different kinds of people

who: jason and eily
where: dinner
when: a while back

It was rare for Jason to feel less than confident when on his way to meet with a woman but then so far Eily O’Malley had proven herself to be very different from the women he’d pursued. Not that that was bad thing in his mind as he stopped in front of a shop window to straighten his tie, courting a lady properly was a welcome change of pace for him and the uncertainty of the outcome was part of the appeal. Tonight, flush with cash from a successful job, he had a table reserved for them at a restaurant just around the corner from the Drake hotel and if that went well, as he hoped it would, he had tickets for the current production at the Palace tucked safely away in his jacket pocket.

Arriving at the restaurant, having agreed to meet Eily there, he handed his coat to the maitre d and took a seat at the bar to wait, one eye watching the door for her arrival.

Eily was excited. Most of her social engagements were full of glitz and glamor, but she actually surprisingly rarely had proper dates. Most of the time when she went out, it was with a group of other socialite girls and they went to lavish parties. But tonight...tonight was different. Tonight was with Jason.

And he was different. She enjoyed his company like she hadn’t enjoyed anyone else’s in her life. He was charming without that slimey sort of feel a lot of the men in society seemed to have. Of course he was handsome, but there was almost an undercurrent of a boyish tone to him, something she quite appreciated. His eyes lit up when he smiled, and he smiled at her quite a lot. Basically--she was taken with him, and in a serious way. So when she arrived at the restaurant, she looked her best--she’d bought a new outfit entirely for the evening(even new perfume), including her undergarments, all which matched of course. She was wearing a blue that brought out her eyes, and she had her hair pulled up with jeweled pins holding it in place. At her throat glittered a sapphire lined cameo, and she most certainly drew attention when she entered.

When Eily stepped through the door Jason was fairly certain his mouth fell open in amazement as for a moment all he could do was stare at her. Every time he’d seen her she’d looked beautiful, he wasn’t going to deny it had been big part of why she’d caught his attention in the first place, but tonight she looked stunning/. Getting a hold of himself, he got up from the far and, with a smug smile at the appreciative looks she was getting from the other male patrons of the restaurant, walked over to her. “Miss O’Malley,” he said, taking her hand and kissing it lightly. “You have me lost for words at how delightful you look this evening, I’m afraid I’m doing you a disservice.” True he was wearing the best suit he owned but it was hardly new and while polished to a high shine, his shoes were well-worn.

She ate up the attention she’d garnered, though really she was most pleased with Jason’s reaction. She allowed him to kiss her hand, and she turned her own attention deliberately on him, a little show for the people who were looking her way that she was clearly there with this man right here. It was done for his benefit, really, some little claim staked that would boost his credibility. It was something one did in society--everything was about perception, and she was giving him something for other people to talk about. “Thank you, Mr. Finn.” she said, tone amused and pleased. “I had hoped this would be satisfactory.”

“You have far beyond exceeded satisfactory,” he replied, neither willing or able to remove the grin currently adorning his face. Offering her his arm, he escorted her to the table, the money he had slipped the maitre d when handing him his coat clearly well spent as they were seated at a table by the window, the glittering tower of the Drake in sight above the roofs of the surrounding buildings. “What would the lady care to drink?” he asked, looking at her over the top of the wine list he’d just been handed.

“Something red.” Eily said. She could have chosen something specific, but she didn’t so much mind. Mostly, she wanted to see what he would do, what he might order. She chose red because it had a more sensual quality to it--or she imagined it did. Other wines were fine, of course, and she was a fan of champagne, but there was something she liked specifically about red. She also knew she should probably wait to see what meal she got, since different wines went with different flavors, but she didn’t care as much tonight. Tonight wasn’t about appearances like the parties were. This was about spending time with a guy who excited her on so many levels.

There was a twinkle in her eye as she spoke that set feelings stirring in Jason’s stomach that were far from unpleasant and his smile grew. “A bottle of your best red please,” he said, handing back the wine-list with a flourish before turning back to Eily. “So, how are you this evening, aside from earth-shatteringly stunning?”

She laughed, a light, happy sort of sound. “I’m well, thank you. I’ve been looking forward to this.” she admitted, looking at him through her eyelashes demurely. She batted them, even, the spark of amusement in those blue eyes of hers. “Yourself? I hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

There was a wonderful contradiction between the look in Eily’s eyes and the way she fluttered her lashes that wasn’t lost on him and that teamed with the news that she’d been looking forward to their date had him grinning widely, not particularly caring if it made him look foolish. “Likewise,” he replied, loosely folding his arms and resting them on the table, his eyes not leaving hers. “And no not long at all so you’ve no need to worry. Even if it had been the case, your company is more than worth the wait.” The sentiment was flowery but genuine; Eily wasn’t like the other girls he had met in society and that intrigued him, another reason why he’d kept seeking her out.

She liked the flattery, of course. There was the entire idea of ‘fashionably late’ that she could have employed to much better ends, but she hadn’t wanted to. She’d been a bit too excited for the date itself, and had opted not to make herself hold back. Perhaps another time. But tonight, tonight was hopefully going to be different. So far? It was. “Well, I’m glad that you think so. A girl likes knowing how her value stacks up.” she told him. “So, what have you been doing since last we spoke?” she asked.

As much as Jason might have wanted to answer the question truthfully, if only for the reaction it might provoke, the fact of the matter was that the majority of his time was spent work on things that were anything but legitimate, hardly something to talk about in public with a girl he really knew little about, beautiful as she was. That said there were things he could mention, mixing enough truth in with the lies to make it paltable. “Helping a friend out with a business venture mostly,” he replied, folding his hands on the table lest he start fiddling with the tableware. “And working on some writing, I’m hoping to get a job at the Echo.” He wasn’t sure what her opinion of the local rag might be but it was the truest thing he had to offer her. “What about yourself?”

“What sort of business venture?” she asked curiously. She didn’t know overly much about business, or what she did know was slightly less than appropriate for someone of her standing, so she sort of ignored that. “And the Echo, hmm? What sort of journalist are you looking to be? Someone who writes up stories on the local picnics in the park, or the kind who hunts down dangerous stories no matter what the cost?” she asked, terribly curious on that score, and it was clear in her tone that was where she was most interested. “As for myself, we’ll get to that later.” she promised, wanting him to answer her questions first.

“I’m not entirely sure I could explain, I’ve mainly been handling the paperwork and looking for possible investors,” he said, the lie easily rolling off his tongue. “I trust my friend to know what he’s doing though.” The waiter chose that moment to arrive with the wine and poured them both a glass which Jason took with a smile, grateful to have something to do with his hands and the opportunity to change the subject to his writing, which to his delight Eily seemed interested in. “And I imagine I’ll be started on the bottom rung if I’m successful, obituaries and the like but I can’t deny the allure of chasing down a good story, daring to tell the truth in a corrupt world.” There was a touch amusement in his voice as he spoke but there was also some genuine sentiment to his statement - while working for the Echo may have been a means to an ends he couldn’t deny it held appeal for him.

“The people who are most successful are the people who chase after what they want. Nothing comes to those who wait for something to fall into their laps. I say go for it. Get your foot in the door, then find yourself some big story to crack, whether you’re in obituaries or not. If you bring them something juicy enough? They’d be fools not to print it. Make them see your value.” she told him, a confidence in her tone that spoke of faith in him, but even more so a certainty in her point of view. In her life, that was how things got done. You made them happen.

Jason’s smile only grew wider as Eily spoke, quite taken in her with the strength of her conviction. “I’ll make sure to do that,” he replied, eyes twinkling with amusement as he wondered how he had managed to keep away from the woman opposite from him for so long. “Now tell me something more about you Miss O’Malley because quite frankly, you have me intrigued.”

“You do that.” Eily said with a firm nod of her head. Then she laughed a touch, reaching up to lightly touch the cameo at her throat. “What is it you would like to know?” she asked. “I wouldn’t know what to offer up as information.” Which was due to two things. First of all, she didn’t live all that exciting a life. Society life was fairly standard, it consisted of parties, lavish expenses, and more parties. Occasionally charities, or events, but he traveled in the same circles, he would know about all of that. The other part was that her background she’d done her level best to keep shrouded in mystery, because it wasn’t an acceptable background for the people she was mingling with. and she wasn’t about to hand over her life story. But if he gave her a direction, she could see what she could do.

He considered her question carefully, setting down his wine glass and resting his chin on his hands as he looked at her contemplatively which was in no way an excuse to stare at her unabashed. “Who you are other than the society girl,” he asked, sitting back in his chair, proud of his question. “Because I keep catching glimpses of something much more interesting than the usual debutante around town and I’d like to see more of that girl.”

She blushed at that. It was faint, but present, something she couldn’t quite help. Being called out on not being a society woman was what did it, even if she didn’t think he knew what exactly he’d just done there. Part of her was terrified--and the other part of her was rivited. Because he’d noticed, she supposed, that there was something different about her. Of course, it could be a line, he might just tell all the girls that they were different, but it didn’t seem like it. It felt true in that moment. She ticked her gaze away for an instant, then was back to looking at him. “And what is it that you see?” she asked.

The blush was adorable and Jason decided then and there that if the opportunity presented itself, he would have to make her do it again. Leaning forward again, he rested his arms on the table, not caring if it made him look uncouth, and lowered his voice. “A girl with actual opinions about something other than what man to marry or what dress to wear to the next charity event, who has a sparkle in her eye that says she knows far more than she lets on. I see a fire in you Eily and damned if it hasn’t caught my attention.” It was forward of him he knew but by her own volition, she said success came to people who chased what they want and he would be a fool not to try his luck.

So, the guy was astute. She knew she’d liked him for a lot of reasons, but that was shooting to the top of her list. It didn’t help her case that he was, but lord if it didn’t catch her attention just like he was saying she’d caught his. It had her smiling, a secrative little expression, and she sipped at her wine. “For starters, I am very, very Irish. And I may have worked to get the accent out of my voice, but that Irish fire is still there. It doesn’t work well with the idea of sitting demurely by the sidelines, and smiling and nodding my way through life.”

“I can imagine it wouldn’t,” he said, sitting back up and picking up his own glass again, smile still firmly in place. Of course the Irish heritage wasn’t that surprising given her name but it added to the picture of her he carried in his mind, adding depth and shading. “It’s a shame you’ve lost the accent though,” he mused, sipping at his wine. Growing up in the Sprawl there had been more than it’s fair share of Irish immigrants around and he’d always enjoyed listening to the way they spoke.

Eily smirked and rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine what society would say if I went with it?” she asked. “It wasn’t so long ago that the Irish weren’t so welcome.” she reminded him. It was something her family tended to never forget. Her family had a long memory. It was something of a family philosophy. Never forget, or else you’ll fall afoul of things that could have been avoided. Her family wasn’t real big on forgiveness either, but that wasn’t the point.

Jason dutifully nodded his head, after all there was no denying her point. “You’re right of course,” he replied, taking another sip of his wine. “But then I’ve never been very good at seeing eye to eye with what society deems appropriate.” In fact, he rankled at the ways of high society; sure he could play the part but it wasn’t a place he felt comfortable, much preferring to be places where he could be himself and only going to functions and parties when Dodge asked him to. That said, the presence of Eily had recently made attending them a much more enjoyable pass time.

“There’s a whole lot of rules to it.” Eily said, and there was something like a note of agreement in her voice. It was barely present, but detectable. She normally wouldn’t say a single word against society at large, she’d worked so hard to get there, but this talk with Jason was really scratching at some of her truer feelings on the matter. “And, for the record, it isn’t entirely gone.” she said, letting her accent slip back into her pronunciation, just for a moment. “I just work hard to ensure there’s no reason to be singled out and ridiculed.”

He caught the note and smiled, adding it to the increasing list of evidence that Eily really was more than she appeared. It morphed into a grin at hearing the lilt she let into her voice, even if it was just for a moment, and put down his glass. “And there was me thinking you couldn’t get more beautiful,” he said, throwing subtlety out the window.. “Further proof society doesn’t know what it’s talking about.”

She had to laugh then, a delighted little sound. “You certainly know how to flatter a girl.” she told him, that faint blush back. But she also planned on using that little lilt in her accent later, if she could manage it without being overheard. That could actually be pretty fun, all things considered. “Anything else you have a burning desire to know about me?” she asked.

Delighted to see the blush again, Jason gave a modest little bow of his head. “Well you make it very easy,” he countered, reaching across the table to briefly touch her hand. “As for finding out more, I could probably keep asking questions but I’m a big believer in letting a lady maintain an air of mystery if she wishes.” He paused before adding with a grin. “Of course if there’s anything you think I should know then please enlighten me.” He knew that she wasn’t engaged or being pursued by another suitor but there was always a chance he had missed something important.

Eily looked him in the eyes, giving him a wicked little grin for a moment. “We’ll just have to see where the night takes us.” she told him. And by that she meant a ton of possibilities. She was happy to let things go with him. To see what happened.

The grin only confirmed that he was doing the right thing and, though it shouldn’t have been possible, his own seemed to widen a notch. “I can’t wait,” he replied, his eyes not leaving hers until the waiter arrived baring the menus. He manged to school his expression when he saw the prices of the food though he couldn’t help but feel a nag of guilt at spending so much on one meal. “What do you fancy?” he asked, turning his attention back to Eily and reminding himself of why it was worth spending out so much money.

Eily looked over the menu and had only one thing in mind--what she could order that would take as little time to cook and eat as possible. She wanted to get out of here with him. Go for a walk, head anywhere, she didn’t care, she just had the undeniable desire to be someplace with him that was away from any prying eyes. So she ordered light. Very light, really. And she hoped he’d do the same, though with the waiter standing right there, she couldn’t really tell him the plan.

Quirking an eyebrow at her choice of order, Jason’s eyes ticked down to his own menu and he smiled a little as he realised her train of thought. Following her example, he ordered for himself and then watched the waiter walk away before turning back to her, not speaking but instead just smiling.

She smiled in return, glad he’d seemed to have picked up on her intentions. Now, all they had to do was get through the meal part, and the real fun could start. And she was very much looking forward to it.