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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 14, 2012 20:40:52 GMT -5
When you were rich, you could afford everything expensive. Fine clothes, a mansion, a fancy car... and any kind of gourmet sweet that you wanted, as Joshua had learned over the years. He took full advantage of his money to fund his sweet tooth and his frequent haunts included all of the well-known bakeries, ice cream parlours, and sweet-shops across town. Instead of simply indulging every once and a while for a chocolate or two he would buy two large boxes to keep in the fridge and eat them whenever the urge struck. It was a good thing that he practised good dental care or his teeth would rot out of his mouth before he was thirty!
When he went into said fridge that morning, however, he found that those last few chocolates he'd been saving had been kidnapped by a certain blonde menace he also referred to as his little sister. She could have at least threw the box out, he thought indignantly. He was not angry, not really. He and Annabel were close and it wasn't like the chocolates were sacred foods that could only be touched by his hands. Guess I'll need to take a drive and get some more. He was craving something sweet but the cupcakes and ice cream that he still had left were not what was calling for him. Instead he wanted the little orange-filled chocolates or the huge slabs of dark chocolate or the chocolate-covered almonds. He could practically taste them and he decided that he'd go now rather than putting it off until later. All he had planned for 'later' was studying, not that this was unusual for Joshua, but he didn't have anything planned for right now, either. Josh wasn't a procrastinator.
The sun gleamed on the white Aventador when he opened the door of the garage but the dark sunglasses that shaded his eyes helped to fend off the unfriendly glare. Not that it was the reason he wore the shades—he just liked the way that they looked. He wasn't the type of tool that would wear them indoors or at night but he did have a collection that now bragged over two hundred pairs.
The drive to the chocolate shop was short and uneventful, with a low amount of traffic to congest the roads and trip him up. The familiar sounds and smells of the place washed over him when he entered the door and he was not surprised to see that there was a bit of a line forming from the counter almost to where he stood. He was not the only appreciator of fine chocolate in Maple Hollow, that much was clear, and as a patient guy he did not mind having to wait a little in order to get his hands on some. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced around the shop while he waited, wondering if a certain familiar face was working today. Faces from his childhood whom he'd learned to tolerate over the years were rarely forgotten.
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Post by JASMINE MEL CASSIDY on Aug 15, 2012 0:34:44 GMT -5
Jasmine walked into the chocolate shop with her uniform on. Today, she promised her parents she'd help around by cleaning tables, taking orders, and whatever else they needed help with. Her parents were the rightful owners of Sweet Secrets and their chocolate shop was placed in the top ten best sweet shops around the world for their famous homemade chocolates. Her parents had a bit of a trust issue and were low on workers so she offered her services. Jas walked past the line starting to build up at the counter, taking in the interior. The interior of the shop was nice and large and the smell of chocolate hung in the air. Her parents wanted people to walk in and instantly think chocolate, so the many frames that hung on the walls had photos of chocolate and the chairs around the shop were a nice dark chocolate color. The walls were a nice carmel brown and the floors wood. All sorts of shades of brown decorated the shop, as were a few couches and tables. Behind the glass cases filled with shelves of chocolates and the counter, were double doors that lead into the kitchen and storage room.
Jas went through those double doors and ran into her mother. "Oh! There you are, Jasmine. I was wondering when you'd finally show up. Anyways, I need you to clean up some tables." her mother said, tossing a rag to her. Jas caught the rag and sighed. "Sorry. I kinda over slept and I had to wait for the bus...." she said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. She stood there for a moment to watch her mother start making a batch of nougat chocolates until she was shooed away. As she left the kitchen, she noticed the line was growing even longer at the counter. She walked over to the tables and started cleaning the vacant ones.
The shop's uniform Jasmine wore consisted of black pants and a cream colored apron with the shops name labeled in brown on it. Underneath the apron Jas had a brown short sleeved shirt on. Once she was done cleaning the tables she walked behind the counter and stole a shell shaped chocolate filled with coconut cream from the case while no one noticed. She wondered where her father was since he wasn't working at the counter and she didn't see him in the kitchen. She guessed he was either in the storage room of throwing trash out. Jas popped the chocolate into her mouth and starting chewing when she noticed someone familiar in the line. That familiar face just happened to be Joshua Dale, the son of one of her parent's closest friends and someone Jas knew from her childhood. Jasmine walked from behind the counter and went up to him, smiling. "Hey, stranger. What are you doing here?" Jas asked stopping once she got within his arm reach. It was obvious why he was there but Jas was curious to hear the answer come from his mouth. Jasmine didn't come to her parents shop very often but they've told her plenty of times that they've seen him come in time from time.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 16, 2012 3:54:09 GMT -5
Standing there and taking in the aroma and mood of the chocolate shop, Joshua decided that he would be a horrible diabetic. Sugar was simply too good to give up. I would go mental. Patient though he was, he found himself envying some of the people sitting at tables or up near the front of the counter that were enjoying or would soon be enjoying their indulgence. The shop had a very warm feeling about it thanks to the chocolate colourings, or at least he was of the opinion that it did. It felt homey despite its large size. Or was it the fact that he'd been here so many times? The Cassidy's didn't exactly need his money—from what he knew they were pretty successful—but he was always happy to give his business to the places he liked the most. He might have been a little biased due to a family friendship with the owners of the shop but there was also the fact that their chocolate was damn good.
The opening of the double doors that he knew from years of coming here could only lead into the kitchens caught his attention and he saw the familiar figure of Jasmine emerge. She wasn't looking in his direction, though, and she was wearing the shop uniform, so he decided not to disturb her by calling her name or otherwise trying to get her attention. His gray eyes found one of the chocolate-filled display cases and he began to make a mental list of all the chocolates he wanted or hadn't tried in a while. I wonder if they have any new kinds. He was pretty adventurous when it came to chocolate. He'd try anything once unless he knew for a fact it contained something he didn't like. And he couldn't have meat, of course, but then meat and chocolate didn't mix anyway. His vegetarianism was safe.
He hadn't noticed Jasmine drawing near until she was almost in front him him and the Fire graduate shook himself from his thoughts to offer her a brief half-smile. "I'm not strange," he said, drawing back his head as if she had offended him in some way. His gaze was warm, though, his expression too, and he didn't try to hide the fact that he wasn't being serious. He could pull off an amazing poker face when he put his mind to it but that had the side-effect of people thinking he really meant it. "Buying chocolate, what else would I be doing?" He chuckled. Though it was pretty obvious, he didn't talk down to her like she was too thick to understand. Nah, Josh knew she was probably just making conversation. He could appreciate that. Once upon a time he'd been so horrible at small talk he probably would have just stared at her in disbelief. "If it makes you feel better I could pretend I was here to see you," he said without any real seriousness to his tone. He blinked. "How are you, though, really? Been a while." It had been a long time since he'd hung around the friends of his parents—he was a big kid now, all grown up and assimilated into the world.
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Post by JASMINE MEL CASSIDY on Aug 18, 2012 8:54:28 GMT -5
Jasmine's smile widened when she noticed Joshua was in a good and playful mood. Not saying he wasn't always in a happy mood whenever he was around, but he just seemed extra happy this fine afternoon, or at least playful and calm. "Are you sure you're not strange?" she asked, her tone playful. She watched him act as if he was offended by her greeting, though his expression showed something different. She knew he was only joking around and he wasn't being the bit serious. "Hmmmm....You could be visiting my parents. I don't know..." she said, biting her bottom lip and giggling. Label Jasmine odd all you want, but Josh's chuckle always seemed to amaze her, even though she'd never admit that to him. Her eyebrows suddenly shot up. "Oh! That definitely makes me feel better, 'cause now I have a reason for coming here to work today. Heh.." her tone still playful, the smile still on her face, and her eyes dancing with joy.
Jasmine didn't mean to be rude when out of the blue, she turned her head away from Josh to the tables. She was only wondering if he wanted to sit down and was seeing if there was a table still vacant, in case he did want to sit. When Jas turned her head back to him, she gestured to an empty table. "Wanna sit and chat?" she asked before she realized he'd wanted to probably stay in line for his chocolate he's been waiting for who knows how long. She seemed to have forgetten he'd asked her a question. "Uh..never mind. Just forget what I'd just said....Um. Yeah...It has been awhile. I'm fine. You?" she asked. When she started her sentence, his question came running through her head. Jas didn't want to seem more rude than she probably already was, so she answered him.
Jasmine sighed. She guessed she screwed up big time and Josh thought she was the rudest person in the world. At least right now. She sucked it up and thought about how she was going to apologize. Food. Most of the time food was the greatest apology, so she told him not to move and dissappeared behind the double doors. She asked her mother if she could take some chocolates and she let her go right ahead. Jasmine grabbed a box and filled it with some chocolate covered cherries and gummy bears she noticed laying out on a pan. She walked through the double doors and over to Josh and handed him the box. "I'm sorry for being rude..." she said, watching his facial expression. "There's chocolate covered gummy bears in there. I'm not sure if you've ever had them before, but yeah and... I think the other candy is chocolate covered cherries."
((Sorry if it's short and my grammer has suddenly gone horrible :/))
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Aug 18, 2012 9:16:48 GMT -5
When Joshua was in an amiable mood, people definitely tended to take notice. He was a lot more willing to crack a smile on a good day and the result was that he didn't look quite so stone-faced and unapproachable as usual. His default expression tended to warn people off like the sour odour of a skunk might and it was no wonder a lot of people were surprised to find, on actually getting to know him, that he wasn't as prickly as he appeared. More like a hedgehog than a porcupine. His lip twitched with faint amusement as he conceded, "Maybe a little." Though he said it for the purpose of humour it was also a bit true. What human being wasn't strange in their own little ways? He liked to consider himself fairly normal when held to the standards of polite society but he was not without the quirks and traits that made up his personality.
He thought about that, then lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "I suppose you're right." He didn't often go out of his way to visit family friends but if he was in the mood to chat then it wasn't beyond him. Besides, his mother had taught him the values of community connections. He didn't need them as much as she did (Patricia was a politician—it was all about who you knew) but they definitely came in handy. He knew the manager of Northern Lights and could generally score a reservation most times of the year, no matter the waiting list. "How are your parents?" he wondered, for it was polite to ask. He cast his gaze around the shop and mused, "I haven't seen them in quite a while." He came by the chocolate shop often enough but it was mostly an in-and-out sort of deal where he took home several boxes of sweets and was done with it.
He blinked at the suddenness of the question and almost agreed out of friendly impulse before he remembered why he was here. "Actually, uh, I should—" He had started talking at the same time she'd started amending her words and he broke off with a bit of an awkward smile to let her finish. He was a confident guy and wasn't often flustered but that didn't make him immune to social trip-ups. He didn't apologise or anything, though, just let her speak and then nodded to acknowledge he'd 'forget' what she said. "That's good," he said a bit quickly, looking to move past their little slip. "That you're, uh, good, I mean. I'm fine, too." He vaguely recalled a time where he'd had to pretend he was fine a majority of the days but today it was real, valid, genuine. The smile touched his lips again to assure her of his sincerity. "I'll be even better when I have chocolate, I think. My sister cleaned out the fridge this morning." He rolled his eyes. It had actually been the night before, in all likelihood, or at four in the morning while she sought a source of energy so that she could stay up all night with her gamer friends. Whatever the case, he'd woke up without chocolate, and that was not okay.
He was a little taken aback when she told him not to go anywhere but he hid it well, replying with an airy, "Wasn't planning on it." He still had a line to wait in, after all! She came back with a box that he assumed was for a customer but instead of finding said customer, she strode right back up and handed it to him, along with an apology for... rudeness? He didn't bother to hide his confusion, brow furrowing as he listening to her ramble for a moment. "I don't think you were being rude," he assured her. Geez, did he fluster her that much? My bad, thought Josh. It might have been the intimidation factor or else she was just the friendly type that always worried over the reception a conversation was getting. For someone who'd once been a self-induced loner, he really didn't have as strong a desire for acceptance. She was sweet, though. "Thank you, though," he added, and now it was his time to assure politeness. "Maybe we could sit and chat as soon as I purchase a couple things?" He glanced toward the counter which was ever-closer to his place in line. Only one or two people remained as obstacles to his goal. "I wouldn't mind. I don't have anything to do." He'd quit his job so that he could throw himself into his studies for the final year of college but he was on top of said studies at the moment and he hadn't made other plans. "If you don't need to get back to work, that is." He didn't want to get her into any trouble.
[Jas is adorable oh gosh xD I had a lot of muse so pardon the ramble xD]
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Post by JASMINE MEL CASSIDY on Sept 8, 2012 13:26:16 GMT -5
Jasmine wasn't expecting Joshua to ask her about her parents, so she was taken by surprised when he asked how they were. She should have known better, since his parents were friends with hers, that he'd be polite enough to ask about them. "Oh! They're fine." she said, watching him look around as if searching for them. She guessed he was looking around to see if he saw them anywhere. "Um..They've been around here. This shop is their whole life. They've invested a lot in this, so they spend most of their time here then home.... Right now my mom's in the kitchen making chocolate and as for my father....I have no idea where he is." she explained, hoping to answer any questions Josh might have had running around in his head. Most of the time Jas's mother stayed in the kitchen and made all the chocolates in the display case with a little help, and her father was either working at the counter, buying ingredients, taking the trash out, or cleaning, if no one else could it.
Years ago, when Joshua and Jasmine were younger, Jas always wondered what was going through his head. Now that they were older, nothing really changed, she still wonders what he thinks about things and what he's actually thinking. At this very moment, she wondered if he was the tiniest bit mad at her, even after answering her question. "Yup and that's good that you're good, too...." As soon as Josh smiled, Jasmine's stomach started to hurt. 'He's probably trying to hide his anger....Maybe.' she thought to herself. His smile was having a negative effect on her, though the mention of his sister almost made her laugh. Jasmine hasn't really kept in touch with Annabel, but she planned on making some kind of play date with her soon. Truly, no matter what they go through, Jasmine would always love Annabel. Anyways, it was funny for Jas to hear that Annabel ate all his chocolate. One thing she knew well about Josh, was that he likes sweets, possibly loves them. "That sounds like Annabel. How has she been?" she asked, trying to hold back from giggling.
After Jasmine came back from the kitchen, apologized, and handed Josh the chocolate sweets, she was even more surprised that he wasn't mad at her, nor thought she was rude. She wanted to bounce around and clap her hands happily, but she also wanted to stay professional like around the shop, so she only allowed fireworks to burst inside of her as if she'd had her first kiss again. To be honest, Jasmine felt a little intimidated by Josh, but she was also a bit of a softy, though she had her moments. Jas nodded her head. "Your welcome and sure, but try to hurry....please" she said and started to rock on her heels, hands in her pockets. Jasmine was well known to be impatient. She couldn't help it, that's just the way she is, and she's been like that ever since she was little. "I don't know how you can do this...I'd die if I had to wait in this line, even if I'm waiting for chocolate." she stated.
"Nope. I have a bunch of free time. I'm actually just helping out. Okay, well, I don't have a bunch of free time.... but I'm only doing little things like cleaning tables and taking trash out." Jasmine said, sighing to herself. Her father came strolling through the double doors with a huge box and set it on the counter. He looked around the shop and finally spotted Jasmine. "Jas, honey, could you help me with this? Oh, hey Joshua. Here to buy chocolate?" he asked and started laughing as if someone just said a funny joke. Jasmine and her father were very alike. Jasmine had her father's brown hair and brown eyes, and she looked almost like his twin. She also shared some of his personality. Jasmine walked over to her father. "What's up dad?" she asked. "I need you to clean some of these mugs. Your mother thought it'd be cool if we added hot chocolate to the shop, so she had me buy a bunch of mugs. Now, I know it's summer time, but who could resist hot chocolate in an air conditioned sweet shop?" he asked. Jasmine felt embarrassed. Her father just used the word 'cool'. Mr.Cassidy looked at Joshua,"What do you think about having hot chocolate sold here?"
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Sept 12, 2012 3:56:26 GMT -5
He nodded as he listening to her talk about her parents, and though he might have appeared unreadable his curiosity had been genuine and he was listening to what she was saying. "Makes sense. I'd probably do the same if I ran a place like this." After a pause he added, "Either that or I'd stuff myself full of chocolate. Perhaps a combination of both." He didn't laugh or grin or anything else that would boldly signify a joke but it was in jest all the same. He didn't want to run his own business, it wasn't his thing. He'd always known that his calling lay in medicine. Besides, as much as he adored sweets he knew that sitting and gorging himself on them was bad for his health. He usually bought a huge box of chocolates and ate a couple a day rather than the entire box, which was what Annabel was prone to doing. He'd probably go through his stock a lot slower if he didn't have his baby sister to take care of.
Having no idea of what was going on inside of her head, Joshua was therefore oblivious to the effect his smile had on the Water elemental. She seemed fine and therefore he figured that she was fine. That smile softened when the conversation turned to the subject of his sister. He had a bit of an older brother complex that tended to be evident when he spoke about Annabel or heard others talk about her, provided it wasn't in a negative way. Anyone that trash-talked about Belle was getting a fist to the face. "Oh, she's great, too. She started at the Academy in January, she's a Water like you." That had come as a shock to a lot of people that had assumed the young girl was going to end up like the rest of her all-Fire family. The Dales were a strong bloodline and the thought of a Water child hadn't been on anyone's mind. She wasn't shunned for it, though. He'd never hate his sister for what she was. "I'm surprised you haven't seen her yet, same element and all. Keep an eye out, I'm sure she'd like having someone she knew around." His sister was incredibly friendly, a social butterfly, she gained a joy that he would never understand from being surrounded by others. Joshua was more of a loner, content either by himself or in the company of one or two close friends.
Impatience was another thing he didn't understand and he was almost amused by the way that Jasmine rocked back and forth on her heels, physically displaying her eagerness to have the waiting process come to an end. "Well I can't exactly hurry the line," he pointed out. He was quite patient himself and so he didn't mind standing around and waiting for the people in front to order and pay. She asked him about this and he lifted his shoulders in a mild shrug. "Dunno. It just doesn't bother me all that much, I guess." He couldn't explain why or how he felt the things he did. They were a part of him, like every other facet and shard of his personality. "Plus I'm kind of used to waiting for things." His career wasn't going to get off the ground for another several years. Becoming a doctor took forever. The line moved up again as he spoke and he stepped forward a pace or two, though he turned his attention toward Jasmine the moment he'd come to a halt. "Sounds fun," he joked. He wondered if they paid her for it like it was a job or whether it was treated as volunteer work. The glory of Joshua's wealth was that he had the option to skip out on a job and focus on his grades. It definitely helped him excel.
Joshua offered a smile to Jasmine's father when he emerged from the back room with a box of chocolate. "You got me," he said, lifting his hands briefly to chest-level as if surrendering. Not that he'd be in a chocolate shop to buy anything else but chocolate. He understood the joking implications, though, and so he didn't give the older man a weird look or question him. He turned his attention to the counter again as Jas and her father exchanged words, mostly to check the progress of the line. Almost there. He turned back to them and considered the question that was asked of him. "Hot chocolate, cold chocolate, any kind of chocolate is good with me," he said honestly. "It sounds like a great idea. I'd probably get some myself." When he went to Tim Hortons he usually ordered either tea or hot chocolate if he didn't need the caffeine kick, in which case it was coffee all the way.
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