Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 29, 2010 23:08:29 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 29, 2010 23:08:29 GMT
Going back home after so long away was understandably frightening; for Chris it was much the same with New York, he had no idea how much things would have changed, not just in his old neighbourhood but in the city in general, and there were more than a few distinctly unpleasant memories attached with the place anyway. His father's death, his mother's decline; he would never be comfortable there again and he knew that without even trying. Los Angeles had become his home and it had been that way for several years now. New York had stopped being home a long time ago. They had both moved on from old lives and settled in new ones that suited them much better.
The guys didn't do much quizzing when it came to his life, they were content enough to let things lie, especially Mark who was more comfortable discussing cards and football than he was anything remotely personal. Kevin and Ray would occasionally inquire after one thing or another but it was Elle who actually showed active interest. "Unnerving," he admitted, picking up his fork with one elbow lightly propped against the edge of the table though he didn't yet touch his food. "This is the part I like the least, where you have no idea who you're going to get stuck with."
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 29, 2010 23:17:34 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 29, 2010 23:17:34 GMT
It was like they had divided up the parts of their family life after Elle's father had died; she had gotten America, the place that had been nothing more than a fleeting home to them in comparison to France, four years there against ten in her mother's native country. Yvette hadn't wanted a thing to do with the place, she just wanted to get back to familiar ground but Elle hadn't been able to do that. At fourteen she hadn't been able to let go of the place her father had spent his final years, she didn't know how and felt the sting of guilt and betrayal whenever she thought about leaving. It felt like she'd be leaving him behind, walking away from him. So she'd stayed and gone to boarding school and her relationship with her mother had never been the same.
Of course Elle hoped that Chris got a good new partner, someone who would watch out for him and, not to be too dramatic, keep him alive. Not that she said as much just then, preferring to keep the conversation light and easy. "In that case," Elle said, reaching for her drink and holding it up in the middle of the table but her fingertips, "here's to you getting a good one."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 29, 2010 23:36:04 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 29, 2010 23:36:04 GMT
Chris still stayed in touch with his family back in New York, at least his aunt, uncle and cousin, the people who had helped him keep himself together after the death of his father. He had spent more time at their house than he had his own after his father had been killed, it had just been more comfortable, less tense and infinitely less unpleasant. His aunt and uncle had never complained and for years after the death they had welcomed him into their home whenever he needed that refuge, that escape from the troubles at home, kindness he would never forget and never be able to repay as far as he was concerned. They had understood his need for escape, to get away from the place that held so many bad memories, and had only encouraged him. The car he drove now was evidence enough of his aunt and uncle's continued support and affection, and honestly Chris didn't think he would have made it as far as he had in life without them.
After a moment Chris lifted his glass as well and nodded in confirmation of the toast. "I'll drink to that." Whoever he ended up with was bound to be worthy of the position; quite frankly Lewis wouldn't accept just anyone into his department, he had high standards and scrutinised the applicants personally and at great length. Captain Lewis was not a man who did anything by halves, and that included the introduction of new officers to his team. Chris had faith in the head of the Narcotics department, had never had any reason to doubt the man and that wouldn't change now.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 29, 2010 23:50:11 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 29, 2010 23:50:11 GMT
After her father had passed Elle hadn't had anyone to turn to, all the family she knew lived in France, her father had been an only child and so she had no aunts or uncles on that side of the family; she had been taken care of by people her mother paid and then when she had gone back to what she considered home Elle had found herself angry, alone and heartbroken and had stayed that way for a long time as a result. Those teenage years had been the hardest and bleakest of her life, and it was only through sheer force of will and a few very close girl friends at her boarding school that she had made it at all, that was what it felt like at least. Her father had brought her up to have a good head on her shoulders and to be a fighter and apparently it had worked. It didn't make her miss him less though, even now.
Beaming, Elle tapped her glass to his for the toast, drank from it and then set it down again. Honestly she didn't really know how Chris even did his job, it was a scary thought to be out there in Los Angeles dealing with the things that would give normal people like her nightmares, she admired him for it greatly.
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Nov 30, 2010 1:00:17 GMT
Post by Chris on Nov 30, 2010 1:00:17 GMT
Chris had been lucky and he knew it, he'd had people to turn to when he'd needed that and sometimes desperately so. Not everyone was so lucky and he had never been the type to take anything for granted. He had always been grateful to his aunt and uncle, always thanked them even if they insisted they were family and he didn't need to thank them, they would always have time and space for him. Just as they had been there for him in his youth, before the Academy, he knew they would still be there for him even now, whenever he needed them.
For a few minutes they ate in companionable silence before Chris chose to break it, still holding his fork in his hand. "You were right about the fish." It seemed like such a simple thing to say, too simple really, so he went on, "So we talked about my life, which is never very interesting. Your turn." They might have been eating but they were out for dinner together which meant they could share some more conversation as well as the basket of bread that had been set between them, surely.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Nov 30, 2010 17:37:05 GMT
Post by Elle on Nov 30, 2010 17:37:05 GMT
Upon his declaration that his life was never very interesting she gave a somewhat dramatic eye roll, shaking her head and smiling at the self-deprecation. Considering her answer she reached for her Shirley Temple again, making a thoughtful noise in her throat.
"I took on a renovation project," Elle said, perhaps a little sheepishly since technically she was supposed to be taking things easy, but with filming finished for the year she'd wanted something to fill up her time. Not having a project was hard for her, taking it slowly was a challenge and one she had never been particularly good at meeting. She went on with a similar speech she had made to Hannah when her friend had given her that look that said; Elle, you're out of your mind. "It's this beautiful seafront hotel; there was a fire about ten-- twelve years ago? And it's been sitting there empty ever since. Obviously it's a complete mess, I probably won't be able to save most of the original building in the end, but I couldn't just let it be demolished. It has a really interesting history, probably a little gruesome actually but that's hardly the building's fault."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 0:01:57 GMT
Post by Chris on Dec 1, 2010 0:01:57 GMT
There was a difference between interesting and hectic. Chris' life fell into the latter category, without a shadow of a doubt. Day in and day out he tackled problems throughout the city that many other people would prefer to ignore, perhaps on some level in the hopes that they would just go away; no one wanted to admit that Los Angeles had as big a problem with drugs as it did, but everyone in the LAPD Narcotics department knew just how serious it was, how widespread and organised. It would take years before the work of the Narcotics team was completed, many, many years, and Chris didn't doubt that he would be retired long before the city was cleaned up. Something of a grim, cynical way to look at things, but also realistic. It wasn't interesting in the least, instead rather unpleasant and frequently dangerous, and there was no way to dress it up into anything else.
"Well, you can't just mention an interesting history like that and not tell me what it is," Chris said, undoubtedly curious now. There were several questions in his mind about the project, things like how long it would take and just what she wanted it to be like when she was done, but they could wait; his brain was already prioritising, putting things in a cohesive order. Many people assumed Chris was more brawn than brain but he was actually a smart man, much smarter than most people gave him credit for; it wasn't just his photographic memory -- which actually had nothing to do with intelligence -- but he was a skilled tactician and cool-headed, he had done very well in school and his time at the Academy had been successful to say the least. Chris had balanced intelligence and strength well and that, he knew, was what had led to his rank and responsibility now, just how far he had come in his career in the time he had spent in his chosen field.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 0:29:55 GMT
Post by Elle on Dec 1, 2010 0:29:55 GMT
Even if that was the case the fact that Chris didn’t give up in the face of such insurmountable odds was a credit to him, at least Elle thought so. In the end of the day if he did think that there was a glimmer of hope that one day Los Angeles would be in any way clean then that spoke of some kind of optimism in her eyes. It was those who knew they were likely never going to see the fruits of their own labour that she felt were all the more admirable for their tenacity.
"Apparently it's haunted," Elle said, her eyebrows rising. "Supposedly the ghost of a young woman has been seen there over the years, before it burned down and after. There are reports of her going back to the fifties from what I've been able to find out. All she does is cry." She gave a little shake of her head, leaning forwards over her plate. "I have no idea how true it is, I don't know if I even believe in ghosts, but the story goes that she was on vacation with her family and something happened to her husband, he snapped and killed them all and that part might be true at least, there are a few newspaper articles from around that time that the story about the ghost could have been taken from. Hotels always get a reputation that way, worse than any other building in my experience." Making a face she paused, "Probably not the most appropriate dinner conversation, sorry."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 1:05:45 GMT
Post by Chris on Dec 1, 2010 1:05:45 GMT
Anyone who went into law enforcement had to have some degree of optimism otherwise there would be no drive, no goal to aim towards. Men and women who entered into the Force without that glimmer of hope didn't last long; in one way or another they stumbled and fell, some worse than others, and Chris had seen it time and time again in his time. Somehow he had managed to keep that optimism, but instead of questioning just how that had happened he had accepted it and latched on, keeping it in place as best he could even with everything he saw and heard of in his line of work. Not easy, to say the least.
Chris was never entirely sure whether he believed in things like ghosts but that didn't change the fact that he listened with rapt attention, almost as if he had managed to block out the rest of the patrons, which he more or less had. That ability to focus on one thing in a crowded or at least busy room came in handy in his line of work. "So who wants to renovate this place? Did someone hire you for the job?" Clearly it didn't strike him as inappropriate at all, and the story had inspired several new questions that joined the others already formed in his mind, working their way into a new order that would likely change again depending on her response and how many more questions it created.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 1:14:28 GMT
Post by Elle on Dec 1, 2010 1:14:28 GMT
It was a point of interest for Elle at the very least, she believed that buildings could be altered by the way they were used, the way people lived in them changed the way they felt, just their purpose changed how people behaved in them, churches for instance inspired a quiet reverence in even the least religious people but what was it really? Bricks and mortar, like any other building. Ghosts, she wasn't sure on. Actions, she believed could linger in a place and change the way the building breathed.
"Uh," Elle faltered slightly, catching her bottom lip in her teeth. "Not exactly. I bought it, it's mine."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 1:44:37 GMT
Post by Chris on Dec 1, 2010 1:44:37 GMT
"You bought a hotel?" There was an unmistakeable trace of surprise in Chris' voice and he sat back a little, regarding her with a mixture of disbelief and curiosity. "What are you going to do with a renovated hotel?" Already he was intrigued, trying to imagine just what she was going to do with the place; the most likely being that she would sell it and make her money back after she had finished her work. It struck Chris as the most logical course of action, and it seemed like a good way for Elle to occupy her time. She could, in theory, make quite a profit if she found the right buyer but he knew full well that it wasn't about the money for her. For Elle, architecture was so much more than that, things he couldn't really understand because he didn't have her artist's eye or her love for everything related to design and its implication.
He had seen the work she had done over the years, not just in bits and pieces when he happened to catch her show but in photographs she had shown him and he had heard people talking about her projects as well. There was no doubt in his mind that the hotel would look remarkable when she was finished with it, and even though he didn't share her passion for the process, he couldn't deny that there was a part of him that wanted to ask what she planned to do with the place during its renovation.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 2:10:30 GMT
Post by Elle on Dec 1, 2010 2:10:30 GMT
Elle had expected that reaction, it wasn't everyday someone announced that they had just bought an hotel, seemingly on a whim and was going to spend the next several months (potentially years) renovating and restoring it. Hannah had actually laughed, just sat there on the counch and thrown her head back as if Elle had told the funniest joke ever, earning her a reproving smack on the knee for her trouble.
"I don't know. Sell it, I guess?" Elle shrugged, unconvinced by herself on that point. Of course it would make sense tosell the property on when it was done, and it wasn't as if she hadn't done so in the past, but the fact was there was something about this particular project that was already needling her slightly. Elle wasn't what anyone would call rich or anything like it, but she was well off enough to be able to invest in something like this, she'd played the game long enough to know what she was doing at any rate. "I've always wanted to work on a hotel, there's something so-- transient about them, but they're so enduring. I went to a property auction and it was the last lot, they were going to bulldoze the whole place if it didn't sell and I just-- I couldn't let that happen. It just sort of called out to me, I can't really explain it." Of course nowher face was feeling hot, she felt her cheeks flush slightly. "I'm getting all romantic about it."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 2:23:37 GMT
Post by Chris on Dec 1, 2010 2:23:37 GMT
Honestly -- and he wasn't sure why, given what she did for a living -- Chris was surprised that Elle had enough money that she could just buy a hotel, and a -- presumably -- condemned one at that, all with the intention of spending yet more money on the place to fix it up and restore it to its former glory, if not surpass it entirely. Was he jealous of her obvious financial security? No, not really, he wasn't the type to give in to envy really, and he was comfortable in his own way, he supposed. Not as comfortable as Elle, though, clearly; then again, he didn't host a television show, write books or fix up buildings for a living. What he did paid a lot less and he had never been under any delusions about that. At the end of the day he wasn't in it for the money, just as he knew Elle wasn't in her line of work for the money either.
"That's not necessarily a bad thing," he told her honestly, seeming to remember in that moment that they still had food in front of them, setting down his fork to take a piece of bread from the basket, almost distractedly tearing it in half as he regarded her across the table. "So how long will this whole thing take? Are you just going to make it into a hotel again or--? I don't know how these things work, can you change a hotel into something else?" At that he laughed, somewhat quietly and mostly at himself, as though amused by his naivete with the subject.
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Elle
Human
Architect, Author & Presenter
Suddenly my eyes are open, everything comes into focus.
Posts: 119
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 2:38:43 GMT
Post by Elle on Dec 1, 2010 2:38:43 GMT
It certainly helped that her father had been a banker; her had left an inheritance for her which had helped her to get set up in the business by a large degree and in a strange way she felt like he was along for the ride with her because of that fact. Of course it was just as likely that she thought that way because it comforted her, missing her father deeply it was nice to think that she hadn't let go of him entirely, that he was there in her work somehow.
"I could make it into apartments easily enough, and with it being a sea front property they would probably sell extremely well, but I'm going to keep it as a hotel," Elle had relaxed back into conversing between bites now, smiling at Chris. It would be hard work to restore the building, every project was hard work when it came down to it, but he was right, she wasn't in this sort of thing for the money and if it came down to a battle between her head and her heart over this hotel, her head was going to lose. "It'll take months, optimistically. A year or more if we're being realistic. There's a lot of ground work to be done, the foundations may need to be re-laid in some places, and the fire damage to the wooden frame on the upper floors is fairly extensive to say the least, but the foyer is still largely intact, and some of the rooms," she gave a short laugh. "It even had a speakeasy during prohibition. Maybe I'll bring that back too, it could be fun. You can come and see it if you want, I already have the keys to the castle."
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Chris
Human
LAPD Sergeant: Narcotics
And I won't let you drown when the water's pulling you in; I'll keep fighting, I'll keep fighting.
Posts: 407
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Dulce
Dec 1, 2010 2:53:36 GMT
Post by Chris on Dec 1, 2010 2:53:36 GMT
After tearing the bread, Chris set it down on his side plate and simply left it there, as though he had had no interest in it in the first place and really that wasn't too far from the truth, he had simply taken the piece of bread and torn it for something to do with his hands while they were talking. It wasn't as if the bread would go to waste, Chris suspected it would just get tossed out once their table was cleared at the end of their meal.
"A speakeasy?" There was a light of amusement in Chris' eyes as he echoed that back at her, having also gone back to eating and conversing in the breaks between mouthfuls. "Are you inviting me to see the hotel or just the speakeasy?" he asked her jokingly, eyeing her with a mock suspicious expression across the table before smiling and then picking up his glass. He couldn't deny he was curious to see the place and he didn't see why he shouldn't go along and take a look at the place with her; she had invited him, after all, and without good reason to decline, what was stopping him?
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