» MY LUCKLESS ROMANCE //

[piper]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | ASHLEY AS ARTHUR | THIS SORT OF SUCKS, I'M SORRY :c<3 O'Reilly's was rather busy today. Not completely pandemonium, mind you, but it was pretty busy. Considering that it was a pretty small cafe. Piper did what she could to help out, she would help serve her customers, but she didn't do it all the time. Today, she was also helping. Sort of. Well, she'd every once in a while take someone's order but mostly she'd sit in her little corner and read. Her daughter was at her sister's, and Piper had no idea what to do with herself, and naturally, she ended up at her cafe, though she didn't know quite why that was her first place to go. She supposed it was because that was where she always ended up when she was in high school, and that hadn't changed after the course of so many years. Even when she wasn't working her shift, if she wasn't with Carson, she was there. Unless he was with her, that is. But he always had a much busier schedule than she ever did. But Piper was never a busy bee, she moved at her own pace, she did her own thing. She was really pretty slow at most things, except chasing after her daughter, obviously. Because Jasmine was honestly the only thing that got Piper out of bed every day. Otherwise she would probably very rarely even get out of her house. Piper was probably doing her own place no favors by taking up this table by herself and she knew it, but she wasn't stopping anyone from sitting with her. Of course, the book in her hands and the uninterested expression might, but otherwise.. otherwise, the seat across from her was as free as a bird. Piper had never really been a person who cared whether or not someone sat with her as long as she didn't have to talk to them. She was so the wrong person for a job like this. Management, she could do, as long as there were no annoying people on her staff, but she couldn't exactly fire annoying customers, she could just throw them out, and that wasn't very hospitable, was it now? She didn't want to have a worse reputation than she already had for being one of the most introverted cafe owners in town. Piper had one long leg crossed over the other as she read her book with one hand, holding a red delicious apple in the other hand and she was chewing quietly, looking up only as a shadow fell over her and clouded her reading ability. "Can I help you?" She asked as she lowered her book and swallowed, raising her eyebrows and smiling softly. Probably someone complaining about something or other, it seemed that happened quite often, unfortunately. But she was basically used to it by now.

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[arthurstevens]

Arthur hadn’t slept. He was a nerd- there was absolutely no getting around it. But when it came to video games, he was much less concerned with things like World of Warcraft and much more interested in Call of Duty. There had been so much talk about it in his inner-circle that he’d decided to go out and purchase the first game in the series. Perhaps… Perhaps that had been a bad idea. He knew that staring at screens stimulated the brain and kept a person up but he never thought it could get that bad. He was no stranger to neglecting some of the more important things in his life when something new came in, but this was a hell of an extremity. He was lucky he had been able to pull himself away from the game to go to work. Of course, he hadn’t really gotten more than a few hours of sleep beforehand, so his performance wasn’t up to par.

And that was a perfect excuse to take a coffee break.

He didn’t have the greatest attention span. Sure, when he was into something, that would take up the entirety of his focus, and when he was into something productive, that could be a really great thing. Unfortunately, he had a lot of trouble sorting out his priorities, and so if he didn’t want to be doing something, he’d make every excuse in the book to avoid it. At the end of the day, he did the absolute minimum. Sure, he was good at what he did, and therefore got away with it, but it was a problem nevertheless. Today, he’d made the decision to go out of his way to a small café across town that he’d gotten coffee from once and enjoyed it but never had the opportunity to go back. So why not now?

It was a good ten minute drive, seven minutes longer than what it would’ve taken him to go to his usual shop, but he was in relatively high spirits by the time he got there. After all, he was procrastinating and getting good coffee- what could be better than that? And so, with a goofy smile plastered to his face, he got into line, gaze scanning the menu. It wasn’t long before his attention fell to the other patrons in the shop, and just a minute later when a familiar face caught his eye. He inched a little bit forward as the line grew shorter, but his gaze never left the woman reading in the corner. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t place exactly how she looked familiar. He also couldn’t pinpoint the fuzzy feeling in his stomach. Arthur didn’t snap out of it until the woman behind him cleared his throat and he noticed that he was next in line.

Right.

Quickly ordering his coffee, he kept glancing back at the woman. It was driving him crazy, not being able to figure out who she is. The smart move probably would’ve been to just pay for his beverage and leave instead of disturbing the woman, but sometimes his judgment clouded, so instead of exiting, Artie found himself wandering over to her table. Before he knew it, she was peering up at him and asking if she could help him. Oh, shit. His eyes widened a little and, panicking, he cleared his throat and pointed at her book. ”Oh, I was just, uhm… I like that book,” he lied badly, before backtracking and shaking his head. Too obvious. ”No, I’m sorry. That was a lie. I just, uh. You look really familiar.” He really needed to brush up on his social skills.

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[piper]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | ASHLEY AS ARTHUR | (: Piper put her apple down on her table and folded her book in her lap as she waited for him to respond to her. The man standing in front of her not only looked tired, but also surprised, like he wasn't really trying to get her attention. Piper raised one eyebrow and looked down at the book she was holding as he told her he liked it, and she looked back up and grinned softly as he corrected himself. "Oh, so you don't like this book?" She asked, and then chuckled softly and shook her head. "Familiar?" She repeated quietly, musing over it. "Well, I'm Piper. Sinclair. Or Munroe, formerly." She shrugged. She rarely introduced herself with her maiden name, but this was her triumphant return to her hometown, after all, if he did know her it was probably from high school. He looked pretty familiar himself, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Piper had gotten married fresh out of high school, though, so Sinclair was just as fitting for an introduction, it seemed. But it felt like she was not being completely honest, at the same time. He was cute, though. Very cute. She'd give him that. She just couldn't put a name to his face. "And.. you are?" She tilted her head to the side slightly, her eyes slightly narrowed as she wondered. Piper hadn't had a lot of friends in high school, to be honest, she had Carson and her sister and one or two scattered friends, she really didn't socialize with anyone, she was always quiet and somewhat shy. Not that she particularly hated the majority of them, she just didn't have anything to say to them. So if she had known him from high school, he shouldn't be offended if she didn't remember him, if he knew who she was he would know that she rarely paid any attention to anyone around her in high school. She had stuck around for most of her college years, as well, however, so maybe he was from her college days. Piper didn't know. She was pregnant in most of her college years, before she dropped out, and not the happiest woman you'd ever meet. But that was to be expected, you'd think. She had never eally wanted to drop out of college, but she didn't have the energy or means to finish it and so instead, she'd just made a run for it. She hadn't socialized in college, either, though, so either way, she was probably just another familiar face in the yearbook to this man, to be quite honest. She wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even recognize her name. But it was odd that she would remember him, even if vaguely, she must have known him somehow, or else just seen him around a lot. One or the other, she was sure. Or crazy. She might just be crazy, she wouldn't be altogether surprised if she had lost her mind a long time ago.

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[arthurstevens]

Yes.

The minute she said her name, realization struck him and Arthur's face lit up with excitement, in spite of the fact that he tried to keep his reaction at bay. Of course it was Piper. How could he forget? He'd spent a fair portion of his High School career pining after her, dreaming of various encounters in which she came to realize that he was the best choice. Of course, aside from the time he got to be her lab partner in biology, he'd never really spoken to her. It seemed silly, in hindsight, being so hung up on a girl he didn't even really know. But as he looked at her, he remembered exactly why his crush had lasted to begin with- she was beautiful. Since High School, she'd certainly matured, but in a good way. But no, he wasn't going to tell her that. It would be stupid of him to do so. It was a silly school boy crush. She was a beautiful woman. She probably got it all the time. No big deal.

But the curiosity of talking to her was getting the better of him and he was looking to procrastinate, so furthering the conversation seemed like a spectacular idea. "Yes!" he exclaimed, snapping his fingers for emphasis and pointing one at her for a moment before letting his hand fall back to his side, "Piper! Yeah, I remember you. Of course I do. We went to High School together. Lab partners once, I think. I'm Arthur, Arthur Stevens. You probably don't remember me. I kind of blended in. But... Yeah." Okay, he wasn't the smoothest of fellows and he certainly had an issue when it came to his social skills (in this instance, he was rambling a lot and probably said a few dumb things in the process). He wouldn't bother to recognize it, though. He hadn't made some huge blunder as far as he could see, so he simply continued to smile down at her.

It struck him, then, that she had asked him if he had disliked the book back before his spiel about knowing who she was. Arthur backtracked, realizing it was probably unneeded and random to go back to, but he decided to anyways and gestured down to her book. "I'm not sure if I like it. I haven't read it. Is it good? What's it about? I might pick it up later if you recommend it." Breathe. He was talking far too much and she probably thought he was weird in High School and was more than likely thinking about how he hadn't changed since. He raised the coffee mug to his lips and took a sip. It really was great coffee. He began to shift his weight from one foot to the other as he anticipated a response.

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[piper]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,300] OUTFIT | ASHLEY AS ARTHUR | (: Piper certainly hadn't been expecting his reaction, her eyebrows raised again, maybe she had known the man after all, but she just tilted her head to the side and grinned softly. Her eyes widened slightly as he snapped his fingers, and she chuckled. "Yes?" She repeated in an amused and playful tone, listening to his rambling. "Oh!" She said, her head bobbing up and down in an ecstatic nod. "Arthur, yes, I remember you! And please, I blended in with the best of them, how you would remember me of all people is beyond me." She laughed lightly. How could she have forgotten her lab partner? She hadn't known him very well, no, but she certainly did remember him. He'd been a sweet kid, maybe a little socially awkward (but weren't they all at one point?) and nerdy, but she'd liked him well enough regardless. Not that she ever really hung out with him outside of the lab, but she'd never disliked him, anyway. But wow, he had certainly gotten cuter than ever over the years. Though, it felt extremely weird to consider him hot, though. Especially with him standing right there standing in front of her and looking at her. Not that he could read her mind or anything, but it still felt weird, if you asked her. She'd always been a very private person, though. So maybe it was just her after all. Piper had basically forgotten about her question of whether or not he liked the book when he went back to it and answered it, to her surprise. "Oh.. yeah, it's pretty good. Creepy, though." She grinned. The name of the book was House, and she'd never read it before, but it was slightly disturbing and she loved it. She didn't get to watch a lot of horror with her daughter in the house, which had at one point been one of her favorite genres, so she was stuck just reading them when she had the chance to. But he'd asked what it was about. "It's like, a supernatural thriller, I guess. I was never any good at explaining myself, though, so, you'll just have to read it for yourself. If you like thrillers, that is." She raised an eyebrow curiously. Though he'd never struck her as a thriller fan, people surprised her daily. Piper paused for a second, contemplating what she was about to ask, and then without waiting too long, gestured to the seat across from her. "Care to join me?" She asked, her eyebrows raised slightly. Piper wasn't a very social person the majority of the time, but she felt like making an exception, she had at one point known him, after all, she didn't want to seem rude.

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