[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

The last few days had been extremely positive, and Ashley was starting to get the feeling that things were all about to fall into place. A song from an old EP had suddenly blown up in a small corner of the internet and she was starting to get hints from her manager that McKenna Chase was on the verge of going global. Okay, so her days had been saturated with meetings, which meant less time in studio, but at least the meetings had been exciting for the most part. At one point they were even discussing how to do her branding in Japan. Japan!

Of course, it wasn’t like she was about to become an international star overnight, but she was getting recognised across a slightly broader range of audiences now. It was encouraging and made her feel like the world was out there for the taking.

She’d decided to spend the morning of her well-deserved day-off chilling with her parents, followed by a quick visit to Will to see if he fancied going out for coffee. Her original afternoon plans had been to hang out with a few friends from high school but they had all dropped out last minute. Two of them had work to do, apparently, and the third was having to step in as an emergency babysitter for her sister. Lame, but Ashley was sure to find something else to do. It was a shame though, she’d really been looking forward to taking a little break from the constant rush of her professional life (fun though it was) and just chill out with the girls. There’d even been talk of fro-yo and mini golf… sigh. It wouldn’t be quite the same on her own. Maybe she’d hit the gym instead.

Will was still on that crazy case of his. It was in equal parts terrifying and amazing, with the added information that Will himself seemed to have developed powers. Once Ashley had finished freaking out and he had explained as best he could, he reluctantly informed her that he had some place to be. It was connected to the situation in some way – she could tell – so Ashley let him go. She would have liked the opportunity to ask him how his date with Charlie went but that could definitely wait.

She just had to make one last-ditch attempt to fill her day with socialisation, not that she was expecting anything from Will. He was a lot older and not the hugest social butterfly. He’d cut himself off from his dad, of course, but maybe there was a distant cousin on that side or something that could be magically perfect for Ashley to befriend? Or maybe like… someone super young from SFPD that he’d gotten along with?

“Hey… before you go, um… Okay, this is a weird question, but do you know anyone who might like to hang out with me today? Everyone I know here is either busy, out of town, or somebody that I work with.” She pulled a sad face. “Anyone at all?”

What she had not expected was for Will to think of somebody. Especially somebody who actually seemed to tick all the boxes.

She approached the buzzer of the unfamiliar apartment building, praying that she’d remembered the correct address. She was weirdly excited.

“Uh, hi! So, like… Are you Alice?”

Ashley took a deep breath, smiling before continuing.

“My brother said you’d be cool to hang out with, sooo here I am!”

Alice Morrow

581 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

It had been an odd request. That was probably a fair way of putting it, if not entirely accurate. It had been outright strange. Will had called her and asked if she was busy, thinking that it might have something to do with powers of course she'd said yes. It hadn't, as it had turned out. Will's sister was in town and he was running down a lead. She'd asked if he had any friends she might like to hang out with. That in itself must have been a strange experience, a twenty year old asking her forty year old brother if he knew anyone her age. Alice smiled at the thought; this Ashley really must have been desperate. Still, Alice hadn't really had any plans today other than practising with her powers and playing a few video games. She'd hit a wall with her powers anyway. She was sure she could do more, had the feeling that there was a potential bubbling away under the surface. It was locked away though, so much of her ability seemed instinctive, automatic. She hadn't managed to fully extend control around it though. She couldn't hold onto any energy, she was a one trick pony. All she did was absorb it and then fire it back out again. There seemed to be no limit to what she could absorb, at least not yet, but she was hesitant to step out in front of a car to see if she could absorb that. Dominic could control how much voltage he released, why couldn't she do the same with kinetic energy? There had to be some key to it. Maybe things would make more sense if she spent some time thinking about something else. Alice was yanked out of her reverie by the buzz of the apartment phone. It only took her a moment to reach over to plastic device mounted to the wall. She hit the button to answer and listened as an enthusiastic voice burst from the tinny speaker. "Yeah I'll be right down!" She hung up and grabbed her bag, taking a moment to look around the small apartment. She would rather not show it off. It was tiny and old, with cracked walls and flaking paint. It was home, but it wasn't a particularly pleasant one. About the only things it had going for it were its tiny kitchenette and the low rent. She stepped out of the door to greet the girl who looked vaguely familiar. "Hey! I'm Alice, you must be Ashley..?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

The very first impression that came to mind as Alice let herself out the door to greet Ashley was that her hair was the exact same colour as Ashley’s nails. It was freaking awesome, and she was having to hold back from grabbing hold of Alice’s head to compare shades of blue. She hadn’t really known what to expect beyond the fact that they were the same age. She was mostly just relieved that she’d got the right apartment, but also feeling pretty optimistic about how her day was going to pan out.

“Yah, Will’s baby sister,” she said with a grin. “Thank you so much for agreeing to baby-sit me on such short notice, I promise it’ll be super fun!”

Should they shake hands? Hug? Ashley hung back for the moment, hands stuffed into the back pockets of her jeans until she could figure out what to do with them. She pulled her phone out from her bag and pulled up the list of potential things-to-do that she’d created on her way over.

“I was just thinking of some stuff we could do before lunch, nothing crazy…” She scrolled down the list, scrutinising each item carefully, trying to figure out what Alice might want to do. She seemed pretty alternative, but it was too early to tell. For now, they needed to just do something general, something everyone liked…

“Fro-yo?” Ashley suggested, looking up to Alice with a hopeful expression. “We could try and find a Yogurtland or something. Go for a walk, eat our weight in fro-yo. If you like frozen yogurt.”

She laughed, freeing one of her hands to slap herself on the forehead.

“Duh! Who am I kidding, everyone likes fro-yo, right?”

In spite of this statement she kept watchful eyes on Alice, gently praying that the other girl would be in agreement. C’mon, she had to like it. Even Ashley’s dad liked frozen yogurt, and before he tried it he’d called it “healthy stuff pretending to be ice cream”. She wondered if Will was a fan – she’d have to take him out for some sometime.

Alice Morrow

350 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

It was a little awkward as Alice appeared through the door. She wasn't sure quite how she should greet Ashley. A hug seemed too familiar, a handshake too formal. Alice settled in the middle with a little wave. She immediately regretted it. "That's ok, I didn't really have much else to do…" Real smooth. If she could have glared at herself she would have done. "Sorry! I mean… um… I wasn't like super busy uh… and ummm…" She trailed off, flushing red with embarrassment at her faux pas. She was intensely relieved when the conversation moved on to something that she was far more comfortable talking about. "No. Sorry. There's no way I could let you go to some chain for fro-yo, not when the most heavenly creation known to man is just round the corner." She started walking, heading off down the street to a place that she frequented when she had a little more disposable income. Right now with less shifts and an enormous hospital bill it wasn't somewhere she could spend much time. Still, they knew her well enough and if Ashley wanted fro-yo then Alice would never forgive herself if she allowed the other girl to pass up this opportunity. "Come on. You'll love this place."

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ooh, a wave! Now that was a good idea. Ashley beamed broadly in response, bouncing up onto her toes a couple of times. “Dude, don’t apologise, I’m really grateful that you’ve decided to spend your free time with a total stranger, okay?” Alice was glowing a hearty shade of red, so Ashley was relieved to watch it fade once the conversation had moved on. She hadn’t wanted to make the girl uncomfortable already.

Her heart dropped for a brief moment at Alice’s blunt refusal, smile only returning to her face once Alice elaborated.

“Alice!” she scolded. “You scared me!” She giggled, stepping back to let Alice lead the way to this “most heavenly creation”. As a low-key coffee shop snob, Ashley was secretly pleased that Alice had a better alternative away from the usual chains. Not only was it bound to be better value, but it probably had a much nicer atmosphere. Almost definitely, if Alice was singing its praises.

She moved quickly to keep up with Alice, noting that there was actually a fair difference in height between the two of them. Not much, but enough to make Ashley look up a little when talking.

“So how do you know my brother, Alice? Are you like… his secret illegitimate daughter or something?”

Will had been vague, so it was always a possibility, although somehow Ashley didn’t think he was quite capable of keeping a child hidden from her. He probably wasn’t even capable of lying to her about what he had for breakfast. Still, it seemed pretty random that he and Alice knew each other, let alone that they were good enough friends for him to successfully throw his sister at to entertain.

“I hope they have strawberries. If they don’t have strawberries I swear I am walking right back out again. I have a craving that can only be satisfied by the sweetest of strawberries!”

Alice Morrow

317 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

At least Ashley had brushed over Alice's embarrassment, and she felt the heat leave her face rapidly as the conversation moved onto the million dollar question, if only. It was awkward as well, Alice really didn't know how much Ashley knew. Had Will told her about the powers that they'd manifested? About the Doctor? Did she even know about the accident? Alice assumed that it was safe to talk about the accident at least. That had been on national television and they'd been in the hospital for a week. Surely Ashley knew that Will had been involved somehow? "I uh… was in that accident, we ended up in neighbouring wards so uh…. That's how we know each other. No secret daughters or questionable relationships. Just coincidence I guess." Then at least they could talk about something far more important. Fro-yo. "Pfffft. Please. They've got strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries. Any kind of berry you could imagine. And loads of other stuff as well… It is the single greatest fro-yo shop ever. Just saying." She led the way, and in only took a few minutes for them to reach the store. It was small, and clearly not the most expensive property, but even so it was lively, vibrant and immaculately clean. Currently it was populated by a young couple waiting for their order and a swarthy middle-aged man who flashed a toothy grin at Alice as she entered. "Alice! It's been a while!" His accent was thick, but he spoke almost perfect English. It was also evident that Alice was something of a regular here, and that the man had a good memory for his customers. "Who is your friend?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Ashley’s eyes widened a little, but she wasn’t really sure what to say. Will had told her that there were five others who’d survived the accident in the same miraculous way that he had – it was possible that Alice was one of those five. He’d mentioned a few names of people who’d also developed superpowers but she was pretty sure Alice hadn’t been one of them, so she couldn’t be certain. Regardless, probably best not to bring it up right now. It was a pretty private topic, and there was fro-yo to be enjoyed.

“Please, Will barely handles relationships period, let alone questionable ones,” she laughed, sticking her tongue out. She felt mean, but she knew that the same sentiment applied to her as well. Their poor mother was definitely going to go without grandkids at this rate.

They entered the store, Alice’s enthusiastic endorsements still echoing in Ashley’s head and feeding her appetite. It was pretty cute – obviously not the nicest building but they did well with the space they had – with an infectiously energetic atmosphere and proud, shiny surfaces. Alice was right, they had a bountiful selection of toppings that definitely included strawberries. There was so much choice, in fact, that Ashley was a little paralysed in her decision-making process.

The guy at the counter was delightfully charming, welcoming Alice like a fond old uncle. It was obvious that he took great pride in his work and that he did it well.

“Hi,” Ashley said, her little wave an almost exact (accidental) copy of the one Alice had made earlier. “I’m Ash. I’m here for strawberries and what Alice here referred to as "the most heavenly creation known to man". No pressure,” she added, grinning as she leant against the counter. She was sure he’d love to hear that someone had been promoting his business, even more so when that someone was obviously a well-loved regular.

Her eyes wandered over the topping options once more. Kiwi! Melon! Oh man, so many decisions.

“What are you gonna get?” she asked, looking across to Alice.

Alice Morrow

345 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Anatolios was a first generation Greek-American, with the swarthy skin, thick uncontrollable hair and heavy accent to prove it. His shop had been here for only a year or so, but already it was one of Alice's favourite establishments. The huge selection of fresh fruit and other toppings gave it an edge on many of the chains, but that wasn't what made it the best. That was the not so secret ingredient. Where most frozen yoghurt places used just that, Anatolios used frozen Greek yoghurt ensuring a taste and a freshness that the big chains just couldn't compete with. "I'm getting blueberries, coconut and honey." Anatolios finished serving the couple, and they took their two generous servings of yoghurt before heading out of the store. He smiled as he moved along the counter to his regular and her guest. "A good choice, I just got some new honey in as well, from Crete. It makes the old stuff taste like cheap corn syrup." He begin to carefully construct Alice's order, scooping a substantial amount into a pot before he added fresh blueberries and coconut shavings. He drizzled honey over the top of the whole thing before setting it on the counter and turning to Ashley. "For you?"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

With a tiny sigh of frustration, Ashley eventually came to a decision on her toppings. It was largely influenced by the guy’s amusing dismissal of the previous iteration of honey, which no doubt tasted a darn sight better than corn syrup. She watched with delight as Alice’s creation came to life, her interest in the fancy Greek honey definitely piqued.

“Oh Alice, that looks so good,” she said quietly as it was handed over. The fro-yo guy then turned to her. No going back now, she had to stick with her decision. Bye bye kiwi…

She leaned over the counter to point out her choices as she began to list them, “Can I have… strawberries, obviously… and then some of that – is that granola? – that granola, and um, that honey too, please?” She grinned at Alice. “Couldn’t help myself, it looks gooood.”

There were only a couple of tables in the place but Ashley fancied spending a little more time in the fro-(Greek?)-yo place. It had a nice atmosphere and she didn’t really have anywhere else for them to go just yet. When they had a moment, she’d be sure to consult her list of ideas again. For now, however, it was time to enjoy frozen Greek yoghurt at its finest.

She scooped an abnormally large amount of fro-yo from the pot, honey dribbling over the edges of the spoon, and shoved it straight into her mouth. Eyes closed, she savoured it for a moment.

“Mmmm.” She looked up at Alice. “Okay, you were right, this is amazing. Just so you know, you’ve ruined all other fro-yo for me forever.”

Ashley laughed through another mouthful of fro-yo. “So what do you do, anyway? Are you on summer break or something?”

It was a natural assumption for her that most people her age went to college – almost all of her high school friends had after all. It was still something that she herself was interested in, maybe once she’d built up enough savings and reached a satisfactory point in her career. The one flaw in this plan was, of course, that Ashley wasn’t sure what that satisfactory point was. She had pretty high ambitions after all.

Alice Morrow

366 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice couldn't help but stare as Ashley ferried what looked like half of her entire fro-yo into her mouth with her first spoonful. It took a moment for her to drag her attention away and back to her own fro-yo which she was considerably more sparing with. She probably wouldn't be having another for a while, so she intended to enjoy this one for as long as possible. It was difficult. She put her hands up in surrender, "Hey. I never promised anything less. Anyway, you've been wasting your time with all that other fro-yo, just be glad your life has actually begun." Alice shrugged at the next question and took another mouthful of fro-yo, a blueberry balanced delicately on top. "Not really, I'm not in college, just making ends meet really." Although that really was actually more of a sort of. With the hospital bills and her rent Alice really wasn't sure how she was going to keep it up for more than a few weeks. She helped herself to a slightly larger scoop this time, the flavour and texture helping to drive away those thoughts. "I just cook, it's not all that interesting. What about you?" Alice gestured at the petite girl with her spoon. "Are you in college? Or maybe Police academy? You don't seem that like Will but you never know…"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

“You’ll make a fro-yo junkie out of me,” Ashley said sadly as she licked a bit of frozen yoghurt she’d missed from her spoon. “But you know what they say, tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all…” She looked dramatically into the mid-distance. “Or whatever.”

She didn’t really like that quote. Love didn’t really seem to fall into place for her. Sometimes it felt like she wasn’t even really seeking love, just something to confirm that she was normal. It frustrated her to no end that she’d not met even one guy who she thought could do that for her. There hadn’t even been the faintest of sparks, leading her to believe that maybe it wouldn’t ever happen. The only thing that held her back from fully drawing that conclusion was that she was not an idiot, and knew that she was still far too young and career-minded to really worry about such things yet.

It seemed like Alice wasn’t really at the place she wanted to be yet. There was no way Ashley could ever describe her own work as “just making ends meet”, but then again, she knew she’d struck lucky with her career. Others weren’t always so blessed at her age – Alice included, apparently.

“Cooking’s cool,” Ashley insisted. “I wish I could cook. Never really had the time or motivation to learn, I think.” She prodded a strawberry, toppling it into a little pool of honey that was collecting at the bottom of her pot. She watched with satisfaction as it soaked up the sweetness before popping it into her mouth. “And me? No, I’m not in college. Kinda jumped straight out of high school into work. I might do it later, I think,” she said with a hopeful smile.

“Only if there’s something really cool to study though. I met this professor in LA recently who seemed to teach pretty interesting music programs so I’ll have to keep him in mind, I think. But yeah, no, I’m not in the police,” Ashley said with an amused chuckle. “I saw how much stress Will got out of it. I make music,” she explained. “Doing pretty well with it,” she added modestly, desperately wanting to avoid bragging.

“It’s not exactly the most secure career path but it’s the only one I’ve ever wanted to follow so I just went with my gut, you know? Some call it a vocation, others call it a reckless gamble.” Ashley shook her head with a giggle. “My family and friends are supportive though, and that’s all that really matters!”

Alice Morrow

434 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

"You know I've never actually known who 'they' are anyway. And what do 'they' know? I bet none of them never loved at all anyway." She was disappointed that Ashley couldn't cook, but these days it seemed to be something of a dying art. It was too easy to pick up a microwave meal or a pizza to spend much time learning to create proper meals, and half-hearted cooking wouldn't exactly create any sort of driving ambition to do better. "Ah that's a pity, but still, I suppose it means more jobs for me, couldn't do with any more competition than there already is." She laughed a little as she listened to Ashley telling what wasn't a dissimilar story to her own. Straight from high school into work. At least the other girl seemed to have had a little more success in her endeavours than Alice thus far. She'd not expected to be working in an uptown, glamourous restaurant, but something a little higher class than the greasy spoon she was currently employed at would have been nice. "Music? That's so cool! Have you done something I've heard?" Maybe that was why she looked familiar. Earlier she had dismissed it simply as a result of Ashley's relation to Will, but maybe it was more than that. She wracked her memory, searching for anything that might give her a clue as to why Ashley was familiar. It was a little awkward that she couldn't think of something, but then she did have Ashley here to enlighten her.

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

“Ha, yeah, bunch of old spinsters probably!” Ashley snorted attractively.

She felt considerably better once Alice had condemned “them”. It had been an unexpected response, but not unwelcome. Always nice to meet someone who had a slightly weird way of seeing things. Mostly, she considered them kindred spirits.

“You really wouldn’t want me in a professional kitchen,” Ashley said with a grin. “If that angry British dude could get a hold of me I’m sure he’d have a thing or two to say about the way I season my chicken.”

(Sometimes she remembered to salt it).

Okay, well Alice definitely hadn’t seen McKenna Chase before then. Either that, or she was a really good actress. Ashley frowned for a second, trying to think of any of her music that might have made it onto the more popular radio stations around. It didn’t get played often – not exactly top 20 just yet – but after last summer’s successful festival circuit a couple of her songs had crept onto a few playlists for a while. And now there was that song blowing up on a small scale in some corner of cyber space… maybe Alice would be familiar with it.

“Ever heard ‘Roll the Dice’? It’s kinda typical Country Pop, title’s in the hook,” she added helpfully. “It’s getting weirdly popular right now. It’s actually from this old EP I did when I first started out, but… I guess it has always been a crowd favourite.”

Part of her hoped that Alice had heard (and enjoyed) it, and part of her hoped that she could continue just being ‘Ashley’. Today was meant to be a complete day-off from McKenna and, though she didn’t think Alice would necessarily cause a scene, it would be weird if their potential friendship started from a fan-creator relationship.

She hummed the first couple of bars of the chorus as an extra clue for Alice’s memory. She was fond of the song. Hmm, maybe they could re-produce it for the album. Throw in some strings and maybe modernise it a little, she could even get Alistair to help her out.

Alice Morrow

352 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Ashley McKenna-Chase + wearing

Alice had a sudden vision of Gordon Ramsay with slices of bread on either side of Ashley’s face. She couldn’t help but snort in laughter at the mental image, thankfully avoiding spraying her frozen yoghurt. That in itself would have been a sacrilege… and embarrassing of course. Her face lit up when she recognised the title of the song. It had popped up at least a dozen times on her tumblr in the last few weeks. "I totally know that song! Oh my god. I can't believe I know an actual celebrity." She reddened as she realised she'd acted like some sort of star-truck teenager. This was a fair assessment. She was a teenager, and she was certainly a little in awe of the fact that she was in the presence of someone who was played on the radio and appeared on TV. Even so, it was embarrassing to just react like a child. "Sorry, I guess you get that a lot. Must be pretty annoying…" She certainly didn't want Ashley to think that this would just turn into another awestruck fan and celebrity kind of deal. Alice was a little awestruck that this perfectly normal seeming girl was turning out to be a serious musician. It made her achievements seem a little small by comparison. Even so, she didn't want that to happen. "Well you've got to promise that if I ever get a restaurant you'll tell everyone it's your favourite place to eat!"

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[Ashley McKenna-Chase]

Serendipity in the City

Alice’s expression was the only confirmation Ashley really needed, and she bit her lip hesitantly in response. She couldn’t help but smile at Alice’s following outburst, even though she was still unsure how to react to the fact that Alice knew her music. Okay, probably just the one song, but still. She’d even labelled her a “celebrity”, which was weird. In an industry forever full of bigger fish, it was hard to think of yourself as famous, especially when you weren’t a worldwide household name.

She was about to protest something along those lines – try and restore the social balance they’d been enjoying – when Alice suddenly went red. Ashley caught her eye as she made a worried apology, obviously eager to reset the balance as well.

“Not too often actually, it’s kinda flattering,” she said cheerfully. “Anyway, you should see me squeal at some of the people I’ve met backstage, I’m so bad.” Ashley laughed, remembering how overwhelming it had been when she’d first started moving into similar circles as Billboard-charting artists. She hadn’t actually squealed, but hopefully Alice would feel a bit better if she could share in the mental image of Ashley shrieking her head off at some A-lister passing by.

In truth, Ashley just really liked meeting people. Her level of enthusiasm was pretty equal no matter who she was talking to. It actually helped with making contacts, she’d found. People respected the consistency.

Ashley waved a yoghurt-laden spoon at Alice, her face serious. “Of course, ma’am. Just print the menu onto a beautiful dress and I’ll wear it as I accept my tenth Grammy.”

Her pot of fro-yo was getting woefully empty. She pouted. “Dang, I’m nearly out. What kind of establishment doesn’t make their pots bottomless?” With a little giggle, Ashley pulled her phone out and returned to her trusty list. “I was thinking we could go buy stuff for lunch now, if you want? We could go eat it somewhere nice outside – would be a shame to waste all this sunshine.”

Alice Morrow

337 words

ψ