Lucky Lucy is Always Lucky (IC, Closed, Mature, MT)

[New Visayan Islands]

OOC here.

Luciano M. Ferrer
Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
September 19th, AD 2020
1522 PHT

"So, is everything ready?" Luciano asked the assembled staff. From the looks of the interior, the nightclub just needed a few things to clean up before it could cater to the guests invited to a soiree the owner announced on PiffleNet a month earlier, but looks weren't all that he needed to worry about.
"Considering that we closed early to prepare Lucky Lucy for this event," his general manager replied, "it's as ready as could be." Gavin Tarrosa had a point: there was no denying that the aesthetics would not be out of place in the 1930s, but that was a design choice Luciano settled for when he established the club in 2014 with his share of the inheritance from his maternal grandfather's estate; the grandfather was a frugal man who often lamented that he had but one life to see his only grandson. "All we have to do is to make sure that the guests pass through disinfection at the lobby and we're set." As part of measures to keep COVID-19 away from the Province of Mindoro, businesses found ways to limit entry points to easily controllable areas. In the case of the building, that meant the parking lots did not have direct elevator access to the club, with people going to the ground floor first to register themselves, surrender whatever weapons they may be carrying, and go through a disinfection chamber just before they took the elevators going to Lucky Lucy.
"And they will," replied the Chief of Security. The building's security guards and bouncers reported to Luke Thomas Pineda, a heavyset man who led the unit hired from the Watchtower Armed Security Agency, one of several private security companies popular with the province's tourism sector. It was Luke's idea to post armed bouncers at the entry points of the club; while the bouncers carried concealed pistols, one of them had a shotgun in plain view.

Dr. Sylvester Joseph D. Mate, MD
Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
September 19th, AD 2020
1601 PHT

Sylvester had arrived a little too early by the standards of most people; the invite was for six in the evening, but the emergency surgeon had just parked his car with just under two hours to spare. As a regular of the club, when the announcement was made he was among the first to purchase his ticket. The PiffleNet User Discount helped; at 1700 Universal Standard for a VIP Ticket under the discount, he knew he was paying for more than just the event.
The thought of The Man Your Man Could Frak Like getting it on amused him; his reputation in Setsuzoku was such that no one really knew who he was outside monikers like "The Calapan Casanova" or "The Mindoro Monger;" he regarded the latter with much distaste, knowing that a stereotypical monger would be more likely to land in a hospital bed for any number of reasons related to the hazards well-known to sex tourists. He idly wondered what the next score would be like, if only to complete the trilogy he had in mind.
Seeing the lobby just about cleaned up got him even more excited for what was to come. He surrendered his pistol upon request, ticket in hand; as the latter was scanned, he received an RFID tag that allowed him access to the VIP section of the club. Passing through a temperature check and a disinfection chamber--the smell of disinfectant was something he was used to, given his day job--he entered one of two elevators that would take him to Lucky Lucy itself. The time from ground to fifth gave him a moment to check his tuxedo before he got in, entering the Salvatore room and taking a seat there.

Maxim A. Surilla
Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
September 19th, AD 2020
1632 PHT

The actor had passed his health and safety checkpoints when he got in the elevator. Amused that the tuxedo still fit him, the actor contemplated what things would be like when the event began. He came with two costars of Confessions of a Visayan Assassin, the TV adaptation of a book written by the Visayan noir author Valentino Espinosa. Julius Campomanes and Janice Ramirez played other roles in the series: Maxim played the titular Visayan Assassin, Arthur Labrador; Julius played the Visayan Bureau of Investigation agent assigned to his case, Kent Saavedra; Janice played Arthur's unsuspecting wife, Eunice Labrador. The three of them had tickets of their own; Julius and Janice were the costars who came with Maxim, and the three of them were about as low-profile as anyone in semi-formal dress could ever be. If the gossip columns got wind of where they were at, they would be too late.

[The Selkie]

Elevator to Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR.
Aurora 'Il Fanicula' Alce.
Up went the elevator to the fifth floor - we had all the necessary security and medical checks behind us, had registered us, handed in our guns (both of us carried an ACS-3 Handgun, just to be safe) with the security checkpoint and now we were on our way upwards.
We were two from Lutetii: Officially, and unofficially, I was the apprentice of Silvio Esecutore. Officially, we both worked for the Casa di Commercio dei Viticoltori a Fortezza and were in the Confederation to seek new business opportunities. Unofficially, he was an executor of the LCN, a criminal syndicate from Lutetii, and I was still his apprentice. Our mission was similar, testing the waters.
This was a part of it.
A soiree, on one of our last days here, in an esteemed nightclub named Lucky Lucy - in our experience, there were nightclubs and Nightclubs and Lucky Lucy seemed to fall into the latter, better category.
My Maestro was a tall man, a bit spindly, with long, black hair and purple eyes, wore Black Tie, which meant a black dinner suit, a long, red scarf and a literal black tie. He did not look like a man, who suffered fools gladly, and he really wasn't. He was polite, though, well-mannered, especially when I was around.
I was a lot shorter then him, long, blonde hair, blue-green eyes and a pair of huge tits, which made people regularly underestimate me - not that I minded. I even played with that, mostly to my advantage, as evidenced by my dress, a blue halterneck dress with an open back and a nice cleavage with a slightly plunging cut - not down to my navel or something as extreme, but a fair bit. The floor length skirt had a side slit, which allowed me to move better and to maybe even dance, later, a pair of low heels giving me a bit more height.
A small handbag was on my arm, elbow-gloves covered my hands and arms to a bit above the elbows.
The security had said, that we were free to enter and so we did - a mismatched pair: A merchant, who looked like he wanted to brood in silence over paperwork and his apprentice/secretary, who looked like she wanted to drag him onto the dancefloor.
Well, the evening was young and maybe very, very successful.
The elevator arrived.

[Aaaaaa]

Meausa Uuinakis
Puerto Galera, New Visayan Islands
"So... do you think we're going to stick out?"

This is what my friend, Garnet, asked me as we arrived by taxi to the Lucky Lucy Nightclub in Puerto Galera, in the New Visayan Islands. I wasn't sure exactly HOW formal the event was going to be until just before we had taken off from Moelle International, which meant we could only hastily grab whatever tacky, outdated-by-two-decades dress we could find from one of Moelle's discount clothing shops. Garnet was luckier than I - she was able to find a relatively inoffensive, generic blue dress. Still tacky, as far as international fashion standards are concerned, but nothing criminal. I, on the other hand, was stuck with what I can only consider peak Aaaaaan fashion; a red, plaid flannel dress. A used, red, plaid flannel dress. Vintage 1993, according to the clerk. There wasn't a lot you could do to improve your image in something like this, but I managed to, with Garnet's help, put my hair in a rather nice bun. My eyes are blue, and combined with my light-brown hair, I thought I looked decent enough... if you were looking at me from the neck up. Garnet didn't look too dissimilar to me in that regard - light-brown hair, blue eyes. She kept her hair in a simple ponytail. We both wore pairs of dress shoes. They were nice, but obviously not what anyone would be focusing on, especially with my get-up... I could already see a handful of guests enter the establishment in far more respectable garments as we made our way out of the taxi.

I responded to Garnet. "...Enough to draw eyes? Yeah."

"Enough for them to think we're a couple of homeless trying to sneak in?"

"Let's hope not..."

As embarrassing as it was to come to what I could only assume was a very well-respected nightclub (as a couple of VIPS, no less) in dresses only Eierro Kneriod would consider hip and stylish, I was still happy. 2020 has been a disaster, not just for the world, but at a personal level for myself... having to kick a former best friend out of my house because... no, nevermind. No thoughts about that, I'm here to have fun. Both Garnet and I very much needed this. Her more than I. After everything that has happened with her, and the atrocious, disgusting way people in our town have treated her.. well, it's only right that she deserved a break from... all this.

We walked, nervously and hand-in-hand, towards the buildings entrance.

[Kuronami]

Maggie gave off the grace of a royal, long golden hair a swanky blue dress to go with the occasion. By contrast her friend at her side, Sarasa was certainly more conservative looking. Well she at least had her hair loose, still the style of Kuronami women everywhere but dressed in a fairly conservative outfit she looked more like she was on her way to work than to a party. Well I guess you just can't change some folks, it was her straight laced button down world and it took all her might to convince her to opt out of wearing a kimono for the occasion. The argument for Mags was, Don't get me wrong, you look plenty cute in one, but I think it's just a bit too impractical for this. I mean someone might want to dance with you after all! Sara's counter to that was Maggie would be the target for a dance, she was the Imperial Princess. Sara's argument also would be as a prospective Assemblywoman she should look and act in a manner befitting such but again Mags had a counter argument, as Countess and Princess she could very well appoint her with no string attached! It seems she had an argument for anything she could come up with and given this was on Maggie's Kronor, Sara had to bend in the end.

They were friends in the end. Sara was the shy type in school, the type most wouldn't pay a glancing pass but to get a friend like Magdalen was maybe something of a miracle. Not for her career, she was doing great on that end, but for her sense of self and maybe sanity. The girls passed along a few checks, for their health and invitations and now could gain entry into the mystic of Lucky Lucy's to die for party event of the year!

The ride up was them talking back and forth, Sara wondering "I know it's a bit late to be asking this but what do you really know about this?"

"Mmmm nothing."

"That's like you, always throwing caution to the wind."

"Eh. Who'd want to off a Princess. If they wanted something, they could just go after my sister or my sister's girlfriend or my brother and his wife or my two little siblings."

"God you're morbid sometimes!"

"You're right I got a little too dark with that last one. Look I'm sure it's fine. If this was some shady gig, would they really advertise it openly on Social Networking?"

"I suppose you're right on that. Just odd this party."

"It's gonna be great. I'm sure we'll have a few drinks, make some small talk, maybe dance with a guy or two and be on our way before we know it. Not gonna go wild and start filling up the rag sheets. And remember I can always call in a few favors and bump you up to Assemblywoman if someone tries to make a fuss about you." she winked at her

Sarasa sighed "I really would rather earn my way up there. I studied hard enough to pass that test and I expect I will make a great addition to the NA. I appreciate the thought, Mags but really don't do that."

"All right if you insist. Well here's our stop." The elevator arrived on the floor. "All right now this is a club!" Magdalen

"It is happening as they say."

Maggie couldn't help but laugh "Sorry just you using slang like that is really something else."

Sarasa sighed and turned as if to leave "Hey come on, don't be so sensitive. Come on you can make fun of me too, my troubles with men and all their come and go. Me chasing love to all corners of the globe.

"I think I just need a drink about now."

"Come on punch low if you have too!" Magdalene continued chasing after Sarasa as they moved further in. It seemed some others arrived, nobody they knew personally, maybe they'd take time to aquatint with during the night.

[Bolrieg]

Outside the Lucky Lucy nightclub, Puerto Galera, New Visayan Islands.

Anastasija Kladnov had arrived in good time for the reopening of the Lucky Lucy nightclub, in her new dress tailored just prior to the event, she had spent the morning of the day getting prepared for this night after a good breakfast at the hotel and sending out a few messages online. She went to get prettied up for the event, selecting the dress to be made recommended to her by the club owner himself. She had opted to wear her hair loose having it partially curled. Setting off to the club as soon as she was ready being excited to go not only to have a good time and meet new people there but to also to see her friends again and to cheer them up after what happened, she had arrived by taxi just a few minutes ago.

When arriving at the entrance seeing the groups of other excited people waiting to be admitted alongside the various security and safety measures implemented for protection against some virus that had been happening in which fortunately hadn't reached her home country as of yet due to tighter border restrictions, knowing she would be quarantined as soon as she returned home. She knew the weekend here would be more than worth it. While waiting for admittance Anastasija saw two people she clearly recognised, she smiled and waived to the pair as they walked into view.

[New Visayan Islands]

Kyle S. King, CPA
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
1704 PHT

There was no denying that Lucky Lucy pulled all the stops to ensure that the club had the appropriate atmosphere. A live band was playing jazz tunes to the patrons on the fourth floor, and he recognized the track they were playing almost instantly; the urge to hum to the tune of Feeling Good was something to resist...and then he saw them. He and two others had been briefed on the foreign-looking pair that came out of the elevator: associates of a foreign mafia that wished to establish ties with the underground organization he was affiliated with.
Able Archer Consolidated was the official name of the organization known in the Visayan underworld as Scarlet and Crimson, purveyor of narcotics in the Confederation. Where the recreational use of drugs was perfectly legal, like in Mindoro, Able Archer openly sold in places that range from the obvious (420th Archer Maidens in Mamburao to the southwest of the city was one of their "coffee shops," in the Dutch meaning of the term) to the discreet (The Pirate Cove, a beach resort also in the city, boasted of an open lot where, the joke went, it was laughably easy for someone looking for tobacco to buy marijuana instead). In more prohibitionist provinces, however, S&C provided a way for stoners to get their weed on through more...underhanded...means; hypothetically, transshipments of weed passing through Bohol for Leyte would be misplaced, waylaid, or otherwise skimmed by certain unsavory groups despite that province's habit of providing armed police escorts to the same.
Kyle was seated on one of the stools at the bar, a glass of vodka in one hand and a cigarette in another; Damian and Martin kept good eyes on the mafiosi and would introduce themselves as subtly as humanly possible. By all rights, he should meet them in the VIP section, but the thought of ensuring that any discussion that warrant closed doors would happen in those closed doors kept him focused. The bar helped; he would have to get some lubrication anyway.

Sylvester Joseph Mate
Salvatore Room, 5th Floor
1719 PHT

As activity started to pick up, Sylvester thought of relieving himself. It would do much good for him to take a piss before all the fun began; after doing so he washed his hands before going to the bar. There weren't that many people downstairs, what with measures taken to keep COVID-19 out of the Confederation, but the atmosphere more than made up for it, and he could hear the band playing one of Sade's songs.

Alex P. Mayol
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
1724 PHT

Alex had just given Doc a glass of Mindoro Sling. He knew Sylvester as one of the club's monthly visitors, and his knowledge was such that he was aware of the doctor always having a single glass of Mindoro Sling without fail. The bar was well-stocked, manned as it was by two bartenders, himself and Zack; they had plenty of alcohol to go around.
"Well, Alex," Sylvester said, "what do you think?"
"I'll admit: this is our first time doing this kind of theme," Alex replied. "So far, so good. Any ladies got your eye right now?" He knew of the doctor's...interests...and secretly envied the guy.
"Hard to say, but then again..." There was a beat as Sylvester noticed the two women from Kuronami make a beeline for the bar; that was the cue for Alex to get ready.
"So, ladies," Alex started, "what can I get for you two?"

[Mervay]

Luciano Marcello Da Mervay
Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, September 19th
And so here he was, the Lucky Lucy Nightclub. It was a long travel and process to get here when it comes to the fact he's of massive importance back at home, more considering he wanted to get here with a low profile as everyone wanted. His Highness was interested on coming here from what he heard from in internet; even if he doesn't have an account on PiffleNet of course. Just as he came here, the first to do; register himself with his ticket, ID and those were both his national ID and passport; desinfect himself in their chamber and then go to the elevator to the nightclub itself.

There Luciano checked his suit, it certainly was semi-formal and something more better with his line of work out of being a Prince. Of course that wasn't his only thought since as he looked down to his gloves, he thought that perhaps he should had invited a friend or his twin sister. Perhaps they wouldn't had accepted since they also had an tight schedule; and he couldn't blame them, he did had one too to worry about until today, which gladly, is gone.

The Prince just sighed when the elevator soon stopped at the 4th floor where it seemed, that everyone was present. Perhaps he should look around and see what it has to offer before getting up to the next floor; after all, the night was still young.

[Kuronami]

Alex had just given Doc a glass of Mindoro Sling. He knew Sylvester as one of the club's monthly visitors, and his knowledge was such that he was aware of the doctor always having a single glass of Mindoro Sling without fail. The bar was well-stocked, manned as it was by two bartenders, himself and Zack; they had plenty of alcohol to go around.
"Well, Alex," Sylvester said, "what do you think?"
"I'll admit: this is our first time doing this kind of theme," Alex replied. "So far, so good. Any ladies got your eye right now?" He knew of the doctor's...interests...and secretly envied the guy.
"Hard to say, but then again..." There was a beat as Sylvester noticed the two women from Kuronami make a beeline for the bar; that was the cue for Alex to get ready.
"So, ladies," Alex started, "what can I get for you two?"

The girls pulled up a seat at the bar both taking a look at the various bottles seeing which they could identify before falling on their old favorite. Magdalen thought a quick moment, "mmm a Caipirinha for me"

Sara ordered, "Mojito straight up if you can." Sara reached into her pocket book but Magdalene stopped her "I got all drinks tonight."

"You sure? You already paid extra for my admission."

"Sure i'm sure. Come on."

"All right if you insist."

"So bartender," Magdalene addressed the Bartender Alex, "what else is good? We fell back on our favorites but maybe you'd also like to suggest something for later."

[New Visayan Islands]

Alex Mayol
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR

Alex served the ladies their drink requests with a flair intended to amaze the two foreign women. There was a glint in his eyes that gave away the burning passion for his work, and it showed in the way he made the caiprinha. Seeing the Doc just a few seats away from the ladies got him thinking...
"Well ladies, have you ever tried Mindoro Sling?" Alex asked. "It's very fruity, refreshing, and has quite the kick; as a matter of fact, you could replicate it with only two things at home: four seasons juice and a bottle of gin. Of course, that would be too banal, which is why I'm offering two variants of the Sling: one with vodka and triple sec and another with rum." He didn't have to say that the boss was partial to the rum variant; the official site encouraged the Sling with rum, reserving the Sling with vodka and triple sec for those who want to try it out in person.
"Alex, these are on me," Sylvester said out of the blue. Called it! Alex thought. Trust Doc to start a conversation by treating the ladies. In his defense, it worked well enough almost every time.
"Well, what's a couple of ladies like you doing in a fine place like this?" Doc asked the ladies after getting their attention. He did have the rugged looks to go with the charm.

Zack O. Go
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
1732 PHT

Seeing a man in a suit walk toward the bar had Zack ready himself to serve the man after dealing with the three people who may or may not be the actors in Confessions of a Visayan Assassin. He read the book and struck a good conversation with one of them, joking about spoilers and whatnot; the guy called Max was a great guy in that regard.

[Mervay]

Zack O. Go
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR
1732 PHT

Seeing a man in a suit walk toward the bar had Zack ready himself to serve the man after dealing with the three people who may or may not be the actors in Confessions of a Visayan Assassin. He read the book and struck a good conversation with one of them, joking about spoilers and whatnot; the guy called Max was a great guy in that regard.

The Prince approached to the bar to have a nice drink after traveling for so long, a nice drink was always a good way to begin the evening and before eating something.

"Good evening." He said with a smile while taking a seat. "Could you make me a vesper please?" A nice way to begin the evening for sure. The prince glanced around to his surrundings, it appeared everyone was having fun and enjoying.

"Guess everyone is having fun from what it seems right??"

[Aaaaaa]

"Aa'Anastasija!" I called out as I saw her come in through the building's entrance. I gave her the Aaaaaan feminine honorific - I'm not sure why I did, perhaps the formality of the event was rubbing off on me. "It's so good to see you again.. Ah, this is Garnet." I said, motioning to the Aurnvon next to me. Garnet's expression didn't change much.

"Uh... hello." She greeted Anastasija, trying to give her a painfully faked smile.

From what I remembered from their interactions on-line, Garnet's only knowledge about Anastasija was how she defended... Noeanyyn. Or, perhaps 'defended' isn't the best word, more like she was trying to explain the rationale behind her actions. She meant well, but Garnet couldn't see it. The things she's said to me off-line about her...

"So..." I continued, hoping to avoid an awkward silence. "How are things going in Bolrieg? I love your dress, by the way... You don't have to pretend to be nice about mine, I know it's terrible."

[Bolrieg]

When she saw her friends Anastasija ran up to the pair and gave Meausa a hug. "Good to see you again, I'm glad you two were able to make it." She turned to Garnet when introduced to her and smiled in return. "Hello there Gospoрice Garnet, hope you are ok? I am sorry for what happened." Hoping they can get along as the night goes on as well as potentially helping her get on her feet after the event she then nodded before turning back to Meausa.

"Things in Bolrieg are going well for the most part, aside from the stuff going on as the elections are underway. Probably just how politics usually function anywhere else. As for me personally my relationship is going well, he has been supportive of my music career it might not be much at the moment but still getting there. Having to put up with me would take a great deal of patience so I appreciate him doing so.

Anyway thank you for the complement, I did get it made not long ago by a local tailor. Also don't beat yourself up about your dress it does suit you, if it helps I was a bit conscious about how mine would have looked on me. Anyway the VIP section is on the 4th floor I think the drinks are on me."

After the conversation she lead her companions to the nearest lift which took them to the floor where they headed to the nearest bar. "Hello, may I ask what drinks you have? Also I'm a bit embarrassed to ask but which of the rooms are ours?"

[Kuronami]

[quote="New Visayan Islands";p="37675703"]Alex Mayol
4th Floor, Lucky Lucy, Puerto Galera, MR

Alex served the ladies their drink requests with a flair intended to amaze the two foreign women. There was a glint in his eyes that gave away the burning passion for his work, and it showed in the way he made the caiprinha. Seeing the Doc just a few seats away from the ladies got him thinking...
"Well ladies, have you ever tried Mindoro Sling?" Alex asked. "It's very fruity, refreshing, and has quite the kick; as a matter of fact, you could replicate it with only two things at home: four seasons juice and a bottle of gin. Of course, that would be too banal, which is why I'm offering two variants of the Sling: one with vodka and triple sec and another with rum." He didn't have to say that the boss was partial to the rum variant; the official site encouraged the Sling with rum, reserving the Sling with vodka and triple sec for those who want to try it out in person.
"Alex, these are on me," Sylvester said out of the blue. Called it! Alex thought. Trust Doc to start a conversation by treating the ladies. In his defense, it worked well enough almost every time.
"Well, what's a couple of ladies like you doing in a fine place like this?" Doc asked the ladies after getting their attention. He did have the rugged looks to go with the charm.

"Mindoro Sling huh? Ya know I think we'll keep that one in mind for later." Maggie beamed

"It does sound good, so yeah we'll probably have it later"

To their surprise, another man offered to pay for their drinks. "Oh well thank you good sir" Maggie thanked. "And to answer your question, I heard about this party on PiffleNet so I invited Sara to come along with me. Figure it'd be a lot of fun to go party at some swanky exclusive club. You know for a change instead of the usual Caloris bar scene."

"So far it's been fun." Sara admitted "This is a pretty nice place. Our first time."

[New Visayan Islands]

Zack Go
Manning the 4th Floor Bar
1734 PHT

"Sure thing," Zack said as he made the vesper, using Cocchi Americano to recreate the original recipe owing to Kina Lillet being discontinued in 1986. A mask concealed his lips, but the eyes showed a smile. To match his attire, the mask was black; Zack also wore a face shield.
As the man in a suit asked if people were having fun, he replied in the affirmative. While this was not Lucky Lucy's usual atmosphere, that the club easily adapted made everyone enjoying themselves worth it. "Anyway, I assume this is your first time?

Sylvester Joseph Mate
At the 4th Floor Bar

"Good to hear," Sylvester replied. "I'm also a PiffleNet denizen myself; Sylvester Joseph Mate, at your service," he added, passing a small bottle of alcohol to one of the women. The bottle had the logo of Calapan General Hospital, and was small enough to fit in one's pocket. "And you lovely ladies are...?"

Alex Mayol
Manning the 4th Floor Bar

Having just served Doc and the two ladies, Alex turned his attention to three women. "Pick your poison," he said to one of them, producing a menu of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks; Mindoro Sling was one of several recommendations, and that cocktail came in two variants. Noticing the VIP tags, he continued giving the trio directions.
"VIP rooms are on the fifth floor; pick any one that isn't the Alphonse, and enjoy," Alex replied. The Salvatore, Vincenzo, and Felix rooms were available to VIP guests, with access controlled by bouncers at the stairs and RFID tags just outside the 5th floor elevator doors; Alphonse was unavailable, having been rented out to serve as Libertas Visayana's Mindoro Campaign HQ. The boss supported the Confederation's libertarian party, after all.

[Kuronami]

Sylvester Joseph Mate
At the 4th Floor Bar

"Good to hear," Sylvester replied. "I'm also a PiffleNet denizen myself; Sylvester Joseph Mate, at your service," he added, passing a small bottle of alcohol to one of the women. The bottle had the logo of Calapan General Hospital, and was small enough to fit in one's pocket. "And you lovely ladies are...?"

"Joseph, good to meet you. I'm Magdalene, but you're free to call me Maggie if you like."

"Sarasa, and you're welcome to call me Sara."