Eternal Grind

She had never liked D.C. at this time of year. It was wet, overcast and always dirty. It was just like living in London or Seattle. Cities weren't her favorite places to be. She enjoyed the small rural towns but people noticed everything you did. Not very productive for someone who hasn't aged in the last few centuries. Madison pulled her scarf closer to her face, looking for the restaurant that Tom had told her he was at.

~What am I doing?~  She wondered as she neared the street it was on.

~This is not the safe thing to do. I'm meeting a stranger. What if he kills me?~ She paused for a moment, lingering on the thought of the death that had eluded her for so long. She often hoped for this to all be over. Her never ending punishment for a crime she never committed.

~Don't be so selfish!~ She scolded herself as she started back forward. ~Who would feed Salem!~

Rounding the street corner she reached her destination, 616 S. 8th street. A well-kept "Secret" of D.C. Tulip's Brew Hall. She didn't frequent the establishment too much, but would come a couple times a month. She avoided leaving a lasting impression on others.

Walking in the front door was like walking into a different world. The walls were brick, lined with vines, various types of flowers and plants. Tables and chairs were carved wood, polished and set with tulips in mason jars with tea light candles. Overall the ambiance was rustic and cozy. The food was warm, comforting and she always enjoyed it. It was crowded but calm, everyone enjoying their own company. She didn't see him here. She shuffled up to the bar, smiling at the bar tender who had spoken casually with her on her visits.

"What can I get for you today, Mads?" He asked politely. It shocked her the first time he had remembered her name, but she eventually became used to it. It was his job, after all, to remember the names of is patrons.

"I'll take my usual, Thanks Ailim." She smiled. He was always easy to talk to. Ailim was calming person. He was an average height and build, with a generic hair cut and short trimmed facial hair. He wore jeans and a black shirt with a bar towel slung over his shoulder. He wore a pendant around his neck, something he called a "Miljnor". He poured a glass of mead and set it down in front of Madison.

"One usual." He smiled. "How's it been going?" He asked. "It's not the usual time that you sit in."

She took the glass in her hand. "I am entertaining a persistent customer." She explained before sipping the sweet honey wine and warming all over, closing her eyes. She could see a vision of a beautiful field, stretching miles wide with green grass and mountains reaching for the sky. She often dreamt of this very place but in all her travels of the world, has had yet to find it.

"Entertaining a customer? That doesn't seem like a barista thing." He cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "I mean, how much are they paying?"  She glared at him, not finding his quip nearly as funny as he did. "Alright, I'm sorry." Ailim held his hands up in surrender. "Don't kill me with that stare."

She continued to submerge herself in her beverage, searching for answers in her glass.

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A sly smile spread across his face as he looked her up and down, running his nimble fingers through his hair as he sauntered toward her. He knew she would fall to his charms, like every other woman before her. How could she resist? Tom laid a hand on her shoulder and in the brief second, he knew that he was wrong. She spun around and stared at him as if he were the most disgusting thing in the world.

"What do you think you are doing?" She spat at him. "You can't just sneak up on someone." She held an empty drinking glass in her hand and his book was tucked under her arm. She shook her head, her wavy auburn hair swaying slightly with the motion. She was shorter than him, only coming up to his shoulders in height. Her hazel eyes hiding a millennia of secrets. Her sweater dress swallowed her, hiding her body from the world. This was the first time he had seen her in anything other than her work clothes.

"I'm sorry to have startled you." Tom replied apologetically. The bartender she was talking to stared at him. Looking at him as if he had seen someone familiar. He glanced back towards Madison as she set her empty glass on the bar. He replaced it with a full vessel of mead and nodded at them both before returning to other patrons.

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"I have a table for us." Tom pointed at a cozy corner table that was far from the door and most of the other people in the bar. Madison stepped forward, taking the lead, leaving him behind. Her strides were quick as she made her way and pulled out her chair, seating herself. Tom sat down across the table, leaning forward, half smiling as he folded his fingers together and gazed at her. She stared him down. If there was one thing she had learned after all these years, it was how to ice someone over. Even if they did make her feel like her body was on fire just by glancing at her.

"Well, Tom, you have my undivided attention." She said smoothly, the book still oddly cold in her grasp. She laid it on the table before her and gently, slowly slid it across to him, watching his face for a reaction.

"I would like to know more about you." He gestured at her, what do you do in your free time? How long have you been in D.C. and how long have you been a barista? You know, first date questions."

"Who said this was a date?" She muttered, raising an eyebrow.

"You are the one who took me up on the offer." He leaned back into his hands, a wicked grin on his sharp face.

"Call it what you will." She shook her head, "As long as you are paying for dinner". She smirked and tossed back the rest of her drink. The waitress appeared at the table side.  She was petite, blue eyed. Her brown hair chopped into a pixie cut she spiked in the front. She had plugs in her ears, with arms covered in tattoos similar to the symbols on the spine of Tom's book. A raven tattoo peaked out from beneath her shirt sleeve. The rest of the skin on her arms were covered in a similar motif featuring wolves, cats and a large serpent. Tom looked her up and down before he flashed a charming smile at her.

"I am digging your tattoos." He said, pointing to the snake on her arm. The waitress blushed, looking down at her arms. He had the same effect on almost every woman it would seem.

"Thank you. I'm really into Norse mythology, so I started getting these when I was younger." Her face was flush, and she smiled from ear to ear. "Anyway, my name is Lilly, I am your server for the night. What can I get started for you?" She glanced at Madison and then promptly back to Tom.

"I will need a moment to look over the menu more, but I will take some more mead." Madison said, attracting the attention of the short waitress away from her handsome "date". Tom snickered from across the table.

"I do believe I will have the same to drink, dear." The waitress scribbled on her note pad and smiled at Tom before rushing off to the bar. Madison raised a solitary eyebrow as she walked away. Looking back to Tom she realized he had been staring at her again.

"Why did you leave your book in the chair?" she asked him, getting straight to her point.

"I did it for your sake." He explained. "I knew your coworker would have had a fit had you actually answered me there, so I gave you a way to answer me without that problem."

"Oh, My hero." she said, sarcasm dripping over every word.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Now if she asks, you can just tell her you were returning my journal." He finally grabbed the book form the table.

"Some journal that is, it is entirely blank." She eyed him up and down, not firmly believing his story. "Not to mention it's ancient." Tom tucked the book into the bag hanging off the side of his chair.

"Blank? That's odd, I must have left my actual journal at home." He sighed and continued to look at his menu, glancing up at Madison every so often. She still didn't believe him but thought better about questioning him. The waitress returned with their mead and taking their order before leaving again.

"So, my questions don't deserve answers?" He asked again, pouting.

"Oh fine," She huffed as she thought about it for a second. "I moved to D.C. about two years ago. I have been a Barista for a while. I started when I was still in high school at a coffee shop that was more local to Michigan. I fell in love with the business of coffee and never really had a desire to leave it." She paused to take a sip of her beverage and then smiled. "As for my free time, I have a cat that I took in when I moved here. I spend a lot of time with him at home. I also tend to read… a lot." She looked at him as she took another drink.

"What is your cat's name?" He asked her.

"Salem." She said, still sipping.

"Oh, like the town from the witch trials?" She stared at him with eyes wide. He was the first person not to lump Salem's name with the cat from Sabrina the Teenage Witch. A sign of the times she supposed.

"Y... yes." She said as she felt a chill run down her spine as she set her drink down. "I guess I'm a bit of a history buff." She shrugged off her memories. "What about you?" She asked, drinking more, seeking comfort and warmth from the bottom of a beer glass. She swallowed down her mead and memories as she looked at him, thinking how beautiful and striking he was. She thought he was pompous at first, but started to feel he was rather charming.

His hair was bright red, shiny and healthy looking. Styled in a high fade with a bit of a pompadour at the top. His smile was bright, mischievous and fang like. Green eyes with just a hint of gold hiding in the iris. Lips were average in thickness with a larger mouth. Hands la They did have little scars all over them, as did his face. All these imperfections had only been brought to her attention the more she stared at him, yet the more beautiful they seemed to make him. His face was long with a sharp jaw and strong nose. He wore a blue button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, slightly distressed jeans, and brown oxford shoes. A watch on his left wrist and banded rings on every other finger. It was no wonder why he managed to captivate every woman he ever talked to. He smiled at her, and she could feel her face begin to turn slightly pink.

She had seen him many times, spoke with him almost daily, but this was the first time she was actually seeing him.

Their food arrived and she could smell the spice wafting from his plate. It looked delicious but smelled like fire. She looked down at her own plate and felt her stomach turn in protest and hunger. She hadn't really found the time to eat today. They both began to eat, clearing their plates before too long

"You sure can drink." He said softly, looking at her with admiration. She shrugged and shook her head lightly.

"I've had a lot of practice." She was chugging down the last half of her glass when the waitress came back to the table. She had been side eyeing Madison the whole night up to this point. She looked Tom up and down like he was a piece of meat and smirked.

"Is there anything else I can get for you and your…sister?" She asked, glancing at Madison, waiting for a reaction. She was about to speak when Tom finished signing the check and handed it back.

"My Wife and I are fine, thank you, Lilly." He said coldly.

"Right then, have a wonderful evening." She mumbled as she walked away in shame. Tom chuckled silently as he stood up, taking Madison's hand.

"Come along, Love. Let's go home now." He said loud enough for the waitress to hear.

"What are you doing?" She whispered.

"Trust me." He whispered back as he pretended to kiss her cheek. "It's a little funny." He wasn't wrong. There was a sense of satisfaction in seeing the embarrassment replace that girl's smug attitude. She wrapped her arm around his as he escorted her out of the restaurant, eyes throwing daggers at their backs. The walked to the end of the street together before they broke into laughter.

"Okay, that was pretty good." She said as she pulled her scarf closer to her mouth. The night air had become brisk and chilling. She wasn't as prepared as she should have been. She was so fueled by spite that she left her own jacket at home by her front door. She rubbed her own arms, fighting off a slight shiver as she noticed the feeling of fabric being draped over her shoulders. Tom wrapped her into his Jacket and smiled. "Ever the gentleman, aren't you?" She asked him as she pulled herself into the warm leather.

"Only for fair maddens as yourself." He chaffed. "Do you need company on the way home?" He asked. Noting that it was growing quite late. She thought it over for a second. Not sure how to answer this question. She knew she could handle herself just fine, but did she want to go alone? It may be nice to have some company for once. Other than Salem of course. She wanted him to come home with her, but at the same time she wasn't one hundred percent sure if he wasn't a deranged mad man. You can take him if he tries anything funky. She told herself.

"Sure, you can meet Salem." She said softly as she allowed Tom to follow her home.