Summertide Excursion : A 'Storm and Silence' Fan-fiction

Plans and Panicked Preparations

It was pandemonium inside the Empire house. Call it what you like - brouhaha, hubbub, hullabaloo - it seemed as though everyone had been struck ill with a feverish frenzy. Men were rampaging back and forth through the cavernous entry hall, papers flew through the air, and towers of boxes were being carted past Sallow face's desk towards the staircase faster than you could say 'panicking pencil pushers'!

Fortunately, being the resourceful girl I was, I was able to use the commotion to my advantage; I crept unseen into one of the small, vacant offices near the front doors and swiftly fished out a suit from one of my two suitcases. I made quick work of removing my dress (Why are there so many bloody layers!) and emerged from the room a new man, quite literally.

I began to weave through the sea of panicked employees, getting more than a few of my poor little toes trodden on in the process. I squeezed between two men at the other end of the hallway, praying that they wouldn't take notice of my rather generous behind being squashed against them, and finally popped out of the crowd. I shot polite smile at Sallow-face, who was looking even more cadaverous than usual, and ran through the doors that opened to the towering staircase, leading to the upper levels of the Empire House.

Due to the added weight of my luggage (by that I mean my suitcases and not... well, you know) it took me twice as long to reach the top landing. After what seemed like an eternity, I collapsed into the hallway, panting like a cow in labour.

'Good afternoon, Mr Linton!' Mr Stone's cheery voice floated over from the end of the corridor.

Still on the floor, recovering, I waved a weary hand in greeting before finally standing up again. I picked up my bags and shuffled towards Mr Stone.

'Are we finally doing some spring cleaning around here?' I said, quirking up an eyebrow and jabbing my thumb in the direction of the now muffled commotion from down bellow.

A ghost of a smile twitched across Mr Stone's face, 'I'm afraid not, Mr Ambrose is only having a few small errands and preparations completed before departure.'

If my eyebrows had shot any further up my forehead, they would have gone rocketing straight into the heavens.

Only Mr Ambrose could turn 'a few small errands' into a cause for hysteria.

I nodded solemnly at Mr Stone and stepped into my office, the door clicking shut behind me. I turned, only to ram straight into something as tall and hard as a mountain.

'Oi, watch it!' I moaned, rubbing my throbbing nose.

It was strange, I could have sworn that the Alps were in Sweden, not there in my office! Bah, geography! What good could it do you?

Lifting my head, I stared right into the steely blue eyes of Mr Ambrose.

Hmm, so maybe not the Alps after all. Perhaps the Blue Mountains had decided to pay me a visit from Australia?

If Mr Ambrose's torso wasn't rock-hard, his tone certainly was, 'I beg your pardon?'

It was amazing how one could make such a normally polite phrase sound like a death sentence. Truly, I commended him for it.

'I said, watch where you're going!' I scolded, setting down my bags to brush off my waistcoat. 'I know that you take pride in being a living, breathing statue, but even they have eyes! You should learn to use them!'