Kate raises an eyebrow as Thomas_OShannon walks a man in at gunpoint... and Noto proceeds to kill him. She looks down at the body in Noto's office from the chair she's been calmly sitting in.

"Well... that conversation certainly went in an unexpected direction..."

Rising she hears Billie_Faegan speaking outside. Kate raises two fingers on her right hand to her temple, muttering as she feels a headache coming on.

"Just one boring day... that's all I want..."

"Not to worry Ms. Logan, Thomas took him out back... as far as everyone is concerned he drank a bit to heavily. Poor Billie here slammed her head on my office door, I must say she still looks wonderful, even after slamming her head. It has been a long day here at the Tower, So Billie how's your head?."

Billie blushed as Noto helped her to her feet, and veritably melted when he kissed her hand. You fucking sucker, she thought to herself with soft, shy chuckle. "Uh... Bis... b...um...Business," she finally managed to stammer out. Shaking her head she smiled, with a look that said she knew exactly how pathetic that sounded. Internally she was squirming. The ease with which he disarmed her was disconcerting.  Thank god he was family, otherwise it'd be a problem. 

Dropping her gaze to the floor she clicked the toes of her pumps together and ran a hand across the back of her neck. "I'm just... um... getting things squared away. And I... um... I thought we might discuss a schedule... of some kind... for me to... uh... y'know be here... or whatever. I'm hoping to outline a regular docket, all across town. Bring in new business for different places - yours included. And I figured, if I'm gonna be moving around that much there might be... other services... that I could coordinate between establishments...for this thing of ours..." She gave the man a knowing look. Surely there was plenty of product to move and plenty of information to gather. What better ruse?

Wait, was that Kate? Rubbing her temples, Billie laughed softly to herself. This was ridiculous. She couldn't possibly let the boss see (or hear) her being so... whatever.  Clearing her throat she put on her best show face - serious, controlled, totally invulnerable. She shook her ebony curls as the facade fell into place. "You seem well connected, Mr. Noto. And very personable. I was hoping you might be willing to help me make my little idea a reality. Maybe we could speak inside the office?" 

Billie gestured to the door, waiting for him to actually invite her in. 

Now that the office was clear I could invite Billie into the office.

"My apologies Ms. Faegan, please step into my office and we can properly discuss your plans." Billie walks into the office, this time she doesn't slam her head, she takes a seat as I walk over to the liquor cabinet.

"I would love to help you turn your dream into a reality. As I Told you before, you are more then welcome to perform here. We have at least 3 parties a week in the ballroom. As far as you expanding, just tell me where you want to go and perform and I will do my best to make it happen for you. So what are you drinking?."

I stood at the cabinet awaiting for Billie to respond. She was all business, but in my mind I could sense a little more... maybe, it was tough to determine if it was business or pleasure, or maybe both.

Billie eyed the cabinet with a curious quirk of her brow, "Surprise me, pumpkin," she smirked. Crossing her legs she leaned back in the chair trying to look as calm and confident as possible. "I was hoping you might have some suggestions to help me get off the ground... you know... more... undercover stuff." She smiled wickedly.

"I still don't know much about business in the city - who's running what, et cetera. I've got the performing part in the bag. It's this thing of ours that's got me stalled. Any ideas?" 

Thomas poked his head into the office for a quick second, interrupting whatever was going on between the two...

A crooked smile cracked across his features as he huffed a bit.

"Mr. shite-faced was fockin' heavy after he passed out. Can'nae believe he drank that much." He laughed before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"Just wanted ta let yeh know, I made sure Mr. Walsh made it safely ta his bed. Am gonna go an' check on tae ot'er guest." Thomas bowed his head to Mr. Noto then looked to Billie, "Billie..." He tipped his head again then shut the office door behind him as he exited.

Rubbing her temple, Kate walked briskly to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor as Jack squeezed in with her. Tomorrow... she'd talk to them all about this tomorrow... 

Some combination of a yawn and sigh escaped her as the doors slid closed.

"If I recall correctly, you were drinking scotch at The Royal."

I pull out the bottle and a glass, pouring Billie a drink and sliding it to her. I sat down and took a sip of my whiskey before continuing our conversation.

"Well Billie you do have the performing part down, as far as the other part... this thing of ours, business is really quite simple. Earn, contribute to the boss, follow orders, and every now and again there's some wet work involved. If that time comes do it quick and do it quietly." I pause to sip my whiskey. "Always have an income...a legal income to bury the money you earn from... this line of work, understand?."

I see Billie taking everything in.

"So tell me what it is you want to learn about the most. I will help you branch out and perform at various places, but like you said the performing part is down. I need to help you with... the other things. And while were at it, tell me a bit about yourself... what else is there about you I would know?... other then the fact you have a beautiful voice, and smile."

Those were a lot of loaded questions. Quietly she stood and slid the latch over on the office door... just in case. Though she was fairly certain she was probably the only person in town flippant enough to waltz in unannounced, it was always better be safe. Returning to her chair, Billie fluffed her skirt and tucked both feet beneath her so she could sit comfortably, which for her meant cross-legged. How a woman managed to remain modest in such a position was befuddling, at best, but she did. As she melted into the chair, ever so little, it seemed she softened around the edges; losing a little of her hard-won poise, but gaining a refreshing kind of realism (which was an extremely delicate balance for her sometimes). 

Running a hand over her mouth, she sighed, contemplating how to best shorten this potentially lengthy conversation. Not beating around the bush seemed a good place to start, for one. "I'd like to speak frankly, John. You understand? All this 'business' this and 'thing' that makes me tired. Let's just call a duck a duck for a moment, shall we?" She smiled, sheepishly, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "You see, I'm really not very good with the people part of things," which probably seemed quite obvious by now, given her fidgeting, "I hate it, actually. Not the people... I love people; fascinating little things that we are. And I can obviously make them like me - smile, hold a conversation, play nice - but I don't like it. Well, that's not entirely true. It... People... they just... make me nervous. You, for example, make me very nervous, John." There was that smile again. Shy, not at all like usual. "So, see, I don't do well with people in the long run. I can make money, run product, front a business, even hook on the corner. I can milk men for information like nobody's business." Did she just admit that? Yep. She chuckled quietly, "But anything beyond the strictly business part and I get all... confuddled. And, I mean, what good is it to always just be looking out for yourself. Having a business or a market is great, but having connections, having a network, that's better." 

She stopped, took a deep breath and a large gulp of scotch. "Now I know that some of that has to be built into the family just on principle. But I see all these businesses out here. And all of them have their own little specialties, their own strengths, but they're all scattered. It's like everybody's doing their own thing when we could be doing our thing." So much for the ducks. "Did that make any sense at all?" she smiled up at him, fully aware that it likely hadn't. "See, I'd like to help people combine their strengths... coordinate services, move stuff back and forth, kinda like a mob matchmaker... y'know, an exchange kind of thing... but," she chuckled again, "I am really bad with people." 

She leaned back in her chair chugging a few sips of scotch (how unladylike!). "I did this kind of stuff all the time in Harlem. Backstage deals between establishments and what not. I was damned good at it too, but I was a maverick then. So if some schlob got screwed I could tell 'em to fuck off and never see their faces again.... s'why I got run outta town, actually." She chuckled. "This family shit is a little different. And seein as I've never had mucha one - a family, y'know - it's a little awkward. To say the least."

She took a deep breath. "As for me... I already said there's not a lot to know: mulatto bastard by birth, Harlem girl by trade, hustler by choice. I know drugs and prostitution intimately, but my favorite is blackmail."  she grinned wickedly for a moment, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Let's see... what else... um... single, never married... never committed at all in fact, no family to speak of in the traditional sense, aaand no legitimate business to speak of outside of performing.... yet." Shrugging slightly she eyed Noto from across the room, "Does that about cover it? Or do you want the down and dirty?" And all of a sudden, just like that, the usual coy Billie was back. Funny how that happens, isn't it?

I take a big gulp of whiskey, immediately refilling the glass.

"Well Billie I must say that is the most I ever heard you speak at once. I do apologize if I make you nervous, my intentions are simple... help you get to where you want to be, and I was hoping for a date... maybe change your mind about the whole commitment thing. You must understand in this line of work our days are numbered... so we need to go after the things we want."

I take another sip of whiskey.

"Seems to me that you can do just fine with people if you break yourself out of that comfort zone a little, and that's where I want to help you... in fact I want to help you with whatever it is you need. So just ask... what do you want me to do for you?."

Leaning back I wait to hear what Ms. Billie_Faegan has to say.

And there was the rub. She didn't really know she wanted, or rather she wasn't sure what to want first. Billie drained the last of her scotch in mild flusteration. Biting into her bottom lip she leaned forward ever so slightly, pushing the empty glass toward him. "See, that's my hang up, love. I don't know where to start. I've got big dreams and big drive, but no direction. You, on the other hand," she trailed off, gesturing around with both hands to make her point. 

"See, I like a man that goes after what he wants. And you, my dear Mr. Noto, are singularly tenacious. I want that tenacity," she smirked, thinking to herself 'in more ways than one'. "I want you to show me... teach me... how to 'go after' everything that I want - tenaciously, systematically, methodically. And in return," she leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs before crossing one over the other - incidentally displaying her warm, mocha thighs in a most enticing manner, "I'd be willing to help you take everything you want." 

Billie smirked coyly, waiting for him to respond. Outwardly she was cool as a cucumber and smoldering like fire. Internally she was calling herself every degrading name she could think of. Old habits just die so fucking hard. 

"Well Ms. Faegan, as I said before, you can perform here during parties in the ballroom. I know you perform at The Royal, and if your looking to branch out I would be happy to make some phone calls so you may perform at other locations in other cities."

I take a drink of whiskey, as I refill Billie's glass.

"As far as taking everything you want, its about aggression... which you seem to have a lot of. Besides I don't have everything I want!, at least for the moment."

I make eye contact with Billie while making the statement indicating not just what I wanted, but who I wanted.

"But I would be more then happy to help you get everything you want."

Billie giggled; she sounded nervous. Pulling a slip of paper from her purse she leaned across the desk, and tucked it into Noto's breast pocket; giving a gentle, lingering pat for good measure. The loose neckline of her dress draped low across the desk, providing a full view of everything underneath, including the leather underbust holster loaded with a slim 1908 ACP. 

"Have your desk girl send a schedule of parties to my place the first of every month. Address is on that card. I'll keep my books open until I hear from her." She took the refilled glass and reclined back into her chair. "Of course I would be eternally grateful for any other help you're willing to offer.... whatever that might be," she cooed. "But enough about business. You have my address, what's say you send a car out Saturday night? I'll be ready around 9? Then you can tell me all about yourself. I'm dying to know all your dirty little secrets." 

She stood, smoothed her skirt, and stepped around behind the desk, leaning down to leave a light mauve stain on his cheek.  "Thank you so much for making time in your busy schedule for me. I look forward to plenty more little chats, John." She smiled sweetly before making for the door. "I think we could make a good thing, you and I," she said, sliding the lock off. "You won't leave me hanging, will you John?"

"Wouldn't dream of it Billie, ill see you soon... and I look forward to Saturday."

As Billie left the office I couldn't help but be amazed. The way she carried herself, it was incredible... the little flirtatious things she did almost seemed like something you would see on TV. If she was acting then entertaining was most certainly a good path for her. I was never one for romance, but there was something special about her.

I called the reception desk, as I refilled my glass with whiskey.

"Linda, make up a schedule for Ms. Billie_Faegan. Please include all events in the ballroom she can perform at." Linda immediately agrees and tells me she will start on it momentarily.

Linda hands me a note that reads.

Hello Mr. Noto, my name is CaptainRedRum...call me Red. Anyway I wish to speak with you about a urgent matter.

"Linda send Red in please."

"No thanks on the cigarette, kicked the habit a few years ago. Business is good... so I seen there was an urgent matter you wanted to speak with me about. May I ask what that is?."

I pour a glass of whiskey and offer Mr. Rum a drink.

"Well Mr. Rum, the Hotel is certainly big enough to take on new employees, tell me... what are you good at?. What can you offer to make this place thrive at its full potential?."

I take a drink and wait for a response.