// detached from me

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 715 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here brinna awoke in her large club suit at the millennium biltmore hotel when the light filtered through the blinds to her eyes. she tended to wake with the sun a lot. just the sheer difference between light and dark tended to wake her and today was no different. she was a bit out of sorts. after one very strange run in with a man at the park she was a little jostled. brinna usually didn't put any stake in people's opinions of her, their reactions to her, or any response of any kind that had to do with her but the man's insistence and perseverance had struck a bit of a nerve. to this exact moment she couldn't pinpoint what his motivation was and judging by what she'd last seen of him he'd seemed confused by the whole thing as well. usually brinna wouldn't have even let someone's reaction effect her in the slightest but his overwhelming desire to poke and prod at her and get to know parts of her life unsettled her. it had confused her for the first time in nearly forever. she'd never physically stuttered in front of a person before but hayden's actions had just puzzled her. that, right there even was proof enough that he'd made some impact. she remembered his name. she didn't like that. she grumbled as she threw aside the plush covers of the foreign bed and sat up, her feet dangling just over the floor. why did this man invade her mind. he was nothing special to her. so he'd had a little more determination than anyone else she'd come in contact with. so he hadn't been scared away when she'd gotten physical with him. so what? that didn't make him stand out in her mind, or so she lied to herself. in truth she was more mad at herself for losing such control. she hadn't expected him to keep prodding and the effects of jet lag and being in a new place had just been too many factors for her to contend with. she'd needed to lash out at him because she simply couldn't ignore him anymore. odd. she was mad at herself for having reacted in the first place. it was exactly what he'd wanted. he had wanted her to pay attention to him and attention he'd gotten. of course she'd liked seeing him step back a bit to contend with her abrasive nature but then he'd countered by confusing her and making judgments about her with had oddly struck a nerve. it was all too much to deal with and it made her very, very unhappy. she shuffled off to the bathroom and turned on the shower. it wasn't long before she was under the steaming spray and not much longer before she was out. she took care of what was important and that was that. no lingering, no lounging, even though these ridiculous american showers came with a seat inside. she changed into something simple, tied her wet hair back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and headed downstairs. true her room had a kitchen in it, but brinna wasn't in the mood to cook and clean and then proceed to eat. instead she headed to one of the "fabulous restaurants" that some woman had raved about as she was showing her around the different suites. brinna was coming back in a matter of weeks to watch over filming of her new show cooking and she wanted to test out one of the many esteemed l.a. hotels before she made a decision as to which would get her money while filming was taking place. she'd gotten a tour of the various suites and decided to stay a few nights to test the waters. the woman who had shown her around had gone on about the restaurant smeraldi's for about ten minutes, telling her everything about the menu and the decor. it was enough to tempt brinna to give the place a shot. the restaurant was slightly busy for an eight am crowd but brinna got a seat and a menu with very little wait. she sat down and ordered a cafe au lait and the crepe "la poissonnière". sounded like a good enough start for the morning. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 621[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: YAY[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]"Stop that," Hayden muttered as he rolled for the third time in his small bed. He finally turned and opened his eyes to the alarm that he had been attempting to silence. It seemed like it had its own elusive intentions. "You win," he finally grumbled, throwing the sheets off of his body. His shirt and pants from work lay on the floor beside the bed. It had been a rather late night at work the night before. The man remembered throwing off his clothing in a hurry to get some sleep. Now that he had seven hours under his belt, he was ready for the world. He picked himself up and looked around the room for clothes. His small apartment was the best that he could afford at the time. He was saving up for bigger and better options, but he had to be patient with his acting career while that happened. He reached for his athletic shorts and sniffed them to see if they were clean. "Good enough," he shrugged as he pulled them on. He didn't bother with a shirt as he pulled on his tennis shoes and made his way out the door. He found himself at the park as he had the past few days. It was his routine: he ran every single day for at least three miles. Today, he felt particularly motivated to run at least five. He ran for nearly an hour before heading back. Before he did, though, he sat down at the park bench by the spot where he had met Brinna. He still didn't know her last name. Maybe that was normal. He didn't think of her as much as he thought of what had occurred between them. He smiled when he saw her angry face in his mind. He wondered where she was this morning. It wasn't like he was going to find out; he didn't know that he was ever going to see her again. She had a way of being mysterious and emotional at the same time. Then again, she had only been emotional for a few minutes before hardening into an ice bitch. He still saw something in her that drew his interest. He slowly lifted himself once from the bench and made his way back. He showered briefly and threw on clean clothes. He finally picked up the belongings from his floor, called his mom, and looked at the time to see that it was still the morning. He realized how hungry he was, so he pulled on his shoes and made his way to the nearest restaurant. He walked along the sidewalk. He wasn't going to ride a taxi -- it costed too much for him. He was honestly on a budget. His only issue was that he had no idea how to cook or clean for himself. If he were to ever get married, he would have to find someone who was at least a mildly good homemaker. Once he spotted a nice-looking restaurant, he looked at the prices posted on the menu outside. It still looked beautiful and... well, French. He smiled at the host as he walked in. When they told him he would have to wait a bit, he frowned before spotting a familiar face. His heart leaped at the sight of Brinna herself. "Brinna!" he called. "That's my seat," he told the host, raising his eyebrows and nodding over at Brinna. He made his way over to her and touched the seat across from her. He pointed. "Mind if I sit, Miss Brinna?" he grinned. He didn't know if she was going to be angry. He didn't know if he would like it if she got angry or not. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 523 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here brinna sighed and sat back in her seat as the waitress left with her choice of meal. she was tired. she wanted to just move on past what had happened the day before and just let it go but it was sitting and festering. it was still bothering her to this moment and she didn't like that. she just wanted it to be over. but that didn't seem to be the case. maybe she was just cursed today because as she looked up she noticed none other than that man she'd met in the park, the man who'd kept her up most of the night, the man whose name she remembered. damn it. she couldn't seem to get away from him. something about los angeles was slowly starting to bring a sour taste to her mouth. was she now going to have to run into this man every time she was in california? usually brinna wouldn't concern herself with something so frivolous but this was anything but. he rattled her in a way that she had never been rattled before. he got under her skin in a way brinna hadn't known was possible. not even her own parents could get this kind of emotion from her which, for the most part, was any emotion at all. she had become the master of shutting out the world and one man showed up and made her life a living hell for a now two-day stint. this needed to end, now, but she didn't know how. especially when she saw him walking her way. brinna bit the inside of her cheek, taking a breath to steady herself as he approached. "something tells me i still wouldn't have a say in the matter." she said as she took note of the other busy tables. "besides, the hostess wouldn't have let you past to just harass other customers if she didn't think you were meant to sit there, so you told her this was your seat, thereby making my choice in the matter moot. so sit." she said as she prickled slightly, sitting up a little straighter. but she didn't want to give him all of the edge. for some reason this was turning out to be more of a game than his approach and her swift dismissal the way she would have preferred. this was less like yesterday and that irked her. "i'm sorry, you'll have to remind me what your name was." she said as she looked over at him, watching him smugly get comfortable in the chair across from her. the waitress she'd had previously returned and hurriedly gave hayden his menu, apologizing for rushing brinna and that she didn't know she was expecting another guest. "oh i wasn't.' she said under her breath to the woman who had totally missed her statement as she asked hayden for his drink order. brinna waited in silence, brushing the stray drying strands of blond hair behind her ear which had fallen out of her loose bun. but she kept her mouth shut. she didn't know what to say so she didn't say anything in true brinna style. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 616[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]Hayden didn't move his attention from her face as she responded in her usual, cold way. Well, he didn't know it that was usual for her, but she had no other reason for being rude to him other than the fact that she had a predisposition to behave in such a way. He didn't know if he had that whole psychological issue of the fundamental attribution error. He didn't want to automatically judge her, but she kept giving him the impression that she was always on edge. He wasn't trying to sleep with her, wasn't asking much of her, and was only meaning to share a morning meal with her. Was that so wrong? Was she not a morning person? He frowned as she spoke to him. When she commanded him to sit, it was as if an invisible hand forced him into his seat. He was silent and obedient for a few moments as he looked right back at her. Her hair was tied into a lazy bun that still looked classy on her. She belonged at a place like this. Her French features seemed to show more than ever. Maybe this place felt comfortable for her. He didn't acknowledge the fact that he had probably ruined that with his entry. "It's Hayden," he told her, clearing his throat with a fist in front of his lips. Apparently, she didn't have a sharp memory. He wanted to ask her if she was actually bluffing and remembered his name, but he didn't want to make her feel worse already. Hayden wasn't that memorable of a name. Now that he thought of it, she probably hadn't wanted to remember in the first place. When the waitress came up, he looked at the menu as the two discussed and sneaked a glance at Brinna's face. He rolled his eyes at Brinna's comment and smiled at the waitress. He pointed at her with his thumb. "Not exactly a morning person... I'll have a bran muffin with cottage cheese on the side," he told her promptly. He was actually trying to hide his shock about the prices. It was probably nothing to Brinna, but for a broke waiter with an unstable career, it was something to worry about. He bit his lip before handing her the menu. "And, uh, water. Thanks." He looked down at the napkin in front of him and unwrapped the silverware to tuck the napkin into his shirt. He looked back up at Brinna. "You're not very generous with smiles, are you?" he asked with a bit of a grin. Hayden didn't know he felt about coincidences, but seeing Brinna again was a real surprise for him. It must be a small world because this was certainly out of the ordinary. He fiddled with the silverware, not lifting it from the table. "Any meetings today?" he asked with a wink. That was where the two had left off. Being with Brinna really made it feel like Hayden had zero game to offer any woman, and he didn't know if he liked that feeling. He knew that grabbing even a tidbit of her attention was one of the greatest feelings he had experienced in the past two months. She had a way of making a few words thrown in his direction seem like a blessing. She wasn't exactly pleasant or humorous, but she was cute when she was angry, and she just had to think Hayden was at least mildly attractive. She would have slapped him if she weren't attracted to him at the least. That was what Hayden was betting on. He didn't know why it mattered to him, but he was certain that it did. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 554 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here his every word seemed to mock her. brinna had figured that at this point he did so on purpose. why? did he want to get slapped again? brinna knew that people were into that kind of thing but it didn't mean that she had to take part in it. brinna was sure there was some seedy building in the ghetto that catered to those kinds of needs. there was just about anything you could ever want in the ghetto. still this man in front of her seemed to be enjoying getting onto her last nerve. he seemed to like it when she pushed him away. brinna had to wonder if being kind and gentle would scare him so much that he would run. but that meant actually pretending to be kind and gentle and a gesture such as that put a knot in brinna's stomach. no she would do no such thing. other people didn't have to make moves to make others happy so why should she? just because her attitude was a little more unsavory in other people's opinion didn't mean that she had to change herself. if you didn't like her then that was great. it meant that you would leave her alone and she could live out her life in peace. but this hayden kid just wasn't getting the memo. she had hoped that dissing him by pretending to forget his name would do the trick but it wasn't working. she'd gotten him a little on edge but nothing to the point that he would want to go. he still ordered food after all. brinna noted that he picked some of the more bland, inexpensive stuff on the menu. why was he coming to a high scale french restaurant if he couldn't afford it, it made no sense and made brinna's brow visibly furrow as she tried to figure it all out. she wasn't sure why but she debated for a moment whether or not to buy him a hot chocolate or something. this place made it the right way, with real chocolate not with something you squeezed from a bottle. though why she wanted to show him any kindness was beyond her. he didn't deserve it in the slightest. someone who was hell bent on pissing her off for a second time in twenty-four hours didn't deserve chocolate in the morning. she narrowed her eyes at him as he made a comment of how infrequently she smiled. well that certainly wasn't a way to get her to do so. "just with my computer." she said in response to his other question, one that had little to do with tempting her patience, at least she treated it that way. she could see it as yet another comment meant to piss her off, which with the wink could have been inevitable. instead she treated it like a regular question, making it easier to just give him a swift answer and be done with it. "and...what, pray tell, is occupying the rest of your day." she "asked" as she looked him square in the eye. that was something brinna always did. she was never lacking in the confidence department so she had absolutely no problem with staring a person down. "and why the sudden desire for french food? something strike a nerve yesterday?" created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 596[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]When it came down to women like Brinna Laroche, Hayden was clueless. He could blame that on the fact that he had never met a woman as blunt as Brinna. Most girls were passive-aggressive toward him or just agreed with everything he said. He felt like those were typical qualities in girls. It was one reason why he couldn't carry a decent relationship with one. He didn't feel like he could get close to people without depth. Brinna interested him because she didn't seem to want to show that she had any depth. Maybe she had none, but he was counting on the chance that she had a lot under that tough exterior. He wouldn't be wasting his time with her if he didn't believe that something could come out from the darkness. It wasn't like she was trying to hide anything from him; he didn't expect an intimate conversation from her at all. They were strangers. If they could be considered any more than that, they may as well have been enemies. He didn't know how he felt about that. He had his attention, but he wanted more. He just didn't know what... Yet. Hayden was pretending like he couldn't feel her eyes on him when he ordered. He felt like she was judging him or trying to put a value on him, but he ignored it. So what if he was broke? So what if he was a Johns Hopkins graduate with ridiculous dreams? He didn't want to let her words bother him at the least. He nodded at her short response to his question about the meeting. He was learning to expect curtness from her. She treated Hayden like he was out to get her or like he made fun of her because he liked mocking her, but it was really his way of flirting, as immature as it might seem to a refined woman like herself. "I have work," he said, biting his lip. He was hoping that she wouldn't ask about his occupation. Someone like her was either mooching off of filthy rich parents or working her ass off to make a name for herself in the city. He didn't know which one it was, but either of those two odds would surely mean that she was going to laugh at him if he told her that he was a pathetic busboy who gave up an incredible career in medicine for acting. He had too much pride. "I happen to like French food," he told her with an iron will. He stared at her with just as much nerve as she was using to her advantage. The truth was that Hayden had strolled into a place with decent-looking prices and good-looking French food. He deserved to treat himself, but eating a breakfast that would cost him more than ten dollars was a stretch. He definitely wasn't lying to her. "I would ask you why you like French food, but I know," he smiled at her softly. He didn't mean to mock her that time. "This place is right by my apartment," he said, waving his left thumb in the general direction of his small apartment. He didn't like to discuss his living situation. He felt like a lot of people would laugh at the crawl space that he called home. He ran a finger through his hair and glanced around the place. He couldn't complain about a thing because he wasn't waiting tables at a place like this. He wondered how many Brinnas blew their way through places like these. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 504 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here there was always the possibility that brinna could be nicer than she let on, but that was usually someone else's expectation of her which always tended to make her retreat from the idea. when she decided to do something nice, brinna would do it, but it was never to change someone's mind about her or make some kind of impression. it was always just because she felt it was the right thing to do. but if she thought it would be taken the wrong way brinna always decided against it. she figured that hayden would see any gesture as meaning something other than what she was trying to get across and as such wanted nothing to do with giving him the satisfaction. something about him seemed to always be pissing her off. she felt as though he mocked her at every turn and because he just had the audacity to do so it rubbed brinna the wrong way. usually she wouldn't give two shits about what he had to say or how his tone would be perceived but something about this one bugged her to no end. she couldn't put her finger on it and it was driving her nuts. she couldn't just be cavalier with him. she couldn't just let things that he said brush off her shoulders and that bothered brinna. she didn't know why she just couldn't ignore the things he said but it wasn't working in her favor. the frustration factor alone was enough to amp her up. brinna never got frustrated with other people. she did so with herself often but it was usually over her writing or something, never over her emotions. she was getting into new territory here and she didn't like it. she nodded as he mentioned work. he'd never divulged before and brinna had no intentions of prying. he told her too much as it was. she didn't need to know anything else about him. she held her tongue as he spoke up again. she didn't need this aggravation. she didn't want to fight with him. she'd had plenty of that already in the past twenty-four hours and she didn't need any more. the only trouble was that she also didn't want to speak up, question him, or anything. hayden already knew her point of view on small talk, or conversations altogether, and just how much they made her nauseous. "alright then." she said, fidgeting slightly. she didn't know what else to say. she didn't want to ask him about his life because, well, she didn't care. she didn't want to give him the opportunity to make her care. she was wary about this hayden character. he'd already made her angry and made her feel more than just about any other person had made her feel. she really didn't want to give him the chance to squeeze anything else out of her. the waitress arrived once again to give them their drinks and brinna took the reprieve to drink her coffee and sit in silence. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 434[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]Hayden was conflicted. He didn't know what Brinna expected from him. At the same time, he didn't know what he expected from her. It might help him if he had any idea if he actually expected anything from her or if he was aware of the fact that she would give nothing to him that he expected. Something about her enigma irked and intrigued him. He was like an insect drawn to a light, and she clearly understood that she was possibly very out of his league. Her short response to his wordy one made him shift a bit in his seat. He had nothing to say, but he didn't want to be silent. He felt like he should be cherishing the time with her, not just sitting there with his foot in his mouth. Everything he said made her angry, it seemed, and he felt like she wanted him to leave. He couldn't bring himself to get up and leave; he clung to the hope that she secretly liked his company. He was going to keep himself convinced of that assertion until she had to shove him away with her own hands. He picked up his water and took a sip, looking around once again at the environment they were in. It was an ideal spot for a date or a morning-after breakfast, but here he was with a girl who either hated him or just barely approved of his very existence. Hayden was used to people liking him or loving him or just talking to him for the sake of being friendly. Brinna was a different story with her cold stare and curt words. Did she have any reason to treat him like a leper? Maybe she hated flirting. "Brinna," he said, looking up at her and breaking the silence. "Did I say something to upset you?" He felt odd for asking a stranger if he had made her angry. He felt like she was much harder to get along with than most people and that she was a little bit too irritable. He wasn't angry with her for that reason, only frustrated that he couldn't figure out how to make her happy or how to keep a conversation going with her. Any other girl would be giggling or flirting back, but she was stoic. Their breakfast finally came along. "Thank you," Hayden smiled as the server set down their orders. He waited until she had her food in front her to pick up a spoon and take a small bite of cottage cheese. He started on the bran muffin, eating quietly. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 528 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here brinna didn't know what to do from here. things were just so awkward. what did he expect? this was what happened when people tried to talk to her. she had already told him before that conversations of just about any sort made her nauseous and here he was continuing to strike up conversations with her. it didn't make sense. she'd flat out told him that she didn't like speaking to people, which was more than she'd ever told anyone, and he was taking this situation like he didn't believe what she'd said or had forgotten their conversation in the first place. brinna didn't talk, in fact she spent most of her life without saying a word. it was great in college. professors expected you to speak up and tended to be really disappointed come class time when no one wanted to be the first to say anything, but brinna was the surprise. when she turned in her impeccably written reports at the end of the class, semester, due date, etc. her professor was dumbfounded by how much she had caught on and even accentuated her learning. brinna always had had question in college but she kept them to herself, did the research herself, and discussed the whole process in her reports. she was a wunderkind of sorts and her professors had absolutely adored her, once they got to know her. but that was where it was left off. they would talk to her after class, tell her just what they thought of her writing, and brinna would say thank you and leave. she took the praise or the criticism but she never really gave her professors anything to work with other than what she submitted on paper. she looked up sharply from the hangnail that had been preoccupying her when hayden spoke up. "what? no." she said without question, her gaze looking at him with a bit of shock and disappointment. he'd obviously forgotten and now she had to go through the motions of telling him once again that conversations just weren't her thing. she got the feeling that he was getting more and more frustrated with the situation that he'd put himself in but that couldn't be helped by her. brinna had given him fair warning and she hadn't beckoned him over. hayden had put himself here and now he seemed to be blaming her for not reacting as he'd wanted her to. well that didn't suit brinna. she wasn't going to change herself just to make him comfortable. she was about to speak once more when the waitress arrived with their food. brinna couldn't help but look and what he'd ordered and look and what she'd ordered and feel like this whole thing was a little lopsided. she waited for the waitress to leave before she spoke once more, "i told you i wasn't good at...conversing." she had planned to say more but it didn't come out. instead she'd just left the sentence alone, to stand by itself while she took a bite of her food. it was decent, for once. there must have been a french chef in the back making food from his homeland. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 434[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]Hayden had convinced himself that she was being facetious with her tough-girl act, but seeing her made him question that. It was strange to see her again and sit in front of her this way. It was a new angle to her, and it made him wonder to himself how many different angles he could possibly see her from or if he would ever see her in a different setting. He had to admit that he did like her company in a way. It puzzled him, but that wasn't a bad thing. Hayden was tired of easy equations. He wanted a new one to solve, one that had only one nonreal solution. That was an equation that was actually impossible, one that he couldn't even find in theory. He liked that Brinna seemed like an endless trench of things to figure out, things that would probably never be shared with him. He was a peasant to a princess and no more. What was so damn enticing about that feeling? He stared at her as she answered his question. He felt like he was catching her off her guard, but he couldn't read her at all, so he just held his gaze to hers until he found the words to say. He felt like it was difficult to converse with someone who either didn't like to converse or was just flat-out terrible at doing so. "I remember," he nodded at her, looking down at the table momentarily. "I just can't help but wonder if you even want me here. I thought you were kidding," he chuckled sheepishly, scratching his head. He couldn't leave now, but maybe he could leave soon after he got his food. It wouldn't take him long to eat his food; he was starving after such a long jog. He didn't mind what he had ordered, so he didn't want her to worry, not that he expected her to. Maybe he was blatantly in a financial rut according to what he was eating, but it tasted good, and that was all that mattered to the man. The two ate in silence for a while, and Hayden couldn't help but feel like he should be talking to her in a cordial manner. The setting was too perfect to pass up some sort of a conversation, two-sided or not. "What exactly do you do for a living, Brinna?" he asked her curiously, taking another bite of his breakfast. He wasn't concerned that she was going to ask about him; it was clear that she didn't give a damn about what he did with himself. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 646 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here his every movement, every word, caught her off guard. brinna wasn't lying when she'd said she was inexperienced with this kind of thing. the only socialization that she did was telling people what to do and that was because she was good at it. for someone who spoke infrequently, brinna had a way with words and she could not only explain to people what they needed to do, but why they needed to do such a thing in a way that was so relatively demeaning that they stopped asking her why this and why that. it was a certain way because she said so and because there were reasons why she wanted them a certain way. if she gave in to one thing then the powers that be would ask her to give in somewhere else and suddenly her inability to stand up for the work she'd written would turn from an award-winning drama script into some kind of comedic fodder for stations like fox and comedy central. um no. she was a gifted writer and her work was worth more than that. she wouldn't subject her sweat and frustration and headaches into something with a background laugh track and crappy animation. no. her work had meaning. it was poignant and moving and it was worth more than the film it was usually taped on. if it wasn't obvious, brinna thought highly of her work, but it was for a reason. writing was all she did. if she didn't have faith in the material she put forward then what the hell was she doing with her life? if she couldn't sit down and look at her finished work with pride then why in the hell was she a writer in the first place? no brinna knew that she put her heart and soul into her writing and that it was the most expression that would ever probably have something to do with her at all but it was hers and she was proud of it. it gave her what she needed to survive and she was going to see it for what it was, a goldmine. until the point when she no longer saw fit to write, brinna would have the utmost faith in her work which was why she could afford to scoff at people and suggest change. no her projects were hard to stomach for a reason. no her projects didn't all have happy endings for a reason. and she wouldn't change them. ever. brinna watched him with a hint of dismay as he confessed that he thought she had originally been lying to him when she'd told him a bit of truth. well if he couldn't hash out when she was being genuine from when she was being just plain aggressive then there wasn't anything she could do. it seemed that no matter what she couldn't be expressive enough for him to understand left from right and up from down so what was the use? "then why bother talking to me?" she asked. "why bothed even trying to strike up a conversation if you thought i was lying about speaking just so i didn't have to talk to you?" she didn't even know why she was so curious. his motives meant nothing to her. his inability to understand her was moot. so why give a crap? she couldn't even explain it. after that she sat in a bit of silence until hayden spoke up again. this was the usual kind of conversation bit that she came in contact with which, up until now, had been the only thing he'd eer asked her that she was prepared to answer. "i'm a writer." she said abruptly, cutting off any other kind of explanation. what did it matter what her motives were for writing. he hadn't asked that. he'd only inquired about her career of choice. created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 500[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]Hayden's usual temperamental demeanor evaporated around Brinna. Of all people, she should have been the one to make him upset. He wasn't doubting himself completely though, instead hanging onto the assumption that she had a reason to enjoy his company. A part of him wanted to believe it while another part of him told him that there was no way in hell that she was actually interested. He was actually curious about her, though. Maybe she did have a boyfriend. That wasn't what mattered. He wanted to know what floated her boat, what she did every day, what she enjoyed. He wanted to get to know what was under her tough exterior. He wasn't exactly used to abrasive attitudes, but it was a part of the challenge. Hayden committed to challenges; he was a persistent guy, which was probably why Brinna felt so frustrated with his obvious interest in her. "Why do I bother?" Hayden bit his lip, pondering. He finally leaned in, putting down his food. "Honestly, Brinna, I can't explain it." He grinned. He didn't care if it made her angry; it was the way he felt. He wanted to smile. "I think you're immensely interesting. I mean, I have no idea what makes you tick. You're not normal. And... that's great. I'm tired of normal." He was laying it all out for her, something that he wasn't used to doing. When it came down to the science of it, Hayden was mysterious. He was a guy who had witnessed death, had come close to dying himself, and knew how to save people with the art of medicine. He had a lot to him, but he knew that he wasn't a closed book in the same way that Brinna was. She was far from normal, and he liked that about her. He liked her. He was really beginning to like what he knew of her. "Writer," he nodded after a few moments. "I can see that." Her enigma was an obvious part of the clarity of her career choice. "Do you like it?" he asked. It probably seemed like an odd question, but he didn't know a lot of people who actually enjoyed their careers. He didn't know if Brinna enjoyed anything. She seemed to have that same pout on her face. It was cute, but Hayden wanted to see a huge smile. He wanted to see anger. Seeing her angry was something different. He felt like it was a gift to see her feel anything at all. Hayden's emotions were usually clear on his face. Guilt was the only feeling that he could conceal; that was in his stomach, not something that he could properly emote without words. He had a huge amount of guilt within him, but he had a way of covering that up with his form of redemption. He was saving lives like it could save Neal's. He had witnessed his best friend's death as a high-schooler. He still thought about it every day. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 582 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here brinna didn't know what to do with this one. there seemed to be nothing she could do or say that could frighten him away or at least give him a shove in the right direction. he couldn't be moved and he was the first to ever be that way with brinna. she was so used to people leaving her behind, just as she liked it. hell even her parents had embraced the fact that brinna wanted them to be in her life as little as possible and had bowed out until the point that brinna would call and ask them to be a part of it once again. her mother hadn't liked it but she had accepted it. it had torn her to pieces for her little girl to not want her in her life anymore but she understood just how different brinna was in the first place. she wasn't a normal child by any standards. she hadn't wanted to go out and play as a child. she had stayed home, done her homework, and read. that was pretty much the extent of all that she did by way of extracurriculars. brinna hadn't had any desire for human contact and her mother had seen that for the entirety of brinna's life. as a child she had hugged her mother but brinna had never really liked it. by the time she was old enough to speak up for herself and tell her mother what was wrong she had done so and the two had hardly touched again except if by accident or when her mother just had to hug her. there were times. like when she'd graduated and had told her mother she was moving to the states on a more permanent basis. her mother had hugged her then and brinna had tolerated it because it was a sad moment for her and because it was something she'd apparently needed. brinna did have her moments of kindness and letting her mother wrap her in her arms for a brief and stifling moment was the best that brinna could give her. her hand reached for her temples and she gently massaged as hayden proceeded to tell her that she was interesting. the massaging was a last ditch effort before she surrendered to just banging her forehead on the table in front of her. she'd done nothing but push and push this man away and that made her interesting? did this hayden kid just enjoy disappointment? was it some kind of turn on for him? she still honestly couldn't believe that this was happening. she didn't really respond to him because she had no words to respond to him with. anything she said was just going to make her more interesting and then she'd never get rid of him. that, and she was a little speechless. if she even tried to tell him that his feelings were stupid he would just see it as some other charming statement or whatever it was that he heard in his mind that told him she was worth bothering some more. her jaw clenched as he asked her about her passion for writing. well...since he wasn't planning on going away no matter what she said, she might as well be honest with him. "it makes me happy." she said with a stone-cold stare. by the look on her face it certainly didn't seem likely that writing made her happy, but the words were no less true. "and, um, yourself?" created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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[Deleted]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellspacing,0,true][atrb=style, width: 430px; height: 500px,btable][STYLE=margin-top: -100px; border-top: 3px solid black; border-bottom: 3px solid black; border-left: 5px solid black; width: 150px; overflow: hidden;][/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Tags: maggie as brinna laroche![/style][STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 12px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: 15px;]Words: 620[/style] [STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; color: black; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: -1; padding-left: 3px; padding-right: 10px; border-left: 5px solid black; margin-top: -10px;]Notes: <3[/style]	[STYLE=border-left: 20px solid black; font-family: Bodoni MT Black; color: black; padding: top: 15px; padding-left: 5px; font-style: bold; line-height: 0.7; font-size: 40px; margin-left: -12px; height: 500px; text-transform: uppercase;] [/style]	[STYLE=text-align: justify; font-family: courier; font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: -1; border: 0px; height: 500px; margin-left: 5px; color: black; line-height: 0.9; overflow: auto;]Even Hayden could see that he was displaying some intensely masochistic behaviors here, maybe even sadistic ones. She was clearly frowning at him and he wasn't happy with being unwanted, but he didn't want to draw himself away from her. He had no idea how to impress her; he was used to people wanting to know about him. In no way was Hayden an egotist, but he knew that he was an attractive Caucasian male with a world in front of him, a world that usually ate out of the palm of his hand. He definitely didn't have it easy in the medical world; they saw his bright eyes and striking smile and wondered why the guy wasn't on General Hospital instead of the actual ER. He had been underestimated, so hard work was the only thing that got him anywhere in medicine. Acting was a bit easier for him, but it still made him nervous to be judged and critiqued in a professional setting. Hayden wasn't exactly convinced that writing made Brinna happy, but he nodded with a small grin. He was trying not to laugh at the odd contrast between her words and expression. Her eyes had that dead look in them again, and he felt a pang with how much he missed her anger. It was odd, but when it came down to Brinna, he honestly preferred hatred over indifference. He disliked the look she had sometimes because he wanted to see the passion in her. He wanted to hear all about her job. "What exactly do you write?" he asked. He didn't know why he was still trying with her. Half of his food was gone at this point, and he was going to get up as soon as he could. Maybe... Well, he considered giving her his number, but it was very possible that she was never going to contact him. He sat and looked at her until she unexpectedly returned his question. His mouth opened a bit in shock. He bit it closed, thinking of his actual answer. "Well, I graduated from Johns Hopkins. I could be a doctor, but..." He rubbed a finger along his lips. His facial expression was obviously between embarrassed and enthusiastic. "But I want to be an actor. So I'm the new Superman for this TV show." He looked at the floor beside the table for a moment before drawing his eyes up to her again. Hay felt like the whole situation was lopsided. He was a struggling actor to some French heiress. He felt like she was the kind of character that would be in a movie, not a person that could truly exist. He wondered why she was the way she was. In reality, she had no real reason; Brinna was closed-off because she wanted to be. Hayden wanted to believe that she had been through something in her past just the way he had. Hayden had so much to hide without even realizing that he was hiding it. He simply didn't discuss his high school days in depth. Most people didn'tl the days weren't important in full-fledged adulthood, after all. He was three quarters through his meal at this point. When he looked down at it, he could see that he was actually about five eighths of the way through. He kept his eyes on his food, looking for the exact ratio of a bite to what he remembered as the whole meal. He loved doing math in his mind, math that most people didn't enjoy doing. He looked back up at Brinna when he was at seven eighths. He was eating quickly; his choice to stay after eating depended on her mood at that point. [/style]
[cs=3] [STYLE=font-family: bradley hand itc; color: maroon; font-size: 11px; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333]Coded by Soronus of CT, BTN & LS[/style]

[brinna]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: dddddd; border: #cccccc solid 8px; width: 420px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] I WISH YOU DIDN'T HAUNT ME SO The Words: 765 The Outfit: here The Notes tag: hayden? menu: here hotel: here writing made brinna happier than probably anything else in the world, but it was hard to believe her when the words came so stoically from her mouth. her stone cold gaze hardly lit up with a spark of enthusiasm but her plain disregard for anything overly emotional was well known at this point. it shouldn't have surprised a single soul that talking about the thing she loved most in the world did nothing to light up her face. brinna didn't even know if it was really all that possible to get her to do things that were so out of character anymore. brinna only ever put on a smile for the head honchos when she had their nuts in a vice. frustrating people and getting her way at the same time tended to put a smile on her face but it wasn't ever really something that brinna enjoyed. the smile always just helped to solidify the position brinna knew she had over them. she smiled because she won and it was a plain as day expression on her face to show that she'd known she'd won. that was usually it. she didn't like to feel. it wasn't that it was too much of a sensory overload, no that was a whole medical condition. what brinna had was much more psychological. she chose not to feel. there was nothing that had ever happen in her life that had made her turn off her emotions just so she could function in a day to day situation. brinna could function just fine and she'd had no specific trauma to ever induce that kind of behavior. she simply didn't want to engage the rest of the world. brinna loved her writing because she didn't have to include anyone else in the process. her writing was a love affair between the computer, keyboard, and herself and it was a threesome that brinna could approve of. brinna could tell the computer anything and like an obedient little soldier it listened to her, most of the time at a speed faster than light. it was amazing. there was no sass involved. computers didn't judge a person. they didn't take what you input and then make assumptions from what was written. they simply did what they were told. brinna like that kind of blind obedience and if she could have a mindless zombie that did the work that she needed, she would have embraced the idea years ago. instead brinna had to find someone close enough. someone who might judge her by her decisions but who wouldn't at least vocalize it. someone who, hopefully, wouldn't strike some sanctimonious nerve in her brain and cause her to like them and suddenly care about bossing them around and whatnot. she didn't need the hassle. caring got in the way of her job which was so inherently cerebral that brinna didn't need the jumble of other thoughts in her head. she didn't want to worry about what johnny thought of her or that sally called her fat as she was walking away from her or something else so totally insignificant that it didn't need to register in her mind. what registered was the facts she needed in order to write and that was all brinna had room for. this hayden character seemed to have other plans for her though. she could tell. his scrutiny of her was plain on his face. she could practically see him trying to read her as they each sat across from one another, picking away at their food. she didn't like it. most of all she didn't like that his judgment and apparent need for her to express something was actually sinking in. she hadn't changed her ways for a soul since she was a child and she didn't want that impressive streak to end now. "fiction mostly. dramas. i try to stay away from the comedies. and novels, when i have time." she said as she pushed her plate away which was mostly picked over and finished, sitting back with her drink in her hands, trying to look relaxed. brinna cleared her throat slightly as he spoke up once again. john hopkins? that was damn impressive for someone who looked like the face of...what was that popular american clothing store...abercrombie and fitch? "impressive resume." she said, still a little stunned. she was visibly taken aback by the information. she hadn't expected to hear that this man who had been bothering her for going on 24 hours actually had a brain. now he was puzzling. interesting even. "and that role...excites you?" created by ADE! Pb-ified by WILL

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