I Wish

[Emma Delacroix]

"Well, yeah," she replied, dragging the last word out and finally, sighed in defeat. She supposed that was yet another fair point served steaming hot. She couldn't argue that logic.

She could have said that there was more to life than money, but was there really?

She fell silent as the woman continued speaking, nodding as she went on. "Well, at least you're getting an actual education." She presented, or tried to, the woman with the same facts she'd used on Emma only moments before. "But," she added. "At least it's a means to an end." She shrugged at that; she enjoyed her job - at the end of the day.

Still, the woman had caught her attention in ways which few did. "What are you doing in, say, thirty minutes?" The least she could do was offer some of her own courage.

[Blaire Montoya]

College was suddenly twisted in a new way. They were very quickly speaking of education like it was something every college student was striving to achieve. And a means to an end, too. She had to nod her head at that. If nothing else, Blaire would leave those walls with enough information and paperwork to get a job for her future.

But she frowned in silence, the corner of her mouth dragging down for a second or so. It was just a question of whether or not she wanted that kind of job.

Thirty minutes? The question had her raising her eyebrows instinctively. Pursing her lips briefly, she genuinely tried to figure out the right answer. Or if not, just the one that would be the most truthful. "I'd guess that I'd still be standing here." She replied, honestly; "Though, perhaps not directly in this spot." Because she had to let her work at some point, surely.

[Emma Delacroix]

Smiling, the blonde clasped her hands together. "Good." She quickly checked the clock on the wall above the bar and nodded. "My shift is over then and I'll be able to fully committ to your company." She said that with as much confident as she possibly could muster - as if actually expecting the woman to go along with her crazy ideas.

Although, truthfully, she hoped that she hadn't scared the girl off. She was interesting and Emma was hungry to find out more about her. 

Holding her hand up, as if to stop the other girl from answering, Emma smiled once more. "At least think about it. If you decide that you don't want to, that's fine. But don't shoot it down without at least giving it some consideration."

[Blaire Montoya]

Confidence always, always reigned supreme. For everything Blaire knew about herself, she was acutely aware of her own weaknesses. And as she listened to the offer given to her - no matter how broad and potentially crazy it seemed - she found herself drawn in. It was almost unfair how well that worked; she spoke like she already knew Blaire was going to say yes.

She absolutely parted her lips to speak before a hand was raised to stop her. What she was planning to say, even she didn't know, but what was more interesting was the fact that someone else knew she was going to try to speak before she did.

Blaire gave herself one more second. One to breathe.

"Okay." She replied, then. If thought was what she was supposed to give, than thought it would be. "Either I'll be here, or I won't."

But she wouldn't remain right there. She took the glass in hand and forced herself to walk away from the bar. Consideration was well met and much easier when she wasn't facing or even properly able to look at the blonde behind the bar. Better judgement easily told her to leave; she was a bartender, one. She liked sports, which could never fit the Brit even if she tried to feign interest, she was sure. She probably wanted someone to talk to, like, she was probably horridly straight. Three.

But when thirty minutes passed, she was still in the room.

[Emma Delacroix]

Fair enough. "Okay," she repeated with a firm nod. Well, at least it was better than a straight up no. Not that Emma was one to worry much about being rejected. She'd learned years ago that there would always be more fish in the sea and one bad one didn't nearly make up for the kind of self-esteem issues many others suffered from.

Yet, there was just something about the girl that egged Emma on. She wanted to know more and for once, it wasn't for her own benefit. Well, not the egoistic kind, anyways.

Even as the blonde continued working, she found herself tossing stolen glances out into the room, searching for the brunette. She never let her mind hold onto the thought long enough for it to interfere with her other customers, but she was always there, at the tip of her tongue.

Brushing her hands off on her pants, Emma stepped out from the bar and looked around, her bun loosened and blonde waves hang loosely down her back. And when she caught sight of the unfamiliar, yet familiar face, she stepped forward.

"You're still here." The words themselves almost caught in her throat. Almost.

[Blaire Montoya]

Admittedly, Blaire hadn't allowed time to pass the way it should have. The last ten minutes or so had been nothing but a second to her, but she didn't like to admit her own impatience. She did her best not to be so obvious, and she was glad for the hidden nature of her own ability. The last thing she wanted was to be known for her own impatience.

She tried her best not to make it look like she was glancing around and waiting in that last minute. There was practically a sea of blonde hair where there hadn't been half an hour ago, and a slight tilt of her head had her pretty much blatantly staring at that fact. She drew herself to her feet in the same motion that she forced her eyes to catch her face.

"In the end I thought; why not?" She explained calmly, as if she really needed to give an explanation. There it was, clear as day.

[Emma Delacroix]

"Remind me to thank that why not then in the future," she offered in turn. She tugged on her jacket and nodded towards the door. She figured that anywhere would be better than her own place of work.

She hadn't quite worked out the details yet, but maybe that was for the best. She had never been much of a planner. She was far too impulsive for that. But it usually turned out good regardless.

"I'm actually," she began, but stopped herself as a sheepish smile formed on her lips; it felt alien. She wasn't sheepish. She was confident and always had control over a situation. Now she was just floating. "Surprised that you waited," she added and turned her eyes towards the brunette. 

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire watched the way she was indicated towards the door, and without hesitation she followed those footsteps. It was like an equal thought; she had been sure that no one would want to hang out where they worked any longer than they had to, especially if they just finished a shift.

Instinctively, Blaire linked her fingers together behind her back. Her eyes very briefly wandered to the steps she was taking, because it was something easy to look at.

"What's surprising?" She asked, genuinely. As far as confidence and interest went, she was never a master of either. Honesty was usually the only thing she had hon her side. "I'm on my own." No attachments, "I liked talking to you." Otherwise she wouldn't have bothered in the first place. "You seem nice. I mean, you're beautiful-"

A very delicate pause, then. Slight strain in her jaw as she thought to shut her mouth entirely; "That last one mightn't eloquently fit in with the rest. I'm sorry."

[Emma Delacroix]

The girl made sense, Emma supposed. It was as valid reasons as any. However, the last bit, before the brunette cut herself off, had Emma's eyebrows raising and she turned to look at her, stopping mid-step with a mildly amused smile plastered on her face.

"No, no, it's fine," she chuckled. "Just a little unexpected, is all." The girl kept surprising her, which was engimatic. Emma was used to dealing with people that offered you a good read on their personality. Perhaps it was the alcohol, perhaps it was something else.

Holding the door open for her, Emma shrugged. "Well, either way, I'm glad that you waited."

[Blaire Montoya]

For Blaire, unexpected was usually bad. There were easy moments where she could push through an instance and threaten with a little boldness. After all, if she didn't like the response given, she could rewind time and replay it with a better attitude. For once, she was actually not working to fish for information or a better sense, but remnants of a pattern still remained. She stalled in her footing when she seemed to stop. Unexpected. Was that good or bad?

When someone looked like Blaire, they had to be a little upfront.

She glanced up briefly as a door was opened for her, barely taking time to register where she was going as she followed relatively blindly. "I'm glad you asked." Blaire replied. For all she could give, the strength to do that to a relative stranger wasn't familiar.

[Emma Delacroix]

And just like that, Emma knew exactly where they were headed. "Come on," she tossed over her shoulder she stepped out into the cold after the brunette.

"Tell me, what's the one thing you've always wanted to do?" she asked as she started to cross the street, making sure she never drifted too far away from the other girl. She wondered briefly if perhaps this was taking things a little too far. Maybe the girl wasn't nearly as adventerous as Emma and her plan could eventually backfire. But it was at the very least worth trying out, right? 

[Blaire Montoya]

Following along, Blaire remained in silence immediately after the concept of being grateful left her mouth. Hitting the night air provided no interest when in the company of the woman who's name she'd only just learned a little over half an hour ago. She only glanced down at her feet again for a spare second to detail have something to look at before she looked to the side again. There was distance. That was a given; she was new. But there wasn't all that much.

She gave herself a little time to think. Nothing too long, but a contemplative look crossed her features as she stared forward. It was such a broad question, and any answer could so easily sound stupid. But she had time on her side. She still had to remind herself of that.

In the end, she decided to go with the first thing she could think of.

"It might sound stupid," She offered, because a disclaimer always felt necessary. Especially for someone as supposedly proper as herself; "I've never ridden on the back of a motorbike, but I've always wanted to." Blaire finally managed, exhaling a fast laugh at her own words. It mightn't have been the one ultimate thing, but it was definitely something pertinent; "My parents made me swear I'd never do it for fear that I would wind up dead."

[Emma Delacroix]

Falling silent at the words, Emma couldn't quite help but to smile at the sheer naivity of the statement. It was cuto too, but something told Emma she probably shouldn't delay that message. Instead, she turned to face the other girl.

"Well, that won't be our plans for tonight, but I'll make sure to remember that for our next date." Yes, she was confident enough to say with the things were going, there would be another one.

Even if Blaire didn't count this as a date.

She turned again then and continued down the sidewalk. She could only hope her idea of a first date sounded as much fun to Blaire as it did to Emma.

[Blaire Montoya]

Blaire fully expected a laugh as her best available response. She would have laughed too if someone chose that answer over the million of other perfect choices. There were a lot of things that could have made her sound better than what she chose, but she was in the business of being honest here. Why not?

This was a date. Her eyes widened at the notion but she kept her expression as in check as she could a second later. It surprised her way too easily for her to maintain any kind of charm. "Alright." She replied, conceding to the thought. Accepting it, even.

"You've already got plans for now, then?" Blaire asked her instinctively. After all, something about her tone of voice sounded incredibly sure of herself. Confidence again, maybe. Or perhaps she was just really good at this. Whatever this was.

[Emma Delacroix]

"Yeah," she replied with a nod. She honestly hoped that the girl would like it, because to Emma, it sounded rather awesome. Perhaps Emma wasn't the best person to ask, given her track record. But that was a story for another time.

The two of them eventually reached an abandoned old pool and Emma gestured for them to enter from the side. The water had long since been drained out, but that didn't make much of a difference.

It didn't at all ruin her plans. In fact, she even counted on it.

Emma walked over to a window and loosened the bottom board before sliding inside. "Need any help getting in?" She called.