RP: Coffee makes everything better

[charisma79]

Date: January 5, 2012
Characters: Charisma Gibbons, Nellie O'Neill, Paul Tallman
Location: Starbucks on 8th, Fort Worth
Status: Public
Summary: The best way to start the day is with coffee.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[charisma79]

Charisma gave the other woman a friendly smile. "You're welcome," she said. She was no angel, but she understood the sentiment behind the comment. She was glad that the woman didn't seem to mind the interruption and seemed friendly enough, as Charisma had always enjoyed striking up conversations with the random people she encountered in everyday situations such as this. She grinned, nodding in understanding. "I always carry a bunch, too." She figured the woman must have got to the area recently if she still hadn't replenished her pen supply yet. "Feel free to hang onto that one," she offered with a smile. It wouldn't be a hardship to her, and if the woman was going to be filling out a bunch of applications today, she knew it would be a hassle and not very impressive to have to ask for a pen at every place.

"Understandable." Charisma rather thought that was the responsible thing to do, as not everyone had the inheritance and savings built up that she did. If she didn't have savings, she'd be getting just any job she could while she looked for one she really wanted, or she would have waited to quit the firm from sexist hell until she'd found a better job. "Oh yeah? Where from?" she asked curiously, getting the impression that the woman wouldn't mind a little conversation with her coffee. "By the way, I'm Charisma," she said, holding her hand out across the empty space between their tables.

[nellie_oneill]

Nellie blinked in surprise and grinned a little more broadly. "Really? Thank you," she said gratefully, knowing it would make her day easier to have a pen to bring along with her. She really should have thought of it earlier, but she'd thought she had one, and anyway, she didn't really consider herself a morning person even if she did tend to get up early-ish.

"Virginia," she said, setting the pen down, perfectly content to wait for now to do the application. She had time. If she didn't get it done today, she'd come back and turn it in tomorrow. It wasn't like she was in that much of a hurry, and she'd always enjoyed a good conversation. "My family lives up thataways." She smiled and reached out to shake her hand. "Charisma, that is a lovely name," she complimented. She'd never met anyone with it before. "I'm Nellie, it's a pleasure to meet you."

[charisma79]

"Oh, Virginia is beautiful," Charisma commented with a smile. She'd seen a lot of the east coast before she'd moved out west after graduating high school, and there were definitely things about it that she missed. There was a kind of beauty there that you just couldn't get in Texas, but Charisma didn't really think she would give up what she had found in Texas for having prettier surroundings.

"Ah, what brought you down this way?" she asked, though she wouldn't be offended at all if she chose to either not give an answer at all or to just give a vague answer. "Thank you." She was used to the compliment about her name, and she knew it wasn't common. "Likewise." She knew she could do with doing this more often, that it wouldn't hurt to get out there and meet new people, perhaps make new friends. She was social by nature, and she missed having a close circle of friends, even though she'd started losing the closeness of her friends in Portland long before she'd moved to Texas.

[nellie_oneill]

"It really is. Texas is rather different in comparison, but it's not too bad," she said. It was a different kind of beauty. Though she missed having all the trees and such around. But she'd get used to it after awhile, and it was, well, the middle of winter. Things would be different when the weather changed; she kind of looked forward to seeing how it turned out.

"My closest friend is attached to the military base down here," Nellie replied, taking a sip of her coffee. "Decided I should come bug him for awhile." Among other reasons, given her family and everything at the moment. "And a change is as good as rest, yeah? So I came on down here." Most people would probably think her weird for just uprooting like that, but she was already feeling a little freer by having just come on down.

[charisma79]

Charisma nodding, grinning just a little. "It is very different. I grew up in New York, then headed west to Oregon, and they're both very different, not only from each other, but from Texas, too," she explained, understanding first-hand just how different the Texas climate and scenery could be.

"Ah," she said with a small nod. She figured moving to be closer to a best friend made more sense than to move to be near the sister you hadn't lived near in over a decade. "Sometimes a change is just what a girl needs," Charisma agreed with a smile. A strong desire for a change in her life, more than wanting to be near Maureen and Layla, was what really brought on her decision to uproot her life and start new in a completely different place than she was used to.

[nellie_oneill]

Nellie nodded. "Yeah. I grew up in Virginia, but I moved around a bit after I got married. Saw some of the East Coast and all, more than about anything, though we took some road trips a few times too," she said. "I've found it quite amazing just how varied the landscape is in this country, on the whole." So much difference and just one country.

Nellie sighed, propping her chin on her palm. "It really is. I know I had to get away. My family was driving me nuts," she said, rolling her eyes to take away some of the sting. It wasn't really their fault, though in was in a way as well. She just knew she would do better away from them than she would with them, at least for right now. "So have you lived here long?" she asked curiously. "Is there anything I should look at in particular?"

[charisma79]

Charisma's eyes were drawn to Nellie's left hand at the mention of marriage, and she smiled slightly at the rings there. She couldn't help the curiosity, though, as she remembered how Nellie had said she'd moved down here, not 'we', though there were plenty of reasons that could be, and she wasn't going to make assumptions. "It is incredibly varied," she agreed. "It has a little bit of everything, really." And that thought reminded her of a conversation past with Miah and made her wonder if they would get around to seeing parts of the country together.

"Don't most families have at least a little bit of dysfunction?" she asked rhetorically with a small smile, though if someone looked close enough, they would see the tightness around her eyes. The only family she had left that she could count on was her Grams, and she was still in Portland. "Almost a year now, but I'm afraid I won't be much help on the job front, unless you're an architect, too." She pulled her own list out of her purse and held it up. "Starting some field research for a new job today, myself, and I'm letting myself be picky about it this time."

[nellie_oneill]

Nellie smiled somewhat ruefully. "I do believe they do," she agreed. Her family had its fair share of it. They weren't bad people, no, but she and they didn't always see eye to eye about a fair number of things. Though she didn't know Charisma, it seemed that maybe she had something similar, not that she would call her on that right now. Everyone had their problems and secrets.

She smiled faintly and shook her head. "No, not an architect, alas, but it was worth a try," she said. You never knew when a conversation over coffee could lead to a tip to get a job. "Graduated with my BA in HIstory this last spring, but right now I'm not being that picky. I've done anything from retail to barrista to personal assistant over the years, though I suppose I shouldn't admit it. But that's what happens when you move reasonably often." She glanced at the list Charisma held up and her lips quirked slightly. "Good luck with that. It's good to be picky if you can."

[charisma79]

Charisma understood the concept of networking very well, and she didn't mind in the least that Nellie had taken a shot in the dark that she might get a lead on a job through her. She'd have likely done the same thing if she didn't already have a list of places to check out today. Hell, she'd got her last job through networking, so it wasn't something she was unfamiliar with at all.

Charisma tilted her head, nodding slightly. She wondered what kind of job one would get with a History degree, but before she could ask, she was distracted by the reference to moving often just as she noticed the dog tags peeking out from Nellie's scarf. "Military wife?" she ventured a guess, making the most logical leap of why she would have moved around frequently. And then she wondered if the woman's husband was deployed right now, and if that's why she'd moved down here to bug her military friend. "I am going to enjoy being picky, and I do have a master's and nine years at one firm going for me, so I think I've earned the right to be picky." She wasn't bragging, but she had worked hard for her degrees and at her job in Portland.

[nellie_oneill]

Nellie reached up and twined her fingers in a familiar motion around her husband's dog tags, raising them to her lips to kiss them softly. "Yeah. Air Force," she said softly, unable to keep the sadness completely out of her voice. But unlike a year ago, she could say it without bursting into tears or feeling like she was about to cry that very instant. She had come a long way in healing, even if she wasn't as far as some people would think.

"Oh, you definitely have every right," she said honestly. "I would be picky if I could be, and you've earned that right. I started on my Masters, and once I'm settled I will probably go back. Again." It was almost rueful, but she did like her education, it had just taken a long time to get where she had. But she wouldn't give up those years for anything in the world. "Especially given the job market today, if you can be picky, go for it."

[charisma79]

Charisma caught the sadness, and she frowned. She felt bad for reminding Nellie of whatever sadness was there, though she could guess at what it was. She wasn't going to poke at those wounds more by asking about it, though. Maybe if she knew the other woman, if she wasn't a complete stranger, she would ask, but she didn't, so she wouldn't.

"Well, good luck for when you go back, then. I know it gets harder to go back to school once you've been out for a bit," she commented. "Oh, definitely. Having a savings built up is a Godsend right now." She took a bite of her danish, washing it down with a drink of her coffee before asking, "So what kind of a job would a history degree get you?" She was curious about that, as she hadn't really had much interest in history beyond the how it impacted architecture.

[nellie_oneill]

“I started my Masters last semester, actually? But it was mostly to keep the job I had, since I really liked it. Reenactor at colonial Williamsburg,” Nellie provided, grinning. It had been a lot of fun, and it was probably one of the things she’d miss first, if not the most. “But I don’t even know what kind of history programs they have around here.” Perhaps that made her stupid, moving here without looking into that, but she was here for the people. She wasn’t in so much of a hurry with her education that she couldn’t enjoy everything else.

“There’s a lot out there, really. A history degree is welcome in a lot of fields. But I’d be most interested in something in a museum, actively using my degree, or as a teacher, I think. But I also know a lot of people who use them in general jobs, assistant positions, HR, et cetera. So I have plenty of options, really. These days a degree is a degree, it seems.” She shrugged and sipped her coffee, idly opening her little thing of cream cheese to g with her bagel.

[charisma79]

“Oh! Sorry, I just assumed,” Charisma said, though she knew better than to make assumptions. That only ever served to get people in trouble. “Interesting,” she said with a faint smile, not sure she’d ever met a colonial reenactor before. Nor was she sure it would really be all that interesting to her, but to each their own. “Ah, well there’s so much diversity here, I’m sure there’s plenty of history type things to find.” She wouldn’t have any suggestions as to where to start, though.

She smiled when Nellie explained what she could use her degree for. “Well, you’re lucky you have so many choices of how to use it, then. A degree in architecture really doesn’t have as broad potential of use, really.” Though teaching was always an option, especially with a Master’s in the field. That just wasn’t a route she was sure she wanted to go, or would ever want to go. A lot of it depended on, she knew, where her life would go from here.

[nellie_oneill]

Nellie flapped a hand in the air. “It’s a logical assumption, really. I’m old enough to have graduated awhile back, so yeah.” But she had had other goals with higher priority, and she didn’t regret it. Only thing she really did regret was not having a family with Declan sooner, for putting that off for a few years. That was what she regretted. “I’m sure I’ll find something, even if it’s only temporary.” She was willing to take what she could find for now.

“No, I wouldn’t suppose it would, but at least you know exactly what you want to do with it and where to look,” Nellie said with a shrug. “I have to shuffle through a lot more things, so.” Not that it really bothered her; it had been her choice, after all. “And obviously you have some kind of a plan of action, so that’s good.” And savings to fall back on, as she’d said. Nellie didn’t have a huge padding, but enough to keep her from bumming off others.

[charisma79]

Charisma merely smiled, glad that she hadn’t bothered Nellie with the assumption. You could never really be sure with strangers. “Well, there are jobs out there, so I’m sure you will,” she agreed. Sometimes you just had to be willing to take what was available rather than waiting for what you really wanted.

Charisma wrinkled her nose just a little. “Not so sure I know what I want to do with it anymore, but I do have a starting point in looking, so I suppose there’s a plus there.” And since there wasn’t as broad of choices for her field, she didn’t have as much to sort through in looking, which did make it easier on her. “I should probably let you get back to it all, though,” she said as she heard her phone chirp at her, signaling that someone had sent her a message. “It was good to meet you, Nellie.”

[nellie_oneill]

It was nice to hear someone thought she'd find something, at least. Some people were very negative on the economy, but Nellie was hoping it was turning around a little and there were at least menial sorts of jobs out there. She would take what she could get until something better came along.

"Well, good luck to you as well, then," Nellie told her. "It was good to meet you, too." She smiled and picked up her pen again, starting in on the application. It was nice to meet new people, though who knew if she'd ever meet the woman again. She was nice, though. Perhaps she'd run into her another time.