Participants:
| Scene Title | Ruled by Secrecy |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaylee meets "Doctor Brooke Lynwood" while working at Biddy's and find out they happen to have a mutual friend. The two bond quickly and make a pact to keep each other's secrets. |
| Date | September 19, 2009 |
Ambient lighting blankets the establishment in a soft luminescence, glowing in tones of appealing orange from the front face of the bar and low hanging light fixtures overhead. Old style brick walls given the pub an appealing depth, reflecting the tone of lights in a more amber hue down upon the lengths of the polished, wooden floors. The bar counter of lacquered dark wood stretches along the northern wall, the forefront for shelves of numerous liquors and the substantially sized LCD televisions spaced liberally behind it. The screens flicker with the latest games and news as the labeled spirit bottles wink from lighted shelves with a beckon of their own. Barstools and high tables welcome tipsy patrons to their support, scattered with throughout the barroom with a few wedge into the darker, quieter, and more secretive recesses. Over the bar are a few banners of sports teams, most notably one of English football club Manchester United.
The thick wooden door to the west is fitted with a single neon sign sponsored by one of the brews on tap, glowing in the door's center window to shed its light onto the sidewalk outside and summoning in new customers when the bar is open for business.
Saturday night at Biddy's is always hopping, groups of people crammed around tables, the bar always filled to capacity. The whole thing always leaved the staff completely flustered at times. Orders are called out the kitchen, and waitresses hurry through the crowds with trays of food and drink orders.
Kaylee is on her break for the moment, as she stands at the end of the bar. One of the bartenders set a bottle of water in front of her as she draws the back of her hand across her forehead sickly pale forehead. "Thanks Mack. Was so busy I forgot my meds." She say just loud enough to be heard of the crowd. The tender doesn't say anything just nods, before leaving her to her own devices.
The young blonde pulls out a pair of pill bottles and sets them on the counter.. Watching the crowds, she opens each bottle and sets a pill from each on the counter. Kaylee glances down and after a thought adds another pill from the second bottle, and then takes them all in one shot. She gives a soft sigh and leans on the counter to continue people watching.
Normally, a place like Biddy's isn't Odessa's cup of tea. But there's food there. And alcohol. And people. Lots of people. Bar crowds are the easiest crowds to disappear in. Finding a table is always a pain, though. But when Odessa sees one patron getting up, she's quick to swoop in and snatch up his now-vacant seat in a dark two-person booth in a corner.
Red-painted nails tap absently on the surface of the table. A quick adjustment shifts the silver sequinned purse off her shoulder to settle on the seat between her and the wall. Odessa's eyes scan her surroundings, patiently waiting for a member of the staff to come by to ask for her order. Even if they don't come, she isn't sure she cares. Nails lift from the table and scratch at a fresh mark in her arm instead. Hmmph.
"Kaylee!" Mack barks from the other end of the long bar and then points at the new customer. "Breaks over. Becky is too busy with her own section."
The blonde rolls her eyes and sighs. "Alright. Alright." She grumbles stashing her water bottle after another large swig. She swipes her wrist over her forehead again, pulls her hair back into a tight ponytail and puts on a bright smile, heading into the busy room.
Approaching the newly arrived woman, Kaylee's voice is bright as she says, "Hello! Welcome to Biddy's." She sets a menu in front of the woman and pulls out a pen and pad.
"Ah, thanks," Odessa murmurs absently, opening the menu. "Uhm, I've never been here before," she admits, lifting her head. "What's good?" She doesn't even bother looking at the food menu now that she's asked for recommendations, and instead switches to the drink listing.
"Well, glad to see a new face. Old ones get boring after awhile. You can only watch people get drunk so many times…. Anyhow, the nachos tend to be popular." Kaylee says with a smirk, though something in her tone says it's not her's. "Guys in the back make a great burger." She studies the woman for a moment. "Salads are good too. I tend to get those myself…. Okay.. The burgers too." She admits with a grin. "So.. drink to start maybe?"
"Can I get a salad with grilled chicken and honey mustard dressing?" Odessa folds up the menu and smiles. "As for the drink, how about something sweet, fizzy, and loaded with alcohol? Surprise me." Dark blue eyes drift from the waitress' face and down to the menu she hands back. "My name's Brooke, by the way. What's yours?" Sure, the girl's probably wearing a name tag, but it's still far more polite to ask someone's name than read it off their chest.
"I'll see what Mack can come up with. I'm not a drink expert… In fact, I don't drink." Kaylee's tone continues to be bright, as she marks down the order on her note pad. "Me? Names Kaylee. I'm one of the regular waitresses her. If you ask anyone.. I'm always here." She grins and rolls her eyes. "Nice to meet you." She put her pad of paper in her pen hand and offers her hand for a shake.
Odessa takes Kaylee's hand and shakes gently. "Lovely to meet you, Kaylee. You look like you could use a break," she observes. With a gentle smile she makes her offer, "Tell you what, you make sure to tell anybody who wants to buy me a drink that I'm not interested, make sure I get extra croutons on my salad, and tell… Mack, was it? Tell Mack not to water down my drink, and there's a big tip in it for you."
"You as well… and I just got off break." Kaylee's hand is noticeably cool to the touch when it's clasped in the other woman's. She glances about the room and chuckles. "Oh man, Brooke.. You just made my job tougher." She jokes, motioning at some of the watchers around the room with a jerk of her head. "But I can definitely try my best." She takes a step back, and motions over her shoulder. "I'll get this order in and your drink."
"I promise you, it'll be worth it," Odessa assures the young woman. "Just tell them I've got a British uncle who knows how to use a sword, and he'll defend my honour with it or something. — That's a true story, though!" Sort of. She's not really his niece.
That catches Kaylee's attention, the blonde's eyes narrow a bit in thought. Her words are slow and drawn out. "Yeah.. Be…. right…. back." Turning away, she hurries off to place the order. She's gone for a short time, though it would be noticeable that Kaylee glances her way now and then. Finally, the young woman returns with a tray laden with food and drink. Her eyes flick to Brooke now and then as she sets the stuff down, but doesn't say anything until she's done. Tucking the tray against her side, curiosity gets the better of herself. "Would this uncle happen to be blonde and blue eyed? Has an entourage normally? or in the company of a loud… bouncy… southern woman?"
Having slipped into a stoned sort of reverie, Odessa brightens up once Kaylee returns with the food and drink. She parts her lips to thank the waitress, but is struck momentarily dumb. Blonde, blue eyed, entourage, southern bitch? "Yeah, that sounds like Adam. You know him, then?" Under the table, the dark-haired woman is frustratingly waving her hand, as though she's trying to roll a kink out of her wrist. She's really got to break her nasty habits.
There is a bright smile and an incline of her head. "I do know him. He's… kind of like family to me." Her is a touch of fondness in her tone. "You really his niece? Cause he hasn't mentioned you.. Though… " Kaylee's brows drop a bit, "Not that he's told me too much." She gives a small shrug of her shoulder. "He's the one that got me this job."
Odessa shakes her head with a small huff of laughter. "No, I'm not actually his niece. He looks after me, so he's like an uncle." Except Odessa's pretty sure you're not supposed to kiss family members like Adam kissed her. She shakes her head to clear that particular thought away. "Got you this job, huh? I'm kind of doing some contract work for him, I guess you could call it. I'm a doctor. The free clinic sort. Doesn't pay the bills, but…" But Adam does, so it's all good.
"Yeah. Got me this job to keep me out of trouble. He owns the place, helps him keep tabs. Plus he controls me hours." Kaylee says with small chuckle and a impish grin. "So you could say he looks after me too." She glances back over her shoulder and slides into the seat across from the woman. "So a doctor, huh? Don't get into trouble.. He might toss you in here too and make you do double shifts too."
Odessa pushes her salad aside for the moment, though she sips on her drink with an approving nod. "Yeah, I'm a doctor. So, what sort of trouble did you get into? Double shifts - quite the punishment."
Kaylee's look is mischievous and she shrugs, "Disobeyed daddy." She explains brightly, she's not ashamed to admit it. "I like to go out to Staten now and then. He said to stop.. I went out again. Then there was the time.. I went out with this guy that Adam said no too.. got hit. Then there was the time I got caught out after curfew…" Her grin tugs to one side.
"Well, I'll put in a good word for ya," Odessa tells Kaylee. "You can maybe keep me company now and then in return. I'm not real familiar with the city. You can show me around some?" Her brows arch in a hopeful sort of expression.
"Sure…" Kaylee drawls out with a grin, "I don't think he'd believe it though. I'm the baby of the family. Ask anyone. Lola kinda pointed it out to me. And I'm trouble in his mind I'm sure." An elbow moves to rest on the table, her chin moving to rest on the palm of her hand. "I've got a question…. and I really don't want it to get back to Adam, but you are a doctor."
The doctor leans forward, clearly curious as to where Kaylee is leading. Odessa's lips twist into an amused smirk, her glassy eyes flicking once between a once-over of the woman and then back up to her face. "Ask away, dear."
"I've got… a problem." Kaylee admits, leaning back in her seat so that she can fish out bottles. "And it's not going to be any better.. anytime soon. However, I really would like ti avoid going back into the hospital. They might not let me out this time." She holds the bottles in one hand and then with the other hand she sets them on the table between them. One is pink pills, used for nausea. The other a powerful pain medication. "They only gave me enough for a few weeks. I've have kind of gone through it a little faster then I should." She glances at the table and back up. "Do you know a way I can get more of these? I'd rather not get stuck in the hospital."
The dark-haired woman reaches out to take each of the bottles and study their lables. "What, precisely, are you being treated for?" Odessa could speculate, and she does in her mind, but asking the patient is much easier. "Don't worry, I won't tell Adam. But you need to be completely honest with me, so I can make sure you're getting what you need and the correct dosages. You understand?" The look Doctor Knutson gives Kaylee shows that she expects the younger woman understands. Now out with it, it says.
Lips press tightly together as she really tries to decide if she should say, but a glance to the bottles Kaylee sighs. "My brain is telling my body to shut down and is strangling itself. Started as nausea… and now it is gone into pain. They have no clue what it is, not a clue, just that it's happening." Might explain the fact the touch of her skin is cool and she looks drawn and sickly. "The medication helps." She admits with a small strained smile. "Keeps me functioning."
Odessa nods quickly. It's been a while since she's dealt with a terminal patient. And that's what Kaylee is, isn't she? Terminal? Still, Brooke flashes a smile. "Sure. I understand. I'll make sure you continue to get your medication. We'll see if we can't figure out what's getting you down, too." She turns her head from side to side, glancing around the bar before leaning in very close. "Are you Evolved, dear?" Blue eyes open just a little bit wider, conveying a keen interest in the answer to this question.
Since the woman knows Adam, Kaylee doesn't hesitate to answer. "Yes." The answer is quick and to the point. She rests both forearms on the table and folds her hands together. She glances each way before adding, "And there is a small chance that this is cause of an evolved, possibly via persuasion, which is why I can't go into the hospital. I need to find out for sure." Her hands unfold and spread before her a bit. "You can see why I don't want to tell Adam. I think.. he'll shit a brick." A smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth.
Another quick nod. "Sure, sure. I totally understand. Consider yourself my patient now. What we talk about in regards to your health stays between the two of us unless you tell me otherwise." Odessa glances toward the bar, then back to her new patient. "Here. Give me a piece of paper and a pen, could you?"
Standing a bit, Kaylee pulls her pen and pad out of her back pocket. She drops both on the table and slides it over towards the other woman. "I appreciate this. I was… starting to get nervous about going back in. I've got someone looking up information on what might be effecting me. I.. have no idea if he'll find anything. " She sighs, head drooping forward a bit, eyes going to the table, "They told me, going by the rate of cell death, that at the rate I'm going.. could be a month… or maybe more. Been a week."
"I'll do my best not to let that happen," Odessa says. And she actually surprises herself when she realises she means it. Caring for a patient? Unheard of. Especially when the patient is a stranger. On a fresh sheet of paper, she scrawls down her address.
Doctor Brooke Lynwood
Fort Greene Apartments
#404
Brooklyn, New York
"If Adam finds you've been coming around, just tell him… I don't know. That you're teaching me how to cook." Say, could she do that? No, 'Dessa, don't ask the dying girl to actually teach you to cook.
"Could just say we're bonding over the whole.. Adam gives a shit about us." Kaylee grins brightly. "Cause… I say I'm teaching you to cook. He'd know it was a lie. I can't cook." She points out trying not to smile. "I once left a pot of water on the stove and forgot about it. I burned water." She reaches out to take the paper, looking at it. "Oh.. and I'm a telepath.. and no.. I'm not reading your mind.. I think it's rude… and yes I know.. 'Stay out of my head."
For a moment, obvious apprehension flashes in Odessa's eyes. Never, ever trust a telepath. Although this once… seems like she might actually be trustworthy? "Tell you what, Kaylee… If Adam ever asks you to read my mind, you tell him that you can't. I keep your secrets, you keep mine. Fair exchange?" The girl must be telling the truth. Otherwise, she'd have called her on her use of a fake name, right?
"I can always tell him I can't read you." Kaylee smiles lazily. "I can't read him, and there have been others. It's not far fetched." Lying to daddy… She would so very much be in trouble, but for this she'd take a chance. "I'll keep out of your head and keep your secrets.. You keep mine. Sounds like a very fair exchange. Just… don't think too hard. Loud thoughts I occasionally catch." She doesn't know how to explain it… but it does happen.
"If I'm thinking that loudly, I probably deserve to be heard," Odessa concedes. She reaches into her purse and slides a ten and a twenty across the table to the waitress. "Here. Go ahead and get back to work before someone yells at you. Come and see me in the morning. Okay?"
One thing Kaylee isn't going to do is pass up a good tip. She takes the money up with a bright smile, folding in between the fingers of one hand. "Thank you, Brooke. I'll let you get to your salad." She taps the edge of the bills on the table as she considers the woman. "I'll be there in the morning. It was nice to meet you." Sliding out of the seat she reaches to take her pill bottles and the tray. "Take care now." With that she heads back to work.