Christmas Shopping

Participants:

sacha_icon.gif lola_icon.gif

Scene Title Christmas Shopping
Synopsis Lola's getting presents that will actually come with receipts.
Date December 21, 2010


Josephine's is a relatively nondescript jewelry store in Brooklyn of all places, not terribly showy but cozy nonetheless. It boasts a small staff and a decent selection of wares entombed within glass counters that travel along the walls, behind which can frequently be spotted a particular French salesman who probably spends too much of his time here. Sacha dresses crisp and cleanly in a fancy suit for work, and while customers aren't to be seen browsing, he spends the downtime either doing minor cleaning or lurking in the back room, where he is today.

The door has a bell, of course, which is a bit more jingly than normal in keeping with the season. The shop itself, however, is silent; no carols to be heard over speakers, no television blaring the news, the focus is entirely on doing business.

What Lola needs today cannot be stolen - not from here or anywhere else simply because it doesn't exist. So she fights every natural, kleptomaniac urge in her bloodstream to walk in the front door during hours. She tried to dress a little less like a thief today - she switched out jeans for her black cargo pants, but she still wears a black motercycle coat and black boots. Her hair is up in a messy pony. Hands are deep in her pockets as she peers at this and that, waiting for someoen to come out of the front. She looks…nervous. She just wants to STEAL things!

The jingle of the bells leads to Sacha exiting the back room briskly enough, entering the shop through an unblocked hallway. Arms behind his back, he gives Lola a very quick look-over, though her appearance doesn't elicit so much as a negative tone from him. He's been here long enough that he's used to people with money dressing down to keep from drawing attention, which he assumes is the case here. Nodding to her, he offers a smile and greets, with very French accent, "Good morning, madame. I hope that the day is finding you well; is there something perhaps I can assist you with?"

Herh god. Accent wars. "Yeah, darlin'," Lola says, hands deeper in her pockets. One hand removes, however, with a peice of paper on it. "Ah need somethin' made. Designed. Whatever it is ya'll call it in yer jewlery hoity-toity world. Need it done kinda soon, too, if ya get my meanin. What with Christmas comin' on. This the right place fer that?" She offers over the slip of paper.
On it, once it is unwrinkled, is a simple circle with four simple symbols inside of it.

The accent does get a very stifled cringe from the French, but he presses on..!! and manages to survive. Eyebrows are raised at the request, however, and Sacha's expression swiftly turns apologetic. "Ah.. I am afraid that the timing.. with the holiday being very soon, coordinating such a thing takes time, you understand." He does, however, take the paper, looking it over for a moment. "Myself, I am not involved in designing the jewelry. Appointments must be made to speak with people, and such things are done many days in advance.." If nothing else, he does at least seem sincerely remorseful about that fact. "With all due respect, madame, you are very much pushing the envelope, as they say."

Lola returns her hands to her pockets, jamming them in there. "Well, Ah know, darlin. Ain' sayin' Ah don' know. Ah do understand that rush jobs cost extra, if ya get mah meanin. Which is fine with me, Ah just wanna get it done, ya know." Yes. Tempt the business man with greeeeeeen. "It ain' like Ah'm askin' fer a ruby an gold made ta look like an octopus. Ah would like some more expensive gem in there, but worst comes ta worst just some engraved silver'd do." Which would be cheaper.

Sacha nods slowly for a moment, thinking the matter over. "It is not the rush so much as the availability, you understand. There are other appointments, and while I cannot know without checking, it is probable that the man you must speak with is unavailable this week. Other clients have need of his time and have made appointments in advance. You must be speaking with him about the designing, and he will be able to provide a price quote for you, and then after you approve it the item can be made. In theory, this could perhaps happen in a very short time, but I think there would need to be very much incentive."

"Well, how much incentive?" Lola asks. She's not at all impatient. "Ah know Ah should have done it sooner, an it's my fault that Ah ain' so Ah got no problems in payin' ta make up fer mah own foolery, ya understand." She licks her lips, wetting them. At least this part she isn't very nervous about. Nope, dealing with cash has become something easy. Money she makes from Elisabeth and from her normal nocturanl activities is enough to get her present prepared in time, she's sure.

French eyebrows lift in momentary surprise, Sacha thinking that over. "An exact number is difficult to determine.. I am thinking, without taking into account the cost of the item, because I cannot quote you for that.." And there he does that looking-upwards head-tilt to indicate thoughtfulness. "But for expediency.. I am thinking perhaps two hundred dollars?" He moves to stride towards a ledger resting on a bookrest, sitting on the counter at his side. Pages are turned, and a pencil lifted, though he doesn't yet make any notes. "If that is to your agreement, I may hold on to your picture for our records, yes?"

She almost laughs. Almost. But she doesn't. "Sure, sugar. 200 dollars sounds 'bout fair. And ya kin hold onto the picture. It's fer Peace, means, each one a them little symbols are for the Oisha, an all four of 'em in one way or another bring about peace. So, ya kin see what Ah'm gettin' at fer the thing." She smirks, crossing her arms now, hands out of her pockets. Confidence nailed.

Sacha smiles obligingly at that explanation, nodding at all the right parts, though he's focused more on flipping pages, erasing things, scribbling notes in the book and on a notepad next to it. Once that's finished, he folds the picture and tucks it between pages, and lifts his gaze back to the lady across the counter. "And so then, this afternoon you may return at four o'clock, and Monsieur Bona will consult with you about your piece. It may, I am afraid, take a day or two before you receive it, however. But that is still in time for the holiday, oui?" Head tilted, eyebrows lifted. "What name shall I be writing for this appointment, Madame?"

Crap. She needs a name. "Mary Winston," she finally settles on, dropping the 'Lou' from that fake persona. Along with her kleptomania, Lola also has a serial difficutly maintaining a specific identity. She actually creates them out of thin air sometimes! "And Ah'll settle the accounts once Ah meet with him, so Ah know how much the piece will cost?"

"Not a very Acadian name, is it?" Sacha remarks idly as he scribbles it into the book. Another note is made on the back of a business card; the lady's name and appointment date and time on one side, the store's information on the other. "For the sake of efficiency, we do insist that such.. expediency fees must be paid in advance of the appointment. It makes for less confusion at the end of things, yes?"

"It's the name Ah got given, ain' had any say over that one." There is a slight scorn on her face. No, Kain didn't give her any choice in that name - he picked one that he knew would upset her. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a roll of bills with a rubber-band around them. A thick roll at that. Shorning off two 100s she hands them over and pockets the rest, as if she'd just written a check or some simple thing.

The bills are plucked and neatly slipped between randomly selected pages of the ledger, and Sacha straightens things out, passing the business card across to Lola-Mary. "Of course; I do not mean to offend," he offers, with a smile. "So then, with these things taken care of, is there perhaps anything else with which I may assist you?"

"Nah…well.." Lola pauses, looking around. She checks the door, curiously. Her hands duck deeply into her pockets again as she looks over the place, as if window-shopping. And indeed, that's what she's doing! She turns, looking toward the man behind the counter and she leans forward a little bit, comfortably. "That a Grafica security system ya got?" Just curious!


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