Flowers for a Grimm

Book Launch Surprise

There were a few new questions peppered in here and there. That was to be expected. “Ms. Grimm do you believe the stories that you write about?” August had to blink to wipe her mind of the daydream she had been entertaining. 

The question came from her right. Where the spotlight wasn’t as bright. It gave her the opportunity to actually see her questioner. It was an average height Asian girl with waist length black hair. her milk white skin absorbed the light around her. Her expression however struck a cord with August. The woman wasn’t wearing the look of a fan enthralled by August’s ability to create a masterpiece with nothing more than a keyboard and a carmel frappicino IV drip.

The woman was regarding August like she was itching to throw her up against a wall and pound a confession out of her hide. It was a look that she had painted on Apple’s face a  thousand times in several books.

August had to swallow hard before attempting to answer the question. “I uh believe that all fairy tales are analogies of real life. The Grimm Brothers dedicated their lives to traveling the known world in search of these stories. I do believe they have some root in real stories. Do I believe that Cinderella wore glass slippers to a ball? Not really, but I do believe that love stories can be just as magical and unbelievable. So I believe that anything is possible.” She offered a smile. 

They audience went wild with applause. August looked up and the woman was gone. She had to hid her shiver, but she recovered with another smile. 

She threw out a wave as she stepped down from the stage. Her agent bounced up behind the mike to hype her latest books some more. August needed a drink. A drink was always a good way for her to calm her nervous. Though she had to be careful. A glass of wine could send her spiraling down into a drunk stupor if she wasn’t cautious. 

“A glass of white please?” she asked the bartender. She nodded and went off to fix her drink.

“Ms. Grimm.” August sighed and turned around. It was the Asian woman who had disappeared. Up close the woman was at least a foot taller than August with hair that flowed down her back. Almost to her waist in a thick braid. She had cream white skin and a pouty pink mouth that was currently sporting a frown. August couldn’t fathom why someone would look so upset at a party. She hoped it didn’t have anything to do with her reading.  

“Oh hello,” August smiled and tried to shake the feeling of a bug under a microscope. 

“Ms. Grimm I’m Inspector West. There are a few questions that I would like to ask you. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?” Well that was something new. 

Inspector West did not look like a cop. Her spiked ankle boots and white leather peacoat were not standard police issue August was sure. She did fit in at the party. 

“Oh yes of course.” August took her glass of wine from the bartender and moved through the party back into the hotel room. Her mother had booked the penthouse suite at the Clock Tower Hotel. Her mother was swanky like that. 

They moved through the suite into the office. August closed the door and sat down on the sofa. The Inspector remained standing. “Are you with the Neptune police department?” She asked taking a small sip of her wine. Yes she wanted the drink, but she didn’t want to overdo it and end up a drunken mess.

“Not exactly.” The Inspector moved around the room looking at every thing as if it were the first time she had seen it. She peered at the mirror sitting opposite the desk. “Is this hooked up?” she asked tapping the base of the mirror. 

August frowned, “Hooked up? I don’t understand.”

“Can you reach anyone on this mirror?” she tapped the base again.