Just arrived

"A little early for a drink, inn'it it?"





Samantha stared the woman down and took a large gulp of her drink before she placed her order for a T-bone steak. She was starving, but she didn't exactly have money to burn through. She had to be careful and make it last, and the T-bone steak happened to be the least expensive thing on the menu. If she was going to waste her money, let it be on something helpful, like a good stiff drink to start the day.

She tried to take her time with her meal. Tried to not think about where in the world she was going or what she was doing because then she'd realize she didn't really know where she was going or what exactly she was doing. But it felt right. It was the right thing to do. There was something she was missing, a piece to her puzzle that had somehow managed to go missing over the course of her life when she'd been working on putting things together.


It was after she had finished her steak, sitting with a full stomach and trying to nurse her afternoon drink that she felt someone standing behind her. She did not turn around and she refused to curl up and let the little shiver roll down her back because she knew she was being watched.

"You're new here," he said as she raised her glass to her lips for something to do.

"Mmm hmm." His voice was smooth and gentle and it made her relax a little.


"I'm Water Mellon," he said with a smile as he stepped around to stand behind the bar. He was dressed well, in a suit that fit him perfectly and left both a lot and almost a little to the imagination.

"Water Mellon?"

"Yeah, my mom had a strange sense of humor. My brother's name is Green." His lips gently curved up in a pleasant manner. The way one does when they don't expect anything in return. He was relaxed and calm, and it made her feel relaxed and calm. "I own this restaurant."

"Nice place."


"Thanks. I do try." He glanced down at her shirt, the free shirt they'd given her at the train station when she'd left. (She hadn't even known they had shirts to give away to people leaving Lakeside-- what was that some sort of promotional deal?-- but it'd been free and clean, and it was comfortable.)


At least she hoped he was glancing at her shirt. He didn't say anything for a moment. She cleared her throat and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "I just left from there. And yes, I got this t-shirt."

"It says 'born' though. Does everyone born there get that shirt?"

She glanced down. So it did say "born." She hadn't noticed that before. "Huh. Well, I don't know. I could just be special."

He smiled at her. "Do you have a place to stay yet?"

Hopefully he wasn't going to offer her one. "I was looking for a hotel or something, but there doesn't seem to be any here."


"We're pretty small, and we don't get a lot of visitors. But I know a place you can go."

And he gave her directions to the city center and a special place that was "like" a hotel he said, but it really sounded more like one of those old flop houses for the poor. It was okay though, because technically without a job and on the go she was poor.

********************

So just for reference, because I'm sure we all know, anyone reading this blog has to be reading Lakeside Heights too, but just in case: This is Samantha Bradshaw's first stop on the grand tour of the Samantha Bradshaw project.