[table][row][cell][/cell][cell][center] [url=https://fontmeme.com/handwriting-fonts/][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/260721/38bdbec6.png[/img][/url] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8c/86/83/8c868374f5aeec90306c86cabf095880.gif[/img][/center][/cell][/row][/table][center][right][color=gray][sub][color=silver][b]Location[/b][/color] [color=white]—[/color] [i]Pines Holler Fairgrounds [/i][/sub][/color][/right][/center][center][color=#0C823D]▅[/color][color=#0E8340]▅[/color][color=#108543]▅[/color][color=#138746]▅[/color][color=#158949]▅[/color][color=#188B4C]▅[/color][color=#1A8D4F]▅[/color][color=#1D8F52]▅[/color][color=#1F9155]▅[/color][color=#219358]▅[/color][color=#24955B]▅[/color][color=#26975E]▅[/color][color=#299961]▅[/color][color=#2B9B64]▅[/color][color=#2E9D67]▅[/color][color=#309F6A]▅[/color][color=#33A06D]▅[/color][color=#35A270]▅[/color][color=#37A473]▅[/color][color=#3AA676]▅[/color][color=#3CA879]▅[/color][color=#3FAA7C]▅[/color][color=#41AC7F]▅[/color][color=#44AE82]▅[/color][color=#46B085]▅[/color][color=#49B288]▅[/color][color=#4BB48B]▅[/color][color=#4DB68E]▅[/color][color=#50B891]▅[/color][color=#52BA94]▅[/color][color=#55BC97]▅[/color][color=#57BE9A]▅[/color][color=#5ABF9D]▅[/color][color=#5CC1A0]▅[/color][color=#5FC3A3]▅[/color][color=#61C5A6]▅[/color][color=#63C7A9]▅[/color][color=#66C9AC]▅[/color][color=#68CBAF]▅[/color][color=#6BCDB2]▅[/color][color=#6DCFB5]▅[/color][color=#70D1B8]▅[/color][color=#72D3BB]▅[/color][color=#75D5BE]▅[/color][color=#77D7C1]▅[/color][color=#79D9C4]▅[/color][color=#7CDBC7]▅[/color][color=#7EDDCA]▅[/color][color=#81DECD]▅[/color][color=#83E0D0]▅[/color][color=#86E2D3]▅[/color][color=#88E4D6]▅[/color][color=#8BE6D9]▅[/color][color=#8DE8DC]▅[/color][color=#90EADF]▅[/color][color=#92ECE2]▅[/color][color=#94EEE5]▅[/color][color=#97F0E8]▅[/color][color=#99F2EB]▅[/color][color=#9CF4EE]▅[/color][color=#9EF6F1]▅[/color][color=#A1F8F4]▅[/color][color=#A3FAF7]▅[/color][/center][indent][indent] [color=lightgray] Jenkins watched Callie for a long moment, saying nothing. A smile began to form at the corner of his mouth, not friendly, not amused, just patient. She was no different than the petulant teens who stepped into his office. Just older. Arms crossed, a look of confidence. She’d always been patient and smart, but he knew this was one of her performances. Lawyerly, he thought. She still wouldn’t call him Mr. Jenkins. He glanced toward the crowd, watching children dart between booths while their parents wandered after them. The sounds of the fair continued around them, blissfully unaware of the conversation unfolding between the principal and the attorney. [color=#0c823d]“You think this is about Mercer.”[/color] His eyes settled back on hers, wondering if she had anything to do with the man’s sudden departure from town. [color=#0c823d]“It isn’t,”[/color] he added. [color=#0c823d]“Mercer’s gone. Fine. But what concerns me is what happens next.”[/color] He took a half step closer, lowering his voice enough that only Callie could hear. [color=#0c823d]“This town’s been dying slowly for years. Businesses close. Young people leave, and young families only come for the fair.”[/color] Shaking his head, he added, [color=#0c823d]“Even you can see what’s happening here. Properties are falling apart while everybody stands around talking about preserving tradition.”[/color] He gestured out toward the fairgrounds. [color=#0c823d]“People eat their funnel cakes, watch the fireworks, tell themselves everything’s just fine.”[/color] He breathed in deeply, then shook his head.[color=#0c823d]“They’re wrong.”[/color] For just a moment, there was something new in his expression. Frustration. Maybe even concern. [color=#0c823d]“Pines Holler is running out of time. This isn’t about Mercer. It’s about who steps in to fill the gap.”[/color] Then, finally he added, [color=#0c823d]“And I intend to know where the mayor stands before somebody else decides for her.”[/color] Callie stood there patiently, looking back up at the man and analyzing his expression like she learned how to do so in the courtroom. He hadn’t seemed to change much over the years, but that didn’t come as a surprise. People like Jenkins didn’t need to change - for better, and definitely for worse. Her skin crawled as he came closer, but Callie held her ground. Listening to his words, she couldn’t help but laugh at his last comment. [color=A6FCFA]”You think people are influencing my mother?”[/color] She couldn’t help the expression on her face, caught somewhere between bewildered and cocky defiance. [color=A6FCFA]”The only thing - or things - that have ever been able to influence Natalie Shaw are money and smaller waist measurements.”[/color] She hadn’t ignored his earlier comments about the impending doom of Pines. They had stung, but not for reasons that would normally boost Jenkins’ ego. No. It had hurt just like all of the other things Callie liked to ignore and others liked to bring up. Like the horrible, incessant itch on scar tissue that you had thought healed years ago. [color=A6FCFA]”I don’t think you have to worry about anythin’,”[/color] the young woman stated dryly. [color=A6FCFA]”With the old lumber mill out of the way, I’m sure there’s a few plans the town has had that they can now go through with.”[/color] She wasn’t reassuring him, but merely sharing information. Or perhaps she was - though to save who the headache, she wasn’t sure. Callie didn’t care about Jenkins, nor her mother at the end of the day - so who was she trying to protect? Was she worried about Jenkins taking out whatever frustrations he had on Natalie? She wasn’t quite sure, and she absolutely wasn’t about to unpack all of that right now. [color=A6FCFA]”Old man Parton never wanted to sell out. Turns out, you don’t get much of a choice when you sign the business over and let your son run it into the ground.”[/color] Callie did the best she could to keep her tone from turning bitter the more she spoke, but it still showed through here and there. [color=A6FCFA]”That property has been key to a lot of plans over the years. I’m sure the mayor has great plans for the future of Pines.”[/color] On that last bit, she forced a small smile. While some people would consider her mothers plans ‘great’, Callie had actively opposed her mother on most of Pines' developmental plans. It wasn’t that Callie didn’t want her small town to grow or succeed; she just didn’t want the townspeople ran out of their homes, or the water sources poisoned. How anyone could ever deem results like those a success, she would never understand. Jenkins studied Callie for a long moment. He wanted answers; reassurance that his plans hadn’t died. He needed confirmation that Mercer hadn't taken the town's future with him. When the lawyer finished speaking, Jenkins didn’t respond. He was patient. There was a time and place for every action, every word, and years of being navigating parents, school boards and community forums had prepared him well. Callie knew something. Not the answer he'd come looking for, but enough of one. Maybe not everything, but enough to confirm what he'd begun to suspect. The Parton property wasn't sitting idle but from what the lawyer had just said, someone had already stepped into the space Mercer had left behind. His eyes drifted toward the midway for a moment before returning to hers. [color=#0c823d]"Interesting."[/color]he replied. His voice had lost much of its earlier edge. The principal was calmer now, more deliberate. [color=#0c823d]"You seem awfully sure there are plans."[/color] Jenkins pauses again as he looked at his former student, trying to see how much she knew. [color=#0c823d]"Mercer's gone, the mill's still moving forward..."[/color] He nodded to himself and inhaled softly, biting his lower lip. [color=#0c823d]"Which means somebody else is backing it."[/color] His gaze locked onto hers again. [color=#0c823d]"Who?"[/color] A single word hung between them. He wasn't asking casually. If his plans for the high school would ever happen in his lifetime it would depend on new money, outside finances investing in this town. His school. His stadium. The future of the town itself. All of it depended on that answer. Did Callie know something? Would she lie? What could he get from her? [color=#0c823d]"Developments just don't happen out here because a mayor has a vision."[/color] His tone remained level and calm as he breathed in evenly. [color=#0c823d]"They happen because somebody with deep pockets decides they're worth paying for."[/color] He folded his arms across his chest and looked at Callie more intently [color=#0c823d]"So who's buying Parton's land, Callie?"[/color] While Callie’s expertise wasn’t in criminal law, she had enough experience watching shitty dramas on TV to know that Jenkins was - in a way - trying to interrogate her. While she had been steadily losing interest in this conversation ever since she knew Jenkins knew nothing about Mercer, it was the way that Jenkins tried to force the information from her that ultimately made her done with the conversation. [color=A6FCFA]”I literally can’t tell you that,”[/color] she laughed, just a little defiantly. [color=A6FCFA]”It’s illegal for me to disclose that information - but you can google it when and if the deal is finalized.”[/color] Jenkins studied Callie for another moment before the corner of his mouth lifted into the faintest smile. She hadn’t answered his question, but she confirmed all that he wanted to know. Whether she represented the buyer or simply knew who they were didn't matter. The property was changing hands. Mercer had left, but someone with money had stepped in to fill his place. He gave a slow nod, [color=#0c823d]"Fair enough. Attorney-client privilege. You lawyers always have a rule for everything."[/color] He glanced toward the old midway before looking back at her.[color=#0c823d] "You didn't answer my question..."[/color]He paused before shaking his head slightly,[color=#0c823d]"but you answered it anyway."[/color] The smile lingered. The opportunity was still there. Gideon Mercer was gone, but a new investor, maybe investors, had stepped in. New families, new taxes, new growth. There was still an opportunity for renovations to the school, expanded athletic facilities, maybe even the new stadium. [color=#0c823d]"Somebody's buying that land. Which means Pines Holler is about to change."[/color] He paused before he added, [color=#0c823d]"Tell your mother I'll be looking for her."[/color] The longer Callie stood there looking at her formal principal, the more and more done she became with their conversation. It seemed that neither person was quite willing to show what cards they were holding, nor giving any real indication of what moves they were going to make next. The round and round wasn’t something that Callie really enjoyed outside of the courtroom or a buzzed philosophical debate with friends, and in this moment it was starting to become exhausting. Callie took a few steps away from Jenkins, paying for the piece of pottery she was looking at previously before responding. Stuffing her wallet back into her bag, the brunette did the best she could to fight the small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She had no doubt that he would wind up talking to Natalie sooner or later, but it wouldn’t be because she had helped him. [color=A6FCFA]”I’m sure she’ll be looking forward to that,”[/color] she quipped. Thinking of an escape from this conversation, she added [color=A6FCFA]”Ya know, I really should go put this in my car before it breaks.”[/color] She held up the piece of pottery as to show it to him, really trying to drive her point in. [color=A6FCFA]”And in the meantime, I can find Natalie.”[/color] The last part was a lie, but years of lying to authority figures and as a professional hopefully made that a bit harder to detect than normal. [color=A6FCFA]”Try and enjoy the rest of your night, Robert.”[/color] With that being said, Callie didn’t wait for a response back and instead began the journey back into the festival crowd. [/color][/indent][/indent][center][/center] [right][sub][color=silver][b]Interacting With[/b][/color][color=white] — Themselves[/color] [b][color=silver]Collab With:[/color][/b][color=white] — [/color][color=lightgray][@Stryder BC][/color][/sub][/right]