by Susan Harper
“Yes, sir, you are good to go,” Jefferson said. “Your consultation will be next Thursday at four-thirty, and that’s when we’ll do most of the actual planning for your event. We’re looking forward to hearing what all you envision for the fundraiser.”
“Thanks,” the man said and shook Jefferson’s hand. “A buddy of mine recommended you guys. Says you really know how to throw a party.”
“We try.” Jefferson smirked as the man nodded approvingly and headed out the door.
“Maybe I should leave you here alone more often,” Felicity said. “I swear, I feel like every time I step out, you manage to book a party.”
Jefferson smiled at her. “How are you doing?” he asked, and he had that same sadness to his voice that her parents had whenever they asked that question. That tone that hinted that they were referring to Brian.
“I’m fine, Jefferson,” she assured. Everyone just seemed too eager to keep her happy or distracted. It was nice back in February and even March when everything was still fresh and unexpected, but she didn’t understand why people didn’t see that she was doing so much better now. “But you and I have a party to get to today,” she said. “Oh, wow, and we’re going to be cutting it close.”
“No, we’re not,” Jefferson said. “Because the event van is already packed and ready to go. In fact, I believe we have enough time to stop by Senoia Coffee.”
“Wonderful,” she said.
They headed out the front door, locking up. Jefferson put out a large stand that he had made. He had realized that they were losing a lot of business whenever they had a party during a busy time in Senoia, so he had created a large stand to place in front of the shop. A sign at the top read “At a Party Booking—Be Back Soon! Please take an informational packet” and the lower half of the stand had a number of brochures he had created, all clipped in so that the wind would not take them away. Another one of his marketing genius schemes. They had already booked two parties thanks to this new change.
They grabbed some coffee and then loaded up into the event van, and soon they had arrived at what was the fanciest five-year-old girl’s birthday party they had ever thrown. It was an elegant tea party, and all the little girls were able to choose from oodles of princess dresses Felicity had brought and set up in a corner. The party was underway very soon, and the high maintenance mother of the little birthday princess was very satisfied.
She and Jefferson placed the enormous princess cake on a decorative table and lit the candles when it came time to sing Happy Birthday. The little girl was sitting at the long table in the yard with her friends eyeing the cake excitedly. This was when a small disaster struck. A paper banner hanging above the cake suddenly caught fire, and evidently, it was incredibly flammable. “Holy cow!” Jefferson exclaimed and attempted to put out the fire. He burned his hand slightly in the process.
The banner fell right on top of the cake, and in Felicity’s attempt to yank it away, she took the top tier with it—cake and a fiery banner landed on the ground as she and Jefferson managed to stomp it out. “That was close,” Felicity said, glad to see that most of the cake was still intact.
“Are you kidding me? You have got to be kidding me!” the mother was already chastising them. “The party is ruined!”
Well, that’s a little dramatic, Felicity thought. “No worries, ma’am. I can fix this. Jefferson, you’re on cleanup duty,” she said and hurried back to the van. She always brought an extra icing applicator in case a cake got a little smudged during transport. This one was in the cooler and was full of pink icing. She hurried back, and Felicity was able to fill in the top of the cake where the base of the top tier had been sitting. “Good as new,” Felicity said proudly.
“Not good as new,” the mother argued. “The top tier was the princess castle! And now it’s in the trash!”
Felicity smiled at the woman. “Yes, and I apologize for our carelessness. We clearly hung the decorations too low for such a tall standing cake. I’ll be sure to reimburse the fee for the cake, but thankfully, the little ones will still be able to eat it since we only took out the top tier!”
“Well… I suppose that’s fair,” the mother said, taking a calming breath. “Thank you for salvaging the cake.”
“Of course,” Felicity said. “That’s why we’re here. Although I am sorry for almost catching your lawn on fire!”
The woman laughed. “Well, no harm, no foul.”
They served the cake, and soon the party was back underway. The little birthday girl had not even noticed that her cake was missing a top layer. “First time ever having to give a refund,” Jefferson muttered to Felicity as they stood in a corner of the yard observing the little girls running around in their princess attire. “You okay?”
“It’s just a partial refund for the cake,” Felicity said. “And that was our bad. We’re the ones who caught the decorations on fire.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Jefferson, please stop treating me like I’m going to have a mental breakdown,” she insisted. “It’s bad enough that I get that from my parents. I’m okay, really.”
“Sorry, Felicity. I’m just worried about you is all,” he said.
“It’s been a rough day between my car and the little cake incident, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” she assured.
The rest of the party went off without a hitch, and soon she and Jefferson were heading back to the event shop. Once back at the shop, the two of them sat down on the lounge furniture in the main entrance to get off their feet for a while since there were no customers in the building. “So,” Jefferson said, eager for conversation. “You excited about our big event coming up?”
Felicity grinned. “If you mean the party we’re hosting for Zombie Zone, then heck yes!”
Zombie Zone was perhaps the most popular thing to ever come out of Senoia. It was a zombie-themed television show that had been filming out of Senoia for several years now, and it had brought in a whole new wave of life to the little town. The show was about to kick off their eighth year of filming in Senoia, and they wanted to throw a big zombie-themed party on set. Of course, the show had their own group of planners for the event that Felicity was collaborating with, but she was so grateful the show was relying on some local business to pull the party off. There would be some big Hollywood names present, and the party would do wonders for her business.
“Same here,” Jefferson said giddily. “I can’t believe we’re going to get to meet the cast.”
“I can’t believe I offered to let our goofy group of friends work for us that night just so we could sneak them all in,” Felicity muttered.
“Veronica is going to try to win over one of the male stars, you realize that, right?” Jefferson questioned. “She won’t be working at all.”
“She better, or we’ll have words!” Felicity said, laughing. “But, yes, I’m excited.”
The rest of the day went by slowly, and Felicity wound up taking the event van home that night instead of making Jefferson drive out of his way. She took a notebook home with her that was full of notes for the Zombie Zone party, eager to chat with her parents about the booking and share her thoughts for the party.
Chapter 3
Felicity had to pause for a moment to re-glue some of her face mask that was threatening to peel away. Then again, peeling away skin did make her look more zombie-ish, but she wasn’t a fan of the grotesque zombie look. “Thanks, Veronica,” Felicity said as Veronica finished gluing the zombie flesh back onto her cheekbone.
Felicity had told all of her friends working the party to dress up like zombies, but Veronica had elected to dress up as one of the living stars of the show in sexy boots, short shorts, and a denim crop top and cowgirl hat. “No problem, girlie,” Veronica said, and each of them grabbed a tray of drinks and made their way back into the crowd of partygoers.
“Can you believe some of the A-list celebrities that are here?” Felicity asked Veronica as they passed out drinks.
“It’s fabulous, darling!” Veronica exclaimed. “I love that the party is on set!”
Everyone was dancing in the middle of what looked like a street set in the middle of the apocalypse, but it was mostly smoke and mirrors. With the fog machines and the cover of night, it really did give off an eerie glow. “Oh no,” Felicity mumbled and nudged Veronica, pointing to the opposite end of the crowd.
“Oh no, your parents are dancing,” Veronica said with a laugh. Felicity’s parents had managed to weasel their way into receiving an invite from Felicity to help out at the party as well. They had worn zombie attire and had been passing out drinks, but currently they were swaying along to the music. Felicity made eye contact with them and shook her head in their direction to let them know they weren’t there to play. Her parents both seemed to moan and then disappear in opposite directions to get back to work.
“Okay, well, I’m out of drinks,” Veronica said. “I’m going to restock.” Veronica disappeared into the crowd.
Almost as soon as Veronica left, Monte, Dawn, and Autumn appeared. “So have you noticed yet, Felicity?” Autumn asked over the loud music.
“Noticed what?” Felicity questioned her zombie friend.
“Um… Veronica!” Monte exclaimed as though whatever it was she was supposed to have noticed was incredibly obvious. “She’s not flirting with any of the movie stars here!”
Felicity laughed. Veronica had a reputation as the major flirt of the group. “Yeah, so? She’s working, and she knows I’ll get on her.”
“You don’t understand,” Dawn said. “Jerome Mason—a star of the show—asked for her phone number. She said no!”
“Wait, what?” Felicity stood upright. “Veronica said no to Jerome Mason?” Felicity knew Veronica well enough to know that she was completely in love with the show, and especially its lead actor. “Are you sure it was Jerome and not like a body double or something?”
“We’re sure,” Dawn said. “She told him she wasn’t interested.”
“Is she playing hard to get?” Felicity asked. Jerome Mason was gorgeous! Felicity was just getting over a serious loss, and she was fairly certain even she would have caved and given that man her number.
“I think it’s a sign of the apocalypse,” Monte said.
“Or,” Jack said, suddenly appearing from the crowd. “Maybe Veronica is trying to mess with us.”
“You all are idiots.” Brittany, the youngest person in their entourage, appeared with Jack. “Veronica has a secret boyfriend.”
“No way,” Jefferson said from behind Felicity.
“Okay, so now half of my workers have gathered in one spot to gossip,” Felicity complained. “We can talk about this another time. Everyone needs to get back to work if we are going to pull this event off.”
“Right,” Jefferson agreed. “Felicity, you go check in on the guests.”
Felicity headed to the room where some hired hands were setting out a second round of entrees for her friends who were playing the part of servers. She noticed two women, one of whom was very pregnant, eyeing the food being brought out. Felicity giggled slightly to herself and grabbed a tray. “Starving?” she asked as she allowed the two women to help themselves.
“Always,” responded the pregnant woman. “Thanks. I’m really digging the zombie makeup all of you guys are wearing. Someone told me you all did that yourselves. Better not tell the makeup crew, they might get jealous you were able to do all that with just a home kit.”
“Thanks. I wasn’t sure if this would be cliché or not, but the gentleman who hired me loved the idea.”
“Oh, so you’re the party planner? My husband told me they were hiring someone local,” said the pregnant woman.
“Who is your husband?” Felicity asked.
“That would be me,” a young man appeared holding a glass of water, which he handed over to his pregnant wife. “How you holding up, baby?”
“Doing okay,” she said. “Max, this is… Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
“Felicity.”
“The event planner,” Max said with a warm smile. “Great party. I’m Max. I’m one of the show’s assistant directors. This is my wife Jasmine.”
“And I’m Bridget,” said the woman who had been standing with her pregnant friend while her husband got her some water.
“Do you two ladies work on set too?” Felicity asked.
“We’re extras on the show,” Jasmine explained.
“That must be so fun,” Felicity said.
“It would be,” Jasmine said. “If I wasn’t so pregnant. It’s exhausting.”
“I bet all that zombie makeup under the Georgia heat doesn’t help,” Felicity said.
“Oh, we’re not zombie extras. We play people who live in the town,” Bridget said.
“That’s even better,” Felicity said.
“Yeah,” Max said. “The writers have been known to pull in living extras and add them to the main cast, so here’s hoping.”
Suddenly, they heard shouting. Felicity glanced up to see two of the most familiar actors from the show having some sort of spat. Philip James, the show’s other handsome star, had his fists up and was glaring in the direction of Ronnie Tosh, the show’s main villain. “Oh man, they’re at it again,” Bridget said with a slight laugh.
“What’s going on?” Felicity asked.
“Those two are always up in arms about something,” Max said.
A woman came hurrying up to them, separating them. “Is that Alisha Tosh?” Felicity asked, and Jasmine nodded. Alisha was on the show as another lead player, and she was Ronnie’s wife. Whatever Alisha said seemed to settle things down, and the three of them all separated and went their own directions.
Crisis averted, it seemed. Felicity wished her new friends a pleasant evening and went right back to work. The rest of the evening continued without incident until the lead director of the show approached Felicity. Felicity smiled. Kenneth had been the one to hire her to host the event. He smiled back at her and handed her a glass of champagne. “Good job, Overton. Everyone is enjoying the party.”
“I’m glad,” she said, and just as she was about to enjoy the champagne he had offered, they were interrupted by a loud scream.
Felicity ran toward the sound of the scream and saw a small group of people gathered; several with hands over their mouths staring in shock, others crying. She felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that look. Not only did she know it, she had felt it herself. Thoughts of Brian and his death tried to rush through her, but she pushed them back and forced her way through the small crowd. There, lying on the ground between two of the prop buildings, was Bridget, an extra Felicity had met earlier that night. She closed her eyes and demanded her brain to stay focused. When she opened them, she realized that Bridget had not only been stabbed to death, but someone had done her up in zombie make up.
Chapter 4
“Are you okay, Felicity?” Autumn asked as they stood by watching Jack chase off everyone from the crime scene until some on-duty officers could arrive to tape off the area.
“Not you too,” Felicity moaned. “Autumn, please don’t start acting like I’m about to break down and crumble, like everyone else has been doing.”
“Well, you have had a rough couple of months,” Autumn said. “And now it seems another case has fallen into our laps.”
“Slow your roll,” Felicity said. “No more cases. I’m an event planner. After what happened with Brian, I am done. The police can handle this one without me.”
Autumn raised a brow. “You sure that you’re okay? Normally, you would be jumping to the rescue right about now. I know you’re a party planner and all, but I know you enjoy working cases with the police.”
“I’m not a detective, Autumn,” Felicity said. “It’s time I stop acting like one before someone else gets hurt because of me.”
“What happened to Brian was not your fault,” Autumn said. “That was just a psychopath w
ho wanted to hurt you.”
“Brian is dead. But he was not the first person I cared about to have gotten hurt because I wanted to pretend I was a detective. The very first case I worked, Jefferson wound up getting hit by a car. And that same lunatic who killed Brian killed several other people, caused Brittany’s sister some brain damage, shot two women, and strapped you to a train track, Autumn!”
“While I do admit that was not the highlight of last year for me, that was in no way your fault. There are bad people behind bars because of you. That’s what’s important. I’m alive because of you. Remember the Youngling case? If you hadn’t have been working her grandmother’s case, Candice would have strangled me in that hospital bed.”
“I suppose that’s true,” Felicity said and smiled at her friend. Autumn had a way of making her feel super confident about herself.
Suddenly, her mother seemed to appear out of nowhere, nearly causing Felicity to jump in surprise. “Felicity, are you all right?” her mother asked.
Felicity rolled her eyes, and Autumn smirked slightly. “Yes, Mom, I’m fine,” Felicity said.
“Do you know what happened? Your father said someone has been killed!”
“One of the extras on the show, Bridget. Someone stabbed her and painted her face up like a zombie. I haven’t gotten a close look myself, but that’s just what Jack told me,” Felicity said.
“Heavens!” her mother exclaimed. “What crazy person decorates someone they just killed!”
“We don’t know if that was done before or after,” Felicity said.
The police were starting to arrive. They set up a location at the party where they could start conducting interviews with party guests while their investigative team searched the crime scene. Everyone was quite eager to leave now that the party was abruptly over. A line formed quickly outside of the trailer the police had set up in—everyone wanted to get their interviews done with.