Post by RMT-Mod-Kara on Sept 17, 2016 20:50:17 GMT -5
Jess left her car in the parking garage and headed toward her apartment building. School had been rough this morning and all she wanted to do was either indulge in junk food... or sleep. Carrying her tote on her shoulder, the books felt like a ton of bricks right now. With her ponytail bouncing, she pushed through the glass doors and headed straight for the community mailboxes.
Pulling her tote down, she dug inside for her keys. She heard someone coming in behind her and naturally glanced to see who it was. Smiling immediately, she stopped rummaging to greet her neighbor. "Caleb." She hadn't seen him since her disastrous party and she still felt embarrassed about the whole thing. "Hey, sorry about... you know. I feel so stupid."
Caleb wasn't exactly happy about being kicked out of the apartment to run one of the most stupid errands ever. Sure he'd been the one to finish the milk. Sure he'd put the empty carton in the fridge. But why did that mean he had to go out while he was relaxing at home and pick up some more. Couldn't it wait an hour or two? Why did it have to be there and then.... He didn't understand it, but he went to get it anyway just to avoid the argument.
On his way back he couldn't help but smile as he saw Jessica. He hadn't seen her in a while but since her party but he half thought it was as she was avoiding him. "What thing?" Caleb questioned, half pretending to not know. "You mean the free beer, bad music and good company? Yeah, that was just horrible. Worst part I've ever been too." He joked.
"Ha! Very funny!" she replied, playfully swatting his arm. "No, but seriously... it was lame, right? I've never thrown a party before so... consider that 'popping my cherry'." She eyed the brown paper bag cradled in his arm and frowned, "Drinking already?" she asked, assuming the bag to contain a six pack of something.
Automatically a smirk formed on Caleb at the comment about the cherry popping. His mind wandered off a moment before he forced it back on track. "It wasn't lame. Lame is..... a party with *no* alcohol." He told her.
Caleb tried to pull the bag out of her reach so she couldn't look inside. "You make me sound like a drunk." He said, then realized his previous comment did as well, and he was the one whom had said it.
She laughed, "Nooo... but you are a bachelor, aren't you?" she joked, "Isn't that what guys like you do?"
"No those are only the desperate one's who are so self conscious and can't get dates so i'll drink so i feel more numb." He said simply. "Me... I'm more of a 'damn that was a hard day at work' beer kind of guy." Caleb said, his mouth just running away. He wasn't really taking note of what he was saying and just saying it.
"Right..." she nodded before asking, "What is it that you do again?"
He couldn't help but hesitate a moment, about to say one thing, but he caught himself in time before he did so he could give the nicer name for it. "I'm a freelance photographer. You know, hire me to take photo's of whatever you need." Well... who ever actually. Like her.... Yep that was one thing he was NEVER telling her.
Jess raised a brow, "Really? How interesting." she replied, "So, people like, hire you to take pictures of them? For... weddings and stuff?" She would have never taken him for a photographer. Well... maybe for an underground porn magazine perhaps.
He nodded his head. "Yeah, you know for like wedding's, prom's, family stuff. I've done some stuff for people in the entertainment business, head shots and stuff like that. It sounds way cooler when you say it out loud then it actually is. Taking glamour shots of a chihuahua isn't exactly what I'd call exciting." Caleb said with a smirk. He didn't care that he was lying out of his ass about the dog, but it made him sound good.
"That sounds like so much fun." she replied, "You should let me tag along sometime. Hey - you ever take pics of Bob Barker??"
"Oh yeah totally. I've taken pictures of all the Barkers." He automatically responded, barely realizing what he was saying made no sense at all. He was trying to make his 'job' sound way cooler then it was without letting her know exactly what it included
Jess made a face. All the Barkers? Just how many were there? Raising a brow, she looked at Caleb, who seemed to be talking out of his butt. "I see. So uh... hey, if you ever wanna, ya know, get out for a bit... maybe catch a break from a crying baby," she smiled, "You can stop over or whatever. I'm usually home... and usually pretty bored." She wanted to ask him how Ben was doing with the new role of single parent, but she didn't think it was her place to ask. After her conversation with Kristen, she had began to wonder about a few things. One was - how could he raise a child while being a possible drug dealer/user? And if he'd actually killed someone... how long would he have custody of his child before she was ripped away from him? Suddenly Ben seemed to have way more baggage than her and it had her questioning whether or not they had reason to remain friends. After all, did they even have anything in common anymore? It sucked because she really liked Ben but her ex sister in law had her mind rethinking a lot of things.
"You mean the creator of the demonic crying from hell?" Caleb questioned with a hint of a snap. Sure Maggie was a baby. Sure she was cute. When she didn't move, cry, eat, poop or generally do anything that involved movement or noise. Like sleep. She was adorable when she slept. He understood the situation with how she was discovered, why she was so distressed and taking a long time to adjust but still, would that kid ever get an off switch? Caleb quickly realized his tone, how harsh it may have been but he hadn't been sleeping if well if at all since the kid got there. He was running on fumes and frustration showing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that... Just, can you not tell Ben?" The guy had enough shit to deal with, without him adding to it.
Jess quickly nodded, "Oh no... I won't say anything to him. Don't worry about that." She actually didn't even know when she would see or talk to Ben again. Since Kristen's visit, she had been doing her best to avoid him. "I can imagine how stressful it can be and it's not even your baby." Gathering her mail in her hands, she then tucked them under her arm, "So uh... the offer stands. Ya know, if you wanna just get out for a bit. You know where I live." she smiled.
Caleb couldn't help but smile a little as he looked over to her. "I might just take you up on that." He told her. "And just so you know, that thing that happened at that party that we're not talking about... Don't worry about it, I took the roses to the hospital and got the nurses to give them out." He said with a light shrug of his shoulders like it was no big deal.
Jessica stared at Caleb with her mouth slightly hanging open. It was as if he just confessed some dying devotion to her. It was one of the sweetest things she had ever heard. "What?" she asked, looking at him as her mouth slowly curved into a smile, "You did that?" Clearly Ben didn't know how roommate all that well. Countless times he'd mentioned him, it wasn't ever anything positive. "That was so sweet of you to think of something like that. I would have just thrown them in the dumpster. Thank you." she added, still smiling. She was seeing him in a whole new light now.
Caleb hadn't really been expecting that kind of reaction. All he did was dump them on some nurse, (which did get him a kiss on the cheek) and leave. It wasn't like it was his idea... he just happened to be taking the credit for it. He paused a moment then smiled a little, more then happy to play the night in lying armor for her. "It was no big deal or anything... I just didn't want to see them go to waste. I figured they should go to a someone who'd you know, get a smile out of them." He said shrugging his shoulders a little as he gave her a bit of a smirk.
She reached over and lightly grazed his arm, "No, no... it is a big deal." she explained, still touched by his actions, "You took a horrible situation... and turned it into something good. I have to say I'm impressed." Staring at him in awe for a few more moments, Jess finally cleared her throat and looked away. "Sorry." she said, chuckling, "I hope I haven't embarrassed you or anything. I'd better head up and get some studying done... and I've probably kept you long enough."
He still couldn't help but be shocked with just how happy she seemed to be about what he'd done. He knew it was a good thing, but still, with her reaction, it made it out like he'd just given a million dollars to charity. He'd never had someone be so happy and touched by something he'd done. He'd never actually had someone smile at him like she was smiling at him in that moment. It was always the opposite, people were let down by him, he failed people. It was so odd, he didn't actually know how to react. He tried to speak but he found himself unable to form words for a moment. "What?" He questioned after a moment realizing what she'd meant. "No.... it was nothing. I'm just glad I could make your day." He said, a little more honestly. But still he wasn't sure what to say or do, he'd never actually done anything like this before. What was he supposed to say or do next?
Still smiling like some young teenager developing a crush on a classmate, Jess nodded, "Well ya did. Thank you. After a long day of classes, I guess I needed it." She untucked the mail from under her arm and held it in her hand as she stood awkwardly in the hallway, wondering if she should go or if he wanted to continue to bullshit.
Caleb suddenly couldn't help but feel all awkward around her. He had no idea what he was supposed to say or do now. Should he just leave? Keep talking? He didn't know how he was supposed to act around her. He felt like a complete idiot and he didn't know why. After a prolonged silence between the two with neither knowing what to say do Caleb decided to break the silence. "I should go... it was nice talking you though." He said before heading to leave. He started to head back towards the stairs before realizing he was heading the wrong way. "Right.... apartment's this way." He said pointing in the opposite direction towards where he needed to go.
Jess had to laugh. Caleb was definitely something else. She wasn't quite sure what he was yet, but something made her curious. "See ya later, Caleb!" she called out with a wave of her hand before heading in the direction she needed to go. She shook her head the whole way, laughing and smiling to herself, thinking what an interesting character that guy was.
Pulling her tote down, she dug inside for her keys. She heard someone coming in behind her and naturally glanced to see who it was. Smiling immediately, she stopped rummaging to greet her neighbor. "Caleb." She hadn't seen him since her disastrous party and she still felt embarrassed about the whole thing. "Hey, sorry about... you know. I feel so stupid."
Caleb wasn't exactly happy about being kicked out of the apartment to run one of the most stupid errands ever. Sure he'd been the one to finish the milk. Sure he'd put the empty carton in the fridge. But why did that mean he had to go out while he was relaxing at home and pick up some more. Couldn't it wait an hour or two? Why did it have to be there and then.... He didn't understand it, but he went to get it anyway just to avoid the argument.
On his way back he couldn't help but smile as he saw Jessica. He hadn't seen her in a while but since her party but he half thought it was as she was avoiding him. "What thing?" Caleb questioned, half pretending to not know. "You mean the free beer, bad music and good company? Yeah, that was just horrible. Worst part I've ever been too." He joked.
"Ha! Very funny!" she replied, playfully swatting his arm. "No, but seriously... it was lame, right? I've never thrown a party before so... consider that 'popping my cherry'." She eyed the brown paper bag cradled in his arm and frowned, "Drinking already?" she asked, assuming the bag to contain a six pack of something.
Automatically a smirk formed on Caleb at the comment about the cherry popping. His mind wandered off a moment before he forced it back on track. "It wasn't lame. Lame is..... a party with *no* alcohol." He told her.
Caleb tried to pull the bag out of her reach so she couldn't look inside. "You make me sound like a drunk." He said, then realized his previous comment did as well, and he was the one whom had said it.
She laughed, "Nooo... but you are a bachelor, aren't you?" she joked, "Isn't that what guys like you do?"
"No those are only the desperate one's who are so self conscious and can't get dates so i'll drink so i feel more numb." He said simply. "Me... I'm more of a 'damn that was a hard day at work' beer kind of guy." Caleb said, his mouth just running away. He wasn't really taking note of what he was saying and just saying it.
"Right..." she nodded before asking, "What is it that you do again?"
He couldn't help but hesitate a moment, about to say one thing, but he caught himself in time before he did so he could give the nicer name for it. "I'm a freelance photographer. You know, hire me to take photo's of whatever you need." Well... who ever actually. Like her.... Yep that was one thing he was NEVER telling her.
Jess raised a brow, "Really? How interesting." she replied, "So, people like, hire you to take pictures of them? For... weddings and stuff?" She would have never taken him for a photographer. Well... maybe for an underground porn magazine perhaps.
He nodded his head. "Yeah, you know for like wedding's, prom's, family stuff. I've done some stuff for people in the entertainment business, head shots and stuff like that. It sounds way cooler when you say it out loud then it actually is. Taking glamour shots of a chihuahua isn't exactly what I'd call exciting." Caleb said with a smirk. He didn't care that he was lying out of his ass about the dog, but it made him sound good.
"That sounds like so much fun." she replied, "You should let me tag along sometime. Hey - you ever take pics of Bob Barker??"
"Oh yeah totally. I've taken pictures of all the Barkers." He automatically responded, barely realizing what he was saying made no sense at all. He was trying to make his 'job' sound way cooler then it was without letting her know exactly what it included
Jess made a face. All the Barkers? Just how many were there? Raising a brow, she looked at Caleb, who seemed to be talking out of his butt. "I see. So uh... hey, if you ever wanna, ya know, get out for a bit... maybe catch a break from a crying baby," she smiled, "You can stop over or whatever. I'm usually home... and usually pretty bored." She wanted to ask him how Ben was doing with the new role of single parent, but she didn't think it was her place to ask. After her conversation with Kristen, she had began to wonder about a few things. One was - how could he raise a child while being a possible drug dealer/user? And if he'd actually killed someone... how long would he have custody of his child before she was ripped away from him? Suddenly Ben seemed to have way more baggage than her and it had her questioning whether or not they had reason to remain friends. After all, did they even have anything in common anymore? It sucked because she really liked Ben but her ex sister in law had her mind rethinking a lot of things.
"You mean the creator of the demonic crying from hell?" Caleb questioned with a hint of a snap. Sure Maggie was a baby. Sure she was cute. When she didn't move, cry, eat, poop or generally do anything that involved movement or noise. Like sleep. She was adorable when she slept. He understood the situation with how she was discovered, why she was so distressed and taking a long time to adjust but still, would that kid ever get an off switch? Caleb quickly realized his tone, how harsh it may have been but he hadn't been sleeping if well if at all since the kid got there. He was running on fumes and frustration showing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that... Just, can you not tell Ben?" The guy had enough shit to deal with, without him adding to it.
Jess quickly nodded, "Oh no... I won't say anything to him. Don't worry about that." She actually didn't even know when she would see or talk to Ben again. Since Kristen's visit, she had been doing her best to avoid him. "I can imagine how stressful it can be and it's not even your baby." Gathering her mail in her hands, she then tucked them under her arm, "So uh... the offer stands. Ya know, if you wanna just get out for a bit. You know where I live." she smiled.
Caleb couldn't help but smile a little as he looked over to her. "I might just take you up on that." He told her. "And just so you know, that thing that happened at that party that we're not talking about... Don't worry about it, I took the roses to the hospital and got the nurses to give them out." He said with a light shrug of his shoulders like it was no big deal.
Jessica stared at Caleb with her mouth slightly hanging open. It was as if he just confessed some dying devotion to her. It was one of the sweetest things she had ever heard. "What?" she asked, looking at him as her mouth slowly curved into a smile, "You did that?" Clearly Ben didn't know how roommate all that well. Countless times he'd mentioned him, it wasn't ever anything positive. "That was so sweet of you to think of something like that. I would have just thrown them in the dumpster. Thank you." she added, still smiling. She was seeing him in a whole new light now.
Caleb hadn't really been expecting that kind of reaction. All he did was dump them on some nurse, (which did get him a kiss on the cheek) and leave. It wasn't like it was his idea... he just happened to be taking the credit for it. He paused a moment then smiled a little, more then happy to play the night in lying armor for her. "It was no big deal or anything... I just didn't want to see them go to waste. I figured they should go to a someone who'd you know, get a smile out of them." He said shrugging his shoulders a little as he gave her a bit of a smirk.
She reached over and lightly grazed his arm, "No, no... it is a big deal." she explained, still touched by his actions, "You took a horrible situation... and turned it into something good. I have to say I'm impressed." Staring at him in awe for a few more moments, Jess finally cleared her throat and looked away. "Sorry." she said, chuckling, "I hope I haven't embarrassed you or anything. I'd better head up and get some studying done... and I've probably kept you long enough."
He still couldn't help but be shocked with just how happy she seemed to be about what he'd done. He knew it was a good thing, but still, with her reaction, it made it out like he'd just given a million dollars to charity. He'd never had someone be so happy and touched by something he'd done. He'd never actually had someone smile at him like she was smiling at him in that moment. It was always the opposite, people were let down by him, he failed people. It was so odd, he didn't actually know how to react. He tried to speak but he found himself unable to form words for a moment. "What?" He questioned after a moment realizing what she'd meant. "No.... it was nothing. I'm just glad I could make your day." He said, a little more honestly. But still he wasn't sure what to say or do, he'd never actually done anything like this before. What was he supposed to say or do next?
Still smiling like some young teenager developing a crush on a classmate, Jess nodded, "Well ya did. Thank you. After a long day of classes, I guess I needed it." She untucked the mail from under her arm and held it in her hand as she stood awkwardly in the hallway, wondering if she should go or if he wanted to continue to bullshit.
Caleb suddenly couldn't help but feel all awkward around her. He had no idea what he was supposed to say or do now. Should he just leave? Keep talking? He didn't know how he was supposed to act around her. He felt like a complete idiot and he didn't know why. After a prolonged silence between the two with neither knowing what to say do Caleb decided to break the silence. "I should go... it was nice talking you though." He said before heading to leave. He started to head back towards the stairs before realizing he was heading the wrong way. "Right.... apartment's this way." He said pointing in the opposite direction towards where he needed to go.
Jess had to laugh. Caleb was definitely something else. She wasn't quite sure what he was yet, but something made her curious. "See ya later, Caleb!" she called out with a wave of her hand before heading in the direction she needed to go. She shook her head the whole way, laughing and smiling to herself, thinking what an interesting character that guy was.
hello everyone!
