"That's a lot of cats, you seem to love them though. They are lovely animals."

Smithy smiles and places another few cards onto the house, then looks over at Angela.

"I don't got any pets to be honest, but I will admit they can be pretty good company."

He takes a sip of his glass of ice water, it was refreshing.

"Oh they are, they're very good company. My cats are better behaved than most people. I- well I was actually married once, for a brief time. He was a senator, and I thought he was a nice man, but then he just left me for- well. Let's just say I wasn't his type. For a long time afterwards, people called me a 'beard'. I mean, come on, do I look like I have facial hair to you?" Angela huffed out in exasperation, and the house of cards fell.

"Aw, look what I've done now." Angela scooped the cards up, noticing one of the girls heading towards the piano in the back. Her frown turned up into a smile.

"Betty is going to play! She's very good on the piano." Angela began to build the card house again, this time making sure to create a more stable base.

Smithy chuckles and looks at Angela.

"It doesn't look like you got a beard to me. I'm happy you enjoy the company of your cats."

He watches the house of card fall over.

"It was going to fall eventually."

He starts to smile as he notice her smiling.

"I look forward to hearing her play, I enjoy piano music."

Smithy reaches for a few cards and places them on the house, making sure he places them well so it wont fall over for a little while at least.

The house of cards was spreading out, rather than up. Angela had covered a quarter of the felt table with it by now. She leaned back in her chair, taking a break from it while listening to the piano player. This wasn't a rowdy gambling room, no shouting or whoops or bickering as the liquor flowed and the money changed hands. Angela ran a discreet joint, you could just barely hear the occasional tapping of poker chips exchanging hands. She smiled over at Smithy, hoping he was enjoying himself.

"Are you sure you don't want something a little stronger? We carry the very best liquors here, so I'm told."

Smthy leans back in his chair enjoying the piano music as the house of cards grows bigger, it looked like it had a solid foundation.

"I wouldn't mind a glass of whiskey, but no rocks though."

He smiled and looked over at the other tables, people seemed to be enjoying themselves and so was he.

There was no waitress about at the moment, so Angela stood up and went for the bar herself, taking a peek behind her once to see if Smithy happened to be watching her go. At the bar, she pointed at a specific bottle, and was given it, and a glass. Angela thought for a moment, added a cup of coffee to the tray she was assembling, then added a second one, just in case. She would have gotten tea as well, but there was no room left on the tray after she added the little cream and sugar bowls. Very carefully, she carried it all back to their table.

"Hakushu, single malt, 12-years old. That bottle there was made the year the company was opened, in 1923." Angela announced this proudly, since not many carried, or even knew about, Japanese whiskey. 

Smithy watches as Angela places down the bottle, he looks at it. It was the first time he had ever seen Japanese whiskey, he was very curious about what it might taste like. He knew the Japanese were perfectionists so he knew it wouldn't be bad.

"That is one impressive bottle you got there, and twelve years old at that."

He smiled and was a little hesitant to ask but he figured he had to at some point.

"Mind if I pour a glass of it?"

"Oh, yes, of course! I brought it just for you, I thought you might prefer to pour your own." She smiled and sat back down, busying herself with one of the coffees, adding cream and sugar to it. Sometimes people added whisky to their coffee or tea, but Angela didn't think that was the best idea, at least not after the Philly incident.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that."

Smithy opens the bottle and pours himself a glass, he makes sure to go a little under half full, he didn't want to be greedy and after all it was a nice whiskey so he wanted to be respectful. He looks over at Angela adding cream and sugar to her coffee, he thought to himself that coffee would end up pretty sweet with all that added into it. He picks up his glass and takes a small sip, enjoying the taste of the whiskey, it was pretty good just like he thought it would be.

"This whiskey is pretty amazing, how is your coffee?"

"It's actually very good, I typically prefer tea but some of the players here ask for coffee, so I found someone who sells imported beans. They cost more of course, but those farmers in Central America really know what they're doing! There's a second cup there, if you'd like some. We carry tea, too, which is not as good as Hanabi's, but so far, no one's complained about it." Gently blowing on her cup, she sipped at it carefully.

Smithy smiles softly before taking another sip of his whiskey, then looks over at Angela.

"I'd love a cup of coffee."

He places a few cards onto the house making sure he doesn't knock it over.

"Sometimes you gotta pay more for the good stuff, and most of the times it's worth it."

"Well. You know what they say, the house always wins. So I'm able to keep the good stuff stocked up." Angela placed a few more cards on the house, finally committing to a second tier. 

"There was a telegram from my employer waiting for me at the bar just now. It says they're going to open the market early, in- " She looked at her watch. Where had the last two days gone? 

"An hour from now. I'm afraid I'll have to go and take my part in it, but you are welcome to join me. The couch is still open for you, too, if you prefer to catch up on your sleep." Angela sipped more coffee, she was pretty sure she was going to need all the energy she could find.

"That is very true, and it's always good to stock up on the good stuff."

Smithy adds a couple more cards to the second tier of the house, wondering how high they can stack it this time around.

"I should leave you too it then, and I guess I'll meet up with you at the market."

Smithy smiles, wondering what kinda stuff he would find and see there.

"I'll meet you at the market, I'll take you up on the offer of the couch later on though."

"Okay!" Angela sounded a little too excited to be having a guest stay with her, but it was a first, and she was already pretty high-strung on the coffee. Reaching inside her purse, she found a pen and paper and quickly drew a little map, labelling Main Street and all the cross-streets surrounding it.

"You're familiar with Main, it's easy enough to get there, but these streets here are the area where the market will be." She pointed, then clapped her hands together and stood. 

"I'm so happy you'll be coming, it should be a good time for all... oh, I better go change, I'm still wearing last night's clothes! I'll see you at the the fair, then? Please use the car and driver out front, they're at your disposal." Angela grinned happily, leaned down, and gave Smithy a peck on the cheek before she could talk herself out of it, then turned and bounced up the stairs. The gust of air she created in doing so knocked down the house of cards again, but she never saw it.

Smithy smiles and looks at the map, making himself familiar with the locations.

"Yeah, I think I should be able to find it."

He chuckles as he sees her clapping, thinking it was adorable.

"I think it's going to be a lovely time, I look forward to it, see you there."

Smithy smiles softly as she pecks him on the cheek before he walks to the car, he gets in and shows the driver the map. He figured that would do the trick.

It was nice, being back home, even if it was only for a little while. Angela had managed a long, hard sleep in her own bed the night before, and was now puttering around the gambling room downstairs, a mug of hot tea clasped between her thin fingers. She noticed a pair of oldsters at a corner table, but they weren't playing cards. They'd set up a chess board.

"Hey. What are those men doing?" She asked a passing waitress.

"They're playing chess."

"Well I can see that, silly. Why are they doing it here? Is any money changing hands? Are they buying drinks?"

"No, and no." The waitress adjusted the kitty ears on her head. "They order black coffees and play for hours. I think they used to play in the park or something, but it got too cold. They aren't bothering anybody, they don't get fresh with the staff, they just sit at that one table in the corner every time." Before Angela could question why the staff was allowing a table to be occupied for hours on end without profiting from it, the waitress quickly continued. 

"When they leave, they leave two hundred in tips. Two hundred! That's more than most rakes at the other tables, so we've been allowing it." 

Angela watched as one of the geezers moved his bishop. "Alright. They come in every day? Have a little sign made up, please, a placard or something, and leave it on that table permanently. It should just say 'Reserved'. Then let the gentlemen know it's referring to them. They can even leave their game board and pieces here if they like. Oh and don't charge them for the coffees anymore."

The waitress nodded and went back to the bar while Angela continued to watch the men play. She used to know how to play chess years ago, but it had been a long time. Something about observing a game was very therapeutic to her.

Smithy walks into the Kit Kat Kard Klub, instantly as he walks inside a cat runs up to him and rubs against his lef. He reaches down and picks it up, really hoping it wouldn't scratch him cause he wouldn't know what to do. But he strokes the cat softly as he walks towards the tables where people were playing cards. He notices Angela and heads over to say hello, he smiles.

"One of your cats met me at the door, he seems friendly."

He chuckles softly.

"So how are you today? And what do I do with the cat, he seems to be purring."

He stood there with a puzzled look on his face as he looked at Angela.

"Smithy! How are you?!" Angela hugged Smithy tight, squishing the cat between them until it meowed in protest.

"Oh. I see you've met Jennipurr. She's my latest addition. A real Persian! I bought her in Chicago... she seems to really like you!" The cat looked right at home in Smithy's arms. 

"A good judge of character, she is. You can just put her down anywhere. She won't stay upstairs, but she doesn't seem interested in trying to squirt out the front door, either. I'd be out a thousand dollars if she did." Angela was now brushing a lot of white cat hair from Smithy's shirt. 

"She's gone and shed all over you. I laundered the shirt you loaned me, would you like to change into it? And how about a drink?" Angela was happy to retrieve one or both things for him, but she secretly hoped to keep his shirt.

Smithy hugged Angela, hearing the cat get squished a little in between them.

"I'm good, how are you?"

He puts the cat down and smiles.

"It's a lovely cat, but I think she got her furr all over my shirt."

Smithy chuckles when he heard she still had the shirt he gave her.

"It's only a little furr, you can keep that shirt if you want to."

He smiled softly.

Angela could hardly hide the little smile that curled her lips when she heard she could keep the shirt. It was a very nice shirt with some interesting memories around it. It had nothing to do with the little crush she had on Smithy, not at all, she told herself. 

"Well how about that drink, then?" She asked cheerfully. "Would you like a hot cup of coffee or tea? Maybe something a little stronger? Please, have a seat anywhere. Oh! Unless you're hungry, I can make something at my place upstairs? I stopped by the market this morning and my icebox is actually full for a change!" She laughed a little, but it was true, she'd actually never stocked a kitchen before because she simply didn't eat.