La Catalina

[Naza Sutera]

After a bit of small talk with the Lupine gentleman, Amelia continued her grocery shopping. She went to the next aisle over into the frozen dinner section and began browsing through the frozen pizzas, selecting a couple of pepperoni DiGiorno pizzas.  She remembered that second bottle of wine, and her mind revisited the recent interaction with that tykeriel guy and his friend he was talking about... Was it the guy in the suit who was in the cereal aisle? He sounded like a creep. Or maybe he just made him sound like a creep.
Feeling like she was being watched, she glanced up and down the aisle to see if there were any lingering eyes...

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben, noticing that Amelia looked uncomfortable, nervously approached her, with his basket in hand.

"Exc-c-c-c-scuse me..." he stuttered. "M-m-m-miss?" He had a knot in his stomach, and his heart was beating a million miles an hour.

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia turned around at the sound of a man's stuttering voice. It was none other than that Beaver guy who retreated into the cereal aisle after she caught him looking at her. To be honest, he did set off her creep radar by acting all weird like he's never seen a woman before, and hiding around corners to steal glances at her. But she refused to let herself fear him. How could she? He approached her with his tail between his legs, stuttering and all. She doesn't even know this guy from a can of baked beans, and already she has him sprung like this?
Shifting her weight, Amelia placed her hand on her hip and looked the man from head to toe, scrutinizing him from top to bottom. She did like his crisp Armani suit, and from his clothes alone, she would have hoped he had better game than this.
"You know..." she began, "...your friend has a really big mouth. Not only did he talk my ear off, he made you seem like some creeper... Well, all the more, anyway."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Son-of-a-bitch," he clearly said. He nodded his head in disgust. "Miss, honestly, I'm a d-d-d-doctor, and I d-d-d-diagnosed him as 'c-c-clinically insane'. He's crazy. I'm sure you s-s-s-saw at least a hint of th-th-that?"

[Naza Sutera]

"Oh my gosh..." Amelia said, putting her hand over her mouth, trying not to seem like a shallow bitch by laughing at him. This guy was stuttering like a motherfucker! In an attempt to cover up her urge to laugh, she overcompensated and tried to sound shocked about him telling her that his friend was insane. "He's insane? really?" And she did believe him, seeing as he would tell a complete stranger his friend's deepest and darkest secrets in a botched try at playing cupid.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Y'know, the slightest facial c-c-cues can tell whole s-stories," he stated. "Wrinkles around th-the eyes, they uh... they're indicators of someone laughing or s-smiling." He leaned in a bit closer. "People only get th-those wrinkles whenever they g-genuinely laugh or smile." Korben then grasped his forehead, and winced. He had a headache, but took out a bottle of aspirin and popped a few in his mouth. He had a small bottle of water in his blazer. He took it out and drank from it, swallowing the pills. He put the bottles away, and looked back at Amelia. He had a glaring look in his eyes, as if he read her very thoughts in a microsecond.

"You know, I n-never was laughed at b-because of my s-s-stutter. Maybe because I d-d-don't usually talk much." He took off his sunglasses, revealing his heteorchromic eyes. "My name is Korben Dallas. My skin's thicker th-than most other p-p-people." He extended his hand, hoping to receive a handshake from Amelia. He had a slight grin on his face, and some wrinkles started to appear around his eyes.

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia snorted and chuckled genuinely, showing the dimples in her cheeks as she smiled. "Okay, you got me dead to rights." Taking his hand into a firm shake, she introduced herself. "Amelia Cimmaron."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben nodded in agreement, and chuckled. After releasing the shake, Korben decided to ask her a question.

"Hey, there's this n-nice little bistro d-down the street. It's near Vista Lago Suites. You m-might've heard of it. It's called "The Silver Sp-spoon. You wanna grab a b-bite with me?"

[Naza Sutera]

"Uh..." Amelia stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how to respond to that question. She looked at the contents of her cart, and down the aisle for some reason. "Now?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Well, after you're d-done sh-sh-shopping, of course." He looked at his watch. "It is 12:30, though. But uhh, take you t-time. No rush." 

[Naza Sutera]

"Heh, yeah, I have to finish shopping." She dug through her purse and pulled out her phone. Unlocking it, she went directly to her contacts to input a new contact. "How about a late lunch?"

[Dr. Orange]

Doctor Orange walked into the store and took off his sunglasses, they do after all dim the store. He walked to the back and searched around for a suitable drink. In the back he could hear a conversation from just over his shoulder. Stuttering. He watched from a distance, multitasking by grabbing a Faygo. His face cringed, with that of the force only match by a Neutron Star. "Oh my."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Ah, sure," Korben said enthusiastically. He told Amelia his personal cell phone number, 401-992-3432, distinct from his work number. "Can I get your n-n-number? Just in case I f-forget."

[Naza Sutera]

"Okay..." She entered his name and number into her contacts. "Okay so, my number is..." ...She drew a blank. "Um... Hold on." she had an idea. Going to her home screen, she went to her texts to compose a new message to Korben. She typed a simple "hi this amelia", though it autocorrected her name to "emelio" just as she pressed 'send'.
"Fuck you, autocorrect."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben chuckled, and reminded Amelia that modern technology won't be so modern tomorrow. Korben inputed the number from the text message into his contacts list as Amelia "Emelio" Cimmaron.

After he got her number, Korben left the supermarket. He felt victorious, knowing that that could've gone so much worse. He just wanted to celebrate. He noticed Bohdan, his colleague and friend, walk on the sidewalk across the street. He decided to run to him and share his joy. He narrowly dodged a sedan, which honked its horn as a warning. Korben was undeterred as he leaped onto the seven foot tall dragon.

"Huh?! What?! What is happening?!" Bohdan shouted as he was taken completely aback by Korben's blitz. Korben soon jumped off of Bohdan, who clearly felt violated.

"Yes..." Korben whispered simply. "Yes..." Bohdan looked utterly shocked.

"Ok," he replied. Korben walked away with a pep in his step.

"Woo!" yelled Korben as he went towards his Mercedes. He pointed to Bohdan, mouthing the word "yes". Bohdan awkwardly gave him a thumbs up. Korben went into his Mercedes, and drove home to await Amelia's call.

"Iskaza needs a pill," Bohdan said to himself as he dusted his jacket.

[Naza Sutera]

It took about half an hour, but Amelia finished her grocery shopping. After loading the haul into her SUV, she climbed in and started the engine. Taking her phone out of her purse, she decided to call Amber back and tell her what happened while shopping. As the line began ringing, Amelia put the car in gear and began pulling out of the space towards the street.
"YESS, girl, lemme tell you!" Amelia blurted out once the line was connected, not giving Amber a chance to give her greeting. As she pulled onto the street towards Terraza Primavera, she spilled her Supermarket Romance story to her friend.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor walked out of a Castorian Ogniemite church located just outside of La Catalina after worshipping there for the day. Its marbeled exterior and silver-coated columns contrasted greatly with the slightly blue hue of the Corneria City skyline. The silver-coated domed roof and bell tower shone brightly in the midday sun. A slight orange glow radiated from within the church. Sandor began to walk down the white steps to the sidewalk below when his phone began vibrating. "Ooh" he uttered. Sandor plucked his phone from his pocket and answered it. "Speak," he commanded.

"Yes!" Korben yelled over the phone.

"Indeed," Sandor replied. He then hung up and walked towards his McLaren, patiently waiting for its driver on the curb.

[Naza Sutera]

"...So, girl," Amelia explained, "he stutters like all get out and..." She paused while her friend posed a question. "...Well, uh, I kinda but not really laughed in his face, but that didn't scare him off... --Oh, please! Shuddup!" As she conversed about her exploit, she flipped on her turn signal and made a right onto Bellucci Drive after performing a rolling stop. She cruised down the street at an easy twenty or so miles per hour, passing the numerous Spanish, Italian, and French styled tract homes in various stages of completion. All of them had succulent lawns adorned with palm trees, hedges, some with fountains, all with professional landscaping paid for by the residents' steep Property Ownership Association fee. While many were already lived-in by their residents, there were some that were freshly constructed and waiting for their residents to move in, and others were in the middle of construction. Driving around a utility van which was parked in front of the construction site next to her home, she spotted a familiar red Camaro parked in front of her home next to the curb.

"...Derek." Amelia uttered.

"What?" Amber said on the other end, wondering why she suddenly said the name of her ex husband.

"Derek is here. I wonder what he wants."

"Oh lord..." Amber said that as if she spelled trouble.

"Hate to do this again, but I gotta call you back. Need to deal with this."

"Alright. Do your thing. I'll call you later."

"Thanks."

Ending the call, Amelia set her phone in the cupholder and pulled into her driveway and parked there, not bothering to go into the garage. Switching off the car, she climbed out with her purse. Walking under the covered entry next to the guest casita, high heels clicking on the red brick pavers as she did so, she saw Derek in the front door. He turned around, hearing her enter the courtyard.

"Amelia."

"Derek..." she murmured as she stopped next to the fountain. "Wh... What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick up the kids. We planned on me taking them to Disney."

"Oh. Shit, I completely forgot."

They stood there in an awkward silence for a moment. Derek looked around the courtyard which was adorned with wicker patio furnature and behind him at the house to behold Amelia's luxuriant residence.

"Nice house." he said to try to ease the discomfort

"Thanks," Amelia said, digging her heel into the brick pavement.

"How much was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"About seven-hundred sixty."

"Thousand?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Derek nodded, taking that in. So it was as at premium as it looked.

Amelia felt that this was dragging along. "So, um, my mom should be back with Kiersey and Max soon."

"Okay, well... I guess I'll be back--"

"...You can wait here if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine," she said finding her house key on the key ring and unlocking the door. As soon as she opened the door, the alarm started emitting a warning beep. She entered the foyer and keyed in the code on the smarthome LCD pad next to the powder room before the alarm went off. Derek entered the home behind her, taking in the eclectic decor of the home He could tell that the home was new, like most of the houses in La Catalina.

"So, ah, I have groceries to unload." Amelia explained

"Need any help?" Derek offered.

"Sure. Thanks."

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Sandor entered his McLaren and closed the car door. He turned it on, and drove away. The bright, Mediterranean-style homes and palm trees became a blur as Sandor bolted down the avenue. He narrowly and effortlessly dodges various other vehicles to the tune of "France7" by Mr. Oizo. Sandor and his sports car roared into Ibiza, the quaint Spanish-styled village within La Catalina. He lowered the volume on his stereo system, so as not to disturb the neighbors and a very special person, whom he shares his home with. Sandor reached his quaint and impressive home, opulent and bright. He gently drove his McLaren into the driveway, left it, and turned it off. Sandor, with his grocery bags, opened the door to his home with a simple voice command. He closed it behind him as he entered his house. A lavish home, it was decorated with the artwork of several renowned artists of the Magyar Empire. There was also a wall which had the pictures of all the members of Sandor's family: 30 in total. Sandor went to the kitchen and set his grocery bags down onto the marble counter. A cylindrical domestic robot rolled into the kitchen, which Sandor had programmed to be named "Bela".

"Are you in need of assistance, sir?" Bela asked.

"Yes," Sandor replied. "Sort these, Bela. Put them in the fridge, the cabinets, whatever."

"Of course, sir," Bela said.

"Where is Salamon?"

"In his room, sir."

"Good, very good. That is all." Sandor headed to Salamon's room on the second floor, and he opened the door. The room is carpeted, with a couch and a window containing a view of most of La Catalina. A baby's cradle was positioned near the window. Sandor approached it, and found an infant tykeriel inside. He was stirring quietly, cooing at Sandor. "How's your day, Salamon?" he asked. Salamon continued cooing. Sandor smiled, and picked up the infant, holding him on his hip. "Come, Salamon. We'll see what's on TV, yes?" Sandor walked into the living room downstairs with Salamon. He gently sat down onto the brown leather couch. He said "On", and the holographic TV turned on to the news. Sandor sat Salamon down next to him, giving Salamon a rattle with an Ogniemite religious icon to play with.

[Naza Sutera]

Amelia collected the final couple of bags from the car and pressed the button on the edge of the hatch to lower the power liftgate. She then walked back into the house, closing the door behind her, and went into the kitchen to place the bags on the counter with the rest. As she began to unbag the groceries, she glanced at Derek a few times as he wandered the living room with his hands in his pockets, admiring the coffered ceiling with exposed wood beams. His attention averted to a couple of doohickies on one of the end tables next to the transitional-style sectional sofa. There were four orbs in a copper bowl that looked like those medieval spike-ball things. Picking one up and inspecting it, he wondered where people find stuff like that. He placed it back where he found it, and took a seat on the sofa.

"You thirsty?" Amelia asked as she was putting a twelve-pack of soda into the fridge.

"What do you have?" Derek asked from the greatroom.

"I have Pepsi, but it's not cold."

Derek didn't care for Pepsi products. "How about just a glass of water?"

"With ice?"

"Crushed, please?"

"You got it."

Going into one of the cupboards, Amelia took out a glass and when to the refrigerator to fill it with crushed ice using the ice dispenser. She pressed a button for the dispenser to fill the glass with water. Turning around to go into the greatroom, she saw that Derek was already at the bar/island counter. She set it in front of him, which he picked up and took a couple sips from.

Clearing his throat after wetting his pallet, he asked, "So, you dating anyone?"

She continued with with putting away the groceries, storing a bag of chicken breasts in the freezer drawer. "I was asked out on a lunch date a little while ago," she said, trying to sound as casual as she could. She turned around to collect the frozen pizzas, trying not to meet his gaze.

"You going?"

"Yes," she said, not meaning to sound so curt.

"Oh..."

There was another awkward silence. Amelia busied herself with putting away the groceries while Derek weighed the pros and cons of asking his burning question.

He decided to hazard asking. "So, you've moved on?"

Amelia froze. She turned and locked eyes with Derek. Turning around to face him, she placed a bottle of wine on the edge of the counter. "...I--"

SMASH!

The bottle fell to the floor and shattered leaving glass and red wine all over the stonewood kitchen floor. She wasn't paying attention and had set it directly on the beveled edge where it tipped over.

"Shit," Amelia swore, kneeling down to try and clean up the mess.

"I'll--lemme help." Derek quickly rounded the kitchen counter.

"NO! I GOT IT!" Amelia said, halting Derek in his tracks. She didn't mean to yell. "I... I got it. Don't worry about it.

Derek stood there as she collected the shards of the broken bottle and put them in the trash compactor. He wasn't sure what to do now, and Amelia felt all the more uncomfortable with him looming over her.

In the foyer, a key was pushed into the lock. The deadbolt turned, then the door opened and a young teen-aged Canid girl entered along with what one would assume to be her younger brother.

"We're home!" the girl called out.

"The kids are here, Derek."

"Okay." He took that as a cue to leave her alone.

While Derek went into the foyer to greet his two children, Amelia sat on the kitchen floor, closed her eyes, and sighed.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Naza Sutera

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben watched the scene unfold from his second story balcony a neighborhood away. His zoomed-in sunglasses were switched to x-ray vision, and the device which the sunglasses were attached to had a light-audio detector, which picks up vibrations on the glass of the windows and transmits that as sound. His emotions were like a maelstrom in his mind. First was jealousy, then anger, then confusion, then betrayal, then sadness. He held his personal cellphone in his hand, and looked at it pensively. He rubbed the black case against his fingers, and turned it on. Korben selected his contacts lists, and saw that the time was 1:15 PM. Korben put his phone away, and headed back inside. He went to the living room and slouched on the couch. He took off his sunglasses, and placed his hands on his face in shame.

Suddenly, however, he heard this deafening explosion. He jumped off of his sofa, and grabbed his pistol, frantically waving it around. His heart rate skyrocketed, and he started breathing rapidly. Blaster fire and screaming could be heard all around him, and the walls started turning a purple-ish blue color, with intricate hexagonal designs being etched into the walls. "Shit... shit!" he muttered. Then, without warning, someone-- or some thing-- called out to him with the voices of millions.

"Korben..." He turned to the doorway leading to the balcony, and Korben saw, standing outside, a figure of a CDF soldier. Korben held his pistol in the Weaver stance, nearly perfectly still: a remnant of his time in the military. The figure then turned and faced Korben, its canine features corrupted with the Aparoid Virus. "It's unstoppable, Korben," the figure said. "Why keep resisting?" Korben fired twice, double tapping the figure in the chest. However, Korben shot at nothing but air. Two plasma cases fell to the floor, still steaming hot. Korben then fell to his knees, tossing his pistol aside. He began sobbing, burying his face in his hands. Downstairs, Korben's former commanding officer, Elizabeth Morion, entered Korben's home, sidearm drawn. She closed the door behind him, and heard Korben's crying. Cautiously, she climbed each stair as quietly as possible. When Morion reached the top, she found Korben a sobbing mess. Checking her surroundings, she holstered her weapon, and went to Korben's side.

"Korben, what's wrong?" she inquired. "I heard shots." Korben shook his head.

"I'm hurting, sir," he replied, still sobbing. "I'm hurting, and I c-c-can't find a c-c-c-cure..."

[Naza Sutera]

Unbeknownst to Amelia, there was a nervous breakdown of sorts happening across the lake...

After the incident in the kitchen, Amelia had cleaned up the mess, put away the rest of the food, and reclused away to her room. She lounged on her bed, staring at Korben's name and number in her contacts. She rolled onto her side and stared out the open Venetian blinds of her bedroom window to Arroyo across the lake. Particularly at certain Mediterranean mansion.

Getting out of bed, she went into her bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She took out two pill bottles, set one on the counter, and read the label of the other. 

Take one half a pill in the morning for mood.

Twisting off the cap, she poured a pill into her hand. Setting the bottle down, she took the pill, broke it in half and popped one of the halves into her mouth. She took took a capsule out of the other bottle and did the same. She then grabbed a cup from next to the sink and filled it with water from the tap, and swallowed the medication along with the water.

Amelia heard the door to her bedroom creek open. "Mom?" Kiersey called out.

"I'm in the bathroom," Amelia said as she put away the pill bottles. She walked back into her bedroom to see her daughter with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder and a pair of shoes in her left hand.

"We're leaving again. Just came to say goodbye."

"Okay." Amelia embraced her daughter in a hug and kissed her cheek. "Enjoy your trip."

Her daughter left the room, and Amelia went to sit down on her bed. She picked up her phone and opened the home security app to watch her children and ex husband leave through the video feed to the front door's surveillance camera. Kiersey pulled the door closed behind her and keyed in the code on the keypad to lock it. She, Derek, and Max then walked across the courtyard and out the gate.

Looking back out the window, across the lake to Arroyo, Amelia went into her contacts to find Korben's number, electing to call him once she's found it. Placing the phone to her ear, she waited as it rang, staring across the lake at that mansion again.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Naza Sutera

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Korben was sitting on the couch, wiping his eyes clear of tears. He cleared his throat, and put on his sunglasses. Korben tidied himself up, and straightened his tie. Elizabeth prepared for Korben a glass of water in the kitchen. She went to the living room and placed the glass in front of Korben on the coffee table. He took it and drank the glass dry. Suddenly, Korben's phone rang in his pocket.

"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Let's find out..." Korben took his phone from his pocket. He noticed it was Amelia. He jumped out of his seat in excitement, cleared his throat, and answered. "Hello?"

[Naza Sutera]

"Hi!" Amelia said cheerfully. "So, we still on for lunch?"

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Yeah, of course!" Korben replied enthusiastically. "You wanna m-meet up? Or, uh, one of us w-will pick up th-the other?" He straightened his tie, a nervous habit of his. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was standing across the coffe table from him, silently encouraging him with a thumbs up.