Stan's Bakery

[Shamrock O'Shea]

"Not at all,"

Shamrock smiled at Jenny, set his glass of water on the table, and sat down in the chair she motioned to, "Thanks. Gets kinda lonely sitting alone." He took a sip of his water and sat back in his chair, watching Jenny shift nervously in her chair. He took another sip of his water before asking, "So whatcha writing there?" He glanced down at the paper in front of her.

Shamrock motioned to a waitress to bring them two pastries and another water as he waited for Jenny to reply. He had some extra spending money, so it didn't hurt his pocket to buy Jenny some breakast. The waitress quickly brought them over to the table, he paid her, and she curtsied before going back to her work behind the counter.

Shamrock grabbed a pastry for himself, pushed the other towards Jenny, and began eating.

[jennyk]

Jenny watched as he sat down and smiled as he said, "Thanks. Gets kinda lonely sitting alone." She knew the feeling - she usually sat alone, and having him with her was a welcome change. She put her pencil down and sat back. When their eyes met for a second, she blushed and quickly looked away.

"So, whatcha writing there?"

She blushed some more, her face burning. She leaned forward, her hand splaying across the page, almost a protective stance. She really didn't mind if he saw - she told stories all the time, but it just happened.

"Just a story," she replied quietly, "I tell it to some of the kids sometimes. They love it." She smiled as she thought of her storytelling.

When the waitress placed the pastry in front of her, she looked up at Shamrock and genuinely smiled. "You didn't have to," she said, gesturing gently to the pastry. She didn't have any money to pay him back for it.

[Shamrock O'Shea]

Shamrock swallowed the piece of pastry he had in his mouth, then took a swig of water. He smiled as he watched the blush creep onto her face.

"Just a story," she replied quietly, "I tell it to some of the kids sometimes. They love it."

Shamrock leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. The smile never leaving his face, he asked, "What kinda stories? I've never been around to hear any of 'um..."

"You didn't have to,"

He shrugged, "I know... I wanted to. Plus, what kinda gentleman would I be to eat in front of a lady without offering her anything? Byron would be disappointed in me." Shamrock smirked.

((Sorry it took so long. ))

[jennyk]

((I am so, so sorry for not replying in months. Life has been extremely hectic.. here's a post for you!))

"What kinda story? I've never been around to hear any of 'um."

Jenny hesitated for a moment before saying, "This one's about pirates, sailing on open seas." Suddenly feeling embarrassed, a blush crept up her cheeks. "They're lookin' for treasure."

She removed her hand from the sheet of paper, she quickly glanced over what she wrote. The wily captain of the ship searching for the treasure planned to keep it all for himself, while his sailors thought they'd be splitting it between them. The captain's brother, who had hid the treasure in the first place, knew that he would be greedy and the treasure somewhere that no one would ever find it.

Jenny looked back up at Shamrock and saw him shrug at what she had said about the pastry. "I know, I wanted to. Plus, what kinda gentleman would I be to eat in front of a lady without offering her anything? Byron would be disappointed in me." \

She smiled, absolutely flattered. Then, she became curious. "Who's Byron?" she asked. She knew that a famous poet of some sort had the same name, but she doubted that Shamrock knew that same guy.

While she waited for him to reply, she took a bite of the pastry. The warmth and the taste of powdered sugar made her smile; she hadn't had something this sweet in quite a while.

((again, really sorry for the months of non-reply! That will be remedied.))

[Shamrock O'Shea]

"This one's about pirates, sailing on open seas."

Shamrock leaned forward resting his elbows on the tabletop, Jenny's mention of pirates catching his interest, "Pirates?! Like Blackbeard or Captain Hook?! Sounds exciting! I love stories about pirates. Me and the fellas used to act out that we were pirates, sailing the high seas and plundering villages... Can you read me some or tell me whatcha got so far?"

"Who's Byron?"

Shamrock watched Jenny take a bite of the pastry, a small smile appeared as she chewed showing her obvious pleasure in the sweet food. He took a bite of his own pastry before replying, "He's me mate--not the real Lord Byron. We just call him that cause he's always scribbling away in his little journal, poetry and stuff like that. You've probably seen him in the past maybe hanging around your Girl's Lodging House with me sister, Pallet. They used to be together, but now they're just friends. He and me sister have been taking care of us since before we came from Ireland, 'cept he's not Irish like me sister and me--he's English. His ma taught him--back in England--to be an English gentleman and treat ladies with r'spect. Then, he taught me when we came here." He took another bite of his pastry and a sip of his water,letting his thoughts drift off for a minute or two.

When he was younger and girls were nothing more than something to avoid and a stick was more fascinating than a girl, Shamrock used to think Byron was ridiculous--removing his hat when greeting girls, opening doors for them before entering a building, lecturing him with stupid blarney about making sure to place yourself between a 'lady' and the street when walking next to them, even wasting money buying them food when they were sitting at a table with you and probably had money of their own. But now that he was older and girls were starting to catch his interest--like Jenny, here--he was more than willing to following Byron's action. The guy did seem to get a lot of girls swooning for him, so it had to work.

Shamrock carefully watched the girl across from him. More than anything, he wanted it to work.

(It's okay. Most of my muses have been on vacation. Shamrock has returned finally...)

[jennyk]

"Pirates?! Like Blackbeard or Captain Hook?! Sounds exciting! I love stories about pirates. Me and the fellas used to act out that we were pirates, sailing the high seas and plundering villages... Can you read me some or tell me whatcha got so far?"

Jenny laughed, not unkindly, at Shamrock's enthusiasm. "Yeah, kinda like Blackbeard and Captain Hook." She continued to grin as she showed him the waxed paper. "It's kinda rushed, but I think it's comin' along good so far."

She decided that it wouldn't hurt to read some to him. She read (or just made up off the top of her head) stories to her siblings all the time. So why not?

Jenny quietly cleared her throat and found a suitable paragraph to start. " '...And Captain Youngblood cried, 'Dig for the treasure, you scallywags, for there might be some beneath the sand!' The captain took out his looking glass and scanned the horizon for his brother, for he might come and steal the treasure right from under the selfish captain's nose.'"

She finished reading and suddenly felt her cheeks heat up. She hoped he didn't find it too ridiculous - but judging from his enthusiasm before, she hoped he found it good so far.

(Just a note, that paragraph of Jenny's story is mine, since I just made it up off the top of my head. Just sayin'. )

[Shamrock O'Shea]

Shamrock leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms in front of his chest and listened to Jenny's story. He was impressed. The girl sure had talent and a way with words. When Jenny finished reading her excerpt and looked up at him, he smiled at her, "That was great! You definitely have something there. Do you have a journal or something you keep all your stories written in? Because you know, someday you could sell them and make pretty good money. Enough to get out of this life and into a life a girl like you deserves..."

Shamrock popped the last of his pastry into his mouth and took another sip of his drink.