Running Errands

Who: Shoshannah and Ian
Where: The Drake lobby
When: Early Afternoon

Ian wasn't in the best of moods. He'd woken up in a good mood, intent on spending his morning getting everything in perfect order for his date with Evelyn that evening. He needed to pick her up flowers, as well as order new ones for her desk when she was back at work on Wednesday so they would be fresh. There were the reservations to be checked up on, ordering the wine ahead of time so it would be chilled and ready when they arrived. He need to make sure his suit was ready, giving himself plenty of time to get ready.

Of course all of that had changed when the doorman found him this morning. The man had come to him about Shoshannah, knowing Ian was concerned about the girl, intent on protecting her, the image Ian had done is best to portray. He wanted Ian to know she had a visitor the night before. A nice black man whom she seemed rather friendly with. The door man wasn't sure he'd seen the man leave either. The guy didn't appear to be a concern, but "you never know with those types," he'd been told. For Ian, Angelo's color had nothing to do with Ian's distaste for him. Rather, Angelo had something that he'd been denied which made Angelo the enemy.

He'd watched them have breakfast from a safe distance, staying out of sight, but just a few moments was enough to disgust him. Whatever was going on needed to end. Shoshannah was supposed to be his toy to manipulate, not someone else's. When the left he watched them go, annoyed again, but he still stayed out of the way. Trying his best to distract himself and thus keep the annoyance off his face, he moved from his office to the front desk, covering lunch breaks and calling in his reservation for tonight.

Shoshannah's morning hadn't turned out exactly how she imagined it would, had she spent her time imagining the morning after her camera was stolen. But had she thought about it often, it wouldn't have gone over as smoothly as it had if Angelo hadn't been there. She relied on the calm sense of knowledge that Angelo had, that stability that counteracted how frantic she'd been at that time. And she'd felt fortunate to have someone who would come across town to console her after having her camera stolen.

Not to mention that she'd wanted to show Angelo where she'd been living after she moved out of her house. She'd wanted him to see the Drake and have the ability to treat him to breakfast and show him that she was actually pretty well taken care of, thanks to Ian and Miss Amelia.

So after eating breakfast and taking a stroll with Angelo around the block near the Drake to where the bookstore was at, Shoshannah said her reluctant goodbyes to Angelo with a promise to see him later that night at the Kitten Club and headed back to the Drake.

Back inside the Drake's lobby, Shoshannah had intended to just go back to her room and take a nap, take a shower, and get herself ready for the Kitten Club later that night, but on her way to the elevator she spotted Ian at the front desk. So Shoshannah made her way to the desk, a smile on her face for the friend she hadn't seen lately. "Ian, hello! How are you today?"

"No Luigi, don't play dumb with me. You know what booth I want. That corner one? Near the dance floor but away from everyone else. Right. Eight-fifteen. See you then," Ian finished up his phone call as Shoshannah approached him. "Hello yourself," he told hanging up the phone. "I'm doing well enough, too much to do. And yourself?"

The smile on her lips grew wider as she listened to his conversation. She wasn't very well versed in the language of dating, but that sounded like Ian might have a date. An Italian restaurant, a table near the dance floor... "You sound like you have a busy night coming up too. Can I help with anything?" She had no knowledge of how to do anything here at the Drake, but she figured she might as well offer a helping hand, especially after all that Ian had done for her.

"What makes you think the reservation is for me?" Ian teased, but it showed on his face that it was just that, a simple tease, and that she had, in fact, caught him prepping for his date tonight. "And no, nothing around here you could help with," Ian commented with a small frown as Dolores sauntered her way back towards the front desk from her lunch. "But I do have some errands to run elsewhere," he told Shoshannah with a hopeful smile. "Do you have time to come along? I'll throw lunch in a consolation prize."

Shoshannah glanced at Dolores, trying not to let her feelings about the girl get in the way. It wasn't often that she just didn't like people but Dolores just rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was when she first met Dolores, the women had made it pretty obvious she didn't think Shoshannah had all her ducks in a row, for example. She'd been dripping wet with rain and hysterical from the fight she'd had with her parents and Dolores hadn't really helped ease that feeling.

So she took any offer to really leave Dolores' proximity, nodding to Ian at his offer to run errands with him. "I'd be happy to! What is it that you need to do?" Not only would she get to spend some time with her friend, but she'd be able to find a way to bring up a possible meeting with Angelo, and while she didn't exactly know that the date was for him, he seemed to be hinting at it with his eyes so it was already giving her a sense of relief. "Where are we heading?"

Ian smiled gratefully, moving around the front desk to meet Shoshannah. He'd had his coat handy, having already planned on running errands after his staff returned from lunch. "Well there's the florist and the cleaners. But the laundry place I go to is just near this fantastic little sandwich place. Best in town." It was Sam's favorite thing to bribe him with food from there. As far as she knew it worked, and if he was a lesser man it might very well work.

Her eyes lit up a little at the idea of a florist. Shoshannah was, at heart, a fairly romantic woman so talk of a florist had her indulging in girlish ideas of who Ian was getting flowers for, if she could maybe help him pick out the flowers for his date, and those sorts of things. Luckily, Shoshannah was still in her jacket from the walk with Angelo, so she was ready to leave when Ian came around to her side. "So can I ask who the lovely lady you're going to this florist for is?" She asked, hoping to segway into finding out for sure if he was actually going on a date or if these were errands for guests.

Ian chuckled lightly, taking in that she seemed rather amused at him sharing the details of his dating life. As much as he'd enjoy indulging her, giving her that little bit of himself to latch on to and thus securing his place in her life, the ice was still thin. Evelyn wasn't the type to want that information out in the open, especially after the comments about not dating him because he was her boss. Not that it would matter soon, as Ian was intent on attempting to thwart her attempts to leave, but for posterity he'd keep the cards close.

"It's not quite at the kiss and tell stage," Ian told her, winking just a little while he held the door open for her. "After tonight though, I might be more forthcoming with the information."

Shoshannah stepped out of the door eagerly, thanking him for holding it open. She couldn't help but feel a little fluttery sensation in her chest for Ian and his prospective lady and her smile showed just how happy she was for him. "Do you know what kind of flowers she likes?" And for now, since she and Angelo had made plans to go search for her camera at a later date, Shoshannah was happy to have something to distract herself with especially since he was gone. She stilled on the sidewalk just outside of the Drake, letting Ian take the lead since she had no idea where they were headed. Hopefully, they wouldn't pass by the scene of the crime she'd experienced last night.

Ian's smile stayed in place, but behind it he was curiously watching her. She was so different from those around her, not an inkling of jealousy at him being with someone else, but instead pure happiness for him as if the flowers would be for her. That unhindered innocence? It would look fantastic when he crushed it under his foot. "I have a few guesses," he told her, knowing Evelyn well enough that whatever he got her needed to be luxurious but not over the top.

Turning to start their walk down the street once she was relatively sure they were headed the right way, Shannah looked up to smile at him. "I'm sure whatever you pick out, she'll love. That's the thing about girls. We could hate the kind of flowers, but if they're a gift, especially a gift from someone we like, it doesn't matter what kind of flowers you got us. Just that you got us flowers. Maybe I can buy some flowers for my room at the Drake? Is that allowed?"

"That's a good tip," Ian answered with a smile, although he doubted that was the case with Evelyn. But she wasn't most women, which was something he liked about her, well as much as he could like something about someone else. "And of course, it is your room." He led them around a corner, headed down a few blocks of road lined with store fronts packed with bakeries, clothing boutiques, a pharmacy and of course the florist he was headed towards the end of the long block.

Shoshannah seemed to relax once their course was decided and she realized they weren't heading toward the place where her camera had gotten stolen. But now her mind was wandering back to that bus bench, back to the instant she fell asleep with her camera and the instant she woke up with no camera. "Ian, can I ask you something? It's a little personal so if it's over the line, I apologize. I was wondering if maybe...if you've ever had anything stolen from you before?"

The short answer, no. Ian wasn't the type. No one took things that were his, and if they thought about it? He mad sure they regretted it. But that wasn't the answer the girl was looking for so Ian went along with it. "Well, I've not been robbed or anything but metaphorically, yes." Shoshannah herself for instance. That had been his plaything and it had been ripped from him by some street trash musician. Not that it mattered because Ian would have her back.

"Metaphorically..." She echoed, letting the thoughts mull around in her head. "So say I had my camera stolen last night...Do you think it's a possibility that I could find it at a pawn shop in the next couple days? That's where everyone seems to think it's going to end up..." She should probably be coming to terms with the fact that she might never again see her beloved camera, but there would always be that glimmer of hope in Shoshannah that she could find it and have her prized possession back in her grasp again.

Ian stopped walking, catching Shoshannah's shoulder to turn her towards him. "Did you have your camera stolen last night? At the hotel?" Ian's face was laced with shock and concern, although in some ways he was concerned. If someone from his hotel was stealing things he'd have to figure it out and lay down appropriate punishment. The process could be enjoyable, but he had enough on his plate at the moment.

Caught off guard, Shoshannah stared at Ian for a moment before she could really answer his question. "Oh! No, not at the Drake. Just down the street from it, though. At the bus stop at the end of the block...But yes, I don't have my camera anymore. I sat down and, well...closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them up again, my camera was gone." She didn't exactly like the way that sounded. It made her sound like she'd really just sat down and not paid attention, when instead she had actually fallen asleep on the bench..but how could she really explain that either? "But everything's all right. Miss Amelia helped me look for it when she was on the way home from her shift. I really need to thank her again for that."

Not at the Drake. That was good news to Ian, the camera itself wasn't his largest concern. Turning her back toward the street he started walking again. "Well then yes it probably was stolen. There's quite a few thieves in this town, and most of them don't look like thieves at all." Hell, the ones with the grabbiest hands were mere children. Ian considered her story, about closing her eyes for a moment. He wondered if she'd done that thing where she's no longer there, like she'd done with him. That would certainly make her an easy target. "I'm glad Amelia helped, she's a good person like that." Ian smiled just a touch at Evelyn's name, not enough to give it away, but enough to possibly make Shoshannah wonder.

She'd already come to the conclusion that it was stolen and just the word itself hurt to hear, but she tried to keep that sense of hope in her. That maybe it'd show up at a pawn shop, maybe she'd be able to find it again. "Angelo seems to think that it'll show up at a pawn shop. Do you think that's possible?" When she looked to Ian again, she saw that small smile on his lips and it did spark a thought in her. "Miss Amelia is very nice," She agreed, the sound of her voice hinting. Come to think of it, the one time she'd seen them together...well, honestly she didn't remember much about the way they interacted, but they made a cute couple if she paired them together. "She's been nothing but kind to me since I came to the Drake. I'm really lucky to have friends like you and her."

"It could wind up there," he told her, his attention changing from talk of Evelyn at the mention of Angelo. Just the thought flared up the jealousy in him. "How is Angelo anyway?"

Just talk of Angelo had Shoshannah smiling, but internally she was still wondering exactly what to call him. They hadn't talked about any sort of label for the two of them because, honestly, she didn't feel like a label fit them. But that was another matter entirely. Ian had asked how he was, not who he was. "Angelo's doing really well. He wants to meet you, though, to thank you for helping me so much. I would have introduced him to you today but I didn't see you anywhere. I thought it might have been your day off."

"He wants to meet me?" Ian said with a laugh. That worked just fine with Ian. A relationship with Angelo would give him an edge in tearing him and Shoshannah apart. "And there's no need to thank me, I was doing my job, and helping a pretty girl. Anyone else would have done the same."

"Yes, he wants to meet you and thank you. He says he's happy there are kind people looking out for me." Ian's laugh had Shoshannah smiling more. "Well, you were the one that helped me, not anyone else, and I'm really thankful for that." As they approached the florist, Shoshannah was caught up in the arranged displays in the window. "Oh, wow. These flowers are gorgeous!"

You have no idea do you? Ian thought to himself with an inward chuckle. He would crush her, and he'd enjoy every moment of it. "I'll have to meet him then," Ian agreed, smiling at the back of her head as she inspected the window. "Yes, this is definitely the best one in town. Come on, it'll be warmer inside." Ever the gentleman he held the door open for her, letting her in first.

Stepping inside the florist, Shoshannah was hit by the intense, but welcome, smell of flowers. Her smile widened to a grin and she was sure she looked like a little kid in a candy store, but she just couldn't help herself. And while she would have love to have gotten a flower from Angelo, there was something a little liberating about buying herself flowers. Not to mention Angelo gave her more in the way of words and experiences than a flower ever could. But this was not a trip about her, even though she was ready to buy herself the whole store if she could. This was a trip for Ian, so she turned to look at him with that same happy look. "Where do you want to start?"

"Start? Typically I start at the counter and let them pick something out. Did you have another idea?" Ian gave her a warm smile at her child like wonder, all the while relishing in how it amused him so. Women like this, ones that have no idea how the real world works, they were rare, if the existed at all. She trusted Ian to the depths of her core, and that was right where he wanted her.

"Well, that's a good place to start, but what I was thinking might be fun would be to take a look around the shop and see if there are any flowers that remind you of your date? Those are the ones I would choose for her if I were you, but it's really up to you." Shoshannah had her eye on a specific bouquet, one filled with bright yellow, pink, and orange flowers, but she had to keep telling herself that it was about Ian and his date first and foremost. Her bouquet could wait.

Ian smiled at her brightly. "I think we can try it your way, that sounds like fun." It didn't, but he was willing to play along if it kept her happy. "Lead the way then."

And it was obvious that his willingness to try her idea did make her happy, so she lead him over to a smaller section of the shop, but one where a clerk was arranging flowers. Behind the
clerk, there were various vases filled with precut, ready-to-assemble flowers. "All right, so...do you think your date likes roses or something a little less traditional?" Roses were always a good standard, but Shoshannah had faith in Ian that he could arrange a more interesting and personal bouquet than one made of just roses.

"Not roses," Ian said, thinking of the bouquet of red roses that had arrived for her not too long ago. There was no need to remind her of that other man. "Something more lively. But not too over the top."

"Good," Shannah's eyes had a certain playfulness in them. She knew he'd pick something better than roses. "To be honest, I think roses have an odd way of saying you're trying too hard and not trying hard enough at the same time." Scanning the flowers behind the woman, she realized that this would be a lot easier if she knew what the woman looked like, how she acted, all of that sort of stuff. "Well, maybe lilies? Or..do you see any flowers back there that remind you of her?"

"No, lilies are too old. What about daisies?" he asked Shoshannh, pointing out a batch of brightly colored pink and orange gerber daisies. "Or is that too simple?" His tone was teasing a little, playing along with her game, even if it was terribly trite.

"I love daises, but it's not about me. It's about your date. I don't think they're too simple. I think daises have a sort of quiet elegance to them, but not many people notice it. But do they remind you of her is the real question?" Shoshannah glanced at him then back at the flowers. "That's all that matters."

"I think it fits her too. Maybe you two have more in common than I guessed." It wasn't entirely true, but he knew it would make her smile. Evelyn and Shoshannah had a few things in common, but where Shoshannah was naive, Evelyn was knowledgeable. A better fit for him if he cared about that sort of thing. "The daisies it is," he told Shoshannah with a smile. "A small bouquet, pink ribbon and wrapped so it's easy to hold?" Ian asked the woman behind the counter.

Not that she had to be, but Shannah was happy with his choice. "You've got a very lucky date," She watched the woman artfully wrap and secure the bouquet with ribbon, then hand it over to Ian. Shoshannah had originally thought a bright, sunny bouquet would fit nicely in her room, but as she scanned the flowers again, there was one set that drew her in. The peonies were pale pink with hints of pale yellow and white in them, and perfect all around. "Should I get a vase from here too, Ian, or do they have those at the hotel?" She asked as she turned to him, her own bouquet now wrapped and in her arms.

"We should have a vase at the hotel that would work just fine, pick out what you'd like and I'll make sure I find you one." Ian moved around the store again, admiring the different bouquets while she looked at hers. Finding another arrangement of pink roses and small lilies mixed in with baby's breath he called the girl over again. "I'll need one of these too, delivered Wednesday morning to the Drake."

She'd been debating over a square vase and one that tapered at the top when she overheard Ian buying another bouquet. This sparked all the questions she had been mulling over about his date. From what it sounded like, his date either was a guest at the hotel or worked there. Glancing at Ian, Shoshannah decided that now was as good a time as any to play the detective. "Two bouquets? You're date is really lucky, Ian. This second one's for your date too, isn't it?"

"That'd be a little pretentious wouldn't it? Assuming that she'd enjoy herself so much tonight that I'm already having flowers for her delivered to my place?" Ian teased a little. Of course they were for Evelyn, but they'd be on her desk, nothing more. "No these are for the hotel."

"Oh," Apparently she made the worst detective ever. Laughing, Shoshannah nodded to Ian before reaching into her purse to find enough money to cover her purchase. "They're lovely too. The colors are just sort of similar, that's all. But I think they'll make the lobby a little cheerier! Maybe they should be at the front desk?" She only suggested this because if people had a choice between watching Dolores judge them or watching a pretty bouquet of flowers, she knew she'd pick the second.

"That's what I was thinking," he told her with a small smirk. No the bouquet would do the job, remind Evelyn of their date when she saw it. He paid for both sets of flowers, taking both his and Shoshannah's in hand before heading out again. "Ready?"

"Thank you, Ian," Her smile was genuine. Ian was right, she did trust him completely. "Yes, I'm ready. So to the...dry cleaner's next, right?" She was right at his side when something she'd been meaning to tell him came to mind. "Oh, Ian! I got the job at Prophet's Pages!" She was sure a large part of it rested on Ian's sparkling recommendation of her. "Thank you again for going with me. I suppose if I never find my camera, I can make enough money in the future to buy another one now that I have a job."

"Yes, dry cleaners." Ian nodded, holding the door again so she could head out. "Did you now? I never doubted it for a moment, but congratulations." It was funny, the idea of her using the job to get money. She was a Hagel, they had money, they would always have money. If she asked her daddy, Ian was almost certain he'd buy her a new camera, and all the goodies to go with it.

Shoshannah hadn't told her father about the camera, and it was partly because she wanted to prove to him that she was ready for this kind of independence. That she could handle the big city even with her condition. But another part of it was because she knew that if she told him that her camera had been stolen, he'd have her whisked right back to their house and stick her back in the room that she spend most of her childhood in. And she didn't want that, as important to her as that camera was.

"Thank you. I know I've only been there a day but I really do like it there. The owner's a little cranky sometimes, but Mr. Whiskers likes me and that's saying something, I think, since he's very picky." Shannah put her hands in her jacket pocket as she walked. As nice as the day was, it was still a little chilly.

"Mr. Whiskers?" Ian asked with the perfect lilt of his voice to imply that he was more than curious who that might be. He guided them down another street, headed towards the dry cleaner. It was a little bit out of the way, but it was the best place this side of Chinatown.

"The owner's cat. I think it's such an unimaginative name for a cat that lives in a bookstore, so Miss Amelia suggested I rename him as Mr. McGreevey." As they walked, she talked about how she felt that Mr. McGreevey was a more appropriate name for the large orange tabby cat in the store.

Upon reaching the dry-cleaners, Shoshannah stepped inside with a slightly sinking feeling in her stomach. She tried not to let Ian know, but the last block or so of their walk she didn't really remember. By now, she knew the tell-tale signs of her condition rearing its head, and she was fighting it at the moment. So she stayed silent as the woman working there came to the counter.

"Ah, Mr. Sullivan. It's good to see you again! Prompt as always. I'll get your suit for you right now." She gave Shoshannah a smile, but when the girl didn't register that she was there, the woman's expression turned awkward for a split second before she actually left to go find said suit.

"Did she now? Where did she come up with that idea?" Ian asked with a laugh as they walked into the shop. He nodded at the owner, but caught her odd glance at Shoshannah before walking away. Glancing down at her he noticed that she seemed to have faded off on him again. "Shannah?"

Not just faded off this time. Shannah's eyes were already nearly closed by the time he'd spoken to her, but it wasn't like she heard him anyway. In the next moment, her eyes fell completely shut and she drifted. Drifted straight into Ian's shoulder, leaning all her weight against him. She was lucky there was someone there to fall on because if not, she'd be on the floor when she woke up and having to explain that to everyone was much worse than this. So there, against Ian's side, the full effects of Shoshannah's condition had her completely asleep.

Ian was surprised at her face, but when she slumped into him he almost jumped. Little caught Ian off guard and this was one of those moments. Turning he caught her in his free arm, holding her up. Was she asleep? "Shannah," he called again, shaking her a little as best he could. "Shannah come back."

The woman arrived babbling something about the cut of the suit, until she spotted the two of them with a gasp. "Oh dear what happened?" She set the suit down rushing to them. Ian handed off the flowers to her, taking Shoshannah in both arms now. "Shannah," he said again, brushing his fingers across her cheek.

When these spells hit her, Shoshannah usually had at least a couple full minutes of sleeping. The average was around ten minutes, but it all depended on variables. Ian shaking her coupled with the noise from his voice and the other woman's voice were just enough collectively to pull her back to the waking world. Where she saw Ian staring down at her and just by his expression, she already knew what had happened. She didn't need to see the woman's face or hear her frantic worries about whether or not Shoshannah was all right. Her cheeks flared a bright red, embarrassment being the definite cause of this blush, and she averted her eyes from Ian to cast them on a particularly interesting spot on the floor.

"I'm so sorry...I guess I just...didn't eat enough breakfast today. I'm fine now, really. There's nothing to worry about." The lie was half-assed at best, but it was all Shoshannah could think up on a moment's notice with two people staring at her like she'd just grown a second set of eyes. The smile she gave lacked it's usual genuine feeling. "I promise, I'm fine."

Ian kept one arm around her, guiding her gently to a spare chair in the shop. "Do you think you could get her some water or something?" he asked the woman to wave her off, giving them some space. Once the muttering old wench was gone, Ian turned his focus back to Shoshannah. Sitting her gently, he knelt in front of her, holding on to her hand. "Are you sure you're okay?" His tone was perfect, concerned, but not condescending. In reality he hated this, playing this stupid game at moments like these when there was no foreseeable benefit besides it being what he needed to do.

Shannah was actually happy that the woman was gone for now. It was one thing to try and cover up her condition around people she considered her friends, but quite another for a stranger to see this happen. So she relaxed when it was just the two of them, nodding to Ian although she seemed much less perky than just moments before. "Yes, I'm fine. Really. There's nothing to worry about. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen. I guess I really should have eaten more breakfast." For now, she figured it was probably best if she kept up with the frail image of a girl who hadn't eaten. It was much easier to believe than her real affliction.

Ian wasn't sure he believed her, it seemed far more like she was asleep rather than passed out, but he nodded understandingly. "It's okay, don't apologize." Ian reached up and brushed a little of her hair off her face. "Let me pay and then we'll go get you something to eat okay?" He stood up, pausing only to press a small kiss on her forehead before pulling out his wallet. Suit paid for and flowers back in hand, he went to retrieve Shoshannah. "You think you're alright to walk? You can hold on to my arm if you like."

She didn't often find herself in the business of keeping up appearances for the lies she told, but she was doing so now and she wasn't sure she was very proud about it. Still, she slipped her arm through his since a girl who had just passed out, which was what she wanted him to believe, would inevitably still be a little shaky. And even though she wasn't very hungry, she'd eat whatever meal she ordered. "If you don't mind? That'd be really great, thank you Ian. I didn't mean to put a big cloud on our day, I was having a lot of fun." It was the truth, she had really been enjoying her time with Ian until her stupid condition got in the way. "I can carry the flowers if you want."

"No big cloud. We're still having fun," Ian reassured her. He gave her a close look but still handed over the flowers so she could help out. It made it a little easier on him, plus he was able to focus on not wrinkling the newly pressed suit. The sandwich place was just a few doors down from the cleaners, another place where they greeted him by name. He led Shoshannah to a small table, sitting her down with the flowers and hanging his suit on a hook for coats. "You want to just sit here while I order at the counter?"

She let Ian lead her to the shop, lead her to a table, and help her sit down, because her mind was on other things. Say, the fact that her condition might be getting worse. This was the second time in as many day that she'd actually fallen asleep. Not to mention when she was with Angelo the night before, her condition played up then too. But she didn't stay in her own thoughts for long, looking up at Ian instead to nod. "I'll stay here. Guard the table," She said as an attempted joke, a smile back on her face even if it wasn't as happy as before. "Unless you need help bringing the food back?"

"I've been carrying piles of this food for years, I think I can handle it." Ian flashed her another smile then moved to the counter to order the pastrami sandwiches this place was so well known for. In a few moments he was back, two white bags with food, as well as drinks in hand. "Here you are." Sitting down across from her he pulled out his own sandwich, wrapped in wax paper, waiting for her to do the same.

Smiling again when he handed her the bag, Shoshannah pulled out the sandwich and placed it ontop of the white bag, wax paper and all. Unwrapping the sandwich, she let her mind wonder about when the last time she'd had a pastrami sandwich was instead of her original train of thought about her condition. It was a much more pleasant thing to think about. Taking a bite, she came to a conclusion. That no matter what pastrami sandwich she might have had before, this one topped it. "This is delicious!" There was that spark returning to her eye, that happiness that she carried around with her now coming back.

Ian had watched her while taking a bite out of his sandwich, ever curious about the change in her demeanor and then watching it change again. "Best in town," he answered. "My cousin, Samantha, she shows up with one of these if she wants something."

"It'd be a sure way to get anything, I think. This is the best sandwich I've ever had." Which wasn't saying much, since she'd not had many, but they were still undeniably delicious. So between bites and sips of soda, Shannah smiled. "Sounds like you're pretty close to your cousin?" To Shoshannah, any cousin that showed up with a sandwich was a close one. Not even her sisters did that for her. "I bet she's very nice, especially if she's related to you."

"It has that effect," he told Shoshannah with a smile. Inwardly he grinned wickedly about Sam, troubled and broken as she had been when he saw her last. "We're close enough, she's somewhat of a handful, but we grew up together." In reality she annoyed the holy hell out of him, but she was her mother's daughter and it was best to stay on her good side. "She's a little rougher around the edges than I am, but she does have her nicer sides." Just when he thought Shoshannah's innocence couldn't amaze him more, she pulled out a comment like that. The silly little girl really had no idea who he was related to did she? Hell, she had no idea who she was related to.

"I think it's nice that you have a cousin who'll come visit you." It wasn't something she liked to get into, which was probably why so many people were confused about her relationship and lack of sheer knowledge about her own family, but the Hagels were not as close as the image they portrayed. Or, well, maybe they were but Shoshannah certainly wasn't privvy to any of that real family closeness. She took another bite of her sandwich in order to steer her mind from Abigail and Rebecca and her mother and onto something else, something less serious of a thought. Back to that pastrami sandwich.

"It is nice," Ian agreed, even though it wasn't the truth on his end either. Not that it mattered, but it wasn't lost on him that he was talking about one of his least favorite family members in such a positive light. "What about your family?"

"What about my family?" She asked, the smile on her face still there as she took another bite of her sandwich. "Do they come visit me with pastrami sandwiches? No, not really."

"Well that much I'd gathered, or you'd already know about this place," Ian teased. "I was more asking about them in general. If you were close to them." He'd already met her father, enjoyable as an experience as that had been for Ian, watching the man realize what his daughter had walked into willingly. There were others though, those that knew what sort of work the family was in and Ian wanted to know about them as well. If Shoshannah could be used to get to them, just like she could be used to get to her father.

She tried to keep smiling, but for now she hid her lips behind the glass of her soda, taking a long sip of it. "We're close enough," She said, repeating what he'd said about his cousin and him. It was fairly obvious that it wasn't a true statement, though. "I'm really close with my father," She offered, the hint of a smile returning to her face as she thought of him.

Ian returned her smile, pleased in some way that she'd echoed his comment. Naive yes, but not exactly stupid. In some ways that was reassuring. If she survived him breaking her, she might very well turn to be useful in the end. "Family can be trying," he said with an understanding tone, polishing off the last of his sandwich.

Trying was right. Shoshannah had a very odd situation with her family. She loved her family but most of the time she just felt like a guest in their house, which was probably why she was so eager to keep her room at the Drake until she could find her own apartment. She took the last bite of her sandwich and wiped her hands of a napkin before speaking again. "They're trying but they're family. And family is family." She smiled again at Ian once more. "And even if we'd like to, we can't choose our family."

She had that part wrong. Ian had definitely chosen which part of his family was his family, but then there was no clear idea of who exactly he was related to, he was just loosely related to all of them. He like it that way though, it let him move about freely and cultivate connections with people as he needed them, rather than based on some predetermined set of rules. "Family is family," he echoed. "Are you feeling better? You think you're up for the walk back? If not we can catch a cab."

"Whatever you like, but I'm feeling much better," She promised and as if to prove so, she stood up and reached for the flowers. Her smile widened into a playful grin at Ian. "See, all better. But if you want to take a cab, I can help pay for it? That way we'll get back to the Drake faster and you can have more time to prepare for your date."

"Glad to see you're doing better," he told her, getting up as well and retrieving his suit. "I think the cab is a good idea, just so we don't have to walk." He'd already wasted enough time with this venture and getting back promptly would give him more time to finish a few things up before taking Evelyn out. Leading the way out of the shop, Ian hailed a cab easily enough. He held open Shoshannah's door, handing in his suit after her before telling the driver to take them to the Drake.

Shoshannah placed the flowers to her left and draped Ian's suit over her lap so it wouldn't get wrinkled. She rode most of the way back to the Drake in silence, but not because she chose to. Because she'd lost herself again. I might seem natural for her to stare out the window and watch the buildings pass, but if he looked closely he'd see that glazed look on her face, that not-all-here sense that she had. She was only brought back around by the jolt of a stop that the cabdriver made outside the Drake, which had her glancing around at first to realize where she was. When she noticed, she gave a small smile and reached for her purse. "How much is it?" She asked Ian instead of the cab driver, having learned from a cabride with Angelo that she should probably ask her cab partner than the driver himself, in case Ian had already paid for instance, and she didn't notice it.

He noticed that she'd drifted off again, which left him almost certain she'd lied about earlier. There was no way she was just lightheaded again when she'd just eaten. No there was something else wrong with her all together. Ian might have to investigate that further. "I got it covered," he told her handing off the cash for the short ride. The doorman was already at the cab, opening the door and taking things from Ian so he could offer Shoshannah a hand out.

"Oh, well, can I at least pay you back half of it?" She took his assistance out of the cab, her purse on her shoulder now. "You shouldn't have to pay for it all, you just bought me lunch." Maybe if she just smiled and acted like nothing was wrong, Ian wouldn't remember that she'd lost herself again. At least, that was what she was hoping for.

"Don't worry about it. It was my idea to take the cab." Once she was out of the cab he took their things back from the doorman, handing Shoshannah her flowers before heading into the hotel. "I'll have a vase sent up for your flowers, something understated I guess, since they've got enough personality on their own?

"Anything is fine. Thank you, Ian." With her flowers safe in her hands again, Shoshannah took a moment to lean in and take a sniff of their scent. What was that old saying, something about taking time to smell the roses. And while they weren't roses, they did the trick basically. Her smile brightened as they walked in. "I had a lot of fun today, thank you for letting me come with you, Ian. I hope your date goes well, but I don't see why it wouldn't. She's a lucky lady."

Ian's smile more than just looked genuine it was genuine. He wasn't actually interested in starting something with Evelyn, but there was no denying she was lucky, although he assumed it for reasons that Shoshannah didn't. She thought he was nice, and he knew he was great. "Have a good rest of your day Shannah. I'll see you soon. You know where to find me if you need anything." Nodding in farewell he strode off towards his office.