The Ministry Child: From The Pinnacle To The Pit

An Unexpected Guest

Chapter Six!

An Unexpected Guest

August 2000 - Positano, Italy

Albany was busy in the kitchen, she was making some coffee. She had been awake for most of the night, her sleep had been plagued with thoughts. She couldn't believe she had seen Sister Imperator last night while she was walking back to the villa, but she was more concerned that Copia was with her on vacation. It was peculiar that they were here at the same time has the Emeritus family, but the Clergy had no boundaries. The Ministries across the globe were connected, the information they kept hidden could be accessed easily by the higher ranking members of the Clergy.

The doors and windows of the villa were open, the day was getting warmer. It was another beautiful day in Positano. Albany had already been for her morning swim, she had showered and prepared breakfast for her family. She had already heard Primo and Terzo moving around upstairs, she began serving breakfast. Placing a plate of warm fruit pastries and a pot of hot coffee on the dining table she sat down, she then waited for her family to join her. She poured herself a cup of coffee and helped herself to the pastries, she hadn't made much breakfast this morning. Pastries, a bowl of fruit and a box of muesli. Freshly squeezed orange juice and breakfast muffins, she had left the jug of milk in the refrigerator since it was hot this morning. 

Albany pulled her pastry apart with her fingers, the scent of strawberry jam escaped from the flakey breakfast treat. Sucking some jam from her thumb she heard footsteps on the stairway, it seemed like her family were finally making their presence known. Primo and Terzo were the first to appear, they took their seats at the table. They helped themselves to breakfast and spoke amongst themselves. She listened in on their conversation while she silently ate her breakfast, she had received a scolding from Terzo about walking home alone from the Karaoke Bar last night. Even though they didn't see each other very often anymore he still treated her like a child, but he soon back down when she apologised to him. She had told him about the queue at the telephone booth, but she had let slip that she had gotten a lift back to the villa. That had infuriated Terzo even more, he thought she had gotten a lift with a random stranger. She had no other choice but to tell him about Sister Imperator, he was unaware that she was staying in Positano. Terzo had told his youngest sibling to not tell their Father about her dark excellency being in town, it would only aggravate him.

They were soon joined by the rest of their family. Nihil and Secondo had returned in the early hours of the morning, the ruckus they had made had awoken the whole villa. Primo hadn't been too pleased with the disturbance, his Father had accidentally ended up in his room. Secondo has passed out on the stairs, his siblings had helped him to bed. The Father and Son duo had awful hangovers, but they had no regrets about their drunken night at the Karaoke Bar. Albany poured them both some coffee, she had offered to cook them both some scrambled eggs and toast to soak up the alcohol from their system. But the thought of a cooked breakfast had caused Secondo to gag, he immediately left the table and hurried to the nearest bathroom. They continued to eat their breakfast without Secondo, but their Father's voice was soon caught his children's attention.

" I received a letter this morning, it was from Sister Imperator." Papa said.

" How peculiar." Terzo said, his gaze fell upon his Sister. " To get mail while on vacation, that never normally happens in Los Angeles."

" I thought the exact same thing!" Papa said, there was a hint of annoyance in his voice. " The Clergy must have informed her about my location. I cannot even go on vacation without someone pestering me about work, it's not hard running the Ministry without me for just two weeks! I've worked hard for the last forty odd years, I deserve this vacation! Anyway, she wants me to meet with her this afternoon."