Who: Brett and Eris What: Hiring Where: Brett's trailer When: mid day Warnings/Rating: N/A
Eris was glad the meeting with the Sheriff was over, though she didn't imagine she'd be spending much time with the man. She didn't want things to go south, so she figured the more distance between them the better. But at least it was over.
Now, she needed to procure protection for her and hers. So, she'd asked around, and eventually gotten a name. Someone who apparently did some freelance security work. An ex-cop, apparently, though she didn't know the story. She would have to find out, but it was lower on her priority list than hiring him in the first place, so she didn't let it deter her.
In fact, maybe it would work out for the best. Who knew. She had gotten his address, and made her way to his residence, which was in the trailer park. Well, at least he won't feel too out of place in Hookerville, went through her mind as she approached the front door. She was careful as she stepped in the grass, not allowing her stilettos to sink too far into the earth. She was overdressed for this place. Then again, she was overdressed for pretty much everywhere in this town. That didn't stop her.
Reaching out, she knocked on the door, and waited, hoping the man was home.
Brett hadn’t been long home from his shift at the cemetery, enough that when he opened the door he was still dressed in the dirty grey overalls he habitually wore, a dark shirt showing underneath, covering skin that otherwise would have been exposed by the v-neck. He stopped short in the doorway, looking her up and down, his expression blank and unimpressed. He took stock of the shoes, the clothes, the makeup and hair. “You lost?” he asked. She very definitely didn’t belong here and if she was looking for directions, she’d knocked on the wrong door. Then again, he supposed, this could be the sister that Sasha had been talking about, so he wasn’t going to send her packing straight off.
One brow arched ever so slightly as she took the man in. He was taller than her, though that wasn't difficult. Eris wasn't that tall a person to begin with. He was dirty, that was for certain, and she was mildly put out that he didn't have even a twitch of appreciation for her. Usually people had some, but nope. Not even a shred.
She smiled anyway. “I'm looking for Mr. Trent,” she said. “Considering a business opportunity.” If this was the guy, he at least looked built. She'd need to see him move around a little more to really tell if he looked like he knew how to handle himself, but he had an intimidating edge about him. Or, intimidating for those who might get on his bad side.
Brett stood up a little straighter. “You Sasha’s sister?” he asked her. He figured that was probably the case. Wasn’t as though employers were generally beating a path to his door - even now he’d actually cut the grass round the trailer and laid down a thick layer of stone chippings to create a nice neat path that he planned to edge with wood before winter properly set in.
Eris shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t know any Sasha,” she said. “My name is Eris Stockard, and have a security opportunity for you. You’ll be well compensated, should you be interested. What sort of availability do you happen to have?” That would be one of the first things she’d need to incorporate. If he had a lot of free time, that would be ideal, but if not, she could arrange something a little more as needed. She’d prefer to have him on call, however, with regular hours interspersed. She didn’t hit him with the hard sell, however, just sensing that he wouldn’t appreciate being steamrolled on his own porch.
“Depends on what the job is.” Brett was naturally cautious. Sure, he needed the work, but that didn't mean he was going to be signing up to just anything.
“Generally being present, looking like you could kick the ass of anyone who gets out of line, and having the ability to back up a threat, should one need to be issued,” Eris said. “I represent the interests of certain activities and transactions of a less than above the board nature, but don’t put up with any shit. I especially don’t put up with anyone deciding to throw their weight around or opt to engage in things that their paid ‘company’ disagrees with,” she said, hoping he’d pick up what she was getting at. She hoped he did. She didn’t especially want to deal with someone too dull.
If there was one thing that Brett wasn't, it was dumb - for all that he'd played it on more than one occasion. There were only a handful of people in town who could profess to that explanation and looking at her, it shrank the field even further. “Eris Stockard,” he said, taking a breath and thinking fast. A job standing watch over hookertown. His former self would have rejected it in a moment. Would have been working toward shutting the place down. Those days were long since past though. He wasn’t a lawman anymore. He was hardly anything any more. “You want me to turn up and throw out shits who think just because they passed across some green that gives them the right to do whatever the fuck they want?” He could be down with that.
“Yes,” she said simply, glad that he already had a good handle on what she was offering here, and what his job would entail. “That's what I want. I'll pay you well,” she said. One thing that she had was money. Not enough yet to start trying to alter the place they did business, if she even could in this town, but enough. It wasn't like she was putting it into her own housing either. She wanted to be on the premises, not farther away, and she'd already decked out her vintage Airstream as much as humanly possible with the small space allotted. “Are you interested, Mr. Trent?”
“Yeah, I’m interested.” Especially if she was going to give him a decent wage. Maybe it was a fine line, but his role in things wasn’t exactly illegal. “I work days though, so my available hours will be limited. How often were you looking at needing me?”
“Our peak hours are later in the evenings through the night,” she said. “As for frequency, we get busiest Fridays and the weekends. Would you be willing to be called in in the event of an incident during the rest of the week?” she asked, knowing that it certainly wasn't outside the realm of possibility.
“I can do that,” he confirmed with a nod of his head. The idea of being called in at a moment’s notice didn’t faze him at all. It wasn’t like he had that much else going on.
“Excellent. I look forward to our working together,” she told him with a ever so slightly coy twist to her lips. She pulled a plain envelope out of her purse, and held it out to him. “A bonus, to start out with.” Eris did things a certain way. Her way was to take zero shit from anyone, but take very good care of the people closest to her. Her motivations for that had altered from the way things had been back in New York, but she largely still did things the same way.
Brett took the envelope and weighed it for a moment, enough to know that there was a wad of cash in there. Then he simply tucked it into his back pocket, not taking his eyes off her for a moment, or giving any other indicator of emotion one way or another. He turned away from the door for a moment, long enough to scrawl down his cell number on a scrap of paper, which he handed to her. “Let me know when you need me on shift,” he said, voice gruff.
She took his number, and nodded, putting it into her phone immediately, so she didn’t have a chance to forget about it. “I will. Thank you, and see you soon,” she said. She turned to leave, pausing for just a heartbeat as she wondered where the car was, before she remembered that she didn’t have one. She was no longer permitted to drive, in her condition. So, she walked. Thank goodness this was a small town, and nothing was very far.