Topic: What goes up...

Carley

Date: 2007-12-20 05:16 EST
December 20th

Life is never perfect, since perfection doesn't exist. Not really. Especially not in a place like Rhydin. But was there close to perfection' Or the feeling of being close to perfection' There most certainly was, at least for Carley. Things in life for her right now felt about as close to perfect as they possibly could, and it showed. In the way she spoke or the way she carried herself with an extra bounce, and even the way she worked. At The Stitch she had been in such high spirits lately, and treated customers with kindness and courtesy that surprised her fellow employees.

Terrible things had happened - the explosion, not all that long ago, but so much good seemed to be born from it. People uniting together to rebuild, growing closer, her and Glenn....It really did give a person hope; at least, it gave her hope. Hope that nothing was ever, well, hopeless. Even her soured friendship with Heath had been repaired, something she had thought wouldn't happen. He seemed to be doing better as well, not drinking or falling in with the wrong crowds. That was the problem before....Heath was a great guy, one of the best anyone could ever know, but put a bottle in his hand" And he'd change to another person entirely, become vile and violent, every bad quality augmented a hundred times over....but perhaps he had put that behind him"

Like the past few days, this one had been glorious as well. Carley spent it with friends after work, checked on Mille, visited Eddie's stand for a drink and a chat, and in a lucky twist of fate- or so she thought at the time- she bumped into Heath; still doing well, smelling clean of alcohol, and in high spirits of his own. Despite the particularly chilly and windy weather at the docks, that's where they went, and he showed off various ships that had recently pulled into the harbor to the little elf, knowing how much she liked them. And the seagulls, gosh she loved them too. Any bird really, just fascinated her so.

But no, life's not perfect. It's almost as if something bad has to happen to knock a person down from their elation when things are almost there....almost perfect.

Carley had wanted to watch the sunset at the docks, since few things in nature compares to the sun setting over the ocean's horizon. It was just - beautiful. Of course, that beauty was lost upon Carley, when things just had to go wrong. Heath was too close, physical contact was made too often, his arms were wrapped around her, and in his eyes, she saw a look Glenn had given to her many times - a look of awe. It was something Carley didn't understand, why there were women that took pride in having multiple men chase after them, or look at them in that awestruck way. When that happened, someone got hurt, and Carley didn't want to hurt someone like that, especially a friend. But there he was, looking at her, tilting his head, leaning entirely too close...

"I should go."

Carley

Date: 2007-12-21 00:55 EST
December 21st, Early Morning Econ-Omni Apartments - Room 14

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The loudness and urgency of the knocking at Carley's door caused the elf to awake with a start, and sit up suddenly in her bed. She rubbed at her eyes, not as bright as they usually were, considering the rude awakening so early in the morning. Without a window, she couldn't immediately tell what hour it was, but she was sure it was only a few hours away from her needing to be at The Stitch. Who would be knocking at her door at this hour" It wouldn't be Glenn, no, he worries too much of courtesy in this regard, though if it was him she'd likely be irked at him. The landlord" No no, he enjoyed his sleep, and she had already paid him for the month. Another one of her friends" But why' Unless...could something have happened"

Thud. Thud. Thud.

She frowned at the second onslaught of thunks, thuds, and scrapes at her door, though this time it wasn't as loud. Clad in her usual 'jammies' (shorts and tee-shirt) along with leg warmers and arm warmers, she threw sheets off herself and dropped to the floor. Lights were flicked on and she padded over towards the door, unlocking it and the deadbolt, but the door chain was kept secure. She pulled the door open hesitantly, peeking out and furrowing her brows. "Heath?" She was sure it was him, but she couldn't make out much through the tiny space.

"Hey sweetcheeks..." Heath's voice sounded out; slow, drawn, and slurred. It drew a frown from Carley, and with considerable hesitancy, she closed the door, unsecured the door chain, and opened it once more. Disappointment was the first thing she felt, as the scents of alcohol, ash, and The Powder Keg's filth assaulted her sense of smell. Heath looked terrible, his usually soft brown eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, sandy locks were messy, and he couldn't even stand up straight, his palm was pressed against the door frame so he could keep himself upright. Eyes at half mast, they fell upon the little elf and he gave a crooked grin.

If he were anyone less favorable to her, Carley would have likely slammed the door in his face. As it was" She liked Heath, even when he made less than stellar decisions to drink. "Yer drunk." She stated it matter of factly, a frown set on her face as she did. "Ya know you shouldn't be walkin' around like that, much less across town."

"It's fiiiine sweetcheeks. Don't worry so much." Straightening a little, Heath took a step forward, staggering in through the doorway. "How ya doin'?"

Crinkling her nose as the scent of alcohol grew stronger, Carley reached up and held her hand up to stop Heath from treading too far into her apartment. "Just great." Her flat tone indicated otherwise however. He reached up to take her hand, but she responded by pulling it away. "Look, lemme get dressed and I'll walk down with ya and get you a carriage, okay' It's late and you shouldn't be here. Ya probably have work tomorrow and should get home..." Shaking her head, she turned to amble on back towards her bathroom, but Heath caught her by the arm.

"Nooo, hey, dontcha wanna hang out?" Words were slurred and drawn out as he stepped forward again, nearly staggering and falling over, though he managed to regain his balance by tugging on the little elf's arm. "I wanted to see you and came over..."

"Ya came over kinda late....look, we'll hang out later, okay' But I gotta work tomorrow, and now's a bad time." Carley eyed his hand on her arm momentarily, before looking back up towards Heath. "Right now you need to go home, so I'll get ya a carriage, just let me get dressed." There was something almost insistent about her tone then. Turning, she started to pull away from him, but his grip on her arm tightened, holding her where she stood. Eyes widening a touch, she turned back around to face him.

"That's no fun....come on sweetcheeks, just a few minutes is all I want." He leaned forward, still holding her by the arm as he started to wrap his other arm around her. She started to squirm lightly, pulling away from his grasp but he was insistent, holding on even tighter. "You can skip out on work....so can I....so c'mon..." Words grew quieter and quieter, until they were unintelligible slurs. Leaning down, Heath started to nuzzle against Carley's face and neck, his lips brushing against her skin.

"Heath!" Quite unhappy with the situation, the little blonde elf started pulling away again, free hand pushing at him. "Get offa me!" He pulled away a little, but the grip on her arm wouldn't let up. He murmured more incoherencies and grabbed at her with his free hand, tugging at her and her shirt. Fabric started splitting and ripping, and in a purely reflexive gesture, Carley swung her arm, slamming the flat of her palm into Heath's nose. Yowling in agony, his grip on her was relinquished as both hands lifted to his nose, now bent at a peculiar angle as blood poured from it onto the off white carpet they stood upon. Teeth grit and eyes watery, she ignored his cries and curses, giving him a push right back through the door he had come in through. He staggered and dropped to the floor, a gesture she barely registered since she closed the door, quickly locking it, the deadbolt, and the door chain in a frenzy.

Carley shuddered and shook lightly, leaning against the door for a while. Only when the wailing and sounds outside ceased, did she seem to relax, and even that was marginal. Turning around, bright blues shifted about momentarily, then lowered to the blood spilt on her carpet. She sniffled and wiped at tear soaked cheeks before walking around it and towards her bathroom. She needed to get a towel to try to clean that up after all...