where: Town Hall. when: early October, early on a Saturday morning. Luncheon for the local land developers to discuss building opportunities within Gravewood. who: @ellexreynolds
Luncheons were old news. Ways to mingle and network with people in the community that thought they were worth his father’s time. Unfortunately for Elijah and the attendees, his father rarely attending luncheons and usually sent Elijah in his absence. That usually meant hours spent kissing ass, shaking hands, kissing babies, and remembering every single name that walked through the door.
This particular event was set to start in fifteen minutes, yet Elijah stood alone in the Mayor’s office. Ever since his publicized engagement to Elle Reynolds, they were instructed to attend as many public events as possible. Neither Eli nor Elle set these up, of course, because mandatory events were dropped on their calendars and they were expected to make it work. But, Elijah was used to it. What he wasn’t used to was waiting on someone else to arrive.
He checked his phone and cast an impatient glance at the office doors.
[7:44 am] To Eleanor Reynolds: I’m in the office.
The text was simple and brief. He hesitated over the send button, contemplating describing the urgency or explaining the schedule for the luncheon, but hit send anyway. It wasn’t his job to babysit her, besides, she was raised in this world too. He hadn’t known her to be tardy before, but now they reflected heavily on each other. If his intended couldn’t be punctual, how would the town’s business leaders look at him?