Even though it was one of the more desolate areas of El Paso, Texas it was packed with locals. There was one long strip of block with numerous small businesses that sometimes received more business than some of the more well known places. The dusty streets were scattered with a range of people: old, young, middle aged, and dogs. A younger aged couple, holding hands and walking down the street were chatting casually, an elderly couple passing in the opposite direction were bickering in that old married couple fashion. A mother with a baby carriage was window shopping, and a few kids were running through the vacant street playing catch.
Beatrix Kiddo, well Arlene Machiavelli, was watching all of this with those clear blue eyes in a silent envy. But, she didn't have to envy it anymore because she had it. Right in front of her was the normal that she was yearning for and she was having trouble digesting it. To help with this digesting she decided to do some shopping. Her new apartment was rather bare and in order to gain a homey feeling it needed things to snazz it up.
By the lacking of bags in her hands she wasn't having much success. She had been walking down the block for a good hour. She was clad in a pair of darker shaded denim jeans, a pale peach colored top, and a denim jacket to go over it, with a pair of sandals to finish it off. It was casual attire. Locks of blonde hair were pulled up into a high pony tail, no noticeable change except for the fact her bangs were clean cut, indicating she went for that haircut she had been planning for.
Beatrix was about to give up her task of finding homey goods when a store on the corner caught her eye. She walked over to give it further inspection. It was a small business with a shabby sign on the front that read; Used Record Store…. how original. With a smirk etched on her angelically deadly features the tall blonde decided to take a look.
The record store was small, but not so small that it felt cramped. It was certainly somewhat run down and well loved, yet...it appeared to do just fine business-wise. It seemed the owner of the store preferred that 'down home' look and kept it in its dusty, worn in look on purpose. There were rows of records, categorized by musical genre, and within that, alphabetically...these occupied most of the middle of the store area. Along the left hand side of the store there was a long glass counter that ran around the back in an L shape. Inside the counter were displayed records of the more rare and expensive sort. Behind the counter were some stock shelves and a door that obviously went into a back room of sorts. The lighting was warm and inviting. There were old concert posters displayed on the wood walls, most of them of the blues, folk and jazz categories. Over the store's stereo system some bluegrass music was playing at a comfortable volume. All in all it was a very humble and casual type of store.
When Beatrix entered the store, a small bell chimed as she opened the door. There were two or three people browsing the records, but none of them appeared to work there.
After a few minutes, the back door behind the counter opened with the sound of friendly talk and some laughter, and then, talking over his shoulder a moment longer, a man emerged from the door and shut it behind him.
This man was Tommy Plympton, owner of this particular used record store. Tommy was an extremely tall man, standing around 6'5", broad shouldered and big in stature. He was blonde, with a head of somewhat unruly short hair, kind bright blue eyes and neatly trimmed facial hair that included a faint shaped goatee. He wasn't overly handsome, but he was...in a kind and humble sort of way. His stature and facial structure were very masculine, but his whole persona seemed very down to earth.
Tommy, with a box of records in his arms, backed away from the door and walked along the counter and set the box on a stack of others in the corner. He was wearing a pair of Wrangler jeans, work boots, a dark blue t-shirt and over that an unbuttoned flannel shirt.
After dusting his large hands off on his jeans, he glanced up at the customers currently browsing. The three older men there were regulars, and the forth...
Tommy stood up straighter, his attention suddenly completely captured. The forth customer was a woman...but not one of the types of women he normally saw around here. She was standing in profile to him a few rows down. She was tall, lean, blonde...and quite possibly the most beautiful thing Tommy had ever seen. He watched her for a few seconds, somewhat frozen in fascination. She was browsing idly, her long fingers gently flipping through the records, her eyelids hooded over blue eyes. She was stunning.
Tommy blinked, realizing he was being rude...staring at women was improper and he was a man of manners. He turned away a little and ran a hand through his unruly hair. Them, stepping over a few boxes, he meandered around the counter and out onto the main floor. Casually, he approached the tall blonde; he cleared his throat, "Is there something specific you are looking for ma'am?" His voice was somewhat low, but not overly so...and pleasant like the rest of his persona, with a slight drawl to it. He smiled, and not surprisingly…..that was pleasant too.
A week and a day...and still, no Beatrix.
Bill sat hunched over at the living room bar, his hands sitting idly on the counter. In front of him sat a brand new, unopened bottle of Jack Daniels. The dark brown bottle met with his dark brown glare. The look in those eyes was hard and unforgiving, much like the liquid in that bottle and he knew the moment he opened it, it would be a Pandora's box of vice.
Yesterday, he'd stopped packing...he stopped doing much of anything. He wanted to desperately, he was a workaholic...but the hollow feeling in his chest and knot in the pit of his stomach overpowered that desire. Today, his denial that Beatrix was in fact not dead was beginning to wear away into a gnawing pain. It was quite possibly the worst thing he'd ever felt….and he'd felt some pretty bad things throughout his life.
He shifted a little, a hand coming up to take a slow rake through his hair. He could hear Nikishi somewhere behind him, in the living room packing. Budd had come over a few times, he'd tried to be pathetically casual about it, but Bill knew his brother was trying to be there for him. Deep down, Bill was touched by this, but he'd been nothing but cruel and dismissive to Budd. He didn't have any resources available at the moment to be nice, they were all preoccupied trying to cling onto the hope of Beatrix being alive…..and the increasingly tough task of holding back the truth. Bill was a realist; he always wanted the truth from others, even if he was a professional liar. He'd pounded that belief into others...the cruel, hard, truth. Right now, he was not sure he wanted the truth; for once...he wanted an illusion and a false hope.
There was nobody in mutual pain with him. Nikishi seemed shocked and distracted. Budd was unreadable but attempting to be comforting. Elle was quietly smirking, thinking he didn't notice her silent joy in the thought of Beatrix being dead. O-Ren was the only one not completely shocked by the aspect, but silently expected it and now she was smirking just as wide. Vernita had seemed quite shocked at first, but now that had faded away into a happy resolve of sorts.
And Bill...he was in fucking misery. He let out a little bitter laugh, more directed at himself than anything. He couldn't help it, he was aware at how goddamn pathetic he was being. When did he ever seek out the mutual comfort of another? Since….Beatrix.
His hand moved from his hair to cover his face, elbow propped up on the counter. He'd rather just have known right away...somehow...then to have to suffer this unknowing slow resolution. Still, he couldn't think of her as dead. In his mind, she was so alive...so full of life...glowing colors and wide affectionate smiles. He could still so clearly see her, hear her, smell her...taste her…….
"Auugh," with a small sound of self misery, he snatched up the Jack Daniels bottle, and tore off the black paper wrapping on the top. From her vantage point in the corner of the living room, Nikishi looked up and seeing Bill, shook her head slowly.
Bill was not an escapist, oh sure...he liked his vices now and then, but he'd gone through his life quite able to handle his own woes without the need of much else than his own strong will. But now...now...losing Beatrix was too much for him to handle on his own. He could blame Beatrix for dying, he could blame himself...he was getting old and weak; he could blame his drifter bastard of an alcoholic father. But, that was it...there was nothing concise to pin his blame on.
He couldn't face the truth yet, he wasn't ready for that. So, instead, he untwisted the lid on the bottle and, skipping a shot glass, lifted the bottle...eyes on the dark liquid inside, and took a long drink.
"The day I see my brother drowning himself in self misery is the day I give up my hat…but…seein' as I don't believe my brother could sink so low….I'm gonna keep the hat," Budd declared from the far corner of the hallway. Nikishi had given entrance not long before Bill started taking long lugs of Jack Daniels'. As casual as Budd had been trying to be, he was overly concerned about Bill. Shit, he was as shocked as Bill to think Beatrix got herself killed on assignment. Budd always knew she was good, really good, Bill's superior…..and the idea she died before him was…not right.
He made a slow walk over to the bar but it was easy to see the caution in his actions. He was approaching a highly irritable snake and the last thing he wanted to be was poisoned. He pursed his lips and his brows furrowed. "How 'bout we go out to a bar? It may be good for ya to get outta here."
Beatrix looked up from her browsing to put a face on the pleasant voice that rang in her ears. The man before her was…nice. Blue eyes performed a quick check out before leveling up to meet his similar blue eyes. He was tall, taller than her, for a change and she couldn't quite place it, but he seemed to hold a very cute disposition. And she liked his hair.
The tall blonde averted her eyes. She was staring and that was rude. So, she put on her 'ditzy, bubbly tourist blonde' façade. "Oh, no…I was just looking…" She kept a tight warm smile across her pink painted lips her head canted slightly. She knew that was going to send him off to help the other customers and she didn't want him to leave just yet. She quickly added, "I just moved here and I was hoping to find something to make my place look…cooler."
"You'd better start getting rid those hats very quickly then Budd," Bill replied without turning to look at his brother, his back a wall, shoulders hunched edgily.
When Budd slowly came around to the bar, his older brother gradually raised his head to momentarily lock eyes with him. It didn't take a genius to read the look in Bill's eyes, and Budd, being his brother certainly could read even deeper.
Bill turned away after a moment, the movement sluggish and slightly off kilter. It never took Bill all that long to be effected by alcohol; another sign of genetic disposition. He rubbed his slightly stubbly cheek, realizing that he hadn't left the house the entire week...just in case Beatrix showed up. He had even stopped his morning workouts after the second day of her disappearance…..he didn't have the energy...all it was being spent on concern and angst. Ever so slowly, he was starting to neglect other things...like shaving.
"Mrm," he pushed the bottle of Jack away, "...alright...but somewhere close...," he mumbled. Budd was an expert on the local bar scene, he had no doubt about that. "I don't feel like...going all that...far…." He stood, snatching his jacket off of the stool next to him, ignoring Budd's look of concern.
Tommy laughed, partially out of nervousness, "Something cool eh?" He was amused, because people rarely came in here for cool décor. Most people who shopped here were hardcore vinyl collectors or tourists who wanted a taste of the 'true Southern Texas'...not beautiful, charming women who had just moved here.
Tommy rubbed his stubbly chin, "Well...let's see...," he began to skim the room, mostly to buy time. He didn't know how to comply to her request quite yet, but he sure didn't want her to leave his store. Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions too quickly, but he already really liked this woman. No doubt, she had some rich boyfriend...seeing as she wasn't wearing a ring on her left hand and it was a crime if she didn't' have somebody, but he had to at least give it a try. He was a people person, peopled liked him...and he was never shy about trying to meet new people, especially newcomers.
Realizing he was taking far too much time to think this over, Tommy began a slow walk around the room, but quickly turned back to the blonde woman with a smile. "I completely forgot...that was rude of me," he extended his hand, "My name's Tommy."
Budd tried to hide his look of satisfaction with a tight nod. He wasn't going to gloat about the fact he was able to get Bill to agree to something, because all he was doing was trying to be nice. For all he knew it could blow up in his face, which he was prepared for as it had a high likelihood of happening.
He knew just the right place. It was a small bar and grill, just off the interstate. Half a bar and half a restaurant; were locals went with their families or buddies gathered to watch the football game. This bar wasn't dingy like many of the other bars Budd was known for going to. The bar was a large 'U' shape with assorted tables in the middle of the room, booths off to the side, red lamped lights hung over head with slow moving fans, and a soft line of 'western' fashion music was playing over the bustling of the crowd. All in all it was a wholesome place to get drunk.
Once situated Budd ordered himself a beer and a platter of nachos, because they were too 'goddamn good' to pass up. He casually turned to the worn man beside him, his features creased in concern. "Ya know, Bill, talkin' instead of drinkin' can help…"
Beatrix took the extended hand and supplied a hearty hand shake, that indeed held more 'power' than a normal hand shake from a normal woman. "I'm Arlene," her words said softly and confidently as if Arlene was her given birth name. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Tommy." Her hand slipped to her side and arms came to cross over her chest. She made a shift from one foot to the other as if she were nervously shy. "Have you lived in El Paso long?"
"Fuck off Budd," Bill replied viciously, although somewhat half heartedly for his usual style. He sat hunched against this bar just as he had against his own bar at home. He'd ordered himself straight tequila and nothing else. There was a baseball game on the TV overhead. Bill hated baseball and decided he didn't want to look at that. The bartender was a fairly attractive blonde woman in her early thirties; Bill didn't want to look at her either. Instead, he found himself frowning at the various wall décor, which he wasn't even really registering, and finally settling on looking at the wood grain of the bar itself as it reflected through the liquid of his drink.
He pursed his lips, finally glancing at his brother, who was munching on his plate of nachos...aware that Budd was only trying to 'help' in his own bizarre way. "There's nothing to talk about Budd," he said softly, "You were right...yesterday...I imagine she was killed by Lisa Wong...or one of her many assassins...end of story." Far from it actually. He picked up his shot glass, "I...yup," he trailed off, drowning the entire glass.
Tommy smiled that pleasant smile again, "Well, very nice to meet you Arlene." He liked her handshake, it was very confident...but she did seem kinda shy...he liked that. "Oh yeah, I've lived here for ten years….moved here from Dallas after graduating from high school. I started up this little store about six years ago," he took a look around the well loved store with a pleased expression, "...and I haven't looked back since." He shrugged his wide shoulders, "It pays the bills and I love coming to work every day...chatting with people, talkin' about music. It's very cool. And," he leaned forward a little, "I love El Paso." A grin. "But what about you Arlene? Where did you call home before good ol' El Paso?"
The lines on Budd's face continued to tighten. Budd could be a moron, a complete jack ass, but he truly hated seeing his brother like this. He clutched a hand to his beer bottle and rubbed a thumb over the glossy rimmed top. "I don't wanna be right, Bill," he admitted lightly. "Bea's a tough gal…I mean, maybe she got herself knocked out and she's been stuck at some hospital in LA for the past week tryin' ta wake up." He didn't want to give his brother false hope, but he didn't want Bill drinking his ass off either. That was his job.
Beatrix was liking Tommy alot. He had that wholesome, down to earth persona that she had looked for in a guy and always ended up fucking it up. Blue eyes came half lidded as her gaze averted to the array of albums across from her standing position. While staring at the cover of some heavy metal group she'd never heard of, she was hit with an idea. Beatrix was known for being spontaneous but she wasn't stupidly spontaneous. This was a very smart type of spontaneous. She dosed her voice level to hold a lighter pitch, with a touch of a southern drawl. "I grew up in Australia and then moved out to Mexico at nineteen."
She pursed her lips and her eyes came back to him. "I quit my job in Mexico…my boss was being such an ass," she stifled a small, uneasy laugh at herself, her gaze down casting again. So she was speaking foul things about her 'boss' and they weren't entirely true, but she had to play it up for what she could and besides, she had an easy time lying about Bill.
"Mrm," was Bill's only response to that. He didn't want Budd to be right either...more than anything...but he'd been in this business a long time and it was more likely she'd been killed, especially when she'd been sent to kill off a woman like Lisa Wong. He'd seen the short of shit the Chinese underground did to people. It wasn't pretty or half assed in any way.
This thought only made him feel worse and he signaled to the bartender to refill his drink. Again, he couldn't fathom Beatrix lying dead somewhere. He'd already called around to all of the big hospitals in the LA area, inquiring under the name of the alias Beatrix had been using for the assignment. No luck. This didn't completely put Budd's theory to rest, but it certainly didn't improve Bill's spirits either.
He remained silent for a few long minutes, taking comfort in his refilled drink. "I shouldn't have sent her..." he grumbled finally. No, that was stupid...she was a killer, that was her job...and he never let the relationship between them effect his decision to send her out on a dangerous assignment. He had sworn he wouldn't do that from the start...and now, he was realizing the cost of that decision. Taking another drink, he laughed one of his short bitter laughs, "Don't ever fall in love with a woman Budd...it'll ruin you." He didn't fully believe that, but it just kinda came out in his current state.
"Oh my god," Tommy was watching Arlene with complete fascination, "Australia? Man, I'd love to have grown up in a place like that." Arlene was becoming more and more interesting, her good looks meshing with her personality. He leaned on the counter, completely forgetting that she had initially asked him for help picking out something. "I have a friend, lives in Acuna Mexico...ya know over the border. I keep telling him he needs to move here, that's El Paso is the best city to live in if you've ever lived in Mexico." He smiled, a sweet as well as pleasant smile, "So, Arlene, I think you chose a perfect place to move to."
His sparkling blue eyes were settled on her with a soft kindness, "Ya know...I'd love to hear about Australia...what's it like and everything. Maybe we could sit down, have some coffee or something sometime...and I know El Paso better than anybody else you'll meet. I could give you a little tour." He caught himself, "I mean...not like I just asked you out...," he laughed, "...that's not what I meant...well I did...but..." he gave up and laughed at himself. Tommy was not the sort of guy who took himself all too seriously. If Arlene had a guy, he'd find out now and that would be that. Either way, he was glad he'd met her...and at least, they could perhaps become friends.
Beatrix gave off a girly giggle and shifted her position to side lean against the counter across from Tommy. The giggle died down so all that remained was a pearly white smile. He was asking her out on a date and she found that very cool. She knew she could attract guys quickly but now being able to attract a man in a normal atmosphere instead of some dingy bar was a whole new experience. She was elated. "I'd love too," she replied quickly.
"I mean," her chin tilted down to her chest but blue eyes stayed leveled on him. "When do you close up? I don't have anything but an ill furnished apartment to get home to anyway." Another short lived laugh. "And…speaking of ill furnished, I'm gonna take that." She extended an arm and a single white digit pointed to a red and yellow globed-retro lava lamp sitting on a shelf above the register. She grinned slyly from ear to ear.
Budd's frown deepened. "Ya don't need to worry about me fallin' in love. Ain't never gonna happen." He chuckled uneasily to try and break the bad humor of his joke. He scooped up the bottle his beer bottle and took a swallow. He made a popping sound as his lips left the rim of the glass and a thud was made as he put it back down. Silence had now dominated their dying conversation.
He wanted to be serious but it was hard with Bill. He shifted in his seat and slowly turned his brown eyes on his brother. "Ya gotta give it to her, Bill. I ain't seen you that happy since…well…shit, since never and goddamn it was good ta see ya acting like that. All happy-go-lucky and shit. But," he pursed his lips in thought. "But, I gotta admit I didn't think it was gonna last."
Tommy's gaze followed Arlene's finger up to the lava lamp. He smiled, he liked her taste in décor, "You got it," he was beaming, ecstatic that she'd taken him up on his offer. Honestly, he wasn't all that great with women...they liked him, but he just didn't have the whole...charming guy thing down that well. He'd always made better friends with women. He'd had a few girlfriends, his last one had just broken up with him a few months ago, on the grounds that he was just "too nice." He didn't' understand why women always wanted the bad guys, when perfectly good nice guys were all around.
He reached up, tall enough that he didn't need a stepstool, and began to pack up the lamp. "Well, I close up in about two hours..." He pulled the box down, carefully setting the lamp inside and began searching under the counter for the packing tape. "If you want...you can hang around here...I'll put on some good music. It hasn't been all that busy today." He found the tape, and began packing up the box. "Then, we can walk down to this great little place...it's just around the corner." He gave a little apologetic smile, "My car's in the shop right now." He finished taping up the lava lamp box, setting it down in front of Arlene. "There you go...all nice and secure..."
Bill's scowl only grew darker, looking every inch his age...disheveled, angry, bitter, and just plain worn out.
"Fuck you Budd..." he growled, tossing back the rest of his glass, which he immediately signaled to have refilled. "You don't know a goddamn thing about how it was...you don't have even the faintest fucking idea...you asshole….." Obviously, Bill's alcohol intake was higher at this point. He turned on his brother, voice taking on an emotional but deadly tone, "That was the happiest I have ever been in my whole fucking life...and you…..you just laugh it off……...like I was……fucking happy go lucky? Fuck you! You can't even begin to know what it was like...," he snatched up his refilled drink, "You…..ignorant...piece of shit...," he tossed back the drink...he couldn't even taste the tequila anymore, "...ya know Budd…...you've never really known much beyond shooting...fucking...and drinking...so how the fuck do you know what has the right to last and what doesn't…..huh?" He slammed his glass down on the bar, attracting a few glances from people sitting nearby, "I…...I had...every right to be that fucking happy," an unsteady finger leveled at Budd, "...and not have it snatched away from me...," he seemed to have lost some steam at his point, slouching forward, "…...like this..." He finished yet another refilled shot and pushed the empty glass forward. He signaled for another refill and rested nearly all his weight on his elbows, hands in his hair in a gesture of utter frustration and distain. "Jesus...fuck you...Budd…...I didn't ask for your fucking attempt to justify this."
Budd made a low noise in the back of his throat. He picked up his half consumed beer bottle, the only beer he was thinking of drinking that night, but now he was starting to think otherwise. He took a long swallow, finishing it off, and waved the tender over for another. He was well aware of what he had said being off grounds…..and as Bill saw….not his place, but he couldn't help it. But, now he knew better and he was going to shut up. He was going to go by the old saying; if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.
Beatrix was now seated across from the nice man she'd met at the record store. She liked him alot. He was nice, kind, and well mannered. She remembered a long time back when this was what she wanted and she did still want it; a nice normal guy that liked her for being a nice normal woman. This guy was the real thing, the classic nice guy; he wasn't a fake that was going to stab her in the back. Of course, Bea was acting the whole thing. This wasn't who she was, but she was going to try damn hard to pull it off. She was going to pull it off and make this new life work, because this was what she needed for her baby.
"My Pa is what you would call a miner. Diggin' up gold and silver in Perth. He used to bring me down to some of the abandoned shacks with a jack-hammer and a wheel barrel," she explained casually, over a half devoured hamburger with fries. Beatrix….or Arlene was enjoying making up a past to tell Tommy. She kept some moderate or based on truths in it so she wouldn't loose track of what was real and what was fake. Where on earth she came up with the lie about her 'family' and 'childhood' was unknown. It was very unorthodox and very un-Beatrix.
One could blame in on her fucked up hormones and she did, quite a lot. Her lips wrapped around the straw of her cherry coke and she took a long refreshing sip before continuing, "My mother, she died when I was ten. She was hit by a truck so I spent most of my life living with my Pa. He's a good guy." Little did Beatrix know, but subconsciously she based a great deal of Arlene's Pa on Bill. "He's very old fashioned…as you can tell by the gold mining," she laughed lightly and poked up a fry to dip in the glop of ketchup on the edge of her plate. Tommy seemed ecstatic to listen to her and she feed into it. "He and I were…close. Until I kinda fucked up and we got in some big to do and I stormed outta the house. That's when I took the job in Mexico." She raised the ketchup-ed fry to her mouth. "Biggest mistake of my life." And she bit into the fry and chewed casually.
Bill wasn't so gone that he didn't know that he'd clamped Budd up with that outburst. He knew when Budd made that little noise in the back of his throat he was both irritated and concluding with his business. And that was fine with Bill, fuck him. He didn't have shit to say that meant a damn to Bill. The only thing that meant a damn to Bill at the moment was Beatrix, and now she was dead.
Bill was anything but a religious person, but...if there was some sort of ...God-type thing...out there...then he had no doubt that this was this omnipotent being's big payback on him for being a murdering lying bastard for the majority of his life. That little bit of irony didn't help and he pushed it away with a deeper scowl.
The two brothers sat there in mutual hostile silence for a few minutes. Bill finished off yet another drink and got yet another refill. The TV blared on, he didn't listen, people talked around them, he didn't listen. "Bad Company" was playing on the overhead stereo system, he listened...and almost smirked at that. "When we leave this dump," Bill spoke up harshly, mumbling more to himself than Budd, "I'm going to get so lit up, I won't even remember what she looks like..." Bill of course was referring to stoned when he said 'lit up' and was of course referring to Beatrix when he said 'her.' Apparently Budd's attempt to stop his downward spiral wasn't having much effect thus far. And, of course...Bill knew that no amount of drugs or alcohol…….or time for that matter was going to make him forget Beatrix Kiddo.
Tommy sat in complete rapture as Arlene told him about her 'Pa', her family, her childhood...where she grew up. He was loving it. He loved hearing about people and their stories. And Arlene's life was one hell of a cool story. The small diner was the perfect setting, but honestly...Tommy could have been anywhere, his attention was fully focused on the beautiful woman sitting across from him.
"Arlene," he shook his blonde head, smiling from ear to ear, "You are one fascinating woman." He took a long sip of his cola, "Well, ya know...we all make mistakes. But, you quitting your job in Mexico and coming up to El Paso...," his eyes flashed with warmth, "...I don't think that was a mistake...hell," he chuckled, "...I'm really glad you came into my store today…...and I don't think that was a mistake either."
He quickly went back to his fries, covering up for that personal turn of things, "My childhood was far from that interesting...ya know….typical stuff. Was going to go to college, but didn't have enough money. My parents got a divorce when I was in high school...best thing they ever did for each other. Both of 'em remarried. I have an older sister, she lives in Casper Wyoming...married to a trucker, nice guy, drinks a little too much...but he means well. I played in a band for a few years after high school...," he gave her a look,"…….we weren't very good...we thought we were. But after three years of trying to get a label singing, and failing miserably, we gave up. So, I opened up the record store instead with the little bit of money I'd managed to earn." He finished off his burger, scrunching up the wrapper.
Beatrix swallowed the portion of burger in her mouth and picked up her napkin to wipe the food particles from her lips. "Wow, that is very cool. I've always worked for someone, I've never owned my own business and from what I saw your place is doing really well." In a way she envied Tommy just as she envied any normal person. His life was just as fascinating as her life was, or the life she was lying about. If she had told him about her 'real' life, that would have been more fascinating.
"You'll have to play for me some time," she commented in reference to his band years. She loved listening to music, but she had a feeling Tommy didn't play a flute. That single thought burned her stomach and she didn't finish the last few fries on her plate. But, she was on a mission, as assignment, so to speak, and she couldn't let the past cloud her thoughts. She blinked and put on a cute lopsided smile.
The waitress came over and began to clear away the practically empty plates. The tall blonde leaned back casually in her seat, arms crossed over her stomach, head canted to the side. She began in an overly cool toned voice, "You know, Tommy, I don't believe people just meet on a whim. I'm really enjoying myself tonight…more than you can imagine and…" she trailed off a moment to gain her words. "I don't want it to end, yet."
Tommy blinked, "Ok...yeah...sure...," he seemed a little surprised, but it was a good type of surprise. "That's great," he smiled, "Here….let me pay for it...," he held out a hand, covering the check, blue eyes dancing. "Well...ok..." he scrambled for his wallet, all of this had happened so quickly, "..shit, I wish my car wasn't in the shop. But hey," he snapped his fingers, a thought sparking, "...there's a little music festival going on downtown, a few blocks from here. I wasn't going to go...it's kinda boring by yourself, but if ya want we can take a stroll over there. I think it's just a couple local bands...they shut the whole block off, ya know, kids running around and stuff, it's pretty cool….they do it every month."
The waitress came by and cleared away the check with Tommy's twenty dollar bill on top. Arlene seemed pleased with the idea and the two of them headed out.