Ronnie pushed her graying hair out of her face and looked through the windows. Despite the late hour, the hustle and bustle of the city had not died down. Looking out at the skyline one might be deceived by the bright lights and the sound. But Ronnie knew that the city was dark and dirty. She laughed darkly and downed the rest of her whiskey. That's when she heard a familiar voice.
"Oh this," he said, "Lost it in the war."
Ronnie spun around on her barstool and, sure enough, Hamilton stood there. He was in a ridiculous lavender suit and stuck out like a sore thumb. Ronnie thought about it… sore thumbs didn't really stick out all that much. They only stuck out a little. If at all. Ronnie brought the empty glass to her lips, then realized her mistake. She put the glass down sheepishly and got to her feet.
"Guess I better say hello." she said to the empty bar.
She stretched and slipped her heels back on.
"Hamilton," she called out.
Hamilton, who had just walked away from some of Chester's bewildered business partners, twisted to look at her. His expression softened.
"Veronica." He said with mock distain, "How unpleasant to see you."
"And you as well," she said closing the gap between them. "I've heard you were down on your luck, but I never thought you'd sink so low as to wear something," she gestured to his suit, "from a second-hand store."
"You're one to talk." He said snidely remarking her dress, "Did you dig through the discount bin at Walmart for that."
Ronnie laughed. "If things are hard I know a place where'd you'd make money hand over fist."
"Oh really," Hamilton said.
Ronnie nodded. "There's this amputee strip club right off of Broadway. But, then again, you knew that... Saw you on center stage last week."
Hamilton looked aghast.
Ronnie thought about it a moment. "Actually... I think that was Gertrude. You two just have the same mustache."
"Speaking of which…" he said circling her like a bird of prey, "I didn't want have to say something but-" He leaned in, "One of us has to shave."
Ronnie laughed good-naturedly and raised a hand to her upper lip, "I don't know Hamilton it took me fifty-six years to cultivate this bad boy. I'm not ready to let go."
Hamilton chuckled. "It is truly good to see you Veronica."
"Do you really think my dress is Walmart quality?" she asked.
Ronnie fanned out her dress. It was a black, sleeveless, floor-length sheath dress with slits down either side, and a high neck. The slits showed off one toned leg and one metallic one. The dress could have been plain on another woman, but on her it was classy.
Hamilton looked her up and down. "Your dress is stunning; however, you could make a trash bag look elegant."
Instead of saying 'thank you' she just said, "I know."
While Ronnie and Hamilton conversed next to an ornate statue of Poseidon trouble was brewing over at the bar. Shelia, who had just finished her second drink of the night, was being bothered by a Dean Martin wannabe. Trying to escape the man's cheesy pickup lines- Shelia made her way over to the balcony. Naturally, he followed. Even though Hamilton was enjoying catching up with an old friend; he couldn't help but have his interest piqued.
"A friend?" Ronnie stated when Hamilton took too long to respond.
"Excuse me?" Hamilton said.
"That young woman." Ronnie said lazily gesturing to the balcony. "Do you know her?"
Hamilton nodded, "We are…" Hamilton thought about it and finally decided on, "colleagues."
Ronnie nodded absently. "Looks like she been cornered by Toby."
"You know him?" asked Hamilton.
"I've lived in New York for quite some time. I'm familiar with Chester's..." she paused, "colleagues."
"Chester?"
Ronnie sighed, "Chester Ong? You'd probably know him as Wide Wale." She folded her arms.
"How would you know him?" Hamilton asked.
"I know you," Ronnie said annoyed. "It has to do with work. I'm a playwright and a good one. Chester makes it a habit of befriending talented people."
Hamilton raised his two gloved hands in defense and his cuff lifted to reveal nothing there. Ronnie, bewildered, seized his arm and brought it to eye level.
"Ah yes," said Hamilton sheepishly, "The product of an experiment gone wrong."
"Wrong," Ronnie said, still in shock, "Your arms are invisible!"
Hamilton shushed her. "Surely," he said through clenched teeth, "You've seen stranger if you know Wide Wale."
"Stranger," Ronnie said, "Maybe… but…"
Hamilton drew his arm away and adjusted his sleeves.
"How?"
Before Hamilton could respond, Dr. Z walked up and gave him a wicked smile. The old man had a gleam in his eye that spelt trouble.
"Hello, young woman, and who might you be?" Dr. Z asked raising an eyebrow.
"Dr. Z this is an old friend of mine, Veronica Addington." Hamilton responded as he fiddled with his cufflinks.
"Just friends?" asked Dr. Z. "The two of you have been flirting all night."
Without skipping a beat, Ronnie said, "Yes but had I known that there even more pleasant company…"
Dr. Z blushed and was speechless. After a couple of moments, he finally managed to let out a strangled, "I'm married."
Ronnie threw back her head and laughed.
The three of them discussed topics primarily surrounding post-impressionism art and the Romantic Period of English literature. However, the conversation began to veer into more personal territory.
"Yes," Dr. Z said, a sadness in his voice, "Johnny keeps showing up on my door all tweaked out. I'm worried about how it's affecting Ro-Boy and my wife..."
Wide Wale lumbered over to the group. "Am I interrupting?" interrupted Wide Wale.
"Not at all, Chester," Ronnie said sweetly.
"I'm afraid that I need to borrow my work associates from you." said Wide Wale.
"I was just leaving away," responded Ronnie.
She nodded to the two of them as they turned to leave. Before Hamilton could get too far away Ronnie caught him by the arm. He lingered a moment and she pressed a business card into his hand. He briefly glanced over it before putting it into his breast pocket.
"Keep in touch," She said softly.
Hamilton nodded and turned around.
Dr. Z leaned in and cheerfully said, "She's nice."
Hey guys! I just wanted to note that the reason that Veronica called Copy-Cat "Toby" is because there is no cannon civilian name for Copy-Cat so I used the voice actor's first name as a placeholder. Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this fic! Critiques are welcome! If you notice a continuity error or a grammar mistake be sure to let me know! I'm also going to be posting this up on A03 when I finally get my invitation. I'm pretty sure that I characterized everyone pretty well! I'll post again next week!