Verity (jokeshopgirl) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-08-04 18:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, charlie pace, verity |
Hey, you’re making another person.
Who: Charlie Pace and Verity
When: First week in August
Where: Park
What: Random Encounter #2
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
Verity was gaining weight now. Which was something that pregnant women did. But it was a little disconcerting for someone like Verity--someone who’d been so vain before this whole pregnancy thing. The first trimester she’d been so sick she’d actually lost a ton of weight--enough to make her OB a little concerned. When the hyperemesis passed (and thank God it actually passed, and she wasn’t one of those poor women who had it through her entire pregnancy) she started eating again, and the pounds came back. And more joined them.
She was in the park now, on a walk. 26 weeks in, and she wanted to try and stay healthy and active. That would make labor and delivery easier, she heard. She rounded a tree and broke into a smile at the sight of some tiny children playing on the playground.
In that same park, Charlie was getting back into the swing of things, into the rhythm of his life before he’d gone on his wild goose chase after Liam. In this case, rhythm and swing were extra descriptive. One of his favorite pastimes was busking in the park. Truthfully, he wasn’t really looking to make quick money so much as hoping to meet potential students. He’d met Roland this way, as he had a few others. But most (not Roland, of course) of his students had moved on while he was gone. Now he needed to start from scratch, or soon he’d be scratching to make rent.
Charlie liked showing off. He played a lot of obscure Doc Watson, to display his technical skills, but he also played Oasis and Paul Simon and Springsteen, to get people’s attention.
He never played any Driveshaft.
The music was what caught Verity at first. She listened as she was walking near, then turned to look...and recognized the player. A grin broke out across her face and she wandered closer. It was her knight in shining black nail polish.
His head was down at the moment. He wasn’t watching his hands, because his eyes were closed while he was lost in the music. His black-tipped nails danced over the strings. It was the coolness of Verity’s shadow that eventually caught his attention. Once the song was over, Charlie looked up, his face breaking out with a wide grin. “Hey! Pesto!”
Verity blushed. “Hiiii.” She said, then moved to sit down beside him. ...without asking if that was all right. Because her cankles were throbbing and she wanted to sit down, anyway. Pregnant women had those sorts of privileges. “I didn’t know you were a musician! Though, I should have suspected as much.” She said, eyes flicking down to his fingernails. It was a playful, teasing gesture.
“Well, I don’t hold down a job at the back,” replied Charlie as he moved his twelve-string, Dusty, out of the way. There were a few dollars in his case and he gathered them up, as well. “How did your pasta turn out?”
“She loved it.” Verity said, grinning, as she ran a hand over her tummy. “Bow tie pasta, pesto, halved cherry tomatoes, bacon and parmesan cheese. It was fantastic.” She said. Bacon was pretty much her staple food this pregnancy.
“Geez, now I’m hungry.” If it was a social faux pas to touch Verity’s stomach without asking, Charlie could only claim that he was too easy-going to worry about such things. He placed his hand on her round belly and waited until the baby kicked. “How far along are you?”
Verity laughed, but then was caught off guard at him putting his hand on her tummy. It wasn’t in Verity’s nature to freak out over such a thing, though. She blushed a bit, and lifted her own hand to move his toward where Christina was most likely to kick. The baby had been pretty active before the walk, but might be sleeping now. “...twenty-six weeks. I’m hormonal as hell, let me tell you.”
Now to that, Charlie didn’t know quite what to say, so he just chuckled instead. When girls talked about being hormonal, it usually had to do with PMS, right? Since Verity was pregnant, he couldn’t instantly made sense of the comment.
“Excited?” he asked. He liked kids. Kids were awesome. He wanted, like, five of his own someday.
Ah, now, there was the question. Yes, of course she was excited. But she was terrified. She really had no idea how much work it was going to be, but she knew it was going to be a lot. And that was scary. What if she couldn’t do it on her own? What if for some reason they took Christina away from her? What if Oliver came back and took her away? What if everything fell apart??
“Yes.” She said after a moment, then wrung her hands. “Mostly.”
The way she wrung her hands, Charlie couldn’t help but notice the lack of any ring on Verity’s finger. He’d taken note before, but not every pregnant girl was married or engaged, and the dad was still in the picture. But some were on their own. Charlie was pretty sure he’d just confirmed Verity was. Call it a sixth sense, or maybe she just reminded her too much of Claire in that moment. Pregnant, Dream Claire. Not the actual Claire he’d come across on the Network...
“Hey, you’re making another person. There’s no way that isn’t scary,” he said. “But it’s a person that didn’t exist before. How cool is that?”
Charlie was right. The baby's father was definitely not in the picture. But Verity was surprisingly adjusted, considering her circumstance. "It's cool." Verity gave him a bright smile. His enthusiasm was infectious. "Very cool. So, are you in a band, or something?"
“Oh, uh...” He wavered for a moment. A little of the light clouded in his eyes. “I used to do all that. Now I just play... for fun. And teach.”
Now was Verity’s turn to falter. But how could she have known that it was a sensitive subject? She didn’t recognise him from anywhere. She nodded a little at his words, finding that her shoe (what she could see of it, anyway, over the bump) was very, very interesting. “Teaching is really noble. I wish I did anything well enough to be able to teach it.”
Damn, those were some dark words. Charlie wrinkled his nose. “Well, what do you do?” he asked. He really didn’t have any idea what Verity did for a living.
“I work in a joke shop.” Verity said. That brightened her up a little bit. She loved her job, loved her bosses, loved her co-workers. “I’m just a cashier, really, but I do everything else, too. I help with the ordering, stocking, I make t-shirts... I just made a huge order the other day. It was pretty fantastic.”
“What’s a joke shop?” asked Charlie. “Is that like a magic shop?” Because the only thing that popped into his head were individual card, coin, and dollar tricks that the dollar store--well, the equivalent of a dollar store in England--used to sell when he was a kid.
“Yes. Sort of. We sell magic tricks. We also sell practical jokes, we sell books on comedy, and a bunch of t-shirts we make on site.” Verity explained. “It’s the kind of place you really have to see to believe.”
Charlie plucked a chord with his hand without looking. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to see it.” Maybe he’d have a t-shirt made. He needed more clothing. And he had particular tastes.
“You should come by sometime.” Verity said, giving him a smile. Talking about work was a lot more happy than talking about the future. She could get through today and tomorrow, and even this week... but starting to think about when the baby was here? Or worse, labor and delivery??
“I should,” Charlie repeated, affectionately mimicking her tone. “I will. Where is the place? You wouldn’t be surprised that I have a lot of free time.” He really needed to find a regular, part-time thing. Maybe in another restaurant, like he had before.
“Ooh,” Verity reached into her pocket and dug around, then pulled out a business card. It had the shop’s address and phone number on it, along with her name and work email address. “Here. You can take this one. I’ve got plenty.” She may or may not have written her cell number on the back.
Charlie looked it over, noting the cell number on the back before pulling out his wallet (it was on a chain) and slipping it into one of the sleeve pockets. “I’ll definitely stop by sometime.”
“Good! Good.” Verity said. She gave him a grin. “I should let you get back to your music. I just... thought I’d stop by and say hi. And thanks again for the pesto.” Then she set about picking herself up off of her seat, which was a bit of a struggle.
He hopped up and offered her a hand. “I’m glad you said hi. And I’ll stop by, I promise.” He couldn’t resist a good prank, or even a bad one. As a surly former employer had once said, he was like a little imp.
Verity took his hand and let him help her to her feet. She squeezed it before letting it go. “Good. It’s good to see you again, Charlie.” She gave him a little wave before turning to head off back on her walk.