money by buying a Mustang instead.

*~*
Chad was out in the gardens, tending to Logan's patch of peppers and tomatoes.

~*~
Logan wasn't far away though, having decided that he'd play with Lily today.

*~*
Also in the garden, Erin had taken up her sunbathing spot from last summer. With her blanket spread out on the grass and earbuds tucked into her ears, she laid on her back to even out the tan over her boobs with the lack of tan on her stomach.

~*~
In the mail room, Tristan was retrieving his mail out of his mailbox. He'd already set the magazines on he table, then stacked envelopes on top, putting the light purple one on the bottom. He already knew what that meant. His mother was requesting a visit or at the least, information.

*~*
Somewhere between the Spa in the basement and the eighth floor, Roxy and Lexi were going over the brochure and discussing the different options offered.

[[OOC: Probably slow-timed due to unexpected injury, Mum's recovery, and complaints of nothing accomplished due to online time... If only housework did itself!]]

Saturday at 11 am, and the Mocha was really busy. Among them were:

• Andras, who had visitors. One of them was his brother Lajos, in the City again for lawyerly business, even though he no longer kept a flat here; the other was a bloke he brought along to sleep on the sofa, some researcher from Cambridge whose cousin apparently was Ilona's best and most high-strung graphics designer, here to briefly consult something arcane that was kept at Rutherford. Andras had no hope of even understanding what it was, except that it was Historical; so the bloke was most likely a historian, right? Funnily, though, he was from the same area of Old Blighty originally where Charlie had that farm Andras visited once; so there was something to talk about, at least.
• Charlotte James, who had just been to an early morning visit to the new spa, and was discussing the relative merits of that versus the Michael's Brothers spa with Maude Temminck (whose character had much improved, Charlotte thought, since she was widowed, dried out, and had a grandkid) while her son Manny was sitting peacefully by, as if the chatter of women was no more meaningful than the waves of the ocean, and just as calming. On his lap, little Morgan Temminck was fast asleep. Theoretically, he was waiting for his wife, but Charlotte got the impression that he was content to just sit there.
• Cindy was sitting a few tables on (having said hello to Charlotte and her lot, but still uneasy about the Temmincks, so she hadn't joined them), talking to the Indian woman, Chandika, and her adorable kid whose dog Hanu was most likely the illegitimate son of Axminster, but nobody minded any more, not even the owner of the mother, because Hanu was such a great dog, and while not pedigree, still an indubitable lurcher. They were talking about spas as well -- in particular, the one where Chandika worked. Cindy was very cautiously trying to work out whether it would be all right for her to go there, and Chandika was doing her best to gently reassure her that of course it was. The dogs were both under the table in classic Axminster pose, fast asleep.
  
• Ricky had his earbuds in, surfing MySpace on his netbook; he was sharing his table with some tall stranger with lanky hair and a large nose who was also working away at his notebook -- a rather larger and posher one. They were both drinking chai latte, and any attentive observer might have realised that they were each drinking distractedly from both cups and totally not noticing. Unless one of them had the swine flu, it probably didn't matter.
• By the door to the conservatory, two ghosts were lurking, mostly unseen by the rest of the Mocha. "Just listen to them!" Marek was saying. "They're totally superficial! All they ever talk about are spas." Manny shrugged. "I've spent my life talking about business; spas are a nice break. And I don't like women for their conversation, you know. More for their curves." Marek laughed.

[[OOC: Brief visit of Lajos Toth and Edgar Cobham to justify the icon and make sure that all twelve are really there!]]

It was Saturday morning, and around the ground floor and basement, people were busy:

• Chandika was looking around the place that was going to be the creche, admiring the colours and furniture, trailing the smell of coffee, from the cappuccino in her hand;
• Ricky was in the conservatory, drinking tea, but still smelling slightly of last night's hemp smoke;
• Manny was in the lobby, home from his morning run with a bright, sportsy push-pram, still hopping as he waited by the elevators, a faint smell of used diapers coming from the pram if you bent over little Morgan, who was fast asleep in there;
• Charlotte was just entering by the grand doors, having been shopping already, the scent of mixed perfume testers coming from the small but exquisite Michaels Brothers bag dangling from her hand;
• Cindy was in the first elevator that stopped and opened, with her dog and in a marathon-class racing wheelchair, leaving a scent of citrus shampoo as she cheerfully left for her morning run;
• Marek was in the ballroom, going through classical exercises at furious speed, smelling of nothing but the dust motes moving through him, undisturbed;
• and Ashley was in the library, looking at art books and loving the scent of old books in the morning.

Getting ready for a party was a pleasant duty, even if it was quite hard work. The maintenance guys had agreed that it was as well not to leave the heavy stuff until the last minute and so had spent the last two hours washing down the paving and trimming back anything thorny and were now positioning the patio heaters and the tubs of sand for the smokers and the trash cans, covered to keep the rain out, and the all important barbeque pit.

This was two oil drums split lengthwise and welded to wheeled supports and fitted with grills. The four sections should be enough for everyone who wanted to cook to get a space.

Nick grunted as he dragged the second out of storage and began to bump it along the path.

"Shit," he said as his phone dropped from his pocket and bounced into a flower bed, then he spotted someone and shot them a sheepish grin. "Don't suppose you could get that for me couldja? Please?"

There was a baby in the Mocha, with her grandmother, and that drew people -- especially those of a female persuasion.

Charlotte usually preferred the company of her cats to lots of noisy kids, but the occasional adorable little lady didn't come amiss.

Cindy was a bit shy, but the baby was interested in Axminster (and he in the baby), so she had come over to prevent trouble, and just hung around when the dog sprawled in his eponymous way on the floor.

Chandika was chatting eagerly -- she was called in for an interview, for the job she'd applied for! And she really wanted that job, so totally down her alley. And the day care facility was the best idea ever, and a godsent at this point in time, really encouraging her to go out and get that job. And Maude was really in on it? Cooooooool!

Maude sat, holding Morgan on her lap, and was surprisingly happy.

Cindy returned from the Easter service at the Greek church as always, elated, almost exhilarated, and with a a lighted little candle in a jar with wire handle, which was hanging from the handle of her wheelchair.

"Christos anesthi!" she called softly into the shadows, in case any of the ghosts were here.-

By the main door, positioned so that he can see and smell everybody coming and going without them quite having to stumble over him if they are careful, was a large brindled greyhound. He was sprawling very flat, and guarding a very grubby toy that might have been a teddy bear, once.

Nearby, there was a small white-and-tabby cat, licking his paws in perfect innocence. He would never ever try to steal anybody's toys.

Their mistresses might be having coffee in the Mocha together, and chatting about all the recent newcomers.-

Most of his goods and chattels had been delivered yesterday and a friend of a friend had made sure they were installed, while Fin was winding up some last pieces of business and talking to his bank about the hike in rent. He could cover it, no problem, but reassuring ones bank manager is a sensible thing to do.

But now he was stepping through the high doors of his new home and approaching the jolly looking man at the desk. He was greeted, given a new tenants info pack and it was suggested that if he would care to wait in the coffee shop someone would be along to help him with the rest of his baggage.

Fin said thanks, moved the bags to one side, and headed for the coffee shop, leafing through the folder.

New tenants were often demanding, but some were more demanding than others. In this case instructions had come down from the TA office that apartment 348 needed a full refurb.

Full as in right 'back to the fabric of the building then repaper, repaint, recarpet, re-everything'. Including detailed specifications for the kitchen and bathroom - hell, the new people were even bringing their own doorknobs!

Still it wasn't Nick's job to wonder so he had been in and out of the apartment all day and was on his last load of carpet before stripping the paper of the walls in the bedrooms.

Door open, he sang quietly to himself as he used a box cutter to hack the carpet into pieces sizeable enough, he hoped, for him and Jack to sell profitably later. Old habits died hard - also it was fun.

Max, good boss that he was, had organised help, and the Manor had provided an enormous handy man, so moving his into his new apartment was no real problem.

Jimmy collected his keys and tenants' handbook from the man at the desk, then supervised his workforce in taking up his rather sparse furniture and belongings, and his enormous stereo system and box after box of vinyl.

Apartment 9163 - not too high, not too low.

Once everything was in and the bed was sorted out - he could deal with the rest later - he tipped everyone and saw them out of the front door.

"And you, too son," he said to the handyman, who grinned and took the fifty leaving Jimmy to go and get his coffee and relax in the Manor coffee shop and look about him with interest.

Emma and Emily had worked hard to make sure the apartment was ready, food laid out and some suitably upbeat music playing a lot quieter than earlier was on the stereo courtesy of Emma's playlisting and her iPod. Before anyone else was due to arrive, Emma had dithered on how to get Ang and Alec here, finally deciding just to do what worked best normally. So she rang them up and invited them to tea, for about 4.30 would be nice, and no, they didn't need to bring anything. Emma got the feeling Alec was suspicious, these invites were not that common after all, and usually involved Emma wanting something..... She chuckled, he was in for a suprise!

Anyway, at four o'clock Emma opened her door, and removed the "Shhhhh" sign, before leaving it wedged open and heading back into the apartment. Emily had gone back upstairs to change, and Emma had already put a clean top and jeans on. She fiddled with the sheeting covering the painting, she wasn't sure again, but told herself firmly that it was finished, she wasn't playing with it any more.... No, she was not. Luckily just then she heard voices and went to say hello to the guests!

Next to Halloween this was his favorite day. When you looked like Jack Sparrow and could do the voice to perfection you needed a day like this to really enjoy such a gift. And Jack was enjoying it to the best of his ability.

Already he'd been using the voice to make many of the lady tenants giggle and swoon. Now he'd come into the Mocha to see if Joy and the others had taken his suggestion to heart. To his great joy they had.

"Joy, my love," he said, as he approached the counter. "Why's all the rum gone?"

Joy giggled and pointed to the menu, where coffees and tea flavoured with rum were clearly marked.

"Ah that's m'girl," Jack said and placed an order.

There were many reasons that Cindy would accept why her secretary, who only came in for the mornings, would have to go home early -- Cindy didn't mind, as long as the work got done. If there was an emergency, she was ready to stay on longer as well; Cindy didn't count minutes. That was counter-productive anyway.

Cindy accepted almost any reason, did not really need much of a reason. Why her excellent secretary should claim she needed to go home and lie down because she'd seen some naked, bound and hooded figures standing behind her in the mirror was beyond her. Of course, the woman was worried about her nephew who served in Iraq; about what he might have to do as much as about what would happen to him, but such signs of mental instability on account of that?

Of course, Cindy had let her go home. Now she was sitting in the Mocha, looking grimly into her mocha, and wondering about the quirks of the human mind.-

Lunch at the Auberge was a tried and tested recipe for gentle enjoyment. And today with the spring sun shining down it was warm enough - just - to sit at the tables outside rather than huddling in the warmth of the little cafe.

Leo held his demi-tasse between his hands to warm them and waited for his guest.

“Oooh it was awful,” Colette was saying. “There was blood all over the road, and cars on fire and people screaming and running.”

“Really,” Andy said drily. “It appears I missed Armageddon.” She exchanged a wry glance with Charlie and added, “So what else was on the news? You can tell me while you price these cards.”

Colette sighed and picked up the pricing gun. She was missing Jasmin very much. Andy wasn’t nearly as much fun. However she continued to gossip and Andy let the sound of her voice flow over her while she opened the mail and sorted the trash from the proper mail and the good news from the bad.

Charlie entered, late and heavy-eyed and grinned at them both a bit sheepishly and came to the desk to get their orders for coffee.

"Where've you been?" Andy demanded.

"Stopped off at the florists," Charlie said, then picked up the mail to read through it.

At six in the evening, this Wednesday,

• Andras was taking pictures of leaves in the conservatory,
• Lajos was having a pint in the Lamb,
• Charlotte was having coffee in the Mocha
• Marek and Manny were trying to scare pigeons on the roof
• Cindy was arguing with a delivery man in the lobby
• Chandika was enjoying a family-free evening in the hot tub
• Ashley was lingering vaguely in the ballroom
• Maude was browsing suspense novels in the library.

[[OOC: Mun finally has internet at home again and celebrates in this way -- tell me in your tag who you want!]]

"Now, lift the sheet just a little bit higher -- no, believe me, it will work!"

Cindy was directing two less than enthusiastic builders that clearly showed they didn't trust her. Not completely. Not enough to tell them how to do their work.

Attracted by the noise, Charlie pushed through the protective hangings of polythene and gave them a grin. "Hello," he said. "What's going on?"

( Read more... )

"Nope, I won't forget," Charlie promised and stooped to press a kiss to Sam's cheek. "You have fun and take your time. Deacon and I can hold the fort today."

Sam gave him a little hug then hurried off to catch the elevator to the parking garage. Her plan to spend the day with Parker had nearly been derailed when Frances had called in to say she had a stinking cold, but godfathers [and real daddies] sometimes came in very useful.

Charlie watched her go then pushed the stroller into the Mocha, saying a cheery thanks to Katie Kelso who held the door open for him. Then he got coffee and a muffin and settled himself and the babies on the couch to while away some time.

[ooc: Sam gently godded with Chips permission]