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The Perk, Thursday Early Evening

In an attempt to avoid Caritas--with the way her moods had been lately she thought it wise. Drinking while troubled was never the way to go, she remembered that lesson well enough from old classmates and them stumbling in drunk the night before exams--

And then failing those exams the next day because they were hungover. She'd laughed at them then. Juli would rather like to be able to continue to laugh at them.

No, drinking wasn’t the solution to anything.

Rather, she had a strong cup of coffee, a slice of apple pie, and a book. Tucking herself into a chair where she could easily watch the street, Juli settled in for a few hours.

[Open!]

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For some...truly unknown reason, Charlotte had been finding herself running out of coffee in both the apartment and in the gallery's reception area with more alacrity than before. On the tail end of some errands, she stopped into the Perk to restock herself with some of the really nice, good, freshly ground gourmet stuff (no reason, really...), and gave Juli a wave when she spotted the other woman there.

"A little nice," she commented, "to run into each other outside of the bar for a change."

That got a soft laugh. "It is rather, isn't it? I've been feeling more like coffee than martini lately, and so haven't been there as often. How have you been, Charlotte?"

"I'll admit I'm a bit tempted toward either, but trying to abstain a little," Charlotte said with a light smile. "And I've been...quite well, thank you. Yourself?"

"I've been... well enough, I suppose," Juli said, smiling slightly. "But quite well? Any stories to tell?"

"Well..." Charlotte hesitated slightly; well enough was hardly taken to mean that someone was feeling that well overall, but...Juli had asked. Charlotte's grin grew a little beyond her attempts to contain it. "Oh, you know. Weekends in Paris, and, you know, quick trip to Tokyo for a business meeting followed by, get this, jet setting back to New York just to get pizza because, hey, if you'd got a private jet..."

"Sit," she gestured, "please, if you've got the time, I'd not mind. You went to a city just for the pizza?"

Chuckling slightly, Charlotte was pretty sure Juli didn't have to ask her twice as she took the offered seat. "For the pizza," she said, "and because we could, really. It was nice, though. You have no idea how much I missed the city, even if it was Tony's version of New York, not mine. There were enough similarities, though."

"What was the largest difference?" Juli asked interestedly. She did like hearing about the alternate places around here. "And... Tony?"

"Largest difference?" Charlotte considered it. "I'd say simply the fact that he's apparently well known where he comes from and I've never heard of him until he came into the gallery and bought a piece. Tony Stark, recently moved in and opened that Stark Industries shop on the island and proving to have a very lucrative interest in the exhibits." Her expression, hopefully, told Juli exactly what she meant.

"Oh?" Juli asked archly. "I'd imagine that that is something of an unexpected windfall for you?"

She was teasing, in her way. She did know what Charlotte had meant.

"Oh, yes, terrible," Charlotte laughed. "I hate actually exceeding my expectations of success for an exhibit. Just awful."

"It's terribly tragic really. Imagine that--success. Who would have ever guessed?"

"I certaintly wouldn't have, but I'm going to have to stop this line of joking right now before our sarcasm jinxes me."

It could do that, after all.

"So what have you been up to?"

"Mary attempted to sell me her wedding dress," Juli said dryly, "and then came and apologized about it another night, so I assume things are back on track half-decently well."

Juli considered what else she'd been up to.

"...I borrowed a feather duster?"

She did not lead the most exciting of lives, no.

Charlotte eyes went so wide that it seemed they might actually pop out of their sockets if they went any wider. "Sell you her wedding dress?" she gasped, horrified. "Why?" The question came out of her almost sounding like it was causing her physical pain.

Juli considered her options. Mary had been... quite forthcoming in her explanations but she wasn't entire sure she ought to be sharing all of that with Charlotte.

Mm. Decisions, decisions.

"She mentioned that he was getting cold feet," Juli offered after a moment. "And that his father wanted him to go to college rather than get married." Which rather neatly left out Mary's drinking problem.

"Ohmygod! I...I have to talk to her! I can't believe I'm missed this; I've so..." The worriedly little tirade dropped away for a moment, Charlotte flushing just a bit as she blinked. "...busy."

"...busy," Juli echoed, with amusement. "I'm sure they'll work it out, Mary was quite determined about it the last I talked to her."

"I hope so," Charlotte said, brow creased with worry and her shoulders slumping under the weight of her worry. "I really do. There's been just so much thrown at them, and I just...well, you have to just work right through it, and then, once you do, everything will just be smooth sailing, you know? Calm before the storm. Like me, for example. There was so much that went wrong with my marriage to Trey, but I persevered and stayed strong, and now I'm with Dale, who's practically Trey, only without all the problems and younger, even!"

...Without a lot of the money, too, but Charlotte could look over that. Especially when designer shoes still somehow managed to work into the picture. He had mentioned a pretty big stipend for his assignment here...

Dale. Juli mentally matched the name up with what she heard on the radio, and nodded. Yes. Alright. She'd have to meet him at some point.

"I'm sure it will," Juli said, trying for comforting even though her own opinions on the matter were mostly a matter of 'wait and see', "and, I must say, it sounds like you've got a type."

Charlotte grinned a little at that. "You wouldn't be the first to tell me that," she said. "And I don't see anything wrong with it; I just know what I like. And that just so happens to be kind and handsome and smart and funny."

Her grin turned a little wry. "And, you know, he looks just like Trey, too? Only younger? I mean, how much more of a type can you get than that?"

That made her raise her eyebrows.

"That's... that's rather neatly summing up 'type' and putting a bow on it," she said, amused. "Don't you think so?"

[And I'm totally crashing. SP for great justice?]

"Dating and relationships are mysterious enough," Charlotte pointed out. "Might as well get that part of it taken care of and covered. It's the same with business. Or shopping, even! If you don't know what you want when you go out and get it, you could just end up wasting al your money and just be left with a big heaping dose of buyer's remorse."

"Buyer's remorse?" Juli looked and sounded openly amused now. "I don't think I've heard it referred to as that before."

"Well, you know, you invest so much into something, only to find out that it's not really what you wanted." She paused, significantly. "Or needed."

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