[color=gray][right][sub][u][b]Location:[/b][/u] Huskers
[u][b]Interacting With:[/b][/u] N/A
[u][b]Mentions:[/b][/u] Jolene & Faye [@Tae], Caleb [@HylianRose] Valentino [@kaiidth], Aiden & Clive [@Altered Tundra][/sub][/right]
[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/260330/bdde3381.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/56OCu0m.png[/img][/center][hr][hr]
[indent][indent]Pines Holler was a small town. For better or for worse, this meant that every choice and decision you made would follow you around for the rest of your life in ways that it might not if you were living in a city or a larger location. For Dallas King, this was a rather annoying, hard pill to swallow. While she had hoped that her arrival at Huskers went by without a hitch, that was a lot to ask when it was the only place in town besides Dr. Ellie’s clinic with a working generator.

Within the first five minutes of being at the bar, Dal was already regretting her decision to accompany Mollie. Her co-worker Jolene had arrived with her adorable daughter, both of them accompanied by one of the mistakes the young woman had made shortly after Aiden’s departure to the military. Caleb Dalton was still as handsome as ever– which added insult to the old injury to her pride no matter how much time had passed since [i]the incident[/i]. A few years ago, Dallas and Caleb had involved themselves in a heated fling that would make people blush if they knew the specifics. Their chemistry was hot and undeniable, and the times spent together would be considered fond memories had it not been for what happened next. Darling Dallas, ever the naive hopeless romantic searching for her one true love, made the age-old mistake of catching feelings for the man not too long into their arrangement, and confessing said feelings to Caleb. As expected, he didn’t take the news well. The spooked bartender did not reciprocate her feelings, and the arrangement was over as quickly as it had begun. Seeing his face at any point in time after that was only an unwelcome reminder of how stupid and embarrassing she could be when confusing infatuation for love, so she made it her mission to avoid him at all costs. Today, the mission was deemed unsuccessful.

As if the memory of how she had metaphorically fallen flat on her face wasn’t enough, another one of her past mistakes would soon enter the fold. Dal found herself huffing in annoyance and sinking further into her booth seat, hoping that the distance from the door would make her virtually invisible to one of the two law enforcement officers entering the fray. Leave it to Valentino Lockwood to show up unannounced to a location she was at whether he was on the clock or not. Working at the place the man frequented for breakfast had meant mastering the art of politeness in his presence, but it didn’t mean voluntarily subjecting herself to his company. If it wasn’t for a guardian angel showing up beside him in the form of her best friend, the blonde would’ve bolted through the emergency exit doors by the bathrooms and ran all the way back home.

And to top it all off, there was the pointed absence of her beloved Clive Evermore.

All this effort into her makeup and this cute but flirtatious outfit? Wasted. Thrown away in the trash like a used paper towel. What was the point of enduring the torture of having Valentino and Caleb under the same roof if it didn’t get her any closer to reeling in the big fish she’d been trying to catch for months now? A true shame, if you asked her.

Right now, Dallas had two options. One: she could wallow alone in her self-created misery in this old, worn-down bar booth like a total LOSER. Or two, she could take advantage of Aiden’s miraculous presence to help the time pass by quicker.

She chose the second option– duuuuh.

After ensuring her presence hadn’t been noticed yet, Dal shot Aiden a quick text: [color=4998BE][i]I’m hiding in the last booth to the left of the bar. Come save me pls![/i][/color] 🥺🙏[/indent][/indent][/color]