It hadn't taken very long at all for Abe to train up Romey, then again in a bar like Parnssus over the top cocktail weren't ordered all that often. She didn't have to learn to be Brian Flanagan any time soon which Romey had been pleased about.
After two weeks it was as though Andromeda had always been working at the bar, she'd memorized where everything was and had even surprised Abe with her strength when it came to changing kegs. Frankly Romey was half certain most of the customers hadn't even noticed she wasn't Abe. One of them had but that had been because he'd noticed her tits rather than her face.
It wasn't like Andromeda showed herself off, yes, she always had a bold lipstick on and winged eye liner, but that was more for herself than anyone else. Her outfits had always been simple really, she'd never been a fan of flashy. That day she'd opted for purple skinny jeans, military boots and a black racer back; nothing amazing and certainly nothing that flaunted her. She did have a fairly impressive chest which was exaggerated by the fact Romey didn't eat all that often; hey, at least she'd get decent tips from the guy. She supposed it didn't really matter all that much, no one had tried to touch her and the punters all paid for their drinks. With all that taken into consideration she could cope with one pervy dude staring at her tits.
Later that day Abe found Andromeda sat on the bar during her break munching on an apple; all juicy and green. He leant back against the dark wood bar and flashed her a smile.
"You alright there, Little Lady?"
Romey shrugged as she chewed. "Nothing to report, I guess. Been rather quiet."
"Yeah, always is on Mondays. Couple of regulars come in but that's about it." He looked down at his watch. "It's almost six and nothing is gonna happen tonight, I can promise you that. If you want you can go early, Little Lady."
Andromeda peered down at him. "You trying to get rid of me?" She teased. "And I don't mind staying, not like I've got anything better to do."
He breathed out a laugh. "Actually you do, it's called sleep. Don't think I haven't noticed you've not slept in days."
Romey chuckled. "Aww, you getting all protective of me, Abe?"
He brushed it off. "Don't go thinking too much into it, I just don't want you falling asleep in a beer."
The teenage beauty smirked as she chucked the remains of her apple into the trash can to her left then hopped down from the bar. She gave Abe a quick hug.
"Thanks, Abe, you're probably right. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, yeah, go on home."
Andromeda took a few moments to pack away her things mainly so she didn't seem too eager and so Abe had chance to change his mind. When Abe wandered off to pour more bourbon into one of their regulars glasses Romey realised he wouldn't be changing his mind.
She hooked her blue messenger bag over her shoulder and pulled her hair free before Romey called her goodbye to Abe across the bar then headed out. Once outside green eyes peered up at the cloudy sky, the setting sun had sent everything a burnt orange that she thought rather beautiful; rather nice night to walk home.
However, Romey found herself stopped in her stacks when a young boy – certainly no more than five – charged towards her as a river of tears poured from his piercing brown eyes. For a moment the seventeen year old didn't know what to do, she didn't interact with kids all that much, but after a moment her head snapped back and she crouched down before the boy.
"You okay, honey? Where's your Mom?" She asked softly so as not to spook him.
"Don't know!" He cried.
"Okay," Andromeda nodded to herself "do you know where you saw her last?"
The kid couldn't have come far and she doubted his Mother could have gotten more than a few feet before she realised her son was gone. The child threw his left hand up while the other rubbed away tears and pointed over behind himself. Romey raised an eyebrow, in the direction the brown-eyed boy pointed was one of the busiest streets in the whole city with a dodgy looking walk way built over it.
"You're Mom is on the other side of the bridge? Seriously?"
She could see that being true though, there was a grocery store over there.
"I want Mommy!" He screamed.
"Yeah, I get that. Let's go look for her, yeah?" The child nodded in agreement. "Okay, we'll do that. What's your name?"
"Jake!"
"Great, and what does your Mom look like, Jake? She got blonde hair like you?"
The boy nodded. Carefully Romey picked up the the boy and started to carry him towards the bridge walkway in search of his mother; shouldn't have been too hard since she'd undoubtedly be looking for the panicked woman running around shouting Jake.
Unbeknownst to Andromeda and the child, Charlie Manx watched them from his Wraith. Abe had mentioned that he'd taken the teenage girl on as a bartender but Manx hadn't seen the point. Yes, she was something to look at a plain beauty with a wave of darkness that any man would find enticing, but Abe hadn't ever really been rushed off his feet at Parnassus. Still, it wasn't his bar and Abe could run it how he liked. Maybe she was a good bartender, Manx didn't much care, he'd become curious about her for a whole other reason.
Ever since he'd failed to decipher her name the girl had been on his radar. Sometimes he struggled with other Strong Creatives' names but Manx hadn't ever just gone blank before. Now he saw her helping a child with soft smiles and kind words and ideas came to him. The dark-haired man had once thought Jolene was the one he'd spent so long looking for, then – for a brief time – he'd believed maybe Vic McQueen was, but now the Wraith owner wondered if it was the girl before him, this Andromeda Dixon.
Manx couldn't just ask her to be the children's mother though, he needed to learn more about her first and before he did that he needed to talk to Abe about Vic McQueen again.
~X~
After Romey had found little Jake's Mom – Brenda, nice woman and worried sick about her son - She'd decided to treat herself with new wages to Chinese food. Andromeda had actually gone on a bit of a binge really; then again the seventeen year old couldn't remember the last time she or anyone else had treated her.
"I can pig out just this once." She said to herself.
Romey sat down on the bed and clicked on the television, it only took a few seconds to come across The Evil Dead, a classic which had only just started. She lay the take out bag flat and set the little boxes up neatly before grabbing her chopsticks and dove into the salt and pepper squid; it had always been her favourite.
"Mmm, so good." She hummed happily.
Normally Romey spent her time worrying over where the money for her next meal came from, even though her notebook always came through for her the money wasn't ever that impressive; thanks to Abe though she'd paid for her motel room another month and now she'd got enough to feed two fully grown men.
Romey munched happily and watched the old movie. It was peaceful and more normal than Andromeda had encountered before. Soon enough she was full and the movie finished, then the one after that finished as well so the teenager changed into her pyjamas and clambered into bed. Andromeda hadn't thought for a single instant that she'd been truly happy before she'd run away from home; until she'd left Kansas really. There had been some fun times with Duvall before … before he'd died, but that was about it. Now though, with her job at Parnassus and her odd but pleasant friendship with Abe, Romey had a chance at a normal life. Well, as normal as a Strong Creative's life could get.
~X~
It was Andromeda's Sunday off and she'd spent the day cleaning out her motel room of take out trays and other crap she'd managed to accumulate. The Motel cleaners weren't very good at actually cleaning in truth so she'd have rather done it by herself anyway. Romey had always been a rather tidy person which had meant the job hadn't taken long.
The sun shone high in the sky, all bright blues and golden rays of light that made the world look like a painting. She'd got no idea what the temperature was beyond too hot, but the gentle breeze that danced through the trees and down streets really took the edge off.
Rather than linger around her motel room all day Andromeda had decided to go to the local library and then to the book store. The library had got it's own air conditioning though so the teenager had lingered there a lot longer than intended. The poetry second she'd found lacking but that had been true in most places she'd gone. They'd got the basics of course; Frost, Yeats, Dickinson, Wodsworth. She'd even spotted some Poe shoved in a corner, but other than that Romey hadn't been impressed.
The teen had spent quite some time going through Frost's works and his assonance usage as well as his metaphors. Robert Frost had always been one of her favourite poets; the way he described nature fascinated Romey.
She'd been surprised when a librarian – a grumpy looking woman somewhere in her mid forties – had chased her out so the library could close. Romey looked down at her watch amazed at how the hours had flown by.
"Guess I'm not going to the book store then." She grumbled to herself.
Outside the heat had passed leaving behind a calm breeze and darkness. Small blots of illumination came from street lamps but everything else had gone black. With the day clearly over Romey made her way back to her motel room intent on an early night, Abe would expect her in early the next day so they could clean the lines and put in the fresh kegs.
The walk back was pleasant enough though short. As her key went into the motel door the sound of yelling started up next door and she sighed. Why can't they just realise they hate each other and give up? Once inside she tossed her messenger bag down on the bed and went to flick on the bed side lamp; the room glowed with an orange tint … and Romey screamed.
There, sat still as a statue, in the tacky green chair by the television was Charlie Manx. Andromeda's hand rested on her heart as she tried desperately to get control of her breathing and thanked any and all gods that she'd not had a heart attack.
"I did not mean to frighten you." He told her calmly.
"You're a bit late for that." She fell down onto the bed as her breathing returned to normal. "Sitting in the dark might not have been the best way to avoid frightening me, Mister Manx."
"Again, I apologize. I had a long drive and wanted a few moments of sleep before you returned."
Romey raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him fully. "Surely you have a home to sleep in. Why are you here, Mister Manx?"
He leant forwards a little, those bold brown orbs shone brightly. "I wanted to ask you some questions, if I may, Miss Dixon."
She breathed out a laugh. "You don't have to call me that, I don't think anyone ever has. And you could have swung by the bar, but okay, what do you want to know?"
He flashed a glance behind himself to the wall as a door slammed before he addressed her again.
"Are your neighbours always so insufferable and arrogant of those around them?"
Romey nodded. "Yes, unfortunately. She's a bit of a slut and he's a drug dealer – well, that's not been confirmed but we all know it. I feel bad for the kid."
He seemed to sit up and take notice of that but kept his attention on the teenager.
"I confess I am curious about you, Andromeda." She'd have preferred Romey but at least Manx had stopped calling her Miss Dixon. "Please, tell me of your life before Abe gave you a job. You are clearly a Strong Creative and a very intelligent woman, so you will understand my confusion when I see you here -" he gestured to the crappy motel room around them "- instead of at school where you could broaden your horizon."
"You want my life story?" She simplified with a furrowed brow.
Manx nodded. "If you wouldn't mind. I think you might be someone I've been looking for but I won't know for certain until I know you."
"If I tell you, will you tell me why you think I'm so important?" She shot back.
Charlie flashed her a small, charming smile. "Certainly, Andromeda."
The raven-haired beauty wasn't overly sure why – Abe had told her in on uncertain terms that the man was dangerous – but Romey liked Manx, thought he was handsome and smart. Those were the reasons she found herself agreeing with the man who'd just broken into her motel room.
"Okay. If it's that important to you, why not, isn't like it's worth hiding." She shrugged. "Were do you want me to start?"
"Where were you born?" He asked in that deep tone of his.
"Em, Kansas. This little, tiny town that I promise you haven't heard of. My Mom dropped out of college to marry my Dad and have me, became a stay at home Mom. She was a mythology student, that's why I got dumped with Andromeda for a name."
"If my memory serves me correctly," he began slowly "Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of a king. The name suits you."
She breathed out a laugh, no one had ever said she was beautiful before. "She was also chained to a rock because her mother was a boastful idiot."
He nodded. "Yes, but that ended strangely well. Perseus, the tall and brave hero stumbled across her and turned the creature that guarded her to stone. He freed her and married her, they were happy and had several children."
"I think all that story proves is that the only thing to save us is often dumb luck."
"That and a Gorgon's head." That made Romey chuckle, yes, she liked Charlie Manx. "What about your father, you made it quite clear last time we spoke that you did not like him."
"That's putting it mildly, Mister Manx. My father is a monster. I don't remember a time he wasn't beating my mother. He was smart though, never left marks."
"You could have told someone."
"No. My father is the Sheriff of a tiny, all American Kansas town. People there think he's perfect and he actually managed to con me into believing no one would believe a word I said; made my Mom think that too. One night, I got up for a glass of water – couldn't have been more than six – and I saw her at the front door with a suitcase. She didn't even look back when I called out to her, just walked out and never came back."
"What sort of mother would leave their child alone with an abusive father?"
Romey shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I looked too much like my Dad. Maybe she convinced herself he wouldn't hurt me."
Manx didn't look impressed. "Or maybe she was a heartless whore who chose to only care for herself rather than the child she didn't deserve."
She nodded. "Could be. Either way he started beating the shit out of me the next morning. I got used to it."
The dark-haired man frowned; a glow of anger lingered in his rich brown eyes.
"No child should have to get used to it." He bit the last words out. "I am sorry I did not find you sooner."
That caused Romey's brow to furrow in puzzlement for a moment. Find her? Why would a man like Charlie Manx search out a child?
"I don't understand, Mister Manx." Her voice was soft.
He shuffled forwards in his chair then looking eager to explain but uncertain as to how to do so. When he spoke his hands moved along with him as though gesturing to things that didn't actually exist.
"It's what I do, protect children. I take them from abusive homes, places where the parents don't care or even notice the child is gone and I give them a home at Christmasland. No one hurts them there, they don't go hungry, they have siblings to play with and no one is unhappy."
Quiet lingered between them for a few seconds as Romey tried to absorb all he'd said.
"So, you run an orphanage?"
Manx smiled softly, he was pleased Romey seemed receptive to the idea of Christmasland and the children he took there.
"Not quite." He paused for a moment as he phrased the sentence in his head. "It's more like adoption, I become their father and protect them." He sighed. "I am so sorry I did not find you when you were young."
Andromeda actually believed him, there was a spark of sorrow in his eyes that made her truly believe he regretted not taking her to this Christmasland he spoke of; that he genuinely wanted to protect children.
"That's the way of things right, some always slip through the cracks. Maybe I just wasn't supposed to be one of your kids."
"No, maybe not." Manx nodded in agreement; he didn't think so either. "When did you leave Kansas? Something had to prompt your under-age employment at Parnassus."
Andromeda didn't speak for a very long time and for much of that time she kept her eyes closed as though trying to keep horrid memories away. Just when he thought he'd have to ask again she finally spoke.
"... Right around the time I turned sixteen my Dad suddenly stopped hitting me. At first I was happy but … then he started giving me gifts; skirts, jewellery, make up, stuff like that." She started to fidget with her hands in her lap. "Then it got worse. He'd tell me to sit in his lap and he forced me to keep my door open when I got changed so he could watch me. I guess I'd gotten old enough for him because he started touching me all the time … all over."
Manx's face became stoic and stern, his eyes darkened to near black and any kindness that had been in his eyes before fled.
"So not only are you impure, but you were defiled by your own father."
Suddenly the elder man launched to his feet, he ripped the lamp from where it sat and threw it at the floor; the sound of smashed glass echoed around the room and off the ceiling. Romey pushed herself back up against the headboard as her eyes wend wide.
"Why can I never find her?!" He yelled and stormed to the motel door.
"... What did I do?" Romey asked with a tone so quiet that Manx almost didn't hear her.
"Nothing." He growled with his back to her, his hand gripped the door handle tight. "You're father did it. He defiled you and once again the children have to go without. Good evening, Andromeda."
With that Charlie Manx was gone, marched out into the night with anger practically dripping from him. The Wraith's engine purred as he left the motel.
After he was gone Romey relaxed slightly on the bed as she got her breathing under control. Green eyes stared at the door Charlie had slammed behind himself a few moments earlier.
Defiled? "... but I'm a virgin."
