Disclaimer: I do not own The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Author's Note: I wrote this chapter almost two years ago, and when I recently reread it, I decided I should rewrite several of these chapters with more detail and perhaps a better plot. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
The next morning Jack woke to the smell of eggs frying in the kitchen. He checked the spot beside his bed to find Sally missing. Jack stretched and slowly got up realizing that as dark as the morning may be, nothing exciting would come his way as long as the Mayor was involved.
After dressing in his nicest business suit Jack made his way into the kitchen to find his darling wife setting the overeasy eggs on two pewter dishes. Zero sat a little ways down from the smiling redhead gnawing on a hog's rib.
"Morning, Jack!" Sally sang as she hurried over to hug her true love.
Jack kissed her on the cheek making her giggle. The two took their seats at the table ready to consume the delicious meal before them.
Jack picked up the newspaper simply out of curiosity if something out of the ordinary mundane that is their world occurred of late.
"Huh," Jack spoke after taking a sip of his coffee. "It appears Grim Reaper proposed to Undersea Girl last night. They expect their wedding to take place sometime in the Winter."
"How exciting!" Sally cheered. "I've been looking forward to another wedding."
"Strange, with Winter being his busiest season," Jack said then took another gulp of the coffee.
Sally placed her face in her hand. "Remember our wedding? How lovely it was?" She sighed with a grin.
Jack placed the folded paper neatly down on the table and took Sally's hand. He stared into her bright, wide eyes and said, "My wedding to you was the best day of my life." Sally's ruby lips extended into a smile almost as wide as her stitchline. "Well, afterlife."
Sally giggled. "Yes. The moment I took that vow I knew you would make me the happiest woman to ever walk the realm of the dead."
Jack stroked Sally's hair.
Sally's smile fell. "Which is why I was so worried when I didn't know where you were yesterday." She pulled her hands away from Jack and folded them together against her heart. "Anything could've happened to you." She rose her eyes to meet with the pitiful sockets that belonged to her love. "There's no way I could go on without you in my life." She glanced down at the table as her eyes began to water with the thoughts of Jack's removal from her pleasant life.
Jack's bony fingers lifted Sally's chin. "I promise I won't make you worry anymore," he said. "At all costs I will find a way to get in touch with you from now on if I have to work late."
Sally smiled.
The cuckoo clock on the wall chimed. The skeleton of a bird emerged from the hole announcing the hour with its moaning chirps.
"Oh, wow!" Jack exclaimed. "I didn't realize the time. The Mayor will have a fit if I'm one second late. Then I'll spend half the morning trying to calm his nerves." He scarved down his breakfast and hurried for the door. "I'll see you tonight around seven."
Sally gave him one final kiss goodbye and waved as he disappeared from her sight. Sally glanced down at the ring on her finger. She brought it up to the candlelight that illuminated their dull house and smiled. There was no doubt in their marriage nor with their endless love for the other.
--
Jack reached townsquare and walked inside City Hall. He hurried past the secretary and lobbyist before they had the chance to speak to him, until he reached the little space out front to the Mayor's door. He turned the knob and poked his head through the door to find the Mayor pacing around the area in front of his desk. His worried face played the dominant role as he muttered to himself.
Jack cleared his throat and stepped inside.
The Mayor jumped and ran up to Jack. "Jack, we have a problem!"
Jack raised his brow waiting for the Mayor to explain.
"It's almost Halloween, we have to get on schedule!"
"Mayor," Jack objected, putting his hand on his skull. "It's only the second week of November. We have plenty of time."
"November!" Mayor shrieked. "Oh no! How could I have let it slip that far?" He gripped his chubby fingers over the brim of his hat. "At this rate we'll never complete it."
Jack groaned. Every day he heard the same cries escape the mouth of the man elected into office. Every once in a while he just wanted to grab Mayor by the neck and shake some sense into that empty head of his. Still, Mr. Skellington kept his professional manner and simply made his best attempt to level his colleague's irrational thoughts.
"Mayor," Jack calmly spoke. "We get through this every year, don't we?"
The Mayor nodded.
"Then I assure you, as king of this town, the same will happen this year," Jack said with one hand over his chest and the other up by his face.
"But this year's is more complicated," Mayor retorted.
"I give you my word," Jack replied.
Mayor nodded and some of his anxieties dropped.
"Okay?" Jack asked.
"Okay," Mayor answered. "But we'll have to work late again tonight."
Jack rolled his eyes.
"If we do," Jack mentioned as the Mayor rummaged his desk drawers for the plans he thought up the previous night after Jack left. "I'll have to call Sally. She was so worried last night." He turned to meet the now happy face of the Mayor. "Is your office phone still out of order."
Mayor nodded. "But you can call her on my cellphone."
"Your what?" Jack asked not entirely sure if he wanted to know.
"This," Mayor replied handing the razer to Jack.
"What is this?" Jack asked eyeing the tiny device.
"It's a phone," Mayor replied.
"No it's not," Jack laughed.
"Yes it is," Mayor argued. He took the phone from Jack and showed him how to work it. "You press these buttons to dial then put it up to your ear to talk."
"No way," Jack said marveling at the gadget.
"You should get one," Mayor spoke. "I'd be lost without mine."
"I think I will," Jack said as if he were in a trance.
He thanked the Mayor and walked out into the hallway to make his phone call. From the moment he turned from the elected official until he closed the door and put the phone up to his ear he expected someone to pull a practical joke on him. Instead he yanked the phone away from his ear and stared into the speaker as he heard it ringing.
Jack placed the phone back against his skull and listened as the other party picked up.
"Skellington residence, Sally speaking," his wife answered.
"Hey, Sal, it's me," Jack spoke.
"Hi, Jack," Sally said. "Are you staying out late again?"
"Afraid so," Jack replied. "The Mayor's worried about the schedule. I don't see what the big deal is, we have plenty of time ahead of us."
Sally giggled.
"I'm sorry it has to be this way, baby," Jack said with a sigh. "But it looks like I'll be home around eight-thirty, nine."
"That's fine," Sally said twisting the chord of the house phone around her fingers. "I see that the Mayor's phone has been repaired."
"Not exactly," Jack replied with a sly grin.
"Then how are you calling me? You said there were no phones for you to get to."
Jack exclaimed, "You're not going to believe this! There's a new invention called a cellphone! Mayor let me borrow his. It's a phone you carry around with you and allows you to make calls from wherever you go!"
"Are you serious?" Sally shouted. "That's amazing!"
"I know, it's spectacular!" Jack cried. "The Mayor advised I should get one so I'd always be in contact with you."
"Probably a good idea," Sally suggested.
"Then I'll go into town tomorrow and buy one," Jack replied.
"Jack," Sally said gravely. "I know you're excited, but please don't start obsessing over this like you did with Christmas."
"Why would I obsess?" Jack asked.
"Just promise me."
"I promise."
Sally smiled. "Then I suppose I'll see you much later tonight."
"Yeah, I'll miss you," Jack replied.
They made kissing sounds over the phone then Sally hung up.
Jack took one last glance at the object in front of him. He wondered how long something of this magnificence had been around and how come no one ever told him of its existence sooner. It definitely was a purchase that needed to be made.
A whirring sound brought Jack out of his daydream. His eye sockets widened as he stared down at the many buttons on the body of the phone, leaving him hesitant to touch a one.
"Hey, Mayor," Jack called as he stepped back inside the office. "How do you turn this off?"