thinking i won't make the same mistake again.

[nina]

mini cupcakes were possibly the best thing man had invented since toasted bread. after several days of craving for that stuff, nina brooke clarke finally decided to get her ass down to union square and into baked by melissa, a place she frequented during the summer. everyone knew that she could eat about a million of these and not get sick of it, and no matter how much she ate, she wouldn't get fat because they were so tiny. hence during the summer she felt no pressure at all to get in shape before filming of the show began again. all in all, she loved cupcakes and she loved melissa.

having finished work for the day, she walked out of the network's manhattan studio where they filmed life intertwined, and put her sunglasses on to shield her eyes from the bright sun. a yellow taxi drove towards her, and she hailed it, being lucky enough that it had stopped. as she got in she was greeted by a smiling man who asked her where she wanted to go. smiling back she replied, "uh, union square on east 14th street please." tipping his hat, the driver began to drive into the new york city traffic.

a few minutes later, and after a delightful conversation about television with the driver, nina had found the taxi arriving at her destination and she instructed him to stop before paying her fee. "thank you!" she cheerily said before opening the door and getting out. although the little store was still a few feet down the street, she had planned on walk the rest of the way to probably pre-burn the calories she would gain later on - however that worked. from the park, she crossed the street at union square west and continued her journey until she reached baked by melissa, located adjacent to wendy's and taco bell. formerly a cigar store (something that amused nina), baked by melissa was sleek in design which adorned clear glass doors so that the front of the shop could be seen from the street. every step closer towards it had nina's taste buds watering with excitement. cupcakes.

from the outside, nina could see the cashier coming out from the back to bring in a new batch of freshly baked mini cupcakes. she took no more hesitation and finally reached for the stainless steel door handle and pushed her way in, taking off her sunglasses and placing them on her head. the cashier looked up and smiled out of recognition. not because nina was an actress, but more because she'd been here so many times. nina smiled back and made her way over to the glass encased display of mini cupcakes. each and every one were calling out for her, just wanting to be eaten, but there was only so much that she could take. she took her time and allowed her eyes to admire every flavour before being temporarily distracted by the noise of the glass doors reopening.

tagged | open?!
status | completed!
words | 497
location | take a lookie!
notes | hooray for cupcakes!

[Deleted]

---------------------------------------------
complete ! nina c. / anna ! oopsies, didn't think it'd take that long ! 580 words !

He was getting more used to New York City than he needed to be. The food, the shopping, the people, he was not only getting used to it all, but he loved it, having almost forgotten Los Angeles. He did spend half his teenage years here, but his home was still in LA. For now, he was still in that penthouse up on the Upper East Side. He wasn’t as bored anymore because Devon was back from Europe and there was at least something to do now aside from sitting around, drinking and eating junk food. It was a good thing the guy worked out because if he didn’t, he would start looking like a forty-year old man with a beer belly and a hairy chest. He was already as far as the hairy chest, might as well not push it. For now, it's shocking that he even has the energy to work out at all.

As a matter of fact, the young man was out for his morning jog as always. Usually, his jogs occurred in the mornings. But it was no longer morning time; more like afternoon. So he was out for his morning jog in the afternoon because he decided to sleep in this morning. The long movie marathon with Devon made him a lazier man. No way in hell was he complaining, though. He would go to the depths of the Earth for his best friend. Well, maybe not. But he would do a lot for Devon, depending on the situation.

In his t-shirt and shorts, Jack Bailey went out on his jog through the streets. He was slowly starting to be himself again, didn’t feel the need to hide his A-list face to save himself from a group of big fans or paparazzi; didn’t feel like he had to ignore everyone just because he was in a bad mood. Matter of fact, he managed to attain some company on his jog. Didn’t know who it was; guess it just mattered that she was a hot girl dressed in revealing sports clothing, offering Jack some company on his little jog. She talked a lot during the run, he noticed. She wasn't ruining it, but he would much rather have quiet time, no? What was it with chicks and talking about their life story?

You give them a bit of attention and they act like you care about what happened to them at every moment of their lives. Eyeroll. While he nodded and threw in some "uh-huh"s and "oh really?"s, his eyes were wandering around the streets and inside the stores until they lay on the familiarly blond head of hair inside a cupcake store. "Whoa." He whispered to himself with a smile on his face. Been a while since he saw that face...in person. And not on a magazine or on his TV.

"And she was like 'I don't even care about y--' Jack, are you listening?" The hot brunette stopped jogging once realizing Jack had haulted to a complete stop. Looking over, he nodded, "Of course I am, beautiful. Hold on for a moment, though. I just spotted uh...an old friend." Within moments, he found himself inside the store and towards the girl who was now looking up at him. Jack didn't waste time, making his way over to plant a small kiss on her cheek and give another warm smile, "Such a lovely coincidence, what are my chances?" He figured he was being sarcastic. He was in New York afterall, it wasn't like he never expected to see her around. It was just a little unexpected, that's all.

[/justify][/blockquote]

[nina]

Well NYC was a big city so that chance meeting was like, 1 to some big number. But she was a celebrity after all and they were much more recognizable than a regular person. Turning around with curiosity to see who was coming in, she was about to turn back around before doing a double take. Honestly, she didn't know what to feel, but to ignore the fact that her heart had stopped for a while, then suddenly speeded up. She could only smile that friendly smile she had been giving everyone today, and she was genuine about it because Jack was a friend. She was over hating him with a passion considering he seemed to show her that he wasn't all like his asshole image. So why did she divorce him anyway? She wanted independence and not be the other half of a Brangelina-type high profiled marriage. Heck she didn't want a long term relationship at the moment because nothing felt right for her this time - she just wanted it to be her and her music. She figured that's how she was once she got into songwriting mode.

He didn't speak to her at first, and instead gave her a kiss on the cheek before smiling his warm smile that she always loved to see ( but never did before ). She couldn't help but keep the smile on her face to be able to see Jack again, but this time as a friend. It was nice to be on good terms and be good friends even after spending a crazy six months together. Maybe it was better to have him as a friend, but she truly didn't know. "Such a lovely coincidence, what are my chances?" Jack finally said. "...of you stalking me? I say very large." Nina replied jokingly. She could clearly see by his attire that he was out jogging, but all the way away from the Upper East Side? Nina wasn't going to judge him, after all, Union Square was a nice place. "But I have to give you credit for wearing that outfit to help cover up your stalking." She joked again. Taking a quick glance over at the cashier, she noticed the girl had her head down most likely intimidated by the fact that two celebrities and ex-spouses were in the store.

Turning back to face Jack she began regular conversation, "Are you busy today?" For a while she'd been wishing to be able to hang out with Jack again, but every attempt at keeping in touch with him had gone flat - mainly because he hadn't replied to her voicemail messages. Sure, she was irritated and bitched about it once, but she wasn't all that serious. If his failure to reply to her messages were deliberate, then she could understand why he would want to avoid her. They had just divorced after all. Although judging by just now, he wasn't avoiding her. Good, because she didn't want him to.

tagged | jack/sidsid?!
status | completed!
words | 496
location | take a lookie!
notes | no problem!

[Deleted]

---------------------------------------------
complete ! nina c. / anna ! outfit coming soon, btw! ! 736 words !

Jack Bailey wasn’t the kind to mope and never had been, but people these days had been talking too much about his ‘old self’ and that ‘new self’ that showed up once in a while. He didn’t really understand it, because he could swear he was just the same guy, aside from the fact that he’d gone soft. It was a little disgusting for him, considering the ‘old’ Jack was coming back. He, too, didn’t want a long-term relationship; everyone knew that. So why in the world was he standing there, thinking what he was thinking? He didn’t know. He knew for sure he wasn’t over this girl, but what was the point? She had other things to think about than Jack, her jackass of an ex-husband. Even though it was more than that.

They did become good friends in the time, didn’t they? They were the new Bragelina, for goodness sake. They were the celebrity couple everyone wanted to talk about because they were so different. Everyone wanted to talk to them about their future with each other and how much both of them really wanted the divorce. Of course, Jack always avoided and ignored that question. He’d change the subject if it showed up during interviews, but it only provoked more accusations. He was kind of happy with Nina, who had to drag herself through those times; it was rare that she actually enjoyed being with him. And those rare times only occurred when they were on different coasts of the country or when he was being strangely sweet to not only her, but everyone else as well.

The real question now was whether or not he was willing to bring back that ‘new self’ just to impress Nina again. Or maybe he was just happier when he wasn’t around; it was too obvious. Her career was doing just fine without him and she didn’t seem like she had a problem with him now. Besides, Jack was better off this way too, right? I mean, he found himself and all. He went from a football star, to a math teacher, to a movie star, to a TV star. And now he wanted to make stars. Or maybe he just wanted to do something that would distract himself even more from the moping? He didn’t know, but this was good for him.

When she replied to his comment, Jack rolled his eyes in a joking manner as well and smiled. Looking down at his outfit, he chuckled and shrugged, ”Alright, love. You caught me. Can’t get enough of you, can you blame me?” About the time Nina looked over, Jack looked at the cashier as well. It was respectable that she probably didn’t want to get up in his and Nina’s business or anything. When Nina spoke again, he moved his attention back on her, instantly replying, ”Busy? No. Not at all.” He never meant for it to come out that way. He meant to avoid her. His not responding to her voicemail messages really was deliberate and he always figured she was better off with him not around. It was easier to avoid her when she wasn’t standing right in front of him, though.

Before he knew it, a pair of arms was wrapped around Jack’s upper arm. It was the brunette girl. ”I thought we were gonna get dinner together.” She didn’t seem like the intimidated type. ”You did?” It just kinda came out. He was starting to recall she said something in between her rambling that they should grab a bite. And as always, Jack just threw in a simple, “Of course” and continued jogging, lost in his own little world. The death glare from the girl made Jack arch up his eyebrow and he watched as she turned her gaze towards Nina. ”Right. Uh…” It was obvious that Jack wanted to spend time with Nina, but the brunette didn’t back down.

”Nina, why don’t you join us?” He looked up at Nina with the most apologetic look as the brunette held out her hand towards the blond one, ”I’m Jenna.” Jack awkwardly slipped his arm out from her hold and looked over at the cashier behind the counter again, occasionally sneaking a peak at Nina, wondering what she was thinking right now. He was acting like he didn’t give a hoot about her. He was hating himself right now.

[/justify][/blockquote]

[nina]

”Alright, love. You caught me. Can’t get enough of you, can you blame me?”

She gave a small chuckle as she shook her head in amusement. Even though he meant it as a joke, deep down inside she had hoped that there was some truth in his words. Was he really over her? She didn't know. All she remembered from their time together was that he had some intense feelings towards her. If he could deny it now, she wouldn't believe him. Those feelings though were probably that of lust, and lust was something that could easily be turned off. Now love was a different story and something that took a while to get over. Nina figured that it was most likely not the latter. Now Nina's feelings were something she wasn't quite sure of herself. Actually yes, she did. She really liked him. Like, like-like and would have fallen in love with him, had her desire for independence not taken over.

So why was that for her? Despite hating on him when they first got married ( and even before that ), she really saw a side to Jack that she didn't think existed. Maybe being tied down really opened up his eyes and changed him, or maybe he was doing it to impress her. Nonetheless, he almost won her heart over... almost. She was also too proud to admit that she liked him.

When he answered that he was free a smile came to her face, which was great because she could grab a bite with him and hang out like friends would. That's if he wanted to, but then again if he didn't Nina could force him. Perhaps she could lure him into hanging out with her with these amazing cupcakes she was about to buy, but before she could say anything a brunette suddenly appeared by his side. Nina was taken aback by the fact that she had her arm secured around his, and politely smiled, even feeling an aura of strength coming from whoever the hell this girl was. There were two things that went through Nina's head - Jack really was moving on by getting with hot girls and that the brunette wasn't nearly as pretty as Nina herself.

So they were going to get dinner together. Big deal. It was just dinner with a hot girl full of attitude. And don't think that Nina didn't notice that look the girl was giving her - it wasn't like it was unexpected. She simply chose to ignore it and gave him a puzzled smile as he tried ease the awkwardness with more words. She could laugh at the awkward situation before her, but also to make her feel better about this jealousy that was growing. She resisted laughing right now as she shook the hand this girl held out - she called herself Jenna. "Nina," she replied and turned to Jack to answer his earlier question, "uh... that's okay, I have other things to do... boring, really. You two go have fun."

tagged | jack/sidsid?!
status | completed!
words | 490
location | take a lookie!
notes | i'm sorry for its shortness!

[Deleted]

---------------------------------------------
complete ! nina c. / anna ! outfit coming soon, btw! ! 634 words !

He missed hearing that laugh of hers. It was just adorable. Jack didn’t hear it a lot, considering she rarely did laugh when he was around her. But man, when she did he loved hearing it. It was just as cute as he remembered it. As for being over Nina, that wasn’t even an option; he couldn’t do it. By now, he started to admit to himself (and only himself) that he really had fallen for her during the time he was married to her. There was no doubt about it. He liked—loved?—everything about her. Maybe he was even starting to love the fact that she hated being around him at first. It was probably when she began to not mind him and actually started to like him when he snapped out of it and realized that he really didn’t deserve someone like her. She hadn’t done anything to deserve an ass like him, either. Perhaps that was why he didn’t put up a fuss about the divorce. It was for the better of both of them. He didn’t argue. Then again, neither did she. But it makes sense, considering she’d been wanting the divorce all along.

It was safe to say that he wasn’t sure of his feelings either anymore. As for his independence? He didn’t really care where it went. Or that his manliness of a personality was practically down the sewerage. By now, he’s even forgotten that he was 15 million dollars richer. Could you say he was too proud to admit he liked her? No. But he still wouldn’t admit it to anyone. It wasn’t that he was proud, just thought some things were better left unsaid. And this was one of those things. No one needed to think too much into it that Jack wasn’t over this girl. Jack felt like killing the brunette when she took Nina’s hand as if it was a rotten banana peel she was trying to get rid of. He tried to give her another apologetic look, but didn’t get the chance. The look instantly turned into a disappointed one. ”I know,” was all Jenna said and Jack wasn’t sure what it meant. Didn’t seem like she was pleased about knowing who she was. This girl had some guts and though he was pissed as hell, he couldn’t help but force him to hold in a small laugh. Why was this girl making this a competition? Everyone in the country knew Nina couldn’t be competed against when it came to Jack. Or anyone else for that matter.

By then, Nina had made up her mind that she wasn’t coming along with them to dinner. He wasn’t surprised; it was like asking his ex-wife to be the third wheel of him and his…whatever she was. He wished she was nothing; that way he could just spend this time with Nina, but the brunette wasn’t even close to budging away. She clung herself to Jack, he never asked for it. ”Oh I insist, Nina…it’s been a while.” He wasn’t sure what more to say to make her stay. Even then, Jenna didn’t offer to buzz off from their business. Jack tried making it clear that he wasn’t about to let Nina go that easily, but as he did that, Jenna even more insisted on not passing out on an opportunity to be with Jack tonight. After about half a minute, he realized that he was holding onto Nina’s hand. ”It’ll be fun.” That was a downright lie. He couldn’t say anything anymore to convince her that it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Hell, this moment had bad idea written all over it. ”Or would you rather stay here and spend the evening with the cupcakes?” He pouted, looking up at the cashier once again.

[/justify][/blockquote]

[nina]

Nina too, wanted to hang out with Jack without this Jenna girl. Judging by the way the girl took her hand like she had some infectious disease, Nina knew she was going to scold Jack later on for picking up such a mean and rude girl. It didn't really bother her actually, because she truly found this amusing rather than annoying. And the only reason why she'd scold Jack was because he'd probably be constantly annoyed by her. Unless she was a good lay. Would Jack still do that? He seemed to have changed though considering she hadn't read about Jack with another girl on his arm lately. Actually there was that one instance in a magazine where Jack was pictured at a movie premiere with a girl with huge breasts. So he was having fun and getting out there with other ladies, so what. It pleased Nina to know that he wasn't moping around New York City or she would have felt even more horrible than she already did. As much as she felt guilty for insisting a divorce after those good months together, she didn't feel ready to settle down and be married particularly to someone like Jack.

However, if Jack was a gentleman, sweet, generous, not arrogant and chivalrous, then Nina would have definitely stayed in the marriage. Yes, her decision was very focused on personality, and she felt like she deserved a guy like that. Like Prince Charles, if he wasn't already in love with that Kate Middleton girl. But after just recently, Nina realised that you couldn't really choose who you fell in love with no matter how hard you tried. Jack just happened to fall into that category, otherwise her heart wouldn't be beating faster right now and she'd still be hating on him.

When he insisted on joining he and Jenna for dinner, Nina felt quite conflicted. Well for one, she didn't want to intrude in their personal space and second, she knew the media would go crazy over this. Third, she knew that Jenna obviously objected to the idea of Nina coming by the way she was giving the evil eye every time she thought Nina wasn't looking. Jenna stood tall and proud to have Jack Bailey in her arms as if she was flaunting him. Yep, definitely not going now. Nina gave a sincere "Sorry," and sighed in a disappointed manner. "I'm also in the middle of writing more songs, and once I get into it... you can't really tear me away." Actually that was a lie because just a second ago she said that her night was going to be boring. Everyone she was close to knew that writing songs was anything but boring for Nina. She loved it. Giving a gentle squeeze of Jack's hand, she let go and continued to smile while secretly, she was getting an angry vibe from Jenna.

"You know what? Maybe I'll go. It'll be nice to catch up over dinner." She found herself saying, and it wasn't one of those moments where you go 'oh shit, did I really just say that?' No, Nina had every intention of tagging along simply to piss this girl off. It was going to be a boring night anyway, so she was thinking of this as some form of entertainment and amusement. "Actually let's go now. Think of this as afternoon tea - excuse me - early dinner." Turning to the cashier, she called out, "I'll be back tomorrow!" And with that, she turned back to Jack and Jenna with a sweet smile on her face, "Shall we go?" She didn't intend on waiting for a reply from them as she walked out of the store and onto the NYC street eager to eat. In other words, she wasn't taking no for an answer. Weird behaviour? A little, considering Nina was now seeing and taking this whole thing as a joke. Would Jack catch on? Well she hoped by now that he knew her well enough to know that she liked to joke around.


tagged | jack/sidsid?!
status | completed!
words | 674
location | take a lookie!
notes | finally posted!