Poor Man's Roses (Osric, Casual) -FIN-

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

Siobhan Shaw was a bit of a hypocrite. Of course, it wasn’t in any way that others would point out, but she felt like it, all the same. With how she loved music; and how much time she spent promoting it, talking about it, and broadcasting it, it was hypocritical of her not to know how to make it. Aside from three songs she knew in Gaelic, she couldn’t sing a note, and she’d never picked up an instrument in her life. She’d wanted to, but growing up the way she had never left the money or time for it and she’d just...never thought to or brushed the idea off as something she should have done in her youth. Either way, she had never done it, and it was really something she should have learned to do.

That all changed when she decided to finally clean out the closet in her late husband’s study, finding a treasure of his that she had honestly never expected to see again.

She delicately ran a hand over the old rosewood guitar laying on the table in its equally old case. It was polished, the original finish faded, and the instrument looked as vintage as it probably was. It had intricate flowers and leafy vines on the body that gave it a touch of class. Jamie had owned it long before he’d known her and he had loved it. Whenever he got it out to play, the whole world seemed to stop turning. He would play, she would listen, and never once had she thought to ask him to teach her. Never once had she thought his music would be absent in their home, that she would miss the sounds of his soft strumming in the early morning while she pretended to sill be asleep. It was one of many things she still missed about him.

That was why she’d decided to finally learn – to bring a little bit of Jamie back into the house. She’d tried self-teaching music books, but they didn’t get her anywhere. She still couldn’t figure out how to make different noises on it, and it frustrated her. Jamie had made it look so easy. So she’d decided to hire someone else to teach her – someone who had made it look just as easy.

Osric Young was a musician she was familiar with. She’d seen him play sets, she’d heard his recordings, and she’d talked with other people about him. He was good – she could tell that for herself. Others had confirmed it. They’d also told her that he was a young man who worked multiple jobs and lived sparsely. In short, he could use the money. Knowing what it was like to be very poor, she’d asked him to teach her, negotiating a fee she was more than happy to pay him, knowing she would send him home with more than the agreed fee. She didn't mind. Money was just that - money. In the end, she was happy it went to good use, and helping a young man was good use. And she appreciated that he had agreed to teach her. She’d even baked chocolate chip cookies for him, the warm smell filling her apartment.

And even though she was expecting him, the knock at her door surprised her. She gave the old guitar a fond look before making her way down the hall and opening the front door with a smile.

“Hi, Osric. I’m glad you found the place! Please, come in!”

[OSRIC YOUNG]

Osric had taught Wilson's little sister to play guitar when they were in high school, and she'd paid him in friendship bracelets. She'd given him one practically every time they met up. He still had most of them, wore them often. In fact, he was wearing a couple right now. But besides Wilson's sister, Osric had never taught anyone how to play, at least to professionally. He had no teaching license and didn't plan on getting one. But when Siobhan Shaw called him and asked him to teach her, he didn't hesitate in saying yes. First of all, it was Siobhan, and second of all, the sum of money she was willing to pay him and that he was in dire need of simply couldn't be refused.

But back to the first point: Siobhan Shaw. Osric kind of loved the woman. Granted, they'd only met a few times in passing, and just barely talked, but he did like her a lot. She was incredibly kind and seemed like a strong woman despite her husband's death, and Osric admired her. He had too much free time he didn't know what to do with anyway.

He did worry a bit, because, well. Playing two gigs in one week pretty much did his left arm in. When he'd first started playing, he'd learned the chords upside down, because it was easier for him to play his father's right-handed guitar left-handed. Once he realized that simply didn't work so well, he learned right handed, but recently, since the accident, he'd started playing back to front again, simply not to wear his left arm out. But if he was going to teach Siobhan, he was going to teach her right. So he pushed aside his petty worries (petty, he was sure they were) and went down to Siobhan's gorgeous apartment on the date and time they'd arranged.

Seeing as this was a first lesson, he expected that it'd be more about getting to know and be comfortable with each other; Osric believed firmly in the merits of trust when playing music with someone. Still, he was quite serious about teaching her if she was. However the combination of Siobhan's lovely smile and the smell of home made chocolate chip cookies that filled the air immediately after she opened the door to his knock was enough to make him very excited.

“Hi, Osric. I’m glad you found the place! Please, come in!” Siobhan said, and Osric did, toeing off his shoes neatly in front of the door.

"Hi, Siobhan. Great to see you again."[/color] He smiled largely at her, and leaned forward to quickly hug her. Siobhan - and himself - had always been one for hugs. One of the many things Osric liked about her. "So," he said once he pulled back, "Shall we get down to business then?"

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

Siobhan couldn’t help but chuckle when Osric smiled and his arms wrapped around her. She was usually the one who had to hug people, but Osric always beat her to it. He was about as physical as she was and it was rare in New York City. Still, it usually made people smile, so it was worth it.

"Hi, Siobhan. Great to see you again. So, shall we get down to business then?"

She nodded, watching as he toed off his shoes and walked in like he was right at home. Good. She hated it when people treated her home like it was a museum or a display. She didn’t keep plastic on the furniture, and she didn’t have anything sealed off behind velvet ropes. It was a home, and it should be used like one.

“Sure. This is a first for me, but I thought we could work in the living room.”

She gestured him forward towards the couch. She loved to do her entertaining there. She already had cookies sitting out. She enjoyed having someone to bake for. It was one of the things that made her happy.

“Can I get you anything to drink? I have coffee, water, milk, juice. No pop, though. I forgot that on my last grocery run.”

She’d been distracted by the new books being added to the bin. Most of them were mysteries, but there were some romances. She’d walked out with two of them, forgetting half of what was on her list. At least she’d gotten milk and vegetables before she’d been completely distracted. Still, she’d had to order take out the night before because there was only so much one could do with milk and veggies.

“And help yourself to the cookies on the table.”

Lord knew she didn’t need the sweets if she wanted to continue modelling. Osric, on the other hand, looked thin. She’d have to make sure she fed him every time they had a lesson.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

“Sure," Siobhan said with a smile. Oh, she was beautiful, wasn't she? "This is a first for me, but I thought we could work in the living room.” Osric nodded and followed her into the living room as Siobhan added, “Can I get you anything to drink? I have coffee, water, milk, juice. No pop, though. I forgot that on my last grocery run. And help yourself to the cookies on the table.”

Osric laughed merrily and said, "Gee, Miss Siobhan, you don't have to feed me!" It wasn't harsh at all, though he was some mix of embarrassed and incredibly in awe of Siobhan's niceness. "Thanks, though. I'm good on drinks, though I might pop in your kitchen to try one of those cookies later, they smell delicious." He smiled before looking around to find her guitar leaning on the wall.

"Oh, that's positively gorgeous," Osric said, admiring the obviously old and loved but well-kept instrument. He took his own guitar strap over his head and placed the guitar he'd brought for himself and leaned it next to Siobhan's before taking hers in his own hands and looking it over in awe. He loved the earthy designs that ran down the wood of the guitar, the decorated quite nicely. And it was wonderfully crafted; obviously hand-made, at least mostly, and steal string, which Osric considered a plus. No one truly was learning guitar properly until they had played steal string instead of nylon.

He looked up at Siobhan, grinning as he strummed down the strings. Properly; thick to thin. All of the strings were a little off tune, but not by much. The sound was great on it. Not the type you'd lead a group with, but perfect for learning (the neck was a bit thick, but Siobhan would probably be able to reach all the string quickly, as soon as she got used to holding it). He continued to strum slowly while he fiddled with the pegs, talking to Siobhan while he did so. "So, why did you want to know how to play? I'm just wondering, I'm interested to know," he asked curiously. Most people just learned because it was either "coo"l to know how or they loved music. He always enjoyed playing with the second group of people ever so much more. Though, happily, there were a large proportion from the first group who did eventually learn to truly love playing, provided they kept at it.

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

“Gee, Miss Siobhan, you don't have to feed me!"

She felt like laughing when he called her Miss Siobhan like that. She was always reminded of those old movies where southern women were all titled as ‘Miss’. She had told Osric he didn’t have to call her that, but he still did it, so she’d given up. It didn’t really matter to her – it was nice in a way.

"Thanks, though. I'm good on drinks, though I might pop in your kitchen to try one of those cookies later, they smell delicious."

“You help yourself, Osric.”

She had made them for him, after all. She didn’t mind the odd cookie, but she didn’t make them for herself.

"Oh, that's positively gorgeous."

Siobhan watched as he carefully picked up Jamie’s guitar, like it truly was gorgeous to him. She relaxed fully. She didn’t know what she would do if something happened to it, but Osric clearly wouldn’t hurt it.

“That is Ruby,” she informed him, watching as he grinned and made the guitar make a proper noise. "He always claimed she was his first love."

Listening to Osric fiddle was like magic. She could remember Jamie strumming like that, adjusting the little things on the end to change the tone. Siobhan knew she was in good hands with Osric.

"So, why did you want to know how to play? I'm just wondering, I'm interested to know.”

“Well, there are a few reasons,” she replied, watching his fingers work. “I love music and I’ve always wanted to learn how to play. And I have this guitar just sitting here gathering dust. Plus, if I don’t make the time to learn now, I never will.”

It was true. She had a terrible habit of putting things off and never getting back to it. She wasn’t going to let this be one of those things.

“How long have you been playing?”

It had to have been for a while. He really was very good, good enough so that he had been professional at one point. She even played his songs from time to time on her show. He would be a great person to learn from.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

“That is Ruby,” Siobhan said matter-of-factly, and Osric thought it both amusing and great that the instrument had a name. He hadn't ever really named his own, probably because he'd started with piano and one simply does not name those, but perhaps he might start. He liked how Siobhan talked about it with affection, especially as she said, "He always claimed she was his first love." Osric knew he was to assume she was talking about her late husband, whom Osric had never known, but understood he was a big-time corporation manager before he died in a car accident. He'd seen it on the news.

Well, of course he had. It'd been big news. That, and, well. He'd been obsessed with car crash related deaths at the time. After all, he'd been more concerned with Hank's not-death than Siobhan's husband's. Osric felt bad about it now, but honestly, he'd been in no state to go calling hours. Perhaps he'd have a chance to apologize for that someday, though.

When Osric asked Siobhan why she wanted to learn to play, she spoke while watching his fiddling and looking interested, “Well, there are a few reasons. I love music and I’ve always wanted to learn how to play. And I have this guitar just sitting here gathering dust. Plus, if I don’t make the time to learn now, I never will.”

"Better now than never, yeah,"Osric said, pleased with what she'd said. They were good reasons.

“How long have you been playing?” Siobhan asked, and Osric paused in his tuning to think for a second. Piano, well... twenty years. Wait, twenty years? Jeez, that sounded like a really long time when he thought about it. But guitar... fourth grade. Right, with Hank. That had been a good year. Good for him, anyway; he wasn't quite sure how his parents managed to be so tolerant of his learning guitar, drums, and random other things that made noise all in the same year. Come to think of it, maybe that had something to do with the whole Thinking he had ADHD thing. He had been spectacularly bad at drums for ages, and ended up just lashing out at them noisily when he was angry.

"Since fourth grade," he said offhandedly, going back to plucking at the strings. He felt it was more honest than saying Thirteen years, for some reason. "I learned with a good friend of mine, Hank. I think you met him too once." Now satisfied with how the notes sounded, Osric held the guitar out for her to take and then took his own back into his hands.

"Look, these are the tuning keys, and they're on the head," Osric said, pointing as he said, "And that connects to the neck. These lines here are frets. They show you where the different notes start on every string, see?" [/b]Osric tapped out a quick scale on the A string, showing her how the notes went up. He motioned to Siobhan's guitar. "Hold it like I am, and then you curl your four left fingers around the neck. If you can't reach them all yet, that's okay." [/color]Osric said. It wasn't complicated to hold a guitar - most people just figured it out naturally in a second. But it was much harder to be able to learn how to actually reach chords. Still, he was making an effort not to seem like he was going too fast or too condescending, as he meant to do neither.

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

Siobhan continued to watch him fiddle, smiling back when he beamed at her reasons for learning. She was glad he was so easy to get along with. Knowing her, it would take a lot of one-on-one time to learn and that was always easier with someone who was likeable. Besides, he had been playing for a long time, so he had to be an expert by now.

"Since fourth grade. I learned with a good friend of mine, Hank. I think you met him too once."

She tried to remember a Hank, but no one came to mind. Perhaps she would know him when she saw him. Right then, she was preoccupied when Osric handed her Jamie’s Ruby and picked up his own guitar. She carefully held it on her lap and waited.

"Look, these are the tuning keys, and they're on the head, and that connects to the neck. These lines here are frets. They show you where the different notes start on every string, see?"

So far she understood. It made sense that he was showing her the different parts first. Her self-learning books never did that. She had no idea what he meant by different notes starting, but she assumed that she would learn that.

"Hold it like I am, and then you curl your four left fingers around the neck. If you can't reach them all yet, that's okay."

She nodded, putting the Guitar so it looked like she was holding it like he was. It was kind of awkward with the size of it, but she was sure she could manage.

“Like this?” she asked, her fingers not quite reaching as far as his. “I should know how to do this, seeing as how I’ve seen it done a million times, but it feels so much bigger than it should be.”

It was probably like anything else – she would just have to get used to it if she wanted to be able to play.

“Did it feel awkward when you were starting to learn?”

Awkward wasn’t the right word – big, challenging, heavy maybe. Either way, she was hoping she would just have to get used to it.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

Siobhan nodded, looking towards him to ask if she was doing it right. "Yeah," he confirmed. “I should know how to do this, seeing as how I’ve seen it done a million times," Siobhan said, "But it feels so much bigger than it should be. Did it feel awkward when you were starting to learn?”

"Oh yeah, don't worry about it. Everyone does. It takes a while to build up strength and dexterity and stuff in your fingers to move them really fast but you'll get used to it soon. If it feels wrong, that's okay, it's still probably right,"[/b] Osric said with a chuckle. He remembered learning to play with Hank, and both of them being completely stumped on how the heck they were supposed to reach anything. They had only been ten after all, so their hands were still pretty small; he was quite lucky his fingers had grown weirdly long eventually.

"Alright, so, I guess I can just show you a few easy chords. And once you know these, well. You can pretty much play anything rock and roll or county or blues, basically."[/b] Well, it was true, if not amusing. Simple songs were all made up of the same few major and minor chords, in I, IV, V, and some VIIs.

Osric showed Siobhan how to play majors A, C, D, E, G. They were all quite easy and only required three fingers. "C is probably the only one that takes just a little more practice than the others. G's a nice chord... Strum like this, from the wrist, and then... yeah."[/b] They worked on them for a little bit mostly just figuring out how to position fingers right.

"Right,"[/b] Osric said, once Siobhan was playing the five majors (they really were a snap to learn), "Look, you can use tabs to remember, I wrote them down for you..."[/b] He gave Siobhan a somewhat crumpled piece of paper from his pocket where he'd sketched down the chords, showing her how to read them, left to right being thick to thin -- E, A, D, G, B, E. "Tabs are what most folks use to learn on their own now I think, they're a big help. It's a little confusing, sorry if I'm going to fast -- once you get tabs though they're really easy to remember; it's like math, ya know?"[/b]

(Note: These are guitar tabs, if you were interested. You read it like a grid, the vertical lines representing strings and the horizontal ones representing frets.)

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

Siobhan was glad when Osric chuckled and assured her that she’d have to build up some dexterity and strength before she’d get anywhere with it. That was reassuring at least.

"Alright, so, I guess I can just show you a few easy chords. And once you know these, well. You can pretty much play anything rock and roll or county or blues, basically. C is probably the only one that takes just a little more practice than the others. G's a nice chord... Strum like this, from the wrist, and then... yeah."

She closely watched what he was doing, moving her hand like he did. The sound it made was a real sound. She beamed, her face feeling stretched for how wide she was smiling. Oh, he was a good teacher. She tried it again, thrilled that it was the same. She could play a G. And after G, she could get the others. This was much easier than she would have thought.

"Look, you can use tabs to remember, I wrote them down for you..."

She chuckled a bit when he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He gave Siobhan a somewhat crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, explaining how to read the sketches he’d made. She’d need the reminder until she was more comfortable with it.

“It's a little confusing, sorry if I'm going to fast -- once you get tabs though they're really easy to remember; it's like math, ya know?"

“Oh, don’t say math,” she laughed. “I can’t do math to save my life.”

It was true. Before she had finally dropped out of high school, she’d been failing it terribly. Getting her GED had been a trip right back to math class that she hadn’t appreciated. Jamie had helped her out, even Hector had tried to explain the monetary aspects, like what principle interest was, but she’d still barely managed to answer any questions in that section.

“You’re a great teacher, Osric. I didn’t think it would be this easy,” she complimented. “You’re not going too fast, but I think I need a few more lessons before it gets less confusing. Like you said, its math.”

Honestly, she thought that more lessons would be a good idea. She may know how to play chords, but that was a long way off from figuring out what a song was.

"Alright. What next?"

Honestly, she felt like she had learned a lot, but she was eager to do whatever he thought would help her learn.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

“Oh, don’t say math,” Siobhan laughed, “I can’t do math to save my life.”

Osric laughed and grinned back. "I'm afraid I'm with you there,"[/b] he admitted. Well, perhaps it was sort of lying a bit. He'd always been in advanced classes and school and had never done particularly badly, but by the end of high school his A-standard had dropped to B, and well. He counted that as bad, he supposed. He honestly thought he was awful at the subject. Or maybe, not so awful, but he just didn't like it...? He didn't know. He just knew, it was an awful thing to learn.

“You’re a great teacher, Osric. I didn’t think it would be this easy,” Siobhan commented.

"Well thanks, Miss Siobhan,"[/b] he said. He had minored in early education. Not that Siobhan was like a kid or anything, but he had learned how to... teach people things, sort of. Imagine me, some kindergarten teacher! Well, I said shit, Richie! Well, that sudden memory brought back a whole pit of memories that he shouldn't delve into right now, seeing as he was supposed to be teaching Siobhan. Gosh, that was a fun show though, wasn't it? (...Every time the teacher called on me...!")

“You’re not going too fast, but I think I need a few more lessons before it gets less confusing. Like you said, its math," Siobhan continued, snapping Osric out of his random high school theater reminiscing. He was glad that Siobhan was being patient though; Hank had gotten quiet frustrated when they had started. It was hard to learn an instrument when you were more annoyed at it than loving. He'd discovered than when he'd tried to play drums.

"Alright. What next?"

"Um... hm. Well, I can show you a scale you can use to practice and get your fingers more flexible. Er, look..."[/b] He pointed to his fingers one by one and explained how they were one, two, three, four, and then the order to play them using those numbers up and down the frets. He wrote the numbers down for her, too, using the same piece of paper he'd written the tabs on.

"That's certainly enough to practice for now!"[/b] Osric laughed, realizing that he'd taught her a real whole lot in one day. A good amount of chords, how to read tabs, and a scale... he definitely had not learned nearly that much in one day when he'd started. Then again, his only teacher was the book he and Hank got for five bucks at the local convenience store, so it was a bit different. "Do you think, Miss Siobhan?[/b]

OOC: Music references from A Chorus Line. Because Osric totally played Greg the sassy gay Jew.

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

When Siobhan had asked what was next, it was more out of excitement than anything else. She had learned an awful lot. Still, Osric was kind enough to continue on. She could tell he would be a great teacher, if he ever wanted to do it professionally.

"Um... hm. Well, I can show you a scale you can use to practice and get your fingers more flexible. Er, look..."

He started numbering his fingers, pointing out where each one should go where. He thankfully wrote all that down for her, too. She wasn’t sure she would remember it, especially on top of everything else she had learned.

"That's certainly enough to practice for now, do you think, Miss Siobhan?”

“Yes,” she agreed, laughing along with him. “I think I’ve learned an awful lot today!”

Far more than she had expected. Who knew so much went into playing a guitar? Jamie had never had anything like this written down, so she had no idea what would be needed when Osric had walked in. Now that she did know, she just needed time to practice what she was shown and work on it so that next time he came to teach her, it would keep progressing.

“I don’t know about you, but all that playing has definitely helped me work up an appetite.”

She gently set Ruby back in the case, standing to stretch after all that sitting. She had cookies in the kitchen, and she’d even picked up some chocolate milk. It was what she always gave her brothers when they had just come home from school or had homework. It was a reward for working hard and she thought they had definitely earned it.

“How does milk and cookies sound?” she asked, hoping that would be to his liking. If not, she could cook him something, easily.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

“Yes,” Siobhan laughed, “I think I’ve learned an awful lot today! I don’t know about you, but all that playing has definitely helped me work up an appetite.”

"Yeah,"[/b] Osric agreed eagerly. The smell of fresh-bakes cookies was faded but still notable, and it had been making him rather hungry during this time. He put his own guitar back up against the wall, next to where Siobhan was putting her guitar back into its case. Osric tended not to use cases. When he'd been younger he thought it was much cooler to just wear it over the shoulder with a strap. He didn't really care about that anymore, but he'd gotten into the habit.

“How does milk and cookies sound?” Siobhan asked.

"That sounds great,"[/b] Osric smiled. Cookies and milk; traditional and still delicious. He had the feeling Siobhan tended to talk to him like a kid a little bit (or maybe she just talked to everyone like that), but it didn't exactly bother him. Following Siobhan into the kitchen where she'd previously told him the plate of cookies were, he said, "By the way Miss Siobhan… I mean no offense, but I've been wondering. How do you spell your name? I think I've got it wrong."[/b] He wondered if that was rude to ask. He hoped not, but he did want to know; he'd been spelling it Shivon, but he was pretty sure that was wrong.

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

Osric was clearly on board and only took a moment to set his guitar aside and follow her into the kitchen. She’d been baking earlier, but she was neat in the kitchen – enough so that she didn’t really have to do much cleaning up, and the only evidence was the plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table.

She crossed the room to the fridge, thinking she should probably get the milk out before she dived in on the cookies, otherwise she wouldn’t get far.

"By the way Miss Siobhan… I mean no offense, but I've been wondering. How do you spell your name? I think I've got it wrong."

Siobhan smiled as her hand closed around the jug of milk. Oh, now this was something she was long familiar with. When you had a Gaelic name, few people could spell it. That was alright, she liked it. It was unique, and a way to tie back to a country she’d never been to, but was still a part of.

“No offense at all, Osric,” she replied, grabbing a few glasses before heading over to the table. “It’s Gaelic, so it’s a harder one to spell.”

She poured them both a glass of milk before sitting down in her favorite chair.

“My parents moved from Ireland just before I was born, so I suppose they made the assumption it was also a common name over here when they named me. It’s spelled S I O B H A N.”

It was the b and the fact the h was near the end that tripped people up. She was sure Osric knew all about having people not writing your name correctly.

“Speaking of names, where does Osric originate from? I’d never heard it before I met you.”

[OSRIC YOUNG]

Siobhan readied two glasses of milk as she said, “No offense at all, Osric. It’s Gaelic, so it’s a harder one to spell.” Osric nodded and sat at the table as she did.

“My parents moved from Ireland just before I was born, so I suppose they made the assumption it was also a common name over here when they named me. It’s spelled S I O B H A N.”

"Interesting spelling!"[/b] Osric exclaimed.

“Speaking of names, where does Osric originate from? I’d never heard it before I met you.”

"Er, funny story, that,"[/b] Osric laughed. "See, my parents were actually gonna name me Aric, but the people at the hospital must've misheard them or something and originally put it down as Osric. They got it changed to Aric but called me Osric as a joke. Though, sadly for them, that's what I picked up on and eventually I just ended up as Osric all over again."[/b] Osric loved his name. It had an original story. He thought all names should have a story. Aric was a common name in Mormon-run Utah, but Osric wasn't common anywhere, as far as he knew. It was rather unique.

He took one of the cookies Siobhan had previously offered to him off the plate in the middle of the table and bit into it. "Wow, this is delicious!"[/b] he exclaimed with a smile. Siobhan was so talented.

[SIOBHAN "NYX" SHAW]

"Er, funny story, that. See, my parents were actually gonna name me Aric, but the people at the hospital must've misheard them or something and originally put it down as Osric. They got it changed to Aric but called me Osric as a joke. Though, sadly for them, that's what I picked up on and eventually I just ended up as Osric all over again."

Siobhan couldn’t help but grin at his explanation. It sounded like Osric had an interesting life from the moment he’d come into the world.

“I think Osric is a fantastic name,” she assured him. “And you have a great story to go with it. It almost sounds like something you’d find in a novel!”

From what Siobhan knew of him, his life could neatly fit into a book. He just needed a steamy infatuation with some debutant that ended up all over the tabloids to make it a real seller. Of course, he was young. He had plenty of time before he had to worry about settling for a girl. He’d probably left dozens of broken hearts behind him throughout the years.

"Wow, this is delicious!”

She glanced up at where he was munching on a cookie and smiled at the sight. She loved to bake and cook. It was always nice to have someone who appreciated it. And the more cookies she could feed him the better. He was too skinny.

“I’m glad you like them,” she replied, picking up one herself.

Now, normally she would have been dipping it in hot sauce and mayo, but she was well aware that it put some people off to see her strange eating habits. Jamie was the only one she’d ever known who didn’t mind, in fact he liked to try all her odd combinations. She would just have to indulge in another later.

“So, Osric, what are you up to these days? Aside from trying to teach me how to play?”

She was always interested in the lives of the people she let into her apartment, mainly because it was interesting to know. Her own life was so boring that it was nice to hear about what others did to keep busy, and Osric was no exception.