The World's A Dangerous Place Be Careful Where You Go ~open~

Esmeralda got off work from Eli's exhausted and thankful that her shift was over. She had the day off tomorrow from both places she worked. She had worked both today back to back, she was glad however that they were close to each other so she wasn't late to work. Today at Eli's was busy and it seemed like as soon as she clocked in that she didn't stop for what seemed like 8 hours. She was able to grab a small bite to eat before she needed to be back behind the bar. She served all matter of drinks to what the waiters and waitress' needed without fail. She was glad that she only had one day a week where she worked back to back with her jobs.

She worked part-time at both places, but they couldn't be more different if they weren't already. One was Eli's a restaurant and the other was a muggle shop that sold clothes. She was saving up money to get her own shop to sell her own clothing designs but of course that would take her years to accomplish.

Now that she was off work for tonight she headed down Diagon Alley too tired to apparate home. So she walked along the Alley slowly still in her uniform which consisted of black dress pants and a crisp white top with comfortable black dress shoes with a small heel. She felt like she was hit by a bus and left for dead from how sore her arms and legs were. She never showed signs of her weariness until her other co-workers were out of sight and there were no customers either.

She was lost in thought as she walked down the Alley when she heard a noise. Stopping where she was and looking ahead where she heard the sound. She slowly slipped her wand out of her shirt sleeve and walked towards the noise. She knew she shouldn't be going towards the noise but of course her curiosity got the best of her. She illuminated her wand and pointed it towards the trash cans she heard rattle then laughed at her self when she was it was a black cat. Crouching down she called it over to her and gave it a pet before it ran off towards the other end of the alley.

Shaking her head she put her light out but kept her wand in her hand as she began walking again.

Monroe was heading home from work. Diagon Alley was an absolute travesty ever since the fire at the Inn and he was in deep shit after somehow losing one of the muggles during the Death Eaters' little raid.

And now the Order had decided to stick their noses in. Of course, he'd been... not exactly happy for them to stick their noses in during the raid, but not unhappy either. He knew their hearts were in the right place.

It was just that, like just about everyone in the Wizarding World, the Order was habitually unable to be efficient about their purported task. Monroe hated inefficiency.

Of course that had led to even more explanations at work, even more paperwork, and now even more work at the Inn (since the Order had apparently decided to clean up after themselves? Astonishing). He was dead tired. At least since he'd moved out, he didn't have to apparate all the way to Yorkshire every evening.

The small wand light at the side of the alley as he made his way down the apparently all but abandoned path hadn't escaped Monroe's notice. He drew his own wand, confident he could deal with whoever was lurking over there, if, indeed, they were lurking with intent.

"Hello?" he called. "Are you all right?"

Esme heard footsteps of someone walking down the Alley and turned to see who else was there. Her wand was ready as she looked around to see who it was. She saw a wand's light and figured it must be someone who was just heading home just as she was. She stayed on alert in case that they were foe instead of friend. She heard a man's voice ask if she was alright and couldn't help but smile at the words.

"Yes I'm fine sir." She called back staying where she was not moving. She wasn't going to turn her back on a stranger no matter if they asked if she was okay. She had trust issues that went too deep. "Who are you?" She called out as she kept her eyes on where the wand's light was.

Smart girl. Monroe had entered many conversations only knowing who he was talking to because of his memory's seemingly infinite storage capacity. It was amazing how many people were happy to chat with a total stranger. Though perhaps a total stranger in darkness made your average woman more cautious.

"Monroe Ashcroft, ma'am," he let some Shire accent slip into his usual cultured tones as he moved closer.

The girl would not be fooled if she saw him, but they were in darkness and for some reason sounding like a yokel put people at ease.

"Department of Magical Accidents and Catastropes," he added. "Saw ye crouchin' there, wanted t' make sure everythin's regular 'n' upright."

Esme didn't move when he got closer and hoped that he wasn't a foe. When he called her ma'am she tried to not smile, feeling like she was back at work. She wondered what he was doing out here in the dark but wasn't going to ask at the current moment.

"I'm Esmeralda Martinez but I prefer to be called Esme." She said her fingers gripping her wand more firmly.

She shifted slightly wanting to go home but knew that she wouldn't turn her back on someone especially in the dark. She hesitated slightly when he said he had seen her crouching down on the ground.

"Yes everything is fine, I was just startled by a cat that was roaming near the cans. It moved one of them and I went to see what it was." She said softly gesturing towards where she had been petting the cat. "I was heading home when I heard the noise. My question is though, why are you out here at this time of night?"

"Nowt of interest. Just a long day at the office, Esme," Monroe replied. "I live just down Parallel Path."

He pointed to one of the small alleyways behind her, though he wasn't sure whether she could see his silhouette or not.

He was tempted to stroll closer, but from her line of questioning could tell she was rather wary of him and Monroe did not fancy getting hexed. Especially after the day he'd just had. Still, she was in the way of him getting to his own home.

"Still, as ye say, it's a dark night. Best not linger, eh?" he went on. "Ye live nearby? I could walk ye home if ye like."

Esme nodded and realized that he may not see her nodded to him. She then realized that she was in his way of getting home. "Sorry I didn't mean to get in your way of getting home." She moved to the side making sure that she didn't trip over anything but ended up slightly knocking into the trashcans. She moved forward to avoid knocking them over and moving herself closer to him. She looked behind her for a moment to make sure she didn't tip anything over.

Facing back forward again she felt her face go pink in embarrassment.

"Yes your right it isn't best to linger." She said not knowing what else to say. "Yes I live close to the Leaky Cauldron. Oh no it is out of your way from your own home."

Monroe understood her words to be rejection, though he thought she was foolish not to take up his offer.

"It's no problem at all," he said nevertheless, knowing he ought to at least make a show of trying to change her mind.

Esme bit her lower lip and realized it may be better to have him walk her home. She debated with herself then realized there was no real option than to allow him to walk her home.

"Okay," She said with a small smile. "Thank you, I'm sorry if I was reluctant earlier. I..I'm.." She stuttered trying to figure out how she was going to explain she didn't trust anyone anymore. She kept trying to think of what else to say but she couldn't come up with anything. "Never mind." She said finally and began walking towards the the entrance to Diagon Alley her wand still out in her hand.