#valentincflores

[cynthiasoriano]

     ❝ ⸻ Yes, yes laugh it up, ❞ she rolled her eyes as her friend laughed, and slowly her own amusement began to take shape. The orange demon had gall and gusto to break into her home, give Sookie some hell, and then come slap her on camera when she was in the middle of business. Not only that but in his quick getaway he spilled her coffee and scattered her desk. ❝ I'll never be able to talk to those people again, ❞ Cyn sighed.

Maybe she was being dramatic, but how did you show your face after such an event. The way they gasped. One of them even covered their mouth with their hands over the shock. It was mortifying. How had she survived all she had for her arch nemesis to be someone's tiny furball agent of chaos?

❝ Do you think that little orange dude is my ex-husband reincarnated? ❞ Decidedly, mostly because the event was funny in hindsight, and Valentina's humor was infectious, Cynthia was beginning to lighten up over the situation. ❝ Maybe he thinks he hasn't wreaked enough havoc on my life? ❞ Of course for that to be at all possible he would've had to have died. She wouldn't be of the wiser where that was concerned, as after the divorce she had refused to look back.

❝ I think you're right. That asshole just wants to watch the world burn and he's decided to start with my house. ❞ Cynthia shook her head and glanced around the area one more time before she started walking with Val. ❝ I'm a good person. How did I even call this kind of karma into my life? ❞ Then she looked at her friend with wide eyes. ❝ Do you think it has anything to do with the kind of people I give voice to? ❞

The confessional podcast often went dark. There's been a few times she'd had to take some of the submissions she'd received straight to the police so that they could do their work and track down those that confessed to crimes committed. Most were about cheating on a partner, a co-worker, or betraying someone. None of it was great stuff, and people obviously listened for the drama of it all, but sometimes Cynthia did feel bad.

❝ You're the worst, ❞ she laughed and walked along with Valentina headed to her class. ❝ You can't let me be beat by a cat. I can't even figure out how he's coming into my house. If we could catch him we could find out where he lives. He's a slight chonk so he's definitely someone's problem. I just don't want him to be mine. ❞ After a pause and wanting to move on from the cat, for now, lest she get frustrated, Cynthia asked, ❝ aside from the laughs I bring into your life, how've you been lately? ❞ There looked to be a glow to her friend that she rather enjoyed seeing.

Val tried—really tried—not to laugh. But the image of Cyn, mid-professional video call, getting dramatically slapped by a stray cat before it made a chaotic getaway was just too much. A snort escaped before she could stop it, and she clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with amusement.

“Oh my god,” she wheezed, shaking her head. “I know I should be on your side here, but I cannot believe he just—” she mimed a dramatic cat slap across her own face, biting back another laugh. “That’s some real villain behavior. Straight-up premeditated. He even waited for the right moment.”

She finally composed herself, though her grin remained firmly in place as she eyed the bushes where the little menace had disappeared. “I hate to say it, Cyn, but I think he’s winning. This is his world, and we��re all just living in it. He’s fully in his villain era.”

At the mention of class, Val glanced at her watch and nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, I was walking there. Figured I’d take advantage of the weather. So I’d love the company!” She shot Cyn a look, taking in her workout gear. “Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if your tiny orange nemesis is already back at your place, plotting his next attack."

She gave Cyn a teasing nudge as they started walking. “I’d say we should strategize, but let’s be real, we're never gonna outsmart that cat.”

[leylayilmz]

isn't alex your favorite new yorker? <3

❝ Hell yeah. He'll always be my favourite New Yorker as long as he treats my girl right. ❞ — @alex-caldwell, @valentincflores

[jiya-santa]

Location: Everything Goes Starter for: @valentincflores

She missed home desperately. Everything from her office in the hospital, her beyond comfy bed and her favourite pilates studio, but at least this town had a few things that didn't make her want to run away screaming. The yoga classes and the bakery being pretty much the only two at that point, so it only made sense to stop by the bakery for an iced matcha and probably something sweet that she definitely shouldn't be having in place of lunch.

Standing at the counter, trying to choose the pastry, Jiya was deep in thought as she took a step back to allow someone to go in front of her. "Go ahead, I have no idea what I'm ordering just yet." She'd have probably been yelled at by now if she was in a bakery at home, but the calmness of no one being impatient was a welcome unfamiliarity. Finally deciding on a raspberry Danish, Jiya moved to get into the line behind the girl she had let past. "Excuse me, are you the yoga instructor from the class just now? Sorry if you're not, I just thought I recognised you."

[emilmoreno]

If you could have a ONS with anyone, no consequences, just for pure fun, who are your top three? 😉

"Reina is really fuckin' cute, uh... Gen? Can I say one of my best friends? Eh, sure. Last pick, ... Valentina?" ( @reinayourparade , @genortiz, @valentincflores )

[nikoramsey]

     As his ex-wife rose to her full height, which, to be fair, wasn't a huge difference from when she'd been kneeling down Niko couldn't tear his eyes away from the new, closer gifted view of her. The years hadn't really changed her all that much. With the exception that she looked a lot happier now than she had when she'd been with him. At least in that last year or so of their marriage. Niko harbored a lot of regrets about that and perhaps that had been why his smile was weak in her presence. 

It was bittersweet. His heart still beat the pain of the loss of her while his conscience reminded him that their downfall had been his doing. The remorse that hung around him like heavy, humid air.

❝ ⸻ Oh, σκατά, that's right— ❞ Niko had actually forgotten or not really recalled that detail until just now. Seeing Valentina had taken him out of anything but the moment and displaced him. Looking at her face he could be exactly sure where he was. Given the immediate cutoff and Valentina leaving there hadn't been conversation about where she'd be going, just that she wanted a divorce and next thing Niko knew she was gone. 

What was throwing him for a loop was the coincidence of it all and he had never really believed in those before. ❝ My γιαγιά moved into a retirement home here by the beach. I come down to visit her, ❞ he needlessly explained. Valentina hadn't asked yet he felt it important to let her know that he hadn't been trying to intrude on her space. 

Seeing that positive movement of her lips eased a fraction of the awkward tension he'd been feeling. It was nearly jarring to have a surprise encounter like this with someone that was once your whole world and then gone because of his failure to keep her happy. ❝ It's definitely one of the best, ❞ he agreed of Casablanca, though Valentina knew it wasn't his favorite Bogart film. For Niko it was The Maltese Falcon. ❝ I'm just glad you hadn't forgotten the line. ❞ Why? Because maybe some parts of their marriage still meant something to her.

When she went for her cart Niko crouched and put his hands on the metal, ❝ here, I got it. ❞ The cart was righted with ease and he then collected the remaining items that had fallen out and scattered when the basket had tipped over and made it's crash against the grocer floor. After he set them in her basket, still smiling to himself over her mutterings in Spanish, he locked eyes with his ex-wife once more. He'd learned the language because of her, after they had met and started dating, because he knew it was going to be important. ❝ You've never been ridiculous. I think anyone would be startled seeing the ghost of Christmas' past, ❞ he attempted another spot of humor if it'd gain him anymore movement of her lips like the last time. 

❝ I'll, uhh, be in town for a few more days if you'd be interested in a coffee or a bite to catch up. ❞

Slowly, realizing how awkward it was for her to be on the ground looking up at him, she rose to her feet, unable as she did so, to tear her gaze away from him. ¡Mierda! Had he gotten even more handsome since they’d been together? How was that possible?? 

Having finally made it to her feet, she tore her gaze away before it became too apparent that she had been staring. Tossing a box of macaroni and cheese back into her still overturned cart, she shrugged, doing her best to appear unaffected. “I live here.” she explained. “Leyla’s from Briar Ridge and we both moved down here after…” her voice trailed off, it felt too on the nose, too painful to actually say the words, ‘our divorce,’ in that moment.

Clearing her throat against the awkward lump that had formed there, she pushed her hair over her shoulder before finding her gaze snagged in his, as he explained. Without her permission, her lips quirked upwards just the tiniest fraction at the length he had gone to to reference a piece of their shared history. “Well, you picked a good one, Casablanca was definitely my favorite.” And they’d had many a debate about it.  

Chewing on her bottom lip, Val was overwhelmed with an unfamiliar sense of not knowing what to do with herself. Normally, the brunette was so confident, barely thinking twice before acting. But here, in front of her ex husband, the ex love of her life, after years of dealing with the trauma of finding out the one person she trusted most had cheated on her, she had no clue what to do. 

Emotions warred through her, a surprising amount of warmth at seeing him creeping in on her despite the pain he’d put her through. But she needed to shut that down. Turning back to her disaster of a shopping cart, she considered it for a moment before leaning down and attempting to pick it back up. “¡Dios mío! ¿Es que puedo ser más ridícula?” she murmured under her breath, trying once more to lift it by herself.

[niaxbailey]

👐FMK: Levi, Val, Cam

"Oh. This is so easy. Fuck Valentina. Marry Levi. Kill Cameron. Bye, bye Bishop. See ya never." ( @valentincflores , @levibecker, @camercnbishop )

[rajendraxsingh]

starter for @valentincflores

location: the high school

"If it isn't my favorite person," Raj grinned as he walked towards Val in the parking lot of the high school. "I know, you can berate me for being late or," he laughed, holding up his hands in a mock surrender, "I can treat you to whatever dinner you want either out or at one of our places to make up for it." As if he weren't already planning on doing that. "I was having a breakthrough moment with a student and I just couldn't let that pass me by." Raj hadn't always been a teacher but since moving back to Briar Ridge, he had been. It was a newer passion still, but one that Raj was taking seriously as he advanced through the years of teaching high schoolers math. "Even throw in dessert for you."

[liviachar]

Top 3 contenders for a no consequences, no repercussions ONS?

"Welcome to episode two of who does Livia think is hot. No repercussions and no consequences. Probably very drunkenly with Valentina. Never tell her this tho. Kit, despite the fact I wasn't too kind the last time we spoke. And Benny. He's too close to people I care about to normally consider it."

@kitcastellanos @valentincflores @bellstrom

[alex-caldwell]

CLOSED starter for @valentincflores on the briar ridge beach boardwalk, afternoon.

When Alex broke off from Farrah and Emmy under the guise of using the restroom, it wasn't precisely true, but he needed a break. He loved spending time with Emmy, and watching her expression light up at all of the new sights and sounds. They'd become quite the pair in their time together.

And the day out, as well-intended as it was, just felt forced and awkward. They weren't a happy family, and Farrah hadn't expressed any real interest in being Emerie's mother for months until she randomly tracked him down and just showed up. All this had served to do was prove to him he didn't really know her at all. He'd crafted an idea of her, and ran with it while it suited him, then moved on when it didn't. So, in a lot of ways, he deserved her ribbing and digs, and the discomfort lodged in his chest like bowling ball nestled between his ribs.

But that didn't mean he didn't need a moment to splash his face with some cold water, and take a few deep breaths. Once he'd done that, the man squared his shoulders and prepared to catch up to Farrah and Emmy, until he felt a body collide with his chest, and then—

"Val?"

[mascncollins]

Where: Birdsong Park Who: @valentincflores

Mason had been busy trying to settle into the new house with Ollie and he felt bad that the toddler couldn't stretch his legs and him being stuck in the house. It had been a dream for at least a year now to give Ollie a house instead of apartments that they moved out of within a year or a couple of months. The two year old had been begging his father to go to the park all day and Mason finally gave in to him, packing up a lunch and headed to the park.

The playground wasn't too crowded which Mason was happy about because he still didn't trust Ollie's ability to run around the play equipment without somehow hurting himself and he wanted to be able to keep a close eye on him. He watched as the two year old had fun on the playground before calling him over for lunch. He took Ollie's hand and walked with him over to a grassy spot. He laid a blanket out and sat down, Ollie sitting down next to him and digging into the food his father had brought for him.

Mason was looking around the park when the world seemed to pause, seeing a face he hadn't seen in a long time. He knew he was staring but he couldn't help it. He swallowed nervously, nerves building as the person got closer. He cleared his throat and stood once she was getting closer. "Val...?"

[kitcastellanos]

for @valentincflores location: Briar Ridge Rec Center

Kit had bonded with his father over baseball, and even though that was a sensitive memory to have to recount, Kit still loved baseball. Every season, his TV was tuned in every time the Dodgers played. If the TV wasn't on, it's because Kit was at the Dodgers game in person. But since the move to Briar Ridge, watching the games on TV was the only option.

He was more than excited to learn that he had passed his love for baseball down to his oldest son, Miles. When they were still in Los Angeles, the two of them often spent time playing catch in their backyard or going to baseball games. Miles, now 7, was finally at the age that Kit believed he could join a team. He was in the process of getting him signed up for Little League before the big move.

Now in Briar Ridge, he had to find a way to keep his son busy! He'd seen the rec center a few times on their drives home from school. So this particular Saturday morning, while enjoying some one-on-one Dad and Miles time, they visited the rec center to get more info on potentially joining a baseball team.

The two boys walked in, looking at all the little things they had on the walls, peeking their heads through the fitness room windows to see if they could find someone to help them. Alas, they'd found someone who Kit really hoped worked there, or else he'd be embarrassed (to say the least).

"Hey there! My name's Kit, and this is my son Miles, and we were wondering if there was any kind of Little League in town we could sign him up for?" Kit spoke with a soft, kind smile while Miles held his baseball glove tucked under his arm.

[levibecker]

location: briar ridge charity masquerade sent to: @valentincflores

After still being unable to find a viable escape route outside on one of the balconies, Levi returned back inside the ballroom again. Surely, the evening had to be closer to get the raffle results over with at this point, right? Though he wasn’t sure he could actually tell at the moment. What he did know was he just needed another drink. His feet carried him in the direction of the bar again as he couldn’t spot a champagne tray going around near him currently. Another disappointment. A long line would likely remain at the counter. Moving past masked party-goer after party goer, Levi didn’t expect to be this stumped either. No one around that walked by looked familiar to him either. He kept footing forward despite the crowd, yet finding himself halting as an individual seemed to cut him off right in his path, starting right at him as if he’d pointedly hit a nerve with them. “— Can I help you with something?” He asked in a puzzled manner while attempting to squint a bit to try and guess who it was.

[nikoramsey]

     Maybe there was truly nothing to it. His grandmother had her superstitions and Niko humored her, it was just that his encounters with his ex-wife were too infrequent for him to leap onto the train that would take him to delulu land. The warning from his γιαγιά had been that he and Valentina had kept running into each other because there was unfinished business between them.

What a foolish hope.

❝ ⸻ Apparently it laughs while we're busy making plans and think we know what's best, or know what's coming. ❞ Casually, his hands slid into the pockets of his shorts while he couldn't keep his eyes from appraising her. Just as he did the last time he was this close. The years hadn't done much to her, Val had matured more but she looked happy. That was easy enough to see around the awkwardness—she was doing well.

When some color dusted her cheeks and warmed her flesh Niko offered Val some privacy and shifted his eyes off of her. A lantern was floating up into the sky, possibly believing it could reach the stars. ❝ Actually, that almost sounds serendipitous, ❞ he replied to her poetic comment of letting go of things you wished had gone differently, ❝ for it to be where we run into each other. ❞

That could be a very clear message. Perhaps it was time to let go.

In his perophery Niko saw Val shift and his gaze was drawn back to her. He'd been trying not to lean too much into conversation, or even lingering too long if it got incredibly awkward. The problem was that he wanted to be nowhere else now that she was right there. ❝ Uhh, ❞ with a lopsided grin he looked around as though his grandmother was in sight, ❝ she's with her gang somewhere and I broke away. Too much insistence from her gals that I date their granddaughters. ❞ A soft laugh followed and his fingers scratched under his chin. 

❝ You could say I'm in hiding. ❞

Val's breath caught at his words—“I’m just glad I’m here to catch you.” She hated how effortlessly he could still make her heart stutter like that. Hated how some part of her wanted to believe it meant more than it probably did.

She laughed softly, shaking her head as she brushed invisible sand from the sleeves of her jacket. “If the universe is trying to say something, it’s got a hell of a sense of humor.” Her tone was light, but there was still a weight there, a questioning in her spirit of what was life trying to tell her by continuing to bring Niko back into it?

Her eyes lingered on him for a moment longer than she meant to. He looked good. He always looked good. But it was the familiarity that got to her—the way he still smiled at her like no time had passed at all.

"Thanks," she said after a beat, letting a small, genuine smile slip through. “You look… good too.” God, was she blushing? This was getting ridiculous.

At his question, she glanced toward the sky, watching as another lantern floated higher and higher into the darkening twilight. “No, first time. Thought I’d give it a try. Kind of poetic, isn’t it? Letting go of things you wish had gone differently. Or at least trying to.” Her voice trailed off at the end, softer now.

She pulled her jacket a little tighter around herself and gave him a small smile—this one more bittersweet. “Anyway... what about you? Just here for the view, or did your γιαγιά rope you into finally checking out the sentimental stuff Briar Ridge has to offer, too?"

[leylayilmz]

LEYLA'S PERSONAL Instagram feed, featuring her favourite Turkish treats she's made and a cake she baked with her daughter Billie, her soulmate @valentincflores being a queen, drinks with her favourite fellow gossip girly @niaxbailey, her boy bestie @papaflynn being cute, and some selfies. She has plenty more pics on her feed of books and coffee, her two favourite things.

[gabevargas]

closed starter for @valentincflores location: val's yoga studio

There was a chill in the air as winter fast approached. The building was clearly not hooked up to the heat yet, as it had no occupants, which had Gabe rubbing his hands at times to keep himself warm. The footsteps approaching distracted him as he stopped inspecting the building to turn to Val, who he knew would be the one coming inside. She had hired him to check out the new place for her Yoga studio to ensure no issues.

"So, it looks good," he called out to her, his voice echoing in the empty room. Gabe pulled out a notepad containing scribbled measurements and bullet points about issues. "There are some fixtures and finishing touches I can do to make it more habitable, like fill in some holes and things... anything you want aesthetically, and then a lick of paint - that's it," he said, finally looking up at her to smile. "Should be a week tops. If you can put up with me for that long?" He joked.

[antoniasullivan]

WHO — @valentincflores WHEN — monday afternoon WHERE — their aunt's house

The person that answered the door after she'd rung the bell hadn't been whom Toni was expecting. She was far too young to be her aunt and mother's sister. Maybe she'd gotten the address wrong or the records had not been updated. "Umm, hi," she began, now everything she had wanted to say evaporated from her head, "sorry to interrupt your day, uhh..." Almost desperately her eyes searched around, wondering if maybe someone else was home or as if the answer of what went wrong would suddenly reveal itself.

"...are you the owner of this house?" As a stranger standing on their front step it was a bit intrusive but it stumbled out of Toni. "Sorry, yeah, I'm just," she looked back toward her car for a second, think she should leave, "I'm looking for my aunt." To her, personally, this was the biggest and most important reason for being in Briar Ridge. Even taking a backseat to the mission her father had her on because Toni had been wanting answers regarding her mother for far too long.