C O L L I N - F O R R E S T E R
Outfit: This
Hex Code: #7d9959
Hex Code: #c7256e
Outfit:
From: Makayla
Yeah I’m home. Let’s hope she’s normal lol.
To: Ruby, Makayla
cool, thanks for letting us know! i'm not there at the moment, but i can't wait to met you later :)!
Chanel only half rolled her eyes in Collin's direction when he seemed aghast that money was the issue for her. He didn't answer her question since she was turned to her phone, but his reaction sufficed its absence enough. When she got the response back from Makayla, it alleviated her nerves a tad bit. Makayla was already a chill person, and her expressing her hope that the new roommate wasn't a weirdo made Chanel smile enough to make her not feel as bad for not being there. While she still felt like she needed to, she considered the fact that Makayla probably wasn't in the same mindset as her and wasn't thinking of this as needing to be some sort of event. In all actuality, Chanel didn't have the energy to be very grandose and welcoming as all she really wanted to do was eat and then go straight to bed, but she knew well enough that she wouldn't be able to even do that in good conscience. It went without saying that she was carefree about many things, but she was particular when it came to making people feel welcomed and as at ease as possible. There was a genuine desire for it, but there was also the selfish bit that was to stroke her own ego so she didn't feel like the exploitative person she believed herself to be. She was able to get those moments out while sugaring, and besides that, it was easier to exploit strangers versus people you actually knew which is why she didn't agree to hang out with Collin just because she figured he would comp her costs. Even she wasn't low enough for that, but she wasn't going to fight him over the bill, even though there was that inner voice prodding her to politely decline.
"All right, all right," she said, holding up a free hand in surrender. "But if I had known you were paying, I would have gotten a cocktail with you. That Strawberry Hickey sounded nice." Even if money wasn't an issue, Chanel also just wasn't in the right brunching mindset. After a long shift and little sleep, she was pretty exhausted and even someone like Chanel had her limits. Of course, the cold did make her all the more lazy, so that likely played a role in it too. "I don't like feeling totally incapacitated, so here," she began, reaching into her pocket and ignoring whatever kind of protests Collin might have sent her way. She slid a nickel and two pennies across the table, giving his hand a light pat. "I know this is just a piece of lint to you, but to us common folk, this is the equivalent of a ripe kidney, so you're welcome." Chanel had been around his sister enough to not feel totally strange about not having to pay for things a lot of the times, and even she couldn't resist dramatizing her socioeconomic status which was certainly far from poor. But still, Collin wasn't at Cara's level as far as relationships went, so Chanel felt a need to make herself a little less uncomfortable by poking fun at herself. "But why are you drinking so much? Because I'm also hardcore judging you."
Collin eyed the change that Chanel had passed towards him with an amused smirk on his face. Apparently, the waitress was going to be seven cents richer, because he didn't know what he was supposed to do with that. Chanel was right that that was like a piece of lint to him, but he was sure that that was how it would be to most people. In his defense, he had a mason jar filled with change on the floor of his closet. Obviously for someone like him, saving up pennies wasn't something that needed to be done to fund a vacation or to treat himself to something special, but he recognized that it was literally just stupid to let change disappear into the cracks of sofa cushions or the washing machine. Still, he wasn't that concerned about seven cents to feel inclined to do anything other than look it at, unsure of how he was supposed to react. Simply because Chanel had pointed out his financial status, he was overthinking how laughing at her action could possibly be offensive, despite knowing that she knew that seven cents was meaningless too.
As the waitress passed by, Collin requested the check. Although they were still finishing up what was left on the table, the pace of the restaurant had picked up, and while he had her attention, eh figured it would be convenient to get that out of the way. "Unfortunately for you, hardcore judging me over drinking on a Saturday just makes me wanna hardcore judge you even more," Collin countered, leaning back in his chair and stretching out his arms before finishing off his drink. "I'd classify it under a thing called 'living a little'," he continued with a joke, before placing the empty glass on the table. "Admittedly, it's something that's kinda new to me, but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it." That was more Collin-like, at least in terms of being more humble than playfully cocky. "I'm working for my dad once classes start up again, so I'm taking advantage of this winter break while it's still here. You stuck doing an internship this semester too?"
Chanel shook her head, purposely stuffing her mouth full of food to delay the need to speak. In actuality, it wasn't that odd for her to say that no, she didn't have an internship, but in her mind, it seemed so bad because all of her friends seemed to be making moves while she was slowly but surely losing certainty over her life choices day by day. One of them included if she was even in the major she wanted to be in anymore. She had already taken time off from school, and against her parents wishes. She had convinced herself (mostly because she had to convince them of it too) that that would be a time for recalibrating and she could finally devote her time to planning the next few years out appropriately. That, of course, didn't happen, and she came out of that semester and three months knowing less than she did before. If she switched anything up, it would delay her even more, which would cost money she didn't have and didn't want to ask her parents for (out of guilt, embarrassment, and fear of rejection). Then on top of that, something she realized the other day, she was on track for her brothers to graduate before her which was something she knew she'd never live down. "Nah," she said once her mouth was emptied. "I'll probably do one over the summer though. If I can find one that pays enough, that'd be great. Killing two birds with one stone."
She considered joking that his dad should give her a position out of pity, but then she realized she didn't actually have any clue what his dad did. It was embarrassing because she felt like she should have known by this point, but she couldn't for the life of her recall a conversation she'd had with Cara where it came up. "Wait, what does your dad do? He...owns something," she tried, figuring that was the most reasonable thing because it always seemed like super wealthy people owned fancy things like buildings and islands and political votes. "Or he doesn't... I feel like I should know this."
"I feel like you'd be the type to get some internship at Vogue or something," Collin offered. He didn't have any basis to think that, other than that he felt like Chanel looked like the kind of girl who could be on the cover of a magazine like that, so it fit her vibe. "He owns an investment management firm, yeah," he confirmed, at her question about his father. The world of finance was a confusing one, even for Collin who had grown up in a household where the terms were often thrown around and incorporated into dinner-table conversation more frequently than questions about school or how the day went. "So basically people or companies or governments that wanna invest their money and make a profit give it to his company, and they do the investing." With a more relaxed smile, he pushed Chanel's change back towards her. "You should learn the stock market. Maybe one day you'll be able to turn this seven cents into seven million dollars, or something," he joked. "Something tells me that you're not a Wall Street kind of girl, though. What kind of place would you wanna intern at? Starbucks?"
"I think working at a marketing firm could be pretty cool," she admitted. "At least from what I think I know about it. I haven't really thought about it, but just something that's creative and not dull and boring," she said before winking. "Like finance. I seriously didn't peg you as a numbers guy. Especially since it didn't seem like you were counting those cocktails," she laughed. "I almost forgot you weren't...y'know," she said, not wanting to accidentally be overheard by a staff members. "Do you just use your fake casually, like, all the time? I was scared as hellllll to use mine outside of going out." It didn't seem to fit her personality since she was a bit of a party girl and even know she still liked going out with her girlfriends for a good time, and she enjoyed not having rules to follow. She was a carefree and careless person, especially back then with an ego to match. It was something she couldn't explain, but she was just always incredibly cautious. Even in practice it didn't make much sense, but she figured if she got her I.D. revoked at a club, she could just not go there anymore and she probably could just pay to get it back. Working things out in broad daylight switched things around because she wasn't sure what would or could happen, but anticipated it to be a lot worse. That, and she felt more exposed and likely to get caught then than at night, and that was an issue simply because at the time she was afraid of her parents finding out. Because even now they gasp when she has a glass of wine during the holidays, it was understandable why she would be petrified of them catching her drinking underage. "I honestly think my parents would have tossed my body over a bridge or something."
Not meaning to totally change the subject, she tried backtracking. "I feel like the best creative ones are over the summer anyways. But they're also typically all damn summer which means I probably won't get to travel too much. Are you and Cara gonna traverse the globe or anything? If you do, feel free to pack me in your suitcase."
Collin nodded. He could see her in marketing too. His father often warned him that it was an over saturated field, but in New York, what wasn't? If anything seemed overly populated in New York, it was finance. It seemed like every person he knew was trying to get into the field in one way or another. It was where the money was, so it made sense, and if you wanted to do finance, New York was the place for it. Still, he was sure that Chanel was the type of person who would thrive in a field like marketing because as she referenced, it was a creativity-based field, and she seemed like the type who could be proficient in that. He was kind of glad that Chanel changed the subject, because he didn't want to explain that he was only pursuing finance because of his father's influence. He didn't want to seem like that unoriginal and drive-less kind of guy. "It's a lot easier to use it at restaurants. Waitresses don't really care like bouncers or bartenders do. I guess they know that expensive alcoholic drinks mean a bigger tip for them," he admitted with a shrug. "But yeah, I agree. The only thing with summer internships is that you've got more competition, though. So many people come from out of state to get the good ones, so sometimes it's better to do it during the year if you're already living here, you know?" The only reason that Collin was doing an internship this semester was because it was part of his course-plan and he was getting college credit for it. His advice was well-founded though. He knew that many of his childhood friends who went to school out of state all planned on getting internships in the city when they returned home from school this summer. Then again, it was possible that that influx of kids looking for internships would be leveled out by the increased offering of them during the summer months.
He didn't have any summer trips planned out, but Chanel's question did have him wondering what he was going to do this summer. If his father had anything to say about it, it would be interning again, full-time for the company. Collin wasn't even sure if he'd survive doing it part-time this semester, so part of him wanted to book some international trip now, just to avoid that. "Doubtful," he commented. "At least doubtful that I'd do it with her. I know you won't admit it because you're friends and all, but my sister's a huge bitch," he said seriously, before cracking a small smile. "I'd have to be suicidal to willingly go on vacation with her again, alone at least. I usually spend most of the summer in the Hamptons. What about you? Big plans outside of that possible internship?"
"Not the Hamptons," she snorted with a coy smile, conveniently ignoring the snob about her friend. Summer seemed too far away to think about seriously, but that was simply because she didn't anticipate it to be as enjoyable as she hoped, though that could have been her displeasure for the upcoming semester clouding her judgment. Additionally, it was likely her family wouldn't be go on any trip this summer because of the one they just got back from. "I think I'm playing it by ear though. More than likely, the only 'big' plan will be my hair thanks to the summer humidity," she said, preemptively cringing at the inevitable volume she got in the city during the hottest months. It wasn't something she necessarily disliked, because she did like her big hair, but Chanel still had her limits, and it did kind of suck when you left the house thinking your hair looked good as is, only for it to completely transform after being outside for 10 minutes. "My family just got back from Morocco, so we'll probably chill this year, y'know? The obligatory cookouts and such. That's if they don't totally abandon me for being a total fuck up and calling them for help every five minutes. Oh!" She pointed her finger out, noting that she just remembered something. "But Makayla and I are getting a new roommate, Ruby, which should really help out with the rent, much to me and my parents' excitement. Butttt, of course she's moving in today and I totally forgot. Like, I get I totally don't need to be there, but I just wanted to have something nice prepared so she felt welcomed, you know?" she said before shaking her head to her own question. This was clearly an isolated incident that wasn't super relatable. She saw the waiter behind Collin a couple of tables down and redirected her attention back to him. "Are you sure you don't want me to pitch in? I wasn't expecting you to pay or anything. I mean, only a little because free cookie and all," she said, adding in a bit of humor for her own benefit, just because she didn't want to feel like she owed Collin anything, even though she knew that was unrealistic.
Collin couldn't tell if he was just unfriendly, or if Chanel was just a homemaker in the making, but he couldn't relate to her claim that it seemed necessary to welcome a new roommate into the apartment. He supposed that girls were different though. He had lived with a roommate during his freshman year of college, and though they were friendly, they rarely interacted in the apartment, or out of it. With guys it was just easier, maybe. Not being ultra-friendly wasn't as offensive as girls sometimes construed it to be. Then again, Collin knew for a fact that Chanel was extra-friendly so maybe it was that, too. "I'm sure," he said, rolling his eyes, though still smiling. He wanted to comment that that cookie had been good enough that he was still indebted to her, even after this, and that it warranted him taking her out to dinner one night this week, but he wasn't that confident. "If you ever meet my dad, you can thank him," he said, purposely knocking his own role in paying the bill day a bit as he pulled his credit card out of the check holder and signed the receipt before sliding that back into it. "I'm good if you are," he said. His drink was empty, and she seemed ready to get back to her apartment for this new-roommate deal, so he didn't feel rude standing up and sliding his jacket on.