in my own sweet time; kale

[laurel.ღ.whitman]

I don't know where the next road goes
But I feel the wheels roll down below me

Laurel Whitman had been in town a grand total of three days. She had spent most of that time with her older brother, David, who had been helping her move in. She had recently left the city of New York, which she had lived in practically her whole life, and was now in the grand city of Seattle, which couldn’t have been more different than her own home. Laurel had done a lot of things in her life, but this was the first time that she had gone off on her own to live and go to school. She had originally planned to try and outrun her family name and reputation, but she doubted that even over here on the West coast that she could do that. The Whitman name traveled far and wide, and it wasn’t something that she could easily escape. It would be okay, though. She was here to do her own thing, what wasn’t expected of her. Mostly, though, she was just trying to get away from her control freak of a mother. Aneva never once hid the fact that she wanted nothing at all to do with her eldest daughter. Laurel was a disappointment to the Whitman name as far as her mother was concerned, and she would have been quick to disown the girl if it weren’t widely known that she was her daughter. Laurel’s leaving, though, had in turn pleased her mother, because she didn’t have to see her daughter. Laurel would change that soon, though. Some day soon she’d find a way to drive her mother insane again. She thrived on it, after all.

Laurel had finally gotten her chance to get away from the unpacking and setting up and gotten away for the night. So it wasn’t exactly safe for a girl to be out on the streets by herself at night, but for a New Yorker, the streets of Seattle almost seemed tame. Of course, in New York Laurel had never really been alone, either having her older brother, her older brother’s friends, or her father’s friends’ children. Point is, Laurel was never truly alone. Though, she wasn’t really afraid. Laurel wasn’t afraid to go out and be by herself for a change. She knew all the self defense moves that girls living in the big city should know and she had the lungs of any girl that could scream bloody murder if the need arrised. She wasn’t really worried, though. She wasn’t worried about any of that, though. A girl like Laurel knew how to protect herself and most of the time, protecting yourself meant guarding your heart. That part Laurel had done pretty well… unless you considered falling for the right guy in the wrong world to be dumb. That was still a pretty fresh wound, though, and Laurel shook it from her mind. She didn’t want to think of Josh or any other guy for that matter. She was simply out to have a good time, and to just enjoy herself with no standards asked of her. That was something that she didn’t get very often.

Laurel had lived quite a comfortable life. She’d been subjected to a world of schedules and dinner parties and good manners. Laurel had been stuck in a world that only cared about who her family was and how much money they had. Her private school had been a nightmare and a half most of the time, and the only good thing that had ever come of it was Josh. Again, she wasn’t going to go there. The thing is, Laurel had grown up around superficial people whose poise only went skin deep. The people she had known had been no different than most regular people in the city, except for the fact they had everything and anything that they could ever want. That didn’t make them better people, though. That made them evil and devilish and hateful. The people she had been raised with were her mother up and down, backwards and forwards, diagonally, horizontally, and vertically. Any guesses now as to why she wanted out of that world? From the day Laurel was born her and her mother had been enemies. Aneva hated not being able to be in the spotlight. Laurel had been paraded around by her father like she was the Queen of England. Aneva had hated losing that light, and had blamed Laurel from it. Throughout Laurel’s whole life it had been that way. Laurel was a beautiful girl with her dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and slim figure. She was the girl that everyone envied and wanted to be in high school, but she had never wanted it to be that way. Laurel had simply wanted to be another face in the crowd, but where she came from, that would never happen.

Laurel reached the doors of Jared’s at about 9:30, and already there was a line outside the place. She was used to going to clubs and such that she got in right away. No wait involved. Laurel didn’t mind the waiting, though. She moved past the people that were standing outside, grabbing a couple admiring glances from the guys there in her low-rise jeans and red tank top. She ignored them, not stopping until she reached the back of the line where she leaned against the wall. It moved fast, of course, because there weren’t too many people and she made it to the bar immediately. Laurel was underage and so she simply ordered a coke from the girl working the bar, a pretty brunette whose name tag read “Brittany”. She was a pretty girl, and very friendly, Laurel catching a small smile from her when she got her coke. The girl looked slightly flustered from the crowd that was demanding her attention, as well as that of a pretty red head that was working with her. Laurel took the drink from the girl, thanking her and popping the top on it before she took a drink. Laurel listened to the pulsing music as it beat from the huge speakers in the bar. It was a nice place, she had to admit, and she remembered her father talking about it a while back. It seemed that the opening had been a big deal in Seattle, and had been huge enough to reach her father over in New York. Now she understood why. It was a great place. Laurel considered heading off to the dance floor where several bodies were moving against each other, but doing that would invite guys to join her, and that wasn’t something she was ready to do. Laurel didn’t want to give anyone an open invitation, and so she, instead, stayed where she was with her can of coke.

[kale davis ,]

Seattle really had to be one of the dullest places that Kale Davis had ever been to. Sure, it had had it’s moments the first time that he had been here, but that had been back when he was in high school. There were always people there to meet and break, and it had all been too easy for him to do. Kale had hated school, but it was some sort of law that he had to go, so he had made the best of it. He had been to so many different schools in his life that he had lost count. High school was always interesting, though, no matter where it was that he went. The school here in Seattle had at least been entertaining. The classes weren’t anything hard, Kale able to pass them without even trying. It was the people here that had made it worth the hassle. Especially the ones that had put themselves on the wrong side of the line, meaning not on Kale Davis’ side. Those people were the ones that were all so damn loyal to the Trents and the little group that they had established in the school. Kale didn’t really care for those people one way or the other. He just liked to stir up some trouble, sit back, and watch it all hit the fan. He had been doing just that, until Kade Trent had come along and had the dumb thought in his head that he could tell Kale what to do. Kale had played nice then, backing off and letting Mr. High and Mighty think he had gotten his way. Three weeks later, all hell had broken loose and the two had nearly killed one another out at one of the bars. That had been interesting. And a lot of fun, too.

Maybe it was those kind of thoughts and memories that had brought Kale back to this Godforsaken city. He had failed to remember that it rained nine months out of the year here and that it really wasn’t all that great of a place to live. Not when one has lived in places like Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and New York City. Kale would even take San Francisco over this city, and he really hadn’t been all that fond of San Fran like his brother and sister had been. What it had all came down to was that Kale was bored and he had needed a place to waste some time in. That’s exactly what he had been doing here. Yeah, he had had some pretty good nights with some very sexy women that knew how to treat a man. He had gotten to stir up more trouble with his favorite people to torment and watch it rattle their pathetic little lives for a little while. The stupid thing was that they kept patching things up and getting back together. And he was taking a lot of hits for it all, too. It really wasn’t worth it anymore. He had tried, and he had caused a lot of tension. To him, that was pretty good. Nearly destroying not only Kade and Brit’s relationship, but also the one between Ali and Micah was good. Then getting in Tish’s pants had been good as well. Toying around with Millie, Anna’s friend, had been fun for a little while, but he could only keep up the nice guy routine for so long and she just wasn’t worth the chase. All in all, Kale would have to say that his work in this shitty little city was done.

He had called around, talked with his older brother, Kennedy, and older sister, Katherine, as well with his parents. Kale rarely spoke with his family except for when he was looking for a new place to relocate to. He liked to see where his family members were, to see if there was anything exciting going on and if it might be convenient to drop in on them. Kennedy was working all the time anymore, loving his job as a lawyer. Kale couldn’t figure out why Kennedy would even want to work. Their family was so rich that he clearly didn’t need to support himself, but to each his own, he supposed. None of them seemed to be doing anything special, though. Kale’s mother was still living in Beverly Hills, living the glamorous life that she loved. Kale’s father was in New York City doing business, which wasn’t surprising as he pretty much lived there anymore. Kennedy was in Los Angeles. Katherine was attending Harvard. Kale had considered dropping in to see his big sister, but had thought against it. She was taking a summer semester, which meant she wouldn’t be any fun at all. Going to Beverly Hills might have been fun, but Kale didn’t know how much he wanted to see his mother right now. Key West was another place that came to mind, along with Miami. Miami won out in the end, Kale figuring that a little East Coast might be nice after all this West. Plus, he hadn’t been there in awhile. He bet the people there that had known him once had already forgotten his name, which was good. He liked going into places where people didn’t already know what kind of game he was playing. He had called ahead and gotten a house. Picked it out off of the internet and it was being held until he got there. How freaking easy was that?

In one week, he’d be boarding a plane and getting the hell out of this place. He had one week to finish up anything he had going, which really wasn’t much of anything. The only thing he could think of was to go and torment the hell out of his favorite group of people in the whole wide world. Note the sarcasm. Jared’s was a busy bar anymore, it being one of the most popular places to go when it came to the nightlife of Seattle. Kale hadn’t been there since he had gotten hit three times in one night there. First by Brit, then by Kade, and finally by Micah who had at least had the courtesy to wait until he had hauled Kale outside before slamming his head into the pavement. That one had hurt, but Kale had gotten over it. Now, it was time to go back in and see what was happening and what he could do before he left. He had to wait in line, which always seemed to be bigger each night with more and more people trying to cram themselves into the place. Finally, Kale got in and cut his way across the dance area and toward the bar. The first person that he caught sight of was Miss Tyler. Kale smirked as he came up and stood beside of where she sat, perched on her barstool. ”Hello, Tyler. You up for a night?” She turned to look at him, her pretty little face putting a scowl on when her dark eyes found him. God. You’d think that seeing as he’d used her years ago, she’d be over it by now. “Go to hell,” She spat, clearly not in the mood to play. That made Kale smirk even more. ”There’s no such thing, darling. But, if you change your mind, I‘ll be here.” He didn’t give her a chance to say anything else. He moved on down the bar, seeing more of the people that he was looking for.

Tish Martin was there, and Kale nodded as she walked by on the other side of the bar. ”Tish,” he said as an acknowledgement, the same smirk still on his lips. He didn’t get much of a response from her other than an angry look, but he figured that was because she was busy with the customers and didn’t have time to pick a fight with him. Pity. Kale turned his dark eyes further down the bar and saw the youngest Trent brother headed his way. Kale hadn’t really had a lot of dealings with Hunter, but he knew that Hunter didn’t like him. That fact really didn’t bother him, but he knew it. “What the hell is the matter with you? Do you have a death wish or something?” Well, at least Hunter was a little more civil than his oldest brother. That wasn’t really a surprise, though. Kade wasn’t much of an example, nor was he much of a man for anyone to look to for anything of the sort. That was Kale’s opinion. ”Why? You gonna get Big Bad Micah after me? Or is your asshole of a brother going to be the one that does me in?” Hunter wore a hard expression on his face, almost as if he were trying to judge how to respond to that one. In that, Kale saw that Hunter could resemble Kade with his expression, but Kade would have been quick to make a threat. Hunter was at least thinking before he spoke. “You’re forgetting that they aren’t the only two people in this bar that would like to see you gone.” Hunter gave him one last look before getting back to his job of serving people their drinks. That was very well said, Kale had to give him that. He shrugged and kept on moving, deciding to take a seat on one of the few empty barstools that just so happened to sit him beside a beautiful dark haired woman.

She looked young, but she was obviously not so young that she couldn’t be in this bar. She was looking the opposite direction for a moment, which gave Kale a chance to sneak a look at her while she wasn’t watching. If he didn’t know better, he would say that he had seen her somewhere before. He didn’t think that he had ever spoken to her before, but he could almost place her in his mind. It had been a long time ago that he had seen her, if this was even the same girl. It was a very good chance that she just looked like a girl that he had walked passed once upon a time, but he would try to catch her name and see if it brought the memory back any clearer. She turned back around, and Kale diverted his gaze so that she wouldn’t know that he had taken any interest in her at all. Well, until he went and turned on his barstool just enough to where he was facing her a bit more. ”Hey there,” he said, his voice warm and friendly and not at all smart like it had been before. The smirk had been replaced with a smile that matched the tone of his voice. Yes, he was very good at this game and so great at lying that only people that knew him and knew what he did would be able to see right through the face he was putting on for this girl. ”I would offer to buy you a drink, but I see that you already have one.” And a Coke at that. Who came to a bar to order a Coke? Kale could see that maybe if it were mixed with rum, but he highly doubted that one was. ”Name’s Kale Davis.” He was still playing the nice guy, the guy that wasn’t hitting on her so fast that her head would spin and not the guy that would freak her right the hell out, but the guy that was respecting her and being friendly.

[laurel.ღ.whitman]

I don't know where the next road goes
But I feel the wheels roll down below me

Laurel had spent a lot of time in clubs back at New York, but it was times like those that she had her girl friends around her. She could dance and have fun, and never have to worry about fighting off unwelcome members of the opposite sex. That wasn’t really possible here. To her knowledge, there was no one here that she knew, or that knew her. She was alone in this town until she happened to make some acquaintances. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come here. Maybe she should have just stayed up, curled up in the chair with Demon, and watched reruns on TV. Instead she had left her faithful dog at home alone, and was, well, here. She knew that home wasn’t where she wanted to be, though. The boxes that her stuff had been in were still scattered around her apartment, and she’d spent every night for the past week with Demon. Getting away was what she wanted. A night to just get out and… breathe. She needed to meet people too, and so that was the exact reason for coming to Jared’s, though she probably should have chosen somewhere less… loud. Oh well, she couldn’t really leave right now, could she? She had just gotten here. Besides, she had managed to see a familiar face, a girl that lived only a couple apartments down from her. She couldn’t quite remember the girl’s name… though the name Tyler kept coming to mind… and she had only talked to her a couple of times in the moving process. Maybe she would talk to her later…

The thought was only a little ways through her head when the guy next to her caught her attention. ”Hey there.” Laurel turned her hazel eyes in his direction, unsure if she wanted to actually converse with this guy. He had a warm smile and tone to him, so she figured that it couldn’t be too bad for her health to just hold a conversation with him. She offered up her own smile, it coming somewhat easily and warmly to her lips. She didn’t say anything, though. What else was there besides “hey” to say to this guy? She didn’t have to come up with her own response, though, because he moved fairly fast, and that sent her alarms going off like sirens at a prison. Anyone who talked that smoothly was sure to be up to something… or experienced in conversing in ways such as this. ”I would offer to buy you a drink, but I see that you already have one.” She smiled again, her eyes shifting down to her coke, which she took another drink of. Laurel’s eyes shifted back up to the guy beside her, assessing him out. There was something about him, something familiar that she couldn’t totally put her finger on. She stared at him a little, unsure if she should say something about him being familiar or not. That might put a little bit of a damper on things… especially if it turned out to not be who she thought he was.

She took in this guy’s dark hair, his blue eyes, and nice clothes. It was possible that she could have met him sometime in New York… in her world. The world of the rich and conceded. She stared at him a little harder, and just as he spit out his name she had placed him. ”Name’s Kale Davis.” He was a Davis. She should have known. They all pretty much looked the same, anyway, though people often said that about her and Olivia. Laurel had gotten her mother’s looks for sure, as did her younger sister, and that made it impossible to deny that she was at all related to the two. The thing about Laurel’s world was that it was almost impossible to not know the people like you. New York was a pretty big city, but her father knew pretty much everyone with a name to recognize. Laurel had socialized with the Davis’s a couple times in her life, but they had never made a real impression on her. She had been caught up in her own life and problems, and most of the time she had probably been arguing with her mother. Laurel hadn’t really thought much about any of the people that had surrounded her at the time. What could say, sometimes even she could be a little rich girl caught up in problems that weren’t really that big of a deal.

From what Laurel had heard of the Davis’s, their life was a lot like her own. Charles Whitman lucked into his wealth, and then married an heiress. Then, after that, they had three kids. The similarities were incredible… and slightly creepy at that. The similarities stopped there, though, and she wasn’t even truly certain about the things that were similar themselves. She had never cared about the Davis’s and their life, just as she’d never really cared about any of the others. To Laurel, all of the rich kids were the same. She’d met only a couple exceptions in her whole life, and they weren’t even complete, but more a “nice when it’s convenient for me” as opposed to the usual “I am inferior to you.” Honestly there wasn’t that much difference. From the stuff she’d heard from her father, the Davis’s were the same as the rest of them, and maybe even worse than the average. “Laurel Whitman.” There was no point in pretending to be anyone else or not giving her name away. He’d figure it out eventually. Anyone who had maybe ever seen her would realize it. A Whitman could hardly go anywhere without being noticed. That’s what sucked about it.

[kale davis ,]

He could see Brit working further down the bar. Kale’s eyes weren’t looking away from this fine looking woman that he had just started a conversation with, but he could see her out of the corner of his eye. She was smiling, laughing, and being the warm, friendly girl that everyone here knew and loved. She was a real piece of work, that one. One of the most interesting cases that Kale had ever gotten his hands on, at least. Unlike all the other whiny, bawling women that he had played supportive friend to just to get in their pants hadn’t really had problems that were all that real. So what if their last boyfriend had cheated on them? Forget the bastard and move on. Mommy didn’t love them like they loved their older sister? Screw Mommy then and go out and make a life for yourself. Of course, Kale didn’t offer that kind of advice. He was the one saying just how horrible it all was, and saying that the woman in question must feel awful about it. There was no reason to build them up with strength that would make them feel like they didn’t need him around. That would kind of be stupid for him to do. Brit, though, had had some real problems that had almost made Kale feel bad for her. She had been complex, and it had taken a lot of work to get it all out and for her to come into his arms. But, Kale Davis was good at what he did, and he had gotten her. She was one of the scores that he was actually most proud of. Not that he would ever tell her that. She’d just hit him again, and then Kade Trent would be out here and knocking his ass off of the barstool so fast that he wouldn’t see it coming. It happened before; Kale didn’t doubt these people when it came to their violence.

There was a part of him that almost wanted Brit to look down here and see Kale, just so he would know that he had caused her some discomfort this evening. But, she would more than likely blow his act right out of the water and cost him the potential score he could get with this lovely lady, so he really didn’t think Brit getting involved was a great idea. It could be entertaining as hell, but he was more interested in the girl that was sitting beside of him than one he had already played once before. He couldn’t believe that she looked so familiar, and yet he couldn’t place her in his memory to save his life. That’s why he had offered his name to her. Kale usually wasn’t one to play it that way at first, letting the woman come on to him and ask him what his name was a lot of the time. That showed that they were interested, and that was his was of knowing that he basically had them hooked. All that he had to do from that point on was still play the nice guy, but be flirty and playful enough to let them know that he was willing to do whatever they were willing to do. Sex was preferable to him, but he didn’t mind just kissing around and letting his hands roam from time to time. Sex was usually what he got, though. He had ways of manipulating women into thinking that it was what they really wanted, knowing all the right words to whisper into their ears and just the right way to let his hands go about on their bodies. It was so easy that it was almost funny, but Kale loved every second of it. That really wasn’t what his main goal had been in coming out to Jared’s tonight, but if there was anyway that he could get this girl going, he would be more than happy with it.

She was definitely suiting to his preference of women. He liked them to have a pretty face, and long, dark hair. An occasional blonde was okay, but there was just something about the brunettes that struck Kale a little more. Dark eyes were a plus, and they had to have a good figure. He didn’t want a girl that was fifty pounds overweight, but curves were fabulous. He hated it when girls were so skinny that their ribs showed, or you could see their bones like their skin was just barely clinging to them. That to Kale seemed rather poor, and he didn’t like it. This girl fit all those requirements. Dark hair, dark eyes, a gorgeous face and a damn good looking body. Not to mention that the little smile that she offered him was a very good smile. Then there was the way that she was looking at him almost as if she were trying to figure him out. He liked it. Kind of gave her some air of confidence, or maybe it just made her come off as one of the smart ones that were always on the look out for guys like him. It only made it more fun to know that these women were looking for a guy that was the complete opposite of Kale Davis, and yet they still went with him because he was just so damn good at lying and deceiving them. It kind of made it more rewarding in the end, if that made any sense at all. Of course, it made perfect sense to Kale. It was everyone else that seemed not to understand why he did the things he did. The reason was really very simple. He got bored and he needed something to do, something that would entertain him. This was the hobby of sorts that he had taken up.

But, then she gave him her name, and he was done with all of his strategy thinking. Laurel Whitman. That explained a lot, and it definitely helped him place her in his mind. He knew that name. Not her first name, but the last name rang one hell of a bell with him. He smiled. ”I knew I’d seen you somewhere. Last summer, your father and mine were at the same business party and I tagged along. You were there.” He’d only seen her for maybe a second across the crowded hall, but she had been there and she had caught his eye then. He had already had a girl on his arm at that time, or he probably would have made a pass at her. Though, part of him was glad that he hadn’t, or this might not be such a nice little conversation as it was turning out to be. Kale felt like he knew this Laurel much better now, knowing what kind of a family that she had come from. Actually, her family wasn’t too different from his family. Father lucked into money, mother was an heiress, and both families had three children. Miles Davis had been around Charles Whitman from time to time, and the two families’ paths had crossed then. Kale usually didn’t go to such business parties, but he’d been in New York City last summer for a few weeks, and had decided that it was free food, why not go? Kale had actually met Charles. He’d shook his hand and stood while his father and Charles talked about something business related that Kale could have been less interested in. Charles seemed to go about things different than Miles did, but the men were civil in their differences. Kale hadn’t been sure if he liked the Whitmans, but he hadn’t been around them long enough to figure out if they were friend or foe. Either way, they were from the same world. Friend they would be until there was a reason to think them different.

Kale wasn’t really thinking about family or business relations, though. He was just thinking about Miss Laurel Whitman that he had sitting beside of him. He offered her a handshake. ”It’s a pleasure to actually meet the daughter of the great Charles Whitman. His name has been one that my father has spoken of often.” Whether that was a good thing of now, Kale couldn’t tell you. He didn’t pay attention to all that business stuff, not caring much for it. All he knew was that there was money involved in it, and it was what allowed him to live a life that required him not to work a day of it. He only paid attention enough to know who the big names of the industry were and how they all got along and tried to cut each throats out and such. That was the only way he knew anything about Charles Whitman or his lovely daughter here. ”So what brings you to Seattle? I know it’s not the great climate.” The climate here was rather sucky in Kale’s opinion, and a lot of people that he knew came here for visits said they were never happier to see the sun as when they left the rainy little city and got away from those storm clouds. Though, he wasn’t really trying to start a conversation about the weather. He was keeping the words flowing and keeping everything else moving. Awkward pauses would not suit him, and Kale was never short on words to say to keep things going the way he wanted them to go. And now that he’d found a similarity between the two of them, he had even more to use.

[laurel.ღ.whitman]

I don't know where the next road goes
But I feel the wheels roll down below me

And there it was, that look of recognition that she’d been looking for. He knew her. She knew he would. The Davis’s and Whitman’s had crossed paths several times in their business dealings, for one reason or another. In the world Laurel and Kale lived in, you always knew who was who in the big wide world. Surnames meant everything, and as long as you had the money to back up the talk, it didn’t matter how you got it. Charles didn’t necessarily believe in the way of the rich, but he went with it, and had married one of the snobbiest heiresses in the United States. Laurel had no idea what her father saw in her mother, but she did know that whenever a fight broke out, Daddy always took her side. She was daddy’s little girl, loyal to her father in every way. She’d do anything that man asked her to, mostly because she knew he’d never ask her to do anything that she wouldn’t want to do. Her father redefined what made a person worthy of his daughter, and he’d never judged the guys Laurel brought home by how much money they had in their wallet. Her mother was different, of course. She’d only ever approved of one guy, and even that one didn’t please her fully. Laurel didn’t really care, though. Everything that she had ever done was for herself. She’d never done it to please her mother or her father, and that was what made her mother’s distaste for her choice in men so wonderful. She was always outraged, telling Laurel that she could do better. That was usually the point where Laurel would toss back that her father could have done better too.

So, pretty much, Laurel was the rebellious daughter in the rich world. She wasn’t a bad person, on the contrary she was really good, and it just so happened that she didn’t try to rebel like most teenagers did. For Laurel, she was simply a good, honest girl stuck in a world full of snobs and, well, rich people. She was stuck being looked at as a rebellious daughter who didn’t seem to understand the workings of their world. The fact was that she understood perfectly well what went on in the world that surrounded her, and who she was hadn’t stopped several of her peers from trying to marry her at the age of fifteen. Arranged marriages were frowned upon in today’s society, but in Laurel’s world she had actually seen it happen a couple times. Parents always let their children believe that they chose their future husband or wife, but in reality, the parents pushed these kids together so that they had no choice but to fall for one another. She’d seen it so many times in her life, and she had never once allowed herself to be a part of it, much to her mother’s dismay. Her mother wanted her to be married the proper man, one who had more money than God and was the exact opposite of her father. That just didn’t sit well with Laurel, and if she had it her way, she’d never fall to her mother’s bidding. Honestly, Laurel couldn’t even think of a guy in her world that could ever make her happy. In the end, they were all the same, and that meant they were everything that she hated.

”I knew I’d seen you somewhere. Last summer, your father and mine were at the same business party and I tagged along. You were there.” Yep, she was there alright. Laurel took a drink from her can and nodded at his words. She’d remembered seeing him, Kale having caught the eye of her female friends. They had been more than interested, and she had a feeling that if given the chance they would have all jumped at the opportunity to be with him. She remembered them ragging on the girl he had been with, saying that she wasn’t good enough to be with a guy as good looking as Kale and pointing out every single flaw the poor thing had. Laurel had just ignored them, and refused to add comment when asked what she thought of the guy and the girl on his arm. She refused to let them drag her down into their world. Their gossip and angry words weren’t something that she was fond of in the slightest, and she refused to be a part of it. “Yes, I remember you. My friends couldn’t take their eyes off of you.” She offered him another smile, it holding a teasing gleam to it. So far he had given her no reason to turn him away and write him off as another egotistic, spoiled rich kid, but she had a feeling that this was all just an act. She had been around enough of his kind to know when it was genuine and when it was fake. She had to admit, though, that he was a good liar if this was what she had a feeling it was. That was scary. Very scary.

Laurel saw Kale reach his hand out to her. ”It’s a pleasure to actually meet the daughter of the great Charles Whitman. His name has been one that my father has spoken of often.” Was that good or bad? Laurel didn’t ask, because she honestly didn’t want to know. Some people didn’t think highly of her father. He’d lucked into his money, and had wormed his way into their society. He had come from no respectable name, and yet he had managed to knag one of the richest girls society had ever known. She had no idea what words were being associated with her father’s name as far as Miles Davis was concerned, but she didn’t really care. Though, of course, if she had ever heard the comments herself she would defend her father in a heartbeat. He was her best friend sometimes, and understood her in ways a parent just shouldn’t be able to. To not defend him would just make her one of them. Laurel took the hand that Kale extended to her and shook it, but let go of it quickly. She offered him another warm smile, unable to not smile as it was. Laurel was a nice person, she’d always been a nice person, and it was hard to turn that off. Her father had always loved having her at his side at business parties and dinners, simply because Laurel could put a smile on her face and keep it there, going through the small talk with ease. She also had a good knowledge with business, and had been able to stay in the conversation until such a time she felt it was necessary to excuse herself. It was only when someone threatened her or her family with snide, off hand comments that the smile would leave her face. So far, Kale hadn’t done that.

”So what brings you to Seattle? I know it’s not the great climate.” Hmm… she doubted that he’d understand her reasoning behind why she was here. She continued to smile, took another drink from the can of coke, and then decided to answer. She’d see just how conceded this guy was. “I’m here for college… and to get away from my mother.” She laughed softly. The Laurel/Aneva battle was one that never seemed to tire around the Whitman household. Few people outside of the family ever really saw the bad relationship between mother and daughter, though. Aneva always put on a smile for the world, and sometimes even acted like she loved her daughter. Anyone who paid attention, though, could see right through the act. She was more civil in public with Laurel, but it was clear that she favored Olivia over her eldest daughter. She fonded over the youngest daughter, making sure everyone knew what good things were going on with the young girl. She never did that with Laurel, at least not on her own. Charles always had to bring up his daughter’s good deeds and accomplishments. Aneva would never even think of doing such a thing. “My mother and I don’t see eye to eye on almost anything… I guess it was time for a change.” She smiled again, took another drink, then turned her attention back to Kale. “If you hate the weather here so much, then why are you here?” Simple question, and it kept the conversation rolling. Whether or not that was a good thing, Laurel still hadn’t decided. She didn’t completely know how to take Kale, but she wasn’t stupid enough to let her guard down.

[kale davis ,]

A Whitman. A true, honest to God Whitman here in Seattle. In Jared’s. Sitting right here next to him. What kind of luck was that? Kale didn’t know what kind of a girl she was. He really didn’t know much more about her than what her last name told him. She came from the business world, and her family had money out the ass. That didn’t mean that she was going to be like all those other girls. No, from what he could tell already, she didn’t fit the regular pattern for how those girls acted. Most of the women that came from money knew that they did and acted like it. They were rich bitches, to say the least, and they flaunted it by wearing the most recent styles of clothing, everything being super expensive. They’re cars, their hair, their houses, their pets, their men…everything that they owned reflected and boasted their wealth. Their personalities usually ran about the same, too. None of them had a genuine smile. They had fake smiles for the people that the pretended to like and to care about. Their bodies were usually worked on, and if not with plastic then by some high dollar physical trainer that they really didn’t need. They were just the top of the line, the women that other looked at and often envied. Kale had lived in that world for all of his life and had gotten quite accustomed to how it worked with these girls. They were all sugary sweet to him, most of their kind being just as sexually active as he was and wanting some more, but to each other, they were like snakes. For some reason, he didn’t see that side of their life coming out in Laurel. Maybe she wasn’t one to fit into what was just expected and accepted behavior from their world. If so, that might be a little disappointing. Kale knew how to work those girls; they were really the easiest kind. Just like Aliana Donahue. Now there was a big time business name, and a girl that fit that world and its ways perfectly.

But, if Laurel were different, that could prove to be a bit more interesting. Kale liked things easy some of the time. He liked to know how things were going to go, and knowing that he wouldn’t have to hardly work at all. All he had to do in situations like that was let his body and that killer smile of his do the talking, and the deal was practically made for him. Being with women that came from the world of money and business were the ones that were the easiest because it seemed like they really just didn’t care. They’d go with whoever it was that wanted them as long as they knew they were worthy and of the right social status. Then, there were women that Kale could scoop up right here at these sort of establishments. They were the ones that had low self esteem, and the ones that just plain out liked sex and were looking for a night of fun. They were the ones that came onto him, usually. All he had to do was sit back and let them come. Then, there were the ones that were a bit more selective. He had to work and play a different role for each of them, but he almost always got what he wanted out of it. But, Kale did enjoy a challenge. He liked it when women were carefully guarded and didn’t want just anyone. He liked trying to find out what they were about, and seeing how smart they thought they were being when they flirted oh so subtly but with no intentions of going home with him. Sometimes he didn’t get them on the first night, but he would find a way to contact them and keep working. Kade was real slick with it, and he kept working on these challenging women until he got them. That’s what he had done with Brit. That’s what he might be willing to do with Laurel if she proved to be harder to get than the rest of the girls from their kind of upbringing. He would have to decide if she was worth it or not.

Who was he really kidding, though? She was a freaking Whitman. That name meant something. He wondered what his father would say if he knew what Kale and the daughter of Charles Whitman had done once it was said and done with. Yes, Kale was counting chickens a little early, but he had yet not to get what he wanted when he set out to get it. Why not? And it wasn’t like he was going to go and tell his father who he had sex with. Kale and Miles didn’t have that kind of a relationship at all, Miles choosing to ignore his son’s lifestyle when it came to that. No, Kale would just have to say something about Laurel, mention that he had been “seeing” her, and that was all that Miles would need to piece it together. Laurel was certainly the type of girl that his father would love to see his youngest son with. She had the right kind of background, and that last name would earn her major points. Kale wasn’t even considering settling down, him and commitment not being two things that mixed at all, but it was a fun idea to play with. And wouldn’t that just be the scandal of their little world? He could only imagine. But, he was still trying to put together just who this young women was. When she had said that she remembered seeing him at that party and that all of her friends hadn’t been able to keep their eyes off of him, Kale had played it off rather well. He loved hearing that he had drawn that sort of attention, but he didn’t think she would like that part of him, so he offered an almost embarrassed little smile to that. Yeah, he was good at this game, wasn’t he? He had wondered why she had been included in that little group, but quickly saw that she just wasn’t the kind of girl that he had been pegging her for. Definitely interesting. And that little bit of a tease that she held in her eyes? Amazing. He was getting sucked into, knowing that he was going to have follow through.

She shook his hand quickly, and offered him another smile. He was thinking that maybe she was one of those nice girls. Like Brit. One that was smart and funny and just nice, something that was out of place in the society that the two of them had been raised in. Or maybe she was just as good at the charade as he was. He would figure it out eventually. He had asked her a question, though, and she seemed to answer it easily enough. Kale didn’t know what kind of answer that he had been expecting, but what she said really wasn’t it. She was here for college. Oh, she was one of those. Like his brother and sister, she was furthering her education even though she really didn’t have a reason to. Okay. That was nice, he guessed. A waste of time in his opinion, but if that’s what she wanted, she could do whatever the hell she wanted to with her family’s money. It wasn’t like they didn’t have enough of it. The part about her mother was little bit open, something that he hadn’t expected her to share. As Laurel talked, Kale kept and interested expression on his face, his brow raising at the mention of her mother. He had heard about Aneva Whitman once or twice. She was a lot like his own mother, an heiress with an attitude fitting for the kind of society that they were brought up in. He had never really put any thought into the fact that she and her youngest daughter might not get along, though. Whose family really did get along, anyway? Kale was loyal to his family, but he didn’t like them a lot of the time. He loved them, sure, but liking them wasn’t required. She continued about her mother, and Kale nodded, turning his expression into one that had a bit of sympathy to it. He really didn’t understand why people took things like that so much to heart, but he guessed it did bother them. It obvious had gotten to Laurel. Not that it really mattered much to him one way or the other, but he had to at least look like he was sympathizing with her a bit.

He had asked her a question, and she had answered. Now it was Kale’s turn to answer one of her questions, and it was one that was simply enough. Why was he even in Seattle? He smiled at her easily. ”I never said I hated the weather. I’m just saying that it’s not as nice as L.A. or Beverly Hills.” He let a little chuckle accompany his words. He was actually kind of proud of himself for that one. It wasn’t a total and complete lie. ”My family and I lived here a few years ago, and I decided to come back and see if I could meet up with anyone that I used to know. I‘d just forgotten how rare a sunny day is in this city.” Again, he was going pretty good with this. He wasn’t have to make up a story for himself and then figure out a good way to stick with it and not mess it up later on. This was going rather well. ”I’ve actually been bouncing around from place to place since I graduated high school. I don’t really know what I want to do with my life, so I decided to do some traveling until I figure it out. Thought I might hit Miami next and trade in some clouds for sun.” Still not much of a lie in that one, either. Kale was always good with words, him being a smooth talker and never short on lies to tell. The truth, however, always came easier, even for a man that was used to spinning tales and making up things as he went. He liked being able to do this part the easy way for once, knowing that Laurel would understand his moving and his ability to go from place to place seeing as she knew where he’d come from. ”What are you going to college for? Got any ideas for me?” And now he was trying to seem interested while also trying to joke and maybe flirt a little. It was all second nature to him.

[laurel.ღ.whitman]

I don't know where the next road goes
But I feel the wheels roll down below me

Laurel observed her new companion closely. She’d heard so many things about Kale Davis before, and now that she was sitting there watching him, she was interested in seeing whether they were true or not. Laurel had always been fairly good at reading people, but her time with the elite had taught her that you couldn’t always tell truth from lie. Many people were just too good at lying; it was second nature to them. Laurel didn’t know if that was how Kale was or not, but she had this feeling that he was. In her experience, there were no good guys in their world. They were always stuck up, players, and in search of one thing. That one thing was something that she wasn’t into, not with kind anyway. And how pathetic was it that the high class divided the world’s population into “us” and “them.” Her mother had done it for years. When she’d been involved with Josh, it had always been the “they are not good enough for us” speech; that “our kind doesn’t get involved with theirs.” Laurel had hated that speech, had heard it practically every day of her life and still heard her mother preach it to her younger sister, whom lived up to the heiress expectations wonderfully. In Laurel’s experience, the only good guy in the land of the rich and famous that she’d ever met was her father and her brother. Obviously those guys were off limits.

Laurel watched the expressions that flowed across his face. She wasn’t quick enough to see the difference in his initial reaction and the fake one, and she certainly didn’t know him well enough to know anything for sure about him. So, instead she would simply continued to look for other loop holes. Guys like him, or at least the guy she thought he was, didn’t always make mistakes, but every now and then they did mess up. Sooner or later she’d figure out the fact from fiction, but until then she’d simply go with the flow of things. “I never said I hated the weather. I’m just saying that it’s not as nice as L.A. or Beverly Hills.” Laurel laughed softly and shrugged her shoulders. So he hadn’t said that he hated the weather, but she was certain that he didn’t like it. And she guessed that it was true, to each his own. Laurel didn’t mind Seattle at all. So what if it saw very little sunlight? She’d been living in New York for so long that she didn’t really care much. The weather there changed like the wind, and Laurel didn’t really care much for the sun anyway. She loved Seattle so far, even though she’d only seen a little bit of it so far.

“My family and I lived here a few years ago, and I decided to come back and see if I could meet up with anyone that I used to know. I’d just forgotten how rare a sunny day is in this city.” But that was part of Seattle’s charm: the storms and the lack of sun. She really liked it here. Laurel had never been one to go out and take a day on the beach. Laurel was more of the kind of girl that spent all her days in the library. She loved the rain and she enjoyed getting caught in a storm every now and then. Besides, Laurel had never been much of a beach girl, so places like Miami and California weren’t all that appealing to her. She wasn’t crazy about the hot weather either, a lot of this showed in the fact that she as fairly fair skinned. “I enjoy the lack of sun,” she said, in a tone as if she were defending it. “It’s Seattle’s special quality. What makes it so famous.” She offered him a smile and took another drink from her can. She hadn’t only chosen Seattle because of the rain or because it was as far away from New York as she could get without leaving the continental U.S., but also because it was simple. You didn’t often see many high society people here. For the most part, everyone was simple and just working on living their life. The people here didn’t care how much money you had, and they were all pretty nice. What more could she have asked for.

“I’ve actually been bouncing around from place to place since I graduated high school. I don’t really know what I want to do with my life, so I decided to do some traveling until I figured it out. Thought I might hit Miami next and trade in some clouds for sun.” Laurel was used to meeting people that hadn’t yet “decided what they were going to do with their lives.” In her world, that usually meant that they planned on living off their parents money until the day they died. She also knew that those guys had yet to marry and usually ended up becoming something that they had always hated. Thinking that you could make it off your families money alone was stupid, as far as she was concerned, and she doubted that Kale had even considered college as an opinion for his life. She knew so many people from her school that had had so much potential for themselves, but never even put the effort into it. Many of her friends had actually been fairly intelligent, but because guys don’t usually like smarter girls than them, the girls became what the guys wanted them to be. They let themselves become stupid, defenseless, mindless girls that didn’t have an original thought of their own. They were kept around to lift a guy’s status and be their plaything and when they had outworn their use they were tossed to the side. Laurel had seen it so many times, and a lot of the time she wondered if the girl’s had any feelings at all. None of it ever seemed to bother them. They just went with guy after guy and didn’t even care when they were dropped. Honestly, Laurel felt bad for them, but then they always turned around and were bitches to the lower class, so she felt nothing for them after that.

“What are you going to college for? Got any ideas for me?” He sounded so genuine, like he really wanted to know. She’d go with it, though she doubted that he really cared. She’d continue to believe that until proved otherwise. “I’m going to college to be a doctor,” she said, taking another drink from her can after she did. “Dad took me to Africa a year ago, and it kind of inspired me.” Laurel had hated what she had seen there. She’d been unable to totally grasp the fact that so many people lived in poverty, and that they didn’t even have half the things that she herself took for granted. She hadn’t been there for long at all, but it had changed the way she looked at things entirely. After seeing that, Laurel was determined to help people. She wanted to do something that made things better for those that didn’t really have that much to start with, and she had so many ideas for herself when she managed to graduate and make something of herself. She doubted that anyone, especially someone like Kale, would understand. “As for you, well, I don’t really know that much about you, so there’s no way I could come up with anything for you that you might possibly enjoy.” It was the truth, Laurel being a completely honest person. She didn’t know Kale, and she didn’t even want to begin to come up with things that he could do with his life. She didn’t know what she could see him doing, but she was pretty sure that it was a lot better than what he was doing already.