Just like an angel (Gabrielle)

[Mary Ashford]

She was so broke. Oh, there was no lying about that. Mandy was only here to meet someone for an interview, and she'd been sitting in the bar for maybe an hour, waiting.

They were late for the interview by at least forty minutes. She looked at her phone to see if there were any messages. Maybe the person was late or they had to cancel. She just didn't want to be sitting here like a jerk for such a long time ordering drinks to make it seem like she wasn't loitering.

Besides, this was her second martini, and she was starting to think of giving up. She was getting toward the end of her cash flow anyway. And she still needed to eat something. This interview just wasn't going to happen, was it? Her boss was going to chew her out again. This job was getting frustrating. She reached for her phone. At the very least she could call him and see if maybe the guy was running late. This could all work out, right?

She stared at the bottom of her glass while waiting. Those two drinks might not have been the best idea...

[Gabrielle Fortunato]

Gabrielle had been speaking with two of her hostesses at the podium for the last ten minutes. She had her hand on her lower back, just above her rear, folded backwards with a sushi menu clasped in it. Her blonde hair was perfectly styled, flipped out almost, with dark colouring beneath mixed in. It gave a stunning contrast against her gorgeous face, and her slender body clad in that black minidress was breathtaking. Of course, that may have been her power causing so many people to notice, but there was no denying she wasn't a hottie and a half.

She turned around after giving Zahra a squeeze on the shoulder, and walked to the bar area, resting the menu on the counter. She smiled at Farrah and leaned against the counter, glancing over at Mandy. "Is everything alright?" she asked, her smoky accented Italian voice clear over the soft music and talking in the background. "How is your evening going?"

She rested her elbow on the counter and relaxed some of her weight, greenish-brown eyes focusing on Mandy's slightly tipsy form.

[Mary Ashford]

She left that voicemail, and she could just hear her boss later. She had to have done something wrong. After all, Mandy couldn't do anything right. She'd come to accept this fact and just...moved on.

Then came the question. Now, Mandy could have easily just let herself go and start crying and bitching about her life, but this woman wasn't deserving of that. But she didn't just want to put one of those smiles on that screamed fake. She didn't have the energy. Besides, she'd just have wound up spazzing out and giving away that she wasn't alright at all. So she took an approach that she didn't normally take.

"It's fine," she sighed, "I just got stood up."

The honest truth, that could work right?

[Gabrielle Fortunato]

Gabrielle tsked, her full lips forming a pout as she nodded to Farrah to bring her a glass of wine. She devoted her attention more fully to Mandy, and she smiled. It was warm, and Gabrielle's unique ability could share in that; Mandy would feel warm, sort of... fuzzy - but in a good way.

  "Stood up? He's no good for you, anyways," she said. She didn't make any move to sit, her slender form drawing more attention there, leaned against the bar. She almost doted on Mandy with her mannerisms, the way that she controlled the focus of the energy on her. For people who passed by, the conversation could have looked more intimate than it actually appeared. That was Gabrielle's nature, though - and maybe the Italian in her. She was always close to people, in their space, but not uncomfortably so. Her gift made it so that it was always pleasant - of course, some hunters fought it, and then... it was ugly.

  "I'm Gabrielle," she said with a smile. And just like that, she lit up again. Of course, it would have to have been Gabrielle Fortunato, the owner of Bonne Chance, one of New York's most prestigious restaurants, to find Mandy dumped at the bar. If Mandy played her cards right, she might still get an interview - Gabrielle was hard to get one from. She'd been in Vogue not too long ago for a piece they'd done on successful businesswomen, but hadn't been photographed. She hated photoshoots. Gabrielle preferred more candid settings, such as her own restaurant.

"If you plan on staying, I could keep you company for a while," she offered. "I'm not going to retire so early tonight."