Who: Carmen and Valentine What: Chit chat Where: Kava House/Aphrodisiac When: Before the Shiri/Carmen scen Warnings: None
Early mornings often found Aphrodite at the closest cafe to her shop. The Kava House was a "hip" place to hang out and drink coffee or smoke hookah with your friends. Aprhodite was lounging along a line of large cushions, a coffee in her hand, flipping through one of numerous fashion magazines she had a subscription to.
It had taken a little asking around, but Val eventually figured out where her boss was at that given time. She trotted into The Kava House, looking for her boss. She spotted her, hurrying over and waving. "Carmen!"
Her eyes slowly moved from the glossy pictures towards the direction her name was coming from and she smiled. "Oh, hello Val," she closed the magazine. "Grab a cushion," she added, not making room for her to sit but motioning instead to the empty pillows across from her.
Val plopped down, pushing her hair back and smiling at her boss. "I've been trying to track you down and let you know I'm back in town..."
"I can see that," she said, leaning foward to set her cup down. "How was your trip to..." she pursed her lips, trying to remember where the girl had gone. "D.C.?"
"Nice. It was really good to see my..." Val thought about this. What to call him? "Guy."
She nodded, a little more interested now. "Did you take anything from the shop to show off?" she asked, leaning in like a gossipy school girl.
"Yeah, he...he really really liked it," Val smiled, blushing a little.
"Perfect. Well, it's nice to see you back safely," she said, resting back on the pillows once more. "There have been a lot of people pressing their noses against the window display."
"Is the store officially open?" Val squeaked.
"No, I've been...busy," she said with a little smile. It was nice having Ares around again. "I have plenty of advertisements that need to go be put up."
"I can help if you want," Val offered, smiling brightly. "I have free time to paper the town."
"Really?" she asked. "That would be wonderful. I'm hoping to gather a rather large crowd on opening night. Everything is practically set, I just haven't had time to let Miami know they're invited."
"I'll get the news out to everyone I can," Val assured her. "I'll ask one of my brothers. He's a club owner around here and really knows the scene."
"Perfect. Well, did you come here for the coffee or just for me?" she asked, starting to straighten up and collect her things.
"Just you really," Val said, hopping up to her feet. "I can drop by the shop later and pick up those flyers right?"
"Are you busy now?" she asked, getting to her feet while brushing her skirt down. "I'm going there now."
"Nope, not busy," Val said. "I can go now if you want."
"Then let's go." Tucking the magazines under her arms, she bent down last minute to retrieve her coffee and leave. It was less than a block to the shop but she took it in slow strides. "So tell me about your man."
"Which one." She hadn't meant to say that allowed. Dammit.
She laughed. "Ah, very good response," she said, thrilled with her companion's confession. "Well, all of them then."
"The one in DC is Jarrod. He's lovely. Very thoughtful and masculine and...he challenges me to be a better person," Val smiled sweetly. "It was nice to pack in so much time in with him."
"Hmm and the other?" she asked with a coy smile. "If you don't mind me prying, that is."
"Oh, that's Teddy," Val replied, her smile still wide. "He's a goof and burly and a little overprotective but in a good way, y'know? I love it when he holds me. I feel so safe."
"So you're playing with two men? Do they know of one another?" she asked, taking the first sip of her coffee since Val had arrived.
"They know," Val admitted. "I can't say they both like it, but they do know."
"Oh, shame. Jealousy always gets in the way of a good time." Shrugging, her attention was now fixed on her shop up ahead. She pulling out a set of keys from her purse and opened the door, walking in and expecting Val to follow.
Val trotted along, contemplating those words. "Jealousy is a really big buzzkill."
The shop was much more put together than the last time Val had seen it. Most of the clutter was gone but stock had yet to be put out. On the counter near the register were stacks of pink flyers.
"So what are you going to do about it?" It had been some time since she was given the chance to offer relationship advice, or at least advice on love.
Val went to the register to pick up an armful of flyers and neatly put them in her bad. "Ignore it for now...Teddy's local. Jarrod's in DC. It's not like the two really conflict at the moment."
"You think that's the best way to handle it?" she asked skeptically.
"For now," Val nodded. "I've got too much going on to really worry about it." And not the situation was getting to where she didn't want to talk anymore. "I'm gonna go drop some of these off before I have to meet up with my friends. I'll call you later. Ciao!"
"Suit yourself," she said sadly, offering a half-hearted wave as goodbye.
Summary: Val finds Carmen, and the two of them talk shop and boys.