New Avalon

[CalamityJade]

He sighs a little. "Hey look...if you're really that strapped, I might be able to help ya....seein how you're in here all the time and haven't given me guff about my leg." He takes out a card with an address and the name 'Staulf Harrox' on it. "That suit that was in here. He kinda runs a lot of these places...and gives some weird instruction. One bein that any customer that saw him can get a bit of help from him."

[yamikuronue]

"...help how?" Erika asks, pocketing the card. Not that it matters, honestly. If there's hope... any sort of hope... she can't turn it down, not now. Not the way her life was going.

[CalamityJade]

"Dunno. Usually they just head out and don't come back in here...well, a few do. Usually payin off their loans." He shrugs. "Guy seems a little creepy, but never breaks his word. Seen him take a couple of bad deals just because he told the guy he'd take it."

[yamikuronue]

Paying off their loans... Was that even possible? "Thanks."

Taking her money, Erika heads for the address on the card, her stomach gnawing at her since she'd had to skip eating so far today. Could it really be true? Was this guy some kind of... fairy godmother? The absurd image of herself in a golden ballgown with silver slippers makes her smile despite her worry. Still though... there had to be good people out there somewhere, right? So why not here? Some people get lucky, so why not her? Why not now?

[CalamityJade]

The address would require her taking a Pulse Cart. Some years after New Avalon had really started going, they'd set up something of a service of steam carts that were attached to brass rails in the street. They gave a lot of people better transportation without having the crowns to afford auto carts. You just had to stand on the brass ring on the sidewalk and the next empty Cart would stop for you. Not to mention it was actually really cheap to use. Of all the things that seemed to cost a lot in this city, they made it easy to get around.

The address took her deep into The Exchange, the business district in downtown New Avalon. The store front was rather subdued and unassuming with a sign for 'Felix Fates Inc.' and a thick looking wooden door. It...looked open, but there weren't any windows to look into the place.

[yamikuronue]

Cheap isn't free; under normal circumstances, she'd never have shelled out, but her mouth practically watered at the idea of being free from this crushing debt, so she didn't mind the coins too much. The business district... she hadn't spent much time here at all. She'd had no head for figures when she first got here, though she'd had to learn budgeting the hard way. There were too many applicants and too few secretary positions down here -- it'd go to some pretty girl over her, every time.

Taking a deep breath, she opens the door, stepping into the shop.

[CalamityJade]

The inside was....actually rather lavished. dark wood floors matched the black furniture that dotted the store front. There was also a desk with one of those pretty ladies...actually she was stunning. Perfect figure, black hair that fell in waves, and unblemished and smooth skin. Stunningly bright green eyes looked up at her and gave a bright smile framed with her bright apple red lipstick. "Welcome to Felix Fates. Can I help you?"

[yamikuronue]

Erika won't deny being jealous: she was short, plump, with too-wide hips and too-large busoms that made her rather resemble a cow than a doe. Her eyes were nowhere near that stunning, her arms nowhere near as smooth and long, and she was freckled to boot. Still, if she stopped to be jealous of every beauty in New Avalon she'd never get anywhere.

"I, um... I was told to come here?" She brandishes the card, licking her lips nervously. "About some money trouble?"

[CalamityJade]

Upon seeing the card, she gave motioned towards a chair near the desk. "Ah, then I'll let Mr. Harrox know that you're hear." She Did have a nice smile...and once she got closer there was a...scent. Whatever perfume she was using was VERY nice. Something of a hint of cinnamon and...roses? Whatever it was, it was a warm and inviting fragrance. Once Erika sat down, she hit a button next to her on the desk. "Mr. Harrox, you have a client." There was a pause before the speaker crackled to life. "I will be with her shortly." The secretary gave a bright smile. "Mr. Harrox will be with you shortly."

[yamikuronue]

Erika smiles, half relieved and half delighted. "Thank you," she says, moving to sit in a chair. Hopefully she won't be kept waiting long...

[CalamityJade]

And she was not. Mr. Harrox walked in from a door near the back of the room. He looked just as polished and his voice was just as..unique. "Ah. Miss Stark! It seems fate has us meeting once again. How can I help you?"

[yamikuronue]

Erika smiles, though this time it's a nervous smile, as her stomach turns flips. "Well, I'll get to the brunt of it: my job shorted my paycheck this week and I'm not sure how I'm going to make it another fortnight unless I can get some outside help." She doesn't quite meet his eyes, saying this, instead fixing her gaze on a spot on the wall just past his cheek. It's not like she's begging for a handout -- whatever he offers her will probably benefit him just as much as her. He was a respectable businessman, and this was a business arrangement. Right?

[CalamityJade]

He gave that a...well, he smiled a little less. "That is quite dreadful. Please, come in." He motioned for her to follow him back into the room he came from. Once inside it was rather striking. The back wall was a large aquarium with several different kinds of fish in it. there were also some...kind of things hanging on rocks with  hundreds of small appendages that waved back and forth. The ambient light gave the light blue tint that made it distinctly Pulse lighting. This along with the jet-black desk that was about as long as Erika was tall and the rather plush chairs that were on either side of the desk made it obvious that Mr. Harrox was rather wealthy. "So, take it from the beginning, if you would. Your job shorted your paycheck and you are finding yourself short on funds, yes?"

[yamikuronue]

She nods. "I have three scales and seven pence after I pay all my bills, and I'm already floating whatever bills as can wait." She flinches a little to hear her voice -- next to his polish, her lower-class slang sounded out of place, especially in a room this gorgeous. She sits in a chair, wringing her fingers nervously. "I can work more hours next fortnight," she adds, knowing she probably can't. "But I'm in a bind for the moment."

[CalamityJade]

Mr. Harrox gave a nod. "It's the plight of all those that wait, to survive till the city opens it's arms and Welcomes you. Of course, I'm sure that Yarics hadn't planned on the lengths some would have to go." Anthony Yarics...the architect and founder of New Avalon. There hadn't been another city like it and there probably would never be another. Whatever he'd done had made New Avalon unique. A place that all came to fulfill their dreams. "Putting aside the problem with funds, which I will admit to being quite serious, what is it that brought you here. The heavenly city is not always as kind as people would put it, unfortunately."