Post by colonelpiaf on Aug 20, 2009 13:43:37 GMT -5
Hi everybody,
I'm a newly converted Thunderhead, so I'm not a huge knowledge on all the guys' backgrounds, so if I slip up a little I apologize in advance. Hope you enjoy?
One side note, I was unsure about a title, so I just picked something random. Any ideas?
---
In the park Andrea sat forlornly, absent mindedly shredding pieces of grass between her fingers. Around her only the buzz of cicadas and bubbling water from the fountain broke the silence. Warmth broke from behind tree branches and spilled in bright colors onto Andrea’s conversed feet and bare calves. She distantly realized that her tender skin was beginning to burn, but remained un-phased as she started into the woods.
The burning of her legs could be only considered a mere inconvenience in comparison to the unending amount of problems which seemed to have found a comfortable home in Andrea’s path. Due to a minor oversight on her part, when Andrea moved from her parents to a new house she had had her water bill sent to her old address. Unfortunately the bill arrived while her parents were on vacation, resulting in a swift and unforgiving cutting off of all water to her small house. This came at a very inconvenient time for her, just after finishing a brief job, in the middle of a load of laundry, before the dishes were done. Really, Andrea just hadn’t felt fully clean for at least two days now. Somehow the YMCA’s showers were not quite as satisfying.
Not only that, her car’s engine had puttered to a stop on the way to work several days earlier, meaning she was now taking the bus—another reason for her sensation of un-cleanliness. Also, her boss had been unappreciative of her abrupt need to take off work the week before and was currently unsympathetic toward the situation. She had Andrea stay two hours later than usual in the office under the pretense of waiting for an important call. It never came.
So here Andrea now sat, greasy, unwashed hair, dirt stained pants, cotton-mouth and now, slightly burned calves. Andrea had obviously been some sort of beastly villain in a former life, because she couldn’t recall having run over anyone’s dogma. At least not lately.
She sighed and after a moment’s deliberation stood and swayed on the spot. She stuck both hands out to the side in an effort to balance herself, but instead of meeting air or tree bark her finders met a warm surface with some give—it was soft. Andrea turned in an adrenaline filled moment of fear and surprise. “My God,” she gasped.
It was a man, she realized and snatched back her hand. Andrea placed one had over her anxiously beating heart and the other on her pulse at her throat. He looked almost as surprised as Andrea.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Andrea said timidly, conscious of her bad breath and wary of blowing it into the stranger’s face—she was almost positive that would be considered bad manners.
The man seemed to comeback to himself, “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
Andrea rushed to correct him, “No, no, it’s fine. Should’ve been more careful…”
The man seemed unsure of what to say to this and his eyes darted to the side, past her. They stood awkwardly.
“M’Andrea.”
The man smiled politely, “Paul.”
Andrea listened to him speak with curiosity; he had a strange inflection in his voice. He stuck out his hand and Andrea caught it with her own, “Pleasure.”
They paused, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before, are you new to the neighborhood?”
Andrea knew she was grasping at straws here. It was not only likely that she could have missed the man because of the several hundred visitors which passed through each day, but he also might have been one of the many in the town who didn’t visit the park every day like she did. Paul appeared to be unperturbed.
“Yes, actually, I just moved to the States,” suddenly Andrea recognized the lilt in Paul voice for an Irish accent.
She raised her eyebrows in a mixture of appreciation and surprise, “Well, welcome then to the U.S. Home of anxious bill collectors and faulty vehicles,” she thought bitterly of her car and house, she ran a hand through her greasy hair, “please enjoy your stay.”
Paul laughed deep—a resounding, wonderful sound that reverberated between the fountain and the trees—hahaha—“I’ve had some experience with those in Ireland, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Andrea smiled, she liked this man.
“So, what brings you to the States?”
Paul’s eyes abruptly grew twitchy, “Er, well…” he gazed past her, “I was traveling with some close friends here for awhile… I decided I liked it enough to make it my permanent residence.” His eyes came back to rest on hers.
Suspicious, Andrea held his gaze for several seconds. She smiled, “That’s great! I’m glad you liked it so much to stay.”
Around them birds chirped and a middle aged couple jogged by huffing and puffing, cheeks red and shiny with sweat.
“It was really a move for convenience…work and whatnot, you know.”
“Ah,” said Andrea, not really knowing at all, but nodding anyway, “Whatnot…So, what do you do exactly?”
Paul shuffled his feet and avoided Andrea’s eyes again, “I’m…” he trailed off, he appeared to be thinking hard, “a part of a traveling business.”
Sensing he was lying and realizing that he probably realized she knew that too, she said nothing. Instead she studied his face. Him being taller than her, she had a hard time seeing his face full-on, only a somewhat unattractive view into his nostrils, but from what she could tell else wise he was a good looking man. His face was long and narrow with prominent cheek bones. Blue irises stared out of almond shaped eyes—they twinkled, or so Andrea fancied they did…
Abruptly Andrea realized he was studying her too and her hand immediately raced back into her unwashed hair, “Umm..” she held out the sound for awhile, he raised a brow, “I’ve got to get going. Hopefully I’ll see you around.” She began walking away with her hand covering her hair.
“Wait a sec.”
Andrea waited.
“Where d’you live?”
Andrea admittedly had seen her share of bad pick-up lines, but she had never heard someone be so forward so quickly. In the half of her mind that wasn’t considering how to shake of the stranger she wondered if it were an Irish thing. She hesitated with her mouth half-way open, “Well, I’m bad with directions…but I’m here almost everyday.”
He smiled and seemed to accept that she didn’t quite trust him, “I’ll see you around then.”
She walked backwards and waved, “Bye!” Andrea turned and continued walking away.
Paul stood still and watched her go, intrigued to say the least. She was hardly how Phil and Sharon had described.
---
Yay?
I'm a newly converted Thunderhead, so I'm not a huge knowledge on all the guys' backgrounds, so if I slip up a little I apologize in advance. Hope you enjoy?
One side note, I was unsure about a title, so I just picked something random. Any ideas?
---
In the park Andrea sat forlornly, absent mindedly shredding pieces of grass between her fingers. Around her only the buzz of cicadas and bubbling water from the fountain broke the silence. Warmth broke from behind tree branches and spilled in bright colors onto Andrea’s conversed feet and bare calves. She distantly realized that her tender skin was beginning to burn, but remained un-phased as she started into the woods.
The burning of her legs could be only considered a mere inconvenience in comparison to the unending amount of problems which seemed to have found a comfortable home in Andrea’s path. Due to a minor oversight on her part, when Andrea moved from her parents to a new house she had had her water bill sent to her old address. Unfortunately the bill arrived while her parents were on vacation, resulting in a swift and unforgiving cutting off of all water to her small house. This came at a very inconvenient time for her, just after finishing a brief job, in the middle of a load of laundry, before the dishes were done. Really, Andrea just hadn’t felt fully clean for at least two days now. Somehow the YMCA’s showers were not quite as satisfying.
Not only that, her car’s engine had puttered to a stop on the way to work several days earlier, meaning she was now taking the bus—another reason for her sensation of un-cleanliness. Also, her boss had been unappreciative of her abrupt need to take off work the week before and was currently unsympathetic toward the situation. She had Andrea stay two hours later than usual in the office under the pretense of waiting for an important call. It never came.
So here Andrea now sat, greasy, unwashed hair, dirt stained pants, cotton-mouth and now, slightly burned calves. Andrea had obviously been some sort of beastly villain in a former life, because she couldn’t recall having run over anyone’s dogma. At least not lately.
She sighed and after a moment’s deliberation stood and swayed on the spot. She stuck both hands out to the side in an effort to balance herself, but instead of meeting air or tree bark her finders met a warm surface with some give—it was soft. Andrea turned in an adrenaline filled moment of fear and surprise. “My God,” she gasped.
It was a man, she realized and snatched back her hand. Andrea placed one had over her anxiously beating heart and the other on her pulse at her throat. He looked almost as surprised as Andrea.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Andrea said timidly, conscious of her bad breath and wary of blowing it into the stranger’s face—she was almost positive that would be considered bad manners.
The man seemed to comeback to himself, “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
Andrea rushed to correct him, “No, no, it’s fine. Should’ve been more careful…”
The man seemed unsure of what to say to this and his eyes darted to the side, past her. They stood awkwardly.
“M’Andrea.”
The man smiled politely, “Paul.”
Andrea listened to him speak with curiosity; he had a strange inflection in his voice. He stuck out his hand and Andrea caught it with her own, “Pleasure.”
They paused, “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before, are you new to the neighborhood?”
Andrea knew she was grasping at straws here. It was not only likely that she could have missed the man because of the several hundred visitors which passed through each day, but he also might have been one of the many in the town who didn’t visit the park every day like she did. Paul appeared to be unperturbed.
“Yes, actually, I just moved to the States,” suddenly Andrea recognized the lilt in Paul voice for an Irish accent.
She raised her eyebrows in a mixture of appreciation and surprise, “Well, welcome then to the U.S. Home of anxious bill collectors and faulty vehicles,” she thought bitterly of her car and house, she ran a hand through her greasy hair, “please enjoy your stay.”
Paul laughed deep—a resounding, wonderful sound that reverberated between the fountain and the trees—hahaha—“I’ve had some experience with those in Ireland, but I’ll keep it in mind.” Andrea smiled, she liked this man.
“So, what brings you to the States?”
Paul’s eyes abruptly grew twitchy, “Er, well…” he gazed past her, “I was traveling with some close friends here for awhile… I decided I liked it enough to make it my permanent residence.” His eyes came back to rest on hers.
Suspicious, Andrea held his gaze for several seconds. She smiled, “That’s great! I’m glad you liked it so much to stay.”
Around them birds chirped and a middle aged couple jogged by huffing and puffing, cheeks red and shiny with sweat.
“It was really a move for convenience…work and whatnot, you know.”
“Ah,” said Andrea, not really knowing at all, but nodding anyway, “Whatnot…So, what do you do exactly?”
Paul shuffled his feet and avoided Andrea’s eyes again, “I’m…” he trailed off, he appeared to be thinking hard, “a part of a traveling business.”
Sensing he was lying and realizing that he probably realized she knew that too, she said nothing. Instead she studied his face. Him being taller than her, she had a hard time seeing his face full-on, only a somewhat unattractive view into his nostrils, but from what she could tell else wise he was a good looking man. His face was long and narrow with prominent cheek bones. Blue irises stared out of almond shaped eyes—they twinkled, or so Andrea fancied they did…
Abruptly Andrea realized he was studying her too and her hand immediately raced back into her unwashed hair, “Umm..” she held out the sound for awhile, he raised a brow, “I’ve got to get going. Hopefully I’ll see you around.” She began walking away with her hand covering her hair.
“Wait a sec.”
Andrea waited.
“Where d’you live?”
Andrea admittedly had seen her share of bad pick-up lines, but she had never heard someone be so forward so quickly. In the half of her mind that wasn’t considering how to shake of the stranger she wondered if it were an Irish thing. She hesitated with her mouth half-way open, “Well, I’m bad with directions…but I’m here almost everyday.”
He smiled and seemed to accept that she didn’t quite trust him, “I’ll see you around then.”
She walked backwards and waved, “Bye!” Andrea turned and continued walking away.
Paul stood still and watched her go, intrigued to say the least. She was hardly how Phil and Sharon had described.
---
Yay?