[center][img]http://txt-dynamic.cdn.1001fonts.net/txt/b3RmLjY2LjEzZGJmNi5VMkZ0SUZCaGFXZGwuMAAAAAAAAAAA/3m-ampleset.regular.png[/img] [hr][color=7bcdc8][b]Interacting With/Mentioning:[/b][/color][@SashaKitty][@Legion02][@Belle][@jetipster] [hr] [/center] [b][color=00FF7F] “What's Miranda Priestley doing here, Sam?” [/color][/b] It took Sam longer than he’d have liked to admit to realise that that was [i]not[/i] the actual name of the, vaguely menacing, woman who’d just walked through the door with her entourage. Not that he’d tell Josh that. Sam was cool and understood references. Totally. [color=7bcdc8]“Fuck if I know,”[/color] he murmured back, turning around to face the new arrivals, leaning his weight against the counter slightly. Whoever this woman was, the fact that she’d brought [i]bodyguards[/i] with her made her about a million times more intimidating in Sam’s book. He watched as the other member of their party grabbed an apple and chowed down, before being reprimanded by the woman, revealing his name to be… Well, that just wasn’t going to fly around here. [color=7bcdc8]“Her croney’s got the same name as me though,”[/color] he uttered to Josh, “This can’t stand.” Moments later, the vague atmosphere of tension that had fallen upon the cafeteria was ramped up to a million by the entry of Charlotte. Not just any Charlotte though, oh no, this was Charlotte with a [i]look[/i] - the one that Sam had come to learn meant she meant business and wasn’t going to back down for anything. The one that meant she saw this woman as a threat. Sam listened to their exchange. Apparently Mirriam Camwell was ill, and this was her daughter. And that was a bit shit. He’d always liked Miriam, he hadn’t known her that well, but she’d always cared about the work they did here, and her commitment to clean energy had always been something Sam admired. It wasn’t often high powered businesses cared about the world around them, least of all when they weren’t directly profiting from it, and whilst he wasn’t naïve enough to think she was a perfect human being, and whilst there was probably tons of stuff he didn’t know about, she’d always been pretty high up there on Sam’s list of ‘people we should all try and be more like’ And then came the offer. [i]A million[/i]. That… that was silly money. [i]A million[/i]. Christ… For a moment, a single, shameful moment, Sam’s mind took him to all the things that that kind of money could do. It took him to his Dad, stuck on disability after his accident. It took him to his Mam, working on a zero hours contract behind the counter in the chippy and hating [i]every single second[/i] of it, not that she’d ever say. It took him to his cousin, Karly, and the conversation they’d had on the phone the other week where she’d cried her eyes out because she was just. so. [i]tired[/i], working and studying at the same time. It took him to charity. To the little kid on the news whose operation wasn’t covered by the NHS whose parents had to fundraise. It took him everywhere, because that’s what that kind of money could do: [i]everything[/i]. Another moment, and he realised that if Charlie took the offer, there would be no more Haven. No more Mika, and that thing she did with her fins whenever she smelt food. No more Copper and Slate, looking out for each other because that’s what families [i]do[/i]. No more Jill or Phoebe, no more Juliet or Raphael, no more Gunner or Basil or Kiki [i]any[/i] of the hundreds of animals they’d helped nurse back to health and watched, indescribably proud, as they went back home. No more Sam, really. Because, if he was completely honest with himself, this place had saved his life and he knew it. Haven had helped him climb out of one of the darkest pits he’d ever fallen into, more than that, it had made him into a [i]person[/i] again, and if it went away then… Well, he didn’t really know what would happen to him. His chest constricted. It felt like he’d swallowed a golf ball as he gripped the counter behind him so tightly his knuckles turned white. He looked at Charlie, desperation in his eyes. She was standing there in her wetsuit, saltwater tinting the blonde in her hair brown. She’d already started work. He knew, [i]knew[/i] there was no one more willing or able to defend this place than her. Charlie would fight for Haven with everything she had, and everyone who worked there knew it, even Elizabeth knew it, if she was willing to throw so much money around. But still… The mere thought that they might lose Haven was enough to send his mind whirring down paths he didn’t want it to go down. He bit the inside of his mouth, closed his eyes for a second, tried to breath. He couldn’t go back to how things were. [i]Couldn’t[/i]. Elizabeth was still standing there when he opened his eyes again. He couldn’t be in here with her. He was about to leave when Seirye burst in. Sam blinked a couple of times, was she bleeding? "Hey everyone. Um...if someone gets a chance. There's a pipe that needs to be fixed in the shark tank." She said, obviously a little perturbed by what she’d walked in on, before quickly rushing out, injured shoulder on full display. Quickly, Sam said, [color=7bcdc8]“I'll go see if she’s allright,”[/color] before making to follow her, grabbing the first aid kit on his way out, quietly glad for both the excuse to leave, and the fact that he took a first aid course at uni. When he got to the bathroom, he could hear seirye moving about inside. He knocked on the door and called out [color=7bcdc8]"Seirye? It's Sam, that wound looked pretty bad, did you need a hand seeing to it, or can you manage on your own?" [/color]before waiting for a response.