Peg’s heels clicked as she walked towards the door that led to the Palace. The dining room would soon close for the night, and the once bustling room was mostly empty, with the gas lamps drawn to a dim light. Empty, that is, save for a lone spaniel that sat slouched at the end of the bar, a hefty pint glass in her hand, who was gazing morosely into the amber liquid that half-filled it.
The madam stopped at the door, and looked at the other woman with a gentle frown and a raised eyebrow. She wasn’t sure what stood out more, the spaniel's distinct lavender fur colors, or the way she was slumped forward at the bar, one hand idly clutching as a stein. The pekineses knew a sad drinker when she saw one.
“Hey,” Peg called out to the bartender as she approached the counter with its hand carved furnishings. “Give me a round to finish the night. I’ll have whatever she’s having.”
The purple furred spaniel looked up from her glass at the wooden scrape of the stool beside her. “I’m not exactly in the mood for talkative company tonight.”
“Oh, I’m not here to talk to you, or cheer you up. I can already tell you’ve got something going on.”
“I’ve got nothing going on.” The woman tugged a black Dutch cap lower over her slate blue hair, and took another deep gulp of her cider. “I’m just having a drink, alone…emphasis on alone.”
Peg leaned against the bar and picked up a freshly-delivered stein. “Good. Then I’m also just here to drink. I presume you’ve had at least one already. Tell me if I need to catch up.”
The spaniel choked, a snort of alcohol shooting up her nose. “Can’t a girl just drink in solitude? Or does the whole world just need to pick into her business!”
Peg’s gaze was calm, and her expression unruffled. “Sweetie, there’s only two things that cause this sort of drinking. It’s either how much cash did you lose, or what was the other fellow’s name?”
The moment where Zoe and Peg meet. A little scene from my story The Madam that was too neat to not complete.
