Ginger

• Patisserie - Ginger's cousin Vyv owns it, and she occasionally gets fidgety enough to fuss with his teas. You can often find her there.

• Privilege - Summers in England or France or beautiful locales, private schools, study abroad opportunities: Ginger has been a lot of places.

• Professional - Her expertise is a consulting ergonomics & efficiency expert. Prior to her widowhood, she was considering more technical knowledge to become an industrial engineer for a professional challenge.

• Neurotic - As with all psychology, it's a bit blurred, but there's a diagnosis or three in there. Psychologist? Do you see the same one she does? Good news is she's functional!

• Widowhood - She's a widow at 25. It's pretty tragic. It makes her a little morbid these days.

Ginger was born to Rosemary Vydal-Lovage and Harold Lovage, to a comfortably well-off family. Her parents, having already brought forth into the world Basil, Coriander, and Saffron prior to Ginger's arrival, decided two of each gender was quite enough for any family, and any more would be unseemly. Practiced as they were, it was as smooth an adjustment as a new child ever is. It helped that Ginger was, to her parents' relief, more like her quiet, steady brother Basil than Coriander or Saffron - both hellions. She was also the most American of them: the family moved to the USA in 2001 when she was five, their father accepting a position handling some very large accounts in their New York offices. The family flitted from the city house to the house in Upstate NY, from London to California, and never thought much of it.

As the horde grew older the Lovage-Vydals (Or Vydal-Lovages, there is something of a family argument over it, with the court documented name changes to prove it) were, for the most part, ambitious, opinionated self-starters with confidence that bordered on arrogance and enough privilege to make it seem normal. Ginger was the outlier: a little slower, a little uncertain, her skin a little thinner. But bullies at their private school were handled by her siblings, whenever they found out, and she maintained good grades and a solid work ethic, so the teachers liked her. And she did befriend a small group of studious introverts with shared interests, so it was an average existence.

Except for the...particulars.

You see, Ginger was always particular. As a child she always put her toys away, just so, in just the right order. She lost her temper when her things were taken - like any kid - but was distressed even when they were moved and not corrected for a period of time. She was an anxious child who, as the many doctors said, defaulted to compulsive sorting of her surroundings or repetitive behaviors to deal with high stress levels. No one in the family cared about labels, though Ginger certainly has one or two in her psychological profile, but she responded well to therapy and was just-- to quote Saffron, "Bloody anal about her things." It never quite tipped over into a negative impact into her daily life (though it came close during puberty), and she was an introverted but independent enough child when she was shipped off to the University of Manchester.

She dropped out after a year, the changes and surroundings ramping up stress levels to "negative impact" levels.

Next, she was easily accepted into NYU, where she did better. An internship touring global industry models (doable, with set structures and expectations) meant that at nineteen, in beautiful Germany, she reconnected with Sameer Johansson - a boy from middle school who had moved to Sweden with his family and then, apparently, to India. They started dating in three months: they were engaged a year later while both were in school, maintained a long distance relationship and met up every holiday they could. The families met and Sameer brushed up on his french while Ginger picked up Hindi-Urdu, Sameer studied abroad his final year at NYU, and when she graduated at 22 they married and moved to India, as both received good job offers there. As you can imagine, it was difficult for Ginger, but (to the disapproval of her therapists) Sameer was a steady anchor and able to assist (enable) her need for particular routines - and she was happy, after all.

Then there was the train crash. Only a bit over a year married. Completely an accident. Ginger made it, miraculously. Sameer didn't. The Lovage-Vydals and Johanssons swarmed in, but trickled away with the realities of their busy lives, each forcing Ginger to promise to call them if they were needed. Ginger broke that promise: her behavior became more and more distant, her promises more vague, her phone calls with them shorter. The Johanssons were wrapped up in their own grief, and Ginger shut up the house and quietly disappeared.

It was Baz who tracked her down, when the conversations became too vague. Cory and Saff that showed up in the space she no longer left, looked at the precise angles and impeccable space, saw the panic in Ginger’s eyes when they touched anything, heard her frantic attempts to erase footsteps and fingerprints before they’d even settled, and called their mother and father. It was an intervention of all five Lovage-Vydals that flew Ginger back to the US, once Ginger could no longer ignore how she was NOT handling things.

Ginger herself was relieved. Her brain was a mess, and she knows - KNOWS - in her gut that there is something very wrong with her, since the accident. Odd bruises. Strange dreams. And worse of all, things always become disordered around her. Ever since the accident, she’s had to be vigilant: somehow she always thinks she’s done something she hasn’t, believed she’s fixed something that goes back the way it was the moment she turns away. The disorder is everywhere, and she’s so tired of the constant vigilance to watch for discrepancies. Her therapist assures her it is a subconscious action, a way to keep grieving instead of reordering her life, or similar metaphors. She prefers that explanation to her growing ridiculous thoughts of a poltergeist or -- perhaps -- things moving like she pictured. She prefers it, but it’s a certainty in her gut, these days.

It was Cory who sold Ginger on the idea of a peaceful, quiet town away, with no obligations, no problematic memories, no one hovering. A comfortable apartment, lots of nature, and best of all, they already had a cousin in the area.

5'4 in flat shoes, nothing about Ginger gives the impression she'll live up to her name. Rich, dark brown hair falls past her shoulders in a heavy sheet, with blunt bangs hiding her brows. Her eyes are green, and her skin pale - unhealthily pale, some might think. Her temperament varies from demure to agitated, and what she lacks in confidence is made up for with a sense of polite grace. Usually, her make-up and accessories are understated; invariably, her wedding band is among them.