Page 8 of The King of Halloween
“For this year. But what about next?”
“We’ll fix it then.”
Raj laughed at the idea of leaving a problem. Not for a day or two, but an entire year. That would eat through his brain like acid in a soufflé until he was a drooling vegetable.Oh, right, get more squash with the broccoli.
His notebook slammed closed, and Raj stared up at Logan standing over him. “This is for the haunt, okay. You need to go buddy up with…him.” He pointed to the man who’d called Raj “Chowder.”
Raj pursed his lips at the thought. “Why?”
“‘Cause that’s the mayor.” Logan started to push Raj across the floor toward the party. “And if we get an in with him, we should be able to snag those last few permits.”
“Permits?” Raj turned on Logan in an instant. “We open in a week. How do we not have all the necessary permits?”
“It’s no big deal. Just the fire marshal’s giving us the runaround. Schmooze. You do know how to do that, right? Big Hollywood guy that you are.”
Hollywood guy. Right. Schmoozing at parties. Like people would let a VFX artist anywhere near the glitzy red carpets. The studios probably feared they’d turn feral and bite the actors who’d suddenly get a craving to use Blackmagic Fusion.
Raj skidded on his heels toward a group of people engaged in that time-honored tradition of not wanting anyone else to join in their conversation. Voices chuckled, and the man in the middle said, “That’s not my grandmother. That’s my vampire.”
Everyone broke into raucous laughter at what must have been a great joke. Having only caught the punchline, Raj gave a little chuckle. The group started to open, and he caught who was delighting everyone with his sharp repartee. Adam Stein held a glass of something amber with the air of an heiress about to cut down every hanger-on with just his tongue. Raj’s cheeks burned at the intensity. Fear and embarrassment that Raj was about to be his next target circled around him.
It was also disturbingly hot. A dressing down from that lithe man in the impeccable suit…You’re here for a job, not to browse. Focus.
“You made quite the impression at the parade, Mr Choudhary.” Adam lifted his glass and eyebrow with the impact of a gunshot to the chest.
This is stupid. I’m a grown man. He’s not even my type.
With a care, Adam swept his sharply parted hair to the side, and his gray eyes gleamed like a river of mercury under the bar lights.Okay, fine. He’smaybemy type. And they’re all waiting for me to talk. What was the topic again? The parade.
“Not as big as yours,” Raj said. He’d only taken a few quick glances back at the royal throne and the pumpkin man on it, but Adam had looked like a king, no doubt.
Raj put on a smile to back up his compliment when everyone went stone silent. They were glancing back at Adam, then zeroing in on him.Oh no, what’d I say now? Am I looking at them too much? Not enough?
A good dozen or so emotions flipped across Adam’s face. He circled his finger around the rim of his glass, then he smiled. “Ha. Good thing I landed on my gourd, huh?”
“Your gourd!” A woman in a cloud of perfume laughed and smacked Adam on the back. He winced hard at first, but tried to play it off like it was a joke.
Oh, darn. Right. He fell off his float as the throne fell. Raj remembered that. Sort of. His float had been driving away when it happened. By the time he’d noticed, people had already helped Adam back onto his seat. Though he’d held the flattened pumpkin head in his lap the rest of the route.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean your fall. I was only—” Raj started to explain when Adam swept him up. He didn’t just stand close, but took his arm.
“It was a delight to see one of my masks in the parade. And on one of the best floats, too, no less.”
“One of…?” The woman from the parade setup snorted under her breath. Adam glared at her, and she didn’t flinch.
“Oh, was I not supposed to wear it? I just, I thought it was perfect for the day. With the sun and the colors.”Great going, Raj. First big introduction in town, and you’ve managed to break every unspoken rule.
“Don’t be silly,” Adam laughed at him. “They’re meant to be shown off. Thus, everyone in the crowd knows where they too can get their own one-of-a-kind Halloween mask. It’s the best store in town.”
Raj hadn’t meant to buy anything that afternoon. He’d just heard about the store when he got into town and had had some time to kill before the parade. But the second he’d seen that mask that seemed to break all the laws of physics he’d learned in college, he had to have it. Getting to meet the owner was a nice perk.
“It’s a really beautiful mask. All of them are.”
“Thank you. And everyone else can see them on October first, per usual,” Adam called to the bar that didn’t seem too interested in his announcement. “Now. What’s this I hear about a haunt in Anoka?”
“Ah. I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Raj said, nervously scratching at the back of his head. “Who keeps putting cats in bags anyway? That’s inhumane. And going to cause blood loss once the cat’s out.”
Adam stared at him, and Raj gulped. He forgot the topic again. “My haunt. Yes. I bought the old Rushford Hotel and am transforming it into both a classic haunt and an overnight experience.”
