At A Loss

Audriana simply could not sit in that massive house and wait about for Gavin to return home. She couldn’t. If he came back and found her gone, he’d probably think she was on a job. She hadn’t told him about her failing to accept jobs for the past several weeks; neither of them needed the money, after all, now that they were married. Her grandmother had left more than enough for the both of them. She completely understood his desire to continue working, though. She had felt rather lost lately, at a want for something to do while he was away. She just wished she could bring herself to tell him what had happened.

Pushing open the door to the Leaky, Audriana could rest assured that she wouldn’t see anyone she knew. Most of her ‘friends,’ if that’s what they really were, were working with Keiran or at the Ministry, and thus rarely around during the day. It was leaning towards dark, night wanting to fall but not having done so just yet. Gavin would be heading home soon, she mused vaguely as she dropped herself onto a chair at the bar.

Rarely one to indulge in anything alcoholic, she almost never spent time in the bars around London. Now, though, she most certainly couldn’t go about drinking. For some reason, she had a feeling that Gavin would be angrier about that than about what she had done to the poor redhead on accident. But just because she didn’t want to drink didn’t mean she couldn’t go somewhere to try and knock away her stir-crazy feeling in some place where she wouldn’t run into someone she knew. She didn’t need them asking where Gavin was or asking how she was doing. Most of them hadn’t seen her in a while, either, so they would probably be nosey.

Especially because of the twins.

Frowning at the bar top, Audriana let out a quiet sigh before greeting the bartender in return for his own. Requesting a drink and a basket of crisps to snack on, she pulled out a pad of paper and began to doodle aimlessly, not sure herself where it would end up. Although she had never fancied herself an artist during her school years, she had picked up the habit in her empty days since graduating so many years ago. Almost nine, now, she noted. Her drink and snack settled before her as she dropped a quick ‘thank you’ to the bartender and returned to her sketching.

Gabby Short had been tasked with introducing his younger, American cousin into London social life – if he could call it that. He knew she was coming from the nightlife of Manhattan, and she would surely be bored by what this magical world had to offer. There was a lot of faux Goth and cheap beer. Still, Elsie Norton had persisted, choosing to preemptively dress for a night on the town and had demanded Gabby take her somewhere when she had arrived on his doorstep unannounced. So he found himself taking her to the starting point of any social life of any witch or wizard who lived near this fast-paced London tow : The Leaky Cauldron.

Elsie expected that Gabby thought she would be disappointed by the grimy little pub, but she found the change of place exciting. Back in New York, everything had been so sterile, so angular, so geometric. Here, there was dirt and curves and a traditional symmetry that she had not been very much exposed to. Any place was interesting to her that was new and though she’d miss her big city, she was excited to see what this one offered her – beyond the protection that had decided she would move, of course. Because, while protection was nice, fun was necessary.

She immediately bade her cousin goodbye, leaving him to pick up whichever witch would catch his eye that night. It seemed Else would be doing the same, for there seemed to be a serious lack of interesting males. She had a system when she went bar-hopping. If she could not find a man, she could always find a friend. The socialite had nothing against the company of other females. Claire did not quite count, since Claire was more sister than she was friend.

Elsie cast an optimistic eye around the bar as she began weaving her way through tables and chairs and groups of people. She smiled and greeted those who made eye contact, garnering everything from scowls to pleasant responses in return. She made her way towards the bar and plopped down into a chair, happily flagging down the bartender. "Could I get a cranberry mimosa?" she asked, voice sweet like sugar. She always flirted with bartenders - free drinks.

She turned and saw that she had sat herself down next to a woman who was doodling. Elsie tilted her head and leaned forward, peering at the drawings. "Cute," she announced, before sitting up straight so she could take the woman in in full. "Oh my gosh - your hair is gorgeous."