Morningstar Manor

Roxy was in the gym tonight. She'd called a couple florist places and been told that without a date specific to the day, there was no way possible to make any wedding arrangements. First the photographer, then the florist... At least she had colors settled on and her half of the guest list arranged. It did look more like a sixteenth than a half though... Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to this, she thought as the treadmill beeped to tell her she'd gone past the five mile mark she'd set.

Her birthday was coming up and worrying about details made her dissatisfied with everything in general. Would it be horrible to run another five miles and see where she stood then? Punching the buttons, she reprogrammed the machine and mulled over more stupid thoughts.

Travis had not wanted to get up at all this morning. Instead of going to the shop with Memphis, he now sat up at the pool, tempted to fall asleep on one of the loungers.

~*~
Memphis hadn't gone directly into work, since when he got to the garage Lucy wouldn't start. Grumbling about little gremlins messing with her wiring, he had his head stuck under the lifted hood trying to find the problem.

*~*
Erin had work tonight, which meant being lazy through the day and spending the night at the station. She was in the lobby, settled into her favorite comfy chair and reading.

~*~
Chad was still on crutches though now he had the hang of them again. A huge black brace covered his knee and it itched like mad. He tried to ignore the itch as he sorted through mail, wondering just how he was going to carry the mail back up.

*~*
Logan was officially out of school and outside playing with Lily. Somehow, it seemed less of a chore and more fun without threat of final exams over his head.

~*~
Roxy had a cancellation, which had brought her home early. She'd made some calls and poked about a few pondery things for the wedding planning, but was easily bored with that. At least she thought the color scheme was picked out and that was one less thing to worry about.

*~*
Tristan was down in the Mocha, picking up coffee for both him and Anastasia, since they were supposed to be going off to Skin Deep today. Last week they'd both contemplated a couple things, this week was the decision day.

Roxy had considered today to be lazy Saturday. One day of not thinking of colors or dress styles or invitation wordings... And in such, one day of not checking the mail. It had rained, and she couldn't go out to the gardens, so she settled for the next best place. The Mocha.

It seemed as if that was the consensus, since the Mocha was busy. Taking her place in line, she debated what it was she'd like.

Spencer was working late. Roxy knew that, and chose to use his working to her advantage. She was holed away at a back table in the Mocha, putting color swatches side by side and jotting random notes in a little (read: easily hidden) notebook.

He bought a large tray into the bedroom, fully stacked with coffee, juice, breakfast, and what a breakfast. Spencer had woken up with the urge to cook, so there was bacon, pancakes, maple syrup, scrambled eggs, and some hash browns, mushrooms, baked beans, and tomatoes. He set the tray down on the dresser, rather than disturb the bed. "Morning sweetness, want some breakfast?"

He settled on the bed next to Roxy, "I made you bacon," he said with a grin, "if you'd like to wake up and eat?"

Erin was down in the laundry room. Work uniforms in one machine, the rest of her clothes in another. The few things left in her laundry basket, well she just didn't trust the washing machine with those, and went over to the sink for some good old fashioned hand washing.

~*~
Chad had already been downstairs and done his laundry. Now he was up in the Mocha without a paper, determined to catch up on something of recent activity here.

*~*
Logan was, as per usual, out in the garden playing with Lily. Now that school was out, he knew Emma had some summer projects, but he wondered if she would take some time aside for herself. A bit wound up in his thought, he didn't notice when Lily went off and didn't return promptly with the ball.

~*~
Memphis had gone out to the garage with the intentions of giving Lucy a bath. After getting out the supplies he needed, he noticed a ding on the back bumper. Grumbling and searching in his car for that little paint match thing he'd gotten for just in case scratches, he realized there was a whole set of sockets missing. Maybe he'd forgotten about them and they were in that old garage annex here. Memphis went off to find out for himself.

*~*
Roxy was in the mail room. It seemed like every day something new showed up to stuff the mailbox. Today it was a magazine devoted entirely to invitations, napkins and matchbooks. She decided to take advantage of the sorting tables and the quietness, and flipped through the book there. No need to be bugging Spencer with the difference between eggshell and ecru.

Andras was out in the garden, taking pictures of very small things with a very big lens. He had just found the cutest flirting june bugs and was snapping away, happily, completely oblivious to the rest of the world.-

Roxy had made breakfast this morning. Spencer had cleaned up afterward. She tried to remind herself that they had done things this way before, but somehow now it was still a novelty thing. Which was why she'd hung out in the kitchen and watched.

"Do we have an agenda for today or is it a lazy Sunday?" She asked once he'd finished loading the dishwasher. She had motivation behind it, but wasn't going to floor him with Lexi's request for engagement photos first thing this morning.

Two full working days and already word had gotten around. Roxy blamed her Monday client, a bored housewife with a social network that could make the Manor directory look like a menu. She'd gotten recommendation after warning on several officiants, caterers, reception halls, bartenders and limousine services. Nearly every single one of her clients had fawned over her ring and Roxy still floated on her little cloud of contentment.

She hummed as she opened the mailbox for her apartment she no longer lived in. Jerry had stuck a note in her and Spencer's mailbox recommending she check in on it every once in a while. It was probably a polite way of saying the junk had piled up to where nothing more would fit. She laughed at the solid wall of magazine pages and junk mail. It would be best to sort through all the madness, so she deposited the heap on the sorting table and closed her mailbox when she heard the door open.

Memphis was out in the garage, with a small tool box, working on Jane's car. He'd helped with carrying her things back inside to her apartment, but was leaving the unpacking bit to the women.

~*~

Roxy had slept in today while Spencer had gone out running. She used the alone time to cuddle some with Indigo, then called Lexi.

Grinning she told her sister that Spencer had proposed, regurgitating the details of what she'd been wearing, where they'd been and what the ring looked like. Lexi had asked a bazillion questions, of which Roxy couldn't answer just yet.

"Lex we'll work out the detail and you'll be the first to know." She pleaded with her sister for the questioning to stop. Her grin had faded to a smile and sunk further at Lexi's request for engagement photos. "I'll see what I can do, but no promises."

This was one conversation Roxy hadn't expected, and was marginally happier when it was over.

Roxy had been scarce since Spencer left. She'd felt bad about not having time off to go with him, but he'd told her it was a business thing. At first. That made her feel less bad about not going. Then when she'd learned it was a family thing, she'd all but begged for time off.

Now that she realized just how long Spencer had been gone, she was somewhat grateful she hadn't gone. Somebody had to look after Indigo and the apartment, after all. She just wished the nightmares she'd had lately would leave her be. Such was why she'd avoided the laundry room at all costs until otherwise necessary. Dressed in dark blue sweats, a gray tank top and a blue hoodie, with ear buds tucked in and her hands around a cup of coffee she tried not to think of anything other than the clothes going around in the machines.

After Wednesday's cooking lesson with Jane, Memphis and Travis had been having a sticky note on the door conversation about chores and responsibilities. Memphis was frustrated with it by Friday morning, so the last sticky note he left had just stated dinner Saturday Slaughtered Lamb.

He'd closed the shop then gone straight to the Lamb. Looking around, Memphis realized Travis wasn't there yet. He sat at a table and ordered a drink, then pulled out his phone and typed away a message. Be here in ten minutes or less. No excuses.

*~*
Travis had been folding his laundry, with his stereo blasting out the latest album from Hinder. As he put his jeans away, his phone skittered off the dresser and on to the floor. He picked it up, read the message and narrowed his eyes. What did I do wrong this time? he asked himself as he turned off the stereo and pulled on his sneakers. Hopefully he didn't run into any problems between here and next door on his ten minute time allowance.

~*~
Roxy was out in the garage, grinning and splattered with mud. She'd taken Betsy out to the lake where she and Spencer had gone camping last summer. It was a bit wet and soggy still, so the mud was inevitable. It was a fun trip. Maybe she should take Spencer with her next time, she thought wondering just how much trouble she could get into with getting him dirty.

*~*
Tristan was down in the laundry room, not brooding over a ledger he'd brought home from work. Something didn't look quite right with the numbers and he was determined to find where they were off. It would help, he mused, if he hadn't flunked math... Or if he just didn't downright detest math either. Doing calculations on his Blackberry was dandy, until it beeped to say his sister had texted him and he closed out the calculator instead of her message.

Saturday mornings were for being lazy, or so Roxy had usually thought. Today she was wide awake and in the gym before nine. She blamed it on the nicer weather coming through, the fact that she couldn't sleep any more. Shaking off the thought that she should be doing her run outside, she turned up the treadmill.

~*~
Logan was out in the gardens, still unsure if he wanted a little plot of his own to plant. It would be nice, someplace he could tend to and find a result from... Plus provide him with a reason to be out when not accompanied by Lily. He could've sworn there was a name attached to acquiring a gardening plot, but at this present time, it escaped his memory.

~*~
Chad was downstairs, two loads of laundry going round in the washers. He sat in the uncomfortable chairs, cup of Mocha coffee within reach and crossword book in hand.

~*~
Travis was as far upstairs as he could get, in the pool house, trying to connect to a wi-fi signal there. He'd connect, then settle in to surf the web and get disconnected. Currently, he was laying across the fifth lounge chair, contemplating taking a swim instead.

~*~
Memphis was out in the garage, giving Lucy a bath. He had two buckets of water next to him, a couple sponges and a towel. Nothing like getting all the wintery road grime off the pretty lady while he had a nice morning to do it.

~*~
Tristan was spending the later part of this morning in the Mocha, watching the other people come and go over his coffee.

~*~
Erin was in the lobby, still in her pajama pants and tank top, reading yet another book, not paying much attention to her surroundings or the people walking by.

Roxy was doing laundry today. That meant a cup of coffee, a couple cookies, and a book while she tried to make herself comfortable in the laundry room.

Once she'd sorted out her and Spencer's clothes and started the washers, she sat in a chair and opened the cover of the new book. By the spin cycle, she'd forgotten all about her coffee and the uncomfortableness of the chairs. And the fact that she was in the laundry room.

Roxy had gotten out of work today at four. She'd come home, tidied up in the apartment a little, and now was sitting on the sofa, watching Walk The Line, waiting for Spencer to get home from work.

Roxy had cut her afternoon at work early today. She'd managed to swing by and get her tax paperwork in a manageable order, then had them filed accordingly. If it didn't cost so much for that darn accountant, she might have enough to stash away for a random trip... She thought as she fiddled with the lock on her storage area.

She'd put off sorting out her storage long enough. There was no time like the present to embrace all the stuff she didn't need anymore.

Roxy was downstairs, in the gym. She'd loaded clothes into the washer and popped in to run while they washed. Her ipod headphones tucked into her ears made it a bit difficult for her to hear, but she noticed a movement from the left.

~*~
Logan and Chad were sitting in the Mocha, Chad with a newspaper and Logan with a textbook. Chad grumbled, folded the paper and threw it on the table.

Logan looked up, knitted his brows together, and stuck a marker in the book. "Something wrong?" He asked, cautiously but wondering.

Chad nodded. "News isn't ever good anymore. How about we blow off Saturday for something fun?"

~*~
Memphis had gone out for groceries, and was now lugging them in from the garage where he'd parked.

~*~
Travis was hiding in the back of the library, laptop open, head on the table and snoring.

~*~
Erin was sulking by the pool. She had her bathing suit on, under her clothes, bare feet showing off black polish on her toes, and sunglasses though it wasn't very bright. Maybe nobody would come up and she could sulk all day.

~*~
Tristan was picking up his mail. Sorting through like usual, there wasn't any pale purple envelope. Satisfied with this, he whistled as he opened the door and ran right into the person coming in.

Saturdays were made for relaxing, but this Saturday in particular Roxy had another plan. Since they'd moved in together, she and Spencer had come to many conclusions. One of which was that they now had two storage spaces and only one had much in it. Armed with two camping lanterns, a flash light, and he cell phone, Roxy went down to sort out her storage space. Hopefully she saw nothing of the incident she'd had the last time.

It had been a hectic party in Times Square, that was for sure, but it had been fun. Roxy laughed as Spencer remained forever the gentleman and insisted on carrying their suitcase himself. They'd had a nice laugh as Roxy had pushed the 9 button on the elevator first, rather unaccustomed to being on and living on the eighth floor now. "See a couple days away is entirely doable." And fun, she thought.

psh... it happens (song)

Out in the lobby, two girls that were neighbors stood on opposite sides. Erin was looking over the suit case she had packed as well as the three bags of presents. She was waiting for her cab to take her to the airport. It was time to head home for a week. Or maybe less, if she couldn't stand being gone that long.

~*~

By the security desk, Roxy was chatting on her cell phone. It was harder now to conspire secretive plans for her and Spencer, since they were living together. Back and forth she paced as the hold music played. One small detail to check on and everything was set for New Year's in Times Square with Spencer.