Souls & Spirits | ONC 2024

Formality

“If?” Aster gave a nervous smile towards the musicians.

“Aster, meet Darrell.” Mrs. Ray prompted while the frontman gave a irritated glance towards her, right when the main saxophonist was in the middle of taking a sip of coffee.

“Call me Zib,” he corrected her, then surveyed the violinist dryly, “I'm not a fan of formalities.”

“Nice to meet you, Zib.” Aster greeted as a bead of sweat rolled down from his forehead while Zib narrowed his eyes at the vagrant, scrutinizing him.

“Don't be such a grouch, just drink your coffee already!” J.J. groused.

“Shut up.” Zib barbed at the trombonist as he bypassed them angrily, then took a couple of sips from the hot black coffee before taking his seat.

“Don't feel so bad,” one of the musicians commented, “he's cranky most of the time. I'm Morgan,” he came to Aster and offered a handshake, “I play the piano.” The vagrant noticed that the pianist had a pearlescent smile, a dashing albino who was approximately in his forties.

“A pleasure to meet you.” Aster gave a wry smile as he held Morgan's hand and reciprocated the handshake.

“I'm Ben, I play double bass.” This musician was a large man with a round face as he shook the vagrant's hand. Daisy went to sit next to Zib while Aster met the band members.

“What were you thinking?” Darrell questioned her while she had a smirk on her face.

“I didn't do anything, it was all Blaise's idea.”

“Of course.” Darrell chided, “Why am I not surprised? He takes the lead, he calls the shots, and he brings the wrong musician for the band. Now I have to play along to Blaise's tune regardless if the fiddler can play at all.” He picked up a spoon as he took a scoop of the oatmeal.

“I heard him play and he's not that bad. If anything, he's the new sound the band needs.” Daisy commented. Darrell recognized the look she was giving him, it was the smug expression she gave when she was right in her statement and he wasn't gonna give her the satisfaction so he ignored her.

“Yeah right, what's next? That he can sing like a canary? As if I care.” Darrell inwardly scoffed while he ate. Aster greeted J.J. and then at Sy from the corner of Daisy's eye.

“You don't have to like him, just let him play a song for the audition and you can give him the boot afterwards.” Daisy suggested though he put the spoon down and looked at her.

“Then what? Get your hubby to kick me out of the band?” Darrell scoffed before taking a bite from the egg sandwich.
“He has no need for that.” Daisy stated while Darrell munched, then swallowed.

“Of course not, he can replace the band with a drop of a hat if he wants to but won't do it because it's your band.” Darrell pointed out before resuming to eat the oatmeal.

Daisy stood up, slamming her hands on the table, “you know what? Fine! Be that way. There's no point in reasoning with you.” Darrell glared at Daisy briefly then resumed to eat the oatmeal, at peace. Or so he thought before Morgan and Ben joined him, as they begun to eat, Sy and J.J. were heading their way with a tray full of hors d'oeuvres.

Aster had already left the cafe and crossed the block whilst a convoy of trucks were stationed near the establishment. The bookkeeper kept account of the stocks while his employer attended a business call.

“How is the transport coming along?” The associate asked through the phone while Blaise peeked through the shutters to see the trucks stationed while one of his employees inspected the product.

“It's coming quite nicely.” Blaise commented.

“That's good to hear knowing how selective you are.” The associate joked.
“If you think I'm picky, you should know Mishaal by now.” Blaise insinuated.

“I almost forgot how demanding your shadow is when it comes to perfection. The last time I was in town, poor ol' Keller was having a meltdown for seeing a champagne bottle a centimeter off.” Blaise heard his associate and long time pal snigger over the line.

“At least he can keep his mind occupied with keeping track of the inventory. It wouldn't do him any good having him couped up in his office reorganizing everything.” Blaise commented.

“Ivy could learn a thing or two from him if she set her mind to it.” He commented, already hearing backtalk from the background.

“Oh come now, Rowan. She's still a girl after all.”

“She's turning fifteen, Blaise. We began working from the ground up at her age.” Rowan reminded him.

“Perhaps an incentive could encourage her to take the initiative.” Blaise suggested.

“The only incentive she has in mind is wanting to get frisky with her classmates, especially around schoolboys.”

“She got that from you, you were quite the womanizer back in the day.” Blaise smirked.

“You weren't far behind on the uptake either, old pal. You had women swooning over you despite having a long face. I was worried that you'd become a hermit for a while.” Rowan recalled.

“Even a lone wolf needs a pack to count on every once in a while.” Blaise admitted before he heard footsteps approaching.

“Speaking of counts,” Rowan mentioned before Mishaal stepped into Mr. Ray's office, holding a document for him to sign, “I think an audit is in order. What do you say? Do you think your trusted bookkeeper can even the odds?”

“Absolutely. It wouldn't be first time he went to correct an error.” Blaise eyed his employee with a neutral expression before taking a looksee at the document. “You can ask Mr. Keller himself. He's here at my office as we speak.” The bookkeepper was slightly surprised when his employer had extended the phone for him to respond.

Mishaal grabbed the phone and leaned his ear, adjusting his eyewear out of nervousness. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Mr. Keller. I was just asking how long it would take for you to make a minor adjustment?”

“It depends. What kind of adjustment do you have in mind?” Mr. Keller asked while his employer had read the document before signing.

“Of course Mr. Taylor.” Mishaal replied, displeased with the petition he was sent out to do on behalf of the company.