Chapter 28: CHAPTER 28: GRAND OPENING
Standing on the steps of the Carmine Corporation's employee housing facility, David couldn't help but reflect on his past because of tonight's occasion.
Tonight was the gala ball for the grand opening of the "Creatures of the Night" exhibit at the Three Rivers Zoo. It had already been about a year since David's life took a dramatic change and he was uprooted from his previous job as an architect. Actually, it was more like a year and a half. He had spent several months in a coma before getting thrown into this new world. Now he had been training with his two mentors, Mr. Gauge and Mr. Lester, for some time and had even officially promoted to a Foundation Stage cultivator. David felt like he was doing pretty well in life.
"How do I look?", Karine asked as she got out of the limousine to greet David.
"You look magnificent," David said than smiled and laughed, "but I would rather go to a BBQ than a gala. While you look radiant, I feel like a waiter in this suit."
"You look fine. What's wrong with a gala? I like the parties.....I just don't like the large crowds of people. It makes me nervous," Karine responded as David leaned forward and gave her a kiss. He had tried to pull her into his embrace with his hand on her exposed back but she pulled away.
The "Creatures of the Night" exhibit at the zoo was special to both David and Karine, so they had decided to make the grand opening gala a big event. The pair had worked on the project during the design. Eventually, they ended up as a couple and have been dating each other for about 9 months now. The couple had gotten used to going on dates and really enjoyed each other's company. However to David's disappointment, Karine seemed to be sort of a prude and he didn't make it past a few kisses, holding hands and an occasional flirting in the time they had been dating.
David helped Karine get back into the vehicle before climbing in himself.
David couldn't keep from sighing as he scooted over to sit next to Karine. He was a small town guy that had always had intimate moments with the women that he dated. Karine seemed to shy away from any intimacy. After one date, he had tried to get her back to his place and was mercilessly shot down by Karine. David didn't know if it was something about him that Karine didn't like or if it was the looming threat of her father, William Carmine. As far as Karine is concerned, the old man had ....sort of.... threatened David's life once or twice before.
Regardless, he was starting to go crazy from a lack of intimacy. David had a feeling that it was about the way she was raised. The Carmine Family seemed to be very old fashioned in terms of relationships. Everything was formal. David was official an approved suitor. It was basically having the family's approval to date Karine with the potential for marrying her. Of course, Karine had the right to accept or reject a suitor. The Carmine Family wasn't that old fashioned and stuff like arranged marriages didn't happen anymore. Karine had a choice.
That said, David and Karine had several chances to get intimate with each other...but never did anything. David also attributed this to the way Karine was raised. Her mother had died when she was young, so she never got to see people show affection in a relationship together. David remember always seeing his parents showing physical affection towards one another: hugs and kisses were common between the two... his dad would even smack his mom on the ass sometimes...and David always knew that his dad would whisper naughty things in his moms ear...he would always see her blush after his dad whispered something. It was kind of gross to watch your parents like that, but it did set some sort of subconscious relationship exceptions for David. The longer Karine and David were together, the more he realized that he and Karine had some differences in terms of relationship expectations. Actually, it was more than just relationship expectations...
She was prim and proper.....he was brutish and impolite. She came from a rich family.....he came from a mid-class family. He had been in several relationships....this one was her first. She was raised in a large city....he grew up in a small town. She knew about The Other for her whole life....he only knew about The Other for a year. The more he looked at it, he and Karine really did come from two different worlds.
The differences did lead to a few awkward moments and some insignificant disagreements between the two. However, they both really cared for each other and enjoyed almost every second they spent together. They were both happy in the relationship.
The ride was pretty uneventful and soon the couple was exiting the limousine to enter the Three Rivers Zoo.
David and Karine walked up to the event center at the zoo just as the doors opened. The Grand Opening Gala was as expected when David walked into the building. The party was very fancy and proper. The event was decked out with a string instrument band, fancy catering and even an auction for expensive artwork. The Carmine Corporation had donated the money for the design and construction of the exhibit, but the donation did not include daily operational funding. The zoo was still trying to raise funding to staff the new exhibit and it was scheduled to open to the public in two weeks. David assumed that it must cost a lot of money to feed and care for a whole new exhibit full of animals.
Unlike the previous fundraisers David had attended for the zoo, this event was dialed up a few extra notches. Everyone important from Three Rivers City was in attendance. Naturally, all of these important politicians and business leaders wanted to greet Karine since her family wielded so much power in the city.
David couldn't help chuckle in his head, "If they only knew the truth."
All of these people didn't know that a whole different world exists and the Carmine Family controls one of the gateways for access. If they knew, they would probably loose their minds.
"How about we actually go walk through the exhibit?", David whispered into her ear in an attempt to get Karine out of the crowd.
"Great idea," she said smilingly before turning around and addressing the group in front of her, "Everyone please excuse me. I need to go tour the exhibit while I have a chance." Then, she immediately turned and left with David so they couldn't pull her back into a conversation.
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After a quick shuttle ride across the zoo, David and Karine arrived at the exhibit. The exterior of the building had a few displays showing what was inside and seemed sort of gimmicky, but they had to have something to draw the people inside.
As the couple entered the foyer entrance, they heard the voice of a narrator set the mood as the lights started to dim.
"The sun has just went down on the horizon and the night is now young. Let's take a walk in the night time woods to see what creatures lurk in the dark," the audio narrative played.
Stepping though the entrance, the first thing David realized was the smell. The smell of night was in the air, but something seemed off.
Before taking another step inside, David asked Karine,"Did they get the smell right?"
Taking a big breath of the air, Karine said, "Yes, it smells very nightly to me. They did a good job with the soil mixtures."
"Yep," David replied but he was still uncertain. Something just didn't seem right.
The couple kept walking and eventually came up to the first animal exhibit.
"Ooh, the raccoons...look David, they are so cute," Karine said.
David looked into the exhibit and saw a group of raccoon lounging about on the ground at the front of the enclosure. The animals looked so peaceful. They didn't look anything like the wild raccoons he had watched in the woods at his parent's house.
David shook his head and continued walking through the exhibit with Karine. Karine was absolutely in love with the place. David couldn't shake the weird feeling he had since he entered the exhibit.
"This exhibit reminds me of the walks in the woods with my mother," Karine said with a smile.
"I'm glad," David said. The awkward feeling he had had since that first smell of the air was driving him crazy.
After a few minutes of walking without David saying much, Karine started to realize that something was wrong with David.
Squeezing his hand, Karine asked,"Are you okay? Feeling bad?"
"No, I feel fine," David said warding off the inquiry, "it's just that something seems a bit off with the whole exhibit and I can't put my finger on it."
"Oh," Karine said while thinking. "I think it is the moonlight used for lighting this place," Karine said while looking up, "maybe we could ask them to make a few adjustment and it would look a little more real."
Karine's words hit David like a bolt of lightning. "That's what it was," David thought silently to himself, "this entire place seems so fake to me. This feeling of the fake night is driving me crazy. It's a feeling similar to when I execute the Doom Darkness skill and can sense danger. It is exactly the same.....but I can easily feel everything that is fake around me. What type of skill is this and where did it come from? The skill feels just as natural as my dream skill. Maybe the two are related?"
David sat there in a surprised daze trying to figure out the new skill that he had just randomly learned. After a few minutes in silence, Karine interrupted David's contemplation and asked if he was ready to go back to the party. They continued touring the exhibit as they made their way toward the exit.
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After finishing up the exhibit tour, the pair had taken the shuttle back to the party at the event center. Luckily, the two had seemed to sneak in and missed the flocking of the crowd toward Karine. The pair had only came back to the party for a few minutes when they found some of David's old coworkers to chat with.
While standing there having a casual conversation with the people who worked on the new exhibit, David heard a voice come from behind him and Karine.
"Hello, beautiful. I have been looking for you all night," a voice came from behind the couple as they were still standing together talking to a few of David's former co-workers.
"Excuse me," David said while turning around in realization that the comment was directed at Karine. When he turned, he caught sight of a group of 4 well dressed men that he had never seen before. He wasn't pleased with what he considered to be rude behavior.
David's former co-workers began to drift away noticing the possibility of a disturbance. They didn't want to be involved.
"I was telling Lady Karine that she looks beautiful tonight," the handsome man said in a dismissive way. With a wave of his hand, he followed with, "Why don't you go fetch us a drink so I can chat with her for a second?"
"What? Who do you think you are?" David asked. Was this guy trying to humiliate him in front of people? He was really starting to get pissed off at this guys cocky attitude.
"Since you seem to be uneducated.... I am Gabriel Carmine, the adopted son of Vincent Carmine.....the future CEO of the Carmine Corporation," the man stated.
"What do you mean by that?" Karine asked in a shocked manner.
"Your father is on his way out, beautiful. He put in the request to transfer to The Other a week ago," Gabriel said with a grin.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
BrokeButton
BrokeButton So I went with a couple month time jump in the story already........
....All sorts of things going on in the first chapter of the second volume....
....uncertain relationship expectations... check.
....new arrogant rival.... check.
....peaceful existence ruined....check.
Oh....and don't worry. It will get worse......a lot worse.....the volume is called “Conflict” after all...
Thanks for reading and sticking with the story though the first volume.
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