CHAPTER 4 - SABOTAGE AND SALMONELLA
Before I start the latest installment...
StarksLittleGirl - Thanks for the brief review. Sorry I can't do a ReeFin-only story because I already have my next few stories pre-planned (one is a more dramatic tale, and the one following will be a Stoked/Total Drama crossover), but I can do the next best thing - read further down to the second part of this chapter and you'll see. I could also work a ReeFin subplot into my upcoming story (the beginning of which will be linked to the ending of this one), so stay tuned. :D
Super Guest - Regarding Sabrina, wait'll you see what I have planned for Chapter Five... ;D
After finding David's forgotten iPhone on the couch in the Surfer's Paradise lobby and coming across a phone number for the film exchange he dealt with for movies while she snooped in the phone's address book, Sabrina decided to phone the exchange. Feeling in the mood for some mischief, she waited while the phone rang until someone at the other end answered the phone. "Good afternoon, Film Exchange, Denise speaking," a female voice spoke.
"Hi there, I'm calling for David Hughes at the Paramount Theatre in Sunset Beach," Sabrina replied, deepening her voice slightly to make herself sound a little older than her 16 years. "I'm his secretary, Sab...er, *ahem*, Sandy."
"Is Mr. Hughes available at the moment, Sandy?" Denise asked over the phone.
"Not at the moment, he's busy with a meeting right now," Sabrina said, which had a grain of truth to it as David was out meeting Fin at the hotel beach for his surfing lesson. "But he asked me to call your office for him."
"Okay, what can I do for you?" Denise said.
"I'm calling about the new science fiction movie, Big Steel 2," Sabrina said. "He had it scheduled to begin Friday night at the Paramount as part of a sci-fi convention going on this weekend at the Surfer's Paradise Hotel here."
"One moment, I'll check the schedule on the computer here," Denise said before pausing a moment to look on her computer. Moments later, she came back on and confirmed the information. "Yep, this Friday night, the Paramount in Sunset Beach. Didn't that used to be the Big Wave Theatre?"
"It was, but Mr. Hughes had it renovated and added on to," Sabrina said.
"Ah, okay then," Denise said. "Are you calling to confirm the booking for your boss?"
Right then, Sabrina kicked her prank into high gear. "No, actually," she lied. "He's decided to cancel the booking for it."
"Any reason for the cancellation?" Denise asked.
Sabrina, still masquerading as "Sandy" the secretary, was tempted to give some kind of convoluted excuse for cancelling David's movie booking, but decided to keep it simple. "He doesn't feel like the movie's right for the convention," she said.
"I see," Denise said. "Is there another movie he'd like to book to keep with the theme, then?"
"Uh, how about I have Mr. Hughes get back to you on that?" Sabrina said. "But he's clear on deciding to cancel showing Big Steel 2."
"Okay then, unbooking Big Steel 2," Denise said as Sabrina could hear some clicking on a keyboard over the phone. "If he wants to book it for a later date, have him call our office. We're open until six tonight."
"Okay, thanks," Sabrina said before she hung up. After finishing with her prank, the blonde girl then placed the phone back on the lobby couch where she found it, in the exact position where she first saw it when she spotted it after David left, before she returned to work. When she spotted David coming back into the lobby moments later, she was relieved to have finished playing her prank when she did, realizing she would have been caught and ended up in trouble had she remained on the phone a couple of minutes longer.
"That's where I thought I left it," David said to himself as he stopped at the couch and picked up his iPhone. "Man, I'm glad no one took it," he added with a sigh of relief before he pocketed his phone and walked away to return to the beach.
As she watched David leave, Sabrina tried her best to stifle her laughter after pulling off her prank, one which would not only adversely affect the sci-fi convention, but which would also, by extension, affect the re-opening of the Paramount. Oh, I'm gonna enjoy seeing what happens on Friday when the geek squad finds out the movie they came to see won't be playing, she thought to herself with another laugh before going back to putting the last of the convention decorations up.
Later at the hotel beach, David skimmed toward the shore on his surfboard after finishing surfing another wave, with Fin coming up beside him afterward. "David, that was great!" Fin praised him as he got off his surfboard. "You've really been improving your surfing skills in the last year since I started teaching you, right up to where you're even doing tricks on the waves now."
"Time and practice made all the difference," an elated David said with a grin while picking up his board.
"You can even enter surfing competitions now if you wanted to," Fin said. "With how good you've become, I think you could even be a contender."
"Whoa, I don't think I want to get that far ahead," David said with a small laugh. "I'll leave competing for trophies to the pros."
"That's up to you," Fin said with a shrug. "But knowing Reef, if he found out just how good a surfer you are now, he'd probably challenge you to a surf-off to prove your skills, so let's keep this under wraps and don't tell him, okay?"
"No worries, it's in the vault," David agreed.
"Don't tell me what, babe?" Fin heard a voice say from behind, then she turned around and saw Reef.
"Hey, Reef!" Fin said with enthusiasm as she threw herself at Reef and started kissing him. David watched the scene with some amusement, figuring that Fin was kissing Reef to try to make him forget what he heard her say.
"So, what did you ask me again, Reef?" Fin said after she finished kissing him.
"Ask...what?" a confused Reef said, seeming disoriented from getting smothered with kisses by Fin. The blonde surfer girl then turned and gave a grin and a thumbs-up to David, who laughed again at what he saw Fin do to Reef.
"Just when I thought I'd seen everything," David quipped with a chuckle. "That reminds me, you ever see that movie Big Steel?"
"Have I ever?!" Reef perked up with enthusiasm when he heard the movie name get mentioned. "Dude, I saw Big Steel three times back at home the first time it was out. I couldn't get enough of all those killer special effects, the giant robots, the laser fights, the ginormous explosions..."
Fin clamped her hand over Reef's mouth before he could finish. "Yeah, what he said," she commented. "That movie was sooo cool when I first saw it. I even have the Blu-ray of it at home."
"Then brace yourselves," David went on, giving a big buildup to his news. "Big Steel 2: The Annihilator's Revenge is debuting in town on Friday as part of the sci-fi convention!"
When they heard the news, Reef and Fin both broke into excited cheers, happy to hear about the upcoming sequel to the first Big Steel movie. "When did you hear about Big Steel 2?" Fin stopped to ask David while a frantic Reef ran around the beach in excitement over the movie.
"I got the inside track 'cause I'm the one who booked the movie," David said. "It won't be playing at the hotel though. I bought the Big Wave Theatre in town from the Kahuna last fall and had it renovated and expanded. Just ask Lo, she was there with me when I made the deal."
Fin gasped with surprise when she heard David's news. "No way!" she exclaimed. "You own the Big Wave now?"
"Sure do, but it's not the Big Wave anymore," David said. "I renamed it the Paramount during the renovations. That's the name it had before Kahuna bought it a few years ago."
"No wonder I couldn't see the Big Wave when me and the others came back to town last week," Fin said. "I thought it was gone and something else was built on the site as we passed by in the Whalebus, but it was there all along, I just didn't recognize it."
"And that's where I'll be debuting Big Steel 2 this Friday night," David told Fin. "Just wait 'til you see how the theatre looks now when you get there. You'll be blown away, I guarantee it."
"Awesome!" a thrilled Fin said. "Now I really can't wait to see the movie..." She then paused to look around and see Reef, still bouncing around with excitement like a hyper Daffy Duck. "...and neither can Reef, I'm sure," she quipped. She then went over and grabbed Reef to settle him down. "Easy does it there, fella," Fin told the surfer boy, just before she pulled him close and started kissing him again.
"O-kay, I think that's my cue to exit," David said with an amused smirk as he took his surfboard and walked away, turning his head a moment to look back at Fin and Reef as they continued kissing, before he went to rinse off the sea water on him at a nearby shower stall.
Later that afternoon, Kelly was on her way up to David's hotel room, bringing him an afternoon snack of cheese and crackers, apple slices and a bottle of citrus-flavored sparkling water from the Pirate Ship to boost his energy following his surfing lesson. She stopped and knocked at his door, announcing "Room Service" before waiting at the door. As she waited, Kelly could hear what sounded like a spirited phone call on the other side of the door. A moment later, the door opened and David let Kelly in with the tray of food.
"How can that be?" a displeased-sounding David said to whoever was on the other end of the line as he walked back to the middle of the room near his bed. "I had the movie booked for this Friday for the convention, and now you're telling me you don't have it available for then?!" He let out a quiet sigh of frustration as he listened to the response at the other end.
"Seriously?" David replied a moment later, sounding like he did not believe what he heard. "Will I be able to re-book the movie for then?" He paused to listen again, not looking satisfied with the answer he got. "Right, then. Can I call you back in a few minutes? I'm going to need that long to chill out and take this in."
"Wait, what's going on?" a confused Kelly asked after David hung up. "What's up about the movie?"
"Wait'll you hear this," David said as he sat down on his bed. "I called the film exchange office while I waited for you so I could confirm the booking for Big Steel 2 on Friday, and get this: The girl on the phone told me that the booking had been cancelled!"
"Oh, no way," a stunned Kelly said. "Did they say why?"
"I asked her, and she told me that my secretary cancelled the booking on my behalf, claiming that I said the movie wasn't what I had in mind for the convention," David explained. "But there's one problem with that - I don't even have a secretary!"
"Sounds like there must've been a mix-up at the office," Kelly said.
"I don't know," David said, shaking his head. "That may be, but something about this just doesn't sound right to me. To make matters worse, now I can't get the movie until next week at the earliest because another theatre snapped up the last available copy of Big Steel 2 just before I called the exchange."
"And the convention will be long over by then," Kelly pointed out.
"Exactly," David said, right as his iPhone began ringing again. After checking its call display, he turned the phone on. "Hello? Oh, hey Jeff," he answered, speaking to one of his employees at the Paramount. "Something wrong? You don't sound too good right now."
Kelly then sat down on the bed beside David, who listened to what Jeff had to say over the phone. "You're kidding," David spoke up after a moment. "They all did?" After a pause, he then said, "Jeff, you know what that's going to do to the opening on Friday night? You're all supposed to be on duty then because of the feature movie as part of the sci-fi convention here at Surfer's Paradise."
David listened to Jeff's reply before he spoke again. "Well, if it happens, it happens, I guess," he said. "Let them know I said to get better. Okay, sure thing." After hanging up, he then groaned in frustration, which made Kelly concerned.
"What's wrong now?" Kelly asked as she put her hand on David's shoulder. "Sounds like more bad news."
"That's the understatement of the day," David said. "That was one of my employees at the Paramount. He and the rest of the staff who were supposed to work the opening night shift had planned a party for last night to celebrate the Paramount re-opening. I knew about the party because he told me about it."
"So what happened?" Kelly said.
"This morning, my entire staff for the Friday shift came down sick with food poisoning," David revealed. "It turned out some hors d'oeuvres someone made for the party were tainted with salmonella because they forgot to refrigerate them before the party, and everyone who was there helped themselves to some."
"Ooohh," Kelly said, cringing at the mental picture she made of what she heard. "That sounds bad."
"Everyone who came down sick were told by their doctors to get a few days' rest, which means they'll have to miss work on Friday, and the second shift is busy elsewhere that night because they already made plans," David said, "which means I have no one available to work on opening night." With that, David hunched over and propped his forehead against his right hand, then let out a frustrated sigh. "This is great, just great," he moaned, worried that both the Paramount's opening night and the sci-fi convention were now in jeopardy due to the circumstances that befell them. "First the movie, now this. What next?"
Understanding what it meant to stress over work when running into roadblocks along the way, Kelly put her hands on David's shoulders and began massaging them in an effort to console her boyfriend. "I know how it feels, David," the Pirate Ship manager said quietly, thinking back to when they first met last year and how he helped her through her own troubles with work. "We'll figure out a way to get through this, somehow." As she continued massaging David's shoulders, an idea then crossed Kelly's mind and she figured out how she could help him...
Not looking too good right now for David and his plans for the re-opening of Sunset Beach's new and improved movie house, does it? Will Sabrina get away with her prank to sabotage the sci-fi convention's highlight event? See how Kelly helps David get back on track when we return...