Morningstar Manor

For some twenty odd minutes now, Jazz had been sitting at one of the Mocha's garden tables, soaking up the sun while she click-clacked away on her laptop and chattered into her cellphone in rapid fire Spanish. Now, finally, she paused and told the phone, "Sí,sí - te amo también." She listened for a moment, then laughed. "Entonces véale."

She hung up, sliding her phone onto the table top and starting typing away on her laptop again, looking quite pleased with herself.

Thomas, wearing a grey suit with a dark blue tie, sat in the Mocha with a coffee cup and the newest issue of the Forbes magazine.

Emily parked the bright red Vespa in the garage, in its own spot. She took a few steps back while she took off her helmet, and admired the sparkling clean paint finish, straight from a thorough wash.

Susan was plotting murder. She didn't know who she had to blame for getting the task of polishing every single brass decoration in the ball room and the staircases, but while she was hard at work, she entertained herself with the vivid, imaginative pictures in her head.

Twelve games in and she still hadn't won one.

Accepting defeat with a sigh, Jazz clicked to start a new game. While it loaded she reached for her rapidly cooling coffee and looked around the Mocha lazily. It had been a slow, boring, day at work, and the mood hadn't changed much since getting home.

The laundry room had been empty, so she'd left her clothes to tumble alone, figuring she could find some entertaining company in the coffee shop.

So far her choices had been play solitaire, or strike up conversation with Joy.

Oh well, maybe her luck would change. Maybe she'd even win this game too.

Nearing the end of her workday, Jazz was down on the sales floor, selecting a few pieces from the cases that she wanted to take with her to tomorrow's morning consultation and catching up with the staff as to how they're day had gone.

~.~

Adam was picking up the necessary ingredients for the spaghetti dinner he was hoping to make for Icene tonight. And also, on a whim as he for the headed for the checkouts, a bouquet of flowers.

Here was hoping it was one of her decent nights and not one of her work-all-night nights.

~.~

His sister's birthday coming up, Riley was wandering aimlessly. Where to start, what to look for? Really these sort of things should have gotten easier with age, but to Riley it only seemed to get harder and more confusing.

An earlier phone call while out for a walk now had Emma in a bit of a tizzy, and she was scribbling notes and making lists on several pieces of paper on the table in front of her. Strangely she wasn't sketching, but she was muttering and alternately sipping at her hot chocolate, or nibbling on a cookie whilst looking both worried and excited. Beneath the table Faith and Lily were curled up together, both exhausted after the long walk around the Riverwalk Park, followed by Emma almost running back to the Manor.

Neither of them had a clue what was going on, and of course, after a cookie and some water, neither really cared, but other people might.

Ylva was in the park again with the remains of a nice chicken salad sandwich, a very short skirt and a collection of Nabokov's short stories. In English, this time. She was just reading for the heck of it.

In the gallery, Charlie shuffled his papers into four separate piles - Important/Urgent, Important/can wait, unimportant/Urgent and unimportant/can wait.

His unimportant/can wait pile was three times the height of the others and he had a feeling that close to the bottom of it were things that were beginning to edge their way into Important/Urgent.

He sighed and looked at the four piles and reached for the vital stuff again.

###

Alan carried a coffee across to the base of the angel statue and looked up at it with a scowl. He still hadn't shown Deacon the bronze he had made. He was hoping they might forget all about it.

Meantime he had coffee and it was sunny - he could smile about that.

###

Guy sat on the hood of his cab and turned his face up to the sun. He had a fare booked for noon and a good twenty minutes to wait and a soda clinking with ice from the Auberge and paperback novel that someone had left in his cab. It was - different - very different, and Guy was going to look out for the next in the series.

Sunday was a day for catching up and preparing for the working week ahead:

Adam was in the laundry room, carefully turning a set of camo inside out before tossing them into the washer with the rest of his colors; Joe paused to consult a grocery list as he stood in Michaels Bros. dairy section; Jazz took a break from her errands with lunch at the Auberge.

Exciting? No. But life couldn't always be.

Sunday afternoon had Celeste leaving work early, trusting in her staff to close up by themselves. She deserved to take some time to herself, after all. And that time, today, was going to be spent in the gardens of the manor, coffee and cigarette in hand, a magazine open in her lap. Celeste wasn't paying much attention to the magazine mind you, instead looking up at the sun, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. Her high factor sunscreen would ensure she didn't burn or tan, but she still liked to feel the warmth from time to time.

Chad was sitting in the laundry room, watching the clothes go around. He'd debated on going to see Olivia a few times, but hadn't made up his mind yet. The latest case in the department had him more concerned about her safety than before.

While he was downstairs, Logan and Appa played in the gardens. Logan was trying to teach the puppy to fetch. It seemed to be a one way road though. The puppy didn't ring the ball back. He'd chase it though, so that was a good start, right?

Travis was out in the garage. He had a bucket of water and some soapy sponges, giving Lucy a bath. It was usually Memphis's job, but if he could show his brother he was seriously taking care of the car, maybe he could use it? He plotted and planned taking Macy out again as he worked, whistling lowly.

Memphis had gone out to shop some in Vine Square. Currently he had a bag with some colored pencils, a sketch book, and a few different paint swatch booklets from the hardware store. His next stop was the book store, where he intended to pick up some magazines. If Jane wanted to work on the apartment, he would make sure she had material to work with.

Roxy sat in the Mocha, reading a letter from her sister. She sighed as she picked up her tea and sipped. There were soft pokings in the letter about children and Roxy didn't like that idea. Her sister wasn't her mother, and she'd live her life without dictation on what needed to be done.

Home. Finally. Jazz stood in the Lobby, bag at her side, gazing in the direction of the Mocha with a glazed expression, trying to figure out what she wanted and in what order.

Coffee, shower, sleep? Shower, sleep, coffee? Sleep, coffee, shower?

It was almost more than her travel addled brain could handle.

~.~

Outside, at one of the Mocha's garden tables, Joe sat in the shade, his glasses perched on his nose, a pencil tucked behind his ear, the morning paper propped up in front of him and turned open to the crossword.

Pondering a clue, he tore a piece off his muffin - dunking it gently into his coffee.

Andras was sitting outside the Auberge, with his iPad and a large café au lait, making lists.

He's planning possible classes for the urban teenagers, and thinking of who else he could ask.


[[OOC: For everybody who wanted in on the classes at the community centre: This is the opportunity to join up!]]

Emma had put the phone down after a long chat with Ang, and yes, Alec too, even Gavin had gurgled at her, and finished her cup of tea, then fetched up both dogs, and headed for the gardens. They needed a longer walk tomorrow and she was thinking of taking them out for a long hike, but for now the gardens and a dozen or so laps, along with assorted fetch and tug of war games would have to do. So for a while she was settled on the lawns, throwing tennis balls in various directions and laughing as Faith and Lily raced each other to bring them back.

Spencer was hiding out in the Gazebo, he was fairly sure his mother was likely to call, so had left his cell upstairs, and instead bought some paperwork with him to read while he sipped on his coffee. A whole batch of papers had just slipped from his grasp though, and were now drifting about in the breeze as he tried to catch them without spilling his drink - if only he'd thought to put it down.

Icene was basking in a secluded corner that had sunshine, not working on her tan as much as trying not to burn, but then, she had plenty of sun cream, at least on the bits she could reach. An ice cold, and staying that way, bottle of white wine sat next to her, along with the one glass she'd poured and was currently sipping. She had a veritable picnic in the bag by her feet, but, so far, no-one to share it with.

Jane was not too far from her apartment windows, in a more shaded spot, wearing a large floppy brimmed hat, and a long-sleeved but very cool loose cotton kaftan type thing. She'd bought it on a whim because the pale blue fabric was covered in little white daisies with yellow centres, but she really wasn't sure even now that it was a good choice. Bare feet peeked out from under it as she struggled to keep her attention on the book she was trying to read. Any distraction from a childcare textbook would probably be more than welcome!

Gregori was just outside the Mocha doors, on the phone to his builder, and slugging down a bottle of water fresh from the Mocha's fridge. He was not in the best of moods, but the sunshine was helping, along with abject apologies and promises of cost reductions... after a few more exchanges he hung up and sighed, then rolled his head on his shoulders before leaning back against the sun warmed wall and almost, but not quite, wishing he smoked or something.

Cleo was in the tenant gardens, admiring the plants, and occasionally pulling a random weed out of a plot here or there... and if she pocketed a few leaves of bay, or a sprig of rosemary, well, nobody would notice right? She did draw the line at pinching strawberries though, leaving those well alone in the plots where they were, just, oooh, garlic chives! Those would be good. She wondered how difficult it would be to get a plot, then she could maybe grow her own herbs outside, they usually tasted better than indoor grown...

Kris had been passing the florists and had been drawn in by the wonderful heady scent. Now he was crossing the Square with his purchases - a bunch of brilliant orange tiger lilies and a cactus of hilariously suggestive shape - and was debating what to drop of where. Celeste seemed like a good sport but would she appreciate a wang shaped cactus? Demitri on the other hand would probably find it as funny as he did.

Sometimes being sophisticated was such hard work that Kris gave it a miss.

###

Ylva was in Riverwalk Park with her lunch and a book. She was possibly a little too close to the Manor for comfort but the park was full of blondes today, she'd blend in.

She crossed long tanned legs, settled her sunglasses more firmly on her nose and turned a page.

###

The roof garden was open again, if a little sparse of plants, and Nick was on his knees unpacking the crate that had been left for the Manor by the Sexton family. At least this time there had been family. So often, he'd heard, they had carefully packed the lost life away into boxes and crates, had sent the furniture to auction for charity and had packed everything away. Rooms and rooms full of memories and nobody to appreciate them.

But this was another matter, he thought, as he uncovered the piece of relief sculpture and the discreet little plaque he was supposed to mount near it.

###

Allan lay flat on his back in the garden, with his eyes closed and his arms spread out. The un shone down and he was warm and drowsy and full of lunch and thinking hard about his latest bronze. It was back and he was halfway through finishing it and he was worried that Deacon and Charlie wouldn't like it. It hadn't turned out the way he'd intended at all.

But he'd worry about that later. For now he was warm - and might go to sleep.

Anastasia had entirely taken over a little corner of the Mocha. Or at least two tables worth. In front of her were a series of 11 x 14 sketch pads that she was attempting to fit together like a puzzle. Or at least that'd been her original intent. Instead, she kept finding little things that needed tweaking and hadn't made it far at all.

How disgustingly hot had it been today. In Riley's opinion weather like that was just completely uncalled for - especially when the pool was still out of commission.

Looking for some respite, he was currently stretched out in some shade in the Gardens, a jug of furiously sweating ice tea within reach, his hat pushed back from his face to catch any wisp of a breeze that might come through.

Thomas was enjoying his summer holiday - or rather suffering. He had started the month-long holiday with a wine tasting with some of his colleagues, friends and contacts, and had only come back home on Friday morning. Having slept for a while, he was now looking very pale in the Mocha, nursing a cup of coffee.

*

Emily was definitely enjoying her summer holiday. She had decided to do absolutely nothing, except perhaps eat well, drink well, read something, sun bathe and, if she had the chance, flirt shamelessly with Vincenzo. Now she was in the gardens, sitting near the Angel statue and eating strawberries. She had a novel with her, but she wasn't reading it but actually just lazily people watching.

*

Susan was in the laundry room, longing to have a holiday or at least some time off. It was Rosa's day off, so she was in the laundry shift, and bored out of her mind.

Leo had tea and Jimmy had coffee.
Charlie chose a muffin,
Vanilla or banoffee.
Allan, all bruised,
And Vincenzo, off duty,
sighed as they glimpsed
Ms Vale's passing booty.
Nick scowled at Scruffy,
Scruffy wagged his tail.
Fin pieced together
some dog-spitty mail.
And finally Ruth, with her nose in a book,
didn't spare any of the above one look.
There in the Mocha, one girl and seven boys,
Trying to give Maru's pups a bit of choice.

Morning, earlyish, and Leo was in the Mocha drinking tea while he opened his mail. There was rather a lot of it - tea and mail both.

#

Mid morning and Allan dragged himself down to the lobby and stood blinking at the sunlight outside. "I shouldn't have gone to that shebeen las' night," he said. "I got a headache - an' my ass hurts."

"Too much information," Vincenzo said.

"Aww shit I don't mean like that," Allan protested. He scowled and rubbed his back just below his jeans waistband, hitching up his tee-shirt.

Vincenzo stared then looked hurriedly away. "I - er - wouldn't rub that if I were you," he said. "It's a scratch. Looks nasty."

"Ah, right. I'll get Leena to put something on it," Allan said and took a deep breath before plunging out into the goddammed sunshine.

#

Lunchtime and Vincenzo was in the conservatory eating a roll and snickering into his phone as he talked to Enzo. "No honest," he said, "he had no idea at all."

#

Gil crossed the Square, heading for the Flamingo Lounge. He was pale and had dark shadows under his eyes and was looking forward to being able to sleep again without dreaming of that bloody chunk of human flesh dripping in his kitchen.

He shuddered. wishing that he didn't have to be the capable, reassuring one. Sometimes being grown up sucked.

#

Charlie left the gallery in the early evening and paused to look up at the angel statue. The past two days he had worked hard and had caught up with about half the paperwork from the past week. Another two days and he could start on this weeks. There was a kind of satisfaction in that, if he studied it objectively.

Not much, but a little.

Memphis was down in the laundry, trying to scrub some grease out of his shirt. He was rather pale looking without his shirt on, save for the coloring of his tattoos.

Logan had waited for Chad to get home before taking off down to the gardens, wondering if he'd see Emma and Lily as he tended to the small plot of garden he'd gotten last summer.

Travis sat at a corner table in the Mocha, more for the ability to see everything around him as he plunked away at the keys on his laptop. If somebody looked over at him he shifted a bit and moved off of the OK Cupid site he was browsing.

Roxy was in the mail room, sorting through the contents of her mailbox. Whatever company thought sending baby things as junk mail was nuts, she thought as she pulled a random baby magazine out of their stuff. Maybe it was mislabeled?