[T.Broomsticks] A New Age Dawns [Ash/Open]

[Jennifer Queens]

It had been a while since Jennifer Queens had set foot out of her flat above her shop. She had taken ill suddenly and had only just started getting better. A whole month of bed rest and she was finally able to haul herself out and stumble over to the three broomsticks even if it was just to be sociable since being locked away for four weeks.

As she stepped out onto the cobbled road the wind blowing some fallen autumn leaves in swirls down the path, she huddled herself in a hand knitted shawl and hunched herself over the cobbles, every movement aching her bones even when she shuffled her feet. Pushing open the old oak door, the warmth and smell of the pub hit her instantly, and she was glad to be in the warm again. The smell of alcohol made her feel slightly dizzy, at least that's what she thought, but more likely the fact that she was out of bed when she shouldn't be was more likely the factor to her dizziness.

Seeing an empty cushioned bench corner, she slid onto the bench and huddled herself once again, her teeth chattering slightly in attempt to warm herself. The fire was roaring nearby and Jen was glad of it as she watched the flames hypnotically dancing in the coals.
It took her a while to notice the barman standing infront of the table before she lifted her eyes up from the flames and give him a weak smile.
"Just a coffee for me thanks" she managed to say before sneezing.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash shivered as he pulled his cloak tighter against the chill of the wind. He'd taken the day off work and decided to stop by the Three Broomsticks for a little rest and relaxtion.

Opening the door, he stepped inside, sighing in relief at the warmth the cozy building offered. Walking through the Saturay afternoon crowd he spotted a seat in the back close to the fire. He had just passed a cushioned bench when he heard a familiar voice.

"Just a coffee for me thanks" the voice said before sneezing.

Ash stopped short and did a slight double take. "Jen?" he asked, looking back at the woman who had spoken.

[Jennifer Queens]

Eventually she began to warm up as she sat huddled in the corner, her knees brought up to her chest as she wrapped her arms around them as her oversized scarlet jumper cradled her she pulled her arms further into the sleeves, wrapping the ends over her hands. She shivered once before the warmth from the fire began to tingle against her skin and the goosebumps began to fade.

As she sat rocking herself slightly to warm up faster, she heard a familiar voice and tilted her head upwards to see non other than Ashton Laurent, her old assistant. She didn't realised how much she had missed him until she saw him again. Last time they spoke, he had come in to quit and had fled to France. Jen wasn't angry, more disappointed that he had just upped and left, and even when she tried to convince him to stay and brave things, he left in favour of France. She didn't blame him, too much had happened for the poor boy, but now he was here standing in front of her looking slightly different than what she remembered. His appearance hadn't changed but just the way he was himself and the way he stood. He had changed inside, and she smiled at him before patting the cushioned seat next to her creating a deep booming sound deep within the seat.

"Well if it isn't my favourite Ravenclaw. When did you get back? Ah, no hugs, i'm i'll and don't want to give it to you!" she said, pushing her palm outwards into his chest to keep him at arms length. She didn't want to be blamed for giving the fresh faced and brand new Ash an illness when he was looking so good. Jen sniffled slightly before coughing and a rattling sound conveyed from her chest.
"Excuse me, I'm really not well. Don't be offended that I won't hug you" she said before offering a small apologetic smile.

[zachbig]

Zach had arrived not two days ago in Hogsmeade. He had always enjoyed coming to Hogsmeade and had, before leaving London, sent an owl to a friend he has spoken to before she had left London. She had suggested the Three Broomsticks as a place to stay: inexpensive, good company most of the time, but she had also said that the best company was to be found in the Hog’s Head. Zach knew Trish well enough to know that she would be where the booze was the cheapest and the company was slightly distasteful. So, on her advice, Zachariah had taken up residence in one of the rooms in the Three Broomsticks.

Trish had found him, of course, and convinced him to go for a drink of two at the Hog’s Head and, not wanting to disappoint her Zach agreed though, as he awoke on Saturday morning (around eleven o’clock) he certainly regretted it. There was one thing he had forgotten about Trisha and that was that she could drink anyone under a table and she certainly had done so to Zach, her and Warren Hubbles. A cold bath, a few strong cups of coffee and the slightly scruffy Zach stumbled downstairs into the pub area.

Collapsing into a stool at the bar near the stairs, Zach was wearing a worn pair of jeans and a suit jacket he had never worn with a suit, faded black. Under that he was wearing a simple shirt he had pulled out of his bag (he still hadn’t unpacked). Ruffling his already crazy mop of dark brown hair, Zach’s brown eyes traveled around the pub. Pete, the barman, gave Zach a shot of whiskey and a cup of coffee, another. Throwing the shot back, Zach pulled a face because of how the whiskey tingled his taste buds. Picking up the coffee, Zach took a sip as his eyes continued their route of the room. He was searching for one dark haired girl but they settled on a different one.

Zach had to forcibly tear his eyes away from the woman sitting on one of the cushioned benches near the fire and leaned on his crossed arms on the bar. Making a few enquiries with the barman, Zach looked back at the woman over his shoulder. Striking a deal with Pete to pay for anything she ordered, Zach took the coffee she had ordered, another for the young gent she was with and his own, balancing his load with skillful precision (what came from waiting at his father’s functions). Pete wished him good luck as the tall man slowly made his way to where the woman – who Pete had called Jennifer Queen – and her friend were sitting.

“Here’s your coffee,” Zach said as he put the cup on the table in front of her, before putting the other in front of her gangly friend, “and one for you too. The barman said you’d ordered it and he’d gotten a little crowded so I thought I’d bring it over for you.” Knowing this was a lie, as there were barely four people at the bar, Zach kept his eyes on Jen, his own coffee in hand.

“Erm …” his free hand ruffled his hair again, as he searched for something else to say. He was terrible at meeting people for the first time that he didn’t already know everything about. He looked at his hand, his palm and frowned a little before suddenly it snapped out towards her, wanting a shake. “I’m- I’m Zach,” he stammered slightly, “hi.” Adding a smile, Zach looked at he friend and gave him a smile too. He was going out on a limb here because for all he knew the two were involved, but the boy seemed too young for her … well, it was more of a hope, really.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash smiled at Jen. "Aww, it's fine. I actually just got over a cold, so I really don't wanna get sick again! I got back about two weeks ago. Been working at Club Motion. I'm thinking about quitting though. Je veux me concentrer sur ma musique et je ne peux pas vraiment le faire si j'attends sur les gens et les tables bussing tout le jour peuvent maintenant Je?" Of course he'd spent a whole summer in France and had gotten so used to speaking his native language constantly that he didn't realise he'd just said that last part in French!

He was just about to sit down with her, when he heard another voice. A man's this time, coming from behind him. He turned to see a dark haired man behind him, looking to be about Jen's age. He smiled at the man in greeting, but said nothing, preferring to wait until Jen spoke. The poor man seemed a little nervous anyway! Maybe it was better to let Jen break the ice. Merlin knew she was the more sociable of the two! Not that Ash wasn't sociable... Jen was just more so.


((Translation: "I want to focus on my music, but I can't really do that if I'm waiting on people and bussing tables all day, now can I?"))

[Jennifer Queens]

In all honestly, Jennifer Queens felt like death...and not even warmed up. She was paranoid that her nose was running constantly and so she had kept a tissue in her hand for the entire week just in case of any spillage and her mouth was always dry no matter how much fluid intake she had. Her hair that was once shiny and bouncy was not dull and lifeless, just like how she felt. She truly felt rotten and if you broke her in two and split her open, she was sure her bones would just turn to dust.

As she looked up to Ash, squinting slightly as her sensitive eyes caught the overhead light, she shielded them with her hand before rubbing his arm in greeting...as much as she liked to anyway without infecting him with whatever she had. Had he got taller?
"Blimey!" she said in surprise at the new and improved Ashton Laurent. She was glad he was out of the rut he seemed to be stuck in but still slightly sad that he had just dropped everything and all his responsibilities of working for her. Still, Jen was not one to hold a grudge against him for living his life, even if she did miss the little runt the past few months he had gone.

"Nevermind that, where's my letters? Did you lose the use of your hands while you were in France Mister?!" she smirked slapping him gently on the arm with the back of her hand. It ached her to do so and she soon put her arm back down to stop the aching she had. Scrunching up her nose slightly in confusion and tilting her head ever so slightly to the left as he mentioned Club Motion, her forehead wrinkled.

"You mean you've been here for more than two days and you didn't come and see your old boss?...well quite frankly Ashton i'm a little disappointed you didn't come and see me first out of everyone! In fact i'm appauled!" she said in all seriousness before her stern face cracked into a wide grin and she leant forward and placed her hands on the table.

It was then an unfamiliar figure wandered over with the coffee she had ordered and she watched him approach and smiled in gratitude at the man and was about to ask if he was a new member of staff before he beat her to the punch and told her why he was in fact delivering the coffee's for the bartender. Jen's lips curved up on one side and she nodded her head before thanking him. A pause was stuck inbetween the trio before Jen looked back at the man as he umm'd to himself as she took a sip of the coffee and was glad of the warmness it instantly brought.
"Oh. Your an angel for bringing this, thank you" she smiled as her face oozed satisfaction.

Placing the cup back down onto the saucer, she held her hand out to the man who introduced himself as Zach.
"Nice to meet you Zach. I'm Jennifer Queens, I own the clothes store just opposite? This is Ashton Laurent, my old assistant...would you care to join us Zach?" she offered, moving up the bench so there was enough room for him to sit.
"So Zach, I don't think i've seen you around before. Are you new?"

[zachbig]

Zachariah wasn’t the type of man to approach a woman he saw in a pub, lease of all if she was already with someone. But something had taken over and he couldn’t help himself. As he stood at the table the woman and her friend were occupying he wished he had. But it was too late for that now, he was there and he hadn’t been chased away and that was at least encouraging. In point of fact she called him an angel, which went straight to his head.

His face broke into a wide, toothy smile as he blinked her dark eyes at her. It wasn’t his normal way of doing things, and with his job you’d have thought that talking to strangers would have been easy, or at least come naturally. He constantly wondered why he got so nervous around some people but never found an answer. Alas this was not the time nor the place to think of such things, Jennifer had just confirmed everything that the barman had said and asked him to join them.

Nodding his head, with his attempt at a supercilious smile that looked slightly ridiculous, Zach sat down where Jennifer had made space for him. “Thank you. It’s wonderful to meet you, Jennifer Queen, Ashton Laurent,” he said, looking at each of their faces as he said their name. If there was one thing Zach had become very good at since taking his job at the Ministry it was techniques to remember names. Zach had found it all too embarrassing to look at a person, talk with them like old friends, and not be able to remember their name. Nothing worse.

Leaning on the table, his own coffee mug in front of him, Zach ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it thoughtfully. “Yeah, I arrived here a few days ago,” he said. The thought crossed his mind that maybe he should start telling people that he’d actually quit his job. He knew that as soon as the news got out his father would come looking for him and then what would he say? “I … I always loved coming here when I was at Hogwarts and thought it was time to come back. Strange how these places never let you go, huh?”

Giving Jennifer what he hoped was a winning smile, Zach picked up his coffee mug and took a sip. He was terrible at small talk; deep and meaningful he could do, well in fact, but small talk always stumped him. Searching quickly, Zach pulled a question out of Merlin know’s where and asked, “so, a clothes store, that must be nice?” He would have kicked himself for how stupid he sounded but it might have been a bit of a give away.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash laughed sheepishly at Jen’s question of if he’d lost use of his hands while in France. “Well… no… not really.” He replied. He laughed again, “Let’s just say I was a little… preoccupied.” He gave the slightest wink and a small cheeky smirk after the word ‘preoccupied’

He winced guiltily as she pointed out the fact that she should’ve been the first person he visited. Truth be told, he’d thought about when he got back, but he’d also thought that she’d be too angry with him for leaving to even see him. “Sorry Jen, I guess I just thought that you’d be too angry with me for leaving that you wouldn’t want to see me.” He explained with a sheepish shrug.

Ash then smiled at the man who called himself Zach. “Hello.” He replied quietly with a small smile. Realizing that he was still standing, he gave Jen the gentlest of nudges being careful not to jar her. “Scoot over.” He said, wanting to sit next to her. Besides, that way Zach could sit across from them and talk to Jen easier. Ash may not have been a Veela like a certain someone he knew. But he wasn’t blind. He could tell that Zach was interested in Jen. But he was curious. What had happened to Russell?

[Jennifer Queens]

Right now all Jennifer was glad of was that she had some company to stop her from ending up in St Mungo’s psychiatric ward from loneliness and a nice hot beverage. They may have been considered as simple things but Jen preferred life that way. She wasn’t one who would try and make things hard because she had been suffering enough with this illness that she didn’t want a headache to top it all off and put the icing on the cake now did she?

The inside of her throat felt raw as if someone had been grating it from the inside with a cheese grater and her nose felt so blocked as if there was corks wedged permanently up her nostrils of course that was impossible as her nose although blocked seemed to still weep out the colds germs. It was not a pretty sight and especially meeting a new person in this state Jen couldn’t help but feel she had exposed herself too early.

As she pushed back her hair that felt lifeless and looked exactly how it felt, the waves soon went back to their original position, determined not to be tamed. With a small sigh not from boredom but just for her to actually be able to breathe, she sat back into the bench and cupped her coffee in both hands as she sipped it slowly.

It was then Zach began talking again and with a small glance at Ashton, who had a questionable look on his face, she raised an eyebrow before averting her gaze over to Zach. As she did, his aftershave wafted under her nose and it was the first thing she was able to smell for weeks. It was nice to have such a manly and strong scent to be her virgin smell that she happened to sense for a long while.

As she paused simply enjoying the aroma for a moment, she watched Zach’s face and gave a small cheery hearted smile as he asked about her store.
“Oh well it can be hard work and it took me a lot of work to build up to actually working for myself but I couldn’t think of any better way to spend my life working” she said, enthralled and seemingly blissful in her own achievements.

“Excuse me” she said quickly before pulling a tissue from her pocket and coughing into it. Moaning slightly, her eyes had become slightly watery.
“Sorry, i’m just not a hundred percent right now...So where do you work?” she continued as she stuffed the tissue back into her pocket. She hated being ill around other people and was always paranoid that she would give them her illness but she needed to get out, weeks in the flat on her own was not helping her sanity.

[zachbig]

It was clear from Ashton’s behaviour that he felt deeply for Jennifer. Zach couldn’t blame him but he thought the boy had an odd way of showing it. He didn’t make a scene or mention it; he just smiled at the young man … boy! Zach felt old thinking that. He reminded himself of his father, how terrifying. Again, his hand ruffled his hair. He wasn’t used to it being this short.

Jen began telling Zach about her job and Zach, being the attentive little lamb that he is, gobbled up every word she said. He watched the way her mouth moved as she spoke, the way her nose wrinkled when she sniffed, the way her cheeks coloured as she turned away to cough. Zach quickly looked away, down at his half full coffee mug as he swirled the liquid around. There was nothing worse then undissolved coffee granules in the last few sips of your coffee.

Zach gave Ashton a quick smile before lifting up his coffee mug and taking a sip, the second and third fingers between the handle as his hand curled around the mug. It had happened too many times to him that the handle had broke off and he had ended up with a lap of hot coffee and extremely red cheeks. He didn’t want to take that chance now, even though he was sitting down. No mug was safe, it was well known back with his own friends but here it was still an embarrassing thing they had to learn about him.

Zach shook his head, frowning slightly, “don’t worry about it. These things can’t be helped.” In all honesty, Zach thought she was beautiful even with the slightly unhappy look on her gorgeous face. Gulping down his heart, Zach turned back to the question she had asked about his own work. Did many people know about him? He didn’t think so, not here, not out of his circle of friends. It would be fine telling her, and her friend.

“I work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation with the Ministry,” he said, at first looking down at his hand around his mug but then looking from Ashton to Jennifer. “I’ve accumulated a lot of leave so decided to put it to good use and take some … personal time.” Was there an easy way to say that you told your boss you’d quite your job and he refused, told you to take some leave and think about it? No, and no one needed to know that. “It’s enjoyable work,” he added, “but it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life, if you know what I mean!?” It was more of a rhetorical question but he raised both his eyebrows questioningly, looking back and forth between the two people he had joined.

Trying to keep the talking moving, Zach smiled and looked again at Jen. “And what about yourself?” he asked, “are you happy doing what you do for the rest of your life?”

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash listened as Zach spoke about his work, Department of International Magical Cooperation? Hmm, wonder what he does? Ash mused silently to himself. He stared down at the table, drumming his fingers against the wood as he listened to Zach talk. It was obvious from the way he looked at Jen that he was interested. Ash didn’t blame him, Jen was pretty. Ash may have been gay, but that didn’t mean he was blind! He knew when a woman was attractive, and Jen certainly was.

Still staring down at the table, Ash narrowed his eyes slightly, glad that Zach couldn’t see them. Zach seemed like a nice guy, but he better not hurt Jen! Ash knew he was overreacting; Jen could take care of herself. But for some reason, after being gone for so long, Ash felt an urge to protect Jen from anything. Even heartbreak. He’d gone through it twice. That was two times too many. He knew how it felt. He knew what it was like to cry oneself to sleep and to wake up each morning and know that the one you loved was no longer there. He knew how it felt having to deal with the pain of them being gone. He knew what it was like to have to deal with the whispers and pitying stares. Oh yes, Ash knew all too well what that was like. And he was determined to keep Jen from having to go through the same thing. Zach may have been a nice guy, and maybe he was what Jen needed, but he’d have to prove himself to Ash first.

Looking up at Zach, he asked “So, what exactly do you do?” he subconsciously scooted closer to Jen, still trying to decide if Zach was worthy to be around her. He seemed nice, but Ash knew those were the ones you had to look out for. After all, look what happened to him. Both his boyfriends had been romantic, sweet, kind, everything one could hope for. And where did they leave him? Alone and heartbroken. That’s where.

Still staring at Zach, Ash gave a small smile. Sure he was looking out for Jen, but he didn’t wanna scare the poor guy off! He just wanted to make sure he would treat Jen the way she deserved to be treated. In Ash’s mind, Jen was a queen, and no it wasn’t because her last name was Queens. To him, she really was one, and deserved to be treated as such, and anyone who had any less intention of doing that, Ash planned on keeping them as far away from Jen as possible. So Zach may have been sweet, and kind, but he still had a lot to prove.

[Jennifer Queens]

"Preoccupied Mister Laurent? Tut tut, that's just.....well, that's just naughty" she grinned, quite pleased that he seemed to be well and truly over that Cristian boy.

As another cough left her, she wondered when the illness was going to end, and in turn if Russ was ever coming back. She doubted it and she hadn't even had chance to tell Ash what had happened between them before another cute guy caught her eye and had walked over, naming himself Zach. Sure he was extremely good looking and his cute smile was to die for, but Jen kept pulling herself away from starting fresh because in all honesty, she was heartbroken.

Maybe that was why she was ill. It happened when Russell left her and she had not recovered since. She pondered on the thought and replayed the last time she saw him before he disappeared. Arguements were never a good thing and all she was trying to do was help him run his business. She should of known it was too good to be true. 'Jennifer Queens is not meant to be married with kids' she thought as she sighed into her cup and sipped almost the remainder of the coffee. Scrunching up her face she placed the mug down and pulled a granule off her tongue.
"Urgh, don't you just hate when they don't dissolve?!" she said.

Hearing of his Job, Jen smiled and raised her eyebrows, leaning her elbow on the table in anticipation of his next words.
"Oh really? Lucky you with your time off" she giggled.
She was about to ask what exactly he did there when Ashton beat her to it, and she noticed he had scooted nearer to her that before. Smiling, she placed a hang on his under the table and patted it, a way of saying she was okay and for him to be less paranoid.

She felt the need to tell Ash about her new single status although with Zach here it was going to prove to be difficult.
"Me?" she asked Zach as she pointed to herself.
"Oh, yes of course. I would be very happy running my own shop for the rest of my life. Of course, i'd love to expand if possible and actually make my own clothing line, but I can't see that happening without funding"

[ooc: sorry about the rubbishness]

[zachbig]

[[ not at all. sorry it took so long for me to reply ]]

Seeing the way Jennifer teased Ashton made the corner of Zach’s mouth curl upwards in an amused smile. He’d always enjoyed watching friends interact. Watching Lola, his ex, was always interesting because she was so many versions of herself with various it became a trick towards the end to guess which person she was thinking about while she was with him. It got to a point where he could guess who she’d been with by the way she acted. It was unhealthy and yet there he was, thinking about her … Still, watching Jennifer and Ashton made him smile, a smile that faltered for a moment.

Jen seemed to finish her coffee. Zach had almost forgotten about his own. He swirled the liquid around and nodded. “It’s annoying when that happens,” he said in agreement, “I’ll be sure to mention it to Pete when I chat with him again.” Zach looked back over his shoulder at where Pete had been standing when he’d given him to coffees. Zach turned back and took another sip, draining the contence and getting one extremely strong sip. Zach pulled a face at the strength of the coffee, then chuckled and smiled at Jennifer. “So annoying.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” Zach said, sitting back in his seat and slouching down. He felt a little too big for the space he was in but he didn’t want to give it up. Not for the world. “I’ve had this in mind ever since I joined this Department.” Then Ashton jumped on him, his tone sounding defiant, but Zach was happy to answer his question. “Basically,” Zach said thoughtfully, “I’m the go between. I make sure that no one’s jobs clash and that we’re all working in the same direction. The title I was given is Liaison but I’ve never found that does what I do justice.” Zach always found it hard to explain exactly what he did but he hoped all he said had at least given them an idea and as he spoke, he rolled his mug around on the table, absently.

Zach hated talking about himself so when Jennifer started talking about her own aspirations Zach was very grateful. He’d found that whenever people found out that he was the Minister of Magic’s son they tended to treat him differently. He never wanted that but it always seemed to come out at the worst times. He was determined to pick his moment carefully to reveal the full extent of who he was. He wouldn’t lie about it but it seemed to be a delicate matter for some. Strange but true.

Jen spoke of funding. Zach lifted his dark eyes to the dark haired woman’s and smiled a hopeless skew smile. “Funding is always a problem,” he agreed. One of the only reasons it had taken him so long to get to taking this holiday was because he was determined to do it by himself, not using his father’s money or resources at all. “But I’m sure you’ll find a way,” Zach said confidently, nodding his head as he spoke.

Their mugs were all empty and Zach wanted another coffee. Taking Jen’s mug and Ashton’s, Zach stood up. “Refills?” he asked raising an eyebrow and giving them each a playful smile before walking off to the bar where Pete was and waiting for their refills.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash childishly stuck his tongue out at Jen. "Yeah, well in my opinion I wasn't preoccupied enough!" he said with a smirk. He was kidding of course. He hadn't hooked up with that many guys! Or maybe he had? Ah well... he was just enjoying being single.

Vaguely listening to Zach's explanation he dug in his bag for his sketch book. He tended to get distracted and lose interest in things easily. He wasn't trying to be rude, he just got distracted easily.

Plus, Zach seemed content to talk about business with Jen. A topic that Ash personally, found boring after a certain time. Unless the conversation centered around the music or fashion industry of course.

Anyone who knew Ash, knew that fashion and music were among the most important things in his life. Even if you didn't know, you could guess what was important based on what he always wore and the fact that he always seemed to be writing songs.

Ash loooked up from his drawing as Zach offered to get more coffee. "No thanks, I'm good." he said with a smile. Looking back down at his drawing he frowned. He had a field of flowers and long grasses, puffy white clouds in the sky, birds, he felt like he should draw a person as well. But who?

Not able to figure out who to draw, he put his sketch pad away and pulled out a set of his modeling pics. "Jen, check out some of my new pictures I did over the summer." He said, handing the pictures over to her.

"I have more, but these are my favorites."



((one, two, three, four, five))

[Jennifer Queens]

“You’re a perverted little boy Ashton Laurent” Jen half chuckled and half coughed. Bringing a hand to her mouth she coughed gently as she burst into a fit of laughter at Ash’s naughty ways over the time period where he left for France. She was sure he would have no problems filling her in with all the details later on in privacy.

Jen couldn’t help but give a small curled smirk as she looked at Zach drink the dregs of his coffee with a grimaced look on his face. She guessed he had got the same strength coffee as she did at the bottom and she hid her face behind the empty cup for a moment to keep her humorous expression under wraps. Composing herself, she set her cup back down and gently clunked the cup onto the saucer.

Giving a quick look over to Ashton, a twinkle appeared in her eye for the first time in a while and she found that being with Zach and Ash, people who were outsiders from her little breakdown, was not as bad as she originally thought it may be. People actually still held some value and she felt that her hope in humanity was beginning to return. Catching the last few words Zach just said, she looked back to him and gave him a toothy grin.
“I’m sure Pete would love it if you went over to insult his coffee, but please don’t do it while I’m here, I don’t fancy cleaning the mess up after, whether it be blood or coffee” she chuckled.

Jen listened intently as Zach explained his Liaison job in more depth and detail. It was unclear before exactly what his job role within the ministry was, but now he had explained it all fit into place, like a jigsaw puzzle being put together where he had fit in the outline and gradually it revealed the whole picture.
“Oh right, I get it now” She replied.
“So you’re the middle man?” she asked jokingly before nodding her head in answer to Zach’s question.

“A refill would be great thanks, Zach” she said with a cheeky smile matching his own before he walked towards the bar to retrieve the drinks. It was then Jen’s gaze followed Zach almost hypnotically as she sat there smiling like a fool as he reached the bar and began talking to Pete, and it wasn’t until Ash thrust some modelling pictures into her hand that her gaze broke and looked back at Ash.
“Oh, what? Okay...wow, these are good Ash. You will have to model for me again sometime, to be honest I could do with your help again” she said before giving a quick glance back to Zach.