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NATALIE
The phone rings in my ear for the fourth time, and still, there’s no answer. I’m tempted to throw my phone across my office, smashing it against the wall. I know I’d end up regretting it, though, so I hold on to my restraint.
I’ve been trying to get in touch with the council since New Year’s, and they’ve literally ghosted me. I’ve emailed, called, and scheduled appointments, which suspiciously get canceled at the last minute.
It’s beyond frustrating, and as we inch into February, it’s past time to get the computers I need.
I’ve already ordered some of them with the money from the gala, but we still need several more to cover the town's needs.
I hang up the phone and contemplate my next move. Edward is the person in charge of their schedule and is apparently the gatekeeper to the council. It stands to reason he’s the one blocking my attempts at getting in to see them. I just wish I knew why.
One of these days, I’ll figure it out, but until then, I think I’m going to have to ambush them. They meet in the afternoons on Mondays and today just happens to be a Monday. It wasn’t in my schedule to prepare an ambush, but at this point, I’m going to stop at nothing to get what I need.
With a renewed sense of determination, I throw together a quick packet of information in the hopes I can actually speak with them and let Emily know I’m going to kick some council ass. Her cheers follow me out to my car.
After parking my car and heading up to the third floor, I’m about five minutes early for their normal meeting time, which is perfect. I peek my head into the open door and see they’re gathered around the table talking about whatever random nonsense they like to talk about.
“Hello, gentlemen. I apologize for interrupting, and I promise not to take much of your time.”
They all turn in surprise, not prepared for the disturbance.
“Now is not the time, Natalie. We’re about to start our private council meeting,” Edward says, his eyes blazing in anger, but his face remains impassive. How he’s able to do that, I will never know.
“I’ll be quick, I promise. You see, gentlemen, I’ve tried many, many times over the last couple of months to set up a meeting to discuss my proposal and have been met with roadblock after roadblock. I have called, emailed, and even scheduled times to come by, but every single attempt has been met with silence, so the interruption is necessary.”
The council members look at each other in confusion at my announcement, which creates a little niggle of doubt. Maybe I’m not in the right here...
“We sent an email to you after Christmas to discuss your proposal. When we didn’t get a response, we thought you didn’t need the money anymore,” Craig, one of the younger members of the council, says to me. I can tell he is just as confused about the situation as I am now.
“I never received anything from the council or your secretary, Andrea. I’ve emailed and called on multiple occasions over the last few weeks and never heard anything back,” I say, trying to defend myself while feeling extremely confused.
“Well, miscommunications happen,” Edward says, and I narrow my eyes at how quickly he’s moving this discussion along. “Why don’t we discuss our questions now, and then we can continue our regular meeting.”
I look around the room as they nod their heads in agreement but notice Craig looking at Edward as if he knows something is amiss there. Maybe I do have more people on my side than I thought.
The council members ask a few questions about the funds I raised after the gala and whether I had any updates to the current proposal. Before they signed off on the funding, they wanted to make sure I’d kept my end of the deal. It was all handled very quickly, and they assured me I’d get the funds for the rest of the computers in the next few weeks.
I walk out of the room in complete shock at how everything was handled. After the weeks of radio silence, it’s hard to believe they’re just going to give me the funds so easily. I’m elated but still very apprehensive. I’ve learned from experience they don’t always do what they promise, so I’ll have to make sure I get the funds.
Based on the look Craig gave Edward, I hope he will start doing some digging into Edward’s shady behaviors. After how he acted today, I know my suspicions were correct. Edward made sure my attempts at contact went unnoticed by the council. I just wish I had proof.
* * *
The bellover the door chimes as we enter the flower shop in town. Quinn has one last meeting to discuss her flowers for the wedding, and then all of the details will be finalized. The girls and I decided to come with her, and Hope, the owner of the shop, said she’d put together a little activity for us to play with while she and Quinn talk wedding flowers.
“Hey, girls!” Hope says, coming around the corner of the back room. Her dark, kinky black hair is pulled back into a cute poufy ponytail, and her olive-toned skin makes me incredibly jealous since my pale skin looks almost translucent this time of year. Okay fine, all year long.
“Hey, Hope! It’s almost my wedding!” Quinn squeals, and we all laugh at her enthusiasm.
The little shop has greenery all around the outside edge of the room, making it feel like you’re in a secret garden. A couple of tables are set up in the middle which usually has fun garden-themed knick-knacks on them, but are cleared off and set up for us to use tonight. At the back is a long countertop, and behind it sits a row of refrigerators housing a multitude of colorful flowers.
“I’ve set up a little station over here with a few of the flowers we’ve talked about already. I couldn’t get all of them for tonight, but these should give you a good idea of what they can look like.”
“This is so cool! I wish I could’ve done something like this for my wedding,” Megan says, picking up a couple of the flowers.
“Same! This is going to be fun,” Lucy adds.
There’s an array of flowers in the middle of the table and spaced evenly around the edge are small vases for us to make our own arrangements.
