"But Miss Williams, you can't just..."

Julia wheeled around as she pulled on her driving gloves.

"I can't what? Are you going to tell my mommy on me?"

She watched as Stephen shook his head.

"Good, then I'll be off, and I'll return when I'm good and ready. Besides, mother is sleeping, she won't even know I'm gone."

An hour later Julia found herself tearing through the streets of Philadelphia looking for a good time. She might even have found one, a bar, with a neon sign no less. This was the kind of place for her. She listened for music, and certainly it had some. Not the best band she had ever heard, but she was used to high-end talent, so she couldn't fault them.

She stopped the car in front of the building and stepped out into the street, making her way on to the sidewalk. Her silver dress stopped just below her knees and she had her long black hair hair pinned up with a silver hair pin to match. She had a matching clutch that was adorned with pearls, and a pair of four inch black peep-toe heels. Her silver heels were too scuffed up for tonight, so she had to make due. It was unfortunate, but that's what she gets for going out twice in a row.

With that added four inches she stood 4'11" in her full height as she made her way into the nightclub.

It wasn't long into the night before she found herself dancing as she enjoyed very much doing, and drinking, also a pleasurable past time. That's when some large gorilla decided to put his hands on her and she wheeled around and slapped him.

"Get your hands off me you brutish oaf. Do I look so much like a trophy that you think you can just grab me!"

She scoffed and made her way back to the bar to sit next to another woman who was seated there. She crossed her ankles as it was impossible to cross her legs in a dress this tight, and turned to the woman next to her.

"Men! They take all the fun out of an evening."

Vale was sitting at the bar at one of the local South Philly hangouts, the place wasn't anything special but it was a good place to have a drink in mixed company. Even though most of the company that occupied a bar like this were her type of people, people that worked within the South Philly area. Perhaps the occasional outsider or someone trying to get in with the underground crowd would pop in but for the most part it was a rather safe place for her. 

Safe was rather important in her business and well rather her position, there's many of people out there who would love to remove her from the picture. She wasn't even really alone at this bar, yes she may have been sitting by herself at the bar but there were about 25 men in the place that were employed by her.

She wasn't really paying much attention to anything or anyone, she had her small tumbler glass in her hand. The ice was starting to melt as the condensation from glass was dripping onto the bar top. She wasn't even facing the main area, the area where the band was playing but more so just staring at a picture hanging behind the bar.

It was some kind of painting, hard to explain but for some reason it enticed her. It may have been the colors or the patterns but she couldn't narrow down what it actually was that drew her attention. It wasn't until she heard a voice coming from her left that took her attentions away from the painting.

She turned her head slowly to give the person a glance.

"Huh?"

The woman looked back towards the dance floor then shook her head. "Men! They take all the fun out of an evening, I swear it never fails."

Vale gave the woman a smirk, it was a problem that we used to know about. Anymore though, no one bothered her and the only ones that did knew her on a personal level. Which kind of sucked in a way, you get to the point where your status becomes a deterrent for most people. Obviously this woman either didn't care or just didn't know.

"Ah, well sometimes they aren't that bad. I mean look at you, you're stunning. Hard to not attract most guys when you look like you do."

Julia smiled, a woman with refined taste at least, that was a good sign.

"Well thank you, but these shoes really don't match the rest of the outfit, and I should have put on a bolder lipstick, don't you think? Then again, mister handsy over there might not have taken no for an answer if I was really dolled up."

She extended a hand to shake the other woman's.

"I'm Julia, Julia Williams. Yes of that William's clan, but don't be intimidated. I'm no different than you clearly."

She looked up to the painting on the wall.

"What do you suppose that is? At first glance I would liken it to a sort of Aviary almost, but a very blurry one."

She waved down the bartender.

"I'll have whatever it is my new friend is having please, and thank you."

She blew him a kiss and then turned once again.

"Well? Aviary, so something more bold?"

Vale listened to the woman speak, she really didn't know what had happened but her guess was that someone out there put his hands on her and she just wasn't having it. Good for her to step up and take a bit of a stance on it, most woman during these times would just laugh it off and let it keep happening.

It takes a special one to stand up to men in general but more so the guys currently in this establishment. Normally Vale would have just basically ignored whomever it was but something drew her to this woman. She couldn't put her finger on it but something stood out. She reached out to meet the woman's hand.

"Julia Williams you say? Last name sounds familiar but can't place it right now, though might blame the half bottle of whiskey I've already drank."

She gave her a smile before continuing.

"I'm Valencia, Valencia Patangeli. Though you can just call me Vale."

She remembered the woman mention the painting behind her but really she had no idea what it was and didn't even know where to start expressing what she thought it was.

"It's got colors, I like it but no clue what it is. I wonder if I was a bit more sober if I could figure it out but hey that's not happening now."

Julia smiled at the woman, poor thing didn't even know what her family owned. That was alright though, Julia herself recognized her name at least.

"Patengeli, you wouldn't be related to that man who owns things in Philadelphia here would you?"

She knew full well it was one in the same, but she smiled at the bartender and left him a tip as she sipped at the whiskey. Strong it was too, it was a wonder this Valencia was still on her feet!

"Well, enough about our family then, what about you. All alone in a place like this?"

She gestured with the glass around the room.

"If you are anything like me and were looking for a good time, I think I had my fill of this kind of good time."

She sighed and sipped again.

"I just wish sometimes I could go out and dance, or listen to some music without being accosted. Don't you? Ah, probably not. Men probably steer clear of you in this city because of your father. That's why I'm here in fact, I can't go anywhere in New York without someone recognizing me. Needed a change of scenery."

She turned then and looked at the painting again.

"I think I'm going to take that home before the end of the night."

Vale gave a simple nod to Julia when she asked the family question, if her family was in the business then she clearly knew her last name. Though tonight had nothing to do with business, she dealt with enough of that shit during the day that she didn't need to play it into the evening as well. Plus with the amount of whiskey she had already consumed it would just be a matter of time before she wasn't making much sense to others.

"Alone? You kidding me, I can never go anywhere alone. See watch this."

Vale took another sup of her drink and turned to get off her seat. The moment she stepped foot on the floor about 10 peoples stopped what they were doing and took a step in her direction. She raised her hand to her side and subtly shooed them away from her. Giving them the sign that she didn't need their presence.

Turning back to Julia, Vale gave her a bit of a shrug.

"See? I haven't been able to go anywhere by myself, basically since I moved to Philadelphia. Hell sometimes just going to the restroom is a chore. Though this is the life I live now."

She hopped back into her seat and stuck her finger into her now empty glass. Giving the couple ice cubes a stir around the glass. Which cued the bartender in to refill it for her without having to ask.

"Thanks Charlie!"

Julia shook her head and whistled.

"Well I've never met a real life princess before. That's the only explanation I've got for that little display."

He winked at Charlie once again as he left a full glass for Valencia.

"So if you can't even go to the ladies' by yourself, how do you have any fun around here?"

He sipped at her own glass then and looked around.

"You don't have any women guarding you, do you?"

She had only noticed men when they all stood up, men from all over the room, but men every one of them.

"You've certainly had enough to drink that you could start to spill your guts any second right? Asking, just in case I am the only one who can hold your hair for you."

She leaned her head down next to Valencia and lowered her voice to a whisper.

"And to make sure nobody follows us out the window if we decided to be a bit bad. I've got a car out front."

She left the suggestion there and sipped once again.