[an epic of] time wasted;

[Beau]

Armed with her infinite-sized ego, credit-card with an unaccountable record of purchases, and her brand-spankin’ new Gucci pumps, Bridgette sauntered from the Austen estate into the flashy Pagani Zonda Roadster, courtesy of Bindi and Frederic Austen. Luckily, it was an appropriate eighteenth-birthday gift and it wasn’t something to turn her nose up at. Besides, her Christmas present was already solid- a Bugatti Veyron. With this vehicle, men would not only be drooling at the sight of her, they’d be drooling at the sight of her vehicle.

Grasping the small note which held the directions to the nearest rumored outlet mall, she wrinkled her nose at its message. “Dear Skank,” it started in Beau’s slightly neat script, and proceeded with the directions. It amused her more than it pissed her off, but she wouldn’t admit to the crimson anger that her cheeks flared up. She tossed the scrap to the side and ripped out of the garage, leaving thick, black tire marks in the process. Beau would probably blow a fuse from the action, possibly faint when he saw the similar condition of the white pavement from estate to lane.

The directions weren’t too hard to figure out. With the limited amount of roads, well, frankly limited amount of anything in the small town, Bridgette found the place in a matter of minutes. Thanks to her excessive speeding, she was even able to nab a lovely parking space before an aged van stopped to back up into it. She swung the door open violently fast, climbing from the low-lying Italian car, and fixed her sundress, which was much too short to pass as a clothing article. More like an expensive scrap of material.

First, Bridgette’s face went from surprised to amused. Without hesitation, she opened her car door to fetch the small scrap of paper, double-checking Beau’s coordinates. When the address was confirmed, she reluctantly stepped forward with Gucci pumps, and clutched her bag closely to her dress. The store was significantly smaller than her family’s large manor, even the bottom level. She took a deep breath before entering the automatic sliding doors, feeling nauseated as the oxygen of the cheap, low-quality products seemed to push her from entering the premises. She hadn’t heard of the store, but it couldn’t hurt from looking, right? Looking slightly confused and scared she stepped inside the Wal-mart.

[Confuzzled]

SAY a PRAYER

[/font]
but let the good times roll
IN CASE god DOESN'T SHOW[/font]



<sup>A short blond pushed passed the skimpily dressed brunette in the stilettos as she made her way into the wal-mart. It wasn't that she meant to be rude by pushing past the girl, it was simply the fact that she was eager to get her prescription filled so her allergies could be put to rest. Lost in her own world she realized a moment too late that she'd just nearly pushed the elegant yet rather skanky brunette over, she glanced back, blue eyes pausing on the girls face "I'm sorry" she said in a mumble and turned to head off again, her gaze set on the pharmacy just a few feet away.

Black and white converse made quick pace across the dirty floor as she headed towards the pharmacy, a little too eager to get the pills. She was cursing her allergies right now, especially since it was hardly spring yet, they shouldn't be acting up. The sun had come out today though and something about the warmer day was driving her and her allergies bonkers. Blond hair hung loose, hanging long over her shoulders, a few strands falling into her face on occasion only to be pushed back to rest behind her pierced ear.

The young woman stepped in line behind a elderly man, tugging at her black vest, one that she'd made herself. She looked down at it admiringly and smiled a little bit, it'd turned out better then she thought it would and she'd almost convinced herself into selling it on ebay or something but at the end she'd backed out, she was too greedy for that. The elderly man stepped to the counter and the blond moved forward, scanning the place. It was only a matter of minutes before she reached the counter and she smiled at the older man behind the counter "August Jones" she said before he even asked. The prescription was slid across the counter to her and she paid, explaining she knew what to do with it and did not need the lesson on how to take the pills. Honestly were people really stupid enough to not know how to take a pill.

August greedily reached into the bag and snatched up the little orange pill bottle, her blue eyes widening as she caught sight of the pills. Well those were bigger then she remembered. She shrugged a little bit, deciding she probably couldn't swallow them with out some sort of liquid. She moved to one of the check out lines, snatching a diet coke from one of the fridge things that held different varieties of soda. She set the coke onto the counter, grabbing a few of the gossip magazines from the rack, she had to keep up on the celebrity news of course.

One person was ahead in line and seemed to have a ton of stuff. By the time August made it through the line she was cursing herself for having not checked to see who was ahead. Besides having loads of stuff the woman ahead of her was a total bitch. Blue eyes rolled as she was handed her bag of stuff and she stepped forward. She glanced down, grabbing the coke from the bag. She twisted the cap so it was open before she opened the little orange pill bottle, completely not paying attention to where she was going, running right into the same brunette that she'd brushed past earlier.

August squealed as she hit the ground with a thud from the force of running into the girl. The open coke went flying, covering both August and the unfamiliar brunette. The orange pill bottle went flying, the rather large white pills flying every which way. August's face turned bright red and she closed her blue eyes, not wanting to see who was staring or who she'd run into. How embarrasing... just what she'd needed...</sup> [/center]

[Beau]

After taking a single step from the sidewalk into the massive, cheap store, Bridgette was nearly knocked over. She sniffed, narrowing her eyes. The model wanted to cross her arms, her jaw jutting out with displeasure, but somehow this seemed too immature for an eighteen year old. Instead, she huffed as the impatient woman muttered his apologies, and took another reluctant step into the door, her piercing, venom eyes never leaving the back of the woman. She must’ve been in a sure hurry to get to the sale racks, hm?

After checking with several shoppers that she had the right store (ignoring the odd glances and reluctant confirmations) she crossed her arms. Though her jaw still stayed in place, she looked quite displeased. She turned on an expensive heel, rushing past the racks of poorly crafted, inexpensive clothing and materials. This place needs to be burned, she noted with venom, striding past a family of four and their cart full of what Bridgette would classify as kindling.

So this is what Beau thought to be an outlet mall? Then he wasn’t an Austen that was worthy of the name. If he enjoyed cheap hand-me-downs, then Bridgette would gladly point him in the direction of New York City’s slums. It was bad enough that they were located several miles away from the city itself, but it was even worse that the little village didn’t have a mall. In her anger, she didn’t bother to notice where she was going. With her highly advanced tastes, she managed to follow the trail of fresh air towards the exit. The air of the cheap was too stifling.

Glancing up, her eyes were met with another woman’s. They were oddly close- too close for comfort. Without realizing it, the two collided and something wet scattered over his sundress and the floor. With the lubrication, her heels gave way from beneath her toned figure, the woman’s backside coming in contact with the floor. With an exasperated “Ouch!” She sprawled on the floor; she quickly sat up, her hands flying immediately to her hair, face and chest to inspect any damage. She opened her eyes, after wiping excess soda from it, and looked down to herself. “Shit!” She muttered colorfully beneath her breath, and looked around.

Of course; it was the woman from before. Bridgette should’ve known. That bitch would’ve been in too much of a hurry to pay attention to where she was going, or who she was walking around; such thoughts filled the youngster’s mind immediately. And thanks to her, Bridgette’s sundress was ruined, and her heels nearly snapped. With a rather fake tone of voice (luckily, she had years experience and it sounded more real than an actresses’) she quickly went from butt-sprawled onto her knees. “Oh no! Are you alright?” She quickly scrambled to grasp the soda and stand it on its right end, to prevent any further leakage. “I’m so sorry!”

[Confuzzled]

<sup>It was too late by the time the girl moved to her knees and picked the soda upright, the diet coke was all over the floor and already employees were rushing this way to help with the mess. August's blue eyes opened to gaze the pretty girl in the face and she breathed in deeply, shaking her head a little bit. There was no way a girl that pretty, dressed that nicely could possibly honestly be sincerely sorry, especially when it hadn't even been her fault in the slightest bit. August swallowed hard and shook her head a little bit "No I'm sorry I should have been paying attention" she said, sounding as if she might just be near tears. Things were not going her way as of recently and she just wanted to fall over and have a good cry about the whole thing. She got a hold of herself and shook the urge to cry away, looking at the employees as they knelt down with rags to clean up the spilled mess.

August's face could still be found as red as a tomato as she picked up the large white pills one by one and dropped them into the orange bottle. She twisted the cap back on the bottle and sighed a little bit, she figured the pills would still work but they'd be rather gross now that they'd been on the dirty floor of the wal-mart. Oh well, she wasn't paying for another prescription, it wasn't like these things were cheap. After she'd gathered the pills she shoved the bottle into her hot pink messenger bag and looked to the girl, seeing her completely ruined dress. She sighed a little bit and shook her head as she slowly moved back to her feet. The employees had disappeared again, the floor left as if their hadn't been an accident. August pointed to the dress and bit the corner of her lip for a minute, the dress looked oddly familiar and then it dawned on her. She had the same one, a twentieth birthday present from her father.

August eyed the ruined dress with her blue eyes, sure her own dress of the same sorts was a bit smaller as August wasn't nearly as tall as this girl, or nearly as toned but she figured it'd fit just find. Slowly he raised a hand and pointed at the dress "I'll replace that for you" she said with a firm nod, as if she were going to buy the girl a new one. It was almost the same. Her dress hung in her closet back at the apartment having never been worn with the tag still attached, in fact it was still in it's plastic cover as to not be ruined. She wasn't sure why her father insisted on showering her in expensive gifts, mainly clothes and jewelry as she never used them. On occasion he'd get the idea and buy her a new expensive saddle or new tack, she was even happy with a new grooming kit on occasion but diamond necklaces and designer dresses were completely pointless.

She raised a hand to tuck a strand of blond hair loosely behind her ear, raising the hand then higher to adjust the black hat that sat on top of her head. As she awaited the girl's answer she took a moment to take in the young womans appearance. She stood tall on slender legs, not stupid chicken legs but nice legs, the kind that most men admired. Her arms were long and toned and her nails were done up perfectly. Her brown hair was shiny and August couldn't help but wonder if it was shiny like that everyday and if it was how on earth did she do it? Her skin was perfectly tanned, not over done and not faking looking and August couldn't help but feel a little pang of jealousy as she eyed her own pale skin for a moment. The girl's make up was perfect. August couldn't find a single flaw on the girl and she was beginning to feel mildly self concious.</sup>

[/sup]

[Beau]

Bridgette frowned when the girl managed to speak. Now, she had a hard time pretending she was sorry. Instead, the feeling changed for actual pity. She seemed embarrassed- Bridgette was more pissed than anything, but she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of guilt. Although it was a matter that could be easily shrugged off, one way or another, Bridgette was intimidating and probably made things a hell lot worse. She grinned now, completely shaking off the fact she was dripping Coke and her bag was sprawled beside her, somehow untouched by the liquid.

“It is fine, I wasn’t, either. So, that cancels everything out.” Smiling warmly, she gathered her bag and rose, carefully not to step on any of the employee’s fingers. Like the housecleaners she was used to, they cleaned the mess and scurried off to find other duties. “We are even.” Luckily, Bridgette was too occupied with inspecting her bag for any damage rather than noticing the young woman daintily pick up the pills from the disgusting floor. If she’d seen this, she would’ve commented that they would no longer taste like bitter medicine. Instead, they would have a lovely, savoring dirt base, with a grime and diet Coke kick.

Bridgette watched slowly as she pointed to her dress, and commented. She glanced down- frowning once more. The expensive blue fabric was dripping brown liquid, immediately losing whatever softness and bounce it had. Quickly, she shook her head and grinned a beautiful smile. “No, no.” She raised both hands to dismiss the matter after she drew her bag over her shoulder. “I have lots more at home. Free, from the company, you know.” She nodded with a soft smile. It was in her contract that she receive a new wardrobe, courtesy of the clothing line she was modeling at the time, every two weeks. “I think I should replace yours, though.” She shrugged, noticing the small wet stains where the coke had soaked her.

“It’s the least I could do.” Without any further hesitation, or answer from the woman, Bridgette reached into her bag and drew out a small, thin cell phone. She pressed a single button, no doubt speed-dial, and put the phone to her ear. “Beau,” She spoke quickly, not wanting to be rude to her little guest... person. “I need you to set up a pick-up for the drycleaners. Spilled some soda and I need two outfits cleaned.” The impatient buzz on the other line was rather loud. Immediately, her brows furrowed and her bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “I’m not a fat-ass. The pop was diet, you prick.” She hung up quickly, cutting off her cousin’s nasty reply. “Sorry about that.” Turning to the woman, she smiled innocently. “I have my cousin arranging for it to be cleaned.”

[Confuzzled]

<sup>August looked down at her clothes soaked in diet coke as the girl nodded in her direction. She hadn't even realized that she was just as soaked as the other girl. She was thankful for the black vest as if she'd only had the white shirt her thin form and red bra would be very apparent as white shirts became rather see through when soaked. She shrugged a little bit "No it's really no big..." but she couldn't even finish before she pulled her phone out and raised it to her ear. She listened to the conversation, her eyes growing slightly wider. How many Beau's were there in this small town. She was beginning to feel a funny feeling in her stomach, just great, this chick new Beau Austen and now Beau was probably going to hear about what a klutz the girl he'd hired was.

Bridgette clicked the phone shut and August smiled a little bit "Your cousin wouldn't happen to be a Mr. Beau Austen?" she asked a little unsurely. Just great, she run right smack dab into her boss' expensive cousin. She sighed a little bit, she wasn't sure she was doing any good in being here. Not just here at the wal-mart, but here in this town. She couldn't seem to do anything right. The only good she'd done really was being able to control Beau's horse but that was what August did, she rode horses, easy horses and difficult horses, young horses and old horses. It was like her nature. Outside of horses though she only seemed to be getting herself into more and more trouble by the second.

August sighed a little bit and folded her arms over her small chest, ignoring how sticky she was becoming. The diet coke was growing stickier and stickier as it dried and she knew that in a couple minutes here she'd be wishing she had a change of clothes. Actually as she thought about it she remembered she actually might have a change of clothes in her messy car, she had everything in that car come to think of it. She gazed at the girl and offered a little bit of a smile, she wasn't sure she really needed to stand around, they'd said their apologies and now maybe they were to both be on their way. She remembered the question she'd asked just seconds before, realizing she hadn't yet got an answer.</sup>

[/sup]

[Beau]

Snapping the thin phone shut, Bridgette tossed the device into her bag and readjusted the strap on her shoulder. She was too lucky this accesory didn’t get soaked- the expensive material would’ve been a bastard to get fully clean. Not to mention it was her first, and now last, time sporting it. Oh well; with her payroll, she could easily afford several more. Along with the shoes- which now had a flimsy heel; it was nearly on the verge of snapping clean off. Oh well, what could be replaced, would be. She’d get Beau to drive with her to New York to pick up a few more pairs. After all, what was a cousin worth if he didn’t drive her around?

At the mention of her cousin’s name, she peeled a smirk and nodded. Her threaded eyebrow arched, as though she couldn’t believe it. “Yes! Do you know him?” Slightly surprised, Bridgette crossed her arms to see how the woman knew of her cousin. So maybe Beau wasn’t a cheapskate after all. Who knew- maybe he was out flashing his cash around like a true Austen. But then again, the town’s small size was another factor. Maybe a friend of his said ‘hi,’ and the fad went on from there. “I didn’t think anyone would know of him, yet.” She chuckled; obviously Beau wasn’t too high in her standards.

Without reluctance, she opened a bombard of questions. “If you don’t mind me asking, did you date him or something?” That was a very... Beau thing to do. He’d pretty much invented the term, ‘fuck and chuck’ back in Germany, or so she’d heard. But she wouldn’t blame him- the girl was pretty and it was expected of him. Seeing the girl shift awkwardly, she slowly changed the subject. “Did you need a ride somewhere?” She asked, “I should probably give you some clothes,” She noted her sticky ensemble. “You know, to pay you back for that accident.”

[Confuzzled]

<sup>August laughed a little bit at the question that followed and her head quickly shook "No I didn't date him" she said quite quickly as if to get the point across fast before the girl got the strange idea that they had been together. August considered telling her her reasons for not dating the young man but she figured that this girl was quite a bit like him and if she proceeded to list facts like he's too full of himself or he only loves his money. These were not qualities that August was particularly fond of. When she went and got herself a man she liked them to be full of her and think more highly of her then they did their money. She shifted her weight awkwardly as she decided none of this would be appropriate to say to the girl.

The young woman breathed in deeply, she figured she really ought to at least explain how she knew the girl's cousin. She smiled a little bit "I actually work for Beau" she said with a tiny little nod. She knew that the girl would probably not be impressed by that fact. She wasn't some friend of Beau Austen's, no, instead she worked under him. She listened to his every command and did as he said, at least when it came to horses. As she thought about it she came to the realization that she actually hadn't seen Beau in some time. His word was always passed down through barn hands or trainers as to who he wanted her to ride that day and who he didn't. Since that first day she'd ridden his crazy horse several more hands and she seemed to have the stud wrapped around her finger...most of the time.

August's mind was taken from the subject as her attention fell to her sticky clothes and slowly she shook her head "Oh no.. I have extra clothes in my car" she said with a shrug. She wasn't sure weather the girl was truly being kind or if she just acted kind so she wouldn't ruin her name. She knew the rich sorts, she knew how they rolled. They could act with the best of them and they'd do anything to keep from getting bad publicity to their name. Although as they say no publicity is bad publicity. She shrugged a little bit and offered a smile to the girl, she hoped she wasn't being rude in declining the girl's offer for clothes but quite frankly she didn't really feel like wearing pity and that's all these clothes would be.

Slowly a hand extended as August realized she hadn't yet introduced herself. She wasn't sure if the girl was big on shaking hands but she didn't care. If the girl would raise her hand she'd grasp it and give it a firm shake "August Jones" she said with a little bit of a nod. She smiled slightly, doubting the girl knew anything about horses so she doubted she'd recognize the name. Even if she had known horses she probably still wouldn't recognize the name as August was known more as AJ and her Jockey self. She let her hand fall back to her side, gazing at the girl with a friendly stare.</sup>

[/sup]

[Beau]

Quickly, Bridgette grinned at her reply. Now, that was the sort of response she liked. Anything that seemed to ruin Beau’s reputation was enough to please her. It resembled a competition or something between the two. When one failed, the other instantly succeeded. “Oh really? Well, that’s something new.” She giggled, rather taken with the fact that the woman hadn’t been with Beau yet. She had only a matter of time, Bridgette assumed, before she was twisted around Beau’s little finger like every other woman he’d met. “But, don’t listen to me. I’m giving him a bad rep.” She grinned. Frankly, she didn’t care if Beau’s reputation went down in flames. His pain was her pleasure.

Ignoring her awkward shift change, Bridgette lifted the tote further up her shoulder. Her eyes widened considerably when August announced her position in Beau’s friends list. Beau... worked?! That was very un-Austen like. In disbelief, she was quite taken aback. “Wait...” She said, running through the words a few more time in her pretty head. “Beau... works?” Her grin faded, to a plump line of awe. “I never knew that.” Even Bridgette wasn’t employed. She preferred to think her modeling was more of a past-time. Strutting down runways and during photo-shoots was more of a delicacy than an occupation.

Slightly disheartened as her offer was declined, she shook her head. “Alright.” She smiled warmly, soon after extending her hand for a proper greeting. Bridgette would much rather be known as ‘Ms. Austen’ over the ‘girl who got soda spilled all over her and slipped in the Wal-Mart store.’ “Bridgette Austen.” She smiled once more with unnecessary warmth, giving a small toss of her hair as a girl spilled in front of a hazel eye. Her smile only grew wider at the sound of August’s name. Now, she recognized that. Her liking for the woman immediately built up.

“August Jones?!” She said in disbelief. “Holy cow, I didn’t even recognize you.” She nodded, “Beau’s horse was against yours; I remember now.” She faintly recalled one of the only family events where Bridge met Beau. To Beau’s dismay, his own Thoroughbred lost to August’s mount. “I must say, Beau has never been that mad.” She giggled, hoping she could spill some dirt on her beloved cousin. “Thank you so much for letting me see his misery like that.” Bridgette couldn’t believe she went from looking at this woman in disgust to nearly having tears of pride in her.

[Confuzzled]

<sup>August's blue eyes widened slightly when the girl nearly squealed her name and she laughed a little bit. She was surprised by the girl's reaction, she knew she was a good jockey, but was she really THAT great? Slowly a grin slid across August's gloss covered lips as Bridgette explained what the situation had been. She wasn't sure which race exactly Bridgette was speaking of, she'd done so many she couldn't keep track although now come to think of it the last name Austen did sound oddly familiar. She shrugged a little bit, it really hadn't been anything, it was what she was trained to do. She was trained to get the horse to run across the finish line first, that was the way things went. It wasn't like she purposefully pissed off Mr. Austen although now that she thought about it she couldn't help but smile over the small fact.

August laughed a little bit as Bridgette went on and she let another shrug come over her shoulders "I just did what I was there to do" she said with a grin. Win. That was the only word that meant anything to August when it came to the topic of races. She was there to win and nothing else. Sure she failed at this task at times but it was rare. Sure the horse's she rode had some part in it but August liked to think that she could hope on any horse and win a race. She'd never actually attempted this but she figured someday she would. She'd from time to time considered entering her own filly in a race, the filly really wasn't that talented when it came to the track but August and her high ego when it came to racing liked to think that even on the filly she could win. Sure it was probably far from reality but she liked to brag.

A frown covered the young woman's face as she felt a sneeze about to take her captive for a moment. She raised a arm and she sneezed into her arm, shaking her head a little bit. She was about ready to brutally murder her allergies. She looked down at herself still soaked in sticky diet coke and she looked to Bridgette with the smallest of smiled "I've got to get out of these clothes. Shall we?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the exit. She knew she had semi clean jeans waiting for her in the backseat of her car and at least a tank top in the trunk. Sure it was a little chilly but she made a habit of keeping a hoodie in her car at all times so that took care of that. She took a tiny side step in the direction of the exit and looked at Bridgette curiously, wondering if she'd agree.</sup>

[/sup]