With summer coming to an end, his brother Jack desperately wanted to one last BBQ in the park. Since Eric was a sucker for his younger brother, he obeyed his request and found himself standing in front of the barbecue with a cold beer in hand. It seemed though that he had bought more hamburgers than intended. Noticing someone passing by, Eric whistled to catch their attention. “You want a free burger?” 

Emma eyed the shirtless man who handled the barbecue. In fact, it was a little hard not to notice the male given the racks of abs that were stacked on his torso. “Hm, what?” she asked, flushing at the concept that he may have noticed her staring at him. “I’d love to? Is there a catch though? People rarely give things out for free anymore.”

Lara sucked in a deep breath, cradling her hand close to her chest still swearing under her breath although much quieter than before bitting down on her bottom lip. The woman was a mother and had handled childbirth without drugs which in itself was an amazingly painful feet considering how big her son was. It was just her luck though that this injury to her hand would take her out. “Emma I - shit - I’ll be fine my thumb just… work is particularly stressful. They like driving their best reporter into the ground tomorrow will be the seventh day in a row Mason comes to work with me and I can’t find a decent nanny. I’m worried about my little nugget”

“Okay, pretend we’re talking, yeah?” Callum said without preamble to the person now stood in front of him, looking over his shoulder shiftily at the woman he was currently trying to avoid. 

“Oh, sure,” she said with a small smile as she moved closer and suddenly blanked on what they could talk about. It all seemed too complicated. “Hm, how are you?”

“Sorry, I’m just tired…” Elliot ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath before looking at the person talking to him. “What was it that you were saying?” He asked wondering.

“It’s no problem at all, I was just asking if you’d like some milk and sugar with your coffee.” The blonde asked the male with a raise of her brow, holding both in her hand after she’d come to deposit his coffee before him.

“I know we’re not even in September yet, but I already have this year’s Halloween costume picked out. –I still have to actually convince my husband to go along with it, but I think the odds are in my favor…” The raven-haired woman murmured, her lips twisting into a wry smile. “Anyway– have you figured out what you’ll be doing? Thinking of dressed up or doing anything special?”

“I often pick last minute and they’re the worst costumes because I find the last one that’s in my size. Like last year, I was dressed up as a teacher. I didn’t like it very much, but I often just put back costume shopping because I tend to get overwhelmed by the options, but it doesn’t help that I end up not being able to get anything because I just wait.” Her head shook as she sighed, it was all complicated. 

“I love my job, I really do,” Della sighed. There was an air of annoyance in her voice as she shifted in her seat, bringing her fingers to mess with the straw attached to her cup. “And I knew that dealin’ with passionate drunks would be somethin’ I’d have to deal with, but honestly I don’t know how much longer I can put up with guys, young and old mind you, grabbin’ my ass when I’m just tryin’ to shoot some t-shirts out of an air cannon,” she huffed. “It’s gettin’ old.”

“I think that’s pretty much everywhere. I work at a cafe/slash dinner and you should see the type of people who come in, young and old. Most often it’s words because they can’t really reach out of their booths, but there’s some who’ve done so. Though, I can’t imagine how much worse that could be once alcohol is involved in that. Maybe you should try doing something else, though I doubt the tips will be just as good — but at least you’ll have some peace of mind.”

Derrek had found himself incredibly busy the last few weeks, this of course, had been no real surprise. As he seemed to always be busy, rather it had something to do with his children, or flying back and forth between Atlanta, and California, sometimes New York. He was always on the go, and therefore, it could leave him losing touch with those outside of his family. No, in fact, most times, it did just that. Yet, this morning, he’d find himself outside a local cafe, that had actually become a regular place for him to go to, rather he was in a rush. Or simply to get some silent, and peace, to focus on work. It always found to be a toss up between those two, and with how often he’d find himself there, he’d come to know the staff whether well. This including a young blonde by the name of Emma, who always seemed to be a delight. She got his humor, and they were able to bicker and joke with each other that brought a calm to the male. For this, he had not only become a regular of the cafe’s, but that of the blonde’s. Derrek had just about been ready to enter the cafe, when the sound of his phone would then go off, causing him to step back and pull it out of his pocket. Just about to answer it, when he realized just who it was, and without hesitation, would find himself denying the call. His thoughts not lasting upon the rejected call for much longer as a familiar voice would then cut in on anything that might’ve been running through his mind. Turning towards the familiar blonde, Derrek returned a smile, as he reached for the drink that he knew she knew like the back of her hand, “Always so good to me, darlin.” He commented, “Oh, you know me, still kicking. Yeah, I’m sorry about that, I actually had some work that I was finishing up in New York, and a new project in the works. Dealing with that bullshit, but I’m supposed to have some free time coming up, so you’ll see more of me, I’m sure.” He assured, bringing the cup to his lips, “How’s my favorite waitress doing?”

“Yes, I am totally fine!” Charlotte smiled at the other blonde. She nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, there is always someone somewhere needed to talk to me about work or something on my phone that I want to read on my phone. So I totally understand. But yes, we both have things to improve.”

“I know! I kind of miss those days where people were forced to call one another and come meet in person. Now you can have an entire conversation for years without even seeing someone. It’s a little sad when you think about it.” She sighed, though knowing that technology had helped a lot throughout the years. 

Emma was in line at the coffee shop when she noticed a familiar someone pause outside, as if wondering if he should enter. A small smile crept upon her face given how long it had been since she’d last seen him. He’d been a regular; one that seemed to get many attention from the other waitresses who attempted to be the first at his table, but for some reason, he always asked for Emma. Never did she allow it to get to her head, but it was still nice to see him. “Oh, can I have another one. Thank you.” She smiled at the barista, already knowing the male’s order. As she made her way outside, the blonde stepped up her pace and managed to snag his attention by yelling out his name. “Derek,” she laughed, holding out a coffee for him. “I saw you outside so I got you one. How are you?” She asked, leaning forward to give him a quick hug. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Sex did wonders for the single girl. It released the tension and increased  endorphins and did all sorts of wonders but there were just some things that sex couldn’t fix. Her life was falling apart, her friends or the people she’d thought of as friends were happy- extremely so and she  well… Liana was still on the outside looking in. She wanted to be part of something. She wanted to come home on days that were particularly stressful and kiss her son, cuddle up with the little boy to have him fall asleep in her arms. She wanted friends that could be her friends and she wanted someone to kiss the back of her neck and tell her they loved her. Throwing punches at the bag, hitting harder and harder one after another she’d been wrapped up in her thoughts and throwing her hand at the wrong angle she winced. Clutching the hand to her chest she was sure she sprained it. Swearing under her breath. “Fuck… this is what I get isn’t it”

This wasn’t exactly the norm for Lily, but instead of her regular 4:30am trip to the flower market, she’d decided to head out jogging instead. Normally the market kept her busy for a couple of hours, so when she was finally feeling like she couldn’t go on anymore, she slowed to more of a fast walk — craving coffee. She casually pulled one of her earbuds out, catching the attention of someone else on the street, asking, “Hey, you know if there are any coffee shops open this early?”

“No need to apologize, honestly. It was probably both our faults. As long as you are okay and I am okay. Then I think we should be fine.” She said with a smile. “I think we both just need to pay a little more attention to where we are going. But then again, that’s something I’ve always needed to work on,” Charlotte joked with a laugh.

“I’m fine, and you’re okay, right?” she asked the blonde with worried expression on her face. She hoped she hadn’t injured her given how little she could handle guilt. “I’ve heard all the campaigns about walking with a phone in your hands, but it’s just somethings that I can’t quit. So I guess we both have things to work on, huh?”