#boneyardstarter

Business had seemingly continued as usual at the Casino and even though the staff hadn't been told much about it at all, it was all over the news and it seemed to be all anyone could talk about. "It really is so sad," Celeste said, frowning for a moment as she thought about Franco's demise. "I just hope that the family can mourn in peace. There's so much talk about what will happen next but they just need a moment, ya' know?" Suddenly, she spotted one of her tables from across the dining room and a look of surprise crossed her features. "Oh, shoot! I forgot to put their order in!" She disappeared momentarily as she ran to the bar and apologized for the hundredth time about forgetting to give the drink orders to the bartender. She of course came back to her conversation, though, which was much more pressing to her than her actual job. "Oops," she giggled. "I have got to stop doin' that," she smiled.

After the godfather of the Weiss family had stormed off with his youngest daughter, Alice was left in the lofty dining room with the rest of the guests, half the them left whispering to one another while the other half attempted to make awkward conversation about anything but what they'd just witnessed. The journalist had been furiously scribbling onto her tiny notepad, trying to catch every word that Romi Weiss had said. At first, the speech had started out like any other but as it went on, the girl was clearly devolving into some sort of...madness, maybe? There was something off about her and Alice had noticed it even before she'd tanked her speech. To be fair, she didn't really know the girl, not personally. But something was clearly going on beneath the surface, that much had been made clear. As she'd ended her toast with a dark warning to her new family members, Alice had been hanging onto her every word, trying to decipher whatever hidden message lay beneath the heiress' words. But now that the show was over, she looked across the table and said "I can't believe I thought covering this wedding was going to be boring..." There was certainly a soft spot for Romi in her heart--as much as there could be, at least, considering she was practically a stranger. Still, Alice was grateful that her own father was a kind, gentle man instead of being someone like Peter Weiss. She knew better than to not be afraid of him. "At least the food is good," she said, popping a seared scallop into her mouth.

Realizing that they'd been standing and staring at some pink flowers--apparently, peonies by the look of their label--for far too long because they didn't realize that someone was trying to get their attention until they gently tapped them on the shoulder. "What? Sorry..." they said, feeling a little embarrassed. "I'm just...having decision paralysis, I guess... Do you know what flowers are popular in August by chance?..."

With Cyrek and Stella having just finished their first dance as a married couple, Roma was now up, making the rounds, trying to ensure that everyone had everything that they needed with her youngest, Leo, in toe, his hand in hers. She remembered how overwhelming it felt to be the center of attention at a party that you were also the host of so she was trying to lighten the load by checking on guests so the bride and groom didn't have to. She was hoping to steal a few dances with her husband a little later in the evening but for now, she was more than content to walk around with her youngest son and just bask in the sheer joy of the day. Even though Roma wasn't a natural extrovert, between the training she'd received as a young woman and the customer service skills she practiced on a regular basis at the bar, she'd gotten pretty comfortable with making conversation with just about anyone. Smiling over at the nearest guest, she said "Wasn't their first dance just beautiful?" Turning to fully face them now, she said "You doing okay? Do you need anything?"