ArchivedLogs:Concerned Parties
| Concerned Parties | |
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| Dramatis Personae | 2013-07-11 Tag's sister pays a visit. |
| Location
<NYC> Melinda and Tag's Apartment - Lower East Side | |
The apartment is composed of four bedrooms, two baths, a living room and an entry space attached to the kitchen, near the door. That kitchen is covered in tile, from floor to countertop to back splash on the wall, all white, with light, thin blue stems and flowers. The cabinets are newish, with blond wood kept meticulously clean of fingerprints. It is also outfitted with an excellent coffee maker, or two, with all the accoutrement to go with it. The living room is mainly furnished by found pieces, two chairs and a couch. None of it was constructed at the same time, but it all has been reupholstered with the same cloth, the surfaces colored similarly and with a regular weave. The wood has all been refinished as well, dark and able to hide stains well. The walls are colorful, but that goes with the territory of having a mutant roommate with Tag's ability. Today, it is a sage green with some abstract blue and orange intermingling in different places. Tomorrow it will be different. A cursory inspection shows that five people live in this four bedroom apartment, so it's difficult to pick out what belongs to any one person. Melinda is just coming home for the evening, still dressed in her work clothes, hair done up in a large bun at the back of her head. She looks tired, but not exhausted, her gaze a little out of focus as she unlocks the door, pushes it open and heads inside. She does a quick sweep of the visible rooms for roommates before heading to the kitchen to peek inside the fridge for food. She kicks her shoes off at one point, leaving them in a corner as she grabs a packages of hotdogs and leaves them on the counter. She fetches a plate and dampens a paper towel before extracting two hotdogs from the already open packaging and wrapping them in the moist paper. That is places on a plate and slid into the microwave. She hums quietly to herself as she turns the microwave on and takes her shoes to her bedroom, disappearing inside until well after the appliance has finished cooking her meager dinner. She returns wearing a light blue skirt, cotton and froofy with eyelet lace around the bottom hem and a baggy orange tee shirt, the color of a traffic pylon. She returns to the kitchen fusses around with the rest of her meal prep quietly. The young Asian woman has passed the building twice with her smartphone firmly pressed to one ear, and and this time she finally hangs up and enters. Her long hair is coiled up in an immaculate bun, with nothing visible holding it in place. Dressed in a tasteful white blouse and gray pencil skirt, with a light jacket draped over one arm and thin-framed glasses perched on her nose, she looks like she got lost on her way back from the Financial District. She makes her way unerringly to Melinda’s door and, consulting her phone one last time, knocks gently on it three times. Then she takes a small step back and clutches her purse strap tightly, as though expecting to be robbed or struck at any moment. Melinda looks up from a half eaten hot dog, standing barefoot in the kitchen, tilting her head to one side as she listens, considering, then sets down her food on her plate and pads over ot the door. She looks through the peep hole and pulls back a little, expression quirking in confusion. She takes a deep breath, slides the chain in place and opens the door, smiling a little between the crack. "Hi. Can I help you?" She draws her lower lip into her mouth to wet it, then chews on it lightly as she looks the other woman over. “Ah!” the young woman says, looking a little startled--what else did she expect? Then she blushes. “Hello. I am sorry for disturbing you,” she adds quickly. Her English carries a faint New York accent. “I am looking for...Tag? I am his sister, you see.” She glances down the hallway. “I was not able to reach him on his cell.” "OH. One second." Melinda closes the door and unchains it before reopening it all the way and giving the new comer plenty of space to enter. "Hi. I'm Melinda, Tag's roommate. I haven't seen him, but I just got home and he could be in his room." She ushers her in and closes the door behind her, throwing the deadbolt. "Do you know your way, or would you like me to show you?" Tag’s sister slips inside gratefully. “My name is Hua Tian-shin,” she says with a dip of the head that is half-nod, half-bow. “Ah, you may call me Tian-shin. It is a pleasure to meet you, Melinda.” When she sees the brightly colored living area, a faint, knowing smile appears briefly on her powdered face. The only color on her person is a bit of purple eyeshadow that matches the royal purple of her purse. “I have not been here, so if I might trouble you...?” "Certainly!" Melinda's tone is warm and welcoming, her gaze traveling from Tian-shin's face to what she seems to be looking at before moving around her to lead the way down the hall to Tag's room. "He did my room too, if you want to see some time." She gives the sister a smile before coming to a stop in front of Tag's door, knocking lightly at the surface and waiting a moment before announcing herself. "Hey, Tag? It's Mel. Your sister's here. You awake?" And then she listens. No sound emanates from the room. “Tsai-hong,” Tian-shin calls, “{shi wo ah. Ni hai hao ma?}” The wait stretches, pushing the boundaries of awkwardness. She frowns slightly, glancing at Melinda. “I have been trying to contact him since this morning, but his phone must be dead. I am very concerned for him. Have you seen him today?” "Oh, man, he was crashed out on the couch this morning before I left, but that was really early, maybe around five?" Melinda knocks once more before she gives the handle a twist, testing to see if it's locked. She opens the door if it isn't. The door yields easily, and opens in on a dizzying single mural that stretches across the walls and onto the ceiling. There is a vaguely delirious quality to the imagery, a garish jumble of mythological beasts and odd plants shaped disquietingly like human figures. An unzipped magenta sleeping bag with neon pink zebra stripes lies in the middles of the floor completely unzipped. A mesh laundry bag lies in a corner, and a wastebasket in another. Tag’s backpack leans against one wall, and a few items lie scattered around it. Tian-shin leans into the room as far as she dares, as though she suspects her brother might be hiding behind the door. “I suppose he might return later,” she mutters, not sounding very convinced. “I do not supposed he has found employment again?” "He's had a couple short term gigs lined up and I was working to get him out and volunteering at the shelter I work at - just to keep him busy and out, you know, in a healthy way, but no. I hadn't heard about him landing something full time." Melinda has no qualms entering the room, moving in three or four steps to get a closer look at one of the figures in the mural, her attention locked on it, like the rest of the room will bite her if she looks around. "Then again, he's not the only unemployed person here. Tove has a problem with it as well, but he generally takes remote classes so he can figure out how to work from home. Between the two of them, it usually adds up to rent. I'm thinking about asking if they wouldn't mind bunking together. I'd get them beds." She looks over at the sleeping bag and frowns. "If beds are wanted." Mel takes a deep breath and focuses on Tian-shin. "Do you want to wait? I can make coffee." Tian-shin’s round, fair face is pinched with concern. “He has not been well, I am sure of it,” she says, clutching her purse strap with both hands. “I feel it is my responsibility to see to it that he meets his ah, financial responsibilities. I could write you a check for whatever he is short...” She looks down, as though ashamed. “I would love to stay, but I have an engagement tonight. I only meant to stop by and make sure he was okay.” "Yeah, I've been worried about him." Melinda backs out of the room and closes the door once more, heading back into the common rooms of the apartment. "I don't know if I can accept money though. We are getting by and I don't want to make things awkward, going behind his back and that kind of thing. Do you want me to tell him you were here, or would you rather I didn't?" She pauses once they are out of the hallway, pursing her lips in consideration. "He does talk about you. Always wants to take you out and spend time with you. He's invited me a couple times, but I guess our schedules don't match up much." “I suppose he might be resentful for a while,” Tian-shin concedes, following Melinda, “but his memory for such things is short.” She shifts her weight slightly from one foot to the other, clearly not very practiced at standing still in the high heel sandals whose straps climb her slender ankles. “Please let him know I was here, and ask him to keep his phone on, for all the good saying so will do.” Her self-conscious chuckle sounds just like Tag’s. “I have been very busy, honestly, and I thought he might feel more comfortable getting together after he has found work again. It...is a Chinese thing, ‘face’.” She rolls her eyes, suddenly looking very young. From her purse she fishes out a business card and offers it to Melinda. Printed on the smooth, heavy cardstock is ‘Hua Tian-shin Esq., Attorney at Law’ followed by two phone numbers and an email address. “If it is not too far out of the question, please contact me if...something comes up.” There is a sort of fatalistic note to the way she says this. Melinda reaches for the card and reads it, brows quirking upwards. "Congratulations, by the way. Tag also spoke of taking you out for graduation." She smiles and nods. "And yes, of course, definitely. I will let you know if anything out of the ordinary happens. He's a great guy and really nice to have around the apartment, even if he is more fond of the window instead of the door. We like having him around. You should feel welcome to drop by anytime, oh, and you can call me if you want to check in." she turns and scurries over to where she left her purse and pulls out a business card for Montague's. A pen is pulled out as well and her cellphone is scratched across the back side. "You should be able to reach me at either number." She offers the card to Tian-shin. "Oh, thank you!" Tian-shin blushes, smiling shyly. "My family and community have been lavishing so much attention on me over this... I would really love to just have an evening out, as myself, not Hua Tian-shin, Esquire." She accepts the card with both hands, bowing slightly. "Thank you so much for looking after him. I know he must be a bit of a headache." Her eyes dart to a vermillion chair half decorated with golden Celtic zoomorphic knots. "I am very relieved. His previous housemates were...ruffians." "Yeah, I heard a bit about that. Tag still had a bruise when I met him. Luckily, they don't come around here." Melinda's tone adopts a hardness to it, eyes shifting away as her brow furrows. "Knock on wood and all that." She wets her lips and shakes her head, firmness fading quickly. "Nah, don't worry about that. He's less trouble than some of my other friends, and definitely less trouble than my work. Home is still a nice place to come back to when he's here." Tian-shin's relief is palpable. "I wish he would give our parents another chance, but I am glad he is in a safe place." She glances at the window and shakes her head, though her tone is as much amused as exasperated. "When he is here, at least. He never could keep his feet on the ground. It is good to meet you, Melinda," she says, offering a slender hand. "I hope we get to hang out in a more casual setting sometime!" "That sounds delightful." Melinda takes Tian-shin's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze and a shake. She nods as well, but the action is less agreement and more of an attempt at a bow. "I'll be in touch. Hopefully Tag will land soon and you won't have to worry too much." She starts leading the way to the door, so Tian-shin can leave.
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