forum "In a sea full of people, how did I find you?" (Private O/O)

Started April 19, 2020 by @Rainy_day_artist_classic group

tune

"Fine…" He'd sit back down "And don't touch me…never…touch me…" He'd scowl at her, holding in a punch he wanted to throw at her. " What do you want then.." He'd look down and kick a pebble. His face was red from anger.

"First I want you to cool down." Joanna insisted, glad for an excuse not to get too close to him. "You need to understand you just hurt a lot of people when you hit that man. And I don't mean just physically or emotionally. There's a lot more to it."
Pressing her lips together tightly, it was difficult to figure out her emotions from her face. She wasn't wanting him to figure out what was going through her head at the current moment. That could be a scary thing for him to know.
"You hurt a lot of people's jobs. Including mine." Her tone was softer than just moments before, but still held firm. "Because you hit that man inside the bar, he can sue the whole company now. He can get all of us fired. Some of us are barely scraping by."
Unintentionally, she was treating him like a child. He was older than she, but clearly less stable. The ten hanging above his head was still bothering her though.
"Even if he doesn't sue the company, he'll most likely spread the word. Which hurts business, cutting out pay checks in half."
Whether he knew this or not, was a mystery to her. She continued to explain anyways.
"Even if people still come, the government can shut us down. We're suppose to be known for our good service. Them finding out we had a bar fight will get the building confiscated from us. Each of those scenarios are highly possible. I've got no idea what's going on right now, because I chased you." Joanna paused for a deep breath, pulling her hair out to readjust it.
"Did you know any of that?"

"I-im sorry..I never though of it like that..it's Just the way that man talked about my family..-" He stoped at that word and put his face in his hands, "I'm sorry…Joanna…-anyways Don't you have work?"

"I do, and chasing you down was part of it." Joanna huffed, looking down at him. Of course that was an odd feeling, as he was as of the current moment shorter than her while he was sitting.
"I don't know why you started taking things out on that man, but I trust you to understand this for the next time." Joanna hummed, holding a hand out to him. "Careful who you pick your fights with. I feel like you of all people would know this-" Though at her words, she winced a bit wishing she hadn't said anything. "Just be careful. Some people look fine, but are actually more dangerous than you would think. I would know."
Pushing on a soft smile, her anger had subsided completely by this point.
"Come on, let's go back and get you a drink. You seem tense." Insisting, she continued to hold her hand out as she waited for him to take it.

He'd take her hand and get up. They'd both walk to the bar. "Hey? Do you have any siblings? Anyone older? Or younger?" He'd wonder if she had any family. He'd smile.

At the mention of family, she seemed to tense up a bit. "Oh… yeah, I have siblings…" Her smile faded as she pushed the door to the bar open. Her stature was taller than she normally was, giving off strange vibes.
"Four actually… but anyways, what do you want to drink?" She asked, attempting to switch the topic to something else.
Joanna never talked about her family, and only ever mentioned her uncle Holland. The rest she couldn't care less about, for reasons known only to her. It was a private thing, and she wasn't about to just spill her guts out to an unstable 22 year old man.
He could hurt her, rather severely. She knew a threat when she saw one, she worked in a bar for heaven's sake. Joanna wasn't an idiot, but she had a weak spot. And it started with her family.

"Um..I guess the alcohol based float thing you told me about? Sounds good." Why did i have to bring up family.. He'd think. "So..Joanna..What do you do on your free time? I like long walks outside..or boxing..but I haven't boxed in a year or so.." His smile disappeared remembering somthing…

Nodding silently, she stepped up behind the counter to work on the float. She nodded at Jonathan who was standing there, and his tense stance seemed to relax some. As she began on the float, she listened to him ramble a bit before answering his question.
"I enjoy reading, mostly crime novels. I also write on occasion, very rarely though. Inspiration hasn't really been around lately." Shrugging, she looked over to one of the newer employees with a smile. "Can you get vanilla ice cream from the fridge, please?" Joanna asked, receiving a nod from her in return.
"But you know, I write when I'm up to it." She hummed out, pulling an ice cream scoop up as she waited.
"Everything okay? You look rather melancholy."

Huh? "Oh. Erm.. It's nothing! Anyways, once I finnish that float ima head home, im a bit tiered.." He'd look at the time; 10:37 pm. Huh? Oh I have to go around 11:30. "So what are ya doing tomorrow?"

Joanna nodded silently, taking the ice cream container that was handed to her. Scooping up the frozen sweet, she dumped it into the alcohol glass with a soft sigh. "Work, but before I think me and Jonathan have a movie we're trying to catch. I'm not quite sure."
Her focus was solely on making the float as of the moment, pulling a bottle of bourbon off the rack of alcoholic drinks. "What about you? Got any big plans, for your Sunday evening?"
She wasn't trying to sound sarcastic, or uninterested, she was just distracted. Sliding over the glass, she handed the ice cream back for the darker skinned girl to put back. Joanna poured herself another half a glass to try and get rid of the buzz going through her head.

"Nope got nothing planned..Plus I'm a part time touter so ill never now. Someone can call any minute. And you sound like you have an eventful day planned for tomorrow" He'd say sipping the float. " 10:55..time flys.. He'd check his phone and it would have a cracked screen. "C'mon..the 5th time this month.." He'd finish his float. " Ok Cya..whenever" He'd wink, get up and walk off.

Joanna watched him leave, her heart still pounding in her chest. Once he was out the door her whole body seemed to deflate at the relief she felt. God she hoped she had kept him from doing something else. Otherwise that would have been worthless.
Since the night began to slow down, Jonathan pulled Joanna aside with a tight frown. "You shouldn't have gone after him."
"I know… especially since he's a ten." Joanna muttered, running a hand down her face. Of course, Jonathan looked dumbfounded at her words.
"You're joking… you went after the most dangerous man you've ever met, Alone!?"

(Timeskip?)

The rest of the night, and next morning seemed to drag on. But as it was afternoon now, it didn't feel like it had been a long time. Joanna sighed heavily, reading her mystery novel as she walked through city park.
It was a rather gloomy day, and lightly sprinkling. Though Joanna didn't mind a little bit of moisture, it made everything a little warmer on this rather chill fall afternoon. Her thoughts were quiet, and tamed as she quietly continued through the park alone.
Not many people were out, afraid that they'd get rained on more than just the little bit, but Joanna took her chances with it.

Jackson would be sitting on a bench. He'd be lost in thought. He'd hum a song and smile. He'd get a notification. His smile quickly disappeared and a face of shock appeared. Holy-the hell..god..forgot to pay morgage.. He'd bite his lip, get up and start walking to his house. He'd trip and fall, jolting up the second he hit the floor.

Joanna whipped around at the sound of a thud, worried at what had just made that noise. Though her brow furrowed at seeing Jackson on the ground. She hadn't expected to see him so quickly.
"Jackson?" She called out softly, placing the book mark in between her pages as she walked up to him worriedly. "Is that you? It's Joanna, from the bar." Slowly she approached him, running her fingers through her damp hair.
Tucking the book under her arm, she bent down next to him with a light frown. "And are you alright?"

"Oh, Joanna! Hey! Hey sorry I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and I tripped.And I'm all right! Just a scrape! Anyways, whatcha doin'? " He'd see the book and say "Ah..your reading I see. What genre?"

Joanna let a smile creep up on her lips, trying to pick which one of his questions to answer. He was quite all over the place.
"Yup, just reading a mystery. I've already figured it out though, so I might as well skip to the end." Joanna hummed, pulling him up to his feet with herself. "What about you, what are you doing out here?" She asked softly, looking up at him once they were both standing.
Being here with him made her heart beat faster, mostly from the nervousness she would say something wrong and he would get upset with her. She didn't really want to be beaten to a pulp, left here for dead.

"Eh, enjoying the rain. I like it. The clouds are butifull..but I was heading home.. I forgot to pay morgage, so im kind of in a rush" He'd let out an awkward smile. "Anyways! See ya tomorrow I have to go!" He'd smile and He'd start to walk faster and faster.

Joanna groaned a bit at his sudden disappearance, trying to follow after him at a brisk pace. "But- wait!" She called out, her shorter legs not wanting to keep up with him for very long.
"Why are you always running away?" She called out, still quite a few feet away from him. "You're always in a rush, and I've only known you for a day!"
She gave up trying to chase after him, not feeling like having to run today. She did that yesterday, she just wanted a peaceful and relaxing Sunday before she had to go to work tonight. Of course she doubted that was going to happen.
"I'm not trying to hurt you," Joanna insisted, standing on the park pathway getting frustrated.