Thunders Kiss: strangers (2)

In the underground hotel a stranger roams

 

Smoke clouds the air; softly someone whispers sweet nothings to one of the many women who flit around the bar like flies on a corpse. The lights are kept low, intentionally; faces are kept vague, the music soft and unobtrusive. The bartender stands a blind deaf mute, until there are drinks to be served. In a corner a man sits quietly humming a tuneless ditty.

When the stranger enters no one pauses, no one looks up, and no one cares. His steps are slow and deliberate. The soft carpet muffles the sound of his hard rubber soles. His coat makes gentle waves in the air as he walks. The bar stool squeaks as he takes his seat with the rest of them.

“Raspberry burst, Smirnoff ice.”

The bartender nods once. A woman looks over. The stranger nods once. His drink arrives just as the woman does.

“Samantha.” Her hands are long and slender, the nails perfect.

“Sparky.” His hands are rough and callused; his nails are ragged and uneven. But perhaps that’s what she likes about him, his roughness. She laughs as she takes his hand.

“Really?” he pumps her hand once softly, not too rough, but with all the firmness that she expects from someone like him.

“No. but it fits.” His grin is bitter. Her laugh is soft and sweet.

He takes a long drink of his liquor. She moves in closer.

“Are you here alone?” she asks playfully.

“Not anymore.” They both smile. “But I have friends waiting for me upstairs.”

“Oh, such a pity” she pouts softly, mindful of her perfectly applied lipstick.

“They can wait.” He smiles. “And you?”

“All alone, for now.”

She sips gently from her glass, Champaign he believes.

“Are you staying here?” he asks referring to the hotel above.

“No, but I have a flat a few blocks from here.” Her words fall, unheard, to the ground. After a moments he catches himself.

“What was that?”

“I said I have a flat a couple of blocks from here.”

“Ah.”

“How long will your friends wait for you?”

“Not long enough unfortunately.”

Over her shoulder two new figures have entered the shadowy bar.

“Another time.” A flick of his wrist sends a collection of bills fluttering to the bar.

She smiles.

“Another time”

He spares her a quick smile as he walks away to join his friends.

“Anything?” asks the older man.

“Not from her.”

“I don’t really think that the basement bar of the underground hotel is really a hot spot for them.”

“You can never tell until you look.”

The stairs from the bar to the hotel proper are silent under foot, but give gently underneath the weight of the trio.

“The room’s pretty secure down there, nothing out of the ordinary in this town but I needed to check it out. There were a couple of people down there who seemed familiar but again, not that out of the ordinary in a place like this. How’s our room?”

“Adequate, a little posh for my taste but I expect it will do just fine.” Trish gives a slow smile.

“Oh the room’s too posh is it?” Bear, the older man, says with a smile “I’m sure we can find some way to make you more comfortable, I bet they have a kennel here they would let you rent if you prefer.”

“Shut up, I just meant that it was a little extravagant for our operation, that’s all.”

“Needs must when the devil drives”

“What the hell dose that even mean?”

“That sometimes the situation makes your decisions for you and that you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“Why couldn’t you just say that rather than spouting archaic quotes?”

 “How’s the view?” Sparky interjects before the playful verbal spar ends in a full blown argument.

“Fine.” Bear says gruffly. “Good view of the hospital and the construction site just like we thought. Trish has a partial view of the office building but it’s not really gonna do much good, the windows are blacked out, and even if they weren’t that place’s a bust anyway”

“You never know till you check. We’ll start there tomorrow”

Author's Note

I respectfully ask is that you don�t critique my work or my grammar, but I welcome comments with open arms.

Reviews

[Glassboxes]

Very mysterious. Good segue from the POV of the child in the earlier chapter then from the POV of the man at the hotel bar. I like that you didn't just follow a single character around through the different "scenes". It could almost be a movie script from the way you direct our attention. Very nice! I like the series so far.