Location: Grimm HS: Gym Hall >> Outside
Interacing With: Marc, Tim, Cellphone
Interaction Tags: @Lady Amalthea
Ash was enjoying the laughter with Marc and was beginning to remember some of their high school moments together. That was until she saw Tim walking up to herself and Marc. She remained quiet and watched their faces as files were passed between the two men. Her brow furrowed slightly as she saw Marc looking towards her after he saw something that he quickly hid.
“Marc what-…” Her words were cut off as he took her by the arm and guided her out of the gym. She walked with him over to the picnic tables and she settled onto the bench and watched in silence as the two men exchanged words. Then Marc turned to her. Something about the look in his eyes made her body turn to stone and she could barely feel her limbs. Her insides were knotted and she struggled to swallow as she braced herself for what he was about to say. She knew it was bad news.
Her dress? Her
prom dress? That couldn’t be… She had it sealed and stored in her parent’s house here in Grimm. Their home had the highest security that money could buy, there is no way that someone could have gained access to her parents’ home.
“Are you absolutely sure that it is my dress?” Tim asked the same question and Marc’s answer chilled Ashley to her core.
She felt her phone vibrating in her purse but she didn’t answer it. She had to process this information first. She watched as Marc and Tim exchanged words but she heard nothing, she was too inside her own head in that moment. She hadn’t been by her parents’ place since she’s arrived back in Grimm but all she wanted to do now was to go home and find her dress and pretend that this was a sad, sick joke.
She looked up to Marc with a blank face as he walked back over to her and she vaguely felt his arm curling around her shoulders. His voice sounded different, it wasn’t the same light tone that she had been talking to earlier. Had his face always had so many lines in it? She couldn’t remember. Her fingers twitched as she played with the hem of her dress and the clasp on her purse. His words hit her like a car going 90mph and she felt her chest caving in as she heard them.
Taking a full minute to control her breathing, her chest rose and fell quick and shallow as she tried to gather her thoughts together. She breathed through her nose and felt her lips thinning as she gripped her purse as if it was an anchor keeping her down to earth in this very moment. She roughly shrugged Marc’s arm off her shoulders and she stood up and began pacing back and forth on the concrete slabs. Her heels clicked, clacked and scraped as she made sudden movements and shifts in direction as she paced.
“W-what do you mean Atlas is dead?! This is just a sick joke, right? This can’t be real. This hasn’t happened! This is completely and utterly all a joke to get back at me for being a bitch in high school, isn’t it? It’s not funny y’know!” She was going to start hyperventilating soon. She had no idea how to process this. Her cell buzzed in her purse again and she angrily tore it out and held it up to her ear.
“What?!” Her usual pleasant and welcoming demeanour was gone and in its place was a woman on the brink of breakdown. Marc would hear a male voice talking down the phone to her and Ash’s eyes welled up even more than they already were and her jaw set in a straight, hard line.
“Fine. Bye.” She hung up the phone and shoved it back into her purse violently before closing it with a loud snap and throwing it across the table towards the grass just beyond. She crumpled into herself then and became a small ball crouched close to the ground with her hands in her hair and her shoulders shaking from the tears that were now pouring down her face.
Jawson
Location: Grimm H.S.: Gym Hall
Interacting with: Each other
Interaction Tags: @Lady Amalthea
Jasmin had not moved from her perch at the side of the gym hall for more than a second to grab a glass of rose wine from the bar. She wandered back over to where she had taken Ada's formerly deceased husband, Lawson, in order to calm him down. She hoped that Ada was alright and that she and Lawson had had a good conversation at the very least. Sipping on her drink, Jasmin glanced around the hall and spotted more than a few faces she had wished to never see again. One particular face was Nesha Jackson, a bitch on two legs rather than four, she had helped Atlas make her life absolute hell when they were screwing around. There was also Jewell Price who used to threaten her for money for her drug habit, although she was looking so much better than back in high school. Jasmin had to give her some kudos for that at least, so long as Jewell didn't try anything stupid she'd be civil. Nesha could just go suck on a lemon for all Jasmin cared.
"Well it seems that I shall be entering what is known as the single life Ma'am. Do you mind keeping an old Marine company for a bit? Or do you have some gent you need to get back to?" Looking over to the source of the familiar voice, Jasmin smiled warmly at him and gave a sympathetic look that showed she understood exactly what he meant.
"No, no gent for me. Hasn't been one for a good couple of years, at least not in a serious capacity. I'd be happy to keep you company though, also please call me Jess. Ma'am makes me feel so old." She rolled her eyes in a silly way and let out a small giggle.
"Although, since you're now on the inside of the joke, my real name is actually Jasmin but let's keep that hush hush for now." A light peel of laughter followed her words and she ran her left hand through her hair and tucked it behind her ear as she watched Lawson's face.
Lawson perked a brow but nodded in understanding.
"I see, well that explains a lot," he said before glancing around the room and taking note that Marc and Ash were trying to cover the fact that they were staring at them.
"Though, from the look of things, we have two that are currently curious to what is going on." Jas looked over to where Ash and Marc were standing and she blushed as she realised that they were staring. The blush was semi-embarassment but also some anger. She still held some resentment towards Ashley for how she used to treat her in high school.
"I take it the talk didn't go how you planned?" She bit the lower corner of her lip as she let a gentle frown show across her face.
Lawson nodded slightly and then gave a quick shrug of his shoulders before he rolled them back.
"No, it didn't but Ada always did have a way of wording thing to make them clear as crystal. I guess I just need to try to figure out now what to do with my life since the plan I had for the next few years of my life just got tossed to the side. Not exactly sure what to do, didn't think divorce was going to be in my future. Granted I doubt being a young widow and having her husband come back from the dead were in Ada's plans either." Jasmin gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and gave a shrug of resignation.
"People never do think about divorce when they get married, and if they do? Well they shouldn't be getting married in the first place." Lawson nodded in understanding, he hadn't thought about divorce when he married Ada but part of him knew if Kai stepped back into the picture he would lose her. At the time, he was actually okay with the idea but they had married under unique circumstances.
She leaned back against the wall and looked to Lawson.
"You'll find your way somehow. Call it a gut feeling. Although, taking some time to yourself might not be a bad thing. Unless you spent the last five years alone in which case I'd say make sure to find someone you can talk to and rely on otherwise you may go mad." Her eyes widened and she grimaced before she spotted a couple of chairs at the edge of the hall were free. Lawson looked away for a bit, she had no idea how much time he had spent alone.
"Come on, lets grab a seat while we chat." She smiled at him warmly and made her way over before sitting down and crossing her legs. Lawson looked back over to her and followed her over it the seats, sitting down and fiddling with his Stetson.
"Funny you should say that. What the doctors told me. I was a POW for four of the last five years. Doesn't give you a lot of time to talk but it really screws with your head when you're the only one you'll talk to," he admitted before sitting back fully in the chair and letting his legs sprawl out before him. Jasmin's eyes widened in surprise and her mouth hung open a little as she considered what to say to that kind of news.
She uncrossed her legs and sat forward on the edge of her chair as she looked to Lawson. She didn't smile but she tried her best not to give him a very sympathetic look, he'd get enough of those from everyone, he didn't need them from her.
"I cannot begin to imagine how that must have felt but, even though we've only just met, you can talk to me anytime. A friendly ear can never go amiss." He nodded slightly. He wanted to talk but he wasn't sure where to start and there was so much he wasn't allowed to speak about because of security issues. Running his hand through his hair he glanced towards her.
"Tell me Ada won't get hurt by that Hawaiian again.." He knew he didn't love Ada the way he thought he had all those years but he still didn't want to see her get hurt again.
She ran her hands through her hair as she considered his request. As long as she'd known Kai, he'd never seemed the type to hurt anyone. What went down with Ada after graduation was a surprise to a lot of people, Ada included. Nothing showed signs that that was where their relationship was headed. Her eyes were thoughtful and her face was showing clear signs of thinking.
"No one can tell you that, but what I can tell you is that their break up was a shock to everyone. If you want my opinion on the matter, I don't think he will. In fact I get the feeling he'll do all he can to make her feel nothing but happy and giddy. He's just that kind of guy despite what you may think. He's one of the few that never treated me like I didn't exist during high school. That's got to count for something, right?" She looked to Lawson with a hopeful look and a tiny smile on her face.
Lawson nodded slightly as he bent his knees and placed his Stetson on one of them. Her words helped a bit but he knew what all she had been through because of Kai and he was still worried. Even if she was not with him, he was not exactly comfortable with the idea that they were back together. Rubbing his face with his hands he looked over towards her and smiled faintly.
"Well I can't exactly see why anyone would treat you like you didn't exist." "I'll be back in a sec." Standing up, Jas strode over to the bar. She grabbed a couple cups of punch and brought them back over, her handing holding one out to Lawson.
"Thirsty?" She raised a questioning eyebrow and left a warm, soft smile lingering across her features.
Reaching out he took the drink and his smile grew a little bit.
"Thank you," he said kindly before taking a small sip to see exactly what it was. Was just as he expected some high school punch to taste like; spiked to hell and back. Tipping the glass back he downed it in one swift drink before clearing his throat.
"So, as much of a come on as it may sound, what's a girl like you doing alone in a place like this?" he asked with a slight chuckle.
A light peel of laughter rang out as Jas rolled her eyes and hit him playfully on his non-stetsoned knee.
"You know that kid with the braces? Who had massive, frizzy hair and absolutely no dress sense? Who was fat, unfit and looked like the dog's dinner? Yeah, that used to be me." She held her hands out, palm up and motioned them across her lap as if to say 'all of this'.
"No one here knows who I am or recognises me except for Ada. I get the feeling Ashley and Marc don't believe I'm Ada's cousin but that can be dealt with later." She shrugged her shoulders lightly and showed a slightly defeated smile. She really didn't want to deal with Ashley, Marc she was fine with, but Ashley... No.
He couldn't help but chuckle as he listened. It was hard to believe but there were always those ones that were called ugly ducklings, some turned into swans. It seems that was the case with Jas.
"Well that explains a lot." "And as to why I'm here alone, I'm divorced and have not really had time to meet anyone because I work insane amounts of hours. In fact, this is my first holiday in a year so... I think that says a lot about me." She chuckled at the ridiculousness of her situation when she heard herself saying it out loud.
He perked a brow, she was divorced?
"I can understand that. So tell, what words of wisdom can you as a divorcee give a soon to be divorced man?" Jas drummed her fingers on her knees as she considered what advice she could give. Her divorce had been pretty messy and not something she ever expected to go through but she had. She had almost let it break her in the beginning but she soon found the drive to fight through and make more for herself than she had before.
"Well your situation is a whole lot different than mine was but... Don't let it defeat you. Let it drive you." Her face was serious and she was looking off into the distance as she spoke.
He nodded, he guess it was as good as any advice he could be given at this point. He thought at first when he saw Ada and Kai together it would break him but after his and his soon to be ex-wife's talk he just figured he would need a reboot of some sort. Glancing around he noted the on goings of the place and felt, well out of place. Standing up he placed his empty cup on a table and looked over to Jas. Taking a drink from her cup, Jas looked up to Lawson as he stood and gave him a questioning look.
"Thanks," he said gratefully while he considered his next words.
"I'm feelin' a bit out of place and well this food ain't exactly my idea of food. Care to join me for a burger and get out of here for a bit? My treat." Well that was a bit of a shock. Surely he wasn't asking her out so soon after his talk with Ada? Why even would he ask her out? He was clearly still hung up so clearly she was reading things wrong. Why was she even thinking this much about it? Probably because he was cute, sweet and was going through a situation like she had been through; even if his was particularly more extreme on other levels than her own. Swallowing the sudden dryness in her throat, Jasmin smiled and gave a curt little nod as she stood up and smoothed her dress down.
"That would be lovely. Thank you, Lawson." Lawson smiled at her as he held his arm out, Jasmin laced her own through it before Lawson escorted her out of the gym. He couldn't stand catered food. He just wanted something he could actually enjoy and Jasmin seemed to be good company. He wasn't looking to jump back on the horse but he could use a friend right then and she seemed open to that at least. Stepping outside he led her to his truck and opened the door for her, his hand extended to help her up into the cabin before shutting the door and climbing into the driver seat. It was time for both of them to get away from the commotion.
Jasmin took Lawson’s hand with a gentle
"Thank you." before climbing into the truck seat and getting herself buckled in. He was certainly better company than the rest of them inside the gym hall, that was for sure. She was glad to get out of the clamouring masses and into solitude again. It was where she worked best as a lawyer and as a person.
