The Empire

by C. L. Alden

  “Oh really? And what’s that?

  “What about turning The Empire into one of your destination restaurants?”

  “But why would you want to do that?” Darcy loved The Empire. She had spent many hours during her high school years working behind the concessions counter. There had been very few renovations to the style of the theater over the years. They had modernized the equipment as technology changed, and added a few modern touches, but there was a vintage charm about the place that she loved.

  “The Empire is on it’s last legs. I hate to say it but it’s been dying a slow death for several years now. Ever since they put a multi-plex in Weskeag, it’s continued to decline. We just can’t compete with what they offer.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. I can’t imagine this town without it.”

  “My point exactly! I couldn’t either. It’s part of my family history. You could save it though.” She saw the salesman in Eddie coming out. A trait he most likely inherited from his father. She hoped he utilized it with more finesse than his father’s slick used car salesman tactics. “Your company could come in and repurpose it. Keep the old theater charm, maybe design it around old movie themes add some vintage posters, maybe run clips of old movies…I don’t know. The design is your wheelhouse.”

  It was a good idea Darcy thought. Shoreton was kind of small potatoes for her company, but it couldn’t hurt to take a look. If there was potential, it was worth a shot at pitching the idea.

  Eddie could see her wheels turning, so he kept the pressure on. “So what do you think?”

  “I like the idea… It’s just that Shoreton isn’t exactly a target market for my company. They tend to go for areas with larger populations.”

  “It couldn’t hurt to look though, right? Let me give you a tour, maybe toss around some ideas. Please? We’ve gotta find a way to help this town before it’s too late.”

  There was no way Darcy could say no. She wanted Shoreton to succeed as much as anyone did. If she could find a way to help, she had to at least try.

  “Okay, let’s start with a walk around.”

  “Excellent! Cheers!” They sealed the agreement with a toast.

  ***

  Darcy didn’t know what time she got home, but she knew it was late, or early, depending on how you looked at it. They had finished off the appetizers and another round of drinks or was it two more rounds? She couldn’t remember. She did remember laughing a lot as Eddie proceeded to tell funny stories about his life and marriages, and yes he was on divorce number two. Throughout the tales he managed to poke fun at himself a lot. She wondered if this was a calculated move by him to solidify for her that he was no longer a self-centered jerk, but a mature and self actualized human being. Whatever the reason, it worked. Any bad memories she had of him had been whisked away and replaced with the funny, sweet, charming man that he was now. Now when she looked at him, she remembered her best friend when she was ten. It felt good to be home again.

  The night didn’t end there. Eddie insisted that they check out karaoke night at The Nor’Easter a fairly new bar and grill where the old pool hall used to be. When they arrived the place was packed. Before she even had a drink in her hands the two of them were hauled up to the stage area to sing with a group of drunk women. Obviously, Darcy thought, Fast Eddie still has a way with the ladies.

  SATURDAY

  CHAPTER SIX

  Darcy sat in the darkened balcony of what she was pretty sure was the Empire theater, but it looked different than she remembered. Her mother was sitting next to her. On the stage, the screen was up and there was a long table with a panel of people sitting on one side facing the audience. The stage was so brightly lit that she could see the first few rows of audience seating which were also filled with people. There was some sort of discussion going on that was getting rather loud. She didn’t recognize anyone on the panel, and she couldn’t clearly see the audience members. The meeting was getting more animated. Some of the people in the audience were getting out of their seats and approaching the stage.

  “What’s going on, mom?” Darcy whispered.

  “Pay attention Darcy. This is important” her mother whispered back keeping her eyes on what was going on below.

  “What is this about? I can’t understand what they’re saying.” There was some sort of background noise, like static, that was making it harder and harder for her to hear what they were saying.

  “Shhh...we aren’t supposed to be here. Listen. It’s important.” Darcy tried to listen, but the harder she tried, the louder the background noise became. She realized that it wasn’t static, but waves crashing on the beach outside her window. “Mom, I can’t hear a thing, the waves are too loud!” she said motioning beside her where there was no longer a theater wall, but the granite slabs that lined the beach in front of their home. She realized that she was now standing on the top stone that led down to the beach in front of her house, but her mother was still seated in the theater.

  “Darcy, listen! Come back! You’ve got to listen. It’s important!” Now all she could see was her mother and the space around her in the theater, and that was starting to melt away. “Stay with me Darcy! It’s important. You need to know what’s happening here!”

  Once again the screech of a seagull startled Darcy awake. Whatever bits of information she’d managed to glean from her dream were now fading fast thanks to the rude awakening and the massive hangover she was just realizing she had. That was probably why the bird sounded like it was on the pillow right next to her ear. Ugh. She covered her head with her pillow and the comforter. She had no recollection of the taxi dropping her off a few hours earlier, but her staving headache reminded her why she didn’t party like a rock star.

  After they closed down the Nor’Easter, Eddie wanted breakfast, so they’d taken a taxi to Weskeag and had breakfast at Denny’s. She was amazed, Eddie seemed to know everyone. He was even on a first name basis with the cab driver and insisted he come in for breakfast too. When they walked in, everyone said hello, as if meeting at Denny’s at two a.m. was part of a regular routine. Oh god, now I have that tune in my head...He knew all the waitresses by name and even the cook came out to say hello.

  She managed to fall asleep for another hour before the seagulls, birds and whatever other type of wildlife was out there with something to say, started sounding off in a loud cacophony that pierced her brain with the precision of an icepick.

  “I’m awake! I’m awake...geez…” she said out loud as if the birds could hear and understand her. There was no use lying there, she needed water, some Tylenol, and a dark room to sit in. She heard her cell phone beep. It was a text from Eddie.

  “Good Morning Sunshine!”

  Not so much she thought.

  “I hope I’m not texting too early, but I thought I’d swing by around about nine and take you to breakfast and then we can go pick up your car.”

  Ugh… all she wanted to do was to stop the pounding in her head and find a cozy dark area to curl up in till… she wasn’t sure, but not anytime soon. But she knew that wasn’t going to fly. If she didn’t show up at the cafe her dad would track her down.

  She texted Eddie back,

  “Ssshhh… not so loud with the texting…Nine sounds good. Need coffee.”

  She headed down the stairs, found Tylenol in the kitchen cupboard, a bottle of water and a dark corner of the living room to sit in for awhile. It would’ve been bliss if not for those damn seagulls. She headed upstairs to shower and change. She heard Eddie’s car as she headed down over the stairs. She was dressed in jeans and a sweater and her comfy sneakers. She had no big plans for the day so there was no need to dress up. Eddie met her at the back door with a cup of coffee from the town’s very own coffee roastery Shore Town Bean.

  “Good morning” he said as he handed her the cup. “I figured you could use this.” Darcy had put her sunglasses on before opening the door and gratefully took the cup of coffee from him.

  “Yes, thank you!�
� She took a tentative sip. Cream and one sugar. The coffee felt like a warm hug to her brain. She was such a slave to caffeine. She looked at Eddie. He looked refreshed and energized. Even though it was Saturday, it looked like he was dressed for work in blue pants, a button down long sleeve shirt, and jacket.

  “How do you do it?” Darcy asked dumbfounded. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck and here you are, all dressed and pressed and looking like you got at least eight hours when I know for a fact you got less than four.” Darcy locked the door and followed Eddie to the car. He opened the car door for her and held it until she was in and settled. He shut the door and got in on the other side.

  “Last night was a regular night for me. It’s just how I roll.” Darcy glared at him. “Kidding. I can’t party like that every night anymore, though I’ve probably had more than my share of nights like that over the years. The key is a bottle of water before bed, with 2 Tylenol and 4 Tums, another bottle of water before getting out of bed. A hot shower, followed by thirty seconds of cold water. You’ll feel like a million bucks.”

  “Impressive. I’ll try that” Darcy closed her eyes and sipped on her coffee.

  ***

  Eddie found a spot right outside the cafe, and parked. “Unless you wanted to go some place else?”

  “No, are you kidding me? I could never get away with that. And besides they have the best breakfast in town.”

  Darcy noticed it looked busier than usual. When they got out of the car, they could hear raised voices coming from the cafe. Paul Jenks came out as they approached the door.

  “Hey Paulie” Eddie said to the man exiting the cafe. He had the local paper tucked under his arm and looked relieved to be getting out of the chaos.

  “I’m not so sure you wanna go in there, Cap,” Paul warned. “There’s quite the donnybrook goin’ on and your name is right in the middle of it.”

  Eddie chuckled. “Thanks Paulie, I’ll keep my head down.” He said with a nod and grin. Whether he wanted to go in or not, it was too late. People had already seen him and Darcy could see fingers pointing and voices raised even louder. He turned to Darcy, “You sure you wanna go in with me?”

  “What’s all the uproar about?”

  “We’re about to find out.” Eddie held the cafe door open for her.

  The moment the door opened, people began greeting or shouting at Eddie. The place was so packed, there were people standing around tables. All seemed to be in active discussions. You would have thought he was the Mayor or something. Eddie didn’t seem fazed at all by the crowd. The reaction to him seemed to be heavily laced with people who seemed to be angry or upset with him. Darcy saw her dad standing at the register watching the spectacle. On the stool closest to the register sat the old guy she couldn’t place that first morning. She was surprised that as crowded as it was, she didn’t recognize anyone.

  By the expression on his face, she could tell that her dad wasn’t overly thrilled with the idea of her spending so much time with Fast Eddie. Mary’s expression pretty much told the same story. You’d have thought by their looks that Darcy was a teenager caught hanging out on Main St. with some grub.

  Mary whisked around the counter, past Eddie to take Darcy’s elbow and steer her to her booth. She managed a “mornin’” as she passed Eddie. “You look terrible!” Mary said over the din. “Out late were we?” She didn’t give Darcy time to answer as she settled her into the booth. Meanwhile Eddie was stopped in the middle of the room.

  “What’s goin’ on in here?” Darcy asked.

  “A big fracas over the latest antics of the Planning Committee. It came out in this mornin’s paper.”

  “Oh geez…” By the noise level and crowd it was obvious that this was serious business, and by the look of things everyone knew Eddie was a big part of it.

  “Settle in, it could be awhile. I’ll get you a cup.” Mary scurried off and Darcy tuned into the ruckus around her. Through a break in the crowd she caught a glimpse of the front door. It was the kid in the hoodie from yesterday. He opened the door and stopped in his tracks. He looked around at the crowd and took a step back. Before he let the door shut, he looked directly at her. Their eyes locked and for a brief moment she felt the odd tickling sensation in her brain, and a faint phantom tingle as if her body was remembering yesterday’s jolt. He shook his head at her and let the door close. She wanted to rush after him and find out who he was and what was going on with that jolt, but she knew she’d never get through the crowd. It seemed like there were even more people in the cafe now than when they came in a few moments ago.

  Eddie stood in the middle of the cafe responding to as many comments as he could, but they were coming all at once.

  “This is outrageous!” A man sitting at one of the middle tables commented holding up a newspaper.

  “Pipe down George. Nothin’s been decided.” Said a man sitting at a table closest to where Eddie stood.

  “Where’s the transparency? You can’t make decisions like this! We get a vote you know!” Darcy couldn’t see where that comment came from.

  “What decisions? There have been no decisions!” The man next to Eddied repeated.

  “Eddie’s right, you know. We’ve gotta do somethin’. This town is circlin’ the drain!” A man in one of the booths piped in, followed by sounds of agreement.

  Mary returned with her coffee.

  “Thank you,” Darcy whispered. Mary headed back to the kitchen away from all the hoopla.

  A man two tables over from Eddie stood up and gestured with his thumb towards Eddie. “They’d like us to believe that. Work us all up into a lather with these predictions of doom and gloom so they can push their agenda through.”

  “The only agenda the committee has is how to make this town prosperous again.” Eddie replied.

  “Well I’m doin’ alright.” Someone at a table across the room stated.

  “Are you doing as well as you were, let’s say five, ten, even fifteen years ago?” There was no answer, so Eddie continued. “We all know that business is in decline. Most of Main St. and this town, for that matter, rely on tourism as a major source of income. A busy summer gets us through a long, dark, quiet winter.” Darcy heard murmurs of agreement.

  “Then what’s with all these clandestine meetings?” accused someone near the door. Darcy didn’t see who, but Eddie did.

  Eddie chuckled. “Now Fred, that’s a bit dramatic. Clandestine, really? We aren’t meeting in some basement in hooded robes. We’re in a conference room at The Grand for godsakes.” Eddie got a few chuckles and some grumblings in response.

  “Why aren’t they open to the public then?”

  “Yeah, why don’t we getta say?” To which several people agreed.

  “Look, I can understand your concern. But we’re not making any decisions. We are looking at options, that’s all. We have to come up with a game plan for this town, or you’re right Pete, we may find ourselves circling the drain so to speak. And Jerod, when we come up with some viable options that have been thoroughly researched, I assure you that our findings will be presented to the public.”

  “It says in here,” a man holding up a newspaper said, “you wanna tear down buildings and bring in all these big box stores and turn our downtown into some Freeport knock off.”

  “Hey, don’t drag me into this!” A man at the counter chimed in, as he turned around to face the fray. He was met with more grumbling. Darcy guessed he must be the reporter responsible for inciting the indignation being displayed by many of the cafe patrons. She wondered how the rest of Shoreton was feeling.

  “What’s goin’ on down at Trader’s Point? What was Abel Johnson doing in a crane down there? He could’ve gotten killed you know.”

  At the mention of Abel, Darcy saw Eddie’s expression flash with what looked like panic.

  “Abel wasn’t at Trader’s Point. He was doing some work on one of the buildings on Lime St. and he’s gonna be okay. And Craig, I’m pretty sure that’s not what
it says in the paper.” Eddie said, in defense of the man at the counter. “Dave’s been covering our meetings for the Gazette for awhile. He knows we’re just reviewing ideas right now.”

  “That’s right!” Dave agreed over his shoulder, keeping his back to the impromptu ambush.

  “It says right here” Craig said pointing at the paper in his hands, and then paraphrasing “…outlet shopping and reclaiming the midcoast as the premier destination location for an ideal Maine vacation of modern luxury or coastal adventure…”

  “What’s wrong with that? More tourists equals more money in all of our pockets.” Said Eddie’s champion.

  “Not if we’re crowded out by name brands and retail chains!” Craig replied. “What do you suppose is going to happen to your little sporting goods store, Mike, if they put in a Dick’s or a Cabelas down the road? Or what about Draper’s Clothing—”

  “It’s an institution!” someone yelled out.

  “We’ve always shopped there!” someone else chimed in.

  “Or the Lily Pond?” Craig continued. “Do you think they’re going to be able to compete if this downtown is overrun with chain stores?”

  “Okay, yes, someone has proposed the idea of increasing Shoreton’s revenue by bringing in some outlet stores—it’s one of many proposals that have been brought to the table. These are just ideas we want to investigate. We’re not trying to put anyone out of business. We’re looking out for Shoreton’s best interests.” Eddie responded.

  Darcy looked over at her father who was scowling in Eddie’s direction. He had been paying close attention to the proceedings, and did not look happy. It was pretty obvious to Darcy which side he fell on.

  “Or are you looking out for your best interests, Fast Eddie? Seems you’ve been sneaking around buying up waterfront and other commercial real estate around town as fast as you can,” a voice called out followed by several people joining in to agree. Darcy noticed that question even got the attention of the old guy sitting at the counter.