;;One of those Days[Open]

[[Melinda Gordon]]

A young woman of 27 years old sat at a small table near the window of the shop, her light brown eyes following the activity around the cafe as she sipped casually at her coffee cup. People continueously came in and out of the shop, some standing in line, others at tables. The low rumble of chattering and the hiss of espresso machines filled the place, but Melinda was used to all of it by now.

Morning. The time when the Village Java, being known for their coffee, was at its busiest. But the timing seemed unavoidable, for she'd have to open the antique shop in less than a half hour now,and enduring the rush of buisiness that the shop usually recieved at this time was worth being able to have a cup of coffee before work. Anyway, Melinda did sort of enjoy watching what went on around here. On any other day, she might have gotten her coffee to go. Always in a rush...story of her life. But today, Melinda had decided to get an early start on things.

She looked, and was, relaxed at the moment. The warmth of the coffee shop was a pleasant change from Granview's cold temperature, and despite the snow on the ground now, the sun shown brightly. The weather and scenery had an over-all good effect on her mood...which probably wouldn't last very long once the stresses of the day started. Not that Melinda didn't enjoy her job. She liked the unusual antique shop, helping customers and chatting with Delia as they worked. And the items there, and the stories behind them, had always interested her. It was just that lately, she always seemed to have something on her mind. It was times like these that she just liked to forget about such things, at least for awhile.

Taking another sip of her coffee, Melinda turned to gaze out the window instead. Grandview...busy in its small-town life as ever. She watched for awhile, surveying the various people and shops with mild interest. There always seemed to be something going on around town. Slightly amused by the sight of a few kids running around what she assumed to be their mother, Melinda smiled a bit and glanced away, her brown eyes falling upon the clock on the wall near the front of the Village Java. Her expression growing rather bored, she gave a soft sigh, fingers tapping quietly and absent-mindedly on the table as Melinda, with nothing else, at the moment, to do, slipped into her own thoughts.

[Jim Clancy]

Delia walks into the store. She is a little distracted today. It is almost time to go to work, so Delia decides to get a cup to go. She waits in line for awhile, saying hi to a few of the people she knows. Soon, it is finally Delia's turn. She orders a medium coffee. "To go," She adds. The man nods and turns to fill her coffee. While he is busy, Delia looks around. There is a familiar woman nearby. She sits at the table near by, and Delia recognizes her as Melinda, the friend who she works with. Delia smiles. When her coffee comes, she takes a minute to say hello. Walking over, Delia says "Hey Melinda!"

[[Melinda Gordon]]

"Hey, Melinda!"

A familiar voice spoke the greeting, causing her to glance upward only to meet her friend's gaze. Recognizing Delia instantly, Melinda flashed her a small grin. Truth be told, she was rather relieved to have someone to talk to, at least as a source of distraction. "Hi, Delia!" She returned casually, nodding to the chair across from hers to motion that her friend could sit down if she had a moment. This way, they could talk a little before heading into work...which was what Delia probably had been doing. A little sheepish, Melinda realized that she should've probably been there earlier than the opening time anyway. So much for today being a fresh start. But for the moment, she didn't mention this, only glancing Delia up and down again, before scoping the crowds of people behind her. Her eyebrows raised slightly as Melinda realized something. The single mother was alone. In slight confusion, her light brown eyes narrowed slightly and swept to Village Java's clock once again, before returning to her friend.

"Is Ned at school already?" She asked, in some surprise. There was a bit more snow than usual on the ground today; she had even heard that some schools had gotten delays. But either way, it was too early for school to start yet, wasn't it? Not that, as far as she knew at least, Ned was one to tag along everywhere his mother went anyway, but Melinda had seen him a few times around the shop, where he had a sort of part-time job, before school if he bothered to be up that early. But, deciding not to pry into this too much, Melinda allowed herself to relax and wait for Delia's answer.

[Jim Clancy]

Delia gives a grateful nod and sits down in this chair. When Melinda asks about her son, she looks away for a second and takes a long drink of her coffee. The hot liquid trickles down her throat; it feels so good this cold winters day. She turns back to Melinda, for it is now or never that she must answer. It's just, Delia worries so much about her son, but she tries not to be distracted by it. "No, he should be soon though. He says he can handle getting ready on his own." Delia answers, forcing a smile. "Maybie I should call him, when we get to the store, to make sure he actually went." She jokes at this, normal as ever, but worry hides behind her blue eyes. And so, she changes the subject. "So what's going on with you?" Delia's tone is casual, but now she is a little distracted. She is worried, but she does a bad job at hiding it after last night..But for now, Delia is all smiles for Melinda's sake. There is no reason her friend should worry over this; for Ned causes her enough trouble.

[[Melinda Gordon]]

Delia seemed to hesitate a moment before answering. There was just that moment of reluctance, and it was gone in a flash. Then, came her answer.

"He says he can handle getting ready on his own."

"Of course,"Melinda's eyes narrowed slightly after her sarcastic response, her head tilting slightly to the side in an inquiring fashion. She smiled slightly at Delia's joke, but wasn't fooled by her expression. It seemed that Melinda had hit a nerve with the topic...maybe Ned wasn't the best thing to discuss first thing in the morning anyway. Brushing her concern away, she shrugged, letting out a brief sigh.

"Not much, I had hoped to get to the shop early today...but that doesn't seem to be happening." She laughed softly with a glance at the clock. "What about you?" Melinda turned her gaze away from the wall, returning to her friend as she returned the question. Delia's expression bore a smile, but the look in her eyes didn't. Whatever the reason, be it her son or something else, Melinda had to admit that she looked pretty stressed today. And hiding it wouldn't help much. Concern lit in her own, light brown eyes, a small frown crossing her face as she furrowed her brow slightly. "You okay?" She added tentatively,wondering vaguely if she should really push it. It wasn't really her business, and if Delia was trying to hide it, then maybe she didn't feel like discussing this right now. But either way, Melinda couldn't help feeling her usual concern, as she always would, even for a complete stranger, if she sensed that something was wrong.

[Jim Clancy]

Delia nods, grinning a little. SHe only shrugs. "Eh, nothing to report here, same as always." She replies, her mood lightening a little. But Delia manages to fall silent soon after again. When Melinda asks whats wrong, she doesn't intent to tell her at first. She is silent as she looks out the window, almost like she never heard Melinda. But finally, Delia turns back, smiling sadly. "I'm fine." She answers curtly. But the matter hasn't been dismissed. So much for not wanting Melinda to worry! Delia goes on. "It's just, Ned and I fought last night. Nothing new there." She says."But it kinda led to yelling...it got pretty bad. I worry about him which you know. But I hate that we're growing apart. He doesn't seem to know how much I love him...I really wish Charlie(that was his name right?) was here! They were always closer, I,I don't know what to do with him. You know, he always gets in trouble in school, I wish he'd talk to me but apparantly I'm his worst enemy." She shrugs it off, smirking bitterly. "I'm Sorry Melinda, Im treating you like some sort of theripist." It kinda felt good to get it off her chest though.

[[Melinda Gordon]]

Melinda nodded, and fell silent now. It appeared that Delia just didn't want to talk right now, and she'd have to accept that,Despite her better nature. For lack of anything else to do, Melinda took another sip of coffee. She wasn't really thirsty, and doubted that she needed any more caffeine right now. But she did so anyway, musing over the previous conversation. And then...Delia spoke. She set her cup down, surprised by the sudden answer, but only listened as her friend went on to explain. Before long, Delia had spilled everything, or most of it, and Melinda's gaze had softened. When she had finished, Melinda remained silent herself for a long moment, meeting Delia's gaze steadily as she did so. She shook her head, motioning that she didn't mind her friend confiding in her, but stayed silent for a lack of words. Melinda wasn't blind. She realized that there could be a bit of tension between the two, and had overheard their arguments several times around the store. But they always seemed to work it out. She'd never known how much exactly this had bothered Delia.

At last, Melinda spoke, her tone soft so as not to be over-heard by a few of the people who had now glanced over at them in confusion. "Delia, you know that isn't true. There's no way he doesn't know how much you love him. And he loves you. He's always talking about you, always looking out for you. Remember when you two fought because he tried to sell some of Charlie's old things? He did it because he was worried about you, didn't he?" She answered, her eyes narrowing slightly at this. "But he's a teenager. They all go through this sort of thing...I know I did." At this, Melinda smirked a little, pausing tentatively to speculate her friend's reaction before continuing. Hoping that this would at least help a little, she went on.

"I think..." She hesitated, wondering if this would be the right track to take. All that could be done right now was to give Delia the truth of her opinion...and so that was what she'd do. "...I think that even if he pushes you away, Ned needs you know more than ever." With this said, Melinda gave a small shrug, slightly abashed at her little speech, but kept her tone earnest.