Sitting in a chair, he drummed his fingers against the table rapidly, unable to start his usuall morning routine because of yesterday's catastrophe disaster with Meryl in the bar. He was happy to at least have known that Meryl had gotten to her room safely, but the thought turned bitter after she refused to talk to him. Waiting for Millie, he felt a surge of remorse go through his entire body. What happened yesterday night was still fresh in his mind. As he thought of this his mind wandered towards the day they had to suddenly leave the small, peaceful town because of an urgent message sent by Doc. Not wanting to cause the girls any stress, he had kept the letter to himself. Thinking of it now, he took out the crumpled, telegram:
Vash (stop) Come quickly. (stop) We need you. (stop) Urgently need to discuss serious matters. (stop) We will all be waiting. (stop)
Signed,
Doc.
Put it away he wondered for what seemd like the hundredth time what could be so important. It couldn't have been Knives; for all he knew, he hasn't woken up yet.
But then again, Knives wasn't human….
'Great,' he thought, 'Now I've got two problems, one with doc and another with Meryl,' Scratching the back of his head, he sighed and drank his coffee as its surface shimmered. Looking into the cup he saw his reflection, and silently swirled the drink. The mere smell of coffee reminded him of Meryl, and his thoughts wandered back to her. "It was merely an accident,' he thought, and recollected the night before when her shirt was soaked by the drink. Which, subsequently, caused him to turn a slight shade or red. Feeling a lump in his throat and his heartbeat increase dramatically he got up quickly, gasping in shock. Why was his heart beating rapidly in his chest? He stood still, confused. What was this strange feeling?
A loud knock roused him from his thoughts. Looking at his hands silently to get himself together, he got up and opened the door. Seeing Millie he smiled, "Hello Millie, " Millie, cheerful as always, smiled and went in.
"Good Morning Mr. Vash!" Millie yelled happily. Walking in she hummed, unfazed by the fact that Vash was nervously looking at her. "Well Mr. Vash, I talked to Meryl and she made me promise not to tell you what happened yesterday night after she came back." As he opened his mouth to protest she stopped him, "But what I will say Mr. Vash, is what you did yesterday was wrong, and hopefully you'll make it up to her." He closed his mouth, ashamed of what he had done. Looking up at the clock, he sighed and started walking towards the door but Millie stopped him, "She left earlier this morning, so you'll have to tell her when she gets back." He stopped and looked at her.
"But its Saturday!", he nearly yelled. She looked at him, "What day did you think it was mister Vash? And since you ruined her working clothes, she decided to wear the pretty blue shirt and some shorts, since it was hot and ….." The rest of Millie's words were forgotten as he gulped, trying hard to swallow the lump in his throat he laughed nervously, cutting Millie off. "Millie, there's something I've been meaning to tell you two about this town….."
There was something strange about this town…. But she couldn't put a finger on what it was. Walking down the street Meryl looked around, it seemed as though almost no one lived here; the streets were practically deserted. Looking away, she sighed as she walked to the auto shop, which was only about five minutes away from the hotel. Men were starting to appear out of nowhere and looking at her strangely. Walking faster she looked nervously towards the auto shop, trying not to make eye contact with them. She had forgotten her derringers and not having them around made her feel vulnerable, a feeling she rather disliked. The sooner she met with the mechanic, the sooner they could talk and the sooner they could leave for wherever Vash needed to go. As she entered the small auto shop entrance, she glanced around. The room looked messy: there was a small desk in front of her, pictures of cars thrown lazily on the desk, and pictures of people along the walls. A calendar for cars lying on top of the desk was open, revealing photos of women in bikinis alongside cars. She walked to the left of the desk and towards a door and knocked.
"Hello?" she called out, and was met with the same man that helped her tow in the car. "He's expecting you ma'am, come this way." As she followed him into the surprisingly small garage, she noticed that only three cars were inside, two blue ones and their car. However, there were auto parts and equipment for cars all over the walls. As she went further into the room, she heard the man call out, "Hey, James! She's here!" A loud bump was heard from behind one of the four cars.
"Ouch! Don't yell Jerry, I can hear you," Getting out from under the car, James rubbed his head, and walked over to her, his hand dirty from all the oil and dirt underneath the car he was working on. Meryl noticed that he was completely dirty from head to foot, his hair was messy and slightly greasy, and his pants and shirt were rumpled and streaked with oil. He extended his hand and she stared at it; watching her expression he looked at his hand and smiled clumsily. "Oh, hold on…" He wiped his hand on his shirt, but managed to get it more dirty, and scratched his head, laughing, "I guess I shouldn't shake your hand, I'll get it all dirty, well, its nice to meet you, my name's James," He looked back at his assistant, "You can go back to doing what you were doing Jerry, I'll handle it from here." The man nodded and left the room, closing the door. James pulled out a seat for her. Sitting down, she watched him as he took out a handkerchief and started to clean the sweat off his forehead. "So" he said, "what can I do for you?"
She smiled, "I need to know how much the repairs are going to be and if you could tell me the extent of the damage." Nodding, he looked at the cars. "Okay miss, which one is yours?" When she pointed at the last car he whistled, "Oh, that one, well it won't be easy. I can fix it, but I gotta tell you, the person who drove did a number on it," Meryl almost yelled, "Yeah, that man is a walking disaster, everything he touches winds up blowing up!" but kept quiet, watching him as he took a closer look at the car. "It might get pricey," he said.
Meryl looked at him,"Just how much are we talking about?"
He looked at her carelessly, "Oh, about 700 double dollars. Will you be able to pay for it?"
She nodded, "Of course." Getting up , she started to leave when he said, " Hold on, did your boyfriend come with you by any chance?" She sputtered. 'Boyfriend?' she thought as she looked at him. " Mister…. James, he's not my boyfriend, he's just a friend, and no he didn't come with me, he's at the hotel."
He frowned, "A young and pretty lady such as you should not be walking around here by herself, even in daylight."
Looking at him she smiled politely, "Thank you, sir, for your concern, but I'll be alright."
He looked at her and asked, " Your guy friend, has he been here before?" Nodding slightly she said, "Yes, you could say this is his hometown.."
"Has he told you about what type of town this is?" She knitted her brow in concentration,
"All he said was that this place was secluded from every other town." He sighed.
"Well, this city isn't widely known, and the people that live here don't want it to be. I was surprised you made it here by yourself."
"Wait, why are you so surprised?" Scratching his chin, he looked at her with a serious expression. "This city was built by men who wanted nothing to do with families, children and women alike. Many of those that reside here are vile men, who have no respect for anything and don't care about the consequences. That's why I said it's so dangerous here for you." She stared at him, shocked that Vash would keep something this important from her."A men's town huh….", she said.
He nodded. "So it would be best if I accompanied you to your hotel." She nodded her approval. "Thank you for telling me," she said. He smiled, his serious expression melting, as a warm smile formed on his lips. "No problem," he replied. As she walked out of the auto shop, something kept nipping at her. Thinking hard, she looked at him from the corner of her eyes. Something drew her to this man…. But the problem, was what?