Here on a Whim (Cadence)

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme walked into the Marine, taking a seat at the bar. She had decided a while ago that she was going to do a grand tour of all the bars in London while she was there. She was going from places closest to the University, outwards... just happened to be that this place was next on her list. It was a quaint little place, she had been told by one of her classmates that it had the greatest collection of people and some of the cutest bartenders... granted she was told that by a guy, so why she had dressed up, she didn't know.

She took off her coat and slung it over a stool, placing her purse on the bar next to her. She pulled out her compact, checked her makeup and then placed it back into her purse. She put her credit card in a much more obvious place and waited for someone to take her order, she hoped she wouldn't get so drunk she couldn't find her money... but stranger things have definately happened.

[Cadence]

Things at The Marine were slow that day. Maybe depression was taking a holiday. Whatever the case, most of the usual patrons were absent and Cadence was left to twiddle her thumbs for extended periods of time. She took out a rag and started polishing glasses, knowing she looked like a saloon owner from an old west movie. Now she knew why they polished glasses, not for any practical reason, but so they had something to do and still looked like they were working.

After a solid ten minutes of quiet, Cadence glanced around the bar. Everyone's drinks were still full, she could afford to be gone for a few minutes to grab a cd out of her car. At least if there was good music playing then she'd have something to sing to.

She made her way out to her car, in one of only two employee parking spots, and hopped into the drivers seat. She grabbed her cd case out of the back and flipped through her music choices. Something loud was out of the question, even if it would keep her awake so most of her music was out of the running. She couldn't decide between the few softer cd's that she owned and so just took the handful back into the pub with her. She'd decide there, she figured that she probably shouldn't be done from the bar to long or someone was bound to notice.

Cadence was coming back in through the side door when she heard the main door whoosh open and then shut. She made her way back to the bar to get the drink started for whoever had just walked in, she figured it was one of the regulars just stumbling in a bit later than usual. It wasn't. Seated behind the bar was an attractive girl who looked to be around her age, all dressed up which wasn't something you saw in The Marine often.

She set the cd's down on the shelf under the bar and turned the the newcomer with a smile. "What can I get you?"

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme looked up at the woman behind the counter, and she contorted her face, she tried to hide it, but there was definately something off about her. She was one of those things that she didn't know what it was, there wasn't much of a way she could figure it out here though, so many people. Spending time with the Council had taught her one thing, no matter how curious she was, asking questions about the supernatural in a a room full of humans was a bad idea.

"Whatever you say is best around here," Esme said, she didn't quite know what she wanted. There had to be something really good around this place, she just didn't want to take the time to figure out what it was. She wanted to start some idle conversation, but it seemed like the others were usual customers, they had already made friends and there was definately no reason for them to be friendly to a twenty year old.

"So," she said, looking at the bartender, "How's the pay with a job like this?" Esme didn't really care what the pay was like, her parents kept her so well supplied that if it weren't in the family plan, she could live her whole life without working. But she had seen in a few films that it was a pretty good conversation starter... she was trying to remember if it had been used as a pick up line but at this point it didn't matter because she just wanted to talk about something.

[Cadence]

She thought over the drink options. There really wasn't a specialty drink at The Marine but there were a few that Cadence had been told that she made well. It should probably be something that wasn't an acquired taste like gin because she didn't know what the woman was used to drinking. The newcomer didn't exactly look like a heavy drinker but there was a solidness to her that said she could probably handle her drink. "I suppose since I work here I should tell you it's the most expensive drink." She laughed. "But I think I have an idea."

She pulled out the vodka, lemon juice, sugar, syrup and the shaker. Cadence had always liked lemon drops personally, so she figured that's what she'd make for the woman. It wasn't a terribly strong drink but it wasn't grape juice either. Besides, sweeter drinks usually were more popular. She began mixing the drink while she listened to the woman's question.

Cadence shrugged. "It pays the bills but I'm not going to be taking an around the world cruise anytime soon. Depends on how good the tips are." She wasn't trying to fish a tip out of the woman, just answering the question. "And I'm always popular at parties with all the drinks I can make." She laughed. She didn't get invited to parties often, unless they were thrown by one of The Marine's patrons and then they were usually held at The Marine. "Thinking of taking up the shaker yourself?"

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme listened to her talk and watched her mix the drink, curiously. It took some type of talent to remember what goes into what drink, Esme had been cooking for herself for some time and even the regular dishes required a cook book every now and again. "No, not really, the law books is where everything stays for me. I was just curious." Esme made a mental note to give the girl a pretty good tip at the end of the night, she seemed like she would deserve one.

Esme became slightly jealous of the girl, she wished she had been able to go to a party that a talent would be appreciated at, the stupid parties she went to always made her feel bad at the end of the day. They were all a ton of people talking about how much money they raked in that year or how many people they have hired in their house. It was parties like those, the people that came with them, that left a bad taste in the back of her mouth.

"If you don't mind me asking, is this where you always wanted to be? Where you hoped your life would drop you in the end?" Esme knew that sometimes this could be a tough question, but having been deprived of any childhood dreams, Esme wanted to know what other people dreamt of when they were asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. She couldn't remember a time when she didn't say matter-of-factly that she was going to be a lawyer, no doubt about it.

[Cadence]

"A lawyer huh? I've heard law school's seriously tiring." She shook her head with another smile. "To many textbooks for me, I wouldn't have the patience for it." Cadence shrugged and finished the drink, pouring it in a martini glass rimmed with sugar, placing a lemon slice on the rim. She set the glass in front of the woman. "That's £3.00"

There was something about this woman that made her skin tingle. The closest she'd felt to it was Vincent but the feeling was very different from the man she'd met in the forest. It was something strange, not off and not wrong, but not normal either. Was there more to this woman than met the eye? She remembered something from her meeting with Vincent...appearances can be deceiving. Obviously she wasn't worried about this woman being a serial killer, but still there seemed to be some big mystery about her just like there had been with Vincent. A feeling that there was something more to this newcomer than just being a newcomer in a patron friendly pub.

Cadence sighed when the woman asked if this was what she'd seen herself doing when she'd been a kid. "Not exactly." She said, trying not to fall into the usual doom and gloom mood that was expected of a pub like this one. She'd seen herself as a mother, with a career instead of just a job but becoming a werewolf had changed a lot of things about her life, her goals having been one of the casualties. "Not that I'm complaining." Cadence said, shaking off the memories. She liked her life, she did, but didn't everyone want more for themselves?

"So, what's a law student doing down here then?"

[Esme M. Lolland]

Esme nodded, "Yeah, the life of a lawyer is definately an irritating one, but I've learned to deal with it... I grew up around it, so I better." Esme took the drink and took a quick sip, nodding her head she pulled out her credit card and handed it to the girl, "Just hold onto it, I have a feeling I'll be here a while, and handing back and forth that stupid piece of plastic can get ridiculously irritating."

Esme couldn't figure out what this woman was, at all, though she knew she should know. She knew that the feeling this woman gave off was something that she had come across before, but where and who she couldn't remember. It irritated her so much. It was like when a person comes across a familiar scent but they cannot, for the life of them, remember when they had smelt it before because it was so long ago. But all the while, the feeling was one that made them feel safe.

Esme played along with their idle conversation, as long as they continued to talk like that, it may end up falling into place at one point or another. Esme nodded at the right times, took a sip of her drink occasionally and definately tried to put her personal puzzle together.

"Trying to get as drunk and spend as much of my daddy's money as recklessly and quickly as humanly possible," Esme joked. "No, really, I've felt like I should adventure the city through it's many pubs and winebars. One of my classmates told me that this place was like a diamond in the rough, at least because of the people if nothing else."

[Cadence]

Cadence nodded. She didn't know if even growing up around lawyers would have made her used to the scholarly grind that the job entailed. But, to each their own. Some people just weren't suited for certain jobs, Cadence could never see herself in a job that involved so much time sitting at tables pouring over case files, but if this woman enjoyed it then more power to her. The world needed all kinds of people to function, contrary to the stereotype, lawyers included.

She took the credit card with a small smile. She'd been right when she'd assumed the newcomer could hold her drink, good to know. She put the card under the counter with her cd's where it would wait until the woman was done drinking for the night.

"London has plenty of them, sounds like a long adventure. Enjoyable one though, must meet some interesting people doing that." She said when the woman said she planned to explore the city through the pubs and winebars. Cadence laughed at the joke and smiled when she heard that The Marine was getting a good reputation. She wasn't exactly sure what the woman's friend had been referring to when they'd said the people were great but there were a few interesting characters who popped in now and again and her boss was entertaining, so she couldn't argue with that.

"I'm Cadence by the way." She said, realizing that she hadn't told the woman her name. If she was going to be staying there awhile, which it seemed like she planned to, then names would make the conversation easier.

[Esme M. Lolland]

"Most definately a long journey, but a very rewarding one," Esme commented. The trip definately was proving to be rewarding as of late, so far she had met a vampire, evil incarnate, a fallen angel and now this person, among the many others of the human variety. It was a fairly rewarding adventure. "I've definately met some pretty interesting characters, you are going to definately top the list by the end of the night," the supernatural always did. Esme tipped her glass in the woman's direction.

"Esme," she said. Cadence was a very interesting name, Esme couldn't think of ever running across someone with that name, but that's coming from someone who's name died out with chivalry.

Esme sighed, it was always more fun to drink with someone else, rather than talking and having someone watch her drink. "You know, you're more than welcome to drink to my father's credit card whenever you want. There's more than enough money there to get us both totally wasted... though you probably shouldn't do that on the job."

[Cadence]

Cadence raised an eyebrow when the woman said that she'd top the list by the end of the night. She doubted it, there were tons of interesting people in the world and she just couldn't see herself as one of them. Alright, so being a werewolf wasn't exactly normal but still...there were folks who were interesting based on nothing but their personalities, she couldn't logically put herself above those sorts of folks. "If I'm at the top of the list then your adventure must have been pretty boring." She laughed.

"Nice to meet you Esme. Nice name." And she meant it. There were to many Sallys and Susans in the world, it was good to meet someone with an unusual name like her own. Though she was sure that it had made school a little more interesting than it was for most people.

She looked around the pub, there weren't many people there. It wouldn't hurt to toss back a few drinks, as long as she was sober enough to hit the glass when she poured there shouldn't be a problem, right? "I wouldn't let you pay, but I don't think a few drinks would hurt." She grinned and began to mix herself a gin martini. It was one of those drinks that grew on you after awhile, an acquired taste. "Employee discount." Cadence laughed.

"So, tell me about some of these other folks you've met."