Prohibition

Part 7

Alaric's glare was withering and directed right at Landon. Hope thought she would have melted beneath the heat of it if it had been her instead. "Do you have anything to say for yourself? I left you in charge of her."

"Oh, I know that... uhm, it's kind of hard to believe but, a coincidence..." Hope stumbled over her words awkwardly, unsure of whether or not she was in trouble.

"I am not feeling well enough to hear you tell me this whole story, Hope... just tell me how you ended up at the Box. Who told you about it? Who brought you there?" Alaric asked again.

"Funnily enough, there is a movie star involved in this story?" Hope offered almost sheepishly. Her smile faltered a bit under his heavy gaze. She was hoping Alaric wouldn't get too angry with her. As much trouble as she usually was, Hope felt she ought to be more used to anger directed at her.

"I am sure I could already draw a fair conclusion as to what happened. My blonder daughter turned her blinding smile on you and you just couldn't say no, am I right?" Alaric's smile was annoyed, but equal amounts affectionate as well. He knew better than anyone how hard it was to refuse Elizabeth.

"It isn't Lizzie's fault. She has always been a drop-dead beautiful girl. Being beautiful is a part of being a star of the silver screen. Neither of us would want it any other way, and she certainly wouldn't have either." Hope argued and was very thrown off when Landon winked at her subtly.

"You can not blame Lizzie either. The two of them have not seen one another in years, and Hope is also an awful pretty dame. Lizzie and I have never been close, but I would have likely done the same." Landon added his face suddenly perfectly even and neutral once more.

"You hush now. You aren't helping anyone's case here, especially your own."

"Anyway, I gave the card I got from Lizzie to the cabbie who dropped me off in front of your store and I slowly figured out my way in. It's a fantastic place there." Hope explained.

"So, you just accidentally found your way there... while dressed like that?" Alaric still seemed quite skeptical. Hope winced.

"Well, I did make a stop by the house after running into Lizzie at the picture show... so I pulled a quick costume change... and then I went on from there..."

"I get it, I get it. Once you made your way beneath the store it was probably pretty easy to piece it all together from there. Too smart for your good you are." Hope winced again, looking for an escape route she could find within the conversation.

"What is gonna happen now? You will have to be laid out here for a while, Raf says." Hope asked, genuine concern on her face.

"For a couple of months at least," Rafael added, having not moved or spoken or even seemed to have breathed after entering. He certainly did not seem to have even breathed after entering. He certainly wasn't on the verge of giving a monologue now either.

"I could always take the business over. I bring all of the merchandise in anyhow. I can sell it as well..." Landon trailed off and Hope felt even more of the missing pieces began to fall into place.

"No, my boy, any customers would as soon run from you as buy when they saw you in my office. Even MG would not be able to charm you out of the multitude of sticky situations you would inevitably make your fumbling way into... maybe we oughta just close up shop until I am back on my feet." Alaric sighed heavily. He seemed frustrated and exasperated, not just with them, but the whole situation.

"With all of your due respect sir, we would lose all of our best customers to the Machados. Jade and the rest of the band... they love and they need their jobs. Even Josie wouldn't be able to convince them to stay on with us... our whole staff..." Kaleb interjected.