/ need you like water in my lungs

[vanessa]

Dolphin Mall.

Honestly, Liam didn't even know what he was doing in a place like this. I mean, sure, he lived in Miami and after a few years he knew his way around the place fairly well. But Dolphin Mall was on the other side of the tracks and was totally just.. not his scene. Although, it did provide for a nice place to simply gawk at the colored thongs peeking out from every overweight woman's pair of Levi jeans and silently kill himself in his head as he looked upon the twelve year olds running around getting more action than he had lately. It was entirely out of the norm for him. Ever since Nav-- well, this girl, he had been sleeping with every pseudo-blonde pair of legs that walked past him. He could probably smooth talk the panties off of Mother Teresa, and the boy knew it, too. You see, he didn't have a heart. If, by any chance, he did in the past, it was destroyed by the wrath of several self-absorbed girls who did not know whether Liam was the type of guy who was worth their time or not. So sex was just a sport. No strings, no attachments. The women here were incredible, the scenery was enjoyable, plenty of drinks to go around. But he just fucking wished she hadn't gone and ruined it all.

That is also quite another story in itself. Navah Cohen. They had met at a quaint little coffee shop on the corner of Collins Avenue, and the minute Liam had seen her he knew she wasn't just like any other girl. Thing is, I was half in love with her by the time we sat down. That's the thing about these type of girls. Every time they do something pretty, even if they're not much to look at, or even if they're sort of stupid, you fall half in love with them, and then you never know where the hell you are. The ones that, even when they simply tuck a lock of hair behind their ear or cross their knees a certain way or look at you, you start to fall in love with them all over again. From that point on, they had gotten to know eachother. Sure, eventually they had slept together, but it was never about that for him. He could get sex anywhere, at a club, at south beach. But with this girl, it was different. It was all different. And for once, he let himself feel. And he let himself fall. And the problem with falling, my dears, is that you can never be sure who's going to be there to catch you. Navah was not. She simply wanted to be friends.

This broke his heart.

So here he was. Liam had nothing better to do on a lazy friday night, strolling past tacky window displays and vending machines until he got to a booth. Ignoring the 'no smoking' sign on the wall, he lit up his Marlboro, and then lit another with the same one, then another. This place was so incredibly boring. He hated the sound of children crying, the sound of vendors trying to sell you their new products that will most likely break in a couple days. He hated just how fucking empty he felt now, and how fucking stupid it was that it was over a girl. A stupid girl. She didn't even know what she was missing. Liam was tired of constantly being put down as someone who didn't have his life together and was destined to an unsuccessful life. He was tired of ignored phone calls and flowers down the drain and deleted e-mails. He was going to live the way he liked to live, and if that same stupid girl happened to come wandering back into his life, then she could just fuck off. He was tired. And with that, Liam's eyes wandered up towards Victoria's Secret. Nothing a cute brunette couldn't fix.

currently okay i believe you but my tommy gun don't - brand new
ooc for lacey / navah cohen. (:

[NAVAH RANI COHEN]

The sun's rays pierced the thin veil of white fluff pushed by the wind. Her piercing sky eyes went unprotected. Sunglasses never really were her thing. The shuffling of a handbag confirmed that she had indeed lost her keys for the fifteenth time. So there the young woman stood, hand in bag, the traditional elbow-up position poised perfectly upon her figure. The keys weren't in her bag, she had figured just moments before realizing they were probably hanging on the key hook inside her front door. Consequently, her thin legs made their way up the drive and back into the front door. Grateful to finally be free to leave, she turned to go, and just as she did, the house phone rang. She made a turn-around, which was strangely symbollic to her nowadays. Padding into the kitchen, where the nearest phone was, she picked it up. “Hello?” It was a perfect cliche, but one that was safe. “Yes, is this Miss Navah Cohen?” a chipper female voice pecked out into her ear. A simple yes was said back, soft and curious. “Your order arrived this morning, ma'am. It's ready for pick-up,” She nodded, half expecting the caller to respond to her physical actions. “Thank you,” That was simple enough. “Have a nice day, Ms. Cohen,” Click. The end of the conversation. Navah had a distinct love for voices, and could pinpoint anyone who she had spoken to over the phone despite the grainy quality. Something in her hoped that same woman would be presenting her the emeralds she had ordered two weeks ago for her sister. Navah dearly loathed impersonal conversations. Ms. Cohen.

Who was Ms. Cohen?

Navah Cohen, twenty-five, Israeli, high school English teacher, reputed for her enjoyable classroom atmosphere and clumsiness. These words put a funny feeling in her soul, the blood in her veins; her life. The soft hum of the aquarium in her living room lulled her into a trance and she found herself there with no purpose, watching the bright fish dart in and out of tiki statutes and tall plant. She placed her hand on the cool glass, subtly sympathetic to the fish who had felt the vibration of the tank. This world was so small, and she couldn't even control it. A sigh slipped out of her rose petal lips, and her trance was broken, and he was brought back to the real world, which was actually quite large and infinitely out of control. Navah picked up her purse by the door, made sure she had her keys, tripped on the rug on the way out, and locked her door behind her, leaving every inch of regret remaining in the outline of her handprint on the face of the cold glass.

Dolphin Mall was filled with strange people, but considering the location of her existence, Navah's level of surprise had depleted over time. She ignored the vendors and the ridiculous appearance of some of the girls. Navah was here to enjoy herself, and despite her OCD kicking her every five seconds, she could manage to accomplish this. She made her way into the door, dropping her keys only once in the process, which was pretty damn good for the rate she usually did something clumsy. She walked past a few windows, training her eyes to look at what was ahead. Realizing she had probably forgotten her wallet at home, Navah stopped at a booth to search through her wallet before she went to embarrass herself at the jeweler's. But, as luck would have it, she dropped her purse, the contents spilling everywhere. A man with a cigarette stood next to her. She squatted down to pick up all the things at his feet, hastily shoving everything back into the bag before he could help her. Her chapstick, some pencils, and a few papers still laid there on the ground. She stood, her mouth open to apologize when she saw his face. Her breath caught in her throat and she had to remind herself that air was necessary to survival. “Liam,” she said in surprise, her concentration was the only thing that saved the name from being a mere squeek. She opened her mouth to say something but was at a loss of words for once in her life. “I... how are you?” was all she seemed to be able to manage after what seemed like an eternity of silence, furrowing her thin brows slightly. A ghost from the past had arrived to haunt her, and those regrets seemed to have followed her right out the door.

Navah Cohen, twenty-five, Israeli, high school English teacher, reputed for breaking someone's heart.

[vanessa]

It had been a long day. Try long week, really. There was something wrong with Liam, and he wasn't sure what. The insomniac had been going on without sleep for even longer than usual. It was like something inside him had broken, and the he wasn't sure if it could be fixed. Unlike everyone else, he didn't have a family that he needed to feed, or a job that he needed to get to every single morning. He didn't have a purpose, to be honest, and sometimes this distraught him. Liam felt like he was waiting for something larger than life, larger than all of this; and he feared that it would never come. When he was with Navah, he felt like he had perhaps felt a little of what it could be. Grasped the smoke with his bare hands, but never quite got it. It slipped from his fingers, out of his reach, and sometimes no matter how much you jump and try to catch it again it will just always drift away from you. Appalled and disgusted by his slightly gay smoke analogy, he put out the stub of his cigarette on a crystal vase nearby the booth. Liam could feel people's glare, but he just couldn't be fucked.

Interrupting him from his thoughts, an extravagant leather bag fell at his feet and spilled out contents of all kind. Money, bobby pins, all those things girls carry around in their bags for no fucking reason other than just to have them. At first, he was kind of annoyed, but the McCarthys hailed from excellent breeding and had always taught their son to be a gentlemen. However, the girl had already bent down to hastily shove her things back into her purse. Wait a second.

He knew those eyes all too well.

How could he not have recognized her? He had loved every single thing about her. Her lips, her nose, her collarbone, her knees. It all came rushing back to him, at the exact same moment he remembered just how much of a great 'friend' he was to her. Liam ran a hand through his unruly hair, not knowing what else to do. He had missed her laugh, her voice, her scent. She was his everything for so long, but that's just the problem. When you make someone your everything, you're giving them the chance to walk out on you, and then you're left with nothing.

Liam helped her up, knowing it was the least he could do. But when she spoke, his blood boiled and he just wanted to punch the nearest wall he could fucking find. How are you? His eyebrows knitted together, and he simply closed his eyes. This was becoming too much for him. He hated when people just took advantage of him. He wasn't a watch that you forget to wind, or a toy that you just leave on the shelf and forget about. He had fucking feelings. "Me? Oh, I've been great. Never better," he grimaced at her. "Perhaps you would've known that sooner if you returned my phone calls once in a while. Too many friends to keep track of?"

currently find your love - drake
ooc (:

[NAVAH RANI COHEN]

The cent of his cigarettes and cologne had grown oddly comforting in the time since she first ran into him. He took her hand, helping her up. His touch was overwhelming, and incidentally, catching her breath wasn't exactly the easiest thing she had done all day. In truth, it was probably the hardest. Internally, she was dying, and fast. Learning to breathe again in this situation was proving a lot more difficult than she would have expected. The really ironic thing about this entire predicament was that she hadn't even thought about this happening. She hadn't let herself. Navah had closed everything off that included this man. The only thing left for her to remember him by was the white tee shirt she wore after they first made love. It belonged to him, and if she recalled correctly, his scent still lingered in the fabric. She kept it in the very back of her underwear drawer.

Her eyes lingered on his face, inhaling every single detail she had tried to erase from her memory. The eraser kept rubbing, but the outline would never fade. Now someone had engraved him into her memory again, reviving every faded line. He was the water in her lungs, and they were filling up fast at just the sight of him. Navah nearly peaked at the thought of how far she would fall into an early grave if they found conversation. And yet there she was, struggling to find the right words to fix the heart she knew was barely alive inside of him.

“Me? Oh, I'm great. Never better,”

Navah tried not to cringe visibly at the tone of his voice or expression he wore. Truthfully, it tore her a part, and this was hurting so damn much.

“Perhaps you would've known sooner if you returned my phone calls once in a while. Too many friends to keep track of?”

And then she was cursing herself for not anticipating this situation. She knew it was inevitable; somewhere in her beautiful, chaotic mind she had realized that this would happen. She did what she knew best and answered a question, even if it was a rhetorical one.

“No, it's not that.. I just.. I'm so busy with the kids,” she stumbled foolishly over her words, envisioning the hand print on the aquarium. This was so out of character. Navah Cohen was a strong, intelligent being; an entity that imposed friendly, clumsy, cute. And here she was, imagining herself apologizing and realistically never getting around to it. Instead, she stared into his torrent ocean eyes and got lost in the darkness. She was numb and blind, and couldn't seem to find her voice to call for help. Navah couldn't say she tried to reach him. Everything he had been to her, she had run away from. That's what got them here. She was a coward, and this hurt her more than he would ever know.

Navah glanced at the floor, a few items still remaining there. And much like the pieces of Liam's heart that had dropped throughout her life, she couldn't find the strength to pick them up.

Currently, Breathe In - Frou Frou.
OOC, :D

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