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[rafaelcb]

WHO: Rafael & @mxharleyhua

WHERE: Azure, coastal area

WHEN: springtime

No one would ever catch Rafael feeling ashamed about a little bit of self care. He worked far too hard to care about what someone thought if they saw him getting a manicure, or caught his name on the list of people looking for a hot rock treatment. And when his parents had raised him to take care of himself, look after his mental health, always put himself first... he took that to heart. Which was exactly why he found himself in a plush seat at Azure, waiting for the technician to come by and do his facial, eyes only opening when he heard someone else entering the room, recognizing Harley and lifting his hand in greeting, quick smile crossing his face.

[rafaelcb]

"Ah, hadn't even thought about wedding season, that alone could probably pay the bills," he laughed, shaking his head. If there was ever a time that someone wanted to look their best, it was probably the moment that they said 'I do' to their favorite person. That meant that they were going to want to stop by Sylvia's place to get in tip top shape to walk down the aisle. Or even just dance the night away ass a guest. And Maine -- Merrock in particular -- was a gorgeous place for a wedding. Whether someone was getting married along the coast, in the countryside, at the chapel, he wouldn't be surprised if it drew in people from out of town who relied on locals to get ready. "Nothing too wild," he pursed his lips thoughtfully, "someone is selling a barn that they converted into a house, but that's actually become more common these days."

Sylvia's head did a bit of a seesaw when Rafael mentioned how being busy was good. While it was true in the grand scheme of things, Sylvia also enjoyed the free time that came with slower periods. "Prom definitely kicks off busy season for me. There's the seasonal switch ups, and it's also the start of wedding season from now through the end of fall," she laughed. Just a little additional detail that made her life busier this time of year in between all of the other summer events to enjoy. Luckily, Sylvia enjoyed what she did. Hearing Rafael explain how summer was also busier on the real estate side, she nodded. It made absolute sense, nobody wanted to move in the dead of winter. "Do you guys have anything crazy, special properties or anything on the market right now?" she asked curiously, knowing Bardales Inc handled a variety of properties in and around town.

[rafaelcb]

The fairy tale ending that everyone believes every single person the planet should want is overrated -- happiness and fulfillment are what we make of them, I'll stand by that in fifteen or twenty years, I promise. It is a lot better when you genuinely enjoy your job, the people you work with, the town you work in, that makes everything a little bit easier to get through the tough times, too. Yes, but! Those Saturday open houses reach a good chunk of people, which normally means people get caught up in making higher offers if they fall in love.

We can check back in and see where we're at with that in another fifteen, twenty years. It's one of those things for me, where I think I'm lucky how much I have grown to enjoy the job. I would be a lot more miserable during those weeks if it was just a paycheck. But I do enjoy my standard weeks best, with the exception of Saturday open houses.

[rafaelcb]

It's amazing to see, isn't it? Now whenever I walk to work, I don't have to step over trash along the path through the park, I can just walk and not worry about anything. Things are starting to look bright and colorful, too. With people planting flowers and getting ready for the warm months that way. Of course! You don't want to fill up on one thing, or not have the space in there to pig out a little bit. Oh no, I think it'll be a pass for me -- I'm going to be there tasting everything, though!

You certainly deserve it! I think we all did a good job with the cleanup. The town actually looks so different now. But yes I agree! Especially when I know there will be food, and lots of it. Gotta make sure I’m prepared to eat it and probably try a bit of everything. Hmmm, I might actually be a taster! I think that could be fun. How about you? Are you gonna show off your secret great cooking skills to the whole town?

[rafaelcb]

MAY 5 - 11

If you had to choose one restaurant in town to eat at for the rest of your life… what would it be?

Rossi's. Next question.

[rafaelcb]

MERROCK TASK #19 THE TINIEST DETAILS

do they drive? if so, do they enjoy driving or do they hate it? or somewhere in between? Rafael drives; he actually enjoys cars and driving a lot, and has a decent amount of knowledge about them.

if they drive, where is their favorite location to drive to? Drives along the coast are pretty nice.

if they drive, do they own a vehicle? if so, what make and model? Rafael has a white 2015 BMW 3 Series, a red 2020 Ferrari 48 and a silver 1974 Jaguar e-type.

what bumper stickers do they have on their car? Absolutely no bumper stickers, on any cars.

what paintings and/or posters are on their walls? Most of the artwork in Rafael's home are abstract paintings or pieces that were chosen by the woman that he hired to design and decorate the space recently.

what is a song they listen to with the windows rolled down, turned all the way up, on the highway? Oh, absolutely anything by Duran Duran, it's a little embarrassing, but they're his favorite band. Notorious is probably his go-to.

is there an artform they’ve always wanted to try (glassblowing, woodworking, painting, ect) but never have? if so, what about that artform speaks to them? He's not really the artistic type, so probably nothing.

what time of day do they usually start getting sleepy? It depends on the kind of day that he's had, but he tends to get tired enough to think about heading to be around 9, it just doesn't mean that he will.

do they catch a second wind? if so, what is their method for catching it (napping, drinking coffee, exercising, ect)? If Rafael needs to wake himself up, he will. Normally he'll go with coffee, but he has also laced up his sneakers and gone for a run around the block to get his adrenaline going, too.

are they a nap person? if so, how long are their naps? do they set a 20 minute timer and wake up before it? or set no timer and wake up in the middle of the night? No, he doesn't even remember the last time that he took a nap.

what is the most obscure book they’ve read? The Year of Living Bliblically.

what is a book that interested them so much they took it with them to the bathroom? ... probably that one. But there have been a lot of books on odd law-related things, such as bizarre cases that he has read through in a night.

what did the air smell like during their childhood? Salt water and citrus, sweet lavender flowers, lime zest.

what is a core memory from their childhood that they look back on fondly and for comfort? One particular family cook-out, when his father's family was visiting, and everyone stayed up late, listening to music and dancing.

when was the last time they were held, and truly held, for several minutes? who was it with? Immediately after his divorce, when he went to Italy to visit with his parents, and although angry with him, they consoled him and took care of him. His mother held him a lot during those moments.

do they meditate? if not, have they ever tried? how did it go? Rafael has meditated in the past; it's not something that he does regularly, just every now and then if his mind feels really busy. He actually does find that it works!

how many pennies and quarters do they have in their couch? Not very many. He's a card over cash kind of person, and has a coin bank next to his bed, where he empties his pockets every night, just in case.

how dusty is their home? spotless, lived-in, dust bunny haven? Spotless. No thanks to him.

what is their favorite chocolate bar? Twix.

do they like their brownies fudgy or cakey? or not at all, and only want the crusts? Somewhere in between. The perfect brownie should be soft, but still break apart cleanly.

what's that one weird food combination that everyone else thinks is gross but they think is delicious? One time, Rafael and his father put together a lasagna burrito, and it ended up tasting pretty good, but he could see why people wouldn't think that a tortilla shell would go with pasta sauce.

where do they put their shoes when they come home from a long day? If his shoes are, for some reason, filthy, he'll put them on the rack inside the door. If not, they go upstairs and in the closet, where they belong, obviously.

after a vacation, do they immediately unpack or slowly retrieve items from their suitcase until its empty? Immediately unpack. Unless he comes home to an immense stack of work, or something that needs his attention, he would like to get everything orderly, neat, and back on track as soon as possible.

how often do they do self-reflection? Probably more often than people realize.

are they more afraid of being alone with themselves or with others? He's not afraid of either -- he's grown used to being on his own, but he isn't afraid of being with others; it's just not something he seeks out actively.

have they ever had a near death experience? if so, what was it? Not really, no.

out of all the subjects in school, which was their favorite? which one did they excel at? Sociology and political science were his favorite elective classes, but the class that he excelled the most at that was more 'required' was creative writing.

how many alarms do they have set on their phone? what is their alarm ringtone? One alarm. It's just standard beeping.

do they fart in front of other people? or do they hide their farts? Uh, that would definitely be a no on his part.

do they have to see any specialist doctors? if so, do they have a strong bond with their doctor or do they dislike them? No more than any other man in his 50s would. But he does have a good relationship with all of his doctors that he sees.

what is their favorite seasoning? He was raised with all of the typical italian spices: parsley, basil, oregano, etc. And he also had the added bonus of loving adobo and tajin.

what is their favorite sauce? Vodka sauce.

how spicy is spicy for them? (pepper, jalepeno, ghost pepper, ect) There is no such thing as too spicy for Rafael, he'll try all of it. But he doesn't do it if he knows that he's going to have heartburn all night, either... a man has to have some respect for himself.

how long do they let the dishes go unwashed? He doesn't; typically he'll wash the dishes as soon as he's done using them, or at night before heading to bed.

how much laundry do they accumulate before doing it? Rafael makes sure to do laundry at least once a week, so it's less about accumulating it, and more about doing it on a schedule. But he also will do loads when he needs to if he's worn something he needs again.

what shampoo, conditioner, cologne/perfume and deodorant do they use? Brickell for shampoo & conditioner, and whatever natural, but pleasant smelling deodorant he can get his hands on. As for cologne, he has a few in rotation, but reaches for Armani's Acqua Di Gio a lot.

[rafaelcb]

"Busy is good," he replied with a smile, nodding his head. And it was; maybe he was a bit of a work-aholic (probably too much so), but he believed that if you were keeping busy doing something that you loved and enjoyed, it was hard to ever see that as a bad thing. "And I would imagine in general, this time of year, everyone wants to change up their look, get ready for the summer season, right?" It was nice to start fresh, after all, he could see that for a lot of people. "I've been busy, too. A lot of people are looking to move during the summer, so we stay busy on that side of things."

Sylvia rolled her eyes at Rafael at the suggestion that all that mattered was what she thought. It was nice when others agreed with her too. But for today, the beach cruiser would do. As they biked, Sylvia kept up pace in line with Rafael in order to continue chatting. "I've been good! Busy, recently. Prom just happened, so, busy season for me! How about you?"

[rafaelcb]

I would offer you advice on how to keep it all organized, but something tells me that you are exactly the type to have everything color coded and in special folders and ready to go at the beginning and end of each class, so don't let me step on your toes! But also, take time for you, too. I'm the last person to listen comes to work ethic, since mine is pretty much, 'work until you drop,' and it's worked for me, but if your head starts to hum, go outside. Take a walk. and you know, one piece of advice… don't let anyone else know I told you this: attend open houses in another town, where no one knows you. Go see how others do it, sometimes it's even easier to learn by observing, rather than just taking classes. You and Cage can pretend to be in the market for a house, make it a date afternoon.

There's just a lot to learn in general, you know? A lot to remember, finer details on the tiniest things. Feel like no matter how many notes I take there's never really enough notes to take. I will admit it's something that I am excited to pass the course and then take a bit of a break before taking on any business courses. At least enjoy the summer, but there's another real estate course that comes up right after this one that I might take too. I figure the more under your belt the better in this case. I definitely will, probably as it gets closer to the actual exam I'll be asking you all types of questions, especially best ways to prepare for it.

[rafaelcb]

APRIL 28 - MAY 5

Do you get the paper? Digitally, or a physical copy?

Physical copies; one delivered to my home, one delivered to the estate where my parents live, and three delivered to the office, to be kept in the break room. We recycle them, don't worry. I also have a digital subscription, just in case I need a paper and don't have one on me at the moment.

[rafaelcb]

No kidding… I spent the last weekend of Earth Week really hustling, doing any remaining cleaning jobs I could see needed some attention, so trust me when I say that the Monday morning coffee definitely hit a little harder this morning, in the best way. Oh, absolutely. I always show up to any sort of function hungry -- if I know there's going to be food, of course, but then having to sit there and smell it all cooking for that long makes it even tougher! How about that bake off that was announced today, think you'll end up entering that, or are you more of a taster?

Ha, okay, I’ll take it. Mondays are always hard! But at least coffee exists to make it a little easier, right? Hmm. Well, that just means we’ll have to think of something and get creative. You aren’t wrong because that has happened before! Especially when the summer months roll around. Everyone is outside, cooking… that’s what I love about this town. The cookouts are all over the place! I am absolutely not complaining about free yummy smells! Yay, I am so excited!

[rafaelcb]

[rafaelcb]

"What matters is that you think that," he assured her with a laugh. Rafael wouldn't have dared, but then again, the idea of cramming his legs into anything that was going to make him look even smaller just seemed like a bad idea all the way around. Besides, he liked his bike. Probably didn't get to ride it as often as he would like to, which meant that when the opportunity arose, he hadn't hesitated to head downtown, make his way to the park, and end up next to Sylvia, but he wouldn't complain about that, either. Pushing off and heading into the fray, so to speak, he relaxed into the motion of pedaling along with everyone. "So, how have you been, Sylvia?"

"They can laugh all they want, the car is cute!" There were certainly perks to the princess car, though the initial reasoning behind obtaining the car wasn't exactly reason to be proud of. These days, it was more of a fun little ride to to jump into when going to pick up food or other goods from shops down the street from her home, downtown. "Today did seem like a smarter day for the beach cruiser though," she giggled, knowing well that actually riding around town properly required the bike over the car. As the group began to ride off, Sylvia looked over to see people on the move. "Might as well join in, huh?" she laughed, herself locking her feet onto her bike pedals, as slowly pushing forward.

[rafaelcb]

"Not a fan?" he asked, unable to help his laugh at her face. When she explained that she wasn't big on the taste, that it was only around the house for the good that it could do, he nodded his head with understanding. "It's not one that I would reach for when I just wanted to drink some tea, trust me, I get it. But like you said, if you need it for a specific reason, then I think that you're grateful to have it nearby and on hand." Sometimes it was handier than taking any other sort of medicine, or having to look up a home remedy.

A soft chuckle left his lips as he shrugged off the idea. "Now that it's warmer out, I'm sure that I'll be taking long walks, nice bike rides, long drives, plenty of me time." But his joy was tied up in running a successful business, seeing his clients happy, being able to take care of his parents when they needed it the most; he didn't mind working longer hours than most people did, truth be told. "One of the kids, or you?" he asked, wracking his brain for when the birthdays were, mentally. "And how are you feeling about him going into high school? That's got to feel…" he trailed off, grinning, "I don't want to say it makes you feel old, but."

Lynn couldn't help but scrunch her nose when he mentioned chammomile tea. "You know, that is only inside my house because of the fact that it eases the stomach when it feels off. Other than that, I will never be found drinking chammomile tea," she admitted to him, also to explain her initial reaction to the flavour that he had mentioned.

"Busy with work as usual, don't forget to take some time for yourself, Rafael. Outside of stocking up your tea stash," Lynn said with a chuckle. She knew the man worked a lot, maybe that came with the business he was in. But it was precisely what made her Lynn; she worried about too many people and wanted to take care of too many people as well. "I'm good, planning a birthday party. The family is good too, Theo hasn't gotten into trouble at the fire department, Riley is going to high school after the summer so there's that. And then there's Lilly who is just her happy self."

[rafaelcb]

I absolutely mean you, yes. No shame in it, I'm the same way, especially on a Monday morning after a particularly busy weekend, I feel like that's when you need it the most. You deserve a little bit of a treat, make it something… earthy. I don't know how you would pull that off, but if anyone can. It's a nice time, except it somehow makes you even hungrier, I think because of the wind carrying the smell of meat, no matter where you're sitting on the patio or in the yard? But it's good! No complaints. Of course, you'll get the first invitation of the season!

You mean me every morning when I would get my triple shot lattes? It’s such a good way to start the day. I haven’t been drinking much at all this week but I think I also might just treat myself. Oh I know! It’s wild to think that we’re getting closer to summer. Crazy, right? I’d love to try to cook outside more, I think that would be so much fun. Just being outside, though. Yes, please! That would be wonderful.

[rafaelcb]

"Someone might have laughed at you a little bit if you were pedaling around in a princess car," he agreed with a laugh. "Although it is still eco-friendly, so not completely against the whole earth-friendly idea of people being out, riding bikes, so I guess you're not too far off base." Still, bikes seemed like a smarter idea, or at least a more cohesive thought. And as the leader of the group pushed off and started down the road, Rafael looked over at Sylvia with a quick smile. "Ready? Looks like we're setting off."

Sylvia rolled her eyes in response to Rafael's comment about training wheels, though clearly amused by the teasing as she laughed. "It was either this or the princess car! One of them is a little more conducive to getting around town, you know?" She grinned, showing off her beach cruiser like a prized possession. The infamous electric toy car also a prized possession. However, the bike, certainly an upgrade.

[rafaelcb]

APRIL 21 - 27

What is one thing that you try to do regularly to help support planet earth?

I'm big on recycling. I've got bins and make sure that everything goes where it needs to. If I have an option to buy something a little more eco-friendly, I'll go with that, too.

[rafaelcb]

Rafael couldn't help his laugh when Aleja asked if he made them cook for him, looking over his shoulder as he pulled the pan of brownies off of the counter, setting them on the large kitchen island. "I don't make them cook for me, but can you imagine my mom being told tha tshe's not allowed to prepare a meal in this kitchen?" It was rather state of the art, with the newest appliances, top of the line fixtures. But still comfortable, hoemy in its own way. "And my dad loves to cook ridiculous large amounts of food on taco nights. Which ends up being tacos, burritos, guac, rice dishes, you name it," he pulled down four bowls, beginning to place brownies in each.

"Mhm." She shook her head, a bit more slowly than he did, as if to make a point. Despite the fact that she didn't like taking orders, she stood and followed him into the kitchen, immediately knowing to head for the freezer for the ice cream he'd stashed up there. "Do you do this for your parents every time or are you still making them cook for you?"