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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 28, 2016 18:46:10 GMT -5
Crossing her legs, Caroline lifted her cup of coffee to her lips and gently blew over its surface. She'd been back to Los Angeles for barely a day and she'd decided to dive right back into work. That had been a mistake because her body was still on Milan time and so she'd figured getting coffee would at least stave off the need for a nap.
So far it wasn't working but she had hope.
Sighing, she lowered the cup and picked up the newspaper that was spread out in front of her and looked it over. Her eyebrows knitted together as she scanned the headlines. Sad and depressing. She quickly folded it back up and instead reached for one of the many fashion magazines that were also set on the table. Oh, she'd come back right in time. She was going to have to talk to Marco again about the accessories and the color palettes he'd picked for the latest edition of Juice.
Shoving the magazines into her briefcase, she rose to her feet and brushed a golden blonde curl back over her shoulder. She was about to pick her briefcase up when she looked up and saw someone she hadn't seen in years walking right into the cafe. She straightened, her eyebrows lifting a bit in surprise.
"Adam?"
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 28, 2016 18:54:49 GMT -5
Mornings really weren't Adam's cup of tea. He'd never been a morning person. He'd faked his way through a few early morning photo shoots and some meet and greets but if you asked him details about those activities now he'd not be able to tell you more than that he did them. But this morning, he had to get up. This particular day though was something he'd been looking forward to for some time and he got up willingly to go see some of the kids at the childrens' hospital. He'd made certain to set his alarm for an hour earlier than necessary so he'd have time to swing by the cafe for some coffee and breakfast. It always helped him center himself a bit before going to the hospital. It wasn't that he disliked going, it was just hard sometimes to see kids going through things that they didn't understand. He had a box of photos, cars, jackets, and bears that he insisted on bringing himself tucked in the trunk of his car. He'd sign anything those kids wanted today and gladly part with any of it. Hell, he'd even gotten a hair cut and trimmed up his beard and mustache so he'd look damn right presentable.
He was feeling pretty comfortable this morning until he stepped into that cafe and heard a voice call his name. He wasn't sure if he should turn right back around and walk out or if he should actually wait and see who it was that seemed to recognize him here in LA. His eyes scanned the room looking for the source of that voice and then he spotted her. He looked behind him as if to search for a hidden camera and then turned back around an uncertain smile moving across his features as he sort of squinted at her, "Caroline?"
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 28, 2016 19:05:57 GMT -5
She watched him for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. It had been a long time since she'd last seen him - years actually, though he didn't look any different than the last time she'd seen him. It was odd, almost as though she'd stepped through some kind of odd time machine and she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about seeing him again. Part of her was happy to see him, they had shared a lot in their past but then, the few times they'd seen each other hadn't been all that pleasant.
Caroline picked up her briefcase and after just a slight hesitation, she made her way towards where he was. They had been years ago and she figured that was all in the past and she could at least attempt to be civil and even pleasant. They were both adults after all and had hopefully grown some since their last encounters.
"It's lovely to see you again. You've hardly changed at all," she said with a pleasant smile once she reached where he was.
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 28, 2016 19:11:46 GMT -5
Adam froze like a deer in headlights. He was pretty sure she was talking but he hadn't had any coffee yet and it was hard to keep up with her words as she stood. Oh my god, she was headed his way. He nodded and cleared his throat motioning to the booth towards the back of the cafe. "I um...yeah, it's been a long time. I'm just here for breakfast and some coffee." He moved around the back of a chair which kinda provided a bit of a barrier between them. "You ... you look amazing. More um...grown up?" He was struggling with words apparently today. This is not how he'd seen his morning going.
"You still eat breakfast? Coffee? Join me?" He finally stopped moving toward the booth and was now standing next to her...sort of.
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 28, 2016 19:51:22 GMT -5
"Thank you... I think." Caroline's lips twitched in amusement because if she didn't know better, she was making Adam nervous. She wasn't sure why she was making him nervous, but there it was. She also hadn't expected him to invite her to join him, if anything she'd sort of expected him to be short with her just because of their past history.
It was a... pleasant enough surprise.
She smiled and nodded and turned quickly ordering another coffee before turning back to Adam and glancing over at the booth he'd motioned towards before heading over to it. Sliding inside, she soothed her skirt around her legs.
"So..." she began once he'd joined her. "How have you been?"
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 28, 2016 20:00:22 GMT -5
He wasn't sure if he should be happy or frightened that she'd agreed to join him. But either way, she was. As if on cue, the waitress walked over with another coffee for Caroline and one for Adam as well. "You want your usual this morning, Adam?" He nodded, "Sounds good, Annie. Put whatever Ms Corwin is having on my tab would ya?" He smiled not sure how embarrassed he should be at the fact that he was such a regular that he and the wait staff were on first name basis. "Sure thang, Adam." She left them alone for a few minutes, Adam heard the question but bought himself some time by taking a long drink of his coffee. Obviously, she'd not been back in the States long.
His grin was genuine as he leaned forward cupping the coffee cup in his hands, "I've been great. You know, got some things going and moving in the right direction. Some big things happening...so yeah, I've been good." Another quick drink of the coffee and a deep breath, "What about you? What brings you to LA? You here to stay or ..."
He was interrupted by Annie approaching again this time to take Caroline's order, "Are you ready to order, Miss?"
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 28, 2016 20:17:38 GMT -5
Her eyebrows perked up in interest when the waitress addressed him in such a familiar way. But it wasn't really all the surprising. The Adam she remembered had always been friendly with just about everyone around him. And if he came into the cafe regularly, well... Of course they all knew his name. She didn't even bother bringing it up after the waitress wandered off.
Caroline had just opened her mouth to answer his questions and she quickly swung her attention to the waitress... Annie or something like that.
"No, I'm fine, but thank you." She waited until Annie wandered off and then turned her gaze back to Adam.
"I've only just moved back to town." She shrugged her shoulders and flashed an easy smile like it was no big deal about being back. "I actually just flew in yesterday so I'm still on Milan time. But, anyway." She gave a quick shake of her head. "I'm glad things are going well for you."
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 28, 2016 20:24:37 GMT -5
Adam raised his coffee cup, "Here's to homecomings then." The coffee was doing it's job or maybe it was the slow and easy pace of the cafe, "Welcome home, Caroline. Here's to new beginnings." He was feeling more relaxed now that she was being all pleasant. No reason they couldn't be pleasant to each other. It wasn't like he could blame her for dropping him and his crew the way she had at the first sign of something not being on the up and up. If he was honest with himself, he'd admit that it only hurt because she didn't trust him enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. She followed the same crowd that had him tried and convicted for something he didn't do. She'd been just as duped by the video as the rest of them. Adam felt she of all people should have known that wasn't him in that video. But she'd made a decision and one thing was certain, when this woman made a decision she followed through with it no matter the collateral damage that lay in its wake.
Annie finally brought his food over and refilled their coffee cups, "You want a cup of coffee to go, Adam? And you, Miss?" She was being nice enough. Any friend of Adam's was a friend of hers.
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 28, 2016 21:34:43 GMT -5
"Thanks." She wasn't sure how much of a homecoming it was that she had. Sure Marco had been happy to see her, but well she wasn't so sure that had a lot to do with being happy to actually see her or if it had more to do with her being there to take back over the magazine. But still, he'd seemed happy enough to see her so she supposed that was enough and of course her parents had been happy about her return.
And Adam was being nice - nicer than she had expected since she'd so quickly turned her back on him when that video had surface and all the stories about his homosexual forays had popped up in the newspapers. But back then, she'd been more of seeing things black and white and she'd felt doped and stupid for believing in him at all. Of course she'd felt bad when it had come to light that it had been his brother but her pride had been something terrible and she just couldn't face him and apologize for her mistake. And it seemed to her like he had moved on because he'd been married during that whole thing. Even now she wasn't even sure how to apologize.
Caroline looked up at the waitress and shook her head. "No, thank you. I think this is about all the coffee I can handle today." She quickly turned her attention back to her coffee and finished it off. Setting the cup back down on the table, she set the cup back down on the table. "So it was really nice to see you again, but I'm sure you're busy and I have a lot of unpacking to do plus cleaning up a lot at the magazine..."
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 29, 2016 5:47:47 GMT -5
Shrugging slightly while he ate, Adam listened to the exchange between Annie and Caroline. Maybe in the years that had passed Caroline had mellowed out a little bit. He swallowed the bit of food, he had in his mouth before checking the watch on his wrist, "I still have a few minutes. I'm not too terribly busy today. I have to be over at Childrens in about 45 minutes. I could make it there in 15." Another bite of food and he chewed as he reached across to grab the salt.
"It's too bad you have to get to unpacking this morning, I'd invite you to come with me. Someone better looking then me should probably be giving some of these kids the bears I brought." Of course, he fully expected her to decline but it didn't hurt to offer, "And if you wanted some help with those boxes, I'm a pretty good unpacker. We could order a pizza or something and knock it out for you today. The boys have the shop covered." Now that the coffee had kicked in full on, he was more talkative even if he was rambling a bit.
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 30, 2016 19:37:12 GMT -5
She'd just been about to rise to her feet, but hesitated when he spoke. Eyebrows knitting together, Caroline set her briefcase back on the booth beside her. Well, that wasn't what she'd expected. But it seemed like Adam was forever doing the unexpected, just like when they'd first met. That thought had her smiling - almost fondly as she made herself comfortable in her seat again.
"That's a nice offer, Adam but I don't want to be an inconvenience to you." It was a nice idea though. She hated unpacking - hated moving really but it needed to be done. "But I don't mind helping you pass out teddy bears. I haven't done anything like that in a long time. I'm sure it will be fun." And heartbreaking, she knew it would be that as well but it'd be nice to see the toys bringing a smile to the kids' faces.
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 30, 2016 19:51:38 GMT -5
He curled his lips into a satisfied smile and leaned back, wiping his mouth with the napkin, "Have you ever known me to offer to help anyone when it was an ... inconvenience to me, Caroline?" He raised his eyebrows at her, "Besides, unpacking isn't anyone's idea of a good time especially if you have to unpack alone." He dropped some cash on the table and finished off his coffee, then stood, offering her his hand to help steady herself as she got up, "I tell you what. Let's knock this Children's thing out of the park and if you still insist on unpacking solo, you got it...not another offer of assistance. Deal?"
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 30, 2016 20:35:27 GMT -5
"It has been a long time since we've seen each other," she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Lots of things could have changed between now and then." People grew and changed all the time and well who knew with Adam? She knew there were places in her life where she'd grown but then again there were places were she just stayed the same. She hadn't thought that she'd ever get the chance to see just how much Adam might have changed but it seemed like she was at least going to get a glimpse of it.
Caroline looked up at him and then reached out, placing her hand within his and let him help her to her feet. She quickly snagged her briefcase and then they were heading towards the door. "I suppose we can do that. But if you do end up helping me unpack, I think takeout Chinese would be a better option than pizza...."
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Post by Adam Prescott on Aug 30, 2016 20:44:05 GMT -5
"Chinese take out?!" He covered his heart with his hand feigning devastation and then it seemed to have occurred to him why pizza might not be such a good idea, "It's the whole...Italy thing, right? I mean you and pizza are still good just ... you know maybe it's too soon?" He held up his hands, "Me and the Chinese are on good terms, Chinese is good...." He pushed open the door for her and they stepped out into the California sun.
After a few moments of clowning around, he nodded in agreement, "Seriously though, I do agree with you. It's been a long time since we last saw each other and it wasn't under the best of circumstances." He reached out with his hand and lightly touched the inside of her forearm to stop her before he turned to face her, clearly nervous, "About that...I've gone through this scenario a 100 times, Caroline. And none of it really plays out the same so ... I'm just gonna you know say it. I'm...I'm sorry about the way all that went down. I'm sorry for the way it made you look, but mostly, I'm sorry for the way it made you feel, ya know?" He hoped she knew cause he wasn't real sure he could explain it to her.
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Post by Caroline Corwin on Aug 31, 2016 13:52:29 GMT -5
Her smile faltered for a moment. She knew he was teasing and really her suggesting Chinese hadn't anything to do with the whole Italy thing, in fact she was trying not to think about that whole part of her life. But she made her smile return because it wasn't as if he knew anything about all of that since she was pretty sure he didn't read the tabloids. "If I need more help later, I'm sure we can get pizza."
And then things took a more serious turn and Caroline stopped walking and looked at Adam a little confused as he began to speak. Sighing softly, she shook her head. "Adam, it wasn't your fault. You tried telling me what was going on and... I was stubborn and didn't want to hear it. I should have trusted you.. I should have handled things differently and if I could go back and change how I behaved, I would." She shrugged her shoulders. "So I think it's me who really owes you an apology... I'm sorry."
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