Teal.

There were boxes everywhere; stacked almost to the ceiling as he stepped in behind her. The moving crew was just dropping off the last few, giving the girl nods of confirmation of the completion as they left. She offered her thanks, tipping each one individually after she took off her coat, tossing it on the forest green couch he had seen coming up the stairs a little while earlier. He didn’t remove his, following her at a distance towards the island bar that separated the kitchen from the living room. She stopped in front of a stack of boxes, eyeing it momentarily before she pulled off the top three, wobbling uncertainly under their weight. He went to take them from her on instinct; she merely shook her head and laughed before setting them on the floor and tearing into the next box on the stack. Wrapped in news paper, she finally produced two mugs and a tea pot.

She didn’t miss his gaze on the large, black mugs, lifting them with a smile. “Hope you don’t mind. I gave my actual tea set to my best friend as a parting gift before I left. Figured I’d have no problem picking up another one here. Is it going to be a problem?”

“None at all,” he stated, hovering next to the boxes as she flit around the counter and to the stove.

“You can take your coat off, you know,” she called over her shoulder.

“Of course,” Julian muttered, removing it and placing it lightly on the edge of the couch next to where she had thrown her own. She set the pot on the stove as silence set in, playing with the knobs for a few seconds before finally turning back to him. Her hands were on her hips as she watched him from across the counter, gaze strangely intent.

“So, what do you think of painting this a rich plum?” she asked nonchalantly.

Julian said nothing for a moment, carefully looking around the box-filled room at the bare walls. They were white; just the same as his own. He didn’t care about colors, a nice black-white-and-red themed his entire apartment. “Um, I’m sure that would look just fine.”

“Or maybe a deep navy?” she queried, leaving him unsure of if she was speaking to him or herself. He put his hands in his pockets uncomfortably, giving her a shrug. One of the corners of her lips went up a little. “Sorry. Tea is going to be a few minutes. I’ve never been good with this small chat stuff. It’s more like beating around the bush, isn’t it?”

“How so?” he asked.

She stepped back around the isle, between the maze of boxes, and past him to the couch. She sat down at the far end, nodding for him to join her. Julian remained where he stood for a few seconds, watching the girl uncertainly. She was difficult to follow, and he was beginning to wonder just why he had accepted her offer.

“You don’t have to sit, but you’re welcome to. You just look as awkward as the conversation felt, that’s all.”

Julian sat slowly, leaning against the corner formed by the arm and the back of the couch so he could face her. She was still blunt, still strange. But there he was; curiosity his driving influence. “What did you mean by that?”

“Well, you’re here because you want to know things,” she said. “And I asked you here for the same reason. So let’s go on and get to the point. I don’t like dragging things out.”

Julian nodded, smirking slightly. “Straight-forward, I see. So who are you exactly?”

“A writer, running from some things in my past. The U.K. seemed far enough away, on top of that this seems like a pretty good place for inspiration. I wasn’t going to pass that up. My editor wasn’t very happy about this, to say the least. I’m Teal,” she replied. “What happened to you and your girlfriend?”

Julian’s smirk faded, face becoming blank as she locked eyes with him. There it was; the reason he had followed her up to her apartment; the question that had been nagging at the back of his thoughts since he saw her standing in the snow beside him earlier.

“How did you know that was going to happen?” his voice void of any readable emotion.

“Ah, now there we go.” Teal nodded. “It’s really hard not to notice someone that striking. I saw her at the station with some guy, dark hair, tall, not really extremely attractive but he kind of had a presence about him I think she liked. I saw them kiss; and I saw the photographer behind them, snapping away. I’m pretty sure they didn’t notice. The friend I was traveling with left her phone in the bathroom at the station, and right as our car was about to leave she went running back after it. I just figured I’d wait for her at our next stop. You’ve got to imagine how surprised I was when that woman got off at the same stop as I did. It was just strange, and I had a bit of time to kill before my friend caught up, so I followed her. And that’s when I saw you two together. Then you saw me. Then you mentioned tabloids and paparazzi, and I remembered the photographer at the station. Things kind of fell into place with that.”

“You’re telling me it was all purely coincidence?”

“Or fate.” she shrugged. “It was something. I apologize for not telling you, but it didn’t seem like my place. But honestly I couldn’t stop myself from saying what I did. Now it’s my turn. What happened?”

“You think you deserve to know?” he said evenly.

“I think that’s up to you,” Teal stated. “I’ve already told you, I’m not big on celebrity gossip. I’m not going to go hunt down the information in the papers or online if you don’t tell me. That’s fine; that’s your choice. Truth be told, I just want to know how someone like you would react to that; how it would affect you. But again, it’s up to you whether or not to tell me. I won’t beg.”

A sharp whistling cut through the air, and both looked to the kitchen before she stood and went to silence the noise. He watched her remove the pot carefully before setting to make their tea. His choice; he thought. It was his choice whether or not he told her anything, and if so just what she knew. And she was fine with that. That hadn’t happened in a while. His fame hadn’t allowed for much privacy; generally his private life was tossed into the open without his consent. It was just there, for anyone and everyone to see. This girl though, offered him his privacy if he so desired it. He could share, but it wasn’t required.

He broke the silence. “We haven’t spoken.”

Teal turned momentarily, giving him the briefest of glances before focusing back on the task at hand. “Oh?”

“Not since the day the tabloids ran the story.” he paused, letting out a slightly off chuckle. “As soon as they hit the press, she called. My agent had gotten to me first, though. I wanted to answer, you know. I wanted to ask her why, demand an explanation, or something, but I didn’t. Right before I picked up the phone, I remembered this voice just telling me to let it go. So I did. I let it go, and it’s over.”

Teal stood before him, holding out the steaming black mug. He said nothing, taking it from her carefully. Other cup in hand she moved back to the spot she had previously taken on the couch.

“So you let it go,” she confirmed, stirring her cup carefully with the spoon she had left in it. “You’re stronger than I gave you credit for, stronger than most. It hurt though, didn’t it?”

Julian tilted his head back against the couch, closing his eyes. “After two years, how could it not?”

Why? He thought why is this happening? There was no reason to tell her all of this; after all he really knew nothing of her. She was a girl, a writer who crossed an ocean to run away from something, strange and nonsensical, prying and blunt.

“And you, moved continents and time zones to run away from something. I find myself curious what could send such a young girl so far from home.”

“Everyone has a past, and mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes yield reactions that…aren’t quite as easy to deal with. Can I offer you some more advice, Julian?” she asked politely.

He lift his head off the couch, readjusting himself to face her. He said nothing as he took a sip of the tea she had made; a citrus-y tang to it, with a slight hint of cream, and something sweet and soft, something he couldn’t quite place.

“What is this, exactly?”

With both hands she raised her cup to her lips, taking a small swig. “Earl grey lavender.”

“Not bad,” he commented. “As for your advice, say what you will. It was helpful the first time around, so perhaps you’ve got a knack for this.”

“When certain situations arise, and you’re caught a crossroads, you can either jump right in, or go about things carefully, don’t ever jump right in. If anything, you can never be too careful, too cautious.”

He hadn’t expected the slight bitter edge to her voice, the sudden earnesty that echoed how she had sounded when she gave his relationship its two week expiration date.

“It’s going to save you a lot of trouble, a lot of strife," she murmured.

“And where’s the fun in that?” He mused.

“Fun doesn’t necessarily mean happiness,” she said, taking another sip. “Quite frankly I’d much rather have the latter.”

They finished their tea without another word; Teal seemed fixed on the snow falling without any sign of letting up beyond the large windows. Julian’s eyes though, darted between the white world outside and the girl who had invited him up for tea. He didn’t know what to make of her, what to read from her actions and words. She was everything he was unaccustomed to, if he was being honest. There was an odd mixture of prying and privacy she seemed to levy with him; it was difficult to grasp, impossible to make sense of. But she was there, and she was strange, and not bad, just different.

Teal stood as the spoon clanked against the empty insides of her ceramic mug, reaching out to take Julian’s from him. He handed it over, but stood and trailed slightly behind her as she went to drop the empty cups in the sink.

“I’ve got to go,” he said. “There’s a script I’ve got to look over, and not a lot of time. Thank you for the tea, though.”

She turned, leaning back against the counter as she smiled at him. “No problem. Although if you do get bored at some point you’re more than welcome to come help me unpack, or paint.”

Julian returned her smile with an amused look. “It would be my pleasure.”

“I do hope you realize I’m not joking.” She crossed her arms, arching an eyebrow. Of course she wasn’t; and he wasn’t the least bit surprised.

“Well, in that case, nor am I,” he said grabbing his coat.

“Ha. Alright then, I’ll hold you to that.”

Julian stopped as he reached the door, she lingered a few steps back. Slowly he turned, and she just watched him, seeming to wait for something she knew was coming.

“May I ask one last thing, why exactly did you run away?” he inquired slowly. The reason she had given earlier was vague, and left questions. He couldn’t help it, he was curious; and given their conversation asking point blank was better than just dancing around it, at least in her eyes.

“You’ll find out soon enough, I’m sure,” she replied simply. “Don’t you have a script to go read, Mr. Giles?”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

She reached up, spinning one of her curls around her finger tip, the look she gave him seemed to confirm that no, she wasn’t. “I’ll make you a deal, when the time comes I’ll answer any questions you have about it. Okay?”

Julian nodded slowly, not sure what other options there were. She graced him with a light smile then.

“Good afternoon then, Julian Giles.”

“I look forward to our next meeting, Miss Teal.” he gave her a nod, stepping out of her apartment and pulling the door closed behind him. One flight of stairs later he was back at his apartment, in a mood he wasn’t accustomed to. He wasn’t sure if it was exactly better than what he’d felt the past two months, but it was different. He was amused, perhaps energized.

The script was waiting for him where it had been since he’d printed it out. For the first time in a while, he had the drive to read it. Hell, maybe even the drive to audition.

Maybe.