Safe and Sane

He was prompt to meet Lia at their arranged time, didn't like to be late if it could be avoided. Parking up outside Lia's place, he locked the car behind him with a beep from the remote before making his way to her door. Despite having been up since 6am, he'd drunk enough coffee to look quite alert and nipping home to get changed meant he was wearing a far sharper suit than the now-rumpled one he'd worn to work. Pressing her bell, he slipped his keys into his pocket, nodding along to a tune beating in his head.

From: adrianchapiro@sunsurfandsnow.com
To: 'Lia Wilson'
Subject: You.

Lia,

It's definitely been too long. Work's been taking over and, well, all work and no play makes Ade a dull boy. I refuse to be dull. Fancy dinner, drinks, driving me to distraction?

Ade

The weather seemed to be doing its best to make up for the week before, and in response, the doors to the cafe were firmly closed to keep the heat out, and the airconditioning in. At least, until the aircon broke down, at which point doors were propped open, fans distributed around the cafe, and extra ice stockpiled behind the counter.

One member of staff was detailed to stand by with a mop to wipe up any wet floors resulting from people throwing ice at each other.

They'd arranged a time and a place and, as ever, Ade was early, sitting with his feet up, reading his newspaper in the suit he'd worn for a meeting that afternoon and been terribly, terribly glad to escape when it was finally called to a close. Wound up now, in need of finding a way to relieve the tension and, really, they couldn't have scheduled this better on that count.

He probably looked utterly unapproachable right now, despite the fact he was actually longing for some company, a distraction, something a damn sight more fun than the conversation he was having. Still, having his phone jammed against his ear wasn't helping, nor was the exasperated tone of voice someone would pick up even if they didn't hear what he was saying.

"Sylvie... No, just listen for a second. Your mental image of me is at least fifteen years out of date. I'm asking for one fuckin' week in the summer, not a kidney." A long pause, a sigh and he dragged a hand through his hair. "No. No. That was a year ago, she was twenty-eight and had no desire to be his new mommy. Jesus Christ, 'Vie, it's like talking to a brick wall... Hello? Hello?" Swearing under his breath, he shoved his phone back in his pocket; times like this made him think taking up drinking again was one hell of an idea.

He glanced up to notice someone else in the room and threw his hands in the air. "Please, for the love of all things holy, give me some sane conversation before I toss myself out a window," he pleaded.

Friday evening saw Seb arriving at the club with plenty of time to prepare. He didn't need anything truly unusual, just to make sure the room was laid out the way he wanted it, with all the equipment he needed. And that the thermostat was turned down a few degrees cooler than usual.

With enough time for the temperature to drop steadily, he dimmed the lights, and went through to the common room to find Lia.

Someone at the cafe had gotten creative with Google and discovered that March 11th was Johnny Appleseed Day. They hadn't gone all out and insisted on planting, but the counter was offering a selection of apple-based delicacies, cakes, juices and hot cider along with their usual selection.

There was also a rather suggestive print of Eve (looking very like one of the serving staff) proffering an apple, tacked to the wall behind the till.

It was Wednesday again, and the weather wasn't quite so pleasant as the week before and everything was slightly less bright. Almost as if to make up for it, some strange concoction with too much caffeine and way too much sugar was being served as the special for the day for anyone that dared try it.

All in all, it was the set up for a pretty good day.

Eva was still wearing her riding breeches as she headed into the club, hat and crop in one hand as she loosed her hair from its tight bun with her other hand, fingers combing through. She glanced around, and walked across to a table, a smile on her lips, color bright on her cheeks from the wind, spirits high from her ride. "May I join you?"

Lia really liked dressing up to go out, especially when it was potentially going to be a very, very good night. Very good indeed.

Lia was humming to herself when she headed to the bar, ordering herself a drink as she waited, fingers drumming on the counter happily enough.

There was a Thanksgiving theme at the cafe. Wicker cornucopias were on every table, pumpkins everywhere, pumpkin spice offered for lattes, pumpkin pie, muffins, cakes, pecan pie, lots of strong coffee. But the most obvious were the horrified looking cafe workers in their pilgrim costumes.

Sundays meant no work for Lin. Least, not down at Sal's. Never did stop working at practicing and writing, but his room behind the bar wasn't conducive to music, not with the noise coming across from the bar, conversation and the juke box. Instead, he locked his girl safe in the truck with his amp, slung his acoustic case over his shoulder, and hoofed it over to the club.

He was sitting crosslegged on one of the couches, picking through a chord sequence, when the door opened. He lifted his head, hand flattening on the strings to silence their song. A new face. New to him. "Hey, there. You looking for someone?"