Stop, Thief! (Alex)

[Sandra Murdoch]

Sandra was almost seventy, but she hardly considered herself old. There were, of course, more aches and pains than she'd had in the youth she admitted had long since passed, but she was still spry and mentally sharp. She needed no help crossing streets, and although she hired housekeeping for her home she'd done that for several decades. 

The weather was a bit chilly, but that was to be expected; she lived in Vermont, after all. A far cry from Tennessee, that was for sure, but she didn't mind. Weather was far less important than the fact that Vermont held fertile grounds for financial gain. 

Maybe the taxes were a little higher than she would have liked, but so be it. She would tolerate that as long as most of the money still landed in her own pockets. 

She had spent the morning chatting with a potential business liaison at Kali's, but he had been called away by a home emergency.

That was the difficulty with working with young people, they had families that they sometimes put first.

Still, she thought that their partnership could be fruitful if he could only pull himself away from his wife and children long enough to be productive.


What she hadn't realized was that she had left her purse dangling from the back of her chair. Instead, she had wrapped her coat around her and walked out of the cafe empty-shouldered.  

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had worked at Kali's since he'd been a student at Hammel, doing everything from dish washer to line cook to server, all the way up to assistant manager. He loved helping Kali out, even when he stepped outside his new role. He was always happy to step in when they got a lunch or dinner rush and bused food or took orders. If dishes were piling up, it was no issue to stop for a minute and give a hand.

Today had been a mixed bag. He'd started off easy enough, helping Kali with ordering from suppliers and working on staff schedules. Between those, he'd picked away at some of his homework as well. Kali never seemed to mind him bringing it, as long as his other tasks were being tackled. He worked hard, and it showed.

During the morning they'd had a huge rush, and he'd stepped from his little hole in the wall of an office to lend a hand. Once it had passed, he'd breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of the staff and started on the clean up phase.

With his shoulder length hair up in a ponytail and his short sleeves showing his tattoos, he tended to fit in well with the Kafe's atmosphere. No one seemed to mind, unlike in the nursing field. But at least he could wear long sleeves under his scrubs. Working just off the kitchen in the Kafe? Long sleeves were an impossibility.

He had just finished wiping up a table when he realized that a purse had been left resting on the back of a chair. Thinking back, the woman sitting there hadn't left that long ago. After a moment of indecision, he picked it up by the strap and ventured outside. Looking both ways, he tried to see if he could catch a glimpse of her.

Wait... yes! That looked like her coat! Ignoring the cool chill of the April weather on his bare arms, he jogged down the block, glad she hadn't gotten far. "Ma'am? Ma'am, I have your bag!"

[Sandra Murdoch]

Sandra hadn't realized that she had left her purse behind. As such, when she heard "Ma'am? Ma'am, I have your bag!" she immediately patted her shoulder, expecting to find the leathery pattern of the shoulder strap. 

Instead, there was only the rough woolen material of her cobalt colored coat. 

She whirled around, eyes narrowing as she took in the appearance of the young man behind her. Very scruffy, long-haired, tattooed, the look of someone who lived outside of societal norms. 

Of course he would be bold enough to brag about having stolen her purse, the ruffian! 

"Stop, thief!" She shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at him. 

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex slowed as she checked her shoulder, glad that he'd found the right person. He supposed he could have kept the bag at the Kafe as well until she returned, but this was better, wasn't it? He knew he'd appreciate if someone chased him down if he'd left his wallet somewhere.

The look he got gave him pause, but he adopted what he hoped was a gentle expression as he held out the bag for her.

What he didn't expect was to be accused of theft. He'd never stolen anything in his life. Not even as a kid in a candy store. And he certainly wasn't going to steal from a customer at the Kafe. That, he suspected, Kali would frown upon.

Holding up his hands to (hopefully) show he meant no harm, he took a half step backwards to give her some space. He'd gotten some suspicious looks before, especially when he was a teenager, but he'd never been accused of a crime before. "N-no, ma'am. I promise I didn't steal it. You left it at the Kafe." Vaguely, he gestured backwards in the direction of the building they'd just left. What did you say to someone accusing you of stealing? "I wanted to return it to you."

This couldn't possibly go worse than it already was.

[Sandra Murdoch]

Sandra was not convinced by the young man's display of innocence. If only she'd had her cellphone on her she could have called the police, but instead it was in her purse -- or it had been. She suspected that the youth had taken out all her valuables before trying to give the purse back in a show of community mindedness. 

Ha! She wouldn't be fooled; she knew that tattoos were the sign of a scoundrel, even if so much of the culture around her had begun to see them as benign. 

She wagged a finger in his smug scoundrel face as she admonished him. "That's quite a story. And I'm sure you didn't remove anything at all from my purse before so generously returning it to me, hm?"

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex had never found himself in this position before. Had people be wary of him, sure, but this was very new, and very... unnerving. He didn't like being accused of something like this. And from the way this was going, it didn't look like she was even going to listen to him.

Hesitating at the finger wag, he looked down at the purse. It was still closed, and he had had no desire to fish around in it. Not unless he was entirely unsure of who it belonged to and he was looking for some form of ID.

"Honestly, ma'am, I didn't touch anything. It's all there." Tentatively, he offered it out again. "You can look for yourself. I just wanted to return it."

Hopefully, she would listen. Eventually.

[Sandra Murdoch]

Sandra snatched her purse from him, giving him a once over. 

"You'd better be telling me the truth, young man," She sniffed, unzipping her purse and examining the contents critically. Wonder of wonders, it looked as if he really hadn't taken anything. Still, she wasn't going to take any chances; she'd be keeping a close eye on all her bank statements after this, closer than she even usually gave them. After all, he might not have taken her credit card, but he could very well have written down all the information needed to use it regardless. 

If that happened, she at least knew what he looked like, and she knew where he worked. 

"Hmmm," She mused, glancing between her purse and the punk. "Very well. Thank you." 

And it was clear that was intended to be a dismissal. 

[Alexander McKenzie]

Alex willingly let the purse slide through his fingers, watching her with what he hoped was a neutral expression. He figured once she saw everything was in there and he had taken nothing, maybe her attitude would stop.

Well, it was a nice thought.

At the thank you, he perked up a little. It wasn't exactly heartfelt, but it was something. Nodding his head, he adopted a small smile. "You're welcome, ma'am." Lifting his hand in the smallest of waves, he turned to head back to the Kafe. He had work to do.