The Case of the Stolen Camera and the Reluctant Samaritan

Who: Evelyn and Shoshannah
When: Jan. 23, late afternoon
Where: Outside the Drake Hotel

This was the first day that it hadn't rained continually and that slight change in the weather, that lack of precipitation, was taken as a sign by Shoshannah early that morning that it was going to be a fantastic day. And so far, it had been. From the perfect morning at Angelo's apartment, to a successful first day on the job at Prophet's Pages, to a lovely lunch with Elle, Shoshannah had seen no fault in the day at all. She returned to the Drake around 5 p.m. and quickly headed to her room to collect her camera. Luckily, she found more than just her camera. Sitting at the foot of her bed was a trunk that had been brought over from her house, the contents of which she'd talked to her father about the day before. As she knelt at the head of the trunk and popped the top of it open, Shoshannah realized just how lucky she really was. She had a safe place to stay, a newly forming and vastly growing circle of friends, and a budding new job. What could go wrong? And despite the fact that her family disapproved of her being away from the house, her father had agreed to her wish of staying at the Drake for a while. Just so she could find the independence she'd been looking for.

Deciding to leave the rummaging through the trunk for later, she grabbed a white scarf off of the top and a pair of fresh gloves then closed the top and grabbed her camera. She was downstairs as quickly as the elevators could take her and out the door even quicker. Taking a deep breath of cold air, Shoshannah started walking with a smile on her face that she just couldn't seem to wipe off. What better way to end off the day she'd had than with a few snapshots of the city without the rain?

Shoshannah didn't get far before her luck changed. She'd maybe gotten a half a block away from the Drake when she stopped to sit down at a bus stop and get her camera set up for the pictures she was sure she'd take. She'd gotten the cap off and had started the process of focusing, since she figured she could take a few test shots of the Drake itself from this perspective. But Shoshannah's plans were no match for her condition, and soon she wasn't just a girl sitting on the bus bench, adjusting her camera, but instead she was a girl asleep on the park bench, camera settled beside her, her hand still clasped on it.

She didn't see the man sit down beside her on the bench. Technically, she hadn't seen him watching her when she left the Drake, hadn't seen him follow her the short distance she'd gone, or kneel down behind the bench in order to 'tie his shoe'. But she did feel the tug on her arm when the camera was taken from her hand by the mystery man. Unfortunately for Shoshannah, it always took her a bit too long to wake up from the real 'knock-outs' that her condition dealt her, so by the time her eyes were open and she knew where she was again, the bus itself had passed her by and was traveling down the road...with her camera and the thief safely on it.

It took her even longer to realize that her hand was on the bench and not the camera. Her camera. Her camera. Where was it? The dull worry that had settled in the pit of her stomach was escalating. She could feel it rise into her chest now and grow from a worry to a panic. It had to be around here somewhere! It didn't have legs, it couldn't get up and walk away on it's own. She stood, eyes searching the bench hastily, looking above it, below it, around the sides of it, but still finding no camera.

Evelyn was walking, mind reeling with too many thoughts to keep coherent sense of: her brother, her family, finding a new job, her date, would she need new clothes for said date?, the new car, finding a new job, her brother... despite the weather, Evelyn really felt like she could use a walk at the moment -- not that the outside air really provided any insight as to what the hell she was supposed to do about everything, but she supposed it was better than no outside air at all. There was still some daylight left, which was the only reason Evelyn had braved her discomfort to walk down the street at all, bundled up and head ducked into her scarf to protect it from the cold. Although her eyes were certainly darting around, hyper-aware of every footstep in the near vicinity, her budding paranoia focused more on the males than otherwise, enough so that she didn't notice a familiar frantic-looking female at the bus stop across the street.

Shoshannah let her eyes trail back to the street, a slow sickness starting in the pit of her stomach. What if it had fallen into the street and a car had smashed it?! But there was no camera to be seen in the street, no bits or pieces of smashed up camera either. Just a familiar face walking by. That was...That was Miss Amelia! Maybe she'd seen her camera? She didn't realize at the time how ridiculous it would be to expect someone to have seen her camera, but it was worth a shot. "I'm sorry, excuse me! Miss Amelia? Could you.. wait, please!" She hurried after the girl on the sidewalk, trying to keep her eyes pried for ice spots. The last thing she needed to happen now was for her to eat it on the concrete. "Can I ask you a question? Please?" Shannah also didn't realize just how desperate she looked or how her voice was high and wavering slightly.

Evelyn's spine instantly stiffened and the hair on the back of her neck rose as she heard footsteps rushing up behind her. This time, though? Her hand instinctively darted into her pocket, closing around the knife her brother gave her, ready to simultaneously pull it out and flick it open as she whipped her body around. Being grabbed from behind had not been pleasant; and Evelyn opted for a face-to-face encounter this time even if it would prove no less terrifying. But the person standing before her wasn't some menacing stranger; although it still took a moment of disoriented blinking and tight clutching of the handle, pulled half-way out of her pocket, before Evelyn could actually process the scene through the Fight or Flight adrenaline haze. "Miss Hagel?" she asked, confused but still wary, hand and knife retreating back into her pocket even if she didn't actually let go yet. And as she did that it hit just how desperate and troubled Shoshannah seemed. "What's wrong?" she asked, wariness giving way to concern as Evelyn's eyes quickly darted about the street and alleys, her initial thought being somebody had tried to attack the girl.

"I think..I must have lost my camera, but...I can't see it anywhere on the street. Maybe I'm overlooking it. Would you mind helping me look for it really quickly? I'm so sorry to stop you like this, I just..." It can't be stolen. It's not stolen. Why would someone try to steal her camera? She must have looked absurd to other people with the frantic way she was talking and the worry showing plainly in her eyes, but that camera meant the world to her and for that reason only, it couldn't be stolen. Even if, in the pit of her stomach, that's where her next thought was going.

"I just...It might be one of those things that I'm looking for so much that I can't see it right under my own nose?" She asked with a good dose of hope in her voice. She wished that was what it was. That her camera was sitting safely behind the bench or beside the bench or something...Anything that would suggest it was still there.

Evelyn, however, was not so optimistic as to the fate of the camera although she didn't say so. She cast a brief look around the streets again, this time focusing on what might be an abandoned camera lying somewhere, although -- as she figured -- nothing was to be found. If Shoshannah had actually lost it, Evelyn had little doubt that somebody else had found it and was probably heading off to a pawn shop somewhere. But, with Evelyn's yet-to-be-contradicted impression about how oblivious Shoshannah seemed, her bet was that the camera wasn't somewhere under the girl's nose -- it had been stolen right out from under it. "Where did you see it last?" She asked, trying to be gentle about it. "Did you set it down somewhere?" Setting any personal belongings down anywhere in this city was a beyond idiotic thing to do, really, but considering the girl she was talking to, Evelyn had to ask.

Oh no...Oh no. This was just getting worse. If Amelia couldn't find it, then certainly she hadn't misplaced it. And despite Shoshannah's condition, that camera was the one thing she would never really misplace. It meant everything to her. That camera...it was the way she could capture all the things she missed during her days and the only way she felt like she had any control over this stupid condition of hers. Shannah felt the tears, a rarity for her, start to well up in her eyes. "I..well, I had it with me when I sat down on that bench there. I was going to focus it and..." That was it. That was just it. She hadn't focused the camera, but instead she must have lost focus of herself. "You don't think...someone took it, do you? Why would someone want to take my camera?"

Oh, hell, she was going to cry. Evelyn could see it, and an inside part of her lurched a bit at the thought. She really didn't handle being in such a position well, being left to awkwardly comfort somebody when they were upset always just left her feeling awkward and hoping someone better at the job could happen along in turn. It was different for her family, or friends close enough to be family, Evelyn wanted to be there for them. But anyone less than that? It just made her uncomfortable. And even more uncomfortable was figuring out how to best answer the question Shoshannah posed without inducing a waterfall.

Ironically enough, she couldn't in all conscience lie to the girl just to make her feel better -- what, build her hopes up when Evelyn knew damn well she probably wasn't going to see that camera again? Instead, she fought back a sigh, and attempted to tiptoe around eggshells with her assessment, "It's... possible," she replied, again trying to be gentle in her tone. But she held off on answering the 'why' of it all. Could Shoshannah seriously not figure it out? It was all very cut and dry to Evelyn: somebody saw something they could snag off the bench to make a buck. Maybe for drugs, maybe for liquor, maybe for food, maybe just for the asinine thrill of it. Maybe just because. Whatever the reason, Evelyn figured she should hold off guessing aloud about it.

Evelyn was right. She was going to cry. The tears fell from her eyes easily, even as Shoshannah tried to stop them. She shouldn't make Miss Amelia stand here and watch her sob, it wasn't fair to her...but that camera was her everything and now it was just...gone. Unceremoniously gone. What was she going to do? If she told her father that her camera had been stolen, he'd insist she returned home from the Drake immediately and she just couldn't do that. And it wasn't like she had any sort of idea on what to do in this situation. She'd never had anything stolen from her before, let alone something as important as her camera. She didn't now that logically, she should have gone to the police, not that it would help. She had no idea who had stolen it or where it had gone, what could she really tell the police? So, instead, Shoshannah stood there and wiped at the tears even as they replaced themselves instantly after. "I'm sorry, you don't have to stand here...Thank you for helping..." Shoshannah looked as though she was going to make a move, take herself back to the Drake and hug her pillows and just be sad about the loss of her most treasured item, but she didn't. She couldn't. Her condition wouldn't let her. She just stood there infront of Evelyn, not really moving, but oddly enough still crying. Shannah stared straight by Evelyn, as if she couldn't see the girl anymore, as if Evelyn had just disappeared.

Aaaand she was crying, and Evelyn was standing there feeling very awkward and unsure what to do. She didn't know Shoshannah well enough to even guess at what to do when the girl was upset. Some people liked hugs, some people preferred not to be touched, some people liked being coddled, some people took offense at it... Evelyn wasn't sure whether she should... pat Shoshannah on the shoulder or head or something and say "there, there..." or just... stand there, and let the girl's tears run their course... or something? So she opted for just standing there, but looking very sympathetically at Shoshannah, figuring that was the best thing to do for a girl she only barely knew. "Oh, it's no problem," Evelyn mumbled in response to Shoshannah's thanks, feeling awkward but figuring showing it would only make things worse.

She glanced about the street again, "Is there anyone with you?" She hoped there was, then Evelyn could hand Shoshannah off to somebody who knew her considerably better than she did, enough to be a better shoulder to cry on and the like. Because if there wasn't, she couldn't in good conscience just leave the girl here all frantic-like. And crying. And, seeing as how she seemed oblivious enough to have her camera stolen right out from under her, Evelyn could picture all too well worse trouble a distressed and oblivious girl could run into on the street by herself.

Noticing that Shoshannah wasn't answering, Evelyn brought her gaze back to the girl and frowned. She looked... really off. Evelyn had in fact never seen anyone look like that, just staring and standing there as if nobody was home. Going against her initial instinct, she took a step forward and placed on hand on the girl's shoulder as she waved the other just before Shoshannah's face, "Hey, are you alright?"

She stayed like that, staring off past Evelyn, for another long moment before she realized someone was touching her. When the life returned to her eyes, all Shoshannah could think was God, not again.... This day had started off so well, despite the many slips in consciousness she'd been having, but now her condition wasn't just an annoyance. It had gotten something very special to her stolen.

Needless to say, Shoshannah was far from the optimistic girl she usually was. She didn't have enough sense about her right now to think that maybe the person who stole her camera had really needed to steal it for money, so with no closure on what had happened except that it was gone now, Shannah covered her face with her hands, arms shaking slightly. "I'm really sorry!" She apologized again, not really sure how to get her way out of this situation now. Her usual lie wouldn't cover it this time. Just being tired wouldn't cut it. "I just..I'm sorry. That shouldn't have happened now." She pulled her hands away from her face, but kept her eyes focused on her hands. "I'm keeping you. You've been so nice already. I'll just go back inside now..."

Holy hell Evelyn had no idea what the hell to do here. The hand remained on the girl's shoulder as she eyed Shoshannah intently, a disturbed frown overtaking her features. Because Shoshannah's sudden-as-hell mental 'checking out' and then checking back in had certainly unnerved her. For a minute there? Evelyn felt like she was talking to a doll. A life-sized, blank, empty doll... yeah, in that moment Shoshannah had taken on the creepiness of a very life-like mannequin. And even though Shoshannah was very alive and moving and trembling now, Evelyn still couldn't help inwardly regarding the girl as if she had just sprouted a second head. She would've been more than relieved to just take the out Shoshannah provided there and continue on her way; but, creeped out or not, Evelyn could no longer live comfortably with that decision any more than she could live with just abandoning a small crying child on the street.

Straightening up, and removing her hand from Shoshannah's shoulder, she couldn't entirely shake the concerned/disturbed frown as she kept her eyes intently on the girl. "It's alright," she answered, "where are you heading?" She hoped she wouldn't say 'the Drake'. Because the hotel was too close to hail a taxi and too far for her to trust Shoshannah to make it there without stumbling upon more trouble.

"Just back to the Drake. Really, I'll be fine, I can make it there..." She was thoroughly embarrassed, anyway. Evelyn had been so kind as stop and help her and Shoshannah was sobbing like a little kid infront of her, not to mention the whole zoning out deal, which it was obvious to see had really confused Evelyn. Why wouldn't it? It was what normally happened anyway. Even Shoshannah didn't know how to deal with this condition, how could she expect others to? She closed her eyes, took a shaky breath, and tried her very hardest to really stop crying this time. When she looked up at Evelyn, her eyes were red and slightly puffy, but Shannah had a small smile on her face, like she was trying to make a joke out of the situation. Trying to ease some of the awkwardness she'd surely put on Evelyn. "I must look ridiculous, making such a scene over a camera. It's just that..that camera was really important to me." As absurd as it was, even talking about the camera in the past tense hit home that she just didn't have it anymore. It made her want to cry again so she looked away from Evelyn in case she couldn't keep the tears at bay. "Thank you again for helping. I'll just...I'm going to head back now..."

She could let her leave. Really, Evelyn barely knew Shoshannah and this certainly wasn't her problem and the girl could certainly buy a new camera anyway and maybe she won't let the new one get stolen off the street by some asshole. It wasn't Evelyn's job to play Shoshannah's keeper, after all. Well, actually, part of it was, wasn't it? She had made that promise to Ian, but she was off the clock. And she certainly had tons of other crap on her plate anyways.

All of those reasons were very compelling arguments in Evelyn's head to just let Shoshannah walk off. But when it came down to opening her mouth or actually taking a step away? She didn't. She was unnerved, a bit freaked out, certainly confused, and even a tad bit irked or annoyed at the situation in general. But she didn't have a heart of stone, and she felt bad for the girl -- and seeing just how upset over Shoshannah was about losing her camera? Evelyn figured she could try to help somewhat. "How about trying the police?" she suggested. It wasn't something she would normally suggest, certainly not had Shoshannah been a friend of hers from her neighborhood -- there even the rare straight-ish cop had better things to do than hunt down cameras stolen from careless owners. Or even from careful owners. But Shoshannah wasn't a girl from her neighborhood. Shoshannah was a Hagel, and Evelyn had a damn strong suspicion that meant she could walk into the station saying she lost a tissue and the cops would jump to all kinds of aid.

"The police?" Shoshannah didn't know much about police stations or protocol to follow after something of yours had been stolen, but she figured she would have to at least have something more to go on than 'I zoned out and someone stole my camera'. If she had to sit there in that police station and explain what she knew about her condition to them, she knew the reaction she'd get. She'd get the same sort of reaction Evelyn was giving her right now. Of course Shannah was thankful that Evelyn was standing here and trying to help her, but she knew that sort of look inside and out. And she didn't think she could handle a station full of cops staring at her like that.

"You think that could help? I mean...don't I need to know what happened? More than I know now, at least..."

"It wouldn't hurt," Evelyn replied, not willing to get the girl's hopes up. Certainly the girl's family name would hold some sway as to how eager the department would be to help her, but even with the police actually trying to help for once, Evelyn's faith in the department was severely lacking. "At the very least, you can give them a description of the camera -- the maker, the model, any nicks or scratches or particularly identifying marks that separates it as your own -- nobody would know your own camera better than you, right?" With the level of distress Shoshannah had shown in losing it, Evelyn would bet she cared enough about it to give a pretty detailed description. "They might be able to check out the pawn shops, or at the very least you could see if they could put some notification in every pawn shop, or any shop that sells used cameras and the like." Because she was willing to wager quite a bit that a pawn shop was exactly where that camera was headed -- she doubted the theft was a result of somebody's new-found appreciation for photography.

Maybe going to the police, if only to describe her camera, would help? Maybe they had special task force for people who lost things that were close to them? Shoshannah didn't know but if Evelyn said it might help, then she might as well try it. But right now, all she wanted to do was go back to her room at the Drake and sit down inside. Besides, she couldn't ask Evelyn to go to the police with her, she was already doing so much to help Shoshannah. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and looked back up at Evelyn again, a small, sad smile on her lips. "Thank you again, Miss Amelia. I'm keeping you, though, and you probably have some great plans for tonight. I'll go to the police tomorrow, I guess..." Besides, Shoshannah couldn't trust herself with the police now. With the way her condition had been acting up all day, she couldn't go to them tonight. She'd have to wait until she was more stable, until a day where she hadn't fallen asleep so many times. The last thing she wanted was for the police force to think she was crazy.

"Alright. Just... the sooner you report it? The better the chances. And you could always call them, if you didn't want to go to the station," Evelyn put in, although she didn't push further on the 'going to the police' issue. Hanging around the police station in no way appealed to her, even if she had never done anything illegal. Although her suggesting Shoshannah go to the police for a missing camera was a bit ironic, considering that Evelyn herself hadn't bothered when some guy had attempted to mug and assault her. But the situations were different: Shoshannah came from a notable family whose property was stolen from a nicer area of town; she wasn't a waitress attacked where families didn't open their doors after sunset.

At Shoshannah's protestation about keeping her, Evelyn was again very tempted to take the 'out' the girl provided and continue on her way. It was a nicer area of the city, after all. ...But, nice or not, it obviously wasn't nice enough that people didn't steal cameras off of benches. And Evelyn knew all too well that a stolen camera was low on the scale of possible dangers the streets provided. And had it been anyone other than Shoshannah standing before her, Evelyn's conscience would have had enough confidence to let them head to the Drake by themselves. But Evelyn had more than picked up on Shoshannah's whole 'oblivious' thing, and if the girl slipped back into creepy out of it mannequin-mode again? Well, she might be snapped out of it by something worse than a hand in front of her face. So, she bit back yet another internal sigh and pulled her mouth into a smile at the girl, "Don't worry about it. I was just getting some fresh air anyway. And I can get just as much air heading towards the Drake as I can heading away from it, right?"

Calling the police seemed like her best option at the moment. She couldn't go down there, not with her condition acting up. The best place for her to be was in the Drake, where she felt safe that no one was going to steal anything of hers. Where she could be in her room and know that if she did need anything, she could find Ian and ask him. Awkwardly, Shoshannah turned to look at the bench again, as if she just thought her camera was going to appear there even if she now knew better, before stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket then taking the first of her steps back to the Drake.

"Are you off for the night?" She'd feel less badly about making Evelyn walk back with her to the hotel if she knew she had to be coming back anyway, but somehow she didn't think it was the case. Either way, she gave Evelyn a smile as she walked. "I really can't thank you enough for all this. I really appreciate your help, Miss Amelia. I know it must seem so..silly of me to be so upset about a camera. It's just...that camera really means a lot to me. It's very important."

Evelyn understood being sentimental about things to a certain extent. Especially things that had been passed down, such as family gifts, and the like. Or things that you made yourself, or somebody made for you. Or things that, if you lost them, you simply couldn't afford to replace them. But the practical side of her was also pointing out that a camera was a camera. And, even though losing something sucked? A new camera could be purchased, maybe even a better one, and new photos could be taken, and life would go on. Unless it was some important gift from a relative or something, Evelyn couldn't quite relate to how a stolen camera was worthy of the fit of distress that had overtaken Shoshannah. But Shoshannah had said it was important. So maybe the camera was a gift of that sort.

And even if it wasn't? Evelyn certainly knew better than to let that practical side of her open her mouth in this moment. So instead she only nodded, and smiled, and tried be as understanding as possible even if she couldn't quite relate. "It's alright," she repeated, "I'm done with work for the day, so I have plenty of free time at the moment." That was no lie, Evelyn didn't have anything planned. "So I was heading for a walk. And like I said before, I walk is still a walk even if the direction changed." Again, remembering that her objective here was to not upset Shoshannah further, Evelyn finished her comment with an encouraging smile.

"Well, I really don't want to keep you from your walk." Shoshannah glanced back at Evelyn again, another small smile on her lips. Part of her wondered if Evelyn was going to be all right walking by hereslf now. She didn't generally think that many places were bad places to walk by herself, but someone had just stolen her camera. But she figured that the chances of someone stealing something else on the same street were pretty slim, so she could at least be thankful that if something had to be stolen, it was something from her and not Evelyn.

And maybe Shoshannah could use a bit more of the crisp outside air before she headed back into the Drake. So she took her time walking with Evelyn, trying to distract herself with conversation. "Did you have a good day at work today?" It was a bit of a lame attempt at sparking up a conversation, but Shoshannah was trying and it was the best she could come up with when feeling so frazzled.

Evelyn was quiet for a moment, that it almost seemed as if she hadn't heard the question. But she had, she just didn't know how to answer it. How did she answer it? Normally, agreeing to a date with someone she was attracted to fell under the 'Good' column for her. But should it really remain in the 'Good' column if it involved breakig the number one professional rule she had been adamant about the past months: no involvement with the boss? Was it 'Good' when she suspecting that her actually agreeing, despite finding Sullivan attractive, was born from the frazzled state of mind after a breakdown? But she had made a new friend today: Kess. So that was undoubtedly in the 'Good' column. But she had also been out of focus and out of it and despondent most of the day, and that was undoubtedly 'Bad'.

"Work has been work," finally came the noncommital answer. Then, not at all wishing to talk about herself at the moment, Evelyn glanced over at Shoshannah with a drawn smile and a subject change, "What about you? Any luck with the bookstores? Were the many places hiring?" She kept her eyes on Shoshannah as she asked, very interested in the answer.

Shoshannah was more than happy to talk about the good things that had happened to her earlier that day. Maybe if she thought about all the good things instead of this one, big, bad thing, then it would help? She didn't know for sure but it was worth a shot. She stared with a nod to Evelyn. "Yes, actually. Ian helped me find a bookstore nearby, it's called Prophet's Pages. The owner gave me a trial day today but he said I did so well that I could come back for my first real day this week." Come to think of it, she really needed to tell Ian how things had gone at the bookstore. She figured he'd like to know, since he did his best to help her get that job. "And then I had lunch with my friend Elle at a nice little cafe by the theatre. Have you ever been to the theatre? I've always wanted to go but never have."

The only thing that betrayed Evelyn's surprise at that was a momentary blink. Really? Shoshannah had never been to the theatre? After working at the Drake, it seemed that anyone with the budget to afford an opera jacket saturated their small talked with whatever recent play or opera must be seen. "No, I've never been," Evelyn answered, pulling her gaze back to the sidewalk before them. Did Shoshannah really think a trip to the theatre was something she, even as a concierge now, could afford? It was another reason why Evelyn felt so awful about bailing out on Jessie. But if Shoshannah had never been to the theatre herself, then she might not have known the prices enough to realize that fact. Although Evelyn didn't know the prices either, but she didn't need to know how much a ticket ran for to know that a trip to the theatre was out of her price range. But even if she could afford it, things such as theatres and art galleries and the like never really appealed to her.

"But I've been to the movies plenty. And I'll see anything with Bogart." She smiled a bit there, nostalgic. Making sure to catch any Bogart film had been a thing with Evelyn and her friends back home -- especially with Rebecca; but that seemed yet another thing she had lost ahold of over the past months.

"Maybe we could go someday?" Shoshannah's smile was lighter this time, more real as she suggested it. Maybe it would never happen, but she didn't see a reason to not offer. Besides, Evelyn was a friend. Or at least, Miss Amelia was, in Shoshannah's mind, and friends did things together. She could see that they were nearing the Drake again, but there was something else that caught her first. She only knew of Humphrey Bogart from what she read in the papers. Movie reviews, gossip, this and that. "I bet the movie theatre is nice too." Yet another thing she'd never experienced in this town, but she knew that she, Elle, and Cheyenne had plans for a movie soon so that would be one more thing to tick off her list.

Had Shoshannah really grown up in this city? Because Evelyn was seriously starting to have her doubts there. She had honestly met tourists that seemed more aware of Eidolon City than Shoshannah did. How could the girl have not gone to the movie theater? Hell, even the poorest kids at her school -- and that was pretty damn poor -- had seen some movies. They usually tended to sneak into the movie theater, but they had been there nonetheless. But what surprised her more than the fact that Shoshannah had never been to the movies was her offer about going together. Evelyn had largely regarded the girl moreso as a work-related acquaintance rather than her new hangout buddy. She may have been more than poised and knowledgeable of etiquette to excel at working at the Drake, but that kind of thing and people just honestly wasn't her thing, or the scene she was familiar with.

In fact, trying to picture Shoshannah thrown in with the group of friends from her neighborhood, or the girls she hung out with from the boarding house, or the Drake co-workers she might go for a drink with after a shift... yeah, she couldn't honestly see that situation working out for anybody, despite Shoshannah's obvious friendliness. Especially since after the movies usually involved hanging out, and that was usually done at the park or on a rooftop or at a party at somebody's apartment. And bringing Shoshannah to a party? Hagel or not, the girl would get scammed or duped or worse in a heartbeat. "Maybe," Evelyn murmured, even though she couldn't see that honestly working out. "So how is Prophet's Pages?" Shoshannah had mentioned her trial day went well, but for all Evelyn knew there might have been more to her day than that -- especially since the girl seemed so... new... to everything. And, of course, Prophet's Pages served as a subject change from movie-plans.

Whether they actually ended up hanging out or not, Shannah was happen with the possibility. And Evelyn was doing a very good job of getting her to smile and keeping her smiling, since Shoshannah looked much less frazzled than just moments earlier. She hadn't forgotten about her camera, far from it, but she didn't want to think about it here, out on the street. She'd think about it later, safe in her room. "I really like it at Prophet's Pages. There are more stories in that room than I've ever seen before in my life and the owner said I was allowed to read them when there weren't any customers there." Her smile grew as she continued. "And there's this pudgy orange tabby cat that belongs to the owner. His name is Whiskers, but I think I might secretly rename him because that is such an unimaginative name for the pet of someone who owns a bookstore, don't you think?"

Evelyn's smile widened a bit, generally not one to begrudge happy enthusiasm. Undoubtedly some of Shoshannah's extreme lack of awareness on matters rubbed Evelyn the wrong way, and she had serious trouble relating to the girl on a lot of things, but Evelyn harbored no ill will towards the girl despite it all. So the enthusiasm about the subject, if seeming oddly childish (or, well, 'child-like' to be more positive) for such simple topics as cats and reading during downtime, did do something to widen the smile into something Evelyn felt a bit more genuinely. "I suppose it's better than 'Orange', or 'Tabby'," she offered, smiling a bit, "or at least the name relates to the thing. He could have gone with calling it something it's not? Like 'Dog' or 'Fish'. But even so he could've been more creative. What were you thinking of?"

"I'm not exactly sure yet, but he needs a strong name. Maybe d'Artagnan or one of the other musketeers. But it seems a little rude to name him after someone in a trio when there's only him. I've never had a pet before so I don't have any experience really naming a cat, but from what I know about Whiskers, he likes to lounge at the register and looks at every customer that comes in with a sort of judging stare, like he's trying to decide whether he wants them in his store." Just thinking about it made Shoshannah laugh. "A boy came in with his mother today and he wanted to pet Whiskers but he was having none of it. He hid himself in the stock room for an hour, even after they left." As she walked, she pondered over what an extreme turn this conversation had taken. She didn't mind at all and she was actually pretty glad for the distraction. If she could leave this walk thinking of pudgy, snooty cats instead of her stolen camera, she'd be even happier.

Not having a pet was something Evelyn could relate to, sort of. Although in her case her parents had enough trouble getting her and her siblings properly fed to even consider taking on a feline or canine mouth. Although things were better now, what with some of their children out of the house and with jobs (or, in Jesse's case, 'jobs'). But even when she had a job and having enough food was no longer an issue it had never occurred to her to get some sort of animal. Which was probably part of the reason Evelyn tended to regard and describe a cat as just a cat and a dog as a dog instead of personify them the way others tended to.

But Shoshannah's description certainly jarred a memory. "That sounds like somebody at my high school," Evelyn murmured, "The janitor, Mr. McGreevey. He was the grouchiest--" She caught herself there. She was about to say 'son of a bitch' but something about the fact that she was still dressed as a concierge, and they were heading towards the Drake, and she still largely regarded Shoshannah as a guest from the hotel stopped her from actually saying that. "--man you'd ever meet. He'd glare at every student as if demanding what right we presumed to have to walk across his floors. For instance? I remember one time he was practically hissing at me when I had to trek across his mopped floors to get to the locker room after school." Another nostalgic, if bemused, smile snuck up on her. Mr. McGreevey, apparently having been greatly aggrieved in some manner by one Jesse James, had been quick to rail against the slightest apparent 'slight' inflicted by any of the younger siblings.

Her laugh was light, despite Shoshannah's thoughts whirling around about something deeper. She wondered what it would have been like to attend a real high school instead of the tutors she got. With floors that were mopped and janitors that were mean and friends you could walk from class to class with. She tried not to linger on the thought of that for too long and instead focused back on the specific janitor. "Maybe I should name him Mr. McGreevey then. He certainly looks like a Mr. McGreevey, now that I think about it. And it's a much better name than d'Artagnan. Mr. McGreevey it is!" She gave one more laugh before continuing. "Except for when my boss is around. Then it's Whiskers all the way."

During her chat with Evelyn, she managed to not look at where they were going and simply just walk instead, so it was a bit of a surprise to be at the foot of the Drake once more. She was sure she had monopolized enough of Evelyn's time, though, between her complete break down, to her small chatter about cats and janitors. But she couldn't let Evelyn leave without telling her how thankful she was that she'd been there for her. She took a quick step closer to Evelyn, wrapped her arms around her in a hug, and stood there for a moment before letting go. "Thank you so much, Miss Amelia. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come alone. I really, really appreciate it."

The hug had taken Evelyn wholly by surprise. Where she was from mere acquaintances -- female or male -- didn't just suddenly latch onto you in the middle on the sidewalk. Especially considering they were in front of the Drake, and there were people, and Evelyn worked there, and the doorman was staring at them funny. She didn't pull away, but her back stiffened a bit and she kind of stood there smiling awkwardly until Shoshannah let go. "Oh... don't worry about it," she answered, covering up how very awkward she felt with another drawn smile, "And... good luck with the camera."

She really didn't tend to think things through before she did them. She didn't think about this being Evelyn's place of work nor did she think that they weren't close enough for a hug yet. Evelyn had helped Shoshannh in her time of need and that certainly deserved a hug, in Shannah's mind. So with a smile and a small nod, Shannah looked back at Evelyn. "Thank you. Hopefully it'll turn up if I call the police soon enough." She really didn't know what she was going to do if it didn't.

Evelyn didn't answer, but instead kept her face paralyzed in that formal encouraging smile as she worked on recovering from her awkwardness. She gave a silent little nod of agreement in response to Shoshannah's statement, and waited for the girl to enter the Drake before she turned around and finally let out that sigh she had been biting back. There was still a little bit of daylight left, but evening was too close on the horizon for Evelyn to consider walking any more. Hell, it had taken far more effort than she was comfortable with to force herself to walk down the street in daylight when she had run into Shoshannah.

Instead, she took a step towards her curb, hand sticking out to hail a taxi -- which was never too hard to find in front of the Drake. One seemed to pull up almost immediately as the driver saw her heading towards the curb, and Evelyn got in, giving him the address of the boarding house. Then she looked out the window as he pulled away, focusing on everything: the buildings, the people passing by, the other cars... she even forced her mind to think over the encounter with Shoshannah, anything that could distract her from her more troubling thoughts brewing below the surface.

Shoshannah stood and waited for a moment, watching Evelyn leave before she turned to head inside herself. There was an odd sense of..well, not really emptiness but just...She couldn't really explain what the feeling was. But she headed to the elevator and asked the operator to take her to the fourth floor, hoping to get to her apartment before the lack of conversation had her thinking too deeply about the events of the night again.