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Post by Kiersten on Jul 24, 2023 11:45:29 GMT -6
“Yes, I loved my little vespa,” Cosette had a mint green one hat zipped down the streets so well she almost missed horseback riding. Almost. “Hmmm? Oh, I was just wondering if I’d have to unlock the barn myself.” She lied, feeling her cheeks flush a little at being caught. She smirked though, realizing she had something else she could say, “I also have a prank to pull on Silas.” She admitted, again, thinking about the pencil box she would ask him to carry.
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Post by Bri on Jul 24, 2023 16:05:42 GMT -6
Aleah nodded, "do you think you'll get another one here? The winters are a little rough but the summer gives the perfect weather for riding." She said, loving the season mainly for that reason. She saw how Cosette's flushed the tiniest bit and her smile stayed, she didn't want to assume anything but to her it seemed a little obvious what might be going on but at the mention of a prank her thoughts of romance vanished. "Oh? Do tell me about it."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 24, 2023 17:30:00 GMT -6
“Hmmmm, I don’t know,” Cosette thought about it, but she was slightly worried about making such a commitment when she might have to move, should Henri find her. No one had called to let her know he’d hopped a plane or boat, headed her way yet, but it hadn’t even been a year since that fateful day happened. “So we joked about, uh, me finding him to help carry more boxes in, and I teased saying it would be really, uh, heavy,” She smiled, wanting to imagine what his face would look like when he opened the trunk, “But I have just a little pencil box for him.” She smirked, thinking it as a funny joke, especially between just the two of them.
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Post by Bri on Jul 24, 2023 20:12:43 GMT -6
Aleah nodded but part of her hoped that she would end up getting one, even if Cosette wasn't as fast Aleah thought it would still be nice to ride with someone else. She leaned in a little when Cosette said her plan and started to laugh, "I think that's a brilliant idea." She snickered.
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 24, 2023 21:15:49 GMT -6
Cosette beamed with a little bride as they reached the barn, she was only a little disappointed they hadn’t spotted Silas’s truck, but she pulled out her keys and unlocked the barn for the two of them. “It’s a rally amazing barn honestly.” It was at the top of her list of barns she wouldn’t mind keeping Estella here forever. Once inside she took a deep breath and sighed, enjoying the smell of the barn, being reminded so much of home. “Estella is down this way, if you want to meet her.” She pointed down a hallway here several horses were chilling in their stall.
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Post by Bri on Jul 24, 2023 23:18:57 GMT -6
Aleah also glanced over to where Silas's truck was supposed to be, of course on today of all days he'd be gone. She followed Cosette to the barn and smiled, "it is, we were lucky a couple years back to get a grant to build a new one, our old barn was ancient and had a few too many holes in the roof." She said with a slight grimace, not proud of it but it had spurred her to look into and apply for funding options that thankfully paid off. As she stepped into the barn she tried not to wrinkle her nose from the musty smell and scent of manure. "Your horse? Sure, I wouldn't mind meeting her." She smiled.
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 25, 2023 9:12:24 GMT -6
Cosette hated the thought of not seeing Silas but told herself it was only because of the prank. She’d see him again since she visited the barn every day to see Estella. She grimaced at the thought of Estella staying in a broken-down barn and was grateful it had been built long before she showed up. She led Aleah down the walkway, passing several stalls along the way, some had horses poking their head out to see who had come to visit. “A lot of the horses here are sweet, good for beginning riders.” She wondered if Silas had handpicked each horse. She stopped in front of Estella’s stall and the gorgeous, speckled horse poked her head out. “Ma championne, Estella.” She patted her horse on the neck, but Estella immediately started prodding at her pockets for sweets.
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Post by Bri on Jul 25, 2023 11:37:32 GMT -6
Aleah followed after Cosette, looking at a few of the horse and smiling. She wasn't a huge fan of the barn smell but it did remind her of home and the farm that her parents ran and how for a long time her days were spent caring for the animals and running around on the land until grown up hobbies took hold and got her into making some rather poor choices. She nodded about the horses, she hadn't heard any complaining about them and she figured with Silas in charge she didn't have much to worry about in the first place. She smiled softly when she saw Estella and the way that Cosette softened to the animal. "She's lovely."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 25, 2023 12:26:42 GMT -6
“She’s the best,” Cosette pulled out the few sugar cubes she had in her pocket for her horse. “And like all other horses, ah, er, she really likes sugar.” She giggled as Estella used her lips to pick up the sugar cubes from her hand. “Don’t worry girl, we’ll ride later today.” She already started keeping a pair of riding boots and clothes in her classroom so she could at the end of the day.
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Post by Bri on Jul 25, 2023 14:30:03 GMT -6
"Girl, me too." Aleah laughed, having a preference for sugary treats herself. "One of my brothers noticed that I loved sweets though and told me that sugar cubes were the best snack," she grimaced slightly, "worst mistake of my life was listening to him and trying to eat one. I thought I was going to puke."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 25, 2023 17:07:06 GMT -6
Cosette laughed when Aleah told the story about how she tried sugar cubes, “Not so bad, when there isn’t anything else sweet.” She had tried it once herself, just to see why the family horse loved them. “But I wouldn’t pick them over a macaroon.” She chuckled, wishing she had a few of those right about now.
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Post by Bri on Jul 25, 2023 20:55:05 GMT -6
"Oh macaroons are amazing," Aleah said, perking up a little, "way better than a plain old sugar cube. No offense of course Estella." She said, smiling over at the horse thought doubted the animal even cared about her preferences. "There's a really good French bakery down town that's pretty decent, though I'm not sure if I'm the best judge of that."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 25, 2023 21:11:54 GMT -6
“Oh? I don’t know a lot of the places around here,” Other than the lunch with Silas, Cosette had only gotten to know the marketplace for groceries and the school. She hadn’t found a lot of time to explore the town. “I’ll have to look into it, the Chinese place Silas took me too as delicious.” She sighed at the memory of how even her leftovers tasted, not thinking about how this might sound to Aleah.
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Post by Bri on Jul 25, 2023 21:49:52 GMT -6
Aleah was about to reply but the mention of Silas stopped her, making her eyebrow raise. "Oh? Silas took you to the Chinese place?" She asked teasingly, "that place is really good so he made the right choice to take you there." She said, wondering if it was something casual or could lead to more potentially.
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 25, 2023 22:16:29 GMT -6
Cosette felt her cheeks flush and the sudden realization of what she said hit her. “Oh, well, er… I mean I offered because he carried the boxes in for me.” At least she had tried, since he paid after all. She still owed him a lunch and she as about to pull a prank on him.
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Post by Bri on Jul 25, 2023 22:49:30 GMT -6
"Ahhhh, right, uh huh." Aleah teased, looking around at the rest of the horses as they peered out at them from their stalls. "Think you'll end up going to the Chinese place with him again?" She asked, hoping she sounded innocent enough.
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 26, 2023 6:45:09 GMT -6
Cosette cleared her throat, giving Estella one last pat and promised her she’d be back later to ride. She led Aleah down the aisle and out into the back area of the barn where the riding rings and jumps were already set up and ready for her to try them out. “I don’t know, we haven’t talked in a few days.” She saw him in passing, but either he was too busy or she was with her classroom, and when she came down to ride, he was already gone for the day.
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Post by Bri on Jul 26, 2023 8:39:10 GMT -6
Aleah followed after Cosette, sticking her hands into the pockets of her pants as they went, glancing a a few of the horses. "Well, when school starts I'm sure your paths will be crossing more often." She said with a smile, "I just happen to notice that Silas stays later during school days, no matter how much I try to encourage him to go home at a proper time."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 26, 2023 9:34:42 GMT -6
“I’m sure we will, I have my riding class and then the competing student to work with.” Cosette had already planned to be spending late days at the school for this reason, which was why her classes were later in the day, giving her a chance to not be stuck here all day. “Does he have that much work to do?” She asked, but wondered if he did it because of his son and two nephews.
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Post by Bri on Jul 26, 2023 15:04:01 GMT -6
"Ah yes, Shannon," Aleah nodded, the name sticking out to her because of that piece of information and the memory of a not too pleasant phone call from the girls mom. "He always has something going on, I keep telling him we can hire a stable hand or someone to help with the work but he's the type that doesn't seem to like accepting help from others when he can do it himself. He can be a bit stubborn." She laughed.
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 26, 2023 17:29:06 GMT -6
Cosette nodded her head, hopeful that she could live vicariously through her competing, since she couldn’t. She laughed at Silas not accepting help. “Yeah, that seems accurate. I’m not shocked.” She was sure he would have carried all her boxes in if she hadn’t done some herself.
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Post by Bri on Jul 26, 2023 23:06:13 GMT -6
"Ah, see, you're learning already." Aleah joked, "you keep catching on that fast you'll be just fine here." She said happily as she looked around the barn. "He keeps everything in good shape and I won't argue with him if he wants to stick around longer than expected. I probably spend more time at this school than I should too though."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 27, 2023 7:24:13 GMT -6
Cosette had always been told she was a fast learner, she wasn’t sure if it came with being the first born or she just was that way, but she couldn’t turn it off. “Good to know that my late nights won’t be frowned upon.” She chuckled lightly as they headed back inside, the horses neighing loudly.
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Post by Bri on Jul 27, 2023 8:55:38 GMT -6
"Just don't get too crazy about it." She laughed, glancing back at the horses as they walked, "they're pretty talkative." She joked, finding it a little funny and kind of cute how much attention the animals wanted. "So...what do you think of the town so far? I'm sure it's way different than France."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 27, 2023 10:41:29 GMT -6
Cosette laughed, “I don’t think I’ll get too crazy, but I don’t have anything else to do here,” She shrugged, wondering what else the town offered so she wasn’t stuck at home driving herself crazy. “Very much different, though I grew up in the countryside and didn’t live in Paris till I was eighteen.” Paris had been a whirlwind though, and she barely spent time in there with traveling for competitions.
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Post by Bri on Jul 29, 2023 19:33:33 GMT -6
"Well, if you ever want to, we could go grab lunch some time or something and I can show you around town...unless Silas offers to." Aleah couldn't help but teas, winking at Cosette. "Ive ways wanted to travel abroad but have never gotten around to it."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 29, 2023 20:56:28 GMT -6
“I’d like that,” Cosette said, though felt her cheeks flush when she mentioned Silas, “I don’t know if that’ll happen again.” She admitted, trying to convince herself that it shouldn’t happen again, even as she reminded herself that she still owed him a meal. “You should, at least, go somewhere.” That was why she liked competing, getting to travel everywhere.
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Post by Bri on Jul 29, 2023 23:03:24 GMT -6
Aleah laughed, "well we can do that, but if you ever need to ditch me for Silas, I understand." She joked as they walked outside and she looked at the barn, tilting her head. "Maybe some day, I've thought about doing one of those European cruises some time but then I'd have to find someone to house sit and make sure whoever takes over for me knows what they're doing."
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Post by Kiersten on Jul 30, 2023 8:30:05 GMT -6
Cosette raised an eyebrow as Aleah said that “Um… Okay.” She felt her stomach shift oddly, wondering why Aleah would be okay with her ditching her for Silas, unless it was actually school related, she wouldn’t be doing such a thing. “What about during the summer?” That seemed the best time to go, except it was hot depending on where she went.
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Post by Bri on Jul 31, 2023 17:51:31 GMT -6
"It's just a joke, relax." Aleah laughed, waving a hand without much of a care in the world. "The summer could work but it would have to be next year since summer is almost over practically," she explained, wondering if she really would be able to take a trip somewhere. Traveling alone was a little intimidating, she had to admit that to herself.
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