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Post by Carl Kent on Apr 20, 2012 23:48:38 GMT 1
It had taken him weeks to get the courage up to make the call and another couple of days to find where he'd stashed the well worn and fingered card that she'd given him. It was surprising how much rubbish he'd managed to cram into the tiny apartment he was renting in Metropolis but it was his place and he didn't care...apart from those few wasted days he'd spent looking for a tattered and folded business card someone had given him. Those were days he did care care about. Infact he'd almost given up on the whole idea when he stumbled across it in a pile of other cards in big shoe box crammed under a chair.
He dialed and sat there with the phone 5 times before actually saying anything, and even then he tried to speak over the top of her answer phone. When he'd finally calmed down and waited for the message tone he stuttered out a message and a number to call then hung up quickly. When he realised he'd not told her who it was he called her again to add his name. Not real smooth and he wasn't expecting much in the way of an answer but as someone had once said to him you don't know if you don't try.
Now all he had to do was wait.
It had come as a complete surprise to him when she had called back and he had just stood there and listened to the phone, making some odd agreeing sounds when she had accepted his invitation. And now here was was in Sanfranciso, waiting outside the Arts Center for one of the most beautifull women on the planet (Voted for by numerous mens magazines of course) to arrive so they could tour the Lost Civilisations exhibit on their first meeting outside of a professional-amateur meeting.
Carl adjusted his shirt for the 100th time in the glass wall of the center and checked his hair again, scanning the area for his date while trying to stay calm and confident...at least on the outside...
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Post by Anneliese Grayson on Apr 21, 2012 10:37:59 GMT 1
Anneliese was pleasently surprised by the message on her phone from Carl. She'd just finished one of the most boring shoots in the world - the newest Channel make up range. To be honest, she hated make up adverts. They all seemed to be the exact same - beautiful girl making men fall at her feet, whilst she was wearing something glamours, elegant and only a little bit slutty.
She'd called back as soon as she could, replying that she'd love to meet up with him to go to a museum exhibit - of course, she hadn't told Richard she was going on a date. He'd follow her and try to scare Carl off. Instead, she said she was going to meet a modelling friend. It made her feel rather happy he'd asked to do something intellectual, rather than go to a movie or dinner or something. Most people assumed all she liked was things that didn't need much thought. No one seemed to understand that she was, in fact, a very intelligent girl.
Although, today, that seemed a little like a blessing. Because no one would expect her, Anneliese Grayson, super model, to be at a exhibit like this unless it had major media coverage. Which meant they would, hopefully, not be hounded by paparazzi.
Anneliese had long since figured out that, if she dressed casually, and drew attention away from her signature eyes - by far one of her most well known features - she didn't get that much attention.
She decided to try and play up the 'intellectual' girl a little, like a role. She french braided her hair in to pigtails that ended just before her breasts, placed a pair of black thick framed glasses on - she had 20/20 vision, but sunglasses were stupid to wear indoors in her opinion and drew more attention, so normal glasses with no prescription lens were part of her wardrobe a fair bit when trying to blend in. Clothing wise, she went for simple black skinny jeans and a plain white vest top - which her black bra showed threw a little, but that was the point - along with her usual too-many-necklaces (black chains and beads with flowers, crosses, suns, moons and stars as pendents) and a cropped black leather jacket, along with black, flat leather ankle boots with buckles and chains. All together, a rather simple outfit for her.
She arrived at the meeting spot and grinned, spotting Carl standing, looking jumpy and awkward. She made her way over to him, her signature smile on her lips. "Hey Carl!" She exclaimed as she reached him, leaning in to place a kiss on his cheek. "I'm happy you called! I've wanted to see this exhibit for ages but never had a chance!"
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Post by Carl Kent on Apr 26, 2012 23:36:38 GMT 1
He'd almost not spotted her as she strode up, his attention thrown by the fact she wasn't being hounded or followed by a mass of photographers and people asking for autographs and dates, and when he finally realised who he was looking at she was already pretty much stood infront of him with a wave calling his name. His mouth hung open as he drank in her appearance unable to stop himself from letting his gaze wander down over her then snapping back to her face, the glasses on the end of the nose almost mirroring the pair he sometimes wore when he wasn't wearing his contacts. With his name being called he jumped a little and when she kissed him on the cheek he could have sworn the temperature in his immediate vicinity rose by several degrees. Even dressed so casually and not draped over silks, furs and covered in expensive clothing she was stunning.
All he could do was open and close his mouth a few times till his brain re-engaged and he produced two tickets for the exhibit from his pocket and held them both up infront of him, managing to put a smile on his face,
"I uh...got the t-tickets already..."
Was pretty much all he could manage in that moment as he stood there tryign to look her in the eye and waving the tickets slowly back and forth a little, trying to think of something else to say...but no that was pretty much all that came to mind for the minute as he gave up trying to say anything and stepped to the side, pushing the glass door open for Anneliese and holding it so she could pass by. Inside the entire center had pretty much been taken over for the last month by the exhibit that held relics, artworks and all manner of finds from civilisations long gone from earths surface. Mayan, Aztec and even some surposed relics of Mu were all on display as well as pieces that scholars were unable to identify. It had really surprised Carl when Anneliese had accepted his invitation to attend the exhibit but he was glad, it was quiet, not crowded and gave him something to talk about...he hoped...if he got lost on what to say to her.
Right now all he could think to do was hand the tickets over to the lady behind the reception desk and smile alittle,
"So um...s-shall we?.."
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Post by Anneliese Grayson on Apr 27, 2012 20:39:25 GMT 1
When Carl said he'd already got the tickets, a smile appeared on her face. "So well prepared!" She told him happily, her eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store as they stepped inside. She loved places like this. Even though this one was fairly new and modern, to her every museum or library, old or new, was almost like a church, in some respects. Filled with questions and answers and the low babble of voices, not clear enough to make out what was being said, almost like background music, but filled with awe and wonder. It was somewhere no one would notice her, somewhere she could pretend to be a regular 19 year old girl, without fame and fortune.
Anneliese smiled brightly as Carl handed the tickets to the girl behind the desk, slipping her hand into his and interlocking their fingers. "Where to first? Aztec? Mayan? To be honest, I don't know much about this stuff, so I'll put myself in your hands for today." She laughed lightly, as they entered the open foyer. "Oh! Right, just to be safe, since Anneliese isn't the most common of names, call me Anne or Annie today, 'kay?" She told him with a wink. "That's one of the perks of my name. So many nicknames! Anne, Annie, Li, Liese, Anne." She swung their linked hands just a little, in an almost childish way, before frowning at a quiet vibration in her jeans pocket. "Sorry, one second!" She bit her lip apologetically, fishing her phone out of her pocket. A picture of her and Richard, both grinning at the camera, his arm around her shoulder, flashed on screen, along with 'Richard Calling' and his number. She pressed the answer button, holding it to her ear. "Hey bro...I don't know when I'll be back, I told you I was meeting a friend. Uh huh....well, tell mom I'll call her later...and tell dad to stop complaining, he's being over dramatic again, I was wrapped in a sheet, nothing could be seen. OK....yeah. Yes...yes...yes OK! Right. I'll see you toni- I'm old enough to take care of my self idiot brother. I'll get a cab home. OK. Right. I'll text you on my way home. OK. Yeah, love you too." She ended the call, slipping the phone back into her pocket, smiling apologetically at her date. "Sorry Carl...over protective brother. He still thinks I need help crossing the street sometimes." She rolled her eyes. "It's on silent now, so the rest of our date won't be interrupted, I promise!"
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Post by Carl Kent on May 2, 2012 8:12:11 GMT 1
As he handed over the tickets and the supermodel Anneliese Grayson slipped her hand into his he felt he should pinch himself just to check that what was going on right now in this moment was actually happening, although if it was just a dream he didn't really feel like waking up just yet. He smiled a little awkwardly, looking around to see if anyone recognised who was in the museum but all he was met with were the backs of heads as the few people already in the exhibit were paying far more attention to the displays than the people wandering around. As she reeled off variations of names he could call her Carl couldn't help but let a smile creep across his lips. Even without doing anything special she had helped to break the awkward tension.
"Well...ok Anneli...sorry Anne. T-there isn't really much you can do with m-mine, just plain old Carl..."
He shrugged his shoulders as he said, feeling her fingers between his his, their hands swinging like little kids. And then her phone went off and she excused herself for a moment, turning away from him to answer it. He didn't want to but it was hard not to eavesdrop on the call as she argued the case for her latest photo shoot, and her ability to look after herself. While he didn't think it was right to butt into her choice of career, he could understand why her brother would want to protect her after dark. Even with all the heroes around these days the streets were still a dangerous place.
"I-its OK... I'm sure he's just trying to look out for you is all..."
He read the newspaper stories like everyone else and knew full well that overprotective was a somewhat tame term to use for the way Richard Grayson Jnr sometimes behaved when his sister was out in public. Plenty of photographers had been on the receiving end of his 'overprotectiveness' and it wasn't something Carl wanted to experience first hand.
"L-lets just see where we end up...I don't really know my way round but the big arrows on the floor might h-help."
Hand in hand they strolled slowly through the center, moving towards the Aztec displays without really having planned a route, following the big red arrow on the floor...
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Post by Anneliese Grayson on May 4, 2012 13:09:44 GMT 1
When he claimed his name was 'Just plain old Carl', she grinned a little. "Well, I like it. Simple but strong. No need to complicate things that are perfect already." She told him, nudging his hip with hers as they continued into the exhibit.
When he defended her brother - stutteringly, because he was just so freakin' cute like that! - she smiled a little once more. "I know he's just looking out for me...and I'm happy he cares. But sometimes, I wish I could have more freedom, y'know? Without the press stalking me or him breathing down my neck every minute..." The soft smile turned into a sparkling one "That's why I'm happy I'm here with you Carl! I get to be normal for once!" She shrugged a little. "I mean, I adore modelling. It's something I'm really passionate about...but I've not been able to be a regular girl since I started when I was like, 6."
"Arrows sound like a good idea." She agreed with a laugh. "Lets just wander around and see where we end up!" She nodded to herself, swinging their linked hands once again as they walked, ending up in the Incan exhibit. She paused at the first show case, showing an impressive amount of odd looking instruments and necklaces, along with the dried up mummified corpse of someone in a rich looking coffin. "This is all stuff made by the Incan Lord 'Pachacuti', the corpse...supposedly the flutes are his enemies arms, and the necklaces are made of...whole teeth." She paled a little at that. "Says here he drank from his enemies skulls. His name means 'he who shakes the earth'...and he took that literally. He made his soldiers look like the earth before they attacked...then claimed the rocks were his warriors and that helped them win wars..." She smiled dryly. "But I guess violence helped the most."
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Post by Carl Kent on May 22, 2012 8:18:50 GMT 1
She playfully bumped against his hip as they walked through the museum making him blush as she talked about his name, hands swinging like children. His mouth opened and closed a few times to reply but nothing really came to mind so he kept quiet and gave out a weak smile. It was hard enough just walking around hand in hand with the supermodel, never mind trying to come up with something funny or intelligent to say on the fly. When the conversation about her brother started to veer in another direction regarding the press it was his turn to grin a little, his free hand slipped into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small digital camera, holding it out a little way from his body so she could see it.
“D-does asking you for a p-picture count as stalking?”
When Anne added the next bit he suddenly felt like an idiot for bringing the camera, it should have been obvious to him that she was doing this to escape from the spotlight for a little while, not trade mobs of professional photographers for a part timer with no studio.
“I-I’m sorry…I didn’t mean”
He stuffed the camera back into his pocket and let the hand she was holding hang down, feeling embarrassed that he’d even brought a camera with him. This wasn’t a date it was just an escape for a girl known around the world. He kept pace with the young woman as they walked and she talked, their hands swinging, a little less enthusiastically than earlier. Before long they found themselves strolling through the Incan section of the exhibition, pausing by a large display case and an elaborate and ornately designed coffin. Carl let his eyes wander over the display cases, jewellery everyday items and strange looking instruments filled every available area. He was about to open his mouth when they stopped in front of the coffin when Anne spoke explaining about the Incan Lord and the artifacts they were looking at.
He could help but look at her with obvious surprise, his mouth slightly open, then closing and forming a smile,
“That’s it…I-i’m officially amazed and impressed. A-are you sure you didn’t miss your c-calling as a museum tour guide?”
This time it was his turn to bump against her with smile,
“Its all legends and stories…but sometimes theres a grain of truth in these things right? And I guess the violence helped keep him in power but did you know he was also an author and a poet?”
It was refreshing to come to one of these events with someone who actually seemed to have an interest in what they were looking at, and it had caught him off guard so much so that he had even noticed his stutter disapear...
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Post by Anneliese Grayson on May 22, 2012 17:21:00 GMT 1
When he asked to take a picture, then immediately seemed to be regretful of it, she beamed brightly at him. "Don't be silly! Of course you can take a picture of me...." She paused for a second thoughtfully, before grabbing the camera out his hand. "Actually, you can't! We need to get someone else to take a picture of us! As a memory of our date!" She grinned, turning to a exhibit attendant with the camera, asking him if he could take a picture of them together.
When the man agreed, Anneliese grabbed Carl by the hand again and pulled her towards him, wrapping both her arms around one of his, tilting her head to rest on his shoulder, a bright smile in place. After the bright flash of the camera, Anneliese pulled away a little, although she still held onto his arm with one of her arms, linking elbow with him, accepting the camera back with a smile.
"Perfect! Now, I want a copy of this too, OK?" She told him with a mock serious pout on her lips.
When he claimed she should be a tour guide, a very light dust of pink crossed her nose and cheekbones. "Eh? Oh uh...no. I was just reading the information on the bottom!" She explained, motioning down to the plaque of details at the bottom of the case.
"Eh?! He was an author and poet too? Wow, guess it takes all kinds...I wonder what type of stuff he wrote?" She hummed thoughtfully.
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Post by Carl Kent on May 27, 2012 18:35:49 GMT 1
A she smiled brightly he brought the camera up slowly to take her picture before she snagged it from his hands still smiling as she practically skipped off and accosted one of the attendants with her request to take a picture of them both. He could only stand there as she took his hand once more and pulled him in close, her arms wrapping around one of his as it hung down by his side, her resting lightly on his shoulder, the smile on her face beaming as she looked at the camera lens.
“Guess you can’t be shy in your line of work huh?”
He smiled as best he could without looking awkward as Anneliese clung to his arm, making sure to look at the camera as naturally as he could, remembering all the things he’d been told about relaxing and not trying to make it look forced. He was pretty sure that he blinked when the flash went off, and raised his finger to indicate the attendant should take one more. Satisfied he took back his camera as Anne shifted her position, moving from him a little but linking her arm in his.
He nodded and smiled when she asked for a copy of the picture with her all serious face, her lips formed into a pout that did nothing to take away from her attractiveness. He kept smiling as she blushed just a little and waved to the plaque that held the information about the exhibit,
“Awww see now I’m not so impressed, I hadn’t seen that yet”
He teased and repeated the move she had used on him earlier, bumping her hip with his own, watching her muse as she pondered what kind of things the feared Incan leader had written,
“Well I don’t know the words but I think it was called ‘The Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec’ or something like that”
Carl was barely paying attention to the exhibits as they started to walk again, pretty much all his attention on the girl beside him. He still couldn’t believe she had said yes to meet him and was really here, in fact he had a sneaking suspicion that he was dreaming but didn’t want to pinch himself just in case he was…
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Post by Anneliese Grayson on Jun 5, 2012 23:19:57 GMT 1
“Guess you can’t be shy in your line of work huh?”
Anneliese gave a half smile. "No really. Especially not with cameras. Besides...I don't think I could pull off shy very well. I'd probably just end up seeming holier than thou or aloof. I wouldn't be cute-shy like you." She winked, teasing only a little. Because it was true. She'd seem like an up herself bitch, and also, Carl WAS cute-shy.
“Well I don’t know the words but I think it was called ‘The Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec’ or something like that”
"Eh? Really? Wow...he sounds pretty up himself." She grinned again, hypnotic ice blue eyes glancing around the exhibits briefly. "So how about we finish looking at the Incan stuff, have a quick peak at the Mayan exhibit and then grab a coffee? Then after that, we can do Aztec and then maybe the Alien exhibit!" She wasn't sure why the alien exhibit was in a Lost Civilisations muesum, but supposedly it had stuff on Tamaranians, which she was extremely curious about. Her mother never really talked much about her home planet, too many bad memories and too many good memories she could never return too.
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Post by Carl Kent on Jun 16, 2012 18:53:48 GMT 1
Her answer didn't really surprise him that much. She was a supermodel after all and spent her entire waking day either in front of the camera or avoiding paps, of course she couldn't be shy. He shook his head a little as she still clung to his arm, it had been a bit of a stupid question. And when she called him cute...well cute-shy but cute non the less he couldn't stop his cheeks from flushing red just a little.
"Eh? Really? Wow...he sounds pretty up himself."
Carl chuckled when she spoke and nodded slowly agreeing with her,
"Yeah he does...but when your in charge who's going to argue?"
He idea to check out one more exhibit then break for a coffee sounded like a good one to him, he could do with grabbing a bottle of water or something as well to quench his thirst and help with the case of dry throat he kept getting every time he tried to speak more and 30 seconds.
"As you wish madam"
He gave a mock salute with his free hand and then shifted alittle offering his the crook of his arm to her, making their way from the Incan exhibits and following the markings that would lead them through to the Mayan...
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