Practice Your Strokes

[Mariya Fleischer]

Year: 851 ABY
Time: 10:12 am
Location: Country Club Golf Course, Izrul, Kiribi

Golf.

A game for gentlemen and ladies. A game for the rich and the famous. A game where business deals were made.

The last description was probably the main reason why the blonde was here. By here, it referred to the beautiful and well maintain country club in Izrul, the capital of Kiribi. It was also the same city where her food and beverage company was located at. The blonde was trying her hands on a game where she had never played before. Everything for the sake of business. Here, she could try and learn the appeal of golf, while trying to see if there was anyone worth talking to. Hopefully she might bump into another business executive or an investor with funds to spare, even though the chances of that happening was pretty rare. Why?

Because she was in the driving range instead of strolling along the fancy golf course.

Mariya had brought a new set of golf clubs and was looking the part, standing with a driver club in hand. Cap? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Polo t-shirt? Check. She took a golf ball, put it on the tee and adopted the position taught to her by her instructor. Legs apart, tilting the body forward while maintaining the straight upper body posture. The club rested near the ball and she took a swing gracefully.

Missed.

Irritated, she took a second try. And a third before the ball was struck.

"Finally... phew..."

She muttered to herself while continuing her swings. The weather looked fine today, so she reckoned she could practice for a couple of hours before heading off.

 

[John Locke]

“You know, you’re trying too hard,” The golf club was more of a social space than a true sports arena, a place where people could gather to network and show off. At least that was why John was here, to tell the truth, there was something relaxing about letting your mind drift, just spending an hour or so swinging away before heading into the club for the requisite drinks and talking. He wasn’t the best here, far from it, but perhaps it was the memory of his own struggle to learn that had attracted his eye to the blonde swinging away in the stall. “If you get too focused on hitting the ball your body ends up tensing up and fouling your swing. Try swinging past the ball, like it’s not really even there.” A small friendly smile touched the man’s face as he shook his head ruefully, “Or at least that’s what they told me while I was starting out here.”

Pushing off the wall the man reached out to steady his own golf bag, careful not to let it tip over into the ball basket and send them all flying. Once was enough for him to never want to repeat that thank you very much. “Although,” now the smile playing across his lips was playful, his tone of voice more self-deprecating than anything, “It took me forever to actually be able to hit the ball in the first place.”

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

A voice spoke out behind her, making her tilt her head curiously. Did she know him? Not that she could remember. As far as she was concerned, she had never known anyone who also played golf before. That said, perhaps the stranger was just being friendly with his advice.

"So you are saying I should relax?" She put that to practice immediately, taking a quick look at the ball and gave it a stroke casually. Sure enough, the ball soared into the air and landed somewhere among the green field. Emerald eyes examined the newcomer, the usual "is he friendly or an enemy" question floating in her mind for a moment. The answer seemed to lean towards the former, so she broke into a smile and gave [member="John Locke"] a thumbs up. That should suffice to break the ice for a conversation.

"Nice tip, thanks."

Mariya took another ball and placed it on the tee.

"My name's Mariya, what's yours? I'm pretty new to this..." Another stroke to send the ball flying. "... golf thing."

She was beginning to figure out how this was going to work. Talk and play at the same time. Mariya decided that she could definitely do this more often.

 

[John Locke]

“John,” the man introduced himself with an amiable smile as he lifted his bag, depositing it in the booth next to the blonde as he glanced up along the range before reaching for his bag. The man pulled out a driver, staring at the metallic club for a long moment, before swinging it through the air, listening to the whistle of the head through the air.

“I started a little bit ago myself…well not so much started but my CFO kinda dragged me out of here,” he noted with a laugh as he shared a conspiratorial glance with Mariya. “He said it was a good place to meet people, expand the networking but honestly, I kinda like the whole feeling of it. You don’t have to worry or focus on anything else, just the swing, the action of striking the ball. I’ve had some of my best ideas out here…well I think they’re my best ideas at least.” Ex was not so sure, sometimes John swore his Personal Assistant only switched on in the mornings so that he could annoy John.

“Well, I’d be a little careful, it has a way of getting under your skin, and before you know it you’ll be buying your own clubs and planning days at the club to go around the course and lunching at, what’s actually an excellent restaurant,” he warned solemnly, dark eyes twinkling with amusement as he winked at the blonde fighting to keep his from curling up into a playful grin.

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Hello John," she flashed another smile at the newcomer who had been helpful with the golf advice. His name was common, but he was certainly not. No ordinary people would have the luxury of entering a country club like this without paying a premium for the membership. The mention of a CFO concurred with her thoughts, though it seemed John was rather new to the whole networking experience.

"I already have my clubs, but..." she nodded her head, admiring the golf ball that just landed further than expected. "I am beginning to see the appeal. It's kinda zen like. Hit a ball or two, some chit chat and walk around the course."

Another swing of her club. She was getting the hang of things by now.

"Never tried the restaurant yet. Would be interesting to see their dishes. Might even borrow an idea or two for my own cantinas," she said, having a good expectation on the the food being served since [member="John Locke"] said it was excellent.

"What would you recommend from their menu then?"

 

[John Locke]

“Hmmm,” The man fell silent, considering the question for a moment as he glanced down at the golf ball infront of him, his club swinging through the air with a quiet whoosh as he sent it flying down the range with a nod. “Well, it is a golf club, so they pride themselves on their roasts, and full meals, I mean after all having someone carry your bags around the grass is a tiring job,” how noted with a grin. “Mostly, it’s a great place to take someone you want to impress, so most of their food tends towards the slightly showy gourmet stuff, but…” The dark-haired man looked around suspiciously before leaning closer to Mariya, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “If you talk to the waiters, and ask them nicely then the chef makes some more normal food. He does a chicken and fried noodle dish that’s incredible.” The man straightened, tossing a wink at the blonde, “and his burgers aren’t half bad either, but not the kinda thing most of the people around here enjoy.”

Reaching over with his club he hooked a new golfball, pulling it over onto the tee. “So, you run Cantinas then? I used to work in one for a bit at uni, we always had an interesting time on the night, just from the people coming in if nothing else. Do you have a cantina anywhere I might know?”

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Normal food huh, I thought you would be a fan of those fancy stuff," she laughed.

Mariya had not expected [member="John Locke"] to actually recommend noodles and burgers. Those were the sort of food that her own cantinas would serve. Nothing high end, just good hearty food for the masses. The origins of a cantina were humble, typically established by owners who served food and drinks to a whole bunch of people, including criminals and thugs. She had cleaned the image up for hers, thanks to the inclusion of bouncers to make sure the customers stayed their line. A occasional drunk would still cause trouble and would be promptly tossed out of the venue.

"I can imagine all sorts of people at night in the university. Student rates for liquor usually encourage people to hang around," she said, "Though I have never studied in college before."

Another swing to smash the ball. That was the fifth one in the row. A couple of dozens more to go.

"I do have few cantinas in Kiribi. They are pretty new, called 'Soul Brothers & Sisters'. You might have seen one of them around. What about you? Let me guess, bio tech science, holonet technology or weapon manufacturing."

She named the top three businesses located in Kiribi. One of them should be right.

 

[John Locke]

"Hedging your bets a little there aren't you?" The smile on John's face was mischievous, a soft teasing lilt to his voice as the man rested his weight on the golf club. "It just so happens that I'm into weapons manufacturing, amongst a few others. I do a lot of non-military work too, mainly droids but we're expanding slowly." Although it was still significantly faster than he'd expected.

Reaching out to hook his next ball with his foot the dark-haired man worked the ball backwards, settling it on the tee again as he glanced up at Mariya. "I think I've seen your Cantina's, there's one pretty close to work that a few people swear by. So...out of curiosity what made you think I'd be a fan of the fancy stuff? Not that there's anything wrong with it, but it's got its place. If I'm cooking...well attempting to cook at least then it's the good comfort food I grew up with that I want. Besides, I grew up working for a living, we used to love when we'd get burgers, it was a treat watching my dad get out his grill and prepare them. The man was an artisan, they had to be cooked just so or he wouldn't be happy...guess part of that rubbed off on me." A nostalgic smile touched his lips before he gestured to the blonde, "So, if you had your choice in the matter, what's your preference? A cantina owner like you must have a favourite dish or two?"

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Aha, I did guess correctly afterall," she nodded her head knowingly. Weapon manufacturing was one of the most common industries in the galaxy, simply because the number of wars were growing. More wars meant more profits. She did consider making weapons at one point, but decided that she should stick to her original intention of rebuilding her cantinas. The company was a homage to the people she used to know, people who were probably dead or disappeared for good. Hence the name "Soul Brothers & Sisters", a name that was unwieldy and long.

"Just a random guess on the fancy food stuff, because most people here seem to like it," she gestured to the other business executives around the two of them. "As for me, I think I care more about the food taste than the price tag. My favourite dish is "Hungry Hutt" breakfast sandwich," Mariya smiled back at [member="John Locke"], not sure if he would have caught the hint from her choice of food. That particular sandwich was a popular item back in her homeworld, Nar Shaddaa. Almost every cantina would offer it for breakfast.

"However, I have yet to introduce it to my own cantinas. Still fine tuning the taste. I'm no chef, but I do have picky taste buds. How about you? Managed to inherit your father's artisan in making burgers?"

 

[John Locke]

John shook his head as a laugh slipped from his lips, “No, no I haven’t been that lucky, unfortunately. I can just about manage to keep myself fed in a slightly better way than when I was a student but,” he gave the blonde a rueful smile, “I’m afraid that level of artistry is far far beyond me right now. Though you know, that’s not entirely a bad thing, gives me an excuse to pop over to see them when I’m free.” Which was less often than he’d like, now his free time tended to be measured in hours, or a night rather than days like it used to be. Still, it was always fun to go home for a bit to catch up with the family and their latest goings on.

The dark-haired man tilted his head to the side, gaze flicking over to observe [member="Mariya Fleischer"] curiously. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that being served anywhere apart from Nar Shadda, certainly nowhere around here.” No-one who wanted to do anything in the galaxy could avoid Nar Shadda all their lives, sooner or later you had to stop by the planet. For John, it had been a neutral location where he could meet one of his clients to help design their droids, not all his clients had been entirely willing to meet on Kiribi or a nearby planet. His trips to the planet had never been for long though, “You know, now I think about it I’ve never actually tried one of those before either. I’m no chef, and by tastebuds might not quite be a match for yours but, if you ever need a second opinion on those sandwiches I’d be more than happy to offer my services.”

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I see, I certainly won't mind trying those burgers which you kept praising someday. Maybe learn a thing or two," she said and executed another drive for the ball. As she retrieved another from her basket, she noticed that [member="John Locke"] had managed to pick up her origins. Not bad, it seemed that he did have some knowledge about the galaxy at large and not just an engineer who was stuck at home. He had probably visited or heard about Nar Shaddaa from his interaction with his clients. Weapons manufacturing was hot stuff back home. Every gang would love to have more weapon supplies, though not all were that willing to pay. Honesty was hard to find in Nar Shaddaa.

"I'll let you know when I have introduced it into my menus. Feel free to drop by any of my cantinas for a free bite. I'll give you a treat," Mariya tapped on the hololink on her wrist and keyed in a few buttons. "There. I have temporarily registered your name as John the weapons man. If you wish to change it to your full name, let me know and I'll do that," she laughed. They had yet to introduce their surnames to each other, so she had to be creative with the name entry.

"So, what else does your company do? Armour and security stuff?" She posted a question that she had been looking into. The current security setup for her company was basic and worked well enough, but she had considered looking for ways to improve the equipment for the right price.

 

[John Locke]

John the weapon’s man? The man couldn’t help the laughed that slipped from his lips at that, a genuine smile brightening up his face as he inclined his head at the blonde. “I don’t have any problem with that, you know, as long as I can call you Mariya the food lady.” There was a playful lilt to his voice, an almost teasing sense as he reached for his own pocket, keying a few commands into his commlink before passing it across to the woman.

“You know, don’t think I’m not gonna take you up on that offer, a free treat isn’t ever a bad idea, especially when the cantina has a reputation that’s anything like yours. I’d be a fool to turn it down,” John had mostly forgotten about actually playing gold now, one of his feet idly rolling a golf ball back and forward. “If you do want that burger, there’s normally a cookout most weekends when the weather’s good A whole big community event, I swear half the reason to have got the big yard and pool is so they could tempt everyone over.” The man shook his head fondly, eyes reminiscing for a moment, “Its normally a pretty fun time. Let me know if you get a free moment, though you may need to take the whole day off. Food comas are almost a mandatory state of affairs.”

The man twirled his gold club slowly as he finally rolled the ball back onto the tee, “We started off in droid production, but these days we’re pretty well spread across the board. Armour, weaponry, droids and ships, you’ve gotta be able to supply anything that your customer wants right?” That was a truism that applied no matter what business you were in.

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Food lady? Sure, why not," she smiled, taking the commslink and entered her company's holo mail address. To a certain extent, she had no idea if her surname was truly her family's. She could not remember them at all. All she remembered growing up was being alone. Anyhow, that was a memory for another time. She handed the commslink back to [member="John Locke"].

"Oh, a food party with tasty burgers sounds really good," she nodded, her mind already wondering how it would be cooked. Perhaps she could take a look on the day itself and learn a thing or two. Inspiration for new food items, not just for burgers. "Let me know in advance and I'll try and make it."

Another ball. Another stroke. John might be slowing down his play, but Mariya was eager to continue. Beginner's interest brimming within her. She swung her club again, listening to John explaining about his company's products. She was certainly interested to hear more, even for the ships. A new line of delivery ships would be nice.

"What's your company name? Perhaps we can sit down later during lunch later if you are free. I'll like to see the catalog."

 

[John Locke]

The man let his golf club lazily snake out, hooking another golf ball from his basket, pulling it onto the tee before accepting him commlink back from the woman. “More and more these days I find that what we do does tend to define how people see us, the Weapons-man, the Food Lady. It's useful, but nobody knows that I love to play the violin too.” John grinned and looked around before leaning closer to Mariya to continue in a conspiratorial whisper, “Just don’t spread it around, I've got a reputation to protect and all.”

The man stepped back with an easy smile, his golf club describing a parabola in the air as it connected with the ball, sending the little white sphere soaring off down the range. “Well it’s not just burgers, they have sausages, and chicken and even some seafood, the whole party. If you’re free on Sunday I can pick you up before I fly over there?”

Another swing and another ball went flying out down the range, joining the other specks littering the range. “A chance to show off my catalogue and have lunch with a beautiful woman who’s interested in having a conversation. How can I say no to an offer like that? I’m sure Locke and Key might have something that interests you, or well if we don’t then we can build something that does.”

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"Volin? That's surprising. I used to play the harmonica."

Mariya heard the whisper from [member="John Locke"] and shared her own musical talent. When was the last time she blew that instrument? She could recall, that one moment where she was playing at Velusia. Beautiful beach. Lovely gathering. Captain Marcus Gray. The pirate captain was there drinking with her. Mariya frowned slightly to kill off the train of thought. The last thing she wanted to do was to dwell on the past. As far as she was concerned, none of them were going to come back.

As she came to her senses, she could hear the other man talking about burgers and a party, asking whether she was free on Sunday. And she was the beautiful woman. Uh oh. Was John flirting with her? Mariya had no idea if he was just teasing or being smooth, but decided it was too abrupt to suddenly go for the party this Sunday. Maybe later.

"Wow, a smooth talker. I should be careful then," she laughed and went along with the conversation. Another stroke to send the ball soaring away. As far as she was concerned, she was definitely keen to talk about business.

"I'll get back to you on my schedule for this Sunday. But I usually try not to talk about business or work on my rest day. I do need my breaks."

The blonde offered a tactful response. After all, she did say she would try to make it. She just never expected the invite to come so suddenly.

 

[John Locke]

The man laughed and held up his hands, an understanding smile tugging up his lips as he inclined his head in agreement. “Everyone needs at least that one day to just relax and do their thing, to be themselves, trust me I can understand that as well as anyone can. I promise, this time or next time, just the food and relaxing, absolutely no business talk.”

The Kiribian lowered his hands and plucked up the golf club he’d left leaning against the side of his stall. “Besides, I’m pretty sure that I’d get myself into trouble if I tried to talk work. Think of it like this, if you need a chance to get away from the city and all the corporate responsibility for a few hours then the offer is there for you. Although” he grinned and nodded at the basket of golf balls near Mariya’s feet. “It does look like you’re going to be pretty busy over the next few weekends if the way you’re going at the driving range is any indication. Seems like the sport might have found its way under your skin there.”

He fell silent for a moment as he sent a ball of his own racing down the driving range with a swing of his club. “If you’re interested in taking a look at our catalogue, then there is always a working lunch, on any day apart from a Sunday.” His dark eyes seemed to twinkle with laughter, “like you said, breaks are important.”

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]

 

[Mariya Fleischer]

"I don't know, I am still feeling my way around golf. But I do see myself coming for a few more tries in the future," she said, making another swing. A couple of balls left and she should be done for the round, unless she wanted to pick up another set. Maybe another a break.

"Working lunch is perfect," she nodded. It was her original idea, no? Until the talk of the sunday burger event. She was still interested in going, but probably not this Sunday. So when [member="John Locke"] suggested lunch, she was more than willing to accept it. Now all they needed to work out the logistics. Things like time and location.

"Where's your office located? If it's nearby we could meet up again something this week for the lunch," she said enthusiastically, knocking away another ball and made a quick glance at her calendar using her wrist hololink. "I'm free on this Thursday. Just need to finish the meeting in the morning."

 

[John Locke]

"It's not a bad place to spend the afternoon," John allowed, not quite as good as an afternoon spent tinkering in his workshop this was much more sociable and, sadly, the man had come to terms with the fact that time in the workshop was going to be an increasingly rare commodity, and so one which he would have to learn to cherish that much more deeply.

"Thursday," a quick touch on his commlink pulled up the calendar function, dark eyes flicking over his schedule, "I've got a review out on the campus in the morning, testing out the latest prototype droid we're looking to field but I can be back in the city by about 1. Would that give you enough time to take care of your meetings without having to rush through them? I'd rather you be able to take your time than end up worrying that you might have missed something." Force knows that had happened to him enough. A press of a button and a street address in the financial district and a comm-code was pulsed over to Mariya, "I'll let reception know to expect you, the comm code will put you through to EC, my droid. He's normally with me, or if not he'll know how to get in touch with me."

[member="Mariya Fleischer"]