Dregg's - A bar and nightclub in Exeter (Devon, UK)
Time 6:45 PM.
Vaydra had gotten a call about ten minutes past the hour from the bar. Her cousin George had told the owner of his favorite place once that she was a computer whiz, and could hack into anything. He was a well-meaning idiot, but an idiot none-the-less, because now at least once a month or so, George was calling her on the bar's behalf.
As long as he paid, and as long as it wasn't overly illegal, Vaydra kept her mouth shut on the matter, and pocketed a small fee for helping out with their technology issues.
Tonight was no different, really. Except less than twelve hours ago, she'd been resting up after a rough fight. Seth had recently returned to town and unfortunately had been followed. Not exactly common for the Strider, but even she had to admit she only knew her former pack mate as well as he allowed himself to be known. Still, her and Thomas had taken care of it, repaying a debt to an old friend. It was just understood, not just for his sake, but the sake of the city and all of that. Things had been relatively quiet lately, and that could mean something bigger was coming or not. It was better to keep skills sharpened either way.
Her jacket was doing little against the cold, but she pushed on, the promise of money lining her pocket and a warm, though noisy building her driving force.
The windows were steamed slightly on the inside of dregs around the edges, due to both the temperature difference and the number of people inside taking advantage of the heat. Vaydra stepped in and stuffed her hat into one of her coat pockets. A few guys gave her the once over with their eyes, but many knew enough about her to leave well enough alone and she didn't really stop to talk, aside from nod at one or two familiar faces.
Miles, the owner was on the phone with his back to her when she slid around behind the bar to his office. She didn't have to see his face to feel the sneer on his lips or the vein on the side of his neck twitching. "Look come on, what the hell am I paying you jokers for internet service here if nothing goddamned works half the friggin' time? You come out here and claim it's sorted, but it goes down days later! I ain't been late or nothing, so this is unacceptable!"
The middle-aged fairly well dressed man ran a hand through his hair and listened. Vaydra's ears could just pick up the tone on the other end matching Mile's annoyance, but no words, not in the din of whatever sporting event the blokes around the bar behind her were cheering on. He glanced her way then, nodding to acknowledge her and held up a finger to let her know he'd be off in a moment.
"I'm tired of this, I pay your service fees and I even bought the server and wireless port from you. It's a bar not a damned library so it's not like I need much, but I need it to work, damnit! I've got someone here who can help me more than you can it seems so I'm off. I'm going to call back Monday, and I swear someone better get down here and replace this stuff with something that lasts more than a month without dropping connections! Or I'll find a better company that will hear me? Tell Mr. Westco Miles Braelin ain't happy!"
Miles set the reciever down roughly and rubbed his temple, shaking his head. "Goddamn it, I am so sick of companies treating small businesses like their money isn't just as good as the big guys. Giving me subpar crap to...."
He trailed off glancing up at the slightly larger woman leaning against the door jam expectantly. "Err.....George called you and you actually came? My lucky night."
Vaydra smirked, brushing off the slight flirty look he gave her as usual. "Tech support at your service. It's a living, right? You're just lucky I like George. Is the server still where I moved it last?"
He nodded after pausing to brush off the snub. He ought to know by now, the 22 year old didn't really cater to anyone, let alone someone close to double her age. "Yep, didn't touch it, just like I promised. Didn't do a damn thing to it this time, and it's still gone down. Again."
He lead her on her way to the small room on the other side of the bar and unlocked the door for her. It had been a storage closet, but he'd had the thing cleared out at her request. Too many employees had access to it in the old location in a back hallway, and originally she'd expected one of them of tampering. Not so sure now, Miles might even be right about the equipment itself. She wasn't going to bring in new parts, but she was likely able to patch it up so it would keep running a while longer. At least until the company gave him something sturdier to use. He was right, it was just a bar. The net was nice though, now that technology was becoming so popular.
In about half an hour she guessed, it was back up and running. A fried cable looked to be the worst part of it, and trimming the part off and splicing the good bits back together was enough to bring it back up. Low tech fix for high technology. She took a few more minutes to run a virus scan on his stuff as well, because any place the public used internet, you couldn't really be too careful as to who or what logged on and in. Once it was settled up, it was time for her to settle up too, so she found Miles again, this time enjoying a drink at the bar.
She slid the keys to the door over to him across the bar. "Locked and loaded, and with any luck it will hold you at least until the company gets off their asses and sends someone next week."
Miles nodded towards the tender and tapped the bar in front of the blonde. A pint of her usual quickly manifested. Vaydra couldn't help but smile. "You told me I get two if I finish in under 30 minutes. I clocked it at 28:43."
The older man chuckled. "That you do. Thanks for saving my ass again. Georgie's done well in finding you to help me out." With that, he slid a small bundle of notes into the hand that she had flat against the bar and stood up. "Stick around after you finish, could do you some good to loosen up, huh?"
He winked at her as he disappeared into the bar, likely to attend to any of a number of minor issues before slipping back into his office to play online poker. He was likely out of her hair for the night. A brief glance at the cash he'd given her told her it was about what he usually paid. He might be a lot of things, but he was good for his promises and debts. Vaydra eased herself onto the bar stool and sipped the her drink, watching the few drunks brave enough to attempt dancing do so in style on the slightly scuffed floor. George wasn't here, which was probably smart of him. She'd deal with him later on at the house.