St. James's Church- London, England 5:05 AM - Sunday, September 8, 1940
Benjamin, Eugene, and Anna remained at the church. A quick look outside had revealed that their cars were intact. Giles Curry served breakfast in the small kitchen on the ground floor, and Laura had decided to remain as well.
Benjamin wolfs down a surprisingly large breakfast for a man his age and size. Wiping his mouth on his handkerchief, he says:
"Well, I'm done with exploring the outside for the time being. Yesterday's excursion turned out to be rather risky and we did not find what we set out to do, so I'll stay here for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, I'll be back to work, though. Unless there's another raid by then, that is..."
"I'm glad to say both are cars are still intact, Anna." Eugene says while gobbling down his breakfast. "Say, in the institute you work at, do they employ vacuum cleaners for their tidying?"
Anna frowned as she thought about Eugene's question. "I am pretty sure they, mister Eugene. You would be surprised at how dirty the place can get sometimes. Perhaps, you would be more by the fact that, generally, it's the doctors who are being disgusting. So our cleaners generally uses state-of-the-art clean technologies just to keep up appearances and make sure it doesn't look like an utter dump."Anna said with a trace of displeasure as she was reminded of some of her coworkers' hygenie habits. As she observed Eugene being unsatisfied with her answer, she made a few deductions.
"Say, you wouldn't happen to be a vacuum cleaner salesman, would you?" She stared him cautiously, edging away from him ever so slightly. Door-to-door salesmen are the worst; she still vividly remember how the last one had managed to convince scam her into purchasing an entire collection of the works of William Shakespeare and many other famous British playwrights despite the fact that she had no intention of buying any in the first place. Now, the top of her shelf is completely occupied by a vast selection of books that she will probably never finish in her entire lifetime. She's afraid she'll end up saying goodbyes to the money in her wallet and end up stuck with a large, clunky vacuum cleaner that she doesn't really need.
"Well yes I am, but not just vacuum cleaners, Haywin vacuum cleaners, the Rolls Royce of vacuum cleaners! I just happen to have a stock that I can sell, for a limited time only, at a stunning discount! Could you introduce me to the building manager?"
After a bombardment of persuasive words and cheerful comparisons, Anna stared him uncertainly. She's supposed the expert in psychology, yet she felt this guy knows about persuading people than she does. Somehow, she was convinced by the charismaic, shady snake-oil salesman that is Eugene. "Well...sure. I mean, I'll ask around to see if I could arrange a meeting between you two, but that'll be all I'll do, okay?"Anna said curtly, she doesn't want to talk with the man about vacuum cleaners for a moment longer, for she was afraid he'll start targeting her instead. Besides, it's just a simple matter of arranging a meeting, what's the worst that could happen?
OOC,PCs can't use social skills on other PCs, only on NPCs (and even then, the effectiveness may vary). Players have free agency to either agree with each other or not.
"I do. It's very...good at what it...does. I-it's great. Believe me."Anna stuttered through her response hastily, as she thought of a topic to discuss that has nothing to do with vacuum cleaners; she's actively afraid that she'll be conned into buying one of the blasted things by the salesman in front of her.
"Say, do you only sell vacuum cleaners? What about sewing machines? Perhaps I can convince my boss to buy some of the latest Singer models?"Benjamin asks hopefully.
Anna cursed inwardly as she now ponders whether she could do with a sewing machine. She really needs to stop being so easily swayed by vaguely convincing pitches for novelty products.
"Uuhhhh…the…thirties?"Anna lied nervously, as she saw a dangerous glint come over Eugene's eyes. She doesn't like the look of what's going to happen next.
"It important to update your vacuum cleaner, those older models are quite the fire risk!"Eugene looks very serious. "Just imagen losing your house, not to German bombs, but by not investing in decent appliances!" Eugene continuous: "The Haywin vacuum cleaners are top of the line when it comes to cleaning... AND safety! Besides, with a price of only 5 pounds, they are an outright steal!"
Oh its a robbery alright...Anna thought, she felt a headache coming on. Why couldn't she deal with normal people? "Three and you got a deal." Before she could thoroughly think through her decisions, she had been swept along with the conversation and she was on the verge of purchasing a vacuum cleaner before she knew it.
"Anna, I really like you. But that's just below their wholesale value. Four pounds is the best I can do, but only if you promise to not tell anyone that I sold it so cheap!"
Thrown aback by the sudden compliment, Anna said, "Sure. Here's four." as she blurted out before she think things through more thoroughly. Se has always been weak to compliments.
