Hazel paused and considered.  "I know very little Hemmingway."  She admitted, "But there are rumors that Fitzgerald doesn't even write his own work so I'd say for my money Hemmingway is superior."  

She shrugged. 

"I can tell you that if either started screenwriting I'd read a hell of a lot more of their works."  She chuckled.  "So, can I get you anything else?"

Aurora spoke up, allowing herself to be a little curious about the beauty in front of her, "You're an actress then?"

Hazel shook her head, "Aspiring.  But who isn't out here?  This is LA.  You can't throw a stone without hitting someone who has dreams.  I mean, I love the stage but what they are doing with motion pictures is really amazing these days."

"You can throw a stone in any country in the world and find someone with dreams. But you people who live in Tinseltown just have more ambitious dreams than the rest of us, no? Perhaps I will write something for you. I assume you sing- yes? Your voice is far too beautiful to be natural. What is it you like to sing? Do you dance?"

He smiled winningly.

"Of course, I have never written a screenplay before- but perhaps I have dreams as well."

"Yes to both, singing and dancing."  Hazel admitted.  Aurora took the opportunity to enjoy some more chocolate.  "And I can tell you with all honesty, I'd act in anything so long as it was a paying gig."

She smiled at Silvio.

"You should try to write something.  Maybe you'll surprise yourself.  Just remember the little people like me when you hit the big time."

"HAZEL!"  the bartender called out to her.

"Duty calls."  She said with a playful wink.  "I'll come back to check on you in a bit."

As she walked off, Aurora looked at her and then Silvio, "I like her."  she admitted.  

"Your eyes are far too memorable to ever forget, Hazel."

She left, and he leaned back and smiled as he popped another chocolate covered strawberry in his mouth, this time not caring what he looked like since Aurora was, at least temporarily, off the table.

"How are your chocolates? You should try one of these as well. Just be careful how you eat them. I'm recovering from a lustful addiction to you, if you recall."

Silvio grinned as he scanned the room.

"This... this is life. The people, the music, the drinks... perhaps I will own my own club someday. I think I would be good at that, yes?"

Aurora smiled and it touched her amber eyes, "I think you'd do well as a club owner."  she said picking up a strawberry to try.  "In fact, if you find this isn't a flight of fancy caused by good company and drink... we should talk about that.  I'm thinking I need to invest in the work of others cause I'll want an income that helps take care of me and the little one that isn't so intense as I've been engaged in previously.  At least for a little while."

She shrugged, "Plus it might be nice to have a club where I have a permanent seat reserved for me, a quiet place to come have a shot of whiskey and some beer when motherhood is getting too much for even my formidable skillset."

She munched the berry and made an approving sound.

"If you did have a club," She asked after swallowing, "What sort of place would it be?"

Silvio nodded.

"Not a bad idea. Overseeing some business stuff should be a little easier than fistfights. Honestly... it'd be a lot like this. I'd pick the musicians myself, and they'd play a bigger variety than you'd usually get- classical during the day mixed in with jazz and the hits. I mean, I can come up with something exotic, if you'd like. Some sort of crazy theme. But mostly, I feel like people go to clubs to talk, drink, dance... to be social. Every club has tables and drinks. Really, it seems more like the people. Being active, building relationships with customers, hiring the right sort of people who communicate with others the right way."

He shrugged.

"I've been in a lot of fancy looking places that sucked... because of the people. And I have holes in the wall that I go back to again and again, dive bars that scream to be condemned, but with bartenders and waitresses that know me and treat me right. That's the sort of place I'd want."

Silvio lowered his voice and smirked.

"I'd steal Hazel here if she wasn't so intent on being a star. Maybe I will try to write something for her... I dunno. Something adventurous."

His volume climbed again as she returned.

"Just debating what kind of film you'll be starring in. What do you think? Sci-fi? Western? Something with swords and monsters? Maybe something historical? You wouldn't look half bad in a toga."

Silvio winked as he sampled another strawberry.

"I've always wanted to do wone of those big budget musicals or maybe to play a role like Cleopatra."  She smirked as she passed carrying a tray of drinks.

"You're gonna get her in trouble with that boss of hers."  Aurora nodded towards the guy behind the bar.  "I think he's got eyes on you, clearly knows your type."

She chuckles.

"How is it you don't get beaten within an inch of your life every time you walk into bars?  You know I could help you learn how to defend yourself a little better... if you like."

Silvio cracked his knuckles.

"Well, either charm, avoiding issues, bribery, bringing someone else who can fight..."

He winked.

"... or just plain running away. As for defending myself, I think you're forgetting the shiniest gun in the west, no? But... perhaps someday. Once you are able to again."

Hazel returned with a wide grin as Silvio engaged her again.

"Can I get you two anything else?"

"Another glass of wine. Grazie. Hazel, what time do you get off tonight?"

She grinned wickedly, opened her mouth, and closed it again. Silvio raised an eyebrow.

"Naughty, Hazel. Very naughty. What time are you finished with work?"

"Oh... 1? It's a little slower, though, so I might get cut in a few minutes."

"Perhaps you'd like to join us for a little party?"

Silvio indicated Aurora and himself and smiled winningly. Hazel smirked.

"Uh, sure. Maybe? What are you doing?"

"Seeking fun or adventure of any sort."

"Well that sounds ambitious."

"Ambition is my only flaw, Hazel."

"Uh huh."

Still, she was nodding as she walked away to one of her other tables. Silvio looked at Aurora.

"Not trying to put pressure on you, of course. You can stay and... party... as long as you desire and to the extent that you desire. Or you can suddenly remember that you left the oven on or some such thing at any point. The choice, of course, is entirely yours."

Aurora dropped her voice, "I've never... partied with a woman before." 

She was blushing again. 

"Pretty sure I'd be a third wheel or that my resolved to know you biblically would erode out of jealousy."  She smiled at him, pointedly looking him up and down.  "And it's hard enough to do the right thing now as it is - but you don't need to worry about it.  Charlie will get me home safe and I'm happy to make sure you have the means to get home too.  Or I can get a hotel room and we can return to Vegas together tomorrow."

She admitted, "I'm glad you're having a good time tonight.  I was feeling a little guilty about ... well, not coming through on what I promised.  But um... I do hope you have a satisfying evening one way or another.  I don't judge you, just so you know that... it's just, I judge me.  And that's ... not something I'm willing to compromise on even at the expense of my own pleasure.  If that makes any sense at all?"

Silvio raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't implying we'd be banging in the alley as soon as we walked out, Aurora. Not sure what sort of fun we'd get up to before, how did you put it, biblical knowing takes place?"

He sighed.

"Although... if I'm being honest... I was intentionally trying to imply that as well, so you're not totally off here."

Silvio grinned.

"You can depart whenever you'd like, of course. But... when you say that you judge yourself, what are you referring to? Or what would you be referring to?"

"Although... if I'm being honest... I was intentionally trying to imply that as well, so you're not totally off here."

Aurora chuckled and sipped her drink.

"...when you say that you judge yourself, what are you referring to? Or what would you be referring to?"

She shrugged.

"Well, I have expectations of myself.  I always have, not because of everyone else but... because of me.  I work very hard to be the person that I want to be, even when I'm tempted to do otherwise because..."

The distant melancholy look in her eyes seemed to lift for a moment and the smile of earlier seemed to peak through the clouds of her seriousness for a moment.  It was the whisper of a freer girl, a fearless girl, a confident girl with an eagerness to take on the world.

"... it's who I am."

She nodded and instead of the smile fading it seemed to remain as if enlightenment had come upon her at long last and like a fawn standing on shaky legs for the first time, the smile continued as she reached for chocolate and popped a bit into her mouth.  

Turning to look to him she said, "I think I'd like to stay with you a while, you and your Aphrodite - but I will leave at some point.  The conquest is yours my friend... but I may revel in your victory a bit.  For a little while... then I need to get home."  

It was the first time she'd called Vegas her home and she meant it, though it felt strange on her tongue.

"I have a lot of work ahead of me starting tomorrow.  And... I might need a big breakfast to start the day with."  She chuckled, and some part of her hoped that Billy would not only be proud of her... but happy for her too.

Silvio smiled as he lsitened to Aurora talking about herself. The more she talked, the more confident she seemed. She'd come a long way in the few days he'd known her. 

"Revel as much as you desire, volpe. I may stay here a few days for... business reasons. And I think a strong breakfast for you would be a most excellent move."

He raised his glass and clinked it against Aurora's shirley temple. Sharing a smile they both drank; they continued to chat about a potential club, discussing different preferences in terms of decor. By the time, the place was slowing down and emptying out. It was getting late, after an early dinner at the track, an opera, and the most recent parts of their evening. Smiling devilishly, Hazel slid into the booth next to Aurora. 

"So, I'm off. Did you guys have a plan? I... well thanks for extending the invite. I just moved here a little while ago and between auditions and working here, the only free time I tend to have is in the mornings. Not great for socializing."

Silvio nodded.

"I find it hard to believe that someone with your sterling personality and beauty would lack for company."

"Well... I also just changed jobs a few weeks ago. When I did, I got cut off from a lot of the friends I'd made."

"What was your old job?" asked Aurora.

"I was a dancer."

"I am not surprised. I have never seen a more graceful waitress," Silvio chuckled, as he finished off his glass of wine. "What sort of dancing?"

Hazel's face flushed for just a moment, seemingly embarrassed, and she avoided eye contact with Aurora.

"The... expressive kind. Often in private," sighed Hazel. "I was stupid. Never should have done anything, but I met a guy who said I could make a ton of money and..."

Her voice trailed off. She seemed to be at least somewhat concerned about being judged, though less so from Silvio. It was hard to see a man being another other than excited by that news, but perhaps women had proved to be harsher in their assessment of her life choices.

"I'm a dancer too."  Aurora admitted trying to relieve the strange tension in the conversation.  "And I'm pretty sure if life hadn't dealt me a good hand I would have made that same choice too."

She shrugged.

"As for the other job you did... well, my mother used to call it the world's oldest profession and history doesn't report it but we owe a lot to women in that work.  You do realize the city we're standing in right now wouldn't be here if not for women working in that field?  In fact, none of the west.  Most territories that became the major cities we recognize today weren't founded by churches or so-called righteous men... it was entrepreneurial women who had enough vision and courage to travel into an alien landscape and literally cut out a future for themselves."

She shook her head.

"Can you imagine how bad your life had to be back east to travel into wilderness hoping for something better?  How frightening it had to be for them as they helped set up the first bars and houses in which they worked?  The sort of men that must have paid for their time?  And they didn't just open those types of business... in fact, as I learned in one of my college courses, many madams of those houses reinvested their money into what became the first banks and other necessary businesses that caused these little no-name outposts to become burgeoning cities."

She shrugged.

"But you know, no one talks about the contributions of women in history so should it surprise us that they are merely given the label of whore and painted to be a footnote by historians?  What man wants to admit that a woman went ahead of him on the trail, that a woman had the foresight to put a town on a river bank with the resources to feed families and a place for pioneer men to settle in and become business men one day?"

She shook her head and put a hand on Hazel's thigh, "One of my mom's very best friends out east is a burlesque dancer, and a very exclusive madam.  She makes more money than most politicians she's servicing and she does so ten times more honestly.  She never lies about who or what she is, never tricks or betrays, just ... makes people happy.  She's a fucking artist and I loved watching her dance so very much as a little girl that I took lessons my whole damn life and to this day I have never felt more alive than when I am on a dance floor or stage moving to the music.  In fact, most people wouldn't guess it, but Auntie Faith taught me more than a few of her moves."

She laughed.  "Though, like you, I suppose I'm careful who I admit that to because society is full of self-righteous pricks... but one day... one day I will make a man very very happy when he learns of my secret talents."

Hazel seemed to visibly exhale and her expression brightened as Aurora mentioned about making the same choice with a different hand, but she grew even redder as Aurora continued to speak.

"Oh. God. I. I wasn't a..."

She hissed the word.

"...prostitute. I really don't judge but I just wanted to be clear about that. I just worked in a club, you know? Danced on stage, lapdances, but nothing like... jeez... everything you said was really smart so I don't want you to feel bad, but I just was not that actually."

Hazel seemed truly embarrassed having to distance herself from a job that Aurora had expressed such sympathy for, and seemed at a loss for words as Silvio chimed in.

"You know, I have a friend- had a friend, I suppose, as I don't expect to see him again- Vincenzo, who was an avid hunter. He hunted game for many of the high end restaurants in Italia, and once I introduced him as a member of the world's oldest profession."

He chuckled.

"Hunting, yes? Makes sense, or so I thought. As we were walking out of the party, I saw a woman approach him and asked how much a private adventure with him would cost. Well, Vincenzo thinks 'eh, this woman must want the thrill of the hunt' and names his price.

'Right now, I assume?' asked the woman.

Vincenzo is puzzled. 'How could we do it now, signora?', he asks. 'It is too dark, we couldn't see anything.'

'Oh, is it very important for you to see everything?' she asked, fanning herself.

'Essential', he replied. 'And how could we, in the city? We must be out in the woods, under the open sky.'

'Why is that?' she questions.

Vincenzo smiled, 'We must do it as God intended, signora. And it will take us at least 7 or 8 hours.'

Well, I thought the poor woman was going to either faint or begin fellating him on the spot. Vincenzo, of course, is oblivious. Meanwhile, I am trying and largely failing to stifle my laughter. I almost choked to death some gelato.

Well then Vincenzo asks, "Do you have your own gear?'

'Gear?', she questions, her eyes lighting up.

And here is when it, unfortunately, fell apart. Because when he started talking about guns she seemed a little too concerned; the cat, as they say, was out of the bag."

He'd told the story with a glimmer in his eye, smiling at the two women across from him.

"So, you see, these misunderstandings are common, no?"

Silvio glanced around, noticing some of the workers stacking chairs.

"Ah, perhaps we should depart. We can pick up a bottle of wine or two and rent a suite, perhaps?"

Aurora wanted to crawl under a rock.  THIS was why she couldn't make or keep any real friends.  She always opened her mouth and said the WORST possible things!

And then Silvio swooped in like a hero and told his story.  She and Hazel were belly laughing before the end of it, gasping for air.  Aurora hadn't had so much fun in a long while.  She didn't hesitate to nod at Silvio's suggestion, she produced a large bill from her purse and gave it to Hazel. 

"Pick something you like."  she said.

Once Hazel had gone for the wine she said to Silvio, "You really are a remarkable man.  Thank you for saving me from my own cursed tongue.  I'm afraid I'm all thumbs when it comes to being social ... and you, you're fantastic."

She kissed his cheek.

"Can I ask you, before she gets back.. why do you call me fox?  I know you've seen my lioness up close.  I'd think if you were going to name me after an animal it would be that one."

"You really are a remarkable man."

Silvio grinned.

"And you only know the half of it. It was a bit of an unfortunate leap on your part. Obviously, you need more experience with strip clubs."

He smirked.

"You are right, perhaps. I was always called a fox; perhaps it's just me trying to make us even better friends? Mostly, it is because you are a beautiful, clever animal. No, you are right. You fight too fiercely for a fox. I will keep the vulpine arts for myself to ensure I do not see gli artigli della leonessa."

They were getting looks from the closing staff, so Silvio dropped a few bills on the table; Aurora immediately picked them up, handed them to him, and dropped even more. Shrugging, Silvio pocketed his money. They strolled outside. Silvio had his hands in his pockets as he considered the stars and the streetlights. Hazel approached, looking slightly frustrated, and her voice reached Silvio and Aurora before she did.

Silvio started walking immediately, leaving Aurora to chat with Hazel.

"I will be back! Dammi solo un momento!

Hazel looked after him, confused, as she stood next to Aurora.

"But... it's closed. What is he going to do?"

Aurora chuckled, "With that man, I wouldn't put much past him."  she shook her head.  "I know his type.  Nothing but the very best kind of trouble."

She sighed, a smile pasted on her lips.

"Glad you decided to come with us.  What's your last name Hazel?  I'm Aurora Byrne.  It's a pleasure to know you."  She said offering her hand.

"Howard. Hazel Howard."

She stuck out a hand to shake, white teeth grinning.

"Silvio called you 'Aurora Byrne' at one point, so I already knew yours. The two of you aren't 'together' or anything, right? I was a little confused, because at first I thought you were dating since you seem so comfortable together, but then he called you a friend and used your first and last name."

Her soft musical laugh echoed in the quiet.

"Just curious. He seems like a very interesting man."

"No."  she shook her head.  "We started tonight as a date but I think we're parting as friends.  I... I've lost someone dear to me recently.  I'm just not ready.  And I do like Silvio, but I think maybe it's best he and I don't become a thing. We'll have a lot more laughs as friends anyway.  So, by all means, explore your options if the mood takes you.  He's actually one of the good ones."

She smiled at Hazel before looking to the door to see if Silvio was returning yet.

"We're actually from Las Vegas, came to town to catch an Opera together.  Figuring I'll head back before sunrise, get a jump on my day.  For the first time in a while, I actually have some plans and I'm excited to get started."

Hazel didn't say much as she listened to Aurora, but her smile spoke volumes. She also seemed genuinely happy for Aurora as the dark haired woman mentioned having plans and excitement for the first time in a while. 

"That's great. I mean, the two of you seem so... I haven't met many people like you. What do you do for work?"

Aurora was spared from answering the question by Silvio's reappearance, whistling, with two bottles in each hand. 

"buona sera, belle donne. Did you miss me? Silvio found a store that was open."

He winked at Aurora.

________

One brief cab ride later, the three of them were walking into a suite. It had a king sized bed, multiple couches, a gigantic bathtub seemingly designed for multiple people, and a balcony that looked out over LA. It was luxurious, beautiful, and the perfect place to share a nightcap. Silvio tossed his jacket aside, loosened his tie, and rolled up his sleeves before pouring them each a drink. He and Hazel had wine; Aurora had sparkling water.

"Bene. A toast to new acquaintances."

Silvio clinked glasses with each of them, though his gaze lingered on Hazel, who confidently returned it.

"I think I would like to see you dance, Hazel, if you've no objection. Although I would never be so rude as to insist it for myself. Perhaps you could demonstrate on Aurora. I'm sure you would not mind, leonessa? After all, it is for the arts? And for scientific research, yes?"

Hazel blushed slightly and began drinking her wine very, very quickly, but her arched brow and her wicked grin suggested that she was a more than willing participant.