Participants:
Scene Title | Oh. My. God. |
---|---|
Synopsis | Childhood friends meet again on the other side of the country from home. |
Date | April 1, 2011 |
Tranquil and Fabulous wrapped up in warm and inviting colors and the sleek lines of Japanese architecture…Cambria Salon and Day Spa is a fashionable paradise. Dark almost black wood paneling has been used through out the salon, fresh flowers are found in glass vases and exchanged with flower shaped candles every day at 4 PM. There is a different theme for just about every day of the week, but nothing set in stone. There are 8 or so individual work stations with leaf shaped mirrors and comfortable chairs. There are a couple of private rooms for waxing, facials and massages and the like including a private station and office for the owner. The reception area is designed for comfort with the black seats and couches, glass coffee tables and glass/wood reception desk. Over all the salon is edgy and sleek, it is Cambria Salon and Day Spa.
It's half past four in the afternoon and business is still going for the Cambria Salon. Sitting at the reception desk, painting her nails a shade of bright pink, Adisa Dunham sits. After all, what's a girl working at a salon to do but paint her nails? Finishing off her nails, she gently reseals the nail polish bottle and, getting out of her seat, takes it back to the workstation it came from. This shows off her full outfit, a white, sleeveless top with a pink, ruffled skirt. Not exactly sensible in New York this time of year, but she's not always one to dress sensibly. If it looks good, she'll wear it.
Back at her seat, Adisa starts gently blowing on her nails. She is at work, after all. She needs her fingers for doing stuff…like picking up the phone and such. She doesn't want to smudge the nail polish all over everything.
Rue Lancaster needs a mani-pedi in the worst way. Not because her nails are in a state of disaster or anything, because she takes care of them, but because she needs the pampering. She could also stand to get her layers touched up a bit. Trim off some split ends… But that can wait for another day.
Adjusting the grip on her red messenger bag (it matches her coat) as she steps inside the salon, Rue doesn't really pay attention to the receptionist until she's right up to the desk. "Oh, please tell me you can take a walk-in for a man— Didi?" Because Adisa was never quite cutesy enough for Rue when the girls were growing up. Much like every person Rue feels close to in her life, Adisa has her own special nickname. "Ahmigawsh! I haven't seen you since… Holy shit, you have tits! Lookit you!"
Not looking up just yet, Adisa starts her normal spiel as soon as she hears the door open. "Welcome to Cambria Salon and Day Spa. How may I help you?" At least they've got her conditioned to not say 'like' and 'totally' when she first greets customers. When the other young lady begins to talk, however, she looks up and can't help but blink. It's someone she hasn't seen in years. "Rue? But…Rue?" She lets out a little squeal.
Hopping off of her seat, Adisa scrambles around the desk, as quickly as her high heeled shoes can take her, and gives Rue a little hug. She lets out a little giggle. "Well, yeah I do!" She grins. "And you! You're like…you're totally…oh…my…god! How are you? Have a seat!" She motions toward a couch, leading Rue toward it to sit down. "You look gorgeous, by the way."
"Oh. My. Gawd. So do you!" Adisa totally brings out the valley girl in Rue, even if she never lived in the valley that type of girl is named for. "Ohmigawd!" The bag is slung off her shoulders and dropped off to the side before Rue sets herself down on the couch next to her best friend's little sister. "I cannot believe it! When did you get to the city? I haven't seen you since th-"
The words fall off abruptly as Rue realises she was about to say the funeral. Samara's funeral. And that would be awkward in the sense of bringing up her dead sister, but it's awkward in a different way because Adisa's sister isn't dead. …How does one even begin to approach this topic? "Like four and a half years!" Nice recovery, right? "You look so good! That dress is so cute!"
Everything about Didi is super cute. Rue suddenly feels a litle inadequate in how she's just knocking around in well-worn jeans and a Batman logo'd tee shirt. At least she wore cute heels! (Yes, with jeans. Shut up!) "Wow! It's so awesome to see you!"
"Like…like…I dunno. Early January? It was totally crazy times. Moved in with Tahir. I'm like, sure you can totally figure out what that is like." Adisa rolls her eyes and carefully flicks some hair over her right shoulder. "And yeah…it's like, totally been so long! I didn't even know what you were like…you know…doing any more! Are you like, still doing that…you know…like, modeling stuff?"
Adisa is absolutely beaming. It's someone she knew since she was a kid! And…someone she never really realized could rock a pair of jeans. But then, when she was younger, she was mostly caught up more in her own fashion sense. "So like…you know, it's totally awesome to see you too! And like…I like your shirt. I totally can't swing the batman tee. Superman maybe. Cookie Monster? Possibly." She grins. She sighs. "I'm like, totally like…what's the word? Bepuddled? I didn't think I'd see you after like, you decided to stay up here!"
"Yeah! I mean, I try to do the modelling thing. I don't get many jobs, though. Lots of competition. The business is tough." Rue shakes her head. "I wish I had half the talent for dance-" That Samara has. Eventually, she's going to have to bring up the subject. "But I'm no prima ballerina. I wish. I still take lessons, though. Ballet's way cooler than yoga." She sweeps her hand to indicate her figure. "I mean, look at this body. Body by ballet. Super hawtt, right? Pilates ain't got shit on this."
Her smile fades a little bit and Rue shrugs. "After… After we thought Sami died, I couldn't come back to Chicago. It didn't feel right to be there without you. And… I couldn't look at you guys in the eye anymore. I blamed myself for convincing her to come along with me. I'm sure you guys did, too." Only this story has a happy ending. Just… There's a lot of unresolved tension there. At least for Rue.
When she meets Adisa's gaze again, Rue's eyes are glinting with tears. "Oh, Didi. I'm so sorry." Her arms come out and wrap the younger girl in a tight hug, face pressed against her shoulder. Even if Samara didn't die, she was still taken away from her family for four years. And that's a long time to be without someone you love.
"I'm totally surprised." Comes Adisa's response. "I mean like, seriously. With a body like yours, I'd totally think all the modeling agencies would be like, wanting to be totally booking you like…ALL the time, you know?" Adisa shrugs. "Dance is cool and all, but I'd totally go for modeling over dance if I had the choice. Not that, you know, it wasn't right for like, Sami or anything." She shrugs a little bit. "Anyway, you totally know what the best exercise is right? Totally not pilates. Totally not ballet. It's totally…jazzercise. That's totally how I like keeping in shape when I can. Otherwise, it's totally the gym for me!"
Adisa listens to Rue patiently, and when she's pulled into a hug by the other girl, she does only the natural thing…and hugs back. "But like…you totally don't need to apologize, Rue! Like, not at all! You totally weren't blamed!" She pats the other girl softly on the back with one hand, while rubbing her back gently with the other in, what she hopes are, soothing motions. "It was like, a total accident. No one could be like, blamed for that at all!"
Guilt feelings are hard to get over and when Rue pulls back, it's with a sheepish expression. "You're so sweet. I've really felt terrible this whole time and I didn't… really know how to face you guys." Lopsided lips are pulled into a miserable little frown that is the sort of face that pretty girls do not want immortalised on film, because they look hideous wearing them. "Ha- Have you talked to her recently? I… have you seen her recently?"
Anybody seeing Samara at all still gives Rue pause sometimes. She'd gotten kind of used to being special like that. "I mean, if you haven't, I'll tell her to come by and see you, because you should totally talk."
Luckily, Adisa never blamed Rue. And while she did grieve, she did so by shopping. Doing lots of it. So it all worked out. At least in her mind. "Aww. I hope I'm not too sweet. You know. If I were, how'd I like…you know, be able to throw 'tude in there when dealing with girls who are jealous of my style?" She grins. Using her fingers to test out the nails polish, she mutters, "Good. Dry."
Out of one side of her bra, Adisa pulls out a hanky. Yes, that's right. She pulled it out of her bra. Or maybe it was the space between her bra and her top. Either way, she tentatively holds it out to Rue. You never know when a hanky might be useful, and sometimes your purse is just too far away! Like in this case.
Smiling, Adisa nods. "Yeah. I thought I was going crazy or something when I first saw her. Like…loony tunes crazy. You know? I mean…here was Sami, and she was with some dude named Brian. My car had stalled, they were driving past. She used her freaky…walk through walls thing to come through the door of my car! I though she'd come back from the dead to haunt me or something…like…to totally get revenge for me saying she had no fashion sense or something like that!"
Rue takes the offered hanky with a murmured thank you, dabbing at her face gingerly. She has to be careful not to smear her eyeliner or mascara more than they've already been after all. This is why God created waterproof formulae.
Or maybe Urban Decay invented that. Same difference. It's just like the watch in the heath, right?
Right.
"So you've met Brian, then." She finds her smile at that, folding the hanky neatly to pass back to the Adisa once Rue's sure she's presentable again. "They are totes engaged. She told you, right?"
Placing the returned hanky back in its bra holding space, Adisa nods a little bit. "Like, she totally told me that she and he were totally getting married and I was all like 'Oh…em…gee, I totally have to plan this wedding'. And I've totally taken her dress shopping. Which was awesome. 'Cause, you know…dresses. Who doesn't love shopping for dresses?"
"Oh my God. Seriously." A solemn nod to that sentiment. Because shopping? For dresses? That are gonna look amazing? Totally the best thing in the known universe. …Right next to chocolate bars and freedom. But way ahead of being a soldier. "Oh my gawd, though. I feel so bad for Sami. Shopping for a dress for her is gonna be, like, totally impossible with how much her weight is gonna fluctuate!" As soon as the words leave her lips, Rue's eyes grow wide and she slaps a hand over her mouth.
"Weight…fluctuate…girl, what in the whole wide Gucci world are you like, talking about?" Adisa asks, putting her hands on her hips. "And I'm totally not taking 'nothing' for an answer. Is she like…going on an eating binge? If so, we totally need to stop this before it like, totally gets out of hand." Yes…because everything about weight fluctuations for Adisa involve tons of eating.
Rue's hand slooowly lowers back into her lap and she gives Adisa the widest and most apologetic smile ever. "Your sister is totally preggo. You are gonna be Auntie Didi." She bites her lip for a moment, brows hiked up to her hairline. "Congrats?"
Adisa stares blankly at Rue for a moment. She doesn't move, she doesn't even blink. And then, just as suddenly, she starts to squeal and gets up and starts hopping about and doing a little dance. "I'm gonna be an auntie! I'm gonna be an auntie! I'm gonna be an auntie!" No doubt co-workers and patrons alike think she's gone a tad bit loony.
Oh, phew! That went way better than Rue could ever have hoped for. Not that she really expected Adisa Dunham to put on a dour face and express disapproval. So Rue jumps to her feet and grasps Adisa's hands and bounces excitedly with her. "They're gonna have the cutest baby ever. The only way there would be a cuter baby is if you had a baby, and you are totally way too young to be having babies. Gotta get your partying out of the way first! They don't let babies into clubs. The bass is bad for their little eardrums and their the strobes just mess with those tiny eyes!"
Ah, but here is where Adisa gets her dour face. At the mention of her having babies, she stops hopping about and eyes Rue, dour face in full swing. "Ewww. I'm totally not gonna have babies any time soon. Girl, are you crazier than Chicagoan at a Cubs game?" Her hands squeeze Rue's a little tightly. "Besides, how is a sweet lil Chicago girl like me gonna know what a club is like at only eighteen years of age?" She ends that with a little awkward clearing of her throat.
"Uhmmm, I know your brother," Rue offers with a roll of her eyes and a little scoff. "Duh." Like how could Adisa live with Tahir and not know the address and phone number of every club in town? "And good. Didi is a no baby zone. Not until you're like thirty and you've made enough money to retire on." That's realistic.
"So…you know my brother! That like, totally doesn't mean…okay, yeah. Never mind." Adisa smiles coyly. "I think you know a little too much about my family." She gives the other girl a little playful tap with her foot. "Well, I like…think the plan is gonna be…become a pop star, but like, not as crazy as Britney Spears and with Christina Aguilera's smokin' hot looks. That way, I can make tons of cash."
"Oh my gawd. I am gonna tell everybody that I heard of you first." Rue's mouth drops open, but she grins wide. "Nobody will ever believe me, of course. But that's okay, because I totally did know you first. Like, I remember when your parents brought you home from the hospital, so I totally heard of you first. Or like fifth, because your parents and Sami and Tahir totally heard of you before I did. But outside your immediate family, I heard of you first."
Adisa giggles. "You think I'm totally going without you? Somebody needs to like, be my agent and like, look out for me! Sami'll have the baby, and like…Tahir'd probably just try to sleep with every girl he thought was hot. So like, who better than like, the family friend who has been there through like, totally everything?"
Rue narrows her eyes in what would look like genuine scepticism if not for the twinkle in her eye. "I don't know… That sounds like an awful lot of work." One finger taps at her chin, seemingly considering the offer. "Can I be on the cover of your first album? Not your first indie album, though. When you get signed to a major label." She grins impishly now at her negotiations.
Adisa winks. "Rue…like, it'll be the funnest thing you've ever done. Like…ever. Going on the road and like…meeting people. And the music! Gotta think of the music, right?" She says happily. "And yeah. I like, totally wouldn't have anyone else on my an album cover! Other than like, you know, me. And stuff. But like, you totally would have to tour around too. Really really!"
"Weeeell…" Rue makes a point of examining her nails and trying to look disinterested. "I guess if I can fit it into my busy schedule." Which she does actually stop to think about for a moment. Managing Adisa might get in the way of fighting for truth, justice, and the—
No, wait. She's wearing the Batman shirt. Let's start that again.
Managing Adisa might get in the way of her full-time job of being the vengeance and the (k)night. But it probably won't cut into her part-time model gig, so, "Okay! I'll do it!"
Adisa taps her left foot and crosses her arms in mock impatience, awaiting the answer from the girl who she has always known as her older sister's best friend. When the answer finally comes, she nods firmly as if she already knew the answer. "Good!" She smiles saucily. Uncrossing her arms, she instead puts her hands on her hips. "Who'd've thought that we'd have run into each other here, huh? Of all places!"
"Uhm, I'm actually sure this was like the perfect place to run into each other. I just wouldn't have expected to find you working here is all!" Rue grins and pokes Adisa in the ribs teasingly. "Speaking of, I did totally come in for a manicure. Can you hook a girl up?" She drops her voice to a low whisper and leans in, "Like, can you get me a discount?"
Another giggle parts from Adisa's lips. "Like, totally true. But like, I was wondering why you were like, here and all. As much as like, I really wanted to think, I didn't think you were like, here to just see me." She grins. "And yeah. For you, I can do anything, Rue." She glances down the rows. "Here, I can totally get you sat down over there, and like, someone'll be there to manicure you up. And then, like, come to me afterwards and like, I'll totally… fix up your bill."
Rue squeals quietly, keeping the volume of it subdued even if the pitch is elevated. "Welcome to New York~" She clasps both Adisa's hands again for a brief squeeze before gathering up her bag to head down the row. "You're the greatest, Didi!"