Miracles Don't Happen|{open}{INACTIVE}

[hamlet]

"In my experience men, especially businessmen--"

Harry raised his eyebrows and grinned in intrigue, and couldn't help but think that she wasn't talking generally. And now Harry was wondering what exactly her angle was, even before hearing all that she had to say. Was trying to get under his skin? Challenge him? What? Was there some kind of ulterior business motive? Maybe get her share of some of what Hamlet Enterprises had to offer these days?

Wow. Harry really needed to stop that. Over analyzing. He just couldn't help it sometimes. He had to watch people at every turn -- what else was he supposed to do? You think you know someone and then it turns out that they would stab you or the people you love in the back like it was nothing. He had to be cautious.

"--only ever visit flower shops and gardens with or for lady friends and wives, never for themselves. I suppose you fit into that category, but I bet you'd probably run out of here as soon as you've payed for your dozen long-stemmed roses. Then again, does anyone really ever stop to appreciate a flower anymore? Too busy climbing our ladders, don't you think Mr. Chandler?"

What was that supposed to mean? Surely, she wasn't making a dig at him. He was the one trying to stop those who like to climb the ladders and practically the backs of a dead man's legacy. Harry kept his greyish-blue eyes on her, his grin not wavering and becoming a bit smug. He had to find this amusing, he had no choice. He's been miserable over a lot of things lately, he couldn't waste all that miserable energy on someone he just met now could he?

"Hmm." He said in response, with amused bemusement, letting her continue.

"Or maybe we just come here to hide for awhile, and disguise it as being romantic or taking a detour...personally I prefer my detours to end with a big bottle of Vodka and a carton of orange juice."

Harry's grin turned into a smile. Well, at least they had something in common.

He took a breath and said, "Yeah, I have to say I like that detour better too. And believe me, I've taken it. But you have to switch it up a bit right?" He paused. " But you know what? You're right. People are too busy these days to appreciate anything. And yeah, I might run out of here once I get what I have to get, but hey, flowers aren't for anyone...or man....for that matter. So I'm curious," What is your deal? Harry wanted to ask. But instead he asked, "So why aren't you taking that wonderful detour at the bottom of a bottle right now? You seem like a woman who has it...all together."

Harry really need to stop being so snarky.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

"So I'm curious...why aren't you taking that wonderful detour at the bottom of a bottle right now? You seem like a woman who has it...all together."

Katherine had to smile at this. It was either that or spew out a string of profanity at the privileged twit...well maybe not a twit. She caught that smile he gave when she mentioned the booze.

So Mr. Moody likes a good drink she thought to herself, as she continued to watch him.

"I don't know why I stopped here" She said honestly, "I usually just head straight for the liquor store. I should've done so today. Instead I almost ended up on the wrong end of Hector Tormei's temper." Katherine smirked self-depreciatingly at Chandler. He seemed in dire need of a bottle of something himself. Though every fiber in her body told her not to, she decided that as long as she was throwing caution to the wind today, she might as well go all the way. "You seem like you could take a similar detour yourself. Do you want come with me and get a bottle of something at the store? I don't get much company...I'm not what you would call friendly, but as long as we're talking, we might as well carry on down to wherever we need to go." Katherine said, hoping to God that she wasn't making as huge a mistake as she thought she was...

[hamlet]

I usually just head straight for the liquor store. I should've done so today. Instead I almost ended up on the wrong end of Hector Tormei's temper."

He laughed a bit. "Mm. Looks like he ended up on the wrong side of yours," he said, amused.

"You seem like you could take a similar detour yourself. Do you want come with me and get a bottle of something at the store? I don't get much company...I'm not what you would call friendly, but as long as we're talking, we might as well carry on down to wherever we need to go."

Harry took a moment to think. So this woman just said she wasn't exactly friendly, yet she was offering to have a drink with him. Hm. He really didn't get that one everyday. And the idea of having drinks with this woman, someone who is very smart business woman...it didn't rub him the right way. At all. Who knows what she could be after. She could've already been in talks with Claudius. Maybe she was trying to keep tabs on Harry. Who knows what her motives were. And plus going for a drink with a woman in the business field wouldn't look to good in Ophelia's eyes. It wasn't like he was tempted at all by Katherine, but Harry was hyper-aware about how things "looked" like to others. He had to be. After all, he was putting on a crazy act for his colleagues.

The problem was that he really did like to fall for the temptation of a drink, however. Like he said, there was nothing wrong with loosening up. From his point of view, going to get a drink verses going to work...the drink sounded much more appealing. He'd just had to be careful and wary of her every move. After all, she wasn't lying when she said she wasn't the nicest person in the world. He believed her.

He looked at her and grinned, making his light eyes brighten up a bit to show he was definitely up for a drink. "Sounds like the best idea I've heard all day." He started walking in the direction of the store. As he walked he couldn't help but ask, "So Ms. Minola, to be completely up front with you, this isn't a way to get into the Hamlet Enterprises inner circle, is it? Having a drink with the heir?" He asked the question nonchalantly. Hey, he had to make sure.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

"So Ms. Minola, to be completely up front with you, this isn't a way to get into the Hamlet Enterprises inner circle, is it? Having a drink with the heir?"

Katherine smirked at the young man's paranoia. "I have no desire to dig my claws into the Hamlet empire. I am perfectly content with with being charge of the financial assets that were assigned to me. Some stocks and bonds, nothing of great importance, but someone needs to make sure they get cashed in at the appropriate time, so the bank account can keep growing. I just bring bring in a small profit, it's someone else with a higher pay grade that deals with the heavy accounting; the important finances. It's them you should be worried about, not me. I was just starting out when when my firm was hired on by your late father. Someone else became your father's primary accountant and got to see all the good stuff. I just did the selling and trading I was instructed to do. Of course now I do it on my own. I have my own jobs, of course, as the main accountant for other companies, but I still watch some of the stocks for your company, as no one else knows them as well as I do."

Katherine stood back a little and watched Chandler. He oozed depression and paranoia from every pore, and he was wondering why she asked him if he wanted a drink.

"Really, you're so stressed that anyone could see it." She explained to him, still smirking, "You look you could use a long night at a pub, or a visit to a liquor store. Trust me, your brain will fry if you let all that stress and paranoia build up."

[hamlet]

(phew, FINALLY I got the time to get to this thread. Sorry for the wait!)

"I just bring bring in a small profit, it's someone else with a higher pay grade that deals with the heavy accounting; the important finances. It's them you should be worried about, not me."

Harry rolled his eyes bitterly at this comment. Was she right or what? The only thing was that he wasn't going to be bothered with any of that. He felt guilty about that sure, but that was all his uncle's problem. He took over the company so he'll take responsibility if he gets himself into a business takeover. But Harry wondered the...what should he be worried about, if not the company? This crazy notion that his dead father was speaking to him some how? That his uncle was more sinister than he thought? This crazy, crazy notion? Apparently those things were more important to Harry. Harry had a hard time making logic of himself, but it was what it was.

To the rest of her comments, Harry nodded, some what satisfied but still not letting his guard down completely. "Better safe than sorry. The business world is cut throat, as you know. I've come to learn the hard way that you can't even trust the people you're closest to. There's an ulterior motive behind everything."

"Really, you're so stressed that anyone could see it. You look you could use a long night at a pub, or a visit to a liquor store. Trust me, your brain will fry if you let all that stress and paranoia build up."

Harry gave a smirk back. "What makes you think it hasn't already?" he said. Katherine was close enough to Hamlet Enterprises. He had to cover all his bases if he wanted people to think that few lights weren't all on upstairs for him. After all, if his apparent dead father that he thought spoke to him in his sleep was right (god, maybe he really was crazy)....he'd need all bases covered. And if he was lucky, he wouldn't need to pretend to be crazy this time, he just might get drunk again.

"There's a really good place just up the street." Harry knew a good portion of the bars in NYC. He told himself those bars was the only things that kept him sane but he was starting to think they were having the opposite effect.

"And about me being stressed. Trust me, there are plenty of explanations for that. I don't know if you ever had the feeling that something terrible was going to happen to you..." he paused. This was somewhat of an act. He wanted to plant the doubt in her head that he wasn't all there. But that probably didn't need to take much. After all what he was talking about wasn't so far from the truth. He did have a feeling that something would happen to him. He felt it every day after his father died.

"...I've just had this feeling lately, you know? Like nightmares. On top of that, the new tax increase going on thanks to our wonderful mayor, its killing me...slowly." He said bitterly. They reached the bar and Harry opened to door for her.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

Katherine looked around the bar. A nice, trendy place, she'd been here before with the bosses to celebrate various success. She straight to the bar and ordered a cold Corona for herself.

"I don't prentend to know anhhting about you or your issues, but I know what it is to almost lose it. I used to be like that. Short fuse, bad stress management. I used have to chain smoke to keep from literally snapping someone's head off. One day I just said "fuck it". I quit doing work on the weekends adn just vegged and drank until I was able to unwind. It's the only thing that keeps me sane now. I'm still the office crazy, don't get me wrong, but it's my temper, not the stress talking. And I only yell at the idiots." Katherine grinned mischeviously.

"Your situation is probably completely different from mine, but bottom line, it's good to relax a little, even if you shouldn't."

She smiled at him as he atempted to bring him his supposed sate of mental inbalance. "If you wnat to run away from you, it ain't happening. I'm broken, like you. In a totally different way, but still broken."

[hamlet]

Harry ordered Bourbon and sat next to Katherine at the bar, listening to her talk. He grinned at some of her statements. She knew how it felt like to almost lose it? She probably couldn't even begin to imagine. After all, she didn't have to act like she was losing it for most of the day. It was better to be simply insane. It was worse to be sane....and then go insane by constantly questioning your sanity. This was a fact of life for Harry now, the character he's created for his colleagues has pretty much taken over. Maybe it took over before he started pretending.

The worst thing about it was, he already said 'fuck it' to the world. Many things didn't matter, everything didn't matter. Nothing except Ophelia, and he would probably lose her anyway. He couldn't tell if it was worse to care or not to care. Always having questions with no answers, always feeling as if he wasn't doing enough, then thinking he was doing too much. No wonder he was practically a slave to the bottle. Being numb seemed like the only answer.

"Your situation is probably completely different from mine, but bottom line, it's good to relax a little, even if you shouldn't."

He lifted his glass to her, a half hearted toast. "If you only knew me," he said with a smirk. "You'd know then that I really...really shouldn't." He laughed a bit before taking a swig.

. "If you want me to run away from you, it ain't happening. I'm broken, like you. In a totally different way, but still broken."

He shook his head with a grin and said half jokingly. "Where'd you get that notion? I don't want you to run away from me, though I didn't think I was giving off scary vibes," He ran his finger absent-mindedly over the rim of his glass. "Though my employees claim that I can be scary. And no, I have no idea what they're talking about." He shrugged. He was serious there. His employees tended to stay away from him if absolutely necessary, not because they'd get fired. Harry was simply erratic...on purpose.

"Anyway, so since we're all broken individuals here...how are you broken? Might as well let the cat out of the bag, right?" He took another swallow of his drink.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

Katherine laughed bitterly. "Where do I begin?" She said as she gave her ponytail a yank to tighten it, "I hate my father, I hate my sister...maybe hate is too strong...severely dislike?...The rest of my family thinks I'm insufferable-and I can't really blame them-and they all dote on my sister, the Perfect Child."

Katherine stopped to take a long swig of her Corona, and observed Chandler for a moment. From what she'd heard from Dina, who followed the office gossip religiously, he was losing it, fast. Severely paranoid, or something to that effect. She was never that screwed up herself, and h probably didn't enjoy being patronized by her, but she thought a little venting wouldn't hurt, especially if it was mutual, but that wasn't likely to happen.

Katherine took a quick sip from her bottle and continued to speak. "My baby sister was always the favourite-happy, pretty, popular. I was almost completely ignored by everyone, family, men, classmates. So, I decided to become successful and wealthy and move out as soon as I could. Hence Wall Street. You make absurd amounts of money when successful, and it gives you a better excuse for your family for why you aren't married yet than 'I hate men.' I suppose I'm just bitchy and don't really know what I'm talking about, but as long as we're sharing the stories of our fucked-up lives, I think it's your turn to go...and then maybe we can see how scary you are when you're 'relaxed', eh?" Katherine grinned wickedly as she lifted her bottle to her lips for another drink...

[hamlet]

"I hate my father, I hate my sister...maybe hate is too strong...severely dislike?...The rest of my family thinks I'm insufferable-and I can't really blame them-and they all dote on my sister, the Perfect Child."

"Mm," Harry said nodding. "Family woes. Sometimes I think about how much better we'd be without family sometimes. Really, aren't they mostly a nuisance?" He grinned. "Shhh. Don't tell my uncle I said that." He shook his head and took another swallow of his drink. "Wouldn't matter anyway. He knows how I feel about him."

"My baby sister was always the favourite-happy, pretty, popular. I was almost completely ignored by everyone, family, men, classmates. So, I decided to become successful and wealthy and move out as soon as I could. Hence Wall Street. You make absurd amounts of money when successful, and it gives you a better excuse for your family for why you aren't married yet than 'I hate men.' I suppose I'm just bitchy and don't really know what I'm talking about, but as long as we're sharing the stories of our fucked-up lives, I think it's your turn to go...and then maybe we can see how scary you are when you're 'relaxed', eh?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Extremely scary. Trust me. " He sighed and took another long swallow of the drink. "Seems to me that you have come through for yourself at the very least. Not many can say that. You're your own woman. You don't let your fucked up life control you at least. Me on the otherhand..." He rolled his eyes, and took another swallow, finishing off the glass. He looked at the glass as if it were fascinating, turning it around a bit on the surface of the bar. "...for some reason, even this drink...is tasteless. I feel nothing of this glass. And at the very least you can enjoy the perks of making a lot of money. I have no such luck. " He laughed a bit without much humor. "My life feels like nothing." He shrugged. "The voices in my head say 'harry, you're over reacting. You're making things more than they are, stop being a complete buzz kill.' And then I stop hearing them and I have nothing to scold myself with. Well, actually, a bottle of alcohol can be encouraging." He glanced at her and grinned.

"So now here's the part where I ask why you're so eager to get me 'relaxed'? Oh and yes, I heard your little spiel about me being tense. But if you haven't noticed, we're strangers. You really could care less about my problems unless it has to do with your paycheck advancement. Isn't that all we Wall Street dwellers care about anyway? I was born under the pretenses of greed, despite having a father who delusioned himself into thinking his world was governed by everything but greed. So, come on. What's the ulterior motive? Spill it." He raised his hand for another glass, although he was still wary about this woman. But he was starting to care less and less. If in the process of getting drunk, he ends up losing his part of the company or something equally foolish, he would probably feel that the moment of numbness the alcohol would provide would be all worth it.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

Katherine cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow.

"I couldn't really tell you why I...encouraged you. I think subconsciously I saw an opportunity not to drink alone, and took it. I assure you, I could care less about your family company. I've been in the middle of of one family mess already, and believe me, I want to stay as far away from this one as possible. "

She finished her drink and immediately called for another one. If things were going to get heavy, she needed a steady stream of beer.

"Maybe you should get away from your family if it's causing you so much grief. Pack up and go to some tropical paradise with your girlfriend. Somewhere where you can clear your head and stay from the business until things are straightened out. It can only make things worse to stay knee-deep in this mess you seem to be in."

Katherine took a long drink while keeping her eye on Chandler. Something was definitely driving him off the wall. Something told her that she would do best to stay away from him, but she wasn't about give up a drinking buddy and a steady stream of beer for her chintz sofa and one measly bottle of vodka. So instead she gazed steadily at Chandler, waiting for an answer, waiting for some bottomless black hole of emotion to open up and swallow her...

[hamlet]

"I couldn't really tell you why I...encouraged you. I think subconsciously I saw an opportunity nit to drink alone, and took it. I assure you, I could care less about your family company. I've been in the middle of of one family mess already, and believe me, I want to stay as far away from this one as much as possible. "

Harry grinned, slightly sarcastic. "Hmm well that makes me feel much better." He snorted a bit. "Seriously, I'll take your word, and not because you probably make a good drinking partner. You're just...very convincing." He still didn't trust the woman but he wasn't going to worry too much, clearly.

"Maybe you should get away from your family if it's causing you so much grief. Pack up and go to some tropical paradise with your girlfriend. Somewhere where you can clear your head and stay from the business until things are straightened out. It can only make things worse to stay knee-deep in this mess you seem to be in."

Harry widened his eyes a bit, and in reaction to her inquiry, he took a good long swallow of the drink, chugging it for a second or two, before placing the glass back on the bar surface. "Mm, I really needed that," He said blinking a few times, recovering from the strong sensation of the alcohol hitting his stomach. Finally he turned to Katherine.

"Honestly Katherine, you make it sound sickeningly easy. Smooth, and sure fire. Off without a hitch. A value packaged deal complete with a trip to tropical paradise." He grinned and said, his eyes gazing teasingly at her. "You really are a good business woman. You would've had me sold. But unfortunately, as you might have guessed, its not that simple. Not now anyway." He paused, mulling over his words. "Let's just say if I leave now, I'd pretty much punch my dead father in the face." He shrugged. "That's the way of the world."

He grinned at her. "My turn to try to sell you a simple solution. You can go to that tropical paradise too, you know. There's nothing wrong with falling madly in love and getting hitched. In fact, its probably the perfect therapy. Not that I would know personally. Love....or any kind of therapy for that matter, hasn't been all that successful in my case but hey, it could work great for you. What do you think?"

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

Katherine smirked and snorted at the absurdity of Chandler's comment. "I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I'm not the kind of woman a man falls madly in love and elopes with." She took a quick sip before adjusting her position so that she was facing Chandler head on.

"That romantic paradise vacation is my pipe dream," She said , still smirking, "But my personality still needs a few...tweeks, before I'm socially suitable for the opposite sex."

Katherine let out a bitter sigh as she remembered how her father had bemoaned her, his eldest daughter, convinced that she'd be an old maid, too bitchy to marry off. Bianca's flirting hadn't exactly not worried him, but at least one of his children had the right idea, even if the execution of it wasn't to his taste. Well Daddy, it looks like I proved you right, she thought to herself as she drank down more beer. Then, a little voice popped up inside her head. What about Hal? it asked. What about him? Yeah, he was one of the few guys who put up with her, and he seemed to actually like her company, but that was it. I'm not about to sleep with the guy, let alone run off with him. Katherine shook her head to bring herself back to the conversation at hand.

"So Mr. Chandler, what do you owe your daddy that you nearly drive yourself insane to accomplish it?" She quipped half seriously, hoping to lighten the mood, thus lightening the amount of alcohol she needed to see herself through the angst-ridden portions of this conversation. It wouldn't do to get drunk too soon...

[hamlet]

"I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but I'm not the kind of woman a man falls madly in love and elopes with.That romantic paradise vacation is my pipe dream. But my personality still needs a few...tweeks, before I'm socially suitable for the opposite sex."

Harry returned the smirk at her response, looking as she turned towards him. "And I'm not really the kind of man to believe a woman when she says that she's not the kind of woman a man falls madly in love with." His smirk turned into a grin. "Why? Because usually what follows is some disillusioned opinion of herself that has no basis whatsoever. Oh and look, you've provided one." He laughed a bit. "So what if you're a little...forward? Last I checked, 99% of New York is the same way...though my statistics might be off just a bit."

That was a little bit of bitterness towards the city shining through. He supposed it was nothing personal to New York, but he used to consider New York his home. But that was back when he and his father thought they were going to turn the place on its head with Hamlet Enterprises, if at the very least, its financial backbone. But that dream is dead, and to Harry, the city he called home died with it.

"So Mr. Chandler, what do you owe your daddy that you nearly drive yourself insane to accomplish it?"

Harry laughed a bit. Because if he told her the truth, it would be quite funny to her most likely. Oh yeah. I keep having dreams of my dead father telling me that my uncle murdered him for the company and now I'm kind of paranoid that if I leave, I won't be able to do daddy proud and kill the bastard, at least so that he could rest in piece. Yep. That's the reason. I know, it's pretty wild.

Yeah. She'd get a kick out of that.

Harry cleared his throat. "Taking care of my mother, mostly." he said dryly, before taking another good long swallow of his drink, finishing it off. He had to swallow that lie pretty hard. He turned to Katherine. "And trust me, if you knew my mother, you'd know I have every reason to drive myself insane. If only I could go back to the days when things were simpler. Back when I wasn't chasing after my mind for a good portion of the day, and back when I wasn't sending excessively cheesy emails to my girlfriend at work, and..." He paused furrowing his brow. "...back when I didn't usually go on random tangents like this. Seriously. Stop me at any time. I usually stop myself but its a slow learning process." He grinned a bit.

[KATHERINE MINOLA]

Katherine smiled tiredly.

"You don't really know me all that well. I'm far more than 'a little forward'. I've been known to be a rampaging monster on more than one occasion. I'm flattered that you think I exaggerate about my personality, but I'm not normally this nice."

She leaned back and took a long drink of her beer.

"...If you knew my mother, you'd know I have every reason to drive myself insane. "

Katherine chuckled at this comment. "Sounds like how I feel about my father." She said with a smirk. "Old bastard's been trying to marry me off since I turned 20. He's always harping on me trying to be more 'agreeable'." More like Bianca, she thought to herself as she took another drink and watched Chandler. "My whole family is one big pain the ass, but I don't have the fate of a multinational in my hands, so, I supppose I have it easy, eh?" She let a moment of silence pass between them before speaking again.

"So do you think we could get something to eat around here?"

[hamlet]

Harry was already half way done with his third drink and he was definitely starting to feel a buzz. He liked and welcomed it once again. A part of him was thinking that this wasn't such a great idea. After all, Ophelia probably wouldn't appreciate having him get drunk with this woman he just met. Luckily for her, she hasn't seen this side of him. He didn't want her to. He hoped that the day that she finds out how much of a wreck he was would be the day they separate...a day that Harry dreaded, but he knew in his gut it would be inevitable.

"You don't really know me all that well. I'm far more than 'a little forward'. I've been known to be a rampaging monster on more than one occasion. I'm flattered that you think I exaggerate about my personality, but I'm not normally this nice."

Harry raised an eyebrow, with a grin. "You make me want to ask what the heck I'm doing to keep the rampaging monster at bay. Am I not the typical wall street businessman, no different from that guy you were sneering at earlier at the gardens?" His eyes lowered to her drink. "Although I want to take the credit for your current pleasant demeanor, the drink probably has something to do with it too." He smiled and shrugged. "It's working for me anyway."

In response to Harry's family rant, Katherine said, "Sounds like how I feel about my father. Old bastard's been trying to marry me off since I turned 20. He's always harping on me trying to be more 'agreeable'."

" 'Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a'...isn't there a song or something like that?" He shook his head and laughed lightly. "Katherine, seriously. You do have it easy. What's wrong with getting married? You talk all this talk about your personality but I have not seen one iota of proof that you're as unruly as people and you...say you are. Not one. Proof is everything. Everything needs proof." He grinned a bit. Oh yeah. He was definitely starting to feel the alcohol. "If I can fall in love, you can. I'm feel like I'm losing my mind half of the time. You don't. See? You have it easier." He paused. "And yeah, that whole thing about the fate of multinational too. You don't have that either."

He took another swallow of the drink as she said, "So do you think we could get something to eat around here?"

He turned to look at her. "Are you kidding? This place has the best burgers. I'm not usually a fast food person but on that rare occasion when I indulge, I order here." As he spoke, he raised his hand to get the bartender's attention and then he asked for a menu. A laminated page of fast food options were passed to them and Harry slid it over to Katherine.