Villainy and Coffee

"Dinner next weekend at Celeste's?" Zoraida asked her grandfather as she accompanied him out of the new Woodland Imports offices.

"Yes, perhaps. First, I need to check my schedule," Rafael said evenly as he pulled on the cuff of the sleeve of the dark grey suit he was wearing, and then checked his silver monogrammed cufflinks.

"By the way, Takisu has gone back to Ilada," he informed his granddaughter curtly.

"This ... " he said, referring to the still falling snow outside the glass door, "Has affected all the oricenta," he added in a tone that was unimpressed. "Never, in almost 400 years, has that ever happened before," he told Zoraida pointedly. "It's unprecedented, and quite frankly, worrisome."

"I am sure that Takisu and his family will be alright," Zora said as she tried to appease Rafael.

"Takisu should be here with me. I rely on him, Zoraida," Rafael remarked gruffly, not wanting to admit that he was worried about his assistant.

"He will be back soon, be patient. And if you really need an assistant I can send you Sterling," she offered.

Rafael then looked at Zoraida like he was going to accept, and then shook his head. "Thank you, but no. Sterling would only mess everything up. " he stated as he put on his winter coat.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Let you know what I decided regarding dinner," he said as he kissed Zora on the cheek and said good bye as he left the building.

After a block of walking in the snow, Rafael decided to stop at a quiet coffee shop where he ordered an espresso, a croissant and sat down to read the newspaper.

@Arcadia

While taking a sip of his coffee, Rafael put down his newspaper and looked outside, staring for a moment at the ever-falling snow. His table was next to one of the large windows that looked out onto the not-so street. The snow was keeping a lot of people inside these days.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rafael noticed a weird movement, turning his head slightly to see what it was, he noticed a small-ish group of people trudging through the snow purposefully. Curious now, he turned fully in his seat and watched them for a while.

Putting his coffee down now, Rafael had to admit he was becoming increasingly curious about the group. He couldn't hear the men from within the coffee shop where he was sitting, but he understood enough from the body language and gestures of the one man to know that he was the leader, and he was not overly pleased with his men.

Glancing around the almost empty coffee shop, he wondered if anyone else had noticed the curious exchange unfolding outside.

Watching the group as they picked up the strange and covered item again, and start off through the snowy streets, made Rafael curious enough to want to follow them, and see what they were going to do.

Throwing enough money on the table for a very generous tip, Rafael put back on his coat and warm leather gloves and quickly exited the coffee shop just as the group took off down the street.

"Excuse me," Rafael called out as he followed the group, finally catching up sheerly because of the amount of snow and because the small group carried a heavy object that slowed their advance down considerably.

"May I ask what you intend to do with that there?" he asked evenly, gesturing with a gloved hand toward the object in question.