11 East 73rd St., New York, NY
January 15, 1925



This message was last edited by the GM at 20:06, Mon 14 July 2014.

    Annabel Ashcroft sat by the fireplace watching the fire pop and crackle, soaking up it's warmth. The light cast a soft glow on her beautiful face, highlighting her blonde tresses, which made them look even more golden. It had been a fine party in a fine house with equally fine guests. In fact, the whole thing almost reminded her of back home. If she closed her eyes and opened them again, it seemed she could barely tell the difference. It did make her a bit homesick, though just a little. She was glad to be away from her family, away from the falsehoods and manipulations. That though was a little unfair, it was always like that in high society in one form or another; heck, it was here today even in it's own form. As long as she stayed within it's presence, she knew she would have to deal with it.

      It was one of the reasons she chose her current path as an assistant to one of the esteemed members of the family to whom this residence belonged to. Dr. Elias was kind enough to have hired her and whisk her away from her troubles like a knight rescuing a fair maiden in distress. She blushed a bit at the silliness; she'd been reading too many romance novels. But still, he had gotten her out of that jam and for that she was grateful.

    So here she was in New York, in a big house at a party where she really didn't know anyone except as a acquaintance. It had been pleasant enough though and as a Lady, she had been brought up well enough to hold her own; she could thank her mother for that at least. It was mostly family and friends of the good Doctor. She was actually a bit surprised that he had invited her; after all she was only his assistant, not someone of notable worth. But she was glad he had, otherwise it would have been staying home with another book in hand probably, unless she wanted to brave the cold to visit one of her few friends in the area. What was it with this cold anyway? Being from Providence, she was used to cold weather, but this was a little too much, even for her; and it was only January too, Mercy!

     Turning from gazing into the fire, Annabel took a small sip of the excellent vintage and shifted around the skirts of her blue dress. It was one of the better ones she had brought with her for occasions like this and she looked particularly good in it, plus it matched her eyes well. She raised a slender gloved hand to check an elegant platinum watch around her wrist. It was getting a bit late; most had left already and she felt she should probably go too. After all, she didn't want to be a pest. Maybe just a few more minutes, see what the others would do. She decided to wait.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:31, Mon 14 July 2014.

Stan had driven over early in the morning. He had slipped a plow operator a few bucks and had followed the man uptown from the Lower East Side. When he arrived he had gone to his trunk and carried a case of alcohol he had promised to the party hosts.

He entered through the servants entrance and had exchange the rattling case of whisky for a plate with bacon and eggs. Having grown up as the child of one of the servants, Stan occupied an odd place with a foot in both the family and the household help. Many hugs were exchanged and the older cook had even squeezed his cheeks.

Stan wanted a chance to have a simple meal with his son Jack, who he had not seen since Christmas, and breakfast was a nice excuse for the two of them to catch up. Like most of their time together it had been a bit awkward. Bishop's father was never a warm and expressive man, and Stan was despite his wishes much the same. After catching up on his son's activities and being very circumspect about his own the boy asked to be excused. He and some of the youngsters were headed to the park to do some sledding in the snow. Watching the boy go, Stan watched after him thinking of the many times he and Jackson and some of the others had made the same trek.

With Jack off on his way, Stan joined the other early arrivals and the members of the household already assembled. Stan said hello and made polite comments noticing small changes in people's appearance.

Despite being a private person, Stan was capable o being quite charming and was naturally likable. Perhaps it was the fact that he was willing to let others do most of the talking. Most people enjoyed to talk about themselves, Stan preferred to listen. But he made all the right noises and asked just the right number of questions to indicate he was quite engaged.

Otherwise he nursed his drinks and waited to see if his friend Jackson would keep with tradition and be home for his father's birthday.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 19:59, Mon 14 July 2014.

”Their problem, boy… Where do I start with them?” Fourth time is the charm.  Though what he intended to charm out of repeat conversation was anyone’s, including him, guess.   The story, and it got longer and more detailed every time he told it, concerned an American magazine Abraham had written for periodically while overseas whenever he needed a little extra money.  The current editor, then just another contributor to the magazine but one who worked in the New York branch office rather than roaming across Europe with little concern for punctuality, seemed to have taken Abraham’s shortcomings personally.  Now, Abraham let those he’d spoken to know he held no personal malice toward the man, and the journalistic vendetta being spewed out in a series of one-sided editorial arguments was complete hateful rubbish from a hack.  Thus far without fail the conversation had ended with Abraham discovering his tumbler mysteriously empty and him sauntering off to find a bottle of wine or hard liquor, whichever he came across first, and not much clue to who he’d just shared his tale with.

Abraham had arrived neither early nor late to Dr. Leonardo Elias’s birthday party.  He showed up in a navy Chevrolet Superior, thoroughly pleased that the owner of the vehicle, a close friend of his who’d been delighted to lend him a hand while he stayed in New York, opted for a hard top.  He hadn’t missed winter in the Northeast.  No, not at all.  He planned poorly, choosing to come home at the beginning of fall and staying through the winter.  He should have worked it out the other way, coming to New York in the spring or summer so he could return to the Mediterranean in the cool but not obscenely cold autumn.

At the start of the afternoon, Abraham had been cordial, making easy conversation with friends, relatives, and people he only knew from the party.  He might have been making the rounds with a tumbler containing maybe half of its original contents when some word or phrase brought the editor’s offense to the front of his mind and he had no choice but to share the story with the person he’d been in conversation with at that moment.  The Volstead Act—had there ever been a bigger joke?   Brought back to the present, Abraham stood with his glass refilled, slowly recounting his actions over the past hour.  Abraham swore under his breath.  His eyes drifted down to the amber liquid in his glass.  Were those folks with the Temperance Society on to something?  The sympathetic thought lasted about half a second before it died as the liquor hit his tongue.

Leo went from conversation to conversation with a smile on his face, happy to see his friends and family enjoying his hospitality. He realized that the holidays had just recently concluded with raucous New Year's celebrations a couple weeks before, but New York winters being what they were, another excuse to take some time off and enjoy it with family was certainly welcome.

Between conversations, Leo looked across the room at his wife, Catherine, who had aged quite gracefully as well. Her brilliant smile still lit up the room and made the days he spent at home remarkably pleasant. His brothers also usually made several appearances over his birthday week, and this was no exception. They used some of the time to discuss the family shipping business, left to them by their parents. Donnie spent the most time on the business, but to his credit still included his brothers in many of the decisions. It was rare that Leo and Mike disagreed with him, but it happened on occasion. The brothers still got on well, even after all these years. Like most men, their disagreements were left safely in the past once they had occurred.

Also in attendance were several of his cousins of various sorts. They ran the gamut from successful to not, but all were good to see a few times a year. Every single one enjoyed a good drink (or even a bad one) and could hold their own in conversation. Particularly when they were enjoying a drink. Leo glanced down at his own glass and realized that he had hardly partaken. Given his age, that was probably a good thing. The cigar he had planned for the even also remained uncut in his breast pocket, but that didn't put a damper on his mood either - rather it reinforced how much he was enjoying simply being around loved ones.

A few of his esteemed colleagues had also dropped by today, though some of the less esteemed had already departed the premises, and Leo was at the door wishing Dr. John Anderson a good evening. He turned to scan the room to see who was lacking conversation and possibly interested in such, when he discovered several in that disturbing situation. He planned to rectify that situation as well as he could, and started by approaching Annabel. "Good evening, Annabel. I trust you've enjoyed yourself?"

    Annabel watched with a bit of surprise on her face as her employer approached her. Other than greeting her at the door, she had seen very little of him. Now that most of the guests were gone, he had more time to focus on those that were left. She gave him a beautiful smile and nodded. "It was wonderful, thank you for inviting me. I have to admit though, I was a little surprised; after all, I'm only your assistant." She looked a little bemused at that.

Leo smirked a little at Annabel's apparent surprise, and averted his eyes to the cuffs of his brown tweed suit coat, which he adjusted to show the correct amount of starched shirt cuff at his wrists. Once his remarkably steady hands had finished their delicate work, he again met Annabel's eyes. "I enjoy having the chance to spend time socializing with interesting folks outside of our routine encounters. It provides me with the opportunity to establish connections with them beyond those required by obligation - be it familial or professional. You were given the week off without strings attached, and I certainly hope you came here for reasons other than a feeling of professional obligation. Besides, Miss Ashcroft, you are not an ordinary assistant, and I am fortunate to have someone of your quality to care for the affairs of my office. Were you a vapid woman with little intellectual curiosity and no ability to make conversation, I would not have extended the invitation."

He briefly looked around at those still in attendance, and then back to his assistant. "Have you had the chance to meet those that remain? Mister Hargrove has spent no small amount of time in France - if you haven't had the chance to make his acquaintance, I imagine you'd find conversation with him quite stimulating and possibly amusing." Leo had briefly extended a hand toward Abraham as he made the suggestion, though awaited Annabel's reply rather than making any sort of insistent movement that would force the issue.

      Annabel watched Dr. Elias's movements, admiring the man's elegance despite herself. She knew it was silly, he was twice her age after all; almost as old as her father, and way too old for her. But then again she did know some young ladies around her age who had taken older men for various reasons..... She pushed the thought out of her mind, slightly embarrassed for even thinking about it. She hoped the good Doctor did not notice anything.

   She gave a demure smile at his compliment. "How kind of you to say so sir. I find your work very interesting and I do try to do my best. As for being vapid, that's one of the reasons I left home. I did not want to be THAT kind of girl and I am glad to hear that I display no evidence of it."

  "As to your question," she continued, "I have engaged some of the guests in small talk but I do not believe Mr. Hargrove has been one of them. He's been to France you say? Maybe I will take your advice then." She stopped for a moment, then turned to face the Doctor again. "Tell me Dr. Elias, do you think that you may travel again anytime soon? Maybe get away from this weather, it's been awfully harsh this winter an it's only started. I for one would not mind a more temperate climate."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:56, Tue 15 July 2014.