Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:32:34 GMT
Long day didn’t even begin to cover it. In the early hours of the morning, not that long before they were due to close, a fight had broken out in the club. Most of security was busy tossing out a handsy middle aged human near the doors and the girls at the bar were squealing and running and frankly by that hour Lola had reached her wits end as far as charm and grace went. Next thing she knew the cops were there and the “gentleman in question” was wailing to them about how “that brunette” had broken his nose and his arm. Lola kindly corrected him; she’d dislocated his elbow and broken his wrist, actually. Gina was less than amused, mostly for show really. Lola had a smart mouth and it tended to run away with her when morons were involved. Of course she didn’t condone violence in the club but if the patron starts it the girls are allowed to finish it (so went their motto) and that usually meant Lola. Still she had to go down to the station to give a statement and the good ol’ boys in blue neglected to let her retrieve either her coat or her bag of normal clothes. So there she’d been, sitting in the back of a squad car in a black and baby pink bustier, frilly French knickers and pink stilettos with satin bows on the peep toes. Naturally they thought it was hilarious to parade her into the station house in her garter belt and suspenders, sheer pink stockings and only her tiny purse that had her wallet, keys and phone in. They kept her in the interview room for hours and offered her exactly one cup of stagnant coffee which she oh so accidentally tipped into someone’s lap. Assholes.
Tired, cold and irritable Lola left the station a good while after dark. At the desk they had asked if she wanted a ride. They didn’t ask exactly, they snidely suggested that they could give her a ride if she was a good girl, not in so many words but Lola knew that tone. Of course she wanted a ride home, she was drained, but their smirks made her want to commit another felony as they leered at her as if to say what a stupid pathetic girl, she must be so ashamed of her life. Well, no. Lola was not ashamed of her life or her choices. At least not the ones that had gotten her into her current job. She liked her work, she wasn’t going to be shamed into the back of one of their cars as if she were hiding. She wasn’t going to be a story they told their cop buddies at one of their sad, dark little bars. She was not going to be The One Time Mike Gave A Stripper A Ride Home (If You Know What He Means). Ugh. So she turned it down, snatched up her purse and strode through the front doors in her lingerie with her sunglasses on to shield her eyes from the bright city lights and she let them watch her go.
At first she was just going to go home and bitch to her roommate for a while as she took off her smudged makeup and ran a comb through her hair before crashing into her bed to sleep but she was almost past the point of exhaustion and when a Starbucks loomed ahead of her she thought why the hell not. At least she had her purse. So she wandered in, her shoes held in one hand and her bag in the other, and she approached the barista with a deep sigh as she leant on the counter. A decent coffee would make the world of difference.
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:40:55 GMT
By direct contrast Corin’s day had been nothing short of anticlimactic, an audition he’d been preparing for for well over a week that had ended with a simple "We’ll be in touch" and then a short walk back to his apartment and his less than agreeable roommate. They hadn’t had one of their typical disagreements though -- Corin wasn’t allowed to touch the thermostat or the contents on the top shelf of the refrigerator, he had to have the television at a certain volume after a particular hour; all the kinds of things that would drive most people crazy but he somehow found a way to endure at the very least -- and the rest of the morning had passed in relative harmony. It had been almost boring really, part of Corin had been hoping for something crazy to happen to break up the monotony. But nothing happened, his roommate went to work and he himself not long afterwards and that had been that.
Working the late shift was one of his least favourite things to do, it involved a lot of messing around with the machines and the tables and usually a lot of cleaning up after the last shift if they hadn’t seen fit to do everything they were supposed to do. It probably helped that his one true ally in the place had been on the previous shift, everything was in order when he walked through the door and went through the process of getting his things put away. As a general rule any Starbucks was a decent place to be, there was little in the way of mess and clutter, something their manager was particularly proud of and as such stringent about. Not that they all listened to him, Terry was a moron at the best of times but he controlled the money and the shifts and none of them could afford to piss him off.
For some reason Corin usually found himself working the register, especially in the early morning or later in the afternoon. It wasn’t like his attitude was the best -- despite the fact that he could fake a smile, not to mention interest, better than just about anyone around him at any given time -- and he much preferred to be on the other side of things, making drinks and clearing tables, but when the evening rush started up he found himself taking orders again with no real idea how it had happened. There was no sense complaining though, better to just stick it out and get it over with.
After telling the last evening rush customer to collect their drink at the other end of the counter and closing the cash drawer with a little more force than had really been necessary Corin lifted his gaze to the owner of the heels he could hear making their way towards him. It was only human that he found himself distracted by the outfit, loud and irregular to say the least, something that would have been much more at home in-- No. It couldn’t be. His eyes tracked up to her face, a face he didn’t think he would be forgetting any time soon. Thankfully he managed not to betray his surprise verbally. Corin wasn’t sure he could say the same for his expression. Damn. And he was usually so good at keeping that in check at work.
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:41:19 GMT
Lola hooked a finger into the corner of the frame of her sunglasses and pulled them down her nose a little. She’d been looking at the menu on the wall behind the counter rather than whoever was serving but now that she looked at him she recognised him too. His surprised expression made her grin as much as the coincidence of running into him again. In a place as big as Los Angeles you rarely managed that.
“Hey,” she said in a voice that was rough with tiredness but still characteristically playful. “Of all the Starbucks in all the cities in all the world.”
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:42:33 GMT
Wow. This wasn’t embarrassing at all. Then again, as Corin stood there trying not to stare -- and failing more than a little, at least if he was honest with himself -- he found himself wondering why exactly it had to be embarrassing. It wasn’t like anything had happened, and besides, no one working with him today had been there when the guys had paid for the dance. It wasn’t like Bailey would have told them what had happened.
So instead of blushing and fumbling as he had on the night of their first meeting he managed to smile back. “Hey,” he returned, clearing his throat a little afterwards and shifting his weight on his feet. “Nice outfit.” Perhaps not the best thing to say but the others were busy. They hadn’t heard him, at least not from what he could tell.
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:44:04 GMT
Lola laughed at that, looking down at her get up and then waving the shoes she was carrying a little. She approved of the fact that he’d called attention to what she was wearing without being weird about it, the catcalls on the sidewalk had been more than a little grating and the callers were lucky they still had limbs.
“Yeah,” she said. “I had to leave my gym bag at work. Unforeseen circumstances. Please don’t tell me you refuse service to ladies in stockings and corsets.”
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:45:28 GMT
Corin had always been on the more tactful side. It had been obvious when he’d been in that curtained room in that club that he wasn’t wild, that he never had been, and he had always been the tame one out of his friends at school, the one to tell them to calm down and ease up. “Unforeseen circumstances?” He heard himself chuckle at that. Already he wanted to know more but it didn’t seem polite to ask. “My boss might but he’s not here, so.” And he smiled and shrugged as if to say who cares? “What can I get you?”
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:46:11 GMT
At that she heaved a huge sigh and leant more heavily on the counter, like her prayers had just been answered.
“Thank god,” she said. “Just the biggest espresso you can make. I’m giving up on sleep.”
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:46:59 GMT
Okay. Her leaning like that was distracting. Corin might have been polite but he wasn’t a robot. “Biggest espresso we can make. All right.” He nodded even though there was no need to and got the cup organised with the ticket and her name written on it in Sharpie -- Tex; not her real name, but he kind of liked the way Leon was looking at him like he’d just won the lottery, so why not rub it in his face a little? -- before handing it off to those making the drinks. There was no one else behind her, the initial rush had quieted, so he felt free to ask, “So what were those unforeseen circumstances?” With a crooked smile he ventured, “Fire alarm?”
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:48:02 GMT
She watched him writing Tex on the cup and smiled, tipping her head to the side.
“Bar fight,” Lola said with a sage nod. It had to say something for the young barista whose name she still didn’t know that he commanded her attention enough that she didn’t notice that someone else was actually watching them. Them being the operative word, not just her and her baby pink and black outfit.
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:48:52 GMT
“Bar fight?” he repeated, well aware of the amusement on his face, the way his mouth angled up at one corner and the way his eyes narrowed. There was a slight tilt to his head as he looked at her. “Not to make assumptions, but that doesn’t seem all that unusual for a place like that.” After a beat he added, “No disrespect intended.” And there genuinely wasn’t. “Was this one worse than usual or something?”
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:49:23 GMT
No disrespect intended. So he was still cute as pie.
“I got a little more... involved than usual,” she said, scrunching her lips to the side a little, lifting one hand and sliding it under the mass of brown curls to rub the back of her neck, aching a little from a long night of sitting in a hard chair. “The five-oh wanted to go over it with me. For hours. And hours. Someone isn’t too happy that he got his ass handed to him by a little girl.” She smiled.
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:50:37 GMT
A little more involved? There was definitely more to her than met the eye -- and that was saying something, he felt -- and as he listened to her now he wondered just how involved she’d been in the bar fight. His imagination was threatening to run away with him.
“Well, someone needs to wake up and say hello to the twenty-first century,” he said. “And get over it.”
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:52:46 GMT
“That’s pretty much what I said,” Lola told him with a light laugh. “It doesn’t matter though, he broke the rules and he was wasted, end of story.” Gina had a lawyer on her payroll and they were pretty good at cutting through the red tape crap and getting to the heart of the matter. Lola wasn’t worried.
“So,” she said, leaning forwards again, off the balls of her feet which were aching a bit. “How did the rest of the birthday celebration go, stud?”
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Corin
Human
Actor / Barista: Starbucks
Filmstar, giving it class, living it fast, it looks so easy.
Posts: 34
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Post by Corin on Oct 6, 2012 15:54:24 GMT
“Sounds fair,” he said, and in his mind it was. If you broke the rules then you had to face the consequences. In all fairness that was how Corin had been raised so it wasn’t at all shocking to him that that was how things were run, even in a place like Vesuvius.
“Oh, that? Let’s see.” Drumming his fingers on the counter he gazed off past her shoulder to recall the events of the evening in question. “My friend Ty threw up on my shoes about an hour after you and I met, that was one of the highlights. Another one tried to punch a homeless man because, and I quote, he was ‘giving him the stink-eye’. Oh, and at some point before the night was over, my shoes went missing. Both of them.”
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Lola
Rogue Werewolf
Exotic Dancer: Vesuvius
I am falling and the words are gone.
Posts: 34
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Post by Lola on Oct 6, 2012 15:55:56 GMT
Really she couldn’t help her short laugh, but she covered her mouth a little and shook her head before she could completely lose her composure. “Oh no, that’s so bad,” she said. “At least you didn’t have to clean your shoes after someone threw up on them? And yes that was a silver lining, you’re welcome.”
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