Morningstar Manor

Monday morning. Kids were back in school, people back to work, and at this time the major morning rush had already come and gone leaving the Mocha relatively quiet.

Deacon had dropped Nia off at the daycare and was enjoying a coffee and muffin. He'd texted Charlie as he walked across the lobby. Bfast in Mocha?

***

Seth was in the Mocha too and he'd waved to Deacon when he spotted him but didn't go to join him. He was sketching away in his book, sipping coffee, and bopping about in his seat as he listened to this music coming through his headphones.

***

Gabe was stretched out on one of the couches, coffee in one hand and phone pressed to his ear in the other. "Darling I know I wasn't there but honestly - what where you thinking? It was the Emmy's! You could have at least gone to Angels. I mean I might not be there but my people are good. Cuz honey - your hair..."

***

Demitri was up early. He didn't have a class until later this afternoon. And though he no longer ran the Mocha he liked to see that it was doing well. He sat by the window, looking out at the street and the people going by and thinking on the things that had happened in the past few months. And smiled softly.

***

Max and Micah sat at another table, both drinking coffee and looking through the paper.

Leo had tea and Jimmy had coffee.
Charlie chose a muffin,
Vanilla or banoffee.
Allan, all bruised,
And Vincenzo, off duty,
sighed as they glimpsed
Ms Vale's passing booty.
Nick scowled at Scruffy,
Scruffy wagged his tail.
Fin pieced together
some dog-spitty mail.
And finally Ruth, with her nose in a book,
didn't spare any of the above one look.
There in the Mocha, one girl and seven boys,
Trying to give Maru's pups a bit of choice.

Jimmy arrived rather late at the club on Sunday night having made several stops on the way. The new chemist was a lot more cooperative than the old one had been - once he had seen the stains on the floor. He was happy to work for money and wasn't going to get creative with the process.

Cowed, that's what he was. Cowed. It was a word Jimmy rather liked.

And Jimmy had been to the Chinese as well and got double everything , just in case the boss was hungry.

Balancing the cardbord box on one hand he knocked at the office door with the other. The door was closed - Max might have a girl in there.

Jimmy was already at the club when he heard Max's voice in the outer room, and his face creased still further in a gargoyle grin as he contemplated all the bits of news he had to share.

He poured two cups of coffee, set one on Max's desk and took his to his own desk where he sat down and flipped through the folder on his blotter.

Zack was beginning to feel a bit better. It had been very touch and go for a while and if Brendan hadn't been staying with him he might well have ended up in the hospital. But he'd gotten through what he hoped was the worst and now actually felt up to going down to the Mocha for a coffee and to nibble on a muffin.

He looked pale, small in his oversized hoodie and scarf. He'd lost weight and that didn't help matters and his eyes had dark shadows under them but they twinkled again now and his smile, though tired, was genuine.

He sat curled on one of the couches near the fireplace and answered an email from his iPhone while he waited for Brendan to come back with their coffee.

***

Gabe had had a grand time with the photoshoot but he was glad it was done. Lewis, bless him, was a dear and lord knew Gabe had had a fine time with a few of the models but he could only handle them all for so long was thankful he had his and Kris's apartment to themselves again.

Sitting at a table he chuckled as he replied to a text to one a friend. Oh the gossip that had come from that shoot!

***

Eris sat at a table, sipping a white chocolate mocha and looking through various brochures on various tropical places. Money wasn't a problem and she knew Daddy would keep her apartment open for her so how long to be gone wasn't an issue either.

The only question was where to go?

***

Loki was sprawled in one of the overstuffed arm chairs, legs dangling over one arm and head dangling over the other, bright red hair nearly touching the floor. His eyes were closed, headphones stuck in his ears and playing something with a low bass loud enough to be heard by passers by.

***

Max was headed to Sanctuary but he had a bit of time yet so stopped into the Mocha for a coffee and found himself an empty table to enjoy it at as he flipped through a newspaper someone else had left.

The driver had his hand in his pockets and a puzzled expression on his face as Jimmy signed the docket.

Behind him, he knew, the container had been hoisted off the back of the truck and an empty one was being set in its place.

"You're busy," the man said. "I did this run on Monday."

"Yeah, busy like fuck," Jimmy said. "Here you go," and he gave the man back his clipboard and gave him a bright smile that didn't reflect his fury.

The transport manager should have known better than to let the same driver make more than one delivery in the course of a week. Jimmy would call him later and the man would spend the rest of the night pissing himself and clinging to his wife and children.

JImmy grinned and waved the truck away. He'd better have the driver taken care of too.

Jimmy leaned back against the wall of the elevator and smiled as he listened to the rapis gabble of excuses from the chemist.

"No I unnerstand," he said. "Look, pal, it's not a problem. If the acid wasn't the right quality it wasn't the right quality. He can replace it free of charge and you can start over. Yeah - no, he won't rip you a new one. Jeez, anyone would think you were scared. Look," the elevator opened and Jimmy pushed himself off the wall and headed for the office, "here's the skinny. You can't make the stuff, we can't sell it, it becomes scarce and prices go up. See - good news. Yeah, I'm sure. No - no - yeah - fucking hell, Radek if you keep bending my ear like this I'M gonna come down there and do you a mischief. Shut up and fuck off. Yeah, same to you."

He finished the call with a sneer as he entered the office and dropped the phone into his pocket before taking a seat at the desk to go over last night's takings.

Another day, another dollar.

Jimmy turned up his coat collar as he stepped out of the comfortable warmth of the Auberge, and turned to walk along the sidewalk. Every so often he paused to look in shop windows, to inspect the yellow posters he'd been seeing around lately.

One of the staff in Sanctuary had wanted to put one up in the staff room and when Jimmy had said no had said "Don't you want to send something to those poor people?" and had been disgusted when Jimmy had said "Yeah, syphilis". Jimmy had thought it really funny and chuckled now as he headed down the block.

It was a cold day but there was plenty of people about, some taking advantage of the January sales, some hoping to take advantage of them. The were happy to exchange smiles with him - just a harmless old hippie left over from the seventies. The latter met a different sort of smile, he could smell the little bastards, see, and sheered off, like jackals giving way to a moth eaten old hyena. Presumably they could smell him too.

He stopped twice more on his way, apparently at random, did what he needed to do then looked at his watch. Time for one more then he'd head home for dinner.

It was always a pleasure to visit YFRS, even without an ulterior motive, and he took his time going through the racks, selecting an album here, a single there, then going through to the racks of vinyl.

They had a few titles by Passiontide, of course, and he smiled at his own young, snarling face before moving along to pounce on a rare copy of Blind Faith by Blind Faith.

With that in his hands it was natural for him to move along to a less musically credible area of the racks and set his purchases down the better to inspect the old album for scratches. He'd seen many other people do it as well, confident that they wouldn't be in anyone's way while obscuring the miscellaneous bunch of novelty albums, best of bands even he had never heard of and a few stray Barry Manilows. He snorted as he leafed through them - apparently in derision but actually in satisfaction. Sandwiched between the albums was an old envelope. Nothing suspicious there. Currently it held several dozen bags of prime grade Pink, later, if all went as planned, it would be replaced by an equally innocuous envelope holding quite a lot of money. Later still someone would bring it to him and hand it over and they would get their cut.

Looked like the system was working. Max would be so pleased.

Jimmy knew Ricky would be along eventually. They had made no arrangement to meet but the band that was playing was one of Moray's and there was a girl in it who, rumour had it, put out like a fucking railway train, so it was a given that Ricky would be at the gig.

Jimmy hung around near the artist's entrance to the venue and amused himself by looking at the groupies.

He made them nervous. It was a scream.

Jimmy arrived at the club in good time. They were expecting some deliveries and it was always wise to have one of the management team available just in case someone needed sorting out.

But first things first.

"Coffee," he said as he passed a bunch of the girls and grinned to see Yolanda get up to fetch it for him. She was looking good, if a little more twitchy than usual and Jimmy regretted that Max was showing an interest. But he doubted it would last long - just until he got bored - and then Jimmy could take on the left overs. she might even be grateful.

She brought the coffee, and a pack of cookies earning points for initiative, then Jimmy took both through the club to the storage areas to over see the delivery of booze. Later oother goods would be coming in to the annexe, but for now he was quite content to count boxes of Malibu and Navy rum.

Anastasia was down in the Mocha again. It seemed this was the only place she'd been going aside from work. It felt normal down here, but that was likely because no one but Tristan, Trevor and Gavin knew what had happened. She didn't want it to be public knowledge. She couldn't stand the gossip and she didn't want Joy rubbing it in her face every time Trevor was seen out with whoever her was dating.
So she sat alone at a table in a corner, her sketch pad open to a blank page in front of her, and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. 


*******


Declan was also sitting at a table in the Mocha, except he had a large presentation folder open in front of him. One of his writers had turned in a piece on the rapid rise of a new drug called "Cheese" that was a combination of flu medicine and Heroin and as the writer had put it, was a "New Pandemic!"  To Declan, anything plus heroin meant that it was mostly heroin and not really a new drug at all. He sighed, wondering why his writer had wasted her time on this and was making notes in the margin.

Business with the tea was going very well. Max was pleased with the financial side of things for sure and so far the shipments were getting where they needed to go without to much trouble. Now though their chemist was due a payment and Max waited for his courier to arrive.

And as he waited, he brewed a pot of the Karma Chai Tea. Not for himself - oh no. But his courier was enjoying it and he saw no reason that she shouldn't. Besides, it was a bit of an experiment of his own.

Ricky was driving his 'bus' -- tiny Japanese thing from the late eighties -- through some rather unpleasant and undesirable real estate, but they really needed more of that herbal stuff. It went like hot cakes, through all their contacts.

It was strictly legal, of course -- nobody had yet thought of declaring it illegal, so it wasn't as if they were dealing drugs. They were just doing a favour to some people.

Ricky honked -- ahh, yes, that was where it had to be!

It had been an incredibly wild night. One of the best ever. Jimmy hadn't been home - hadn't even managed an hours sleep in the apartment upstairs - and wouldn't be able to until the mess was cleared away, the walking wounded treated and sent home and the more seriously damaged ones seen to by the company doctor.

But a very good time had been had by all and at least with the pots of chai to help, everyone was still full of energy.

Jimmy grinned. That was what he liked to see.

Niles felt better than he had in a long time. He wasn't sure what to attribute to his sudden change in mood, unless this Karma Chai really was a mood and mind enhancer as it claimed to be. He pulled on his jeans, put on a nice black button up, trimmed the sides of his hair so it looked a bit more like a mohawk and put on some cologne. He wasn't really planning on going out - well fuck it, he might - but when you felt good you should look good too, right? He swaggered into the Mocha and gave Joy such a blinding smile that even she faltered in being a bitch for a minute.

Declan had been wandering around bored, but he found himself in the ballroom. No one jumped out right away to tell him to get out so he ventured further in to the piano he'd seen Jack playing before. Declan knew how to play, his mother had made him take lessons and of course he wasn't that great at it, but he could play. He sat down on the bench and tapped a few keys experimentally, looking around. No one showed up for that either, so he rolled his sleeves up and started to play "Für Elise."

Bea was out in the garden with Pippa, a load of shopping bags draped over her arm as she watched the puppy, which was quickly growing into a horse, bound around completely oblivious to the cold or the fact that Bea was slowly starting to tilt over due to the weight of the bags. She'd went costume shopping today for the big Manor ball and the shit was heavy.

One of the fundamentals of this business was that it's never wise to shit on your own doorstep. Eventually the stuff would find it's way to Sanctuary but for now Jimmy was ensuring it got off to a good start in another establishment.

He leaned against the bar and sipped his scotch and watched his employees work the crowds, whispering here, smiling there, offering a free sample there.

It was going pretty well. Jimmy had already heard the stuff mentioned by name twice!

Max would be so pleased.

There was a new personality in town. On posters glued to buses, in shop windows, in ads in papers the same cheerful pastel coloured person smiled serenely out at the world and word about him began to spread.

In the whole food store in the Foundry they were putting up a display of the packets of tea amongst their usual stock. All natural ingredients, all organically produced.

Gil Wimbourne, who had popped in to get his regular order of locally grown, organic vegetables, paused and asked a question. He left the stall with a pack to try and laughed when he got back to the Flamingo and found that Erin and George had both brought in packets as well.

###

Leo's secretary waved her packet at him and said, "I tried it at the weekend. It's a lovely flavour. Not as harsh as that chai I brought in before."

Leo, who hadn't liked the previous chai at all, smiled tolerantly and nodded. "Very well," he said. "I'll give it a try. Um - does it go well with cookies?"

She chuckled and assured him that it did.

###

In the gallery Sean said, "Naaah, I'd sooner coffee," but Sadie made herself chai, mostly because she was wearing ethnic prints that day and it made her feel even more spiritual and Eastern.

###

Joy scowled at the fat little man on the packet until she tasted the brew. Then she nodded thoughtfully and chalked the words "Karma Chai - mug or pot" on the Mocha menu board.

###

In a neat residential area not far from the museum, Jimmy leaned against the workbench in the garage and watched one of his many employees measure out a quantity of leafy material and place it in a baggie. He put it on the counter beside another bag holding a teaspoon of pinkish powder.

"Thanks," Jimmy said. "So - you're the expert ..." true, though there was very little about this business Jimmy didn't know, from both sides of the user/dealer divide, "how soon?"

"This weekend," the man said. "We'll start small, but at the price you've set word will soon spread." He grinned. "It's gonna be an interesting Hallowe'en."

Jimmy nodded and picked up both bags. "Good work," he said. "You'll have a bit of a bonus this month, okay?"

"Cool," the man said and licked his lips. "Any chance of that blonde with the legs delivering it?"

Jimmy grinned. "I'll see what I can do."

In a place like this people didn't take much notice of trucks carrying containers. They were in and out all the time and there was always someone available who, in return for a few dollars, could get the container off the truck with a crane and stack it somewhere nice and quiet where you could go through its contents at your leisure.

With live cargo you never knew what you'd get and in what kind of condition. Sometimes it was so bad that it took three or four showers for Jimmy to get the smell of the shit and vomit out of his hair. But this particular consignment made quite a nice change.

"First of many," Jimmy said to Micah as they unlocked the padlocks and opened the doors. A box cutter made short work of the first crate and Jimmy uncovered the pastel coloured packets. He grunted, tore open a packet and sniffed the contents.

"Phwoar," he said. "Smells like a tarts hanky. Still I guess that's how it's supposed to smell. Five crates to start with. Let's be having you!"

He backed the minivan up to the container and they began to transfer the goods and had almost finished when they spotted a familiar car.

"Hi, boss," Jimmy said when he was within earshot.

First thing in the morning, Charlie paused on his way to open the gallery and looked at the sky. There was something in the air - just a little chill - that warned him to make the most of the good weather. Then he walked on, resolving to get the winter woollies out of storage that very weekend.

#

Around eleven Andy crossed the Square with her shopping list, Erik's suit, neatly bagged, over her arm and she too paused. But she was smiling as she watched a pigeon land on the head of the bronze angel. "Go on," she said. "Poop. You know you want to."

#

At noon Nick was at the other end of the Square, just coming out of a tatty little plumbing supplies shop that was nevertheless the only place within walking distance that stock a particular type of European metric dimension washer. Trendy French style bathrooms might look chic but they were a bugger to repair.

#

Lunchtime at the Auberge was part of the routine for Leo on working days and he sat and sipped his coffee while he waited for Paula to bring his salad. He was at a table outside, feeling he might as well make the most of what remained of the summer.

#

"May I?" Fin had asked as the tweedy Englishman had left the table and had got both somewhere to sit and that days local paper. He read it with as much relish as he ate his red onion quiche.

#

Vincenzo waited near the dance studio trying not to feel self concious about the bunch of pink rosebuds he was carrying. He glanced at his watch, then along the road hoping to see Emily but no, he was still a bit early.

#

Amarie romped through the Square on her way home from work. She had new shoes and had picked up pizza for dinner and all was right with the world, yeah, man. She paused at the lights, thumb busy as she sent a text to a friend, but took a moment to wonder at the scraps of mildewed ribbon tied to the upright by the crossing.

#

Del waited near the entrance of the Flamingo Lounge. He was carefully dressed, had a pale yellow rosebud in his lapel and was carrying a London Times. Sometimes customers liked a little intrigue and there was no way he'd say they couldn't have it.

They were late.

#

Jimmy had a bone to pick but the guy had fled. Much good it would do him. He OWED Max and Jimmy would collect. He'd give him one more chance and if he didn't pay up then Jimmy was happy to take payment in body parts.

Meanwhile he ambled along the sidewalk, killing time until he had to get to work.

#

Close to midnight and a horrible shriek disturbed the peace in the alley at the back of the gallery. Two bodies tumbled on the filthy paving, kicking and gouging, spitting curses, until one broke free and fled leaving quantities of ginger fur and a very pleased Palug. He rubbed a paw over a bloodied ear licked it and grinned. Just because he was off his usual patch didn't mean he wasn't still top cat.

On occasion there was enough work to do that it was necessary to go into the club early in the day. This was one of those days, though the work had nothing really do to with the club itself and more with Max's other interests. They'd gotten a good hour of work done before Max brought up the trip.

"I'm going to take a few days next week," he said to Jimmy as he flipped through a stack of papers and signed in the spots where his signature was needed. "Go to the island house."