alejaalverez - Tumblr blog

[alejaalverez]

"You really do. They're the second largest fish in the ocean," she explained. "After whale sharks, which you're probably more familiar with." Aleja shook her head. "I'm usually more or less on the boat, trying not to interact with them too much and watching their habits, but I dive now and then." She stopped for a moment. "And what do you do for a living?"

"Basking sharks? Wow, you really do learn something new everyday." Monique offered a laugh. It certainly wasn't a career you heard about every other day. "I bet that's super interesting. Do you do the whole diving with the sharks thing? Or is it like in The Meg?" Lucas had loved anything relative to Jason Statham, so naturally she'd been subjected to the film, too. "A lot of the time, I find, but it keeps us all on our toes, right?"

[alejaalverez]

My co-workers are my world, it turns out. That's the fun thing about having a job, it takes up most of your waking hours. Oh, you could send me one of those arrangements that look like flowers but it's actually fruit. even though those seem like more fruit than someone can eat before it's no longer fresh. Well, yes, very true. You should have told your mom to marry a shark person, then you'd have had to in your life. You were in their home and it was hungry, that would be like if a cheeseburger suddenly appeared in your kitchen.

Oh, of course! I want you to be able to show those flowers off to the whole wide world. Or, you know, your co-workers, at least. I was thinking that I would alternate and send you some baked goods or maybe some fresh fruit or something, too. Just to shake it up. In case the flowers get a little old after a while. There are, but those shark geniuses aren't my second mother, so I don't worry about them as much. It took long enough! Now when people get shark attacked, we just go, 'well, it was hungry.'

[alejaalverez]

"Yes, I study the population of basking sharks that lives off the coast," she explained. "But in my day to day life, I generalize to educate people at my, especially because I have people skills many people in my field don't," she admitted. "Oh, isn't that always how it goes?" She laughed lightly.

”Yeah, no. Definitely not what we studied in school.” She smiled bemusedly. “That makes sense, though, being near the coast and all. Do you have any particular focuses in the area? I’m new, so I’m still learning the history and all.” Monique wanted to know as much as she could about the place she wanted to call their new home. “I have heard that before! I just never seem to find the right time.”

[alejaalverez]

"Oh, that's very true." She laughed. "Well, I'm specifically a marine biologist," Aleja explained. "So not a lot of the stuff you did in high school, probably. Unless you went to a very, very different school." She nodded along. "I just try to cut myself off by a certain time, that's the secret."

"I knew it. I feel like we know another mom when we see one.” She laughed. “A scientist? Wow. What exactly does that involve? I only really remember anything relative to that from High school — which was way too long ago, now. I can’t drink too much coffee, or I don’t sleep at night. I try to stick to two, max.”

[alejaalverez]

Yeah, I moved my darling daughter back to campus recently. How's your fall shaping up?

How’ve things been since I’m guessing school has started already!

[alejaalverez]

Flowers weekly sounds like the adequate way to show your love for me. Just make sure it's something big and send it to my work so I can feel loved. Well, I am a shark genius it's just that there's other shark geniuses out there, unfortunately. Yeah, and I'm very grateful for it. everything that Jaws did has finally been undone.

I probably do. It just might not seem like it since you're so used to hearing it, but if you want, I could send you flowers more often or something? Just to add something tangible to the whole gratitude thing, make you feel even better about the job you've done with helping to raise me! I'm saying that you're a shark genius, and no one will ever make me think anything else. That's true, I feel like there's been a shift towards people understanding that people are the problem, not sharks?

[alejaalverez]

You should probably be telling me daily that you appreciate me, if we're being honest with ourselves, but I appreciate it nonetheless. So you're saying I'm as smart as anyone should be about sharks, right? Sometimes, yeah, but I'm also impressed by how much good press sharks get these days.

You're a good person, making sure that I'm not sitting in jail for no reason, have I told you lately that I appreciate you? I'm sure that I have, but if I haven't: I appreciate you. I refuse to believe it -- or rather, I do believe it, but I think that those people shouldn't brag, since we all know that you're a sharky smarty pants. Do you get mad when sharks are portrayed bad in like, Disney movies?

[alejaalverez]

We'd bail you out of jail, even if you actually did something wrong. We'd assume it was for a good reason. Oh, there are people who know even more about sharks than me, if you'd believe it. I really only know about these sharks and af ew where I studied.

Maybe! Maybe it's something that you figure out as you go, too, you know? Although I would imagine something like that would also totally depend on the person and what they can handle, so who knows. But I am lucky to have you and my mom looking out for me no matter what I do in my life, too! I bet that if there was ever a shark Jeopardy, you would absolutely sweep the board with how much you know about them and love them.

[alejaalverez]

"Well, I do have a daughter, but she's grown now. I'm a scientist, so my colleagues aren't the most...skilled at fine motor skills." Aleja laughed at the idea, knowing full well that many of them lacked the most basic grace. "Oh, but coffee is a three or four a day thing, isn't it?"

"Are you a business owner, or something? That's where my mind goes to, or just the experience of being a parent or guardian. Feel free to correct me, I hate making assumptions." Monique shifted in place, finding the other womans offer humbling. Swishing the liquid remaining in her cup to get a read on just how much was left, the brunette found there still to be a good three quarts left. "It's a small loss, no big deal. It's my second one today, anyway, but thank you."

[alejaalverez]

"Oh, I've become an expert at dodging spills over the years," she said with a laugh. "So you don't need a new one?" she offered, "I know what it's like to lose your beloved coffee to an awful spill, when it's all you've been looking forward to."

Monique gave the woman an appreciative smile, thankful for not making it a bigger deal than what it needed to be, and impressed that she managed to dodge any liquid that had escaped her cup in the first place. “I mean, I lost a little, but not too much. I’m just glad you weren’t saturated with it.”

[alejaalverez]

Now, I'm sure you'd have managed to stay out of trouble regardless. I'd make sure if it, if nothing else. And your mother would too. It takes all kinds of sharks, I find them all charming in their own ways, and I'm especially fond of those that make up this ecosystem here.

I'd like to think that you're right. I couldn't be a bartender if I didn't, I'm not one of those people who would have good enough impulse controls to not get myself into trouble, you know? So I'm glad that I came out pretty much well-adjusted! Hm. I googled this shark… I do like his eyes. He has very big eyes, he's kind of cute as far as sharks go.

[alejaalverez]

Well, you turned out alright, as you said, so that's really all that matters. Plus, I think you have a healthier relationship with alcohol than a lot of young people these days, anyway. And you can still make a damn good drink. No, it looks like a shark, sorry to disappoint.

I can't decide if that reflects poorly on me or well on me, to be honest. On one hand- good that I made an impression, on the other I don't think an 11 year old should know how to make a really good martini. That's an acquired skill that you should know if you drink. Runner up shark? Whale sharks are the obvious one, but being in Maine, I've grown fond of the Porbeagle.

[alejaalverez]

Having worked most of her life with socially awkward science nerds and the like, Aleja had gotten a bit too good at avoiding spilled coffee and other less desirable substances. "Oh, no, I'm fine. Did your coffee make it out of the incident alright, at least?"

WHO: Moni & open WHERE: The suburbs WHEN: Late August, 2024

"Holy -- shit. I am so sorry." Monique apologised sincerely to the person she'd accidentally bumped into, hot latte in hand and seeing the mess that her divided attention had created. It was her own fault, but with Freya beginning at a new school, she wanted to ensure that she could contact her whenever she required. As a result, she had earned herself a mobile of her own, though it wasn’t anything fancy. It was the best solution she could come up with considering they were attempting to start a life in a completely new destination. “You’re not burnt, are you?”

[alejaalverez]

I can't decide if that reflects poorly on me or well on me, to be honest. On one hand- good that I made an impression, on the other I don't think an 11 year old should know how to make a really good martini. That's an acquired skill that you should know if you drink. Runner up shark? Whale sharks are the obvious one, but being in Maine, I've grown fond of the Porbeagle.

Pre-teen Stelly very quickly learned which drink you liked the most just by watching you and mom prepare them in the kitchen. Maybe I should actually credit you with why I decided to get into bartending, come to think of it. Although that kind of sounds bad. 'I watched the woman who is basically my auntie make drinks with my mom all the time when I was little.' True! True, I do have that going for me. Okay, that begs the question. What's your runner up shark?

[alejaalverez]

Once you get that first real taste, it's hard to go back to being back under your mom's watchful eye. Oh, did they take that as an opportunity to visit you at all? Because if not...then they just suffered sending their baby away for a semester. Mine's talking about it already, but that's a junior year thing, so she'll not start planning until at least a few months from now.

That's good to hear! Oh yes, being independent is a whole new step, isn't it? I hear my friends always talking about trying to keep up with their kids because they want to go everywhere. It's all a part of growing up, huh? I feel like that's what my parents said too, and then I went to study abroad and they lost their minds.

[alejaalverez]

You know my taste far better than any other bartender, it's almost embarrassing because I remember you as a small child. But that's alright, it just means we raised you right. It would take a lot to get in her bad graces, so I think you're set. Boring is perhaps one of the worst things you can be. I'd have to study another type of far less interesting sharks.

That's true! You would have to go to one of the many other bars in town to get something to drink, and you know that it wouldn't be nearly as good as what I whip up for you. So I guess that I will behave and do my very best to not get kicked out of my family. I do love my mom, I want to stay in her good graces as much as I can. Oh God, yeah. I don't want to be boring. I am okay with being many, many things, but I am not okay with being boring! Let's avoid that. What would you do if there were no basking sharks?

[alejaalverez]

I think she enjoys relaxing but she misses being more independent and around all of her new friends. Thankfully she's able to see some of her high school friends regularly. She loves it and I'm glad but that's...also pretty terrible. Don't let your kid go to college ever.

Has she been enjoying the summer break? I think when it comes to college, summer break's a good time to either forget about all the hard classes for a little bit or get a jump ahead and take more classes. I take it college has been an enjoyable experience, then?