#serving Looks

Leyla had settled down in a beach chair with her book and tumbler, looking up on occasion at all the excitement around her. She wasn't sure she wanted to be in it all, watching was fine for her. As somone sat nearby, she looked over and smiled as the woman complimented her cup. Her ASL was pretty basic, but it had always been something she wanted to learn. She was mostly fluent in three languages, so it was something she always wanted to add to. "Thank you," she replied, for the words she didn't know the sign for, she would spell it out. Speaking it aloud as she went in case she could also read her lips, "I am going to start selling them at the bar soon. Are you going to play in the game?"

Who: Lara Marie Caruso & @leyla-tehrani

What: Beach Bash

Lara was enjoying being on the beach. Her daughter had run off with her friends to enjoy the last bits of summer freedom they had. It gave her a little freedom herself. She had a snack in her hand, and decided to take a seat somewhere she could watch the rest of the action. Turning her head, she saw someone close by and gave them a wave. “I like your cup,” she gestured, pointing to the Mawk Tales tumbler she spotted.

"You're welcome," she said softly, "I actually picked this up at What's The Tea recently. Their tea is really fantastic." Watching as he grabbed a fork for his fruit, she then placed the teapot on the stove to heat the water. "I'm the employee I have to tell to go home," she offered with a bit of a laugh, "and still keep working." She had always been bad about giving up control, still trying to do absolutely everything herself. "I always liked school--well, the work part anyway." She was about to ask about the fun of lesson planning when he answered that himself. "Words easily blend together after a while, right?" She perked up at the mention of the dogs, her favorite roommates in all honesty. "If you ever need help with them, someone to check on them while you're in class or something, I love dogs."

"Thanks," he offered her a bright smile in return, before locating a fork, deciding not to be a total barbarian that afternoon and picking at the fruit in the bowl, chewing through a piece of pineapple thoughtfully. "Makes sense. You're your own boss, and you best employee, right?" Unless she had someone else who did the dirty work! And even then, she probably still deserved a raise. "I do, at the community college," he nodded. "This is the time of year where I start gearing up to teach again, hence the snack break. Lesson plans are only fun for so long," which could be sad about any type of work, he was sure. "That, and I gotta take the dogs out in a few."

When Leyla saw there would be horseback rides at Creek Fest, she knew there would be no needing to convince her to step away from her booth to do that. She had been volunteering at Harmony Healers for just a little while, but she hadn't gotten near enough time to ride herself. At the sound of a voice, she looked over to see the question was directed to her. "Who could resist, right?" She replied, "look at these beauties. I'm almost surprised people are doing anything else when this is an option."

Elise could never resist the siren's call of the chance to ride a horse. She'd been going on trail rides with Livvy over the past few months when she could, but she didn't have as much time for it as she'd liked. Now, though, all but ousted from her stand for a few hours, she found herself with the time to do just that. She was captivated for a few moments by the chestnut she'd chosen before she even noticed anyone else near by. "Oh, hello! Are you going for a ride as well?"

@leyla-tehrani

Since the moment of his confession, she had wanted something to make it better. Some word, some revenge, some idea...anything that would just make it better. He could offer her none of it. She knew he was sorry, but it wasn't a word that made it go away. It didn't bring the trust back or make her feel less unworthy; it didn't take the carefully crafted walls down or ease the self-talk that plagued her.

She couldn't leave him like this, even after everything. If any of the old Leyla was still alive, she had to care. She hated him, that was still true, but she loved him too. Not in the same way, that was long in the rearview, but people who made it to her heart never really left. Wiping quickly at her own tear, she started to reach for him but pulled her hand away like a flame that would burn. "You'll be okay," she murmured instead.

More of that poison-laced truth. If he wanted it, then why didn't he? That elusive why continued to taunt and torment her. "I'm having trouble believing that," she confessed honestly because it was all she could say. It still felt like her fault. You're too difficult, Leyla... "Maybe you're still just looking for something." Something not in her.

Her heart caved in as that question struck her with a million memories. Hands shaking, fork nervously tapping the plate, 'it's not the food' she would sob as if he didn't already know that. He was a great cook, and he never took any offense when she struggled to eat whatever he made. What do you need from me? When she looked too long in the mirror, counting every flaw. What do you need from me? When her mother called and made some fleeting jab of a remark. What do you need from me? "We're adults, there's no need to avoid each other, it's a small town," she said, leaving all emotion out of her voice. Her questions seemed pointless, and she wasn't sure if he had any more answers. But it came out anyway. "Was it...exhausting to love me? Was it too dark? Did you just need light?"

It was on the tip of his tongue again—another apology, trying to flee his parted lips and find her. Apologizing for apologizing too much was one of Vitus's most stubborn habits, formed over the last few years. He swallowed the rest of his I'm sorry's, forcing the horde of them back down into the core of his body. Leyla didn't want them anymore. Maybe she never had.

Here they were, both crying because Vitus hurt her ten years ago, and yet. Leyla was the one being patient with him. Guiding him back to some semblance of calm, the same way she used to. Deep breaths. She'd told him that when he stumbled home and splintered into a thousand sharp pieces after seeing his mother for the first time in years. As he had back then, Vitus followed her voice, drawing and releasing each breath one at a time. It helped. Of course it helped. And the fact that he'd burdened her with caretaking here, now, with him of all people, only drove the guilt deeper into his chest.

"I know, how it made you feel. How it made you doubt. But I did want to be faithful to you. I swear, I did. I've always wanted to be that guy." The one who could leave home for days at a time and think only of the connection waiting for him there. The one who didn't become excited, in some small part, whenever he cheated on someone. Vitus wanted the happily-ever-after kind of love, just never knew how to hold onto it long enough to make it last. She was right—he needed to figure it out, for the sake of every partner he'd ever hurt and every one he might still hurt down the line.

"What do you need from me?" He had asked her this question before. Intermittently throughout their relationship, as she struggled to look at the food on her plate or keep the future she wanted within sight. Back then it had been a matter of supporting her through personal troubles. This time, it was a matter of yielding to her amid the mess he made. "I can... answer any questions you have. I can steer clear of you around town." Intentional avoidance would heap more pain atop his shoulders, but this wasn't about him. "Whatever you need, Leyla."

"I've never seen anything quite like it," Leyla commented, "it's like one great big family who actually like doing things with each other." She wasn't sure yet how she fit into it all, but if her roommates had any say in it, she would in time. "No, afraid we haven't. I'm Leyla Tehrani," she introduced herself back as she took his hand. "It's nice to meet you. Is the real estate firm yours: Bardales, Inc.? That's who I used when I purchased my space for Mawk Tales."

"End of summer, beginning of summer…" he let out a laugh as he shook out his beach blanket and laid it out next to his new company's. "Fall, winter, spring, we make a big deal out of everything," noto that he was going to complain. It meant a lot of opportunity to see people he otherwise didn't see, meet new ones along the way. That, and he actually was looking forward to playing volleyball. "I don't think we've had the chance to meet, have we? Rafael Bardales." He held out a hand, keeping the same polite, warm smile in place.

That was the beauty of a small town, this was invaluable advertising because the whole town had to be walking around this week. If they hadn't made it to the coast yet, they would know her shop's name now and the delicious drinks they could find there. "Yes, as long as the feedback's good, but barring people spitting it back out at me, we'll have these for the season. And maybe a couple others. They are seasonal, though, so still for a limited time. Just not one week limited." For a young business, it might not be the best idea to donate all this money to a charity, but that's what she was going to do. She believed in the cause, and the mission of her place was to make the world better, safer, kinder. That's what Harmony Healers was doing. As she set the flight in front of him, she added, "and all of these are available full-size this week that you can take with you, if there's one you really like and want to take it as you explore the rest of the booths."

"You know what?" Josh nodded his head decisively when Leyla talked about the flight, the special that she had crafted up for the week, offering her a bright smile. "Let's go with that. Might as well try a little bit of everything, and then get hooked -- are you also selling these over at the coast, in case I need to stop by and get my fix?" After all, there was nothing worse than falling in love with the taste of something, only to never have it again. It happened all too often at fairs and festivals, he had come to find. But he trusted Leyla to find a way to make it happen. "Besides, always want to help with a good cause," and he did love the work that Harmony Healers was doing, after all.

WHO: Leyla & @docolives WHERE: Harmony Ranch

At one of the treatment centers, Leyla had gone through some equine therapy, and she found so much progress and help in it. When she learned that Merrock had a similar sort of program largely geared toward kids, it was all she could do not to run all the way from the coast to the countryside to see if there were any opportunities for her to do something.

"Excuse me," she asked the blonde she spotted, knowing she'd seen her around before, "do you have any spots for a volunteer? Like an application or something I could fill out?"

Leyla knew there had been a concert about a month ago, but she hadn't gone. The idea of really being part of the town, opening herself up to people again, it sort of scared her. It was much easier to do it all in the context of work. Still, she had seen the posters and thought she remembered seeing his face in one somewhere. "Do you mind if we talk a little business then?" She asked, "because I want to put on some events in the bar, and I thought live music would be a great option. I know you're more of a...louder band, but do you ever perform any acoustic sets?"

"Thanks!" he offered up a warm smile as she began working on his drinks. At the question of being in a band, he confirmed with a nod. He wasn't entirely sure which band she was referring to, but he could probably safely assume she wasn't a devoted fan of any sort and just had heard around town. "I am, yeah."

"Caught him myself, but cameras aren't a bad idea," Leyla joked. Her qualifications for what a snacker was was admittedly rather low, since she had never been much of one. "Ah, you're a smart man, sounds like you've had some experience hiding some tasty things," she replied with a small laugh. It did sound nice, like this whole week was turning out to be. It was strange how comforting the small town had become, how well it seemed to suit her. If she'd grown up in a place like this, she had to wonder what else could have been different. "I'll have to do that then," she wittled down her thoughts to one non-committal phrase. Her smile brightened as he mentioned his dog. "Oh, are those people annoying? I've always dreamed of being one. What's your dog's name? I've sort of adopted my roommate's dogs for the moment, he's just not fully aware of it yet. But if one of us moves out, I might need a lawyer." She was joking...mostly. Nodding as he mentioned his girlfriend's children, she asked, "how many does she have?"

Josh found himself laughing as she outed one of her roommates as a snacker. "Do you set up cameras to catch them rooting through the fridge, or are they more obvious about the things that they're sneaking out of cupboards or cabinets?" Josh liked to snack, maybe not so much to a level where someone would label him as a snacker… but he liked to have a good treat here and there, enjoy something tasty. "Just find a box of some food that you know no one else in the house likes, and tuck it into that in the fridge. No one will touch it," surefire way to turn them away from a food was to disguise it as a food they didn't like, after all. "I think so," he nodded his head eagerly, "the wagon ride out there alone is nice, get to see some pretty sights, and then the actual pumpkin patch is really well done, too. If you don't get there during Creek Fest, I recommend coming out after," gathering up all of the pumpkins she might need in time for Halloween. Smiling, he shook his head, reaching for the next drink sample and downing it, "I don't. I'm one of those annoying, 'my dog is my child,' types. My girlfriend has children, though."

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