|  Author | Topic: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first) (Read 226 times) |
Hadleigh King
CHU Staff
Modern Lit. Professor
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Joined: Dec 2007
Gender: Male 
Posts: 17
Karma: 0 |  | put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Thread Started on Jan 3, 2008, 5:18pm » | |
OOC: A few 'guidelines'.
1. Make sure you ask before joining this thread (you can do it over PM or just reply to this.)
2. Please be a Serious/Literate RPer - I don't expect a novel, but some substance is nice.
3. I have no idea what the title means, it's from a song. XD
list·less [list-lis]
–adjective
having or showing little or no interest in anything; languid; spiritless; indifferent:
Hadleigh was, by textbook definition, listless. Floating about the Brooklyn Heights Promenade was not an ample cure by an gross stretch of the imagination. He did not deal well in uneventful situations and when attempting to occupy himself usually fell back on the old and trusted mechanisms. Among these was the fateful cigarette. The cigarette was the one thing that made Hadleigh feel as if he was actually doing something as oppose to simply just walking with no direction. The cigarette added an extra layer to his person and purpose. Instead of just walking, he was now walking with a cigarette. So, abiding by his own sense of tradition and general, for lack of a better word, listlessness, Hadleigh took a long orange tipped stick from his pocket and placed it in his mouth lighting it.
There was an amazing amount of guilt that came with the lighting of a cigarette. Not only was one slowly killing oneself, but also powerless to stop it. No amount of bright and bubbly advertising campaigns or snarky warnings on cigarette packets could stop him. Smoking when pregnant harms your baby, smoking kills, smoking causes lung cancer. The truth of the matter was Hadleigh was not pregnant and just at this moment could not care less if he landed himself in hospital or six feet under in a graveyard. He had tried to stop, and had made the progress of not smoking when his son was around, but despite these miniature triumphs he still found that it was one of his only true vices. An indulgence, if you will. It was something he did for himself not anyone else. So much so that he often made a point of hiding it when on campus. He was not proud of it, but he was damn well not about to stop it. There was always a reason behind Hadleigh's smoking, anyway.
The reason today? Well, he had just dropped his son off with his mother. The hour long train trip back to where he 'lived' was always Hadleigh's least favourite part of the weekend. That hour meant that the time he had with Jasper was slowly ticking away until the train would pull into the station and Melissa would be there waiting to take their son home to her house and her lovely new boyfriend (ex-catalogue model and artist extraordinaire), Chad. Hadleigh had pondered long and hard about what kind of name 'Chad' was. It sounded ridiculous and he had come to the conclusion that it was definitely not his real name and most-likely a remnant from a 90's modelling career. He looked like a leftover from the Backstreet Boys with his hair parted down the middle and bleached at the tips. He was not her type, then again, it seemed that her type was (as she had told him recently) "everything you are not, Hads". He hated her for saying that. If everything he was not meant an ageing boy-band superstar with a fake name, then it was her loss.
He was not jaelous, but moreso angry. He hated thinking of him with his son. Jasper being corrupted by someone as shallow as 'Chad'. Hadleigh had always intended on teaching his son Arabic, but now only seeing him once a fortnight all they managed to get in was a few hello's and goodbye's before having to endure that hour long train ride back to Hell. The boy had always been interested in his father and where he came from. Egypt always managed to capture the imagination of a small child. The pyramids, the mummies, the pharaohs. Of course, that was not Hadleigh's Egypt. Jasper seemed to be under the impression that it was still like Ancient times. Egypt now, was, well different. It was a dangerous place and always with the threat of some sort of instability. Growing tensions amongst Africa meant that it was sinking lower and lower on the tourist to-do list. Secretly, Hadleigh was glad for this (he had always hated tourists), but hated to see his home be turned into a poor place.
Stopping at a bench, Hadleigh sat down. He was sick of walking because when he walked he also started thinking. Thinking was a bad thing when in such a disposition. Staying seated was a safer option by far. Leaning back in the bench, he watched as a group of children started chasing eachother in hot pursuit.
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hadleigh,
- BIO - PLOT - |
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Jessica Aldea
CHU Staff
Spanish Professor
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Joined: Jan 2008
Gender: Female 
Posts: 12
Karma: 0 | | Re: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Reply #1 on Jan 3, 2008, 6:29pm » | |
Cold. That's what it was here in Brooklyn Heights. Hell, New Mexico never got this cold, did it? Walking, that's what Jessica did when she needed to think. Think about what? Anything, as long as it didn't go back to Joa or Steven. Oh god, just thinking about Steven could send poor Jessica into uncontrollable sobs. Thoughts of Joa on the other hand, sent chills up her spine. So, Jessica hasn't had much luck with guys in the past as you can see.
The night before, her house had been broken into. She had caught a glimpse of who it was, Joa Mercy. HE had found them. "Damn it," was her only thought as she walked down through the park. She most certainly didn't know her way around New York, so she was lost already.Great, just great. Her daughter was about to get out of school, and she wanted to go pick up her daughter. But recently, she hadn't been able to because of her job, hence the nanny. Looks like she'd miss today as well.
Walking resulted in thinking, which then led to thoughts she didn't want to think about. Then, those thoughts either led her into sobs or fear, neither of which she actually enjoyed. Who does enjoy thinking about the past? Not someone she'd like to meet, that's for sure.She shuddered as a cold wind blew past her, sending her brushed hair into a mass of uncontrollable curls and knots. She'd have fun later. She raised her hands up and started playing with her hair, trying to finger out the knots that were already formed. Looks like she'd be a mess later.
She stopped. Young children were running through the snow that had fallen earlier. AS their snowshoes crunched on the snow covered grass, she couldn't help but smile. Her daughter would have so much fun playing with the small children here. There wasn't much snow back in New Mexico, so Sarah hadn't gotten much time to have fun in the snow here, for the two girls were always running from that bastard of an ex. She scowled as she thought about that horrible man and what he tried to do so often.
Her thoughts drifted back to Edgewood, New Mexico. She missed her parents terribly, but she called them every night. She also called Mr. and Mrs. Piel as well, just to talk. She hadn't talked to them in a while though. "I'll call them tonight," she thought. Her mind wandered back toher first boyfriend, Steven Piel. The car crash was so vivid in her memory, almost anything could trigger it. It was hard not to stop the pain of remembering, and the pain of loosing her first and only love.
Her steps never faulted as she suddenly turned. She wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to head this way, she just decided to. Her head was bowed, her dark colored hair falling over her shoulders. When she raised her head, she saw a man who looked really familiar. But from where? She got closer, and she recognized him. It was Dr. King, or so she thinks. She got closer to the bench he was sitting on, and she was sure. "Is this spot taken?" she asked, referring to the open spot beside him. She watched as the small kids frolicked around the park, and she smiled.
She turned as she heard a girl cry "Mommy!" Running at full speed was her daughter, with the nanny walking slowly behind. Turning her back to Dr. King for a moment, she swooped her daughter into a big hug and gave her a kiss. She set her back down on the snow covered pathway, and sent her off to play with the other kids in the snow. She smiled at the nanny, and turned back to Hadleigh. She was still smiling, and now even her dark colored eyes were aglow.
Word Count: 676
Mood: Distant, then Happy
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Hadleigh King
CHU Staff
Modern Lit. Professor
member is offline
Joined: Dec 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
Karma: 0 | | Re: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Reply #2 on Jan 3, 2008, 7:08pm » | |
Hadleigh liked the snow, but felt oddly out of place in it. It was disconcerting to think that something was falling from the sky in such a ready, constant motion. Back home snow was never seen apart from on post-cards sent from foreign family members. His parents had always tried to explain the phenomenon to him, but he was never able to grasp the idea of 'frozen rain'. It was absurd to him and when he first saw it in New York it almost caused Hadleigh to jump out of his skin. It was a cruel trick the weather played by leading you into a false sense of security and then suddenly dumping copious amounts of white onto your driveway blocking any hope of exiting the doorway to get to work for an early class. Some people loved the snow, but Hadleigh never understood it.
The two children he had been watching were now out of sight. The last he had seen of them, they were throwing snowballs at eachother giggling all the while. The children were now replaced by a new person. A woman he thought he recognised was slowly walking along the Promenade. She was a Professor at the University. Language faculty. Spanish? Hadleigh assumed this from her surname. He had never truly spoken to her aside from a few hello's and how are you's in the corridors from time to time. He had heard good things and some (odd) rumours about her, but Hadleigh never prescribed to nonsense like that. Rumours were pointless pieces of garbage that served no purpose whatsoever.
He supposed her to be about the same age as he was. She had a young face, but a worldly look about her as if she had actually lived. It seemed to Hadleigh as if she had a past that was somewhat saddening. He recognised people like that, being one of them himself. Divorcees recognised eachother in an instant. As she came closer, he heard her speak. She was definitely the Spanish Professor. Her accent told him that much. It had that melodic quality that Hadleigh wished his own had. Sadly, that would not be happening any time soon. He nodded to her as she asked whether the seat was taken and moved over slightly for her to be able to sit down comfortably.
"Jessica Aldea, isn't it?" he asked her, quickly stubbing out the cigarette and silently hoping all the while she had not noticed it.
Hadleigh's own accent was an odd mix. In parts it was typically Arabic, carefully tripping over western syllables like landmines and at other times it was full of British upperclass sounds. Rounded vowels and sharp constonants. His accent was anything but melodic or even romantic. It was inconsistent which in turn meant people sometimes found it difficult to keep up with him. English, although he spoke it extremely well, was by default his second language and his accent showed this indefinitely. This unfortunate mix was entirely the fault of his parents forcing him to learn and speak English at home. Given the choice, he would have spoken Arabic every second of ever day if he could of.
Before he could say anything further to Jessica a loud call was heard from somewhere not in Hadleigh's line of sight. "Mommy!". At first he thought it was one of the snowball throwing children about the complain about his sibling throwing a snowball at him. However, this was disproven as a young girl (no older than 4 or 5) began running up to both of them. She launched herself on Jessica planting sloppy kisses the way children do and gave Hadleigh a somewhat calculating look at the same time. She was followed by a woman Hadleigh assumed to be a Nanny or babysitter. The young girl, just as quickly as she had run up to her mother, ran away to join the other New York children in a vicious snowball fight. Hadleigh was bewildered by the entire episode.
"Is that your daughter?" he asked. An obvious question, but it was worth asking all the same.
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hadleigh,
- BIO - PLOT - |
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Jessica Aldea
CHU Staff
Spanish Professor
member is offline
Joined: Jan 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12
Karma: 0 | | Re: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Reply #3 on Jan 3, 2008, 7:31pm » | |
OOC: I just suddenly lost all my muse, so I'm EXTREMELY sorry if it ends up sucking.
IC: She stood for a few minutes longer, just watching as her daughter rann off, her hands already holding a large snowball. Honestly, Jessica wasn't a huge fan of snow, but she did like it. She only hated how it blocked you in when you were trying to get to work on time. Half the time, snow is what gets you fired from your job.
She smiled as her daughter hurled a snowball at a young girl hiding behind a tree. It (the snowball) hit the other girl in the back, sending her into a fit of laughter. She shook her head, a smile firmly placed on Jessica's face. She turned back to Hadleigh, nodding.
"Yes, I'm Jessica," she said as she sat down. She looked back at her daughter for a slight moment, watching as she ran and hid behind a bush, but still getting hit by a large snowball. "Yes, she's my daughter," she said, replying to his question. She looked back over at her fellow teacher, smiling. She had noticed that he had a slight New York accent, as well as another, but not American. Maybe it was Arabic? Or something else? She wasn't exactly sure, but she liked his accent. Hers was almost all New York, with the slight New Mexican accent mixed in.
"That's Sarah," she said, almost absent mindly. She was still trying to figure out what his accent was. For some reason, she wanted to figure it out, and wouldn't stop until she got it. "Arabic? Australian?" she muttered under her breath. Suddenly, her daughter came running and jumped into her mother's lap, snow and all. With a small "oomph", she hugged her daughter. "This is Hadleigh King Sarah," she said, introducing Hadleigh to her Daughter. "Hello Mr. Hadlee," Sarah said in her little girl voice. She couldn't exactly say Hadleigh, but she came close.
"Hadleigh, this is Sarah," Jessica said. Sarah blushed and turned her head, burying it in her Madre's hair. She smiled, both at Hadleigh and Sarah. Sarah was peering through her mother's hair, looking at Hadleigh. "Are you Mommy's boyfriend?" she asked. Jessica blushed a deep red, but didn't say anything. She was, after all, asking Hadleigh, not her.
Word Count: 411 with all excess words.
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Hadleigh King
CHU Staff
Modern Lit. Professor
member is offline
Joined: Dec 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 17
Karma: 0 | | Re: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Reply #4 on Jan 3, 2008, 8:10pm » | |
OOC: Sorry, it's kinda short. xD
"Arabic." Hadleigh clarified, having heard Jessica speak quietly. He had good hearing. "It's a mess, I know."
Once again, the young girl (who had been named as Sarah) ran over to the two of them. Upon being introduced to her, Hadleigh took the young girls hand and shook it. Children liked it when you treated them as adults. He smiled at Sarah and tipped his hat. He liked children and was rather good with them. It was nice to be around another child, however, it made him remember the two days he had just had with his son and how much he missed the young boy. It wa amazing how someone so small could have such a large effect on your life. He hated Jasper for making Hadleigh love him so much. It was hardly a justified hate, but it hurt when he had to give him back after the weekend.
"Are you Mommy's boyfriend?"
This made him laugh. He loved the innocence of children. The way they had no concept of tact or judgement and how they just said exactly what was on their minds at that point in time. He had endured the strange questions from his son. The constant "But, why dad? Why?!?". No was never a justifiable answer to a child. They needed a full explanation that spanned the entire history of the universe. It was charming really, how hungry children were for knowledge and how they so wanted to grow up. Hadleigh had wanted to be an adult as soon as he could speak, but now he wanted nothing but the innocence of childhood back. It was safe. He supposed he had better offer a useful explanation to Sarah's question.
"No, darling." Hadleigh replied, but then smiled a little. "Not yet anyway."
He laughed and looked at Jessica. She was blushing, but Hadleigh was not. He was past the mess of relationships and truly had no desire for another. He still loved his ex-wife and hated the thought of her being with someone else. He still had a photograph of her in his house and refused to take it down. To take it down would mean it was over and no matter how much she had hurt him he did not want it to be over completely. He hoped this partly for Jasper's sake. He wanted the boy to have a proper family. A father and a mother in the same house. Not a father an hour and a half away and a mother sleeping with a 90's leftover every single night. He turned to Jessica once more.
"I have a son, you know." he pulled his wallet from his pocket and showed her the photograph in the clear window part of it. "He's turning five next month." He paused. "He lives with his mother."
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hadleigh,
- BIO - PLOT - |
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Jessica Aldea
CHU Staff
Spanish Professor
member is offline
Joined: Jan 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12
Karma: 0 | | Re: put you waistcoat on -- (open/ask first)
« Reply #5 on Feb 9, 2008, 8:31pm » | |
OOC: So sorry for my delayed response! I lost the URL, and my life (homework) has been killing me. So, I may have a horrible post, but at least I replied.
IC: Arabic! She nodded a quiet thanks, smiling. She hand a hunch that it was Arabic, and now she knew. She, honestly, hated her accent. She had that New York "twang", and her New Mexican accent slightly blended in. How she wished she still had her accent, but oh well. It sounded sexier with the two accents blending.together.
Not yet? She couldn't help but blush a deeper color. Sarah giggled, her childish smile bring out her beautiful eyes. "How do you know my mommy?" Sarah asked. Who wouldn't be curious, especially a little girl. But, as soon as she asked the question, Hadleigh showed the two women a picture of his son."What's his name? Where is he now? Why is he with his mama?Where does his mama live?" So many questions.
Jessica didn't want to have Hadleigh talk about his son, because she knew how hard it is to not be able to see your kids often. "Sarah, sweetie, want to go back to playing?" Jessica asked. But Sarah shook her head, and sat there, waiting for Hadleigh to answer. Jessica sighed, she knew that her daughter got her stubbornness from her.
OOC: I'm adding in Jessica's Ex-husband now, if that's ok. If you'd rather him not be in here, let me know
IC: Joa stormed through the park, his Combat boots crunching through the white snow. He was really mad, his ex-wife and daughter had disappeared again, and he couldn't find them this time. He had decided to come to New York because this was the last place he had seen the two.
He walked into the park, his overcoat pulled closely around his body. Underneath, he was carrying a gun, but for what? He had it to knock some sense into his ex-wife, if he ever found her. Luck must have been on his side, because there they sat, and Jessica was talking with another man.
That bitch. He stormed into the park, knocking little boys and girls down, and leaving angry parents in his wake. Snow seemed to fly everywhere as he furiously walked up to Jessica. "Hello pretty lady," he sneered. He put his gloved hand in the pocket holding the gun, ready to use it when he could. "What are you doing here?" he heard Jessica say. Sarah whimpered, scooting closer to Hadleigh, trying to hide. "I'm here for my daughter, and you." And with that, he slowly pulled out the gun, making sure that only th three on the bench saw.
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Riley Jones
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