2019-07-23 - Five Jobs Is Too Many

It's early afternoon and Jay has a shift at the Deuce in a little bit. But at the moment, he's just stepping out of the trailer for a smoke. He's in what he usually wears for work at the bar: black trousers, nice light-colored sneakers, an untucked slim button-up--pastel colors! today is green--with the sleeves rolled up, and a skinny black tie. He has a blank gray baseball cap on. He hops out of the trailer and pulls a lighter out of his pocket, sucking ash and blowing smoke.

Bennie's rounding the corner to Baylee's trailer, head bowed over her phone as she raptly watches a cat video where it has become unlikely friends with an owl. These things are important, and she seems so hyper focused on it that it's not until she's almost running smack dab into Jay's smoke cloud that she realizes she's about to bowl over the man himself. "Oh dear baby lord Jesus Christ on a cracker!" The words all sort of run together as her free hand flutters to her heart. "Didn't see you there!" She squeaks and then offers a bright smile of apology. She's dressed in a denim skirt that's edging on mini with her long legs and a tank top with a yellow knit overlay and a pair of sandals. Because when one works part time for a PI, there isn't really a uniform.

Especially the sort of P.I. whose uniforms are probably all sexy schoolgirl ones or something. Jay smiles at Bennie when she verbally explodes politness. He lifts both brows and grins at her. "Hey, Benz." He ashes his cigarette and then leans on the side of the trailer. "How's it goin?" Jay has this way about him--like he's got energy for anything but is unwilling to part with it necessarily at this moment. It's how he rolls. Few people know what he's like when he really wants something. "You lookin' for your boss?"

A myriad of plastic metal colored bracelets jangle together as she lifts a hand to tuck a blonde lock behind her ear, "Actually," Bennie says sheepishly, "I sort of come and go at odd hours, so she's probably not around anyways. I was just going to organize your kitchen cupboards until she gives me an assignment. I don't like taking her money if I'm not at least providing something useful." She pauses, backing up verbally as well as physically by half a step. "Assuming of course you meant Baylee, and not Gina or my Supervisor at the station? But then again, why would they be here much less why would I come looking for them here. So that's a dumb question." He might keep his energy reserved, but she burns through hers like the bright wild fire of a comet.

Jay looks amused. "I meant Baylee, yeah." He reaches over and shoves the trailer door open for her. "Knock yourself out. I'm not disorganized or anything but I guess if you wanna be a maid for lack of anything else to do, I'm not gonna complain." He takes another drag of his cigarette. "How many jobs you got, girl?"

Bennie seems to realize that her phone is still making mewing and hooting noises and she clicks it off and shoves it in her back pocket, reshifting the weight of her oversized purse with a thumb running along the strap. "Um..." Her fingers start ticking up as she mentally counts, and then finally just admits with a smile. "Too many. But I dropped two to work for Bay, because she pays better and it's less hours than working the cater waiter gigs and telephone customer support. So I'm down to five!"

Jay stares at her. At first, it's a little wide-eyed and then he squints slowly. He leans in closer, leaning left and then right, head sort of swiveling almost snake-like to look at her. It's not sexual, like he's checking her out; it's more like he's looking for something. It's a little weird, but also a little amusing. Maybe.

Bennie turns her chin slightly towards her shoulder, shrinking down physically as her spine curls concave a little self consciously. "Whaaaaaaaat?" She asks of that assessing gaze, "Why do I suddenly feel like I've grown another head I'm not aware of. Or maybe a tail?" And damned if she doesn't crane around to see if the latter actually happened.

"You haven't, Jay says, leaning back slowly. He takes a long drag of his cigarette and then shrugs. "I was looking for an off-switch. You gotta be a robot, man." He grins at her, cheeky and jovial. "You want something to drink? I think we got Coke. And lemonade. And beer."

There is a playful roll of Bennie's eyes, her voice laced with laughter, "It's not like I do them all in the same day...ooh lemonade!" That's all it takes for Bennie's focus to shift is to offer her something with sugar in it. She bounds up the few steps it takes to duck into the trailer, sidling past Jay with a hand going to rest on his stomach as she moves past. No personal bubble, this one.

Jay grins at her. "Still. Five jobs is too much. I have one and my extracurricular activities and I'm pretty sure that's all I ever want. Why five jobs?" She bounds up the steps and he doesn't seem to mind the lack of personal bubble. He just wanders back into the trailer, taking a final drag and then tossing the cigarette out, closing the door behind him. He heads for ther fridge to get her her lemonade.

Bennie just sort of shrugs which serves two purposes. First she can convey a laissez faire attitude, and second she can slide her heavy bag off her shoulder to drop it just inside the door before she trails after him. "I like to keep busy, and if I'm going to be busy, I might as well get paid for it." Though her reasoning seems a little thin. Starting to open cupboards so she can get a lay of the land, she comments, "Do you guys ever cook, or mostly do take out?"

"I only cook when I'm trying to get into someone's pants," Jay says, with about as much shame as a drunk Jazz musician on Mardi Gras. "Otherwise, takeout. Or like, I mean, sandwiches or hotdogs or burgers or something." Clearly, cooking for Jay implies actual effort.

Bennie's head swivels to give Jay a wide smile at that response, but she seems neither surprised nor judgmental about the admission. "Sounds about right." She declares, but at least that gives her some sense about priority when it comes to their dishes. She starts pulling things off of one shelf, before going to the sink and wetting a rag to wipe it down. "So what brought you to Gray Harbor, anyways? Boredom. I bet your answer is going to be that you were bored and had nothing better to do."

"I'm on the run from corrupt members of the Chicago PD, the Bay Area Triad, and Baylee paid my bail when I called her and said I could lay low here." He sets the glass of lemonade next to her and smiles. Is he lying? Is he telling the truth? Jesus fuck it's hard to tell.

"Impressiiiive." Bennie intones, because whether or not it's the truth, it's the delivery that counts. She reaches out to tug on that skinny tie of his. "That's tends to be the case, doesn't it? Always the cute ones who are trouble." Which might explain why Gray Harbor is full of beautiful people: the whole place is synonymous with trouble. "Thanks." That's for the lemonade she's plucking up now to take a quick drink of.

"Thanks. My legal troubles are always theoretically attractive, at least," in that way bad boys are great until the 'bad' gets too real. He doesn't seem to mind the tug on the tie; but he does lift a single brow at her, and the grin goes askew a little, turning smirk for a moment. "That mean you're trouble, too, then?"

"I prefer to think of myself more of 'a handful' than trouble? But I guess either can sound appealing with the right inflection. The important part is remember to remain worth all the fuss." Bennie's smile is still wide and vibrant as she turns back to the cupboard and pulls out far too many Tupperware lids that don't seem to match any of the containers on the counter. "Isn't that always the way. It's like socks and dryers. You never get the same amount back that you put in..." She muses.

"I'm pretty sure that's because Baylee uses them as ashtrays and doesn't realize that cigarettes burn plastic. I told her to just put a little water in them so that doesn't happen, but getting her to listen to anything I say is like pulling teeth," Jay admits. "And handfuls can be fun, too. At least they're less malicious than trouble."

Bennie's mouth twists with thought, no doubt debating if they should just be tossed or if there is some other beneficial use for them besides just pitching them in a landfill. "Are you implying that your brand of trouble is malicious? Sorry, I just don't buy it. You know, Yakuza aside, or whatever." The decision on the lids is just too far important, so to avoid the anxiety it's giving her, Bennie just stacks them neatly together and sets them aside to deal with later.

"Yakuza are Japanese, I'm Chinese," Jay says, though it's gentle, not offended. He shrugs. "I just think 'trouble' has a more active component. Like you gotta work at being trouble, you know? You can be a handful just by being too much for someone. It's almost like, handfuls are subjective--but trouble is trouble for everyone."

"Just because you're Chinese doesn't mean you couldn't have pissed off the Yakuza." Bennie points out cheerfully as she wipes down another shelf, her head momentarily disappearing into the confines of the cupboard as she reaches the back corners, trying to be thorough. "So does that mean you were actually in jail and should I know what for? Like. Am I in immediate danger from your presence?" It's said with a grin back over her shoulder, so clearly she's not perturbed.

"Nah," Jay says. "I mean, I'm pretty cute, so maybe stay over there. You don't want to be overwhelmed. We'll have problems with Easton otherwise." It's so cheesy that he can't be serious. He probably isn't. He does flop on the couch, though. "How's that going, anyway? Is it love love love?" Boy, he does not have boundaries about topics of conversation.

"Weeeeeeeeell." Bennie draws out the word, buying herself time to contemplate the answer to that question. One that she's perhaps been trying to answer for herself prior to Jay asking it aloud. "I mean, we haven't exactly been taking things slow, that's for certain. But we did just have the discussion about how it'd be nice if he didn't bump uglies with Baylee again, so maybe it's too soon to make that call?" Though she doesn't really seem so certain about it being 'too soon', at least from her perspective, only hesitant about slapping any labels on things that will make things WAY too complicated.

"Ahhhh." Jay nods slowly, relaxing back against the end of the couch. "So you guys had the exclusivity talk." He does the A-OK gesture. "That's a good talk to have. I think Baylee's all about Aidan now anyway, so." Jay's shrug is easy and laid back. "Somehow I don't think you'll have any trouble from an unfaithful Easton, though."

"Well, in his defense, we were on a break. Or at least I tried to be, before I just completely crumbled like a house of cards. So maybe it's not a question of his fidelity so much as my tendency to run." Bennie shrugs again, leaning to peak into the living room and find Jay with her gaze. "I'm glad her and Aidan are working things out. I think they're good together. I hope that doesn't leave you out to dry? I don't ...really know if you two had anything."

"We did!" Jay does not seem put out. "It's fine." He shrugs. "I am if nothing else, adaptable." He looks like he's handling it fine, anyway. "I mean I hadn't seen her in months anyway, so it's not like it was a huge expectation of mine. Easton seems kinna smitten, though. It's nice. He's like a Build-A-Bear teddy but, like, the kind you'd expect to find in Mad Max. All gruff and grumble." Jay winks at her.

He adds, "Like some Warboys were like, 'let's make a teddy', y'know?"

"Not enough silver around his mouth, like he just finished huffing spray paint out of a paper bag." Bennie's laughter echoes into her lemonade glass as she takes another sip. "Wait, that was that movie, right? Been a while." She admits as her eyes cast upwards as if searching some corner of her memory and comes up lacking an answer. "Well, who ever stuffed him put in a heart of gold before the sewed him shut, that's for sure."

"Exactly. Like a teddy bear made of marshmallows inside." Jay smirks. "I can't believe you have to ask about that movie, Bennie, it's FURY ROAD how do you doubt this?" He gives her a faux disappoint look.

"You try watching the majority of your entertainment on a tiny telephone screen off of the library's wifi and see how many details you can completely remember!" Bennie chirps before she opens another cabinet and starts pulling that one apart now too. "So how do you like working with Easton, anyways? You two have to be up to some crazy antics when the boss isn't around."

"Not really. If the Deuce is quiet, we're taking a break and if it's not, we're really busy. But he's an all right boss." Since Easton isw his direct boss, even if he's not the owner. "Sometimes we'll get a group of people that's interesting. Ash and Astrid are fun and we like to troll Easton with their name and which is which." He puts his finger on his lips. "Shh. Don't tell him."

"I think your secret is safe with me." Bennie intones with laughter in her voice as she starts stacking plates, moving them from one cabinet to another. It makes more sense flow wise, at least in Bennie's mind. Really this just means Baylee won't be able to find a damn thing later. "Who am I to get in the way of some innocent fun." Wait. She peeks out again. "It is innocent, right? Had to ask."

"I mean, he might come home a little flustered and looking harangued," Jay says with a laugh, "but I don't think we're doing any lasting damage, no." He shakes his head. He is keeping a close eye on what she's doing, though it looks less like he's keeping an eye on her and more like he wants to make sure he knows where shit is so he can troll Baylee later.

Bennie's eyes twinkle when Jay laughs, "Good. Only a man's girlfriend should be allowed to truly torture him." She pauses in her rearranging, fingers poised on her lips with thought. "You know what she needs? Shelf paper. I think I have a few rolls under my sink. It should be enough to at least get me started. I'll be right back!" She chirps, her steps bouncing with barely restrained happiness at the thought. "Don't worry if you have to leave. You can lock up! I have a key!" She stoops when she gets to the door, slinging up her bag in a practiced movement.

Jay blinks at her. "Okay." And she's out the door and he wrinkles his nose and looks around at the empty trailer. "Who the hell keeps shelf paper under their sink?"