Cece Writes A Book [COMPLETED]

Chapter 9 - "Downtrodden was a good word."

This is part of a double update so read the previous chapter first.
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Cece swept into the kitchen dramatically, her imaginary petticoat swishing around her legs. Since being able to write two days before, she had been living and breathing the southern life, much to the displeasure of her siblings. Everything she said was in a southern twang and she was overly formal in everything.

"Good morning!" she greeted the occupants of the kitchen, fanning her face with her hand as she pranced around the table to the fridge.

Tristan and Elliot shared sympathetic looks but it went unnoticed by Cece. She kept up a steady flow of cheery conversation as she made breakfast and ate but with how little Tristan and Elliot responded, it was mostly a monologue. But nothing her siblings did or said could knock her off her cloud of inspiration.

"Well, I'm off," she said, as she finished her dishes with an elegant curtsy. "Don't wish me luck for I don't need it. I already know it's going to be a splendid day. Wish mother a good day for me."

"Are you going to The Thinking Cup?" Elliot called after her.

"Why, of course," Cece said, resting her hand over her heart.

"Can you stop at the hardware store?" Elliot asked, working hard to contain her eye roll. "We need a new handle for the bathroom."

"It would be my pleasure," Cece said, dipping into another curtsy. She grabbed her backpack and floated to the front door, calling out, "toodles," as she opened the door.

The world that greeted Cece at the bottom of the stairs was filled with elegance, manners, and cheery friendliness. Although Cece's story was set in modern times, most of what she knew about the south had come from historical movies and the old-fashioned settings and lifestyles constantly seeped into her imagined world.

A bell rang over the door as she stepped into the hardware store and with a friendly smile, she greeted the man behind the counter like they were old friends. Millie Kate would be on a first-name basis with the man who ran the hardware store in Belmont. The man kindly directed Cece to the right aisle as he looked at her curiously, trying to figure out if he should know who she was when she was acting as she knew him.

Cece greeted everyone she came into contact with in her short search for the handle and even curtsied to the man who held the door open for her as she left the hardware store.

Back out on the street, there was a skip to her step as she headed for the coffee shop, her next scene already forming in her mind. Millie Kate was going to run into Cannon McHenry.

Cece's phone buzzed and she laughed to herself as she answered.

"I already got the handle," she said, assuming it was Elliot calling to remind her. But instead of Elliot, she heard a rush of unfamiliar voices and accordion music.

"Our dear writer!" someone shouted on the other line. Cece pulled the phone away to protect her ear from the burst of noise and checked the caller-ID. It was Malcolm.

It was nice to know that halfway through Malcolm's trip he had finally thought to call his girlfriend. But as she put the phone back to her ear, she discovered it wasn't even Malcolm who had called her. It was Franklin.

Cece listened trying to figure out what Franklin was talking about and caught a few brief details before he said, "listen."

The command was a mote point since Cece had been listening but she continued to do so. At first, all she heard were voices speaking in a different language. It sounded like French. She thought they must still be in Paris when one voice finally rose above the others. This voice was speaking English, or rather singing it.