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“Where have you been?” Cali asked me when I was back in our dorm room. “You’ve missed practice.”
“There’s something more important I’ve been taking care of.”
“You should talk to Coach. He’s really upset. He was talking about kicking you off the team.”
I considered what Cali said. But as much as I knew I should have cared about my place on the team, I didn’t. The only thing I cared about was Lou. He needed me. So did my town. Nothing else mattered.
Having arrived late, I went to bed soon after. When I woke up, I got back into my truck and drove to the state’s capital. I needed to know if there was anything to Sey’s threat to prevent Snow Tip Falls from incorporating.
Arriving at the office where I had sent all of our correspondents, I entered and found the receptionist. She sat behind glass in a sterile room by herself. When she spoke, I recognized her voice from my many calls to her office.
“Hi, I came to check on the status of a petition I filed. I think we’ve spoken before,” I said with a friendly smile.
The sturdily built older woman looked me up and down.
“What petition is this regarding?”
“It’s to incorporate Snow Tip Falls.”
She stared at me with a scowl.
“If you need the petition number, I can give it to you.”
She looked away and returned to the paperwork in front of her.
“All status update requests must be in writing and mailed in,” she said dismissively.
“I know. And I’m more than happy to fill out any form or go through any procedure you require. But, I was told that there was some chance that the petition won’t go through. If that’s the case, I figured that since I’m here, I can address it. Might save you some work. Who needs more work, right?” I said with a smile.
“All requests need to be made in writing and mailed in. No exceptions,” she said pointing to a sign on the wall beside me.
“Yep, there it is. It says it right there,” I said losing faith.
Unsure what else I could do or say, I was about to leave when I stopped.
“Listen, I know it’s your job to be a gatekeeper for your boss and I respect that. And from what I can tell, you’re very good at it. I can’t imagine that anything happens here without you knowing about it…”
“What’s your point?” She said cutting me off.
I stopped startled. Realizing that she wasn’t going to listen to anything I said, I took a deep breath and steadied myself. “The point is that there’s this boy and I love him. He loves me too. But there’s a chance he might have to marry someone else because of you.”
“Because of me?” she asked replacing her stone face with confusion.
“You control what happens in this office, don’t you? You decide what and who your boss sees?”
“What does this office have to do with who anyone marries? We handle governmental petitions.”
“Well, today you handle love.”
“I really don’t see…”
“Snow Tip Falls. And I know you recognized the name. It was all over your face when I said it.”
“And if I do?”
“Then you know the petition has been filed with all of its parts satisfied yet there’s a chance it might not go through.”
“All petitions are pending the approval of…”
