Mr Mayor shook his head in confusion as he briefly scanned another envelope addressed to him before tossing it into the already full waste paper bin.
It was one of many angry letters addressed to him and he had made a point of not bothering to read any of them anymore since the ones in the recent days had become so full of insults and demands that he resign right away.
Resignation, his most hated word which he had made a point to his personal assistant never to say out loud while she was his worker. Just seeing it written on a piece of paper before his eyes, brought shudders down his spine.
What a terrible word to have to read. What a stupid idea for the people who loved him so greatly, to even think about putting on a letter to him.
No one had run against him for so long, so why should that change now?
He heard that strikes against him had become much more serious this morning, and that the previously fairly tame civilians who had began showing rebellious sentiment against him seemed to be much more aggressive by now. Some were even carrying improvised weapons, his assistant had told him.
"Just put a couple of guards in the city." he had told her "I'm sure it's nothing serious, but just in case they think about trying anything silly."
She had carried out his order without question of course. And soon a few regiments of fairly well equipped and well trained men had been dispatched to go and apprehend the citizens and to take a bit of force if they seemed too enraged or jumpy.
He had sunk back into his easy chair after that, expecting this peculiar situation to die down soon as he closed his eyes and drifted back into his morning nap.
But less than 2 hours later, the assistant had seemed almost out of breath as she rushed back into his office explaining that the the protesters were getting all the more restless by the hour and that they had responded badly to the earlier forces he sent to contain them.
"Put a few more guards up." he wearily ordered, stifling a large yawn. "There can't be too many of those silly people out there. And tell them that I'm not seeing any visitors today since its Sunday."
His assistant on hearing this, seemed very downcast and forlorn. Her mouth seemed to want to open, as if trying to tell him something but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand as he took out a pickle jar and a fork from under his desk.
A good snack eaten in peace and privacy, would help him recover from the stresses that this bleak news had brought upon him he told himself. The guards were just an additional security measure to be completely safe just in case any of the people did have their own senseless agenda.
Better to be safe than sorry was the old saying his people kept telling him to follow, right?
He was sure that seeing the few well armed men he still kept, would quickly bring those few that opposed him for some reason he could not fathom to their senses once more. He didn't need that many security guards when those three girls with superpowers had proven so able in defending the city from threats already, and could be reached with a click of his phone to arrive in a jiffy.
That was good. Security guards and weapons were expensive and those nice girls were saving him oodles of money. He might have been the mayor of a large city, but that didn't mean he was made of money did it. And who was to say that he didn't deserve his share of money to spend on his own stock of luxuries, he worked hard and surely deserved a little bit for himself. Being in charge of a city this filled with trouble, was quite the tiresome life after all.
Surely people understood that.
But even as he wearily opened his eyes and stretched himself, a loud banging was heard at his curtained window. The banging continued, getting louder and louder. Whoever was at the window seemed incredibly impatient to get in and seemed only seconds away from trying to smash the window down instead of politely knocking.
Mr Mayor scratched his mustache thoughtfully as he tried to ignore the noise. This was a very tall building after all, and as far as he could tell there was no easy way for anyone in their right mind to climb up that high to the floor his office was situated on. If someone really wanted to see him, surely it would be more logical to just knock the door instead.
"It's me. Bubbles. Please let me in." came a high pitched and sad plea from outside.
The voice of one of those three nice girls who always came when you needed them most, and who Mayor knew he'd be lost without. Three young heroes who were more than happy to carry out the incredibly urgent "operation Gherkin" as many times as it needed to be carried out.
Maybe she would give him some good news to talk about on this bleak day.
"Oh no problem. Let me just get that window open for you." replied the elderly man, as he made his way to the window and drew back the curtains revealing that it was indeed Bubbles hovering outside, her head hung low so that her face was hidden from his gaze.
That was odd, thought the mayor. Bubbles was known for being the happiest citizen city wide, she had even won a trophy for it last year. So what could have upset the poor young miss so greatly? A few slightly crazy ruffians wasn't anything to ruin a good day for anyone.
"I'm sure glad to see you here." admitted the mayor happily, as he opened the window to let the blonde girl in noticing how her head was still down and her gaze refused to meet his own as she wearily glided into the office, taking a seat on a plain wooden chair in a corner of the room.
"Is something the matter?" asked the mayor worriedly, when he saw that she still refused to look directly at him but kept her head bowed even still.
It seemed to take Bubbles a while to realize he had just said, as she breathed a deep sigh, the only sound she had made since she entered the room.
Still with her stare fixed on the expensive carpet on the polished mahogany floor, she eventually decided after several long tense seconds to deign to reply.
"It's over Mr Mayor. All over." she said, her voice weak and sad.
Mayor smiled. "Well that's a relief." he replied "I knew you'd find a way to sort the mess out eventually along with your sisters. Those guards really don't know how to do your job well now do they. So what did you tell them?"
"Don't misunderstand me please" her voice was stronger this time and seemed on the verge of breaking into a shout "You know that what's going on outside is your fault. Mr Mayor, it's your fault that all this is happening. It's your fault that so many people are being killed outside."
"Killed?" gasped the mayor shocked that a girl so young was prepared to use such a strong and morbid word so readily "What do you mean? What's happening?"
"Instead of listening to what they had to say, you do this to them. How can you live with yourself Mr Mayor? Don't you have any shame?" shouted Bubbles suddenly looking up, sending a shiver up the mayor's spine with a cold and icy stare "Is this what you're willing to do so that you stay in charge and no one runs against you? Is that it?"
Mr Mayor could not have predicted that this would be how Bubbles would have reacted to his innocent enough question.
But what surprised him most was how a girl so young was already asking questions so complicated and mature. Just what interest did Bubbles have in a touchy subject as delicate and complex as politics? Why was she asking these questions now of all times when there were riots stirring outside, and potentially dangerous riots too.
"Um Bubbles. Why are you asking all these questions?" Mr Mayor managed to reply, beginning to fear that this conversation was quickly turning into a cross examination instead.
An interrogation that no average girl the age of Bubbles and her sisters, should have been conducting.
Bubbles avoided the bait though, and refused to shift her stony glare from his quivering eyes. "Tell me Mr Mayor. Why are you doing all of this? Just why?". Her voice was lighter this time, but that made it no less dangerous. "Don't you care about all the lives you're putting at risk?".
Mr Mayor shook and convulsed as Bubbles's pale blue eyes seemed to stare into his very soul.
He tried to bring himself to reply, to say anything to calm the upset and agitated little girl down again and reassure her that everything was alright.
It came out only as a frail and almost silent gasp as he almost bit his tongue out, breathing heavily to try and steady himself.
"It's over Mr Mayor." she repeated, ruthlessly disregarding the nervous state of mind she had put him into "Like I said its..."
She was cut off by two brightly covered sparks which she managed to see in the corner of her eye, homing in on the window that had been left wide open to let in some fresh air.
They got larger and larger as they swooped at her, eventually becoming more human shaped and clear as they neared the window, and without asking permission they glided gracefully in through the still open window without slowing down, leaving a very surprised Mayor as they flew into the room, barely managing to stop as they very nearly collided with their sister.
Bubbles didn't need to wait for the two girls now standing before her already beginning to glare at her sadly to realize why they had followed her here and what they were about to say.
She knew it couldn't be good.
Thank you so much once again for reading. The next chapter may take a while with all the stresses of university and coursework kicking in.
These take a lot of time to check and write, so please any comment would be very appreciated for support.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts about how the next chapter will turn out. I will see you soon. Bye.