Adam D'Artana

“Thanks. If it helps any, I do have an appointment with him and have my ID with me.” On the surface, the meeting looked entirely professional and law-abiding. “Hm… Not weird at all. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Adam. I’m Frankie Alves. I’m the assistant art curator at the art gallery. Have you visited lately? If not, I’ve had a few meetings here before. Maybe we’ve bumped into each other.”

“That must be it,” Adam said, nodding.  “I’ve probably seen you around the gallery once or twice.  I visit occasionally, when something new is being exhibited.  Especially if it’s a friend’s work.”  He would never have been allowed to pursue art himself, his mother considered it frivolous, but at the same time, anyone of his family’s wealth and status was expected to be a patron of the arts.  Visiting the gallery occasionally was part of the image that Adam was meant to be curating, at least as far as his family was concerned.  But he genuinely did enjoy his visits, usually.

“Ah I see. Well, handsome man such as yourself - you shouldn’t have any trouble finding company tonight? Though I suppose there is always the option of purchasing entertainment. My dancers are quite skilled, after all.” Amari may not have been the owner on record of the 86, but everyone new it was the Syndicates and Amari was the Syndicate.

Adam shrugged, looking over to the stage where some of said dancers were performing.  “I don’t doubt that.  Not usually my style, though.  I don’t generally pay for company, unless I need a scene.”  There might not seem like much of a difference, but to Adam it felt like two different things.  Employing the services of  a professional submissive certainly had a lot of overlap with paying for sex with a stripper, but it felt different, if nothing else, because they were done for different kinds of needs.

Frankie smirked and shook her head. “No, it’s fine. The stare probably came from the email I was reading.” She looked the man over, noting that he looked comfortable there. “I was supposed to be meeting someone, but I’m a little early so I think I’ll just go to their office. Would you mind showing me where it is? His name is Clement Hughes.”

Adam recognized the name.  It wasn’t someone he knew personally, but he knew where Hughes’ department was, and could probably get the girl close enough to ask a secretary.  “Up on the second floor, I’ll show you."  He looked over at the girl again, feeling like he recognized her from somewhere.  “...Sorry if this sounds awkward, but have we met?  You look familiar, but I could have just seen you in a coffee shop for all I know.  Adam D’Artana, I work in the DA’s office.”

It was entirely possible that she was being too defensive. She knew that even as she spoke but recognising it didn’t stop her. It was the first time she’d come face to face with one of Henry’s ‘friends’ in the real world since they’d separated and she’d heard through whispers what he’d been saying about here. ‘Please.’ she laughed. Not a real laugh, one coloured with disbelief. ‘This is where I’m from, these people are my people.’ She gestured vaguely around the bar with a shrug of her shoulders. She’d met his Mother a time or two and she didn’t expect the older woman would ever stoop to show her face in a place like The 86. She recalled all too clearly the snide comments those women had made when Henry joked about her former employment.

“May want to try looking a little less uncomfortable, then,” Adam deadpanned as he lifted his glass to his lips.  She had looked uncomfortable, he was certain, as much as she was trying to shrug it off now.  And she seemed overly defensive, too.  It wasn’t exactly hard to put things together.  In the time it took to take a sip of his drink and lower it again, his annoyance had faded from the forefront, replaced with sympathy.  Even if this was where Olivia was from, as she said, it was a place and a life she’d left behind when she’d married that rich asshole.  And her awful taste in men aside, Adam knew it was probably a difficult adjustment, coming back to the people she’d left behind.  “Look, I’m sorry if I seemed snide,” he said with a sigh.  “I wasn’t trying to make fun of you.  I have a habit of saying things that sound more like a criticism out loud than they did in my head.”

Mali knew she must look out of place in her dance practice gear but she’d merely been tasked with stopping by the courthouse to pick up a permit for an outdoor performance. “Um, no? Are you?”

Adam cocked his head to the side, looking at the woman with an air of critical consideration.  “I work here,” he said flatly.  “I was attempting to be helpful.  But if you don’t need assistance, then I’ll leave you be.”

Toy gratefully followed the man down the hall. “Thanks for your help. I’m glad I wasn’t completely in the wrong place. A lot of these municipal buildings look so similar. If you’re still counting doors after three years then I won’t feel bad for getting it wrong,” he said with a chuckle.  

Adam offered the man a smile, aiming for friendly, though he never really knew if he hit the mark or not.  “You’re welcome.  Not a problem.”  He looked at down at what the man was carrying, but it was nondescript.  “You said you’re bringing things over from the mayor’s office?  Do you work for him?”

Joaquin always walked, so he appreciated weather that was nice like this. He didn’t really like taking public transit and usually walked the four miles to work. He’d gotten used to it. “It probably will, yes.” He agreed with the other, “But the cold hasn’t been so bad anyway. Gives me an excuse to buy a warm coffee on my way to work.”

Adam smiled a bit at that.  “Something to keep the hands warm.  Smart.  I tend to just drink the coffee at work.  The office has an espresso machine, one of the interns makes some for everyone in the office most mornings.”  He looked over at the other man, wondering if he could deduce the man’s job just from his appearance.  Hard to say.  Especially given that he didn’t know if the man was currently dressed for work or just in his regular clothing.  Adam himself was in a suit, of course, so he was well aware that he had the appearance of working a white collar job, though it would be nearly impossible to deduce that he was a lawyer, specifically.

Key was lost. Usually, he remembered to pay for his monthly court fees on time, but the cold snap had made making extra money hard. It was too cold outside to stand on a street corner for very long. So now, on the day before his payment would be considered late, he was scrambling around the courthouse trying to find the right goddamn clerk’s office.

“Yeah,” Key replied dryly, worried that he wouldn’t make it before it closed. “Where the fuck is the criminal court clerk? I’m trying to give the state money but everyone in this place keeps sending me in the wrong goddamn direction.”

Adam looked almost amused, but he nodded for the man to come with him.  “Come on, I’ll show you.  You’re on the right floor, just in the wrong wing.”  He headed down the hallway, looking to see if the man was following.  “All the halls in this building look identical, it’s not your fault.”

She didn’t want to admit that walking into the club did, in fact, make her feel a little bit lost. Especially not as she took in the face of the person speaking to her. She bit out a laugh. ‘Not even a little bit. This is where I’m from darling.’ It was, as always, a carefully crafted mask of confidence and mild disdain. ‘That would really be a better question posed to you. What on Earth is a D’Artana doing below Clement Hill? In the 86 no less?’ She arched a sculpted brow and perched herself on a barstool. ‘What would your Mother think?’

Adam rolled his eyes.  The words ‘who gives a fuck what my mother thinks’ were nearly on his tongue, but he swallowed them.  He was in public.  He couldn’t do things that would start rumors.  Still, it grated on him to be spoken to like that, judgmental and condescending all at once.  “A D’Artana goes wherever the hell they please,” he answered, emphasizing the name in a mockery of the way Olivia had said it.  “And I only asked because you looked like the new kid in a high school cafeteria who doesn’t know where to sit.”  She had looked uncertain, at least that was what he’d thought.  And he’d been planning to offer her a seat next to him, but she’d jumped straight to mocking him, so chivalry had left the conversation.

Frankie looked up from her phone and shook her head. “Not quite. Do I look like I am?” The man in front of her looked vaguely familiar and she wondered if she’d seen him before. 

“You had a bit of a thousand yard stare,” Adam answered with a shrug.  “I thought you might need help finding something.  Sorry to interrupt, if you didn’t.”

“Maybe a little.” Toy smiled a little sheepishly at the question, arms full of neatly packaged and organized documents. “I have some documents to drop off for the District Attorney? They’re from Mayor Matthews. I think I’m in the right place, but there are so many offices. I’m not sure.” 

Adam gave the man a small smile.  “You’re close.  Come on, I’ll show you.”  He nodded towards the DA’s offices, then started down the hall, waiting a beat for the man to follow.  “It’s not your fault, it’s easy to get turned around in here because all of the hallways look identical.  I’ve worked here for three years, and I still have to count the halls and doors I pass to make sure I’m taking the right one.”

Amari registered his surprise and pondered who he might be. The young man looked vaguely familiar. Law enforcement? Maybe. No matter.  This was her turf especially tonight. “And why are you drinking alone, darling? Have you not seen all these people? Or are you just a loner by nature, hmm?”  

Adam shrugged and took a sip of his drink to try to cover his reaction.  He knew she’d clocked it, of course, Amari King would never have gotten this far in her line of work if she wasn’t perceptive.  But he didn’t think she recognized him, or she probably wouldn’t be as polite as she was currently.  “I guess you could say that,” he agreed noncommittally.  “But I suppose I meant it less about being alone in a room full of people, and more that I didn’t come with anyone, nor was I specifically hanging out with anyone.”