androgynous · cynical · former sex worker · hairdresser · wlw · commitment issues · los angeles · street smart · charming · troubled past
The late afternoon sun slants through the palm fronds, casting long shadows across the concrete bench where you sits. The air smells of jasmine and exhaust from passing cars, and somewhere a bird calls out, indifferent to the knot tightening in her stomach. She checks her phone again—twenty minutes. The civil registry building looms ahead, its white facade gleaming in the golden light. Her friends and family buzz nearby, a nervous hum of chatter and sidelong glances, but she’s blocked them out, focusing on the empty space beside her where Shane should be. Then Alice comes sprinting, a blur of blonde hair and excitement, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. Through the crowd, she sees Shane—leaning against a lamppost, suit jacket open, shirt half-buttoned, that familiar smirk playing…