one lump or two? [Audrey]

[jagger]

Jagger drove into the parking lot; killing the engine as they slid into a parking spot and tromping the emergency brake on. The older Cadillac groaned slightly as it slid to a stop; the Aussie-born wheelman grinning fondly at the metal protest. Diving out of his seat - unhindered, given that he hadn't buckled his seat belt to begin with, shame on him - he strolled around to the other side of the car to pop the door open for Audrey.

"Hope I didn't scare ya too much, sheila." He joked, slamming the door behind her once she'd exited and making his way to the front of the building. Sweeping one door open and stepping aside for her entrance, he beamed cheerfully, the smell of food wafting through the air.

[sunstorm]

"It'll take more than that to scare me," Audrey said with a slight smirk as she got out of the car allowing it to slam shut after her. She looked up to the slightly familiar Cafe before walking in. It was much cooler inside with the smell of delicious food wafting towards her. She could hear the gentle chatter of the people already inside and the sounds of dishes and normal clanging around in the kitchens as food was prepared.

"Shall we sit?" Audrey suggested, scanning the Cafe briefly for an empty table. She found one that was cleaned off near the window and nodded to it to Jagger before walking over to it and sitting down. One of the waitresses came up with menu's in hand for them to look over. Audrey's stomach growled as she smelled the food; she didn't realize exactly how hungry she was until she could smell the fresh food that was being cooked.

[jagger]

Following her placidly, he slid into the booth and took the offered menu gently, nodding politely at the waitress as he scanned it for his next meal. Identifying what he wanted quickly - truth be told he rarely wavered from the old standbys - he rested his elbows on the table and his hands folded before him, lengthy fingers tapping against each other lightly. He was fairly sure he could hear Audrey's stomach growl - but that may have been his own again. Pale eyes dropped to study his hands as the seconds ticked by, brushing a hand through his curly mop of blond hair idly.

When the waitress returned to take their order, he rattled it off with no hesitation. "I'll have a coke, please.. a cheeseburger; as rare as you can legally allow it, extra cheese; no onion, extra tomato. French fries. And a side of ranch dressing. Thank you ma'am. I know, it's a doozy of an order." He grinned up at the young lady as she scribbled the order down and turned to Audrey expectantly for her order, his eyebrows raised and waggling. "Well what'll it be, Missy?" He half expected her to order a salad, seems like every woman he met these days was on a diet. He didn't mind it. Their body, their food, provided he didn't need to eat rabbit food, all was well.

[sunstorm]

Audrey opened the menu and scanned over it, not sure of what she felt like eating. She had only come here for breakfast before so she wasn't sure how their other food was. Aware that the waitress had returned to take their older, she made up her mind in a split second. It was more of spotting something that sounded good than considering anything else. She scanned the menu just to be sure before closing it as Jagger finished his order.

"I'll get the steak sandwich with a side of chicken noodle soup," she said as she handed the waitress the menu. "Also I'll get an iced tea to drink." She was hoping the food wouldn't take long to make; the longer she was in there the hungrier she seemed to get. "Have you been here a lot before?" She asked Jagger as she picked up the little side menu that was left near the salt and pepper shakers that showed the different desserts they offered there. Realizing that just made her hungrier, she put it down and turned back to Jagger.

[jagger]

Grinning slightly at her order - mildly pleased she wasn't a rabbit food chick as previously considered - Jagger shrugged slightly, sipping on the drink handed to him before he answered her. "Couple times. I use it as a study place." He clammed up abruptly; not exactly wishing to share his study habits just yet, regretting even mentioning what he had. He was a baby still; a fact that bothered him. Once she learned he was finishing highschool, she'd be splitsville. They all were. It was sad, but true.

Jagger had grown up fast given his lifestyle and he felt years ahead of the game despite the physiological impossibility of that. Leaning back as the plates were slid before him, he grinned, thanking the waitress and digging into the french fries cheerfully. "So, Audrey. That's a gorgeous name." Topic change! Something, anything.

[sunstorm]

Audrey nodded; it was a nice Cafe. She knew she'd be coming back here probably a lot more often since she never felt like staying around at her apartment to cook. It wasn't that far from her apartment either. The waitress soon returned, quicker than she'd expected with their drinks and food. She paused to take a sip of her iced tea and squeeze a bit of lemon juice into the drink from the slice of lemon as Jagger commented on her name.

"Really," Audrey sounded a bit confused if anything as she put her glass of iced tea down and took a bite out of her steak sandwich. "That's the first time anyone's said that before." She mentioned as she removed the top piece of bread of the sandwich to sprinkle some salt onto the steak. She didn't usually get people commenting in her name; if anything people tended to get her name wrong. She often had people mishearing or misreading what her name was and call her 'Aubrey' instead. That, or forgetting her name altogether, which always felt good.

"So when did you move here from Australia?" Audrey asked. She had always wanted to go to Australia but couldn't afford a trip there and have someone look after Ranger while she was gone. Plus she didn't want to leave her horse for any long periods of time nor did she want to travel alone. She's already done quite a bit of traveling by car, but hasn't gone overseas before.

[jagger]

"That's a shame.. it's a lovely name, I like it." Shoving a bite of his burger in his mouth, Jagger contemplated how best to answer her question while he chewed. Swallowing the enormous bite, he wiped his mouth and in turn, his fingers, clearing his throat with a sip of coke before continuing the conversation. Manners, manners. "Mmh, well, about 6 months ago. See, Mum had anoth'a baby 'bout three years ago with her boyfriend.. a banana bender .. sorry; that was mean - a bloke from Queensland. Anyhow, the new babe was a sheila, and mum always wanted a girl."

He paused to take another large bite of his burger, chewing cheerfully. It didn't disturb him to talk about his family, they were what they were. Shrugging slightly, he swallowed, repeated the face-cleaning routine and continued. "Anyhow, I didn't quite fit in with this bonz'a new family. Me and the anklebiter never quite got along all that fabulously - she'd burst into tears every time I came in the room, and Mum would too after awhile, she was so stressed out - so I just packed up and bailed one eve. No sense in stickin' around where I'm not wanted, ya know?" He had, by now, inhaled half of his drink and three-quarters of his sandwich and began picking at his fries, dipping them methodically in the requested ranch.

"Can't wait to go back, though. Ozzie's just ... oh it's just corker, really. Gorgeous country." He sat back, a little taken aback by how much he'd spoken. He normally was a rather quiet fellow; not a chatty Cathy.. but he felt rather comfortable around Audrey. Pale eyes on her, the Aussie sifted in his seat, scanning over his knowledge of her and coming up short. "Tell me something about you. Anything. I'm curious." He flashed her a brilliant smile and retrieved the rest of his burger.

[sunstorm]

Audrey nodded as she listened to what he said although she was feeling slightly awkward for asking a question that resulted in what seemed like a more personal answer. Then again Jagger didn't seem shy about talking about himself from what he's already revealed. She worked on eating the rest of her steak sandwich, finding her soup still a little too hot to eat just yet. She paused as she went to take a sip of her iced tea before speaking up.

"I always wanted to go to Australia, haven't really had the chance to," she remarked as she put her half full glass of iced tea down. "To be honest, there's nothing really anything interesting about me," she said with a slight smile. "I've moved around a lot over the past few years looking for work and a cheap place to live and board Ranger. I spent one summer going to some rodeos with my cousin, who lives around here now I think." She found her life rather boring to explain; one would have to be on the road constantly to know what she's been up to. "I'm tired of moving around though, hoping this will be my last stop." She added quickly. It was true; she was tired of not having an actual home but a place where she tends to sleep and eat when she wasn't working. She was hoping to settle down and have a nice place to live. The ranch seemed to be a good place to keep Ranger, so she was satisfied with that.

[jagger]

A somewhat knowing nod - he knew of the 'hoping to find a place' bit, but he hadn't moved nearly so much - and Jagger polished off his burger, munching on his fries as she spoke. She was selling herself short; having spent as little time with her as he had, Jagger had a feeling she was vastly more than she seemed to be. Chuckling slightly at her, he paused, pointing at her with a french fry. "Well, that's where you're wrong. There's something interesting 'bout everyone. No possessive father? Greedy ex-husband? Boyfriend gone wrong? Overly jealous Girlfriend..?" He half-joked, sliding his empty plate to the edge of the table.

Folding his fingers before him once more, he leaned back to view her through half-closed lids. "I'll bet your far more interesting than you give yourself credit for, anyhow. I intend to find out, too. If you'll let me pry, of course. I don't want to step on any toes."

[ooc - sorry. today has been a long day and I'm just FULL of lame posts.]

[sunstorm]

Audrey smiled although somewhat embarrassed. She finished off her steak sandwich with a couple of bites and paused to take a sip of her iced tea. "No possessive father, greedy ex-husbands or boyfriends or anything," she said, feeling slightly flustered. "I was never in one spot long enough to get involved with anyone."

She couldn't help but feel awkward talking about herself. She always tended to be the one asking the questions about someone else, without revealing much about her. She never felt that she had much to say about herself, or thought no one would really be interested in her otherwise boring sounding life. Unless perhaps she was talking to a horse person, who would understand the time she's put in towards horses.

ooc: That's okay, I don't have much muse anymore so my posts are gonna be short and lame.

[jagger]

Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, he paged through the bills to remove more than enough for their meal, pulling himself to his feet, grabbing Audrey - gently, of course - by the hand and tugging her to her feet as well. "Well then, Miss Boring, let's go do something." He dragged her out the door and back to the parking lot, never failing to maintain his grasp on her hand.

"If you promise Ranger won't eat me, he can come too. Maybe a walk or something. Or.. you ride.. I'll walk." He glanced over his shoulder and grinned, releasing her once they approached the classic Cadillac and he keyed the doors open, holding hers open for her until she was seated inside. Closing it carefully behind her, he circled to his own door and slid in, reaching for his seatbelt. "Say the word, we'll do it."

[sunstorm]

Audrey was slightly surprised when he pulled him from the booth and out into the parking lot. She was about to protest in having him pay for their meal but found herself already outside the Cafe before she could get a word in. She climbed back into the Cadillac and did up the seat belt as Jagger climbed in the driver's seat.

"No, Ranger will be fine," she said with a grin. "He hasn't been known to eat anyone yet. Thanks for lunch, by the way," she added. "We can do that, if you want to," she said as she looked out the window as a truck pulled up to take their parking spot. She didn't want Jagger to be doing anything around Ranger if he was scared of him. Ranger was usually pretty good around other people, but he did get excited easily and to someone that was scared of horses, that might not work out very well.

ooc: So sorry this took so long!