Catching Up Over Coffee ((Morgan and Jason))

[Julie Paige McGreggor]

Julie was excited. She was truly, genuinely excited. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was dolling herself up and getting all jittery, but she was. Julie had been on many dates before. Hell, she’d been on so many dates in the past, she’d lost count of just how many. She hadn’t been this nervous since her first date with Ricky. She really didn’t want to bring the point of Ricky up in her mind, as he had always been a sore subject with Julie. He took Julie’s heart and ripped it to shreds without the slightest care in the world. It tore Julie apart, who had to get a dead fetus taken out of her body, knowing that could have been her son. The doctor’s had even told her that the child would have been a boy, no doubt just like Carson. She sighed slightly as she clasped her silver necklace on. She had picked out her favorite small baby blue shirt which was a bit loose but looked amazing on her accompanied with a pair of completely black jeans and open toed heels. The outfit was perfect. Vi would have definitely approved. It was funny that Julie always thought of Vi whenever she made any kind of big decision. Most wouldn’t call a simple outfit choice a big decision, but in the world of women and dating, it most definitely was.

Julie smiled to herself, just putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She felt like she was sixteen years old again, getting all excited over getting ready for a date. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was that gave her such a bad case of the butterflies, but she decided it was probably a good thing. Julie couldn’t number how many dates she’d been on where she simply was not looking forward to going. Then there would be those dates that she went on just to test the waters and see what was out there. But Julie wasn’t going to get into the many types of dates she’d been on in the past, because it seemed that each had their own individual definition. However, this feeling was the exact replica of what Julie called ‘Young Love’. She sighed as the word brought her little brother Carson into her thoughts. He was going through a rough time right now, the poor kid was. But he was a tough kid, he’d be able to handle his first breakup. Carson came home from the tour a few weeks ago angry and sulking, growling about anything and everything. Julie had realized something was wrong the moment he stepped outside the bus to greet her. He tried to make it look like he was fine and nothing was wrong, but she could tell instantly. The story had surprised Julie just about as much as it had surprised Carson. The story was dramatic and the breakup seemed unnecessary, so Julie told him not to worry about it. If they really cared for each other, than they would work things out eventually. It was a stupid fight, and stupid fights were often resolved quickly in Julie’s opinion.

Julie finally walked away from the mirror, finally happy with her outfit and how she looked. She grabbed her car keys and jacket, hopped into her forest green Jeep and drove over to the café where she was to meet Jason. It was around four thirty and Julie was about a minute or so late when she walked into the Bella Luna Café. Jason hadn’t arrived yet, so she walked over to a table and took a seat, waiting for him to arrive. On her way to her seat, she accidentally bumped into a young short haired woman that looked vaguely familiar to her. Julie apologized quickly and politely and took her seat. Thankfully, the woman didn’t have anything in her hand, otherwise Julie would have felt terrible for making her spill it. Julie checked the time on her cell. “Four thirty five. Congratulations Julie, you’ve made it to your first occasion on time.” Julie thought quietly to herself, taking off her jacket and putting her cell back in her purse. She looked around and then suddenly, Jason Blade entered the room. Julie sat up slightly, her red tinted lips curling into a small smile as he took a seat across from her.

((Most likely like the shortest post ever. Sorry its not that great. Hopefully the next will be better.))

[Jason Blade]

For Jason Blade, it had been years since he had been out on an actual date with a woman. Since Morgan had left him, his sole priority had been Darcy. Darcy was his love, his joy, and when Morgan walked out on him and his daughter, he had quickly decided to become a changed man. No more wild nights, no more rebellious attitude. Okay, well maybe he kept some of the attitude, but for the most part, he changed for his daughter. He wanted Darcy to love her father and to learn to grow into a life of good things, rather than broken relationships. Jason loved his daughter, and his daughter was all that mattered to him. Of course love was still on his mind, but Darcy was his main concern, along with her well being and her education. Jason had grown up in a life full of prosperity and being given nearly anything and everything he needed. He wanted to do his best to do the same for his little girl. That’s why he enrolled her Julie McGreggor’s art class nearby. Darcy had shown an interest in art, and he wanted to give her exactly what she needed to excel at the subject.

What he hadn’t expected was to be attracted to a woman for the first time since Morgan had walked out. Julie was bold, attractive, and right up his alley. Jason had been late picking Darcy up from class, and naturally the two adults talked for a bit. Against his better judgement, Jason decided right then and there to ask her to coffee, which is where he was headed now. He had been attracted as soon as he had laid eyes on her, and they had chatted for a short bit that day. About what, he couldn’t remember. But he knew he had asked her to coffee, and had done so awkwardly because of his rustiness in the subject of dating. It had been so long since he had thought of a woman romantically, especially since his parents had arranged the marriage with Morgan. Morgan was all he had ever known, and when she left, he grabbed onto the nearest and dearest person to his heart, Darcy. Julie loved little Darcy, and had told Jason about what a joy she was in class. Jason had admired the beauty that Julie was, even that day where they had only just met. She was certainly someone he never considered would have feelings for him, and she certainly wasn’t a woman he could have met while at Hogwarts. Back then he was so much different than he was now. He was wild, rambunctious, and all he had cared about then was Morgan. As he remembered some of the days back in school with Morgan, he quickly tried to shove the memories away. Morgan was gone, even if they were still technically married. She had left him with nothing but Darcy. He didn’t need her approval anymore, especially not to go out on a date with such an attractive woman. Julie wouldn’t need to know this either, he decided.

As he finished getting ready, Jason looked into the mirror in his apartment, trying to decide if this was the best outfit to wear. Jason did care about his looks, and since he hadn’t ever really been on any dates with anyone other than Morgan, he wasn’t completely sure what would be good. He decided quickly that what he had on was fine, and grabbed his keys to get in his car and head to the coffeeshop. It was almost that time, and he had a thing about being late. He hated it, and he hated when other people were late as well. Of course he wouldn’t be mad at Julie if she was late, but just from talking to her briefly at the class, he knew they both would be looking forward to this day. As Jason drove to the coffeeshop, he tried to think of what Julie might be wearing. Knowing her briefly, it could be a number of things. She had been in basic teacher/business attire when he had formally met her, so who knows what she’d be dressed in this time around. As his mind played tricks with him, his thoughts tried to move toward Morgan, but he pushed them out again. She was no longer around and he was fine with that. He pushed the thoughts completely out as he drove into the back lot of the coffeeshop. Alright Jason, he thought to himself. This is it. Satisfied with his brief pep talk, he got out of the car and walked into the coffeeshop, immediately noticing Julie towards the middle of the room. She was ravishing as usual, in a blue top and black jeans that complimented her figure.

“Julie McGreggor,” he said smoothly, as he took a seat across from her, looking deep into her eyes. “Sorry I’m a tad late. Had a bit of a slow start this morning. You look wonderful, I’m sure you spent hours on that ensemble, huh?” Jason was making jokes already. Was that a bad sign? He couldn’t tell. All he knew in his mind was that he was nervous for the first time in years, since Darcy was born. “Did you want something to drink? My treat, of course,” he said, as he waved for the waiter to come over and take their drink order. The waiter motioned that he would be a minute, so he nodded and turned back to Julie. “I’m glad you were able to come. I’ve been looking forward to this since we spoke at Darcy’s class. She just loves your class. I love talking to her about what she’s doing in your class, even if it’s gibberish sometimes. That’s what you deal with when they’re young, I guess, right?” He chuckled as he thought of his beautiful Darcy and how half the things she said to him came out as garbled and incoherent. He did his best to get something out of it each time, but there were times even when Daddy couldn’t make the words out. “Takes me back to my school days, when I think about where she is now. I was pretty much the same way, but I caught on quick to all my subjects. How about you, was there anything you particularly excelled at in school? It’s hard to believe I’ve been out of school for nearly 4 years now. Of course that’s how old Darcy is, so it’s not that hard to realize. School seems so distant now.” Jason knew he was rambling, so he quickly quieted himself and waited for her to respond.

[Julie Paige McGreggor]

Julie normally would have been slightly offended by his comment, but Julie knew that he didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Jason was a nice guy, so in his eyes his comment about her clothes was a compliment, so she would take it as such. “It’s fine, just fine. And I guess you could say that…I do like to dress up on occasion..” Julie said with a smile, biting her lip slightly as she poked fun at herself. It had been far too long since she had gone on a date. Normally Julie was a social butterfly, always with a different hunk on her shoulder. But lately she felt so much older. She wasn’t married, she didn’t have any kids, but she felt like she was living the life of a struggling mother. She worked harder than most to pay her bills, and even though she loved her job, it did get rather trying at times. She couldn’t help it really. Bills were expensive and even with Carson’s added help, she felt a bit guilty taking his money. She was supposed to be taking care of him, not the other way around. That was why she was his guardian. If the court ever found out Carson was paying a good portion of the rent every month, he’d surely be sent back to his aunt and uncle’s.

Julie smiled once more. She didn’t understand why she had been glowing so much lately. The girlish giggles, the spending ages in front of the mirror, and the slightly awkward coffee dates with a guy from her teenage years just wasn’t like her. Julie’s Hogwarts years were less than normal. She was the tough girl. She was popular, but not “Queen Bee” kind of popular. She wasn’t one for schoolwork or books, as she was always skipping class to go see Ricky in Hogsmeade. In fact, she’d even run away from campus a few times, but the administrators always managed to find her eventually. “Um, that’d be great. A small cup of coffee would be nice, thanks.” She said as she watched him settle himself in his seat. Julie couldn’t help but sit up in her seat slightly when the subject of Darcy had been mentioned in the conversation. Darcy was pretty much one of Julie’s favorite young students. She had tons of potential and she was the sweetest of the bunch. She always had a smile on her face and was always willing to help out a fellow classmate in need. Darcy was the prime example of why Julie loved the career she had set up for herself.

She sighed and thanked the waiter as he arrived with their drinks. It really did blow her mind that time had flown by so fast. Lately it felt like the days were only minutes, but her teenage years dragged along so slowly Julie thought they’d never end. What with the constant torment from her aunt and uncle, and her mother and father even before that. Then there was the pressure to do well from her professors and the pressure to rebel from her friends. Then there was the mother of them all, the big Ricky drama. He got her into so much trouble in school, and then once she graduated he gave her the shock of a lifetime. She sighed…why had she been thinking about him so much lately? “Well, art was always a strong point of mine, obviously. If there’s some odd sketch on the inside cover of a text book, chances are I drew it. But other than that I was actually pretty good at Potions up until my fifth or sixth year. After that I just kind of…I dropped the class. Life got busy and I just couldn’t handle it much longer I guess. I was never much of an academics person.” Julie said with a small shrug, adding some sugar and milk to her coffee. “And I know, it really blows me away. I’m my brother’s legal guardian, and it’s odd to see him coming back from school every summer. He finally came home with a girl this time…” Julie said with a chuckle. Technically Carson had told her they’d broken up, but chances were they’d get back together soon anyway. The “identity fight” as Julie called it was petty and stupid. Julie wouldn’t be surprised if she got a letter one of these days announcing they’d gotten back together. “Poor kid, his best friend recently passed away. But he’s doing pretty well. He’s recovering..” Julie said almost sadly, though with an air of hope in her voice. She was sure Carson would be able to bounce back from this. He was a strong kid after all.