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Post by Carter Stresemann on Feb 15, 2010 18:56:43 GMT -5
The dreary weather had caused Carter to change his plans for the day. So, that meant he didn't really have plans for the day now. So, he spent a couple hours in the garage cleaning out his SUV. Vacuuming all the dirt and sand out of it and such. He would like to give it a good wash and wax, but the weather wasn't cooperating with him on those plans. Oh, well, it wasn't anything that had to be done right away.
As he put the shopvac away he glanced outside. He sighed a bit as he turned the volume on his IPod up. Today might be a good day to head to the gym, get a good workout in.
He put everything away and jumped into the SUV. Backing out of the garage and pulling onto the road. He drove into town. Finding a spot to park about a block from the gym. He got his bag out of the back and made his way down the sidewalk. His head bent slightly down as he looked at the ground as he walked. More or less blending in as just another face in the face in the crowd. Which was fine by him, he wasn't looking to stand out.
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Post by Gelsey Reinhardt on Feb 16, 2010 19:05:10 GMT -5
Gelsey hummed to herself as she meandered under the awnings of Figueroa Shopping Place, her umbrella held airily behind her; she seemed unconcerned by the rain, as though awnings alone protected her from all wetness. She'd been purchasing some of Mrs. Field's Cookies, simply because her father had given her a little bit of spending money and she couldn't afford shoes, so cookies seemed like a fairly reasonable substitute. She wasn't complaining at having so little, though; she knew her parents couldn't afford to give her very much, so any spending money at all seemed remarkable now.
A blonde boy ran past with his head down, and she stopped a moment, turning to stare after him. She was sure she recognized him, but she wasn't sure if she should say anything. They weren't friends, but then it was polite to greet acquaintances, right? So after he'd gone down almost three stores she skipped after him, going in the opposite direction she'd been walking originally, and called out to him, "Hello, Ben!" But when he looked up it was clear that he wasn't Ben Patridge at all, and she felt very silly. Perhaps she shouldn't have said anything, after all.
"So sorry," She apologized, sounding serene in spite of her mistake, "I thought you were someone I go to school with."
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Post by Carter Stresemann on Feb 16, 2010 20:24:50 GMT -5
Carter had never really been one to dislike the rain. The hopeless romantic inside of him actually found something romantic about the rain. But today wasn't one of those days though. Which might explain why he was wandering around town with his head down, like he was trying to avoid contact with the rest of the world. Which wasn't the case at all. He wasn't deliberately trying to hide or avoid anyone. He just wasn't much in the mood for being all wet and soggy. However, there were disadvantages to walking along with her head bowed low. Makes it a bit more difficult to watch where you are going. That can always be a dangerous thing.
He trudged on down the sidewalk, and he hadn't gotten very far when a girl bumped into him. He wasn't aware of it being a girl until he looked up and she spoke. Ben? No, he wasn't Ben. This was certainly your average case of mistaken identity.
Carter shook his head. "I"m sorry, I'm afraid I'm not...this Ben person." He shrugged slightly. "No need to apology. We've all made mistakes before. Human nature, trick of the eye. Whatever you want to call it."
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Post by Gelsey Reinhardt on Feb 16, 2010 21:49:47 GMT -5
Gelsey pursed her lips, looking the boy over. He had the same blonde hair, but now that she had time to really look at him, he didn't look like Ben at all. "No, you're not." She agreed complacently, folding her umbrella and holding it behind her. "It was just difficult to tell, you know, with your head down."
She glanced down at his gym bag, "You have a gym membership?" She asked curiously. She'd looked into getting one after her dance lessons were canceled, but they'd been too expensive. But not everyone's parents had been laid off, either, so what was too expensive for her was inconsequential for others. Before her father lost his job a gym membership wouldn't have been a problem, but they'd relied on that job to pay the bills, and without it they were struggling not just with everyday living expenses but also with the mortgage. Her mother's job simply wasn't enough.
"I suppose if you're going to the gym you wouldn't want a cookie." She'd spent precious money on those cookies, but it was always nice to have someone to share one's spoils with, and as Sidra was at home working on an order Gelsey would just have to share with someone else. And since she'd already stopped him she might as well offer the boy something nice.
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Post by Carter Stresemann on Feb 16, 2010 22:40:09 GMT -5
"I suppose if you're only looking at the top of someone's head it does make it more difficult to properly identify them." he said giving her a small smile. "I guess I was afraid of possible drowning if I looked up." That had been a lame attempt at a joke. He had heard once that turkey's would drown in rain storms because they would stare up wards into the rain. "I'm sorry, that was a really bad joke."
"Do I have a gym memberships? Well, my parents do. I usually don't take advantage of it." he shrugged. "I usually just jog or find a spo tlike basketball to do to get my workout sin. But this weather isn't really conducive for such activities." he scowled a little. He'd rather be outdoors and not in some stuffy steroid ridden gym.
He looked at her when she offered him the cookie. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, I'm practically a stranger." he grinned a little. Then took one of the cookies she offered. "Thanks, I'll need this to get me through that grueling workout." he made another failed attempt at a joke. Man, he was not on his game today. He should stop while he was ahead, well not really ahead, but before he made a bigger fool out of himself.
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Post by Gelsey Reinhardt on Feb 18, 2010 19:09:46 GMT -5
Gelsey returned Carter's smile, "Oh, no, please. I can't possibly eat all of them myself." They would probably end up going stale if she tried, though her family would undoubtedly not pass up the opportunity to devour cookies. "And I don't have a gym membership, so if I did eat all of them I couldn't exercise them off."
"Don't let me distract you from your grueling workout! Oh, but you're probably not really stopped for me. It's the lovely weather, and me and my cookies are just a pretext." Unlike Carter, Gelsey didn't really mind doing all her exercising shut up in a room with a bunch of other people in sweaty gym clothes. She much preferred that to spending all her time out of doors where she was likely to burn -- that was one reason she didn't mind walking out in the rain, there was no horrible sun beating down upon her porcelain skin.
She trailed after him into the gym itself, as if she had nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than follow around someone she didn't know. "There isn't some sort of promotional, get people to join and you both get a discount deal going on, do you know?" Since he'd already said the membership was his parents' he probably wouldn't have any idea, and even if he did would he really be willing to use his parents' membership to help her get a discount? Probably not. But it was worth asking, she could get lucky.
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Post by Carter Stresemann on Feb 18, 2010 20:15:25 GMT -5
Carter looked at the girl. There was no danger of her having any problems eating those cookies. Wait...that thought didn't come out quite right. What that thought was supposed to mean was that she could get those cookies and she would still look just as good as he did now. Fortunately, he hadn't said any of that out loud. So, he didn't have to worry about choking on that foot he would have put in his mouth.
"You are not distracting me." he assured her. "I was getting a stir crazy sitting in the house and I needed to get out. And well, this where I chose to come..." he shrugged as they entered the gym. There was just something about gyms he didn't care for. Maybe it was all the super-sized steroid ridden goons that you always saw. Carter bring not that biggest guy in the world. Muscle wise that is. So, maybe it was some kind of subconscious ego thing. Not that he was typically bothered by such things. But when it is right there in your face, it can bring out insecurities.
"You know, I think this place usually offers specials and discounts. They probably have something going now. It can't hurt to ask. Right?" he smiled at her.
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Post by Gelsey Reinhardt on Feb 20, 2010 14:22:10 GMT -5
Gelsey beamed when he assured her she wasn't distracting him. "I guess I need to try a little harder, then." She teased, trailing behind him. She almost grabbed one of her cookies for herself, but then decided against it. She might have been slender, but the idea of eating junk food in front of a bunch of health nuts was still a little intimidating.
"Maybe I will..." She considered, her gaze straying to the front desk. He was right, of course, asking couldn't hurt. If they did have a special then maybe she would be able to afford it and could start going to the gym in place of her dance classes. If they didn't have a special, well, it wasn't as if they would throw her back out into the rain for asking; they were far more likely to throw her out for bringing in cookies. That was like blaspheming all the hard work they put into staying trim and in shape.
"I think I definitely will," She decided, turning to grace Carter with another smile. "Thank you, Carter who isn't Ben. Have a lovely time working off the calories from that cookie." She glided away, toward the bored looking girl at the front desk.
*wrapped for Gelsey*
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