Attractiveness is Subjective (Open)

[Macie Wyatt]

Macie sat at the grand bar, waiting for the drink she'd ordered when she'd finally awkwardly flagged down the bartender. She would have sat there forever waiting to order her cocktail had he not seen her lift her hand in the slightest to try and get his attention. One hand was fidgeting with the small golden key on the chain around her neck while the other scrolled through decorating ideas for apartments on Pinterest on her tablet. When she wasn't making ridiculously long lists on her Google Keep app, she was on Pinterest or using her Kindle app to read one of the many British poetry collections she had on it. 

Her apartment wasn't drab my any means. She'd dressed it up when she moved in about a year ago, but every now and then she felt the need to change it, just like with her style, or her hair. Just before returning to Pilot Ridge, she'd gone into a salon and demanded to have her long mane chopped off. Now it sat just past her chin and it was blonde. That was also a change. 

When the bartender set down her drink in front of her, she slid it towards herself and awkwardly tried to catch the straw with her mouth, while still keeping her eyes on her tablet. Not so attractive or graceful for that matter.

[Talia Spencer]

There was very little that Talia enjoyed more than going out with friends. She was used to having many friends, though she had to admit her social calendar had been a little light since she returned to Pilot Ridge a year ago. Perhaps that was because now she was occupied with two jobs - even if only one of them was official, or paid.

But coming back to Pilot Ridge and Hammel had been a blessing. It allowed her to reconnect with people from her past which was a delight. One of those people had been Macie. When they were in school, Macie had been a year ahead of her so they were never close, but they got along pretty well. Talia was glad they had a chance to get to know each other better now.

In fact, she was supposed to be meeting Macie for drinks after work today. But there had been some paperwork fiasco that had held Talia up at the office later than she had expected. Still, she rushed over to the restaurant as soon as she could.

Whenever she arrived there though, she quickly spotted her blonde friend sitting at the bar. She couldn't help but grin wryly as she saw where Macie's focus was - her tablet. "You really are glued to that thing, aren't you?" she said with a warm laugh as she took a seat on the stool next to her. She raised a hand to grab the bartender's attention before shifting focus back to her friend. "So, what exactly is so captivating you couldn't put it down to take a drink?" she asked, curiosity lighting up her eyes.

[Macie Wyatt]

Macie didn't need to look up to realize that it was Talia who had finally shown up and taken the bar stool next to her. "Not glued," she said. "Just rather...attached." She smiled sheepishly. Her tablet helped her organize her life and it provided her with entertainment when she was waiting on someone to show up. In this case, it had been helpful. "It was entertaining me as I was waiting for you. Did you get held up?" She assumed anything could happen working in an office setting like that. She hated to think about it, or about how Talia kept her office space. Was it organized? Needless to say, she didn't stop by the main office often, unless she had to.

"I'm on Pinterest," she told her, turning the screen of her tablet slightly so she could see. "Looking at different color schemes and stuff...for my apartment." Talia, of course, had to know that Macie had only just redecorated her apartment a few months ago.

She finally looked away from the screen to finally catch the straw in her mouth. "See, I'm taking a drink," she told her friend. A cocktail had been the way to go.

[Talia Spencer]

Talia chuckled warmly at her friend's correction. "You do realize, the two are more or less the same thing for all intents and purposes, right?" she retorted. Honestly, the tablet's constant presence didn't bother her - she just liked to tease her friend about it when the opportunity arose. It was all in good fun.

She sighed slightly as Macie asked if she had gotten hung up. "Yeah, there was a paperwork mix up. Turned out that a file just got put back out of order," she said with a small shrug. Truth be told, she was not as organized as a proper receptionist probably ought to be - that was more Macie's strength - but her sociability made up for that small flaw.

"Oh?" she said, a mixture of curiosity and surprise in her voice. After all, she had just redecorated recently, perhaps a couple months ago. "What do you have in mind for it this time?" she asked brightly. After all, life was all about change and she had always found such things to be fun. "You should let me help you pick some stuff out this time. You know how good I am at shopping," she said with a wink and laugh.

The bartender finally arrived to tend to Talia, taking her order and going to work on making the beverage straight away - she tended to have that effect on people. She grinned as her friend finally tore her gaze away from Pintrest long enough to successfully take a sip of her drink. "Isn't that so much better?" There was nothing like cocktails after a long day of work. Taking her own drink in hand, she took a long sip, closing her eyes and letting all the stress of a hectic day melt away. Time to relax.

[Macie Wyatt]

"Perhaps," Macie agreed with a shrug. But she preferred to view it as attached and not glued to her. Glue was too mess. Attached just meant it was an extension of herself.

She listened to what had gone wrong in the office and shook her head. "That could have been so easily avoided," she responded and they could have avoided a whole office fiasco. "They could use a better system." Of course, nobody was as organized as she was and it was foolish to think someone could be.

Macie liked how Talia accepted her for who she was. She may joke about the tablet from time to time, but it was never in an ill way. She'd also come to accept that Macie redecorated her apartment often and she always let the blonde ramble about it for a good half hour. And now she was even offering to help. "I don't know. They are so many options. I was thinking something tranquil. You know I usually like bright colors, but I don't know. Then there's earth tones and..." Yep, there she went. How would anybody ever live with her?

"That's a good point though. You are good at shopping." Besides, shopping often gave Macie anxiety. Having Talia along could help.

She grinned after she took a few sips. "I didn't want to be all the way through my drink before you got here," she pointed out. And she was never bored with her tablet to pass time.

[Talia Spencer]

Talia responded with a shrug as her friend stated that the mix-up could have been easily avoided. "Not everyone is as detailed as you, Macie," she said with a fond chuckle. She liked to tease, but she really did value her friend's input. "Correction. No one is as detailed as you," she added, laughing.

She listened as Macie began to talk about her ideas. "Yeah, bright colors are fun and festive but sometimes you just want to be able to relax," she agreed, nodding as she spoke. "After we're done here, we should go get some paint swatches, go back to your place and put together some palette options," she said, her face lighting up with excitement. Being the artist she was, experimenting with color palettes would be a fun night for her. Not to mention, she was pretty good when it came to design. "It'll help a lot to see the colors in your place and not just just on a screen or in a store," she added with a knowing nod. "You can get a better sense of what it would look like without any sort of commitment."

Talia grinned widely. "Oh yes, shopping is a particular talent of mine, I must say," she agreed with a giggle. She had always enjoyed style, which went hand in hand with shopping as far as she was concerned. Not to mention, since moving back to Vermont, she had learned how to bargain hunt. It was actually sort of thrilling, hunting for the right product or the best deal. "It'll be fun!" she declared. "Once you decide what you want to do, of course." Making the decision was always the hardest part after all.

"You have a point there," Talia said with a grin. She always had good intentions, but one way or another, she always seemed to end up being late. "At least you had your tablet and the promising blank canvas of your apartment to entertain you. An opening act of sorts." Talia couldn't help but giggle at her own joke. She wasn't even tipsy yet, it was just a good feeling to be able to relax and think of things like friends and shopping and style.

[Macie Wyatt]

"Well, they sure could take a few pointers," Macie pointed out. She was just trying to look out for those in the main office. After all, their job would be a lot easier if they didn't make things more difficult for themselves. It wasn't like Macie didn't mess things up sometimes, but when she did, it was bad and she could barely handle it. It was unneccesary stress in the office in Macie's opinion, but she let it go for now. And she would until there was another mixup due to unorganization.

"I tend to want to put too much color on the walls," she admitted, slightly embarrassed. And bright colors at that, having Talia there culd be awfully helpful. There was nothing wrong with having a few drinks and then going back to her apartment to figure out what colors she wanted to paint her walls. What else would two girls in their twenties do?

"Yeah, although I do kind of want another. Once I start drinking these things I can't stop." She motioned to the cocktail.