Espresso Yourself (Open)

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

If it was one way to take her mind off things, Ana knew that the comforting walls of Starbucks would do the trick. The sweet smell of coffee was almost mouth-watering, the scent of freshly ground beans wafting through the air as she sat off in one of the corners, her nose immersed in a book. Her normally wild locks were pulled up into a messy bun, while a few unruly strands annoying dared to escape and rest against her cheeks, but she made no move to brush them out of the way for the millionth. Instead, she tried to lose herself in the book titled "Life of Pi", why she was reading it, she wasn't entirely sure.

Well, that wasn't true, the reason was actually starting to vibrate in her pocket for the umpteenth time that day, as it had for the last week. Reaching her hands down she pulled out her cellphone, non-surprised at all to see the face lit up with his cellphone number. As she had before, she flipped open the phone and rejected it before promptly turning it off this time and shoving it back in her pocket.

Ana didn't know what to say to him. The last time they had seen each other.... it had been a mistake. Closure on some level but completely wrong on all the other levels. Plus, he wouldn't be staying around for long anyway, once his business was done with the survivors of Oceanic 815, he'd probably move off to some other country. No room for her in his life and no room for him in hers. They were going their seperate paths, something she had come to terms with the moment she woke up after he had left her originally. No use crying over spilt milk the old saying went, and much could be said about Danny.

Sighing some, she brought her grande iced mocha latte to her lips, taking a sip before she relaxed back into her chair. Bringing her feet up, she rested them on the other one that sat on the other side of the small table, continuing on to her reading, finding it oddly comforting to her raging mind.

[Daniel Avery]

The meeting had ended abruptly. Daniel had noticed that Richard had been strangely intrigued when he had Richard had overheard Daniel leaving Ana-Lucia a voicemail message. They had talked briefly, onesided mostly, Daniel had noticed, until Richard had curiously asked who he was speaking to on the phone. An innocent enough question, to which Daniel had answered, Ana-Lucia Cortez, my old girlfriend. Richard's entire state had changed, and Daniel had found himself out of Richard's office, telling him that the meeting would have to be rescheduled.

It left Daniel confused, and curious. Why had Ana's name made Richard so up in arms? He was sure Ana didn't know Richard, and Daniel hadn't really known Richard that much, so what had it been? More of ar eeason to be upset was that the meeting, that Daniel had made to try to get anything out of the doctor, had completely and utterly failed. Richard had assured Daniel that he didn't know Ben outside of a simple meeting.

"Fucking liar." Daniel muttered as he walked along the street, until he saw a starbucks up ahead. Coffee. Coffee could make it b etter until he tried to figure out what his next option was. He entered the Starbucks, feeling the headache start to grow. However, when he saw the familer back of head, the headache grew even more. Why the hell wasn't she returning his calls? He didn't expect then to jump right back into anything at all, but shit, a returned call would have been nice. He ordered silently and as his coffee came, and he took a sip of the black liquid, wincing slightly at the heat. He moved behind Ana, taking another sip.

"Is your phone broken?"

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

Ana liked the feeling of obliviousness, the way the word seemed to disappear when you had a book in front of you. She liked it a little too much. The world was passing her by with each word, while here and there she took a sip of her coffee. There in the safely of the coffee shop she could unwind, and get rid of thoughts that plagued her, disappearing for a while until she had to pause to a halt. The sound of a familiar voice the bubble she had concealed herself in was suddenly shattered around her.

Lifting her eyes up and over her book, she saw the barely there reflection in the glass window in front of her. It was enough to make her cringe her back teeth. There was only one word that seemed to come to mind then. Fuck. And then a few other thoughts presumably filtered in her head in a quick second. One mainly concerning if he was going on the lookout for her, because she hadn't returned his calls, stalking they called it these days, or if he simply happened to just stumble upon her again.

Fate always hated her it seemed. Exhaling a breath, she quietly shut her book with the bookmark in place as she sat it on the table, before she reached for her drink. "No," she replied simply, knowing she was pretty well caught red-handed as she brought the straw to her lips as she slouched in her chair. There was no room to really deny it, really. All it would do was start another fight, if the matter at hand wasn't leading to one already.

[Daniel Avery]

Daniel sighed out hard, bringing a hand to the bridge of his nose, and he turned to move away from Ana, but swiftly turned around. "You know--" he started, and felt himself stop, closing his eyes slightly before opening them once more. "You know, this--THIS is exactly what I'm talking about. This--you ignoring me, this is exactly why I left. You snub me, you love me, you fuck me then you leave me. I can't even begin to keep up with your mood swings anymore, Ana. Will you PLEASE make up your god-damned mind? he whispered in a seethe, knowing that her simply not returning his calls wasn't the root of his frustration, but it wasn't making anything any better.

"You're acting like a child, Ana. A child that got her way and then threw a temper tantrum because she can't get it again."

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

She had hoped that he would just go. It would have just made things easier. Instead of course, she knew he wasn't just going to leave it there. He always wanted to get what he thought was his point across and get to the bottom of things. For her, getting to the bottom of things was somehow always giving her migraines, she could feel the twinge of such forming right now. Pressing her thumb to her temple she tried to drown out his words, ever infuriating her and try to stop the twinge before it became a throb.

Closing her eyes a moment as she tried to inhale a second before opening them again. She stood, tossing her book into her purse angrily. So much for trying to be civil. "Excuse me," she scoffed, trying to not believe the bullshit he was clearly saying and that in all places he would just come up to her and start a fight there? Just right then and there? Unbelievable, she just... couldn't believe the man in front of her right then. "The only one acting a child here is you. If you're trying to start a fight I'm not biting. I don't want to fight with you, and I won't. I can't handle this right now, okay?" she told him as calmly as she could in a harsh whisper before she turned away from him.

Shoving past him, she shook her head, making sure she had everything as she shoved the door to the Starbucks open, but not before she shoved the remainder of her still half-full grande in the garbage. It would only hinder her from her quick start as she look down the street to see if it was possible to hail an incoming taxi. Though it would be only a few seconds she knew before he stormed out. Inwardly her migraine was slowly becoming more then a dull throb.

[Daniel Avery]

Why had he even bothered?

Why had he even picked at the wound at all? Why had he even mentioned it aloud? The very thought annoyed the hell out of Daniel, moreso when she stormed out in her typical fashion. Dropping his cup into the trash, he followed her out quickly. "No, no you're not walking away from me." Daniel said frustratedly, shoving the door open as he walked out to the sidewalk. "You know what? Fine. I'm tired of this. I'm not going to sit here again and be ignored, I refuse to do it anymore."

A wind hit, and blew a cold patch of winter air into his face, which he tried to stifle by turning up the collar on his overcoat. "I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of standing around waiting for you to notice me other than when I'm on top of you. So whenever you decide to stop being selfish or stubborn or whatever you are and you realise you need me again? Really need me instead of need that feeling? Do me a favour, lose my number. Forget I'm in Los Angeles. Forget me all together, I don't care, but don't call me again. Because you think it's so easy to ignore people's calls, sweetheart, and not bat an eye? Fine. You thought you heard jack shit from me before? You'll be lucky if you know what continent I'm on."

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

"What do you want from me?" Ana all but wanted to scream at him as she turned around to face him. For that moment she tried to ignore the twinge of pain in her head as the words spilled from her mouth. Hurt and anger ran through her veins like a poison, staining her tongue like venom. "Honestly, because I'd really like to know. Do you want me to just... drop everything and pretend like nothing happened? Pick up where we left off, because I. Can't! It's not that simple anymore." It wasn't like before where he would come home and she'd be at his side in an instant. She wasn't that same person anymore willing do that, if he wanted it.

"I don't think you remember, but you left. And before you say anything, I do get why you left, I do and I'm sorry. But that doesn't change the fact that the only thing I got in return was a fucking postcard! Who knew if you were coming back from that, because I sure didn't. And I hated you for it. I hated you for so long until I couldn't anymore. And when that happened... I accepted it, I moved on. And you know what? I felt better," she told him, her voice hitching low, her eyes bearing almost holes into his, trying to get her point across in a way she wish he could understand.

"And now you're back, and that's great and all, but you're making everything so fucking complicated," she told him, shrugging her shoulders at him exasperatedly. "Everything about this.... it's wrong. It feels wrong. Being around you... it's wrong. Can't you understand, that's what it comes down to... I just-I can't... I can't do this anymore." her voice trailed off softly with the last sentence. Turning her head away, she took a breath as she shook her head and rubbed at her face, feeling agitated and annoyed, but most of all.. tired.

[Daniel Avery]

As Ana spoke, Daniel's face shifted between slight surprise, annoyance, and finally exasperation as she finished. He brought a hand up, pinching the bridge of his nose silently before he scoffed slightly, shaking his head. "That. That is what I wanted. You...you think you're fine with just keeping everything in. You think you're better off, but in reality, Ana, you can't keep everything in. No matter how much you hate something or someone...keeping it inside is only going to push the people you care about away, and eat you up in the process." he told her honestly, and shook his head. "I don't--I've told you a million ways that I was sorry, and for one moment, one brief moment, It thought we were good. And then I realised that you can't change you who are. You'll never be able to talk to me, Ana. And at one time...at one time I didn't mind because there was things that I couldn't talk about either...but now..."

He felt himself trail off, and he turned away from her for a moment, before turning back, holding his arms out. "I've--I admit, I'm far from perfect, butI have done SO much for you, I would have lied, cheated, and stole the moon for you and it would never be enough." He told her, and shook his head. "You're right. We can't do this anymore. I can't keep pretending to be something to you only to have you completely ignore me. And I'm glad you felt better, I totaly and utterly am, and for a brief second, I felt better, too. But then you come back into my life and then snub me again. I can't win with you, Ana, so I'm giving up. Throwing in the towel and walking away."

[Ana-Lucia Cortez]

"Did you ever think that I didn't need you to do everything for me?" Ana asked him point-blank, feeling herself get somewhat frustrated. "I told you the first day I met you that I didn't need to be coddled. I appreciate that you cared for me that much, but I don't need it. I'm my own person, I try to deal with my shit my own way, I can't change that, if you can't understand that, then I'm sorry." She was flawed. She knew this more then anything else about her. But wasn't everyone. "And yes I might not do the right thing, but you know what, you're right, you couldn't talk to me about certain things, you couldn't trust me... How could I trust you?" And trust him again for that matter. Trust him that he would respect that and not run off again. It was an unfair question, she knew...

Though, there was a part of her that she was angry, because she wanted to give up her claim on him. Not see him again because it would feel that much easier. Yet at the same time, something ached inside of her as he said that he was giving up, like she wanted him to. Because in the end... it was wrong. There was something wrong with her. Something new entirely that she just couldn't place her finger on no matter how hard she tried, and it frustrated her to no end. And until then, she was better off figuring it out by herself, rather then having someone in her shadow.

"It's better this way," she told him, finally, when he quieted. "I just hope one day you can understand why." When she knew herself, she thought silently, turning to walk away once more.