Where's My Open Invitation to Love?

[Tiff]

Collins wanted to be elated by his answer and part of her was but the other part kept nagging that sure in four years he could very well be done with this town and want to move back to Europe. She didn't let it show though. "I plan on teaching right here in Riverside." She shrugged. "I am a lifer." She stated. "I've been out of the town and all on vacations during my Junior year and my friend Chelsea's Senior year we went to Florida for spring break, but I just can't see myself anywhere else but here. My cousins, Garret and Grady are the same way, though don't tell Garret he thinks he's going to play professional baseball." She rolled her eyes and shook her head no. "Maybe with convincing I might decide on teaching somewhere else but it just seems unlikely."

[kristay]

Xander gave her a charming smile before staring wistfully out the window as if there was anything to see when the sun had set already. "I wish I had a place to call home like that; a place you'd go to and you know you're always welcome there." He sighed softly, it wasn't that he was mistreated in the different places he had been but he had never felt any connection to the places he had lived in. Xander wasn't sure about Riverside yet but he was hoping this was his home.

"I've never been to Florida actually; is it nice there?", a soft chuckle escaped his lips before he finished his coffee and set the mug down on the table. "Is your cousin any good at baseball; maybe he does have a chance at becoming professional."

[Tiff]

Collins frowned it sucked that he didn't feel like he had a home. She couldn't imagine feeling that way. If Riverside suddenly exploded or got hit by a hurricane she wouldn't know where to go. She'd probably wander around lost. "I hope Riverside puts a stop to that trend. Everyone, except my cousin is pretty welcoming and hospitable. Maybe you'll find this is your home." She crossed her fingers briefly.

"Oh yeah it's wonderful. Chelsea says it's too humid, but when I went it wasn't too bad. Chelsea and I went in the water, it was March warm enough to sit in a bathing suit on the same but really not warm enough to get into the water and stay for ling. We mostly watched the seaguls read books and played a bit of one on one volleyball. Definitely fun though."

[kristay]

Xander had a feeling that if all the people he met in Riverside were as nice and friendly as Jordan Collins, he'd never want to go back to Europe and just settle for running the business from overseas. "Let's hope it stops at Riverside then; I'd like to make it my home. My family's already gotten used to having such a big household with all the Tay's. I don't think any of us would enjoy going back to just being the 4 of us after this. It just wouldn't be the same."

He smiled slowly at her description of Florida, it did seem like a nice place. It kind of reminded him of his parents' home town in the Philippines; a small island surrounded by the beach; always humid and warm. "That reminds me of where my mom and dad grew up; it was really humid there though and the place was surrounded by water. It must have been a nice change to go to a place with a warmer climate though, huh? The cold can get a bit tiring, I think."

[Tiff]

Collins laughed and crossed her fingers a bit more noticeably this time, raising them into full view. "I should hope one day you wouldn't want to live with all the people you live with now. But I get what you're saying I like living near my cousins and my parents even if we aren't a big family."

She lifted the coffee to get lips and nodded in response to his last question. "It was definitely a nice change. It was snowing here last March, so trading the hum drum of the snow for warm sandy beaches was nice. It did wonders for my dry skin." She laughed. "Did you visit your parents birthplace often?"

[kristay]

Xander blushed at her action and smiled a bit more. "Well I mean, when I grow older I'm definitely having a house of my own and stuff... But I mean being around your family, is something I've never really had. My grandparents died before any of us were born and my mom and dad's siblings aren't really fond of us, especially since we have a half sister stemming from my dad's affair.", he shook his head as he thought about how they had discriminated Jackie and had, on more than one occasion, called her the daughter of a whore. He switched to more happy topics in his head and spoke in an over-wistful tone. "White picket fence, two story house, blue shutters?", Xander chuckled and returned his gaze to Collins. "What do you think?"

The boy nodded at her answer. "Probably one of the few things that I liked about traveling was we could stay in warm and cool places and not get tired of it. Florida sounds nice though; I'll have to go there..." Xander thought about his parents' hometown, it certainly had a small, quaint 'hometown' feel, though they weren't really welcomed there, he had friends and enjoyed how small the island was. "Well, not as often anymore, no... But when I was little, we went back there a lot. The beach was great, anywhere you look from the city, you can see the beach."

[Tiff]

"White picket fence, two story house, and blue shutters sounds pretty nice actually." She winked. "Sounds like the perfect American Dream actually. What are your feelings on kids?" She asked, laughing a little. Discussing serious topics with a guy at this stage in a relationship was comical. "I think I'd like more than one, but less than six." She giggled. "So what would be your perfect vacation spot if you could go anywhere in the world?"

[kristay]

Xander laughed and his blue eyes twinkled. "Actually, I got the blue shutters from The Notebook." He leaned back into his seat and shrugged. "Honestly? 3 kids; a boy and 2 girls. I know most guys want a lot of sons and all that but I want a little girl." He blushed and glanced at her. "Sorry, I told you I embarrass myself often." Xander shook his head and ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hmmm, a vacation huh? Somewhere I have never been before. Probably somewhere warm with a beach. I want to try Bora Bora but I don't think that would be the perfect place for me. What about you?"

[Tiff]

"Ah, haven't seen it." She shrugged. "I think I've seen one movie adapted from Nicholas Sparks books and that was enough for me. I've read a handful of his books and he's just too predictable." She sipped her coffee. "I don't think it's a bad thing that you want girls, I mean seriously if every man had all sons, there wouldn't be any girls for their son's to produce son's." She winked. "Uh, vacation anywhere in the world for me? The South of France I think. I'd skip Paris. I'd go to Versailles which is not in the South, but only for it's historical significances, but definitely Marseilles. One of my favorite movies is The Count of Monte Cristo and I've been obsessed with Marseilles since then."

[kristay]

He grinned again. "I haven't read a single book from the man; when you have a little sister like mine though, you get used to watching chick flicks without complaining." He chuckled, remembering how Seph had adamantly protested at the use of their giant flat screen tv for a chick flick marathon. He was forced to watch the entire thing tied to a chair, thanks to Jackie. Xander shook his head. "I think you'd like my little sister actually, she's a bit evil in a kind-hearted way if that makes sense."

Xander laughed at her explanation and nodded. "Exactly, exactly! Having a son isn't a bad thing, but it seems so old-world to want a first born son doesn't it? An heir and a spare, it's silly. It's not really like we need that kind of thing anymore." He felt heat creep up his neck at her wink; this Collins girl... She was something else, and he was thanking his lucky stars that she had embarrassed herself in front of him, or they wouldn't be here right now. Thank you God.

"France was nice, but not a city to go to alone. The food, oh the food...", he moaned as he thought of the pastries he had encountered and more importantly, the coffee that had come with those little desserts. Xander's ears perked though as she mentioned another movie. "I've seen that; it was great. I watched it a couple of times actually and was coerced to read the novel later on. It was worth it; great story. I never thought of visiting Marseilles for that though, you must really like the movie. Or was it because of Jim Caviezel? (sp?)" He said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

[Tiff]

Collins laughed. "Well I'd gladly meet her one day and if you say I'll like her you'll end up seeing me around a lot more." She grinned, she certainly wouldn't have a problem with that. "I never understood that, why couldn't the girl be an heir to the thrown?" She waved her hand as she took a sip as if saying she really did understand. "O get the whole last name thing, but come on seriously what's in a name?" She shrugged. "I'm not a firm believer in keeping my last name when and if I marry but still." She felt good sitting chatting.


"I wouldn't go to France alone or anywhere alone really not a foreign country I'd be too afraid I'd get kidnapped and sold into the sex slave market." She shuddered. "God finally someone who has seen and liked that movie too. I love it. I love all the twisted and stuff. I'm actually not attracted to him." She blushed. "I tend to like the villains. So I liked Guy Pierce's character more." She shrugged. "I actually like Draco Malfoy over Harry Potter in both the books and the movies." She finished her coffee. "Did you have to read it for a book report or something? Because I was supposed to and wasn't able to finish the book in enough time to write the report so I wrote it off the movie and got a 'A' anyway." She placed her hand on his arm and leaned closer. "Guess that means the teacher never read the book either."

[kristay]

Xander nodded. "She's going to go to Riverside High so maybe you'll meet her there. And I'd like to see you around more; I don't know anyone else in this town and roaming around by yourself does get a bit boring." Xander shrugged his shoulders. "Chauvinistic perspective of things; it couldn't be helped before. Now? It doesn't really make much sense to keep such traditions but people still do. I think it's silly."

"Well that does make sense; Europe is quite dangerous these days for people especially women to travel alone. " He grinned at her. "It was an awesome movie; I didn't like Guy Pierce there though; he annoyed me a bit." Xander chuckled. "Oh yeah, I read the Harry Potter books when I was a kid; they were great. I watched the movies too and I liked Malfoy a lot better in the book than in the movie. It just wasn't the same to me." he shrugged easily. He glanced at the large wall clock decorated as a coffee bean and saw that it was getting late. He had not realized how long they had been; the old saying was true after all. Time really did fly when one was enjoying himself. "Care for another round before we part? My treat this time." Xander gave Collins a charming smile and took her cup. "What would you like?"

[Tiff]

Collins nodded. "I'll have to keep my eye out for her, any characteristics I should look for? Hair color? Yeah roaming around can be fun, but sometimes it does get boring. I mean even if you went to the bowling alley that can be boring, who wants to bowl or watch a movie by themselves?" She shrugged. "I think it's silly too."

"It's scary to think that, that kind of stuff happens every day. I feel so bad for the girls who go over there unsuspecting and get nabbed, I mean some girls are just dumb and are kind of asking for it with the way they act and dress and their lack of caution, but those girls who are cautious and try to protect themselves and still run into trouble are just unfortunate. My friend Chelsea and I were planning on going to Europe when I graduated, but then we learned of this charity who raise money to help women and girls who have been sold into the sex market and we donated the entire fund to the charity and have decided to make a European cuisine and watch European movies instead." She shrugged. "We'll make it to Europe later, but maybe with male escorts." She glanced up at the menu and shrugged. "Surprise me." She was also surprised by the time and wished she could make the time go backwards so they could spend more time together.

[kristay]

Xander thought about it for a second and then nodded. "Jackie's really tiny; my younger brother actually calls her travel-sized. She has bright blue eyes like mine; if there's one thing that we all have, it's the blue eyes, and blond hair.", he muttered a bit anticlimactically. "Yeah that doesn't sound too specific huh? Well, you can kinda tell if it's her or not because she always seems ready to burst, she's quite... bouncy and hyper. Or if you see a tiny blond girl dragging along a really tall hulking person with a constant glare, then those are most likely my siblings.", he added with a chuckle.

He raised a brow, clearly impressed with what Collins and her friend, Chelsea, had done. A small smile started to form and he shook his head. "Here I thought you were one of those pretty, intelligent girls... And now you had to go and show me that you're just as amazing inside, as you are on the outside. I'm impressed Collins, really..." With that, he stood and went to order another cafe latte for himself. Xander turned to his companion and wondered what she would like. "And a cafe mocha with an extra shot of chocolate please." Coffee and chocolate, she seemed like the type; he hoped with all his heart he wasn't wrong as he handed her the warm mug.

[Tiff]

Collins made a mental note of the girl's not so specific appearance and her somewhat specific demeanor and smiled warmly at Xander. "If we had superlative awards, I might get best all around huh?" She laughed. "I'm also somewhat arrogant, so maybe not. That's kind of a character flaw most best all around's don't usually carry around." She took the warm mug from him and took a big whiff. It smelled just perfect. "You sure you've never met me before?" She asked, taking a sip and practically dying on the inside from the chocolaty goodness. "It's like you know me..."