Sophie excused herself to grab another drink and Aloysius was once again left alone. He leaned over to look at his painting. He looked good. Sure, he wasn't any Rudolph Valentino, but Sophie's painting at least made him look decent.
Aloysius sat in silence beside the occasional "hello" to people passing by. His second drink of the night was almost empty, but he didn't get up. He didn't want the table taken if neither Sophie nor him were there. Instead, he looked around and people watched. Almost every person in the room was dancing or talking with a partner, except for a few straglers near the bar.
Aloysius looked past the bar, to the door. The speakeasy's accountant (Henry? Grant? Aloysius had no clue) was standing near it and occasionally opened it a crack to look outside. He was fiddling with his hands the whole time; Aloysius assumed as a nervous habit. Then, Sullivan the bartender walked up to him and said something, presumably telling the man to get back to work. The accountant crossed his arms and seemed to put up a fight, but eventually gave in to Sullivan and walked away, looking back several times as he did so.
Suddenly, Aloysius noticed someone approaching the table and smiled. The light-haired man from before—Julian, he thought?—had evidently come from the bar, nearly-full drink in hand.
Julian grinned in recognition when he caught sight of Aloysius. "Hey!"
"Hello!" Aloysius said, motioning him to sit down, "Funny seeing you again! Sophie from last time is here, too."
"Ah, the artist," Julian said, placing his drink on the table. "Sad to say I don't know her well. Mostly I've interacted with her brother. Liam, I think? He's, ah... part of the staff. In a way."
"I didn't know that. How was your weekend?" Aloysius asked, taking a sip of his drink, only to realize there was nothing left for him to drink.
Julian took a sip. "How it always is. Spent wasting away in this dingy building." He sighed. "Got in some playing though, Sunday. And you?"
"That's too bad. As much as I love this place, I'd need a break once in a while. As for me, I had a baseball game on Saturday and won. Then I saw an old friend of mine named Elle. She's sweet, although she does read into things a bit more than she should sometimes," Aloysius chuckled, "Besides that, I worked for the rest of the weekend and wrote a letter to my mother."
"Quite the ladies' man, it seems," Julian joked. "And congratulations on the baseball. Never been much of a sports fan myself, but my brother's glued to the radio whenever he can to catch up on the latest highlights." He paused. "You said you wrote your mother a letter? Have you been away from home long?"
"I've been away from Pittsburgh since.. 1926, so around two years now. My mother has never been a fan of telephones-"
Before Aloysius could finish, another familiar figure approached the table. This time, it was Caroline. She was alone, and seemed tired, and possibly depressed. While still pretty, she was dressed more simply, in a navy dress with white trim.
"Hello! Well, isn't this fun," Aloysius said, "How was your weekend?"
"Good," Caroline said. "It was nice. My friend and I went to Navy Pier." Her tone was clipped as if there was something else she was holding back.
"Navy Pier is always great," Aloysius replied, not wanting to intrude on something she didn't want to say.
Aloysius looked over to the bar to see Sophie returning to the table, new drink in hand. She seemed to have noticed the other two at the table. Aloysius smiled at her, but quickly returned to the conversation. He could get used to this group of people.
641 words, by looseleaf, Plume, and Elinor
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