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#event management jobs sydney part time
currentlymotivated · 1 year
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Crakle X Reader
A/N: Some references to torture, what could be considered a panic attack, nightmares.
One of the worst ways to wake up had to be the sudden sitting up motion, heartbeat erratic. It was not as bad as waking up to your own screams, but still unpleasant. On one hand, it meant the nightmare was over. On the other, it took a while for your body and your mind to catch up. What you wouldn´t give for a night of full rest and no dreaming.
It was kind of ironic that you were getting nightmares just recently, you thought, since the event that caused them happened over a month before. It was a job gone wrong, one of the few times that a rival tried to poach on V.I.L.E. territory, which was bound to happen eventually. There was no shortage of ambitious people looking for any kind of opening. Maybe the worst part was how impersonal it had been. No second thoughts to who you were or who sent you. You were just a source of information. And that was the real problem. Now you could barely remember what you were sent to retrieve. A long-lost painting? Money? The latest gadget Dr. Bellum had taken an interest in? It was all a blur after the third hit to the head. The catch was that you knew something, perhaps a location or the guards ‘shifts, and those people had been desperate yet patient enough to coax it out of you, one way or another.  
Of course, the faculty did not let that stand. You heard their retribution was swift and brutal, but never bothered to check the file that detailed it. You could happily go the rest of your life without seeing the aftermath or ever thinking about it again. And for a moment, you managed it. You told yourself that it was over, the danger had passed, and just as you began to relax again, the nightmares started.
It was always so inconvenient when it happened on the job. The worst dreams happened when you were doing a solo caper. You couldn´t shake the phantom feeling of hands and metal grabbing and tearing into you over and over. Your wounds were healed and your treatment was complete, but your brain did not seem to get the memo. Sitting alone in the darkness of an empty apartment trying to control your breathing became more difficult when you knew a big acquisition depended on your performance in the morning. Good thing V.I.L.E. was more accepting of failure than most criminal organizations.
“The investment of your education will pay off eventually, even with these setbacks. Take your time.” Professor Maelstrom had said with the least sincere sympathy you had ever received.
It´s not like you would have asked the man for psychological help, anyway. He didn´t exactly seem like the licensed therapist type.
So why was this night different than all the others? There was someone else in the apartment with you. Crackle had volunteered for this particular heist since it was taking place in Sydney and he knew the city like the back of his hand. You had been grateful when you realized you wouldn´t have to be alone for a week, but quickly regretted it after waking up. There is no way to have a proper breakdown without waking someone up, even after moving all the way to the living room.
Sitting on the edge of the couch, you tried to control your breathing, to ground yourself, but your mind was going a mile a minute. Five things you can see, four things you can touch, three you can taste…or was it smell? No, maybe it was hear. The pressure on your throat wasn´t real and you definitely didn´t taste blood. Focus on something else. Remember to exhale slowly this time.
Your spiraling was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Mentally smacking yourself, you realized you had woken Gray up. He only bothered to make noise when he knew you were up at night. Slowly, he approached the small living room. His hair was sticking up at odd ends and his usual charming smile was replaced by a small frown.
“Mind if I sit here?” he asked, voice slightly hoarse.
You didn´t think you had it in you to answer without your voice cracking so you just made space for him. He sank into the cushions like the furniture was trying to swallow him and let the silence linger before he spoke again.
“Do you… want to talk about it?”
“No.”
Your answer was quick and curt, but at least you were talking. Progress. Gray didn´t push it, just sat in silence with you. After a while, your thoughts went from your residual fears to the man beside you. He was clearly fighting to stay awake, blinking often and looking exhausted, and yet he did not seem to be in a hurry to go back to bed.
"Why do this?”
Your words were barely a whisper, but he heard you.
“Do what?”
“Stay up with me. I came here so I wouldn´t bother you.”
He shrugged.
“Can´t exactly bail on you just because it might bring me some discomfort now can I?”
“Someone should be able to focus on the job.” You responded, unable to process what he was saying.
Gray started moving closer to you. His hand hovered over your shoulder, unsure of what to do next. Sometimes you could not stand being touched, not without flinching, and it always broke his heart if he accidentally caused that reaction. In that moment, you were feeling calmer than usual, so you reached over and laced your fingers with his. His thumb slowly traced crescent moons on the back of your hand.
“We will deal with that later. Right now I just want you to know that you are not on your own.”
'One day I really should get professional help for this’, you told yourself, ‘but right now this is more than enough.’
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welightthefire · 2 years
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Table For Two ~ Part Nine
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In collaboration with @allieboop
Jake Kiszka x OC x Josh Kiszka
Summary: “What started out as a new job unexpectedly became more for Sydney Baker. There's only room at the table for two... How will she navigate her feelings and come to a decision? How can she choose between two sides of the same coin?”
Warnings: hangovers, mentions of sex, feelings, angst/fluff
Word Count: ~5k
taglist // playlist // masterpost
A/N: we can't say how much we appreciate every one of you, you guys are the BEST. all feedback is welcome <3
Part Nine
The annoying chirping of birds was what awoke Syd Monday morning. The sun from the day before had decided to hide away behind the pale grey clouds in the sky, which she found herself thankful for in her groggy hungover state. The pounding in her head was slight, yet as she moved to sit up, she felt a sharp twinge of pain through her forehead. 
She wiped the sleep from her eyes and took a moment to look around her. From where she sat on the loveseat, she could see Josh and Danny laying opposite each other on the other sofa. Danny was leaned up against the right arm with his upper body curled into the backrest while Josh had his arms loosely circled around his friend’s bent calf. His head was hanging forward to rest against his own shoulder. He would be feeling that one later on. 
Her eyes wandered over to where Sam was sitting propped up against the wall beneath the front window, holding a mini garbage can in between his legs. At some point, he had managed to tie his hair up into a sloppy bun at the nape of his neck. Fearing the contents of the bin, she decided she would leave him until she had to face him after he had awoken. 
Jake’s position on the floor elicited a giggle from her lips. The garbage-covered coffee table that was in the center of the room had been pushed aside and replaced with his body. He was laying face down on his stomach with one leg hitched up and his cheek resting atop both of his hands. His sleep-painted face was turned towards her, strands of messy hair covering one eye. A particularly wavy piece had fallen in front of his chapped lips, blowing in the gentle breeze produced by his exhale. 
Syd took a moment to recall the last moments of her eventful night. Josh had ultimately disappeared for the remainder of the party until people started heading out. She figured he had found someone to indulge in conversation with, which was fine with her. It had given her time to focus on the drink Jake had gotten for her and come down from the emotional rollercoaster from before.
She never ended up dancing again.  
Sam had suggested they watch a movie to settle down for sleep, although their brains were too foggy to even really focus on the screen. He had put on some obscure film about a murderous, sentient tire. Syd didn’t understand it, but nonetheless, it was a switch up from the fast-paced rock music that had been flowing through the house the entire night with the sounds of crunching gravel and over-dramatic voices filling the room instead. 
While she sat with her legs tucked beneath her on the loveseat, Jake had brought her over a fuzzy blanket off the couch Danny and Josh had claimed, allowing her to protect her modesty. He took it upon himself to sit right down on the floor in front of her with his neck pressed back into the plush cushion. 
With the movie playing, Syd let her fingers weave through his long, knotted locks absentmindedly. She had found herself spaced out as she focused on the shifting colors reflecting on the hardwood from the screen. While her mind stayed empty, her hands stayed busy braiding half-assed plaits into the man’s hair just to pull them out and start over again. Jake had passed out like that, and Syd had fallen asleep on her side, curled up towards his shoulders. The last thing she remembered before she went under was gazing at the arc of white from the television screen illuminating the slope of his nose. 
She knew it was a matter of time before the others woke up, and in no hurry to start her day, she sat back and reached her arms high above her head. The tightness in her muscles and joints stretched out deliciously, causing a deep and slow exhale to leave her lips. 
Her first thought was to get a pot of coffee going. She knew she needed it just as much as the others still asleep in the living room. After she had placed the filter full of grounds into the machine, she let it run while she made her way to Sam’s bedroom to steal a pair of sweatpants. 
With a clean pair of too-long grey drawstring joggers covering her legs, Syd decided to make a pit stop in the bathroom to freshen up. She left the door open this time, not an invitation to anyone, but rather because the moment she saw the sink, the walls started to close in around her. As she braced her palms against either side of the sink bowl, thoughts of Josh began to cloud her mind. 
Swollen lips eagerly running along the expanse of her neck. 
Tanned hands massaging into the meat of her thighs. 
The feeling of his lips and tongue against-
Josh, stop.
Syd screwed her eyes closed as she gripped the porcelain tighter. Her knees buckled with the feeling of how much she had wanted him, needed him. Needed to feel him. Her heart ached and constricted in her chest while the memory of Jake acting so innocently pure took over. 
Those dark puppy dog eyes that glistened with excitement when he found her. 
Sweaty hands woven with hers as he urged her to dance. 
Lips plump with a pathetic, yet absolutely precious pout as Sam pulled him away to get her a drink. 
I missed you so, so, so much! Jake had said. 
If only he knew what she was doing while she was gone. Would he still have missed her? Would he have spent the rest of the night glued to her side? What would he think, say?
Tears pricked hot in the corners of Syd’s eyes. She glanced up at herself in the mirror, effectively removing her gaze from her white-clenched knuckles. Just the same as the night before, she took the opportunity to splash cool water on her face. Not to wake up, but to sober herself from her own mental hell. 
Taking a few more moments to herself in the bathroom, she worked her way down the hallway, through the living room, across the kitchen, and retrieved one of the mismatched coffee mugs that hung on a spoke attached to the wall. She poured the steaming hot coffee in, adding two spoonfuls of sugar, and left the cup there on the kitchen island to grab the blanket she had used while she slept.
Syd allowed the blanket to fall over her bare shoulders, welcoming the comfort of the soft fabric. With the burning hot mug in hand, she quietly slipped through the sliding glass door that led out onto the back porch of Sam’s home. She sat herself down on the top step of the wooden structure that looked out over the foggy, dew-dampened lawn and took a sip of the hot liquid. 
It soothed her dry throat on the way down, warming her up from the inside out. She spent the next several minutes attempting to pay attention to the birdsong, the crisp morning breeze, and the way the humidity clung to her skin in such a clammy way. Yet, the feelings of guilt started to overcome her again. 
While she tried to avoid thoughts by focusing on anything else around her, grounding herself, the sound of the door sliding open made her jump. The forgotten coffee in her mug had cooled significantly, merely wetting her hand as her spill dripped down her fingers and left small dotted stains on the fabric of Sam’s sweatpants. 
She had closed her eyes and hoped to whatever God was above that it wasn’t one of the twins. To her relief, it was Sam. He had put on a pink knit sweater and readjusted his bun, but still wore the same dark wash jeans he had on from the night before. 
He came over to sit beside his friend, the scent of hot coffee lifting through her nostrils as the plumes of steam danced in the air. His shoulder gently brushed against hers as the two sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the serenity of the morning. 
Sam was the first to break the quiet with a cocky comment. “I was wondering why there was a skirt on my floor.”
Syd’s eyes darted down to her cloth-covered knees where her mug sat nestled in between her palms. She didn’t say anything in response, just offered a shrug at her friend’s attempt at a joke. 
He must have picked up on her somber mood as he didn’t try to get her to laugh further. Instead, his goofy demeanor subsided completely with his next words. 
“What’s going on with you and my brothers, Syd?”
She slumped, exasperated with his ability to read her so well. “Nothing,” she stated, although it came out as more of a spunky question. “How was your puke bucket?”
Sam let out a sigh and nudged into her side with his. “You know you can talk to me, right? Nothing has changed.”
Syd stared out into the yard a moment before replying. “I know, it’s just…”
“Weird because I’m their brother.” Sam finished. 
“A bit, yeah,” she ran a hand through her messy hair, briefly looking to the side at him. “I just get so anxious because I literally have no clue what’s going on, Sam. It’s like everything was so easy, and now it’s so fucking complicated.”
“I’m still your best friend. Not theirs. Just because things have changed between them, we’re still us. That’s not gonna change.”
And he was right. From the moment they first spoke in that one-off art class, he was her best friend and she was his. Through lazy movie days and long, pointless drives to nowhere. The day Sam had first moved into his house and the two of them had spent all night drinking wine and playing monopoly on the hardwood floor surrounded by boxes instead of unpacking a single thing. 
She thought of that entire week, years before when Syd’s family dog had passed and Sam never left her side. He had dragged her out of bed to get depression snacks at Walmart and on their way out, someone was giving away a litter of kittens. She didn’t want to get a new pet, but Sam had convinced her it would be good for her to have something to love and help her heal throughout the heartache. She had ultimately decided on the smallest tabby with the too-big ears and a scratchy mew. Sam ended up going back into the store and bought everything Syd would need to care for her new companion and they spent the rest of the night sitting on the floor of her living room playing with him. 
They had gone through so much together and lived through so much together. Syd couldn’t imagine a life without Sam by her side and to think that she couldn’t confide in him for even a second made her feel shady inside. She didn’t want to push him out. Especially now, she couldn’t. 
“I-“ she twisted the ring around her thumb. “I think I like Jake.”
Sam laughed out loud. “You think?”
“I do, dumbass.” She shoved into his side with a sheepish grin on her face. “I like him. A lot.”
“Obviously.” He rolled his eyes at her confession, even though he was happy to finally hear it roll off her tongue. 
“Sam.”
“Sorry, sorry. Carry on.” He took a deep breath and poised himself, sitting up just a tad bit straighter. 
“I like Jake,” Syd started again, leaned her head back to peek at the clouds above her. “But I think I like Josh, too? I don’t know. It’s all very… confusing.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Something happened last night… between me and Josh-”
“In my bed?!” Sam shouted. “Sydney, gross!”
“No, Sam, shut up!” His outburst made her flinch as she shushed him, hoping no one else had heard the sentence. “It’s not what you’re thinking, but it just happened. Fast. And I don’t know how to feel about it.”
“Did you… want it to happen?” 
“I mean, I guess so.” Syd’s eyes flashed back down to her fingers. She still felt the burning shame as if she was back in that moment with Josh. “But the whole time, I was thinking about Jake. I felt so fucking guilty. I feel awful.”
She sighed, expecting Sam to scold her for such a horrible act. She waited on him to express his disdain for her feelings about his brothers and his disgust with how she’s treated them. She prepared herself for him to question her morality, but instead, he posed a different question. 
“Does Jake know?”
“About last night? God, no-“ she huffed. 
“No, I mean about your feelings.”
“I-I didn’t want to tell him yet. Not until I knew if he felt the same. And now I don’t want to tell him because of what happened with Josh. I know I have to make a choice, but there’s so much more that goes into it.” She turned her body to face Sam, crossing her legs underneath her. “It’s like no matter what I do, I hurt them. If I choose, I’m still hurting someone in the end. And what if I choose the wrong person? What if I choose, and it was all a mistake?”
Sam turned and matched his friend’s position, peering down so he could look into her eyes. “Syd, I’ve seen the way they both look at you. How they talk to you. Both of them feel the same. But one of them is gonna have to deal with not having you at some point.”
“I don’t know…” Syd dropped her head into her hands. “I just know I don’t want to pit them against each other.”
Sam set his mug on the patio floor beside him, gently removing the mug from her hand as well. He pulled her towards him and rubbed his hands across the small expanse of her shoulder blades. 
“Take some time to figure it out. It’s gonna suck. It’s really gonna fucking suck, but only you know who can give you what you need. Sometimes the best thing to do is listen to your heart.”
Syd let out a boisterous laugh, immediately regretting her decision to do so. She pushed her face into Sam’s shoulder to alleviate some of the pressure behind her eyes before she pulled back from the embrace. 
“If I wanted a quote from an inspirational cat poster, I would have fucking googled it.”
A smug grin lit up her best friend’s face as he leaned back against the wooden banister. “Yet you still came to me.”
At work that night, there was little talking that took place. Everyone was recovering from the mounds of alcohol they had ingested, so focusing on work duties required their full efforts. 
Syd didn’t risk looking at Josh throughout the workday, no matter how bad she wanted to. She wished to see if he looked as hurt as he did last night. If he was just as disgusted with her as she was with herself. If she had truly messed up their friendship as bad as she thought she had. But she didn’t instigate. Too afraid of what she would find. 
It wasn’t until the next morning that she decided she would face the terrible decision she had made. 
She had come to the library for the same reason anyone would. It usually was her happy place, but not now. Now, when she entered the building, she felt an ick. One that she had never experienced in such a calm, serene place. 
She could almost see herself giggling with Josh in the corner of the room. Them snickering when the librarians told them to quiet down. Running out of the building with clasped hands and blushing faces. She missed that. 
Even sitting at her favorite table with a book of her favorite genre didn’t feel the same. She couldn’t focus on the words on the pages. She couldn’t submerge herself into the plot. She couldn’t even remember what the title was. 
Especially not when Josh walked in. 
Any other time, he’d grab a book and turn his head to look around the space, curious to know if Syd was in the building as she usually would be. Once he found her, he would smile and make his way to the table. But not today. 
Today, he walked right up to a shelf, flipped through the spines for two specific books, checked them out, and left. 
Without as much as a double take, he… left.
So she went to the only other place she could think of. His spot. 
Each time she came here, it seemed as if the trek became shorter and shorter. She had grown more familiar with the area, so it no longer seemed like a journey to make it all the way out to the ledge. But today, it felt as if she couldn’t get there fast enough. 
She didn’t run, far too worried she would hurt herself or scare Josh, but she walked as quickly as her short legs would allow her to. 
When she arrived, she found him with his back to her, feet dangling from the edge of the boulder with a book in hand. She couldn’t see much, but the slump in his shoulders indicated that he wasn’t nearly as cheerful and bright as he normally seemed. She felt a pang in her chest. 
Syd sensed the nerves fester in her veins, and she cursed herself for not thinking about what she was gonna say before she got here. If she would’ve recited her spiel, maybe she would have had a better chance at calming the shitstorm she had produced in the span of one night. She looked him over once more before starting, hoping the right words would come to her when the ice had been broken. 
“Josh,” she all but whispered. She kept her voice low, speaking under her breath so she wouldn’t startle him. For a moment, she was afraid it was much too quiet for him to hear, but when his body ran rigid, she knew he was aware of her presence. 
“Sydney,” he addressed. She had never heard him sound so monotonous. The tone made her shudder with discomfort. 
“Can I sit?”
He shrugged and turned his head, not looking at her, but focusing on the empty place beside him. “No one’s stopping you.”
She sighed as she slowly walked over to him. She already felt defeated. This conversation was bound to go nowhere, and there was no hope. She had truly lost him. Once she sat, she crossed her legs under her and tried to speak again. “I felt like we should… talk.”
“Yeah, we should,” was all he responded with, closing the book in hand and holding it in his lap. 
At least they agreed on one thing. 
Syd wished he would start the conversation himself. She wished he would just tell her how upset he was with her and how he regretted even dancing with her. She wanted him to get the worst part of this over so she could apologize and stop feeling so guilty. But that was selfish of her. 
She knew they needed to sort this out. Figure out what the hell happened and if there was any coming back from it. 
She sighed and let herself ramble. “First of all, you have every right to be upset with me. I shouldn’t have let things go as far as they did, and if you want to yell at me or be mad, I completely understand. I just-“
She was cut off by Josh huffing a laugh at her. The noise was devoid of humor, and she could tell that he found her words more ironic than funny. “I’m not mad, and I don’t want to yell at you.” 
Her breathing stopped, caught completely off guard by his response. “You’re… what?”
Josh shrugged again. “It’s my fault. And I’m sorry.”
He seemed so disconnected, pained because of the situation. His voice rarely changed speed, volume, or pitch, but that made him seem even more hurt. “Josh, I… How is any of this your fault? I told you to kiss me. I wanted you to-“
“But then you told me to stop,” he interrupted, finally chancing to look up at her. There were tears in his wide, brown eyes. “I was confused, but it’s still my fault that you had to stop me. You’re allowed to change your mind during times like those.”
“Just because I stopped you doesn’t mean I didn’t want you,” she noted. She felt her cheeks turn pink at the admission, and they only reddened more when Josh’s eyes flickered from hers to her lips and back up. He quickly turned away from her again. 
Now was the time to put it all on the line, she thought. Honesty was the only thing that would make things get better if they were destined to do so. She had to tell the truth. 
“Josh you’re one of my best friends, and that night showed me… well, I haven’t quite figured it out yet, but…” She looked down at her hands fumbling together, twisting her rings for comfort. “I wanted it. God, I wanted it. But I didn’t only want that, ya know? I was afraid of losing my best friend to a drunk decision in his brother’s bathroom. That’s just not how I wanted it to happen.”
“Yeah,” he agreed, looking around at the expanse of nature in front of them both. “Me neither.” His gaze dropped to his lap while he traced his finger along the book’s edges. “I just feel like I overstepped maybe? I feel bad.”
“Please don’t. You made sure that I was the one in control of the situation, and I told you to keep going. You were only listening to me.”
It took him a moment to respond. Syd could see the gears turning in his mind as he contemplated accepting her words. “I guess you’re right.”
Her lips turned up in a small smile. “I always am.” 
He scoffed, this time with much less malice and discomfort. He adopted a smile that matched hers. “You sound like Sam.”
“That’s probably the worst thing you could’ve ever told me,” she joked. And with that, they shared a heartfelt and genuine laugh. When they both collected themselves, she started again. “Seriously though, I promise it’s okay. We can put this behind us and… figure things out. Together.”
She didn’t know she had put her hand on top of his until he absentmindedly rubbed a thumb over her fingers. 
“Yeah. Together,” he repeated, looking at their intertwined hands. “Where do we start?”
She sighed as she thought to herself. She wasn’t sure what could come from all of this, especially with her feelings for Jake still being such a huge part of her life. Maybe Josh was right for her. Jake hadn’t outwardly said anything about liking her back, even if Sam did claim to know how his brothers felt. Maybe she had been taking all of Jake’s gestures in the wrong way. She’d let herself become deluded by her own feelings, too stuck on Jake to see what possibilities lay with her friendship with Josh. 
“We should take things slow. I need to work on some things before we do anything too drastic.” She hoped he would accept her vagueness for what it was, rather than asking for clarity on what exactly she needed to work on. If he hadn’t caught on to how she felt about Jake, she knew now was not a good time to tell him about it. She continued before he could push further, adding humor to the difficult conversation. “We should certainly avoid being in any bathrooms together.”
The light in Josh’s eyes seemed to twinkle again as he let out a hearty laugh. Syd laughed, too, glad that they could joke about the matter. She pulled her hand out of his and began to mess with her rings again while she watched him catch his breath. 
While thoughts of that night were still fresh on her mind, none of them made her feel as queasy as they had before. She had told herself that she wished she could forget it ever happened, but now, it seemed as if she and Josh truly had a connection that only they understood. The mishap had brought them closer in a way, and for that, she was thankful.
There was a watery smile on Syd’s face as she looked at him. She was so happy to be sitting beside him in this place again, but the possibility of losing him made her sad. They had worked so hard to find friendship within each other, and she couldn’t believe they had almost let all of that go down the drain.
Before the silence could settle, she whispered to him. “Thank you for not hating me, Josh.”
He looked at her again. That same look that she couldn’t get enough of, that same look that made her feel as if she was the only thing that mattered in the world. “You know I couldn’t do that.”
She shrugged and dropped her head, adopting a passive tone. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”
“Hey,” Josh scolded gently. He placed a tentative hand on her thigh for good measure. “Stop that. I’d hate myself before I hated you.”
Syd studied his hand for a moment, letting herself get lost in her head. As tense as things were, she was pleased that she could still find comfort in his touch. Maybe she shouldn’t let her thoughts run wild, but she allowed herself to indulge some. She let herself think back to that night, just briefly, and reimagine every touch, sigh, whimper. Everything they had shared in the privacy of each other’s company. She looked back up at him.
Those eyes. His beautiful browns that were so similar to Jake’s, yet so different in their own ways. The warm irises that reflected the warmth of the afternoon sun. The kind, reassuring nature that rested there. She had to shake her head to free herself from the grasp of his stare. 
She chuckled at herself, knowing that Josh noticed her staring. She gestured toward the book in his lap. “What ya reading?”
He retracted his hand from Sydney and smiled down at the book, charmed that she had brought it up. “Oh, this? It’s, uh, film and theater stuff. Been thinking of starting another project. A short film maybe.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful!” She beamed.
“Yeah, but it probably won’t happen, so…” Josh let his thought trail off.
“Why not?”
He shrugged and scraped his fingernail along the edges of the pages. “The technique I want to try is pretty complicated, and the money from the diner can only get me so far. Especially when I have other priorities in mind.” 
Josh wore a flirtatious grin that Syd caught on to. She blushed at the meaning behind his words. “I’d love to still take a look at it. Whether it happens or not, I’m sure it’s a fabulous idea.”
He hummed. “Maybe I’ll recruit you to star in it.” His grin turned into a cocky smirk once he heard Sydney giggle at the suggestion. He bumped his shoulder against hers and chuckled with her. “You like that idea? I’ll get your name in lights and everything.”
The dramatic flair he added to his statements only made her giggle more. “I’ll need a red carpet to walk on too, mister.”
“You’ve got it,” he promised. “Anything for you.”
It wasn’t much longer until they both had to go into work that night, but they were glad that they could start their workday with a fresh start. They didn’t have to awkwardly shuffle past one another when clocking in, they didn’t have to work overtime to avoid eye contact, and they certainly didn’t have to worry about the uncomfortable tension sticking to the walls of the diner.
They could finally go back to enjoying each other’s presence. No guilt, no shame, and no fear attached.
Josh arrived at work that day with a newfound sense of hopefulness. He believed that things could work out with Sydney as long as they did as she had instructed. Go slow. 
Yet when he noticed his twin’s interactions with the young woman, Josh had trouble staying optimistic. He had noticed their small touches and private conversations before, and he knew that Jake felt a particular way about Sydney. Josh had suspected that she had started to feel the same way about him, but that was before the party. That was before they had shared such an intimate moment together. That was before they talked things out together. He imagined the flirting and teasing would dwindle, especially now that she had made the decision that they would work on their relationship. Their potential relationship, at least.
But it didn’t. Jake didn’t change his ways with Sydney. He persisted and progressed throughout that week, his flirtatious gestures only becoming more affectionate and feverish. 
From Jake disappearing from the kitchen to go talk to Syd, to him stealing hugs while she cleaned tables and put in orders, she was falling under his spell. And Josh knew he had to do something about it. 
If he wanted to truly win her heart, he had to take measures into his own hands. He wouldn’t act foolishly, but he had to think of something that would make Sydney look at him the way that she looked at Jake. The same way she looked at Josh when they talked privately. He needed her. 
He came up with a plan. He’d use his day off to surprise her. Show up at her home with an extravagant itinerary planned out for the both of them. He could only hope to take the step to put labels on their relationship. Maybe then, he wouldn’t have to worry about Jake coming in between them. 
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part 10>>>
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Table For Two Taglist: @joshkiszkas @haleylovesgvf @loofypoofy @hoeforstevienicks @gretavanfleas @myownparadise96 @satanplayshisfluteforhim @tearsofbri @lvnterninthenight @gretavansteph @angelqueen99 @sammiejane22 @doodle417 @way-to-go-lad @fan-girl-97 @weightofdreams-gvf  @ashabeannn @jenna-gvf @callmebymym @sammyslappers @gretavancreep @streamingcolors-gvf @ascendingtostardust @gretavanbitches @pinkcardinalsuitsam @josiee-gvf @shesawomaninadream @niallsboxx @luverleaver @jakekiszkasbestie @dakotadovato @interstellar-shores @freckled-wonder @richjaaasss @theweightofjake @josh-iamyour-mama @ageoffleet
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Universe of Roofing Project Workers: A Thorough for Roofing Contractors
Roofing plays a pivotal part in shielding homes and structures from the components, giving security and primary respectability. With regards to keeping up with, fixing, or supplanting a rooftop, the Roofing Contractors Sydney for hire becomes essential. In this article, we'll dig into the universe of roofing workers for hire, investigating their jobs, key contemplations, and the variety of administrations they offer.
Grasping Roofing Project workers:
Roofing project workers are experts well-versed in the establishment, upkeep, fixing, and substitution of rooftops. These specialists assume a crucial part in guaranteeing the life span and usefulness of one of a structure's most imperative parts. Whether managing private, business, or modern designs, roofing workers for hire offer an abundance of information and abilities that might be of some value.
Key Administrations Given by Roofing Contractors Sydney:
1. Rooftop Fixes: From minor holes to harmed shingles, roofing workers for hire are prepared to address a horde of fix needs. Opportune and effective fixes are fundamental to forestall further harm and keep up with the honesty of the whole roofing framework.
2. Re-Roofing: In situations where a rooftop has arrived at the finish of its life expectancy or supported broad harm, re-roofing turns into a feasible arrangement. This includes introducing another roofing framework over the current one by Evolution Roofing Sydney, giving a savvy and proficient method for improving solidness.
3. Rooftop Break Location: Distinguishing and fixing spills expeditiously is basic to forestalling water harm to the inside of a construction. Roofing project workers utilize progressed methods and innovation to identify and address spills, guaranteeing the assurance of the structure and its tenants.
4. Rooftop Substitutions: When fixes are presently not a practical choice, roofing project workers can suggest and execute total rooftop substitutions. This includes eliminating the current rooftop and introducing another one customized to the particular necessities and prerequisites of the property.
Key Contemplations While Drawing in Roofing Workers for Hire:
1. Experience and Skill: Search for workers for hire with a demonstrated history and broad involvement with the business. An accomplished project worker is bound to convey quality artistry and explore difficulties successfully.
2. Permitting and Protection: Guarantee that the roofing worker for hire holds the fundamental licenses and protection. Permitting demonstrates that the worker for hire fulfills industry guidelines. At the same time, protection safeguards both the worker for hire and the land owner in the event of mishaps or harm during the venture.
3. Straightforward Estimating: Respectable workers for hire give straightforward valuing no secret expenses. Forthright fixed costs and free statements empower land owners to settle on educated choices without concern regarding startling costs.
4. Crisis Reaction: Roofing issues can emerge suddenly, particularly during extreme weather patterns. Project workers offering crisis reaction administrations guarantee that dire issues are tended to speedily, limiting expected harm.
5. Client Audits and Tributes: Investigate client surveys and tributes to measure the fulfillment levels of past clients. Positive input is demonstrative of a project worker's obligation to client support and quality work.
The Significance of Ordinary Rooftop Upkeep:
Past resolving prompt issues, normal rooftop support by Evolution Roofing Sydney is fundamental for delaying the existence of a roofing framework. Upkeep errands might incorporate assessing for mileage, cleaning drains, and tending to little fixes before they grow into serious issues.
Roofing project workers are necessary for the prosperity of homes and structures, offering a scope of administrations to guarantee the usefulness and life span of roofing frameworks. Landowners ought to focus on drawing in experienced and authorized workers for hire who give straightforward evaluations and focus on consumer loyalty. Like this, they can have confidence that their rooftops are in capable hands, prepared to endure any hardship.
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sutters · 9 months
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Learning to let go
The rejection was hard to bear. Receiving it 1 week before my graduation was like a double whammy- it drained any excitement that I even had for it, and the disappointment was amplified by the ‘happy occasion’- hopes, wishes, and dreams of having a partner accompanying for my milestones was dashed. It was tough emotionally, but I am glad that I had emcee job to distract me, and just the company of friends to just be with me, and engage me with something.
I guess God has his own plans in his timing. It is also His mercy and blessing for me to heal with the 2 trips - Korea and Sydney before the onslaught of work. The first was an escapade to just have fun with my friends. And the second was a time-space to process the events, pain and hurt in the comfort of my second home. Grateful for Cheryl my God given sister in Christ who sat through with me through my tears and me opening up my deepest wounds and surprisingly Cai- whose company became a refuge and therapeutic in its own ways. It brought me back to the au trip in 2017 and it is truly by God’s grace that we are still comfortable af with one another since then.
Being back in Sydney is akin to looking for a part of me because it is a second home, somewhere that I can be with myself without the hustles of life.
I felt I did manage to unwind, rest and recharge in the past 2 weeks. Being back in SG feels like I’ve returned to the place of pain and sorrow, where tears flood my days.
I have come to accept the reality that beyond all the challenges or perceived incompatibilities, the most defining difference is the willingness to make the effort. Whether it is trying to know me as a person or build the relationship, he was often passive. He prefers to stick to his perspective of me, instead of staying curious to know me better. I figured that I was also hurt that he did not bother to try to know who I truly am as a person.
Looking back, I felt like I’ve always been striving to keep things going, often feeling inadequate for him.
Thank you Cheryl for pointing out and reinforcing points about why he is not being the right person that God would have wanted. He is just not ready to receive the love that I wanted to give.
I’m learning to let go and submitting the situation and my desires to God. This time round I’m feeling more confident because I feel that the season has truly ended. And I have to grieve over the loss of friendship too, because I feel that this has always been a one sided friendship which I’m not confident would survive if I left it alone.
Human relationships can be so fleeting. Closest friend one day and strangers the next- it is truly heartbreaking. At the same time, it makes me feel grateful for all the people who are still in my life, who make me feel that I can just be myself, yet always affirming me that I am good enough.
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nathalyicross · 11 months
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Top Four Advantages Of A Crane Rental Service
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Cranes are heavy-duty machines built to move and lift materials between points A and B. There is always at the very least one crane during the middle to large scale of construction jobs. smaller cranes are often utilized in the construction of smaller structures, like residential houses. Regardless of the magnitude of the project cranes typically help in making the process of construction faster and efficient.
If you're in need of cranes, either you're going to buy or lease. Some people buy to keep, but others buy to rent them out. This is the most common. Services for renting cranes are readily available.
Here are a few advantages to hiring a crane.
1. Flexible Paying
In the first place the fact that renting a crane offers you the flexibility that owning one isn't. It is possible to rent a crane and then, should you not like it, try a different model. They are available in different dimensions and shapes. They're also made for different functions. Hire cranes Sydney services, or ones from your locality provide you with the flexibility to explore different options. The flexibility can be beneficial for when the requirements of your project or designs change.
Furthermore, having cranes means that, if it's not in use, you're losing cash. It's necessary to locate a new crane in the event that the requirements of your project change to an amount that it is no longer possible to utilize your current crane. Therefore, renting one from the onset helps keep this from happening since the crane won't be yours.
2. Cost Savings
The cost of purchasing a crane can be high as is maintaining it over the long run. Think about expenses for fuel, inspections repairs and fuel, among many others. You will be responsible for maintenance if you own a crane. However, if you opt to lease one, the cost-cutting expenses will not be yours to handle. The renter is responsible for crane services Los Angeles. In addition, a lower cost could translate into better results for your company.
The repair costs are part of the total amount billed by the service provider crane rentals Los Angeles.
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There is no need for hiring fleet managers, or software that manage fleets to oversee and supervise the crane. There's no need to fret about the management of your fleet. It's an easy aspect to be concerned about.
It will also help you save on storage costs since you don't need to store anything. Storage costs aren't expensive. Especially if you are renting space.
Furthermore, when it comes to insurance, there is no need for insurance to use the crane. The crane rentals near me company that provides the service will be responsible for the entire cost of insurance associated with the crane. What you'll need is insurance for the project that you're working on.
Furthermore, the fact that there will be no charge for depreciation adds to the cost savings. Costs for depreciation are paid by the company renting out equipment.
3. Gain Access to the Latest Technology
Ideally, new machines are typically equipped with the most modern technology in the market. If you purchase one now, you could be purchasing the most advanced technology you can at this price. But, remember, machines depreciate over time. In addition, technological advances become obsolete quickly. Old innovations are replaced by modern ones. Today's innovations are likely to come back within 10 years. People who are able to stay on top of technological advancement will be better off than those who don't. You'd be surprised at the technological advances that can happen within the span of a year.
The benefit of leasing the crane is the fact that you will have access to the latest cranes without having to spend huge sums of money to purchase and maintain the identical machine. As they're more likely to have been updated to the latest technology, they are more efficient. Although they may be more costly to lease but their increased productivity could prove worth it. If you have to choose between older and new machines, choose one of the former.
4. Safeguarding Yourself
There's no need to be concerned about your employees' safety since crane service near me, will use its own trained staff in order to maintain and repair its equipment. In this way your workers are protected as they do not have to be at risk for their life.
Bottom Line
It is important to note in the light of all of this information the fact that renting a crane will help you reduce time and cost as they assume the majority all the risks associated with running the equipment. In essence, you (the client) receiving the services of cranes without the hassles of maintaining that machine, which is a bargain. Renting a crane is a great option because, depending on your project and its level of complexity, it permits the user to adjust in case plans or requirements have to be changed.
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nextbraintech · 1 year
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Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring Blockchain Developers
Blockchain is a new technology and it can be hard to find competent developers. This article will help you avoid common mistakes when hiring blockchain developers.
First, identify the scope of your project and make sure that the developer has the skills to do so. This will save you time and money in the long run.
Hiring Blockchain Developers in Sydney
1. Lack of Knowledge
When hiring a blockchain developers in sydney, you need to make sure they are qualified. The technology is a relatively new one and requires a lot of knowledge to develop and maintain.
A good blockchain developer must have a deep understanding of cryptography and security principles, and have experience in dealing with distributed systems and peer-to-peer networking.
When it comes to hiring a blockchain developer, you must also look at their culture fit and whether they will fit in with your team. This is important because they will be working closely with other teams within your company.
2. Lack of Experience
Blockchain is an important tech stack for businesses, and developers proficient in it are in high demand. These professionals have the knowledge and experience to implement secure blockchain applications that reduce business costs and streamline processes.
A good way to ensure you're hiring the right person is to ask the right questions during the interview process. These questions cover key elements that are essential for Blockchain development, including distributed ledger technologies, multiple coding languages, security protocols, and scalability solutions.
There are two types of blockchain developers: core and software. Core blockchain developers create and maintain existing blockchains, while software developers build new blockchain products.
3. Lack of Time
Recruiting blockchain development company sydney is a daunting task. The sourcing process can be lengthy and costly, but it is possible with the right strategy.
Using online job boards and a little legwork can help you find the best candidates. It is also a good idea to attend industry events and networking functions where you can meet prospective candidates in person.
Using technology to source and screen potential candidates can save you time and money while delivering the best candidates for the job. There are many companies that have developed the tools to help you find the perfect developer for your business. The best part is that you can use their services without having to hire a dedicated HR specialist. You can even use them to manage the entire recruiting process for you.
4. Lack of Budget
Hiring blockchain developers is a daunting task that requires you to have a budget to support your hiring efforts. This is because the skill set and expertise required for blockchain development are specialized.
However, you can save money and time by utilizing the services of talent marketplaces to find your ideal candidates quickly and easily. These platforms help you identify qualified, vetted blockchain professionals with all the skills and experience needed for your project.
In addition, you can save up to 40% in payroll costs by outsourcing to a blockchain development company in sydney. This is a great option for budget-strapped startups and companies that need to quickly develop advanced solutions in a short period of time.
5. Lack of Communication Skills
When hiring blockchain services in sydney, you need to ensure that they can communicate their ideas effectively. They need to explain technical concepts in non-technical terms and also be able to listen to feedback from other team members, stakeholders and clients.
You should use a rounded suite of soft skills tests to assess which individuals within your talent pool have the communication skills necessary for the role. These tests measure the presence of these skills through theoretical team working scenarios.
In addition to these, you should also look for candidates who have a good understanding of various blockchains and the core concepts of blockchain architecture. These skills will help them to develop robust and secure applications for your company.
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salmapainting · 1 year
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Why Commercial Painting Sydney Is Important
If you are a business owner and have commercial property in Sydney, you should hire a good painter. This will make your office and shop look neat and stylish.
It is a good idea to use Australian registries to get in touch with reputable painters. You can find out their credentials, experience and other vital information.
Aesthetics
The aesthetics of commercial painting sydney are critical to the success of any business. Whether it’s an office building or a storefront, having attractive facilities and surroundings can attract customers and improve morale.
A clean, attractive work space can also encourage employees to be more productive. It can help to reduce the voluntary turnover rate and increase retention of productive staff.
Whether you’re looking to paint the interiors of your commercial property or the exterior, hiring a skilled and experienced painting contractor can ensure that your project is completed on time and within budget. In addition, a reputable painting company will follow all health and safety standards to protect your assets. The best way to find a painter who can do the job properly is by conducting some research and reading reviews from previous clients.
Safety
If you are thinking of a commercial painting job, it is important to hire professional painters who take safety seriously. The team of experts will make sure that the ladders, scaffolding and ropes are in good shape and safe to use.
They will also ensure that their equipment is properly sanitized and cleaned after every task to prevent contamination. The workers will also wear protective gear to avoid skin injuries, such as gloves, masks and headgear.
They also have a dedicated health and safety manager who is responsible for ensuring that all painters are following the right work procedures. They will carry out site-specific risk assessments and make any necessary changes to ensure safety. They are licensed by the government, and have all the relevant insurances in place to protect themselves and others in the event of an accident.
Maintenance
Whether you run a small retail store or a large office building, it is important to keep your business looking clean and fresh. It can make or break a customer's impression of your brand.
A commercial painter can help you maintain the appearance of your property by ensuring it is painted correctly. In addition, they can recommend maintenance measures that will help protect the exterior paint from dirt and stains.
A thorough washdown of the entire building is also recommended every 1-2 years to extend the life of the paint and protect the surface against damage and mould. This can also help prevent costly maintenance down the track, if it is done correctly.
Time
The amount of time it takes to complete commercial painting contractors Sydney projects varies depending on size. Smaller jobs can be done in a day while larger projects often take several days to finish.
As a result, planning is an essential part of commercial paint projects to minimise interference and ensure that all painted surfaces are properly cured and dried.
A well-painted office space or shop boosts trade and is an effective marketing tool. On the other hand, a dull wall can make a business look unprofessional and may push away clients.
Money
Whether you own a retail store or an office building, it's important to keep your property looking its best. Customers and clients are always drawn to clean, bright and inviting locations.
A new lick of paint can make your business stand out from the rest, and can boost your customer satisfaction rates. Not to mention, a professional commercial painting service can also add value to your property and increase your chances of selling it.
When choosing a commercial painter, it's a good idea to check for licensing and references. You can do this by checking websites for commercial painters in your area or by asking friends and colleagues who have used their services before.
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viteducation · 1 year
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Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia is one of the most challenging and interesting industries that offers a variety of career opportunities
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Tired of the idea of ​​sitting in an office for nine to five years? On the contrary, do you enjoy traveling and meeting new people? If the answer is yes, then Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia is definitely a great career option for you. Hospitality is one of the most challenging and interesting industries that offers a variety of career opportunities. He handles customer service and ensures that customers get the best experience of their lives. Tourism and hotel management are two important aspects of the hospitality industry. With rapid globalization, this industry is developing rapidly nowadays.
It has grown into a prestigious career and is the main reason why more and more students are completing Melbourne hospitality management diploma and tourism courses. In the current market conditions, Australia is a profitable destination for any hotel and restaurant chain looking for growth. A few job opportunities exist for hotel management graduates in the domestic and international market.
There are universities that offer short-term certificate courses, such as the B. Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Australia in Food Safety Standards and Hygiene, Hotel Management Analysis of Food Production Volume, and Marketing and Sales in the Hotel Industry. In these courses, more emphasis is placed on practical knowledge than theory, which gives students a competitive edge over others. Students will be taught skills in food and beverage management, sales and marketing, hospitality legislation, environmental sustainability in hospitality, hospitality IT and oenology. After completing the Diploma of Hospitality Management Melbourne course, they can work as a food or beverage server in any restaurant or bar.
Here you will find several universities and institutes that offer hotel management courses at the bachelor’s and master’s level. A degree in hospitality education in Australia can serve as a steppingstone to enter the hospitality industry. Students can also pursue a Diploma in Hospitality, which trains them in various hospitality skills required for the job.
A range of guest courses are offered to prepare you in travel and culture, culinary arts, kitchen management, restaurant and catering operations, accommodation and event management. If you are looking for a course with a specific focus on kitchen management, service skills and food and beverage service, then the Diploma of Hospitality Management Sydney is for you. It provides you with extensive knowledge of the hotel industry. You will enjoy a wide range of study material.
A degree in Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia can serve as a steppingstone to enter the hospitality industry
Whether you specialize in accommodation, hospitality or leisure management, prepare for formal training such as: B. to Degree in Hospitality. Learn how it works behind the scenes at official training centres. This includes supervision and personnel management. Mentors help students improve skills such as team leadership, problem solving and decision making, and service management. You will also receive training in management, marketing and sales. If you specialize in food and drink, you will learn the basics of gastronomy. Knowing this will enable you to work consistently and all of this is certainly transferable to the Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Australia course
Part of the Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Australia course takes place in a practical work environment. It can be a restaurant, hotel, cafe or club. This gives you the opportunity to gain practical experience in your field. A degree in hospitality also improves your job search options. Managers don’t want to spend time or money training employees. They prefer to select qualified employees who can contribute when they join the company.
The hospitality industry is full of opportunities. Those who choose to enter the field have many options when it comes to hospitality courses. Management courses in the industry are among the most lucrative and popular in this regard. If you are considering education, it is not only important that you choose a good school or university, but also that you choose a CRICOS approved Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Australia course.
CRICOS is the official website of the Australian Government, you will find a list of all accredited educational providers offering accredited courses in the country. Students with a visa must ensure that they are allowed to take courses that are accredited, have certificates and diplomas that are valuable to take them higher in their careers.
A range of hospitality courses are offered to prepare you in travel and culture, culinary arts, kitchen management, restaurant and catering operations, accommodation and event management. If you are looking for a course with a specific focus on kitchen management, service skills and food and beverage service, then the Diploma of Hospitality Management Melbourne is for you. It provides you with extensive knowledge of the hotel industry. You will enjoy a wide range of study material.
Tired of the idea of ​​sitting in an office for nine to five years? On the contrary, do you enjoy traveling and meeting new people? If the answer is yes, then Diploma of Hospitality Management Melbourne is definitely a great career option for you. Hospitality is one of the most challenging and interesting industries that offers a variety of career opportunities. He handles customer service and ensures that customers get the best experience of their lives. Tourism and hotel management are two important aspects of the hospitality industry. With rapid globalization, this industry is developing rapidly nowadays.
It has grown into a prestigious career and is the main reason why more and more students are completing Diploma of Hospitality Management Melbourne and tourism courses. In the current market conditions, Australia is a profitable destination for any hotel and restaurant chain looking for growth. Several job opportunities exist for hotel management graduates in the domestic and international market.
There are universities that offer short-term certificate courses such as Advanced Hospitality Management Australia Food Safety Standards and Sanitation, Hotel Management Analysis of Food Production Volume and Marketing and Sales in the Hotel Industry. In these courses, more emphasis is placed on practical knowledge than theory, which gives students a competitive edge over others. Students are taught skills in food and beverage management, sales and marketing, hospitality, sustainability, hospitality IT and oenology. After completing the Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia course, they can work as a food or beverage server in any restaurant or bar.
Here you will find several universities and institutes that offer hotel management courses at the bachelor’s and master’s level. A degree in hospitality education in Australia can serve as a steppingstone to enter the hospitality industry. Students can also pursue a Diploma in Hospitality, which trains them in various hospitality skills required for the job.
For getting more information visit here VIT – Victorian Institute of Technology
14/123 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
1300 17 17 55 (or) [email protected]
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quantumtraffic1 · 1 year
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Why Is Traffic Engineering a Priority for Street Safety?
 Street safety has become a pressing issue in many cities across the United States. As our population continues to grow, it is more important than ever that we focus on creating safe streets for everyone. This includes implementing effective traffic engineering Sydney measures that can help improve street safety. Unfortunately, many cities are still not doing enough to make their streets safe. 
We need to change this and prioritize traffic engineering in order to create safer streets for all.
Traffic engineering is a critical part of ensuring street safety, yet it is often overlooked. By prioritizing traffic engineering, we can create safer streets for all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Here are three reasons why we need to focus on traffic engineering:
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    1) It can help reduce the number of collisions and fatalities on our streets.
In order to keep our streets safe, we need to prioritize traffic engineering. By doing so, we can help reduce the number of collisions and fatalities. Traffic engineering Sydney is the process of designing and managing our roads and highways to reduce the risk of accidents. 
By improving visibility, signage, and lighting, we can make it easier for drivers to see pedestrians and cyclists. We can also redesign intersections to improve safety. And by lower speed limits, we can make it less likely for serious injuries to occur in the event of a collision. 
By making these changes, we can help make our streets safer for everyone.
2) It can make our streets more efficient and less congested.
As any city-dweller knows, traffic congestion is a serious problem. It not only makes our streets less efficient, but it also increases air pollution and contributes to accidents. One way to help reduce traffic congestion is to prioritize traffic engineering for street safety. 
Traffic engineers can help to identify bottlenecks and design solutions that will improve the flow of traffic. In addition, they can develop systems that will allow vehicles to communicate with each other and with traffic signals, reducing the need for drivers to stop and start. 
By making our streets more efficient, we can help to reduce traffic congestion and make our cities safer and more livable.
3) It can improve the overall quality of life in our communities.
Traffic safety is one of the great challenges of our time. Every year, tens of thousands of people are killed in traffic accidents, and many more are seriously injured. The economic cost of these accidents is also staggering, with estimates ranging as high as $1 trillion per year. Given these facts, it's clear that we need to do more to improve the safety of our roads. 
One key area that we need to focus on is traffic engineering. By making sure that our roads are designed and operated in a safe manner, we can make a significant dent in the number of accidents that occur each year. 
In addition, improving the safety of our roads can have a positive ripple effect on the overall quality of life in our communities. By making it easier and safer for people to get around, we can improve access to jobs, education, and essential services. In short, traffic engineering Sydney is a critical piece of the puzzle when it comes to making our communities safer and more livable.
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virtuousouls · 2 years
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Look who just woke up- is that EMMA MACKEY? No, I must have been mistaken, that’s SKYE RICHFIELD from PERCY JACKSON (OC, DAUGHTER OF KHIONE). I heard she is 23 and stuck here just like everyone else. Even in the 20’s, they still give off a FISHNET TIGHTS PAIRED WITH BLACK SKIRTS AND LEATHER JACKETS, AN OVERWHELMING NEED TO PROVE MEN WRONG, A HAZE OF SMOKE CAUSED BY A CIGARETTE impression. They’re known to be quite INTELLIGENT, but have a tendency to be ABRASIVE on their bad days.
Gender/Pronouns
cis female, she/her
How long have they been in Sydney?
a year real, half her life fake
Job
part time book store assistant, full time student studying biology
Which suburb do they live in?
newtown
Memories of their real life :
lengthy bc pre typed!!
khione met skye’s father joseph richfield when joseph was merely 22 years old. they had a winter romance together while joseph was on holiday in norway. after two months, joseph returned to england, with it in his mind he would never see khione again. however, 9 months later, she turns up on his doorstep with a child in hand. joespeh wasn’t too pleased about the whole thing, but took the child in and named her skye. joseph was a successful business man, so a lot of skye’s youth was spent with different baby sitters and child minders and not much time with him. by the time they were 5, they were already acting out. this is when her powers started to manifest. it scared their current nanny and unnerved her father, who chose to keep skye in the house and home schooled (real ice queen like). however this just made skye into more of a problem child. the dyslexia and adhd from being a demigod didn’t help. the lack of love from their father, confusion over her powers and unable to keep a tutor for longer than a few months turned skye’s heart cold (no pun intended) and gave her abandonment issues. eventually when they were old enough, they were shipped off to a boarding school for troubled youth. it was here in the ground where skye experienced her first monster. they were 12 and it attacked their friend. skye had held their own, having been training to control their cryokinesis. she had managed to defeat the monster, saving their friend and finally being claimed by khione, who was incredibly impressed by their control of her powers. however finally meeting her mother did not sit well with skye. khione claimed her and had great things in mind for them. but skye being the problem child they were, did not see this as a good thing and could not get over the fact that khione had been missing all of skye’s youth. even though khione was a god and could not be with skye, they still saw it as abandonment. due to this incident with the monster, skye’s friend was terrified of them. of course, because of the mist, they didn’t see a monster. they believed skye had attacked them. she then lost all of her friends because of this. rumours spread of her being a freak and eventually skye was abandoned by their friends too. this is when her fearspeak manifested, only providing flames to the fire that skye was a freak and a witch. but she used this to get back at people. if they were going to fear her, they may as well have something to fear. skye also got into a lot of physical fights and they became the default defence to things. skye began to hyper focus on studies, trying to better themselves. to beat everyone else and to prove they didn’t need anyone because they were intelligent. she did struggle because of her dyslexia, but still managed to succeed. when she was about 13, khione came back into skye’s life and told her about a demigod camp in america. reluctant at first, skye attended one summer and finally felt as though they actually belonged somewhere. they began to attend every summer, training in every aspect of their powers. (this was about 5 years after the events of percy jackson.) now her life was just study through the school year and train in the summers. skye didn’t get any special quests while at camp, which annoyed her greatly. skye has abandonment issues. due to these, they tend to be abrasive and independent. they tend to try and stay clear of any intimate friendships and relationships, believing that anyone would leave her as soon as they have the chance. she focuses on herself, always being selfish and putting themselves first in most situations. skye’s emotions rule her, though they try to not let them. but most of the time, she can blow up in annoyance or anger at any moment. she’s truthful, always speaking her mind – something that gets them into trouble more often than not. though, with this trait, you can always count on them to be brutal with you when needed.
What was their fake life like?
tba when plotting completed
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What Does an Event Planner Do?
An event planner Sydney is a professional who creates and coordinates the details of an event. They meet with clients to discuss the overall purpose of the event and the message they want to convey, and they negotiate contracts and budgets. Their primary focus is on the big picture. The event planner also coordinates activities and speakers. They examine bills, handle guest registration, and oversee the overall design and implementation of the event. They must have excellent communication and negotiation skills, as well as be organized and detail-oriented.
The work of an event planner does not stop once the big day arrives. In addition to managing the setup, an event planner will also handle the last-minute details, such as ensuring that the party runs smoothly. Lastly, the event planner will take the stress off of the client by coordinating with a variety of vendors and professionals to ensure the success of the event. The ideal event planner meets with clients on a regular basis to discuss the details and create a customized plan.
While the role of an event planner varies greatly, the main requirements are similar to those of a meeting organizer. They must have excellent time management skills and attention to detail. Their responsibilities may vary from those of an event manager, producer, or director. However, the job title "event planner" implies a responsibility for the planning, implementation, and coordination of all aspects of a special event. Some planners work for a large company, while others are independent.
Research is an essential part of event planning. Whether an event will be small or large, it is important to conduct research to ensure that it will be a success. Researching the demand for a certain service or product may also help to reduce risk. For example, new event planners may need to research event vendors and suppliers. It is also vital to research the etiquette of planning an event. If you're new to the industry, you may need to speak with other event planners to learn about their experiences.
Certifications can also be helpful. Getting a certification will impress potential employers. Certification examinations vary from one certification to another. However, certifications in event planning typically require a combination of a training program, several years of experience, and the completion of the relevant exams. In addition to education, joining an organization will help you network. This will help you find new job opportunities and offer you access to useful resources. A certification in event management will help you get ahead.
Event planners also have to excel in written and verbal communications, as well as in project management. This career requires excellent organizational skills and the ability to multitask. They also need to be self-starters with strong time management skills. The event planner should be able to negotiate and manage budgets, as well as interact with different levels of management. Successful event planners develop a sensibility for venue selection, gift purchasing, and production. If you're lucky enough, you can even start earning money as an event planner.
An event planner works with a variety of industries, including nonprofits, political candidates, and even entire industries. In this job, you'll coordinate the details of different events to ensure everything runs smoothly and to the client's specifications. An event planner might also work with vendors to coordinate transportation, lodging, and other related services. As a result, the salary for an event planner depends on the type of event, experience level, and location. The salary for this profession varies from person to person, and depends on whether the planner works in a firm or independently.
There are several ways to become a certified event planner. There are certification programs offered by the Society of Government Meeting Professionals and the Events Industry Council. Certification programs help event planners enhance their skills and build their resume. The best part is that you can begin your program at any time. With the right education, you can start your career as an event planner. So, what do you need to consider? A certification is an excellent way to get the job of your dreams!
In addition to being an event coordinator, an event planner must be a certified meeting planner. This certification shows that you have completed training in this field. In addition to meeting the qualifications and experience requirements of the event industry, you should also have a good understanding of the industry. A coordinator's role is to execute the event, while an event planner's job is to envision and plan its overall concept. The main goal of an event planner is to meet the client's expectations.
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plus-size-reader · 3 years
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Billy Loomis x Plus size!reader x Stu Macher x Plus!size reader
Word Count: 1871 words
Warnings: Usual horror warning stuff. 
Summary: The reader starting a friendship with Casey Becker for a bit in order to start off the whole murder thing
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You never really wanted to be her friend.
There was nothing wrong with Casey Becker, of course, but you didn’t care too much for anyone in Woodsboro. Aside from Billy and Stu, you sort of saw the rest of them as a sort of inconvenience, but that didn’t mean you weren’t a team player.
The plan you and your boys were taking on was nearly a year in the making, and whatever it was you had to do to make it go off without a hitch, you would do. Even if that meant playing nice with someone you couldn’t have found more dull.
Which was exactly why you were here in the first place.
You each had a role to play in this whole thing. Billy had a handle on Sydney, Stu managed most of the business with Tatum, and you were in charge of figuring out everything with Casey Becker.
To start off a murder spree like you had planned, you couldn’t just jump right into it with the main focus of your anger, or so Billy had informed you. This all had to go according to his plan and to lead up to the main event, and Casey was the perfect ice breaker.
Stu hated her, Billy hated everyone, and it didn’t hurt that Steve Oris had been added in there at some point, who made you increasingly uncomfortable.
It just worked out that way, but you had to find a way to get in and get information, which they guys just couldn’t get. Billy approaching her out of nowhere would be too suspicious, and she and Stu didn’t get along.
That was why it had to be you.
After Marleen Prescott’s death, you had plenty of time to get on her good side without putting yourself in a place where you would ever be a suspect. If nothing else, after the deed was done, you could play the heartbroken best friend.
No one would ever put the pieces together, but you got all you needed. Casey trusted you, she cared about you, and that meant you knew everything that was going on in her life. That included, among quite a bit of other crap, when her parents would be home, when they wouldn’t, and what she would be doing with Steve.
She never had a prayer, not after you started that conversation with her at school.
...And after all this time, tonight was the night.
You made your way to the house, as you had pretty often at this point in your friendship without anything out of the ordinary. Anyone looking in would have just seen two best friends, ready to hang out and have a good time, though the truth was far more sinister.
Somewhere, headed this way was Steve Oris undoubtedly going to meet up with Stu and Billy before getting anywhere near his girlfriend tonight.
Not that you were going to get off easy just because time was ticking down for them. You still had to finish this whole thing out strong, even if there was a little bit of wiggle room.
No matter what happened, Casey wasn’t getting out of her alive, but just because you could loosen up a little didn’t mean you could be reckless. You still had plenty of time to kill, and the night was far from over.
After all, you had just knocked on her front door.
“Open the door” you called, knocking a few times on her front door. You were friends, best friends in her eyes, but you had become so in the perfect way.
No one would even know you were here, with the only person familiar with you being Casey, who wouldn’t live to incriminate you.
“I thought I told you that Steve and I were hanging out tonight, I’m just waiting for him to get here” she hummed, opening the door with an almost apologetic look on her face. She had told you, of course, but you didn’t care.
You knew something that she didn’t.
“I’ll just keep you company till he shows up, besides, I brought ice cream” you tried, presenting the bag to her as proof that you had really just come to hang out with her. It was her all time favorite flavor, cookies and cream, which you knew she couldn’t turn down.
So, she let you in.
You followed her into the house, closing the door behind you, though you decided to leave it unlocked. It was a casual action, one that the blonde didn’t even notice as she made her way into the kitchen, intent on putting on some popcorn.
She still had a movie night planned with Steve, after all.
You were casual as you moved through the foyer of the house, just barely catching a glimpse of Billy in one of the far windows. Clearly, Steve would be a little preoccupied, or at least, far too busy for popcorn, .
“I guess I should just put the ice cream in the freezer” you decided, talking more to yourself than anything as you passed behind her, opening the door casually. You had been here enough times before to know what you were doing.
In fact, you were almost sure that not even Casey knew this house as well as you did. You had been doing extensive research over it, all these months, keeping track of what was where and who would be in the house on certain nights of the week.
You were good at this, lying and all that.
So good that you didn’t even flinch when you heard the phone start ringing on the hook, which Casey was quick to retrieve all the way in the living room. All you could do was stand still for a moment, doing your best to listen in to figure out who was on the other line.
She spoke for a few moments before hanging up, and when it rang a second time, you knew for sure who it was.
It was happening.
There was a noticeable change in the space after she picked the phone up a second time, with the air growing more and more still with each breath she took. Clearly, something was wrong and while you briefly considered to act concerned, you abandoned that quickly.
Keeping up appearances wouldn’t matter now.
“Boo”
The blonde jumped, understandably given the circumstances, when you spoke behind her. Between the things Billy was muttering through the phone and the fact that Steve still wasn’t here, she was stressing herself out.
“Who’s on the phone?” you mouthed, holding your hand up to your face like a mock phone. Something had changed in your demeanor since how you were before and this moment but she didn’t even have time to process it.
Too much was happening at once.
When she didn’t answer, you couldn’t help but sigh, plopping down against the armchair in her living room. After all this time, this was what you were doing this for? You just had to sit back and watch her pace around.
It was hardly the excitement Billy had promised you.
Gingerly, you leaned back to stretch the muscles in your back, your arms over your head for a moment. Glancing behind you, there was just enough of the patio visible to you for you to catch a bit of something there in the darkness but you couldn’t make it out.
Not that you had to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.
By the time Casey caught on though, there was screaming and begging and freaking out going on which made it a little difficult to relax.
“We have to get out of here” she decided, under her breath, the sicko on the phone still occupying most of her attention. The blonde was in a full panic, and had yet to connect the dots, fairly assuming you had no part in this.
Though, as soon as she said it, Casey noticed that you didn’t seem even a bit concerned by what was happening.
Something was wrong with you.
All at once, she went through several possibilities. She thought that maybe you were in shock, still a little lost over what was going down over the phone, or that maybe you just weren’t the kind to panic.
...but the truth was obvious.
You clearly weren’t surprised by this.
Then, before she could really come to any real conclusion, you grinned, standing from your place and walking across the room. You didn’t stop until you reached the patio doors, allowing yourself to gaze out into the darkness for a moment before flicking on the light.
Billy was still spouting horrors into her ear, but the girl could only focus on you, trying to figure out what was happening. Though, she didn’t get very far before even more panic set in. Evidently, he’d asked her his first question, and she’d gotten it wrong.
Of course she had.
All in all, it was a trick. Stu had come up with it, knowing that only real horror buffs like the three of you could really answer it. The added panic only served to guarantee that she’d get it wrong, not that any of that even mattered.
Once she spoke his name, “Jason”, you flicked the light off again, waiting for the auditory cue from Billy to turn it back on. Of course, when you did, Steve’s insides were splayed all over the pavement, dripping out of him like wax onto a birthday cake.
“You lost, you know the rules” you shrugged, turning around carelessly toward the kitchen.
“You smell burning?” you asked, briefly taking note of the fire that had started on the stovetop, long forgotten between Casey answering the phone, and Steve’s untimely death. At this point, she was a blubbering mess, which couldn’t have been more boring.
Surely your job here was done.
“Hey Cas? I think the front door is unlocked, you should probably go check that” you teased, taking the phone from the girl, and sitting back down in the chair you’d previously been in, as she scrambled in that direction.
It wouldn’t have mattered how quickly she went, as Stu was surely already in the house, but that didn’t phase you either. In truth, the actual killing was of no interest to you at all.
That was really where the boys came in.
You just liked the sport of it all.
“How’d I do?” you asked, casually placing the phone between your ear and your shoulder as you made your way out the broken patio door, which had gotten shattered shortly after Steve took his final breath.
You were careful to avoid the glass, making quick strides of it as you listened to Billy breathing into the phone. He didn’t answer you, of course, with Casey having gotten outside at some point, making him her problem but you didn’t mind.
You just kept walking until you found a nice little tree swing on the other side of the yard to sit in while you waited. They would be done soon enough anyway, and then you could go home and get a shower or something.
Maybe you’d even give Sidney a call for an alibi.
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Terrible to Meet You - A Harry Styles One Shot - Act 4, And love blooms in hearts not fields
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Harry wants to get out of the house. Alex wants to get home.
Alex meets Harry at at crossroads. Harry meets Alex on a one way street.
A coffee shop OU fic feat. lattes, lamingtons & that Great Unfathomable Feeling.
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Story Page Here Terrible to Meet You Playlists My Masterlist Here
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7 Minutes 'It doesn't seem like long, but my whole world has changed'
Harry's insides were shaking.
He could feel it vibrating up and down his spine, circling his ribcage and then settling uncomfortably at the back of his throat. The nerves and anxiety sped around his body the closer to the Heathrow they got.
Tears threatened to pierce his eyes each time he looked over at Alex beside him. She was staring out the window saying silent goodbyes to London as they drove. 
Harry really didn't understand how this moment came so quickly. He knew that Alex's feelings were as mixed as his. Harry wanted her to go home, she'd been trying all year. Heartsick and homesick, she'd pushed through living on the other side of the world to her family as the world suffered through something horrifying.
After getting the email, her last week in London was bittersweet. It was spent packing up her room and saying goodbyes for the second, third times. Harry helped her organise herself, and then put himself in isolation with Alex for her final 48 hours. She needed to present a negative COVID test to Australian officials before she could fly. Getting tested and locking themselves away together for two days was a special kind of magic, really. They didn't have to share each other.
After Harry, Alex was saddest to say goodbye to The Daily Dose. 
She was going to miss Paul. Despite his eccentricities, he somehow managed to always keep the tone light and playful with her, and generally, the days passed quickly. Alex left Sydney for London after a gruelling university course left her feeling unmoored and unsure of herself, her time working for Paul had been an enormous time of discovery and healing for her. 
He'd been a source of comfort and support for her, especially in the last year, and he was the shoulder she'd cried on far too often. Alex loved making coffee despite how most people saw the job. There was a satisfaction in the process, even in the daily grind—the cleaning, the busyness, the dead patches—and Alex liked leaving the cafe in the afternoon with the smell of coffee seeping out of her but a clean shop locked up ready for the next day. 
She was going to miss that. But at the same time, Alex felt ready to go on and do more with her time now. The university degree hanging in her parent's study didn't feel like a straight-jacket anymore, and she was looking forward to finding work in her field. 
 London had been home for four years, though. She had many great memories here, not the least of which it was the city she flew the coup and found herself in. And the magic she thought was lost seemed to have redeemed itself in the final months of her being there.
She found herself, and then, she'd found Harry.
&&&
Saying goodbye to Harry was the hardest thing Alex had ever done. 
They'd both cried the night before, but when it was time to part at the airport Harry was steadfast in his encouragement of her leaving. (Despite himself) He'd never once said he (seriously) didn't want her to leave, or that she shouldn't. He'd never implied it would spell doom for their relationship. Harry was 100% sure that Alex going back home to Australia was just the next line in their story, and certainly not the last one. 
"You get home safely, okay?" Harry told her sternly, holding her face between his hands at the drop-off line. Both their masks were down around their chins, and Harry hated the tears he couldn't stop Alex from shedding, "This is a good thing, Al, you need to be home right now."
"I know," she nodded bravely, frowning as her chin wobbled, "But I don't want to leave—
"Shh, no," Harry shook his head and leaned closer, "You're not leaving me, you're going home.”
"When am I going to see you again though," she cried out, finally giving in to the (slightly) hysterical emotions that were bubbling just below the surface. 
Harry's heart rattled watching the wave of doubt hit her. He pressed his lips into her hairline and held her for another long moment.
"You'll see me in Dubai on your stopover," he'd said, rocking her against his chest, his words hurried against the material of her shirt, “You'll land, use the bathrooms, and then FaceTime me. That's when you'll see me next. And then, you'll see me when you get to Sydney and call me again. Okay?
"Okay," Alex parroted quietly.
"Okay … You really have to go now," Harry looked behind her to where the doors to the terminal were.
She nodded and reached up onto her tippy toes, letting Harry press his warm lips against hers once last time. Alex squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold in tears but also the feel of him. His smell, where his body began and ended, how it measured up next to hers. 
Their hearts reached out, trying to feel the other pressing through their chests from the other side. You're mine, you're mine, they said to each other.
"I love you," Harry told her, not for the first time.
Seeing the red wetness around Harry's eyes, Alex threaded her hands through his hair, "I love you, too."
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips again, "Go."
Harry's belief that they were going to be okay was unwavering. 
If 2020 taught him anything, the whole world could change in a matter of weeks, so why not the entire outlook of his life as well? Why couldn't his meeting Alex change the course of both their lives moving forward? Something about meeting her felt like a one-time event, like something worth risking everything for. And he would, Harry told her numerous times that last week.
And as she walked away from him and into Heathrow, and Alex believed him.
&&&
Alex cried as her flight landed at Sydney International Airport. 
She'd watched the harbour out her window as the plane circled the city, that perfect Sydney turquoise blue gleaming back up at her and it made her chest ache with relief. 
Home.
Sydney airport was a stark change from the Heathrow she left behind. Their flight was met by police, abundance and army officers. It wasn't frightening though, Alex found herself swallowing back tears this time because she was so soothed by the fact she was back in Australia. Everyone was friendly and helpful, getting the flight of returning citizens through the airport and onto buses to the quarantine hotels. Alex's drove straight into the city centre and as soon as they started going by familiar places and landmarks she wasn't the only one teary in their seat. 
"Well, here it is," Alex said to the phone screen not long after, tilting it around to show off the hotel room around her, "Home for the next fourteen days."
"Snazzy," Harry whistled as she pulled back the sheer curtains to reveal a staggering blue sky and then bright green treetops. He was sitting at his kitchen table with a cup of tea and a drizzly London morning just beginning, "And a view! Is that a balcony? Or a window?"
"A balcony but it's locked. I did get to smell the salty, beautiful harbour in the two-second walk from the bus into the hotel though." Alex settled on the bed in the middle of the room, the bedding crisp and clean underneath her, "I am literally inside this room for two weeks. No outside time. But I can see people outside walking around and having picnics in Hyde Park without masks on, so it'll be worth it."
"That seems unreal."
"It's like another world here," Alex agreed, yawning and finally feeling her body start to relax. "Anyway, how was your day yesterday? Wait, no, today?"
Harry laughed, "You've lost two days, I think. But it was good. I went and saw Paul, we had a cry together."
"Don't," she warned him, feeling the combination of over-tiredness and emotion simmering in her throat, "I've just travelled thirty-six hours, and I fucking miss you already, I'm not beyond completely losing it right now."
He smiled gently, "Have a shower and get into bed. I'm so glad you're there. Does it feel good to be home?"
"So good," Alex admitted, almost feeling like it was a dirty thing to be admitting to Harry, "Jess is going to come and wave at me from the park tomorrow with Noah. My mum's already sent a bunch of food to my room."
"You're exactly where you need to be," Harry told her. 
Alex couldn't hold back her tears any longer, the guilt she felt—the pain of leaving Harry—wasn't any match to finally being where she'd wanted to be all year, "Yeah, I am."
&&&
Figure 8 'Lovers hold on to everything'
Four days into her quarantine, Alex started training herself to do headstands.
"It's harder than it looks! But I'm getting there now," She laughed, propping her phone up against the leg of the bed and crawling to the wall opposite. She was now on Day 11, and Harry had been getting an update daily.
"Please don't injure yourself," Harry moaned, getting a great view of her bum as she crouched down facing the wall and then rose up, kicking her legs up with her palms flat on the floor.
"See?" The blood all rushed to her head, and Alex's hair fell down over her face at the same time her t-shirt moved, revelling her belly and bra to Harry. 
"Much better than yesterday," he told her, "Maybe tomorrow we could lose the bra?"
Alex laughed, her arms shaking as she came crashing to the ground. She was still working on the landing. 
Just as she was about to reply, she heard a knock on the door, "Oh!" 
"Dinner?" Harry guessed, watching her leap to her feet and disappear from view. A moment later, her legs walked across the screen, and Harry rolled over in bed to try to rid his phone screen of the glare coming from his windows open to the new London morning. "Oi!"
"Calm your farm," Alex tutted, retrieving her phone and grinning at Harry, "You'll never guess what I've got today."
"Hmm," Harry hummed in mock thought, "Let me guess, chicken and rice. A cookie and a ridiculous allotment of fruit?"
"Two bananas, an apple and four apricots."
"S'practically a fruit basket!"
"Tomorrow I get a glass of wine," Alex was already chewing, "Friday night drinks!"
"Friday date night?" Harry suggested, his fingers twitching with the want to be feeling her body between his sheets again, "You're fun when you're a little tipsy."
"Excuse me, I'm always fun!"
Harry laughed, "I can't believe you're so upbeat still. I'd been expecting a dip at some point. I would think a lot of people don't do so well in isolation for two weeks."
"I've got Australian daytime TV and a boyfriend who sends fun gifts,” she eyed the collection of books and puzzles Harry had organised, “I am looking forward to Sunday though."
Harry couldn't imagine how much Alex was looking forward to getting to see her family and friends when her time in quarantine ended, "Did you get tested today?"
"Yes," Alex screwed up her face, the memory of the swab up her nose still fresh, "Fucking hurt."
"Last one," he encouraged. "What's the first thing you're going to do with your brother when he picks you up?"
She halted before putting the next mouthful of warm, lacklustre dinner in her mouth, "It's supposed to be sunny and warm on Sunday, but I don't get released until the evening. So I think we'll just go to mum and dads for tea. Jess and Matt are going to be there."
"A large gathering in the home!" Harry looked scandalised, but he was smiling. 
"I know, it's all very 2019," Alex joked. 
Harry let out a long sigh from his chest, "I'm so happy you're there, but I miss you."
"You too," she said quietly.
"Hey," Harry called out, not having meant to dampen the mood, "Three sleeps until you get to meet Noah."
The mention of her nephew made Alex smile, "I'm gonna squeeze him so hard."
"Will you FaceTime me there?"
"O'course," her mouth was full, but she nodded emphatically. "My mum asked if we were going to have live music at all family events now."
Harry's laugh exploded out of him, he liked Alex's family very much already, "Happy to oblige."
"Because of you she's also back on Nathan about giving up the trombone in Year 8." Alex told him, "He was previously the musical hope for the family, but he stopped when the girl he liked at fourteen said she would only date a rugby player … Consequently, that girl is also responsible for how Nathan broke his nose."
Harry could sympathise with Alex's older brother, "We do crazy things for love."
&&&
"Could you say that again?"
"Were you not listening?"
"No I was, I just like hearing it in your accent."
"Harry," Alex complained, "I'm already shit at this."
"You're not!" He insisted, trying desperately to keep the grin at bay. 
Alex frowned at him and pulled the hotel duvet up to her chin, crossing her legs and slipping her free arm across her chest. Harry's heart was racing, hearing her talk about how his words were making her feel was incredible. Almost as good as physically having her. Almost.
"Al," Harry stilled at the defeated look on her face. His smile disappeared, "Sorry, I wasn't teasing."
"I'm no good a phone sex, it feels weird."
"I know it does at first," he tentatively reassured her, hoping not to draw attention to the fact that over the years Harry had become sort of good at phone sex. By virtue of necessity, such was his regular travel schedule. "I promise it can be great, and we can only get better at it. You're not no good. On the contrary, I'm enjoying myself very much."
She was finding it difficult. And even more so, trying to learn Harry and what he liked—how his body responded—without actually having his body physically there felt impossible. Phone sex was awkward and difficult, and Alex was more self-conscious then she'd ever been, trying to navigate intimacy with Harry through a phone screen. There was a divide there. He was right though, the undercurrent to what he said was that they'd have to get better, there was no other choice. It was all they had.
"Show me what you were doing," Harry beckoned gently, sensing Alex relaxing back into the moment. "And just imagine I'm there, don't apologise for angles or lighting. I don't care."
It was her last day in the hotel, and Alex had woken up with an ache between her thighs. Harry Facetimed her the instant he got the photo of her lying in the sheets, her torso exposed and wishing for his touch. He'd been sitting at home on his Saturday night, watching the first five minutes of half a dozen things on Netflix yet not finding his mind was able to focus on any. 
Alex he could focus on though. 
Her five seconds of bravery felt far away now, but Alex slowly pushed down the bedding again, "I was thinking about you going down on me."
Harry smiled, "Go on."
&&&
Nineteen 'I felt you in my life before I ever thought to'
Three months passed. 
The dreaded milestone ticked over which meant Harry and Alex had been separated the same amount of time they'd spent together in London.
It hadn't ever felt like this for Harry before.
He'd never known what this kind of missing someone was. Previously, he'd missed people, but not with a yearning or a longing that made his chest ache. Not with the kind of force that had him lying in bed at night unable to switch off the channel tuned to Alex.
What time was it in Sydney? Had he already sent her that link? Did she say she was spending the day with her dad? What could he say to get her back in that bikini from the day before? 
Missing Alex felt like having an itch inside his mind he couldn't scratch.
But in a sense, how much he wanted to be with her only made his consequent decisions easier. 
"You're hopeless!" His manager laughed him from LA, the whole team on the weekly check-in Zoom call. Generally there wasn't a lot to report between them, projects were on hold or cancelled. Harry had decided not to go back to the States to work on a few smaller things—a fashion shoot, a TV guest appearance and a small role in a film—giving his legal team some work in getting him out of contracts, but that was mostly sorted now. 
If he was going anywhere, it sure as hell wasn't across the Atlantic. 
"Not hopeless," Harry replied diplomatically, "It's something else … But it's not hopeless. It almost feels like having the answer and being the little kid jumping up and down on the spot, dying for the teacher to hurry up and ask the question."
A series of blank looks came back at him. Harry sighed. He'd never been bad at explaining his personal life before. It was always so rational, the relationships made sense or happened in a usual way. He just couldn’t shake the notion that all along, people had been right. 
When you know you know. 
He'd found Alex. 
That was as simple as it was to him. But it didn't settle everyone else the way it settled Harry. 
Alex. 
Did the name not tick a checkbox in their heads too? 
"So, you're going to Australia?"
"I just want to know what it could look like," Harry amended the assumption, but yes, he was going to end up wherever Alex did, and if that was Australia then that was that. 
"Who's in Australia?" 
The question wasn't to Harry, it wasn't about who he was going to Australia for., they all knew who Alex was. The question was about the industry—about Harry's career. It was who was in Australia for him to work with? Frankly, he didn’t see why the same people he worked with now couldn’t also be the people he continued working with either remotely, or with short trips abroad when travel allowed. 
"Obviously, it's not like everything can be done there," Harry offered diplomatically, "But at least for the foreseeable future, with the world how it is … Music as the primary focus, I want to write the next album there. Spend some time seeing the country too, I've always wanted to."
He got a collection of nods, and a few spoken agreements, assurances that it could work.
"This isn't a temporary thing," he said of Alex, looking at the faces who helped him run his life, "We're going to be navigating this for the rest of my career. So everyone's going to need to add Sydney time to their Clock app."
&&&
When he met Alex, Harry knew. 
When he landed in Sydney, Harry knew again. 
It was the right choice, it was the right place for him to be. All he wanted was to be moving in her direction; in the same direction as her. 
It was warm despite the late hour, the air was fragrant with it, in stark contrast to the London he left behind. 
He tried to think back to the last time he’d been in Australia, to what it felt like back then. 
If only he’d know then …
Harry opted not to apply for any special considerations or circumstances. He didn't want anything to jeopardise him being able to enter what was likely the world's most difficult country to get into now—especially seeing as Harry wasn't a resident, much less a citizen. Harry didn't want to hit the news. And despite evidence of people he knew in the industry being able to dictate where they quarantined on arrival, Harry requested nothing. He just wanted to fly in, go to whatever hotel they told him to, do his two weeks quarantine and then be with her. 
"Have you landed?" Alex's voice was urgent and tinged with excitement. 
Harry laughed, "Yes, how do you think I'm calling."
She squeaked, "You're here!"
"I'm here," he smiled under his mask, following the flow of fellow travellers walking through the empty airport, "Who ever heard of an International Airport having a curfew though? The pilot made the joke that if we were projected to land even a minute after 11pm, he'd have to turn around and go back to London. Which was like, a joke, but also not funny?"
Alex chortled, "You'll have to get used to the sense of humour here."
"Hang on," Harry saw a checkpoint of sorts ahead of him, "I have to go. I'll call you back."
"Call me from the hotel," she said, "I love you."
"I love you, too."
&&&
"Go to the window."
“Hi. What?" Harry could barely move his head off the pillow as his eyes struggled to open.
"Go to your window," Alex repeated, "Were you asleep?"
He sat up, heart thrumming quickly at the possibility of what he was going to see. A second before his mind had only barely been able to scramble together the cognitive function to swipe to answer the call. 
When he got to the window, Harry pulled back the curtains—he'd ended up at the same hotel Alex had been in too—his room looked out over Sydney's Hyde Park, the fountain and cathedral framing his window. Although his top floor room with a (locked) balcony was a little bigger than hers had been he still felt as if he was living in their FaceTime calls. He was sure he'd become more acquainted with the trees and greenery out his window as the days passed. 
"What am I looking for?" He asked, but Harry knew.
"I'm down here, can you see me? Blue jeans shorts … Yellow top? I've got a sign!"
Harry's eyes scanned the footpath opposite the hotel, there was a main road between him and the park. He'd been in the room less than 12 hours though, so he wasn't familiar with the foot traffic. 
"I can't… Wait, I see you," his mouth opened in a huge smile, "Hi!"
Harry waved and pressed his hand to the window as his heart waved down at Alex's. He felt like his insides were being swapped around inside him as he took his first look at her in the flesh in nearly thirteen weeks. She had sunglasses sitting up on top of her head and a The New Yorker tote bag over her shoulder. He bit his lip at all the exposed skin he was looking at, feeling it a cruel injustice in the fact he would be touching his girlfriend for a fortnight.
Alex was squinting up at the hotel, one hand to her forehead, blocking the sun while the other held her phone to her ear, "How high up at you?"
"Next to the yellow and red flag," he said, looking for a distinguishing feature. He'd fallen asleep to the sound of the rope flapping against the building.
Alex's voice took a teasing tone, "Oh, who's that sexy man with his shirt off in the hotel window?" 
"I can't read your sign."
"I only had a Biro," she lamented, shoving the makeshift sign under her arm, "It just says Hi."
"Hi," Harry leant his forehead into the window, "You look beautiful."
"So do you."
"You going to stand out there for the next two weeks?"
"Would you like me to?"
"Yes, please."
Harry watched her take a step back and lean against the wall to the park behind her, "I'd better get comfy then."
&&&
There was a couple in the room next door to Harry.
"I'm telling you, it's relentless," he implored Alex with his eyes, pausing for a second to listen to the sound of their bed hitting the wall, "They're at it constantly."
"Embrace it, some people are into that," Alex giggled from her parent's kitchen. She was making dinner for the whole family, with her AirPods in and Harry chatting to her as she chopped vegetables. "Let it get you in the mood, Harry. Is that voyeurism, or exhibitionism? I can never—"
"—Okay," He rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Comedian."
"You're just jealous you're not getting any."
"I really am," Harry said seriously, "If I have to wait, so should they."
Alex's laugh filled his ears, "It's alright, less than a week to go now."
"I cannot wait to be holding you," he said, longing in his voice. 
Harry had mixed feelings leaving London. He didn't know when he'd be back, but at the very least he was going to miss his first Christmas with his family. With England in lockdown, it was unlikely that even if he had stayed, he would be able to spend it with them anyway, but Harry would miss them. He already missed them. 
It wasn't like he missed Alex, though. And in all the conversations he'd had with his mum, or his sister, or anyone else, they'd all told him to go for her. They saw it in his eyes and heard it in his voice when he spoke about her. Or maybe their hearts knew as well, as though Harry meeting Alex had been locked away in them all and now the light to that room was switched on. 
So there he was, in Australia. To be with his love.
&&&
Ten Days 'Time has changed nothing at all, you're still the only one that feels like home'
Harry asked the nurse who took his last COVID swab to help him.
He hadn't requested anything up until that point, but he knew, even behind her protective gear, she was a friendly face. And he also knew that there were rumblings online that he was in Sydney. (All those spare and jet lag hours, he'd tried to stay off the internet, he really had) 
The good news was it was just rumblings, because why on earth would Harry Styles be in Sydney.
All it would take was one photo to confirm it though, which in a sense, was fine, he didn't care.
But Harry didn't want that photo to be of any of his first moments back with Alex.
Let someone snap a picture in a couple of weeks, on a random beach or coming out of a cafe somewhere. Just not his first day. Not when he hadn't seen her since the beginning of September almost three months ago.
He asked if the nurse could help him arrange Alex for access to the hotel car park because the discharge information pack he'd received directed him to organise pick up on the street. 
The next two days went slowly, those final 48 hours, waiting for a negative result and trying like anything to bat away fears that it wouldn't be the same. That somehow Harry and Alex would've lost the something that lit the spark in London. 
He hated that feeling—the doubt—and when he confessed it to his sister, she batted it away as nerves. She said life was always full of uncertainty and risks, the idea was to choose the ones you thought were worth taking. 
&&&
Alex stared at her legs as she sat, waiting for Harry in her dad's car.
It hadn't taken long to get the colour back to them, although mostly she was fixated on how she should have dressed a little nicer for the first time seeing Harry in months. She didn't even have proper shoes on, just the thongs that she'd kicked off the night before after coming back from the park with the dogs. 
Harry hadn't seen this side of her. This casual, probably more Australian sounding Alex. The one with bare feet and sunglasses holding her hair back. He'd met her family over video calls, but what would Harry think when he was in a room full of them? They were loud and could have distasteful senses of humour. There were family jokes that Alex had never thought twice about before but now worried Harry wouldn't appreciate. 
She'd slipped back into the comforting hum of life in Sydney so easily. Her friends, her family, her city. When she left Sydney hadn't felt like home, but as soon as she stepped back into it something in Alex let out a sigh of return. It was strange, leaving London just at the end of the summer months and falling straight into the beginning of a new summer here. 
In front of her, Alex sensed movement. The door she'd been instructed to park in front of opened, and a very tall man in an army uniform stepped into the underground car park, propping open the door with his foot. He pointed to Alex in the front seat and said something to Harry, who was the next person to appear, followed by a nurse in full PPE.
Alex felt an explosion in her chest, an electric shock or a bolt of lightning. Two hearts jumping up and down in excitement. 
She cracked the car door open and heard Harry thanking the two people escorting him, his hands moved as though they were itching to add a handshake to the gesture.
As soon as Alex was in his eyesight though Harry didn't think about anyone else. 
She emerged and hovered by the front of the car, waiting for Harry to approach her, as if unsure what she was allowed to do. The sight of her in an oversized hoodie and small athletic shorts warmed him instantly. She looked perfect, with a tan that evaded her in London and a brightness behind her eyes Harry was addicted to already. He liked the thought that he was an errand, that picking up her boyfriend was on a list of things for her to do that day. The word 'normal' flashed in Harry's mind, and any worry he'd had about her or him or them together being different from how he remembered it disappeared.
"Hi," he smiled wide as he tugged down the mask covering his face and stepped right into her personal space, his bag and suitcase abandoned behind him. 
Speechless, Alex breathed Harry in deeply through tears as she was tightly wrapped up in his arms. She couldn't bring any words to the surface, and so they just stood in silence, holding each other. 
After a moment Harry turned his face into her neck and pressed a slow, warm kiss below her ear, "Hello, hello, hello," he said between kisses. 
It only made Alex's crying increase, and she squeezed him tighter while leveraging herself higher up his body, not yet willing or able to step away. 
"Alex," Harry said her name gently, "Let me see you, please."
She leant back but covered her cheeks with her sleeves, peering over at Harry through blurry eyes, "Wait a sec."
He smiled and pulled her hands away by her wrists, "Give me a kiss."
&&&
"You're such a tourist," Alex laughed as she drove, watching Harry lean forward in the passenger seat and try to take a photo through the windscreen of the Sydney Harbour Bridge above them. 
"You know bridges are my passion," he said dryly. 
She smiled as he sat back and slipped his hand back into hers. 
"I quite like you driving," Harry said, eyeing her in the drivers' seat, "Look at you knowing your way around."
Alex grinned under her sunglasses, "We're in my city now, baby."
&&&
Harry's mouth hovered hotly over the skin below Alex's breasts. 
"Harry," she ran her fingers through his hair, hating the anticipation. 
His lips upturned at the impatience behind her saying his name. He pressed a kiss to the skin there, then another half an inch further down her tummy, "M'not in a hurry."
"I am," Alex urged.
"Oh?" Harry stopped and looked up at her, his elbows on either side of her hips as he held himself over her, "You are?"
"Yes."
"Going somewhere after this?"
She whined, whined, "No, Harry."
Alex hadn't taken him home to her family. Not yet. 
She drove an hour out of the city to a beach suburb with what Alex had deemed the nicest Airbnb. It was private, and without Sydney's usual cohort of international tourists, the area was deserted except for locals. They could hear the ocean from the bedroom and see if from the kitchen. She'd booked them two nights; two nights to reconnect and just live in the presence of each other without her family stepping in and inevitably stealing Harry's heart.
(Except, of course, it was Alex's heart who has his, all this time)
"Look at you, fuck," Harry said, tilting back up to take her lips in his, pressing his torso, his thighs, his stomach, his hardened crotch into her. "Fucking gorgeous."
"We can do slow later," she all but begged, her fingers digging into his exposed back, "Please. Just … Just please, Harry."
Alex felt his hand brush over her thigh, deliciously trailing over the sensitive skin just below her hip bone and down between them. His eyes dipped down between them only briefly before Alex was feeling the tip of him pressing into her exactly where she needed it. 
"Yes," her body relaxed into the feeling, remembering the London nights, the mornings and that first time in his living room. 
"Alex," Harry said her name like he could hardly believe it, and at the same time as wanting to savour the moment he was thinking of their first, hurried time as well. His hips snapped forward, remembering that time the rush came from wanting to taste, to experience something new and to have Alex's body for his own the first time. 
The urgency behind Harry's movements this time were for want of something had and sorely missed, something already claimed but given up for a time.
Alex's head was stretched back onto the pillow underneath him while she felt her body shift and squeeze around him. She wrapped her arms around his chest to feel him closer, wanting to hold onto him as he pumped in and out, sighing against her neck, trying to regulate himself.
"God, Al."
"Harry."
&&&
Four nights later, tucked into the spare room at her parent's house, Harry rolled over and took her hand. 
"I think we should get a place here."
"A what?"
"A flat, a house, we should rent something in Sydney." 
"Sydney?" Alex's tone elevated, almost touching the spinning ceiling fan above them.
"Yes, Sydney," Harry repeated, "You mentioned a job you liked the look of a few weeks ago, did you apply for it? "
"But what about London? That's where you live, God, what about your work, Harry."
"I want to be here, I'm not in any hurry to go back to what normal was. Normal didn't have you," Harry said, throwing out the script he'd built in his head the last month. His heart was doing the talking, extempore, "I've watched you this week, Alex, it's like you're a whole different person here. You're so happy and settled and joyful, which, by the way, I already thought you were but here … Do you really want to go again? Could you leave your family again?"
Alex felt her chest going into overdrive like everything was whirring around too quickly. She felt had to be honest, though, despite the way it made the fear climb further up her throat, "No. I don't want to leave."
Harry brought her knuckles up to kiss, "I don't want you to leave, either. So, what if we stayed? For as long as it's where you need to be?"
"But your family—
"—Doing this means one of us is always going to be away from someone," Harry told her, "I can handle missing my family, Al, I can't handle missing you. You're it."
"It just seems like too much to ask you to do, Harry."
"You're not asking," he insisted. "I can figure out how to work from here. London was my home base, I spent a lot of the year away anyway. And it's not that much further to LA for stuff, I … I'm saying I can make it work here, Alex. I want to make it work with you."
Alex's heart did a cartwheel, "You want to stay in Sydney?"
Harry's somersaulted, "I want to stay with you, yes."
The End.  &&&
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Thanks for reading, everyone! x Kate
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glimmerofawesome · 3 years
Text
This is Sam Kerr: A superstar with elite sport in her blood
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In the white-walled hallway of the Kerr residence in Perth, Roxanne Kerr has a framed photo of the moment her daughter’s image was projected onto the sliding-shell roof tiles of the Sydney Opera House. In the darkness, the profile of an airborne Sam Kerr sails above the waters of Sydney Harbour, backlit by triangles of yellow and green to celebrate Australia’s successful World Cup 2023 bid.
“Your daughter’s on the Opera House — how is that?” says Roxanne, dreamily.
The family treasure it all the more because through it, they glimpse Sam as she was when, aged eight, she walked through some hills and decided that if the other kids were rolling down, the least she could manage was a backward tuck. “And she just taught herself,” says Roxanne. “It amazes me that she can still do it at her age. It shocked me. The first-ever time she did it for the Matildas, she didn’t land properly, but now that’s all people want to see.”
Yet her daughter is just like every other, in that she often neglects to keep her parents in the loop. Roxanne is used to seeing Sam stare back from banners in Australian shopping centres. Normal, too, are the texts from family and friends captioned: “Look who I’ve bumped into.” But the small matter of her springing from the side of the continent’s most iconic building slipped Sam’s mind, as did her international debut in Canberra in 2009.
“She loves us to travel and watch her games, but she doesn’t like a lot of fuss,” says Roxanne. “She didn’t even tell us that she was going to get a cap. She never tells me anything because she’s too embarrassed, too shy. I have a friend who cuts out every single newspaper article. She must have seen the Opera House on Facebook.”
Roxanne called Sam, who said, simply: “It’s nice, isn’t it, Mum?”
You wonder if Kerr Junior would describe winning the Champions League today (Sunday) in the same terms or if she’ll be able to muster any words at all given her manager at Chelsea, Emma Hayes, spent the hours after reaching the final in a haze of joyful tears.
Her itinerant career comprises a shower of titles from three continents, her spell at Chelsea — where she is understood to be earning £500,000 a year — providing more than half the silverware. Previously, she would play in the US over the summer and then, come October, return home to Australia to compete in the W-League. Success against Barcelona today would yield her sixth winners’ medal for Chelsea in 497 days, having made her debut on January 5, 2020. It would also make her the third Australian to play in a Champions League final, close to two years on from becoming the first to score a World Cup hat-trick. Fewer than five Australians have ever represented either senior Chelsea team.
Kerr (right) celebrates the Fran Kirby goal that sealed Chelsea’s 4-1 win over Bayern Munich and fired them into the Champions League final (Photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
From her car in Perth, where she has run on her lunch break, Roxanne tells The Athletic how she found out her daughter had signed for Chelsea. She and Sam’s grandmother, Coral, had flown to Chicago, where Kerr was racing towards the NWSL Golden Boot, and entered her apartment to see a blue Chelsea shirt. “And nobody was allowed to know because she didn’t want it out before Chelsea announced it,” she says. “I was very excited, because I love London. I thought I would have had four or five trips by now.”
Kerr’s arrival on UK shores garnered unprecedented media attention — photographers were docked at Heathrow to capture her wheeling her way through international arrivals and followed her all the way to the waiting black cab — and this season’s Women’s Super League Golden Boot has left her and Hayes vindicated after a tricky first few weeks; not that there was ever any real doubt she would come good, but only this season has Kerr been able to show us the full contents of her armoury.
“I’m so happy for her,” says Roxanne, “because she didn’t score in those first couple of games and she’s so used to scoring. Every time she spoke to me, it was about the cold — she really struggled with that. We watched every game and she was nearly there, but I could see that she was beating herself up a little bit.” Kerr’s mum doled out the usual pearls of wisdom: “You’re trying too hard and it will come.”
“She wasn’t putting away goals that she normally would do with the eyes closed. I think she was just so nervous. But once she got that first one, you knew that it would start happening because she gets a rhythm and a confidence, and she’s happy.”
On current form, a third Ballon d’Or nomination feels inevitable. Her closest rival is Chelsea team-mate Fran Kirby, though it is a stretch to say the pair are in competition, they have instead glided through the season with their irresistible glee and elan, combining for 52 of the club’s 120 goals.
The moment it clicked for Kerr was when, after months of being assisted by Kirby and a year on from her Chelsea debut, she was finally able to return the favour as her strike partner scored four against Reading in January. “From then on, I was like, ‘OK — this is going to become something now. I’m going to make it my goal to not only get goals off Fran, but to help her score’,” she said. “When we play fast football, no one can keep up with us.
“When you give the ball to Fran, you know you’re going to get it back. Whether I’m making a run to take a defender away or making a run to get the ball, it’s always easy to play with her because she’s so unselfish. I don’t even have to look. I just know that Fran’s going to be there. It looks telepathic.”
Perhaps they were fated to play together. Maybe there is an alternate universe in which Kirby and Kerr never met. It could easily have been this one; 14,528 km separate Kirby’s birthplace in Reading from Kerr’s in East Fremantle, Western Australia. Kerr might never have picked up a football — she began her sporting career, famously, as an Australian Rules player until the opportunities in that sport dried up for girls when she was 12 — were it not for a visit to her cousin’s house shortly after quitting her first love. She initially refused a trial for the state side. Roxanne recalls the coach telling the family Sam was the first person to ever say no to him.
A young Kerr adorns the programme for the 2006 Qantas National Youth Championships for Girls
Then there was the injury in 2015: a Lisfranc fracture, where the metatarsal bones are dislodged and the foot, to put it simply, falls apart. Or, in Roxanne’s words, the bones “spread like there’s no support. It really can be career-ending”.
It nearly was for Kerr, whose Olympics dream was left hanging by a thread. She had a plate fitted in her foot and the Australian Olympic Committee wanted her back for their Olympic qualifiers in Japan. Roxanne drove her to the local park and would “video her running so they can see how she was, and I could just tell that there was no way she was going to get there. She always says, ‘I don’t realise how much I love football until something like this happens’.” Kerr made it to the Olympics though, later saying: “I had many conversations crying on the phone to Mum, telling her I didn’t want to do it any more.”
And there is the fact that Sam might not have ended up in Australia at all had her ancestors not upped sticks decades before she was born.
Roxanne’s father hails from Cork in Ireland — born in 1931, he recently turned 90, making him the oldest of 101 (yes, 101) grandchildren — and her mother’s side are from England.
Kerr’s grandmother on her maternal side was the only child of six to be born in Australia as both families emigrated by ship — “It took forever and I suppose half of them were convicts,” says Roxanne — landing in Freemantle, near Perth, with a £10 stipend.
Many who made the journey to Australia in the early 20th century were British migrants seeking a more prosperous life in another part of the Empire. After the First World War, Australia sought to expand its population in the event of further conflict and its government offered assisted passage, jobs and land grants to potential arrivals.
“Fremantle is where the heart of football is,” Roxanne adds.
On Baal Street, Palmyra, tucked behind spindle-fingered trees, stands the russet silhouette of the Sunlight Bakery. It is a museum now, due to restoration by the local council circa 1988, and you wonder how many of those who walk between the shelves lined with pewter kettles and ersatz bread know it was run by Kerr’s great grandparents in its heyday.
“They used to deliver the bread by horse and cart,” says Roxanne. There is a photograph in the State Library of Western Australia of a horse, Barney, guiding a rickety cart with “Bakers” painted on one side in white. Roxanne’s father became a sheet metal worker, helping build the now-demolished railway lines along the south.
Roxanne’s great grandmother purchased huge plots of land and gave them to her 14 children as wedding presents. Back then, Roxanne’s parents were allowed to keep racehorses in their back garden. Her uncle, JJ Miller, won the 1966 Melbourne Cup — the country’s most famous horse race — on a horse called Galilee. Her cousin, David Neesham, represented Australia in water polo at three Olympics and was inducted into the Water Polo Australia Hall of Fame in 2010. Her other cousin, Danny, is 73 and still riding horses, making him, Roxanne claims, “the oldest jockey in Australia”. There are “probably about 10 Australia Rules footballers” in the family, Roxanne says, including her father, some uncles and her son Daniel — Sam’s brother, 10 years her senior. Her husband, too.
Maybe such a sprawling family — Roxanne is one of 10 children — was always, by the law of averages, bound to spawn some sporting talent. The introduction of Sam’s father, Roger, makes the gene pool more enviable still, and there can be few families, barring the Osmonds and the Jacksons, with as many Wikipedia pages between them.
Born in Calcutta, Roger’s English father was a featherweight boxer for Bengal and his Indian mother played basketball. India had just gained independence from British rule: Coral Kerr, his mother, worked for a British paint company and his father, an Anglo-Indian, on the railways. Amid the violence of India’s final partition, they moved to Australia. The original plan had been to move to Melbourne but doctors warned that Roger’s father would struggle with the cold. They arrived in Perth when Roger was 10.
His and Roxanne’s introduction was something of a meet-cute. “He lived around the corner from me and I was riding past on my bike and we had a little bit of an altercation because of his dog,” she recalls, “My friend said one day, ‘Would you like to come and meet these really nice people that just moved over here?’ and it was him. I’m like, ‘These are the people we had a fight with last week!’”
They flew Coral back to India for an Anglo-Indian reunion and learned that she’d had an ayah, or a nursemaid, as well as “someone to sweep the floor, someone to walk the children to school, someone to take the children at lunch. She got taken to work every day and came home and everything was done, so she never learned how to do anything”. Aged 28, Coral then arrived in Australia with no domestic skills. “She went to the butcher and she bought sausage meat to make mince curry,” says Roxanne.
Roxanne’s uncle Michael was a professional Aussie Rules footballer and Roger moved in opposite.
“He grabbed Roger and took him to football, and something clicked,” says Roxanne proudly. He played more than 100 times in seven years of professional football. The highs and lows of his playing, and later coaching, career informed Roxanne’s handling of Sam as her daughter’s career lurched from fledgling to its apogee.
“Once you get up there, people just want to knock you down, but we don’t take much notice of it,” says Roxanne. “I would say to someone, ‘You think it’s OK for us to criticise my son or my husband and my daughter, but if I said something about your child, you’d be upset. What’s the difference?’. ‘Oh, yours are professionals’.
“I don’t think it gets any easier or harder. You just learn more, that this is the way it is.”
The Kerr family, with Sam pictured left, dad Roger (back row, left), brother Daniel (back row, middle) mum Roxanne (front row, second from right) and grandmother Coral (right)
One needs a human touch to raise two children embedded in elite sport, especially when Roxanne was en route to New Zealand and received a phone call from a coach to say that Sam was out of sorts. She was missing her school ball for her training camp. By then, she had already missed so much, so the federation sent her home the next Friday and Roxanne drove her to town on Saturday to pick out her dress.
“It was hard at the beginning because they travelled so much,” she remembers. Kerr had travelled with the Australian national team since she was 13 and was in her late teens when she moved to New York, the family separated by an ocean, an equator, 18,690km and a 12-hour time difference.
“Parents used to say to me, ‘How do you do it? I cry when my son goes on school camps and your daughter’s going halfway across the world?’ I’m like, ‘Just something you do’. I worry but I’m never going to stop them living their dreams. Sam doesn’t worry much about anything but she reckons I start crying before we’re 20 minutes out from the airport. Every time she dropped me in America, she’d say, ‘Bring the tissues because Mum will be crying the whole way there’. But she doesn’t.”
The Kerrs have a routine for big games: time difference permitting, the family convene at Roxanne’s house and they watch Sam play over dinner, surrounded by their nephews and niece.
A first-leg deficit meant Chelsea had to score twice at Kingsmeadow against Bayern Munich to progress to this Champions League final. The second leg earlier this month was locked at 2-1, the only scoreline that would bring extra time, for 41 minutes. “I was like, ‘They have to score this many goals’,” says Roxanne. “I never thought they would. I was so nervous, and I’ll be like that on Sunday. I won’t be able to sleep.”
The final will be shown at 2.30am in the Kerrs’ part of Australia.
Roxanne has predicted a 3-1 Chelsea win in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, but she lives in dread of a penalty shootout. “I’ll probably get up at one o’clock and walk around for an hour and a half, waiting for the game,” she says. “They’ve done us proud just getting there but now you want them to go all the way. I’ll set my alarm and we’ll all get up and watch it.”
There will be few complaints, you feel, at the early start if Kerr and Chelsea become European champions tonight.
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ashesonthefloor · 3 years
Text
baby, you’re a haunted house (ot4)
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summary: Michael really wants to go to Sydney’s most famous haunted house. He may or may not get super startled by one of the actors, and may or may not hit them in the nose by accident. And, after that, he might keep coming back to to try and apologize properly. And the haunted house might just have a never-ending supply of cute guys working there. (That’s a lie. There’s only three he cares about). ao3 found here
prompt:  “I’m working as an actor in a haunted house and when I scared you, you punched me in the nose. Now I’m bleeding and someone had to get me an ice pack, and you won’t stop apologizing. You’re lucky you’re cute” (except i changed the POV because i wrote the prompt and i can do what i want thank u <3)
word count: 12,433 
content warning: blood! there is nothing too graphic, but, as depicted in the prompt, someone is accidentally hit, and there is a nosebleed. it is all handled and fine, though, and it isn’t too detailed. lots of pining :)
A/N: whew! i’ve worked on this baby for the last two months and only just finished her this week but i am PROUD! i actually really love the way it came out, and my plot! please let me know what you think, i’m a slut for feedback! this was done for my sexy, sexy halloween event that is happening right now! massive shout out to @mikeycliffords​ and @glitterblazercalum​ for beta’ing this! maddie ur comments gave me endless validation and i adore u, and iba u caught all my sexy grammatical errors and i love u for it (and ur reaction to luke’s major <3). and to both @calumcest​ and @clumsyclifford​ for having to listen to me scream and not know what i was writing. unfortunate shoutout to Mr. Gerard Way for the vibey Halloween song i named this after. baby, you’re a haunted house slaps.
Michael loved Halloween. He was pretty sure it was his absolute favourite holiday, and would say that to almost anyone who dared to ask, though most people who knew him knew not to. It was in Fall, so it was nice and chilly, and he had an excuse to bundle up in hoodies and stay there until spring. And he was an absolute slut for horror movies of any sort. He absolutely adored them, no matter how cheesy and poorly-produced. If he had any talent in it at all, he said fairly regularly to his few friends, he’d be an SFX artist. But he didn’t, and he was stuck working as a barista and getting his degree in film studies. 
So when his best friend in the whole fucking world landed a job working with Sydney’s infamous haunted house - known for being realistic, and terrifying, and all the makeup being technically perfect - and invited him to come see it, insisted he can get him in, who was he to say no? He absolutely couldn’t refuse - didn’t even want to, and he’d wanted to go for years, so this was the opportunity of a lifetime - and that was that. It was most of his favourite things all rolled up into one, with the bonus of it being sort of exclusive. Because it was so well known, they always ended up having to open a month early, and the line still wrapped halfway around the block every night. Michael was going to get a backstage pass to all sorts of shit. 
He dressed fairly warm for the occasion, even if it wasn’t quite cold enough yet to justify it, with his hoodie on, oversized so he could cover his hands with the sleeves. Sue him, okay, it was comfortable and warm and he liked tugging on the sleeves or his hoodie strings when he was anxious. Not that he ever wanted anyone to know he’s anxious. Michael worked fairly hard on keeping that part hidden away, so no one else could ever see it. It wasn’t that he was embarrassed, exactly. He just...didn’t want anyone knowing. It took level eleven Michael friendship to unlock his insecurities, thank you, and even then, there weren’t many he'd really disclose.
Sydney never got properly cold, so the hoodie was more than enough to keep him warm in the chilly end-of-September breeze. He made his way to the haunted house, queuing up in the line with the rest of the people preparing for the best fucking scares of their lives. 
The waiting process was the worst part of the whole thing. It was just him standing by himself in line, bouncing slightly on his heels every so often and worrying with his sleeves, from excitement, nerves, and maybe it was actually slightly chilly for once. He texted his friend a few times, only to get no reply. He frowned at his phone after twenty minutes of trying with no success. He was supposed to come get Michael at some point. If he was waiting to show him around at the end, wouldn’t he want to know which group he’d be in, or when he was going through the haunted house? Or at least answer him and tell him what his plan was? Apparently fucking not, though, since he made it up to the front without a single stupid text.
His jitters weren’t helped at all by that, but he eventually just jammed his phone into his hoodie pocket and hoped it didn’t fall out in the house. Michael and the people around him were finally let into the haunted house and given the long list of instructions. It was all the usual shit, that everything inside was fake, and to keep that in mind. To remember that the actors were just actors. And to go over the last few warnings - like that the actors would jump out, target people to scare them, ask questions, and generally, you know, act. Everyone agreed to the rules with varying degrees of excitement, and then they were all corralled into the waiting area. 
Michael was back to bouncing slightly in place, hoodie sleeves fully over his hands at this point. The decorations weren’t too scary yet, just meant to keep the haunted mansion theme going. The premise was something about a doctor and his torture chamber and all his patients gone wrong or something. Michael has forgotten a couple of the details, but he remembered the gist of it. He couldn’t make out anything specific, really, not through the awful dim lighting and the light fog rolling in close to the ground, thanks to the hidden fog machines, only adding to the chill in the cold building. 
One of the women in front of him was murmuring quietly to her boyfriend, gripping tightly to his hand. She didn’t seem much like she really wanted to be there. Michael hoped, for her sake, she’d remembered the safe word. Which was a nice touch, making sure everyone could yell it if needed. That rule was burned into his brain: if you yelled the safe word - mercy - any actor nearby would drop their act and escort you to the nearest exit, and you would absolutely not be allowed back in. Michael wanted to make sure he remembered it, but this was practically a once in a lifetime chance, and he really didn’t want to blow it. 
Finally - finally - they were allowed into the actual haunted house. The first room wasn’t too bad, just the doctor guy’s living room with some narration about who he’d been and a little about his ‘abominations’. Michael got enthralled in the story pretty quickly, gaze lingering on the (fake) family portraits on the (equally fake) mantle and on the walls. 
Room two brought a couple of scares, but he still wasn’t doing too badly. They were easily moved from room to room, sticking together in a clump. When the narration ended, basically, that was their cue to move on. Or for some sort or scare to jump out. 
But, of course, the greatest horror house in Sydney wouldn’t stay predictable. After room number three, the smooth transition was broken up by a long, dark corridor, with the sides pressing in on everyone as they went through. Michael curled in a little on himself, shuffling forward so close to the next person in line that he accidentally stepped on their heels. They didn’t even have time to be annoyed before they were in the next room. 
After room number four was worse. They went down an equally dark staircase, Michael’s grip on the handrail white-knuckled, pale skin almost luminous even in the pitch black. He shuffled forward once he managed his way down, unable to see anything, but didn’t bump into anyone. Which was...odd, given how tightly packed they’d all been up to this point. He took a gamble and swallowed his pride, sticking both arms out and stumbling forward, completely blind in the dark. Only then did the awful strobe light kick on above him, even fucking worse than the dark. He only got vague glimpses of where he was, and he couldn’t even see anyone around him in whatever room he was in. Fucking great, he had the best fucking luck in the entire world. Which he mumbled to himself as he continued his blind zombie-shuffle forward until his outstretched hand brushed a wall. Finally. 
He kept that palm pressed against the smooth (fake) stone, moving in one direction he chose to believe was forward. He was pretty sure it was the opposite direction from the staircase, at least. Hopefully he’d make some progress that way. This was so fucked. Where had his group gone? He was very, very sure he’d been with them. They’d filed down the staircase with him, hadn’t they? Where the fuck were they? Where the fuck was he? This certainly seemed like a fucking dungeon. 
He kept going until the shadows seemed to stay in one corner. He stretched out his unoccupied left hand, fingers brushing against another wall. He let out a frustrated groan, quiet and under his breath, even though he was pretty damn sure he was alone. He pressed his hand against it, palm against the cool stone, and he felt it open with a soft click. And he really didn’t care what was on the other side, he just wanted out of the stupid fucking strobe lights. 
And, of course the strobe lights turned off as he stepped towards the open door. His luck was so fucking perfect today, wasn’t it? 
He stepped through the hidden door (or whatever it was, Michael really didn’t care at this point), letting it slowly close behind him with the same soft click that definitely wasn’t ominous at all. This room, at least, wasn’t completely pitch black. There were lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and fake torches along one stone wall, that provided dim lighting. He skirted over to the side of the dungeon that was lit, gaze lingering on the shadowy side. His eyes still hadn’t really adjusted to the lighting, still absolutely fucked up from the stupid fucking strobe light. He would enjoy this a lot more if he knew this was intentional - if it was intentional - or if he was with his fucking group. Sue him, okay, maybe this shit was slightly better with company. 
He heard something shift from the direction of the door, gaze sliding over there. The room really wasn’t that open, and was pretty small in size. He felt something brush his left shoulder and jumped, stumbling forward toward the shadowy side of the dungeon room - backward, now, maybe, since he definitely whirled around to look at whatever the fuck had poked him, only to find nothing but the stone wall. What the fuck was this fucking place? He knew that wasn’t a bat. Maybe it was a bat? He really, really didn’t know. 
There was a weird sound from the shadowy side of the dungeon, which he was way, way closer to, now. He turned to look at it, only to flinch back when something lunged at him, snarling. Michael whirled around to look and let out an absolutely dignified shriek, reacting entirely on instinct, which was the only reason he realized, seconds too late, that that horrifying crunching noise had been his fist colliding with the thing’s nose. 
The thing, that he was now realizing, was an actor, chained to the wall with long chains. They’d made the noise earlier, scraping against the floor, as the actor had shifted. Probably. “Oh, fuck,” Michael said automatically, eyes widening. His knuckles fucking hurt, sure, but he was more focused on the poor actor. 
The makeup was, as promised, spectacular. He was a half-turned werewolf, shirtless and covered in gruesome patches of fur and deep, gory claw marks. He had some sort of fangs in, too, and weird orange contacts that definitely made him look feral. What Michael was most focused on, though, was the blood dripping from his nose that was definitely not stage makeup. 
The actor had a small frown on his face, two fingers coming up to gently touch his nose. He let out a soft hiss, frown pulling more at his lips. “Damn,” he murmured. 
“Oh, fuck,” Michael said, ever so eloquent. “Oh, fuck. Dude, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t- I’ve never hit someone before in my life, I don’t know what the fuck-“
The actor shook his head. “It’s alright. It happens.” He gave him a small smile, one corner of his lips pulling up, before it dropped right back into a frown. Probably aggravated his injured nose. That Michael had done. Fuck. “Hazard of the job, you know? I told them not to activate the strobe lights and then put a jump scare after them. They make people jumpy since they fuck with your vision. They put people on edge. And then to have someone jump at you out of the dark….” He just looked sort of amused. Vindicated, too, maybe. “I figured it would happen at some point. I just got lucky until now, I guess.”
“Fuck, I’m so….I don’t even…..I’m so sorry,” Michael said again, brows drawing together. He really hadn’t meant to. Had he made that clear enough yet? He hadn’t meant to. His panic wasn’t helped by how fucking cute the werewolf was. 
The werewolf just ran a hand through his brown curls, pushing them back out of his eyes. “It’s alright. Really. It happens.” He eyed Michael, amusement in his eyes despite Michael’s clear panic. “I’m Ashton, by the way.”
Michael felt like he was still a few steps behind. Shouldn’t the werewolf be mad at him? Or kicking him out of the haunted house or something? “Oh. Uh. I’m Michael.” Ashton was a pretty name. And Michael was pretty sure it suited him, since it was clear Ashton was pretty attractive, even under all the makeup. And the blood. His nose was definitely bruised.
Speaking of his bloody nose, Ashton pressed two fingers right below it again, frowning as they came away covered in blood. “Well, Michael, you can definitely pack a punch.” He looked almost amused again before it gave way to concern. “Are you okay?”
Michael’s internal monologue still hadn’t shifted from ‘fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck. fuck. Fuck.’ on loop in his head, so it took him a second to register the question. He still felt like he was short circuiting, adrenaline from the scare and the acute embarrassment immediately after still tingling up his spine and all the way to his shaking hands, fingers trembling a little where they were uncovered by the hoodie sleeves. “Wha- me? I’m- yeah? Fine, I- yeah, uh, think. I think, I mean. I mean I am, I’m fine. Okay. Yeah. Good.”
Ashton raised an eyebrow, stepping just a little closer. Michael was pretty sure he could hear his own heartbeat, too loud and too fast, echoing in his ears. Not loud enough to cover the unsettling scrape of metal against stone as Ashton’s chains moved with him. He focused on breathing, pretty sure he’d stopped for a second, inhaling the stale taste of the synthetic fog, permeating through the entire building, though the air lacked the telltale haze of a fog machine, and the equally stale, dank smell of the room itself. It was grounding, sort of. He was definitely not freaking out, though. Not at all. Not with Ashton right in front of him now, gaze fixed on him, Michael’s right hand still tingling, knuckles still aching. This definitely wasn’t social anxiety nightmare fuel. He was definitely perfectly fine.
Ashton reached for Michael’s hand, Michael numbly letting him take it, unable to do much more than watch. Ashton leaned forward a little, chains scraping again against the floor to make the worst sort of unholy noise, grating on Michael’s frayed nerves, thankfully on the edge of what he was paying attention to. He was too focused on how warm Ashton’s hands were, fake blood splattered over them like he was supposed to look like he’d been clawing at himself. “You’re bruised,” Ashton said, inspecting Michael’s knuckles where they’d made contact with Ashton’s nose. “Or, you will be, at least. You didn’t hit as hard as you could have, so I think you’re okay.”
With Ashton tilted forward, it was easier to see that he was definitely still bleeding - which, fucking duh, it hadn’t been that long since he’d punched him - dripping slowly but steadily onto the floor. Noticing Michael’s gaze, probably, Ashton took a few steps back out of Michael’s space, head still tilted forward a little. He lightly pinched the bridge of his nose, giving Michael what was probably supposed to be a lazy half smile. 
“Should you- do you need help?” Michael asked lamely. It was a pretty fucking stupid question, since he’d literally just punched Ashton in the nose. And he was bleeding.
“It’s not that big a deal,” Ashton said, as calm and collected as he’d been the whole time. And fantastic, at least one of them was. “I’d go tell someone, but I’m a little bit stuck.” He raised his free hand, chains rattling a little bit. “I’m actually chained to the wall. Someone comes by and lets me out between every couple groups or every couple hours so I can use the bathroom and grab a drink and all that shit. I can’t get myself out on my own.”
“Oh, fuck.” Michael frowned. “That seems like a pretty big fuckin’, like design flaw. Who the fuck came up with that?”
Ashton laughed, short and sweet before he cut himself off, probably because his nose hurt. Which sent a jolt of regret and embarrassment through Michael. “There’s a lot of stuff like that for the sake of ‘authenticity’. Don’t tell anyone I told you, they’d have my head. I don’t mind too much, though. Only lasts two months every year, and it’s fun. Well, except for the occasional scare that goes too well.” He gestured at his face to prove his point, smile tugging slightly at his lips again before it dropped.
Michael didn’t get a chance to reply before someone came in, freezing at the sight of Ashton slightly tipped forward, nose still dripping, but much slower before, and Michael standing stiff and shocked in place. “Oh, fuck,” the stranger said, echoing Michael’s sentiments. “What the fuck happened?” 
“Well, Michael here got so startled when I jumped out that he hit me.” Ashton answered for the two of them. “We’re all good, he didn’t mean to. He’s been keeping me company.” He winked at Michael, making Michael’s face heat up, especially noticeable in the gloomy chill of the fake dungeon room. 
“Fuckin’ hell, man,” the strange guy said, immediately moving forward to free Ashton from the stupid chains. “So, you mean, the same shit you kept saying was gonna happen, happened?”
Ashton let out some sort of noise that was probably meant to be a laugh. “Yeah, pretty much exactly.”
“Fuckin’ hell,” the stranger said again, succeeding in freeing Ashton. He leaned in close to look at his nose, frowning. “Well. You definitely need to be cleaned up. You’re out of commission for tonight, we’ll just leave the room empty and the supervisors can suck my dick. Come on, let’s clean you up and get you an ice pack or something, and you can sit down for a while.” He wrapped an arm around Ashton, hand splayed out in the middle of his back. They were clearly comfortable with each other, and had the easy familiarity of close friends. Or something. The stranger nodded his head at Michael. “You, uh, Michael, was it? You can come with us, we’ll get you out.” He paused. “Unless you want to finish the house..? But I’m gonna take a wild guess and say probably not, after that.”
Michael startled a little at being addressed, temporarily forgetting he had a corporal form. “Oh. Uh. No, not really. I”m- that was enough, I think.”
The stranger nodded his head. “Makes sense. You kind of got separated from your group, it looks like. Usually people are in groups of two and three. You sort of had shitty luck tonight, huh?” He said it kindly, though. Like he was sympathetic. “My name’s Calum, by the way.”
“He’s not usually the responsible one,” Ashton teased, shooting Calum an amused look, only making Calum roll his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Ashton. You’re always Mr. Responsible. That’s why we’re going to patch up your boo boo.” Calum patted his back consolingly, shooting Michael a grin. “So is this your first time here?”
Michael glanced up, fingers pausing mid-tug where he’d been fiddling with his hoodie sleeves. “Oh. Yeah, it is. Uh. Always wanted to come but it’s hard to get in and last year I got stuck closing most days and couldn’t make it early enough.”
Calum nodded, like it was a solemn affair, or he was thinking. Michael’s ability to figure things out - he was pretty sure it was called perception, but it just proved his point - was absolutely shot through with his adrenaline. He was still waiting for someone to get pissed at him, to kick him out and ban him for life. “It’s a fun place, yeah. I can’t remember if I actually ever went through it before getting to work here and see ‘behind the scenes,’ but we get pretty good reviews.” Calum grinned. “I’d say a bloody nose means you’re pretty fuckin’ scary, Ash.”
Ashton let out a half laugh. “Yeah, I guess so. Or people scared shitless and blind in the dark don’t like jumpscares. One of the two.”
Calum had led them through a couple dark, narrow back hallways, clearly meant for the employees, the whole time they’d been chatting. They get to the doorway of a brighter-lit room and hear a woman gasp. “Oh, Ashton! What happened to you? Oh, god, it wasn’t those dicks from last night again, was it? I swear I’ll hunt them down-”
“No, it wasn’t,” Ashton consoled, stepping into the room where the woman started fawning over him, leaning up to inspect his face and make sure he was okay. Calum, letting her take over, gently nudged Michael out of view and stepped back into shadow with him.
“Look, Ashton’s a trooper, he’s okay,” Calum murmured, nothing but soothing sincerity in his eyes and coating his voice. “I promise. You seem pretty worried but, uh...The floor managers might not be too happy, you know? We’re missing our werewolf for the rest of the night, so the room will be empty...No one else gives a shit, I promise, I just mean that if you want to come back, you might want to leave before anyone figures it out, you know? Not personal at all.” He gave him a sweet smile that probably would’ve rendered Michael incoherent and weak-kneed any other time, but with his nerves as wired and burnt-out as they were, it only tugged at his anxiety-ridden heartstrings.
“Actually,” Calum continued, tilting his head, “I can get you a ticket or something for another night if you want to do this again.” He gave him a lopsided smile. “You know, as long as you don’t hit another actor again.” Michael assumed he must’ve looked panicked, because Calum was quick to console him. “Hey, hey, I’m kidding. Sorry, too soon.”
“Holy, fuck, Ashton, is that real?” Someone else asked, entering the room behind them.
Calum looked back at Michael, expression apologetic. “I’ve gotta- I’ll have to run damage control, Alisha - the girl - is nice but he’ll need, uh, help. Uh...The exit’s right through there, down the stairs, to the left. If you can get back before we open sometime, cut the line and ask for me. Uh. Calum. That should get you in.” Michael only realized Calum had put a hand on his arm at some point when he squeezed it gently and let go.
With another hasty apology, Calum had to return to Ashton and the whole mess Michael had caused. Michael stumbled on nerve-numb feet through the dark employee back-passageways, hearing the occasional shriek from the haunted house proper. He couldn’t help but berate himself and wish he’d done the entire fucking thing differently. And where the fuck had his friend been? Maybe he wouldn’t have been so nervous to begin with if the fucker had actually texted him back at some point. 
This whole thing had been social-anxiety massive-fuckup nightmare fuel. Seriously, Michael thought as he finally managed to make his way out of the stupid house into the city, shivering in the much-cooler nighttime air, this was going to haunt him for years. Let alone punching anyone in the first place - his hand still sort of hurt, though not a proper hurt, more like the vague ache wrapped in the anxiety-spiking memory of what he’d done - but punching an absolutely gorgeous guy in the face? Fucking hell. Worst thing he could think of.
It was still fresh on his mind as he tucked himself into bed, fresh from a shower as he’d tried to scrub the stupid memory off his skin. He just hoped he managed to actually get over this and it didn’t haunt him forever. Though, he’d been pretty fucking haunted when he’d gone to grab pizza and when the guy had said “enjoy your meal,” he’d said “you too, thanks, mum.” He hadn’t even realized his mistake until he’d gotten outside with his prized pizza. In his defense, he’d been texting his mom, and gotten mixed up. There wasn’t really a defense here.
Fuck. He really hoped this didn’t haunt him.  
-----------------------------------
Well. It haunted him. That first night had really, really sucked. Like...really sucked. It had taken ages to manage to fall asleep after that, since every time he tried, he was painfully reminded of the moment he hit Ashton right in the nose, and how awful that had felt. And everything afterward had just been an anxiety-fueled mess. 
He had class the day after, too, which really fucking sucked, but it meant he didn’t have to sit and dwell on every single mistake he’d ever made in his life. The biggest one was obviously his birth, followed very closely by hitting Ashton. He decided, though, by the end of that day, that he definitely wanted to go apologize again. Just because it hadn’t felt quite like enough just saying he was sorry. He needed to actually prove it somehow. Maybe. Or he was just an idiot. Only time would really tell. 
He got a gift card for the coffee shop where he worked, because he got a discount on it, and everyone liked coffee. Did Ashton like coffee? He really hoped he did. He was still kicking himself for not getting his number so he could make sure he was okay and apologize, but, in his own defense, everything had gone upside-down topsy-turvy really, really fast. 
He got down to the haunted house, still a while before it actually opened. He went straight to the front of the line, remembering Calum’s promise to get him in. Hopefully he could use the advice to apologize properly to Ashton. The guy at the front of the line was kind of a dick towards him, but Michael managed to find a worker in one of the designated t-shirts for the house. 
“Hey, uh, is Calum or Ashton here?” Michael asked, praying he didn’t seem near as awkward as he felt. He just wanted to apologize and leave before he embarrassed himself any further, that was all. Everything was fine. It was fine. 
“Oh, yeah. Are you one of their friends or something?” The guy glanced at him before shrugging. “Calum’s working customer service and merch. Come on, I’ll show you.” 
Michael followed the guy into the house, down a hallway that wasn’t super obvious, to what was clearly right after the exit of the house. There was a booth set up, shirts dangling from the top and displayed in the back, along with magnets and other sorts of merch along the table. Calum was sitting behind it, earbuds in, focused solely on his phone. The guy Michael had been following tapped on the table to get his attention, making Calum’s eyes snap up. He grinned over at Michael, pausing his music and tugging his earbuds out. 
“I’ve got to get back to the front, but this guy was asking for you and Ashton. You know him?”
Calum’s smile didn’t dissipate. It didn’t do much to sooth the suddenly overactive butterflies in Michael’s stomach. “Yeah, I do. I’m good, you can go.” The guy nodded and left, leaving Michael alone with Calum. 
“Hey,” Calum greeted, grinning again. “I wasn’t sure you’d come back. I was hoping you would. Are you here for the house?” His smile went coy. “Or for me?” He was clearly teasing, but Michael’s face flushed. 
“Uh. I- well. Uh. I came- well, I’m here to apologize. Yeah. To, uh. To Ashton. Again. For hitting him. I mean, by accident. I didn’t mean to.” And wow, way to be smooth. Michael just didn’t know how to function around cute guys at all. Especially not when they sounded like they could possibly be flirting with him, if they were on another planet, where people actually flirted with Michael. 
Calum just gave him another sweet smile, standing and leaning against the table. Michael definitely didn’t pay attention to the way Calum’s back arched, or the way he tilted his head sometimes without meaning to, or how good his jeans looked on him. He didn’t see any of that at all because he was a good person. He just..wasn’t blind. And Calum was cute. “Ashton’s fine. I think he’s working tonight, but I can shoot him a text.” Michael didn’t even have to reply before Calum was pulling his phone out of his back pocket and sending a text, presumably to Ashton. 
“The house opens soon,” Calum continued, “but we’ll see if we can get him up here.” He smiled a little. “You know, after you hit him by accident, they tested out some fake chains. They thought it worked great - until they did a test run, and Ashton broke them when he moved forward. Guess even plastic couldn’t hold up to his upper body strength, huh?” He smiled, eyes squinting a little when Michael flushed darker. Everything was absolutely, perfectly fine. 
Calum’s phone vibrated again and he checked it. “Oh, shit. He’s a bit hung up right now. You want to stick around for a minute and see if he can swing up here? I can give you a bit of a behind-the-scenes tour.” 
Michael considered but nodded. “Yeah, uh. That would be great.” His friend - who still hadn’t fucking gotten back with him, it had been two days, asshole - was supposed to do that when he’d originally come to the house. Better late than never, at least, even if he’d never gotten to actually make it through the haunted house proper. He just had to survive spending time with a super cute guy in the stupidly narrow employee hallways. 
Calum grinned again. “Great!” He slid over the top of the table, knocking a couple magnets to the floor. He glanced at them before shrugging. “I’ll deal with that when I’m back. Come on.” He grabbed Michael’s wrist, his hold warm and gentle, and lightly tugged him towards another hallway. “So what do you want to see first? How we put everything together? How we make a couple of the rooms function? Where we keep all the fog machines?”
“Uhhh……” That was….a lot of options. Michael honestly wasn’t sure where to start. The last comment earned Calum a laugh, short and a little nervous. “Anything?”
Calum nodded sagely, like Michael had made some interesting comment that could be considered, instead of fumbling over his words. “I’ll just start with the basic tour then.”
Calum tugged him into another room, launching into an explanation of how they put it together, and how it matched up with the other rooms in the house. He talked about how they had speakers in each room, and made sure the haunted house genuinely felt like an old rundown mansion with a stone basement. The next room was every bit as interesting, if a bit colder.
“That,” Calum explained, “would be because we keep one of the fog machines in this false wall.” He knocked on it, the sound hollower than a real wall would have made. “It adds to the vibe.”
Michael just agreed that it did, in fact, add to the general vibe of the haunted house, unsure what else to say to that. 
“You know,” Calum said, eyes lighting up a little when he smiled, bright and mischievous, “I’m pretty sure they spent most of the decorating budget on the fog machines. In order to get the light fog in the dungeons, we had to keep one every couple rooms. And then the one in the front room, so people know we’re spooky.” He wiggled his fingers with his free hand, his other hand still warm on Michael’s wrist where he hadn’t let go yet.
Michael laughed, earning another triumphant smile from Calum. “That sounds right,” he said honestly. The basement - or what little he’d seen of it, at least - had definitely been neat, with the very light fog swirling around his ankles. He just hadn’t really made it that far.
And, like Calum was a mindreader, he almost immediately said “Hey, you didn’t finish the house, right? Want to get a tour of the basement? I can show you where I had to use Klorox wipes to get Ashton’s blood off the floor.” Another grin, clearly amused with himself.
“Uh...Yeah, okay, that sounds good,” Michael said, ever so eloquent. Being in the presence of a pretty guy did not help him at all, only serving to shut down any critical thinking skills he’d ever had.
“Great! This way-” Calum started to gently lead him out of the room, hand still warm on Michael’s wrist in the chill of the room, before he was interrupted by his phone buzzing. “Fuck, what now?” He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, which Michael found impressive given how stupidly tight they were. Calum let out a huff, letting go of Michael’s wrist so he could send a text back. “Fuckin’ hell. I’m gonna have to go.” He gave Michael a look that really looked like apologetic puppy dog eyes, but Calum somehow pulled it off. “We’re letting in the first group soon. I’ve gotta go back to my booth.”
“Oh, shit.” Michael was pretty sure that was the right response. He was still distracted by the smiles Calum had flashed him just moments before. Sue him, his weakness was cute guys, okay? And social interaction. Especially social interaction with aforementioned cute guys. Like Calum.
“I’m sorry. I guess Ashton will be wrapped up in that, too.” Calum frowned, thinking for a moment. “Are you free tomorrow?”
Michael flushed, a natural reply to being asked that by A Cute Guy. “Uh. Yeah. I have class in the morning, but I’m free after.”
Calum grinned again. “Great. Swing by here again? You can ask for either me or Ashton. We’ll get you taken care of, don’t worry.” He winked at Michael, smile still on his face. Michael felt himself flush deeper, praying it wasn’t too visible in the dim lighting of the haunted house.
“Yeah, uh, okay. I can...I can do that.” Maybe he was reassuring himself a little bit. But it would be fun. Calum led him back out of the room, his hand going to the small of Michael’s back, warm even through his hoodie. If Michael’s blush had faded, that brought it back full force. Calum’s hand dropped once they were back in the hallway, but his hand brushed Michael’s on every other step as he led him back to the front, to the area where Calum’s merch booth was.
“Here we are. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Calum asked, expression earnest. He squatted to pick up a couple of the magnets and buttons that he’d knocked to the floor earlier. Michael definitely didn’t glance at his butt, because he was a very nice person, and very good at resisting things. 
“Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll be here.” Michael was completely fucking incapable of going one sentence without stumbling over his words. It was annoying. It was like being near any attractive guy whatsoever made his brain completely short circuit and stop working. He was pretty sure he just suffered from Dumb Bitch-itis or whatever. It was fine.
After a quick goodbye, Michael made his way to the exit and started the walk back home again. He couldn’t say that excursion was really a failure but he still hadn’t done what he’d meant to do. How many cute guys could work there, anyway? That had to be it. So hopefully he’d function properly next time he had to go, even if Calum and Ashton both completely shut his brain down. The gift card was still in his pocket, even as he reluctantly shucked his outside-hoodie to switch to his sleeping-hoodie. At least this time he didn’t have too much to haunt him before he fell asleep.
Except punching Ashton, his brain helpfully supplied. And with that, his hopes for some peaceful sleep went out the window, just like his critical thinking skills had earlier when he’d had to talk to Calum.
-----------------------------------
Michael prayed that this was the last time he’d have to go to the house. He didn’t dislike it, honestly, it was interesting and incredibly well put together. But he really just wanted to apologize to Ashton and have the whole thing be done with. Or, half of him did, at least. He hated when things got drawn out like this, and something hung over his head. He didn’t like feeling like he owed any debts at all. The other half of him, though, kind of didn’t want it to be over. Because then he wouldn’t get to see Calum or Ashton again. And alright, maybe he was a bit of an emotional masochist knowing that they wouldn’t like him but it was...nice, kind of, hanging out with people. And he wasn’t going to complain about getting to hang out with cute guys. Like...ever.
The thing was, though, it wasn’t like he could really be friends with them. He’d fucking punched Ashton right in the face for fuck’s sake. The friendship ship had long since sailed, and he’d lost any chance of talking to him like a functional person as soon as he’d panicked and hit him. Which sort of destroyed any chances he had in befriending Calum. And maybe he was a little bit lonely, and tired of spending all his free time by himself. The cute guys at the haunted house were a no-go, though, so he wanted to be done with them as soon as he could be.
Michael tugged his hoodie back on, and made his way back out into the outside world, where people weren’t so kind, and there were cute boys to accidentally hit and regret your entire life over. He didn’t want to think about having to talk to Ashton again, or Calum, doing his best to save all of his brain power for actually having to socialize, rather than wasting it on indulging his anxiety now.
He cut through the line again, though it was a bit earlier this time, so it wasn’t as long as it had been, and made his way to the front of the house. One of the workers, in the same haunted house shirts he’d see the others in the days before, stopped him.
“I’m here for Ashton?” Michael said, still not entirely sure of himself, like this wasn’t the second time he’d come back to the house and had to ask for them. “Or Calum.”
The girl glanced Michael up and down quickly, seeming to assess whether or not he was telling the truth. And really, why the fuck would he bother lying? He wasn’t even really trying to get into the house, but apologize fully to Ashton so he could hopefully stop being haunted by the memory of his major fuck-up.
“Alright, come on,” she said, turning on her heel and leading him inside. He followed her back through the room Calum had been stationed in the day before, the merch booth left empty, now, no cute guys with equally cute smiles there to drag him through the maze of the house.
The girl led her down a couple hallways Michael definitely didn’t remember, but he really hadn’t been paying as much attention to the hallways of all things the last time he’d been there. But he was pretty sure he didn’t remember any of this. Which was only reaffirmed when she stopped in a doorframe. “Luke,” she called in, hand on the doorframe. “This guy’s asking for Calum and Ashton. I’m busy downstairs. Can you try and track them down for him?” 
Michael could see over her shoulder, but couldn’t see who she was talking to. Luke gave her some form of affirmative, he guessed, because then she was turning back to look at him. “Right. You stay here with Luke. He should be able to find Calum and Ashton. You can wait with him. Good luck.” She turned and headed off back down a couple narrow hallways, leaving Michael more confused than he had been before she’d tried to help.
“Come in, I don’t bite,” came a guy’s voice from the other side of the room. Michael reluctantly shuffled in, already tugging his hoodie sleeves down over his hands. How many times was he going to be shuffled from person to person before he managed to actually give Ashton his stupid gift card and go back to his life of reclusivity, hidden away in his single dorm room. Then he’d finally get to forget how massively he’d fucked up, and not have to think about all the stupidly cute boys that worked at the stupid haunted house.
The room had several chairs set up, with a couple of tables cluttered with a bunch of weird bottles, makeup palettes, and gallons of stage blood. It was empty, except for a girl sitting in one of the chairs, and a guy working on her makeup. He was tall, with ridiculously long legs, and his blond curls pulled back into a small bun, messy, with flyaways wisping around his temples and a couple strands of hair in his eyes when he flashed Michael a quick smile. “Alright,” the guy said, pulling back to inspect his work. “You’re good to go. But maybe try not to fuck up your chest wound next time? It’s not so easy to fix.” She murmured some sort of agreement - and what sounded like an apology - before heading back out, probably to wherever she was supposed to be stationed.
The guy turned to Michael and flashed him a smile, tucking his brush behind his ear and wiping his hands on his thighs before offering one to Michael. “I’m Luke. But, uh, I think you already knew that.” His smile went a little sheepish. Michael just shook his hand, internally cursing himself for having cute boys as a major weakness. Because Luke was definitely cute.
“I’m Michael,” he said, because he was pretty sure he hadn’t yet, and it seemed like the proper time for an introduction. His brain might short circuit a little bit around cute boys, but he didn’t completely forget everything. Usually. Not yet, at least. He was just hoping to keep at least a fraction of his critical thinking skills. So he didn’t end up hitting him in the face, his brain supplied helpfully, even though that had only ever been the one time, and under very different circumstances. It didn’t make him feel much better.
Luke broke into a smile almost immediately, letting out a laugh - more of a giggle, really - that made his nose crinkle. “You’re the guy that punched Ashton,” he said, eyes crinkling a little with amusement. “Holy shit. You’re a legend.”
Michael flushed, feeling his whole face heat up, even though the room was just as chilly as the rest of the haunted house. “Uh. Maybe just a little. The one time.” He scuffed the toe of his sneaker against the ground, suddenly a little nervous. Or...more nervous. Luke was just as cute as the others had been, stray glitter stuck to his hands (and Michael’s palm, now, after he’d shook his hand), and his hair in that stupidly endearing bun. And apparently he knew about the biggest fuck up in Michael’s entire life, which really wasn’t all that good for his already not so fantastic self esteem. 
Luke nodded, still looking only a couple seconds from laughing. “The one time. Yeah. Ashton thought it was hilarious. It worked out, though, he got the rest of the day off, and convinced them to fix his position so it hopefully wouldn’t happen again. Well, I mean, they mostly agreed that he could keep his phone on him as long as it was silent so he could call Calum or something to come get him if something happened. But he counted it as a win.”
 Luke leaned against the table, hip causing a couple bottles to fall over. Luke flushed, pink covering his pale skin, as he rushed to sort everything out, right all of the bottles. He knocked one of them off the table, squatting down to grab it and smacking his head against the edge of the table on his way back up. It knocked the brush from behind his ear, which hit the floor with a quiet clatter. Luke managed to stand up properly, though, his face red, and clearly flustered. “Um. Anyway. So you- Uh.” He shook his head, more curls coming free of his bun and dancing around his temples when he moved. “Ashton wasn’t upset, you’re okay. He’s kind of hard to rattle. Calum and him have been joking about it, mostly. They just didn’t mention you were cute.”
Michael had watched Luke’s moment with the bottles, eyebrows furrowed in concern, but he hadn’t wanted to overstep. He’d gotten it sorted, anyway, and his head seemed fine. So he didn’t ask, just watched him with the same slightly cautious expression. Luke’s last sentence threw him off, though, and it was Michael’s turn to flush, staring at Luke a few beats longer than socially acceptable. “Oh, uh- you think- I’m not- I’m pretty, just, you know- uh. Thank you. You’re- the same. Cute. I mean.”
Luke laughed, soft and gentle and warm, meant to be with him rather than at him. Michael’s blush darkened, but he didn’t feel quite so bad about being an absolute idiot. “Thank you,” he said, head tilting a little to the side, smile back on his face. Luke was tall. Taller than Calum and Ashton had been, enough to make Michael aware of the difference. No wonder he’d been clumsy, though he’d seemed to have reclaimed his grace now, lanky limbs seeming only to add to his charm and poise rather than detract from it now that his footing was stable and no bottles were falling on the floor. 
“So why’d you come back, again?” Luke asked, yanking Michael out of his reverie. He’d moved to straighten some of the bottles and makeup palettes cluttered on the table. He glanced at Michael before his eyes shifted back to what he was doing. And yeah, that was definitely stray gold glitter stuck to his hands, front and back. 
“Oh. Uh. I wanted to say sorry to Ashton again. I just...haven’t been able to catch him. Came back yesterday and same thing.” Michael tugged at one of his hoodie sleeves, watching Luke’s long fingers tighten what looked like a tall bottle of latex. And okay, maybe he’d watched a few too many behind the scenes videos of his favourite horror movies, and wasn’t completely brand new to SFX stuff. 
Luke glanced up at him again, interest in his blue eyes and all over his face. His hands paused where they were. “You were here yesterday?”
“Uh. Yeah? I was just with Calum for a while but then he got some text and I didn’t get a chance to see Ashton before I had to leave.” He didn’t know what about that was so interesting, but whatever. At least he wasn’t tripping over his words now and could talk to Luke like a proper functioning human being. 
Luke hummed but didn’t offer an explanation for asking. “Do you want me to do your makeup or something while you wait?” He asked, as random and out of nowhere as anything. 
“What?” Michael asked, brows drawing together again. He was pretty sure Luke hadn’t said what he thought he’d said. 
“Do you want me to do your makeup while you’re waiting?” He repeated, gaze as earnest as ever. He wasn’t lying. 
“I mean, holy shit, yeah,” Michael said, maybe just a tad too eager. Get his makeup done by a makeup artist at the haunted house that had won awards for SFX? Hell fucking yeah! He wasn’t turning that opportunity down. Hopefully it went better than attending the haunted house had. 
Luke beamed, looking absolutely pleased with himself. “Okay, come over here and sit down and I will. Do you want, like, a cut or something? I have a couple spare prosthetic injuries I could use. I know I can’t do the missing eye one on you, you can’t really see in that one. I have a couple of the small claw ones, like I think I used on Ashton? If you want some of those.”
“Uh. Yeah, that works.” Michael made his way over and sat down in the chair, shifting a little bit. He’d never really had his makeup done before, but he was more excited to get to see someone do SFX up close. On him. 
“Can you pull the hoodie off?” Luke asked over his shoulder, starting to sort through his supplies. “I need more space. I can do it right below your collarbone, I think. That’s enough space. With Ashton, I think I slotted some at the top of one of his pecs and then some on his ribs, on his side.” 
Michael flushed but tugged his hoodie off, getting his head stuck in the stupid thing only momentarily, before it was off and he could ball it up in his lap. Luke turned back to look at him, humming softly to himself. He tugged his hair free from the bun, curls falling freely to frame his face, before pulling it right back again. Just like before, curls too short to fit in the bun curled around his temples and his ears. Luke ignored it, stepping closer with the small prosthetic in hand. 
He hummed a little again, eyeing Michael’s collarbones and chest. He tugged the neckline of Michael’s shirt down a little bit, holding the prosthetic up, just below his collarbone as he’d said. “This should work pretty well. Has anyone ever done makeup on you before?” Luke turned to grab something else, probably his adhesive, before turning back and frowning. “It might be easier, since I’ll need both hands for this. You can put it back on afterward, it’ll sit right above your neckline. Right here.” Luke tapped a finger lightly where he planned on putting the prosthetic.
Michael flushed. “Uh. Yeah, okay, I guess.” He really wasn’t used to this. Going shirtless in front of a cute guy? Yeah, that really didn’t happen. Like, ever. He reluctantly tugged his shirt off, though, still not about to turn this opportunity down. The shirt joined his hoodie, both balled up in his lap. He was rewarded with a sweet smile from Luke, before he was surveying the area he wanted to stick the prosthetic, which did little to help Michael’s blush.
“This might be a little bit cold. It’s room temperature, kind of.” Luke started applying the adhesive, completely in Michael’s personal space. “So did you like the house?” He asked, fanning the adhesive with his hand, gaze shifting to Michael’s face. “When you came? Before the thing with Ashton, I mean.”
“Yeah, I did. Uh. I’ve been wanting to come here for years, and I finally got to get a look. I really, really like horror shit, and thought about being an SFX artist but I don’t have the talent at all.” Michael resisted the urge to shift in place, or bounce his leg. He didn’t want to fuck up whatever Luke was doing. “It’s, uh, really well put together. No wonder it’s won awards and shit.”
Luke hummed, tapping the adhesive before grabbing the prosthetic and leaning down, tongue sticking out a little in concentration, as he carefully stuck it down. He held it in place for a moment, pulling back to inspect his work. He moved to grab one of his makeup palettes. “Yeah, it’s a lot of work to pull it together and get everything set up properly. But I can get out of some of it sometimes, since I do makeup.” He grinned at him before starting to add colour to the prosthetic. “You wanted to do SFX?” His gaze flickered up to him again, before again it dropped to what he was doing. “I could always show you some stuff, if you wanted. I’ve been doing it for a couple years, so I think I’d probably be okay at that.”
“Didn’t you guys win something last year for your makeup?” He asked, tilting his head a little bit.
Luke turned pink. “Well, yeah, but that wasn’t just me, that was the whole team. But, um. If you wanted that, I definitely could.”
It was then that it really clicked what Luke was offering. This was a chance for Michael to actually get hands-on experience with SFX and get to see it up close. Not only that, but he’d get the chance to actually do it himself, with someone else’s guidance, and see if he was actually shit at it. And that someone happened to be award winning. And really cute. “Fuck yeah, I definitely want that.” Okay, he needed to curb his excitement. Just a little.
Luke let out another one of his giggles, still working on the colouring of the prosthetic. “Okay. I’m happy to show you. I’ll get your number when I’m done? So we can set up a time?”
Michael definitely didn’t turn pink at that or anything. He was totally suave, totally used to getting cute guys’ numbers, especially while he was shirtless in front of them. Obviously. And maybe that was a little bit of a lie, and this was brand new. And maybe he was a little bit pink. “Uh. Yeah, that sounds good.”
Luke hummed, attention mostly back on the prosthetic. He was silent for a few moments before he spoke up again. “You said you wanted to do SFX. So what do you do instead?”
“Oh, I’m a film student. I work at, uh, Great Awakenings? The coffee shop a couple blocks down from here on campus.” Michael, again, had to resist the urge to shift around in place. Not because it felt weird, but because he didn’t know what to do with himself, or his nervous energy. He couldn’t even tap his foot or anything on the ground, for fear of fucking up what Luke was doing. 
“Oh, that’s neat! I’m doing philosophy right now. Ashton’s doing English. Focusing on literature, I think. And Calum’s doing psychology,” Luke flashed Michael a bright smile before going back to his work, still carefully adding pigment to the prosthetic. 
“Oh, that’s, uh...pretty cool. What made you choose philosophy?” Michael asked. 
Luke hummed a little to himself. “I dunno. Just thought it seemed interesting. I’m pretty happy doing this, but I don’t know if I can make a career out of it. Or if my skills are even enough to try.” He paused. “I know I’m good enough to work here, I just don’t know about beyond that,” he corrected, fingers stilling where they’d been working. It only took a moment before he was back at it again. 
Michael understood that, honestly. “Yeah, I know what you mean. That’s why I’m in film. I don’t know how far I’ll make it, either,” he said honestly. 
Luke gave him a frown, more adorable than it had any right being. “I’m sure you’ll be good at it, Mikey.”
Michael flushed at the nickname, but didn’t have any time to add anything before Luke was turning around to face the table. “Okay, I just have blood and then I’m done.” Luke grabbed the bottle and a tiny brush, turning around to face Michael yet again. He gave him a tiny smile before he was back to work, tongue poking slightly from between his lips in concentration. 
Luke was pretty. Michael was struggling to think about anything else, even with how desperately he wanted to do SFX, and how much he’d wanted to visit the haunted house. It only took a few minutes before Luke pulled back slightly, surveying his work. Good thing, too, Michael was starting to get chilly. “Okay,” he said, eyes still on the prosthetic, forehead creased slightly, lips pulled into a small pout. He looked thoughtful. Michael refused to admit it was adorable. “I think I’m done.” He gave Michael another smile, nose crinkling slightly with this one. 
Michael’s number one weakness was definitely still cute boys, because his brain short circuited immediately. He was saved from having to say anything, though, when a girl poked her head in the door, knocking twice on the doorframe to get Luke’s attention. “Hey, house’s opening in a few. Stand by in case of any fucked up makeup.” Luke just nodded, and then she left. 
Luke frowned a little at Michael. “Okay, you’ll probably have to go before we officially open and groups start coming through. I might get busy, and we aren’t supposed to have visitors.” Luke chewed at his lip, thinking. “Okay. Uh.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket - Michael didn’t know how he fit anything in his pants pockets, they were stupidly tight and didn’t look all that comfortable - and offered it to Michael. “Give me your number? I’ll text you and figure the whole Ashton thing out so you can say sorry to him or whatever. And then I can show you how to do makeup.”
Michael nodded, taking the outstretched phone from Luke and obediently putting his number in. “That, uh, sounds really great. Thanks, Luke.” He passed his phone back and earned another smile from Luke that definitely didn’t make his stomach flip. Michael went ahead and tugged his shirt  back on, careful not to fuck up his new prosthetic. 
“Okay, sweet. Can you find your way out or do you want me to show you?” Luke asked, as sweet as he’d been the whole time. 
Michael shook his head at the offer, though. “I’m okay. I can get out. Thanks, though. I’ll...I’ll catch you around?”
Luke gave him another smile. “Yeah. See you, Mikey.”
Michael made his way out of the haunted house for the third time, hoodie balled up in his hands despite the evening chill so he didn’t get fake blood on it. And maybe he stopped in front of the mirror once he got home to look at his makeup, stupid grin on his face remembering Luke (and the other cute boys that worked there). And maybe, just maybe, that was the first night since he’d punched Ashton that he didn’t seriously struggle to sleep. 
-----------------------------------
Michael had almost forgotten the whole dilemma, when he woke up to a text from Luke. The phone screen was stupidly blinding in the darkness of his bedroom, and he cursed himself for bothering to check his phone in the first place. To be fair, though, he’d only wanted to see the time - he slept with his phone on do not disturb for this very purpose - he hadn’t expected the text.
Luke H: hey, r u free 2day? :-)
Michael stared at the text, blinking sleep out of his eyes, before he managed to get his brain to function enough to reply. And of fucking course Luke added a nose to his emojis. He might have only met the guy once, but it definitely seemed like a Luke thing to do.
Michael: yeah I should be. y?
Michael didn’t have a chance to even roll over before Luke had replied, phone buzzing again in his hand. Did Luke have nothing better to do? It had to be fucking early in the morning, and Michael’s main priority was going back to sleep. Though, in Luke’s defense, it usually was.
Luke H: no reason
Luke H: can u meet me at that coffee shop @ 1 later 2day? 
Luke wasn’t making any more sense, even with his clarifications. And Michael was way too tired to think too much about his cryptic messages. So he just agreed.
Michael: yeah
His phone buzzed again, seconds after he’d hit send. Did Luke have nothing better to do than text Michael at fucking nine am on a Saturday morning? Didn’t he know how to sleep in?
Luke H: great :-)
Michael tossed his phone to the side with a sigh, resolving himself to being awake way, way too early. This wasn’t usually how he spent his mornings; normally, he slept in until noon if he didn’t have work, and spent the day catching up on homework he didn’t feel like doing during the week, and finished the day with pizza and a few rounds of FIFA. He didn’t usually meet cute boys at the coffee chop, for god knows what reason, and he usually didn’t wake up so fucking early.
The rest of his day passed slowly, starting with two cups of coffee to try and keep himself awake and functional. He could hear his mum in his head, reminding him that nine am isn’t even that early, that most people were already awake and functional by that point. So he just shook his head and told his imaginary mum to piss off, and that he wasn’t most people.
He managed to waste most of the day away until he was already running late to meet Luke. He tugged on a hoodie that he’d only worn once that week, making it objectively cleaner than most of his other ones.
By the time he made it to the coffee shop, he was a couple minutes past one. Which was fine, it was pretty standard for Michael. He never really knew what time it was, but he tried his best. At least he was only a couple minutes late this time. Hopefully Luke didn’t mind too much.
Speaking of the devil, Luke had taken a seat in the corner and, when Michael spotted him, was mid-laugh at something Ashton had said to him. Ashton, who was sitting right next to him, grin on his lips. Oh, fuck. Had Michael just been invited to fucking third wheel them or something? You could third wheel a friendship. Michael knew that, from trailing after a pair of best friends when he was a kid, before he’d just decided to be a loner for the rest of his life. But they seemed awfully cuddly now, too. Maybe they’d just invited him to laugh at him.
Or, the much smaller rational part of his brain pointed out, maybe Luke had invited Ashton since Michael had wanted to apologize to him again and had never gotten the chance. Maybe Luke was just being nice.
Michael just did his best to shove all those thoughts aside. There was no point in freaking himself out now that he was already here. Better to just figure out what Luke had planned and get it over with. Or enjoy it, maybe. Maybe. 
Michael made his way over to their table, awkwardly taking his seat in front of them. Luke turned and gave him a bright, happy smile. “Hey, you made it!” He greeted, clearly pleased. “I went ahead and brought Ashton, I hope you don’t mind. You said you wanted to apologize, and we both think you’re pretty cute, so-” Ashton smiled fondly, but nudged Luke anyway.
“Don’t freak him out right after he gets here,” Ashton chided gently. He gave Michael that warm smile, shifting in his chair. “Hey, Michael. Good to see you again.”
Michael nodded a little, socialization abilities immediately leaving him. “You look good,” he said, before flushing. “No, you don’t. I mean - fuck - I don’t mean that, I mean you look good now that you’re not covered in blood. Or, you looked good then too. Well, not really, because I hit you in the nose-” Michael snapped his mouth shut. “I mean, it’s good to see you too.”
Ashton just laughed, good naturedly, but Michael was pretty sure he was one fuck-up away from them hating him. Still, though, his laugh managed to calm some of that built-up nervousness he was holding on to.
“You look good too, no worries,” Ashton said, corner of his mouth pulling up into a smile. 
Michael just nodded a little, steeling himself before he spoke. “I’m, uh. Really sorry about hitting you. I didn’t mean to at all, and still don’t know how I managed to fuck up that badly.”
Ashton gave him another smile. Luke was busy fiddling with one of his curls, clearly only half paying attention to the conversation, if at all. “It’s okay. Really. You didn’t do any lasting damage, and you didn’t mean to. I’m fine now, and it made the managers have to reconsider the position. Besides, it just meant Calum and Luke were a little overprotective for a few days. I’m fine now, but they were worried for a couple days about bruising and possible lasting damage. You should really be apologizing to Luke for having to deal with blood.” Michael must have looked confused, because Ashton continued. “I don’t know why, but it freaks him out. He’s fine with all the SFX shit, he’s okay with gruesome fake injuries and fake blood, but any time there’s real blood? He freaks out.”
Luke abandoned his curl, tucking it behind his ear, to pout at Ashton. “Hey. I just don’t like it.” 
Ashton gave him another stupidly fond smile and draped an arm over the back of Luke’s chair. “I know.” Michael felt like he was third wheeling, again. Which, okay, Ashton and Luke were cute, but he couldn’t help the way his stomach dropped a little. He’d thought they were pretty cute, and he hadn’t deluded himself into thinking anything would happen with either of them. But it didn’t really make it feel much better to realize he was third wheeling.
Sometime into his quiet sulking (which only could’ve lasted a minute or two at most), Calum had come up behind him, because now he was pulling out the chair next to him. Michael was effectively caged in now by attractive guys. Which, okay, was manageable. If his brain would stay functional. At least now he wasn’t third wheeling Luke and Ashton by himself anymore.
“Hey,” Calum greeted all of them, smiling in the way that made his cheeks squish up and his eyes squint. And okay, yeah, Michael definitely needed to get back into the dating world. 
“Hey,” Luke said, brightening a little again at the sight of Calum. “Michael came.”
Calum nodded, giving Luke the same fond smile Ashton had. “I can see that, babe.”
Luke reached his hand across the table, towards Calum. Calum took it, gently squeezing his hand. And fucking great, had Michael gone from third wheeling to fourth wheeling? Was fourth wheeling even a fucking thing? It clearly was, if what he was thinking was correct. Because Calum, Luke, and Ashton seemed awfully fucking close - Calum had just called Luke babe, for Christ’s sake - and he was pretty fucking sure they were all dating. Or involved together in some way. So why fucking bother inviting Michael if they were going to act like that? It wasn’t like he thought it was a date or anything, but it seemed...rude to just be all couple-y with a fourth person there.
“I’ve gotta take a call,” Michael said, and the excuse to step out sounded lame even to his own ears. But it had seemed like they’d been...maybe not flirting with him, but flirty, and he felt pretty fucking awkward fourth wheeling them the way he was doing. So he wanted an excuse to step outside for a moment and breathe. He pushed his chair back, wincing at the noise it made, and awkwardly stumbled outside of the door. The bell above the door chimed as he did, which did nothing for his annoyance. 
He took a few steps to the side, so he wasn’t in anyone’s way if they tried to go into the little coffee shop. He leaned back against the wall with a sigh, forgetting his excuse, and completely forgetting that he should probably at least pretend to be on the phone. Even if his phone hadn’t been ringing in the first place.
His melodramatic inner monologue of suffering was interrupted by the stupid bell chiming again. It earned enough of his attention to look up. And none other than Luke was standing there in front of him, apologetic smile on his face. “Hi,” Luke said, making his way a little closer.
“Hey,” Michael said, a little unsure.
“I just, uh...I’m sorry,” Luke said, fidgeting a little in place. His gaze shifted down to his feet, where he was absently scuffing the toe of his converse against his other foot. “I should have warned you about us. We just...it’s still kind of new, telling people, and we all...well, we all thought you were really cute, and I thought the rest of it would be easy if I managed to get you here. But life isn’t really like the movies, and I was kind of a dick to not at least warn you. Ashton said I should have, and he was right. I should have.” 
Wait...what? Michael was left reeling a little. At least he wasn’t fucking crazy, and he’d been right about the three of them being together. Or, that was what it sounded like, at least. But the rest of it? What did Luke mean by them thinking he was cute? What the fuck? Why did Luke have to be so cryptic? “What?”
Michael was pretty sure Luke blushed. He just scuffed his toe against the ground again, before making eye contact. “I’m dating Calum and Ashton. Or, we’re all dating each other. Um...and we thought you were cute. We think you’re cute. And I fucked up and should have explained all of that earlier. So you didn't, uh...get blindsided by it when you got here.”
Well, that was...a lot. And unexpected. “So...is this a date or something?”
Luke shrugged. “It is if you want it to be.”
Michael considered that for a moment. Did he want it to be? He’d never dated more than one person before - hadn’t really dated many people in general, honestly. But he didn’t dislike the idea. He had gotten along with all of them individually pretty well...and they were already established, right? So maybe it would be easier for him to just join that. Maybe. “I think so, yeah.” He nodded a little.
Luke grinned, shoulders sagging a little with relief as. “Great! I’m sure we’ll talk about everything soon. Like, boundaries and limits and telling other people and the future and stuff like that. Ashton and Calum are pretty good about all that.” Luke reached for Michael’s hand, and he took it, letting Luke lace their fingers together. “For now, though, let’s go get coffee.” Luke tugged him back into the coffee shop, a triumphant grin on his lips. Michael couldn’t help the smile he gave him, just as fond as the ones Calum and Ashton had worn earlier. Something about Luke’s happiness was just...contagious and sweet. It made you happy to see him so happy.
-----------------------------------
The relationship ended up working out like a fucking dream. Michael had never felt so supported in his life, and he was pretty sure his boyfriends felt the same way. After the initial coffee date, they’d gotten themselves established, and talked about what they wanted and what they wanted the relationship to look like, and the future, just like Luke had said. And, to absolutely no one’s surprise, the conversation was guided by Ashton.
Telling his mum had arguably been the hardest part, but even that was made a little easier with their support. Answering her questions hadn’t been fun - he’d deflected the over-the-line questions, as anyone else would, and flat out refused anything rude - but they’d gotten it taken care of, and she’d been about as accepting as Michael could have hoped.
As promised, they managed to get Michael a job at the haunted house the following year. One of the managers had gotten fired after the incident with Ashton - not that that had been the cause, but he’d been a massive dick about it, according to Calum and Luke, and it hadn’t been a good look, so he’d gotten canned - which let Calum get a promotion. Ashton was happy to stick with being an actor. As long as, he’d said when they’d broken the news to Michael, stupid grin on his face, no one else punched him in the face. He didn’t want another boyfriend. It had earned him three eye rolls, and three fond smiles, from each of his stupidly indulgent boyfriends.
But it had meant there was an opening for the merch stand, and Michael would get three glowing reviews. So they’d managed to get him the job. And, Calum had reminded them at the time, pleased smile on his face, they had a lot of sway with one of the managers.
So after everything got settled, Michael’s life was the best it had ever been. He had three loving, supportive, wonderful boyfriends, a job he loved, and date night every Friday. Even if he was working, they were happy to come sit and entertain him until he was off. He didn’t feel left out with them anymore, either; after that first time, they’d gotten it sorted, and were quick to comfort and console him.
Ashton never fucking let him live down the way they met, though. He made dad jokes about it as often as they let him - “watch out for Michael, he packs a punch,” “ah, Michael’s got quite the feisty personality,” “Michael’s really got a nose for this sort of thing. He fucked up mine, so it’s only fair, I suppose” - which was way, way too often, given how bad they all were. Michael couldn’t even bring himself to care, though. Not when accidentally punching him in the face had been the one thing to pull his life together. Ashton’s dad jokes were definitely worth all of that.
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viteducation · 2 years
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Variety of jobs combined with attractive salaries have led many people to consider a career in hospitality with Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia
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From a labour market perspective, the hospitality industry is one that will never lose its lustre; at least, this is foreseeable for the next decades. The simple reason is that today people are willing to spend more for the luxuries of life. Moreover, practical travel and technology have opened new places for man to explore. There are many jobs in hospitality businesses, restaurants, hotels, and casinos.
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Many people choose this line because it is rewarding and gives a positive outlook with Diploma of Hospitality Management Australia
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For getting more information visit here VIT – Victorian Institute of Technology
14/123 Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
1300 17 17 55 (or) [email protected]
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