Eve In Utopia

Chapter Eighteen

Cocktails were more than half over when Eve and Joy arrived at the banquet hall and took up their duties. Most of the world leaders had made their entrances, but President Lopez was still absent and Eve heard whispered rumours as she carried trays of champagne around the large room that he was closeted in an emergency session with his top advisors. The odds makers around them had the Mexico issue as the best bet for the topic of the unscheduled meeting.

With so many dignitaries present and so as not to offer any offence to fragile egos, there was no head table as such since you just couldn't have one big enough for all those who thought they belonged there. Instead there were twenty five round tables, one for each country, and holding half a dozen people each scattered around the periphery of the room in a circle. These tables would typically have spaces for the leader and spouse plus a few top advisors or other family members. The other dignitaries and guests were at smaller tables placed in the center of the room. Some people had already made their way to their reserved tables as the start of the formal banquet neared. Eve spotted the Taylor family and felt an instant twinge of apprehension at the sight of them and knowing the danger they could be in. Likewise, Eve spotted Paul, Monica and Paul's Grandfather and redoubled her worrying. Not knowing what else she could do to help them, Eve went over to the table they were sitting at to inquire if they needed anything.

"I think we are fine Miss," said Paul, glancing at his wife who smiled and nodded.

Eve was about to turn away when Grandfather spoke. "I am sorry I was wrong about you," he said staring Eve in the eyes.

"Please don't mind him," Monica said, patting Grandfather's hand gently. "Sometimes he gets people and places confused."

"She's right," agreed Grandfather. "I have walked lost in the shadows of my mind for several years, but now at the end the Creator has given me this brief gift of clarity. I know who you are and I know I was wrong to fear you. It is not you who brings the evil, that was my illness speaking. You are the one who will save those that can be saved. I don't think it will be my fate to be among the saved. I am old though and have lived a long and mostly good life and I am ready to go on the greatest journey of all. I also fear you will pay a heavy price this night and I sorrow for that. Just remember that things are not always as they seem and that sometimes we can make the wrong assumption about what we must do."

Paul looked from the stranger who was serving them to his Grandfather and back to the woman again. For just a second, he thought he saw a blonde woman standing there instead of the dark haired waitress. "Eve?" he asked uncertainly.

"Never heard of her," said Eve, "but if things start to go to hell, get under the table and stay down." Then before Paul could come up with a reply, Eve hurried off.

"What was that all about Grandfather?" Paul asked as he turned to the old man.

"What is what about?" asked Grandfather, his eyes clouding over. "When do we get the Chicken McNuggets?"

*

Bryce looked around the banquet room and saw everything was in order which in its own way was worrying him. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was trouble coming and the longer things stayed normal, the more tense he became waiting for what he felt was certain to come. The only thing that niggled at him was Bruno Tarkowski greeting everyone with "Hey Dude'. Bryce would have to have a talk with Bruno after the banquet and tell him to lay off the weed or whatever was making him act so weird.

Through his earpiece, Bryce got a message from Angie that the President and his party were finally on the move from the hotel to the banquet. Bryce would have loved to have been able to listen in on the emergency meeting of Lopez and his little clique of advisors after hearing what Mimi had told him. As for Mimi, Bryce was surprised to see her at the banquet and hoped she wasn't going to make a scene, more for her own sake than the prestige and decorum of a President that Bryce had come to despise and yet whose sworn duty it was to protect with his life if necessary. Now that Alanis Morissette is a proper example of the use of ironic, Bryce thought. One of the few people who didn't look happy, Bryce noted, was Alexander Moore and his little group. They had been scheduled to meet with the President an hour and a half ago, only to be cancelled by the emergency meeting. Well, if Moore lived through this night, Bryce was sure the billionaire would get another chance to try and bribe Lopez. Damn, things are really getting to me when I start putting conditions like that in front of my thoughts, swore Bryce to himself.