SUNLIGHT | JUICE ORTIZ

❦.♱ʚ two | oh, kip ɞ♱.❦

➣ 1x01 'pilot'

THE OFFICE OF THE CHARMING GAZETTE was a small, two story building with an aged sign out front and large windows that looked like they were in need of replacing. As Aislin pushed open the door she felt the AC hit her. The room was mostly dark, the office was small. A few desks and the usual office appliances of photocopiers, printers, a stained coffee maker against one wall. Another wall housed framed clippings and front pages from different issues. Off to the side was a small room, which she assumed to be separate office of conference room. The place was eerily empty, save for a woman who was stood over her desk, coffee mug in hand. She was intimidating to say the least. Her midnight hair loose down her back, a silver lip ring catching the fluorescent light. Her arms stemmed from a black tank top and were decorated with ink and tattoos, thickly lined eyes fell on Aislin as she entered.

"Hi!" The Irish girl chirped "Are you Faith? I-I'm Aislin, I'm supposed to start tomorrow but I'm moving in today..."

The woman observes her silently, a neutral expression on her face as she sets down the mug on her desk and walks over, heeled boots clacking against the floor.

"Yeah. I know who you are" The woman, Faith, says. Her tone as unyielding of emotion as her face. "That your car I saw getting towed through town earlier? Had a deer's ass hanging from the windshield?" She asks, putting a hand on her hip as her eyes scraped over her, as if she was studying Aislin through her Medusa like gaze. Aislin's smile falters a bit as she scratches her neck embarrassedly. "Yeah...yeah, that was me. She jumped right through" The Irish girl chuckles softly, secretly wondering how many times she would have to recount this story. Though as she sees a smirk crack onto Faith's lips, she's almost grateful for it as it managed to break the other woman's stoicism.

"You don't seem like a peddle to the metal girl." She states, her hazel eyes raking over Aislin one last time, before she turns, beckoning Aislin with a wave of her short black nails to follow.

"Office hours are over. Not much goes on here, it's Charming. My great-something granddad started this paper back in really-fucking-long ago years. Been in the family ever since. My dad's retiring though and I'm not popping our babies anytime. Period. And hiring you means I get a bigger tax break. I'm your editor, meaning you go to all the bake sales, and charity drives and forest fires and fucking Fun Town so I don't have to. Clear?" Faith explains, pausing to look back at Aislin and she comes to a door at the back of the office.

Aislin blinks "Crystal." She replies with a nod, before she furrows her brows. "What is Fun Town?" She asks incredulously, which earns a raspy chuckle from Faith as she opens the door, leading into a dark stairwell. Faith doesn't answer her, instead all she says is "I know, right?" Thinking Fun Town must have been something asinine, Aislin keeps her mouth shut, following her up the creaking stairs, listening to Faith's voice echo in the dimness.

"Rent is seven-hundred-fifty. Utilities included. You but your own groceries though, I don't share. Rent is due on the first of the month, every month, no exceptions. You miss and talk to me about why it's late and you're not strung out on drugs or anything you have a week to get it to me plus interest. You try and avoid me or hustle me, I throw your shit on the curb." Faith continues, pulling her key from a lanyard around her neck and unlocking the apartment. Stepping in, it's your usual, run of the mill shoebox. An open kitchen/living space. Couch, coffee table, a rug, a television. A few sparse decorations that had been Faith's doing. "Feel free to put up more decorations. But if it's fucking ugly I'll tell you" Faith breathes, turning to face Aislin as she lingers by the door. Faith's eyes dart down, then back to her new roommate.

"Where's your shit?" She asks, her tone neutral again. The Irish woman's brows raise slightly.

"Oh it uhm...it's in my car. At Teller-Morrow, my da's gonna help bring it by later..." She explains quickly. Now it's Faith's turn to raise her brows, a skeptical look in her eyes.
"You connected to the MC?" She asks. Aislin tries to discern if there's any evidence that would be a problem from her tone, but she comes up empty. A nervous little chuckle escaping her. "Yeah. Chibs, the uhm...the Scot, he's my da" she explains. Faith gives a little hum. Aislin bites her lip slightly. "Problem?" She asks, trying not to seem too nerves. She averts a sigh of relief when Faith shakes her head "Nah. I've hung around their parties a few time, fucked a few. Not your pops though, don't worry" She says. Aislin tries not to be thrown by her casual tone at the admittance. Her brows raising and her mouth making a little 'oh.' Faith chuckles softly "Come on." She urges, beckoning Aislin to follow her down the hall. After shutting the front door, she does. She opens one door that's decorated with stolen street signs. A 'TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED' one set dead in the middle. "This is my room." Faith states, opening the door, revealing a room with trippy, psychedelic patterns painted on the wall along with numerous posters. "That's my guinea pig, Mary" Faith adds, nodding towards an enclosure where the rodent was snoozing. She shuts the door soon after, moving to the one across the hall.