Who: Jim and Penny What: First meetings Where: The Magic Store When: October 14th, Afternoon Warnings: Not a one!
He should have realized today wasn’t going to be a good day. It had started out like most days in Seattle - with rain. Jim had decided to take a chance before dashing to the theater, leaving him without an umbrella, rain coat, or even boots. By the time he got to the Magic Store he was soaked to his underwear and shivering. He waved off all attempts to dry himself - he didn’t want to get set on fire today - instead grabbing a towel from the Rio De Janiero act before getting to business.
There was a leak in the ticket office wrecking the supply of raffle tickets which they...usually used for regular tickets. Drying that without a fire proved to be an impossibility as the rain continued to pour. No five minute rainstorm, just a hurricane that came far too North to exist. Mo decided the way to fix this was get out the water act supplies involving attempts for water skiing with vacuum cleaners with more hydroplaning then anything. Skis and carpets didn’t go together, just like flour and water and leotards didn’t.
The combination of the latter couldn’t even be considered now.
By the time two hours to show start came along, Jim was soaking wet, covered in dried, cakey matter, and biting back the urge to go berserk. He’d called a ten minute break, heading to the audience. First row got a plastic sheet put on it and he sat down. “Play something cheery, please?” he called up to a coworker at the piano. Apparently that was misunderstood
Penny had heard about the Magic Store and she had strictly forbade herself from visiting it. Strictly. Forbade. It was forbidden. She was turning over a new leaf, she was going to be a new person who was content in finding herself. Thought it seemed this afternoon she was going to be a new person who was content in finding herself in the Magic Store. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for exactly, but for some reason the rundown theater and the mess it was currently wasn’t it.
She was wearing a pink rain coat, a pink rain hat, pink polka dotted rainboots, and she had a pink umbrella as she entered the place. She almost took the rain gear off but given the state of the theater she thought better of it. Penny was a huge personality in a very small body and she made her way directly to the front even while the not so cheerful song played and she had a big smile on her face, “Are you joking? The man asked for something cheerful, given the circumstances I’m guessing he is in some serious need of Gene Kelly,” she poked Jim lightly in the shoulder from where she stood behind him, “You can use my umbrella.”
Even if the music hadn’t been what he’d requested, Jim had focused on the front of the theater rather then anyone who came in. He’d asked for ten minutes of quiet - ten minutes to calm down - and if anyone was going to interrupt that, he was going to blow up at them. As it was, Jim was biting his lip down, humming under his breath in a strange attempt to think sanely. It wasn’t working much.
The explosion of pink caught the corner of his eye and a moment later he’d pushed himself up from where he was curled up, caked in flour in his seat. Eyebrows furrowed as he tried to place where she looked familiar from. It wasn’t until she opened her mouth he pieced it together. Oh. Wow. A big name star in his theater?
Who hadn’t even been bribed to come in?
Jim rubbed his eyes, hoping he wasn’t dreaming. If this was a dream, he’d like to wake up before someone through a bucket of electric eels at him. No waking up - just the switch to Kelly as requested. Jim ignored all warning bells for the moment, including those involving the last bossy type he’d run into (a clown in terrifying make-up) to the last bossy type he’d known er, intimately and merely smiled sheepishly up at her. Any rumors he’d had heard about Miss Penny were ignored. Something was going right for now.
“I wouldn’t want to take anything from a lady,” he said, awkward as ever. He pushed himself up from his seat exchanging a flour-encrusted hand before thinking better. He wiped it on the plastic before stretching it out. “Jim Whitmire, Manager of the Magic Store. What can I do for you?” She was pleased with the change in music and her bright smile showed that much. She closed the umbrella and when he stretched his hand out she handed it to him, “Take it!” she assured him. “It’s nice to meet you Jimmy, my name is Penny Lane Markowicz and I’d like to talk to you about a job!” Oh really? A job. She was apparently here for a job that she was strictly forbidden from seeking out. Well done, Penny. “I don’t know if you’ve heard of me, but I do have an extensive resume I’m happy to share with you. More than that I think I can help you with your little...” she looked around as her brow furrowed. “Water problem.” He took the umbrella with a slightly skeptical look - but he knew better then to contradict it. He placed it on the ground where it was admittedly too low to pulla Mary Poppins. Oh well. No cane for Jim. At she went on though, Jim’s jaw dropped.
No. No way. No how. His luck didn’t turn around that fast. (Clearly Jim wasn’t remembering the rumors he’d heard that Penny Markowicz was a bitch to work with. He’d heard she was a sweetheart too.) “Really?” he managed. His eyebrows went up to his forehead. “I mean, that’s great. I have heard of you - you were Sandy in Grease, in that revival with John Kaye. I got the soundtrack-” And a friend borrowed it and he never got it back. Jim knew not to mention that though.
Jim glanced around before gesturing - with the pink umbrella - towards the exit. Fortunately this one led to the theater rather then the alley outside. “Should we talk in my office?” Please, please, please, say yes.
She watched him carefully, oh he had heard of her. Even better. “Yes really, don’t be silly,” she said waving her hand at him. “I think this place could use a little,” she looked around. “Well we can talk about that later, but I would love to work for you. Get some butts in the seats and keep them there?” she offered happily. “I was Sandy in Grease, and I’ve got Les Mis under my belt, Cats but no one wants to really talk about that, well we can talk about it if you like I assure you it was all big one misunderstanding,” she’d lasted three months in Cats. Rumors had flown about her inability to get along with her co-star but it was his fault, he was a bigger diva than she was.
“Lead the way, Jimmy,” she said the smile never leaving her face.
The Magic Store could last a few little ‘...’ and Jim could only offer a sheepish nod. He began to lead the way to his office, leaving white footprints behind him as he wove through things. “Duck for fish boomerangs,” he advised, before making a left. “But yeah, that’d be amazing. We’re just a...well, we don’t seem to have a consistent crowd-” Aside from hecklers. Jim glanced back at the mention of the other shows, nodding. Cats rang a bell - dang, he knew he’d tried out and hadn’t even made it to call backs but...then again it was Cats. Oh well.
He finally got to the office, holding the door open for her. “Take a seat!” He hadn’t checked if it was booby trapped yet today but, hopefully the seat wouldn’t have a whoopie cushion underneath. “So ah - how long have you been on the Humanity side?”
He said duck and she did just that whether there was something flying or not, granted she was...Very short so the idea that something might actually hit her, or that she could get lower to the ground was laughable. “No consistent crowd is a problem. You know that once I gave a three month engagement in Las Vegas and there were people who came back over and over again?” She smiled innocently, “Just to see little old moi! Consistency in an audience is key, Jimmy,” she said as they entered the office.
She took off her rain coat and her rain hat and went to sit down on the chair. As luck would have it she jumped right back up at the noise of the whoopie cushion that was, in fact, on the chair and she let out a sharp shriek at the shock of it. “I see they rolled out the red carpet for me.” Jim managed to bite back a laugh as Penny ducked. It was good she took it literally as frankly, most things around here were. “Really?” Jim asked, completely in awe. His luck was flying through the roof. He was half-tempted to start singing Guys and Dolls. Instead he managed to just hum, luck be a lady tonight- “We could use that. Definitely.”
He’d stepped forward to take her rain coat - even if he got it covered in flour, he had a coat rack in a corner of his messy closet. Unless someone took it for a jousting match on vacuums. At the large, unmistakable sound he winced. Her shriek wasn’t that welcome as well. “Erm, I’m sure it wasn’t you in general. They probably expected me to switch chairs-” He attempted to not facepalm, smiling tightly.
She immediately recognized what he was humming and was hard pressed not to just start belting it out. She’d save that for later. “Yes really, I’d be happy to help you as much as I can, but I’d have to be guaranteed some kind of steady work. I need to be back on a stage and if this is where I’m going to do it then this is where I’m going to do it. And if takes fixing a leak or a flood as the case seems to be, then I’m willing to invest. Do you want me to invest?”
She was doing pretty well so far, she could handle a whoopie cushion, after all she was the one looking for a job. She continued smiling, it was a wonder her cheeks never started to hurt. “I grew up with six brothers and sisters, this ain’t my first rodeo, Jimmy.” She said batting her eyelashes a bit as she did eventually take a seat half expecting to be shocked.
Jim was simply put floored. Biting back another ‘REALLY?’, he managed to nod dumbly. “Trust me, we always have room for another act.” Accidents took people out of the way and some moved onto green pastures. Jim was one of the few steady people at the Magic Store, along with Ben and Peter. JP if you counted her marketing. “As for investing...we recently had a large donation.” An understatement. “But we could always use help.”
He crossed his arms and thought as much. Most people would have quit by now. It was a sign of being able to take the insanity. Her quirk - what made everyone fit in the Magic Store for being off - had to be wondered at though. Jim decided to not overthink it. He couldn’t afford to. “Oh yeah? I’m one of six. I think that was less of a circus at times.” The seat remained normal and Jim heaved a sigh of relief.
“What kind of act are you looking for? I can sing, dance, tell jokes, do karate, ride a unicycle but I draw the line at juggling, someone always gets hurt and they suggested I was missing the point,” she said refusing to elaborate on how the objects she was juggling usually ended up lobbed at someone’s head.
“Is a donation how this works then? Do I make the check out to you?” the problem wasn’t so much that she didn’t know how things like this worked, she was used to other people handling things like her financial affairs, her public appearances and the jobs she took. Her first time out in the real world without an entourage and she was out to prove that she was doing just fine.
“Well look at that, we have something in common, Jimmy,. I think we’ll get along just fine!” she said taking a moment to give him the once over. A real once over.
Someone who knew how showbusiness worked then. “Jack - Jackie of all trades?” Jim laughed. A hand went to his hair, fingers combing through. “We’re covered on the juggling front, actually but...I try to encourage people to do what they like best.” Jim smiled, honest. “What’s your homeground?”
Donations they’d recieved in the past were close to non-existent. “Me and the Magic Store. Unfortunately Mr. Henson’s been abroad and I haven’t been able to get a hold of him. I tend to take care of all financial matters here.” He shrugged, clearly used to it.
Jim missed the look and had no reason to think otherwise. With a ready grin, he said, “I’m looking forward to it. It’s nice to see someone new -” And sane. “Around here.”
She clapped her hands “Oh! Jackie, like Jackie O!” she said with an almost dreamy look in her eyes. “Well,” she looked almost sheepish, almost, “I’m used to people giving me material and going with it, but if you need to see an act I can come up with an act!” she was sure of it. She hoped.
“Well I’ll get you that check today then, how much do you want? What do you need? Do you have a list of things you need? How do things usually work around here, Jimmy? I want to make sure I’ve got my bearings maybe I should come by for your show tonight and you can take me out for a milkshake after,” she said the look on her face changing just the slightest bit. “And we can talk business.”
Jim laughed. “Sort of?” He thought her constant smiles were a good thing in that moment. Jim was a firm believer in smiling and being happy, as long as you weren’t a clown with a permanent one. “Go for it though,” he said, encouragingly. “I’d rather you do something you’re comfortable with and prefer. Makes performances more genuine, you know?” Hopefully. If not, well...he’d teach her.
And his brain promptly went out the window. How much? Well he’d like a few billion, get the theater into shape, take some sort of commission and head right out to New York City. But Jim knew better then that. Crises in the theater were unending. “Uh, whatever you’re comfortable with?” He said awkwardly. He scratched the back of his head again. “Show’s are at seven, but you should come by around four. Three if you want to do a rehearsal...we tend to just make it up as we go along, while attempting to keep things at the two hour mark. Six days a week, though you don’t have to perform that often.” It was exhausting after all. “If you’d like to watch a show, don’t worry about tickets. I know we’re only half-full tonight.”
...Milkshake? Jim blinked. Then he blinked again. He did look over (however little) there was of Penny and attempted to make sure he heard that right. He wasn’t exactly surprised as much as...alright, he was surprised that this ended up that way. Still. A milkshake. No big deal, right? Besides, she was doing things for the theater...and no big deal. At all. “There’s a diner not too far from here,” he admitted. “If nothing disastrous happens-” Which it most certainly would- “I get off at ten.”
She was almost excited, she would come up with such an act. She could certainly do this, she was very talented, there was nothing she couldn’t do! Except juggle. “I think genuine-ity is the most important quality a person can have,” she said not really noticing that she’d just made up a word. She did that a lot.
She furrowed her brow and twisted her mouth just a bit. She didn’t know how much she was comfortable with, she didn’t know how much was acceptable, “Well, start with the basics! Get some things done, some things that you need, and just...Send me the bill,” because this was a smart business decision for someone she’d never met and a show she’d never seen.
“Half full?!” she said aghast, “Why don’t we try and get all the way full?” she asked. “Is it the rain? Aren’t these people here used to it?! We need to get them out of their houses and into your house here!” Bodies she could do, she could definitely come up with some bodies. Even living breathing ones!
“I’ll come by, watch the show, bring some people with me and then you and I can go grab that milkshake,” she batted her eyelashes again, “Sound good Jimmy? Great,” she said giving him a thumbs up. “So,” she stood up and went to grab for her raincoat, “You’ll start sending me the bill, I’ll start singing in your show, you’ll take me out for a milkshake, not in that order, the milkshake is still on for tonight,” she finished buttoning up the coat and put the hat folding the brim back just a bit, “It was nice meeting you, Jimmy! Wear something cheerful and perky!” she said and blew him a kiss as she walked, no she practically skipped, out of the door. This was going along swimmingly. Granted she got hit with a fish and she squealed again, “I’m walkin’ here!” she said but the sing song wasn’t quite out of her voice. Jim was too excited to notice making up the word - frankly, she could make up as many as she liked and he’d be alright with it. “I agree.” And he did. He wasn’t just saying that.
Her offer really didn’t help much in this regard. He needed to find a friend who was good with money and ask. Brigs maybe. He didn’t trust anyone else with such matters exactly. This was how they ended up with pool tables downstairs. “I’ll do that. We can figure it out later?” As for filling the audience, Jim was back to blinking. “Well, it’s more of a...you should see a show and see thing. It’s a bit of an acquired taste?” Great, he sounded like he was marking down the theater. Which he was. He just didn’t like it.
At the plan and exuberance, Jim nodded along. “Works for me!” Even the milkshake. On further thought, he was just overthinking it. No need to worry. Milkshake and business - you couldn’t go wrong with that. “Nice meeting you as-” And he didn’t finish the sentence as she blew a kiss at him. His senses recovered enough to wave as she let herself out, not laugh as she got hit by a flying fish, and only step forward to shut the door. His hand rested there, thinking for a long moment - mouth twisting downward.
Alright, maybe something was fishy here outside of the usual.