Amira scanned through the menu, her eyes not finding anything appealing. She threw the menu back onto the counter and placed her head in her hands. What sucked most about holding down a nine to five, was the fact that she actually had to hold down a nine to five. After spending most of her life doing whatever she pleased, whenever, it was hard to get accustomed to a schedule.

She glanced at the dusty clock on the diner's wall and sighed. It was going to be a long day. She had tried to take her lunch break as late in the day as possible, anything to get out of work early, but her plan had failed. The boss ordered her out of the shop, mumbling something about lawsuits and what not.

Amira leaned back into the chair, running her clammy hands up and down the front of her skinny jeans. She was antsy after having spent so many hours cooped up in the tattoo shop. She wasn't used to sitting behind the counter and taking people's orders.

And all she wanted right now to take the edge off was a nice, cool Corona. And apparently if you decided to join the rest of the world in holding down a job, drinking and tattooing at the same time was frowned upon. She shook her head, fingering the lone cigarette that was stuck behind her ear.

Another one of her bright ideas. She was trying to quit smoking and was not happy about it. "Fuck," she whispered to herself, motioning to the waitress for what seemed to be the hundredth time. As the overworked and underpaid waitress walked by her once again, she could feel her blood start to boil.

Amira drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Self control, something she was dearly trying to hold on to.

With a tie hanging undone around his neck and the hem of a button-up shirt hanging over his pants instead of having it tucked in neatly, Jack strolled past the many shops and diners.
He had told Brian he was going to look for a job, hence the monkey suit, but truth was he needed to get out of the house. Hanging around the place by yourself when everyone else was working their day-jobs wasn't all it was cracked up to be anymore.

He blew out the last smoke and flicked the cigarette butt away when something, or rather someone, made him stop. His gaze had fallen on a familiar sight inside the small diner he was passing by.
It wasn't hard to recognize Amira, not with curves like hers or those tats for that matter. Had things been different he probably would have been pleased to see her, but after that little 'get together' on her behalf with Angel, he couldn't say he was all that happy now.

With a bit of a scowl, he entered the diner and was soon leaning casually against the counter next to where Amira was sitting. Then, leaving any type of greeting behind, he flashed her a sarcastic smile.
"Sicced your trigger-happy dog on anybody lately?"

Amira's heart skipped a beat as he snuck up on her. She rolled her eyes and turned towards him, an eyebrow cocked as she ran her eyes up and down his body. "Nice. I really should give him a call. Maybe he can help straighten out your waldrobe malfunction," she replied.

She motioned to the chair next to her and smiled warmly at him. "So what brings you to this side of town? I hope the wardrobe malfunction means your making some sort of half-assed attempt at joining the real world." Amira smirked at her comment and signaled for the waitress, who ignored her once again.

She watched as the waitress walked by her but not before Amira caught her undressing Jack with her eyes. She smiled sweetly, knowing exactly how the waitress was about to earn her tip.

Jack shook his head with a chuckle at Amira's comment before slipping the tie off his neck and shoving it in his pants pocket. "The real world wouldn't know what to do with me anyway. Just gotta keep big bro happy is all." He shrugged.

He took the seat that was offered and watched in amusement as the waitress ignored Amira's attempt of getting her attention. Apparently the supposed fearful gang leader couldn't even get herself something to drink in a simple diner like this. That had to take getting used to for her.

Just as the waitress was about to pass him, he grabbed her gently by the wrist to stop her and get her attention. "How about you get me and uh..." He glanced at Amira before turning back to the waitress. "..the lady over here a nice cold Corona, sweetheart."
With a smile he winked at the girl and let go of her wrist when she nodded with a slight blush. It never hurt to flirt just a bit with the waitress and soon they both had a cold one standing in front of them.

After taking a long gulp from his Corona, he looked at Amira. She seemed tired. Different from the night they'd met at the races. "So how's life treating you in this real world of yours?"

"I'm glad she finally got around to getting me a damn drink," she muttered, as the waitress walked away from them. Amira picked up her beer and took a long drink, relishing the coolness and instantly feeling relaxed. "Life. It was crappy yesterday. Crappy today. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be crappy, if not crappier, tomorrow. What about you? How's life on your green side of town?" She asked.

Amira couldn't stop herself from wanting to open her mouth up and letting it all spill. Something about Jack put her at ease. Something about knowing that she wasn't the only screw up who didn't know what she was gonna spend the rest of her life doing, made her feel like this wasn't the end of the world.

She briefly let her mind wander and thought about how much she could trust him. Brian seemed to be pretty trust worthy. Hell, Angel let him into the crew, so he must be. But what about Jack? She sighed, thinking of the possibilities. Thinking about being able to tell someone what was really going on without having them want to run to the cops or kill her for betraying the street's code of silence.

She shook her head, trying to clear it of those damned thoughts, not wanting to make the afternoon all about her. "So why are we trying to keep big bro happy? I'm pretty sure you're a big boy now, Jack. Time to man up and make yourself happy first," she said, a small smile on her face.

Jack snorted at Amira's words. "Make myself happy first huh? I think that's the whole reason why I have such a bright future in the first place."
He hated to admit it ,even to himself, but he had made some stupid choices in the past, leaving him with next to nothing in the present. Being broke all the time was not pleasant.

He shook his head, not wanting to linger on the subject. It had it's way of bringing the 'real world', as Amira had called it, a little too close for comfort and that was something he wanted to avoid at the moment. Or any moment for that matter. He was just here to relax and maybe get to know Amira a little better in the process. Maybe he could even find out something useful for the feds or even just for personal gain. After all, Angel hadn't paid bad and Jack had appreciated the 'quick buck' despite some complications or how dirty the money had been.

After taking a drink from his Corona, he regained his usual composure with a smirk. "But hey, no need to get all serious here. Life is already crappy enough as it is, right?" He winked, referring to her earlier statement.

"Well they do say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Ain't that a bitch?" She said, laughing.

"Serious is the last thing I wanna be right now. It sucks ass trying to be all righteous. Rent must be paid on time. Gotta make sure I have enough bus fare. Blah, blah, blah. I'm considering robbing diners as a way to make some extra cash," she said, her tone half serious, half sarcastic. Amira cocked an eyebrow and turned towards the cash register, trying not to laugh.

"You in?"

Jack followed her gaze towards the register and nodded with a smirk. "As long as the cut is something like 70-30, in my favor of course, than you got yourself a partner in crime. Although I do think robbing banks is more profitable than measly diners like these."

His smirk faded a little while he narrowed his eyes at her. He still didn't understand why she was playing the hard working girl, making ends meet, when she had a guy like Angel watching her back.
He leaned in a little closer towards her and lowered his voice. "Angel not scratching your back anymore? He seemed to be doing quite the.. 'business'."
He let the words linger for her to take them which ever way she wanted.

"HEY! Not fair. Big bro atleast is letting you crash on his couch. I gotta pay my own way no matter what! I'll go 30-70 with you if you give up the couch and the blonde Susie homemaker," she said.

And then her heart sped up as she listened to the words coming out of Jack's mouth. Angel? What did Jack know about Angel and her?

She smiled lightly, trying to brush off Jack's comment and played dumb. She flipped her hair off of her shoulder and giggled, putting on an Oscar worthy performance. "Angel.... well... After a while old toys are just not as fun as the next shiny thing that walks by," she said, leaning towards him.

Amira looked up at him through her thick eyelashes and pouted softly, hoping that Jack caught on to her drift. "Why? You lending a helping hand?"

"Susie homemaker huh? He'll love that." Jack couldn't help but chuckle at Amira's comment. She was creative, he had to give her that.

He smirked at the pouty look she gave him and decided to just give the whole Angel thing a rest. Showing too much interest in the guy would just look... weird anyway, no matter what his real motives were. Aside from that, in the end it was supposed to be Amira pulling the strings according to the Feds information. Although so far nothing had pointed out that she really was.

"Me? I always lend my helping hands to ladies whenever and, most importantly, wherever they are needed. Or wanted for that matter." He replied with a suggestive wink. "You sure you wanna play damsel in distress with me though?"

She playfully shoved Jack, giggling at his suggestion. "You couldn't handle all of this baby boy," she said, taking a drink from her beer. She fingered his dressy attire and smirked. "If you want I can call a few people and see if they can hook you up. Nothing fancy of course," she said.