[TAT] Tell me what I don't know I want [Gianna]

"Oh that's so strange!" Lulu exclaimed with a laugh in her voice and a gleam in her eye. "He can't have thought that that would work," she said, shaking her head as she worked on uncorking a bottle of red. Lulu and her friend Gianna were sat around her coffee table, some WWN playing in the background, gossip magazines spread around, a bowl of homemade guac with a little kick to it, and some tortilla chips. It was a girls night in wrapped in perfection and the last half hour of gossip and talk about the latest adventures with boys was a source of major entertainment for Lulu.

"Now that I'm at the Ministry though, I'm around a lot less men. I really have to work to get my flirt on," Lulu said with a flutter of her lashes in Gianna's direction. It was no secret that Lulu liked to flirt and have fun, but she was smart enough to never take it too far.

She tilted her head and glanced at her friend as she grabbed a few more chips and said, "So tell me more about work. How's it been lately?" Lulu had been working a lot lately so she had missed this girl time, gossip until she was blue in the face sort of time. She needed the deets and she knew Gia always had some interesting stories.

“Right?!” The brunette rolled her eyes and popped another tortilla chip into her mouth. “I mean, it wasn’t even technically a first date, and you expect me to share the same drink as you? No thanks!” Some girls may have thought that was sweet and romantic, but not Gianna. Who knows where that mouth has been? Besides, she just agreed to meet him for one drink because her cousin wouldn’t stop pestering her about it. There was no way she was going to potentially swap saliva with him! Ew. Gia wrinkled her nose delicately at the thought as she flipped through a fashion magazine distractedly. Ooh, shoes! “Guys can be so stupid.”

Gia giggled as Lulu batted her eyelashes, throwing a chip in her direction. “As if you need to work at anything, aren’t men falling at your feet everyday?” She teased good-naturedly, poking the side of her friend’s ribs with her foot. Lulu has always been... “Boy crazy” would be a way to put it, but not in the scary obsessed way some girls get. Maybe that’s what she need in her life, more casual dating and less thinking of getting a dog (or five) with the next guy she happens to like. If another one ever comes her way, that is.

Work. Ughhhhh work. Not that Gia was super embarrassed of what she did (waitressing was a proper job too!) but it was just so hard sometimes to tell her friends that she was still a waitress when everyone else seems to be moving on up! “We-ell…” Gianna tapped her chin thoughtfully, taking a swig of her wine, “Just a couple of days ago I saw this dude taking a piss out of his girlfriend, yeah? And I think she’s finally had enough and slugged him so hard he fell over the bar and onto Ernie!” She couldn’t help but burst into another fit of giggles as she remembered the bartender gaping like a fish. “And he passed out after that! But as soon as he woke up we made sure he paid for all the broken glasses and leave a nice, large tip as well.”

And if Gianna got an extra large tip because she swiped the man’s money pouch as he was leaving, then good for her. She felt no remorse at all, not one bit!

"No," Lulu said with a laugh and a shake of her head as she dodged the chip that Gia threw. She picked it up where it landed on her lap and chomped it with a loud crack. "I must be walking down the wrong streets or something," she said grinning and flipped her hair off her shoulder with some sass.

She sat up a little straighter, wiggling her brows, as she waited for Gia to dish. She always had the best stories. Guess that was a natural result of working in a bar. At least her job was never boring like Lulu's had been at the Ministry. A little zing of happiness zipped through her as she thought about her new job and how she didn't absolutely hate it and how marvelous of a concept that was all in itself. "Oh my goodness! No! Seriously?" Lulu gaped and then laughed right along with her, just picturing the whole thing in her mind. When she finally got rid of her giggle fit, she shook her head and hmpffed. "He deserved it anyway if he was treating his girl like that," she said with a snap of her fingers. Lulu didn't tolerate boy's behaving like that too well. He had it coming.

Lu grabbed another chip from the bowl, loaded it with guac and ate it before nodding to their empty glasses. "I'm going to go get that other bottle that Eri brought home from France. She said its tres delish! And I'm sure she won't mind if we taste a little of it without her," she said with a laugh. She strolled into the kitchen, her soft pajama shorts and oversized sweatshirt the perfect complement to a red wine from France. She spied the bottle and her eyes lit up as she set it on the counter. She wasn't that great at the uncorking charm (Eri had that down to a science), so she hunted in their kitchen drawers for that cork screw she knew she had somewhere.

While she was looking, she called out to Gia. "Are you busy tomorrow? I heard about this very chic, new boutique in London that I'd like to visit if you're in the mood to shop." Drawers opened and closed, their contents rattling back and forth, but she didn't have any luck finding what she was looking for. She let out a sound of frustration and then brought out the bottle anyway. "I can't find the corkscrew and I'm no good at that charm," she said voicing her frustrations as she held out the bottle for Gia to take, hoping she was a little better at Charms than Lu was. "And you know what? This is probably the hundredth thing I can't find. I know it's probably around here somewhere but this keeps happening to me. I must be losing my mind." Lulu flopped dramatically onto the couch, throwing her arm over her eyes, but then peeking out and snatching another chip from the bowl with a smile.

Gianna watched in regret as Lulu picked up the chip and ate it. Great. One less for her. “You should take a stroll through Wardour Street. I heard it’s nice with cute guys this time of year.” She said, reaching over to the bowl for a bigger handful of chips. It wasn’t as if Lulu didn’t already know she ate like a family of hungry bears. No shame there. Food, especially chips and dip, was much more reliable than most guys were.

“He really did.” Gia bit into the chip particularly viciously, taking satisfaction in the crunching sound it made. She hated guys who thought girls owed them everything, or like they were the best thing since delicious blue drinks with maraschino cherries… as if. “I think Ernie was a bit rough-handed when he tossed him out.” She shrugged, unconcerned. Served him right for being such a twat to his girlfriend. She really hoped they broke up after that, that’ll teach him! “What about you though? Ministry treating you well?” The waitress felt extremely out of the loop with all her friends. She didn’t know who was still dating whom, and not even if Lulu held the same job! She didn’t deserve any of them.

Her mouth still full, she raised a chip loaded with guacamole in a wordless toast as Lulu disappeared for more wine. She let her eyes roam around the apartment, fashion magazine forgotten in her lap. Bright blue eyes spied a few new decorative pieces and Gia sighed wistfully. It must be so nice have a career where ‘travelling’ was part of the job description. And while Erika is out travelling the world and seeing cool new things, she was stuck here in England where the sun don’t shine. Great. She was not done feeling sorry for herself, but retail therapy was normally the best cure for self pity, right? “Ooh yes, definitely. If only to drool at the things I can’t afford and make everyone else slightly uncomfortable.”

Now that most of her attention was back on the neglected fashion magazine, Gianna almost jumped out of her skin when Lulu mentioned missing things from her apartment. Her hand almost slipped and dropped the bottle of wine too, but she steadied herself and trapped it firmly between her knees. Her head buzzed as she tried to formulate a non-suspicious response. Because she didn’t think that ‘hey every time I’ve been in your apartment I may or may not have taken something and forgotten to return it on purpose’ was a good topic of conversation at all. “That’s… bizarre.” Yes, bizarre was a word she could use. Good job brain. She shifted uneasily on the couch. “What exactly have you lost?”

A normal smile was on Gianna’s face as per usual. She just hoped Lulu couldn’t mentally decipher her silent mantra of please don’t let it be the sparkly hairband as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Lulu scoffed and shrugged along with her friend. Ernie being too rough when he tossed the guy out? She didn't think that was possible. The guy seemed like he was asking for it. Lu continued to munch but then when the Gia mentioned the Ministry, her eyes widened and she halted, holding the chip she had been about to eat a few centimeters from her mouth. Blushing prettily, Lulu lowered her hand and brushed her bangs out of her eyes with her fingers as she looked to her friend. "Actually.." she said with a sheepish look, "I'm not working at the Ministry anymore. I can't believe I didn't tell you this already!"

And then she went into the whole story about how this wealthy creature named Sterling Bojkov had handpicked her for some reason she still didn't understand to be his personal assistant. She began to talk faster with her excitement as she described her job, how much she liked it, all the perks like the tailor-made clothing, the incredible selection of shoes he had gifted her, and the travelling opportunities! When she was done, she flopped against the couch cushions, melodramatically bringing her hand to her forehead, saying softly, "Is this real life?"

Lulu looked to Gianna as she held the wine bottle and almost reached out when she nearly dropped it. "Careful. I'm not great with the stain removing charm either," she said with a laugh. Gianna's question had her frowning. "Now that I think about it.." she said as she ran through a mental list of everything she hadn't been able to find lately. "The corkscrew, the gold bangle bracelet Erika brought me from India, my favorite pink and purple ombre chiffon scarf, a vase my aunt got me for Christmas last year.. there's a load of things. I swear there must be a troll living here who is stealing all of my things."

No. Way. Lulu finally quit that stupid job at the ministry?! Gianna almost choked on her chip, but she managed to swallow in time, sputtering only a little as she banged herself on the chest. She snatched the neglected one in Lulu’s fingers as she launched into how she wound up with a current job, and she could almost feel herself turn as green as the guacamole with envy. Maybe a bit of jealousy too. Fine, a lot of it. It just sounded too good to be true, like one of the ridiculous stories she’d read on a magazine or a trashy romance novel, but yet it actually happened to her friend! She very much wanted to echo her friend’s sentiment, is this real life indeed!

“That’s great Lulu, really great!” Gianna tried her best to sound positive and genuinely happy for her friend, but it was kind of hard to when she thought of all the shoes she could never have. The shoes. She sighed a bit and let her normally bright smile slip a notch. It was ok to be a little bit bummed out, right? How come she didn’t get lucky like her friends around her seemed to be? It just didn’t seem really fair to the twenty-one year old. “Honestly,” she continued, scrutinising her nails, “what are the odds of this happening to anyone? He must’ve really liked you.” Did that sound too bitter? She gave a mental shrug, it’s not like she wasn’t, after all.

Oh great. Gianna winced internally as Lulu listed a list of things she’d been missing around the house. She carefully set the bottle of wine on the floor next to her friend (her friend, so she’d understand, right?) and clasped her hands in her lap. “The bangle’s a really great accent piece when you’re wearing all black, that scarf goes great with that white crochet top that I have, the vase you can find in that little crook in the wall you’re always complaining about, and I swear I have no idea what happened to your corkscrew.” She finished her little monologue in one breath, and looked at Lulu with the guiltiest expression she could conjure up at the moment.

“So what I’m trying to say is um… Oops, I may have a teensy little… problem?”

"I knowwwwwwww," Lulu drug out the word as she voiced equal amazement at the fact that a wealthy, gazillionaire selected her personally to be his assistant! She still didn't understand it. "I still can't believe it," she added with a smile and an incredulous shake of her head. But then she glanced at her friend and her smile slipped a little. She couldn't be sure, but Gia looked a little down and Lulu tilted her head as she debated whether she should say something or not. And because Lu always hedged on the side of talking rather than bottling things up, she ended up saying something. "Gia? You ok?"

As her friend set the wine bottle on the floor, she reached for it in turn and poured herself another glass, sipping at it slowly as she sat back against the couch. As Gia spoke, Lulu frowned in confusion, a line appearing between her brows as she tried to understand what she meant. Her white top? Had Lulu let her borrow that without remembering? It wouldn't be such a far-fetched idea. Lulu borrowed clothes from her friends all the time and vice versa. But then how did Gia know where the vase was? This just wasn't making sense.

Lulu continued to frown in confusion at her friend, studying the contrite expression on her face while things slowly clicked into place. But the conclusion she came to was preposterous. Right? She sat up a little straighter and rested her wine glass on her knee as she raised a brow, the line between her brows becoming more pronounced. "Gia... what are you saying?" Lulu asked hesitantly. She didn't want to accuse her friend of something she didn't do, but her words made it hard for her to think anything else.

She began to think of all the other things that had disappeared from her apartment. Things she loved. Things she had worked hard to afford when she had been at her paltry Ministry job. And to think that all this time her friend of all people had been stealing them?! A flash of anger ran over her features, but Lulu tried to control it. That couldn't be it, right? There had to be a better explanation. "What do you mean, Gia?" Lulu asked, her voice harder.       

On the scale of one to ten how not ok she was Gianna was probably at ten thousand. She nodded slowly, hesitantly, and then shook her head violently as she nursed a fresh glass of wine. Oh, she didn’t know! Why was this owning up to what you did thing so difficult? No wonder she never did it in the past, it’s horrible. And she must be crazy, doing it now. The worst thing is she couldn’t even blame it on the wine, because she wasn’t drunk yet. Oh poo. Lulu was going to hate her after this, wasn’t she?

Gia felt herself shrinking under the scrutiny of her friend’s gaze. This really was the most uncomfortable thing she’s experienced. It was even more uncomfortable than last time when she was called into her house head’s office because she did too well on a test, and everyone suspected she cheated. Although unlike last time, this time she really was guilty as charged. She brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, her face disappearing into the comforting darkness of her lap. “It means you thought right, and I’m the one who took them.” Her voice came out muffled. Yeah, with guilt. And shame. A healthy dose of shame. 

It took a few moments, but soon her head popped back up, albeit sporting a glum expression. She was the one who did it after all, might as well own up to it. “This is where you start screaming at me,” she prompted helpfully, taking a big gulp of wine, “and say things like ‘I can’t believe you would do this to me!’ Or ‘I trusted you!’ Oh and there’s always the good old ‘I thought you were my friend!’” Her hands gestured wildly with each sentence, and too many times her wine almost sloshed over onto the carpet. This probably wasn’t a good time to be so passive aggressive, but she didn’t know how else she could deal with this. Confrontation wasn’t her strong suit, not with the people she liked, anyway.

And although it was anything but what she wanted, and her body language screamed please don’t as she was still nestled comfortable on the couch, Gia forced herself to say otherwise, “Incidentally, this is probably also about the time you kick me out and slam the door in my face.”

Lulu watched as Gia curled her arms around her and shrank into an even smaller mass. She felt pity and sympathy pushing at her, but at the same time, she was filled with disbelief and a little bit of betrayal. When her friend admitted it, Lulu realized she was staring slack-jawed at her even though this was exactly what she suspected all along. She got up, setting her glass of wine hastily on the coffee table, and paced a few steps away from Gianna.

A hundred thoughts flew through her mind and Lulu tried to concentrate on one, but the barrage of them was overwhelming. She was distracted anyway by Gia's 'helpful prompts' that only had Lulu frowning all over again. Yes, yes she did want to ask all those questions. Caution her not to spill wine on her couch. Demand that she give all her things back, now. But in the end, after a few long moments of internal warring, Lulu heaved a great sigh and returned to the cushion just beside Gianna.

"I'm not going to kick you out," she told her, her voice soft but firm at least in that respect. With big eyes, she finally looked at Gianna, endeavoring to be as honest but also tactful as possible. "I don't.. understand why, Gia. Will you tell me?" Lulu couldn't believe her friend would do this with malicious intent. Call it naivete or faith, she didn't want to believe that about her friend.

Most people hated their knees, but Gianna actually thought hers looked quite nice. They were smooth and didn’t have any wrinkles, and right now they were the sole focus of all her attention. She felt the couch dip, and the faint whiff or Lulu’s shampoo as her friend returned to the spot next to her. Was she going to get this close to her to shout at her? She hoped not because she didn’t really know any spell that could protect her ears from going deaf. And even if she did she’d probably botch that up real nice too. Cue failure!

Lulu’s actual tone however, made her cringe. This felt very much like one of those ‘I’m not mad at you, I’m just disappointed’ conversations she used to have with her professors. Half a decade later they were no easier to stomach, especially not with a belly full of wine and guacamole; not a winning combination. “I don’t know.” She answered glumly but truthfully, wiggling her toes with their chipped nail polish, just to make sure they were still there and hadn’t fallen off in light of her terrible treachery. When did she first decide that she had to have the ring on Annabelle Smith’s dresser? Or that polished silver mirror that pug-faced Kristen Brook always bragged about? She really had no idea.

“Maybe I’m just a horrible person.” She suggested, feeling very small all over again. The thing was she really wanted to give Lulu a proper explanation as to why she did those things, she felt like she owed her friend that much at least. “Maybe I’m waiting for someone to call me out on it, maybe I’m waiting for someone who cares enough to notice it.” Gianna didn’t know where that last sentence came from, but that felt closer to the truth than anything she ever said tonight, and she felt tears prickling. Don’t cry, don’t you dare cry.

Gia’s “I don’t know” response made Lulu’s frown deeper as her blue eyes dropped from her friend’s face and down to where Gianna was looking too. Chipped blue nail polish on her toes caught her eye and even though the natural urge was to whip out her nail polish and offer a pedi, Lulu stayed in place. She wasn’t sure how to handle this and wasn’t sure how to process it. Should she feel betrayed or flattered or duped? She felt a little of all those things.

Maybe I’m just a horrible person. Lulu’s eyes flew up to Gia’s face, eyes wide and an admonishment on her tongue. Sure, what Gia had done wasn’t polite or proper, but Lulu was sure she wasn’t a horrible person. She opened her mouth to say just that, but Gia spoke again and surprised her even more. She wasn’t sure exactly what she had been expecting to hear, but she definitely wouldn’t have guessed insecurity. Gia always seemed so spunky and confident and fun.

Lulu instinctively moved closer, squishing her shoulder up against Gia’s as she peered at her. “Heyy,” she said softly, her concern and empathy showing up in full force as she laid a hand on her friend’s forearm. “You’re not a horrible person, Gia,” she told her. And she let that settle in the air for a moment before continuing, unsure and inquisitive and wanting to give comfort all at the same time.

“Is that what you think? That people don’t care about you?” Lulu tried to get a good look at Gia’s face to get more of a clue of what her friend was feeling, but with her looking down at her toes, it was hard to tell. “Because you’re wrong,” she added softly.

Gianna didn't grow up an attractive child, and she knew that, kind of. Thankfully, she outgrew most of her awkwardness; the bushy eyebrows, the way her upper lip would get sucked in by the lower row of her teeth when she was daydreaming, and she stopped 'clunking around' when she ran. However, there was one thing she inherited from her childhood- bright splotches of red high on her cheeks, the telling sign that she was trying to hold in an emotion. In this case, tears, because she was apparently still five years old and a sodding baby.

When Lulu pressed up close to her, she caught the other witch's fresh scent; was it some new perfume or did Lulu always smell this nice? Gia didn't smell nice. She smelled like cherry pie, which was nice on its own, but it was usually smothered by the scent of some greasy fried food, cheap beer, and this really pungent cigarette that one of their regulars Ian swore got rid of foot fungus. Foot fungus! This was the type of conversation that surrounded her everyday! The urge to cry was suddenly replaced with the urge to laugh, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop the laughter that was threatening to bubble out. There were people who cried because they were too happy, and maybe she was just on the other end of the extreme.

As she listened to her friend's encouraging words, she slid closer and closer towards the floor, at one point almost sliding off before rearranging herself back into her previous position. "Why am I always wrong? Why can't I be right at something? It's true, nobody cares. At least no one in my family does." Gianna snarked petulantly, her tongue going over the bite mark inside her mouth in a circular motion. It didn't calm her down at all, so she stopped and turned to look at Lulu with the most serious expression she could muster. "If someone cared, they would have noticed by now. Nobody ever did. Not when I was fourteen, and certainly not now."

There were a lot of perks that came with being a Regan, but sometimes it wasn't so easy when she was so average. Heck, she was probably below average with her shitty minimum wage job. "I've gotten used to it Lulu, really. It's hard not to when my parents are batcrap crazy and my siblings... well I don't even know what's going on with them. You're so lucky." Wistfully, Gianna patted the slim hand that rested on her arm and gave Lulu a half-hearted smile. If only they could trade places for a while. Maybe that would stop that weird feeling inside and leave time for the important things, like being able to afford shampoo that didn't give her a thousand split ends.

"I'm sure that's not true," Lulu said, a frown in her voice and in between her delicately plucked brows. How could her family not care for her? It was just absurd. The witch wasn't sure she could fix whatever family issues she was having. She knew that feeling, but she could at least let her friend know that she wasn't alone. "Hey," Lulu said firmly, looking at her friend and repeating it again until Gia looked at her. "Hey. I care, okay? I care. And I'm sorry I haven't noticed until now and that I haven't been a better friend, but we can get through this. Whatever it is. Together."

Lulu would go to bat for her friends, loyal to the core, her Hufflepuff colors shining through. And Gianna was one of the people that mattered more to her than most things. The sympathy she felt only intensified when Gia spoke of Lulu's family, that she was 'lucky' as if painting this fantasy of how perfect her family was. And Lulu could only think of how untrue it was.

"Gia, my family isn't perfect either. You think my mum or dad are happy I quit the ministry job they 'worked so hard to get for me'? Or that my brother thinks its acceptable that I'm a personal assistant? You wouldn't want to know the things he accused her of," she said darkly, her anger at Adrian showing for a moment before she pushed it away. "Look, what I'm saying is that no one's family is perfect and you have a right to be upset about it. But! That doesn't mean that nobody cares and frankly," she added, her voice getting higher. "I'm a little offended that you would say that."

She stood from the couch, hands on her hips, and glared down at her friend. "Now I think the only way you can right this is go out with me right now and get a pizza that's entirely too big for us, some drinks that we probably shouldn't be having, and maybe one of those muggle romcoms where you see the guys naked arse!" She pulled at her friend's arm, her smile appearing, as she urged her friend to come with her.

“Oh no, you’re a great friend!” Gia exclaimed in surprise. With the heel of her palms, she rubbed away the last unshed tears that threatened to fall, and turned to look at Lulu earnestly. “I’m fine. Or you know, I’m not not fine.” That much was true at least. She’d gotten used to so many things, that even she herself didn’t realise how much resentment she still held onto inside. She bet if she could empty all those negative feelings and exchange them for galleons she’d have a new winter wardrobe. She really did like that fur coat she saw one of her cousins wearing last year…

The few seconds that she let her mind wander off saw Lulu getting slightly upset, and Gianna’s eyes widened in alarm, slightly guilty that she only caught the second half of what Lulu said. “Your brother’s a prat and your parents don’t know what they’re talking about you’re right please don’t be mad at me!” Gianna begged, her mouth pulled into an exaggerated pout and palms closed together in a prayer position. She knew Lulu couldn’t stay upset for long, and broke into a bright smile at her friend’s offer.

“Pizza sounds amazing,” Gianna agreed, letting Lulu pull her up from the couch, “but only if you’re paying.” She looked up at her friend with a sly expression on her face. For all of Lulu’s fantastic traits as a person and a friend, her height (or rather the fact that she was just a bit taller) was not Gia’s favourite aspect of her. “I’m kidding. I’m not that broke.” Yet. She added mentally, if the ever-increasing rent of her apartment was anything to go by. She really needed to find somewhere cheaper to stay, and a roommate who was hopefully less so. “You’re picking out the movie though; muggle romcoms with naked arses just aren’t my forte.”

@Rinn @Winifred Gwartney it sucks it's late i'm sorry i'm trying to get used to writing posts again ><

Lulu's smile was hesitant at first, as she wasn't sure if she had truly seen the shinyness in Gia's eyes that meant she was on the verge of crying. But the Regan girl went on to assure her and Lulu's smile grew wider. It wasn't perfect their friendship and neither were either of them, but the witch was confident that they could work through whatever troubles were between them. That's just what friends did, they helped each other. And even though she couldn't exactly say she was over it or had forgotten what Gia had done, she was at least on the road to forgiveness and hopefully could help Gia with whatever she was dealing with too. It'd be like a win/win.

"I don't think I could stay mad at you," Lulu admitted with a smile, knowing full well that was the truth. She always had the hardest time holding grudges. "Even if you are making me pay for the pizza," she added with a wink as she slipped on a pair of sparkly emerald flats and a navy blue cardigan, heading toward the door. "Actually, I wonder if I can expense this as a 'business dinner'..." she suggested with a waggle of her brows as she turned to look at Gia over her shoulder. She was almost sure her boss wouldn't completely mind or notice if she spent a few sickles on some pizza and a movie with a friend.

"Cheers to having a rich boss," she said with a laugh as she swung open the door and waited for Gia to follow her, already planning on what magnificent movie she would pick with enough scenes of shirtless men that would satisfy her need for some eye candy.

[and done!]