Syracuse, New York
Early Afternoon
Chinnamani got a late start the following day, by the time she was downtown to set up her stand it was almost noon and her body kept insisting it was neither sober or stupid enough to get things going this damned early. Fortunately by the very nature of her business, prep and setup were fairly easy-- pull the dough balls from the fridge, stretch them out over the oven screens, slather the tomato sauce on them, add toppings and throw them in the oven. In fifteen minutes she had her first batch of product ready to go and half a bottle of water in her stomach.
She could almost convince herself she was human.
"Ngh. . ." Chi scrubbed her face and dug out her portable dvd player, yanking a totally not pirated disc from the binder she kept near the condiments. She just needed time to get started and moving around, then she'd be good. "No more late nights," she promised herself.
Total bullshit, of course, but it sounded good. She pounded the rest of her water and splashed her face a few times. Over the next hour she managed to sell a good portion of her stock during lunch rush as well as clearing her head enough to function normally. The more time she put between setting up and now the better she felt but the more her mind kept drifting to the situation with Mark, Janet and their children.
People who went through divorces had a statistically higher chance of committing suicide, more so if kids were involved and someone didn't get access to them-- but Chinnamani wasn't convinced either of them was in a hurry to take a long walk off a short pier. No, they were too selfish and Mark already had something else lined up so he was
probably
going to be fine. In cases like this, the mother usually got custody and from the looks of things, Mark was expecting the same thing. . .
So, it means making the best of a shitty situation all around. The kids weren't going to have it easy no matter what happened, but that didn't mean there wasn't a middle ground where they didn't get royally boned by their parents' avarice.
Chi's phone vibrated. The alarm and a pop up reading "Coursework, stupid!"
When she wasn't busting her ass trying to solve the world's problems, she was busy busting her ass trying to learn about them- correspondence courses helped pass the time when business was slow, too. They kept her from thinking too much about the bigger questions to boot- that was always nice. The current topic in her 'love me' binder was a philosophical course on the nature of sin and concepts of evil.
How wonderfully fitting.
It was these little moments of discipline that kept her sane and feeling like she was moving towards something instead of just an endless series of encounters with clients she had no control over. It was another tiny reclamation of her agency, a middle finger to the Cosmic Wheel.
Chi flipped through the paper bound book to her marked place on the ideas of how sins could be absolved or taken on through cultural variations of sin eaters and the like. Pretty rote stuff by this point, tragically unhelpful in modern parlance, but the idea of someone consuming or shouldering the sins of another did have a messed up kind of appeal. After all, it was what she was doing every time someone brought her damned coin to her. . .
A few minutes into her reading Sergeant Laidlaw tapped on the counter. Dashing as ever with her hair swept up in a bun, uniformed pressed to edges that could've cut glass. . . .and those skeptical eyes the color of a frigid glacier-- "Mph."
She arched a brow, glanced at the binder and for just a split second it looked as though she was going to lean against the cart- just one hair of a moment where she was going to be herself. Chi read her aura quickly to confirm her suspicion but what she found left her vaguely baffled; a harmonious mix of warm colors in deep, vibrant hues haloed with a soft but sharp red color that projected the strength and power of someone taking risks and either reveling in it or completely- deeply- aware of it. Out of fear, perhaps?
Chi grabbed the initiative: "Your eyes. You've very beautiful eyes."
Laidlaw eased her weight back to stand to her full height- to make sure Chi had to look up to her, no doubt. This girl was trying for a power play. Chi smiled inwardly. "Is it a fetish thing?"
"Hm? You? In some respects, yeah. I could spend months exploring every inch of you inside and out--"
She cleared her throat. "I meant the uniform. . ." Was that curiosity? From the proud and proper
Sergeant
Laidlaw? Oh, this was perfect.
Two could play this game. Chi went back to her book, downplaying her interest immediately. "Nah, I never see what people
do.
I see who they
are
first." After a brief pause, she added: "I spend most of my waking hours looking up to people, authority and uniform kind of lose their meaning when
everyone
has something over you. Y'know?" She glanced up through her bangs with a cheeky smile.
To her credit, Laidlaw deflated some and actually seemed vaguely apologetic when she glanced to the side. Her mask didn't slip, but she got the idea pretty quickly. Smart girl. Chi smiled up to her more genuinely.
"So no, not a fetish. But I'd dedicate entire evenings to learning about you- your power, your flaws, the things that make you smile and the things that make you want to punch me in the face."
Amy scoffed. Chi laughed and dug out a bottle of water, offering it.
But Laidlaw wasn't biting. She politely waved it off and the red halo in her aura began to fade some. "So you're a risk taker. . ."
"I've been known to throw loaded dice once in a while, yeah." Chi smiled slyly. "But that you're here right now says I'm maybe not the only one, hm?"
Laidlaw ignored it. "How about Vegas, ever wanted to go?"
The ham handed way she brought it up was the first red flag, the second was the fact that she did at all. Chi stiffened momentarily. What the hell was this woman driving at? "Sure, I've been a few times, not really my favorite place, though. Why, looking to sweep me off my feet for your vacation?" Chi swooned theatrically. "I do declare sergeant Laidlaw, had I known you were such an
adventurous
sort, I'd have packed my hiking boots-"
"Has anyone told you-" she dampened her lips and spoke carefully. "
Tum ajeeb ho?
"
So
this
was the risk she was taking. Not only was she trying to be more personal, she was afraid of embarrassing herself in the process. Chi couldn't very well let her do it and ruin that chance, could she? No way in hell. So she laughed at the mangled Hindi in good spirits and turned on the charm. "I suppose I
am
weird. I don't know if that's an astute observation or just my weird showing through the cracks of an idiot's veneer. Guess I'll let you decide."
"I don't get the feeling you're an idiot."
"Good." Chi smiled easily. "Then I'm doing my job right."
Amy touched the countertop and for a moment it looked like she might be considering her words more carefully- a notion dispelled when she opened her mouth. "So about Vegas- ever make it down to Arizona?"
"Ah. . . .that." Chi straightened up. "Yeah, once or twice."
"Ever run into any problems down there?" She was looking for Chi to lie to her. Well this was going to be easy. Nothing to fear from the whole and completely uncomplicated truth.
