» Help Wanted, Luke

[Mckenna Lennox]

Mid to Late April, 201

Mckenna walked through the streets of Corus, her hands tucked in her pockets, her red hair hanging in a cascade of curls down her back, the slight breeze tugging on the fiery locks, gently pulling them back away from her face. She was new to Corus, having just arrived at the beginning of April and she loved it already. It was a touch warmer than her home up north in Blue Harbor, but not my much. Mostly it was because Corus was more inland, they missed out on the cool breezes coming off the ocean year round.

Mckenna kept walking, every now and then stopping to check out the addresses on the buildings to see if she was headed in the right direction. She had been looking for work, and her cousin heard from a customer who heard from a friend that a tavern in this area was looking for a new cook/server. Mckenna figured she might as well go by and see, after all she was an amazing cook, and she needed work. She couldn’t freeload off of Tabitha and her husband forever.

She continued to walk down the street, based on the addresses she was getting close. After a few minutes she came across what she assumed to be the place. Her cousin had called it ‘The Minnie’ but said that wasn’t the name, he couldn’t recall what it was exactly. Mckenna stopped to check out the establishment. It looked a bit old and run down, except the sign hanging over the door with “Sleeping Minstrel” hanging over it.

Huh, Sleeping Minstrel, eh? Interestin’ name. Mckenna thought as she looked it over. She walked up to the door, still pondering if this could be the place she was looking for, when something caught her eye. Tacked on the wall just next to the door was a piece of paper, mostly faded and the bottom torn off, but the top clearly stated HELP WANTED. She leaned in to read what was posted, not much was legible, but she managed to see ‘cook’, ‘tavern’, ‘responsible’, and ‘clean’. She paused for a moment, then shrugged and decided to go in and check it out.

Mckenna pushed the door open and closed it behind her, taking a peek around the establishment. It was plain, with mismatched furniture and worn tables and chairs. She spotted a few customers at the bar, and a few seated, but since it was early afternoon and between the lunch and supper rushes, she didn’t expect there to be many people about.

The young woman peeled off her gloves and tucked them into the pocket of her clean, but worn, coat, then rubbed her hands together. She reached up and ran her fingers through her dark strawberry locks to give them somewhat of an order and looked about to see if she could spot someone in charge.

After making a pass around the place with her eyes, she spotted someone who appeared to work there. He was a bit on the sort side, with dark hair and a wicked scar down his chin, but he was holding a small notebook and speaking to customers, so Mckenna figured he would be a good place to start. She slipped her coat off and folded it over one arm, then tugged her bodice down a bit to adjust and to male sure that her last clean white shirt wasn’t so low as to be scandalous, but low enough to prompt interest, then walked over towards him once he finished with a customer.

Mckenna caught up to him on his way back to the kitchen. “Excuse me.” she said as she drew nearer to him, a pretty smile on her face. “My name is Mckenna Lennox and I’m here about the job posting. Is the owner available to speak with?” she asked as she smiled again, her green eyes shining out under the mass of red curls and gingery brows.

This post has been edited by Mckenna Lennox on Nov 2 2009, 11:05 PM

[Luke Rourke]

"Look, I ain't servin' twilsey because I ain't got none and I won't for another three days. So's yuh gunna hafta drink sommat else. I gotta whole host'a things iffin you'd just take a look." Luke waved his stub of charcoal at the board, growing quite frustrated. The customer was from out of town and kept going in and out of some Minchi dialect. Although not especially worldly, Luke knew what a sturdy build, ruddy hair and a tartan meant. The man and his very minchly companion both flushed and jostled forward, protesting in broken dialect something about the ridiculousness of not having twilsey combined with the ruffled pride of being unable to admit illiteracy.

"Hushap, both of you!" snapped Luke, waving his charcoal and pad to command their attention and distract them into shutting their traps. "We got th' basics, you just go on an' pick somethin' that ain't twilsey. How's an ale? We got fine ale. Okay. Two ales comin' right up to go with two bowls of venison-veggie soup." Whether or not they wanted ales or venison-veggie soup, they were getting them, and Luke decided this with a sigh and a firm march down to the other end of the bar, towards the kitchen door. That was then some red-headed little miss strutted up and rearranged herself quite presentably. Luke blinked and stared for a moment, then smiled in his genial, thin-lipped way, about ready to ask what he might do for her. The proper and assertive way with which she spoke and the way in which she carried herself so charmingly made Luke chuckle quite warmly.

"Allow me a moment, willya Miss?" he excused himself, nodding with a wink to indicate the two grumbly Minchis at the bar. He then pushed through the kitchen door and hollered in, "HOY FLETCHIE, can I get some help up 'ere?" to which there was some saucy and caustic reply, a few moments after which a lanky, blonde-haired boy snatched the pad from Luke and went about completing the order. The door swung shut and now with his hands free, Luke crossed them over his chest and with a crooked, amused grin, he made a half-bow from his waist. "Now, y'sure yuh wanna work here? 'Cause iffin you do I'll hire ya. Luke Rourke," Luke boldly thrust a blunt-fingered, rough hand in her direction. Still grinning, he continued, "'Less you wanna talk wages an' the like first. Then yuh might wanna 'ave a seat."

[Mckenna Lennox]

Mckenna nodded as the man excused himself to lean into the kitchen and holler at some poor person named Fletchie. She just raised her gingery eyebrows, this man appeared to be quite important, and a bit on the gruff side. Hopefully he won’t be one of those who have problems dealing with those in charge, because in Mckenna’s world, the cook is the most important person in the place, therefore, they have the final say.

She bit back a smile when she heard the retort, maybe this place wouldn’t be too bad after all, if one of the kitchen crew have the guts to quip back like that. When the young man came out looking quite harassed and snatched the notebook out of the dark haired man’s hand, she gave up any pretense of trying to keep from smiling and gave in, giving one of her trademark grins.

She then turned her attention back to him when he spoke. She was puzzled for a moment, and tilted her head to the side slightly with a tiny confused expression on her face. She wasn’t used to the owner waiting tables, this is certainly an unorthodox place.

When he spoke she focused in on his words, his way of speaking was different from her own Blue Harbor speech patterns, but not so far off that she couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Oh, yes, yes I do. I heard there was an opening for a cook, that’s the job I’m here for.” She reached out and shook his hand when offered. “Pleasure to make you acquaintance, Mr. Rourke. You can call me Mckenna.” she said with another smile as she shook his hand. Her own hands were small, but calloused showing that she wasn’t afraid of hard work.

She released his hand and then smiled again, gesturing as she spoke. “Yes, I would like a job.” she said with a bit of a chuckle, her voice light and airy. “I must admit I wasn’t expecting this, I thought I would have to come back. But this is a pleasant change, I getting things done promptly.” she finished with another radiant smile.

She looked around and spotted a table with two relatively sturdy chairs near by and nodded towards them. “Why don’t we sit down and discuss wages and the like? I’d like to know the terms before committing to anything.” she said as she walked over and took a seat, spreading her dark brown skirts around to avoid excessive wrinkles.

This post has been edited by Mckenna Lennox on Nov 3 2009, 12:06 AM

[Luke Rourke]

"Aw, she's callin' me mister," guffawed Luke, thoroughly amused. "Well iffin' I'm just to call yuh McKenna, then yuh might as well call me Luke. Fletch back there calls me less'n polite things though." He grinned and waited for McKenna to decide, nodding and following her amiably over to the nearest table. Luke thunked down into his chair quite comfortably, resting his elbows on the tabletop and leaning forward in an assertive way, expression open and not the least bit intimidating. He waited until Mckenna was situated, twiddling his fingers and sneaking a close look while she was busy looking down at smoothing her skirts. However any indication that he had done so was completely wiped clean on his expression when she glanced back up.

Spreading his hands, and gesturing quite animatedly throughout his talk, he explained, "Well, we need ourselves a cook. Fletch an' I can do it but we do it poorly and s'quite hard to be runnin' the joint with jussun the two o' us. So yuh'll be cookin' and doin' a bit of servin', and probably cleanin'. As you can prolly see, we boys ain't much for an eye fer cleanin'. Scrubbin' and sweepin' only go so far." Luke took a breath, rolled his eyes upwards in thought, then continued, "We gotta lotta loyal patrons an' we'll be expectin' you to be treatin' them sweetly––though that don't mean to say yuh need to go about anythin' too demandin'. Just keep 'em smilin' and keep 'em comin'. Our last lassie was a doxie, but aggin, that don't mean much, I jus' want yuh to be polite an' sassy like is proper of the likes of sommun like you in this 'stablishment."

Around this time there was some disgruntled chatter behind them at the bar when Fletch presented the two Minchis with their soup and ale. Luke pointedly ignored what was going on behind him and kept on quite jovially with what her job at the Minnie would entail.

"Ah'll need you in a timely manner startin' every day, whenever's yuh think is early 'nuff to get your cookin' done for the lunch crowd. Days off yuh'll need to work out with me or Fletch, so we know's when we're gonna be short. Yuh'll need to stay at leas' 'til the latest yer willin' to serve meals, which can be quite late. Ah'll fetch the necessities for the kitchen when's yuh let me know what you've a mind to cook or what you's needin'."

Luke drew to a close here, running out of things to say. He pressed his thin lips together, approaching the next part of this conversation quite reluctantly. "So's with all o' this in mind, what are yuh lookin' at for pay, Miss Mckenna? Las' girl we got accepted room an' board, but din't get no wages."

[Mckenna Lennox]

Mckenna sat down and leaned to the side a bit to untangle her skirt from getting caught on the chair leg. She hadn’t noticed that it started to splinter before she sat down, thus she got her skirts caught. Frowning she bend down to unhook it, not realizing she might have given Luke a bit of a peek down the front of her bodice. She has an average bosom, but as bodices are wont to do, they looked plumper than normal. Also, if he was paying attention, he might see that she’s wearing a pregnancy charm, tucked just under her shirt.

She sat back up and smiled again, this girl is all smiles. “Alright then, Luke. Glad we got that sorted.” She nodded as he spoke, everything he said was about what she expected. Her mother worked in eating houses before her father died, and Mckenna has worked in them as well. This was a pretty standard deal.

“I’ll have to speak to my cousins about what days I need off, I take care of their children when they’re at work. I can get back to you tomorrow with the days. I don’t mind doing the cooking but if Fletch could help me out every now and then that’d be perfect. Sometimes during busy times I need an extra set of hands to pull things out of the oven and whatnot. Would that be alright? she asked, her eyebrows going up a tiny bit. She liked the deal so far, hopefully it wouldn’t go down hill.

She nodded again about cleaning, she didn’t mind that at all. She liked to have things clean and orderly, even if it meant doing it all herself. “Alright, I can do the cleaning, but my focus will be on the kitchen and bar areas, with all their equipment. I don’t mop and I don’t scrub floors.” She countered, she didn’t mind keeping her kitchen spotless, but the rest wasn’t her bit.

When Luke went on to mention the last girl was a doxie, she raised her eyebrows again, further this time, a mildly surprised expression on her face. “I may be many things Luke, but a doxie isn’t one of them. As long as just flirting is a requirement of the job, I’m fine with it. I just work on my feet.” Mckenna stopped and looked at him, leaving off the second part of that well known phrase ‘not on my back’.

Mckenna heard the grumbles at the bar and looked over, taking in the two Minchi’s with an impassive gaze, she then promptly ignored them and looked back to Luke.

“Depending on what I’m cooking I generally get in anywhere from two to four hours before lunch rush. I do all my own stocks and all my preparation day of. I also like to go to the markets in the morning, so if you have a cart I’ll be needing it then, and Fletch if he doesn’t mind coming with me to help cart around the really heavy stuff. Or, if you want to go, I’ll write you out a list of what I want, but it can get pretty specific. I’ll generally serve until ten on the weekdays and midnight on the weekends. If you need me to change those hours, I will.” Mckenna finished her long talk with another smile, she liked the whole bartering and laying out terms. It had been quite a while since she got hired, and this was still quite exciting to her.

She paused and thought of a good wage. She knew she was a good cook, her mother taught her well and she had years of practice cooking up huge meals for hungry fisherman when they came in off the boats. She knew she could probably get a job at a better place, with higher wages and more class, but for some reason this odd little establishment spoke to her. It felt as if she almost belonged here. “Well, I don’t need room here, I stay with my cousins about six blocks from here, so that isn’t a problem. As for board, when I’m cooking I generally eat a bowl of whatever’s ready, so we’ll figure that into the mix. How about this?” Mckenna asked, stating an amount that would cover rent and living expenses if one were to live modestly in Upmarket. She smiled at Luke again, her trademark flirty grin. “How does that sound, Luke? Do we have an accord?”

[Luke Rourke]

Luke nodded along, finding nothing problematic about Mckenna's request. "Well, me an' Fletch has gotten used to runnin' the place by ourselves, sure wouldn't be a problem to help you out, to be sure! You'd jus have to give us a holler when you need a hand. And when's you need days off, lemme know ahead of time. O' course, we can always fix which days off you have off each week off th' bat if yuh like."

He continued to listen, his smile twitching into a brief frown of disappointment when he heard she was going to be stiff about cleaning. However, he desperately needed a cook so he knew he ought not to complain. His green eyes widened and he raised his palms in apology at what she had to say next. "No, naw, never Miss Mckenna, I wouldn't dream of askin' ya to go that far. Just be a pretty doll and that's all. And no worries 'bout the cleaning, Fletch and I'll take care of it."

When Mckenna began to talk of groceries and a cart, Luke got up and motioned for her to do the same. "We've got a cart and a pony," he explained, gesturing for her to follow him out back. "While I'd like to do the shoppin' with ya or myself, I 'course won't have no qualms lettin' you take Sweetheart on your own runs." He grinned here and chuckled, adding with a good degree of wryness, "Whether or not she lives up to her name..."

Before they moved on to go out to the yard behind the inn, Luke waited to listen to hear what she had to say about wages and whatnot. It was a bit steeper of an offer than he was hoping for, but one glance over the tavern floor and an exchange of looks with Fletch and he knew he couldn't turn her down. Sticking out his crude, dirty hand once again, he grinned brightly and agreed, "Aye, we do."

[Mckenna Lennox]

Mckenna nodded and smiled at Luke “I’ll be sure to let you know if I need days off. Generally I’m the healthy sort, don’t get sick much, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem. Every now and then I might need to bring my little cousins to work, if ye don’t mind. They real well behaved and will stay in the kitchen no problems. But if ye ain’t down for that, I won’t. I’ll talk to my cousins and see what days I’ll be needing off, regular like, and I’ll get back to you tomorrow.”

Mckenna smiled a bit when he appeared to be apologetic about her hard stance on not being a doxie. Mckenna was hardly a prude, if someone took her fancy she wouldn’t have any problem bedding them, but to make it a profession, well, that got stuck in her craw. She didn’t expect it to be part of the job here, but she figured she better be safe than sorry, and be up front about it. “That’s swell. I didn’t think it was part of the job description, but I figured I’d throw it out anyway, just to be clear. And as fer cleanin' I don’t mind helpin’ out with it, but I don’ want to make it a habit.” She smiled again, her pretty little smile, and reached up to brush a curl behind her ear.

She stood and followed Luke outside, a bit confused by the sudden motion, but figured that it served a purpose. She realized that Luke was giving her a bit of the tour as he explained what they had at the Sleeping Minstrel. “I don’t mind at all, if ye come along. To be honest, I have problems liftin’ some of the heavy stuff, like beans and some of the meat cuts. I’d be nice ta have ye along ta help.” Mckenna moved over to look at Sweetheart, raising an eyebrow at the comment about the pony’s name. “Is she a testy pony?” the young woman inquired with a raised eyebrow. She wanted to reach into the stall and give the pony a pat, but at the same time she was keen to avoid being bitten. “Does she bite?” Mckenna inquired, with a sideways glance at Sweetheart, clearly mistrustful of the pony now.

When Luke agreed to all of her stipulations, Mckenna was surprised. It wasn’t often that a boss was so easy going, and immediately Mckenna felt relief. Hopefully he was going to be easy to work for; her last boss could melt the flesh off of people’s faces with a single glance. Luke didn’t look like the sort to be in possession of that particular talent. She reached out and took his grubby hand in her own clean one and shook it “That we do Mr. Rourke. I can start tomorrow mornin’, if that’s OK with ye.”