A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.

All of it was a success. At least, it seemed to be. None of the parents or kids seemed upset about anything. The parents of the birthday girl added their own touches to the room and asked Hal and her to move a few things around the room, but that was about it. There were no complaints about the food, but some of the kids didn't finish their entire plates either. (F/n) didn't know whether that was because they were full, they secretly didn't like it but were polite and didn't say anything or they were saving room for all of the dessert. Hopefully, it was the first or third option.

When Hal and she had cleared away the dinner plates to make way for the desserts and cake, she had noticed Anita's annoyed glance at seeing unfinished plates and hearing that the kids didn't want to take the leftovers home in takeout boxes. (F/n) imagined that Anita probably would have a glass of whiskey later on. She couldn't stay in the kitchen for long to comfort her friend, so (f/n) shot a glance over to Scarlett, who nodded in response to the signal to reassure Anita.

Unlike the issue with the dinner, all of the leftover desserts and cake, which weren't much, were taken home in takeout boxes. Hal helped her clean up the plates and the floor, and he aided her in bringing up the tables and moving all of the tables back into place. She let him head out afterwards so that he could get home and tend to whatever he needed to before the next day, especially since it was supposed to rain that evening. Besides, she already was home, and the decorations wouldn't take too long to remove.

After he left, (f/n) noticed that Scarlett headed out soon after. Before she left, she gave a small smile to (f/n). "I tried, but she's still a little miffed about it. The kitchen is cleaned up, though." She rolled her shoulders and glanced back to the kitchen. "She said that I could go and not to worry about her." Scarlett glanced back to (f/n). "She probably just needs some time to cool off."

(F/n) gave her an appreciative smile. "Thanks. It's the first time this has happened so far, and it's our first event, so it most likely just shocked her a bit." Scarlett sighed and nodded in understanding. "But, don't think about it too much yourself. Just get some rest, and keeping doing your best tomorrow." Shrugging, (f/n) added, "Those kids might've just been too focused on all of the sweets to think about taking anything else home. Besides, the birthday girl and the parents enjoyed everything, which was the most important thing for tonight."

"Yeah." Scarlett gave an appreciative smile. "Thank you, (f/n). I'll see you tomorrow." (F/n) nodded and opened the door for her. Briefly before she closed and locked the door, she noticed that it was sprinkling outside, but Scarlett got into her car before she got too wet. Focusing back on Anita, (f/n) decided to finish cleaning up after she checked on her friend. When she went to the kitchen, (f/n) peeked inside. Far in the back was the mannequin in the same position with the chef's outfit on.

Forcing herself to ignore its neutral expression and reminding herself that it wasn't alive, she concentrated on Anita. Anita was leaning up against one of the counters and was holding a small glass of whiskey in her right hand. She took a sip of it and didn't glance over to (f/n). Instead, she stared at an empty counter with an irritated expression. "I hope that we don't get negative reviews from this, or we're never going to have another event."

"Anita, I think that you're taking this out of proportion." (F/n) walked into the room further and let the door close behind her. "They were a few kids and probably were too focused on the amazing desserts Scarlett and you made. Not to mention that the cake look spectacular. You both outdid yourselves, and no other food came back unfinished. None of the parents complained, and the birthday girl seemed incredibly happy."

"... I guess." She sighed and took another sip. "On their way out, the parents of her and some of the others thanked us for the wonderful meal. Her parents didn't ask for their money back either." Anita stared to the amber-colored liquid. "I just don't like throwing out food even if it's been paid for."

"I know that this was our first event and that this was the first time this happened, but you've been doing great. And, tomorrow will be usual services. I know that Scarlett and you will make that a success just like all of the other ones, and I'll continue to do my best in managing everything." (F/n) closed the distance between them and rested a comforting hand on her friend's right shoulder. "It'll be fine. Okay?"

"Yeah," Anita finally smiled a little bit, "I suppose that you're right." (F/n) removed her hand, and Anita walked away from the counter. "I'm going to go get a bath and bring this up with me. Or, do you need any help with the dining room? Is Hal still here?"

"No, I sent him home, and I'll be fine." (F/n) smiled reassuringly to her. "I'll be fine."

"Alright, well thanks." Anita smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder before she left the kitchen and headed upstairs. Once she was gone, (f/n) rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms. Just a little bit left to clean up. First, she just needed to take care of a quick bathroom break. As she turned off the kitchen light and headed upstairs a little bit after her friend, she didn't notice the slight movement downstairs. Anita especially didn't notice it since she had music playing while she took her bath. It didn't help that the sprinkle of rain outside was turning into a downpour.

When (f/n) came back downstairs, she stepped into the dining room and scanned over what was left. There were the balloons and streamers. Some of the confetti the parents had brought covered several of the tablecloths, which would need to be removed. There also were the vases with the different flowers, though; they'd keep those flowers and spread them out around both dining areas so that they wouldn't go to waste.

Standing on one of the chairs, which she would wipe off afterwards, she positioned it near one of the chandeliers and got on top of it. (F/n) began to remove the streamers, but she didn't realize that a couple of the balloons were missing. Instead, she moved from one chandelier to the next. As the chair slid across the tile, creaking happened along with it and hid among the louder sound.

Once all of the streamers were off, she bundled them into a ball and set them on one of the tables for the meantime. She wiped off the chair with cleaner and a rag, which she had brought in earlier before Hal had left, and put it back in its place. As she stood up fully, though, she paused. By the entrance to the dining room, a couple of the star balloons bobbed their way into the space. It looked like some of the air had been removed from them, and they were only several feet off of the ground. They made their way towards her before they bumped into one of the chairs and went off in another direction.

Confused, she was certain that none of the balloons had holes in them when she had put them up. Had some of the kids secretly done that? Then again, she imagined that the parents would've gotten after them had they tried such a thing. It also didn't make sense that they were coming into the room when they should've been in it already.

Instinctively, her heart rate began to pick up as the whole thing felt incredibly odd. Worry crept into her veins, and she didn't go towards the balloons. It didn't help that they had come in through the only entrance and exit in the dining room. Where was she supposed to go? She supposed if necessary she could open one of the windows and go out into the pouring rain. Then, she would leave Anita behind, who was especially vulnerable given that she was in the bath. At the moment, she didn't have the key to the front door either. It was up in her room since she hadn't planned on leaving during the day or night.

Needless to say, the current situation sucked. If anything bad happened, she was screwed, or she was leaving Anita behind to be in a similar position. Annoyed and concerned by her predicament, she continued to stare towards the entrance to the dining room and waited for something else to happen. Maybe, she was the one taking things out of proportion now; however, she about leaped into the air when lightning struck in the town, and the power went out. It came back on moments later. Well for the rest of the house it did, but the lights in the dining room didn't. Was there faulty wiring in here too?

Since the light switch to the room was in the entrance hall, she couldn't now see that the switch was turned off. Whatever the case, she was all the more freaked out. When another strike of lightning hit outside, she jumped again and closed her eyes momentarily in the process. Again, she didn't hear the creaking sound.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked around the room. Nothing was out of place except for the few balloons. She was over thinking again; she had to be. (F/n) steeled herself and headed towards the entrance hall. A couple of the balloons she moved out of the way, but she thought that something brushed across her right leg in the process. Quickly, she looked down, but she didn't see anything. Up her spine, a chill traveled, but she headed into the entrance hall.

Furrowing her brows, she noticed that the light switch was turned off. Unless the pipes in the walls somehow had knocked the switch off, which didn't really seem possible to her, that switch had to have been turned off by someone else, and Anita was upstairs. She instinctively gulped. Another strike of lightning hit, and thunder followed. Creaking hid among it.

Attention going back to the dining room, she noticed that the remaining balloons were gone. Something was in there. She took a few steps back from the room. Scared, she stared ahead. From one of the tables in the back, balloons soon bobbed up and down from behind it and came towards her.