advice and help

Who: Marian and Alec
Where: Ravenwood Steel
When: early evening

Marian's conversation with Ramona had left her thinking while she showered and cleaned off the grime from working too hard. She wished she wasn't suffering, needing more from her job. After getting cleaned up she stood in her room for a little while, considering a nap before she had to work tonight, but she got distracted by the typewriter, pushing a few of the keys down slowly before her eyes drifted to Alec's card which was on her desk next to the typewriter.

Making a snap decision she went back to her closet, pulling out one of the nicer dresses Zhen had given her and slipped it on, brushing at her hair best that she could. She borrowed a bit of her roommate's makeup, dabbing a little under her eyes to blot out some of the dark circles and then she left, pulling her coat around her as she headed towards Alec's office.

She was a little worried he'd already gone home given the hour, but she'd been pointed in the right direction of his office, stopping outside at his secretary's desk, standing nervously while she waited to be addressed. She wasn't sure how protocol was, or if he'd see her here, but she figured it was at least worth a shot.

The woman at the desk, an older woman, held up a finger to Marian as she spoke into the shiny black telephone, talking about 'the new boy' and 'please keep her informed'. She wasn't old-old. There was a little gray at her temples and her glasses were thicker but she was neat and pressed with her curly black hair pinned up fashionable. She hung up the phone after jotting something down and smiled warmly at Marian. "Evening dear, may I help you?"

Marian wasn't the type to speak out of turn, waiting patiently while the woman spoke into the phone. When she turned her attention to Marian, the girl gave her best happy waitress smile. "Is Mr. Ravenwood in?" she asked politely before biting her lip a little. "I don't have an appointment." Was she supposed to make one? Maybe she should have called first.

The woman chuckled and shook her head. "No, you've come late enough that he's fine. I don't schedule him anyone after five in hopes that one day," she gave his closed door an exasperated look. "He'll take the hint and go home and rest." She looked back at Marian, studying her over the rim of her chic black glasses. "By the way, he really did mean to send you flowers the other night, but he didn't tell me until an hour ago." She gave her a conspirital smile. "I'm usually much better on things like that, but I was hoping he'd remember to bring you flowers to your date."

"He doesn't usually go home until he gets hungry," Marian said without thinking, bringing a hand up as if to cover her mouth. The next comment though had her eyes going wide as she glanced towards the closed office door. "Flowers?" she asked first as if she didn't understand. "Oh, no it wasn't a date, I don't...that wasn't me." She shook her head a little. If Alec was buying flowers for a date it certainly wasn't anything to do with her, must have been someone else.

Nancy smiled knowingly and shook her head. "I tracked you down. You work so much it wasn't hard. I wanted to know who was putting a smile on his face after his bad days. The gallery opening was the only time he's ever left with work to do. I have to drag him kicking and screaming a lot of the time. But unless your name really isn't Marian, then I don't know what Marian at Nighthawk's he mentions. What's you're favorite flower, sweetie?"

Marian's head was spinning just a touch. She was being talked to as if she was someone Alec was interested in, more than just their timid friendship. He'd mentioned her? Enough that his secretary had gone out of her way to find out who she was? "No, I'm Marian," she said softly, pushing the wave of emotions away. She'd deal with it later. "And I don't...I don't have a favorite flower."

Nancy waved a hand at Marian and tutted. "Look at me, getting you worked up. There's nothing to worry about. Just an old woman wanting to see that boy happy. I'm sorry." She waved her hands a bit and looked apologetic. "So sorry."

Marian shook her head as if it wasn't a big deal. "Oh no, it's fine. I'm alright. I was just hoping to talk to him for a minute?" she asked, smile in place again as if nothing was wrong.

Nodding, Nancy reached for her phone again and pressed one of the buttons. "Mr. Ravenwood, there's someone here to see you."

While all that had been going on in the front office, Alec had been laying on his couch with his shirtsleeves rolled up going through paperwork. More precisely, he had been going through paperwork but had fallen asleep. The loud sound of the buzzer and Nancy's voice had him bolting awake and he ended up trying to get to his feet but had gotten tangled up and fell off the couch, sending papers everywhere.

The thud could be heard in the front office and Nancy continued to smile and hung up the phone. "He's ready to see you. Just go on in."

Marian watched the older woman closely for a moment before moving around her desk and heading to the door. Still a little wary she opened it just a little leaning in. "Alec?" she said softly looking at his desk but not finding him there. Curious she stepped in a little more looking around the nice office before she spotted him on the floor next to the couch. "Oh! Are you okay?"

Alec looked up with wide eyes, pausing in the middle of picking up his papers. "Uh, yeah! Yeah! I, uh..." Then it really, truly registered that Marian was standing in his office and he cleared his throat. He hadn't been this uncoordinated since he was a teenager. "Hi," he tried again, calmer this time and with a ghost of a smile. "How have you been?" He hadn't seen her in a few days, not since that gallery opening where they'd stayed up half the night in the alley behind her work sharing pie and not saying anything. He'd missed it and he'd been thinking of her, which is why he still wasn't finished with his work that day. His thoughts kept straying to her and with her being there, perhaps it was a good thing he hadn't gone to the restaurant because he would've missed her.

"Hi," Marian greeted sweetly, smiling at him. She closed the door behind her, moving towards him, to help pick up the papers that were scattered about. "I've been good," she lied as she picked up a few. "Busy with work." She was headed back in tonight, but Ramona's comments had her thinking too much to go to sleep to prep for another long night at work. "You?" she asked, as she handed him the last of the papers.

"Thanks," he said gratefully and put them on the little coffee table and got up, extending a hand to assist her. "Busy myself. My mind has been everywhere and we've got a few new employees that have defected from the Drake Hotel so I've been going through all of that. Making sure they're being taken care of."

Marian hesitated for a moment before she took his hand, but once she was standing she pulled away. She paired it with a smile though, hoping that would make it better. "If you're too busy I can come back later. It's not terribly important.." Even though it somewhat was, to her at least.

Alec smiled back and gestured to the couch. "No, I'm good. Do you want anything to drink? I could definitely focus on something else." The smile he gave her was a genuinely pleased one that she'd come to see him, especially after she'd been so nervous in the past.

After straightening her dress a little, Marian sat daintily at the edge of the couch. "Sure, something to drink would be nice," she said politely. "I had a question for you."

"I have water and Coke," he said, pulling open the door to the little icebox he had under his desk. "What is it?"

"Water's fine," Marian said as she watched the little icebox curiously. It was like Ramona's compartment in her car. "I was wondering...what I'd need to have a better job. Than the diner."

Alec grabbed a bottle of water and popped off the cap before bringing it over to her. "You want to get out of Nighthawk's now?" he asked curiously. It was about time. If they weren't going to promote her, they were going to work her to death. Upon closer inspection, he could see the make up she dabbed around her eyes. He thought she looked lovely, even when she had circles under her eyes.

"Well...no. I mean yes, no one wants to do that forever, but I'm not sure I have...what it takes to be more?" Marian said as she took the bottle from him. "I had this talk with a girl, Ramona? She said her father was some sort of shipping magnate and she said he could get me an interview at the Echo maybe? But I don't know if I have anything to offer. Or the right things?"

Ramona run a little bell in the back of his head and he was sure he'd heard the name in passing and combined with the words 'shipping magnate' had Alec a little concerned. He didn't want to worry her needlesly, especially since he didn't have all the information there. "Well, there are many jobs at the newspaper. Not just those who interview. There are secretaries, people who do customer service, artists, all sorts of things go into it. What do you think you'd like to do there?" He was already thinking of who he could contact on Marian's behalf with a glowing recommendation in tow.

Marian shrugged a little. "I'm teaching myself to type," she started taking a sip of the water. "Something where I don't have to take people's burger orders." There was the slightest tease in her voice, knowing full well that she took his order on a regular basis. "I just don't know what else I need. I don't want to go in there and then find out that I don't have what it takes."

Alec nodded in understanding and smiled back at her when she teased him. "Well typing's the most important thing. Do you have a typewriter and everything to go with it?" He figured she did, or at least had routine access if she was learning to type.

"Um yes, maybe? I only have one ribbon and scratch paper, but it's a start right? But I do have a typewriter. Roy found it for me." Marian hurt at the idea of Roy, seeing his face and how horrible he'd made her feel. She managed to keep it off her face, but her eyes did darken just a touch.

Alec caught the darkening of her eyes simply because he was that kind of person and he had been trained to do so. He took care of his troops, whomever they were. "It's a start. Come on." He nodded his head to the door and opened it. "Nancy? You can head home. Thank you."

Nancy stood up and peered over his shoulder at Marian than back at Alec, raising her eyebrows. Alec looked back at her with a look to match. He had an idea of what she'd been doing earlier. "Thank you, Nancy," he said again lightly. Nancy smiled and gave a wave to Marian with a 'nice meeting you, dear,' and with a warning look at Alec she headed off.

"Sorry about her. She's a dear. My father's old secretary. We don't exactly mesh well but she makes sure that I leave every couple days." He beckoned Marian to follow him. "Come on. I think I have some things that you can use."

Marian followed after Alec, still holding the bottle of water in her hand. When he sent Nancy away and the woman glanced at her, Marian looked confused, but she called after her anyway. "She seems sweet," she said softly, wondering if she should tell Alec that she mentioned him buying her flowers. "Some things?" she asked as she followed him, doing her best to keep in step.

"She can be. She's smart, which is why I like her. I can't use my usual excuses with her. And yes. Typing supplies." He held a door open for her to lead down the stairwell. "I'll get you some proper paper and ribbons. We've got some books too to help you learn good habits. We get them for the ones who need to improve." Alec led her down the steps keeping casual and not wanting to make her nervous. He opened another door and flipped on the hallway lights, fishing for some keys in his pockets to open the storage room door.

"Oh! You don't have to do that," Marian said right away, feeling bad that he was giving her things even if they weren't things she could normally get on her own. She kept up with him, staying close because she was unfamiliar with her surroundings but not close enough to touch him.

"I want to," Alec said simply and flicked on the storage room light. He shoved a door stopper under the door and headed in. Grabbing an empty box he surveyed the surprisingly clean and orderly room. "I've got the supplies right here after all." He walked away a few paces and pulled a few boxes off the shelf and put them on the table to see what he had in there. "Ribbons eventually dry out, even if they're in their packaging. These just came in so they'll be fine for awhile." He grabbed a few rolls and put them in the box, hoping that would be enough. "What I recommend while you're learning is to work on copying articles from the paper. If you're going to be typing, they would probably have you do some dictation. An overworked reporter gives you his or her notes or rough draft and have you type it out for them. A newspaper is written at a fifth grade level, so most of the words are simple."

Marian stayed near the door as if afraid it might close on them despite the stopper as he moved around gathering supplies. She wanted to protest again about the whole thing, but she remembered what he'd said about just saying thank you or yes, so she kept quiet and let him do what he wanted. "Just practice typing them out then? You think that will help?" she asked.

"Helps get used to the typing," Alec said with a slight shrug. "Can't do any harm, can it?" He smiled at her a little and put the ribbon boxes back and went looking for the paper. "Does the type writer look really old or is it new looking like the one on Nancy's desk?" he asked, wondering if maybe he should throw in some spare type keys as well.

She thought about that for a second, then shook her head. "I think it's older. Roy fixed it up pretty good though." She wanted to tell Alec that she'd been practicing but most of what she'd worked on had been about him, which was a little embarrassing.

"Well, if any of the keys pop off or something, let me know because I might be able to replace them for you," he said and grabbed a large packet of paper. He only grabbed one, not wanting to make the box too heavy. Workbooks... he knew there was some typewriting work book training manuals around somewhere.

The keys fall off? Marian smiled but she was a little nervous, suddenly she had quite the task in front of her, especially with that packet of paper he loaded into her box. "I'll let you know," she said to fill the silence.

Finding the box with the workbooks in it, he grabbed two. "These have exercises in them to help you get used to the typing. It takes a little getting used to and sitting there typing can cause backaches and sore wrists so..." He waved them a little and put it in the box. "I think that's it... Do you want me to check in with a friend at the paper for you?" he offered helpfully, although a bit nervous at it.

Marian nodded as he put the books in the box, trying to follow along though she guessed she'd have to sit down with one of the books before she really understood what he was saying. "You have a friend there too? I don't know if I'm ready for a job there yet, but I suppose it couldn't hurt?"

"Oh, I understand, but I could talk to him, see what things might help you so when you are ready," Alec clarified then frowned a little bit. "I... tend to get overexcited on things sometimes. It doesn't always work out," he said. "I never used to but since coming home, I want to fix everything I see almost." His voice was quiet as the thought struck him and he looked troubled. Ethan Grey was stuck in his mind especially and their conversation a few days before.

That sounded far more reasonable and Marian found herself nodding again. At his comment on fixing things she gave him a playful smile, looking up at him from under her eyelashes. "So you're going to try and fix me too Alec? What makes you think I'm broken?" It was said sweetly, as if he didn't need to bother, but inside she could feel herself screaming that she needed it. Screaming about the parts of her that were broken beyond fixing, but none of it surfaced, it all stayed buried inside like it always was.

"I think you're wonderful," he said back automatically and glanced over at her. Innappropriate! Inappropriate! "But I want to help you so you can learn how to fix yourself if you need it." He thought she was broken. He could see the little cracks there from time to time but she wouldn't learn if she couldn't do it herself. "Hell, I'm broken and maybe this is my way of avoiding fixing myself. By helping others." And that was more honest than he'd been in a long time. Admitting that.

Wonderful? The comment had Marian gripping her hands together, fingers laced behind her back. She felt her cheeks flush a little and she couldn't meet his eyes. Instead she dropped her gaze to the floor for a moment, waiting for the confusion in her to subside. After a long moment she looked up again, whatever might be bothering her stuffed away. "What's broken about you? You seem to have everything under control."

"Most days," he admitted. He was reorganizing the books in the box for something to do. "When you're in charge and you have people relying on you to keep them alive, to help them get home, you learn to push it down and put up a front. I'm very good at that." He was not having this conversation, was he? He was absolutely not. He did not admit these things. A soldier didn't do that. Didn't admit weakness. "Sometimes it's a beneficial skill to have," he continued on despite not wanting to. He was just saying the words. "But you can't do it all the time, which is why I'm probably saying all of this." He reached up and rubbed a small scar above his eyebrow. "I'm sorry. You don't need to hear about this." Or maybe she did and that's why he was saying it too. "I... I don't know."

In an instant Marian's thoughts went to Roy, and how he'd told her that she wasn't there for him when he needed her. Feeling very much like Alec needed her, she took a few steps towards him, closing the small space between them and looped one arm through his, looking up at him. "I'm willing to listen," she said softly. She didn't want him to be broken, not like Roy. She wanted Alec to be a stronghold, but if he wasn't maybe she could do something for him she'd failed at doing for her brother.

He looked down at her arm looped around his and did an excellent job of covering his surprise. The difficult decision he was facing was that while he didn't particular want to talk about his troubles, he didn't want to shut Marian down either. "I suppose... I feel useless. When I was in the service, it was very clear who your enemy was. What your job was. It was all incredibly simple. Here I'm dealing with people in trouble, employees who were afraid to apply because of the mob and how it's taken over this city. It's not simple anymore and I can't fix it. I'm trying but I keep being hit with this fear that maybe I'm in over my head."

"You aren't useless Alec," Marian said right away. Listening meant she probably had to answer and she was pretty sure she was out of her league on most things, but she knew he wasn't useless. That much she was certain on. "When it comes to the rest...maybe the best you can do is to stay true to who you are. Not everything is a war you have to fight."

"Mmmm," Alec said, his face taking on a distracted look. "No, just have to try harder." He winked at her and suddenly the distracted look faded away. "Start with one person at a time and I can start with you, can't I? Help you. If you don't mind, that is."

Marian watched his face closely, but couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Maybe she just didn't know him well enough yet. "You...don't feel like you have to. I don't want to be a burden."

"How are you a burden?" he asked her curiously. "Why do you feel like a burden?" Alec didn't need super senses to know that Marian had a low-self-esteem problem and it certainly wasn't helping that she worked herself to death and wasn't able to get out of it.

Marian pulled her arm from Alec's shrugging a little as she clasped her hands in front of her. She couldn't meet his eyes, even though she felt like she should. Inside she was screaming about all the things she did that were a burden, but none of them came to her as reasonable things to say out loud. "I constantly feel like I should be helping, but in the end all I end up doing is piling my own problems on others. I'm sorry. I'm trying to be your friend and help you but all I've wound up doing is giving you someone else who needs your help," she said after a long moment.

"I like helping people," Alec said with a frown. "And you can't help anyone if you're having troubles yourself. So you need to go about fixing yourself first. It's hard, but you'll be better for it in the long run. Everyone needs help sometimes. It's nothing to be ashamed about." He knew she worried about things. Being an inconvenience. It was understandable. She was young.

"You say it like it's an okay thing, but others would call it selfish." Others like her brother who'd made her cry instead of making the tears go away. That had her wanting to cry again and instead she found herself reaching for the box. "I should go. Thank you. You didn't have to do any of this."

Alec caught the sheen in her eyes when they caught the light and he ducked his head some to look at her, a hand carefully reaching out to touch her arm. "Marian? What's wrong?"

She froze where she was standing, hands still on the box, under his touch. She didn't want to, she knew full well he wouldn't react well, but Marian couldn't help it. "Nothing," she said softly, even though in her head she was screaming everything.

He felt her tense but he kept his hand there, looking at her seriously. "Marian," he repeated, seeing how tense she was and knowing at least that this time it wasn't because he was too close. "What's happened?"

"Nothing," she repeated but the word cracked a little as the first tears fell. She shook her head, hiding her face from Alec's so he couldn't see. "I had a fight with my brother that's all." About the exact thing Alec had just talked to her about, the thing he said was alright. "It's nothing," she said though with the tears in her voice it sounded like quite a bit more than that.

"It's something if you're crying," he pointed out gently, hating to hear her so upset like that. "What happened with your brother?"

Marian sniffed a little, shaking her head still. She felt terrible piling it on Alec, telling him what happened. After a moment she took a deep breath. "Roy and I had a fight. He said I wasn't there for him when he needed me, and that I never was. That it was always my problems, my guilt, my issues piled on top of him and that I never did anything for him." The worlds had come tumbling out of her, not reigned in anyway and followed by another set of tears.

Awkwardly, Alec put his arm around her shoulders as she cried, letting her get it out as he rubbed her shoulder. He held her against his side, unsure if he should hug or if she would even allow that. He didn't want to do anything that could bother her more.

Marian wasn't sure what to do. Alec's arm around her didn't feel bad, but at the same time it was more than he'd ever touched her, than she'd let anyone who wasn't Roy touch her in a long time. What was worse was that a tiny part of her wanted to turn into him, wanted to clutch his shirt and cry against him. But she couldn't, she just couldn't. Instead she sniffed again, wiping at her eyes and pulling away from him. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"You don't have to be sorry," he said gently and pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Would you like to talk about it?" he asked. He wasn't going to force answers from her. If she didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't going to make her. "It might make you feel better and it might help. Or find someone to talk to who might help."

She took the handkerchief, wiping her eyes with it. After a long moment she shrugged, not able to meet his eyes. "What else is there to say? We fought, he walked out didn't want to see me. He yelled at me."

"Well why did he yell at you? Because he thinks you're not there for him?" Alec frowned a bit and leaned against the table. He was a problem solver at heart and maybe his questions weren't as gentle as they could be. "Were his accusations truthful at all? Or did he just go off like a crazy man?"

Marian shrugged, looking at him just a tiny bit before looking away again. "I saw him the other day, and he was upset but I didn't notice until it was too late because I was so sure he would know that I hadn't listened to him about being friends with you. When he shut me down I didn't ask why or what was wrong I just let him walk away. I should have asked, he was upset but I was so scared that I didn't and I...he's right. I'm never there for him. I'm selfish and horrible." She was rambling again, she knew it, but she couldn't help it.

Alec listened patiently, not pushing her or looming over her, letting her go at her own pace with it. Confusion aside regarding her brother not wanting Marian to be friends with him (although he could understand concerns), there was something that stood out to him especially. "How would he know you hadn't listened to him?" he asked. That was the first thing that stood out, since it seemed to be what spurred everything else.

She shrugged again. "He's Roy. He just knows. I don't...I can't lie around him. And I didn't have an explanation for why I wanted to be friends with you because I wasn't even sure myself. He would have known I didn't listen to him. He just knows." He knew her better than anyone else did that much was for sure.

Alec's face didn't change but he said carefully, "I think that's you putting your worries onto him. I don't doubt that he's the type who might just know something, but you said he was upset at the time too when you didn't speak. It's not unreasonable to think that he was too preoccupied with what was going on to worry about your... guilt." Again, it was something that he would push aside and address later.

If that was supposed to make her feel better it wasn't doing the trick. In fact, that made Marian feel worse. If she hadn't been caught up in her own guilt - and guilt was the right word for it - she would have noticed her brother was miserable and asked about it. As a result all Alec got was a hiccup and another sniffle.

Lucky for Alec, it wasn't said to make her feel better. It was pointing out the flaw in that logic at the time. "So the next thing to decide is do you do things like that often? Shut down and preoccupied with your own issues when he may be visibly hurting. Or when he very much needs you. You said he says you're never there? Well, what about that?"

Marian wiped her eyes again, then twisted the handkerchief in her hands a few times. "Roy says I do that, that I make things about me. Not about him. That I did it even when he was upset with me." As she said it was like someone sticking her in the stomach with something sharp. She glanced up at Alec, realizing she was sitting her, crying and telling him all her problems. She was supposed to be the happy, bubbly waitress from the diner and instead she was just a splotchy mess. She couldn't answer his question. She'd have to admit that sometimes yes, the guilt got to be too much that she avoided her brother. "I'm sorry Alec, really. I shouldn't put this on you. You've been nothing but sweet and here I am being a complete mess." The shift was obvious, but she smile despite the remains of tears in her eyes. "Really, I'm fine. I didn't mean to make you worry." Inside she buried the hurt away, tucking it to the side to pretend it wasn't there.

"I think even just that, you owe your brother an apology, but you should sit down and think about what you need to be sorry for," he said gently. "Make a list. Use it as typing practice. You don't need to be sorry." He reached out and pushed a piece of hair out of her reddened eyes before shoving his hands in his pockets. The shift didn't go unnoticed and it pulled a frown from him. "And I think you really should take a look at this front you put on when it's so very clear that you? Are not happy. You can't move forward until you do, I think." It wasn't lectured or stern. It was quiet and a bit matter of fact. Helpful.

"I did apologize. It was too little too late," Marian said softly. She'd been afraid to see Roy since their fight, afraid he'd yell at her again. She shivered just a little at his touch, which surprised her. She had no idea where it had come from, or what it meant. "It's not a front," she protested weakly. "I'm fine."

"No you aren't," he told her with a twitch of his lips. "I've been in charge of a lot of people. I know a front when I see it and yours, Marian Grady, is a very good one. But I think a proper apology is in order. You need to really break it down, look at where things are an issue. He's your brother. You don't want to let that tie break, do you?" He had his brothers and he was never close but his fellow officers at school and in the service? He couldn't let a fight come between them. It was unthinkable.

Marian had apologized and she felt like doing it more wouldn't help anything but she supposed she couldn't rule it out completely. "So what if it's a front. It's easier." People liked the happy, smiling, flirty waitress. Why was being her all the time a bad thing?

"Because you're hiding behind it because you're not happy and if you're not happy then everyone else shouldn't matter. It's not selfish to want to be happy. It's not selfish to want to like yourself. If you don't you'll burn out eventually. Crack. Develop two personalities. It's not a good thing."

What he missed in all that was that she didn't like herself. Marian wasn't proud of the things she'd done, even though she'd been desperate at the time. Nor was she alright with what was buried underneath. There were mountains of issues she'd stuffed down inside and they worked just fine buried there. Unsure of what to say, she settled for the best other defense. "Are you happy Alec?" It wasn't accusatory, just curious and paired with wide, red-rimed eyes that wanted an answer.

"Happy with myself? Well, I could certainly improve. I have some bad habits that make things a bit difficult but overall? Yeah, I'm pretty happy with myself. You're deflecting," he pointed out. "Look, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to, but I hope I gave you some things to think about. Things that might help you." That's all he wanted. Being able to help people. "I want to see you genuinely happy. You deserve to be happy."

Marian felt like he didn't answer her question properly, but he was right in the end, she was deflecting. She'd talk about whatever was on the papers in his office to avoid talking about herself. "I was just curious," she said softly as if to justify the deflection. His last comment had her letting out a shaky little sigh. Alec Ravenwood wanted the waitress from the diner to be happy. It was almost absurd.

Alec raised his eyebrow at her but said nothing more on the subject. "Let's get these things upstairs. It's late. I'll get you a cab home."