07-19-2012, 04:31 AM
| | | The Vampire Queen | |
Location: The Nightosphere | | Re: Approaching Apocalypse
Quote: Chapter 2: An Invitation
All the way across the Food Court and into the town square, Ryan ran beneath the face of the clock on the town hall. It was only 07:15, but he still sprinted up the steps towards the Upper District.
When he arrived outside the Mayor's Residence, he found that Ross was already standing in the porch looking flustered.
"Hey Ross, what's up?" Ryan asked.
"Oh, you know, just all this wedding stuff." he said. "I can't imagine how much it's going to cost..."
"Well fortunately, the people of Stanton are paying for your wedding with their taxes." Ryan reminded him.
"Oh, of course." Ross said shamefully. "Well I've gotta go, I need to go and visit the...um...coffee shop."
He dashed off before saying goodbye, so Ryan knocked and entered the Mayor's Residence.
"Come in!" the Mayoress called sweetly. She was seated in the lounge with a tray of tea and biscuits, ready for the meeting. On the sofa beside her was a man with a multicoloured jacket, but despite his colourful clothes, he looked rather frustrated as Ryan entered.
"Good morning, Mayoress." he said politely. "May I sit down?"
"Of course, Ryan." she laughed. "And please, call me Angela. I want to make this meeting as informal as possible."
"Are we ready to go already?" the man said impatiently.
"Just wait a few minutes, Fin!" Angela hissed. "We're still waiting for one more guest..."
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" the Mayoress called once more. A girl entered the lounge, wearing a lime green dress and a flower in her hair to match. She gazed around at the faces and smiled, but did not say a word.
"Ah, good morning Sophie!" Angela said brightly. "Come and sit down. We're just about to begin."
The girl selected a seat beside Ryan. With such eccentric outfits either side of him, Ryan felt as though he had just joined the circus.
"The meeting is now in procession." the Mayoress declared. "Please feel free to pour from the teapot and nibble on some biscuits. I apologise for the lack of bourbons."
Ryan took the liberty to pour himself a cup of tea to refresh himself. Neither of the other two guests touched the teapot or the biscuits.
"So we are here to discuss the preparations for the wedding ceremony. Since Ryan and I are the chief organisers of the event, I invited him to take notes and check the schedule. I'm sure you all know that Fin here is the manager of the rock band The Sharks. I must say, my son was a great fan of you're earlier work."
Fin nodded. Ryan had never heard of them. Then again, Ryan didn't know much about music.
"So I trust you invited me here to play at the wedding?" Fin said bluntly.
"Indeed." Angela nodded. "I can assure you, the payment will exceed any offer for a public concert. Will your band be ready by the 23rd of July?"
"Of course." Fin said confidently. "The Sharks always catch the bait."
Ryan cringed slightly at the pun, but Sophie gave a small giggle.
"Excellent. You will be playing in the town hall. Ryan, can you insert the performance into the schedule. Also, I want a sound check before the big day. How about the 21st?"
Fin nodded. Ryan scribbled down the information in his diary.
"Now onto you, Sophie. For those of you who don't know, Sophie is the primary volunteer at the Art Gallery and organised all the decoration for the event."
Sophie blushed at the compliment and began to play with her leaf-shaped necklace.
"So for the big day, I would like several boxes of confetti, for the guests to throw when they walk out the church."
"Any particular flower?" Sophie asked.
"Roses would be nice." Angela smiled.
"Really? I thought roses were a little too mainstream. There are many other flowers with a more potent fragrance, such as tulips or snowdrops-"
"Just roses would be fine, thanks." Angela cut her off. "And as for the town hall, I would like banners saying 'just married' and hanging baskets all around."
"With roses?"
"Yes, with roses."
Ryan was still scribbling away when he noticed that Sophie was watching the pencil curiously. He quickly finished and closed the diary.
"So are we finished here?" Fin said rudely.
"I should think so." Angela sighed. "I will call another meeting in four days time to check on your progress. I may invite some extra guests too. Thank you for coming, and you are all invited to attend the church ceremony."
Fin stood up immediately and left the building. Sophie said a joyful farewell to both the Mayoress and Ryan, and left with a smile. Suddenly, Ryan remembered something:
"Excuse me, Mayoress," he said politely. "but I have something to ask: do you know Samchu?"
"Samchu?" she frowned. "Is that the young man who rescued my son from that crazed kidnapper six months ago?"
"Yes," Ryan smiled. "but he wasn't just any ordinary man. I presume Ross told you the story?"
"Ah yes, is Samchu the alien boy?"
She laughed. Ryan was surprised that she did not seem scared or shocked by the situation.
"Yes, he is." Ryan sighed. "He is invited to the wedding...at least, I have his name on the guest list. But I don't know how to send him an invitation."
"Well, how did you summon him last time?"
"With the bells, but-"
"-then won't that work?"
"But Mayoress, you've sealed the entire church off for the wedding preparations!"
"Ah, I'd forgotten about that." Angela sighed. "Well, I suppose I can make an exception. I shall write a formal permit to allow you and the others to enter the belfry."
"Thank you, Mayoress." Ryan said, checking his watch. 09:10. "I suppose I must be going now. Thanks for the tea."
"Goodbye, Ryan!"
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