writers_muses | Application
42.2.G. "Life itself does its best to take that memory of magic away from us. You don’t know its happening until one day you feel like you’ve lost something, but you’re not sure what it is." - Robert McCammon
PAST SCENE: Set April, 2008…
Riley pulled into a vacant parking space in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh. He unbuckled his seatbelt and then braced his hands on the steering wheel to put his forehead down on his knuckles. He had two things planned for his day off work; the first had been booking his plane tickets to New Jersey and the second was this. He’d given his notice at work and was officially due to finish up on May sixth and he would fly out the following day. It would give him barely twenty four hours to recover from the jetlag to make Lachlan and Tara’s wedding. At that was one thing that seemed to be going okay, despite the fact Lachlan had called just the day before to tell him Tara had broken her leg in some freak fall whilst trying on her wedding dress. If all went according to plan, she’d get the cast of right before she was due to make the trip up the aisle.
Riley’s stomach and heart had a heavy ache deep inside. He couldn’t believe he was sitting here doing this. In about three weeks, he’d be leaving Scotland for good and going back to America. It was bittersweet. He was going back home and back to Tab, but he was walking away from a country he loved, a job he loved, and girl he loved…
He sighed and pulled his head up to glance at the passenger’s seat beside him. Nestled in the hollow between the seat and back rest was a small black velvet box. He picked it up and wrapped his hands around it for a moment, the velvet soft against his palm. He watched a group of students walk past Mamma’s Pizza, but he wasn’t really taking in the sight. He snapped the box open and the pristine diamond surrounded by white gold stared back at him. It was part of Clarkson’s Jewellers exclusive range and eight weeks ago it had taken him close to three hours to choose it. Simple, but unique… Beth to a tee.
He snapped the box shut and pulled the keys from the car ignition roughly. As he got out of the car and locked it, the ring box and keys were shoved unceremoniously into his jacket pocket and he set the alarm on his car (which he had sold to a friend and would only have the use of for another three days). The walk up the hill from Grassmarket to West Bow was short but enough to set a race of thoughts in his mind. He couldn’t believe how much this was hurting. He’d really thought Beth had been the one. The first person he’d ever probably truly been in love with, and he had been going to propose to her.
Of course, that had been before the whole fiasco with the Princeton job. He remembered Lachlan once telling him to let it all hang out once in awhile; that life was too short and one day he’d wake up and realise he’d missed what he’d spent his whole life anticipating and working for. Lachlan was always their resident Yoda. The advice was sound enough, but Riley hadn’t really realised how poignant it had been until Lachlan himself had nearly lost his life in his prime. It had given Riley such a wake up call that he had ended up deciding to take his balls into his hand and propose to Beth… the love of his life.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
He’d scored the job in Princeton and it was something he needed to do for both his own yearning and for the benefit of his career. When Lachlan told him to let it all hang out, he was pretty sure his Scottish pal didn’t mean let it all hang out simultaneously, but shit happens. At that point in his life, Riley needed to leave Scotland and return home to his twin sister. He’d had a gaping hole inside him ever since he’d been apart from her and with Lachlan nearly taken from them, his awareness of how precious life and family could be were stark in his mind. He needed this change, and he’d hoped Beth would understand and they could come to some sort of… something.
But it didn’t happen. She didn’t take the news of his want to leave Scotland well at all and they ended up breaking up with such spectacular shock, that it left Riley reeling. He had walked out of their apartment that night and hadn’t seen her since.
Leaving his plans to propose nothing but that… plans.
He blinked back some tears. That had been weeks ago now and the hurt was still so raw like it had just happened yesterday. But he couldn’t dwell on it. If he did, he’d lose it. He needed to focus on getting back home and back to Tab. He had a new job ahead of him to look forward to and his friend’s wedding. It was going to be okay…
Somehow, he’d get through it without Beth.
He cleared his throat and pushed open the quaint little wooden and glass door of Clarksons of Edinburgh and approached the counter. He kept his eyes trained up and away from the jewellery cabinets as he placed the velvet box before the store clerk and slid the receipt across the counter. “I’d like to return this, please,” he murmured.
That was it.
It was over.
- Beth Anderson [phtgrphcscot], Tabitha Browne [asinthecity], Lachlan Campbell [drcampbell] and Tara Brennan-Campbell [doctortara] referenced with permission.
Muse | Dr Riley Browne
Fandom | House, M.D. (Original Character)
Words | 910
PAST SCENE: Set April, 2008…
Riley pulled into a vacant parking space in the Grassmarket, Edinburgh. He unbuckled his seatbelt and then braced his hands on the steering wheel to put his forehead down on his knuckles. He had two things planned for his day off work; the first had been booking his plane tickets to New Jersey and the second was this. He’d given his notice at work and was officially due to finish up on May sixth and he would fly out the following day. It would give him barely twenty four hours to recover from the jetlag to make Lachlan and Tara’s wedding. At that was one thing that seemed to be going okay, despite the fact Lachlan had called just the day before to tell him Tara had broken her leg in some freak fall whilst trying on her wedding dress. If all went according to plan, she’d get the cast of right before she was due to make the trip up the aisle.
Riley’s stomach and heart had a heavy ache deep inside. He couldn’t believe he was sitting here doing this. In about three weeks, he’d be leaving Scotland for good and going back to America. It was bittersweet. He was going back home and back to Tab, but he was walking away from a country he loved, a job he loved, and girl he loved…
He sighed and pulled his head up to glance at the passenger’s seat beside him. Nestled in the hollow between the seat and back rest was a small black velvet box. He picked it up and wrapped his hands around it for a moment, the velvet soft against his palm. He watched a group of students walk past Mamma’s Pizza, but he wasn’t really taking in the sight. He snapped the box open and the pristine diamond surrounded by white gold stared back at him. It was part of Clarkson’s Jewellers exclusive range and eight weeks ago it had taken him close to three hours to choose it. Simple, but unique… Beth to a tee.
He snapped the box shut and pulled the keys from the car ignition roughly. As he got out of the car and locked it, the ring box and keys were shoved unceremoniously into his jacket pocket and he set the alarm on his car (which he had sold to a friend and would only have the use of for another three days). The walk up the hill from Grassmarket to West Bow was short but enough to set a race of thoughts in his mind. He couldn’t believe how much this was hurting. He’d really thought Beth had been the one. The first person he’d ever probably truly been in love with, and he had been going to propose to her.
Of course, that had been before the whole fiasco with the Princeton job. He remembered Lachlan once telling him to let it all hang out once in awhile; that life was too short and one day he’d wake up and realise he’d missed what he’d spent his whole life anticipating and working for. Lachlan was always their resident Yoda. The advice was sound enough, but Riley hadn’t really realised how poignant it had been until Lachlan himself had nearly lost his life in his prime. It had given Riley such a wake up call that he had ended up deciding to take his balls into his hand and propose to Beth… the love of his life.
But it wasn’t meant to be.
He’d scored the job in Princeton and it was something he needed to do for both his own yearning and for the benefit of his career. When Lachlan told him to let it all hang out, he was pretty sure his Scottish pal didn’t mean let it all hang out simultaneously, but shit happens. At that point in his life, Riley needed to leave Scotland and return home to his twin sister. He’d had a gaping hole inside him ever since he’d been apart from her and with Lachlan nearly taken from them, his awareness of how precious life and family could be were stark in his mind. He needed this change, and he’d hoped Beth would understand and they could come to some sort of… something.
But it didn’t happen. She didn’t take the news of his want to leave Scotland well at all and they ended up breaking up with such spectacular shock, that it left Riley reeling. He had walked out of their apartment that night and hadn’t seen her since.
Leaving his plans to propose nothing but that… plans.
He blinked back some tears. That had been weeks ago now and the hurt was still so raw like it had just happened yesterday. But he couldn’t dwell on it. If he did, he’d lose it. He needed to focus on getting back home and back to Tab. He had a new job ahead of him to look forward to and his friend’s wedding. It was going to be okay…
Somehow, he’d get through it without Beth.
He cleared his throat and pushed open the quaint little wooden and glass door of Clarksons of Edinburgh and approached the counter. He kept his eyes trained up and away from the jewellery cabinets as he placed the velvet box before the store clerk and slid the receipt across the counter. “I’d like to return this, please,” he murmured.
That was it.
It was over.
- Beth Anderson [phtgrphcscot], Tabitha Browne [asinthecity], Lachlan Campbell [drcampbell] and Tara Brennan-Campbell [doctortara] referenced with permission.
Muse | Dr Riley Browne
Fandom | House, M.D. (Original Character)
Words | 910