The Sultry Stranger (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 8: A Night on the Town

I've turned into my father. I sit at my desk making a million and one phone calls and writing down details as I go, arranging Emmet's birthday celebration had been an absolute mess. Making this night shouldn't be as hard as it is, it was supposed to be simple! Dinner and a movie, not a trip to Mars, which I might need after today. Its already 3 in the afternoon and I still haven't call the restaurant to change the reservations from 3 to 8. How am I even going to swing that? I can see if I were inviting one extra person but 5! That'll be next to impossible, i mean its opening night and Neptune's Chamber is suppose to be the the most "Fetch" resturant to hit this city. And its a seafood place! How can you not want to go there? But back to the problem at hand, these reservations. I take a deep and calming breath before dialing the number to NC.

The phone rings about 2 and a half times before an older man answers. "Hello, this is Neptune's Chamber, how may I assist you?" the man says sounding like he's practiced that line a million times. "Hi," I begin, "my name is Joshua Bennet, I have a reservation for 3 for tonight at 7 and I was wondering if I could make an alteration." The man types something on his computer and replies, "yes, when would you like to have your reservation changed to?"

"No no, I didn't want to change the time, I'd like to change the number of guests." the man is silent for a second then speaks again, "We are completely booked, it is opening night. If your like to change it to another day then I may be able to do something for you bu-"

"Oh please Mr. Resturant Man, this is for my best friends birthday! It has to be perfect and if I don't fix this then he might kill me. Like, legitimately murder me," I beg. The man doesn't say anything for a couple seconds before telling me to hold on. I can hear him speaking with another person, a woman, about the ordeal.

After deliberating for a couple moments the man returns, "My boss has informed me that in order to accommodate for the inconvenience you will have to pay an extra $200 for the extra guest."
I gasp and nearly die choking on my own saliva, "$200! But I need to add 5 guests!" I exclaim
"5 GUESTS", they both exclaim right back at me. The woman takes the phone and says, "No can do, sorry. There is no way we can accommodate for 5 extra guests when the resturant is already completely booked." I start to panic, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO. Emmet will never forget me if I don't get us into this new swank resturant, he didn't even want Avi and the others to come. If I disinclude Avi and the others then I miss an opportunity to be with him. If I mess up the reservations then Emmet will hate me for life. Think fast, what can I say to convince Mrs. Resturant Woman to let Pentato... Thats it!

"Wait!" I say urgently, "What if I told you that the extra guests are celebrities?" The woman on the other end scoffed at me, "look, I know you're desperate but lying will not change-"

Tapping into my inner salesperson I cut her off, "Oh im not lying, how would you like the grammy winning pop group Pentatonix to dine at your resturant opening night? The publicity will make your opening night an absolute hit and the press coverage will put Neptune's Chamber into so many articles and news stations that you should be paying us just to dine there. They were number one on the Billboard hot 200 and beat Demi Lovato. They are the real deal. Have I convinved you yet?"

I can hear the man talking about the sing off to the woman and confirming all of my very persuasive comments. I can almost feel the woman purse her lips through the phone, "Fine, table for 8 in the VIP section it is. But if this turns out to be a lie, I will ruin you."
"Of course, Ma'am, you wont regret it. See you tonight at 7 then." I clicked end on my phone and let out a sigh of relief. That was stressful. But hey, I got the reservations done AND I got us in the VIP section. Not bad Josh, you deserve some coffee for that.
I cant wait to tell emmet about the... Oh my god, Emmet. How is ge going to feel about press coverage? I totally spaced! All he wanted was a quiet dinner and movie with his two closest friends.. Now all hes going to have is a meal with one close friend and 6 strangers.