Vivian and Olivia

[Shy-Diapers]

Twenty three year old Olivia Wilson emerged from her bedroom still brushing out her long nearly black hair after her shower. She had gotten dressed in a white Tshirt and some purple denim shorts. She had a small build and was 5’5”. She was in her last year of college studying engineering, and had recently moved in with her best friend Vivian into a shared apartment.

Walking into the kitchen and dining area she was happy to see Vivian was also already awake. She sat herself down on a chair and smiled. “So do you wanna do anything fun today? We should probably get some groceries but I have no plans.” They’d only moved in together a week ago but had finally gotten fully settled and unpacked that they could start doing things aside from housework again, and Olivia was looking forward to it. 

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, you are right, we should buy some food and stuff," Vivian said.  Vivian was dressed in a simple solid blue dress with her wavy black hair hanging to her shoulders softly.  Her brown eyes focused at the moment to her friend who stood looking at her on this June morning.  The five foot ten, sometimes reading as five foot nine Latina descent lady was already in her first year of teaching at some academy more as a substitute teacher because of having just graduated not long ago and having just finished her first year with the school, and there being a few more teachers in the field than they needed.  

"Maybe we can see a movie or something while we are out, perhaps before we do the shopping," Vivian suggested.  

Her job wasn't always steady, but as long as she worked at least twelve days a month, she could get by, and most of the time, they did work her fifteen to twenty days because of someone always needing to take a day off because of personal reasons, being sick, having professional development, or other such things.  The one good thing about substituting, was that she was not responsible for marking papers or tracking student progress, so that meant she really only had to be at school at the required 7:50 in the morning until the required 3:45 in the afternoon whereas most other teachers had to be there from more like 7:30 to around 5:00 depending on how slow they were or how much they needed to set up for the next day.

This also meant Vivian would usually be home this fall not long after Olivia got out of school where she attended University most days.

Vivian Martinez opened a random envelope that she had been finally getting to that morning since they moved it.  It was a letter asking her intentions for the next year, and it had a respond deadline at the bottom that she should tell the district what her plans were for the coming year.  She figured she would substitute for maybe another year, and by the time she had two years subbing, the district should know enough about her that they would maybe hire her full time after that.

Even as a substitute, at this particular district, she easily made $225 a day she worked, and so she could easily afford half of the living expenses at their apartment together.  

Just a couple of months before this, her Ex had suddenly kicked her out and accused her of faking a pregnancy even though he had moved in with her long before she had gotten pregnant and then had a miscarriage before she was even three months along.  She was saddened by the loss, but as it was such a short term, it had not even affected her work yet.  Her Ex claimed she had said she was pregnant to try to trick him into marrying her, but that wasn't the case at all.  There had been no talk of marriage at all at the time, and he had moved her in with him nearly a year before that, but then she had recently found out his real reason for wanting her out.  He had been cheating on her for at least two months, just before she knew for sure and told him she was pregnant, and so when she lost the baby, it was the perfect way for him to dump her and blame her at the same time.

Devastated, she had no choice but move back with her mom for a bit, but her mom lost her house as she wasn't coping well with her stuff, and ended up moving into a place that took care of people in a fragile state, and so Vivian was almost on the street when she found her friend from middle school, still in college, was also needing to find a place but couldn't pay for everything on her own, and so they had decided to get a place together, and it solved at least most of Vivian's financial problems for the short term.

"I'm going to let them know I'll sub for one more school year and then hopefully they will let me have my own classroom the following year," Vivian told Olivia.  "How are you doing this morning?  Any dizziness or anything?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Olivia nodded. “Yeah that sounds like fun. I could use a chance to get out some.” She said with a laugh. “Being home all week unpacking and setting up has made me go stir crazy!”

While she was still a student, Olivia often worked at the help desk on campus. It gave her flexible hours and she could do her homework and study so long as nobody was asking her something. Over the summers she’d sometimes tutor high school or middle school kids in math to make some extra money. With being smart about her finances and saving throughout high school she was able to finally afford to move out of the dorms and into an apartment. It just so happened her best friend from before college also needed a place to live. Olivia and Vivian had been the best of friends throughout middle and high school, but drifted apart a bit during college since they went to different universities. They were still close of course but hadn’t gotten to see each other much in person.

She rolled her eyes a bit when Vivian asked about her dizziness. “I’m fine Viv.” She said as she set down her brush with a deep exhale. Holding her arms above her head to put her hair in a braid always made her lightheaded and short of breath. Vivian knew Olivia dealt with chronic pain and had been since getting injured in high school. She tended to worry a lot more about Olivia than Olivia did herself. A few days earlier Olivia had fainted randomly and let it slip that she often felt dizzy or lightheaded, much to the worry of Vivian. Olivia however insisted she was fine and always tried to get her best friend turned roommate to worry about her a little less. “You don’t need to worry so much.” She smiled though, knowing that Vivian meant well, so she wasn’t annoyed or anything. 

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, dizziness shouldn't be ignored," Vivian responded when Olivia said she didn't need to worry so much.  "I'd worry less if you took your health a little more serious."

She sighed.  Sometimes, she thought she was talking to a brick wall when it came to trying to talk Olivia into taking her health more serious.  

Vivian got up from the sofa and looked around.  She smiled sheepishly and went and grabbed a shawl she had left over a chair the night before. 

"We should probably clean up the living room area a little bit before we leave."

It wasn't really dirty, but since Vivian had seen her shawl on the chair, she felt like she had left the place go, and didn't like ever leaving the house if something needed to be cleaned up.  The shawl on the chair was proof to her, that she had not really done anything to tidy up the day before in the apartment.  Of course, she had just finished unpacking the last of her boxes the night before.

[Shy-Diapers]

“I’ve been randomly dizzy for years now. It’s just my normal.” Olivia said with a smile and a shrug. She was able to manage just fine most of the time if she pushed herself hard enough, so she didn’t see the big deal. Sure because of this she’d have times where she was just unable to do much, but that was only once in a long while.

“If you feel like we need to then I’m happy to help.” She said looking around. It seemed fine to her, especially since everything of Olivia’s in the living room was in its proper place. Then again she knew Vivian was more of a neat freak  than she was. “I honestly think it’s fine though. I mean we just moved in last weekend.”

[Ishigreensa]

"Well, getting started on a good habit will make keeping the house clean easier," Vivian told her.  "But it's not that bad.  I'll just straighten up a couple of things, and maybe you can check what movies are playing, if you want.  The stuff out of place is mine, anyway."

She smiled.

Vivian fluffed pillows, vacuumed, and picked up a couple of more loose things, and then she was done.

"Okay, did you find anything that looks good to watch?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Olivia nodded. She wasn’t going to tell Vivian it wasn’t messy if she thought it was. She hopped on her phone to look at movies and their showtimes.

“How about that Willy Wonka prequel? It’s playing in forty five minutes at a theater that’s like fifteen minutes away.” She suggested. “Or I can find something else.”

Once they’d decided on a movie, she went to her room to grab her bag and her cane. She double checked that she had painkillers and her wallet in her bag along with her other necessities such as chapstick, earplugs, and tissues. She was often over-prepared, but she’d rather that than not have something when she needed it.

Once she had her shoes on and a jacket for the theater, she sat back on the couch to wait for Vivian.

[Ishigreensa]

Vivian smiled when Olivia brought up the Wonka prequel.  The Wonka thing, after the first time of watching it, wasn't really her thing, but she decided to nod along since she didn't hear of anything good out anyway, and figured that if Olivia wanted to watch it, then at least they would be spending a little time together in a fun atmosphere.  The last week had been quite a lot of getting things ready to live, and just before that, they caught up briefly, but they were both wondering what to do to live, so this was their first time to really relax together in a while.

She grabbed her purse, her keys, and a jacket for just in case, and then went to the door to put on her shoes.

"Okay, are you sure you have everything?" Vivian asked her.  "If you do, then yeah, we should get going now so we can get tickets and popcorn and stuff before it starts."

[Shy-Diapers]

“Yeah I’m ready.” Olivia said as she headed to the car.

She climbed in the front and chatted with Vivian on the drive to the movies. It was nice being able to catch up with her old best friend.

When they got to the theater she climbed out and walked in with Vivian. “We can share a large popcorn I think. I’m gonna grab a large soda for myself. Do you want one?” She asked as they approached the front of the line.

Once they had everything she headed into the theater and found their seats. The previews were just starting. “I’m really glad everything worked out and we’re able to start catching up.” She said with a warm smile. 

[Ishigreensa]

As they drove to the movies, Vivian made a sad glance at the backseat.  Though there was no saving a relationship where the man was already cheating on her with another woman even before their kid was thought of, but she was still a little sad that she had lost her little one.  She shook her head and looked over at Olivia.

"So, I'm going to give men the cold shoulder for a few months and just make some space and time," she was telling her about needing space after what happened with the jerk.  "But I am glad we are together, because more than just a financial savior, it's going to be nice having someone to talk to instead of getting depressed by myself."

They pulled into the theater, and she nodded as Olivia talked about popcorn.  "I'm also going to get some red vines.  It's been a while since I had those."

When they were settled and the previews started, Vivian glanced at her friend with a smile.

"I bet you'd like that one, too," she said genuinely when she saw a preview about some other children's movie that was coming that summer or early fall.  Of course, Vivian wouldn't mind seeing that one.  She liked some kiddie shows, but she just never really liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as made into a movie from when she first saw it.  By the middle of it, it just felt like the mischievous fellow was looking for a reason to justify having mean things happen to the children that he invited to come via chocolate candy bars.  

As the room darkened and quieted, Vivian smiled and looked up at the screen. The movie was starting.  Looking at Olivia to see how interested she was in this, she smiled and settled down to just rest her eyes a bit.  She was sure she wasn't going to really like the movie, but it was fairly quiet and she could probably doze a little bit.

[Shy-Diapers]

“I think that’s the best thing you can do for now really.” Olivia agreed. “Take time for yourself and focus on you. You’ll find someone when the time is right.” Despite being single for quite a long time, Olivia was always optimistic about other people’s relationships and romantic lives.

She laughed and rolled her eyes a bit when Vivian made the comment about the children’s movie preview.

When the movie started, she was excited. She enjoyed it throughout. She knew going in it wasn’t a movie specifically for children. It wasn’t necessarily inappropriate for kids, but adults were definitely the target audience. It was actually pretty funny even for somebody like Olivia who didn’t usually like funny movies.

By the time the movie was over, she’d finished her entire large soda and had eaten her fair share of the popcorn. 

[Ishigreensa]

Vivian actually didn't mind this version of the movie.  It was funny, and as they were not really mistreating kids on purpose in this version, she was a lot more relaxed about it.

Vivina had finished her soda, though she had not eaten as much of the popcorn as she normally did.  She yawned as the lights came on.

"Well, I guess we should go do some shopping," she told her friend.  

As they made their way out of the seats, Vivian eyed the sign for the washrooms.

"I'm going to go," she told Olivia.  "I think a lot of people will be trying to get out and on with their days, so these ones are probably a lot less busy than when we got here."

[Shy-Diapers]

Olivia rolled up the bag of popcorn and headed out of the theater with her friend. She figured they’d snack on the popcorn later, or she could make a snack mix with it to not be wasteful.

“Okay I’ll be right out here.” She said when Vivian was heading to the bathroom. She didn’t need to go despite having had her entire large soda. While she waited she tossed out the cups from their drinks.

“So how do we want to handle grocery expenses?” She asked when Vivian returned and they headed to the car. “Alternate trips, split the costs fifty fifty, or some other idea?”

[Ishigreensa]

Vivian smiled when her friend asked about the food costs.

"Well, you are still going to school, right?  I think maybe we just pool all the money we have each month, and after we pay for things, then we buy groceries and split the rest down the middle.  That way, we are both able to get what we need.  I think I make a little more than you do at the moment, but without your help, I wouldn't even have an apartment, so that seems fair to me, and it's not like you are being lazy.  You are going to school when I'm at my job, so we are both working just as hard."

She smiled at her.

"We can re-evaluate what is fair once you are not going to school anymore, if that's okay with you."