Leyla Paused For A Moment, Trying To Figure Out How Best To Describe The Trip Which Had Been A Rollercoaster.

Leyla's smile brightened as the other woman confirmed with her hand what she had suspected. Though she wasn't so sure about having kids herself, she did love seeing the joy in others who did want it. "That would be great, I'm actually working on having some of the local musicians come play for a night of live music. I think that would make a great date night. Do you mind if I ask when you're due?"

Accepting her hand and shaking it, she said, "nice to meet you, Alice. I'm Leyla. I really do hope we get to know each other better." It still amazed her how kind everyone was here, she wasn't exactly familiar with the small town dynamics. "Will you really?" She asked, again surprised by the hospitality of this place. "That would be wonderful!" Finishing pouring the drink into a glass, she added the finishing touch of a sprig of fresh basil before placing it down in front of her newest regular.

Alice smiled and nodded. “Well, thank you,” she grinned. “I’ve gone to taking a liking to these mixed drinks without them being spiked,” she said, placing a hand on her bump with a small smile. “I’m excited to discover the menu! Maybe I’ll bring my boyfriend with me next time,” she grinned.

She nodded quickly. “I remember,” she chuckled, adjusting herself more comfortably in her seat. “Alice,” she introduced herself, with a warm smile, holding her hand out. “I write for the local paper. I will definitely spotlight Mawk Tales,”

She meant it when she said she wanted Mawk Tales to be for everyone. It was safe. "Good, I'm going to be putting on some events, trivia, live music, things like that, over time." She wanted to have more reasons to bring people in to have fun and enjoy some non-alcoholic drinks. She smiled in understanding as he said it depended on the day. "Yeah, I can see that. It's the kind of day for friends not dads," she remarked with a small laugh.

He nodded in understanding as Leyla encouraged stopping by Mawk Tales with Ary. "I'll have to make sure I stop by and check it out," he agreed. It was always nice checking out new spots around town anyway. Wes couldn't help but chuckle at the question of whether his daughter was outright ignoring him or if she still thought he was cool. "Depends on the day," he shook his head. Pre-teens were interesting to navigate parenthood with. "Right now, she'd rather be out with her friends," he added as he looked back out at his daughter, then back at Leyla. At least that was the case in that present moment.

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?"

"Maybe a bit of a variety. Like an 80's, 90's and today sort of experience?" She suggested, thinking then everyone would experience some songs that they liked. Setting the flight down in front of him, she listed them off, "blackberry, strawberry basil, blue lagoon, watermelon lime." She then laughed as she addressed his previous statement, "I'm more than fine with no country."

"That's gonna be based on who you asked. I say, your business, you set the vibe." Alec could make just about anything work, as long as it only required his voice and a guitar, it would work. "Just no country, we already have a western bar in town."

It was important to Leyla to be here, to give back. She had never been good at receiving, but giving came easy. Besides, she'd get to be with horses, what could possibly be wrong about that? Nowadays, she often preferred animals to people.

"Really? That's great," she said as the woman confirmed they were always looking. It perked her up a bit as she patiently waited for the application. "I also own Mawk Tales, down by the coast, so if you ever want to do any sort of fundraiser, let me know," she offered, before gratefully accepting the clipboard. "How long have you been doing this?" She asked as she started on the form.

As much as Livvy loved working as a physical therapist, she enjoyed her work with the horses even more. Getting to watch children get up on a horse's back for the first time, riding around a little arena, being led by the volunteers, going out on trail rides when they had the experience and could handle it; every day, she went home feeling good abotu what she did. That wasn't always something she could say about her time in the office.

"Oh!" she looked up from where she had been polishing a saddle, buffing and buffing at the leather to make it look like new again, and breaking into a smile. "We're always looking or volunteers, actually. As for applications, uhm, give me one second," she set the saddle aside, and scampered into the office, snatching a piece of paper out of one of the drawers and attaching it to a clipboard, turning to make her way back out into the aisle. "Here we are!"

Well, if Instagram says so...who are we to argue? I don't keep up with trends, unfortunately, but I'm sure those ideas are going to be big. You can always go with someone from The Office, it's classic and pretty timeless. If you don't want to look like everyone else, you can go even more obscure...like a strawberry banana smoothie.

@merrock

Right, so, I'm taking recommendations for my Halloween costume. Before you say "Oh, Miles, it's too early-" blah, blah, blah. No, it isn't. Why not? Because the first Halloween edit came on my Instagram recommended page just now. Anyway, what's the trend this year? Barbie? Ken? Queen Charlotte and George? Farmer George? That's all the ideas I have. Any suggestions will do or I will have to result in dressing like a banana for the third year in a row. Costume is starting to wear down.

Give me a number. What?

- Lady Bird (2017), dir: Greta Gerwig.

Leyla did her best to make this a warm place, one of the reasons she chose a spot close to the coast. It created an atmosphere, almost like a vacation in the middle of the day. Though maybe for the locals, it was more mundane by now. As she looked at her latest customer, she could see a bit of a glow--and maybe a bump? Though Leyla would never make assumptions.

"Good choice," she agreed. Most bars added so little alcohol to their cocktails that it was hard to tell the difference when that part was missing. A good flavor speaks for itself. "My first regular," she joked, "maybe I can get your name and train the bar to call it out every time you come in like Norm on Cheers--if you ever saw that show."

Mawk Tales felt like the perfect spot for Alice to spend her afternoon. Nonalcoholic drinks for the pregnant wine lover? She could enjoy some of that. She eyed the menu and licked over her lips. Everything looked good, but when she heard the word ‘strawberry’ she knew that’s where she had to start.

“I do enjoy a good fruity drink,” she said with a nod. “I’ll try the strawberry one,” she gave a smile. “You know, I’ll probably be here quite often, trying something new.”

"Oh, definitely. I have a row or two on my bookshelf basically dedicated to those," she admitted, which pretty much consisted of non-business books as that's all she'd been soaking up lately. "I'll probably need something like when I finish my current list."

"Some books you buy in good faith and never get around to reading, right?" She knew who she was, with her cheap romance novels and tasty thrillers. That's what she liked. "I would, especially if you want something that doesn't require much thinking."

#sleeping beauty