Who: Alfie and Jane What: Christmas shopping Where: Some obscenely high-end mall When: Saturday (12/11) Warnings: None
Saturday had dawned crisp and cold, and Alfie had managed her first real night of sleep since Luke had been taken four days before. She had spent Friday fending off press and police at Thomas’ apartment, where she’d set up shop after she’d dismissed the servants, and despite the long day of answering questions and being evasive, she had managed a blessed, full night of sleep in one of the guest rooms.
When the sun streamed in the window on Saturday morning, she considered calling Jane and canceling. There was little doubt there were things to be done, more questions to answer, money to move back to its original place; she should cancel. But she had not seen her granddaughter since Thanksgiving, and she was (admittedly) looking forward to spending time with her. And the company presents did need to be purchased for Thomas, Inc. It could be considered a work outing, if she looked at it in just the right way.
In the end, she’d showered and dressed down in jeans and and a cashmere sweater, and she’d called for a car to bring Jane to Aubade. It left her, she knew, with a few minutes for coffee and to try to cover up the circles under her eyes from the previous week’s happenings - a mostly fruitless endeavor. She sighed as she looked in the mirror. There was no hiding that many nights of wakefulness, not at her age. At least she wouldn’t have to hide happenings from Jane. She knew her granddaughter worked for Thomas, and she would therefore know about Luke.
She slipped on her coat, a scarf and gloves, and she please, if you woulded her way through the collected members of the press in the lobby, only stopping to address them when she was outside the building, the car (and, she hoped, Jane) waiting at the end of the walk. She assured them Luke was resting, and if they had any additional information they would be privy to it.
Jane had sat around the warehouse and gotten to know it in the few hours she'd spent there. She hadn't insisted on staying to get acquainted with it, so much as monitor Luke's progress. She had said he was going to be fine, but it was unspokenly obvious that there could easily have been a sudden turn. It wasn't uncommon for people who were exposed to extreme conditions to just up and die when they looked like they were just about to get better. It was always those first few hours that were precarious, every touch she gave him on the hour, coupled with the vital calculations the machine displayed made her feel more and more confident that he would be fine after all. In that time, she'd just tended to Thomas, despite his fussing over how Luke's health was more important. Well, he fussed as only Thomas would; with meaningful scowling. She ignored it just the same.
None of the press had given her much trouble as she'd gone through a side entrance of the building. She'd kept herself bundled up nicely against the cold and was near unrecognizable. That was not so much the case when she'd left that morning. She strode right out the front door, looking annoyed as hell at the cameras and recorders being shoved in her face and gotten into the car. She had said not a single word. In her opinion, it was none of their goddamn business, the vultures. She hadn't learned about Alfie's statement until around noon and it had left a bad taste in her mouth. It also left her half-blind until a few seconds after she'd been inside behind the safety of the tinted windows.
Anton had been sending her fun text messages, but she didn't answer them with her usual quickness. In fact, she sort of neglected them. There were no promises to meet at the clinic or at his place later or any real sort of thing. She just typed in quite tersely, that she was busy. He was a big boy. He'd understand, not that it stopped him from sending her other things, which she just ignored in favor of more important messages, namely the ones exchanged with her grandmother about their plans for the day.
There was a distinct stop in correspondence when the car pulled up to the front of the Aubade. The vultures circled here as well. She would have gotten out to open the door for Alfie, but it would probably have just gotten worse. Instead, she let the driver do his job and open the door for her, trying to slide as far back as possible so the press couldn't see her. She had a feeling today was going to be ridiculous
Today most certainly was going to be ridiculous, and when Alfie slid into the car it was with a very grateful sigh. “How mad was Bathos?” she asked, looking over at Jane and offering her a tired smile. She wasn’t aware that Thomas had called her granddaughter, or she would have immediately launched into a hundred questions, but she knew the connection was a well known one and likely to land a few vultures on her door, especially as they would have been thickly hanging around Bathos already, due to the other personal connections there.
She instructed the driver to “take as many winding paths as you can to get us to the far end shopping district,” and then she sat back and turned her full attention to Jane. Her smile was a warm one. “You look lovely. Have you been well? Forgive my lack of manners. It’s been a tiring week, and I’m not as young as I still think I am,” she added apologetically, as the car began moving.
She glanced one out the rear window, grateful when only one car followed. With any luck, they’d shake him before they arrived at their destination.
"Not as bad as they are here," she said with a smile. Really? The amount of people that crowded Alfie were ridiculous. "I think I was more of a consolation prize." This was referring to how they all hung around, probably looking for signs of Max Main after the Thanksgiving fiasco. Then again, this was just an assumption. She let Alfie take control of the situation. She seemed like she went through this sort of thing often enough to know what she was talking about. Jane had led a relatively obscure life, though not uneventful. This sort of 'eventful' was not what she was used to.
When the older woman finally settled in and started with the pleasantries, Jane appeared to be much more okay with her being there than the last time they'd met in person. She'd had not only enough time to settle into the thought of family, but also the memory to buffer the transition. Thomas and Luke had said she was good people, and they'd known her longer than her. She wasn't aware of how intimate their relationships were, but she trusted their judgment of character.
"Thank you," she said, picking at a piece of non-existent lint when Alfie complimented her. She became slightly self-conscious, but didn't let it show outside of the small gesture. "It's been a crazy 48, but I'm handling it well. The reporters haven't been giving you too much trouble have they?" There was also the issue of the Luke and Thomas. "You've been taking care of yourself, right?" The note of genuine concern in her tone was undeniable.
“I’ve been with the family a very long time,” Alfie offered frankly. “I worry, though Thomas would not like to know as much, and I thought we were going to come up short on the money, and I did not relish the thought of what would happen,” she explained, and she gave her granddaughter a very curious look. “Your relationship with Thomas, is it of long standing?” Alfie had no way of knowing what Thomas had been up to in Musings the past three years, and she didn’t know what Jane had been up to there either. Thomas’ papers, while thorough, tended to lack the defining relationship points that marked someone as friend, business associate or more, and Alfie only had those papers to go on. “As for the press, I’m handing the family matters for the time being, so the press come as part of that package.” She didn’t add that the press was merely a weapon, like any other weapon, but her opinion of them came through in the words.
She smiled over at Jane a moment later. “And enough worry about me. Tell me about yourself. Have you seen your companion from Thanksgiving lately? To that end, are you seeing anyone of importance? How has Ms Hockney been as of late?” She sat back against the seat. “In short, I want to hear about you.”
"I have just recently begin to work with him," she said leaning more toward the professional than the personal. Jane had entertained the thought of something a little more, but it became increasingly apparent that was just a bad idea. It was a tempting mistake, but one she avoided, even if she did tell Daryl otherwise. She'd moved onto someone a lot less complicated, and he suited her well. It wasn't what anyone would refer to as serious, but that wasn't what she was looking for at the moment. Thomas was the definition of serious about everything he did. There was the one time he'd been not himself, but that was a special case.
Despite the fact that she felt more comfortable with Alfie, she did not feel comfortable enough to sit very closely to her or touch her in any manner. There was distant okay, not so much the intimate sort of okay there. There was much to learn about this woman who sat in the back of the car with her about her customs and manner of carrying herself. She wasn't sure she would react well to being touched either. She did mildly frown at the thought of not receiving the woman properly, but this was around the time she talked about the press. "That's good to hear." And it was, because she had no idea what to do with the people outside of ignoring them.
She looked a little startled when the questioning turned to her, "Uhm..." There was something about this woman that made her get all strangely tongue-tied. She couldn't place it, but she attempted to answer the questions without sounding terse. "Things have been a little busy so I haven't been able to meet Justin for our usually sparring sessions. He's pretty darn good. He doesn't cry or whine or make excuses when I hit him. He also gets right back up after a take down. He's learning too." It was something worth respecting. "I'm not really seeing anyone." She wouldn't call what she had with Anton a relationship, and didn't think bringing up the man she was sleeping with was anywhere near appropriate. "And Daryl's being her usual Daryl self." She almost said crazy, but Daryl had a very specific brand of crazy as a high functioning sociopath. She was slowly getting better.
"You know, shopping for her is crazy. She always manages to deduce my gift before opening it, even when I've got on my best poker face." The first year it had happened, Jane had been in awe. The second she thought for sure she'd gotten it right. This year? Daryl would be utterly stumped. She was sure of it. "Toby's gonna be a lot easier to shop for. I think I'll get him one of those ridiculously oversized bones.”
Alfie was, at the heart of everything, a good servant. Despite how far she had risen and all the things she had done. And a good servant watched, and a good servant anticipated. She watched, and she could tell her granddaughter was not precisely comfortable in her presence. It surprised her, admittedly, and she did not much understand it. Perhaps she would ask one of the youngsters about it. She knew perfectly well that young people sometimes saw things others did not.
The implication that her working relationship with Thomas was a) new and b) merely a working one made her guard her tongue about anything she would have added in regards to the kidnapping. She knew, from reading the papers, that there had been an incident with Thomas and Jane at a formal affair, but one never knew whether to trust the tabloids, and if Jane did not not own to it, well, she was not going to pry. Not when the young woman was uncertain around her as it was.
The car pulled up to the shopping center, the press long lost, and Alfie waited for both of their doors to be opened to continue the conversation. She waited for Jane on the sidewalk, and then she motioned into the store, which was the kind that boasted a doorman and Christmas decorations that were edged in gold. Inside, she motioned toward the gift counter, and she asked to place a bulk order for business card holders in silver, engraved, in which she would enclose the newly ordered cards for the company and Holiday bonus.
“Toby, I take it, is a dog?” she asked, turning her full attention back to Jane. “And this young man, Justin, is he a romantic interest, or merely someone to spar with?” Alfie supposed the two did not have to be mutually exclusive, but she did wonder in this case. She left Daryl for last, quite intentionally. “I suspect your Daryl trusts my intentions very little, even less than you do,” she said kindly, a fond smile still on her lips. “I am only trying to get to know you, Jane. I did not do a very good job of that with Martha. I do not wish to force my money on you, either. It is not my goal to make you uncomfortable.”
"Toby is a dog," she said with a small laugh once they exited the car. She wasn't expecting a shopping center with a doorman, but it did help her relax to know that there weren't going to be any stray cameras up in her face. She moved along as Alfie gestured her before continuing to speak. "Justin is an acquaintance of Daryl, who is now an acquaintance of mine. He's far too young to regard as a romantic interest," she said making a face at the thought of it. "Far too quirky as well, although very observant. He reminds me of Daryl in some ways." Some ways. In others he was completely different, although they both had that really insatiable love of sweet things. She took a moment to ponder what kind of sweets she should purchase for them both.
"You know, I didn't even make a list of people I need to buy things for," she said with a frown. "And Daryl is just being protective in her own weird way. She'll take you better once she gets to know you." It was a strange thing to say, considering Daryl worked on her own logic and not Jane's, but she was sure Daryl would eventually get over it. Daryl had been her only family since arriving and she was just a little territorial, that was all.
When she started talking about her mother, Jane felt the woman wasn't as certain as she appeared about their relationship or where it would go. "I'm really sorry about that whole thing. I just...It was a lot to take in at once and I just needed some time to think about it. I can understand that you want to leave your legacy with someone of your own blood, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't accepting anything by mistake." She'd already said it in writing, but it was different when you said it aloud. "It is a lot of money too, and people would see it the wrong way. You and I would know that I'm not attempting to take advantage of you, but I don't want others making anything hard on either of us or...this," she said waving between them.
"This is something I'd like to continue." It was pretty early in their trip, but she was certain that she wanted to get to know her grandmother a little more. "Why don't you tell me something funny that you did when you were younger or maybe a favorite song or movie?" It was her roundabout way of finding out if there was something thoughtful she could buy her for Christmas. She could give her a card or something generic, but those gifts never really mattered. It was the one you personalized to show you paid attention that meant something. Jane never gifted out of obligation, which had upset quite a few people.
Alfie smiled at the thought of anyone taking advantage of her, because it was unlikely. “I can give my money to a stranger if I choose, Jane, and it would still be my choice,” she said, paying for the company gifts and providing a direction for them to be delivered to.
She walked toward the men’s clothing section, and she started looking for things she would buy regularly, as part of her standard shopping excursions. Shoes, ties, suits. She supposed she should get some things for Luke, as well, and she talked as she motioned over the attendant hovering just out of sight and provided him with measurements and ages of the men she was shopping for, rattling the numbers off the top of her head. “A favorite song or movie,” she said thoughtfully, because she couldn’t remember doing anything funny in the entirety of her life. “I enjoy classical music, generally, but I try to keep current. The same goes with movies. I find once one has lived a hundred years, it is easy to lose touch with modern things.”
She glanced over the clothes that were shown to her, just barely gauging them for age and quality appropriateness. “I am currently enamored of painting, however,” she said, because it was obvious that Jane was fishing for information. She had already purchased Jane’s gift, and so she did not ask the same kinds of questions. “Christmas is difficult, admittedly.” She looked over at her granddaughter. “I’ve asked around this question enough now, I think, so I shall be blunt - do you have anyone special to shop for?”
"It would," she agreed with Alfie. It would be her choice, but now that she felt this was her grandmother, knew rather, she felt some sort of responsibility. She felt protective whether the woman wanted it or not. It was just a setting she couldn't unprogram. It was also what family did for family in her opinion.
Following her over toward the men's clothing section, she looked around at the things it had to offer. There were a few men she could buy gifts for now that she thought about it, but she wasn't sure if they already owned all of this. Strangely enough, most of her current acquaintances lived on the high end of society. Justin, Thomas, and Anton all lived in the Aubade. Luke did too, now that she thought about it. The thought made her brows crease. What did you get for the men who had everything. Justin would be easy enough to shop for. Anton's gift would be nothing she'd buy in the presence of her grandmother. It'd be crass and ill-mannered. Thomas on the other hand.
She picked up the tidbits of information, but Alfie seemed to discredit them, which made her fight off a frown. That was until she mentioned paintings. She personally didn't know much about art, but she did know someone who did, not that she cared much for him. He did owe her a favor, however. She was going to follow the line of questioning when Alfie had asked her a rather blunt question. "You mean other than Daryl and yourself?" She felt the need to clarify. "I was thinking of getting Thomas and Luke something, but I wouldn't know where to start." She didn't know if Alfie knew of their alter egos. It put a touch of a dilemma in her choices. Everyone else was pretty much a done deal. She just had to place some orders, wrap them upon arrival and send them out, or deliver them in person. She liked doing that.
The mention of Thomas and Luke spoke of a familiarity that Jane’s previous mention hadn’t indicated. “Luke is very fond of video games,” she said helpfully. “Thomas is a bit more challenging,” she admitted. “Though I tend to find books work well with him, autobiographies and historical items.” They were both innocuous suggestions, especially from a woman who bought clothing and groceries for the men in question, and she couldn’t help but feel that there were unspoken things being said in the conversation, and she wondered if Jane knew more about the men in question than she was telling. “You are on staff as a consulting physician, I believe?” she asked casually. Honestly, she expected her granddaughter was smart enough to look at Thomas’ injuries and know he was up to something.
She paid for the items she’d approved, and she allowed Jane to lead to the next section of the store she desired to peruse. In fact, she was willing to let Jane lead wherever she wished, now that she’d finished the two things she’d intended to accomplish on the outing. Her only other goal was to know this young woman better, and she was willing to spend all day doing that, if that is what it took.
If there was a discrepancy stated, Jane obviously had missed it in her own speech. If she picked it up later, there would definitely be a facepalming at her own carelessness. "Then Luke should be easy, if he doesn't already have the game, and Thomas does come off as much of an enigma. Doesn't speak much about himself or at all really." She wasn't a particularly chatty physician, but she had pressed him for answers the first time they'd met if only because the shock of all the injuries at once assailing her. That was all stuff Daryl did not need to be privy to. In the end, Daryl had been the key to his identity all along. She was also the key to a few other things.
Robin's identity had been a surprise to her. When Alfie paid for items, she followed her out of the store and just began to wander aimlessly. There was one thing that did come to mind with Thomas. It was something Alfie had said that had tipped her off. "Yes, I am his physician and Luke's as well for the time being." It was said absently, matter-of-factly as she wandered off toward what boasted to be an antique store. She was breezing through quite a few things, not even bothering to take in their craftsmanship. She didn't see anything she was looking for here. She'd have to look somewhere else. She paused in mid-step. No...nothing in this store would do at all.
She wasn't the type to shop around shop. "Maybe I should just get Thomas a tie," she said scrunching her lips at the corner of her mouth. He'd probably never wear it. It'd end up in bottomless pit of ties he already possessed probably. "Do you like sweets..." She trailed off realizing she hadn't established what she was to call the other lady. "How should I refer to you? Alfie, grandmother, gran?"
“Your mother always called me Penelope,” she said, which was rather telling, all things considered. “You may call me whatever you like,” she added truthfully. She was more concerned with getting to know Jane than what she was called, at the end of the day. “My Marcus, your grandfather, he called me Alfie. Alfred was my maiden name, you see, though I gave it up long before I met my Marcus.”
The fact that she knew Luke needed physician made her quirk a brow thoughtfully, even as they moved from one store to the next. She would have to ask Thomas what Jane was privy to. She could find no easier way to gather the information, not without giving something away if Jane was, somehow, blissfully unaware. “Thomas is generally quite guarded, yes. I believe there were rumors about the two of you awhile back?” she asked casually, as casually as Jane had admitted to being Luke’s physician, when a teenager really did not need a regular physician, given normal circumstances.
She smiled then. “We are terrible at getting information out of one another, aren’t we?” she asked.
Jane refrained from saying anything ill about her mother. The fact that she called her mother by her first name just seemed rude. She hadn't marked her mother as the rude type, so it sounded odd. Obviously, her mother didn't like her grandmother all too well, since she didn't know she was even alive until now. She was missing a lot of obvious knowledge. "I think it would be easiest to refer to you as Alfie for now," she said hoping it didn't seem too formal. Everyone else seemed to call her that. It would also help her to get used to being less formal with the woman.
The talk of Thomas being guarded made Jane laugh genuinely. "He has problems with communication. Mostly the part where he doesn't talk, and when he does it's as little as possible, and most of the time not enough." She was sure Alfie understood what she was talking about. "Thomas and I had nothing. He was very serious and very...ill. I wasn't holding his hand so much as checking up on him," she admitted openly as they stepped into a chocolate shop. "I had seen him only a few days before and told him to rest and he was being foolish and stubborn, per usual."
She hadn't touched Alfie at all, not once and there was a reason for this. "When I took his hand, I was tracking the progress of his recovery. The press decided to have a field day, so I let them run with it. Earlier in that same week, I was seen with Mr. Morgenstern, who is now associated with my partner. I'm surprised you noticed the connection between Thomas and I." It was more like remembered it. Obviously, the last question had loosened her tongue quite a bit, but they were vaguely dancing around the secret together. She felt that was fine.
“I notice everything Thomas does,” Alfie admitted, unapologetic. “It’s my job. I wasn’t looking into you at the time, but into him. I thought the media attention was quite a good thing, if memory serves.” And memory always did. She frowned at the thought of Thomas being ill, but she’d been out of the country then, and she hadn’t even known at the time. “I am glad the family has a physician I trust as well as I do you.” And she did trust Jane, she realized, without hesitation.
“You may call me Alfie,” she assured her, and she nodded toward a store in the distance. “Now, tell me about your childhood,” she encouraged.