Elizabeth
"Don't worry," Esme said, "I don't mind hearing about other experiences from other people. I think we'd get along, in that sense."

She sat back, sighing as she pulled on another sip of her coffee, listening to how Margo talked about her father, her family, her childhood. She nodded along. At the very least, Esme could relate. Being an heir to the Baltimore family fortune had provided plenty of experiences like the ones Margo had been describing growing up. But the notes of hatred she couldn't relate to - she loved her family, and missed them. She reached across the table and patted Margo on the hand, gently. 

"It's alright if you don't want to talk about things. I've been told I chatter on enough for many people at a time."

"We had a lake house too," She said. "My brothers were often the ones to go fishing, though, I must say. I was often left at home with my mother and aunts. Not that I'm complaining though! They were lovely. Taught me everything I know about everything."

And there, that dazzling smile again. If she focused, she could feel the gemstones threatening to encroach under her skin again, and bit back the urge to claw at her arm like an animal. Scratching was impolite, she'd always been taught, which had culminated in something of a personal hell when her quirks had begun to emerge.

"One time, my brother caught a profoundly large fish many times larger than any of our heads. My mother was completely taken aback. It turned out to be some sort of anamoly, I think."
Odell
◆ "Alright, I guess." Margo quietly grumbled, taking a sip of her drink. "Cool, though. Just... Give me a moment. Gotta use the washroom."

▪︎ ***"STUPID FUCK!"***

□ If Esme were listening at that particular moment, about twenty seven seconds after Margo excused herself, she'd hear a furious yell and the unmistakable sound of someone punching a stall door. Behind those swinging doors of the women's bathroom, Margo had lost her cool almost immediately upon stepping in, and in a fit of fury she began to lay into the door, heavy punch after heavy punch leaving dents and defects in the sandy-coloured stall door. She felt bad about leaving her date in silence without even really acknowledging what she said, but...

• In that moment, she felt the arteries in her neck beginning to tense up, and that was the clearest sign her body gave her that she was about to fly off the handle.

▪︎ And, so there she stood, five minutes later, looking at herself in the mirror. What she saw looking back? A young woman with anger issues, and eyes that burned like hot coals and molten steel. Hopefully Esme would understand if she had any idea that her stepping away wasn't just for the bathroom.
Elizabeth
Esme shrank back in her seat at the sudden, ah, screaming. As the punching continued, she stood up, quietly but quickly collected all of her things, and pulled a ten out of her wallet. She walked up to the counter and dropped it in the tip jar.

Afterwards, she swung her purse over her shoulder, pushed in her chair, and left the shop, muscles flexed as tight as bowstrings to avoid gemstones shedding off her skin as she walked. 

Hopefully Valio was still at work.
Odell
◆ "Hey, sorry about tha- oh. Fuck."

□ *Maybe* Slipping into a fit of rage and nearly breaking the hinges off of a stall door wasn't the wisest thing to do on a date. But, it had happened, Esme had slipped away, and now Margo was on the receiving end of a lot of weird stares from behind the counter. Rather than awkwardly scurry out, though, she simply picked up her latte, and moved to another seat, this one by the window.

▪︎ Sure, her date had just been ruined in spectacular fashion, but... Who said she had to dwell on it. Surely one of the web comics she followed had been updated today; she decided to settle in for now.