Participants:
| Scene Title | Lessons |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Andrew agrees to teach Adam how to speak Mandarin |
| Date | October 9, 2009 |
It's a quiet night at the bar, which is unfortunate for a Friday, but the city's been in a lot of chaos. Once rescue efforts are over, people will surely pile into the bars to drink away their memories of the efforts. But for now, the bar is pretty deserted. Adam came in not too long ago and appears to be marking some pieces of paper in a folder at a corner table. There's some other regular workmen in the bar, but they're more leaning against things than actually doing anything at the moment. It's somewhere around this time that an asian man with a wide set face comes in holding a small book. When he steps up to the bar, it becomes clear as to what the book is, a translation dictionary and he attempts to order a glass of wine.
Andrew is in the middle of putting glasses on shelves in order to keep himself busy when the Asian man shows up to try and make the order. He waits patiently as the customer horribly butchers the English language then, once he is finished, asks in very nearly fluent Mandarin, "Would this language be easier for you?"
Adam had only glanced up at the original exchange. He could see from sight that the man was Chinese, but felt no interest in stepping in. After all, his mastery of Mandarin is worse than the other man's master of English. And then, he hears Irish accented Mandarin, whatever that sounds like and frowns to himself. He looks up again and studies Andrew and the Chinese tourist converse. The tourist appears to be quite excited that the other man knows Mandarin and begins talking to him and asking him questions about the bar and New York and where he might go to find the World Trade Center…which probably brings a moment of uncomfortable silence.
"I'm afraid the World Trade Centre was destroyed eight years ago by terrorists," Andrew explains sadly, having answered all the other other questions, as he pours the customer's drink. He then gives the man directions to somewhere where he might get a map that shows all the other landmarks.
Adam closes his folder quietly and spreads his hand palm down over the surface of the folder and considers Andrew quietly. He pauses in thought as if he considers something in his head and then stands from his seat before he makes his way over towards the bar before he puts the folder on the bar top and then considers the other man a moment and says, "Andrew, might I have a word?"
"If you will excuse me," Andrew says to the customer once he has taken payment. He hands over the drink and some change before wishing the man a pleasant stay in New York and turning to his boss. "Yeah, sure."
Adam mmms, "That was Mandarin, yeah?" he questions, "I don't know it that well… I can say hello, goodbye, thank you… curse a person's mother, yeah?" he pauses, "But I've been trying to increase my knowledge, yeah? You seem rather fluent. I wonder if I might convince you to tutor me for a bit of an under the table bonus."
"Aye, that was Mandarin," Andrew replies. He smiles at the 'curse a person's mother' bit, but listens quietly until Adam has finished. "Aye, I can teach you. How big a bonus are we talking?" he asks in return.
Adam considers the question, "Well…" he says, "I honestly don't know what the going rate is for a language tutor." he pauses, "How does one hundred a lesson sound to you?" he doesn't seem to be coy about it, as if he'd accept if Andrew thought the price was too low.
Andrew nods. "Aye, that works," he says. "I'm not entirely sure myself what the going rate is, since I got my lessons for free, but that's around what I'd have thought," he adds with a shrug.
Adam nods, tapping the table, "Good," he says with a casual smile. "Well… then it sounds that we have reached an agreement. Good." he pauses, "I'm not going to interupt your shift here, but we'll head out to a Chinatown, tonight or tomorrow, get us a nice authentic meal for the atmosphere. My treat, yeah?"
Andrew nods. "Sounds good to me. I'm on until closing tonight, so unless you know of somewhere that's open past curfew it'll have to wait until tomorrow; maybe around one-ish to give us a decent amount time before my Saturday evening shift?"
Adam nods, "Alright then, I'll get someone to pick you up, yeah?" apparently quite generous with his goons' time. He stands from the bar proper and says, "Cheers, we'll talk more tomorrow." and with that, heads back to the table to finish his paperwork.