They met with more people after that. Mr Baker introduced his daughter and Annie to people from various backgrounds - to industrialists, bankers, businessmen and the occasional engineer. Annie was even introduced to the mayor of the city.
Thankfully Sabine brought her another glass of that same juice mix. Annie had felt thirsty after greeting all those people.
After that, the mayor got on the stage to give a speech. Before he started, Connie pulled Annie and Sabine out to the balcony. "It's the boring part," she had said.
"It's impolite not to listen," Annie chided. They could at least pretend to listen. The little girl could still hear the speech from the balcony, though. After the greetings and grateful words for everyone's presence, the mayor talked about current affairs, a topic that Annie was not familiar with nor interested in.
Annie turned her attention to the city scene. There was a cool breeze that evening, perfect weather to be out on the balcony.
"Your drink's empty," Connie noted. She took Annie's glass and returned to the hall.
"No, wait..." Annie tried to protest but the redhead was gone. It was even more impolite to be fetching a drink in the middle of a speech.
Annie turned and rested her hands on the stone balustrade as she surveyed the street. There were people on the walkways and cars on the street below, lit by lights from the windows of buildings, from vehicles and from the street lamps. Flags, pennants and trees fluttered in the evening breeze, which also brought a gentle tease of chill down Annie's exposed neck.
The girl looked at her brown-hair friend. Sabine was standing uncomfortably next to the balustrade, favoring one leg while shaking her other foot. "Feet hurting?" Annie asked.
"Yes," Sabine groaned, "My toes are so painful." Her shoes must be a bad fit.
"Once the speech is over, we should get you to a seat," Annie said.
After the mayor had finished his speech, Connie returned with a new glass of juice for Annie. "Can you dance?" she inquired.
"No, I can't," Annie confessed as she accepted the glass. Neither could Sabine.
"That's too bad. You should learn. Now, all you can do is watch me!" Connie laughed as she glided off to the dance floor.
Annie followed the taller teenager up until the doorway. From there, she could watch the dance floor. She felt a pang of jealousy. Young Connie, who was at Annie's age, moved with flawless grace and elegant pose as she danced with her father. Her movements perfectly complemented her father's, in rhythm to the lively tune played by the band. And the redhead had to wear a charming little smile that would melt the heart and weaken the knees of any man.
Not wishing to turn anymore green with envy, Annie proposed to Sabine that they find somewhere to seat. Maybe she should sign up for dance lessons.
"Connie arranged a table for us," Sabine mentioned as Annie helped her walk, "It's in the back corner so we'll be by ourselves."
The girls were to share their corner table with an elderly couple, who introduced themselves as Mr and Mrs Zimmerman. "So how do you find the party so far?" Mr Zimmerman asked.
"It's quite boring," Sabine blurted, then blushed when she realized what she had said.
Mr Zimmerman laughed while his wife smiled. "Yes, the games old folks play can be uninteresting to the younger generation," the elderly man commented, "But there's one thing that young and old both need, and that is food. I hope you'll find this evening's fare much more interesting than the tiresome talk of grownups."
"I look forward to sampling tonight's menu," Annie responded politely.
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