Pre-Shoot Blues?, Tag: Alexis!

[Elliot O'Hara]

There were exactly twenty-five hours, thirteen minutes, and five, four, three, two, one, twelve minutes until that big Nicole Cooper photo shoot that Elliot would single-handedly be responsible for. And while most fashion photographers would be throwing ideas together and getting into huge hissy fits with themselves about the who’s and what’s and where’s and how’s of the photo shoots, that just wasn’t Elliot’s style. Photography was something that he had started as a child that was supposed to be fun, and his job was supposed to be fun, and he felt that worrying and stressing was only going to take the fun away from it. Was he freaking out that he was supposed to get on the road in a couple of hours? Yeah; he still had some laundry to do, he had to feed himself, change clothes, call the woman back and tell her that he would be there on time, blah, blah, blah. But at the moment, he was focused on the feeding himself and calming down. He could say that stressing took the fun away from his job, but he still stressed a little bit. He didn’t like having deadlines and times and being restricted, but it was something that he was getting used to as he molded into the life that he had chosen for himself.

Ever since he was a child, Elliot hadn’t been a fan of coffee, and regardless of the many people that told him that it was good for his heart and all that jazz, his Ma had had a heart murmur and she couldn’t drink coffee. Plus, his real parents had told him about all of the caffeine and the addictive qualities of coffee; those things alone were enough to tell Elliot that he really didn’t NEED coffee in his life. So no matter how effeminate it made him seem, The Double Chocolatey Chip Frap that he was sipping on was one of the only beverages that he would drink at Starbucks, the other being the Ethos water bottles. He had two of those giant chocolate chip cookies in one of those bags sitting next to him, and he occasionally reached into the bag, broke off a piece of one of the cookies, and nibbled on it.

On the table in front of him sat a fashion magazine; he was studying up on Nicole Cooper’s designs. After all, if he was going to do a shoot of her stuff, he was going to have to make sure that he knew the material that she did. He couldn’t remember the model that they were using; he had a hard time remember model names, though they remembered him every single time he walked into a room. It was almost annoying, and he had a PDA that a friend would send the names and photos of the models that he was supposed to shoot to, but Elliot always forgot to check it before hand. Or, most of the time he did

Since it was on his mind as he looked through the magazine, he pushed the magazine out of his way for a moment and pulled the PDA out of his pocket and started looking through his unread e-mails. After a few minutes of searching through the hundreds of e-mails, he saw the one that he needed. He thanked the stars and opened it, saving the pictures to his PDA with their names as the file name. There. Now he had absolutely no excuse to forget these girls… oh, and one guy? Well, he had no excuse to forget any of the names, so he would just have to make it a point to remember. Elliot took the last piece of the first cookie out of the bad and popped it in his mouth, washing it down with the frap as he set his PDA down on the table next to him and went back to studying the fashions that he would be photographing in… twenty-four hours, fifty-seven minutes, and thirty-three, thirty-two, thirty-one seconds.

[+ Alexis Cooper]

Lexi needed coffee. Badly.

Alexis wasn't used to waking up early. She was used to not getting enough sleep, but she was still used to sleeping in to an extent. She worked nights, so she didn't get home until about three am, and by the time she was ready for bed and has fallen asleep? It was usually a bit after four.

Lexi had friends who had kids, and those kids were awake at the crack of dawn. Emma usually woke up around nine, and thankfully let Lexi sleep in a bit more. She was perfectly find entertaining herself. It wasn't until she got hungry and wanted breakfast, that she'd go wake her mom up.

Starting last week, however, Emma was officially a kindergartener... if that's even a word. She was starting school, and despite all the good things about it, there were bad things too. It was nice to see Emma growing up, and having the extra time. It was great to see her go out and be her own person, rather than the little girl who was constantly with her mom. But on the other side of the spectrum, Lexi now had to wake up early each day, just to say goodbye to Emma. Obviously that day was going to come, but it didn't make it any easier.

Lexi had relied on Emma for so long, that it was hard not having her around. Her life before becoming a mother, and her life afterward, couldn't be more different. Growing up, Lexi had a bottomless wallet. She had parents who never kept a tab on where she was, and she just did whatever she wanted. She loved it at the time, but now? She had missed that life all throughout pregnancy, since Lexi wasn't used to being broke and needing work for her money, not to mention cook and clean, but as soon as she held Emma, she didn't care. She may not have had a big house or an unlimited credit card or the chance to go out, get drunk, and have random sex all the time, but she had a real family for the first time in her life. Obviously she still had her little family with Emma, despite the fact she was in school, but when Lexi lost everything else, she had her daughter. But now, she didn't have her during the day.

Alexis tried to stay positive though. Not having Emma during the day, meant it was time for a new job. And a new job hopefully meant more money, and it definitely meant more sleep. Lexi wanted to be able to work during the day, pick up Emma and spend the afternoon with her, and then sleep at night, rather than spending it bringing shots to obnoxious drunks. She just had to find that day job, now.

This new life, despite the perks, meant one thing; early mornings. And that, in turn, meant one thing; morning coffee. Lexi couldn't stand coffee before Emma was born. She had her first cup in the hospital. Emma was premature, and had to stay in the NICU for a couple weeks. That meant late nights, of making sure she was okay. She was basically as healthy as a premature baby could be, but that didn't stop Lexi from turning to coffee to keep her awake. Her slight reliance on coffee only grew to an addiction, once Emma was at home, and Alexis was struggling to work and be a single, teenage mother.

Alexis had woken up, after only three and a half hours of sleep, and woke up Emma to get her ready for school. It was stressful to get her there on time, while feeling so exhausted, but she had done it. And now, it was coffee time. It was the time she had been waiting for since the moment her alarm went off that morning.

Despite the fact there was only a couple people ahead of her, the line up felt far too long. She wanted her damn coffee. Before long, however, Alexis was tasting the glorious coffee, as her craving was fed. Finding a small table, she took a seat, having another few sips, as she glanced around. Most people were leaving after getting their coffee, presumably going to work, so the tables were rather empty. There was one other one that was occupied however, just behind her.

Lexi only had a quick glance at first, but seeing as he was reading a magazine, she had another look, just out of curiosity. She loved reading the fashion magazines and tabloids, so if someone else was reading a magazine, she always had to check if it was something that would interest her.

Her second glance confirmed that it was a magazine she'd enjoy, and the guy (who she assumed was gay, seeing as he was reading a fashion magazine) seemed to be studying a particular page. Not wanting to seem too creepy, Alexis had a third glance, trying to subtly read the magazine over his shoulder, but a frown quickly passed over her face.

There was nothing she could do about her mother. She couldn't suppress her Nicole Cooper's fame, but she could still assist in giving her a bad name. She hadn't even seen her mother in five years, but badmouthing her felt just as good now as it did then. Tapping the guy on the shoulder, Alexis said, "You know, I heard that designer is the biggest bitch. Apparently she kicked out her pregnant teenage daughter, without a second thought." It would probably have a greater affect if she went on some rant about how her mother had treated her, but Lexi decided to play it cool. All she had to do was make him think her mom already had a bad name, and he'd flip the page, forgetting about Nicole Cooper's designs.

[Elliot O'Hara]

Mid chew, someone tapped Elliot on the shoulder, and he jumped almost a full foot into the air, metaphorically speaking. He covered his mouth and coughed lightly, choking on a bit of his cookie. When he had regained himself, he heard was the young woman had to say and then cocked his head to the side, turning around slightly in his chair. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. In twenty-four hours, fifty minutes and ten, nine, eight, seven seconds, he would be spending time working with her and models that worked for her regularly. If he was going to be working with a bitch, than it was pretty likely that tomorrow wouldn’t go well.

Well, he hadn’t been stressing, and it was a part of a photographer’s job to stress.

“Oh God, I hope she’s not a bitch and that those are just some nasty rumors.” He glanced back at his magazine, picking up his PDA as it lit up and told him that he had another new e-mail. “I’m supposed to do a photo shoot of her newest clothes line tomorrow.” He was counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds, but hey, this stranger didn’t need to know that. He opened the new e-mail and saw that there was another model that had been added to the list and he saved the picture with the others. Once that was done, he set the PDA down. His Pa had kicked one of his adoptive sisters out the year before he’d left for California, and she’d lived with him until she’d quote-unquote “had a miscarriage” and their adoptive parents had let her back in. It was a horrifying thing for someone to go through, and if he was going to be working with a woman that had put someone through that? Well… there wasn’t much he could do about it. But it would sure bother him that there was nothing that he could do about it.

Swallowing his pride, making sure his job got done, and calling his friend in Florida on the way home to bitch about the awful people that he had to deal with was really all that he did lately. The drive was longer than he liked, and that was a lot of time to himself. Elliot didn’t like dealing with himself a lot of the time, and the superficial people that he dealt with every day that he worked just made him more and more of an introvert. He was stressing even more now that he thought that the woman behind his most recent job could be a bitch.

He didn’t show it on his face, though. His fingers were drumming nervously against his leg, and his foot was tapping almost-silently against the floor, but he looked like a fashion photographer that had been interrupted in the middle of studying on the outside.

[+ Alexis Cooper]

Coffee really did wonders for her mood. If Alexis had spoken to this guy ten minutes ago, she would have probably ripped up the magazine he was holding, venting about her mom. But now? Lexi couldn't help but let out a slight laugh. "Trust me, I wish they were rumours," she said, shaking her head slightly, and moving her chair around so she wasn't twisting her body so much to see him. "She even married a man she didn't care about, just because it was convenient."

The guy's next statement brought out really mixed feelings for Alexis. On one hand, he was doing a photo shoot for her mom! Call her materialistic and superficial, but she couldn't think of any career more glamorous than the fashion industry. Growing up, that was always the complex she had. She was fascinated by her mom's work, and thought it was amazing, but at the same time, hated her mother. When Lexi was little, she used to even sneak into her mom's office and look around, if she knew her mom was out for the day. They hardly even spoke, so it wasn't as if her mom was showing her her work everyday.

But as exciting as these jobs were, Lexi felt bad for the guy. He was going to head into a job, ready to do his thing, and she had no doubt in her mind that he was just going to be ripped down. Nothing was ever good enough for her mom. Either she ignored it completely, like her family and general morals, or she made sure it was absolutely perfect, which was how she was with her job. There were times when Alexis wouldn't see her mom for days, just because she was working. Both her parents were workaholics. Her whole life, they spent all their time working, leaving her alone. If it wasn't for having a nanny, Lexi would have been taken by child services.

"If there's anyway to get out of it, do it," Alexis said, picking up her cup and taking a long drink of coffee, feeling it soothe any bitterness that was coming up, as they spoke of her mother. "Unless you're okay with being treated like the shit on the bottom of her $800 shoes, I'd find a way out of that shoot."

Lexi took another sip of coffee, curious to see how serious he'd take her. Obviously she was dead serious, but if she was in his position? She'd be wondering who the hell he was and wondering where he got his information from. And if she managed to somehow get him to call in sick or something (she knew her mom would find someone else immediately, rather than postponing for him), then Alexis would be quite pleased. She enjoyed sabotaging her mother.

[Elliot O'Hara]

Elliot took a sip of his frap as he listened to her, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously now. He was wondering exactly what she figured he was wondering; who the hell was she, and where was all of this information coming from? He was more concerned about whether or not she was a fellow photographer trying to sabotage his work. He took a sip of his frap and examined her. “That‘s pretty terrible.” He stated, setting his cup back down. Now he was paranoid that someone was trying to sabotage him.

Elliot’s job was all that he had out here in California. Without it, he was still some small-town guy from Ohio that wasn’t going anywhere in life. At least with the job, no matter how much he had to deal with people walking all over him, he at least got some creative rights. And besides, he was growing in the world of fashion; people were starting to request him by name. In fact, Nicole Cooper had requested him by name, and he was trying to get his name out.

Even if he could have afforded to call in sick on the job, (which he could have; financially, he was doing extremely well at the moment,) he didn’t know if it was too smart for his carrier. This would be the third time that he had been personally requested for a job, and only showing up for two out of three of the shoots that he was requested for could ruin him. He figured that he was willing to risk being treated like shit for the future success that it would bring him.

“I’ll probably still go anyway.” Elliot mused. “She personally requested me for this one, so it’s kind of hard to bail.” There. He didn’t give away too much and he didn’t seem suspicious. But just in case, he added, “And if she treats me like shit, I just won’t shoot for her again. It’s simple as that.”

[+ Alexis Cooper]

Lexi nodded when he said it was pretty terrible. That wasn't even the start of it though. She could write a book on the things her mom has said and the things she put her through. How many parents say to their kid's face that they regretted not aborting? Because that was exactly the response Lexi got when her parents found out she was pregnant.

But in a way, Alexis was thankful. It was the strangest thing, but she was. If her parents gave her the attention she deserved, she wouldn't have slept around. And if she didn't sleep around, she wouldn't have had Emma. And if she didn't have Emma, she wouldn't have grown up and learned true responsibility. Her mother taught her exactly how to not be a mother. Alexis always put Emma first, ahead of everything, while her own mom didn't even put her daughter on the list.

Hearing him say that he was requested by her, Lexi gave a bit of a half-shrug, followed by a nod. "If she asked for you, then I guess you're amazing at your job. I may hate my mom, but she is good at her job, and would never make a decision that would jeopardize her way to the top."

Alexis had been planning on just subtly turning him against her mom, rather than flat out saying "RAWR, SHE'S MY MOMMA!" but if he was in the industry, that wouldn't work. It's not like he could just go on, disliking Nicole Cooper. She was a source of income for him, and a way to advance his career. If they were both living in Violet Hill, then their paths would cross. But that doesn't mean Alexis couldn't still get in some blows. If this guy was in the position that he'd be meeting her, however, Lexi had to give him solid proof that what she was saying was true.

"I'm Lexi, by the way," Alexis finally said. "Lexi Cooper." She raised her eyebrows slightly when she said that, hoping he'd catch on. Turning her eyes back to the page that was open in front of the guy, she continued. "Besides in the magazines, I haven't seen her in five and a half years."

[Elliot O'Hara]

Her daughter? Well, that was better than someone trying to sabotage his career. But that meant that what she was saying was probably true. He sat on the side of his chair so that he could face her better now that they were having a real conversation. His birth parents had given him all of the love, attention, and affection that he had ever wanted or needed, and when he was a younger child he wouldn’t have been able to understand the pain of a parent that neglected their children. Once he’d been adopted by his adoptive family, though, he’d been emotionally abused and all of the things that he’d needed from parental figures had been ignored.

Of course, in their twisted way, Pa and Ma had cared. Or, they’d cared about saving his immortal soul. But still, Elliot couldn’t find it in himself to forgive them. Sure, they’d made him a stronger, more tolerant human being, but they’d also made him slightly bitter towards the religious beliefs of others, and that was… well, it wasn’t something that he was proud of.

“I’m sorry she’s such a douche bag.” It felt appropriate to apologize, and well… Elliot had never been one to censor what he wanted to say. “I like to think I’m good at my job, though.” He actually thought that he was a lot better than the photographers that were shooting for a majority of the fashion designers, but he wasn’t going to say that out loud to anyone.

When she said her name, Elliot chuckled lightly at the way that she rose her eyebrows. “I gathered that you were her daughter; no need for the emphasis on your last name.” He set his PDA back down on the table. “I’m Elliot O’Hara.” He wasn’t sure how big his name was around town; sure, in Los Angelos and Hollywood, people knew his name, but so far no one had approached him in Violet Hill. Well, perhaps that was because people knew the names of photographers over their faces, but that was the way that he liked things.

[+ Alexis Cooper]

Lexi shrugged, upon hearing his apology, and said, "People who are born blind or deaf or have some crap wrong with them, know no different. Life is the same for them. I grew up with asshole parents. That was normal for me." Pausing for a second, Alexis added, "It wasn't until the past few years, when I really grew up, that I finally realized how shitty my childhood was. I actually loved it back then."

Alexis loved being able to do whatever she wanted. Even as an eight year old kid, she'd go to a friend's house after school, and didn't bother calling home to ask permission. They just didn't care. Lexi loved being the only one of her high school friends with no curfew, and no punishment for coming home at 7 am, still partially drunk from the night before. Hearing the awful things her parents said to her when they found out she was pregnant hurt, but Lexi wasn't expecting anything else from them. It wasn't until Alexis got to hold Emma for the first time, that she started gathering up the bitterness and resentment towards them. She loved Emma more than anything, so she just didn't understand how her parents just didn't care for her.

Elliot introduced himself, and Alexis quickly racked her brain, seeing if she was able to pull that name out of anywhere. But no avail. Granted, she had the memory of an Alzheimer's patient, but that was no excuse when it came to situations like this. Most people would probably just be all "Nice to meet you, Elliot!" and think nothing of it. But having grown up with a mom in the fashion industry, Lexi knew that the people with their name out there, or those who were working on getting their name out there, always expected others to know it. Even if they're being realistic, and telling themselves that people could easily not know who they are, Alexis knew there was always a little part of them who wanted to be recognized.

Lexi might not have spent much time with her mother growing up, but she had still heard her mother say things such as, "How do you not know who I am!?" Alexis knew how the business worked. And despite knowing the crap that goes on within said industry, she still wanted in.

"If this was 2004, I'm sure I'd have been able to recognize you even without your name," Alexis said, with a slight laugh. She obsessed over those fashion magazines when she was younger. All of her friends only knew the celebrities wearing the clothes, but Lexi loved the industry so much that she also knew the names that weren't in the spotlight. "But since Mother Dearest tossed me out, I've been too busy raising a kid, working nights, and trying to sneak in some sleep. I only have time to skim over the pictures now!"

[Elliot O'Hara]

Elliot nodded in agreement towards her statement. “I totally agree.” He stated simply, “The only way that they’d know differently would be if they experienced what was supposed to be quote-unquote “normal”.” Elliot supposed that his situation with his adoptive parents could be somewhat compared to that. If his mother and father hadn’t treated him with such love and respect, then he probably would have had absolutely no idea as to how bizarre it was that someone could treat someone that they called their child the way that Elliot had been treated. Not too many families were as loving and caring as his birth family had been, and he’d been… dare he say it? He’d been blessed to know what that sort of family love was. Most parents would have either abandoned their child or had the same reaction as his Ma and Pa had when their child came out of the closet, and yet his birth parents had expected it and even spoken to him about it when he was as young as seven.

He partially blamed his Ma and Pa for all of the bad things that had happened to him growing up. Where his mother would have made him cookies and sat him down and talked to him when he’d thought that he was in love with that Lucian fellow that introduced him to the world of sex and drugs, his Pa scolded him, yelled at him, argued with him until both of their voices were hoarse, which had simply chased him away and confirmed the belief that they were nothing like his real parents and that he could never love them like he did his mother and his father. And where his father would never have let his mother mistreat him, his Ma sat back and watched his Pa attack him daily. And Elliot couldn’t even describe the loneliness and pain that he felt going from being the only child to being the “bad kid” in a family that had eight children.

“I sort of had the opposite.” He smiled light-heartedly, though there was something melancholy reflected in his eyes as he smiled. “Loved what I had and then lost it, and I realized that I had to trade a good life for a shitty one.” That was all he wanted to say on the matter, though. He had tried to get over the hurt that his adoptive parents had put him through when he’d moved out and gotten a job and started actually doing things for himself. Though he wasn’t over it, and he was pretty sure some days that he probably would need therapy later down the line, he was okay holding it in for now.

“If this was 2004, I would still be a freshman in high school going no where with my life.” Elliot laughed and waved his free wrist. “Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty new to the fashion photography scene, so I don’t expect people to recognize me at all.” He hadn’t even cared about fashion back then; if asked to pull out his photos from his freshman year, (and he still had them, so it wasn’t like that was something crazy to ask of him,) there were a lot of risqué photographs in that collection, because well. That had been his LIFE back then. Well, that and candid photos of that Lucian. He had been so obsessed with him, and it was almost laughable now. They only spoke on nights that Elliot was driving to and from L.A. anymore, and even then Lucian didn’t always answer.

He nodded when she talked about the life that she’d been put through after her mom had kicked her out. “That doesn’t sound like too much fun.” He mused. “But you don’t have a chitlin,” - the word that he used for child; he didn’t know if she would understand, but that as a risk he was willing to take - “with you now, though, so your kid must be getting older and you must have more time.” Elliot couldn’t imagine raising a child. He didn’t have the time or the means to raise a child; he was having a hard enough time dealing with himself.

[+ Alexis Cooper]

It really was amazing how much a childhood could affect someone. It wasn't as simple as a child being upset sometimes because his or her parents wouldn't let him or her do something. The affects of an upbringing on a child was complicated. Alexis wasn't about to go to therapy to try to sort out her issues, but in the last couple of years, she had really taken time to think about her parents, and how they had affected her, now that she was a parent herself.

If her parents had at least hid the fact they were cheating on each other, she probably wouldn't have lost her virginity when she was thirteen. Her young mind couldn't take sex seriously, if even her married parents couldn't take it seriously. If her parents had paid attention to her, she probably wouldn't have slept with anything with a dick. Lexi wouldn't have had an clinic for STD testing saved in her cell phone (luckily she only received bad news once, and it was cleared up). Alexis probably wouldn't have wondered for five years who Emma's father was. And if her parents had loved their daughter, just maybe Lexi would be able to believe that someone could love her one day. Right now, she was in the most serious relationship she had ever been in (aka, the only actual relation she had ever been in), but that didn't change the fact that she couldn't see Rufus ever loving her. If her own parents didn't love her, how could anyone else? They were supposed to be the two people who were guaranteed to love her, but alas, they kicked her out without blinking.

"Sorry," Lexi said, forcing a sympathetic smile, when Elliot mentioned he had a good life, then lost it. "That sucks more than my story." Like she said, her life was normal to her. And since it was normal to her, she didn't hate it. She didn't know any better. But Elliot? He ended up with a crap life, knowing it was crappy, since he had previously had a good one. Sure, some people use the philosophy of "better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all", but Alexis disagreed. Ignorance was bliss, right? She'd rather have not known what she was missing out on. It would make it less painful. But seeing as she now had a daughter of her own, and was in a happy family, it was impossible for her to pretend she had an appropriate upbringing for a child.

"What freshman is going somewhere?" Lexi asked, with a laugh. Sure, most of them do end up going somewhere, but at that age? They knew nothing about the real world and most of them weren't even thinking about their future. "When I was a freshman, I was skipping class to go shopping and have sex with juniors and drink at like, one in the afternoon." Lexi let out a groan, but soon enough, a slight laugh slipped out as well. "I was a mess. Honestly, it's a good thing my parents paid so little attention to me, because if they had noticed what I was becoming, they would have tossed me out sooner!"

At first, Alexis was rather lost when he referred to her "chitlin", but as soon as Elliot finished his sentence, her mind caught up. Nodding, Lexi said, "Yeah, she turned five a few weeks ago. She started kindergarten last week, and as nice as it is to have spare time for the first time since I was in high school, I'm more bored than anything, believe it or not!"

She had no spare time when Emma was still at home all the time. Most parents take advantage of the time when their kid is sleeping, to get things done. But seeing as Alexis worked nights, as soon as Emma was in bed with a sitter there (or with Rufus, since he was now in their lives), she had to go. There was no free time. Now? Sure, Lexi still had errands to run and laundry to do, but she had almost seven hours a day with no Emma. She was used to getting things done as quickly as possible, so Alexis was going to have more than enough time to finish everything.

"You seriously have no idea how lucky you are, to have such a good job that you actually seem to enjoy," Lexi continued. "I'd give anything to get out of this crap job I have and do something I love during the day."

[Elliot O'Hara]

Elliot shook his head at her apology. “It sucked, but it’s not something for a stranger to apologize about.” He mused with a smile and a shrug. “It wasn’t that serious.”

Well, that was mostly a lie. What had been serious, though, wasn’t the crap-life that he had gotten. A lot of children lost their parents or were taken away or just ended up with parents who took to drugs and alcohol that ended up in his situation or worse. He was pretty lucky, in that department, and he thanked the stars for it constantly. Sure, he would have liked to end up with a family that was accepting of his sexual orientation and of his views and beliefs, but Lexi was an example that having parents that are supportive and loving doesn’t always happen with real families, anyway. What was serious was his father’s suicide, and the fact that he could have kept that loving life if his father had cared enough to soldier on with his son.

Elliot blamed himself every single day for that. Work days were normally an exception, because he had so many other things to think about, but now that he had his mind on the past, even for a moment, he couldn’t help but feel the pang of guilt. Maybe if he would have been stronger. Maybe if he hadn’t cried every night after his mother’s death. Maybe if he had been smarter, and more masculine, and a better son. Maybe if he had been anyone but himself, his father would have survived. Or, that was how he saw it. In it’s own way, it felt like the same thing; being kicked out was being abandoned, and Elliot felt that his father’s suicide had just been a way to escape his son’s angst.

How inappropriate was it to think that, though?! Sometimes, Elliot felt like he was just bitter. He was bitter towards both families that he had; his birth family for dying on him, and his adoptive family for simply giving up on him before they really got to know him. He wasn’t the kind of person that would take that out on other people, though; Elliot was more likely to take it out on himself. He’d shown signs of it in the past; his anorexia had been induced by depression, after all.

The light topic of freshmen that weren’t going anywhere was a welcomed one, though. “Oh god, don’t even get me started! I was pretty much doing the same, but probably worse; middle school kids, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, college kids! I stopped at nothing, man.” He chuckled lightly. “Only reason I didn’t get kicked out is because of the Baptist asshole that adopted me; he was going to prove to his church that he could save me, whatever that means.” He was chuckling as he spoke about it; that part was the funniest part about his childhood. His Pa had hated everything about Elliot, and yet hadn’t kicked him out in an attempt to show the church that all souls could be saved. Yet by Pa’s definition, Elliot still hadn’t been quote-unquote “saved”.

Elliot could understand having a full schedule and suddenly being bored, even though it wasn’t with a child. When he’d lived in Springfield and worked for that newspaper, he’d been busy all the time. Now that he was in California, though, he was just… well, he was bored all the time. He constantly had to go out and find something or someone to snap photos of in between jobs, or he wouldn’t be able to deal with himself. He had even started a blog just to keep himself occupied, where he posted some of his random photo shoots and the stories behind the people that he shot the photos of.

He came up with an idea on the spot. “Well, I’ve got~!” He looked at his PDA for the time. “Twenty-four hours, forty-five minutes, and like, ten seconds until I’ve got to be at that photo shoot, which means that I’ve got like, twenty hours before I have to leave.” He set the PDA back down. “If you’re not busy, maybe I could do a photo shoot of you? Since you love the fashion industry and you’re bored, and I’m bored, and we both seem to need something to do.” This young woman was gorgeous, and Elliot couldn’t deny it. And since she was so into the fashion industry, what could it hurt to see if she wanted to do a photo shoot? It could surely kill boredom, and who knows? If he posted them on his blog, and someone looked at them, she could get booked for something. Or they could even shoot a portfolio for her.

But he was getting ahead of himself. She had to accept the offer before he could think about all the possibilities. But it was better than thinking about his past and about the job that he had coming up.a

[+ Alexis Cooper]

"If you say so," Alexis said with a shrug. She didn't know Elliot's story. She didn't know why his family situation changed. She didn't know how good his first one was and how bad the second one was. She didn't know if it was apology-worthy. To be honest, Lexi didn't even get why people said sorry if something bad happened to someone else. It seemed appropriate due to the social norms, so she still went ahead and said it, but she had nothing to do with the crap that happened to him. The only people who should say sorry over it is those who put him in that situation. Even though Alexis never really understood the reasoning behind uninvolved individuals to apologize, she actually liked it when it happened to her.

She didn't like it because they were apologizing for the fact she went through it. Alexis simply liked the fact that they agreed her life sucked. It was a bit strange, but she sort of felt respected through that. To her, if someone apologized for her upbringing, Alexis knew that they saw how much her life sucked, and she knew that they saw how she managed to get through it. They saw how much she had changed, and they saw how she was able to be a good mother, despite what her parents did to her.

Alexis had changed so much, that she was barely in contact with any of her high school friends. They liked the carefree, party Lexi. She still loved going out drinking when she had the chance, but Alexis had responsibilities now. She had grown up, and she had matured. That didn't mean she didn't look back in amusement at her younger years, though.

"You know, usually when I meet someone and the topic of my high school days comes up, they're..." Lexi paused for a moment, trying to find the perfect word. "They're like, disgusted with me!" Judgmental losers. "I mean, I was having random, meaningless sex when I was thirteen. Sure, it wasn't the best pastime for a kid, but it was just sex. I'm not ashamed of it, but people seem to expect me to be." Alexis paused once more, a look of fondness and appreciation passing over her face as she grinned at Elliot. "You get me. I like you."

And apparently he liked her too, since he suddenly propositioned her. Alexis wasn't expecting him to suddenly offer her a photo shoot, but she barely even thought about it, before shrugging and saying, "Why not! Cures our boredom and adds another photo album on Facebook." When Alexis was little, she always wanted to be a model. Most younger kids want to be a singer or actor or model one day though. Everyone wants to be famous. And even when Lexi got older, she always thought it would be cool, but didn't have the ambition or dedication to pursue anything. She was too busy drinking and chancing STDs to do anything productive with her life. Alexis still loved the camera though.

"I have to go clean up first though," Alexis added. "Mornings aren't my thing, and it's been a long time since I've had to wake up early, thanks to school hours. I must look like crap. The coffee's helping, at least."

[Elliot O'Hara]

When it came to the whole “I’m sorry” thing, Elliot said it as a pity sort of thing. If he pitied someone, he apologized for the things that they had to go through. And he didn’t like being pitied himself; if anyone was going to pity him, it was going to be himself, and he wouldn’t have someone else pitying him. Maybe it was whatever had snapped in him his junior year that forced him to think that he wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it when people worried about him. Or even thought that he had something that was worthy of being upset over. He knew that he was worth people’s time, but he needed to be happy to be worth their time. That was true in his job and in life.

Of course, that was a total one-eighty from how he’d been in high school. In high school, he had been Elliot Maurice O’Hara, diva of his school, and if someone didn’t like it? Well, they either had the choice of getting into a verbal altercation, (which they typically lost,) or a physical altercation, and he’d had people to fight his battles. As he’d gotten older and the friends either died of overdose, got STDs and moved away, or simply up and left because they were older, he’d lost his power, and though he’d still had the “respect” that he’d managed to build up for himself, he’d had to learn how to respect others to avoid altercations. He wasn’t big, and he wasn’t very tough, and honestly, he had just been a lot of hot air. And now he realized it, but then he had thought that he was a big shot. One some days, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he didn’t recognize the calm, level-headed young man that looked back at him.

“If I judged you, I would be the biggest hypocrite in the world.” Elliot smiled and shrugged. He nodded in agreement when she found the proper words; disgusted with me. He wondered how many times he’d heard people say that they were disgusted with him. And when he heard that she had started at thirteen, he couldn’t help but grin back. “I was doing the same exact thing at thirteen; if anyone’s gonna get you there, it’s me.” He chuckled; it was refreshing to know that he hadn’t been alone there. And he was not the least bit ashamed of his previous sexual escapades; hell, he knew that it was still in him to go out and have meaningless sex. Did he do it as often as he had when he was a preteen-slash-teenager? Absolutely not. But did that mean that he was above slipping back into old habits? Definitely not.

Excited when she accepted his offer, he smiled. “Really? Awesome.” He gave her the thumbs up and reached over, picking up his camera bag and digging through it. “I could give you one of my cards and write my address on the back of it, or we could meet up somewhere in a couple hours. You don‘t look like crap, though.” He laughed lightly, but even so Elliot had a few things to do anyway. Like clean up his house.

Elliot had never owned a house to himself, and now that he had one, he was able to keep it clean most of the time, but there were still times that he just couldn’t keep it together. And he had decided to take this week to explore Violet Hill. Well, he had, before he’d been called for that job, so now that he was stressing he’d decided to get some cleaning done today. And even if he couldn’t totally clean his house, the amount of time that it normally took girls to get ready for things like photo shoots would be enough time to at least clean his living room.

[+ Alexis Cooper]

"I can't believe we're just sitting here, laughing about having sex when we were thirteen," Alexis said, proving her point as another laugh slipped out. She almost always had to pretend as if that part of her life didn't exist. But it did exist, and Lexi had never tried denying it. Even so, it wasn't something she was ever able to bring up.

First and foremost, Emma was almost always with her. Sure, Emma wouldn't understand what she was talking about, if she ever overhears a conversation such as the one she was having with Elliot right now, but she knew she'd get a ton of questions. Almost always, when Lexi hung out with friends, Emma tagged along, unless they were having a night out, and Emma was at home with a sitter. Other than the time she spent with Emma, there were only really two other ways that she spent her days.

There was the time that she spent with Rufus, but they didn't spend much time discussing the past. Five and a half years ago, they had a drunken one night stand. Alexis moved on with her life, as always, and ended up having Emma. It wasn't until a few months ago that they re-met, and Lexi found out he was Emma's father. Alexis had never been one to date, but there was something about Rufus that had interested her, even since before she found out he was Emma's father. Obviously he knew about her past, seeing as he was part of it, but now that things were more than just sexual between the two of them, Lexi figured he wouldn't appreciate her laughing about sleeping with other men. Hell, he wasn't overly happy when he realized she was still checking out other guys, and that was nothing compared to her past.

The only other time and place that she could talk about this stuff was at work. But Lexi worked at a nightclub. She was harassed daily. She was felt up and had her ass smacked practically every shift, and she had only let it slide because they always tipped her better. It's not as if Lexi felt unethical or taken advantage of. She had no problem with the actual action. That being said, it sucked enough to work all night, serving drinks to obnoxious customers. The harassment was just getting a bit old. And if Lexi stopped to have a nice chat with a customer about her past? That was a recipe for rape, seeing as she had managed to stay faithful to Rufus for the past few months. She saw nothing wrong with her old ways, but she wasn't planning on completely slipping back to them, right now.

"God, I was such a slut," Alexis said, laughing again, taking another drink from her coffee, noticing it was significantly cooler now. "I mean, I can't even begin to imagine how many men I could send away for statutory rape. Seriously, they could open up a jail called "Alexis Cooper's Vag", and start sending away everyone I had illegal sex with... and they'd still have to let people out on parole early, just to free up cells." Most people would be rather unimpressed with that notion, but Lexi found it quite amusing, and definitely true.

Elliot offered a few suggestions for where they could go from there, and Lexi paused for a moment, thinking, before saying, "Give me your number, and I'll text you with my address when I'm done?" Pulling out her Blackberry and handing it to him to input his number, she thought it was the best thing to do. She had no idea what he was planning for the photo shoot. He was the photographer- not her! Alexis wasn't sure what to wear, or if she needed a change of clothes. Sure, she could have just risked it and met him later with a bag full of clothes, but it was easier this way. Once she was done with her hair and makeup, he could come over, help her with the clothes, and then they could go to wherever he wanted to have the shoot.

Taking her phone back, Alexis downed the last bit of her coffee, before grabbing her purse and standing up. "I'll see you a little bit, I guess!" she said, giving him a half wave, as she headed towards the door. Well, that was a productive morning! Most mornings were spent dragging her feet, missing her bed.

Alexis didn't live far from Starbucks, so within a few minutes, she was back home, standing in front of the bathroom mirror. If Elliot had made her this offer six years ago, he'd be waiting half the day for her to finish. But since having Emma, Alexis had learned how to get twice the amount done, in half the time. Besides, she wouldn't leave the house at all, looking like complete crap. She still looked presentable; just not amazing, as she usually did. It's not as if she had to start from scratch; Lexi just had to touch some stuff up.

That being said, it was nearly an hour, by the time she texted Elliot, telling him her address, and letting him know that he could come right in. Half of the time, Lexi didn't hear people knocking when she was in her bedroom. It was only a two bedroom apartment, but it was surprisingly sound-proof.

[Elliot O'Hara]

“Hey, we’ve been there, so we have every right to laugh about it.” Elliot chuckled again. That part of his life was something that he could never deny; it had pretty much made him the man that he was, and if he ignored it or pretended that it didn’t exist, then Elliot didn’t know who he was anymore. It was just that big of a part of him. Was he embarrassed that sex had made him into the person that he was? Not really; Elliot was shameless, for lack of a better word.

Of course, in the work world, being so open about his sexuality had given him a comfortable place to fit in with the fashion industry. No one was afraid that Elliot was going to do a photo shoot just to get sexual gratification out of it, nor did they worry about letting Elliot chose their attire and changing with Elliot in the room. Most men found the female attention that he got at work as something to be envied over, but it was just another part of life, to Elliot.

Plus, he liked having the power to choose what his models got to wear. If he talked to a model before hand and looked through the wardrobe with them before the designer dressed them, he was typically allowed to keep the power that he had given himself and the model would wear what he picked out for them. He could pick the jean mini-skirt and the tube top, (though he found that combination of clothing articles absolutely hideous and didn’t understand why men went gaga over things like that,) and no one would think that it was because he was being a pervert.

As much as Elliot hated to admit it, his past gave him a lot of the comforts that he got to enjoy in the adult world. If he’d gone into the closet when his Pa and Ma had shown their disapproval, he wouldn’t have rebelled, and wouldn’t have had all of his sexual adventures, and wouldn’t have felt the drive to let out his creativity and therefore wouldn’t have picked up his camera, and he would probably be miserably working some nine-to-five job that he hated. Or maybe dead. Either way, he liked having the things that he had; the nice house, the Volkswagen Beetle that he drove around with pride, his camera and the many, many lenses that he had with it, and the freedom to dress models the way that he wanted. Those things were important to Elliot, as superficial as they seemed. Those comforts had been things that Elliot had been deprived of by his adoptive family, and there was no way in hell he would change the past just to make people outside of the fashion world more comfortable with him.

Elliot laughed at the comment that she made towards the amount of people that she could put away for statutory rape. Not because it was funny, but because he was in the same boat. When he’d said that he’d stopped at nothing, he had literally meant nothing. The oldest person that he’d hooked up with had been thirty-five, and the youngest had been twelve, and the ages ranged anywhere in between. Of course, he had normally gotten with older guys; it was more fun that way, and less likely to be their first time with a guy. But that didn’t mean that he hadn’t robbed the cradle once or twice. “Oh my God, I know. It’s not every day you find someone whose got a similar scandalous history.” He chuckled. Did he seriously just say scandalous? If she hadn’t gotten the gay vibe before then, he was sure that she would have gotten it right there.

Elliot nodded and put in his number as she handed it to him. “That’s probably a better idea.” Elliot laughed lightly. It meant that he would have to pack up his camera equipment, but hey, he would need to do that in about nineteen hours, anyway. Once he’d input his number, he handed her phone back to her and waved as she stood up and left. “See you then!” He smiled, and he turned to finish his frap and pack up his cookie before heading out himself.

Elliot lived a good ten, fifteen minutes away from Starbucks, so he had just enough time to pack up his camera equipment and his lights and such and clean the living room before he received the text. He saved Lexi’s number into his phone, map quested her address, printed the sheet out, and then walked out of his house, climbing into the front seat of that red beetle that he was so proud of before pulling out and heading over to her apartment.

Coming in as instructed, (though Elliot knocked anyway just in case she could hear the knock,) Elliot stepped a few steps into the front room. “Hello~?” He called out into the house, not wanting to intrude more than he already felt that he was.