❦ Time ❦ Evening, May 15th ❦ Location ❦ The Bar ❦ Interactions ❦ Jack Graves (NPC), Octavius Zeno (@Hoekage) To: Tavi Zeno
Delivered: 4 hours ago
Like everything else here, the drinks at the bar are free too. Come check it out!
To: Tavi Zeno
Delivered: 2 Hours Ago
Hey. Where've you been?
Two Bloody Marys (extra bloody, how she liked it) in, Andrie's phone chimed from her bag. Based on the ring tone, she could tell it was her work phone. Never a fan of letting her work life mix with her personal life, Andrie had two phones she fielded texts from. Her work phone only had generic ring tones for her clients, whereas her personal phone had ring tones by contact, so she could tell who was messaging or calling without even looking at her phone.
She almost missed it, as she was busy flirting with the bartender, a cute human with a sheepish smile and curly brown hair. Not that she expected it to go anywhere, but she was bored, and had yet to find anyone she recognized who wasn't already preoccupied. It had been two hours since she'd texted Octavius off of her personal phone. Of course, he had yet to respond, so now she was drinking alone, like a loser. Typical Tavi. What was so important that he hadn't checked his phone all night? He hadn't even unlocked his phone screen to take a picture? If he had her notifications muted she'd personally break that pretty face of his. She contemplated sending another text, but in the end her sense of dignity won out and she took the phone off the bar and put it back in her handbag. Maybe she'd be less tempted that way. She fished around in her bag and pulled out her work phone, protected by a sleek, professional black case.
Most of the contacts in her work phone were of Zeno blood or Zeno affiliates, seeing as they were the ones who gave her her assignments. There was the occasional unaligned person, but no Artois or Tepes blood or followers. Andrie imagined that her employers wouldn't love her working with their political competition, and after all it had taken to get her where she was today, she wasn't too keen on crossing them. At any second, her legs could be swept out from under her, and she knew that. Either way, there wasn't much reason to stray from the Zeno family. She had friends there, and her employers always made sure the money made its way into her bank account.
The drink in her hand was set back on the bar with a rough
clink, a little bit sloshing over the sides. Stray drops ran down the glass and soaked into the napkin she'd put the drink on. Of course on the day she was invited to an
all expenses paid trip to the Vampire king's own private island she was ditched, and then had to take an assignment. This was supposed to be fun, but right now it was anything but.
From: Robert Price
Received: 1 minute ago
'There is a Jack Graves at your location. He needs some convincing to close a deal with one of my businesses. Show Mr. Graves some Zeno hospitality.'
Attachment: 1 Image
Andrie couldn't help but mirthlessly snicker at that. It was a cold sound, not friendly in the slightest. The bartender turned around, a question on his face, but she waved him off.
Hospitality. Her cold blue grey eyes narrowed at the phone screen as if it had personally offended. Calling what they were asking of her hospitality was an almost offending attempt at subtlety or modesty. Rarely did Andrie get a request for an advisory conversation over drinks, or a round or two in the boxing ring as opposed to in bed. It wasn't that she disliked her job, Andrie had no qualms about servicing her clients. She slept
around easily, knowing each and every client was screened thoroughly before sent her way. How they got them to agree to that, she wasn't sure, and she wasn't concerned. There wasn't any danger to her job, but Andrie did feel she had more to offer than convincing pillow talk. It wasn't her place to say so, though. The offers were never demands, more firm requests, which made Andrie feel a little better about things. Nevertheless, she always did as she was asked, which made her one of the Zenos' most frequent employees.
It did help that Andrie was also very good at her job. To put it simply, it was hard to want to say no to what Andrie asked, especially with a bit of convincing. The Zenos definitely took notice of this, and eventually none of them were above calling in favors from her, whether with a repeating client or with a fresh face. Andrie had a way of keeping them coming back, for seconds, thirds, and so on.
As if sensing her hesitation, Andrie's phone chimed again. The notification was from a different app, the one she managed her transactions from. $800 had been transferred directly to her bank account from a user called 'Don't Make Me Ask Again'.
To: Robert Price
Delivered: Now
Classy. I'm on it.
❦ Time ❦ May 16th, 7:00am → 9:40am ❦ Location ❦ Jack Graves' Lodging → The Grand Hall ❦ Interactions ❦ Jack Graves (NPC)
When she woke up, there was no confusion as to where she was, or what had happened last night. The 'day after confusion' was for rookies, and she was anything but. She normally didn't stay after, but she had been so exhausted, and he'd asked her to stay. It sounded like he would beg her if he had to, and Andrie really didn't want to deal with that. Besides, she was unemotional, not heartless.
Now, though, she was kind of regretting it. His arm was wrapped around her torso, and she was pulled up against his chest, her head tucked under his chin. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable. She almost wanted to stay like that a little bit longer, keep the fake feeling of intimacy and trust. But, she had little time to enjoy the moment. She needed a shower, and she wanted to be out of here before he woke up. She'd successfully convinced him to close the deal, so her job here was done. She gently disentangled himself from his limbs, rolling off the bed and grabbing the handbag and shoes she'd tucked out of the way under the bed.
A hot shower later, she pulled on last night's clothes and returned to her room. She needed to change before breakfast with the king this morning. She blow dried her hair, put on her makeup, and grabbed a blue dress she'd hung when she'd arrived. She made it to the Grand Hall just as people were beginning to sit down. She stationed herself at one of the Zeno tables near the sides of the room.
When Tavi arrived, late as Andrie expected, she made a point of not looking at him. Besides, Dmitri Tepes looked like he was getting ready to address the invitees. Maybe they'd figure out what they'd been called here for. She couldn't imagine it was just for pleasantries. With a short speech, he disappeared from the hall, tailed by one of his brothers.
As far as she was concerned, Andrie would land on her feet. She already had her own place, and as long as she could keep working for the Zenos, she had a pretty lucrative job. But, she wasn't quite sure she was the kind of person who would be the head of the a Royal House. She'd never even imagined she'd have this opportunity. Did she even want to be a Royal House ruler?
Andrie settled on figuring it out later. Part of her wanted to text Octavius about how crazy this whole idea was, but he had yet to text her back since last night. No way was she going to text him first. Was it too early to start drinking?
Now that she thought about it, though, this party would be a perfect opportunity to meet new people and potential allies. She scanned the room, trying to see if she recognized anyone besides the Zenos.
TokyoPewPew
