Chapter 84: Invitation from the Mayor

When Carter received the afternoon tea invitation from Mayor Benjamin, he was attending classes at school.

In an era before mobile communication was widespread, once Carter left the office, the only way to notify him was to personally find him in person to deliver the message.

The mayor's invitation was rather urgent. After failing to reach Carter by phone at the bank, Laura, the mayor's secretary, had to find Elmond. After Carter finished his classes, she personally delivered the message to him face-to-face.

This made Carter a bit more famous on campus. Even the mayor wanted to invite him personally, which made the students, who already felt the gap, once again feel the barriers of the world or class.

While they were still contemplating whether to shoulder a 25-year student loan debt to go to college or to graduate and find a job directly, Carter had already moved far beyond this stage, and now he had transformed into a guest of the mayor.

When Carter calmly accepted the invitation and escorted Laura, the mayor's chief secretary, to the bottom of the teaching building, a distinct scent of lemon wafted from all directions.

"Now this is a bit troublesome, conflicting schedules."

Ignoring the odd looks around him, Carter walked towards the next classroom for his next class, feeling a bit worried.

Originally, his plan for the day was to meet with Trifari first. After settling things with him, he would confront "Mr. Poverty" the next day. But with the sudden attack from the mayor, he couldn't refuse.

Having lived in Douglas for almost half a year, Carter naturally knew how the municipal system worked in Douglas. It wasn't about selling the face of the police station; it was about selling the face of the city government.

After all, in a strong mayor system city, the police station was just an adjunct unit of the city government and had no decision-making power of its own. But when the police station approached him for consultation, it was natural to sell them favors directly, and the city government was only indirectly involved.

Carter never thought that such a trivial matter could alarm the mayor, let alone the mayor personally coming to meet him. With this turn of events, Carter's schedule was disrupted.

"Carter! Wait, please wait a moment!"

Just as Carter was worrying about how to coordinate his time, he was suddenly stopped in his tracks. Looking up, Carter looked at the person who had intercepted him with some confusion.

"Shawpat? What's up?"

Since the Glen incident, thanks to the convenience of cross-class, Carter had encountered Licolys several times. But without exception, she never dared to meet his gaze.

Although Carter knew that Glen's trouble finding him wasn't instigated by her, it was because of her. And she was coldly watching when the incident happened.

With such a past, even though Carter didn't hold a grudge against her, he didn't have much fondness for her either. She avoided him, and he was happy to keep it that way; it was fine not to communicate with each other.

But today, why did this girl change her tune?

"Thanksgiving is coming soon, and we have a three-day break. We plan to go to Atlanta on Saturday, not just for fun, but because we're graduating in half a year. Maybe we'll be working in Atlanta in the future. We plan to come back on Sunday, can I invite you to come with us? With your experience, we would feel more at ease, and we also hope to hear your advice on work-related issues."

The Thanksgiving holiday was fixed, with the last Thursday in November being Thanksgiving, and the holiday lasted from Thursday to Sunday. Licolys explained the departure and return times, which seemed normal, but Carter always felt that this girl seemed to be hinting at something.

If it weren't for the Glen incident, Carter probably wouldn't have thought much about it. But with that incident in mind, it seemed strange that someone who hadn't had any contact with him would suddenly come seeking his advice. Suspicious!

"When you say 'we,' who else is there?"

With doubts in his mind, Carter couldn't help but ask.

"It's just us, a few of us from the cheerleading team who are graduating."

All girls?

Carter raised an eyebrow, looking at the slightly nervous Licolys. There was a hint of teasing in his expression.

Carter believed that if he agreed, then there would indeed only be girls on this trip. If he refused, then they would definitely find someone else.

But that didn't matter. Carter looked at Licolys' three-dimensional face and couldn't help feeling a little tempted. A young white girl without freckles, with a good figure; to say he wasn't moved would be a lie, but Carter always felt she was too calculating.

Why didn't she bring this up earlier, and why did she choose to mention it after Laura, the mayor's secretary, came to inform him of the mayor's invitation?

"Let's talk about it later. Who knows if I'll be busy then!"

Carter didn't dislike people being calculating; it would be strange if people didn't have any ulterior motives. But facing Licolys, Carter always felt a bit repulsed; perhaps her cold indifference during Glen's incident left Carter feeling a bit bitter.

"Okay, I'll wait for your message."

Hearing Carter's somewhat rejecting tone, Licolys breathed a sigh of relief, and after leaving behind a few words, she hurried away again. Compared to the last time the two met, the hierarchy of the campus "celebrities" had already been reversed.

While the goddess's position was stable, there was also little room for growth. Though the trendsetters rise and fall, in the face of the big wave, they can also crash the former waves onto the beach~

Watching Licolys' figure disappear as if fleeing, Carter smiled shallowly. Although pretending to be impressive in front of high school students at school was a bit cheap with his current status, he still felt pretty good!

After a brief moment of secret joy and a couple of self-deprecating remarks about cheapening himself, Carter pushed this little episode out of his mind. At three o'clock in the afternoon, Carter arrived at the mayor's office as agreed.

"Mr. Benjamin, Mr. Blake has arrived!"

With Laura opening the office door, Carter saw a middle-aged man of about thirty approaching him warmly.

"Hahaha, welcome, Mr. Blake. I've been wanting to see you for a long time since I heard about Mr. Blake's passing. Unfortunately, I've been too busy to spare the time."

After a few insincere pleasantries, Benjamin pointed to the sofa next to the office:

"Please, have a seat. You don't need to be polite here. Besides being the mayor, I'm also Chris's friend. Just call me Rob. Coffee? Or tea?"

"Coffee will be fine, thank you, Uncle Rob."

As Carter sat down with Benjamin, he immediately laughed and made a casual remark.

"Laura, two cups of coffee, please. Thank you!"

After instructing his secretary, "Carrot" Mayor continued to chat about trivial matters until Laura brought the coffee and left again, closing the door behind her. Then, he brought up the main topic.

"This time, William has already told me about the matter with Trifari and O'Neal. As the mayor of Douglas, I want to express my gratitude to you for the contribution you've made to the harmony and stability of Douglas! In addition, I invited you here this time not only to meet the child of an old friend but also to ask you about something."

"Regarding the commercial area planned or already taking shape along Highway 23, could you chat with me about your thoughts on it? And also your plans for its future!"