Snippet #2576202

Wu settled back with her MP3 player on hand, the blissful fury of obscenely loud and intense music doing its best to burn the sting of Ashley's neglect out of her. It wasn't doing a very good job of that, though. How could she just... forget all about me like that? Even if she had moved on, even if she had found somebody else, had a child, found happiness in a life that Wu had no place in... surely Wu had meant more to her than that. Hadn't she?

Ugh. Shoulda known better even back then. A couple years of happiness and companionship just wasn't worth it. Wu rested her cheek on her fist, elbow leaned against the counter beside the register. It hadn't been worth it then, and it wasn't worth thinking about now. Her mistakes were done, and she'd learned from them-- learned well, if the past thirteen years of solitude were any indication. If she was going to have to work with Ashley, then she refused to summon up the effort of letting her emotions-- whether of hurt or of lingering fondness-- cause her to do anything foolish. She'd use it to demonstrate, to herself more than to anything else, that the past was the past, and she wasn't going to repeat the follies of her youth.

It was probably for the best Ashley didn't remember her, in that case.

Meanwhile, Marina, of course, was just not shutting the fuck up. "You work the coffee shop!" she informed her new coworker, punctuating the declaration by triumphantly thrusting a fist into the air as though she were a victorious general before the masses and not an underpaid peon in a less than successful bookstore. "After all, who doesn't like a good cup of coffee or a brownie with their book? I mean, honestly, I don't-- I dunno how people can read and chew or drink at the same time, that's some crazy multitasking-- but it's the principle of it!"

At the very least, though, she had the presence of mind to lower her voice when Ashley brought up her other new coworker. Marina shot a conspiratorial glance over to where Wu sat behind the counter; the older woman sat there with her headphones snug over her ears and her aviators reflecting all gazes back to the viewer. For all anybody knew, the juggernaut of a woman was dozing off behind the aegis of the shades. "Oh, that's just how Sunglasses is," Marina explained with a shrug of her shoulders-- as if to say 'what can ya do?'. "It's nothing personal. She's just... well, between you 'n me, I'd guess she's so damn lazy she couldn't be arsed to properly introduce herself. I'll have to do it for her!"

The jubilant young woman strode back over to where Wu sat, and clapped the larger woman on the back as though they were old chums; Wu didn't so much as budge a muscle upon impact, although she did reluctantly reach up and pluck off the headphones. "Yep?" she grunted, refusing to stare over at Ashley even though she knew the shades would have obscured the direction of her gaze.

"Since you're such a not-so-social butterfly," Marina announced. "I'm gonna have to introduce you for you!" When Wu offered up no resistance, Marina took it as tacit approval, and turned back to Ashley. "This here is Sunglasses. I think her real name is like... Ru? Cho?"

"... Wu," the other woman reluctantly put in, figuring there was a good chance Ashley wouldn't recall her name if she had failed to recognise her face. Marina snapped her fingers. "Wu, right. I just call her Sunglasses. She doesn't seem to mind-- but then, she doesn't really mind much. Anyway, all I actually know is that she doesn't even really like reading, so I got no clue why she ended up workin' here, and the only thing she puts any effort into is her body." Marina glanced down at her coworker-- the shorn sleeves of her shirt betrayed the strong arms stemming from her broad shoulders and barreled chest-- and gave a little wolf-whistle. "And what a body it it is. Sometimes I think I shoulda nick-named her Arnold-- y'know, like Arnold Schwarzenegger-- but Sunglasses just kinda stuck."

She grinned widely, and bowed, as though she'd just conducted a grand performance. "So that's the skinny on Sunglasses!"