[IC] Two Worlds, One City (Closed - mmidnight)

[mmidnight]

If a person was going to get lost in any major US city, Boston was really the best place. It was a walking city, full of legendary historical sights, brilliant architecture and clever sandwich boards stuck in front of bars that advertised an early happy hour. For someone who had lived a half hour outside of Boston her entire life, Charlotte really was unfamiliar with it--whether it be the street names, the layout of the city, or even the parking laws, the dark-haired girl was in over her heard every time she came for a visit. Her fish-out-of-water status never deterred her from having a good time, but she often found herself wishing that just one trip would go according to plan and that she could go from point A to point B without any unexpected detours in between.

It was a particularly balmy afternoon as Charlotte passed yet another Irish bar on her way to meet some friends for brunch. There was a neon shamrock glowing in the window, and a sign that let everyone on the street know that they served Sam Adams. The information, although possibly useful at a later date, served no purpose to Charlotte, and she found herself growing rather frustrated with her inability to accurately read a map. Frowning to herself, the slight twenty-something dug into her purse for her phone, already caving and ready to pull up Google Maps for a quick rescue. Inwardly, she cursed the very existence of her friends for not choosing a restaurant closer to home, but they had insisted that the Bloody Mary's at this new place were well worth the drive.

"That's debatable," Charlotte complained under her breath as she copied and pasted the address from her text messages over to the Maps app and waited for walking directions. Her brows knit together in another frown as she took note of the time and realized that if she didn't find this allegedly magic restaurant with equally magical drinks within the next five minutes, she was going to be late. Cursing under her breath, Charlotte put all of her faith into the blue Maps arrow and headed north at a brisk pace. She was determined to be on time for brunch and drinks.

Walking quickly, Charlotte focused almost all of her attention on the screen of her phone. Occasionally, she would look up to check the name on a street sign, needing to make sure that she was going the right way this time. Between her obsessive checking and side-stepping other people on the sidewalk who were just barely noticed by her periphreal vision, the dark-eyed young woman took no notice of what, or who, was right in front of her until she ran directly into someone.

There was a short gasp, and Charlotte fumbled with her cell phone as she felt the splash of warm coffee hit her shins and then soak her gladiator sandals. She cringed as she saw her lifeline lying screen side down in a puddle of Boston's most famous beverage before finally lifting her eyes to the stranger whose day she had just complicated. "I am so sorry," she apologized, her eyes wide and shocked. A cliche was the last thing she had expected to encounter that afternoon, but there she stood with a rough-looking stranger. "I um....I wasn't watching where I was going and," she shook her head and tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear for something to fidget with. "I'm really sorry."

Charlotte hoped that this guy wouldn't flip out on her, because he did look a little scary. All those tattoos clearly said something about him, and she didn't want to mess with him. Although her cell phone was probably a lost cause, she was willing to give him the money for a fresh coffee without expecting anything in return. While her mind was on it, she reached down to pluck her cell phone from the cooling puddle.

[mechanicalman]

The daily routine was as simple as it was predictable. You waited in line for twenty minutes behind everyone and their brother who ordered drinks Noah couldn't pronounce if he tried, just to get a cup of coffee. It used to be annoying, but now, the line was a time to clear his head before the day got off the ground. Granted, it was hard for him to have anything in his head before he had some decent caffeine in his system, but small moments of reflection and meditation were sometimes needed when you lived in the heart of a big city.

Boston had never felt like a 'big city' to Noah Lombardi, though. He'd grown up there, and had loved the ins and outs of it for as long as he could remember. When he was old enough to appreciate it, it was the history and the buildings that made the city feel like home. He had been told on more than one occasion that he had a knack for art, and he had always intended to use that skill to become an architect - design buildings and landscapes and everything in between. But a few mistakes and lack of drive in high school made it nearly impossible for Noah to get into a college, and it wasn't as though his parents could have paid for it, regardless. The smartest move, according to his father, would be to join the 'family business'.

Lombardi's Auto Repair The back of his black t-shirt smacked a daily label on him that he couldn't get rid of, but it was a job, he got to work with his father, and he got to work with his hands, so he had never complained much about it.

The sun was hot that morning - too hot for black coffee, but he'd gotten one anyway, letting the steam slowly seep through the lid to cool as he walked down the bustling sidewalk. He would be late...again, but at that point his tardiness was almost a running joke. Hoping that coffee was cool enough to sip, Noah started to take the plastic black lid off, when...it was on the ground. Along with most of the liquid from the cup. The rest of it seemed to be dispersed evenly on the front of his shirt, and on the feet of whoever stood in front of him. All he saw were her feet as he silently and quickly mourned the loss of his caffeine. "Jesus, lady, don't you know how to walk?"

As his eyes shifted upward in one swift motion, he cocked a brow. "Yeah, I get that." He acknowledged when this girl admitted she wasn't looking where she was going. His accent was thick, his voice deep and almost 'dark' in a way. Letting out an elongated breath, he crouched down to pick up his empty cup, checking it as if to make sure there wasn't a drop left for him to drink. Nothing.

"Look, its fine. I'll get some coffee at work. Your phone's probably shot to hell, huh?" He gave a nod toward the...well, somewhat-dripping cell phone she'd picked up from the ground.

[mmidnight]

That accent stuck out to Charlotte, and although she was used to the east coast way of speaking, and even spoke that way herself, this man's was a little more thick and heavy. Perhaps he was from south Boston, which had a reputation in itself, but it would easily explain his rugged appearance. At the very least, he wasn't yelling at her, and he didn't seem angry that she had run into her and spilled his coffee all over the street as a result. Inwardly, she counted that as a win and hoped that her day would start to run around from this point on because it couldn't have gotten any worse. She was already lost, her shoes were ruined and her phone, well that was probably a lost cause.

Flipping the device over, Charlotte pursed his rose-colored lips together as she assessed the damage. The screen was cracked, splintered across the entire surface and it looked almost unusable unless she wanted to slice her fingers open. Pressing the power button, the phone glowed back to life and Maps was still up and running. "Not as bad as it looks," she assured with a small laugh, relieved that she wasn't stranded in Boston without any kind of back up. Carefully, she wiped off any remaining coffee from the case and ruined screen, making sure not to get any liquid into the ports.

"At least let me pay for your coffee, you didn't even get to drink it," she said as she looked through her purse for her wallet. "I should have been watching, but I was trying to follow the map on my phone to this restaurant and my friends are there, and..." She was boring him, he didn't want to hear about how she was going to miss brunch, or that she was lost. He probably just wanted to get on with his day and forget about the person who was incapable of multitasking. "I suck at directions. Two dollars okay?" she asked, holding the bills out to him.

Charlotte really wanted to get going, because she could feel her toes sticking to the wet leather of her coffee-soaked shoes and the sensation wasn't pleasant. If she could just find the restaurant, she could clean up and put the whole mess behind her.

[mechanicalman]

Noah knew exactly what kind of girl this was. She was pretty. Maybe a little too pretty, if there was such a thing. He was a hot-blooded young American male - he was going to notice how attractive she was upfront. But that didn't mean she didn't have a 'type'. Those suburban girls were just like "upper East-siders" in Manhattan, coming into the heart of the city when a new trendy restaurant opened, or some hipster bar where they could flirt with guys who wore jeans tight enough to cut off their circulation.

He looked her over as she fumbled over her words, over her phone, over her purse and wallet to hand him two dollar bills. He kept quiet through the whole thing, his brows in a fixed raised position and his expression pretty blank. She was doing enough talking for the both of them, and he just took a deep breath. "Keep your money." He knew she didn't mean it in anything but an apologetic way, but Noah had made a vow a long time ago to never be anyone's 'charity case', in any way, shape, or form. He looked past her for a moment, and the walking commute of people heading off to their jobs for the day, and there this young thing was, looking lost in the city, heading to a restaurant.

Still, he knew that some shred of kindness and respect was within him somewhere. If he'd left a young girl stranded on the street, he thought about what his mother might say - after she whacked him across the head. Noah's exterior was a tougher shell than his interior, even though he tried to hide that to the best of his ability.

"You don't need a phone map. Where ya headed? I can tell you the quickest way there." In helping, of course, he knew he was making himself even later for work, and he really had no reason to be anything but slightly annoyed and caffeine-deprived, but for as frazzled as this girl looked, some string of guilt would have tugged at him if he didn't at least point her in the right direction.

[mmidnight]

Charlotte hadn't expected him to reject her offer, and now she was feeling rather awkward about it after only trying to be nice. She wasn't going to argue with him, though, and if he didn't want to take her money, that was fine. Besides, she was the one who was actually put out, her feet and part of her legs covered in coffee. She looked up at the man and noticed that he was quite a bit taller than her, and although he looked a bit like a drifter, he was sort of handsome. He had an angular face, deep eyes and that beard really pulled it all together. Although he wasn't her type, she had the ability to appreciate an attractive stranger every now and then. Normally, Charlotte dated guys who belonged to a boat club, whose parents barbeques she attended in the summer, boys who still thought Dane Cook was funny. It was a little sad, but there wasn't a ton of variety in her town.

After putting the money back into her purse, Charlotte couldn't help the smile that graced her face when he offered to point her in the right direction. She hummed softly, trying to recall the name without having to look at her phone and possibly cut her fingers. "Area Four?" she said, thinking that sounded about right. "It's traditional-looking, or something. Great Bloody Mary's?" The dark-haired girl hoped that rang a little bit of a bell in this guy's mind, because she wanted to get there as fast as possible. She thought it was nice that he was willing to help her.

[mechanicalman]

"Ah yeah...ten dollar Bloody Mary's." For the first time since losing his precious coffee, Noah cracked a grin. He'd never been to the restaurant in question, even though he made it a point to try out as many new places as possible. It was rare for Noah to find a food he didn't like - but, being able to always afford it was a different story. Ten dollars could buy a lot for him...and it would be a lot more filling than a tomato juice cocktail.

Noah glanced down at her feet again, the warm sun of the morning already drying the spilled coffee all around them, but in the two minutes of knowing this girl, he had a feeling she couldn't wait to get whatever coffee stain was leaving it's mark off those sandals. He knew it wasn't his place to judge her - he didn't know a thing about her, and at the same time, knew everything just by looking at her. She wouldn't have given him the time of day if not for feeling guilty for disrupting his morning. And that was okay, he didn't expect her to, and she would have been just as invisible to him among the busy city sidewalks. And yet here they were, two people who realistically had no right or reason to be conversing, discussing the importance of expensive morning beverages.

"It's uh...actually a few blocks away. Up by MIT, down in Cambridge. Y'know, you might be better off takin' a cab or the subway...you look like you're in a hurry and it'll take awhile to walk there from here. The Red Line subway can take ya right there." He offered with a slight shrug. Part of him, although he wasn't sure why, felt concerned for her...maybe because she looked so out of place, and now, there was a pretty good chance her phone wasn't going to hold out for long. The least he could do was get her going in the right direction. Suddenly, that hint of a smirk returned.

"But why do I have a feeling you ain't that familiar with the subway?"

[mmidnight]

That smile of his was handsome, and Charlotte couldn't help but notice that it brightened up his entire face. It would have taken more than a cute smile for her to miss the price of these allegedly amazing Bloody Mary's, though. Even though she had never wanted for anything, ten dollars was more than a bit steep for tomato juice and vodka; leave it to her friends to choose a restaurant like that. Knowing how expensive everything was going to, it almost made the spilled coffee and her ruined sandals not worth it. The only bright side was this cute guy and his beard.

In any other situation, Charlotte was sure that a guy like him wouldn't even look at her. He probably liked girls with tattoos, who listened to obscure music and shopped at thrift stores. Not girls who got squeamish around needles, liked whatever was on the radio and got most of their clothes from the mall. Any way she looked at it, Charlotte was vanilla; boring. Life was starting to feel that way too.

“The subway...” she paused, reluctant. That sounded worse than just walking there. She smoothed down her sundress and weighed her options. She could be late to brunch, or just suck it up, pretend to be optimistic and do what needed to be done.

She returned his smirk with a soft smile, laughing at herself for being so transparent. “Is it that obvious?” Charlotte was clearly out of her element. “I took it once with my friends after a concert. I can't say it was the greatest experience.” Actually, the group of girls had gotten off at the wrong stop and had to call one of their boyfriends to come and pick them up. “I'll just walk and be late,” she shrugged lightly. Her friends would still be there, and it was only a few blocks.

“You know, if you don't have anywhere to be,” she began, deviating from her normal route of flirting, “maybe you could walk with me?” Suggestions such as that were highly unlike her. Charlotte was the type of girl who let boys come to her, figuring that was the proper thing to do, but something about this guy and his tattoos made want to shake things up a bit.

[mechanicalman]

As much as he tried to resist, the girl's smile was infectious. Cute, even, with an innocent quality to it that caused Noah to mimic it without even realizing it. "It's never the greatest experience, don't worry." He assured her, but it was obvious that she ran the risk of getting lost all over again if she had the opportunity to go off on her own and find a means of transportation.

At her suggestion, Noah raised his brows, and he nearly looked behind him to double check that she wasn't talking to someone else. But no, it was only him. Coffee-less, late for work, still groggy from that fourth beer the night before, but she was asking him for some genuine help. And strangely enough, that kind of simple question of kindness from a stranger didn't happen every single day. Everyone was too wrapped up in their morning coffee, their newspaper, their cell phone. Well - the coffee and cell phone were both shot for them, so it made sense.

He was fairly certain, though, that he probably didn't look like much more than a thug to her, which he was used to. His stereotypical Bostonian accent was thick. On top of it, he was Italian. He'd lived his entire life with people thinking he was stupid the second he opened his mouth to say anything. His appearance didn't help, but it was a source of individuality; of the art he never got to produce himself. And she...had this simple beauty about her. He wouldn't have called it 'plain' by any means. Just...simple. And that was actually a bit refreshing.

What would twenty more minutes be, anyway? He was already late for work, and it wasn't as though he hadn't been yelled at by his father before.

"Yeah. Yeah sure, I can walk with ya. C'mon, it's just this way." He motioned with his head in the direction he'd been walking from before their collision. "I'm Noah, by the way. Now you don't have to feel bad about trusting a complete stranger." He extended his hand to her easily.

[mmidnight]

It was time for a change, Charlotte had already decided. Even if she never saw this guy again, at least she would be able to say that she had stepped outside of her comfort zone and took a chance. Things were going well so far and despite having coffee spilled on her feet, and shattering the screen of her cell phone, the day was looking up. The dark-haired girl couldn't help but grin in surprise when Noah agreed to walk with her. She was slightly proud of herself for taking the first step too.

Shaking his hand when it was offered, Charlotte noticed the callouses on his palms. The roughness was oddly pleasant, a sharp contrast to her own skin, but she didn't linger long. “I don't feel bad about it,” she assured him, following along at his side. “I'm Charlotte.”

She didn't know how long it would take to walk to the restaurant, but the brown-eyed girl secretly hoped it would be a little bit. Noah was interesting, probably the most excitement she would get all month, and she wanted to take advantage of that. It wasn't often that she got to meet people like him, and she was starting to rethink her aversion to the city. At the same time, Charlotte was sure that he would find her plain and boring, more than likely used to people who were adventurous, full of life and ready for anything at any time. That just wasn't who she was; always more likely to plan a trip rather than simply get in the car and go.

As they walked along through the crowding streets, Charlotte turned to glance up at him, squinting slightly as the sun was in her eyes. “What do you do?” she asked, genuinely curious. Judging from the state of his hands, she thought he did some kind of manual labor, or maybe played the guitar.

[mechanicalman]

Charlotte. Pretty name to go along with a pretty girl. None of it made sense as to why she'd entrust a guy like him to walk her...well, anywhere, but she had taken a chance on the fact that he wasn't a serial killer, and he appreciated that. From her own appearance and the way she seemed so lost in the city, Noah was quick to judge. It seemed as though Charlotte wasn't as quick to judge him as some kind of fool, and that was something not only was he not used to, but something that he didn't really want to take for granted at that moment.

"Uh...I'm a mechanic." Noah paused his stride, turning slightly to face away from her so she could see the logo of his father's body shop on the back of his t-shirt. He had never been ashamed of his job. It wasn't what he wanted to do for a living, it certainly wasn't his 'dream'. His dream rested in his fingertips when they were pressed against a pencil and paper, designing buildings and interiors, city landscapes and towers. But for now, and...most likely forever, he was fixing mufflers. "It pays the bills." He shrugged, then motioned with his head to a small coffee shop on their path. "Mind if I grab a cup real quick?"

It was a short line there - was it Starbucks? No, but the caffeine was the only thing necessary at that point. "What about you, Charlotte? What do you do? Or hell, what do your friends do that they can get ten dollar bloody mary's on a Thursday morning? I want that job." He smirked, jokingly, ordering a cup of coffee before raising his brows and glancing back at her. "Did you want anything? They actually have really good coffee here. Even those weird girly drinks with whipped cream mountains." He offered, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. It was a strange encounter, the more he thought about it. Twenty minutes ago it was just any other day, strolling to work at the only time of day where he didn't have grease on his face and hands. And then in an instant, he was offering to buy coffee for a girl who'd spilled it in the first place - a girl who was quite obviously out of his league in every sense of the word.

[mmidnight]

It seemed silly, but Charlotte had never hung out with a mechanic before. Normally whenever something was wrong with her car, she just dropped it off at the dealer, or let her dad do it for her. She supposed that she was spoiled in that sense, hardly ever had to do anything for herself. Suddenly, she felt a little embarrassed by her upbringing and going to have ten dollar cocktails in the middle of the day while other people were at work. Never before had the dark-haired young woman realize how privileged she was. She didn't even want to tell Noah that she was unemployed, he would probably think less of her for it—not that she thought his opinion was very high of her anyway. After all, she had already spilled his coffee and got lost practically in her own backyard.

“No, go ahead,” she agreed, following toward the coffee shop. Entering behind him, Charlotte had a real chance to read the back of his t-shirt, and she found herself smiling at the clever design. “You don't like your job?” she asked, taking in the alluring scent of fresh coffee. It was much more appealing than what had been splashed all over her feet, although her sandals had already dried and the sensation wasn't as uncomfortable anymore.

When asked about her own life, Charlotte shrugged, a little awkward as she fidgeted with her hair again. “I go to school,” she told him, “for sociology. I took a year off after high school, so I'm almost done with college now, but I worked at the marina by my house for four years.” She had a decent amount of money saved up, enough to be out on her own, living with a room mate and able to afford the essentials. Of course, her parents still helped her every now and then, and she had a partial scholarship along with a few grants for school. Her contribution to society had been miniscule so far, but at least she had worked at one point. Noah's smirk really was infectious, and the more she saw of it, the less she actually wanted to go to brunch. If he didn't think she was entirely stuck up and spoiled by now, Charlotte hoped he would stick around around for a bit.

She was a little surprised that he was offering to buy her something when she had already made him waste money. “I got it,” Charlotte insisted, really wanting to make it up to him. “And I'm more of a smoothie person, to be honest,” she said conversationally, getting her wallet from her purse yet again.

[mechanicalman]

"Huh? No, I do." Noah assured her he liked his job when she questioned, a bit confused at her intuition. Did he come across as though he hated it? Maybe he shouldn't have been so casual about it. He had never been embarrassed about it before, but a girl like her looked like she was used to men who owned stock and ran corporations, not worked on carburetors.

When Charlotte suggested that she'd prefer a smoothie, it caused a slow grin to creep across Noah's face, and he had no idea why. A smoothie. It practically screamed innocence, fun, simplicity - the exact opposite of what he may have thought about her based on appearances. As she started to dig into her purse, though, he raised his brows, shaking his head a bit. "No way, doll.." He placed a hand on top of her own that was holding her wallet, as if to encourage her to put it right back.

"I may not look it, but I'm a pretty old fashioned guy. And I know every woman in here would think I'm an asshole if I made you pay for anything. So...I'm sorry if you're one of those girls who is all...overly independent and won't let a guy hold a door or pay for anything even if they're a stranger, but that's just me. And besides, I've got a little old Italian mother who looks like you could snap her like a twig if you hug her too hard, but she scares the hell out of me and she'd be mad if I didn't pay. So..let me get this for ya." He managed a grin, waiting for her agreement before he stepped up in line to get himself a coffee, and a strawberry smoothie for her, pulling out his wallet after ordering.

[mmidnight]

It was clear that Noah wasn't going to let her pay him back right then, and Charlotte didn't know how she felt about that. She knew that it wasn't a huge loss, a cup of coffee wasn't going to break the bank, but the dark-haired girl had principles and manners, and she wanted to make their meeting up to him somehow. It didn't help that he insisted on paying for her, and she already felt spoiled enough in comparison to him. He clearly worked hard, and she...spent her summers having brunch and going to the beach. On those grounds alone, he should have accepted her money.

“You can hold doors for me,” she grinned back, replacing her wallet in her bag as she was left with the lingering feel of his hand on hers for the second time that day. “But I'm going to pay you back somehow, bet on it.” Only, she wasn't sure how just yet.

As they waited for their drinks, Charlotte quickly excused herself to the bathroom to try and clean up her feet and shoes. Thankfully, it was early in the day and the public restroom was fairly clean. The spilled coffee came off her skin easily, and a few passes with a wet paper towel over her sandals had them looking fairly decent again. She hardly thought anyone would be looking at her feet and judging her. She spent a little extra time in the bathroom, fixing her hair and touching up her light make up quickly before returning to Noah at the counter.

Charlotte took a sip of her smoothie after it was given to her by the woman behind the counter, and savored the fresh, strawberry flavor. “Thanks for this, by the way,” she said, kind of bummed that she was still on her way to brunch. “You're pretty nice for someone who had their morning coffee dumped on the sidewalk.”

[mechanicalman]

As Charlotte went off to the bathroom, Noah wondered what he was even doing. Sure, it may not have been unlike him to help someone out when they needed it. He had always been a big believer in karma, but the fact of the matter was...this girl didn't need his help, not really. Not to the extent he was giving it. She needed directions, sure. Did she need a morning smoothie and an escort down the street? Probably not. And he didn't need to be late for work, either, but there was a definite pull there that he just couldn't put his finger on.

By the time she'd returned, he'd gotten both drinks for them, handing her the bright red concoction before taking a sip of the caffeine he'd been missing out on. "Trust me, I'll be much nicer now that I actually have some." That grin returned. "And no problem. See? The city ain't as scary as it looks." Boston as a whole, was Noah's favorite place in the world. It didn't have the same 'big city' vibe as New York or even Philly...to him, it always felt like a small community shoved into the shell of a city.

"Well, we should get you to that brunch." He suggested, motioning toward the door with his head, before heading out with her - opening the door for her just like he had suggested, and just like she said she'd allow him to do.

"So...sociology? That's like...how people and groups interact with each other, right? What do you want to do for a living?" He could tell just by a glance that she probably could have lived off her parent's money for the rest of her life, or at least until she married a man with an even bigger trust fund, so to know that she was actually working toward something was definitely refreshing, and he found himself interested in just what she was studying, and why.

[mmidnight]

While it was true that Charlotte wasn't exactly comfortable in the city, she wouldn't have said that she was afraid of it. Although she got lost every time she came for a visit, the dark-haired girl had never once felt like she was in danger, or that she should never return. However, having Noah by her side made walking around in unfamiliar territory a little easier. Getting along with Noah was somewhat effortless, and his relaxed attitude was refreshing. Some of the guys she hung around were pretty high strung, even worse than some of her girlfriends, but Noah was different. She liked that about him.

After thanking him for holding the door for her, Charlotte followed Noah outside and they set off once again in the direction of this elusive restaurant. Now that she had met him, she really didn't feel like going to brunch, but asking him to hang out with her for the rest of the day might have been weird. It wasn't often that she made the first move, and this was the most forward Charlotte had ever been with a guy. Usually, they came to her if they wanted something, and on the occasion that it was the other way around, she would just hint until they got her drift. She had a feeling that wouldn't fly with Noah, though.

“Pretty much,” she nodded, taking another sip from her frozen drink, “interaction, organization, the functions of society.” Part of having a year off after high school had been for Charlotte to figure out what she wanted to do with herself, and college seemed like the best option. It helped that she had always been interested in sociology, and any kind of study that involved human nature. “It's going to sound so weird,” she prefaced with a laugh, “but I'd like to go into market research.”

Biting on her straw, Charlotte looked to Noah. “What about you? Do you want to own your own garage one day?” After all, he had already said that he liked his job.

[mechanicalman]

"Market research, eh? I gotta admit, I didn't have you pegged for that.." Noah managed a grin as they continued their walk, and he felt a thousand times better with an instant rush of caffeine running through his system. Maybe it had something to do with the company, too - Charlotte was turning out to be a pleasant surprise, even if he wouldn't admit that out loud. He was definitely used to a certain 'type' of girl, and Charlotte was just the opposite on the surface. Sure, he still didn't know much about her, but the more he learned, the more intrigued he found himself.

Raising his brows a bit at her question, he almost found it comical, but she wouldn't know that. "Not if I can help it. I know that's what my dad wants - me to take over the family business. It's a living, I don't hate it, but it's not what I want to do forever." He offered a shrug, pausing to wait at a crosswalk with her.

"I've been savin' up money for years, tryin' to get enough to go to school. My dream is to become an architect. Design new buildings, contribute to historical ones. Boston's so rich with history it ain't even funny. But I'd like to travel all over and create new things." It was a strange thing for him to admit. Everyone he knew laughed at that 'dream' of his, and his own family wanted nothing more for him than to stick with the family business, so it wasn't exactly something he shared all that often. "Anyway..it's a long shot. I mean you can probably tell just by talkin' to me it's hard for a lot of professional people to take me seriously. But that's alright."

As the light changed, Noah continued down the sidewalk with her, the sign for the restaurant she'd been looking for right ahead of them. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was actually a little disappointed their 'journey' had come to an end. It would only be a matter of moments, though, before she was with her friends, and their short time together would be nothing more than a distant memory. "Well...here you go. Ten dollar bloody mary's await." A small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Hopefully that phone of yours keeps working. And be careful who you run into..not everyone's as charming as me." He joked.

[mmidnight]

In a way, Charlotte could easily guess what Noah would have pegged her for. She knew what she looked like, and where she came from, and if anything she was destined to become a housewife like her mother. The dark-haired girl wanted more than that, though, and she never had been particularly gifted when it came to maintaining a home or taking care of children. There was just something fascinating in the way the minds of consumers worked, and Charlotte had always been curious about why some products were popular and others weren't. She didn't bother explaining any of that to Noah, and she figured he wasn't interested to begin with. There was still a part of her that thought he was just being polite to her.

Instead, she listened as he talked of his current job, the family auto shop and what he would rather be doing. He looked like an artsy individual and Charlotte didn't see any reason that he couldn't have gone to school and made his dream of designing buildings a reality. “Sounds like their loss then,” she said, rocking back on her heels as she waited with him at the crosswalk and continued to sip her drink. “I hope you get to do what you really want one day.”

They continued to walk, crossing the street and Charlotte walked by Noah's side until they were outside of the restaurant. She looked over at the window, barely able to pick out her friends toward the back of the place and she was sure they hadn't seen her yet. It would be rude to ditch them, wouldn't it? She smiled up at Noah, thankful that he had been so kind to her. “Thanks for walking me,” she said, tossing her free hand up in a lazy wave goodbye. “Have a good day, alright?” She turned then, walking toward the door before something made her pause mid-step. She really didn't want to go yet and Noah was someone she really wanted to know.

“I'm more of a mimosa person,” she announced, turning back to him with a slight grin. “Do you want to hang out, or something? Is that a weird thing to ask?” She hoped not.

[mechanicalman]

"Yeah, no problem." Noah liked to believe he was a decent guy. He wasn't exactly a charmer, and he had his fair share of faults, but he'd never intentionally done anything to cause someone any distress. It was no different with Charlotte - he'd started out offering a nice gesture, just like anyone else might have done. But in their short walk, he'd found himself wanting to learn more about her. She was a book that certainly seemed to have more inside than what you would find on the cover. It made him intrigued to see more - maybe she would continue to surprise him, but that probably wasn't exactly in the cards for either of them.

He turned away to head the opposite direction, when he heard her voice pipe up again, and turned around. She was asking him...to hang out? Noah raised a brow, as if he was making sure she was talking to him and not someone else. "Kind of." He managed a grin at her question. "But I've always kinda liked weird." With a shrug, Noah glanced around again. He was already late for work, he knew he'd have to come up with some explanation, but at that point.

"You want to get a real breakfast somewhere?" His brows raised slightly. "I don't think there'll be mimosas or bloody marys, but the best blueberry pancakes in town." He offered, more interested than ever at the fact that she would want to spend that extra time with him. He wasn't going to take it for granted, though - if she was taking a chance on him, he would do the same for her.

[mmidnight]

Putting herself out there was a scary thing, and it felt like a million years before Noah actually answered her. Charlotte thought that he looked a little shocked, perhaps not used to being sought out instead of being the one to do the seeking. Still, she was glad she asked, and a smile spread easily across her lips as he accepted her offer. In only the twenty minutes that they had been walking together, Charlotte had already decided that Noah was one of the most interesting people she had met in her young life. Perhaps that spoke volumes about the sheltered life she lead, but the decision was still big to her.

The promise of real breakfast easily made Charlotte forget about feeling awkward for stepping out of her comfort zone, and she found herself nodding. “Where at?” she asked, stepping away from the door of the restaurant. “I love pancakes.” Her mother used to make them all the time on weekends when she had been growing up, and sometimes she liked to visit just to have breakfast with her parents. That was probably a little silly, juvenile, but Charlotte didn't think much of it. Her family was important to her.

Taking out her wrecked cell phone, Charlotte gingerly tapped the screen to life and found her text messages. She sent a quick one to one of the friends waiting inside, making up an excuse about car trouble, but adding she would go to the next brunch they planned. Boston was a big city, and Charlotte doubted she and Noah would run into them that day. “You think I'm weird?” she asked, laughing lightly as she stowed her phone without checking for a reply to her text.

[mechanicalman]

"Just a couple blocks down the street, actually..." He motioned with his head as he continued to walk. What exactly he was doing with this girl, he really didn't know. It all happened so quickly, and while Noah wasn't the world's biggest believer in fate, he was beginning to wonder why Charlotte had quite literally run into him in the first place. He didn't want to leave her, that much he knew. And the way she was so quickly and easily willing to forego her original plans to spend time with him? Whatever they were doing, he was happy to be with her, and to learn more about her, as crazy as it might seem to anyone else.

A slight smirk pulled up his expression as they walked and she questioned him about being weird. "Well you're trusting a big tattooed guy who you just ran into this morning to take you to breakfast. I mean...that's a little weird, isn't it? Like I said, I'm not complaining. I like weird. I'm pretty weird, too. I'm trusting the pretty girl who's way out of my league and just ditched her friends to not be pulling my leg." His brows raised, and that grin didn't fade away for a moment. Noah often used a sarcastic sense of humor just to get by. Serious situations were far too frequent. If you didn't laugh sometimes, what was the point?

Heading down the road toward The Friendly Toast, Noah couldn't help but glance over to Charlotte every now and then, still trying to figure it all out. "Where you from, then? I mean...you needed directions, and you don't exactly look like you live downtown. I uh..I don't mean that in a bad way, I just.." He trailed off, shaking his head a bit with a slight laugh. "Sorry, I'm not the greatest when it comes to wording things. Just...where ya from?"