It was nearing one o'clock in the morning as Armin finished up his third drink of the night. He figured it was the best way for him to relax after getting chewed out by his boss and being in a foul mood for most of the day.
He sneered to himself and tried to angle the last drop of the bathtub gin into his mouth. He sat there, sulking at the bar for a while until he heard the loud creak of the heavy metal door at the entrance of the club.
A petite woman dressed head to toe in royal blue walked down the stairs from the surface door and made her way to the bar. Her dress was stylish yet conservative, leaving more to the imagination than some of the skimpy, garish outfits Armin had seen flappers wear. Her short, blonde hair was hidden for the most part by her large brimmed cloche hat.
As she walked, she quickly examined the club then proceeded to take a seat at the bar next to Armin.
"One Scarlet Sunrise," she said to the bartender, her voice surprisingly melodic in contrast to her cold-looking exterior.
"Hey lady, what do we look like? Some kinda ritzy French cocktail joint or something? We got two kinds of hooch: gin or whiskey. Take your pick."
The woman's voice adopted an amused tone, "You don't know who I am do you?"
"No I don't, but I can tell you're the kind of person who thinks she's too good for this place!"
"Let's just say I'm the kind of person who could bring this place down in an instant if I felt like it," she said in a low, threatening manner.
"Hey, hey, I don't want nothing to do with no moll or nothing…"
Attempting to avoid confrontation, Armin quickly interjected, "Miss, I would recommend the gin. It's the best thing you're going to get in the south part of the city. And trust me, once you get past the terrible taste, it's pretty good stuff."
The woman eyed him curiously then turned to the bartender and reluctantly ordered a glass of gin. Armin signaled to have the same.
"Don't mind old Jean," Armin said, "he's just a bit high strung."
"He seems like a wet blanket to me," she said, lighting a cigarette.
Armin chuckled. "Yeah, he can be that too." He offered her his hand. "Armin Arlert, investigative reporter for the Shiganshina Gazette. Who might you be Miss?"
The woman gave him a once over, an interested look in her eye. "I don't like giving my name out in places like this. You never know who's listening." Despite her distant disposition, she took his hand and shook it.
"Well then, you seem to be smarter than I am, " he joked.
While waiting for their orders, Armin found himself staring at her, drinking in her features. Her strong profile and her sharp, disinterested eyes were attractive to him and he couldn't bring himself to look away. "So, what brings you to The Wall?" he said, hoping to brush off his gawking. "I've never seen you in here before."
The woman took a drag from her cigarette and blew it towards the crowd tables away from the bar. "A little business, a little pleasure. I'm meeting an acquaintance here and I thought I'd unwind before he arrived."
"I see," Armin said as Jean served them their drinks.
"What about you Mr. Reporter, what brings you to such a sinful and unlawful establishment such as this?" she asked, sarcastically. "Wouldn't this be the kind of place you'd investigate and reveal to the cops?"
Armin took a slow sip of his gin, feeling its heat settle in his stomach. "No, I'd like to think I'm not a rat." He took another swig, this time grimacing at its taste. "I understand that some people, such as myself, need a break after a tough day."
"Oh?"
He glanced at her with a smirk, "Yes 'oh.' The story I've been working on is a bust, so I'm here." He opened his arms in a poetic gesture, "Hiding from the world's burdens behind the safety of The Wall and at the bottom of a glass."
The woman gave a wry smile while extinguishing her cigarette in a nearby ashtray, "With words like that, you should have been a writer, not a reporter."
He turned on his stool to face her and cocked an eyebrow, "I've dabbled."
She laughed softly and took a drink from her glass. Much to Armin's surprise, her face remained unchanged, not a muscle twitching from the foul tasting alcohol. He gave a low whistle in amazement.
"So," she started, repositioning herself so her elbow rested on the bar, "what was the topic of the story that has you so despondent?"
He looked at her slyly, "You know Miss, you're not too bad with words either."
She offered that same smile to him and Armin wondered if the warmth he felt in his gut was from the gin. "Well, the story was supposed to be about the local crime syndicate called the Titans infiltrating the police and stealing supplies and research from one of the precincts. Apparently, they've been causing a whole mess of trouble and painting the town red, quite literally, in the past few months. You ever heard of them- the Titans?"
The woman hummed into the rim of her glass.
"Anyway," he continued, "A buddy of mine in the police said there was some kind of investigation going on- but looking back it might not have been reliable information; most of the time you can only believe half of what that guy says. In any case, I tried scrounging up all the leads I could, but nothing I did dug up any dirt. So here I am."
Armin took another gulp of his drink, wincing as he tasted the liquid. "The paper I work for is small time though. I really want to work at The Legionnaire. They do a lot of hard-hitting stuff at that place and I-" He noticed the woman staring at the wall behind him, preoccupied with her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I must be boring you."
Her eyes snapped back to him, "Well frankly, yes."
"Wow Miss you do not pull punches," Armin chucked, "I like that."
She swirled the liquid in her glass, "I don't really like sugar coating things. Of course, some things do need it. I wouldn't complain if I had something a bit better tasting," she said, indicating to her gin.
"You are definitely right about that," he said looking over the different "brands" of bootleg alcohol The Wall offered. "But I suppose you get what you've been given. By the way, what was it that you tried to order earlier?"
"A Scarlet Sunrise," she said, "It's a cocktail that I like. It's sweet…"
Armin noted that she ended her last sentence somewhat apprehensively. "Miss, do you by chance have a sweet tooth?"
She laughed nervously "Well I… It's made with a sweet strawberry liqueur and I like strawberries…"
Armin smiled at her change in character. She initially gave off an air of being some kind of unflappable mystery but here she was, acting like an embarrassed kid. He couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey," he said when he noticed the frustrated look on her face, "strawberries are pretty good in my book."
She chuckled awkwardly, attempting to gloss over her gaffe. Armin raised his glass slightly. "To Scarlet Sunrises?" he offered.
The woman regained her composure and raised her glass as well, "To Scarlet Sunrises." Their glasses clinked softly as what little liquid they had left sloshed around in the container.
She looked down thoughtfully at the glass in her hand. "It's kind of funny that you mentioned a sweet tooth," she began in a gentle voice, "because when I was a kid, my mother-"
"Excuse me," a deep voice interrupted. A large blond man in an expensive looking suit walked up the bar and tapped the woman's shoulder. She turned around to look at him and regarded him with the same coolness she came in with.
Standing up, she turned back to Armin, who was looking slightly confused. "This is the associate I've been waiting for, I'm afraid I have to be going now."
"Alright," Armin said, disappointment evident. "I'm glad we had this conversation. I enjoyed your company Miss." He smiled up at her.
"I did as well," she said, sticking out her hand. "Goodbye Mr. Arlert."
Armin took her hand and shook it. They lingered a moment until she let go and grabbed her handbag.
"Maybe I'll see you around sometime," Armin said as she started for the exit. She stopped to look at him and said with her dry smile that made his body go electric, "Maybe."
He watched her leave the club and when she exited, he turned back to his near finished drink. He smiled into the glass as he raised it up to his mouth.
"Ho-ho, Miss Scarlet Sunrise, I will definitely see you around."
I quite like this one. It was partially inspired by the art on this tumblr post by JohannaTheMad ( post/62793584820/omg-how-about-a-snk-20s-au-tho). Besides, the 20's are cool. I've kinda been wanting to do something more with this, but I'm a lazy piece of shit so I probably won't.