Update From the Third Party

Who: Becky and Ian
Where: The Drake Hotel
When: Afternoon

Becky walked into the restaurant at the Drake looking like she belonged there. Red and white floral print dress perfect for the warm weather, a gauzy white scarf covering her hair and the big sunglasses covering half of her face. She smiled prettily as she walked past the maître d’ and headed to the bar where she knew Evie was working last. For noon, the restaurant wasn’t massively busy, it being late enough in the day that people had taken their lunch already and resumed their daily activities, so Becky didn’t feel as bad for looking to bother her friend to see if she could skip out early.

However Evie wasn’t there. The bartender working said he had no idea who she was, but admitted he’d also only just started, so perhaps he just never met her. Which left Becky at a loss as to what to do. She hadn’t been at the boarding house when she rang, so Becky had assumed that she was working. Apparently that wasn’t the case.

Ian had been eating his lunch not far from where Becky had wandered up to the bar. Little went on without him noticing, but it was near impossible to miss the blond bombshell that had just sauntered her way into his hotel. People themselves rarely meant much of anything to him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate the curves of the female form. Swallowing hard and clearing his throat he leaned towards her a touch, helpful smile on his charming features. “Who were you looking for again?”

Becky looked at Ian, a little startled and she took off her sunglasses so she could look at him properly. She recovered though, playing her game and smiled sweetly at him. “Oh, my friend, Amelia? She works her at the restaurant and I just haven’t seen her in ages,” Becky gushed a bit.

“Amelia?” Ian’s smile shifted, a little shyer this time while his mind turned this over in his head. “She doesn’t work here at the restaurant anymore. I hired her to work over at the front desk when she hurt her arm. She’s my best concierge.” Wiping his hand quickly on his napkin he offered it to her. “Ian Sullivan. I run the place.”

Becky’s smile was still in place as she reached out with a white gloved hand to shake his, thinking she did quite a good job covering her surprise. Evie hadn’t told her that she’d been promoted and hurt her arm? Thoughts of what might’ve happened to her best friend ran through her mind and Becky knew she was going to have to track her down like a bloodhound. “Rebecca Adair,” she said, noticing how Ian’s smile had shifted when he repeated Evie’s alias. That was pretty interesting too. “Well, Mr. Sullivan, let me just say I think you do a wonderful job here. It can’t be an easy job.”

He was watching her closely, though his mask of a face kept that from plain sight. “Ian works just fine,” he told her. “And I’m pleased you appreciate it Ms. Adair. But the job is easier when you do really enjoy what you do.” Like manipulating almost every face that walks through the door, which was the most Ian actually got out of his job. That and the reassurance that even if the Family fell? Ian would be sure to take The Drake with him when he avoided the dust. “How do you know Miss Amelia again?” He motioned towards the seat next to him offering her a place to sit.

“Friends from school,” Becky explained, taking the offered seat. She crossed her ankles demurely, leaning against the bar. “I haven’t spoken to her in awhile, so I suppose that’s how I missed the promotion. Oh, Amelia’s the best. Really. You’re very lucky to have her.” And Becky sincerely meant that. That Evie managed to get out and find a job somewhere where she didn’t have to worry about being accosted or her paychecks disappearing or any of the multitude of things that had been happening. “You said she hurt her arm though?” The concern was clear in Becky’s voice, although she worked very hard not to let it show exactly how worried she was about that. “Is she alright?”

“Haven’t spoken to her in a while?” Well that meant that her friend wouldn’t know about him or specifically about their date. “I must agree with you though, I know I’m lucky to have her.” Ian let a little extra slide into that comment, but he kept his face innocent, implying something, though not something scandalous or inappropriate. “I think she just strained her wrist is all, maybe working back here. She didn’t explain how and I didn’t want to pressure her.”

“Oh, I’ve been quite busy, and haven’t had the opportunity to speak with her in the past couple of weeks.” Becky had been avoiding, to an extent, and she had a feeling that Evie had been avoiding on her end too. And that was implied in Ian’s comment, although it seemed innocent, Becky didn’t particularly like. And she suddenly found herself wracking her brains for any mentions of her boss in general, or Ian Sullivan in particular. If there’d ever been trouble at work. Had Evie ever implied anything. But she couldn’t remember and that bothered her even more. “How long have you been in charge of things here, Ian?” she asked, that sweet smile of hers back in place as she steered the conversation onto him and away from Evelyn. “Even if it isn’t difficult, it must take up a lot of your time.”

Ian noticed that she’d change the direction of the conversation, and couldn’t help but but wonder what she was hiding. Nonetheless he ran with it, letting the conversation shift naturally. “A few years now, not too long. Someone thought I’d be decent at it and here I am. And yes, it’s quite the life commitment,” he said with a chuckle. Though that had been his decision. If he’d been willing to delegate everything off to others he’d have less to do, but he couldn’t allow that. It didn’t terrible matter though. People didn’t want to be constantly working because of family or friends or other personal relationships. Ian had nothing of the sort so constantly being busy took nothing from his life. In fact, it saw to it that he didn’t get bored, and thus sloppy in his own little games.

“I bet your girlfriend isn’t too happy about that,” Becky teased a bit shyly, trying to get a better read on him. He hadn’t given her any obvious signs that he was on the shady signs, but she’d gotten paranoid over the past few months, and any boss was questionable material. “Married to your work type deal.”

He chucked with that shaking his head. “Don’t have a girlfriend. Or well not yet,” he said looking away for a moment before looking back at her. “So no, no one to worry about working too much.”

That didn’t sit well with Becky either, but she hid the frown with a sympathetic smile. “It must be very lonely,” she said. “I’m sure you’re quite the catch. You’ll find the right girl.” She said it in such a way that sounded like she was hoping that maybe she’d be the right girl. The flattery card.

“I think I might have, but we’ve only been out once,” he explained, smiling lightly, though he understood what she’d been implying. That painted her in a new light to him, and he had to wonder if she was interested in aligning herself with someone who had something she didn’t.

“I hope it was a nice time,” she said, wondering if that’s why she hadn’t heard from Evie. If she had gone on a date with this man and that’s why he had the reaction to the name earlier that he did. “I’m sure you run into a lot of nice people around here. All those parties you host? I’m sure you get to have fun at them.” It seemed like there was always some grand ball or gala event going on at the hotel. She’d never been to something like that. Evie must’ve, when she’d been waitressing. And if she’d gotten promoted? God, she really needed to track her friend down.

“It was. I think she enjoyed herself.” Though outside of seeing her at work, they hadn’t had a chance to see her properly. He’d hoped for something today but she’d taken the day off, which Ian assumed had to do with the nice weather. “Sadly I rarely get to enjoy them, but I always get compliments on them after the fact. Have you not been to one of our events yet?” Ian was fairly certain she hadn’t, he would have noticed, but part of him wondered how she’d fare, and he was tempted to ensure she was invited to the next event.

Becky shook her head. “Can’t say that I have. I’ve heard that they’re absolutely wonderful though,” she assured Ian. That’s all she’d ever heard about parties at the Drake. That they were always the event of the season and glamorous and wonderful. And maybe someday that would happen. When she wasn’t someone’s dirty little secret maybe. “Someday maybe. If I could find the right date.” She shrugged in self-depreciation.

“That,” Ian said, picking up his fork again and pointing it at her. “I find completely hard to believe. Someone like you not able to find the right date?” He smiled at her again, this one obviously amused, but genuinely meant that he assumed she shouldn’t have to worry about that.

She raised an eyebrow, amused herself. “Oh?” she asked lightly, surprised by the comment. Not that she was surprised by that kind of assessment in general, just that he’d said it. “Well, thank you. Let’s just say I have a hard time finding one whose worth keeping around. There aren’t many around, really.” She reached for the little bowl of cashews that were left on the counter, popping a few in her mouth. “Let alone any that I would like being on the arm of at one of your wonderful parties.”

Ian waved the bartender over so he could get Becky a menu. “That much I suppose I could understand. Or so I hear from the women who work in my hotel. They don’t think I listen.” He chuckled a little, both to play the part, but also because he was amused at how easy this girl was.

Becky smiled thankfully at the bartender and reached up to untie the scarf from her head. She shook her hair out, and glanced down at the options. “I’m sure they’re all busy gossiping about what a flirt you are,” she teased, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’ll just take a side salad, please,” she told the man with a smile. She tugged the white gloves off her hands and put them in her purse. “Are many of your employees women?” she asked casually. Obviously the bartender wasn’t, but she wondered exactly how many women this guy employed.

Ian smiled, but didn’t comment on being a flirt. The playful accusation made him think of Dutch’s far louder accusation of chasing skirts, though that was hardly the case. Besides Evelyn and the necessary flirting here or there, Ian never dipped into the office pool. “It’s about half and half, women versus men, but I try to keep women working the front desk. They seem better equipped for ensuring our guests feel welcome.” That and they were easier to find in the pretty but stupid variety, which was how he preferred his coworkers. A lack of intelligence didn’t try to resort the way he ran his business and the good looks distracted from the fact that most of the girls couldn’t find their way out of a room with one door.

“Women do tend to be good at organizing things,” she agreed, understanding his logic but not liking it. And Becky wondered how long she’d been this paranoid, this worried about the littlest things and what they could mean. “That much I’ve heard anyway. Your maître d’ though might need some pointers on smiling.” She nodded her head back to the thin man hanging by the podium.

Or something like that, Ian thought without voicing it. He hardly thought that was a talent left to just women, bur rather something they thought they were good at and thus did their best to remind others of their worth. Shooting a glance at the maitre d’ he couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “He does, but I think that’s his game. He seems to think it’s more proper.” Ian shook his head a little. “I try to stay out of the details of the restaurant. The hotel itself is a full time job.”

“Guard the entrance with a scowl so only the brave may pass through?” she asked, smiling up at the bartender as he set her small salad in front of her. She looked at Ian curiously. “So the restaurant and hotel operate as two separate entities?” she asked, wondering, then if that were the case, how Evelyn could go from waitressing to working at the front. “I find the whole idea of running a hotel fascinating, really. I just can’t imagine how complicated it might be.” It wasn’t a line. She was honest about that. Running a business like a grocery store seemed difficult. She couldn’t imagine running a hotel like the Drake.

“Perhaps,” Ian guessed, taking a bite of his lunch and chewing before continuing. “No, not entirely. I have a supervisor who maintains the details for the restaurant. He keeps track of most of the day to day items, but in the end he still reports to me.” It was a structure that the supervisor had not been eager to jump into, but Ian saw to it that he was paid well enough to tolerate it. “It’s not terribly complicated, just a lot of little details.”

Becky poked at her salad while he spoke, nodding at appropriate intervals. She wasn’t exactly hungry but she ate some salad anyway. “Did you always want to run a hotel or was it one of those things you fell into?” It seemed like one of those inherited sort of deals to her. Who aspires to run a hotel?

“Sort of something I fell into. I started working here when I was young, at the front desk and such and eventually moved up the ranks. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do until I got into it.” It wasn’t lost on Ian, the way she moved the food on her plate rather than actually eating it. He couldn’t help but wonder what had motivated her to stay and eat with him if she wasn’t hungry. “What do you do Miss Adair?”

“The front desk with all those women?” she asked teasingly. As for what she did? That was certainly a loaded question. What did she do anyway. “Oh, I’m just an office gopher,” she said, another depreciating shrug. She had been, for awhile. Technically, she still was listed as an assistant. “Nothing too glamorous there.”

Ian smiled again but chose not to comment on her hints about him being surrounded by women. There had actually been less women working at the Drake then, the former manager having an idea that women belonged in the home. When Ian saw to it that the spot opened up for the manager position, he carefully did away with that policy. Women were easier to manipulate, just like he guessed this girl was. “What kind of office?” Despite the ebb of boredom that was hinting around the edges of Ian’s mind he sounded interested. Outside of being pretty Becky had done little to really impress Ian. If she hadn’t been Evelyn’s friend he would have considered asking her out now, knowing that it wouldn’t take more than a slightly expensive restaurant and mediocre bottle of wine to get her into his bed. There were things on his plate, but that didn’t change the fact that it was sometimes fun to play the game just to play it. But she was Evelyn’s friend and thus could probably prove to be useful in the end, so he ignored his own boredom of the situation and pushed through with the small talk.

Ian had certainly not won any points on Becky’s side. There may have been a point in time where she’d dazzle him and play coy in hopes of wrangling a date, but things like that were out of the question, and not just because she wasn’t interested in him. She was just a pretty face, nothing special, not memorable in a flow of other pretty women. But at least now she had an idea of what Evie was dealing with here at the Drake. Could warn Evie if she didn’t already have suspicions. The idea that she was just too paranoid niggled in her mind but Becky pushed the thought away. She was only looking out for her friend. “Law offices,” she said. “He works civil cases, so there’s never anything exciting going on there anyway. But it pays alright and I get the weekends off.” Sometimes, anyway. Becky took another stab at her salad, red lipstick still perfectly in place. She may not appear to be bright, but she was eye candy, certainly. It was all a facade to her and sure, sometimes it was fun to pretend, enjoy innocent attention, but it was more interesting to see how far she could take it.

Ian nodded, seeming to approve of her choice. “Sounds like there’s always work to be done though, working for a lawyer. I imagine in a town like this even a lawyer dealing in civil cases would stay busy.” Or at least the lawyers the DiGiovanni’s had on retainer seemed to stay busy. “Weekends off sounds nice though, I don’t think I’ve had one of those in a while.” His tone was still light, pleasant with a hint of laughter.

“It’s a beautiful day and you’re the boss, you’re entitled to darting out to enjoy a beautiful day for awhile instead of being stuck in here,” Becky encouraged a bit slyly. She was definitely someone who believed in enjoying nice days and manipulating the system to do that. “Especially one like this in the middle of winter.”

He couldn’t help but glance towards the front of the hotel lobby where the light caught the doors. Honestly the nice day didn’t affect him much. It all looked the same, maybe warmer and in lighter tones, but it was still black and white. “I am the boss, which means I was a good boss and tried to not think to low of the good number of staff members I had who called in sick today,” he said with a smile. It had actually put him in a sour mood for the day, but that didn’t mean he didn’t smile through it. “Including your friend Amelia. Or at least I hope she’s just enjoying the day and not avoiding me.”

“Why on earth would she be avoiding you?” Becky’s suspicions were up, but the question sounded casual. Disbelief that anyone would want to avoid him. “Is there a message you’d like me to give her when I see her?” Her mind was running a mile a minute. What had happened. Had he tried anything. Was Evie okay?

Ian laughed awkwardly, looking away from Becky then looking back. In a moment he was no longer the cool collected hotel manager, but just a guy with a really big crush. He cleared his throat a little before speaking. “The girl I mentioned, the one I took out once. That was Amelia.” He smiled sheepishly at Becky. “It was just dinner, nothing fancy, and nothing more besides just dinner and a little dancing, but she’s looking for a new job,” one that she wouldn’t get of course, “so we figured there wasn’t much harm in going out once, before she left you know. I don’t... I’d never date...but you know Amelia, she’s incredible.” Ian stammered through the last few lines, letting his cheeks flush just a tint or two redder than normal before clearing his throat again and looking away. The perfect set up.

Had it been a year ago, Becky would’ve thought it sweet. A little sketchy but sweet, seeing a man so besotted with her friend but thoughts had turned ugly since... Becky just didn’t see things that way anymore. She kept the sweet smile on her face, but there was a slight tension in her shoulders, the words Find Evie running through her head. For all she knew, Ian was just the ‘aw shucks’ type fellow, a genuinely nice guy who happened to run the nicest place in town. But Becky just couldn’t take those risks anymore. “She is, isn’t she?” Becky agreed, dabbing at her mouth daintily with a napkin. “But I really must be going.” She reached into her little purse for her pocket book to pay. “I’m sure I’ve kept you over your lunch break.”

Ian watched Becky as she swiftly changed gears. She was subtle about it, but he still picked up on the fact that she was more than ready to abandon her barely touched food without much thought at all. That served as an interesting extra piece to the puzzle. In fact, a women who just moments before had been boring him to tears had now managed to catch his attention in more way than one. “No, no,” he told her. “I’m the one that’s probably keeping you. You came in looking for a friend and wound up having lunch with a stranger. I did enjoy the company though.” Interested or not he wouldn’t convince her not to leave if she wanted to go. There was nothing that said he couldn’t ensure their paths crosses again.

“I did too,” she assured him with a wink, taking a few bills from the pocketbook to cover both the salad and tip. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Ian. I hope I run into you again.” She really hoped not. But she definitely meant it when she said she was glad to have met him because boy, did he give her a load of information.

He let his smile brighten a little outwardly at her wink, seeming to appreciate the attention. “I hope so as well,” he told her confirming mentally that he would see to it he ran into her again. “Enjoy the rest of your lovely day.” He stood when she moved to leave, manners ever intact even sitting at the bar of his hotel.

Becky flashed him another wink. “You too, Ian,” she said and left, allowing the smile to drift off her face as she exited the hotel. This was not a good thing.