Faithful [1x1] [AnimexGaaras] [Open]

[gaaras and milk]

(Pictures of Nina and her brother are on page 2)

"Fiona! Hi!" Nina's usual energetic voice came through the phone. Nina was always a bubbly person, and one of the few to pass Cliff's scrutiny, but only barely. She was a sweet girl, caring, and often volunteered at animal shelters. She had known Fiona since High School and went to beauty school with her. "I went into the salon today to pick up my pay check and they told me you weren't coming in today," she began in her chipper voice. "My brother is in from New York, and he just finished art school at Columbia. I told him you did some fashion stuff on the side and sent him some pictures. I hope you don't mind, but I mean, he'd love to talk to you about it! So, would you want to go to lunch with us?" Nina's voice nearly begged, knowing how Cliff was about these things. "Pretty please with sugar on top? We'd only be a couple hours!"  

[M3Gnificent]

{Awesome~}

"Oh, I don't mind at all! If anything I'm greatful." As for whether she would go or not, she glanced about as if Cliff would actually be home this time of day. Loneliness and pride in her work trumped caution in the end, leading her to answer, "I'd love to. Where should I head and when?" Already Fiona found herself contemplating what she'd wear to the rendez-vous. She had this one cute pair of jeans she was just dying to try out...

 

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Nina brimmed with happiness. "We'll see you in an hour at the Cafe on the corner of Morrison street. Ahh! I can't wait to see you! I'm positive you'll love Nathan. I'll see you then!" she hung up.

{Bad post is bad}  

[M3Gnificent]

{It's perfectly fine, don't worry about it. :3}

"See you then." Fiona placed her phone back on the counter for the moment being, heading to her room to finally get dressed for the day. Before clothing herself she briefly thanked whatever powers that may be that Cliff couldn't listen in on her phone conversations from his workplace. (Or so she hoped. Cliff really was a resourceful and unpredictable sort.) She put on a lacy white shirt with a baby blue hoodie and tight jeans with a pretty golden butterfly stitching on one of the back pockets. She decided to wear a pair of tennies that seemed to perfectly match the color of her hoodie. For her hair, she wore her hair in a ponytail with her side hairs thinly braided until they joined with the ponytail. She left her bangs alone, leaving her with a pretty and elegant hairstyle. After dolling herself up and getting ready, she didn't bother to linger. She left home at the first opportunity, locking the door behind her as she went on for a small walk before heading to her rendez-vous. As she walked along she sent Cliff a quick 'I love you! <3' text, lest she forget to later as she spent time with Nina. She didn't need him angry at her after all.

 

[gaaras and milk]

Nina and Nathan sat across from each other at the cafe, sipping coffee while waiting Fiona to show up. Nina smiled at her brother. Nathan was difficult to keep up with; he was always on the move and didn't have a very good relationship with their parents, unlike his sister. While Nina was a bit of an innocent daisy, Nathan always liked to get into trouble, but both the siblings were loud and boisterous people. They lit up every room they went to. "So how many times did you get arrested in New York?"
"Nina--"
"Come on, spill it. I'm going to find out anyhow."
Nathan shifted, smirking as he looked off. "Three."
"Three?!"
"The third one wasn't even my fault! That guy had it coming..."  

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona arrived at her destination before long at all, feeling a broad grin shape itself upon her rosy lips at the sight of her dear friend - and the fellow she assumed to be her brother. "Nina!" she merrily called out as she approached the two. "Did I make you wait long?"

 

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"Fiona!" She grinned and got up hugging her tight. "I'm so glad to see you. No, we came early to chat a bit." Nina gleamed at her friend. "I'm so happy you got out of the house. I hope Cliff hasn't been to over bearing--anyway, this is Nathan, my brother." She gestured to the young man sitting down.
Nathan glanced up. Seeing Fiona, he had to say he was impressed. She was a beautiful girl. Probably the cutest I've seen, he thought to himself, clearing his throat and playing with his necklace and biting his lip, trying to contain some sort of pick up line or sexual comment that was on his lips. "Hey, nice to meet you!"
Nina looked at her brother, and recognized his expression. She paused. That was rare...Nathan already liked Fiona. She could tell. She gave her brother a questioning look. He just gave her a cheeky shrug and sunk back in the booth.  

[M3Gnificent]

Cliff wasn't around to police her every behavior. He wasn't around to get jealous or to hurt anyone. He was at work, so for now, Fiona didn't see any problem in reciprocating the friendly hug. She made no comment on the matter regarding Cliff, as she felt that anything she could say - even jokingly - on the matter could come across entirely wrong. Not only that, but there was this silly paranoia that actually verbalizing her thoughts would only serve the purpose of tempting fate. She was much more interactive when the introductions began, though. "It's nice to meet you too, Nathan." She briefly looked Nina's brother over, remembering faintly a time before she'd dyed her hair to it's current golden hue. She seemed pretty unaware of the context behind the way Nathan seemed to look at her. Such an assumption could easilly be supported by her evident confusion at the siblings' nonverbal communication. Figuring it was none of her business, she said nothing on the matter for the moment being. "Has anyone ever told you two how much you look alike? Even for siblings, the resemblance is uncanny!"

 

[gaaras and milk]

"Why did you think I wanted to dye my hair?" Nina scoffed as she sat down. "Who wants to look like this guy?" Nathan rolled his eyes, "Are you trying to embarrass me?" Nina snickered "Yeah, because I know you like her already, and she's married."
The brother felt a small pang in his heart but shielded it with a cheeky smile. The pang wasn't strong, just more of a disappointment. He would have liked to show Fiona a good time. She seemed like a nice girl. Nathan shook his head. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, Nina tells me you do some fashion designing?"  

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona's cheeks flushed up in embarassment at Nina's words. She averted her gaze in what might look like humbleness, quietly thanking all the forces that be for the fact that Cliff wasn't around to hear this. She found herself doing that often when alone with friends, but now especially so. Fiona hoped that he and Nathan would never meet.

"A-ah, yes, I do. I have some of my sketches and designs saved on my phone, if you'd like to see them." After losing some of her favorite pieces when she left the window open several months back, she made a habit of taking a picture of each and every noteworthy design on her phone. The quality of the built-in camera was exquisite, which was why she'd begged and begged Cliff to buy it for her. Normally she didn't make such requests, but when she did Fiona made it clear that she wanted it something fierce.

 

[gaaras and milk]

Nathan watched Fiona blush with interest. He had no problem getting with a married woman, More often than not the husband and the woman got a divorce and then he was a rebound. That wasn't always a bad thing. These thoughts crossed his mind as he looked at Fiona's cheeks turn pink. Nathan grinned, maybe it was time to turn up the charm.
He took her phone and started flipping through the pictures. His eyes widened some. She had a great eye, and knew how to make a woman's body look good. Her use of color was amazing, and the style wasn't anything on the market. He pondered this and looked at her. "Have you ever tried selling your work? Or tried getting a career in this? It's really cut-throat, but you have some great talent," Nathan said truthfully, handing back her phone. "I could probably get you a few interviews if you were interested in anything like that."  

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona couldn't hide her shock upon hearing what Nathan had to say about her works - especially his offer to get her some interviews if she really wanted. She always dreamed of being publicly reccognised for her works, but had long ago abandoned that dream due to a mixture of her own insecurities and Cliff's obvious annoyance at her current job. This was a wonderful opprotunity, but wouldn't Cliff be absolutely livid? Or...or would she be able to convince him to let her give it a shot? Fiona's talking Cliff down from potentially murdering the waiter in a jealous rage the previous night almost gave her hope that she could. "I would really love to, but I would need to discuss things with my husband first. He's a very...overprotective sort." That wasn't the right word at all for it, but Nina would likely know a small part of what Fiona actually meant by that. "Would you mind terribly if I contacted you about this once I've talked things over with him?"

 

[gaaras and milk]

"You always listen to what he tells you? I didn't take you for that sort of gal." Nathan smirked. Nina, he noticed suddenly gave him a dark look, shaking her head. He had never seen her act that way--there was more to this he obviously didn't know, but it didn't stop Nathan's flirtatious mood. "Sure, I guess I'll wait. I think you're worth it," Nathan chuckled.  

[M3Gnificent]

Fiona was a little hurt by the teasing, even if she wouldn't show it. Being an obedient wife had less to do with her own personal choice and more with making sure Cliff didn't get jealous or angry enough to murder someone as close to her as Nina. (Or, in a worst case scenario, so she wouldn't be targeted herself.) Neither of them knew anything to that extent, however, and there was no point in dwelling on it. It excited her that he was willing to wait, though. "Thank you so, so much! You don't know how much this means to me. I promise I'll try to contact you with my answer and situation as soon as possible." Fiona was clearly elated. The sparkle in her eyes made it obvious just how much she wanted this. She couldn't afford to get her hopes up, though. Fiona knew that there was always a chance that Cliff wouldn't be willing to negotiate. If he wasn't willing to negotiate, she wouldn't push the issue. Fiona knew better.

 

[gaaras and milk]

Nina glared at Nathan across the table. She could see what her brother was doing. He was such a flirt sometimes.
Nathan beamed. "Cool, I can't wait."

Cliff's morning was filled with elderly patients needing more medication. They were short, but boring, and not what he wanted to do with his time, but as always, Dr. Richard put on a happy face. He checked his watch. Noon. He sighed a little and looked at his phone, admiring the 'I love you' text he had gotten from Fiona that morning. He pondered this for a moment. It was a Friday, Fiona was not working today. Why hadn't he taken a long weekend? He went to his receptionist.
Tracy was a beautiful blonde woman with the personality of a door nail. She popped her gum incessantly. Admittedly, Cliff had gone through a period of time when he accepted her advances. Not because he was attracted to her, but because she was easy and attracted to him. Of course, Fiona would never know. He'd threatened to kill Tracy.
"Tracy? What does my schedule look like for this afternoon?"
"Oh, let me get that," she scrolled through the computer. "One appointment at four."
"Cancel it."
Tracy pressed 'delete'. "Plans with the wife?" she asked suggestively.
"More for than with." He said with a smile, though through his teeth he muttered Nosy little slut, "Don't wear that outfit again."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't wear it. Have a good weekend Tracy." He left without another word.

Cliff entered the home, hanging his jacket. "Fiona?" he called. No answer. That was...unusual. And her car wasn't in the drive way. Of course he assumed it was in the garage, but when he went to check...nothing. Instantly, his phone was out, dialing his wife, grinding his teeth together.