setting records straight

Who: Evelyn and Ian
Where: The Drake (main lobby)
When: Late late morning/noon-ish

Evelyn was ignoring Dolores' pointed speculations and side-glances as she went about consulting yet another directory for her most recent request. She had left one of the guests and returned to the main lobby in time to see Ian escorting a young lady up. Seeing the hotel manager escorting a guest to a room was nothing unusual. But escorting a pretty young lady, hand on the lower back, up to a room she apparently couldn't pay for? Evelyn was no idiot, and pretty damn observant when it came down to it. She had enough experience with men to know that a hand on the lower back was no professional gesture or a sign of being 'just friends'.

And she found that with that thought she had to fight the straight line her mouth threatened to turn into. It was stupid, really; Evelyn had never had and never will have any intentions of sleeping with her boss. Or any boss. Ever. So she should have felt relieved at seeing Sullivan escorting some guest with the attention of an admirer. But she didn't feel relieved; instead she felt another irriation piled on to the general state of worry she had woken up in. And, had she been anywhere but work, she might've let her face betray her. But she didn't. Evelyn made sure she didn't; not with Dolores and the rest of the staff eying her so closely; not when everyone here suspected it had been some 'thing' with Ian that had gotten her this job. She wouldn't let a case of wounded pride prove them right.

Ian finally came back down again, stepping off the elevator with an unavoidable pleased smirk on his face. Those who saw him would interpret it as an interest in Shoshannah, but really it was just at the prospect of owning her. Stepping off the elevator, he made his way towards the front desk. Actually he'd not seen Amelia come back to the desk before he headed upstairs, so he wasn't sure what she'd seen. Still, he made a beeline for her, seeing an opportunity to play a little more. What could he say? He was in a good mood. And that look Dolores was giving Amelia out of the corner of her eye was golden. Leaning against the counter in front of Amelia, Ian smiled politely. "Amelia," he greeted her with a smile.

"Mr. Sullivan," Evelyn replied, looking up from the directory, as polite and professionally distant as ever. She was ever-the-more careful to shove down her irritation now that she was making eye contact, warily observing Ian Sullivan behind her perfect 'Role Model Employee' gaze. Did he seem any different? Less bashful, less smitten? Maybe, maybe not. There wasn't anything strictly noticeable there. But, still... she know what she did see; so she was wary, and probably looking for excuses to be warier.

"Ian," he corrected her. His eyes never left hers, but he was still studying her closely. She didn't seem as jealous as the others seemed to think she should be feeling, but she was also laying on the polite and placid look pretty thick. Even if she hadn't seen anything, it was more than obvious that everyone else had. "I was hoping to ask you a favor. Within the boundary of your job title of course." Ian let his face change a little, shifting just slightly back to the Ian Sullivan she was used to, the one interested in her.

Evelyn felt a bit more wary, partly because people mentioning favors always induced wariness."Yes, sir?" Whenever he made that request, she normally left a pause where 'sir' or 'Mr. Sullivan' or 'Ian' could go. But this time Evelyn politely, if pointedly, ignored it. She knew what she saw: the hugging, the hand on the lower back, the time he had spent 'helping' the guest or whatever. She wasn't naive, and was experienced in (ill-fated) relationships, she could see some signs and put them together. And they pointed to Evelyn no longer being the only apple of Sullivan's eye. She hadn't entertained any ideas of her and her boss, but her vanity had been flattered and apparently enjoying the attention. And even though she didn't suspect him of intentionally toying with her, her still-wounded pride kept her a touch more distant than normal. But there was a smile put on there, even if it was the same polite smile she gave guests asking for more towels.

Ian let his face fall a little at the "sir" just as she might expect. Amelia didn't usually call him by his first name, despite telling her that she could, although typically after he reminded her she left off the title. She wasn't giving him much, but that might be all he'd get from her in the way of jealousy. "We have a new guest, Miss Hagel, in room 430. I was hoping I could rely on you to see to it that she gets what she needs? I don't imagine she'll ask for much, but she's an important guest for the hotel." Ian kept his amusement inside, showing Amelia his best concerned hotel manager face.

An important guest for the hotel, or an important guest for you? That thought might've sounded a bit jaded and paranoid, even to her, but there it was: right smack in the forefront of her mind. And it was stretching the pause before her answer just a tad bit longer than necessary. "Of course," Evelyn smiled, a compensatory 'no problem there!' smile; even though right now Miss (not Mrs.!) Hagel's asking for the time would be asking for much. "And how long will she be staying with us?" The light tone was deceptively innocent at the question. Only the slight way it didn't reach her eyes suggested Evelyn wasn't keen on personally catering to 'Little Miss Not-Paying-For-My-Room' freeloader.

An evil smile bubbled up behind the mask he wore. She was hesitating longer than necessary and she wasn't quite smiling as fully as she normally did with him. Although the girl had never responded to his advances that hadn't stopped her from at least giving him a reason to keep them up, a glimmer of hope. Now she seemed to almost shut down out of what he assumed was jealousy. "A few days," he answered vaguely.

She wasn't fond of the answer, but she didn't show it. However her brow did betray some of her confusion, "Out of town?" With a name like 'Hagel' it was unlikely (she could hope!). But a name like Hagel also meant that, while they visited the Drake, they rarely checked out a room for longer than one night, if at all. There just really wasn't a reason to stay at a hotel -- even a ritzy one -- if your affluent family already had a place (or two or three...) in town. But Evelyn's question wasn't completely spurred by confusion and irritation, there was a legitimate purpose behind it! A guest from out of town had a whole different set of needs than one familiar with the area, after all.

"No, local. It's a family matter though, one best kept quiet. Just as the identity of our guest. For now at least." Ian's look was almost pleading. He needed her to help him, his intelligent and beautiful employee, the one he could trust to do the job right.

It was a bad combination for her. Whether or not she acted on it, Evelyn did not like seeing people in trouble, or hurt, or needing help -- especially her help. And she liked being good at her job... and being good at things in general. She wouldn't be one for flashy things even if she could afford it, but there was a vanity that enjoyed being admired for her skills and intelligence the way other woman loved being admired for their jewelry. And all that meant that the irritation that threatened to hand this 'favor' over to someone else didn't get its wish. "Of course," Evelyn smiled there, even though her eyes still lacked the earnestness. She wasn't enjoying any of this, but that didn't mean she wouldn't perform her job as well as ever. There was something to be said for self-control after all.

He knew it would be believable; Shoshannah had come in looking like a wreck, messed up hair and wearing the same dress from the day before. No, it was perfect. His thoughts drifted back to that perfectly pleased face Shoshannah had when he'd kissed her palm. Yes, perfect. "I appreciate it Amelia," he told her reaching out to touch her hand.

With her sore pride and increased confuseion, her lips fought the urge to purse as he touched her hand; really, Sullivan seemed just as much himself as he always had. But that didn't jive well with a guy harboring an additional crush there. She almost began to doubt what she saw, except, well... no. She knew what she saw, she was certain of that. She might miss things when upset, but her eyes didn't play tricks on her and have her seeing what wasn't there. But just because she knew what she saw didn't mean she knew the story behind it...

Had it been anyone other than Ian, the obvious conclusion would've been 'Player with a capital P'. She knew the type; her friends had dated some, and even Evelyn had a few assholes in her closet. But there were other signs accompanying such douchebaggery that had been absent in this case. So it was back to maybe not understanding just what the story was there. "Is this a personal acquaintance?," she finally asked, pulling her hand away to jot down a note that could've been jotted down later. But the simple fact that there obviously was no professional reason for the question robbed her of some of that distant tone. Her eyes had flicked down briefly to the note she was jotting, but they flicked back up in time to gauge the response.

"A personal acquaintance?" Ian asked innocently, as if he wasn't sure what ever Amelia could mean. After a moment he let his face light up in surprise. "No, or at least not really. She is a friend, but more of family friend," he denied. Inwardly he smiled, this was fantastic. Personal questions meant she was actually jealous. Or something close to it.

Whatever relief she may have felt was short-lived, he was family friends with a Hagel? That gave her pause, as those wonderful warnings from both Dodge and Dutch resurfaced in her mind. Obviously, being the manager of the Drake, Sullivan must've known the family(ies) in some manner... but what with his last name being wholly unrelated to the families and him seemingly wholly non-mob...ish, she had figured that the relationship there was more professional than personal. But apparently Sullivan wasn't quite so distant from the families as she thought.

And now she was being asked to personally cater to a Hagel -- even if she seemed a largely harmless one -- and, overall, Evelyn was really starting to think she should've thought harder before accepting this position. Extremely curious and worried though she was, she didn't ask further on the 'what is yoru relationship with the DiGiovanni?' matter -- that just bordered on inappropriate. It wasn't as if the DiGiovanni would be dumb enough to ask the concierge to set up drug deals or something. And if they did? And she hadn't given them anything that could be taken advantage of, not even her real name. Evelyn didn't need the money anymore, so there was no reason to bend her morals for any job.

"Was there anything else you needed, sir?" She managed a small smile there, but her worry meant she only kept it as long as she needed to.

"That's it," he told her with a nod, catching another slight hesitation, which wasn't what he'd been expecting. He'd expect relief or at least reassurance. "I do appreciate it though, your help and her privacy. She's..." Ian glanced back towards the elevator with a concerned look on his face. "I hate to see her mixed up in something bigger than her. This isn't the safest town to be on your own in." Looking back at Amelia he still wore that concerned look.

No shit. Recalling just how very dangerous this city could be for a girl cracked Evelyn's working face for a moment. Despite her attempts to just move on past it, that night still bothered her. A lot. Pushing back that unpleasantness and focusing on the issue at hand, Evelyn found herself approaching the situation with considerably less concern than Sullivan. Yeah, a girl on her own in this city had some serious shit to look out for, but being on one's own in cushy paid-for suite in the Drake hotel didn't seem particularly hazardous. Okay, so, maybe her irritation hadn't gone completely away.

"Well, I'll take care of it with the utmost discretion," Evelyn promised with some still-forced pleasantness. Realizing that, she worked her demeanor to be more reassuring since he was so concerned. She may have preferred to deal with Huffy 'Find me a new opera!' Matron, but Evelyn would uphold that promise. Hell, she could do discretion. If anything she did discretion and secrets too well.

Amelia's brief crack didn't go unnoticed but Ian didn't comment. Still, that was a useful bit of information. Something had happened to her and Ian wondered if it had something to do with the hurt wrist. "I knew I could count on you," he told her, sincerity in his voice, and eyes full of admiration. He'd given her that look before, when he was more actively courting her.

"Thanks," The look was a hard one to simply brush off, and this time the smile she had given him seemed a bit more genuine. If anything, now she was feeling a bit bad for being so distant, even if her distance -- like her affections -- wasn't readily noticeable on the surface. But, before she could get lost in any precarious musings, Evelyn started a bit, recalling something earlier from her morning.

"Oh! Before I forgot, there was something I wanted to ask you about..." with that she stepped back from the counter towards some notebooks and such against the wall, returning with a pile of papers. "I was looking for something for a guest, and was told to consult a directory back here... but it was easier said than done, the records and such were a bit of a mess." That was the understatement of the century, they had been horrendous! She had spent a good portion of her morning between other tasks trying to establish some sense of order. "I managed to make some leeway through most of it, but there were a couple of papers that were difficult to place. Maybe you'd have an idea?" She pushed the papers across the counter towards him -- she couldn't tell if they were inventory or bills or who-knows-what -- and gave him a bemused, 'Good luck with that' shrug.

Ian had raised an eyebrow when she walked away, completely curious about what she was getting on about. When she came back with the papers he eyed them curiously and Amelia as well. "Leeway?" Ian asked, although the worry that was coursing through his veins like ice was well hidden. He took the papers from her, looking them over. Mostly they were outdated invoices, from when they'd bought some new items for the kitchen and ballroom. Harmless items but if she was busy organizing his records, that wasn't exactly harmless.

"Well, they may have been a bit more disordered than I let on," Evelyn admitted, demeanor considerably more relaxed now that she was talking about the 'work' part of work. It helped that she was a bit proud of the job done there, those records had been a disaster. She even gave a small laugh before continuing, "It's kind of a surprise anyone was able to find anything at all, really. But I think you'll be happy to know that's no longer the case. With the exception of those papers in your hand, everything's so arranged back there even a monkey could find what he's looking for." There was the briefest hint of a smirk as she added, "Quite easily, in fact."

He'd kept the records like that on purpose. Everything he needed to know about the hotel was kept in his records. If the records room was a mess, no one bothered to look for everything. "Well, thank you," he said, not sure. "You didn't have to do that Amelia." I really wish you hadn't done that. He handed back the papers. "These are invoices from the kitchen and ballroom repairs and purchases. The guy we hired keeps worse books than I do apparently."

She actually laughed a little bit at that as she took back the papers, "Thanks. And, it wasn't any trouble at all, really." Actually, sorting through the mess had been pretty troublesome, but Evelyn strove to reassure him on that point he seemed so concerned with. "If anything, doing that was helping myself really: saves me time on trying to sift through everything each time." And she was a practical girl who didn't like her time wasted.

"Right, well just so long as it helps you. Don't feel like you have to do that sort of thing just to do it. It's not really your job." Ian had gone from quite amused to quite concerned, even if it didn't show. The girl was probably more trouble than he'd expected, than he needed. Which just means he needed something on her.

"I'll keep that in mind," she kept her bemusement checked there. Really, it wasn't as if she could leave the records as they were... when working Evelyn wasn't one to let things go undone, even if it wasn't her job to do them. She wasn't always happy about it, but she picked up the slack when need be. And it wasn't as if organizing a mess of papers had any more danger than a papercut. "But, since I've already started this venture," her tone warm, she held up the papers he had returned, "I'll just put these papers back to finish the job."

"Right of course," Ian said nodding. "I do appreciate it." He needed a way out of this, something to catch her in, something to make sure she wouldn't mess things up. He was short on ideas at the moment, but he'd have to come up with whatever it was fast.

She gave him a little nod of her own there, stepping back a bit from the counter as she walked her way back to put the papers with the other records. It didn't take her long -- the new system did make finding things pretty easy -- and when Evelyn returned she gave Ian a small, brief half-smile, "I guess should probably get back to work then." 'Cause, y'know, she now had a Hagel to babysit... or whatever.

"Of course," Ian said nodding. He stepped away from the desk turning to leave and hesitating briefly as if he had something else to say and then moved on. There wasn't anything else to say, but he wanted her to think that. To think that he wanted to say something else, but decided against it.

Evelyn frowned a bit, curiosity surfacing up, but she didn't call him back to ask about it. Just because her pride seemed tempted to indulge in a dangerous road, didn't mean she wasn't aware the road was dangerous. Not that anything about Ian Sullivan struck her as dangerous, just... again, boss. Really, if he weren't her boss, she probably would've well gone down that road by now. She sighed only slightly, picking up the phone to make a reservation, reminding herself that the choices she was making were the right ones in the end.