Torrie Reed (hardbitten) wrote in remains_rpg, @ 2017-03-22 13:50:00 |
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“February is fucking weird,” Torrie announced, comfortably ensconced in a chair. Weird was an understatement, complicated was a better term. Between Marc, and the scout thing, Torrie had had a lot on her mind the last couple days. Add to that the paperwork she’d been trying to sift through, and the hoops she’d been jumping through, for her music venue, and she wondered where it had all gone off the rails. Had she been too ambitious? She didn’t think so, but it was hard to have an unbiased opinion of yourself. “Every time I think I’ve reached the end of the government’s paperwork requirements they find one more thing that needs my signature.” She made a face, and shrugged. Mina had been part of the process of setting the venue goals in motion, so Torrie didn’t feel like it was whining to vent some of her frustration at how slowly the wheels seemed to turn. “Oh the joys of bureaucracy,” Mina said with a bit of a roll to her eyes. “I suppose things have always been like that at the hospital, since it maintained most of its functionality even when we thought we were on our own. But gone are the days of picking a building and claiming it as your own.” Of course there were perks to the government being back in their lives, but Mina could understand Torrie’s frustration. “Just think, though. Once you finally get to open all the hard work will make it that much more satisfying,” Mina added, giving an encouraging smile. Smothering a laugh, Torrie nodded. “Hell yeah,” she agreed. “It will probably even make up for the fact that I’ll have payments to make.” Easily the most nerve wracking since a music teacher's salary was pretty slim to begin with. But she had worked out a plan, with some help, so at least she hoped the whole thing wouldn’t go under in less than six months. “At least only one jackass decided to show all his damn prejudice so far.” Torrie scowled for a millisecond. “Apparently word got out farther than I thought about Solomon Reed’s fucking Ghoul sister.” She rolled her eyes. “It was fine though, his bid for flooring came in too high anyways, I wasn’t going to hire him.” “Well that was his loss,” Mina replied with a frown. How could someone like Torrie trying to build a successful business be treated so poorly when the president of the criminal organization that had tortured the city for years had a seat at the city council? Addiction was a disease, whereas breaking the law was just… wrong. Pulling herself out of that train of thought, she looked back to Torrie and said, “But this place is looking great. Anything else to finish besides the paperwork?” “Backstage is still a mess,” Torrie explained. “But most musicians can live with that, so if I have everything else squared away by opening in March we’ll be fucking golden.” She smiled, rare and wide and without any of the cynicism it usually carried at the fringe. “By April I’ll expect to be able to put your name in for a performance,” she teased, her smile edging towards a smirk. “Maybe I’ll set up a recital for my students. But I should think about filling the regular slots first. I’ve been waiting until it was closer to a sure thing to try and advertise for talent.” And she had always disliked sitting through the acts that thought they were hot shit. Mina shook her head vigorously, laughing as she did. “No way. No one is going to want to show up and listen to me play twinkle twinkle little star. I’ll leave the performances for someone with actual musical talent,” she said, before quickly saying, “Not that I don’t think your lessons aren’t working. I’m just not at that level yet.” “If you say so,” Torrie replied. Her shoulders shook with a silent laugh; she hadn’t been offended, and wouldn’t have believed that Mina was insinuating that she was a shit teacher. “Some people will listen to the shittiest music if the person playing it is hot. You could be fucking tone deaf and I think you’d probably still have the creeps show up.” She made a face, not endorsing the idea. “You’re not tone deaf, though, in case you were wondering.” Torrie smiled and relaxed into her chair. “Actually, I should probably figure out a way to keep those creeps out of my venue. I don’t need any harassment suits.” One more thing to add to the list. “Do you think your dad would have any suggestions?” she asked jokingly. Mina’s head tilted slightly in confusion, trying to decide whether Torrie was commenting on her attractiveness, but rather than go down that potentially inappropriate train of thought, she said, “I could ask him if there are any security agencies but I know that The Bar has a bouncer. Perhaps you could ask them how they hired for that position. If anything, your need for security could expose an untapped market here in Austin.” “Agencies are more expensive,” Torrie reasoned. She hadn’t been in on budgeting with the venue she’d worked with in Denver, but she knew that it had made more sense for them to hire a bouncer than contract out. “Not like I have much of a budget to work with to begin with.” So far she had already worked out that most (if not all) her acts would need to play for free, at least in the beginning. “I’ll ask the owners at The Bar how they found their guy.” Shifting in her chair, she shrugged and added, “I guess worse comes to worse, maybe a couple of cops would want to help out off duty.” Venue talk (and fuck, she still needed to find a name for it), was exhausting, even though she enjoyed it. “If I can make any introductions for people I know on the police force, let me know,” Mina said with a smile. One way or another, she had faith that all the pieces would come together. “How long are you going to keep the pink hair?” Torrie asked, since she’d been wondering about it for almost a month. Looking down at the ends of her hair, taking in the slightly faded tips for a moment, Mina looked back up to Torrie shyly. “I don’t know. I was worried at first but it’s been growing on me. Why? Do you think it looks bad?” “Fuck no,” Torrie replied vehemently. “I think it looks badass. Breaks up the button downs and sweaters,” she teased. “It’s not like other people get a say anyway. If you like it then fuck everyone else, it’s your hair.” She straightened. “Most people are just trying to project their own shit onto someone else anyway, so.” Torrie shrugged. “It’s not really about doing things because other people like it.” For a minute Torrie felt like she was trying to be the counselor instead of Mina, but maybe it was something the both of them needed to hear. Mina listened thoughtfully, finding some validity in Torrie’s words. While she had to ensure that she presented herself in a way that made clients trust her, Mina liked to think that her actions could speak for themselves and a little pink hair couldn’t detract from that. “I don’t think the term ‘badass’ has ever been used to describe me before. I think I could get used to it if it comes with the hair,” Mina said with a small laugh. “We’ve gotten a bit sidetracked though, so why don’t you finish giving me the tour,” she added with a smile, gesturing for Torrie to lead the way. |