lostlake | D A Y 0 8

I was with her for a long time. People change. It just took Isabella a little longer to realize she didn't want the same things I did.

[i think she's probably still trying to realize it but they won't go there. gives her a pointed look across the table when she graces her with her attention again, as if to challenge the idea that it had been something scandalous and messy and entirely her fault. it was, in some ways, but honestly the boring truth of it is they just weren't a good fit for each other]

[ people change.

sophie looks at noah for a while at the irony of it all (could you even call it irony?) and then makes a non-committal noise in the back of her throat, pushing her glasses up her head before leaning her cheek on her hand. ]

Only her? [ they were together for four years. wouldn't noah have broken it off if she had realized sooner as well? ]

Are you asking what I want now?

[hm? mirrors her gesture, blinking at her with the persistent air of overt teasing she's maintained with her since she got back. of course she hasn't changed, she's wanted the same things since she was like, 18. she is nothing if not dependable]

[ she squints and tightens her lips in an awkward line, but doesn't move from her position. her free hand drums her fingers against the table. then she sighs with an eyeroll, shaking her head just a little. that's not what she meant at all but walking around in circles with noah can be very exhausting. she has no idea how izzy managed that for four years. ]

Sure. What do you want now, Noah? [ in the flattest, most uninterested tone, because she has the feeling that bullshit is coming. ]

[purses her lips at her in answer, and if she had any intention of giving her a serious one it's interrupted by her phone jingling in her purse. she holds up a finger]

Hold that thought. [shakes her hair to her other shoulder to bring the phone up to her ear, automatically looking irate. it's her default phone face. especially after seeing who was calling-] Jenny. What do you want? I'm in the middle of something. [smiles at sophie and holds up a hand to make the talk talk gesture. one of those active phone talkers that still tries to engage the other person even though she's not paying attention to them. it's a multitasker thing] Well you should be sorry, it was important. What do you want? [repeating herself already it's not a good sign for jenny. which is further illustrated when she waits quietly for .5 seconds before interrupting her impatiently-] Get to the point. [another .5 seconds] I said get to the point. [jesus christ] You interrupted my evening for that? When I get back you're fired. [smiles apologetically at sophie again. like she's not chewing someone out in front of her] No, I'm not joking. [pause] E-mail it to me. [pause] Jenny, figure it out. I don't have time to hold your hand. I'm hanging up now.

[she does and shakes her head to flip her hair back into its original position. it was flawless and jenny disturbed it. looks around for another employee to chew out now that she's irritable, especially seeing as there's still no food in front of her]

What were you saying? You know, I should buy this place just to fire all of these waiters. [holds her hand up to try and flag one down. don't fucking ignore me or i'll light you on fire]

[ apparently she wants to fire people. sits so uncomfortably during this phone call. and though sophie isn't exactly a reactionary person, she's very expressive and her face throughout the phone conversation ranges from "holy shit" to "jesus christ" and also a bit of "oh my god you are satan" because that was ruthless. you just don't... fire... people like that. she would die if she got fired. because then she wouldn't have money to buy a dirty sock either but that's beyond the point.

when she hangs up she's both appalled and wordless ] Jesus. [ christ. ] Please don't. I like this place.

[ they're nice. they're fine. they have families to feed. please remember when you were young. ]

I was joking, I wouldn't make that investment. Do you know how difficult it would be to flip?

[do u have enough money to buy a clue. anyway, where were we. oh yes she was attempting to get. that waiter's. WAVES HAND IMPATIENTLY. yes you. yes she was trying to get your attention. if you make her get out of this chair so Help Me. it doesn't matter that it's only been like ten minutes she has already decided she hates this place. yelp here she comes]

Anyway, why so interested? You're here for Isabella, remember? [don't forget your lie i think u dropped it. it's a little dusty now but five second rule. when the waiter finally heeds her flappy hand call she proceeds to berate him publicly and loudly until he promises the meal will be free and apologizes for his fucking incompetence (what incompetence i don't know he doesn't know either but he's sorry for it)]

[ it's not a lie! she makes her frowny upset face and rolls her eyes. understanding noah would also be part of the whole caring process; don't ask her why she tries, she's just hopeless like that but sorry she cares because she hasn't sold her soul yet. and she would answer if she wasn't going her whole asshole act.

which is around the same time she thinks she sees something in the shadows, remains of the previous day encounters. noah sounds like she's whoop whooping in the far background. sophie shakes her head and presses her fingers to her eyes. when she opens them again, there's nothing there but she's getting anxious again. back to reality, noah is still berating the poor guy. ]

Noah! [ she pushes the guy away slightly. u can go. be free. ] Jeez! Leave him alone.

[ also her nose feels wet. is it dripping? it's dripping a little. she raises her hand to it. oh look. blood. ]

[um lmao excuse you don't tell me what to do wait are you bleeding all over this table right now. very gross.]

You have a little- [sophie's already dabbing at it so she doesn't bother to continue, but leans over to pull a few napkins free from the dispenser and passes them to her]

Winter nosebleeds? [it happens. don't worry about. should probably go clean up though. raises eyebrows toward the bathroom]

[ she takes the napkins angrily, like this is noah's fault. it isn't, but it's anxiety creeping back. she presses them against her nose and doesn't bother answering noah, looking kind of distressed. she sets her glasses on the table and says something like "yeah" muffled by her hand. her chair scrapes against the floor as she pushes back and rushes over to the bathroom, throwing the napkins to the trashbin and rushing over the sink to clean her nose. there's a mirror there but she isn't going to take a look at it. she has seen too many horror movies.

and she never has nosebleeds, so obviously her mind goes right back to what happened last night and it only makes it worse. oh christ oh lordy oh jesus.

she's just going to have a mini panic attack nbd ]

[sits at the table alone for a few minutes. waits. checks phone. checks nails. becomes increasingly agitated that she's taking forever. glances at the bathroom like she's not sure if she should go check or wait. finally resolves to go see what the fucking issue is and just as their food comes too it's going to get cold and she hates you.]

Sophie, did you bleed out. [leans into the bathroom to scan for bleedyface. seriously get your ass out here]

[ she wasn't expecting her. it makes her jump a little in her anxiety, when her voice comes to break the silence. she turns the tap on finally to wash away the blood under her nose and finally looks in the mirror. okay, no psychos behind her waiting to stab a knife in her back. goody. ]

Yes. I'm dead. This is my ghost.

[ the irony and hilarity of the joke would be muuuch better if she knew why she's bleeding. but she won't. so just enjoy the deadpan snark. ]

[no just noah which is probably about the same difference]

And will your ghost be joining me for dinner or are you going to haunt the bathroom for all time?

[hurry the Fuck up]

[ yay. ]

I'm considering it. [ but as she says it, she's grabbing the paper towels from the dispenser to dry out her face. but doing it slowly because she can feel her annoyance. maybe just to be a little mean about it; after all, she did hurt izzy. but she doesn't commit to being an asshole as well as noah (thankfully not many people do anyway), so she comes out and looks up. fucking heels, man. ]

Sorry my nosebleed was an inconvenience. [ we can eat. ]

It wouldn't be if you took better care of yourself.

[look at this bitch she even makes concern sound assholeish. takes her arm to escort her back to the table bully-ily. sit your ass down]

I take-- [ she's being bullied back to free food. oh noo. will noah take her lunch money too? the answer is no because sophie has no money nor lunch. ] --care of myself. [ like a child excusing herself. you don't know me. you don't know my life.

but she's sitting because there's free food ]

Winter nosebleeds. [ there's nothing not natural about them. ]

They make sprays for that.

[waves at her dismissively. if you were taking care of yourself you'd have prepared for the winter dryness. she did. look at her she's always flawless regardless of the weather. do you think she'd let herself succumb to winter nosebleeds. no. because she takes care of herself. unfolds a napkin onto her lap and holds chopstick at the ready but pauses and looks across at her]

Are you okay? [sincerity makes her want to gag so keep it short]

Right. [ she knows. she won't spend money on it either. and it's probably not winter nosebleeds anyway, just impending doom. no big deal.

she's already taking a piece of thai to her mouth when noah asks and she holds her position for about a second, staring at her with food in her mouth before chewing and swallowing. she gives her a non committal shrug, pushing the food around her plate with her chopsticks. ]

Bela died on Halloween. [ keeps it short just 4 u. ]

Who's Bela?

[busy shredding a piece of chicken between chopsticks when the mood gets crazy heavy in this bitch. damn way to ruin dinner. looks up at her not actively trying to be a bitch by not knowing she just doesn't recall a bela of importance from her time growing up around these parts]

You mean the cop's kid? [i mean she does read papers. mostly for the finance news but she does skim.]

[ well, she asked. her mind went there. she nods and rubs her forehead in distress, trying not to think too much about it, but it's hard. she forces a smile and nods again, looking up to her with a shrug. ] Yeah, uhm. [ she clears her throat ] He-- you know, helped me. Since I was taken out of my uncle's place. [ and then when she returned.

she hates talking about it. why is she talking about it? ]

Town's been crazy lately. [ she taps the chopsticks against the plate. change subject. something better? ] What about you?

[the corners of her mouth turn down, not in a frown but in a huh sort of expression, registering her disbelief that 1. a cop helped her (they're pretty fucking useless around here) and 2. she let him (doesn't she have a thing against cops). well, you learn something new every day. she takes her chopsticks up again and lets her change the subject, because as much as she enjoys learning new things about people for manipulative purposes, it just manages to make her uncomfortable with sophie. doesn't know what to say about it.]

Wallstreet. So boring. [points a stick at her to let her know she's kidding, but she's not going to put her to sleep with the ins and outs of her job description. it's not for everyone, although she finds it perfectly interesting] I actually just landed a big client. [scratches at the tiny hairs on the back of her neck in a sort of tell]

[ she didn't have a thing with cops when she was eight. and adam isn't a cop. i mean, he is, but he's adam first, cop second. but that's beside the point because noah is talking (possibly not bullshit) and she edges forward on her seat a little. as much as she is against corporations, she understands the working of them and politics. it's not quite boring to her even if she has zero desire to participate in it - but there's always a story waiting to happen in wallstreet. place is crawling with corruption. ]

A big client? Around here? [ are you kidding me right now? whosit. ] Who?

[ her inner scooby is uncontrollable. ]

[excuse she's familiar with her current likes and dislikes via isabelle thank you. they skyped all the time you think she didn't overhear that shit]

Wouldn't you like to know. [leans over the table to boop her nose. her no longer hemorrhaging nose. down amateur journalist. her clients are strictly confidential.]

That's why I a-- [ leans back a little when she's booped and gives her an eyeroll. why y u gotta. ] --I asked. [ but she's already repeating to herself to investigate sudden big moneys around blackwell and elkins. she's going to possibly forget about it until sunday or something because she really is forgetful but she's not going to whip out her notebook and write it down

anyway there's an obscene amount of decent food to be eaten. she should make her talk so she can shovel more in her mouth. ]

That's the only reason you came back, right? [ brb pushing food in mouth ]

No. [it's not that she can't lie to her, she just doesn't get the same satisfaction out of dicking her around as she seems to get out of everyone else. well, insofar as is reasonable. for instance, she still neglects to inform her on the subject further.]

Incidental. And I'm not back. [she will feel the need to inform her of her prolonged visitor status as she does with everyone else though. seriously. just visiting. she would never live here again. come on. it's beneath her]

D A Y 0 8

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