IC Tony's SF by Night

[Bennosuke]

Tony finishes his drink and gets up to escape. Regardless of whether or not he remembers to leave a tip (given the free drink), just when he thinks he is slipping out, the bartender turns her attention from the overly muscled bro she is talking to, gives Tony a warm grin and says, "Come back anytime sugar. Pleasure to meet you."

Tony drives back to his split two story apartment in the outer Noe Valley. Sofia, Tony's cousin, lived on the second floor with her son Nicky, and even before Tony had made it up the stairs to the porch, she had the door open. "Oh my god Tony," she says with excitement, "you have to open your package. I don't know what to do about it. This is crazy!" Sofia's tone belied excitement rather than concern, and it was clear that she was so worked up she was having trouble keeping her thoughts straight. She pushes a small box made of a rich black velvet like material, and wrapped in crimson ribbon (like the world's strangest birthday present) into Tony's hand, and repeats, "Open it." Almost as an afterthought, Sofia then asks with a hint of embarrassment, "How did everything go today? You stopped responding to my texts." The ways he asked the question meant she already had an idea about what happened.

[DanaF'ingWhite]

"Ugh, let me put my stuff down and I'll tell you about it."
I make to move past Sofia towards the apartment door

"So what is this? Someone drop it off by my door?"

[Bennosuke]

Sophia moves out of her cousin's way as he tries to get past her, though her eyes narrow with concern. As Tony passes her, she places a firm hand on his shoulder, and clearly having not heard his question says, "You didn't get it, did you?" She waits a moment, but before Tony can gather himself to reply adds, "I'm really sorry. That's ****ed up! I know how hard you worked on your proposal!"

(OOC: Glad to have you back. I basically had to reread everything to remember what had happened so far)

[DanaF'ingWhite]

Tony shrugs in reply, and after touching Sofia's hand in affirmation opens the door to his place. He puts the box down on the entryway bench and sits down to take his shoes off.

"Yeah, the company decided to go with a different direction. It is what it is. Doesn't really make sense to me."

[Bennosuke]

Sophia follows Tony in, but stops at the end of the entrance hallway, studying her cousin empathetically. A sad grin spreads on her face and she says wryly, "Well, they must be idiots. Let me know if you want me to cut a B. You know I will." She picks up the package that Tony had left in the entryway and brings it to Tony, placing it in his lap. Excitedly, Sophia says, "You should open this. If it's anything like the one we got, I think it might cheer you up!"

She grins, her eyes wide and excited, but the expression fades quickly and she adds half under her breath, "It has been a really weird day!"

[DanaF'ingWhite]

"I don't think that will be quite necessary, the proposal they went for sounds like a debacle waiting to happen."

Tony stretches and cracks his back, then begins peeling the packaging on the strange "gift".

"So is this from the butler guy you mentioned earlier?"

[Bennosuke]

Sofia watches eagerly as Tony starts to unwrap the package. Replying to his question she says, "Yeah. He legitimately had a tuxedo with tails and a funny looking white bowtie. But he looked like a retired boxer or something; he was old but all muscle, and his nose looked like it had been broken a few times."

The tissue paper gives way to an ornate but simple box of polished wood. Carved and printed into the top of the box are the gilted letters, "ND" over a shield and scepter carving that somehow looks familiar. The inside of the box is padded in a soft ruby velvet, and contains an envelope and the card. Inside the envelope is a band of hundred dollar bills and a small gold ring with a flattened signet engraving on it. This mirrors the shield and scepter that was on the box lid.

Sofia's eyes go wide, and she says more with shock than hurt, "Hey, I didn't get anything more than the cash!"

The letter appears to be a piece of expensive white stationary. In black ink and cursive is the message,

"Tony,

I am an old friend of your grandfather's. I am new in town and wanted to reach out. I could use some help and have a business proposition for you, and you alone. Do not tell your cousin.

Sincerely,


Nicholas"

With a hint of jealously, Sophia asks what the card says.

[DanaF'ingWhite]

Tony casually, but quickly pockets the card, to turn attention back to gifts. "An old friend of our grandfather is in town apparently? What is this ring supposed to be?"

Tony hands Sofia the ring, while flipping through the bills "So how much did we make out with? Nice gesture but this is kinda weird."

[Bennosuke]

As Tony starts to pocket the card, he turns it over, and notices a phone number printed on the back side.

Sofia looks just as perplexed as he is, and about the ring replies, "I have no idea! An old friend of our Grandfather's? That doesn't make any sense. And why wouldn't he or she just come see us in person? Why the money?" The excitement that was in Sofia's eyes previously is now replaced with a certain anxiety.

In reply to his question about how much they made, Sofia says, "We got about two thousand." But as Tony starts counting the hundreds, he counts forty, not twenty. Crossing her arms over her chest, she adds, "Tony, this is more than a little weird. It's starting to make me a little uncomfortable."