As you can probably tell, creative titles are not my forte.
Ooooooooookay, I haven't been terribly active as of late because I have resolved to not do my homework the day before it's due and actually, you know, plan ahead.
It's hard.
Anyhoo, this was just a bit of a plot bunny I couldn't get rid of, and it originated when I saw an ad for coffee. I recommend watching it so I don't look like a crazy person :D
Just go to youtube and search 'moccona kiss' and it is the first result.
So, enjoy!
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.
Ivy Stoll was bored beyond belief. There was absolutely nothing to do.
She dropped the book she was attempting to read on her face and groaned loudly. She carefully sat up, picked her way out of her elaborately and painstakingly constructed blanket fort and walked over to the big balcony window. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, puffy white clouds drifted lazily across the clear blue sky and a soft breeze was ruffling the leaves of the trees ever so slightly. People were bustling through the streets with their heads down and legs powering on to their destinations, completely unaware of the beauty surrounding them at that very moment. They were lucky to be outside in the fresh air, not trapped inside, forbidden from going out and exploring and having fun and enjoying themselves, but instead resigned to being bored to tears-
"Ivy, stop complaining and go do something if you're so bored," Ivy's mother Margaret said, not looking up from the book she was currently reading.
"But I've done everything already," Ivy whined, tugging hard on an unbelievably and uncontrollably curly lock of brown hair.
"You could expand your blanket fort into the kitchen," Ivy's mom helpfully suggested.
Ivy groaned. "There's no blankets left to do that. I'm so bored that I'm even considering doing my chores."
Margaret licked her finger and turned the page. Ivy really couldn't see the point in doing such a thing- in fact, she found it sort of gross. "You know, that's not a bad idea. Your room is a pigsty, you can get started on that."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "I said I was considering it, not planning to act on it." Ivy crawled over to her mom's armchair and knelt up next to it. She widened her blue eyes and pouted her lips slightly in what she hoped was an irresistibly adorable pleading face. "You could always let me go outside…"
"If you want to go outside so much, you should have thought ahead before spraying Cedarburgh High's hall with easy cheese."
"I have traumatic memories from that place, mom. I needed to rid myself of years of hate and teenage angst somehow."
Margaret sighed. "Go do some college work."
"But college doesn't start again for another month!" Ivy scoffed. "Plus, it's my last year, I'm sure they'll go easy on me if I turn it in late."
"You'd think a twenty-one year old woman would learn how to be mature and use her time productively, but apparently that skill overlooked you in the gene pool," Margaret said, gesturing meaningfully to the blanket fort.
"Maturity is boring."
"True, but it is also unfortunately an important life skill, so you'd better either get cracking on that or find yourself a nice soul mate who is serious enough for the both of you."
Ivy wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "I don't think so. My soul mate will be someone who knows how to appreciate fun."
"And can also help control your immature tendencies, I hope."
Ivy sighed dejectedly and decided to go with her last resort. "Mom, can you at least be a considerate person and take the fourth lock off my bedroom window?"
Margaret smiled at her daughter's antics. "Why would I do that when you've picked all the other ones? You could just climb out your window and run off into the night without me knowing."
"Mother! How could you suggest such a thing?" Ivy said in an over-exaggerated offended voice.
"No, I am not taking the fourth lock off your bedroom window. Now go do something useful. I'm up to a good part."
Ivy sighed heavily and lumbered slowly over to the window, staring out of it longingly. She issued a wide variety of wistful sighs at regular intervals, but when this failed to warrant a response from her mother, she finally gave up and resorted to watching the people who walked by her window. She'd developed the habit of doing this during her probation period but had found that most people were unbelievably dull to watch. They usually just walked into her line of vision and then walked out again. There were a few exceptions, but they were very rare.
Just then, Ivy spotted one of those rarities stroll down the sidewalk in the form of a mailman. Ivy opened the window and leant out to get a better look and was delighted to find that he was absolutely gorgeous. He had tousled black hair, a strong jawline and a bright, unmissable smile. He was dressed in a mailman uniform and was grinning at everyone that passed by him, undeterred by the fact that the majority of people were ignoring him. In fact, this seemed to amuse him even more.
Ivy was absolutely enraptured. She knew that she must find out more about this alluring stranger immediately.
Ivy ducked back inside and closed the window behind her, illustrating this action with a big sigh. "Okay mom, I give up. I'm going to go vacuum the house or something." She got up from her place and stalked huffily out of the room, leaving her mother cheering behind her.
As soon as Ivy exited out of sight, she sprinted to her bedroom and waded through the piles of clothes, books and other random objects to reach her desk. She rifled through all the junk on top of it and finally found what she was looking for. She quickly wrote down the essentials and worked her way back out, trying not to knock anything important over.
She then got the vacuum cleaner out of the storage cupboard, plugged it in to the power outlet and turned it on. She dashed past the open living room door to avoid her mother and scurried as quietly as she could down the stairs to the front door. To be honest, she didn't really need to try too hard since the vacuum cleaner was still on.
When she got to the front door, she pulled out two bobby pins from her hair and picked the lock swiftly and efficiently, hearing the unmistakable click almost immediately. She grinned and silently thanked her dad for teaching her that incredibly useful trick.
She threw the door open and almost slammed it behind her, leaning against it in relief. She hoped like mad she wouldn't get caught, which was honestly the only reason she hadn't done this before. If her plan was discovered, her mother would never let her leave the house again.
But Ivy wasn't about to miss an opportunity like this.
She realised she was getting a few terrified glances thrown her way because of the dramatic little display she had just put on, so she quickly straightened up and walked purposefully on to her goal- the good-looking mailman.
She craned her neck to see over the crowd of giggling girls that were conveniently standing right in front of her view and spotted the mailman across the street, whistling happily as he looked curiously around him at the beautiful day. Ivy grinned and ducked around the throng of teenagers, crossing the road and starting to trail the mailman as inconspicuously as she could (which was admittedly pretty inconspicuously).
She tried to stick her hands in the pockets of her jeans to look casual, but cursed the heavens when she couldn't get her hands in. What was the point of pockets if you couldn't fit anything in there? Who made these things anyway?
She shook herself of these distracting thoughts when she very nearly crashed into the mailman. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice her and carried on his merry way.
Ivy looked at the mailman's bag. It was simple and brown and had a caduceus on it, which confused her, because wasn't a caduceus a symbol of medicine? She shrugged and got closer to find what she was really looking for. And, to her absolute delight and surprise, the bag's flap was open just enough for her to stealthily slip a little surprise inside.
She was sort of nervous. She'd jokingly pick-pocketed her friends loads of times before, so she knew she was stealthy, but if she was caught in a suspicious position, her mother would not be a happy chappy.
Ivy reached her hand out slowly and carefully, getting closer and closer and-
Oh hell, did he just turn around? Ivy squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath as she waited for the police to come and arrest her for attempted put-pocketing or whatever this was called. Her mom would never talk to her again.
… Though, it sure was taking a while.
Ivy opened one eye and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the mailman had continued walking. He'd probably just twitched or something.
Ivy quickly caught up and tried again. This time she did it as quickly as possible and, to her utter satisfaction, it sipped inside successfully without any suspicious glances drawn her way.
Ivy ran back to her house, grinning in triumph. Hole in one, she thought. She hesitated. Well, actually two, but let's not get technical here, she amended.
Ivy lay upside down on her bed as she tried to think of a way to occupy herself while she waited for the doorbell to ring. Ivy was never a patient person, however, and couldn't really concentrate on anything but waiting and waiting and goddamned waiting.
Ivy sighed. It's been two hours, seventeen minutes and… She checked her watch. Forty-three seconds. How long does it take to deliver the mail, anyway?
Reluctantly, she got up and traversed through the maze that was her bedroom and spent ten minutes walking aimlessly around the house, searching for something interesting to do and failing miserably.
As you can imagine, she was ecstatic when the sound of the doorbell finally reverberated through the house.
"I'll get it!" she shouted to her mom, sprinting to the door and flinging it open in excitement. Sure enough, there stood the gorgeous mailman.
Close up, Ivy could see how handsome he really was. His black hair was slightly disheveled and his defined jawline looked even better close-up with the addition of stubble- not peach fuzz stubble, but designer, I-wake-up-looking-this-good stubble. His nose was upturned and his dimples made Ivy want to pinch his cheeks. His devilish smile and arched eyebrows gave her the feeling that this man wasn't one to be trusted around your wallet.
But Ivy's favourite thing about him was his eyes. They were bright blue and sparkling, and the smile lines around them were prominent. They were bright and filled with mischief, but at the same time looked old and sort of sad. If eyes were the window to the soul, this man had a very unique one.
Ivy probably would have swooned if she'd been the type of girl to swoon.
"Hello," she said amicably. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm grand," he said cheerfully. He held out his hand, within which was a rather familiar-looking crisp white envelope. Score! Her admittedly badly thought-out plan had worked! "I have a letter."
"Really? That's fascinating," Ivy said sarcastically. "Tell me more."
His grin widened. "It's addressed to one…" he checked the name on the envelope. "Ivy Stoll. Would that, by any chance, be you?"
"It sure would," Ivy replied, taking the letter, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. The mailman just stood there beaming at her in silence. Ivy raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."
"I know your name," he said slowly, as if testing the waters. "Don't you want to know mine?"
"That's a bit presumptuous of you. What if I was doing something important and just want you to leave?" she teased, though underneath she was jumping in excitement that such progress was being made so quickly.
"It's Hermes, by the way."
Ivy looked at him disbelievingly. "Hermes?" He nodded. "Hermes." She finalized. "Heeeermeeees." She sounded out the name. She decided she enjoyed the sound of it. "Weird, but… I like it."
Hermes looked affronted. "Weird? Weird?" He held a hand to his heart. "That hurts, Ivy. I am offended."
"Oh dear," Ivy gasped. "How could I do such a thing? I just, I can't believe I-" she stopped and fanned her face as if to ward off tears.
"Ivy?" Margaret called from the living room. "Who's at the door?"
"Just the postman, mom!" Ivy called back, recovering from her display quickly to glare at Hermes, who was snickering behind his hand.
"Well, can you stop flirting with him and actually collect the mail?" she shouted.
Hermes' laughter burst out like a flood and Ivy just glared at him some more. "Mom, can you stop being embarrassing and get back to reading?"
Margaret sighed loudly. "Have I taught you nothing? Say please!"
Ivy rolled her eyes and Hermes stifled his laughter again. "Please can you get back to reading, you exasperating woman?"
Margaret tutted. "No respect for your elders!"
Ivy huffed and turned back to Hermes. "She's impossible."
Hermes smirked. "She sounds delightful." He chuckled at her incredulous expression and then leant against the doorframe opposite her. "So, who's the sender of this mysterious letter? Could it be a… special someone?" he asked all-too innocently.
"Wouldn't you like to know," she retorted, but something in the mischievous glint in his eyes and that devious grin made her think that maybe he already did.
The following silent stare-off was challenging yet playful, and Ivy found herself enjoying it immensely. Hermes suddenly clapped once and broke eye contact, grinning and turning on his heels. "Well, I'd better be off. Lots of things to do-"
"Oh, no you don't," Ivy interrupted, grabbing his wrist. The contact sent a spark running through her arm, but she didn't pull away. She looked up at his amused eyes and smiled sweetly. "Would you like to come in? You must be very tired, what with all the hard work I'm sure you've been doing all day."
Hermes turned back around and mussed up her hair (not that it needed to be mussed up any more). "You know what, I am pretty tired." He gestured to the door. "Lead the way."
Ivy was dancing on the inside, but she kept a straight face. "Do you like tea? Or coffee?"
Hermes scoffed. "Coffee. It has to be the greatest thing mankind ever discovered."
"Oh, I don't know," Ivy said. "Chocolate is pretty brilliant."
"And the internet, of course. Whoever invented that had to be a genius." He smiled to himself like it was some sort of inside joke.
Ivy pressed her lips together to suppress a grin and led him to the living room. She couldn't wait to see her mother's face.
Of course, Margaret knew the exact moment her daughter had said that she was going to vacuum that she was planning on leaving the house, and Margaret was one hundred percent positive that she could pick the lock on the front door. She had known Ivy since she was born, after all. She just figured she'd get around to punishing the mischievous girl when she got back.
Understandably, when Ivy came into the living room with an attractive young mailman trailing behind her and introduced him as if they were old friends, Margaret was befuddled.
But then, when she caught them sharing amused and sometimes admiring glances, she smiled to herself and decided she'd let the girl off just this once.
o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.
I just realised that I really overuse the words 'sigh' and 'smile' in my stories. There just aren't enough synonyms. Sorry bout that.
This did not turn out the way I expected, but I guess I like it. Aaaand in case you didn't guess (which you probably did), Ivy is Travis and Connor's mum. Why her, you ask? I've got no idea :D
And god-friggin-damnit, the two paragraphs where Ivy describes how Hermes looks took me one hour.
ONE HOUR FOR TWO MEASLY PARAGRAPHS.
The rest of it took approximately two hours, so you can tell how bad I am at describing good-looking men.
IT'S SO DIFFICULT.
Well, I'm done ranting. I hope you enjoyed and goodnight!