Name: Jade Marston
Nickname: none.
Face claim: Fahriye Evcen
Age: 33
Role: Resident
Traits: Spontaneous. Seeks excitement and adventure, new things. Impatient. Easily caught in the moment. Do-er, go-getter. Self-confident. Quick thinker. Self-aware. Strong-willed. Stubborn. Guided by her own moral compass. Competitive. Ambitious. Extreme, at times. Full of energy, most days. Understands the risk, willing to jump in anyways. Dislikes overwhelming emotional situations, runs from them. Judgmental, even if she tries keeping an open mind. Good liar, manipulative when she has a purpose in mind. Easily annoyed when not taken seriously. Often takes things personally. Resorts to humour when offended. Private to a fault. Shows emotion when she intends for you to see it. Independent. Sociable.
Personality: It could have to do with her upbringing, but Jade is independent as much as she is sociable: she values having freedom, yet takes the pleasure out of seeking company more often than not. She tends to seek excitement, always up for a spontaneous activity rather than a planned one - instant gratification always comes before waiting for something, so it's basically impossible for her to patiently wait for something. Ever since a young age, she was easy to get caught up in the moment, often taking things too far. Despite being a do-er and go-getter, she is not as impulsive as she seems to be: all the decisions she makes are not based on simple urges alone, but root in the never-ending philosophy of the principle called "do it anyway". Jade is a self-confident, quick thinker with a good sense of self: she knows what she can achieve and expects herself to do the best. She is strong-willed and stubborn, always has been, so she never really enjoyed school or similar organised structures: it always seemed far too exhausting for her to focus on the boring stuff - she got through it, but she has made no effort in even pretending it was an enjoyable experience.
Jade is a firm believer in following your gut instinct: she trusts those more than she (realistically) should - moving with a relatively new boy to a new country is brave. And a little stupid, too. Competitive by nature Jade’s quite ambitious when it comes to her scholastic performance, dreams for a future career, and thinks of herself as being quite fit for leadership. She's willing to put work and effort into the things she wants, having a single-minded tenacity when it comes to a couple of aspects in her life, while at times letting others loose. She’s good at making ends meet, sometimes with the expense of sleep or even on a more (a whole lot ) tragic note, food. She's not scared of going to extremes, overloading and overworking herself. She usually pulls it through until she just caves in. She'd take the time off she needs when she feels she needs it, which often means disappearing somewhere.
While some things just pass completely by her, Jade has a penchant for noticing small changes, like changes in facial expressions, someone breaking a habit, new clothing style, she picks up on some thoughts and intentions, even motives. At times she fails to emphasise situations people are in, unable to understand them, which makes her come across harsher to people she loves at times despite her original intentions not being ill. She's trustworthy, but she'd use her observation immediately, asking questions often in a taunting manner or more serious if the situation requires it, but with little regard for sensitivity or for the fact, the other person might not want to discuss things. Teasing is definitely a must in Jade's world.
When it comes to anger, she's more implosive rather than being explosive - don't hold your breath waiting for an apology on trivial matters (who has the time for it), just wait her out. When she does you wrong and is proven by fact she has done so, she will either apologize, admit to it or trying to make up for it in some other way. Despite her sometimes *cool-*ish attitude in social situations, she has passion and endless amounts of energy, complemented by a rational (albeit at times distracted) mind.
With close friends (rare thing) and family, her emotions run wild. Depending on how comfortable she’s with a person she’d allow herself to be more open about things, but never *everything*. She’s more playful and relaxed close to people, yet also harsher and blunter with them, even cutting when provoked. Jade’s the adept of tough love as something necessary at times, force them to pull themselves together and hold them up rather than cuddle them and allow their time to wallow. In a way it’s the same attitude she has to herself, getting over things quickly and not let it fester, she doesn’t like clinging to people or relations, memories of something that’s said and done. She favours moving over things to proper closures, a quick fix solution is always better than no solution at all, even if it’s not a permanent one.
BiographyJade was born 33 years ago in Lisbon, Portugal. The union between her parents was a blessed one, but a poor and almost tragic one at the same time: both Mauro and Luciana Moreno came from humble roots, harsh family realities and decided to relocate their small family when Jade was still a toddler. Mauro, an inspired chef, and Luciana, willing to do whatever it took to take care of her child, moved to live at Ponta Delgada in Azore Islands, working at a luxurious resort. As a child, Jade would often spend time playing with the guests' children at the daycare, picking up on English easily and quickly from an early age, losing all signs of her accent quite soon into life. The general manager had nothing against the well-behaved child with a natural sense of playfulness keeping company to the children of the rich American tourists that were half of their guests, and both Mauro and Luciana had an easier time picking up on wild shifts with their child being looked after. The parents came and went, playmates, did as well. Jade got used to that early on too - one thing she does remember is the evenings: no matter the schedule, one would tuck her in and lock her in the small living quarters they shared.
Jade learnt to be independent, speak her mind when needed and keep her silence when necessary: it left her a little bit more judgmental, sitting on the outside of this lifestyle that seemed unattainable to her on most days. She cannot recall when her reality hit her, but it must have been a swift realization, that did not hit her as hard as she'd suspect. Around the age of 13, she realized the interest the resort guests shown her shifted slightly and the gap between their reality and hers started to become more evident. Soon after she celebrated her 16th birthday, she met Anthony.
Anthony Marston IV was old money teenage boy with sun-kissed skin as a result of his frequent polo matches and tennis lessons, with blond hair that went even lighter in the summer, and eyes with so much life in them she could have sworn she did not see anything else on him for a week after they've met. Anthony was there with his parents, Anthony Marston III, often called Trip, who was an heir to the oil company, and Linda Marston, of the Pritzker family. He was everything her parents warned her about when she started working as assistant to the bar manager at the beach, yet she fell for him fast. Anthony spent a fortnight at the resort, spending most of his waking moments with her: adding to a huge bill during her work hours and running around the island on a rented scooter when she was off. It could have been a cautionary tale, everyone assumed it would, and a part of her believed it to be true as well: Jade was not naive - never was - yet she took him by the hand and allowed him to kiss her, to undress her, to take her entirely during one of their adventures, utterly unafraid of what might happen. She did what she wanted and showed no remorse.
Anthony left the other day - and sent a letter the day after. He kept on doing it for a long time before finally moving a step further, sending her a little piece of freedom in a delicately wrapped box: her first mobile phone and an opportunity to see him before he returns, as he'd promised. Despite what everyone told her, he did as he promised: and he kept returning until he turned 18 and she had to. That summer, he got back with a ring.
Smitten by his disarming honesty, the warmth and the familiar pattern of return, Jade packed her things and asked for the blessing of her parents before getting on a plane.
Contrary to what she expected, there was no grudge Anthony's parents held over her: the young girl travelling to another part of the world to be with the boy she barely knew. It felt like madness. Still, to both of them, it felt like endless summer instead: spending time with the boy of her dreams all year long, getting used to living in a very small studio apartment in Huston, where the Marstons lived their entire lives. She paid her own rent - her parents did, in reality. Anthony spent more of his time at her place, choosing to take upon the offer his father made earlier: take a year between high school and college to enjoy life. They believed he would pack up and go to Europe, which he did, for the summer, returning to Ponta Delgada with Jade, but come autumn, both of them were back: Jade to finish a year of school she had to go through to compensate for her European education system pace, and Anthony spent time doing nothing. The first time there was ever Jade-related friction between Anthony and his parents - and a deal was made: they would pay for Jade's tuition if she can get into the same college Anthony is going to, and Jade after respectfully declining the money but agreeing to continue with her education, Jade finally caved in after realizing she could not do much on her own. So, she agreed to this under the condition to pay her college debt to them after she got herself a job.
It felt like the following years were all about terms and conditions, and finding compromise was easy for all parties: one could draw any conclusion they wanted to, but Jade had no doubt in her mind: Anthony's parents loved their son, keeping his best interest at heart and they also loved her. College was fairly easy: she was used to hard work, she was used to doing her own heavy lifting and self-determination helped them to go through the first years easily. At one point before she turned 21, Anthony asked her if she was going to go through their plan and get married. The wedding was held on their family estate, keeping it a rather private matter.
Gorgeous bride wearing white, handsome groom in a well-tailored suit, ceremony attended by two sets of happy parents, close friends from childhood and college, and sumptuous feast under the stars. She would not think of this at the time, but this might have been the happiest occasion this merged family had.
Both Jade and Anthony graduated in time - he took over his chair in his father's firm while she utilized her degree in architecture to work for Linda's hotel company, working around the clock to get over the debt she owed, but it resulted in something much sweeter: two women became even closer - and soon enough, Jade felt like she was truly part of the family.
Years went by.
You get easily lulled into a sense of comfort, Jade was aware of that, but somehow this felt like simply enjoying life as it became. Anthony was the most loving husband - and both of them grew together - which is something both had in store. Naturally, the conversation of children begun sometime after Jade turned 25, and given they were both still very playful, very much in love with their lives, neither considered it for at least five more years and by the time they started trying, it was too late.
Anthony died in a helicopter accident days after her 30th birthday and it took her a year to get her life in order. Jade decided she could no longer stay in their apartment, she could not return to the estate where Marstons live and going back to Portugal made the least sense - so, instead, she picked a location that seemed like having more than one option to offer: St. Émilie Tower.
Story about her day off
Saturday mornings she usually reserved for breakfast.
Get up early, have an espresso while sitting by the window in the kitchen, legs stretched under the small table for two which is never fully occupied since there was a formal dining room in the apartment (used once, on her birthday only a few months ago). Hot coffee, with a tiny bit of sugar and some milk added to top the cup. European coffee, she never understood Anthony and his mugs, and even less his coffee. She yawns, concluding she probably should have skipped another episode of The Undoing, it did not feel worthy of the time anyway, but she wanted to see it till the end.
Jade brings her cup to the bathroom.
The on-suite bathroom had a walk-in shower and huge bathtub, and large double vanity with plenty of counter space for her to sit on top of while she did her make-up - something that irked Anthony far too much. She'd often spill the coffee, or wake up 30 minutes earlier so she can play songs while sitting there, sipping on her coffee and do her (scarce) makeup. It was a fairly easy routine: wash, your face, toner, serum, SPF with some optical blur - never, ever skip SPF, and from there on out it was another 10 minutes of actual work: brows, black mascara and curler, some blush (always cream) and lipstick to make it all seem well combined. Once she was done, she'd get dressed and head out.
Super classic on the outfit, which made her feel like she lived up to the standards in which she was living now, and today it meant: black straight cropped jeans, beige cashmere turtleneck, white sneakers and black coat, with her favourite bag. Quite underwhelming, for most. She liked it, especially now, the idea of not having to think and consider and re-consider her fashion sense, or possibly, lack of the same.
Stepping out on the street always meant she put her headphones on - and she disliked the public transport, but the traffic was far too hectic to drive, so it was a short walk to their favourite breakfast place.
Eggs Benedict, latte and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and a touch of pesto on the side, safe bet, or favourite choice. The conversation goes on endlessly, they normally feel like they are taking up too much time and decide on a walk to another cafe, a place where they enjoy chocolate muffins, and she usually has her third cup of coffee by then - before noon.
By the time she arrives home, Jade is already due to a call with her parents. The small restaurant they opened in town is doing well - she made it possible, with a lot less money than she told them she spent, but it wasn't like oil money would run out. Her dad is looking 10 years younger than he is, her mother might have stopped ageing a decade ago as well, and it's these moments when she feels the surge of emotion - she wants to jump on the plane and go there. Still.
She knows it would take less than a week before she started to feel annoyed by their desire to know all about her: where is she, when is she coming back, what is she doing - and she swallows that desire by the end call.
She calls Linda an hour later, after she'd fix herself another latte - if it's a latte, it's not as horrible, no? - and they chat away just until her food arrives - there is very little pleasure in cooking recently, perhaps she just did not like the kitchen in the apartment, which Linda convinced her would be a minor issue: she knows the owner, they would allow Jade to re-do her kitchen without issues.
She denied herself the whole thing: it would mean she is considering staying there permanently, and she still didn't consider that - this place did not win her over. She might have stayed in place for this year, but she would not stay here, this much she knows.
Last edited by Zaralee (17/09/2021 at 17:00)
