RP: Drinks and Catching Up

[neve_stadheim]

Date: September 30th, 2011
Characters: Neve Stadheim, Lupe Espinoza
Location: Cocktail Bar in Fort Worth
Status: Semi-Private
Summary: Neve decides it's about time she caught up with Lupe.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[lupe_espinoza]

It seemed to be a good month for catching up with friends, which was good. Lupe just felt bad that she hadn't reached out first, to Jenni or Neve. These days it was way too easy to lose track of time and people when they weren't constantly running into each other anymore. She and Neve both had to work a little harder ever since Lupe had traded in her blues for her shield and no longer patrolled

[neve_stadheim]

Neve glanced up and returned the hug when Lupe appeared, smiling brightly and feeling like the stresses of the last few weeks were slowing slipping away. Some good old fashion girl talk and catching up was likely exactly what she needed. "Hey, I was really glad you agreed to come out." She replied with a laugh. "Us single Mom's we don't get to do this very often." And she didn't know about Lupe, but she could definitely use a night out.

"So how've you been? Mack comes home talking about Mattie all the time, but you and I have barely spoken since, I don't know, April?" Neve knew the lack of communication was partly her own fault, her summer had been so hectic.

[lupe_espinoza]

"That's for sure." Lupe rolled her eyes. "I feel bad, I made my friend Jenni accompany me on a playdate just so I could get some time to catch up with her. The juggling never stops." The ice cream had been tasty, though.

"I've been good. Busy, what else is new." She smiled. "Mattie talks about Mack a lot too. Kind of sad, isn't it, that they're in better touch than us. I really need to break down and start using Facebook."

[neve_stadheim]

Neve laughed. "Only person I've seen much of this summer is Jake, to be honest." She could understand juggling time for friends, it was a part of life. Half the time she was trying to do two things at once while catching up with someone. "And I'm sure your friend Jenni didn't mind." Although she could be wrong.

"What isn't new?" She remarked with a laugh. "I feel so silly saying this, and you might actually be the first person I'm saying this aloud to. But Jake and I, couple weeks ago we decided to try seeing each other." Neve was fairly certain Lupe knew Jake, but if she didn't she was more than willing to explain who he was. "Well if you get Facebook you still won't keep in contact with me, I'm not much of a social media person?"

[lupe_espinoza]

"Jake, Jake...the cookout guy?" It'd been nice to meet him that time, she'd known he and Neve were close friends. "No, she didn't mind. She's a schoolteacher, she's used to it."

She ordered a drink, stiffer than hr usual glass of wine at home, then listened to Neve, who seemed to have a lot going on. Her eyes widened. "You're dating cookout guy? How's that going? Thought you two had been friends a long time." She laughed. "No facebook? Well, there goes that idea. I'll stick to the phone."

[neve_stadheim]

Neve laughed and nodded her head. "Yeah, Jake the cookout guy." Though that wasn't how she thought of him, but at least Lupe knew who she was talking about. "Well that's a plus for sure, although dealing with it on a day off was likely pretty big of her."

Lupe's wide eyed look didn't go unnoticed by Neve, and it just made her feel kind of silly. "I am, and so far it's going well." She paused, nodding her head as she answered. "We have been friends a long time. And if anyone ever asked me if I'd wake up one morning and realize I had feelings for him, I would have likely told them no. But I have, and it's strange, and great, and god, I haven't been in the dating world for years." She laughed, again feeling kind of silly for having just admitted that. "Sticking to the phone is good, I text like a fiend." And she did, it was almost easier with her job to send off a quick text to the girls, to Ezra, to just about anyone, really.

[lupe_espinoza]

"I wish I could give you some advice on dating," she said with a wry smirk, "but it's been more than years for me. You look happy though, when you talk about him. And on the bright side, I'm pretty sure I won't have to run a background check on this one." She lifted a brow, teasing. It seemed like all her friends were hooking up somewhere or other, even if Jack's thing with Cale hadn't worked out (she needed to drag her friend out soon). It wasn't often that Lupe took the time to think about the fact that she wasn't hooking up, and hadn't for years. "I guess things can just sneak up on you sometimes."

She laughed. "Texting it is. I'm at least partially living in the 21st century at least, I do know how to text."

[neve_stadheim]

"Don't worry about it. Jake and I, well, I think we're managing." She replied with a laugh. They both had a lot going on in their lives, a lot on the line if this thing didn't work out, but so far they were making it work as best they could. Taking things slow and just figuring it out together. "I am happy, really happy. And no, I think this one's clean." She laughed, grateful for her friend's good natured teasing. "Isn't that the truth? Life seems to change course when you least expect it." Or at least that's how her life had always been.

"Well if you get a Facebook account you'll be one step ahead of me into the 21st century." Neve teased, taking a sip of her drink before asking. "So beyond being busy, how've you been?"

[lupe_espinoza]

"Well, good," Lupe said approvingly. "I hear people need more to their lives than work and play dates, even single moms. It's total hearsay though, don't quote me on that."

She took a sip of her drink as well. "Okay," she said. "Nothing too exciting. Gardening, finally getting my porch fixed, learning to appreciate comics and Mariokart...and oh yeah, a friend's roped me into some kind of date auction tomorrow. I'm not sure what happened." She laughed.

[neve_stadheim]

"I can confirm that hearsay is correct. People do need more to life than play dates and work, and I'm just figuring that out." Neve replied with a happy smile. "I'm going to attempt to rein in my happy rambling, you're just the first person I've told." She knew that maybe Ezra should have heard about her thing with Jake first, but oh well, she'd tell him in time.

"Comics and Mariokart, so Mattie's the reason Mack's insisting on weekly trips to the comic book shop now, huh?" She teased, well aware that her middle daughter was never swayed by anyone else's opinion. "Well, you had a friend rope you into that thing, I had a brother rope me into the auction." Neve wrinkled her nose. "It's for a good cause, that's what I keep telling myself."

[lupe_espinoza]

"Ramble anytime, it makes me smile," Lupe said honestly, swizzling her drink with her straw. She didn't have a lot of context or experience to offer, but she liked to listen to her friends, and was happy if they were.

"Mattie would be the most likely culprit, yeah," Lupe said with a snort. "He started dragging me to Oddball almost every week since around August. Though I'm meeting men older than me who are just as into it as he is. It's been a learning experience, and I now know more about comics than I ever thought I would." She rolled her eyes. "The cause would be just as good if I made a donation and left, but that's being a bad sport I guess. I decided to bid rather than put myself up." That way she'd at least have some control over what happened.

[neve_stadheim]

"Well I'm always glad to put a smile on someones face, even if I'm feeling a little silly in the process." Neve answered honestly, because she did feel a little silly rambling about her and Jake, but it also felt great to be talking to someone about Jake. She had always known he was great, now she was just figuring that out on a whole different level.

"I don't mind. It was bound to happen, with Ezra around more it was only a matter of time before he introduced Mack to comics." Neve said. "Meeting older men, huh?And I'm still clueless when it comes to comics, but Mack's trying." Laughing, Neve shrugged. "I was informed I was going up for auction, and god bless Jake he's going to save me from being awkwardly 'won' by some stranger." Neve would have preferred just bidding, but Ezra had asked and she hadn't been able to say 'no.'.

[lupe_espinoza]

"What's to feel silly about?" she asked with a shrug. "Happiness isn't that common, and it's definitely not silly."

Lupe smiled. "Well, there are worse things for Mack to be introduced to, at least. Maybe less expensive things, too, but that's neither here nor there." She snorted. "Apparently comics shops are a decent enough hangout for thirtysomethings. I'm glad you have someone to save you from strangers. I'm not sure who I'll bid on, but we'll see. I'll try and hunt for a familiar face and make it as painless as possible."

[neve_stadheim]

Neve shrugged sheepishly. "It's been a very long time since I've done the whole 'new' relationship thing. I feel like I'm a bit beyond getting giddy over a guy." She replied honestly, a fond smile tugging up the corners of her mouth. "But I will believe you when you say it isn't silly."

She nodded. "There are worse things." She agreed, smiling as Lupe explained about comic book guy. "Makes you wonder though if those same thirysomethings are living in their parents basement." Neve knew it was a stereotype, and she was mostly joking. "Yes, I'm very thankful that I have a savior. And with the amount of people involved I'm sure you'll find a familiar face."