Morningstar Manor

Kara loved her job. She really did. She loved being behind the bar. Loved being an ear or a shoulder for the folks that needed it. Loved to flirt a bit with the older guys and watch them smile as they got the attention of a 'lovely young lass' once again. And at the holidays it was even better because there were a fair few who had nowhere to go and no one to spend the time with and they would come here, to the softly lighted and warm pub and it was like an extended family.

Today was one of those days - a couple of old timers sitting at a back table playing Dominoes, one guy that she knew had recently lost his wife and trusted that Kara wouldn't let him overdo it on the drink while still drowning his troubles, a group of girls that were eying up a group of young men playing pool.

And Kara stood behind the bar, dressed in jeans, a tight flannel top, and a Slaughtered Lamb apron tied round her waist, and just smiled at them all as she dried some glasses.

Kate had moved in to the Manor last week, but she hadn't gotten around to having a day off since until now. Faced with lots of freedom and no one that needed her to account for her actions and no boxes left to unpack, she didn't know quite what to do with herself.
She pulled on a deep green sweater and a pair of jeans and wandered down to the coffee shop that she'd seen but never tried. It was pretty busy and the girl behind the counter could use an attitude adjustment, she decided as she sat down at a corner table and tried not to infringe on anyone's personal space. There was a gossip rag that someone had forgotten laying on her table and she picked it up, reading the headline.

"Tiger Woods takes hiatus from golf," she read out loud to herself, then scoffed. "Right. Because golf was so the problem."

The attack was completely unexpected. One moment Leo was crossing the street to take the short cut across the Square on his way home for the day, and the next he was stunned and buffeted as his glasses were struck from his face. Two, possibly three, people he thought, though the tears engendered by the sharp smack on the nose made their outlines very blurry. And they were professionals in his considered opinion, wasting no time in conversation but going straight for his wallet and ripping his briefcase from his hand as well. His watch went next, which was a pity because once they saw the engraving on the back they would probably throw it away, then someone shouted and they were gone in a rapid scutter of feet. Leo staggered back against the nearest wall, wincing as he felt glass and metal crunch under his foot.

"Shit, it's Mr Beck. Hey, are you okay?"

Gil from the restaurant - a real half pint but sounding furious. Odd how accents became more marked when one was upset.

"Quite all right, thanks most awfully." Ah yes - QED.

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It hadn't taken long to make his statement and then Larry Benedict, on his way to his next call, had offered to drop him off at home. That had been kind, and Benedict was a sensible man who had been quite happy to make his own conversation, commenting on the traffic, the weather and how large the Christmas tree in the lobby was this year.

Leo saw him on his way with relief and plodded into the lobby. The tree was very large and Nick was up a ladder winding lights around it. Leo passed him by and went to stand by the elevators. He pressed the 'up' button and looked up at the display, hoping that one would arrive soon.

The loss of his wallet was no big deal, that of his watch a purely personal sadness. His briefcase was more worrying. Not only did it contain papers pertaining to his current cases, but also his diary with all his court appearances and appointments. More worrying still it had contained the little box with his medication and he was beginning to feel the first hot twinge of pain lancing through his chest like a skewer.

Although he knew it was pointless he poked the button again.

Christmas was in many ways a favourite holiday but today Nick was cursing it heartily. Something had gone wrong with the lights and they had ceased to function and someone, Nick suspected Mrs Kelso, had complained about it, so he had been given the fiddly assignment of finding out what was wrong and putting it right. Failing that he would have to remove all the decorations, remove the lights and replace them with new ones.

Brilliant. Lights weren't that expensive. They should just do that in the first place - but no, it was the economy. Nick had to test all the bulbs first.

"Eighty-seven," he grumbled, clipping it back into it's holder. "About two hundred to go."

Sterrin sat alone at a table in the mocha in a casual dress and a pair of brown boots browsing through a magazine and thinking about the earlier episode with poor Leo. She'd started to go home after that, but had heard some rather peculiar noises coming from her brother's bedroom and had preferred to not hear "Oh Declan" as performed by Jacky boy. It tended to ruin her appetite and she hadn't had dinner just yet.
Sighing, she turned the page.

Peri was exhausted after a not so hard day's work. Damn baby. As a result, all she wanted to do was collapse in bed and sleep for a week. As she let herself into the apartment, she had every intention of doing just that. But of course she had to give Wicket attention first, not exactly a hardship.

"You better hope Noah helps me up when he gets home and doesn't just laugh his ass off at me," Peri said as she eased herself down to the floor and reached for a squeaky toy. "Because I don't care what they say, five months is totally getting into the 'trouble getting up' stage."

Especially when you'd been working all day.

Wicket pounced at her impatiently. Shaking her head, she squeaked the toy at him before tossing it off towards the hallway.