Tara walked out of the office carrying a small bag and waved at Star. The trip to Atlantic City would be both business and pleasure for her; she had a few plans of her own, but she was also very much looking forward to spending time with Star- and getting to know Declan. She tossed her luggage in the trunk before returning to the pair with a grin.

"Coffee sounds good to me. Ready for some adventure? Nice seeing you, Declan. I've heard a lot of good things about you from this one here."

She smiled as she slid into the car.

Declan gave Tara a wan smile and looked around behind her, his face registering the disappointment of not being able to meet her brother. Earlier in the week, Star had mentioned the fact that Gavin would be accompanying them but his recent injury thoroughly prevented that. Dec bit the inside of bis bottom lip before wiping his hand across his chin, mustering up his 'niceties' as mother had once put it. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tara." 

He stuck his hand out and plastered on a more genuine smile just as Tara sat down in the car and he'd once again made an utter fool of himself. This life was going to take a LOT of getting used to. With a sigh, he dropped his hand and loped to the car, pulling the keys from his pocket as Star scooted into her seat. There was a time that she'd wait for him to open the door for her but so much had changed in the last few years that Declan was having a hard time catching up with the times. 

They were soon underway and after a quick stop for a cup of coffee and breakfast, Declan pulled the car out onto the main highway that would take them to Atlantic City. Regardless of whether he'd wanted it or not, Declan was relatively well traveled and despite the dumb bumpkin routine he'd managed to slip himself into upon his return, he had a good head on his shoulders. After what Bill did to his hand, he hadn't been able to box again and it had put him into a thick fog of moodiness that had only seemed to lift again. Sure, work for the mafia wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind as a young kid full of dreams but Star had not only made it work but had sort of pulled him in as well. He listened as Star and Tara nattered about the excitement of Atlantic City, a soft grin on his face as they drove out of Philly. 

"So, Tara, first off how is your brother? I heard he's gotten himself into a spot of trouble again. Secondly, are we going for the business or pleasure angle first? I mean, personally, if I had my druthers I'd get the business done first so we can enjoy ourselves but on the other hand...does this business involve getting into copious amounts of trouble?"

Tara couldn't help but grin as the car hit the highway. Her life kept her so busy; excursions like this were something that she intended to savor, especially in a place she'd never been before. When Gavin immediately came up, Tara sighed. She felt like she was always taking questions about Gavin, and she suspected that people rarely asked Gavin questions about her. Perhaps it was time to make sure she was "out there" more. This trip would be a good start.

Although, in this case questions were entirely appropriate. He had almost died, after all.

"Better, now. He was helping Isabella Luciano with something in Detroit and wound up catching a bullet. Almost died, but they pulled him out of it and he's expected to make a full recovery. He's holed up somewhere healing."

"As for your other question, I was thinking both simultaneously. And no, it's nothing that should get us into trouble. I'd like to check out a few different nightclubs while we're there, as I'm strongly considering opening my own. Not in Philly, of course; I wouldn't want to compete with The Observatory. But I was thinking perhaps New York."

Star saw the almost  imperceptible flicker in Tara’s face as she answered Star’s question about her brother and decided to keep Gavin safely in his recovery room and out of further talk unless brought up. Never having a sibling, she hasn’t had the joy of being frustrated by them but she’d seen Kittie, Deirdre, and Declan all get positively annoyed at the mere mention of the other from time to time. Tara’s second answer gave her more than enough to think on as, funny enough, she’d never been to Atlantic City. 

“What kind of competition is there? I mean nightclubs aside, do you think they’ve got much on the observatory? I’ve been trying for weeks to get Red Nichols to bring himself and the Five Pennies to my place”

She paused, her eyes alight with excitement as she reached for Tara’s hand. 

“Enough about me though, tell me about your plans! You’re always so busy that we never get a good chance to just sit and gab. What kind of club will yours be?”

Tara relaxed in the car as they roared along the highway at a steady pace.

"Oh, I don't think they're competing with you. I'm saying that if I opened up a nightclub in Philly then you and I would suddenly be competing with each other for business, and I wouldn't want that."

Tara smirked, thinking about her club.

"I'm thinking some big. Theme... Ancient Greece. Really out there, ya know"

"Oh, I know they're not competing with me per se." Star gave Tara a knowing grin and winked. "I'm just saying that I want to see if they're as good as the Observatory."

She bit her lip as Tara waved her hands to indicate the grandiosity of her own nightclub. It sounded like a lot of work honestly but Star was more than a little excited to hear Tara's grand plans. 

"You really must tell me more. Are we talking columns, Bacchus and wine, gods and goddesses, columns?" She was practically bouncing up and down in her seat as Declan drove in relative silence though she could tell he was listening as well. He was intrigued by the friendship between the two women and was hopeful that Tara wouldn't find him too much of a bore over their getaway. Finally as Star managed to take a quick break from her excited nattering, he piped up. 

"So, tell me a little bit about yourself Tara. I mean I already know what business you're in, but what got you started and how did you meet Star?"

"Ah... yea. I was thinking of calling it Aphrodite's. Togas.  Bacchus. Columns... I don't know. It kind of sounds silly, saying it out loud."

Tara grinned at the next question, figuring out how much she wanted to say.

"Grew up in Newfoundland, middle of nowhere in the woods. Shitty childhood. My brother and I hiked down through Canada and upstate New York before settling in Philly. Started out working the docks, and I never really looked back. As for Star... gods, I feel like I've always known you, Star. We got in touch early, back when she was working more directly for Spaceman. We're similar, in a lot ways."

She smiled.

"What about you, Declan? What's your story? And how'd you'd meet Star, eh?"

Dec looked over his shoulder as he changed lanes to avoid a rusty truck that had suddenly swerved in front of him before focusing his gaze back on the road ahead of him. 

"I met here when she and I were still young. Her ma knew my da back in Ireland an' after her da passed away, she an' her ma came here to Pennsylvania. Her aunts have a farm just up north of Philly out in the country. They grow a lot of flowers and herbal things for healing and tinctures. Our home was a bit of a catchall farm and we often bartered for things we needed with the things we had like eggs and milk and more vegetables than you could count. Anyway When she moved near us, she was just this tiny thing with the wildest curls and missin' her front teeth. She took a shine to Kittie and the two of them became thick as thieves. Course, they invited Deirdre and me along and we'd spend hours climbing trees and catching fireflies and trying to fish in the stream nearby only to come home sopping wet. We grew up bit by bit and I got interested in Boxing. Star came to every match I had and cheered me on and after w while, just before we graduated school, when I got offered the chance to go big, I thought about how I'd be leaving her behind. Call it cheesy, but I gave her my class ring and told her I'd come back for her. I guess things didn't work out quite the way I thought they would but she wasn't about to let me go I suppose." 

It was the most Declan had spoken to anyone about his personal life in the last five years. Being on the run from his angry employers goonies hadn't really given him the opportunity to open up much so nobody really knew that Declan could be a chatter box when he wanted to. In a way he was sort of glad to get to know new people and branch out a bit. Tara was gas and seemed to brighten Star up when they were together talking business and plans and the excitement of Atlantic City. '

"You know, for all the fun we're having on the road, I'm rather hungry. How about we get something to eat when we pull in to the city?" Declan asked to which Star responded with enthusiasm. It wasn't long before they began seeing the signs for the city nearing closer and after almost two hours, they had arrived. 

Tara listened as Declan told his story. It was... nice.

"That's not the usual story for our line of work. You two seem like a special item. And food sounds just fine to me."

She paused for a moment.

"Not sure how active a fighter you are, Declan, but have you met William Bowden? He just opened up a boxing gym here in Philly. If you're still cracking heads, they could use you. If not, I'm sure they could use an experienced trainer."

Declan frowned, a somewhat wistful look on his face as he looked down at his hand before he met Tara's gaze again.

"I'm not sure how much use I'd be. My hand was shattered few years back and the doc told me I'd never box professionally again. It's been tough finding work with a hand that can't do the one thing I was raised to do. I...wouldn't mind training though."

He'd kept up on his form, learning the newest techniques even though he couldn't physically throw a decent punch anymore.

"What sort of fellow is William?"