Jack and Darby both sat looking through their menus. Jack stared at the prices of each item on the menu and thought 'This is all quite expensive…keeping a budget while traveling is important.' Even if he would be making a lot of money on this job, he had no intention of spending wildly. He would spend as wisely as he normally did. That way, the money would last longer. As Jack was looking over all the prices on the menu, trying to find the most reasonably priced, Darby glanced up at him. She could see that he was searching through the menu, looking back and forth. She cleared her throat to get his attention and said
"Now order whatever you would like, Mr. Clemins, I am your boss, so naturally, I will pay for it." Jack felt a bit embarrassed at having been found out that he had been comparing prices and searching for the best deal for the least amount of money. He rubbed the back of his neck and said
"I am not sure about that, Miss Herrington, I feel uncomfortable to have a lady pay for me." Darby laughed and said
"Haha what nonsense, you couldn't be more wrong Mr. Clemins. I've already made up my mind so it's settled." Jack muttered
"It just feels strange to me." Darby stared into Jack's eyes with a serious expression on her face and asked
"In your past jobs, did you normally argue with your boss?" Jack's eyes bulged in panic as he hurriedly stuttered
"N-No I didn't Miss Herrington." Darby kept his gaze locked with hers and said very coldly
"..Then you shouldn't argue with me." Jack felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the room, he gulped for a breath and said nervously
"Oh yes, Miss Herrington, you are right, I am sorry.." Darby's expression changed in an instant, she beamed at him happily and said "Wonderful!" and then clapped her hands adding "Now let's order!" Jack looked down at his menu again as his eyes bulged in shock wondering 'What on earth was that?' He felt as if the room was spinning as he reeled from her hot and cold emotional whiplash. Darby had her menu propped up to cover her face as she stifled a laugh into her hand. She giggled as quietly as she could and thought 'His expressions are so funny! He looked so freaked out.' They both ordered tea, sandwiches and a slice of cake and enjoyed their meal in a perfectly pleasant atmosphere, easily moving on from the coldness that had occurred earlier and making agreeable conversation about the food and scenery as the train chugged on. From a short distance away Madolyn was watching them happily eating and innocently chatting away and this made her blood boil with rage. She couldn't take it anymore and stomped over to their table and slammed her hands down on it, bursting out
"Excuse me for a moment Miss Herrington!" Jack gasped in shock as she scared him just as he was bringing his cup of tea up to his lips, causing him to slosh tea all over himself. Darby set her tea cup down gently and said
"Ah Madolyn, what a pleasant surprise! What brings you to our little booth?" Madolyn scoffed and said
"Stop pretending to be well mannered Miss Herrington, I am here to warn you to stay away from me! The last thing I want is to get involved with you in any way!" Jack knitted his eyebrows together, puzzled, as he thought. 'She really does not not like Miss Herrington…And isn't she the one approaching us?' Darby sat there serenely sipping her tea as Madolyn surged with anger. Darby delicately finished her cup of tea, set it down, and then handed Jack a napkin.
"Oh, thank you," Jack said, remembering he had spilled it. Darby then leisurely turned to Madolyn and said calmly
"You know Madolyn, for someone who values being a lady and good manners, it is quite shocking how often you lose your temper and have fits of rage in public, not that I have a problem with screaming and yelling, but for a gentlelady such as your reputation...It is quite scandalous." Madolyn stared at Darby in complete shock as the realization of her words settled in.
"I-I-I" she blinked furiously as she looked around, suddenly feeling the eyes of others upon her after her outburst. She snapped her mouth shut, speechless as to what to say. Darby smiled playfully towards Jack as he continued to wipe his jacket with a napkin. He glanced up at her, utterly confused as to what was going on between these two ladies. Darby then looked back at Madolyn and shrugged while still smiling widely and said mischievously
"But I do love scandals, so definitely keep it up Madolyn, I fully support your behavior! Hehe!" Madolyn looked as if her head might explode as she reached new levels of rage,
"Gah!" She yelled out furiously and she turned and stormed off. Darby resumed sipping her tea, picking up her teacup and, laughing, said "She is really so much fun!" Jack coughed as his sip of tea went down the wrong pipe, still not able to fathom why Darby liked Madolyn so much. Jack asked cautiously
"I've noticed that Miss Browning...does not seem to like you very much...but you like her?" Darby shrugged casually and said
"Oh, that. She has felt that I have been her rival since our university days. I've always scored equal to or higher than her, but do not behave like she believes a dignified gentle lady should. And so it made me generally winning in everything even worse for her. I don't have any problem with her. I like that we are both the first female archeologists and she is terribly funny...I am sure she will warm up to me eventually. I am not too worried about it." Darby said this with a very offhanded tone, as if it was all very obvious. Jack chuckled a little, finally realizing why Darby didn't get upset by Madolyn's behavior towards her and said
"Yes, you don't seem bothered by her at all". Darby chuckled too. As if they had a small joke shared between them and said
"No, on the contrary, I rather enjoy interacting with her, and that competitiveness we have is very entertaining." Jack nodded slowly and said
"Ah, I see." Darby took a bite of her sandwich and said
"Let's finish up here and go find our cabins and perhaps go check our equipment in the luggage carts." The two quickly finished up their food and walked towards the exit of the food carts and the direction of the where the luggage was kept. As they opened the door that led outside and joined to the next cart, Darby swiftly and lightly hopped across the gap between the carts and landed skillfully on the other side. Jack was alarmed that she jumped across with absolutely no hesitation and called out
"Miss Herrington! You should be more careful, that is dangerous!" Darby laughed, completely amused, and called back
"You are rather timid Mr. Clemins! Come on then, jump!" Jack looked down at the tracks rushing by beneath the train and gulped and then looked back up at Darby. She reached out her hand, beckoning encouragingly to him
"Come on Mr. Clemins!" He took a deep breath and then jumped across. Jack grabbed the nearest railing as support, and then let out a sigh of relief
"Phew!" Unconsciously, with his other free hand he reached out and grabbed hold of the hand Darby had been offering him when she was trying to encourage him to jump across too. Darby burst out laughing that he had unthinkingly held her hand from being nervous to cross.
"Pfft! Hahah! Well done, I am surprised you'd be up for this trip when you are of such a nervous nature." Jack finally noticed that he had accidentally grabbed her hand and quickly let go of it. A bright red glow creeped up his neck and cheeks and he coughed, looking away and mumbled
"Ahem! Nothing wrong with being a little cautious." Jack thought 'I would never even be here if it wasn't for money.' Darby chuckled and answered back
"Nothing wrong with a little adventure either! Now you just have to do that 10 more times until we get to the right cart. Haha!" Jack sighed and braced himself for the rest.