My Dear Amelia | Enzo St. John

One

  New York, 1924

 The Roaring Twenties was in full swing, and it was supposedly a great time in America. However, not everyone you asked would agree.

 Amelia Black was not enjoying her life one bit. Her father was killed in the Great War, her mother and little brother both died of the Spanish Influenza not long after, and now she was a maid in the household of a wealthy family she couldn't stand. But she needed money, and she needed a job. If this was the best she could get, so be it. 

 It wasn't always bad, though, as long as she was able to avoid any members of the March family. There were Mr. and Mrs. March, the younger Mr. March, and the two young Ms. Marchs. Amelia usually had different odd jobs around the household, and the family members weren't home very often, anyway.

 Still, Amelia often wished she could be somewhere else; a new life, somewhere far away...

~~~~~~

 Enzo St. John was completely and utterly alone. He had no family and no friends. Just a fancy hotel room he had compelled the staff into giving him. It was so lonely, it drove him mad. Still, he had no one to talk to, no one to tell his thoughts, his ideas, his feelings.

 But that could change, he thought. Perhaps a night out would prove productive. He couldn't be the only vampire in this big city. There had to be someone else out there, someone as lonely as him. Someone who could be his friend.

 He so wanted company.

~~~~~~

 During Prohibition, illegal selling of alcohol was all the rage. Underground clubs filled with alcohol weren't too hard to find if you knew where to look. Luckily for him, Enzo knew exactly where to look.

 Things were in full swing when he arrived. The music was playing, and the drinks were being poured. Just perfect.

 He hung around by the bar and kept a watchful eye on the room. He immediately noticed when a young lady, someone he had never seen before, entered the room. She wasn't dressed as fancy as the other women, but she was still beautiful. Naturally, he walked right over to her.

 "Good evening, miss," he said. "Are you a newcomer?"

 She eyed him suspiciously. "What does it matter to you?"

 He smiled. "Exactly. Enzo, at your service..."

 "Ms. Black."

 "Ms. Black," he repeated. "May I show you to a table, perhaps get you a drink?"

 She shrugged. "I suppose you may."

 This was obviously her first time to one of these, he thought. She seemed nervous, like she knew she was doing something wrong and was afraid of getting caught.

 "So, what brings you here, Ms. Black?" he asked as he sat down next to her. "Not exactly a suitable place for a young lady such as yourself."

 "I was curious. How can people indulge in this so willingly when it's so wrong?"

 Enzo shrugged. "Some people are very desperate, Ms. Black. It's in times like that when people do thing they normally wouldn't."

 She nodded. "I suppose you're right." She took a sip of her drink, and immediately set it back down on the table. "It tastes terrible."

 "May seem like that now, but you get used to it."

 She looked around the room. "I...I think I should go. I didn't want to be out too late."

 "But you just got here."
 
 "I know, but...well, I should go. Goodbye, Mr. Enzo. Thank you for the drink."

 Enzo watched her hasty departure. It wasn't anything he had said; she was just nervous. She had obviously never had alcohol before, never did anything illegal, but she had been daring enough to come here.

 He liked a woman who was daring enough to try.