Cool Evening [Ian]

[Shelby Crescent]

Sitting on a bench outside of the Three Broomsticks, Shell originally came out here to drink her sorrows away tonight and possibly find someone well, to relieve her stress, but she remembered that wasn't going to help the divorce any. Jay had already demanded Liese and James for custody and threatened the other kids as well with some kind of evidence.

She glances down, pulling her white jacket around her more, feeling a light breeze sweep through the street as it played with the bottom of her black dress that she was still wearing when she confronted Jay earlier that night. Shuddering a bit, she closes her eyes thinking of how this turned out to be. Thirteen years of marriage ended because of his affair. Not saying that she was innocent, Shell had been having a long term affair that was unknown to everyone, with the exception of Briar and Riyann.

Tracing her finger lightly along her chin, thinking of somehow she could have any kind of fun without it involving drinking or having a random one night stand, or a combination of both. Shell looks up noticing someone fairly familiar walking down the street in this cool June evening.

[Ian Hunt]

I really don't know what I'm doing here. I hate Hogsmeade, almost as much as I hate the muggle world but not as much as I hate Knockturn Alley. Come to think of it, I hate a lot of things.
I hate all these buildings and why they have to be there. I hate all the people inside these buildings and their smooth little existences. I hate that bench up there with that woman sitting on it, because she's imposing on the solitude of the street.
Of course, I also hate a lot of other things that aren't on this street.

I hate myself and my own stupidity and the way it messed things up so much when I left that it hasn't been the same since - I left home and came back to...I don't know what, but it doesn't feel like home anymore.
I hate Alex's stubbornness, not actually Alex but definitely his nature. It's irrational to, but I've had enough of him hating me. I'm trying, I'm really trying to make it up to him any way I can, but he won't respond to anything I do.
I hate Poppy's new habit of running off and scaring me half to death every time we fight. I hate that we fight so much more than we used to recently and I hate that I don't know why that is.
I hate Logan and how he had to wind himself up in Azkaban and shoot down all my delusions that some people just don't get what they deserve...because when I thought that, I was safe from what I deserve because I was one of those people. Now I'm not safe at all, now I'm going to end up the same way.
I hate Liam as well, because he won't leave my family alone, because he reminds me of all these problems because he knows how to get to me. I hate that he passes on Logan's messages to me because I'm too much of a coward to go there myself. Apparently, there's an empty cell in Azkaban right next to Logan's waiting for me.
I hate that too.

I think it's also safe to say that I'm feeling pretty negative - which I also hate - but that's why I had to leave the house.
I haven't fucked things up with Abby yet, even if I have messed up my other children, so I'm going to try and keep that intact by not losing my temper or being this way around her.

I shove my hands in my pockets as I carry on down the street, only glancing up briefly once I've come a little nearer to the bench and realising that the woman I've just decided to hate is actually someone I don't hate at all.
"Hey Shell," I murmur by way of greeting, sinking down onto the bench next to her, "Why the long face?"

[Shelby Crescent]

Shell looks over at Ian with a forced but still weak smile. "Oh, nothing much really. Thirteen years of marriage has just gone wasted. I'll be officially single again in the matter of a couple months or so." she shrugs as if it didn't even bother her, which definately was a lie.

She glances at her bare finger, just shaking her head a bit. "He wants custody over Liese and James. As do I, so I'll have to start going to court and everything else. But other than that, he cheated on me with one of my best friends. So just feeling a bit upset. It happens everyday stuff like this." she shrugs again, looking back over to him again. "So why are you out here tonight?" Shell asks looking back to her hands.

[Ian Hunt]

I don't bother to answer her question. It'd ridiculous to even try and think of an answer, let alone actually take in what she's asked when she's just hit me with all of that.
So I hesitate, raise an eyebrow as if I'm trying to decide whether I mishead that or not.
I don't see how I possibly could of have misheard that mind...but, it doesn't seem entirely possible.

"Wait...what happened?" I settle on the best of the responses that are coming to mind.

[Shelby Crescent]

Shell sighs, just glazing up at him again. "Jay and I are getting a divorce. I found out that he cheated on me with one of my best friends." she nods, biting her lip. "He wants Liese and James in his custody after all this and it's ridiculous."