Friday on the Upper East Side [RP for Aryn Wakefield]

[sandandwater]

A lunch date with a casual friend, at noon and in Manhattan no less, meant Pippa had to do something she normally shied away from: wake up early. So much for reclaiming her life and her routine, she thought to herself as she stumbled around her kitchen making coffee. Mornings were not her favorite time of day. But she had to shower and dress, talk herself into a state of semi-normalcy so she could even face Aryn at the upscale bistro. And then of course, there was the drive.

"You're doing this, Kerr." Muttering to herself, coffee mug in hand, Pippa went back into her bedroom. She even managed a smile as she caught sight of her puppy curled against the sprawled form of her lover, both still sound asleep. She'd be tempted to rejoin them and cancel on Aryn if there were any room for her in the bed.

Instead, she showered and dressed in a favorite fall ensemble, something with long sleeves that afforded her the opportunity to hide her hands from view. From there she played with the hopelessly choppy lengths of her hair, finally giving up and leaving them in what she hoped passed for artful disarray. After Larch had butchered her long curly locks, Pippa resorted to straightening and further trimming her auburn mane in an attempt to rectify the damage. She wasn't satisfied with the results but until her hair grew out, there was little else she could do with it.

She left the apartment with those thoughts in her head, turned off the alarm on her car (recently returned to her after the mechanic's massive repairs) and set out for the bridge that would connect her with the much larger city. The radio was conspicuously silent for the duration of her drive. She hadn't been able to listen to anything by Breaker Street and other music held even less appeal to her.

Reaching her destination, she opted to valet park at Jaques'. Finding a place to self-park was never something she enjoyed and if she was going to put on her happy face and pretend life was wonderful, she didn't need that aggravation. Pippa shrugged her purse onto her right shoulder and tugged the sleeve of her left over her hand, holding the hem with her fingertips, hiding the missing pinky and the dark bruising as she handed over her car keys and got out of the green VW Bug.

Showtime.

Comments

[sand-andwater.livejournal.com]

"Time..." Pippa repeated quietly. Time, give herself a chance, take it easy...things people kept telling her. "I feel like I'm wasting time, if that makes any sense. I'm not at work, I'm not in my studio...I'm not doing anything except watching time pass."

Pippa smiled again as she listened tot he other woman talk. "I think I knew I loved him before he even knew I liked him." She laughed, chuckled really, at that. "Men can be dense."

Then she reached out and gave Aryn's hand a pat. "Enjoy the good, don't look for something to go wrong. I'm actually glad I never saw this coming because I have all that good to hold onto now." Another wry look, "I'm jealous of Remy, I think, but I do empathize completely with him. At least I'm not stuck in bed." Anymore.

[bookish-blonde.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes it's necessary."

Aryn laughed with her. "They can. He honestly doesn't understand how big a deal it is, all these surprises he plans."

"I am. It's just hard sometimes, not to think about it. I'm so used to the rug being pulled out from under me just about the time I start feeling like it's not going to happen." She frowned. "And saw what coming? You make it sound like it's over."

[sand-andwater.livejournal.com]

Pippa shook her head and then nodded at her left hand. "This. And I don't think we're over, I hope we aren't over. I wouldn't know what to do without him but it is hard. Everything has changed."

This conversation with its half-truths and many omissions only served to make Pippa realize that she couldn't come out and tell anyone what truly happened. If the simplified version of events was this complicated, the whole gruesome affair would only be worse. Much worse.

"Don't mind me, like I said earlier, I know I'm being sensitive to things right now. Probably proof that I do need more time."

[bookish-blonde.livejournal.com]

"It's gonna take time to get used to the change, but you will, eventually. And when you love someone, you take the good with the bad. That seems to be what he's doing. I would very seriously doubt you're over."

The waiter arrived with their food and Aryn smiled her thanks as he set their plates down.

"But you're probably tired of talking about this and I bet you hate being asked about it all the time, so we can talk about something else if you want. How's Mr. Beaker?" She chuckled. "Hasn't eaten any more earrings, I hope?"

[sand-andwater.livejournal.com]

Pippa was more than a little grateful for the change in subject matter once their food arrived. She played with her salmon as she thought about the dog. "He's getting too big to act like the puppy he still thinks he is...which is funny until he does something like trying to sit in my lap.

Ro and I have pretty much given up hope that Mr. Beaker will ever actually learn the concept of 'fetch' too. Chase, tug and lay there like a lump he has down pat though." She lifted a forkful of fish and took a bite.

[bookish-blonde.livejournal.com]

"Makes me glad I have a cat," Aryn grinned, taking a bit of her fish. "Though I do have to do something about him hiding in my closet. He's gotten locked in there a few times because I didn't realize where he was."

She washed down her salmon with a sip of wine and smiled, shaking her head. "Remy has a dog too, now. He likes to pretend he's this big macho guy, but he found him living next to a dumpster and took him home."

[sand-andwater.livejournal.com]

"What breed, do you know?" Pippa smiled at the idea of anyone bringing home a stray, that's more or less how she ended up with a Doberman after all. "Mr. Beaker doesn't get accidentally locked in places, but there have been times when we've had to purposely lock him out. He seems to think the only place to sleep is between Ro and I and well...my bed is just not that big when you consider Mr. Beaker takes up a much space as an adult."