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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 19:00:52 GMT -5
When she leaned her head against him he kept his arm around her, holding her tightly to him. He was shocked for a moment when she mentioned that about her mother, curious how sick she may possibly be.
"What do you mean by sick, Star? What's wrong with her?" He tilted her head up again, pressing his forehead against hers and kissing her lightly on the cheekbone. "Tell me."
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 19:12:11 GMT -5
Starlight felt now very safe in Ace's arms. She forgot about her initial shock of letting those words from her mouth, as he kissed her on the cheek. She cuddled closer to him, and wrapped her arms round him. She looked at him now in the eyes, and her eyes were glistening with tears.
"She... she's going to tests," she said with a very quiet, timid voice. "They say she might have... breast cancer."
The last two words came out as an almost hoarse whisper, and more tears rushed into her eyes, so that she had to blink, and draw in a wavering breath.
"I haven't told anyone else..."
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Post by Kat on Oct 6, 2005 19:42:12 GMT -5
When he heard her mention those two words he felt horrible. Just knowing that she had been all alone during that time, with no one to turn to for support broke his heart. If only he wasn't such an ass, and they'd still been together, maybe it would have been easier on her. He would have been there. He could still be there, though. He had something to support her for, he had a reason not to turn away from her again. Pulling her fully into his arms now, he leaned up against the headboard on his bed, holding her in his lap and kissing her cheek. "I'm sorry you haven't had anyone there to support you through this. I just can't help thinking now that I wish I could have been there for you all along." He paused to kiss her forehead. "But I'm here for you now. If you ever need anything, you or your mom, let me know. I liked your mom, she was sweet." He hoped she would take him seriously and ask for help if she needed, of any kind. He suddenly wondered how the salon was doing, but didn't want to ask at the moment. One piece of bad news was enough for her to think about right now.
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Post by Cres on Oct 6, 2005 19:48:25 GMT -5
Starlight felt a strange rush of emotions she couldn't quite keep track of as he pulled her in and held her, leaning to the headboard of the bed, kissing her cheek. She cradled in his arms, forgetting every thought of how very much too soon all this was coming. All that mattered was that they were there now, that she could rest in his arms and be safe from the bad world. There was so much she had had pressing on her lately, and it felt so good to just be there, with him, hear him say those words - and believe them to be true.
"Thank you, Ace," she whispered quietly. "You have no idea how much that means to me." She squeezed herself against him a little more tightly. She didn't say anything more. She didn't want to break the magic of the moment.
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Post by Kat on Oct 7, 2005 6:55:17 GMT -5
He smiled when she replied, feeling comfortable and content right now. Sitting here and holding her just made him happy. Even though she was having problems, he was helping just by being there. It was nice to know that he still had that effect on her. He kissed her near the ear, "I think I know exactly how much it means to you. I'm just glad you gave me the chance to be here." He hugged his arms around her more tightly.
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Post by Cres on Oct 7, 2005 7:25:31 GMT -5
Starlight had not been so happy in a long time. Ace seemed to know exactly what to say. This felt so good. So right. So perfect.
"I'm so happy like this," she murmured. Her mouth was speaking words she had never meant to say, but somehow it felt to her like they had moved back in time, to a time long ago, when they had still been together, and shared their problems. It felt so natural to talk to him now. "You know how mom is like... she's so high-strung, and every little thing gets to her. And then she doesn't want to tell me anything for the fear that I'd get upset. Well, god, of course I get upset, but I still have the right to know, right? I mean, she's my mother!"
Her mind went back to something he had said earlier. That if there was anything he could do to help... There was, of course. Now that she knew how well his mother was doing, she was fairly sure there was something he could have done to help. But Starlight found herself having developed a pride much like her mother's. She couldn't open her mouth to ask for what they needed the most - the money. She told herself that they weren't that desperate yet. They had been able to pay the bills so far.
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Post by Kat on Oct 7, 2005 8:47:33 GMT -5
"Yeah, your mother always seemed like the type to hide things. I remember times when I would visit and she just seemed really upset, but the moment she'd notice me looking at her she'd put on an act as though she were happy. I don't know why parents bother to do that. Lately, my mother's been constantly bombarding me with all of her woes as of late, mind you none of them as serious as cancer, but it's nice to know she's willing to actually share all of her life with me after all that time of next to nothing. Definitely better than finding things out at the last minute." He noticed her get silent, as though contemplating something. "Hey, what are you thinking?"
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Post by Cres on Oct 7, 2005 10:56:44 GMT -5
Starlight smiled - yes, Patria was certainly one of a kind when it came to parenting. She had to admit she almost would have exchanged mothers, but instantly she felt horrible about the thought. Especially when it reminded her of her dreams of her and Ace's wedding, and how Patria would have become her second mother. That would have been such a dream.
"Hey, what are you thinking?"
Starlight wasn't sure what to answer. She knew her mother would never accept any help from him anyway even if she asked. But she wanted to tell him.
"The business at the Parlor isn't going so well," she finally answered quietly. "I've been working extra hours because mom's been too stressed out to do much anything but lay in bed for some weeks now."
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Post by Kat on Oct 7, 2005 12:24:56 GMT -5
Ace had had a feeling that she was going to say that. Now he just had to figure out some way to get her mother to let him help her out. "You know, she really needs some help with the salon aside from you. Your life shouldn't be spent working all the time, especially not at this age. She needs another stylist or two, and some good clients. There are a lot of wealthy families around the area after all, most of them come downtown to get their hair done. But maybe I could sweet talk a few stylist friends of mine into helping your mom out and taking their clients there. Maybe go in and fix her place up a bit, give it a nice make-over. It's not a bad place, it's a great location after all, it just needs some sprucing up." As he thought more about it he got more excited. He knew she'd never accept money, so he had to find a way to get her money without just giving it to her. The salon he went to, House Of Lords, was doing extremely well. His mother was very close with the owner, and maybe he could be persuaded into letting one or two of the stylists work up at the salon.
Maybe he could suggest that he offer Star's mom money to buy the salon, but of course keep her on as a business partner and manager of her salon. Many of the clients did often remark how it would be nice if he were to open another salon closer to the residential area. He knew at least two of the stylists lived near the area. This could work.
"Listen, I've got an idea. I would have to talk to some people, but it could work. Your mom would probably be against it at first, but this could work out really well." He spent the next few minutes explaining his plan to her, about how Narsis would probably even offer to rennovate the salon out of his own pocket and would allow her to have control over what happened to the place. He would just technically own the building, leaving her to run the business and co-own with him. Narsis was very loyal to his business partners after all, Ace would never dream of setting her mother up with someone he feared might betray her.
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Post by Cres on Oct 7, 2005 12:36:18 GMT -5
Starlight listened in silence as Ace started to talk about how to help her. She smiled. She had picked up some unfavourable traits of pride from her mother, but she actually rather liked it when someone else arranged everything for her. That was as much there was the "traditional woman" in her.
His plan sounded good to him. And it might even give her father a bit of a slap on the fingers, to see her mother prospering. He owned a small string of these little ice cream shops around and was always saying how Starlight's mother could never have a business mind. How women rarely did. Sometimes Starlight thought the only good kind of woman her father knew was one who remained always quiet and never demanded anything.
But she forced her thoughts away from her father as she listened to him. She was getting excited as well, and nodding towards the end.
"I think that could actually work," she said, smiling excitedly now. "I'll have to persuade mom a little, but what with all this her maybe being sick and all, I think we could slip it by her fairly easily." She had to swallow and the smile faded a little again when the import of her own words hit her. Her eyes filled up with tears again and she wrapped her arms round his neck tightly, this time actually sniffling once. She was very emotional at the moment.
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Post by Kat on Oct 7, 2005 13:05:41 GMT -5
Ace was pleased that she liked the idea and was willing to try it. When she clung to him again he held her, one had playing with her hair while the other rested comfortably on her back, softly rubbing her in a soothing manner. "If you feel like crying, just cry. You don't have to be strong right now Star, I'm here for you." It felt so good to be so comforting to someone right now, to feel so needed. Lately, he'd been the needy one. He had forgotten how nice it was to have it the other way around. "I'll take care of things for now, I'll set it all up and when it's ready to propse to your mom, I'll let you know. Just don't worry about it right now, things will work out." He really meant it, that things would work out. Even if they didn't end up working out for the two of them, he wanted things to work out for she and her mother at least. She was too young to have so much stress on her shoulders. "And hey, if you need anything I want you to let me know. I know you can be just as stubborn as your mother, but you know we're not exactly worried about money right now, it's not doing anything just sitting in the bank except for growing, so don't feel bad about asking." He meant that as well. He constantly helped out friends of his not as financially well off as he was. Money can't buy you happiness. But it can help the people you love, and helping the people you love will make you happy.
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Post by Cres on Oct 7, 2005 15:10:04 GMT -5
Starlight smiled against his chest. He was so nice. Exactly what she needed at the moment.
"Thanks Ace," she whispered again. She really loved him. At moments like these, she couldn't understand why they would ever break up. But she didn't let himself think about that right now. She just needed the comfort for now. Everything more than that would come later. If at all.
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Post by Kat on Oct 8, 2005 10:18:56 GMT -5
Though he felt like he could sit here for quite some time longer with her, they did have work to do. "Well, now that all of this is out in the open and we've patched ourselves up rather well, we really should think about getting some work done tonight. As much as I'd rather stay here, you know I'm a little anal retentive when it comes to doing well on my school work." He grinned as he looked down at her, a finger brushing over her cheek. Right now, things felt like they hadn't changed. Almost like they had never split apart or spent the last year avoiding each other.
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Post by Cres on Oct 8, 2005 11:15:52 GMT -5
Starlight was feeling quite the same way as Ace. And she, too, could be rather precise about her schoolwork. Not quite as bad as Bright Eyes, but she did worry over her grades. Especially now that she was going to go to law school after graduating. She hadn't told about that to him, either, she realised.
"Yeah, we probably should get to work," she agreed, smiling. "Especially since I want top grades for this class. I'm thinking of aiming for law school after high school. I don't think I have told you about that."
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Post by Kat on Oct 8, 2005 11:23:34 GMT -5
"Law school?" Ace let out a small chuckle, "wow, that's aiming pretty high. You'd make a good lawyer though." He kissed her forehead again before pushing himself up a bit. "I don't need good grades where I'm going after high school, I don't even need to finish high school, actually. But that's just the perfectionist in me, I guess." He grinned, thinking a bit about the future. He couldn't wait to finish school and move back to Europe. Right now he had no idea which country to move to so he could pursue his pro soccer dreams, but he knew he wouldn't have a problem getting on a team somewhere. It was an exciting thought. He found himself a little bored every now and then with high school soccer, but he knew that once he got into a professional league with players to match his own skill, the excitement over every game would come back. He was looking forward to that. He wanted to take his beloved sport back.
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