Early in the morning after the fateful encounter at Blueno's, Iceburg stood quietly alongside Kalifa. Several of the faces in the Galley-La Company Headquarters meeting hall were much like his at the time: drawn and faraway in thought. When Kaku had appeared outside the bar to warn Paulie of the foremen's meeting he never once imagined he'd be dragged to it as well.
I just couldn't have time to process all this, could I?
He sighed quietly and looked around the room at the Dock 1 foremen. At first glance they might seem like an odd mixture of characters, and perhaps they were, but they were exceptional in all areas of ship-building. While they were all full-fledged shipwrights each had their own niches and was in charge of overseeing different functions of the dockyard:
Rob Lucci, tall and lithe with winding tresses of black hair often worn under a neatly fit top-hat, was a master sawyer who acted as an unspoken authority of the foremen and also specialized in working with treenails and bolts; Tilestone, the foremen who's strength and skill seemed outdone only by the volume of his voice, was au fait in caulking, flag making and cabinetry. He was tan and meaty with a curiously greyed beard that contrasted his thick, messy black hair that was most often kept tied back from his face; Peepley Lulu, whose close-cut dark hair and thick moustache were miraculously well-kept that day, was a fantastic blacksmith who was also a seasoned expert in the areas of pitch, block and tackle...but also bavardage - he lived and breathed the gossip of the town; Kaku, the youngest yet seemingly most mature of the foremen took care of diagnostics and mechanics as well as house-calls, which was one of his favourite things as it awarded him so many opportunities to travel freely through the city and enjoy the time alone - the ginger-haired young man could often be spotted leaping high about the pavé from one rooftop to the next; and of course there was Paulie, the second youngest of the group but also the one with highest seniority considering his time with the company. His specialty was in rigging, knots, and masts but he also had an incredible knack for attracting trouble. The admirably unrefined blonde was loved by citizens and loathed by creditors and seemed to have fostered a balance of the two with those closest to him.
Though they had all grown to have a special place in his heart, Iceburg often found himself wondering how he'd have coped with all of his gutting losses if he hadn't met Paulie when he did - how differently things would've turned out for him, for the company, for the city. He suppressed a laugh when he thought of how odd it all was that things worked out how they had; how his life always seemed to circle back to his earliest days in Water 7.
"Good day everyone." Kalifa, one of the few who seemed well-rested and ready for the day, adjusted her glasses and looked over everyone present; there were scattered grumbles and salutations from around the room. "It's good to have you all here so promptly. Now, I know Lucci had meant this to be a foremen's briefing regarding Dock 1's plans for this year's Aqua Laguna, but as you can see Mr. Iceburg and I are joining in today as I've found there are some other matters to discuss that concern the entire company. We'll cover that quickly first and then take our leave so you can get your meeting started." She began to pass out stationary supplies so notes could be taken which seemed to annoy Paulie as he muttered something illegible and snatched up a pen like a child might grab a spoon to eat unfavourable vegetables in order to get their dessert.
Iceburg wondered if any of their nights had been nearly as eventful as his own for how run-in most of them looked. He rubbed his eyes and sighed. He and Franky had parted hours prior but he hadn't a moments rest since - he found himself constantly pacing, he couldn't force himself to sit for a moment regardless of the fatigue plaguing him. His mind was still stuck back at the old warehouse reliving every moment, every word; memorizing his altered appearance while rejoicing everything familiar. Being face to face with him again made his heart feeling as if the darkness had been briefly lifted from it - but in the end it still remained enshrouded as ever.
He's alive, but...dammit!
The warmth from the sunlight through the window and the peaceful scene it showcased beyond its glowing pane brought no ease to his mind; he felt the war waging within himself more harrowingly than ever. He looked out at the tranquil island and hoped with everything he had that things wouldn't get any more complicated than they already were.
He's not safe... the blueprints aren't safe! ...Why...What will it take!?
"Let's begin, shall we?" Kalifa's firm voice broke him away from his thoughts as she moved herself to stand at the head of the table to speak though only a couple of the others were even seated at it.
"It's too damn early..." Paulie leaned back and let out a loud sigh. "and I'm too feckin' tired."
Lucci glowered viciously at him after throwing a quick glance to Kaku. As usual for his persona as a Water 7 master craftsman he spoke in a comically high-pitched, trilling voice via ventriloquism. The conduit, Hattori the bird, motioned about in perfect time with him while they acted out speaking.
"If you're not cut out for it, then maybe it's best you don't come at all! You're more trouble than you are help most days anyways!"
Paulie shot the duo a dirty look as they sounded off several unbearable coos.
"HEY NOW, THAT'S UNCALLED FOR!" When Tilestone shouted it felt like he rattled every piece of furniture in the room - certainly every eardrum. "AFTER ALL, IF WE ALL JUST DIDN'T SHOW UP EVERY TIME WE WERE TOO TIRED THE SHIPYARD WOULD PROBABLY STAY DEAD SILENT!"
"...Tilestone, you wouldn't know what silence was even if you were dead." Paulie winced as he spoke and toyed with an unlit cigar he held between his fingers.
"OI, PAULIE!? DON'T YOU SEE I'M STICKING UP FOR YOU!? THAT'S JUST AS UNCALLED FOR!"
"Thanks, I guess, but still...the shipyard IS remarkably quiet the days you're not there. You're just too damn loud Tilestone." He nonchalantly pulled the straps from the goggles he kept on his head over his ears to drown out Tilestone as much as possible.
"It's true! He might be a delinquent but he's not always wrong! You are too damn loud Tilestone."
Tilestone craned his head back towards Lucci and Hattori as the bird let out some trilling coos that sounded eerily like a chuckle.
"ARE YOU TEAMING UP ON ME NOW!? I THOUGHT I WAS MEDIATING!"
Lulu chuckled from across the room.
"Anyways, Paulie may not always be wrong but he certainly is always in debt."
"LULU! IT'S NOT POLITE TO BRING UP A PERSONS FINANCIAL SITUATION LIKE THAT! HOW DO YOU THINK PAULIE FEELS!?"
"Heh! I don't know, probably pretty broke about now! Have you heard about what his latest - and greatest - loss was?"
"Oi!" Paulie jumped in his seat and pointed his cigar at him. "Don't even! I trusted you with that! I confided in you! Don't try to make it sound like you're some sleuth that figured it all out for himself!"
"LET'S HEAR IT!" Tilestone crashed his hands eagerly against the table and leaned towards Lulu.
"Tilestone!" Paulie shook his head in astonishment "So much for defending me."
"HAHAHA! YOU KNOW I CAN'T SAY NO TO GOSSIP!"
"Might we keep our voices down this morning?" Iceburg tried to say it gently, but his splitting migraine begged them to settle sooner rather than later and he feared his chagrin may have shown through - especially considering the topic. He sighed and reached to take a sip of his tea. Paulie was a good kid...but his gambling habits had landed them in some unexpected situations, that was for sure.
"Really guys, enough messing around. Let's just get down to business..." Kaku's hushed voice joined in from against a wall with his arms crossed loosely over his chest - Iceburg was surprised to see even he looked entirely worn through to the bone. He was lacking his usual bright demeanour - any other day he'd have long since joined in the teasing and joking. His hat was drawn low over his brow and though his eyes were shadowed it was clear they were red-rimmed and clouded with trouble.
"Kaku's right. Sorry everyone, I got off track with that tittle-tattle. After all, we're here this early for a meeting right? Let's not drag it out with this fighting and nonsense! We're more mature than that!" Lulu nodded affirmatively and slid his sunglasses up to rest on his forehead; when he did so Iceburg let out a gasp and briefly sputtered on his tea.
"IS IT TOO HOT, SIR!? ARE YOU CHOKING!? WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Tilestone, who had only just sank into a chair, rose from his seat so fast that it flew and clattered into the wall beside Kaku, who didn't flinch or even seem to take notice of the commotion in the least.
Iceburg stood with his gaze locked in abhorrence at the usual stray lick of hair on the side of Lulu's head; it seemed to migrate endlessly. He had no idea why but the hair was one of the most irritating things he'd ever dealt with. The roar of Tilestone's voice only amplified his annoyance. He realized he very badly wanted to just retreat to his room that doubled as his office and hide away from everything, everyone. Silently, he cursed Kalifa for insisting on his attendance. Though he cared deeply for the lot of them they could just be such jackasses at times - some days he felt like he was stuck in the eye of a jackass storm. Something told him that Kokoro must've felt the same way dealing with Tom's Workers. He forced himself to look away from the hair and mopped up the tea he'd spat up on his desk with a kerchief from his pocket.
"Your hair is sticking out, Lulu. It's...distracting. That's all. Please don't mind me though, let's just continue the meeting and - AUGH!" Iceburg was rudely interrupted as Kalifa's clipboard, apparently meant for Tilestone, rocketed corner-first into the side of his head before he could finish the sentence.
The spirited secretary cast a deathly look at Tilestone while she spoke.
"Too hot!? How incompetent do you think I am!? You dare accuse me of hurting Mr. Iceburg!?"
"UH...AFTER ALL" He eyed the clipboard nervously while Iceburg frowned and rubbed his temple. "YOU HURT HIM JUST NOW!"
"Excuse me!?"
She slammed her hands down onto the table and the teacup nearly flipped onto Iceburg's lap.
"It's nothing, really! Let's move on!" The tone in Iceburg's voice quickly turned to pleading as he caught the cup and saved his lap from the scalding hot drink but burnt his fingers.
"You're a proper idiot sometimes Tilestone, d'know that? What good was hollering to the heavens supposed to do either way?" Paulie spoke with the cigar now between his teeth; he promptly lit it when he was done. The smell immediately filled the room.
"Paulie! I told you not to smoke those in the headquarters! You of all people should know Mr. Iceburg doesn't like the smell!" Kalifa pointed a yellow-painted nail at Paulie, who jumped a bit and turned his gaze from her.
"Ah, shit...Yeah, that's right. Sorry, sir. I'm a bit stressed is all. Lot's going on these days..." Hastily, Paulie put the cigar out on the sole of his boot.
Iceburg offered a weak smile as the sight brought forth bittersweet thoughts of a certain volatile, raven haired boy.
"I understand, Paulie, I really do. It's just one of those things. The smell doesn't bother me as much as it did when I was young but it reminds me of someone who...well, let's just say although it seems they've changed and are trying to do better, and I've done my best to forgive them - for many things, there are some wounds that just never stop aching even long after you think they should be healed."
Everyone in the room looked at Iceburg in shock. It was easily the most private information he'd ever let slip to them.
"S-sorry, sir."
The blonde foreman wasn't really sure of what else to say. He'd wondered for so long if Iceburg even had a personal life or a family to call his own; the small reveal made him feel like he'd cleared a major hurdle.
"Really, it's fine. Don't worry about it." He gave a small shrug "Perhaps since you've taken up smoking as of late-" he finished his sentence with the brightest smile he could manage "I'll begin to associate it with you instead. I'd much rather that."
"What!? Y-you would?"
"Well...I suppose I'd rather you not smoke at all considering it's such an unhealthy habit to have...Anyway, Thank you Kalifa, but Paulie can do as he pleases. Let's just continue with this meeting, shall we? What's this all about?" He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen and began to aimlessly fiddle with it.
"Yes, sir. Thank you." Paulie, still at a loss for words, felt his face burn as he looked everywhere but at his mentor.
"How many times?" Iceburg laughed lightly "You don't have to call me sir."
Glances were exchanged around the room between the others but neither Iceburg nor Paulie seemed to take notice. Kalifa started again but her voice quickly faded into the background as Iceburg mentally kicked himself for saying what he had.
Why go and make room for any speculation now? Was it just a slip-up from being too tired? Maybe it's just getting too hard to hold it all in...
He frowned and looked on pensively at the world outside the window.
Imagine if there were psychic paparazzi and journalists. I'd be finished. Did I read a book about something like that once?I wonder if there's a telepathy-related devil fruit. I'm sure there must be; it seems like theres one for everything. It's like I hear about a new one every day...where do they even come from? I guess that's a strange thing to be thinking of right now. Maybe I've gotten too paranoid from all this to be worried about saying something so vague and minute. Well, either way, I have to be more careful to keep my thoughts to myself...especially now...I don't need anybody suspecting anything about either of those idiots.
He'd been so careful to keep to himself for so long; lately it'd felt like his mind and memories were the only thing that he truly owned and didn't have to share with the world - something that he could keep secret and dear without it appearing in a tabloid article. He hoped they'd just let it go and not discuss it further or ask questions.
"Sir? What are your thoughts on the matter?"
With a slight jump he abandoned his trailing thoughts and looked over to Kalifa who was staring intently at him.
"Hm? What are my thoughts about what?"
"About the fleet."
"Ah, yes. The fleet." he had no idea what fleet she was talking about, but he nodded and tried to look focused. "What of it?"
Kalifa adjusted her glasses.
"Shall I repeat it all, sir?" There was a glint in her eye as she raised her brow to him.
"Please do."
A tiny smile curled on her lip at the sight of his sheepish expression.
"Paraphrase?"
"Yes... thank you, Kalifa."
"Right. It will take a tremendous amount of manpower to build the number of ships requested for this company, especially considering the wildly varying customizations that are to be made from model to model. We're going to need - no pun intended - all hands on deck. A lot of other operations will have to be reworked into a new, strict schedule in order for us to be able to accommodate the contract on-time while keeping up with other commitments. All Galley-La workers are of great skill, but it's no secret that Dock 1 is regarded as the best. I believe it would be most efficient for the Dock 1 foremen to divide their talents among the lesser shipyards to ensure everything is running as smoothly as possible."
"Yes, I'd have to agree. That makes sense. Very well thought out as always."
"Thank you. However if we were to assign each formen a dock, that leaves two docks unattended. We're wondering your thoughts on that, sir."
"Well, I don't think that Dock 1 will need much tending to. As you said they are the best of the workers, not just the foremen. I'd still like for you to stick around there and keep an eye on things as much as possible though."
"I'd be glad, sir."
"That does leave one shipyard still unattended, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it does. We were thinking of reviewing the foremen from the other yards and deciding on someone that way."
Iceburg paused a moment and considered his restless body, his restless mind.
"I don't think that will be necessary. I'll do it."
"You?" Kalifa adjusted her glasses while she cast a sceptical look.
"Oh? Is it such a surprise I might do some physical work around here again?" Iceburg pretended to look offended and placed a hand on his chest.
"Just three times this week you've had me cancel everything - and everyone - in your agenda!" She narrowed her eyes.
"Well..." Iceburg laughed awkwardly and flashed a bright smile; she only shook her head like a disappointed parent and scribbled some notes.
She had quickly grown from what he'd first seen as a timid but straightforward secretary to a fiery force to be reckoned with over the past year she'd spent with the company. Each day it seemed she grew bolder with her authoritarian approach to him and the others and recently her disciplinary techniques had (quite obviously) become physical. She frightened Iceburg at times with her intensity but it also reminded him of how he'd acted as the senior apprentice of Tom's Workers and for that he felt he had no right to complain. Memories of how thoughtlessly cruel he could be still haunted him even with the knowledge that Franky had survived. A constant taste of his own bitter medicine kept him in line as a leader: placid, compassionate and forgiving...as much as possible.
"I'll not accept shirking on the dockyard! You'd better commit to this if nothing else!" She looked up from her notes just long enough to scold him.
Iceburg winced. If only she knew how deep the comment had truly cut.
"Hah! Yeah, don't we know it! Slave driver is what she is!" Paulie pointed a cigar at her "You've got no business out there on the yards telling men how to do their jobs!"
"Paulie..." Iceburg's eyes widened.
Kalifa dropped her hands to the table hard enough to rattle those resting against it.
"I beg your pardon!?"
Paulie rose to his feet and crumpled the paper he was (allegedly) taking notes on.
"Oh, I'm begging YOUR pardon!"
"You won't receive it!"
Iceburg backed away from the table as quickly as he could but recoiled as her shoe gracefully missed Paulie and made its way against his skull instead.
"KALIFA! AT LEAST AIM AT WHO YOU MEAN TO INJURE!"
"Woah, woah, take it easy! You're gonna do some real damage to him one of these days!"
Tilestone's protests overlapped with Lulu's but she ignored them both; her eyes shifted to a surprising calm. Upon seeing this Iceburg slid closer to the exit while Lucci wordlessly retrieved her shoe for her.
"Call me a slave driver if you will, but I will not tolerate that level of disrespect from a mannerless boor like you, Paulie."
"Oh, come off it! You're a bloody secretary - you haven't got the right to tell us shite! Especially dressed the way you do with your damn short skirts - geez! Wanna talk about disrespect!? Dressing like that while men are trying to - "
Paulie jumped and dropped his cigar as her foot, now clad with her deadly shoe once again, slammed down in front of him.
"Show some respect for our precious company if not me!" Her voice was husky and commanding in a way that succeeded her usual authority, Paulie tried not to show the shake in his hand. While he found himself getting her riled up more and more frequently, often without trying, this seemed different. Her rage could be felt all through the room like a volcanic storm and brought just as much darkness. "Perhaps you've grown too cocky with all Mr. Iceburg allows you to get away with, young man, to remember there are many, many workers here other than you -"
"Young man!? I - I'm only like a year younger than y-"
"MANY WORKERS HERE," she continued ferociously "and many of them are not men, and you are spitting in their hard-working faces by erasing them with such a statement! I'll not allow or forgive it!"
"I -"
"I won't hear another word from your mouth! Apologize!" She backed away from him but stood poised as if ready to attack, her face twisted in anger in a way previously unseen by her boss and colleagues.
Paulie stood statuesque and nearly white in the face despite his usually tanned features.
"Well!?" She leaned forward.
"IF HE APOLOGIZES THAT'LL BE ONE MORE WORD OUT OF HIS MOUTH!" Tilestone regarded her with both fear and admiration.
"The poor boy doesn't know what to do!" Lulu chuckled but adjusted his glasses among beads of sweat as he watched her gracefully approach the mortified blonde.
"PAULIE, SAY SOMETHING! QUIIIICKLYYYY!"
"Hoo boy! Let him die! He dug this grave himself!" Lucci was grinning wickedly at the spectacle.
"Kalifa, I'm - " Paulie nearly fell backwards when she guillotined the apology from his lips faster than he could think.
"THAT'S SEXUAL HARASSMENT!"
"Wait, what!? I was only -"
The room echoed with the open-handed slap that landed on his cheek. She turned from him brusquely and stomped a heel to the floor.
"Iceburg, sir!"
"Y-yes Kalifa!?" Iceburg peeked back in from the hallway he'd escaped to at some point.
"The meeting is adjourned! We'll discuss the details further..." she turned back to Paulie before turning her nose up and away once again "at another time!"
After their quick departure Paulie relit his cigar.
"Sheesh...dunno why she's gotta be such a bitch about it...it's not like there's any women working at THIS dockyard..."
There was a brief pause before Lulu's serious tone took him off guard.
"Paulie..."
When he looked up he saw all eyes on him. Kaku shook his head and sighed.
"Why is everyone so goddamn angry at me!?"
"Paulie," Lulu sighed and pushed his hair back, causing a second barb of hair to spring up next to his ear "First of all, you're an ass."
"What!?"
The others agreed casually.
"You've made so many remarks to her over time it's no surprise she's fed up with it. It's only a surprise it's taken her so long! How many times has she just turned the other cheek and walked away from you without a word? Secondly, there is a woman who works at Dock 1 now. Siobhán. She works on flags with Tilestone - brilliant designer and seamstress...she came to the bar with us just last week after that company dinner!"
"I only remember Sean being there other than you lot." Paulie looked confused as he breathed out a thick cloud of smoke.
Lulu sighed.
"You're...not very observant are you? It's almost like you don't pay attention to anything that doesn't directly involve or benefit you."
"Oi now! That's not true!"
"Siobhán used to go by the name Sean, yeah." He shrugged "That changed months ago though. She told everyone she was starting transitioning back then - you were right there. Everyone was congratulating her, asking what they should be referring to her as...did you really not notice!? You haven't been calling her Sean all this time have you!?" He looked horrified at the thought.
"He's not observant at all, that's why he's always losing out on bets!" Lucci piped up with what he knew would spark Paulie's anger. "Plus he's always so busy looking at Iceburg and Kalifa! When would he have time to notice all the changes she's undergone!? Long hair, makeup, posh clothing...anyone could hear the noticeable difference in how she talks! Everyone except piss-ant Paulie, anyways!"
"Hah! Fuck you and your hat, Rob. It's not that I'm unobservant, I guess I just don't understand all that transgender stuff. As far as I know, Sean - HEY!" Lucci brought him crashing down by his ear into the table.
"Don't ever call me Rob! You really are more trouble than you're worth if you can't even manage to respect something as simple as a name! Why don't you just resign if you have such an issue with it!? Siobhán is a hard worker and so are all the other women you're ignoring! Not to mention you haven't even considered all the others who aren't men or women! We've even had non-binary clients! Speaking solely in terms of 'man' isn't good for anyone here! As always, you're a stain on the company, brat."
"Oh you're right! I didn't even think about all of them either. Gosh, that's embarrassing." Lulu scratched his chin thoughtfully.
Lucci ignored his musings and ground Paulie harder into the table.
"You need to learn some manners! Iceburg should just toss you out on your ass! I don't understand why he keeps a bastard like you around!" The words accompanied by the sight of Hattori flailing his wings around sent Paulie into overdrive.
"Hah! Manners!? You need a goddamn lesson yourself!" Paulie escaped his grasp and reeled his arm back to land a heavy punch on Lucci but Kaku stepped between them and grabbed his fist.
"Enough. You're better than this, Paulie. Lucci...Lucci is right." He dropped his gaze to the floor "Treat everyone just as well as you'd like to be treated; isn't that something we all learned as children? Do you think she understands someone like you? Someone who's comfortable with the way they were born and raised? Someone who's free to exist without other people being cruel and denying that existence, dictating what they should or shouldn't be? I know I can't even begin to imagine...how she feels, I mean. I can respect her though. It must be very disheartening to try your hardest to be happy with who you truly are only to have other people try their hardest to make you feel sad about it. Shame on you."
Kaku's words and sombre expression plunged into his chest like a knife. He dropped his arms to his side as he continued.
"I mean...imagine someone who's close to you is transgender but you just don't know it. How would they feel if they heard you talking like that?"
"Oh...uh...I didn't mean it like that...I just - "
"MR. ICEBURG ALREADY SAID HE WOULDN'T LET ANYONE TREAT HER BADLY! YOU'D BETTER WATCH IT PAULIE, OR YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY END UP IN TROUBLE WITH HIM FOR ONCE! HAHAHAHA!"
"Yeah... and you wouldn't want that, would you?" Kaku crossed his arms and looked out the window.
"Oi! Just because you've never seen it happen doesn't mean I haven't gotten in shit from him! You've all been working here for what, a year now? Hah! You should've seen me before that, when I first started apprenticing under him! It's been like, three years eh? You don't know anything!"
"Well, well! I had no idea you've been under him for so long, Paulie." Lucci raised an eyebrow and grinned wider than ever.
"...Huh?" Paulie blinked a few times as poorly stifled snickers rippled through the room.
"You don't seem like the submissive type; I'd clocked you as the top!" As soon as the words left Lucci's mouth Tilestone and Lulu started roaring with laughter. Paulie's face burnt redder and hotter than the glowing embers at the end of his cigar. "Especially with how keen you always are to get use out of your ropes. What do you think, Kaku? Is he the top or the bottom?"
"I think we should just get this meeting over with and get to work." He turned his head away from everyone else as Lucci relished the look of pain on his and Paulie's faces.
Out in the hallway Kalifa cleared her throat loudly over the sound of the duo's clicking heels.
"I forgot to mention, sir... there was a letter for you on your door this morning." She adjusted her glasses and tried to hide the curious sparkle in her blue eyes.
Iceburg nearly froze but pushed himself to keep walking, unfazed as he could feign.
"Oh? How odd."
She seemed disappointed by his lack of reaction.
"You haven't been expecting anything...or anyone?"
"No, not that I can recall. You usually keep track of that for me." He laughed gently.
"Hm." For a moment they walked quietly until she turned to him again. "Do you want me to tell you what it said anyways?"
He couldn't hide the shock on his face. He raised his eyebrows, heart-rate climbing by the second.
"You already read it? My, but that's out of character for you, isn't it?" He tried to laugh it off with a wave of his hand.
It couldn't have been...did Franky come by again and do something so stupid so soon? No...would he?
Bright, pleading eyes shone in his memory and he couldn't help but smile.
He would. Did he say anything incriminating? What a mess this could prove to be, Bakanky. Why won't you just stay away? Find someone better than me...
"I suppose it usually would be, but there was no envelope." Kalifa adjusted her glasses. "I thought it was just a note you'd left out like you usually do on the days you sleep in. The handwriting was extremely similar."
"I see. So... what did it say then?"
"Your name, salutations, a time... It's all rather ominous, though it seems a bit too elegant to be a threat. I was wondering if you might...if you might have a better understanding of it."
"If I didn't know any better Kalifa, I'd think you were more interested in this letter than I am! You do sound curious."
"Sir!" She looked uncharacteristically embarrassed but her smile was bright.
He grinned back at her.
"I do enjoy a good mystery from time to time myself though, please show it to me and let's see if we can't solve the case for ourselves."
She nodded and like clockwork pulled it from her breast pocket. He immediately recognized the dramatic, swooping handwriting against the thick, embossed lavender coloured card. He tried his best to mask his shock as humour.
"You've had it all along! Heh. You are stuck on this, aren't you? Let's give it a good look."
She nodded and handed it to him.
"With the meeting being so early I thought it'd be best to hold out on it. I didn't want to overwhelm you so early on."
"Oh! Thank you! You're always so thoughtful, Kalifa."
Something in her eyes looked unhappy with the compliment.
"No, sir. Just thorough."
"Well, whichever way you want to look at it..." he read the words closely several times over, acting as if he was scouring for some small detail that might give him a clue as to who the mystery sender was "...I'm thankful."
'M. Iceburg.
My regards to you as always. Please join me at 8:30am.
C.'
He could hardly believe it.
There's no way. You!? There's just absolutely no way in the world. Of all the days you could possibly...and here I was just hoping there'd be no more complications!
He looked up from the paper and shrugged.
"It is a bit ominous, isn't it? Hm...should we just throw it out? It doesn't mean anything to me. There's not even a location mentioned if I did want to meet with this person!"
"I suppose..." She didn't seem ready to let it go. "It's odd though. They must've gone through quite a bit of trouble to get that to your door unnoticed. Aren't you worried?"
"If it's really important, I'm sure they'll try again soon."
He held back a heavy sigh.
It seems like he'll never stop trying...