5 Chapter 5 - Fan Meeting

A few days after my "research", I decided to pay a visit to the fan cafe ran by the people who were devoted to Caroline King. The cafe is only a few blocks away from my current place so it was no big deal. It was designed to pay homage to just about everything about Caroline. It was kinda funny that I was referring to her in a first-name basis when I barely know her. I must admit that the place wasn't anything I expected from a cafe' ran by fans. The food and the coffee is probably one of the best within the area, when I walked in I couldn't help but notice the number of people who were in there.

I only have a vague idea on what I've set out to do. According to the information I've gathered, the cafe is ran by someone named Nica Martin, she established the business way back when Caroline was just making her name as a singer. She was in every sense of the word, a big fan. Rumor has it that she is very close with Caroline since she was one of the people who would promote Caroline to just about anyone and she attended as many concerts and gigs possible, she's also the one who sets up fan meets. Caroline would often visit the cafe to surprise her fans, which might explain the amount of people who frequented the place.

I patiently waited for my turn at the table I had reserved, the whole place was packed with people, most of them wearing t-shirts and memorabilias. It kinda made me feel out of place but still I had to push through with my plan. When I was finally seated, a cute waitress with pixie-like hair came to my table.

"Welcome to Caroline's Safe Haven. My name is Angela, how may I be of assistance?" She sounded so genuin and so upbeat that I couldn't help but give her one of my best fake smiles.

"Well, Angela, this is my first time here and I have no idea what to order, perhaps you could give me some recommendations?" I tried to be as charming as possible which seemed to work.

"Hmm, I recommend you try Caroline's Forevermore, it's one of our best-sellers and I've yet to meet a customer who didn't like it."

Her smile was infectious, I couldn't help grinning. "Well, I'll go with that."

Caroline's Forevermore turned out to be a simple combo of a club sandwich and brewed coffee.

Out of curiosity I decided to ask Angela why it was named Caroline's Forevermore.

She stifled a smile. "Are you merely curious or are you a fan?" I told her I was new to Caroline's music, then she went on. "Well, in one of her interviews, she was asked what food she could eat forever and never get tired of it." She gestured to the food on my table. "You get the picture."

"I see. Thanks for the info." She went to help out another customer and I ate my sandwich in silence, it was good and so was the coffee.

A couple of minutes passed by and finally, the woman I came all the way here to meet made her entrance from the back of the cafe. Nica Martin was a big woman in every sense of the word, she probably weighed a ton. She was wearing glasses and a sweatshirt that only made her look even bigger.

But the other people or rather the fans didn't seem to notice this. They looked at her with affection and a sort of adorement. A lot of them greeted her as she headed to the center of the cafe probably to start a sort of fan meeting.

When she had everybody's attention, she began to speak in a very small voice that I almost laughed. "Hey guys, how have you been?" A lot of whoops and cheers. *What did I expect? This is a fucking fan meeting.*

"So anyway, as you all know Caroline just released her new album and the reviews have been really positive, not to mention that album sales is off the charts." Another cheer. "In behalf of Caroline, I'd like to thank you guys, all of it won't be possible without you guys, or rather us fans."

I was in no man's land, I noticed that most if not all of the people inside the room are big fans. Then I noticed the woman from earlier, Angela, approach Nica. She whispered something in her ear and pointed to me. I immediately felt my insides lurch. *Get out, get the fuck out while you still can, you're about to get killed by members of Caroline's cult.* But of course, I couldn't.

I saw Nica smile at me and beckoned for me to come which to my wonder I did. When I reached the little platform at the center where Nica stood, I felt the eyes of everyone in the room shift towards me. My whole body felt like it was operating on autopilot, I could feel cold sweat trickling on my back.

Nica held out her hand at me which I shook fervently. She noticed that my hands were shaking. "Hey, it's alright, we don't bite." She whispered at me. I merely nodded. "What's your name?"

"Dante Caulfield." My voice sounded like a strangled animal.

She gave me a reassuring pat on the back and spoke to the horde of fans that filled up the cafe. "Okay guys, as you may have notice, we have a new face in here today. His name is Dante, and Angela tells me that Dante here is new to our beloved Caroline's music." I felt like I was about to be executed. Then Nica gestured to the crowd.

In unison they all shouted at me. "WELCOME TO THE KNIGHTS OF CAROLINE, WE HOPE YOU'D LOVE HER AS MUCH AS WE DO!!!" I was probably wearing my stupid mouth-gaping expression for they laughed.

"I hope we didn't scare you or anything. It's just something we do to those who are new here." She looked apologetic.

"It's totally cool." I started to wipe the sweat from my brow and grinned at her to reassure her. I saw Angela at the corner of the room and she gave me the thumbs-up sign, I returned the gesture. She took me by the arm and brought me back to my seat.

"I'm sorry if I put you on the spot. I just got a bit carried away, we haven't had new members for a week now." She looked guilty.

"Like I said, it's no big deal. I was just a bit overwhelmed."

Once I was back on my seat, Nica resumed her talk. "Anyway, as I was saying earlier, Caroline and her management are really happy with the current album's sales and reviews. So much so that Caroline has decided to perform a secret gig in order to thank fans." At this, everyone in the room went silent. "Guess where the venue will be?"