Truth be told, the journey out from Trussel was very quiet for the two Harker siblings, as all that was between Trussel and the town of Grapewood was a long stretch of country road. When it came to calling Gloria, it turned out she was really busy dealing with “a new restaurant in town”, but was mostly fine with her taking a small vacation, since she had been so loyal. Still, she wasn’t completely without suspicion, leading to a third person coming along in the car.
“Ugh… well at least I can tell who the new competition in town is to Gloria. Still are you sure your not acting against us with this?”
“I keep telling you, I have no intention of ever betraying her! I’m just coming to visit family!”
Sent off by Gloria to keep a eye on Nicole, Cheryl was a bit frustrated when she overheard that her boss’s second in command was sisters with the woman in charge of the very business giving said boss trouble. To the new intern it was a awfully huge coincidence, and in spite of the elder Harker sister’s insistence, she still had her doubts.
Either way, she couldn’t do anything about it. After all, there was no connection out on the countryside, and as she found out upon the car finally making it’s return to Grapewood, there was still only one phone tower back from when she and her brother lived there, with spotty connection. However, there was one big difference she did certainly note from the past as the car pulled up to it’s destination.
In the past, when there was only one Andromeda Bites, Grapewood was small and not really notable, with only the town hall as any real big building of note. Now however, there was a second big building, namely a small mansion built on the outskirts, in a rather weird circular shape.
“This is where you live?” Cheryl asked, looking up as she got out of the car. “Ok, so not only are you a possible threat, but your also loaded.”
“It’s not my house!” Nicole yelled, a bit peeved. “Believe me, when I went and joined Gloria I gave up any chance of earning money from this chain, and I’ve had to earn everything back to be her partner!”
“So it’s your house then?” Cheryl said, turning her attention to Ramona instead.
“Ha! I wish! Nah, I had to move to Trussel too in order to run the new branch. Cause of that I rented a room in that fancy hotel, you know the one.”
“Ah, so you got one of those rooms at that Hamm-“
“The details aren’t important.” Ramona said, holding out a hand to shut Cheryl up. “No, the person who lives here is our mom, Eve. How she was able to afford it I don’t know, but when she’s not talking with shareholders or conducting interviews she lives here, with her sisters, father, and Cousin Polly.”
From there the air grew quiet for a bit, before Nicole tried her best to move things on. “So, who wants to go inside? I’m sure Mom’s a bit tired of waiting for us, isn’t she?”
“Very well…”
As the three made it towards the entrance of the Harker Estate, Ramona walked up to a small pad to the right of the door before putting her hand down. As the pad scanned the brown-haired woman’s fingerprints, a few bolts on the door unlocked, before it simply opened. Taking her hand off the pad, Ramona simply sighed as she turned to the other two.
“Sorry, Mom’s always been a stickler for security. To be honest, I find it myself to be a bit of overkill, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m only in charge of the restaurants after all, not the business side of Andromeda.”
From there, the three made on their way to see Eve in person, passing through cold metal hallways now that they were inside the building. For Cheryl this was a bit creepy especially with the futuristic looking ceiling, but to Nicole, she was more used to her mother’s technological fashion sense, and did not heed any mind of it.
Eventually, the three made it to a central room, where in the middle of it sit a big round table. Most of the chairs were empty, but there were two chairs that had women sleeping in it, each looking to be about as heavy as Nicole herself was. As for who they were, Nicole recognized the one to the right was Cousin Polly herself, who’s pear-shaped figure left filled the chair completely, though she did not recognize the woman to the left, who had a much more top-heavy figure.
And in the middle of those chairs was a third chair swayed backwards, with someone in it. With the three women inside however, the person in it finally swung the chair back in the other direction, ready to say hello.
“Ah, it’s so nice to see you again, little Nicole… how’s Gloria treating you?”
Sitting in the center chair was Eve Harker, the mother of both Nicole and Ramona. Only barely taller than her elder daughter at 4’11”, she actually weighed a bit more at around 280 pounds, settled in a perfect hourglass figure accompanied by a soft gut. And unlike Ramona, she did nothing to hide it, seeing it as very motherly and comforting.
However, as Cheryl herself looked at the woman, she was a bit surprised at how… young she looked. From what she had heard between the two Harker siblings, the woman was 49 years old, and from that age she expected a woman who was in her autumn years, with greying hair and a few wrinkles. However, in spite of her age, the Harker matriarch looked as if she was only 21, with the youth of a woman half her age and impeccably smooth skin.
“Oh, who’s that?” Eve continued, turning her gaze to Cheryl. “Some sort of lover perhaps?”
“No, she’s… she’s just someone who came to visit town.” Nicole lied, causing Cheryl to look surprised a bit at her. “We work together, so I offered her a ride. Do you perhaps have a room for her?”
“Absolutely! If she’s a friend of you, I’d be glad to help her out! What’s your name?”
“Cheryl.” As she replied, the woman sighed in relief as Eve seemed to believe her now not as suspicious co-worker. “I came here to… see my brother. Gene Allen.”
“Ah, Gene, the greatest employee who ever worked for this company. I’m afraid to say this, but he’s no longer working for us and has moved out of town, but I can still offer you a room for the night if you wish.”
“I see, that’s a shame.” Pretending to feel sad, Cheryl secretly held a thumbs up to thank Nicole before saying something else. “If I may ask though, you certainly look… quite youthful for your age. And what’s with the-“
“This collar is simply fashion and nothing else!”
Having been interrupted before she could even bring up the two women nearby her, Cheryl finally noticed the thin circular collar around her neck, which appeared to look rubbery yet had a blue neon line that glowed on it’s exterior. It certainly was weird, but not quite what she was asking, and now that the Harker matriarch had warned against asking about it, she certainly wasn’t gonna bring it up.
“Uh… I was referring to the woman around you, not that collar. Sorry…”
“Oh. Well, sorry for the outburst.” Snapping her fingers, Eve summoned four chefs into the room, carrying over a feast for everyone in the room as if she was expecting them. “Well at the very least, there’s no ill will then, right? At the very least, let me invite you to our dinner. Oh, that reminds me. Ramona, Nicole? Can you go gather up the rest of the family?”
“Of course!” Both woman answered back, as the two Harker siblings went out to gather their family up. This left only Cheryl left with the Harker matriarch, and as she looked up to Eve she certainly felt a bit nervous. The woman seemed calm and collected, but judging from the outburst at what she perceived as a comment on the collar, that was likely not the case. It kind of reminded her of… well, it reminded her of Gloria.
But at least Gloria was someone she knew and learned under as a intern. Eve however was someone she had just met, and as the mother of a fellow rival, it just didn’t set right…
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