(open) Tending the bar

[Cristiana]

The office cooped her up, taking much of the time where she was sorting not only The Metronome's business but also her other two, Enchanted Wedding and Immortal Night Studio's business as well. She did the majority of the work from the one office to leave the other offices open for Becky and Spade who were diligently running the operations on a daily basis. She tried not to crowd them in and let them make their own schedules. Today was one of those rare days where there was little to do. She had taken a break getting a little something to nibble on but now she was just staring at the screen randomly checking on things. Everything was well and organized. It was just one of those slow nights.

In a haste she felt bustling with energy, renewed vigor, as she grabbed one of the Metronome clubs aprons that tied around the waist. Not caring that she would be the most dressed bartender she headed out into the club. The contemporary music blasted from the speakers assaulting her ears the minute she walked out of the doors labeled Office. Rounding the corner she took up the space behind the bar and began mixing a few rounds for the patrons. It was a show, bottles flipping in the air and being caught, drinks poured and slid down the high gloss wooden bar into the patrons hands. This started to perk up the ones hanging at the bar top, but gathered the few from the floor to come watch and talk in quiet. When the words "On the house!" were sputtered out, more people gathered to collect their free drink.

All in all it was pretty calm, even with the music blaring out, she was happily tending to the people who came up asking for drinks and keeping the small talk going. More or less she was just getting patrons to talk to each other. When someone asked about the different colored glasses, she chimed in. "The dark ones are for virgin drinks, the clear glass ones are alcoholic." It wasn't the truth but it kept people from asking more questions about the contents of what was in the glasses. Once in a while a human would try to grab up one of the darker glasses but security would be right there taking the cup away and reminding them where their glass was. If they got belligerent then they would be escorted to the door.

One guy was watching her fill the glasses, so she politely made a show of her hands or more importantly the ring on her finger saying she was married. It caught the attention of one woman who was gushing over the size of the ring. Answering the question Cristiana chimed up to the woman who had grabbed her hand ogling the rings design, We've been married since December fourth two thousand and twelve. Thank you." She took her hand back watching the guy walk off from the bar to find a lone girl sitting at a table. She smiled to the woman placing a drink in front of her in a silent thanks but that only egged the woman on to keep chattering. "If you'll excuse me, I have a few more drinks I need to get served." She apologized sounding sincere before she put a tray above her head and carried them about the room and collected the old discarded glasses from the tables. You never knew what the night would bring or who would come through the doors next.

[Andrew Shedim]

The night had gone well so far. He was still adjusting to the changes from his turning. The years of drinking vampiric blood made the transformation easier but he had not prepared for heightened his entire body felt. This was better than anything he'd ever gotten just from some juice. The past few nights had been very profitable, with his elevated speed humans rarely caught him picking pockets and when he was caught a quick show of fangs sent them running if they were lucky enough to be left alive.

Walking casually from a dimly lit alleyway, tucking his pistol back into the holster of his jacket, he ran his thumb along his bottom lip to remove any blood he may have spilled. It would at least be a day or two before anyone would find the corpse in the dumpster, He hadn't drained her dry, but the bullet in her skull was for pure amusement something to keep this night from being a little less droll. Now it is was time to find a little hole to kill some time.

He hadn't been in this town to call any place a home and he needed a bar to call his own. As his cigarette burned down to little more than a filtered ember a glowing sign reading Metronome caught his eye. There was nothing about the place that seemed to appeal to his taste, accustomed to dark, dingy, smoke filled pool halls full of lowlife, criminal, degenerates..full of his people. This place obviously had style, sure to be full of patrons with plenty of wallets and purses that needed cleaning. Crushing the remnants of his cigarette he made his way inside.

As expected he looked out of place. His dingy jeans, tight blue t-shirt look clashing against the typical "hip" fashion of kids with money. Instinctively his eyes scanned the room, making a note of the exits and where best to keep a minimal blindspot for his back to the crowd. He made his way slowly towards the bar, bumping into a man, intentionally knocking him down; quickly removing the man's wallet as he helped him up with an apology. As he took a stool at the bar he rapped his knuckles on the wood signaling the over dressed bartender "Who's dick do I gotta suck to get a drink over here sweetheart" he laughed jokingly. He lit another cigarette as he waited on the woman. A shimmer from a ring on her finger, perhaps he would like this place, it was like walking into an open vault.

[Cristiana]

"Whose what?"
She said shaking her head making her way down the bar. With the low cut corset she had on, the top half heaved as as she leaned closer to him, "Darling I know you are not speaking to me with that pottie mouth, especially here in my own club. I'm Cristiana, co owner of The Metronome Club here and you just happened in on a good night, I'm offer first drinks on the house."

She said in the kindest sweetest voice possible but it was the look in her eyes that told him she was far more dangerous then what her mouth spoke. To anyone she was just the sweet barmaid but when she had too, she did what was needed. "What can I get you to drink?"

It was her mouth that moved next, it was words sent directly into his mind, "And do not worry, all the drinks are safe for you to consume."

Her eyes captivated his as she said those words, to let him know he was safe to drink what the bar served him. A hand reached down lifting a brown glass to the counter waiting for what mix he wanted to consume. But his eyes, they had been looking around from the first moment he walked. He was easy to spot in the crowd. She knew what he was doing, even when he bumped into the man and assisted him up. A clever trick she used when she was young too. Oh there was so much for this youngling to learn. However she wouldn't repromand him for pickpocketing in the club, at times she did it herself. Granted she was doing it to pass out drinks, but if he was desperate enough to steal the poor dear needed money. She didn't mind but if he got caught the signal would be given for him to be removed.

Her movements were careful, showing him she was the same as he was. It was kept out of the general view and subtle enough no one noticed how fast her hand reached under the counter to put the glass on the dark wood of the counter. But she wanted to talk to him, maybe in a little bit she could bring him into the office and explain how the club works; his was a new face, a fresh face.

[Andrew Shedim]

"Whatever you recommend doll." he tapped his lighter slowly on the bar, occasionally stealing glances towards the door "been a slow night, why don't ya just surprise me." He did have to give this Cristina a little credit, the place did look nice if this was your taste. "One hell of a hustle you have here by the way" his eyes quickly scanned the room, his voice growing slightly lower "how do you pull it off? All the mingling without drawing a **** load of attention?"

He made a mental note to tell Carlo about this place, the thought of dragging the old man in here brought a quick smile to his face. His attention once again focused on Cristina the bartender. "I'd love to hear your story, what brought you to this town?" he lit a cigarette and went back to rapping his lighter. He gave her a nod, gesturing her to lean in a little closer "noticed anything, uhhh, strange around these parts lately?"

[Cristiana]

As the bartender, she grabbed a glass with a flip and spin in the air. Nothing beyond what a normal bartender trying to entertain her guests wouldn't do. The bottles came off the shelf behind her without so much a glance in the general direction of what bottles she was grabbing like she had it all memorized. The bottle sailed in the air from behind her back to the front of her, eyes more on the bottles than her hands. Within a blink of an eye, while the bottle was in the air riding the current gush stream of air from the air conditioning unit behind the bar a napkin was placed in front of him. She caught the bottles with ease setting them aside when the liquid was poured, a dark brownish liquid, into the darkened glass.

Her eyes never left the man showing he had her full attention, "I guess I should thank you for the odd compliment. It is my taste, and that of Temperance Avila's mixed together. She is my partner in this crime." The way she said it, her voice softened ever so slightly speaking of the woman.

"We've run this bar together for quite some time now. If you happen in here on the right night, you will see her take the stage. Count yourself lucky should you ever catch one of her performances." There wasn't much she could say to speak of the woman but all was good, never an ill word spoken of the woman.

"Have a look around the place, you will be amazed what you find." Her words were spoken like a challenge because nothing was that it seemed. From the hidden crafting bench or forge to the ritual altar, one might stumble upon a secret passage to another area of the city from merely sitting in or around the booth area. It was always a treat as to where to go in the place. Her place in all of this was the office, her solice. There was nothing a few hours of calm, quiet work didn't solve. She slid the drink onto the napkin before him.

"What kind of strange occurances do you mean? Like some jack of all trades thinking my bar is easy pickings so he wonders in picking pockets of those around him?" she gave him a coy smile before she gave another patron a beer from the tap. With a motion toward one of the workers, she had someone else take over for her behind the bar.

It took only a moment before she had her own drink, from a clear glass, in her hand and was behind the man. "Follow me if you want to hear some pity party of a history or if you think you can survive in this town. Either way, you should follow me." And she disappeared into the small crowd of people around the bar yet standing out with the flash of violet from her eyes as she looked back toward him. She was leading him into the office, but the door left to swing open for him lead to a pitch black hall. Only her voice on the phone gave hint the direction was correct, not that she bothered to wait or even check if he followed her.

"I think you have made some mistake on your order, but I will be glad to keep the extra to save on shipping costs. Of course this will come with a discount. After all I have checked and double checked the numbers myself." She spoke into the telephone to the distributor of one of the alcoholic beverage companies. "It was not my error that caused this and I am sure you can see I do want to correct this. After all I could have kept the extra without you being the wiser, however I am offering a more generous offer. I would suggest you take it before I speak with your supervisor over these matters."

She paused in her fast talking of the person on the other end, even she felt bad for him in a way. "I am sure. But you see, I would have to send my people back to the stocking dock to reload the mass onto a truck you send out. The cost of that and the truck is merely what I am asking off the extra amounts you incorrectly sent me, nothing more." She said sitting on the edge of her desk with her eyes on the door. "I am very glad we could come to terms on this. I will see to it you are well reimbursed for this." She smiled hanging up the telephone without so much as a goodbye.

[Andrew Shedim]

He gave the woman a smile of amusement when she sat the drink before him “noticed that eh?” giving the woman a knowing wink before slipping a ten dollar bill from one of the lifted wallets on the bar “must’ve caught me slippin.” Cristiana didn’t linger behind the bar long; he followed her back to the office, taking a seat as he waited on her call to end.

“Good, was hoping we could get a quieter place to talk. I am actually here just looking for anything that might be useful…” he shook his head, grinning slightly “let’s save that for later.” The office was a world apart from the vibe in the club, for a moment he felt oddly out of place and slightly uncomfortable “but what the hell did you mean by ‘if I want to survive in this town’? Vampires ain’t nothing new to me.” he pulled another cigarette from his dwindling pack “just ain’t used to being one.”

Trying to size her up was proving a bit of a challenge, he still felt that small tingle in his jaw that told him her blood would be great if he still had need for it, but she wasn’t imposing. Leaning back in the chair he puffed idly on the cigarette “now about your liquor guy, if you actually want to get your point across” giving the woman a small wink “I think if you let me go talk to him, I can guarantee he won’t be late or mess anything up. Just have a good way with people.”

[Cristiana]

Her attentions turned back to the man, seeing the cigarette she puled and ashtray out from the middle desk draw and slide it across the desk to him. "What I mean to say is not many tend to last in this city as far as survival. They go to sleep or end up missing for a long period of time. So enjoy it while it lasts."

She looked him up and down, "Now I have many of things to discuss with you and a short time to do it." With that she began to pound away on the keyboard letting printed page after printed page shoot out from the machine on the shelving unit beside the desk.

"First, it is always wise to have an air tight alias. I have three for you to pick from." She laid them out on the desk in front of him along with the card to Wendigo's business for identification purposes. When she was content in one would be perfect for him, she went into the petty cash fund and withdrew nearly all of what she had left in the locked box in her bottom draw. She placed the ten thousand dollars on the desk in front of him. "I believe you needed some of this?" It was what she did for most of the newcomers if they didn't act like an idiot the first time in the club.

"And lastly, you seem the sort I would like to hire in my recording studio. You would be under Spade's management, with the rouse that you are a janitorial staff. Consider this a small incentive to working for me. Spade can fill you in on the details of the job, I know you will find it right up your alleyway. Please pick one of the aliases and fill out the application." She laid that beside everything else on the desk.

"Yes that has about summed it all up and yes I am wise enough to know what type you are, I just hope you understand what I will need done from you." With that being said, very unclear as to what the job entailed as she didn't like giving away too many details about the recording studios extra activities on the side in the club, you never knew whose ears were listening. She kept it all pretty brief; quick, short and to the point. She did however need some sort of confirmation that the two were on the same page.

"Wendigo does some of the best work with identifications so I expect you will have something of great use soon. I suggest a common name to make it easier on you in the long run. I think that about covers everything. It was really good talking to you." She pulled a pen from the cup holder and held it out to him. The small woman could be quite overwhelming to most, but the man knew he had fangs so there was no use going over the small details.

"In this club you abide by the rules, it is a neutral place. I have cameras placed around the club so please do not think that you are able to pull something over us. Many of security people around to escort you out if need be. You do not feed in here, rob just make sure it is from the humans. This is a neutral zone for all, and I like to keep it that. Yes I will report you should I need to." It was said as easily as she said good morning and pretty much in the same tone she used for all business. The woman sat back lighting a cigarette herself, showing how calm she was. From the draw she removed another ashtray for herself this time.

"And no I have the business with the distributor well under hand, there is no need for anyone else to step in. Him and i have a good repor." She exhaled the first drag as small rings blowing them into the air before her. It was well known in Canada you could not smoke in public buildings, but this was her private office so she didn't care much. She really didn't care out on the floor either, but if a cop was around or someone complained, she would have it put out one way or another.

[Andrew Shedim]

The gangster listened attentively to her words, she was quick to offer assistance to him, he would make it a point to respect her demands of the club being a neutral zone. "You can keep this sweetheart, I can take care of myself." giving her a soft smile as he pushed the cash back towards her. "And the offer is always on the table for me to pay a visit to your distributor, good repor or not, sometimes they just need a reminder." There was no hiding that he appreciated everything she was offering; Cristiana was obviously not a fledgling, she seemed both well connected and organized and his curiosity had more than been peaked. Crushing the cigarette out in the glass ashtray he leaned forward, his voice instinctively low "you Lionelli?" Carlo hadn't exactly laid out who was who in Harper Rock. Even back in New York the Italians were quiet with their operations but her hustle was all too familiar.

"I report to one man, if you are who I think you are then you know my boss." there was no challenge in his voice as he took the papers she offered him, grabbing a pen from the desk he quickly scribbled in the open slots. "And a new i.d. was taken care of when I was brought up here toots." he pulled out his own wallet, sliding her a driver's license with the name Paul Hilarch "names Krepsi, Andrew Krepsi but just call me Drew." he inclined his head before again leaning back in the chair. "I'm sure this Spade and Wendigo are bang up guys but I always have to know what I'm getting myself into."

He got up and walked to the door, checking to make sure no one was going to overhear anything before returning to the chair. "So level with me, what is it you really want me to do?" he removed a small baggy of white powder "may I?" but he didn't wait for her response before cutting a line on her desk, rolling up a bill, and making the coke disappear up his nose. "What do you need? Dope, guns, girls? Or do you need some people taken care of?" Again he was careful to keep his tone respectful, if she was indeed connected to the Italians he was not going to get on her bad side.

[Cristiana]

The woman sat back watching him. It was almost amusing, so much for a split second she almost cracked a full smile but the creavice of her mouths edge rose slightly. "I think you have me mistaken. I am merely a business woman. My day to day gets handled by Spade, in the recording studio. He could use an extra hand and you could use something to keep you busy."

She watched on with him doing the lines off her desk, a hand waved it off. No she quite remembered the last time anything entered into her system. Poison, it was all just one form of poison or another. her vice was a good stiff drink.

"I am nothing like the Lionelli. In the recording studio we provide special needs toward our artist. We love to ablige their needs, no matter what the needs be. Should it be that powder or a few drinks, whatever. We make them happy. That is what I would like of you, merely make the artists and their friends happy so that they will produce some beautiful music." She looked at him with a mask of innocence.

"Listen, as much as you like to pretend, you are new. Pickpocketing here in the club shows just how new you are. What I am offering is something to get you a nice footholding within the city. A job, a legal job. Whatever else you do in the place is up to you." The raven haired beauty looked at him, watched to see his reactions to this. If he was not fully understanding she could always take him down to the recording studio, make him understand that is exactly what it was. "If you have any further questions, I can take you to the place. You will see for yourself that it is a recording studio" Besides, it was always good to have someone with his talents in your pocket. "This is just good business for me!"

[Joshua King (DELETED 9066)]

Joshua entered the bar quietly, any weapons he had on were cleverly hidden behind specially placed folds in his coat, just in case. He was tall and somewhat intimidating, the black trench coat and gloves were of no help to that either. Nor was his face which had a bored but dark and intelligent look behind the eyes. He headed towards the bar while keeping his eyes out for anything suspicious. He had become a rather cynical man more and more. Vampires could be anywhere now and he hated the idea he wouldn't know. He was careful though. He wasn't yet completely ready for a full on battle with an experienced vampire. He had only been a paladin for a short while. Nevertheless, he kept his eyes out for them so he would remember them later.

When he sat down at the bar he said, "A wine, any kind, but keep it on the less expensive ones please."

His eyes glanced over the dark colored drinks and someone asking about them. Hearing it was non alcoholic he was satisfied, but considered trying one. But not right now. He wanted to just have a glass of wine, and watch people. It may have seemed a bit creepy if he said it aloud but it was something he would sometimes enjoy doing. He liked to watch the inevitable patterns people followed, and to see any new ones he hadn't noticed before.