Morningstar Manor

Roxy was in the gym, running on the treadmill as she contemplated Spencer and his working late. She knew he had the responsibility of the whole store, but feeling like second place didn't sit well on her shoulders. It wasn't like she was expecting a whole lot, just some time with him after work to unwind and relax... At least it didn't sound like a whole lot of expectations when she mulled it over in her head.

*~*
Logan was sitting on a patch of dirt in the gardens, not really doing much of anything. He had a trowel and a flat of pansies beside him and Appa was napping in the shade. A bit more out of place was the white envelope on top of his backpack. It was regarding college and for now, he didn't want to open it.

~*~
Travis was taking in the sights of summer as he sat in the Mocha, laptop open as he pretended to put the finishing touches on his final paper for art history class. Truthfully, it was done; he'd finished it at Macy's after they'd discussed several of the pieces he had to include. She'd helped him quite a bit and for that he was grateful because this art history crap was boring to him.

*~*
Eve had today off and decided to spend it by the pool. She'd already gone for a swim so her hair was damp, but her body dry. That was the advantage of comfortable loungers, she thought as her eyes opened and she moved gingerly, hoping she hadn't gotten sunburned while she'd napped. Satisfied at the non crispy feeling, she sat up and ran her hand through her hair.

~*~
In the mail room, Tristan was contemplating how incredibly wrong the contents of his mailbox looked. He'd separated the junk into one pile, bills and other correspondence into another and stacked the magazines. Currently the latest issue of Parents was layered between Smashing and Maxim... With a chuckle he added Cosmo and thought about how that should make Rhiannon laugh when he got the mail to her. Hopefully she thought it was funny.

*~*
"Oh thanks, you're such a doll." Erin said with a broad smile to the doorman as she juggled a tote bag of groceries and Amelia's leash. "Come on hun; don't trip over your ears now." She said to the dog as she tried to hurry along. Callan would be home soon - if he wasn't already - and she hadn't so much as started dinner yet.

~*~
In the garage, Chad was juggling his own groceries as he listened to the message on his voicemail. He sighed as it ended, and he dropped his phone in the process of trying to close it up. "Damn." He swore lightly. Not because he'd dropped his phone, nor because he had to put things down to pick it up, but because Logan's grandparents had requested to have him for the summer, reminding Chad that the boy would be going off to college soon and he'd be on his own again. Chad wasn't sure if he was ready for Logan to be gone.

The day had been long and somewhat boring, filled with meetings and reports. He'd arrived home to find Roxy was working late, so he'd left her a note in return saying where he was - the new whiteboard and pens system seemed to work so well - and headed up to the pool. A good number of laps later he was now relaxing and enjoying the newly restored view of the sky through the roof. Clouds scudded across, driven by the wind, but inside the poolhouse it was still warm and balmy.

He looked over as people came in, went out, and waved occasionally to those he knew as the place emptied out and filled up, it was very pleasant, and when someone came over to where he was laying on the lounger, he was feeling much better than he had been, and grinned up at them, "Hi, how's it going? The water is lovely today."

Eve had taken a bit longer getting ready tonight. They'd already gone to a movie, and to dinner, so what the agenda for tonight was she wasn't sure. She'd dressed comfortably but stylish, pairing jeans with heels and a tank top with a button down shirt. Checking her makeup in the elevator had proven that yes, she'd put it on correctly and it still looked fine. She knocked on his door and realized that she was, in fact, a little nervous for she didn't know what to expect.

Eve was sitting in the Mocha, idly stirring a cup of peppermint coffee as she watched people come and go. On her table sat the daily paper, some random magazines, and her planner. She had to go in to work tonight, and if she happened to see Granger, she wanted to know when her next day off was.

Saturdays, in general, were somewhat lazy days. The day of the week most Manorites were bustling about, getting done what was pushed off during the week. In that nature, there were quite a few residents milling around.

Memphis had taken his basket down to the laundry, dumped his clothes in the washer and fled off to the game room where he set up the pool table.

Travis was sitting in the Mocha, attempting to study a video lesson for his ASL class.

Also in the Mocha, turning the pages in a book, sat Chad. He looked like he was reading. Honestly, he was thinking about several things.

Logan and Appa were playing outside, taking advantage of the piles of leaves.

Just down the hall, Erin was in the process of collecting her mail.

Roxy had taken off to the roof, to lounge about in the hot tub and have a bit of a lazy afternoon.

In the garage, Eli was scrambling to get everything out of the trunk. He'd gone out and gotten groceries, to include dog food, which was a pain in the butt to juggle.

Between the elevators and a truck, Tristan was commanding a moving crew, overseeing the process of merging his and Rhiannon's apartments. Some things were going to storage Rhiannon had set up, other things were being moved to a storage room at his club. He made a mental note to follow up with the TA within the next week.

"Oh 'scuse me." Eve said to one of the movers as she slipped past with a messenger bag strapped across her shoulder. Figuring she should probably stay out of the boss's way, she went off to the back corner of the lobby to open her laptop and check her calendar for DeRossi appointments.

Ashlynn was humming softly to herself as she ran on the treadmill. The gym was not a place she'd ventured to often the last time she lived here, but it was pretty nice and quite convenient now.

Eve had been watching for him periodically through the evening. He'd come in while Lexi was on. She'd been running drinks as a favor to Dave. It was easy to slip right on by him, so she did, hands full and without a glance at him.

She delivered the drinks, collected some cash and headed back for the bar to return the tray and cash. This time when she passed him, her hand grazed up his chest and over his shoulder.

The weather as cooling off quickly and many of the Manor tenants were stopping in the Mocha in the evenings for coffee not only for the ritual of it but for the warmth as well. Tonight for instance it seemed rather busy.

JJ was flipping through a magazine Deacon had let him borrow.

Jack was looking through some proofs of his latest batch of head shots.

Gabe was preparing the spa's next supply order and had decided that doing it in the Mocha - with coffee - was far better than doing it in the spa itself.

Max - dressed for once in jeans and a form fitting t-shirt instead of a suit - sat in one of the over stuffed chairs with an iPad in his lap as he sipped his coffee. But he wasn't doing work. He was playing Angry Birds.

Loki had another overstuffed chair, his coffee, and another old and battered book. Not Poe this time. No this one was the works of de Sade. And it was autographed.

Kara had worked two long shifts and was - thank GOD - done for a solid twenty four hours. She could get coffee at the Lamb of course but she had been craving a Mocha Latte all day and now she waited in line to get one.

It was rare that Eve got a Saturday night off, but she'd taken this whole day and night for herself. She'd settled in to the apartment, taking time to unpack and place every thing just where she felt it should be. Then she'd gone shopping. After spending a good chunk of her stripper funds on clothes, shoes and other fun things.

Sitting in the hot tub was working magic on her achey legs. She tipped her head back and hummed appreciatively. Her hand slipped behind her back, contemplating tugging the knot out of her top when she heard the door click open. Damn there goes that idea she thought to herself unless whoever it was didn't mind and the thought was still there after she'd met them.

Eve had worked both of her jobs last night, leaving her no desire to get up early and unpack her new apartment. She'd stayed with a friend, called to verbally give permission for the moving guys to drop off her things, apologized to a very nice sounding Mr. Abrams for the inconvenience, then verified the delivery of her things. On her way here, she picked up a gift card for the theater to drop off to Mr. Abrams.

She thanked the man who held the door open for her, pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head and looked around. Man, Drew wasn't kidding when he said the wait was worth it. This place looked better than The Empress.