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Post by Adrianna Daye on Jan 8, 2009 22:55:41 GMT -8
With Yule having passed and things finally calming down, Adrianna found herself staring out the Apothecary window doing nothing for the first time in a long time. She sat ,a cup of chamomile tea warming her hands, watching the wind reach havoc on the busy street outside. The weather it seemed was just going to get worse. The snow had finally calmed down, but now they were warning of floods all around.
The staring turned into day dreaming as the smell of her tea lulled her slowly into a daze and for the millionth time a familiar face flashed behind her eyes. Isaac, he was still quite breath taking in her mind. She wondered how he was doing. How his holiday had gone. Just thinking about him in general.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a worn piece of paper with Isaac’s number on it. It was thin and fragile. She must of folded it and unfolded it a thousand times. She had wanted to call him many times since their first meeting but could never bring herself to complete the call. Though she had dialed the number many times. She fished her phone out of her pocket and glared at it with accusation. Why did it taunt her so?
She looked from the phone to the piece of paper and back again. Would he even want to hear from her? What if he was busy? She wouldn’t want to interrupt him. Goddess how did people ever manage to get a hold of one an other if just thinking about dialing a number could send one into an anxiety attack. She was so caught up in her thoughts that when her phone rang in her hand she nearly jumped out of her skin. She stared at in shock. Who on earth could that be?
She clicked the accept call button and tentatively put the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
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Jake Cornwell
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Post by Jake Cornwell on Jan 9, 2009 0:05:29 GMT -8
It wasn't uncommon for Jake to have bad dreams since Lisa's death and the night he'd murdered a complete stranger who'd never done him any harm. Since coming to Portland, however, every time he nodded off he found himself caught up in a world of madness. It was like his mind was open season for nightmares and painful memories.
At least it wasn't the same dream every night. If he had to revisit that dying woman's words every time he fell asleep, he'd have blown his own head off years ago. Whether or not he dreamed it, though, he couldn't stop himself thinking about it the past few weeks. Vengeance or Redemption. Approval or Sacrifice. Which did he want more?
It should have been an easy question, but it wasn't. The only thing Jake had to fight back against the pervasive thought was to go to the campus gym every day and sweat it out. Every day he pushed himself a little harder, ran a little further, hoping he'd wear himself out to the point where he'd sleep too heavily for dreams. And so far, every night he'd disappointed himself.
If he didn't figure himself out pretty soon, he was going to go crazy.
A few days after Christmas, he was sitting on the bench in the locker room, his hair still wet from the shower. As he pulled his shoes over to put them on, he paused for a moment. Per usual, he had stashed his keys and cellphone in his sneakers while he showered, and pulling them out, he jostled the phone a few times in his hand as though testing its weight.
In truth, the only weight he was testing was that of the decision of whether or not to call Adrianna. He'd been meaning too - hell, he'd wanted to on Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas day. But with the nightly dreams wearing him down and putting circles under his eyes, he'd just found it easier to believe that she didn't really want to talk to him. They had just met after all, they weren't really friends. Real friends hadn't been an option after his parents signed him up for their crusade.
For the most part, whenever he had thought of calling her, he'd told himself it was too late at night, or too early in the day. She's busy, she's probably sleeping, she's in class, she's at work. She has your number, she'll call if she wants to.
But today, when the usual excuses started making their procession through his mind, Jake cut them off mid-stride. He needed a distraction. More importantly, he needed to do something for himself, with someone who wasn't a part of his family's agenda, or he was going to go insane.
He had programmed her number into his phone, and when he opened his contacts list, she was right up there in the top. Before he could give himself a thousand reasons not to, he hit the dial button and hoped like hell she'd answer.
Barely into the second ring, he heard a tentative female voice. "Hello?"
"Adrianna...? Hey, this is Ja..Isaac. I was thinking about taking you out to lunch if you're not busy."
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Post by Adrianna Daye on Jan 10, 2009 21:30:28 GMT -8
"Adrianna...? Hey, this is Jake... I was thinking about taking you out to lunch if you're not busy."
The second that Isaac’s voice fizzled across the line Adrianna’s heart skipped a beat or five. Her head was spinning and she had to remind herself to breathe before she lost consciousness.
“Ah, Jake. Hi! …” Oh too loud. “ Yeah, hi. Lunch?” He called her! He called her and wanted to see her! For a moment she thought her chest might explode but she contained it. Why was she so giddy? He had a girlfriend remember. It was just lunch. “ Yes that would be great. I am in the Hawthorne District right now… Um, when did you want to get together?”
She found herself holding her breath again waiting for his answer.
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Jake Cornwell
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Post by Jake Cornwell on Jan 10, 2009 21:42:01 GMT -8
By the sound of her voice, she sounded almost happy to hear from him, and some of the heaviness he'd felt around the temples and chest seemed to lighten just a little. Smiling, he braced his elbows on his knees, holding the phone to his ear with one hand and pinching the bridge of his nose with the other.
"Hawthorne District... I think I drove by there the other day."
Shifting the phone between his ear and shoulder, he leaned down to pull his shoes on, tying the laces quickly. "That rain is somethin' else, innit? I should come get you right now before we get swept away with half of Oregon." Okay, so he was exaggerating, but he was doing it on purpose.
"Know of any restaurants on stilts?" he asked jokingly as he stood up, shrugging on his coat en route to the exit.
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Post by Adrianna Daye on Jan 15, 2009 22:30:53 GMT -8
The more Isaac talked the better Adrianna felt. It was like she’d finally woken out of the lull she had been in for days, and she hadn’t even seen him yet. She could feel the excitement building in her chest at the prospect of seeing him again.
She found herself laughing at his stilt comment. “Not that I don’t want you here, but I still can’t see why you came to Portland. I am pretty sure you have to have an amphibious gene to enjoy it here.” Adrianna said still laughing. She paused for a second when she realized she had practically called herself a frog, but shrugged it off.
“Well I don’t go out to much to any place that isn’t a deli or Italian… Please say your not in the mood for Italian…” She trailed off remembering their last conversation. “Is your truck working well enough to drive in this weather? I could come get you? … only if that’s good, if you think you can find your way over here that’s good too…” She was rambling. She sighed softly and made herself cease speaking and let him have a go.
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Jake Cornwell
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Human
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Post by Jake Cornwell on Jan 16, 2009 0:24:21 GMT -8
He laughed as he pushed open the door to the men's locker room, ducking to the side to avoid walking into a man wearing a smart business suit and running shoes with a gym bag over his shoulder. "'Scuse me," he said politely, holding the door open for the man and waiting until it swung shut before chuckling at her again. "I moved here to see something a little different from home. Besides, rain I don't mind so much." They seemed to get it enough in Tennessee. He kept up with the weather reports there when he had time.
Please say you're not in the mood for Italian... Damn... he had been thinking of taking her to that fairly nice Italian restaurant he'd driven past the other day. Looked authentic, but not an Olive Garden. Loui's or Leonardo's or something like that.
"Well, I was thinking Italian, but we can do anything you want," he said as he walked through the gym to the front doors and let himself out into the squallor. "Can you hear that?" he almost shouted. "I think I just saw a cow float by, hang on!" Of course he hadn't, really. Were there even cows in Oregon? Definitely not in the city. Running to his truck, he yanked on the handle, pulling the door open with its usual screech of protest. Jumping nimbly inside, he slammed it shut behind him and cranked the ignition, letting it warm up.
"How about this - tell me where you are in Hawthorn District and we'll figure it out from there."
He didn't have a pen to write the directions down on, but he had a pretty good idea of where he was going and her directions cleared up any questions. After promising to call her if he got lost (yeah, right, like he'd admit to that) and that he would see her soon (unless he got lost, which he wasn't going to admit to if he did), he hung up and tossed the phone onto the bench seat.
Driving a rust-bucket of a Chevy in a downpour like this was something of a challenge - the windshield wipers weren't quite up to the job, and they didn't do anything for the fog that was steaming up the glass. Still, he finally made it to where she worked, and feeling like a gallant idiot in the rain, he parked the truck, hopped out, and ran like hell for the entrance of the shop. With a tinkling of the bells over the door, he let himself in, brushing the excessive moisture off his coat and shaking out his hair.
Then he looked up, and saw her, and it struck him what a great decision this was on his part. He very rarely did anything for himself that didn't fit into his family's agenda. Feeling better than he had in months, his face broke out into a smile that seemed to steal all the warmth in the room only to focus it directly at her. "It's not just raining out there, God's taking a millennial piss."
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Post by Adrianna Daye on Jan 18, 2009 1:14:02 GMT -8
Adrianna repeated the directions to Isaac twice. She didn’t know what kind of memory he had but could remember all of the times that she had gotten lost about the city when she first moved her.
“Promise you’ll call if you get lost? I could come get you really” She tried once more unsuccessfully.
The second the phone clicked off on his end she could feel the nervousness building in her stomach. She looked herself over, she hadn’t been planning on meeting anyone today and sighed, frustrated, at her purple sweater dress and matching rain boots.
“If this is a disaster I am burning you,” She said looking down at her boots before rubbing her hands over her face “Oh goddess I am talk to shoes.” She plopped down with an small exasperated sigh, on the purple overstuffed couch which she blended into, and stared at the clock waiting for Isaac to arrive.
As the seconds ticked by she grew more fidgety. He was coming to get her at the Apothecary… a herb selling metaphysics shop. Was he going to jump to the conclusion that she was a witch? “Of course not, he’d sooner jump to the conclusion that you are a loon… which you are.”
The owner hearing Adrianna ramble to herself in the main room showed up with another cup of tea. “My dear you do worry to much, calm yourself.” The kind woman said with a smile.
“Thank you.” Adrianna took a deep drink from the cup. Chamomile, wondrous stuff, and sat waiting for Isaacs arrival. Toes tapping out the seconds on the wooden floor.
The second the door bells jangled she launched herself off the couch and bounded to the entrance. Turning the corner to the door way she came face to face with Isaac. Who looked wet and amazingly stunning. He looked at her and smiled a smile that made her heart stop and them burst into flames. Matter of factly the ashes probably continued melting until nothing was left of her heart at all.
"It's not just raining out there, God's taking a millennial piss."
Adrianna laughed once she remembered to breath.
“That’s Portland for you.” She smiled back the most radiant smile she could muster. “So where are we headed?”
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Jake Cornwell
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Human
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Post by Jake Cornwell on Jan 18, 2009 1:33:20 GMT -8
"No where, just yet," he said with a laugh, practically peeling his coat off where he stood, dripping profusely on the doormat. "I think I've absorbed the daily eight glasses of water through my skin, it's freezing out there."
Looking around, he spied a mangy looking cat slink out from behind a couch that almost matched Adrianna's purple dress. Another brief glance to the side showed him what he'd hoped to see - a coat rack. Hanging his coat up, he eyed the steady drip of water onto the floor below. "Sorry about that," he said, then turned his eyes onto her again for a brief - and hopefully stealthy - all over glance. Stealth went out the window when he got to her feet in galoshes, which he found himself unable to look away from for two or three heartbeats.
"You look... absolutely amazing," he said finally with a hint of a laugh, hoping like hell she didn't think he was laughing at her because it was the last thing he'd do. A woman who could pull off galoshes with a sweater dress and still look attractive was something else, indeed.
"I drove by about six restaurants on the way over here, but I couldn't pronounce most of the names even if I took night classes. I think I'm going to have to trust you to pick the place."
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Post by Adrianna Daye on Jan 18, 2009 1:49:07 GMT -8
Adrianna tried not to be too conspicuous as she watched Isaac peel off his jacket. The man was beautiful. She had a fleeting nagging thought. Something had to be wrong with him is someone like him was willing to hang out with someone like her. She pushed the thought aside and turned her focus back to talking to him… which wasn’t nearly as hard as it should have been. He was currently dripping all over the hardwood floors.
“It’s okay, really. We’re a business, people have been tracking it in and tracking it out all day.” Smiling sweetly to the owner, standing behind Isaac, who was looking quite distraughtly at the puddle forming around his feet, before walking back into the kitchen.
"You look... absolutely amazing,"
Adrianna gaped at him for a moment. Before glaring at her boots. In the furnace you go. She would have continued glaring if Isaac hadn’t continued talking.
“Oh well I don’t really go out much. Um, pretty much every place on this street is vegan so if you want meat we are going to have to go to a different part of town. SE Portland has a lot of places if you just want to drive around until we find one that looks good enough.” She paused to stare at her sopping companion. “Um, did you want a cup of tea?”
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Jake Cornwell
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Human
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Post by Jake Cornwell on Jan 18, 2009 1:59:54 GMT -8
"Not that tracking it out again is going to do much damage," he griped, casting a dark look over his shoulder at the even darker sky. Talk about brooding, it had the look of Lisa's face when she was grounded.
Remembering Lisa so suddenly like that was similar to having his heart deflated like a balloon. Struggling to keep the smile on his face, he brought his attention back to Adrianna's face and tried to hang onto every gesture, expression and word, forcefully dragging his mind away from a very painful subject.
His chuckle was forced at the offer of tea, but the smile was kind enough without a hint of falsity. "No, but thanks. Seems pointless to get warmed up if we're just going to get soaked again. You have a coat, right? I'd offer mine but I think it'd defeat the purpose."
Think lunch, not Lisa, he reprimanded himself, pulling his coat off the rack. Moments ago he'd had a brief thought of just calling in an order, but he didn't think deliveries would be running right now in this weather.
"We'll drive around and find a place that sells cow. Unless you're a vegan," he added hurridly, "then we can go to a place that sells tofu."
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