Author's Note: It occurs to me that I could have put the first part of this chapter into the Prologue as well. This division doesn't flow as well as it might. But I'm not going to stress it.
Chapter 1: Emily
Owen did take a day off. In fact he took three. He was rather tight lipped about what he'd done with those three days (as expected) but Xanatos could see a definite... spring in his step.
Xanatos' curiosity was getting the better of him. In the slight chance that it had been an actual mundane type of vacation Xanatos checked Owen's company credit card.
Most of the charges were rather standard. Lunches for one, regular shopping trips and the like.
However... There were also two night in a hotel and a rather large bill at a local high end jewelry store. That was interesting...
"Surely it couldn't be something as boring as getting laid that's put you in such a peppy mood." Xanatos.
"Sir?" Owen asked, looking up from the papers he'd been examining. He'd been studiously ignoring Xanatos' calculating stare for the past half hour or so.
"You've been much more... personable, shall we say, ever since you came back from your days off." Xanatos explained. "I was curious as to your change in mood so I did a little snooping."
"Oh?" Owen raised an eyebrow and tried not to smirk. "And your best guess was that I went away and had a small tryst?"
"The thought had crossed my mind, but I'd like to think I know you better than that." Xanatos defended.
"I'm sure." Owen went back to writing.
"Enigmatic as you are." Xanatos said with a hint of annoyance. Owen did smirk at that.
There was a long silence in which Owen was able to get back to work for a short time and Xanatos continued to stare at him. Then Xanatos spoke up again.
"What DID you buy at that jewelry store?" Xanatos asked. Owen paused and looked up from the papers again. He didn't answer right away, weighing the options of silence versus disclosure.
"A necklace." Owen answered.
"Can I see it?" Xanatos asked.
"No." Owen answered without hesitating that time. Xanatos frowned in disappointment.
"Owen, I know the types of things that are likely to put a spring in your step." Xanatos said. Is this necklace likely to... bring difficulty later on?" He asked warily.
Owen thought carefully about how to answer that one. It was an awfully vague question. He knew the necklace would bring about an interesting string of events, but he didn't see them interfering much with the Xanatos clan.
"I don't foresee any conflicts arising, no." Owen answered.
Xanatos let himself relax at that. He picked up the papers in front of him and got up to leave the office.
"That's not to say," Owen added. "We won't see some excitement."
Xanatos paused at the doorway and turned around to see Owen looking at him. There was a glint in his eyes that Xanatos hadn't seen in quite a while. Xanatos just raised an eyebrow at him.
"It's nice to see you're feeling better Owen."
=====[Break]=====
"Emily! Stop dawdling around, your order's up!" A harsh voice came from the kitchen.
"Hold on, hold on! I'm working on it!" A slightly harried voice answered.
A small teenaged girl with a pale complexion and faint freckles rushed around the counter with an armful of dirty dishes she was trying valiantly not to drop before she could get them into the tubs behind the counter. Her dark brown hair was put up in a bun at the back of her head, it was slowly coming undone and tendrils of hair were falling down around her head, some framing her face just a little.
"You need to pick up the pace!" The harsh voice, which belonged to a tall man in his late 40s, said. He was well built, stocky man who had a squared off jawline with a perpetual three day growth. He had balding black hair and had several deep lines along his forehead. Despite his harsh voice he looked fairly friendly.
"Bill, I swear! If you start harassing me and make me drop the food again I'm not eating the bill this time!" Emily shouted back at him. She picked up the order sitting on the counter and rushed off again.
"The hell you won't!" Bill shouted at her from his place at the stove as she left earshot.
The lunch rush was busy busy busy today, especially for such a dinky little restaurant. There wasn't a moments peace between one customer leaving the table a mess and another waiting to be seated at it.
Emily spared a brief moment to glare at Sarah, the redheaded 20-something that was supposedly passing for the second waitress Bill said he'd hire. Emily couldn't be sure, but she was fairly certain the only reason Sarah was able to keep her job here was that she'd started sleeping with Bill. In the long run Emily didn't care, the less tables Sarah handled the more tips Emily got. Sarah seemed perfectly happy to stay at the register and log in under 'hostess' to ensure she got minimum wage for the day. If Bill was aware of this then he was turning a blind eye in order to keep getting laid.
If Emily had to guess she'd say that Bill was just lonely. He didn't really strike her as a sleazy kinda guy. He'd never tried to proposition her in that fashion when she started working there, and she didn't think it was because she was hard on the eyes. Actually, the way the guy at this current table was eying her agreed with that assessment.
He wasn't the type of fair they usually served here. He looked pretty out of place given that he was wearing a very well tailored suit and glasses that were clearly designer. Very clean cut, very stylish. He didn't seem to mind that he stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Hi, I'm so sorry for the wait. You ordered the club sandwich right?" Emily asked, setting the plate down on the table in front of him.
"Indeed." He answered. Emily smiled at him and quickly departed as Bill banged on the bell that told her she had another order waiting. Emily had to admit, he was kind of good looking.
'Kinda weird though.' Emily thought as she observed him out of the corner of her eye. He methodically picked at his sandwich and fries using only his right hand. When he came in Emily had noticed that there was something off about his left hand, maybe it was a prosthetic.
"Stop makin' eyes at him and pay attention to the other tables." Bill grumped at her.
"Oh shut up." Emily replied.
"It's just terrible how you let her talk to you that way..." She heard Sarah say softly as she started to depart with the tray of food. Emily frowned at that but tried not to be distracted. It was just another segue into flirting...
Besides, how much trouble could she really cause?
Author's Note: When thinking up Bill I actually sort of had Mandy Patinkin in mind for how he looks. Specifically from 'Dead Like Me' if you've ever seen the show.
