I'm pretty sure we can all agree on one thing- Booker you should have taken her up on the offer to dance! Totally worth any potential embarrassment.
How could he have been so stupid?
That girl was his only ticket erasing his debt and getting his life back, and what did he do? Lay on the beach taking a nap while she ran off to go enjoy some music. If it had not of been a fairly crowded beach he would likely have screamed in frustration.
Booker's eyes continued to scan the beach looking for a familiar head of brown hair and long blue skirt. Unfortunately he was having no luck. He had even less luck when he tried asking some people if they had seen her. Most of the men just brushed him off while the women flirted with him.
"Heh, yeah no thanks ladies. Not Interested." Booker grumbled to himself as he continued his search.
This job was getting harder and harder. From having half the city ripping apart the other half to look for him to now having to babysit this young woman it was making his head hurt. Now that he thought about it he had been hoping she would come along completely willingly and they would leave the city without any trouble whatsoever. "Yeah right!" Booker again grumbled to himself.
Alright... First find the girl then from there figure out what next. That should be simple right? Unfortunately finding her was proving much harder than he had hoped.
At least no one was questioning the gun in his shoulder holster despite it being in plain view. They said more about how he should be in a swimsuit. At least the women did, the men did not seem to care.
It finally occurred to Booker what Elizabeth had said before she ran off. Music, she had heard music and he told her to go. So wherever there was music playing she was most likely there as close as possible.
Looking out across the beach he saw a large dock with a small crowd of people dancing. On the same dock was a band playing several instruments. For a brief moment Booker thought he saw a glimpse of a twirling blue skirt.
Making his way to the dock Booker stepped onto the wood and made his way toward the crowd.
There she was in all her innocent and pure glory. As Booker watched she and her partner spun around with several other pairs of dancers.
Her smile was as bright as the sun as her laughter reached Booker's ears. The girl danced as if she did not have a care in the world. She did spend her whole life in that tower alone so this was probably the first time she danced with a partner.
Soon the crowd parted leaving Elizabeth in the middle of them still dancing but now on her own. Her arms were spread out wide and she spun and twirled letting the tune of the music guide her. Even Booker had to admit, she was radiant.
"Hey Miss?" Booker tried to get her attention but had no luck. Either the music was too loud or, far more likely, she was too enamored with her dancing to notice. The crowd continued to clap and cheer her on as she moved. Her booted feet moving in perfect rhythm to the beat.
Booker tried to her attention but she never responded. The only thing left was a direct approach so he walked up to her. "Elizabeth!"
That got her attention. Although the first words out of her mouth had him suddenly a bit worried. "Hello! Oh this is wonderful! Come dance with me Mr. Dewitt!" She held both her arms out to him.
Booker knew immediately what he wanted to respond with. The words I don't dance, come on let's go instantly came to mind. Unfortunately that was not what his mouth wanted to say apparently. Maybe it was the excited way she practically bounced up and down, maybe it was her near magical smile, or perhaps it her eyes bright with wonder and a child like excitement. Whatever the reason Booker found himself saying something different.
"I haven't really danced in a long time," that was certainly not what he wanted to say. Booker discovered instantly that was not the best choice of words.
"That's just fine I'll help you!" Elizabeth instantly grabbed his hands so fast that any legendary gunslinger would have been jealous and pulled him into the circle of clapping and cheering people.
Booker had not been lying when he said it was a long time since he danced. It certainly showed, he almost stepped on her feet several times. Fortunately the girl was as quick and agile as a cat. She moved fast enough to dodge his clumsy feet and keep moving with the beat making it look like they really were dancing and he was not stumbling about trying to keep up with her. Which he pretty much was.
If Elizabeth noticed his larger feet almost crushing hers she did not show it at all. She just continued giggling and smiling like a tiny little girl whom had just gotten a mountain of toys for her birthday. The excitement must have been infectious because even Booker found himself cracking a very tiny smile. This girl really was something.
The duo continued spinning with the beat as the crowd cheered them on. After a bit Booker began to finally remember how his feet properly worked and stopped nearly missing Elizabeth's feet every couple steps.
As they moved Booker thought back to the tower he had rescued Elizabeth from. Specifically the projector he had discovered and the film he found on it. The girl had practiced dancing before but all of her practicing lacked a very important thing- a partner. She grew up learning to dance on her own. That was why she was so excited about finally having a partner to dance with.
Eventually she stopped and slumped against his chest giggling and breathing heavily but obviously still very excited. She looked up at him with those same eyes that suckered him into dancing with her. Oh this was not going to end well.
With one hand still holding his she twirled herself around still smiling. "Come on Mr. Dewitt let's go explore more!" She tugged him along back toward the beach with surprising strength for her small frame. She looked back over her shoulder at him with that huge smile that likely also had a role in getting him to do what she wanted. Good god this girl was going to be the death of him.
Well he did lose their pursuers for now. He had yet to see any cops or others searching for them. No one was asking around for anyone or anything. So maybe he could indulge Elizabeth for a bit and let her experience some of what she had missed out on her whole life. As long as they kept a fairly low profile nothing bad should happen. That was a keyword though. Should.
With a quiet sigh he allowed her to pull him along. There was one thing he needed to clear up first though before they got very far. "You don't need to keep calling me Mr. Dewitt. Just call me Booker."
She looked over at him again and seemed to hesitate for a moment then nodded happily. "Alright, Booker." She said the word like she was tasting the words on her tongue.
Moving over to his side she wrapped both her arms around his right arm and looked around the beach.
"Where should we go first?" The question stumped Booker, he had expected her to run all over the place and he would be keeping up with her. So much for plan A. So then on to plan B then.
"Why don't we check out that gift shop over there?" Booker pointed to the turnstiles at the far end of the beach with his free hand. Elizabeth nodded eagerly and began pulling him along. Wow this girl was stronger than she looked.
Even Booker had to admit a break was a welcome refresher. Between getting shot at, chased across a city, almost getting crushed to pulp by a colossal mechanical bird monster, oh and let us not forget nearly falling to his death when Elizabeth's tower fell apart with them on top of it, Booker was tired. So perhaps they could have a break and check out this place they had fallen into for a bit. Maybe he would have inspiration for a way they could escape the city.
What could possibly go wrong?