Through Time She Came

Ch.5 The Daisy-Chain

"I never knew a dame who bought so little. Especially when she's not paying for it herself." Tommy said placed the few small boxes in the back seat.

"I only got what I needed until I start getting paid."

"Boy, you're something else, you know that?" he opened the door for her.

She thanked him, climbed in.

"No problem, I enjoyed watching you try on clothes. Gonna start calling you Slim after today."

"The list of nicknames grows, and we've only been acquainted less than 24 hours."

"Has it only been that long? Feels like an eternity."

It weirdly does, Anet thought. "Really, though, thank you for everything you've done. You've seriously done more for me than I would expect anyone to do."

That boyish smile.

"My Grandpa always said, 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.'" But he would warn me about boys and their schemes, she thought. "I just gotta ask, why?"

"Eh," he shrugged, "Maybe I'm just a sucker for lost dames."

Anet smiled. Maybe he was aiming for something with her. Maybe not. Right now she would keep him safely in the friend-zone. She wondered if she should even be making friends while here in '27. I just need to be careful, without making myself miserable and ruining these people's futures. I feel like I'm in an episode of Quantum Leap. Except I don't have Al Calavicci filling me in and helping me not make any mistakes.

"You ever been to a speakeasy?"

"Who hasn't?" she had, speakeasies had evolved throughout the decades. Often when she went it was purely business. Investigating, busting, collecting information from a crime scene... nothing he really needed to know about. "It's been awhile, I don't think I got to enjoy it last time."

"Well, I can fix that, Slim." they looked at each other. "Okay, I'll take Slim off the list. Maybe I'll save it for occasions that call for it." He pulled into a parking space. "It's not far from here."

Tom and Anet walked into a drugstore. He took her to the stockroom to a hidden door. The bouncer on the other side let them in. "This is one of the most well-hidden speakeasies in town right here, An." Inside was a modest bar and a patron at every table, despite it being the middle of the day.

"Welcome to the Daisy-Chain." He walked her to the bar.

"And they just let anyone walk back here?"

"No. Here, you gotta know someone who's a regular, after coming a few times with that person –once everyone gets to know you, you can start coming in on your own and soon be able to bring in your own guests. Everyone knows everyone here. Me? I've been a special customer since its starting days, ain't that right, Nick?"

"Not really." The bartender said.

"Eh, you're nuts anyway."

"The usual?"

"Yeah, what about you, baby?"

"You with this mug for real?" He laughed at Tom shaking his head, "One filly after another it seems," he leaned in to somewhat privatize their talk, "what happened to Trixie?"

"Nuh'in. She's a real livewire canary, but offstage," he makes a face shaking his head, "nobody home."

Nick laughed, "But a real Sheba! Hotsy-totsy chassis, real keen! MM! And those gams!"

"Carrying a torch, Nicky boy?" Tom laughed. "Good luck with that one!"

The two friends laughed hard. Anet just sat there trying to decipher the part of their conversation that was full of 1920's jargon. She got the gist of it. Watching all those oldies paid off in understanding much of the slang.