..:: A new beginning ::..

[odduckoasis]

Breaking into the world of acting was not an easy task. Hollywood was suppose to be the place to go the place to find your niche into the world of the famous and elite. However, the chance of it really happening and becoming successful, rich and famous were slim. Most those trying to break into acting never got further than being an extra, or doing a medicine commercial or two- or five.

JeanieTan had been struggling to break into acting since she was eighteen and moved out of her mother house. She wanted to do more than just live at home and have to worry about all that drama. But because of this, she also didn't go to acting school which made it that much harder to get in. She'd heard of those being discovered, snatched just off the street- but unfortunatly, that was not her luck in life.

However, she did finally get a break. She'd decided she ought to get some more acting help from more professionals that actually want to help and applied to various acting colleges. One of the best ones in Boston accepted her and she decided to take it.

Though it was a big move and it would take her even further from her mother, that was something she would be okay with. Ironically enough, this move also took her closer to her father and step-mother and step-sister. They lived in New Jersey, just far enough away that she wouldn't have to go visit unless her father really pushed her into coming.

Once she had all her things packed up, she made the move to Boston. First thing she had to do was get a job so she could afford her off campus apartment. She'd been in Boston a week now, still setting in and trying to find a job. Dressed in a white blouse and a black pinstriped pencil skirt that hit just below mid thigh, she hoped to find a good paying job enough that she wouldn't have to sell off some of the things she had just to pay rent. Her golden locks were currently pulled up into a modest ponytail as she walked the streets, stopping into a coffee shop to get a drink before she kept looking for a job.

She just stood in line, waiting to get to the counter, glancing around for a paper perhaps in which she could peruse the want ads.

[Brothers]

It'd been an excruciatingly long day at work and Shaemus was pleased beyond words that his shift was finally over. He had to deal will two reports of shootings, several instances of domestic abuse, and had to work out a feud between two, eccentric people who lived in the same damned apartment building. (Incidentally they'd been fighting over about how yappy one of their dogs were. Shaemus, needless to say, had not been amused.)

Waking up in the wee hours of the morning usually did little to influence a good mood, and having to deal with the chaos of being a police officer in one of the United State's largest cities, was nearly enough to drive a man off the deep end. Shaemus found solace, though, in knowing that his shift would always end and that he'd get a chance to recuperate before the marathon began all over again the next day.

He hadn't even made it home yet that day because he had to stay late to tie up some loose ends. (Paperwork, and a mountain of it!) Shaemus, though patient, had no love of filling out forms and reports then subsequently filing them in accordance to the precinct's regulations. (Alphabetical order and organized according to the nature of the complaint or crime.) He knew he should stop by the apartment to check on Waylen, but figured the younger might be out doing whatever the hell it was that he did during the day. (Shaemus didn't know, really, and wasn't sure that he'd ever -want- to know.) If not, Waylen could always call him. Shaemus left his cell on for the soul reason of being able to be at Waylen's beck and call.

The officer had been in dire need of something to wake him up so he'd stopped by the nearest coffee shop. He'd ordered the strongest brew they had -- black, no sugar, no cream-- and had sat down at one of the tables near the wall of windows. He stared out of it, watching as the Bostonians went on with their daily lives. He was still in his navy blue officer's uniform. It was neatly pressed, as always. Shaemus, if anything, was notoriously fickle about the nature of his garb. It always had to be neat and presentable. His dark brown hair shielded his face from view and he was left mulling over his thoughts in comfortable silence. The sound of the door opening, however, drew his attention.

Shaemus' green eyes were met with the sight of a tall, blonde bombshell -- an image he was not used to seeing. His brows rose and his lips pursed in an appreciative matter. What was it that Waylen always said to tease him? Right, " Man, you are -so- straight." Spoken as if it were a bad thing, and in his brother's mind, maybe it was. Waylen was such a card. The officer's gaze lingered on the woman's face without his knowledge, for his thoughts had begun to drift again. Blame it on lack of sleep and long, painfully frustrating day.

[odduckoasis]

The late afternoon sun sent shadows into the coffee shop, which also meant that a lot of people would be getting off their own work and most likely heading in for a coffee before heading home or where ever else they had planned to go the rest of that day. One of the workers of the cafe went to the window to draw down some of the shades so as not to cause so many of their customers to go blind from the sunlight.

The tall slender female standing in line, looked about the cafe a moment, looking for a place to sit down once she got her order, wishing to get off her feet for awhile. Walking in heels was okay for awhile, but after doing so all afternoon, she was ready to just sit and relax, hopefully soak her feet later and give them a good massage. The semester for the school she was attending wasn't going to be starting for another couple of weeks, she having moved out here early to get a job.

As she glanced around, she stopped a moment at noticing one occupent of the cafe looking in her direction. She glanced to one side, seeing as no one was behind her in line, but this man was not looking at the person ahead of her. Looking back to him, her deep blue eyes meeting his greens, she raised a brow slightly and just smiled a little, a bit of shyness to her look. She knew she was beautiful, but she still got a little self concious when someone was looking at her, (even if he had spaced out).

"May I take your order?" the boy behind the counter said a little loudly to get her attention.
Jumping some, she turned and faced the counter again, chuckling a little as she shifted her long strapped, but small purse on her shoulder.
"Yes, sorry... can I have a tall latte and can you put a little extra cream in for me?" she twirled her finger in the air some as to motion mixing in the cream to the drink.
The boy nodded with a light smile, and turned to go get her order made up.

While she waited, she glanced into the glass case containing different pasteries, side glancing over where the male was seated again, but trying to act like she wasn't curious if he'd finally turned his attention away.

[Brothers]

It happened a lot, his habit of "zoning out." Shaemus had a lot on his mind and usually used much of his free time contemplating over everything that happened during that given day, what he needed to do, what he had to do in the future, and every other imaginable thing that one might think of. Life had gone from zero to sixty after he'd left home, ushering Waylen away with him. He had had to get a job, which turned into several, to support he and his brother. His job as an officer paid well enough, but life wasn't easy. No, Shaemus still had to work his ass off every goddamned day to make ends meet.

The officer was shaken from his reverie when the woman's eyes met his. He blinked, almost dumbly, as if surprised to find her looking at him. Then Shaemus remembered he'd been staring and his gaze fell. He did not look away from embarrassment, no, for Shaemus was not a bashful man. He let his gaze fall from hers out of tact. It wasn't polite to stare, after all. Besides the coffee clerk had already called her attention away.

Shaemus took a sip of his coffee, reveling in the bitter taste of it. He wasn't the type who liked sweet things. He preferred full-bodied, tastes with their of sense of character. It was his pickiness that made him a bit of a connoisseur when it came to ale and whiskey. Coffee, however, was a different thing entirely. The stronger, the better, was what Shaemus went by. He placed the cup onto his table, watching as the action sent ripples through the surface of the dark liquid. The sunlight felt delightfully warm as it danced across his features, but he was robbed of the sensation when the employees closed the blinds.

He frowned, looking up. Shaemus' green eyes eventually met the blue gaze of the blonde woman. He smiled a lazy sort of lopsided smile, the corner of his lip pulling back. He quirked a brow and gave single, languid wave of his hand in a friendly sort of gesture. She was a pretty girl, anyone with eyes could see that. But Shaemus knew better than to be swayed by looks alone. A beautiful face could hide the most horrible of personalities. He did, however, always give someone the benefit of the doubt.

[odduckoasis]

Having her own particular likes and dislikes, Jeanie was more a creature of habit than anything. Though she was adventerous in some ways, she also knew what she preferred and it made life easier and quick to just know what you want and get that rather than have to think over something new. She liked her coffee's creamy with a little sugar, sort of how she preferred to look at life if one was to compare. She'd have enough bitterness in her life that she didn't need to have it in her food and drink.

Catching sight of the dark hair male looking over at her again, she smiled a little as he gave her a casual wave. She returned it with a small wiggle of her first two fingers, straightening again as the boy came back with her order.

"Thank you." she nodded to him, taking her drink and moved to the cashier to pay, having decided against any pastry. Once she paid and put her wallet away, she turned and walk to where the tables were to find a place to sit down. It wasn't crowded at least, there were plenty of chairs open. She had, of course, noticed seats open where the handsome male sat, but she really wasn't bold enough to sit down with a total stranger. Just because he waved at her doesn't mean he wanted her to sit down.

Another occupent there got up and left, setting down a paper they had been looking through. Biting her lip a little, she watched the person leave before going over and grabbing the paper, flipping through it to try to find the want ads. Unfortunately, this paper was lacking and she sighed, frowning a little.
"Figures," and she then just pulled out a chair, sitting herself down. May as well not waste a good paper. Where she'd seated herself was only a table between where that man sat, and she hadn't even noticed as she skimmed over the paper, sipping at her drink, her ankels daintily crossed under her chair.

[Brothers]

Shaemus gave a small, amused huff at Jeanietan's finger wave, smiling amusedly to himself. It'd been a while since he'd seen a friendly face. Why, just earlier that day, some drunken oaf had tried to deck Shaemus with a clenched fist. Fortunately his accuracy had been horrendous and he'd missed, succeeding in only sending himself toppling unceremoniously to the ground. Though he didn't appreciate being threatened by the suspect, Shaemus had gotten a good laugh out of the whole deal.

What was he thinking about? Or right, friendly faces. Sidetracked again, damned, the man would have to work on that. Otherwise he'd go off to la-la-land during a most inappropriate moment, like, say, during a shootout or another highly volatile situation. Shaemus scratched at the bridge of his muzzle and opened his eyes wide, eyebrows raising as he sighed. The man took a sip of his drink, green eyes flicking over towards the blonde-haired woman. She was a dainty little thing.

A brow quirked at her unamused utter, and he pursed his lips, watching as she sat down. Shaemus had learned to read people well throughout his life and especially during his time as a police officer. So, after the officer watched her a moment longer, his gut feeling was that she was new to the city. She dressed differently, better, and a girl that pretty should always be accompanied by at least one friend -- unless, of course, she didn't know anyone yet. And Shaemus knew always to trust his gut -- second-guessing was a killer.

He traced the rim of his cup with his finger and tilt his head, sending his gaze in her direction. "New to the city?" The man questioned, the Bostonian accent ringing clear even in such few spoken words.

[odduckoasis]

Since she was new in the city and had been only job hunting, making friends wasn't exactly easy or on top of her list. Jeanie figured that she'd get the opportunity to meet people once her classes started. It was hard to leave the friends she had made back in LA- but then again, a lot of them were rather fickle and shallow. Though she made friends well, she only had a couple real loyal friends, but they didn't last as she'd moved a few times in her young life.

Another wanted change had brought her to this new place and so far she was enjoying it in Boston, hoping that once she secured a job, she could have more fun exploring the history of the city.

Her posture as she sat there in her seat was that of one looking as though not going to be sitting there for that long in the coffee shop and as she took a sip of her coffee, her ears perked hearing a question tossed in her direction. Lifting her eyes from the paper, she turned her head, looking over to the table from whence the voice came. She smiled a little and nodded to him.
"Yes, I just got here a week ago. Still getting settled in." she turned a little in her chair, glancing to his chest spying the badge and smiled a little before meeting his gaze again. If she were still in LA, she might think he was an actor dressed up as a officer but here was a entirely different story.
"I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you probably know the city well." she laughed softly, taking another sip of her coffee.

[Brothers]

"Mmn." He said with a small smile, the noise muffled by the glass of his cup as he took another sip. Shaemus had figured as much. The blonde just didn't have the look of someone who'd lived in Boston for long. To her humored words, the officer broke into a grin, albeit a lopsided one. The man set his glass back onto the table and leaned back, green gaze settling onto her face.

"Like the back of my hand," Shaemus responded, giving a short, warm chuckle. He was born and raised in Boston and had never really left -- save for that trip to Las Vegas with Waylen. Now, that -had- been a hectic week. The officer glanced down to the paper she'd been reading before returning his attention to woman.

" So where you from? If you don't mind me asking," Shaemus questioned, leaning against the back of his chair. The man's tail swayed idly and he drank a bit more or his coffee. He'd do well with a spot of friendly conversation. All that day it'd been work, work, work. The man needed to unwind and relax a bit. He gave an amused huff, realizing he was still in his officer's uniform. " Probably sounds like I'm givin' you an interrogation, doesn't it?" The dark-haired male grinned lazily and scratched at the back of his head, single brow quirking.

[odduckoasis]

With a light laugh, Jeanie shook her head softly, smiling genuinally to Shaemus. "As long as you don't ask to take my prints, I think I'll be alright with you asking me a few questions. It's rather better than reading that..." she pointed to the paper. She did read the news every day, keeping up on current events was one of the things she felt was necessary in a day. However, this was more one of those local county papers that didn't really have current events, but just random informtion she wasn't interested in at the moment.

She just answered him after taking another sip of her drink, setting it down on the table. "Well, that's an interesting question actually... or more that I can't give just one answer. I'm actually orginally from New Jersey. That's where my father is. But, I moved to Oregon to live with my mother later and then to California in LA... I guess you could say I'm from LA though I didn't grow up there." she rolled her shoulders in a light shrug. "Have you grown up in Boston?" Jeanie brushed back a stray strand of hair leaned against the table, turning to face him more- for just turning her head was putting a strain on her neck- and crossed her long legs too to get a bit more comfortable as she sat sideways in her chair.

She definatly didn't have the air of a West coaster, or a Californian. East coast and West coastians were very different from each other, given the wide gap between the sides of the country. It was actually quite amazing how one could tell someone wasn't from around their part from something as simple as their voice. Jeanie had a bit of an Eastern accent to her voice, but having lived in other places had made her accent hard to place.
Though, the more time she spent on the East coast, the more her Jersey accent would probably come out again, unless she was quite conscious about it.

[Brothers]

" Nah, I think I can refrain from doin' that." Shaemus said with a quirk of his lips. He turned his chair so that he could face Jeanie and lounged back on it, one arm propped onto the frame. Shaemus listened to her speak and gave a nod of his head.

" So you traveled around." The man responded in something of an affirmation. To Jeanie's question he gave a soft, brief laugh. " Yeah, I grew up here. I figure the accent's a dead give away, yeah?" The officer grinned and drained the last of his coffee. There was a bit of that bitter, gritty slush at the bottom which caused Shaemus to grimace. That, in his mind, was the mark of poorly brewed coffee. He set the cup down and shifted again, this time so he was leaning against the table, propped up by a forearm.

"I've never really left this city. S'been my home for twenty-nine years." The man moved his hair away from his face and gave a coy smile, eyes glittering warmly. " The name's Shaemus Mac' Dooley." He said, this time offering a full, brilliant grin. It was nice to have a normal conversation for a change instead of talking about work related things. He'd had enough of thinking about gangbangers, prostitutes, murderers and all those other unseemly types.

[odduckoasis]

Reaching over for her coffee, she swirled it a moment before taking another sip, lightly shaking her head in answer to his comment about moving around. "Not really traveled out of choice..." she lightly shrugged her shoulders again. "Well, I guess LA was... more chasing a dream." she smiled a little with a light laugh. "But, I guess that's what brought me out here."

Jeanie had wished she'd grown up in one place her whole life, like her friends had, the friends she'd met in all the places she'd moved to. Everyone around her had a mother and father- the ones that married and had them- the ones that were normal and loving. Not families that fought or got tired of one another. Even to this day she still harbors ill feelings for her father for leaving her mother. How could he? What was so wrong with her mother that he would leave her after only six years of marriage?

Coming back from her thoughts, she smiled over at Shaemus again, lifting one shoulder in another soft shrug. "It's nice to meet you Shaemus. I'm JeanieTan Steele." She nodded to him, but somehow felt a little silly not actually shaking his hand for some reason, just the usual habit when introducing each other. So with that on her mind, she smiled a little, standing and stepped past the table between her and Shaemus, she stretched out her hand to him in greeting.

"Hi." she laughed a little, hoping she didn't just make herself look stupid.

[Brothers]

Shaemus had his own issues with his father, but he didn't linger on those memories. They only served to open up old wounds, to incite long forgotten anger. He was through with the old man and he'd managed to save his brother from the situation as well. As such, Shaemus was content. He no longer had to watch his younger brother fall deeper and deeper into a nervous wreck.

" There's nothin' wrong with chasing a dream," He answered, wearing a crooked, lop-sorted smile. Shaemus, himself, was through with dreams. He'd managed to get a job and he was living well enough. The man was content with his position in life and didn't need anything more. He was happy; that's all that mattered. Still... sometimes Shaemus would humor a few thoughts like owning a house by a lake, for one. He liked his peace and quiet -- the ruckus of city life just didn't seem to suit him.

Shaemus rose when Jeanietan did. He'd thought it was the polite thing to do... not that he was out to impress anyone or anything. Right. The man supplied an amiable grin when she extended her hand and took it within his own, chuckling softly.

"Hello," He replied, voice gentle and warm. He paused, eyes dropping down as he realized they were both standing. It was a bit awkward as he wasn't sure if he was supposed to sit down or what, but hell, he was interested now. He tilt his head, bangs falling across his face and he regarded her with a coy expression. His lips upturned into an impish smirk and he released her hand, motioning with his for her to take a seat.

" Well, Jeanietan, would you mind keeping an officer company for a while longer? I'd like to hear more about this... dream your chasing. If you're not opposed to sharing, or course." It was a breath of fresh air to be able to talk with someone like this and Shaemus wasn't ready to let a chance like that pass by.

[odduckoasis]

Brushing back again the stray strand of hair that kept falling loose, Jeanie smiled up at Shaemus and nodded a little. "Sure, I wouldn't mind at all." But before she sat, she shook her head a little with a laugh and went to go retrieve her drink. "Don't want to pay and not drink it..." she mused and came back around, sitting down at the same table as him now. "Do you really want me to bore you with my silly little life?" she raised a brow with an amused grin, taking another sip of her drink.

She hadn't always thought it was just a dream, but after chasing it for a few years and having it not go anywhere, she needed a change- and was glad she was able to come out here, a good change of scenery was needed as well. She also hoped she'd be able to learn more about herself by taking this sudden change. She wasn't a kid anymore, but still, young and learning. She found that you're never too old to learn something new.

"Well, if you really want to know- I'm chasing an acting career." she shrugged a little, looking down a moment at her cup as she spoke, almost a little embarrassed. "I dunno- I had this notion in my head I could just go to hollywood and someone would find me and I'd suddenly become the next greatest actress." looking back up at him, she smiled a bit sarcastically, "Guess what? It doesn't happen like that..." a soft chuckle escaped her as she shook her head. "So after a few years of making minimal money in minimal roles, I decided to try something else to help me further my chances. I enrolled up at the 'American Repertory Theatre', I hope it'll help." her shoulders rolled a little in a soft shrug.

Perhaps the years thus far in what she'd experience had caused her to lose some faith in her choice of what to do with her life. But, she did hope that something better would come along.