If anyone had asked him, on Friday afternoon to place a bet on whether the rest of his Friday would be anything except ordinary, he would have lost his money. He had no reason to suspect that anything unusual or exciting would occur.
In fact, David was not looking forward to his business meeting later this evening at all. If he was honest with himself, he didn't want to invest money in a club owned and ran by a bunch of blood- sucking vampires. It had less to do with worrying about making a good money decision, and more about his personal views on vampires as a species.
He felt like vampires were sneaky, underhanded, and untrustworthy. But, when he blocked his feelings out and tried to think rationally, he knew it was something he had to do.
For 300 years, there was war between the vampires and werewolves. It was bloody, and cruel. There had been so many casualties, and not just of vampires and werewolves.
Tons of other creatures got caught in the crossfire; from magical ones like witches and wizards, to humans, to the local fauna.
His grandfather was one of the men responsible for helping put an end to the war. His grandfather had been in his 30's then, and his father a 10-year-old boy.
This war from the past had an impression on Davids' upbringing. His father was very strict on his views of right and wrong. He disapproved of selfish behaviour. He made sure that David was well schooled in things like thinking before speaking, considering all pros and cons of a decision before following through, and most of all politics, ethics, and the art of negotiation.
David knew that though the years had passed since the end of the war, there was still only an uneasy peace in place. His wish was to cement the foundations of this peace, to make it strong and prevent it from crumbling, once again into a destructive war.
It was with this in mind, that he decided it would be a good demonstration of good faith for him, the current Alpha of his pack, to invest in a business owned and operated by vampires.
It was after some research that he decided that The Red Goblet was as good a business investment as any. He knew if he was going to preach the message of peace between werewolves and vampires, he would have to walk the walk first and set an example.
It was a week ago, when he contacted the owner of The Red Goblet, and informed him of his interest in the business, that he hoped to arrange a business meeting with him personally and wished to discuss the possibility of investing.
Two days went by, before he received any answer. He let out a sigh of relief, after he read the answer. The meeting was to take place at The Red Goblet on Friday night.
An hour before the business meeting on Friday, David knew that he was as prepared emotionally, mentally and psychologically as he was ever going to be. He had very little to say the entire drive to The Red Goblet.
While he drove, following the GPS mounted on the vehicles' dash, his second in command, and best friend, Luke, talked freely. Luke was less serious than he was, and plenty more free- spirited.
David only half paid attention to what Luke said. He knew enough to know that almost everything coming out of Lukes' mouth was about Lukes' girlfriend, Elizabeth.
David parked and put money in the meter for parking.
"Listen." He said to Luke, "I need you to have my back, but more importantly, keep cool and level- headed. We aren't going to mess this up."
"Got it!" Luke said.
The two men walked along the sidewalk until they got to the intersection. They hung a left and were soon outside The Red Goblet. David checked his watch. They were on time. He scanned the outside of the building looking for the lawyer who was to meet them here. He didn't see him.
"He better show up, and he better not make us late!" He thought grumpily.
He felt the wind stop, then it started again, this time in the other direction. Suddenly, upwind was downwind and downwind was upwind.
David had a very good sense of smell, and the change in the wind brought new smells to him. He almost winced at the cacophony of what reached him. The people in the line-up for the club had in combination too much hairspray, perfume, cologne, scented hair wax and hair putty and strong smelling deodorant. Not to mention that one guy, who he was very sure had actually physically bathed in AXE.
Five seconds later, he smelt something else. It was faint, and subtle. He didn't know what it was, but he thought it smelled amazing. The scent was mixed with the warm smell that he knew was vanilla.
But, before he could think any more about it, or even consider trying to figure out what it was he was smelling, his thoughts were interrupted by a shout. He turned his head to the right and saw the lawyer they were waiting for. He was rushing towards Luke and himself and shouted both an apology and a greeting before standing in front of them.
David never noticed the female figure slip inside, taking with her the vanilla-laced scent.
A few minutes later, the three of them had made it through the front door of The Red Goblet. David led the other two towards the back of the club.
He noticed he could smell that scent again, the nice one that was entwined with vanilla. Then, he noticed the three vampires who they were to meet with. He made sure to put his best, and warmest smile on his lips.
"I am here to spread peace." David thought. "The whole money/ business thing is only secondary. Don't mess it up."
David called out to them to greet them politely. They called out a welcome to his group in return. Once the two groups got within arms' reach, David introduced himself and the others and all shook hands.
As soon as formal introductions were over, one of the vampires told a joke that was genuinely funny. Both Luke and his friend the lawyer laughed. David smiled and wondered to himself if that vampire was trying to break the ice.
He certainly helped make the other two werewolves less tense and less on guard. David's thoughts were interrupted by the leader of the group of vampires. Upon his arrival here, David knew that the lead vampire was a good man in business affairs, and he suspected he was the head of a group of vampires.
But after the introductions, he realized he was wrong; the vampire was more than that. He was a man of wealth, power, connections, and knowledge. He was the official advisor to the king of the vampires.
"Shall we move this party upstairs? There is a meeting room already prepared."Suggested the vampire advisor.
"And I thought I would have to be cautious in this whole endeavour before." David thought to himself.