Blue Skies

"Um, ok." He said weakly, shifting in his seat and motioning for the man to sit. Sam sipped on his tea, "I'm Sam." He said removing one of his grease stained gloves, that he had even worn while eating, to offer the man a hand shake. His hands surprisingly clean compared to his coveralls and face.

 

“That‘s very kind, however I like to keep my mind sharp sir. You‘ve wasted money on me. I don‘t steal, I‘ve no idea what you‘re talking about. And I shan‘t sit at the table to be accused by the both of you, while an innocent boy sits and listens. Do you want to mar his young mind?” she said.

Simon could see he was dealing with a superior mind, or at least a very stubborn one. Further discussion of the subject would only lead them in circles. It was futile "Well, the offer is still on the table," he said. "Being an honest woman, guilty of nothing, will make the job even easier, but I can see why you would object to such a thing. No one likes free handouts, I suppose. But if you ever need anything, come by the shop sometime, even if it's just to say 'hello,'" he said with a smile, trying to curb her anger.

"Pardon the imposition, but is everything alright, madam?"

“See how terribly these men are treating me,” she taunted the pair. Her voice had changed an innocent voice.

Simon kept his mouth shut. She was a genius; she had all the angles covered. He should've known he was in over his head the moment he approached her. I should've let that pocket watch go, he thought. Experiment: failed.

 

He seems like a average upperclass gentleman, which means he'll instantly try to protect her. Men like that love playing knight in shining armor... you are good at picking you marks, thought Chaos. It was all he could do not to laugh at the scene. "Well if nothing else, you do make things interesting Miss Myra. Theres a game that traveling companions will sometimes play. I admit its name eludes me at the moment, however its a pretty simple game. You get to ask me a question and I'll answer honestly, but then I get to ask any question of you. This can go on as long as you desire. What do you say?"

 

Miser took the man's hand with a friendly hand.
"A pleasure sir Sam to meet you, I am Miser," he said.
Miser took the offer of sitting down and he did, but he created a nice barrier between him and Sam.
"Sam I don't want to offend you any more, so lets keep this barrier between us," Miser said, "I apologize for sitting is a very disrespectful way, but I am from the streets and I have street smell all over me, not the most pleasant street smells either...so how was the weather for you today?"
Miser smiled once again, how truly long had it been since he talked to a human being. And then he laughed at himself, because thinking like this was foolish. He talked to Old Junker Jenkins just yesterday.
"I do apologize I seem like a man in the head more then the world,"

 

"No, um, that's ok." Sam said awkwardly, putting his glove back on. "The weather has been decent for flying recently." He added awnsering the first question. He had, had some fairly smooth days recently, so nice he had tried to convince his navigator to take a three star. He really did need a new navigator.

 

Tommy detected a hint of sarcasm. But he wasn't certain if he or the gentlemen at her table served as the butt of her joking. He believed the woman's taunting was directed towards them, and stayed standing at his table, watching the men for ill-advised behavior.

They seemed like good gentlemen, just bothersome to the lady. He smiled.

"That's a shame, madam. I'm sorry that in this day of age, a lovely woman like yourself can't escape bad manners."

Finally, his server approaches the table. A perky woman with long hair and a sincere smile approached Tommy, pencil ready to jot his order down.

"What can I get you tonight, sir?"

"Please, call me Thomas. Not sir. And if it's not too much trouble, I would like a steak, please."

"Of course, s-... Thomas. And how would you like it prepared?"

"Soon. I'm famished."

The server giggled.

"Would you like it rare, medium-rare, well done...?"

Tommy was in over his head. He just wanted to try a steak, and these options were giving him a moderate headache.

"I suppose I shall have it well done."

The server smiled.

"And your side order?"

"Mashed potatoes."

"Anything else?"

"That will be all, miss."

"You can call me Gloria. And I'll have your order here shortly."

"Thank you, Gloria."

"You're welcome, Thomas."

She gave him a once over with her eyes, turning the corner of her mouth and giving Tommy a wink before turning away to leave and put the order in.

 

Miser smiled a bit, but didn't like the way this conversation was going. He already said to put the formal suits away. For heavens sakes he only had one evening for fun.
Miser got up and dragged Sam out of his seat.
"Okay, okay...we do not need awkwardness in the world," Miser said, "I want you to wiggle out all of your anxiety right now, talk like man, spit in your hand, and make yourself cool...so wiggle, sir."
Sam stared at him like most people. Miser didn't like doing this to strangers, but strangers needed to loosen up. Miser started wiggling Sam around a bit.
"Now you take over and then you gain mental muscle,"

 

"Well if nothing else, you do make things interesting Miss Myra. Theres a game that traveling companions will sometimes play. I admit its name eludes me at the moment, however its a pretty simple game. You get to ask me a question and I'll answer honestly, but then I get to ask any question of you. This can go on as long as you desire. What do you say?"

Myra grinned studying the necklace Rose wore. Her hands idly touching it. then turned back to Chaos, “I could tolerate it perhaps, but first I must powder my nose.”

"That's a shame, madam. I'm sorry that in this day of age, a lovely woman like yourself can't escape bad manners." The man that had come to the table said.

“I am bad manners,” she said with a wink. “But I am still a lady and I deserve respect.” she brushed past him and managed to keep her hands to herself.

She stood up brushing the wrinkles from her skirt and moved towards Roses table. The restrooms weren’t to far from where she sat and the chances she could get the necklace were good. She slipped a pair of jewellers pliers from her skirt pocket into the sleave of her blouse. She took a pen from her pocket and a small notepad. She had to get into the right mood. She forced herself into a nervous state and shook as she approached the woman, a nervous fan girl.

“beg your pardon Miss Rose, might I get your autograph.”

 

“beg your pardon Miss Rose, might I get your autograph.”

Rose looked up, not too surprised but a little taken aback. The woman hardly looked like someone who would enjoy the arts but then again it never did to assume about people.

"Of course," Rose replied warmly, taking the proferred pen and paper to scribble her name.

 

"That's a shame, madam. I'm sorry that in this day of age, a lovely woman like yourself can't escape bad manners."

"Yes, I'm such a typical rich bastard," Simon mumbled to himself with the utmost sarcasm. Good, it didn't seem as if anyone heard him.

She's like a force of nature. There's no stopping her, he thought as she approached Rose's table and asked for an autograph. Even lightning would be smart enough not to strike the same place twice, yet there she goes, at it again. I'll have to send Ms. Daughney a new necklace sometime; that one is as good as gone. Simon hadn't given up, he was simply going 'back to the drawing board,' as they say. He never gave up.

 

Sam bearly managed to with hold a shout of surprise as the man dragged him from his seat, and began lecturing him. He felt his face turn bright red as he looked at the ground. "Sorry." He said meakly, he had no idea what this man wanted from him. His eye strayed to one of the rich men, one who had announced the beauties he was with. He looked amused and Sam felt his face darked some more. Sam looked almost pleadingly for the man to just let him go, he just wanted to leave now.

 

Myra stepped behind the woman, looking as though she was looking over the woman’s shoulder. Rose’s back acted as a shield for Myra and keeping her eyes on the paper she rose the pliers. She didn’t need to see what she was doing, she knew enough to feel her way without touching the woman and alerting her. The heavy dress Rose wore also acted as an advantage. Myra moved her hand towards the chain and as the pliers gently undid the clasp, she cautiously lifted it and moved it away dropping it into the cleavage of her blouse.

She beamed the nervousness faded. The joy could be mistaken by Rose.

“I‘m so grateful you took the time to do this for me. Every girl dreams to be just like you,” Myra said. Stoking the woman’s ego would further dim her knowledge of what was truly happening so long as it was done modestly.

 

She does deserve respect, but Tommy believed she made a mountain of a molehill for some other reason. As the woman passed him, he tried to move, but their bodies made contact anyway. Luckily for Tommy, she walked by him, seemingly to become acquainted with Rose.

What a name. What a woman. It's only fitting that Rose is her name. Her beauty is rivaled by few if any, and from her walking by, he had the pleasure of being intoxicated by her divine scent. Tommy considered himself lucky again to have not locked eyes with her. He saw only her back as she passed his table, which was intimidating enough. He would need more drinks if he was to function on this cloud of angels.

He walked back to the bar to order himself another drink. Another Wild Turkey, this time in a tall glass.

 

Miser stared at him, he was a meager man of meager confidence. Well that just doesn't work for Miser. Miser suddenly began dragging Sam towards one of the richer gentlemen.
"This is Sam...he'd like to talk to you...he would like to show you his manly muscles of words," Miser said.
Meager confidence had never worked for Miser. And many people whom he has "helped" with his "special talent" has actually thanked him afterwards. In this world you weren't going to get anywhere if you didn't have the power of presence, words, and back up. Sam needed friends, friends who could protect him from bigger man. Friends he never had.

 

“I‘m so grateful you took the time to do this for me. Every girl dreams to be just like you.”

Rose was taken aback. It seemed excessive praise from someone so worldly looking but then she figured she was judging on looks yet again.

Stop that. Rose scolded herself and her attention was drawn by a burst of laughter from Richard.

"You are very welcome," Rose said with a smile, her attention pulled to the source of Richard's mirth.

A workingman at a nearby table was being shaken about by a ragged looking beggar. He looked uncomfortably mortified. Richard was roaring with boozy laughter and Carmina was trilling shrilly. Ben looked ready to slide under the table.

"Richard, stop that!" Rose hissed, embarrassed for him.

She stood up from her seat, only then noticing that the woman who had asked for the autograph was gone, and found that the beggar and his victim were making their way to her.

"Take your hands off of him," Rose said crisply to the beggar, "and leave the man in peace. How would you like to be shaken about?" It was a clear firm tone of voice that could stop an entire orchestra in their tracks and make her director cower. Rose rarely used it but at the moment she was very unhappy at this turn of events.

 

Sam felt his face get redder if at all possible. Now the beautiful womanwas standing up for him. "Um, I'm sorry, I mean." Sam didn't know what to say, he just wanted to flee now. He could hear laughter. "I'm sorry for causing trouble." He managed weakly towards the woman though he was looking at the ground.

 

Chaos burst into laughter at the scene. "I should have come to this town sooner. It seems full of interesting people," he said to no one in particular. First a lovely thief, then a couple gentlemen easily duped by her, then she steals from another woman followed by that woman sticking up for some poor guy being pushed into a social setting by a beggar. This can only get better, though Chaos.

 

He stared at the woman.
"My such beauty, but harsh words like a whip cracking, ma'am," Miser said, "I don't mind be shaken about, it lets loose my nerves...this man has a lot of nerves he is bundle up shy, reserved, afraid he hides behind a wall...I was just helping or trying to help."
Miser then smiled at the woman.
"And I'll prove I don't mind be shaken about...go ahead wiggle or shake me I don't mind very much, ma'am," Miser paused, "It will help let out my nerves of fear because ma'am you scare me a bit."

 

Myra beamed bouncing back to the table she had been sitting at. The necklace was a beauty. Myra would be able to buy a new dress and eat well with the profit from it. If she sold it quickly enough she could give the trouble boy a little money to. She would need to keep her head low for the rest of the evening and keep her attention away from Rose. She gave a smug smile to the people at the table, sitting quietly.

 

Another ruckus stirred Tinker's as Tommy finally received his Tall Turkey. There was a financially challenged man and a worker taking part in some sort of shaking ritual. Tommy stared in their area, intrigued by the spectacle, only he wasn't sure if the man was making a joke.

Tommy didn't want to chuckle at the display if the intention was not to draw laughter. Rose had swam through the uppity crowd to administer a tongue lashing to the poor man. He walked into the crowd himself to get a closer look. He had difficulty deciding if he wanted a closer look at her, or at the calamity.

When he reached the crowd, he couldn't help but sneak a look at her. He figured her for the necklace type, but he was proven wrong when her neck showed nothing of the sort. A raised eyebrow expressed his surprise.

 

"And I'll prove I don't mind be shaken about...go ahead wiggle or shake me I don't mind very much, ma'am," Miser paused, "It will help let out my nerves of fear because ma'am you scare me a bit."

That settled it. The man was insane...possibly criminally.

"Regardless of your feelings, let go of him." She said coldly.

Just then Richard got to his feet, grasped the beggar by the jacket and lifted him from the floor as he boomed, "I'll take ya up on that, lad!" and proceeded to give the ragged man a teeth-rattling shaking.

Rose put a hand to her forehead and shot the man who she had been attempting to rescue an embarrassed look.

"You must pardon the two lunatics," she said, ignoring Richard who seemed like he might turn the beggar upside down for a continuation of the shaking, "would you care to join us to finish your meal?"

 

Why am I here, Simon thought. He hardly ever came to this sort of place. Is it always like this? he thought. He'd seen people he never imagined and seen strange new sides of the people he thought he knew. Never in a million years would he have expected Rose to do what she did. An upperclass citizen with a heart for charity was incredibly rare. He'd thought he was all alone in that department, but apparently not.

Meanwhile, Myra was seated across from him, doing her damnest to hide a grin. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked. She sickened him, but he did as good a job of hiding his disgust as she did hiding her satisfaction.

He watched as Rose invited the timid young man over to her table. "You see that?" Simon said to Myra. "That's a nice thing she did, don't you agree? Isn't it terrible to see bad things happen to nice people? It just breaks my heart," he said, placing a hand on his chest for added drama.

 

Miser just laughed at the man who was shaking him about. He laughed and laughed and laughed.
"Boy this is fun, sir...I don't think your shaking me hard enough," Miser said, "Mmm, you know I gotta tell you about a story, pirates my friend, pirates, they came from the Cagny sea you see and they stole lots of things wonderful things, pretty necklaces that belong beautiful's woman necks, and rings that belonged to king you see, they were thieves, stole right under you nose, maybe it isn't story about pirates, maybe it's story about thieves, or maybe I'm just getting a bit mixed up here, or maybe I can't remember the story...kind sir can you tell me about..."
Finally the man stopped shaking him and couldn't take his babble any more. Miser laughed and smiled.
"I can out talk any action...you survived barely a hundred words, I have talked much longer for some people...people who want mug a poor beggar," Miser said, "Ma'am I would like to apologize to Sam now, and please don't send your puppet on me again...I don't mind being shaken, but being shaken like a piece laundry isn't what I like."

 

"That's a nice thing she did, don't you agree?" Simon asked her. She wriggled under his gaze.

“Yes sir,” she felt like she was being scolded and she didn’t like it. However it wasn’t as though he wasn’t trying to be kind to her. “very kind coming from an upper class.”

 

Sam felt even worse as the man who had been shaking him got heafted to be shaken himself. He was about to try and say that the man didn't need shaking when the beauty who had come to his rescue invited him to join them to finish my meal, all I really had left was some tea, but as I failed to strieghten my coveralls into anything more than the greasy mess they always were, and the back of my hand wiped at the smudge on my face for a moment. Sam didn't know what to say, he could feel eyes on him still. He had been rescued by a woman, in front of everyone at the bar, and not just any woman, a very beautiful one. "Thank you for rverything, but I couldn't possibly." Sam said softly, looking up at her and then back down at himself.

The crazy poor guy got set down finally. "It's ok. Really." He said hoping they'd both let him leave.