Business as usual

[more_flexible]

Jack had business to take care of, like always. He dropped of a manifest to Cookie then made his way to the Marketplace. Picking up some sushi and a rare coffee, he sat in the open air and ate a peaceful lunch, watching the crowd mill around. He paged Phedre and told her where he was if she had any news, and had checked his messages to see if any

Comments

[blackhole_heart]

I flop down heavily in the chair across from him, unasked, dropping my apron and baseball cap down on the table, but thankfully I changed outta my uniform in the employee bathroom.

God, I fucking hate my job.

[blackhole_heart]

"Yeah, me neither," I snort, and it doesn't go unnoticed that he's looking right through me. "You disappointed? Figure you sorta got a thing for hookers."

[more_flexible]

"Only skinny boy whores with smart mouths," he shot back, sitting up straight. "Go take a piss or something, Neil. My guy's here."

A tall, bald man in a black suit and dark glasses was coming clser with a briefcase. He looked entirely out of place and Jack cringed inwardly at the guy's lack of savvy. But it was work.

[blackhole_heart]

Rolling my eyes again, I snatch my doughnut up and lever myself up out of my chair, brushing past the guy in the suit with a smirk and and wandering down the aisles of merchant's tables.

Browsing through cheap jewelry, herbal remedies and and random junk, I pick at the pastry in my hand, stopping in front of a shop with a display of heavy silver pendants on leather cords. They're some Nanashi tribal symbol. I remember seeing them on people back home.

Every once and a while I glance back at the table to see if the guy's gone, but I've got half a mind to leave myself.

[more_flexible]

The guy sat. Jack leaned closer, his face stony from a distance. It was fast. Briefcase for creds, few words, no pleasantries. The man was gone and Jack sat, looking through the papers inside the case.

This job was bullshit. He'd need help.

[blackhole_heart]

Tossing my little square of waxed paper away and licking sugar off my fingers, I wander back over, looking curious but somehow disinterested at the same time.

"'m I allowed back at the table now?" I mutter dryly.

[more_flexible]

the stony expression, the distaste, the concern, it all melted away as he smiled at Neil.

"Yeah. Sorry, he's an asshole...worse than me. Thanks for vanishing," he said, closing the case. "And thanks for coming back."

[blackhole_heart]

I shrug, ignoring the smile and the thanks, instead lifting up my cup and muttering, "My coffee got cold."

It's harder... harder to take kindness and compliments and friendliness when it's not coming from a customer. It's fucked up and it makes me wonder if maybe that guy on the subway was right.

[more_flexible]

"Tragic," Jack replied unsympathetically. He leaned forward, the case in the middle of the table. "You don't have a bike, do you?"

[blackhole_heart]

"Do I look like I've got a damn bike?" I ask, flopping down into my chair again and giving him a look.

[more_flexible]

"Like I fucking know? You could have stolen one," he shot back. As he reached for his coffee, a school girl walked by and laid a wireless on the table next to him and smiled at Neil. Her black hair was split into two sleek, thick ponytails and if she was sixteen it would have been a miracle.

She giggled and covered her mouth, then walked away, looking back at him flirtatiously. Then the crowd swallowed her and she was gone.

And the wireless beeped as a text message came through.

"Yoshi likes you," Jack tease, flipping it open.

[blackhole_heart]

"What the fuck was that?" I ask, watching the girl disappear with wide-eyed amusement and then glancing at the wireless in his hand.

"Maybe I've been goin' 'bout this all wrong," I say, even though I got no interest in that girl. Or any girl.

[more_flexible]

"I have people, and my people have people. That was Yoshi. She's the daughter of the head of the Sukitori Conglomerate Security. Her older sister and I are...friends," he said, looking off sideways with a smile. Neil could interpret that how he wanted.

[blackhole_heart]

"So, what, you fucked her more than once?" I ask, lips twisting into a smirk.

[more_flexible]

"No," he scoffed. "She's too old for me."

[blackhole_heart]

Barking out a laugh, I ask, "What's your cut-off?"