Memento Mori = "Remember that you must die."
James Barnes is a mysterious and handsome newcomer to the sleepy town of Graybrooke. Rumor has it that he's come to take over running the town's popular flower shop after the mysterious illness and disapp...
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CW:Smut, oral sex, discussions of drunk driving and trauma, discussions of alcoholism, discussions of scars and body dysmorphia, discussions of death.
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The pumpkin patch is more than just a pumpkin patch. There are booths filled with people selling hot chocolate, hot cider, and homemade treats. She spots a hay maze, games, and kids tearing up the pumpkin patch in their brightly coloured boots and coats.
Vada smiles as James parks the car and they get out. It's cold, and she shivers. James slides out of his jacket, offering it to her. Before she can protest, it's already around her shoulders.
"You just never wear anything warm enough, do you, sweets?"
"Just an excuse for you to pay attention to me," she quips.
James chuckles.
"You don't need an excuse, Vada." He wraps his arms around her and kisses her cheek. "I'll pay you all the attention you could ever possibly need."
She doesn't know how this turned into two dates in a row, but James is just so charming that she finds herself totally unable to stay away from him. He's got this incredible magnetism that she's never really seen in anyone else before. The last time she felt it was with Jason. It's this click that happens, like a light switch.
Vada also felt that same click with alcohol, so she knows she has to be careful with James, but she also doesn't want to.
They walk around the pumpkin patch and James disappears to get them hot chocolate. There are kids and families milling around, playing carnival games and there are people selling crafts and jewellery. Vada stops at one of the vendors and spots a silver ring with a skull on it while James is paying for their drinks.
"Excuse me, how much is that?"
"Ten bucks," the vendor replies.
His name is Billy. Vada has known him since she's been here, but only somewhat tangentially. His mother died last year and he was incredibly broken up about it. Things between them got awkward quickly when he seemed to try and use it as a way to get Vada's phone number. She doesn't date clients, which makes the dating pool in Greybrooke somewhat diminished.
Mostly, Vada doesn't date clients because she doesn't want to be a repository for their grief and sorrow. Often, people who are grieving need something to hold it in, like a vase holds water. Grief is unstable, ever moving and changing, sometimes it's tumultuous and other times, it's soft and flowing like a beautiful, rippling creek. Vada can't hold all of it, for herself, or for someone else. She's still learning how to process her own grief, and her participation in it.
She had to shoot Billy down. He took it hard, but ultimately, he understood. She still sees him sometimes in the grocery store. They stop and chat and she makes sure he's doing alright, but he mostly sticks to the edge of town making jewellery. She owns a piece from him that he made her as a thank you gift after his mother's funeral, and after the whole being shut down thing. At first, she thought it was some kind of ploy to get her to like him, but he insisted that since Vada had helped him with all of the funeral arrangements and taking care of everything, that he really just wanted to say thank you for giving his mother and easy and peaceful transition.
