Friends Are Manipulative Bastards

[Jason Campbell]

As he entered the restaurant, Jason started to seriously doubt the purposes of friends. They were not nice and supportive, they were all a bunch of manipulative bastards that set up blind dates for you without even asking you first and forced you to meet with a total stranger. He didn’t even get a picture. That would have been too easy. Instead, he had a vague description and was promised she’d be sitting at the bar waiting for him and wearing a red scarf. Why they had to play it like that, he had no idea. It would have been so easy if they just shared each other’s picture. It would be a lot easier for him to recognize her. Or not. His friend sure understood that Jason was not the best with faces. Remembering a single woman at the bar with brown hair and a red scarf was easier for him. Still, a picture would have been nice.

He tried to dress a little better than he often did. Put on one of his best shirts. It was still not very formal but Jason happened to have little formal attire in his wardrobe and he certainly was not going to wear any of those to a blind date. First impression might be important and it was why he picked colors he believed matched together. He believed that chocolate brown shirt looked nice on him just like it should fit with the black jeans. He was good to go.

He looked at the place. There were plenty of women but few were alone and even fewer were near the bar. One had something that could be referred to as a red scarf. He miraculously managed to remember the name his friend gave him. He walked to her. She was sipping on a glass of wine. “Excuse me,” he asked the woman as he came near her. “Are you Justine?”

TAG: Amelia Baker

[Amelia Baker]

As usual, Amelia had opted to spend her evening at the local bar. It was her method of relieving stress. She rarely drank overly much during the weekdays. No, that was saved for the weekends. Still, it had always had a calming effect on her; being able to sit down after a long day of work with a glass of wine - or something else. It was almost like taking a bubble bath, except that your entire body didn't start to wrinkle and you didn't have to walk around smelling like flowers or candy.

She had dressed for the occasion too. As usual, she wore her skin-tight, high waist skirts with a matching blouse. Only this time, she wasn't out for much attention, so she'd opted for a maroon scarf neatly tied around her neck to cover up any essentials that some men would take as a hint that she needed someone to butter up her oven.

The voice had her raising her eyebrows, brown eyes peeking over the tip of the wine glass as she took a sip. She used these few seconds to study the man. The way he dressed, the way he looked and the way he carried himself. Then, Amelia put the glass down and offered the man her most charming smile. "That depends on who's asking," she replied.

Now, now, this could surely turn out to become quite the interesting turn of events.

[Jason Campbell]

Women had a way to name colors. Red was not red, it was scarlet or crimson or carmine. To him, it was just red. And maroon was, well, the closest to red there was around here. There was not even a scarf that could be closer to pink that could fit better. And this woman had brown hair, was good looking and around his age. He was not picking them freshly out of college after all. Then again, he had very little faith in this date but it was not like he had anything else to do and thanks to his friend’s words, the prospect of tossing some random food in the oven and watch whatever nonsense was on television this evening sounded dreary.

She was beautiful and his eyes did scan the features of her face, with a quick glance down below as well. His piercing blue eyes just seemed to beg her to be this Justine in question. Because, for one, it would be terribly embarrassing to call out the wrong person, especially if this Justine woman was nearby and could hear him, and secondly, since he could not see anyone else fitting the description, he feared he would just sit at the bar and drink all night long waiting for someone who would never come and this would be even more embarrassing.

She did not admit to being Justine but did not say she wasn’t. Was that a good sign? “My name’s Jason? Leo was the one who organized this? Unless you know him more as Doctor Riley?” Why did everything he said had to sound like a question? It was not like he suddenly forgot his name or why he was here. He chuckled nervously, passing a hand over his hair before ending his gesture on his chin, caressing the stubble that was apparent. If you could still call that a stubble at this point. “I’m sorry, I’m not exactly good at this.” Maybe he should have a drink. He looked at the man working on the other side of the counter. Would it look bad if he ordered a beer? Perhaps a scotch then?

[Amelia Baker]

There was a slight amusement to be found behind Amelia's eyes. It was apparent that the man wasn't entire sure how to go about this. He even seemed more and more insecure as the seconds passed - poor thing. For a moment, Amelia was actually tempted to pretend that she was this Justine person, but she had a feeling it would only come back to bite her in the ass. Besides, she was getting far too old for such childish schemes - and given the man's nervous tacts, she doubted he'd appreciate those kind of jokes being played on him.

"I'm afraid I do not," she said, the corners of her lips tugging upwards. "And it's quite alright, Jason." She then reached her hand out to shake his. "I'm Amelia. Amelia Baker." Sure, she could have went along with this little charade, but what would have been the point? Following his gaze towards the bar, Amelia chuckled softly. "Keep looking like that, and people might start thinking there's an apocalypse coming our way. Relax."

She then looked around before patting the chair next to her. "I'm assuming your friend got you to agree to a blind date," she noted, more so to herself than anyone else. She wondered why he'd picked her out of everyone. Was it the attire? The location? Her looks? 

[Jason Campbell]

Right now, Jason still believe this woman was, or might be, Justine. He had no reason to think otherwise, even if she seemed amused by all this. He would actually be relieved if she was. She was indeed a beautiful woman who both looked his age and serious enough not to get on his nerves after five minutes. Unfortunately, she did not know Leo. His face dropped a bit as the meaning of this sank in him. “You’re not Justine,” he voiced out loud as the conclusion was now pretty clear to him. He made a mistake, saw her and figured she might be the one. He looked around, hoping he did not let his gaze pass over another brown haired girl with a red scarf on her sitting at the bar. But he saw none other. Still, could she really lie to him about this? He had been so caught up in the fear of humiliating a woman by ignoring her and favoring someone else in her stead that he did not think until now that she might be the one blowing him off.

She offered her hand and he decided she was not lying about her name just to get rid of him. “Still Jason. Campbell,” he introduced himself as. If her name was supposed to mean something to him, it failed. Well, that was embarrassing. Would it look bad if he downed his glass and asked for another? Because his first blind date in forever was not exactly what you’d call a success. He was thinking that when he heard her telling him to relax. He chuckled nervously. “Sorry. This is a rather embarrassing mistake though,” he shared with her.

She offered him to sit next to her and he decided to take on her offer. He nodded to her assumption as he emptied his glass. “I’m afraid so. Friends, right? Because they know you they can force you to the craziest of things,” he answered. He gestured for the barman and asked him to give him another scotch, one he hoped he would savour more slowly. Should the real Justine show up now, it would not reflect well on him if he was busy getting drunk. He looked back at Amelia after that. “Sorry for the mistake. He was so nice, he couldn’t even give me a picture of her. Probably didn't trust me since I’ve never been good at recognizing faces. Only said she was a beautiful woman with brown hair that would be waiting for me at the bar with a red scarf on,” he explained, pointing at the one she had. That did seem to fit her. Maybe he should have given him the picture anyway. Unless there was something wrong with said picture. He'd rather not think about it.

[Amelia Baker]

"That I'm not," she agreed with a slow nod. Hey, maybe it could have been fun to play the man around her finger, but Amelia had gotten far too old for such childish antics. It was the sort of thing eighteen year old girls did, not women halfway to forty. The man then continued to look around, which brought out a slightly amused expression in Amelia's brown eyes. She reached for her drink once more and took a sip. Poor thing. She hoped that someone as handsome as that hadn't gotten stood up. Although, the woman likely wouldn't know that, seeing as how he didn't seem to know what she looked like...

Amelia shook her head, issuing a light laugh. "Don't worry about it. We all make mistakes. Besides..." she smirked. "I have a feeling I should take this mistake as a compliment rather than something else." She added a wink to that and tapped the tips of her fingernails against the glass in her hands.

At least she was better than no company at all, no?

Issuing another laugh as he sat down, Amelia nodded. "I'm sad to claim that I've never had that problem. I can be pretty hard to convince." Sure, she had friends, but she was usually the one convincing them to do things rather than the opposite. Few people seemed to think it was a good idea to play foul with her. She had a rather.... Strong personality. Though, Amelia liked to think of herself as a powerful, and independent woman who knew what she wanted, what she didn't, and how to get what she wanted. Few people seemed to question that. Of that, she was glad. "I see," she said, pursing her lips. "Well, then I really should take it as a compliment," she laughed.

[Jason Campbell]

Jason felt he was too old to go on blind dates but sometimes, it was just so hard to say no to a friend. He figured it didn’t mean anything. He could just go there, see how that Justine was and decide from there what to do. They didn’t have to date after that. At the very least it would give him something else to do of his night than watch television or do some research.

Only Justine didn’t seem to be around. Jason was often late, except this time he was right on time. Maybe his friend told her he was always late and she decided to arrive a little after the given hour. Or she was always late too. If so, how the two of them could be a match was beyond him. They’d never get anywhere. The fact she was not there was not entirely to displease Jason though. First, it allowed him to remember how silly this whole idea had been and how it might not be that bad of a thing it didn’t go through. Secondly, if Amelia was not Justine, she was still very good looking and spending time with her was not to displease him, given she accepted to give him some of her time. She invited him over so he would assume she did. And he made sure she was not wearing any wedding ring.

He let out a laughter when she claimed being hard to convince. “Then you are lucky. I’ve never let them drag me into something like this but I figured there was nothing bad in meeting this person. That is, if I can meet with her.” He looked at his watch. He really tried not to make people wait when you were supposed to meet at a place like this. The employees didn’t really appreciate you sitting there and waiting forever either. He figured he could give her a few more minutes. If she didn't arrive by then, he’d order something to eat and... well he was not sure Amelia would still want of his presence after that and if not he’ll find another spot. If she did, he wouldn’t say he was losing anything here.

“You should,” he told her, giving her a smile. He tapped on the scarf. “I don’t know if it can be considered red but you definitely are the most beautiful woman here,” he told her. He took a sip of his drink before adding, a finger in the air to tell her he had something else to say. “That is, until Justine arrives. Then I’ll have to tell her the same.” was that a bad joke to say? He didn't mean to imply she was not beautiful. She really was. But you cannot exactly tell your date there were woman more beautiful than them in the room. Oh well, he said it. He’ll have to live with whatever way she’d take it.

[Amelia Baker]

Laughing, the brunette nodded. "I suppose so," she began, her lips quirking upwards. "At least it's a nice way to meet new people," she suggested. Now, she was hardly one for blind dating herself, but she could see the benefits - or the sense of adventure. This guy hardly struck her as the type who went on a whole lot of adventures, but he'd still come, which spoke volumes. Which also meant that he was single - and rather handsome, which Amelia could surely enjoy, even if it was merely innocent.

Her eyes dropped to where his finger tapped on the scarf, then immediately went back up as he once again complimented her. A smirk colored her lips and she arched one of her eyebrows. She opened her mouth to speak, but held back her words when she saw the finger in the air. "My oh my, you're really not holding back tonight, are you?" she laughed. "But at the very least you know where to place yours bets," she added, the smirk growing. 

And he was charming too. Surely, there had to be something wrong with him. No man was both handsome, charming and seemingly intelligent without some kind of catch.

Lifting the drink to her lips, Amelia mulled it over for a moment. "So, do tell me, what do you do for a living if you don't mind me asking?" Maybe he had some kind of shitty job to explain the drawbacks he surely had to have. 

[Jason Campbell]

Jason didn’t think he was much of the adventurous type. Blind dates were not for him. That much was sure. The fact this one was not starting as it should, despite the fact he would not totally complain about it, just proved he should leave that to teenagers and college kids. He should have asked more information about this Justine. Amelia was already far more interesting and not only because she was the one there. He chuckled at the thought it could be an interesting way of meeting new people. “I’ll stick to more traditional methods.” He could argue that he met enough people with his work but it was not like he should flirt with his patients and he was not really the type of doctor who asked you questions about you and your family, unless he knew that patient to be one who liked to talk of this and he’d hear of it anyway.

She took no offense. Hey, if Justine was not coming, he shouldn’t sit at the bar and drink his heart out because it failed. If Amelia offered to accompany him, he would take that chance. But should Justine just be late... he couldn’t really admit he flirted with someone else while he waited for her. It was not exactly the kind of first impression you wanted to give someone. He laughed at the way she responded. “Funny, I’ve always been told I was more of a lazy lion. I’m glad to know I might be not as bad as I thought.”

Maybe he should have asked her if she was single. She could still be flirting with him despite waiting for someone herself. He took his chance though. If some bulky man approached them, asking what he was doing with ‘his girl’, he’ll apologize and explain he was waiting for someone himself. But since there was no such person coming over reeking of testosterone and machismo, he figured he was safe.

“I’m a doctor,” he answered her question before raising his glass and drinking some of his scotch. “General practice. I work at the clinic. How about you?”

[Amelia Baker]

He was funny and Amelia couldn't help but to laugh. Again. "See, this is the great part about meeting new people. You get all these new ways of seeing yourself through their eyes." No, the man seemed nice. And he was handsome too. Two traits that often didn't go hand in hand. Amelia had met quite a few idiots in her time. Not all of them men, either. She knew that she couldn't brush every member of the male species under the same rug, as she couldn't do the same with females, but it was still nice to meet someone who helped people realize that there was good people out there too.

Raising her eyebrows, the brunette smiled. "Good looking, kind and a doctor. I should have figured," the brunette laughed. Well, at least he had a good job. And she was right too, she probably should have figured. He was far too nice to working some douchebag job. Being a doctor meant having at least decent people skill. Of course, she'd met quite a few doctors who thought more about their salary than people. "I'm a teacher," she said, smiling. "Business teacher." Which she happened to be extremely proud of too.

"I work up at the boarding school near the mountains," she continued, gesturing with her hand. Everyone in Kalispell knew about the boarding school, but she figured there was no point in saying anything more about it just in case the man knew nothing of mutants.

[Jason Campbell]

It felt good to his ego to see her laugh and not feel like she was laughing of his attempt but really of what he said, just like it should be. He was not used to being the funny one and even if she might have done it to humor him, he was not entirely crossing out that eventuality, it still felt good. The fact she was a beautiful and charismatic woman was an added bonus.

Good looking? Well, yes, he supposed he could at the very least say he was good looking. Or nice looking, whichever was slightly below the other one. He didn’t think he was hot or anything like that but he didn’t think he was that plain. Whoever this Amelia person was, he started to like her a lot. “Really, you should have? How so?” He was curious. What about him just called out doctor? It was accurate so it was not like he would complain about it but he didn’t think there was anything that screamed doctor. Except maybe the white coat but he was clearly not wearing it right now.

She was a business teacher and at the sound of it, she was rather proud of that fact. She should be, of course. What was more important was when she mentioned the ‘boarding school near the mountains’. It tilted instantly in his brain. “Oh, you’re from Bellefonte? I studied there, during high school,” he shared with her, even nodding at that fact. Obviously she did as well and perhaps even around the same time he did. Yet he could not replace her. It was not all that surprising as he had never been really good at associating names and faces.

He looked at his watch. This was not meant to insult her. The proof of that was what he told her next. “How long does it take before you can say that someone isn’t going to come? Because right now I’d really like to order something and possibly pay you a drink if you’d let me.” It seemed wrong to bring out the fact he was here for someone else but she was the one who chose not to be here on time when he was for once. Not to add that he knew nothing of this Justine while he started to like very much what he knew of Amelia. The early bird, right?