WHO: Rowan and Audrey WHAT: Meetings and matchmakings WHERE: District Attorney’s office WHEN: Yesterday evening WARNINGS: Other than Ro’s gratuitous use of exclamation points, none.
Rowan sighed as she took a quick, wistful look out her window. The sun had already set and while the city lights at night were beautiful, she couldn’t exactly enjoy it. She had had a long day of work and the night wasn’t looking any different. The last secretary was long gone, sent home after Rowan reassured her that she could handle this part of the filing by herself. She only had one more package to assemble and that was that.
She had called the courier service earlier to pick up a package of papers from one of the firms across town. When they came back to Rowan, she would add it to her own set, make a few more copies, and send the newly assembled set of documents to another firm. She didn’t need anyone to stay for that. She could handle it. It was easy.
It was also time-consuming, but that was to be expected. Since everyone else had left and her portion of the work was done, Rowan didn’t mind letting the internet radio play through computer and she sifted through a gossip magazine. She looked up at the door when she heard the knock. “Come in,” she said quickly, rising from her seat and smoothing down the skirt of her grey suit in a quick motion.
Audrey delivered things to places after hours all the time. It was one of the things people used courier services for. When everything else was closed, they stayed open all night and had relationships with bodega owners and wine sellers and offbeat restaurants and bookstores and cop centers, and they could get those people to open up for a fee they passed on to their clients. It wasn’t that late just yet, but the night was just getting started. Normal deliveries were sort of reassuring. No Cristal to the guy in Aubade or box of extra large condoms and a tub of strawberry cream cheese to that executive across town, just a very normal bundle of papers to the District Attorney’s office.
They were expecting Audrey at the front and let her into the elevator. She still had her skates on, and gliding across the smooth floor of the lobby was a small, precarious delight. There was no one in the elevator, and no one on the floor of the office when she reached it. She found herself relieved to hear a female voice when she knocked on the door, and she glided through with her package, decked out in her usual blue hair, roller skates, and leather jacket. “R. Morgenstern?” she asked, rolling to a stop by her desk. “I don’t think I need to ask if this is for you, there’s nobody else here.”
Rowan’s answer smile was bright, no hint of weariness or impatience that someone else might have given at this hour. “Yeah, I’m the lucky one.” Half joking, half serious, Rowan walked over to her, the sound of her high heels echoing off the floor of the empty office. Now that she was closer, she could properly admire her outfit and she couldn’t help but remark on it, hands coming up to her cheeks as they often did when confronted with something or someone to coo over. “Oh my gosh, I love your hair. I’ve always wanted to dye my hair a fun color. I did pink ends once in college but that’s about as adventurous as I can be. I don’t think I could ever be able to pull it off as well as you do.”
Audrey was used to only the occasional positive response to her sundry bizarre hair colors, and she smiled, slowly, looking a little surprised. “Thanks.” She found herself wondering what exactly this woman did here. She thought lawyers were supposed to be serious about everything, not the sort to clap their hands on their cheeks and compliment your hair. “I’m lucky that I’ve got the right complexion for it.” Deadpan with a smirk, per usual. She glanced around. “You get left behind to do everyone else’s dirty work?” Most clients at offices at this hour were curt to the point of being rude, but this woman was so far in the opposite direction she didn’t really know what to make of her. It was a nice change.
“More like my dirty work,” Rowan laughed as she began to thumb through the set of papers delivered. “I mean, I could’ve had one of the paralegals handle it, and I definitely am a little bummed because there’s some great shows on TV tonight. But I like to do the final run through myself. Call me crazy, but if something’s going out with my name on it, I want to check it personally. It’s me that’s going to have to vouch for it in front of the court, right?” She flashed her blue haired acquaintance grin, preemptively expecting a complete agreement on her work ethic outlook. Then she tilted her head back to the other side of the office, where the copier stood beside the breakroom. “Do you want something to drink? We’ve got some bottled water and sodas in the fridge. This’ll take me a few minutes to revise and copy so you might as well take the load off.”
Audrey’s smile, still a touch surprised by how friendly Rowan was, stayed in place. “Sounds about right,” she said. “I can see it from your perspective. I don’t think I’ve ever had to do something that was that serious, but I’d probably double check it.”
The offer of a drink made her pause a moment, but it was hard to see what it could hurt. She had to run the thing back anyway, and any rest on company time was a good rest. “Alright,” she said, pushing off and gliding across the carpet toward the break room. No point in taking them off if she was going to go straight back out.
Rowan was going over every line of the document when she heard the sound of the wheels on the carpet. “Cute,” she quipped honestly. As much as she adored shoes, adored heels, there was something eccentrically charming about the roller skates. As they approached the break room she gestured over for the girl to take a seat and help herself. She moved rifled through her papers quickly, grabbing another stack that was waiting for her at the copier and sticking it behind the set that was delivered just moments ago.
“Soooo tell me all about you.” The request was a practiced one, but the only insincerity was the idea that anyone could ever tell all about themselves. Other than that, Rowan did genuinely wanted to know more about her. She could easily read and carry on a conversation. Really she was simply checking to make sure no last minute revisions were made so it wasn’t hard. “Do you live around here…” She trailed off at the end of her sentence as she looked up from her papers, realizing what a terrible faux pas she made. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I forgot to ask your name. I’m Rowan.”
Audrey came back around the corner with a coke in hand, leaning in the doorway while she cracked it open. “Audrey,” she said.
It was weird. Audrey didn’t usually warm up to people quickly, instead projecting as hard an outer surface as she could, determined not to be sucked in by whatever game they were running. But Rowan was just...nice. “Yeah, I live pretty close,” she said. “Bathos building.” She shrugged. “There isn’t really that much to tell,” she said, looking at the top of the can of coke like it would lay out what to say next. “I’m a courier. I just moved to the city about a month and a half ago, and I might be going back to school soon. Nothing super exciting.”
“Oh I just moved there!” Rowan was still intently listening, nodding every new tidbit. Her crosscheck with her papers was going swimmingly, no revisions at all, and she was signing her name on the last page. “Well it must be exciting for you? New place, and then back to school. And plus you have a job that takes you to different places, meeting new different people. That’s more than a lot of other people can say.” She backed up a few paces and set the documents into the copier feeder, letting it run before spinning around to look back at Audrey. “Do you live there alone? Any boyfriend?” She made her tone had just the right amount of curiosity behind it. Why no, she had nothing in mind at all.
"Really?" Audrey asked. Well, that positively identified her as a Creation, then. "Small world." At her assessment of the many delights of her job, she couldn't help but laugh a little. "I guess so, yeah. Not everybody is as friendly as you, but you meet some good people every once in a while." Her tone said that Rowan was one of those people she approved of. "Boyfriend? No," she said, shaking her head, expression going a little wry and a little dark without her consent. "Not for a couple months."
Rowan’s face practically lit up, both at the approval – she did love making new friends – and that her new friend was single. She saw a quick flash of something but it was little, as far as she could tell. It was a gamble to take, risking her new acquaintance, but she was willing to press her luck just a smidge. She wasn’t the type of girl that Orrie usually went for, but that was part of how perfect this would be! He always went for the absolute worst ones. Audrey here would be like a breath of fresh air. “I only ask because I know someone who’s single and who I think you’d be absolutely perfect for.” The unspoken question was obvious despite her efforts to keep it casual.
Well, that was sudden. She'd only known this woman for a few minutes after all, and she was already trying to set her up on a date? How desperate was she to offload this guy on someone? Then again...it wasn't like her love life had been going real well for her since she'd come to Humanity. She'd been staying away from anyone like the people she used to date purposefully, and trying to refrain from dating at all until she was completely over the ex she'd run from. But maybe seeing someone new, even for just one date, would help to get over that hump. And the whole unfortunate crush on her sister's not-boyfriend. "What's he like?"
“He’s my cousin,” Rowan started off with the most important part. She was temporarily calling a stalemate on this whole Daryl and Adam issue but that didn’t mean anything when it came to Orrie. Between the two of them, he was the one who needed dating help more. “Smart, funny, athletic, generous. Owns his own company, though admittedly he could stand to work harder.” She laughed softly at her understatement. She wasn’t about to bring up how big of a company Orrie had, not yet anyway. Audrey didn’t strike her as a gold digger but that kind of wealth was kind of intimidating. “Really, he’s family, and I love him to pieces. I wouldn’t be looking for someone for him if I didn’t think she was could be good for him.”
Audrey slipped her hands into her pockets. “Sounds too good to be true,” she said, honestly. “...look, you’re in Bathos? Have him contact me on the boards. My name’s A. Main on there. I’ll talk to him at least, and if he doesn’t seem too put off by me maybe we can go on a date or something.” She didn’t want to make Rowan any guarantees, since she’d only just met her and this guy could turn out to be a total creep, but it couldn’t hurt to talk to him.
“Perfect!” She barely could contain her excitement. It wasn’t much of a promise but it was a start, and that’s all anyone really needed. As if on cue, the sound of the copy machine behind her and gone quiet and she spun around to check and make sure the right amount of sets were made. When she turned to Audrey again, she was slipping the documents into the envelope, the package ready for the next leg of their journey. “I’ll pass him your name and hopefully he’ll be in touch. And even if it doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll see you around the building? Once I start leaving this place at a decent hour, that is.” She gave a sheepish little grin as she handed the envelope back to Audrey.
Audrey took the envelope with a smile. "Alright, sounds good. Try not to work yourself down to the bone, or your poor friend will end up single forever." She tucked the envelope under her arm. "I'm sure I'll see you around," she said, and made it a promise. She skated out into the hallway toward the elevators, wondering who Rowan's mysterious friend could possibly be.