Oh look. I made another chapter. Sue me.
"Sorry, Miss. Really am. You sure there's nothing I can't swing for you-ah, ma'm?" Around him, others looked at her attentively, sometimes glancing downwards. Hell, they were all glancing downwards.
The broad smiled at the Chairman and took another careful drink from the wine cup in her hand. "Could I get a refill, please?"
The respond was instant. A man in a sharp suit took her glass with a polite, "Please.", and immediately headed for the bar. A light laugh filled the air, and Swank gave the girl a good ol' Grade-A Swanko grin. What she had was brightening his day up, not only from what it actually was but from the look it was giving people when they went through the doors. The curiosity, or sheer dumbfound, that crossed their faces when they glanced at the girl idling by the reception desk with Chairmen itching for the word gave him chuckles every time. Didn't exclude him from the Holy-Hell-Lookie-Here club, though. He was just as shocked as the fancy-ass man that just passed her.
The wine cup was back, filled with clear water. The broad smiled, thanked the Chairman, and took a sip, but stopped and began digging through her purse.
"Oh no, ma'm, don't you worry about that," Swank said, "These are on the house."
"Oh-um," she stuttered, embarrassed. Was she unused to courtesies, he wondered? With what she had, he expected she got treatment like this all the time. "Are you sure? I have the..."
"S'fine," the Chairman insisted. "Courtesy of the head-man." That part was untrue, as Benny had no idea she was here, and probably wouldn't. But Swank worked at the Tops, at the Strip, and holding gambles that the honcho Chairman would've approved of handouts didn't distress him. Sides, it moved the broad.
"We have other non-alcoholic beverages, if you're tired of water," the other front dresk greeter, Frank, piped.
She waved her hand. "No, thank you. Water is fine." And she turned around and sat down, gazing off into space.
Oh God, damn. Swank's heart was a faulty scale, looking at her and where she was. Poor girl didn't know, shouldn't have to. It was a stupid rule, made no sense, but the Ben-man was hard on the stuff like this and no gambles no matter the odds would pay off on that road.
"Real sorry about this, Miss," he said as a gambler came through to doors and headed for Frank.
She waved again, then turned a gave a Whaddya Do? combo of a shrug and grin. "Our fault for not knowing the rules. I'll be fine. He comes, takes shift, I go, we switch."
"I know, doll, but it's a stupid rule. I had it my way you'd be pulling switches down there with him."
Another shrug. Which was all they could do, really.
There was commotion behind him, a congestion of movement. He turned. Coming from the right around the desk was the devil's boy himself, dressed in a checkerboard, hair combed and cleaned, shoes the glints in his eyes. Classic Vegas, rolled into a slick cat. Swank never failed in that thought deal whenever his boss came around, and he could bet Benny set bets exactly for that.
"Heyo, Swank," the Chairman said, flashing him a smile. Behind him, his four arms kept a strong but safe distance. "I've been hearing card talk all night about a stranded broad hangin' 'round here. Buzzed the crowds. Know where the pussy-"
Swank could've burst at where the man cut off, but he held it in for the encore. The woman and the Chairmen met eyes, and Swank saw the cat puff up real nice. Course, only Chairman, or better, second-in-command Chairman could tell - the straightened back, the relaxed face, the hint of a smile, maybe hands in pockets - when fellows did it. The subtle Tops gig, make the customer feel like they're in the coolest dill since snow. Benny was the maker of it and he put it full swing now, subtlety fingering his bodyguards to stand back as he waltzed in front of the girl.
"These boys doing you any trouble, Miss?" the Chairman asked.
She smiled and shook her head. "Oh no, sir, they've been very good."
He smiled and put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I've been hearing about you all night, Miss. And I hate to ask, but, ah," he glanced downward, "is the cat out of the bag?"
With a smile, she slightly leaned forward. Benny's eyebrows raised and Swank put a hand to his snicker. Strapped to the woman's slender Pre-War green dress was a grimy...well, Swank didn't really know what the official term of it was. Broad called it a "carrier", but it looked more like a blue and black harness made of fabric flipped to the front. Swank'd never seen anything like it.
But what had Benny's face was half the harness and half what was in the harness, which was a bona fide baby. A little thing, strapped in and nestled into its mama's chest and out like a shot light. All you could see was the curled toes and a ball of black hair.
And classic: Benny was enthralled, but only for a second. Course, he, like everyone else, suddenly found themselves unable to keep their eyes off the woman's chest. And who wouldn't? It was a baby, a girl, to be specific, a potential doll who's whole world was gonna be the Mojave and the Strip. Children were as rare as rainy days, specially with all the chems and drugs and condoms the open legs popped to keep their stomachs flat. Minors were banned from the floor for good reasons and the tourists just hated being strapped with an extra body that wasn't a neck to chew or a slot to stick. Any kids Swank could think of would be in Freeside, and he'd never been there himself.
But little one-day-to-a-year? Hell, Swank hadn't seen that since, well, since before House ate 'em up. Babies meant a whole life to grow, a huge chunk of eighteen-year responsibility, and Vegas was devoid of that. Seeing that broad in her little dress and hair cut all short and innocent with a baby strapped to her chest rang odd bells in the Chairman, right from when she walked in with her plush husband on the arm. He hated holding her up. Really, he did. But there was a no-minor policy and the baby was the farthest Swank think they'd ever be from adult. So she stayed and her husband pecked and walked off with a promise of one game and then he'd be back.
Benny was a peacock. "Well, ma'm. I'd like to say the Tops got it all, but this...well, we don't ever get this. They got a name?"
The broad put a gentle hand on the tiny head. "Her name is Angelica."
He grinned. "Mind if I ask where the little lady is living?"
"We live in Novac for now, but Jackey scrounged enough caps that he felt we had to take at least one trip here while she's manageable."
The Ben-man's face lit up as if he remembered something and he fished inside his checkerboard. His hand flourished to reveal a red and black Tops chip, which he handed to the broad. She took it with a blushing thank you. "You tell Miss Angelica when she grows up into a pretty girl like you that the Tops'll always warm a seat for her." He bent close. "Just make sure you never introduce her to those Gomorrah finks or I'll drag her out myself," he whispered, but loud enough so the surrounding Chairmen could hear.
That, of course, invited and produced a wave of cheerful laughter, the woman blushing blood and looking away shyly. "Well-ah, I'll be sure to tell her that when the time's right."
"Great, ma'm, real swinging." He gestured around the Strip. "Well, as the head of the house I'm afraid I've gotta zip, keep the cool. It was a treat meeting you and the doll here." He jerked his head to Swank. "You need anything at all, you call on Swank over there."
"Well, Benny, I think the doll actually does need something," Swank piped, the Chairman turning to meet his eyes. A jerk of the head, a strain in the eyes, and a little Chairman-only body language and Benny turned back to the woman, smiling with hints of apology.
"Ma'm, forgive me, I am so sorry- it passed over my head and for that I offer my humblest apologies. Tops ain't used to babies here, see. Ol' Swank here was just following the rules, no minors on the floor." He shrugged. "Can't blame him. How rude of me. Let me take you down to a seat over by your husband, full view of the casino, free drinks on the house."
The woman, blushing and stuttering all the way, nodded and accepted Benny's gesture, the Chairman walking behind her. He glanced to Swank and nodded and Swank returned the gesture, and with that he and the baby-toting broad were gone. The interest left, the scattered Chairman departed, and soon the front desk was back to factory settings. And for the rest of the day and following, Swank had a little perk in his smile.