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Anything But Normal [MellowYellow & Somikat]

Somikat

Super-Earth
Joined
Aug 12, 2013
A normal day, in a normal city, in a normal country—or so Charlie felt—and to make matters worse, it was just another in a long line of normal days. It all had the young woman feeling too much like a normal woman, though the 21 year old was not what everyone would describe as 'normal'. She was quirky, prone to laughing at the wrong moment, and as friendly as she seemed to most, she was at heart rather awkward, and felt herself socially inept, though she managed to hide it most of the time. In addition to this, she had not always been a she—at least not physically.

She had felt a she ever since she was too young to know what the word transsexual meant, and had known that she was what she was long before she had a word with which to term it. Now she was 21 and looked every bit the woman she had for so long felt on the inside, until you managed to get her out of her panties, that is, but nobody had managed to do that since she had moved to Alexandria three months ago, nor in the months preceding that. She had moved to begin a new life, and held aspirations of studying photography or English literature at university, though that plan had had to postponed until next year due to lack of funds. Instead, she now worked a normal job in a normal grocery store, and although she had managed to find an outlet for her interests—writing short stories for online publishers, and offering cheap photo shoots for aspiring bands and musicians—her life was a tad more boring than she desired. When it all boiled down to it, what she was really missing was a spontaneous kind of excitement, different from the ordered pleasure she found in her writing and in her shoots.

Such excitement she had hoped to find in a new city, where everything was new and nobody knew her past, nor why a transsexual woman would choose a name which was more commonly bestowed upon men. The logic behind that was typical of Charlie's quirkiness: she felt that the act of choosing a particularly feminine name undermined the fact that ever since she was little she had felt like a girl, and so when she outwardly began to embrace this long-held intuition, she chose a name which allowed her femininity to flow from within. The excitement, however, had not come so easily. It was tough fitting into a new place—tougher than she had anticipated—and so far the only friends she had made were the people that she worked with and a handful of local musicians. Beyond that, there was nothing but acquaintances whom she saw in passing, and few of those gave her any indication that they wanted to be more than passing acquaintances.

All of this and more she mulled over as she walked home from work one evening, having seen off the day's last customers and closed up the shop. She still wore the black slacks and blouse which she wore while she was working, and her long brunette hair hung in waves over the shoulders of her petite frame. Tomorrow is a new day—let me make it a remarkable one, she thought positively as she entered her apartment complex, a friendly smile touching her soft lips as her grey-blue eyes fell upon a neighbour of hers stood by the mailboxes, busy flicking through his letters.
 
If there was one terrible, crushing truth that came with age, it was the knowledge that life wasn't easy. That was the one thing Jeremy wished someone had told him when he grew up, because it might just have been enough to convince him to take a different route in his life. Oh he did like the idea of being an architect, but the reality had proven rather more difficult.

At 25, Jeremy had rather recently finished his college course and was plucked up by a large firm to do work for them. It was... interesting stuff, but it wasn't his. He wanted to feel somewhat important, to feel like he was making some kind of stamp on the world. But in all likelihood, that wouldn't happen, or have a chance of happening, for several years.

Oh well, he supposed life wasn't all bad. He got a decent pay, his apartment didn't suck and there was a remarkably cute girl next door. She was nice, fun and a little weird in her mannerisms. They spoke often, though only really in passing... she was single as far as Jeremy could tell, and lord knew it had been some time since he had been dating (As his parents just LOVED to bring up). Well, maybe he could ask her out... couldn't hurt, right?

He looked up from his mailbox and adjusted his loose tie when he saw Charlie at his side. "Hey there Charlie," he greeted, managing a warm smile her way "How're you feeling? Have a nice day?" he asked politely.
 
"Hey Jeremy," she replied, her voice sounding light and airy, if a little tired. She shrugged. "Not so bad, I guess. Same old same old. And you?"

Same old same old was right. It had been just another day, and—sadly—this would be just another conversation. Jeremy was nice, and he was certainly easy on the eye (not that Charlie would stand a chance with him—she was too young for him for one thing, and she didn't quite feel as though she was in the same 'league' as he was), but they rarely said much to each other bar passing pleasantries. It was all too strong a feature of her life right now, and of her relation towards other people. Only in the local music scene did she really come close to finding people who shared her interests, and even then most seemed more intent on taking advantage of her photography skills or 'bigging themselves up' than on actually getting to know new people. She had made some friends though, and for that she was grateful. All the same, boys eluded her.

She paused in the hallway and felt her hands desire to fidget, but that was something she'd grown aware of lately, and it was a habit she wanted to suppress. It showed her awkwardness too much, and that blew her cover when it came to giving the impression of a girl who was not awkward around people, or at the very least it made her more conscious of being awkward. Someone like Jeremy would never go for an awkward girl, she thought. He was attractive, he had a good job... an architect, she remembered. Someone who drew—like she did—only that was different. Where she saw him as drawing up solid structures designed to withstand wind and rain, and to form secure shelter for other people, Charlie's drawings were fluid, full of faults, and more often borne of insecurity than stability.
 
What an odd name 'Charlie' was for a girl. Was that normal, or common? He honestly couldn't recall such an incident in the past. Maybe it was short for Charleen or something like that? Well honestly Jeremy had never bothered to ask or find out, he thought it'd be really weird and awkward to say aloud. "Well honestly I feel like I'm stuck in a rut at work. Doing someone elses designs while my own and my creative part of my brain are left to rot away."

Okay that was perhaps rather grim to say, but he had to say something on how he felt.

"Agh... sorry about that. Kind of a dumb thing to say out loud, it's just... I don't like feeling insignificant," Jeremy explained with a small sigh. "Anyway..." he trailed off, wondering if this was the right time to ask such a thing. Was he even her type? She seemed the type of woman to exclusively date grunge assholes stuck in the 90's or failing musicians. "Are you available tonight? I was kinda hoping maybe... I dunno... can we hang out?"
 
In that moment, Charlie felt sorry for him. She was a creative person herself, and she knew the pain of having your creativity taken away from you, though in her case that had only ever happened from within, and it had been her mental state which had confined her output and not her place in occupational hierarchy.

She also knew what it felt like to feel insignificant, and—like Jeremy—she was not fond of that feeling. Perhaps they weren't so different after all, he and her. But why was he apologising for what he'd said? Was this not what she wanted from people? So many were seemingly confined by social obligations which she never really understood, embracing banalities and shying away from real, human interaction. She wished that more people would share their feelings, and more often too, and—did he just ask her to hang out?

The girl's thoughts came to a grinding halt. Answer him! was the first thing which succeeded her stunned silence, and she hoped that that had not lasted as long in reality as the eternity it had seemed to last in her conscious mind.

"Um... sure." She managed to smile, and even—after a moment—to nod her head. "That... I'd like that, yes."
 
The question had taken a lot of courage to ask, with Jeremy fearing that he may have crossed a line of some kind. After all, they were neighbours and saw each other pretty much every day, so making that relationship uncomfortable would be something to make living together in the same building very awkward.

The silence itself was uncomfortable, thick and lingering in the lobby for several seconds, before he breathed out a silent sigh of relief when she agreed to hang out with him. "Good to know, I'm ah, I'm really glad to hear that," the dark haired man said, scratching his scruffy chin in thought.

"So um... what do you want to do tonight? I mean it's my treat. Just don't ask me to like... take you to the Taj Mahal or whatever, I don't have that kind of money," he said, giving a nervous laugh at his own bad joke. "I mean, we could go see a movie or... grab some food together or something?" he asked politely. Going out with a pretty girl? Maybe this day wouldn't be so bad.
 
Charlie's brain had finally kicked back into gear, and she was anxiously pondering the motivation behind Jeremy's interest in spending time with her when he mentioned that it would be his treat; that sounded like... well—a date. Was he really interested in her in that way? Surely not. He was—after all—way out of her league. Or so she thought. His treat. A movie. That sounds like a date. She laughed softly, and tried to veil her nerves with humour.

"Damn, I've always wanted to see the Taj Mahal. I've never gotten to travel outside of America," she said with a playful smile. "I'm pretty hungry—maybe we could get something to eat?"

She knew all of the places she liked around the locale for food, but the poor girl was still too surprised and nervous to suggest any. This might be her one chance at forging a real connection with someone—she dared to think it might even become a romantic one, and that sent her nerves into overdrive—and she didn't want to do the slightest thing to tarnish that opportunity. She could hardly do that by suggesting a place to eat, but still she waited with eyebrows slightly raised for confirmation that food was an agreeable idea.
 
Well, that was positive, knowing she was still interested. Food, he could do food, the guy ate out around here pretty much every second night, so he knew damn near every eatery on their block and the neighbouring blocks. "Yeah well ah... like I said, it's my treat," he said, managing to smile awkwardly. He inserted his mail (Mainly bills and a DVD from Amazon) into his dark brown backpack.

"Did you have anywhere in particular you wanted to check out?" he asked. He figured Charlie didn't go to any fancy restaurants, due to her career being rather... well she wasn't exactly a high-profile woman. Jeremy started to along with her to the streets directly outside of their looming apartment building "I mean there's that burger place leftward, or the cafe to the right... or really anywhere you'd rather go for."
 
She felt a little under-dressed in her work clothes, though her blouse was trim and neat, and her slacks hugged her behind in a way that even Charlie found appealing—she was her own worst critic, and more often than not she found it hard to accept how pretty she really was. She made Jeremy assure her that he really wanted to treat her, and though the assurance pleased her in one respect, it also denied her the opportunity to dash upstairs and retrieve some cash from her apartment, and of course to fret over her appearance and hurriedly find something more appealing to wear. Apparently she wasn't free of those awful social obligations either.

"Hmmm, I dunno... do you like noodles, or sushi?" she asked, giving him a little insight into her tastes. She wasn't awfully picky, but she liked to try new things, or—failing that—something a little less than common. In general, if it was anything but normal, Charlie was interested—and that went for things beside food, too. There was a Thai restaurant she knew not far from here, which did excellent noodle dishes, and there was a sushi place not far beyond it, along with a Lebanese restaurant and a quirky Mexican place which would give you a sombrero if you went there on your birthday. She hadn't had a birthday since she'd moved to Alexandria, but she'd seen the sign out front and had seen a drunken birthday boy or two, surrounded by tortillas and Mexican beer.
 
"Sushi or noodles..." Jeremy repeated, trailing off and letting his thoughts envelop him. Well they weren't new to him in any respect, as he had eaten in several areas that sold those in the past. Still, he wouldn't go far enough to call himself a major fan of either. On the other hand however, if those were the kinds of things that Charlie liked to eat, who was he to argue? It could make for a fun meal, and a nice environment for them to chat in.

"Ah, sure. I'm pretty sure there's that one sushi bar to the right," Jeremy remarked, glancing down 4th street. He started walking side by side with her, but he didn't push his boundaries and place an arm around her or take her hand, in case she wasn't cool with it. "So... how was your day?" he asked as the two walked along, a little small talk for the journey "Anything cool happen?"
 
"Not really," she shrugged. "I need some fresh excitement in my life... do you ever feel like every day is just the same old stuff, day after day? Kinda like that movie Groundhog Day, only my life would be less boring if it had Bill Murray in it." She laughed a little, and nervously too; her mind often worked on a sporadic stream-of-consciousness, and she hadn't meant to reveal that particular quirk so easily. Plus she was still unsure if Jeremy was as keen on sushi as she was... she guessed that he wasn't, but he'd agreed to go, so that was something.

"How about you? You're an architect, yeah? What do you everyday?"

Slow down, Charlie—one question at a time! She hadn't wanted to come across as bland or untalkative, so she forced herself to voice more than an interrogative mimicry of Jeremy's question. Jeremy... her companion? Or her date? She still wasn't sure, but she supposed it didn't need to be labelled. He was taking her out to eat and that was all that mattered. The thought brought a hint of a smile to the corners of her lips as she glanced at him, and a nervous warmth welled in her chest.
 
"Bill Murray? Uh, ew." Jeremy let out a quick laugh at his poor joke attempt before managing to smile at her. Charlie was a pretty funny girl, quirky and cute. Like a marginally less insufferable manic pixie dream girl. When she asked him about his career he managed a small sigh snd scratched the back of his neck as he tried to word it right. How could one accurately describe the sensation of being dissatisfied by their own passion? Goodness...

He held open the door to the sushi bar and let his companion/possible date enter the building before him. "Well, my day mainly consists on working on designs of other buildings and doing corrections on other peoples plans. It's like... well it's an interesting thing I suppose, but above all else I just wish I was being given the chance to present my own ideas and designs, you know? Like... well you're an artist, you know what it's like right? Not being able to present your own work and being stuck doing other peoples stuff?"
 
"Aww, I'm sorry—that does sound really frustrating," she replied, stepping inside the restaurant, though not before smiling and gracefully half-bowing at his holding the door for her. And people say chivalry is dead... Before she could continue, a slight Japanese woman greeted them and asked if they wanted a table for two. Charlie nodded, and they were lead towards the back of the quaint, narrow restaurant to be seated in a small booth and left with menus. The very act of reaching their destination and sitting down for a meal with Jeremy had the young woman giddy with excitement, though that did little to quell her nervousness.

"Have you been here before?" she asked him—a bit of a retreat into small talk—but at the next available opportunity she returned to the conversation they'd begun outside. "So, do you ever get time outside of work to work on your own ideas? I'd love to see what kind of stuff you come up with," she smiled. By this time she'd already browsed the menu, asked Jeremy if he knew what he was having, and expressed a liking for their eel futomaki. She was leaning towards something called the "Kiss Me Roll", which consisted of salmon, avocado and a blend of yoghurt and mayonnaise dubbed "yoghurnaisse", but if he wanted to split two dishes with her, she was more than willing. As she said: all sushi is delicious!
 
Nowadays, he didn't know how he was supposed to act around women. Some would get all snobbish and call him a chauvinist for holding a door open and 'upholding patriarchal conventions' when instead he would do the same for any guy out of a sense of politeness. At the very least Charlie accepted the gesture as a sign of kindness and manners.

After being led to their table, Jeremy had been able to politely answer each question as she directed it his way. He told her how he had come here once or twice on a lunch break, how he kept his own designs and ideas stored in a folder in his home... but when asked about what he wanted, he really didn't know what to go for. The thing he found with sushi in the past was, that while it could look nice there was really no way to tell how it would taste. "Ah... well I guess I'll go got that 'Kiss Me Roll'... that's a pretty weird name, why do you suppose they call it that?"

Perhaps it was just an error in translation. Or just an eyegrab. Or maybe just poor English on the chef's part...
 
"I don't know," Charlie replied, and while all of the possible reasons which flashed through Jeremy's head passed also through hers, she smirked before suggesting that "maybe the chef is just looking for love." She laughed softly at her own joke, but her smile was wide and genuine, dimpling her cheeks at the corners of her lips. "Maybe we should get him out here—he might be perfect for one of us."

In the end they decided on one portion of the Kiss Me Roll, and smaller portions of both the hoisin duck and eel maki. It would be 16 pieces in all—eight of the oddly named dish and four each of the others—plenty for both of them. Charlie was eager to share, partly because she too wanted to try the Kiss Me Roll, but also because she wanted Jeremy to sample the eel. The duck was simply something which was always good.
 
It was fortunate that Jeremy liked to try new things, most people would have been scared off by a spread like this. "Ahhh... I don't think I'm the chef's type. Shame too, I'd be able to live like a king if I married someone that wealthy," he joked, sniggering slightly. Well that and he wasn't gay, but he figured Charlie knew that much and didn't need it repeated for her. I mean hell, why would he ask her out if he was into guys?

He started off with a piece of duck, after a few moments spent reeducating himself on how to use a pair of chopsticks, munching it slowly to get a savoury taste in his mouth. Jeremy then had a piece of eel and spent a few moments chewing it and adjusting to the new flavour. "Ha, not bad. You've got some really great taste Charlie."
 
Charlie smiled—she was pleased that he liked her choices, and perhaps more so that he actually gone along with them. He'd even tried them before the Kiss Me Roll! She had actually suggested this place to a co-worker one day, only to be met with a disappointing "ew, raw fish? No thank you." Even after she had explained to the poor deluded girl that sushi did not mean raw fish she had still not wanted to go, evidently put off by her erroneous assumption and the associated feelings towards it.

"Yay, I'm glad you like them," she told him. "I didn't know how you'd feel about eel, but I guess you didn't duck the challenge, huh?" A corny joke? Yes, but she laughed adorably afterwards, knowing full well that it had been so. She liked bad jokes almost as much as she liked word play, and that she didn't mind him knowing, certainly not now that they were seated together over food. She looked forward to getting to know him a little better too, though she still found it hard to believe that he'd asked her here. Unlike him, she was well in the practise of using chopsticks, and had no trouble picking up and tasting a piece of the Kiss Me Roll.

"Oh my god, you have to try this," she said after trying it—it was savoury and almost sweet, and whatever the yoghurnaisse was, it was simply divine. The flavours complimented each other perfectly.
 
"Sheesh, you're really whipping the puns out today aren't you Charlie?" Jeremy said, managing a smirk. It was a good thing he was a fan of bad jokes in an ironic sense, most people would have been turned off. "Well, if you keep that up I think I'll have to get the duck out of here," he replied, keeping his face stoic before grinning at her again a few seconds later.

Sushi might not have been his favourite food to eat, but this stuff was of a good quality, and the good company made it more enjoyable. People could be too serious nowadays, and most of his previous dates had either been ice queens, or trying too hard to look like a cast member from Jersey Shore. He wasn't a fan of either. Still, he knew Charlie, he felt a little more comfortable and relaxed with her since he didn't need to worry about making a good first impression.

He was halfway through another piece of duck when Charlie gave her approval of the 'kiss me roll', causing Jeremy to pause mid-chew. "Well I've tried more dangerous looking things in the past, my college roommate can attest to that," he said, taking up one available roll and downing it. Oh wow, now that was something. A blend of several different flavours, working together in a great sense of harmony and earning a low pleasured groan from the architect.
 
"I know, right?" Charlie grinned at his response to the food, and far less coyly than the way she'd smiled at his response to her joke, when she'd let out a short laugh and inclined her face, glancing up at him from beneath her lashes. That was a subtle, unconscious sign that more often than not showed a girl was interested in whoever it was directed towards—a shy, cute gesture that had something of a schoolgirl nature to it, and some part of her did feel schoolgirlish in Jeremy's company. Perhaps it was brought on by the fact that he was older than she, or perhaps it was just the excitement of having a man's attention focused on her; it had been far, far too long since she'd felt the giddiness associated with that.

As the conversation progressed and the squat, cylindrical pieces of food on the plates grew fewer and fewer, the young woman was pleased to note that her nervousness in his presences became less and less strongly felt. Jeremy was easy to talk to, and though she was still conscious of making an ass of herself before him, she had little trouble in finding things to talk to him about. She asked him how he'd gotten interested in architecture, and listened intently to his response; how long he'd been living here and if it was his home town; all little pieces of information to more solidly form her impression of him—to complete the picture of the man who'd been little more than an amiable neighbour and acquaintance up until an hour ago. He made for very pleasant company, and left her hoping that they could share more moments like this. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, but she couldn't help but imagine what it might be like to be Jeremy's girlfriend.
 
Dating was a rarity for the architect, and it was even rarer for him to have a date as good as this one. The two exchanged details on each other and tales of their lives, going back and forth and gradually until they knew each other better than what was standard for neighbours. Not that the older man would complain, Charlie proved herself a very interesting and fun woman to be around. There must have been something she was hiding, but he couldn't quite figure it.

Regardless, Jeremy had proved true to his word and paid the bill after the two had finished their meals, and he slowly got to his feet and helped Charlie up. It was getting dark now, and he was certainly grateful that they didn't have far to go to reach their apartment building. "That was actually pretty awesome, we should have hung out sooner. I might be older, but I can still be hip... and yes I did mean 'hip' in an ironic way. Wanna hang out again in the future?" he asked as they headed onto the city streets together.
 
Laughing at his use of the word 'hip', the petite brunette laughed and looked up at him with sweetness in her eyes. She really did like Jeremy, though—despite their getting to know each other better—there was still much about him that she didn't know. That only made her more excited for the future he spoke of, and more interested in uncovering the various layers of his personality.

"I would love to," she replied as they left the restaurant, emerging into the cool night air. "I really enjoyed tonight. Thank you."

She beamed up at him, deeply and genuinely pleased with their impromptu dinner date, and again her cheeks dimpled adorably. It would almost be a shame to part ways when they reached their building, but she would enjoy retreating to her room with thoughts of Jeremy and a deep satisfaction in the connection they had begun to forge. She would certainly be looking forward to a repeat experience.

"You can have my number if you like," she told him as they walked. "I know we live in the same building, but I work funny hours sometimes. It'd be nice to go out again... or just hang out—whatever's cool."
 
That smile, there was something about it that was almost... well, addictive. It looked sugary sweet on her, but behind that look she could be housing or thinking about any form of mischief. "I had fun too, and I'm glad knowing you enjoyed yourself..." Jeremy trailed off and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. Part of him said to go in and kiss her, but the larger part of the brain was quick to smack him upside the head for having such a stupid idea. Kiss her after one psuedo-date? What kind of idiot was he? She'd knee him in the nuts if he tried that shit,

He held open the door to their apartment building and let Charlie head in first before he followed her lead. Jeremy paused when she said she could give him his number he managed a smile her way. "Sure thing dear," he said, reaching into his bag and taking out a notepad "I don't have my cell with me, but if you give me your number I'll text you with mine," he suggested.
 
She didn't know why, but she loved the fact that he carried a notepad with him. Maybe it was just because she was smitten with him, or maybe it was because it was nice to see someone not relying on the technology which so many people became lost in. One of her main pet peeves at the moment was seeing a table full of people all with their heads down-turned towards their phones, and the fact that if you asked them what they were doing, they'd tell you they were talking to friends. Who were they surrounded by? Strangers? Regardless, Jeremy's production of a notepad was oddly cute to her—people didn't normally carry notepads with them, not unless they were creative enough to need to jot down ideas every so often.

She gave him her number, and together they made their way up the stairs until they reached number 21—Charlie's apartment. She shared it with a Polish immigrant named Elzebieta, who was of an age with her but who kept odd hours and whom she rarely saw.

"I really did have a good time tonight, Jeremy," she assured him. "I hope we can do this again some time."
 
He was quick to memorize the number in his head, just as a backup in case he wound up losing his notepad (And that was entirely possible because Jeremy was certain there were elves that lived in his house and stole his important possessions whenever he needed them). He smiled and gave her a small pat on the shoulder in passing "Yeah and I had a great time too... and I'd really like to have another date with you. Night Charlie,"

With that, Jeremy gave her a small wave and headed into his own home- apartment 22. He lived alone at present, as his Nigerian roommate had moved out some time ago. Nice enough guy, despite his addictions. He was quick to enter her number in his phone after he was indoor and promptly texted his own to her. Maybe it was unnecessary, but he'd like her to ask him out in the future.
 
Hey, thanks again for tonight! I had a lot of fun :)

The text came a good fifteen minutes after he'd texted her, and Charlie had spent that time deliberating over exactly what to say. She'd decided on short and sweet in the end—she didn't want to come on too strongly, and now that she had his number she could always contact him if too long passed without word from him.

She was smiling to herself as she stripped off and stepped into the shower, emerging another fifteen minutes later with wet hair and the fragrant scent of coconut and shea butter upon her soft skin. She dried off before slipping into luxurious cotton pajamas with little brown teddy bears set on an off-white backing, and clambered into bed, checking her phone to see if Jeremy'd texted her again—just in case.
 
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