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Alphabet City • View topic - Always been the Tower... Angel/Mary
Mary's steps were moving at almost a blinding pace.
Her long legs keeping a lengthy stride, she just needed to get away.
At first, she had been heading for home.
The thought had crossed her to go home, cuddle with the cats, and call Caroline.
But, the idea crashed when she thought about calling Caroline already when she was upset.
They were moving slow.
Calling, and possibly being a blabbering idiot was not exactly the impression Mary wanted to give her.
No, she needed a friend.
Someone who knew her already, someone she didn't need to impress.
She stopped in her tracks, looking across to the sidewalk that led to Angel and Collin's place.
She had no idea if Angel would even be home.
The woman was like the Ambassador of Alphabet City, fluttering like a butterfly around to her favorite places, checking in on Mob Ink, her friends, the park, Angel could be just about anywhere.
Mary inhaled a deep breath, biting her lip as she hesitated on which direction to go.
Finally, she decided there was only one way to find out.
Besides, she wasn't that far from their home.
It wouldn't hurt to see if Angel was there.
Cautiously, she crossed the street.
Then moved quickly over the sidewalk towards Angel and Collin's.
Mary didn't look like anyone who would usually make their way up the stairs of Angel and Collin's building.
Where most everyone here dressed in an either artistic or bohemian style, Mary was dressed in her pressed oxford and slacks.
A light brown leather coat resting in the crook in her arm, the midday sun had warmed up things much more so since the morning.
She knocked at their door, rapping her knuckles against the old solid wood.
Then folded her arms in front of her, holding onto the brown coat.
Mary inhaled a quick sigh, silently hoping that Angel was home.
At this point, Mary was at the point that she needed to talk to her so much, that she was half tempted to hunt her down.
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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Gemini was staring up at her, begging for some of what she had.
Angel remembered hearing that chocolate wasn't good for dogs, but Collins wasn't here and what he didn't know wouldn't hurt, would it?
Glancing about as if to be sure she was unnoticed, Angel broke one of the fresh soft, still slightly warm cookies in half and shared it with the dog.
"Don't tell Col," she admonished him, pointing one finger at Gemini Gemini licked his chops, then sat, his tail waving as he grinned at her.
She glanced away from the dog when the knock sounded and the two of them hurried into the living room, Gemini barking at the intruder.
"Hush," Angel said, grabbing his collar as she looked through the peephole.
"Mary!" she said, smiling.
Still holding the dog, she worked all the locks, noticing a bit of chocolate on her thumb.
Once she'd opened the door, she stuck her thumb in her mouth to lick it off.
"Hi, sweetie!" she said, around the thumb.
She removed the digit and looked more carefully at her friend's face.
"What's wrong, honey?
Come on in."
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Hearing the sound of a dog barking on the other side of the door, Mary looked at the number on the door, second guessing that perhaps in her struggle with her emotions that she knocked on the wrong door.
Yes, this is Angel's place , Mary thought to herself.
She dropped her hands from her arms.
Her hands reaching together clinging for a moment, as Mary slowly pulled them apart.
One hand pulling at her fingers, as she heard the locks unfastened one by one.
She thought that she heard Angel's voice squealing on the other side.
When the door pulled open, Mary let go of the fingers on her other hand.
Attempting to regain her composure as her friend opened the door.
Only, it wasn't just any friend that pulled this door open.
Angel knew Mary, she could read past the mask of strength and calm that Mary often seemed to have.
Mary bit her lip the moment that Angel saw her.
She smiled weakly, glancing inside Angel's apartment, then lifting her blue eyes almost pleading to her friends warm and friendly face, "Can I come in?"
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"Of course you can, honey," Angel said, tugging the dog back away from the door and stepping back herself.
She could see that something was very wrong.
"Come on in," she repeated, bumping Gemini with one knee as she moved.
"I just made cookies.
Want some tea?"
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Mary nodded her head, stepping inside.
She looked down at the scruffy dog which Angel was holding back away from Mary.
Her eyebrows pressed together, as she thought about Bubs then Sullivan.
Once more Mary wrapped her arms around herself, holding them tightly as she moved towards the living room space.
"No, thank you. I just ate...actually." She walked over to the couch, stopped and turned to face Angel.
Taking in a long deep breath, Mary smiled politely.
"Although, they do smell very good."
Her blue eyes had a light tinge of redness around them, from where Mary was fighting back frustrated tears.
She looked down at the dog once more, smiling weakly, "I see you got a new friend."
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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Once the door was closed behind Mary, Angel looked down at the dog.
"Yeah, this is Gemini," she said, letting him go.
"He's friendly," she continued unnecessarily as he went to sniff Mary.
"Just don't want him to get out.
Do you. . ." She trailed off a minute.
"Do you need a hug, honey?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Letting one arm fall down, Mary held out her hand for Gemini to sniff.
She knew that he was probably very interested in the scent of the other dog on her hand.
Mary watched him, silently.
He was certainly an all American mutt, very cute, almost reminding her of a darker version of the dog she had seen in "Annie".
Mary looked up slowly, Angel had read her mind.
She was always good at that.
Mary pressed her lips together, fighting the urge to cry, turning to look away for a second.
Then she nodded her head, walking back towards Angel.
Mary wrapped her arms around her friend, resting her head down on Angel's shoulder.
She wasn't going to let the tears over come her, but Mary did let them trail silently down her cheeks.
Fingers lightly gripped into Angel's top, as she held on.
She didn't know why what had happened back at the squat had upset her so much.
Maybe it was her own frustration at not being able to connect with him.
It wasn't Sullivan's fault.
He was a patient, he had a lot going on in his life.
He didn't need some woman around, who didn't have the poison in her system or had to live in desperate condition.
As much as Mary wanted to understand, she'd never be able to see thru the eyes of many of her patients.
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"Oh sweetie," Angel intoned, gently stroking Mary's long blonde hair and letting her cry on her shoulder.
She almost never tried to say comforting things at first: people usually needed to cry out their problems when things were bothering them before they were ready to calm or talk about them.
She just stayed silent for now, holding her friend close, trusting that when she was ready to talk she would.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Angel's shoulder was just what she needed.
She knew how to calm Mary down, the strong patient shoulder and her soft strokes thru Mary's hair helping to sooth her.
Mary held on, until her silent tears came to a gentle stop.
She held for just a little while longer, before releasing Angel from her tight hug.
Mary stepped back, an awkward giggle slipping from her lips.
She reached up and brushed back the tears away from her cheeks, Mary's smile still uneasy.
"I'm sorry. I just ...I don't know..." her hands went right back up to fold in front of her, gripping each other tightly.
She glanced down for a second, seeing the confused look on Gemini.
"I'm probably just PMSing," Mary laughed once again, still sounding a little upset.
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"It's possible," Angel answered, stepping back and carefully placing some of Mary's long hair behind her shoulders.
"But that doesn't mean you don't feel it honey.
Come sit down and tell me what's on your mind," she said, smiling gently and taking her friend's hand, leading her to the sofa with the new cover and her childhood quilt which now graced the back.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Mary smiled, as Angel mothered her hair a bit.
Feeling as if she still had tears on her cheek, Mary reached up and brushed them once more.
She let Angel take her hand and lead her over to the couch.
Mary looked down before she sat down, smiling at the changes in the couch.
She sat down almost sideways on the couch, so that she could face Angel.
When she did, Mary noticed the quilt.
Reaching back, she brushed it with the back of her fingers before looking up at Angel.
"I don't know what happened to me this afternoon, Angel.
Sometimes...I think that I don't know what I'm doing being a psychiatrist," her eyes moved back to the quiet, letting her eyes get lost in the patterns.
"I mean, I know I don't always follow convention.
My professors back at college would chastise me for opening myself up too much."
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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Angel smiled, watching her friend touch the quilt.
She wasn't sure what to say about Mary's professors.
She knew she didn't know nearly as much as they did, but she did tend to know people.
She prided herself on it, in fact.
"It can be hard to open yourself up," she agreed at last.
"But I think it's the only real way to help.
Let yourself get hurt a little sometimes.
Or else how can you really know what to do, what to say?
I know sometimes I just want to cry myself when I see people I care about really upset, but I try to remind myself that I'm just a person, and you are too, like it or not, sweetheart.
And people get hurt.
It's the way things work, I'm afraid.
But that's why we have friends," she continued, wondering if any of this babble made even the slightest bit of sense.
"To come and cry to and tell about your shitty day, so that they can take a little of it away from you." She smiled softly.
"And then babble on and on and make no sense," she joked lightly.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Angel made sense.
Sometimes Mary thought that Angel should have been a counselor herself.
She seemed to find a way to look at things a little brighter then they actually where.
But, Mary knew that things hadn't always been that way for her friend.
Life wasn't any easier for Angel then other's she knew with HIV.
Angel just seemed to look at it from a different perspective.
She had a heart of gold, earned the hard way.
"Thankfully, I have a friend like you that I can come to like that, Angel," Mary smiled softly, reaching out and taking her friends hand in her own.
She sighed looking down at her friend's hand in her own.
"Sometimes I think some of my patients would only listen to me if I was positive myself.
I mean, why listen to a woman whose life seems perfect.
I can't blame them."
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"I know your life isn't perfect, sweetheart," Angel said, gently squeezing that hand.
"Nobody's is. But when you have to take on everybody's problems, it just makes things harder, doesn't it?" Angel nodded and sighed softly.
"It's a tough balance," she continued.
"Learning to guard your heart enough so you can go on, but leave it open enough to help people.
She patted her friend's hand.
"It's no wonder you get yours broken all the time, honey," she said gently.
Gemini approached the woman, sniffed her hand, then lay at her feet, putting his head on the top of her foot and sighed.
Angel smiled. "He likes you," she said, somewhat unnecessarily.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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It was a tough balance, she thought.
Even when there were days like this, she wasn't going to give up.
Thank God, she had friends like Angel to get her thru them when they did come up.
It was for people like Angel that she did this.
They were good and wonderful, the world needed them a little longer then the virus was giving them.
Mary needed them.
She looked down at Gemini, who was being so sweet.
Mary had never had a dog rest on her feet like that, it almost gave her a safe feeling.
She smiled, and reached down brushing her fingertips into the soft fur that stood on the top of his head.
"He's a good dog.
Where did you find him?"
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"Collins found him," Angel said, smiling and reaching down to stroke the dog too.
"He followed him home from the park.
No collar, tags, nothing.
And he was skinny as could be and smelled awful.
He's doing a lot better now.
I baby the hell out of him," she said, grinning as if it were a surprise.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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Mary laughed softly, her emotions and mind getting off the disaster of the afternoon with Gemini and Angel's help.
"I bet you do, Angel.
He's very lucky. I don't know how people can abandon animals like they do.
He's very sweet." Looking at her shoes that he was resting on Mary laughed.
"My cats are really going to love me when I get home.
I can't imagine the looks that Cleo is going to give me." Mary sat back up, "She's going to think I've gone crazy and left her for the dogs."
She turned her eyes to her friend, smiling softly at Angel, "Thanks for the hug and listening to me."
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"Anytime sweetie," Angel told her, smiling.
"Not sure I did anything though, just the hug.
If you wanted to talk, you know I'm always up for it.
Whatever you wanna say, I'll listen, you know that, right, sweetheart?"
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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"Yes, I do," Mary said her smile glowing a little brighter, as one hand lifted up to slip her hair behind an ear.
Thinking about it, Mary decided that Angel didn't even have to say anything if she wanted to.
She had a presence that was healing to Mary.
And unlike her own counselor, at least when she came to see Angel, life seemed a lot easier and at peace afterwards, "That's why I came to you."
The aroma of the chocolate chip cookies was starting to get to Mary, despite the fact that she wasn't really all that hungry.
Her eyes danced towards the kitchen table, then back to Angel's.
"Does the offer still stand on that cookie?"
Mary -32-Psychiatrist- Married - One Child
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"I've always got hugs too," Angel replied, smiling foolishly at her friend.
"And an ear." She knew that Mary often couldn't tell her what was wrong, she had a general understanding of ethics, though she thought the concept just a little silly, poor Mary needed to talk about what was bothering her as much as any of her clients, but her policy was just to listen when Mary needed to talk and not to ask too many questions.
"Course it does," she answered, smiling.
"Want some tea or some milk too?" she asked.
Gemini
Angel -25-Tattoo shop owner/artist/street performer-married
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