Ethan leaned over on the large, never-used, meeting table in the center of the room and sighed. "Yeah, I hope so too. I can't do my job if there's nothing to tell people to do!" he jested, adding a wink and a smirk. "In all seriousness, I agree with you, we need to get some assignments from the head of the food court. I believe that we're all supposed to meet up with him. Or her. I don't even know yet." Ethan could imagine how boring it would be to stand around at an entrance nobody used, smiling vacantly at nothing more than the dust that floated in the gateway. And he was grateful that he had never had to do that. Maybe being a janitor wasn't that much better, but it was how he had met his wife...

And so Ruby once again entered the meeting room.. How odd that it was in the lower levels when majority of their tasks took place in the upper area. But there was no need for her to complain, for Ruby just looooved the exercise! Yes..

Hanging loosely by the handle in her elbow frame was a basket of yet, another freshly baked sweet, this time it was blueberry biscuits, but enough of that.. The most importance was in the files held in her arms. Her oversized letter B necklace bounced lightly off her torso as she walked, her choice in the overly patterned ensemble was carefully selected to help signify her new position which acquired many eyes to cast on her. Yes.. And she made sure to drink her juice before entering, so life was good again.

Now.. clearly Ruby was not the first to arrive, and certainly not the last. Her lips tightened for a moment before smiling gently, wasn't he the new supervisor? She did not know other than a few whispers here and there, Ruby also acknowledged the lady whom he was conversing with. Not wanting to be rude, she took the time to set the basket down in the middle of the table before standing a little bit straighter.

"Ahem, l-lovely day.." Bowing politely, she introduced herself, "I'm R-Ruby Bell, Head of the upcoming F-Food Court, but Ruby is fine." Really? Did she need to have her juice bottle out again? Oh well, at least she brought some plastic cups, which she took out of her said purse along with the juice bottle. Pouring some in each cup she set them by the earlier said basket before taking some for herself. A nice sip won't hurt. *GULP* Ahhhh, much better! Now Ruby was smiling. "Before we begin please don't hesitate and take a sample.. or two." Ruby sincerely hoped they enjoyed it.

Well, wasn't this a strange sight? The woman--apparently the food court head--didn't seem to fit in much with them. Nor did she seem like she'd actually fit in anywhere. Ethan had to admit, though, the necklace was pretty cool. Politely, he took a cup of what seemed like juice and extended his empty hand toward the woman. "Hello, nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Ethan, the new supervisor for Maintenance," he introduced himself with a smile. He took a small sip of the graciously offered cup of juice, and he nearly gagged. Thankfully, he could control himself enough to cover it with a cough and go back to drinking his juice very slowly. It would look good if he finished it, no matter how long it took him to do so.

But it wasn't the woman's juice that was her reason for visiting. It was the food court. And so, without much further hesitation, Ethan decided to put the topic on the table. "Miss Melanie here was just wondering when actual construction of the Food Court will start. I'd like to say soon, otherwise she has virtually nothing to do, but don't we need a theme first? I think that Hunter had already suggested an around-the-world type theme. Any opinions?"

Jullian's first day at the work. . .he seemed nervous. He wondered how can he find his way inside the ministry. Anyway wasting so much time . .he managed to find where he suppose to be. . . . He wasn't a social person. . So he always got butterflies in his stomach.. . When he goes to a new place with new people. . . . . In this room . -where he entered for the meeting he saw some people gathered. . And someone like his boss. . . seemed to be waiting for more people. . So he entered and stood behind everyone else and waited for someone to say something. . .

Melanie nodded at the the woman that had just come in. She was a bit stuttery to be the head of the Maintenance department, but nevertheless, she seemed good enough to take initiative. "Yes, I agree with Ethan about the theme of the food court. Around-the-world may attract more workers to try different foods from different places." She lifted her hand to check out her nails before continuing on. Her nails were absolutely filthy even though to another person it may look perfect enough. "The problem is though that if the chefs were to make the meals, they may need some time to learn how to make the different dishes and if the food is authentic enough." Melanie had seen people at her house look at her in disgust when she had tried to make fajitas which turned into a disaster. She didn't want the employees of the Ministry to feel that way as well especially the Minister of Magic who would like the type to eat fine food. "The food court would need to be in tip top shape if we are to impress the Minister."

Mason followed an oddly-dressed woman into the meeting. Word had it that she was kind of his boss now. Her choice of dress was... different, but Mason wouldn't judge her. She could be nice for all he knew. And she had biscuits!

Taking a biscuit, Mason took a seat and looked around at his coworkers as they pitched their ideas. He pursed his lips, remembering how the old cafeteria was before the last renovation. Before Borr had arrived. *shudder*

"Well, the way the food court was a few years ago, before Borr was Minister, all Ministry workers had to do was tap their wand on a table and their desired food would appear. I don't know the charms or tricks behind that, though; we would have to work with others if we did that again." It was quite convenient. No long lines and whatnot. "But if we did have 'chefs' - as you said," he added, pointing to who he assumed was Melanie, "We could just use elves, not actual chefs. Elves are more efficient. Cheaper. And they can pretty much do anything, unlike people." Mason shrugged and tore a piece of biscuit off before popping it in his mouth. Just his two cents.

Ethan had been sitting back a little and listening to what his employees had to say about the food court. Frankly, since only two people had put in some thought so far, he decided to rejoin with his own ideas. "I think, if we're going to keep things interesting around here, that we can't use the same thing we did last time. Granted, I wasn't here back then, and I don't know how it all worked out, but it's just a thought. Perhaps it's a good idea to change things up?" he posited to the group. That was enough for now, though. He had already decided in his head that he was going to let the employees design the food court. It was the job of the Magical Maintenance department, not the job of Ethan Lennox. He would still give ideas when the group reached a standstill in creativity, but for now he would stand back and let the people decide.

Violet nodded as the other employee gave her input. It was good to listen to him since Melanie was new to the whole ministry of magic thing anyway. "Well, how about we let the architect people decide about how the whole food court should look like. I'm only a carpenter to build the food court, but the food court may look more appealing if we added a lot of colour to the place?" Colour always extracted Melanie to different places and it might even catch the eyes of many people in the ministry.

"Sorry I'm late." Hunter said as he strode into the room and headed straight for the coffee machine and pouring himself a cup. "The Department of Mysteries is a total mess."

He turned around, coffe cup to his lips and faced the crew. "So what have I missed?"

Melane just stared at the man with unblinking eyes for a while. She had no words for the interruption of the meeting, but she wasn't mad at him. More of a shock than anything. Okay take a deep breath Melanie. In..1,2,3. Out...1,2,3 . There now she was back in control of herself. She smiled at the man sweetly. "Hello there. No, it's fine. Not much that you missed out." She looked over at her colleagues."We were just discussing about the layout of the food court. We need to make some changes to it to make it more..." How should she say it? "Impressive." Melanie twirled with her long wavy hair. She was slightly bored that this meeting was going no where so far.

OK, she was going into Maintenace to write notes about the new food court. What was the woman in charge's name, again? Oh, yes, Ruby Bell. Becky walked along the corridor, smiling to herself and pushing back her long, blonde hair, which had fallen into her blue eyes since that morning. Maybe it would be better to tie it up, because it could be seriously annoying. She pulled a shiny, black hairclip from her bag and put it in. There, that problem was solved until the clip came out like it always did for her. Hopefully it would take a while, though. Hairclips were unreliable, pretty as they were and useful as they could sometimes be, especially with her.

Becky was wearing a neat black skirt and jacket, with a white blouse and scarf with black flowers, along with some black heels and a handbag. She was very co-ordinated. Outside of work, it was usually roller skates, jeans and comfortable t-shirts. Work clothes felt boring and stupid, but it had to be done if she wanted to keep her job at the Ministry. Becky wasn't wearing any makeup except some pale pink lipstick, though. Makeup was terrible and wrong. She hardly ever used it. She carried on walking straight to the Atrium where the Maintenance meeting area was. She'd never been in there before. It might be intresting or just a plain meeting area.

Ahh, there it was. Becky knocked briskly on the door before entering. Her eyes opened wide. What was Ruby Bell wearing?! There was her, thinking about how awful it would be to wear casual clothes to work on a normal day. She coughed into her hankicheif, before starting to speak. "I'm Becky Patterson, personal assistant to the Minister," she said before pausing for a breath. "I'm here to find out more information on the new food court to present to Mr. Greingoth." That was straight to the point enough. She couldn't take her blue eyes of Miss Bell, though.

Whilst listening to the fantastic workers of the Ministry, Ruby kept sipping and refilling her delicious juice in her cup. "Well then," Ruby continued. "Should a kitchen with chefs be constructed and assigned?" The juice did wonders for Ruby, it made her calm and brightened her smile! Yes..

"A kitchen would make sure the food is prepared properly.. and have plenty of flavors for the refreshments too!" Yes, refreshments and beverages were very important in a food court. Ohhh then again, how the food court looks is important too.

Ruby then spoke with hand gestures and tried showing enthusiasm to her words.. "With an around the world theme.. that would allow many types of delicious food.. but we shall make sure the colors of the place is eye-pleasing! Like.." Ruby looked up thoughtfully for a moment "Like-like- colors of warm green! and other soft colors!"

Melanie stopped twirling with her hair. "Yes, green makes the atmosphere feel really warm and maybe even more appetizing." She was slightly getting more interested in this meeting now that they were now discussing some more ideas.

"The other man though," she gestured to Ethan. "Has said that hiring house elves would less expensive than wizards, but I like the idea of other people preparing the food for the employees. You wouldn't want any disasters when the employees do magic to make their food."

"Well then," Ruby's eyes slightly widened at the sudden thought. " With house elves serving and preparing food, then perhaps they should dress accordingly!" Oh yes.. Ruby searched through her papers for a potential outfit design. Aha! She sent the picture across the table for others to see. "Isn't that lovely? We could have them look and act all fancy!" She had kept said picture in case she decided to have one herself, hehe.

Now for a little review so far. "Now then we seem to have an agreement on serving some sweets, lots and lots of juices, and most important different foods from around the world to fit it's theme.." Ruby tallied it up. "So let's discuss the potential cutural foods like...." Drinking another sip of her juice. "FISH!" Yes.. She already wrote it down. "Anything else?" Ruby was esthetic to hear more ideas now.

Melanie thought about the idea of clothes for the house elves. Were they allowed to wear clothes now? She wasn't sure if the controversy over house elves wearing clothes is over yet since it meant the elves would be free then? "These are very cute outfits for the house elves, but would they be willing to wear them? Clothes would mean freedom for the elves." She tried to imagine house elves dressed in the outfits and laughed quietly at the thought.

Now on to the different foods and drinks, "Of course we'll have a variety of foods and absolutely no fire whiskey should be permitted." She nodded as she said these things. It would not be a good idea to have drunk employees working on the job. It would be disastrous. "Let's have a variety of pasta's, and rice, and different meats from around the world. We could do a survey in the ministry to see what foods the employees prefer to eat. Would that suggestion be a good idea?" Melanie was happy that this meeting was finally going somewhere and she couldn't wait until the food court went under construction soon.

They had just completely ignored her. When she'd been all polite and introduced herself and everything. That was just RUDE. Even with the crazy woman who was meant to be head of the Food Court. Downright RUDE.

*Huff*

Becky Patterson had just decided that she didn't like Maintenance people at all. They were rude. Well, the ones in the meeting area at that moment in time, anyway. Which was most of them. RUDE. Her eyes were red, as was her hair. Literally. That was how she felt so that was what her Metamorphagus power had done to her. She changed her hair back easily, but kept her eyes bright red because they looked scary. Which was good.

She just walked in and took a seat, rummaging in her bag for a notebook. She found one with a pen attached. Good. Oh, now it didn't work. Becky sighed and looked for another one, before pulling it out and scribbling 'Food court ideas' in her untidy scribble.

Melanie looked over the woman that had, it looked like, transformed her hair colour. Another metamorphagus, she assumed. How had she not seen this woman before? She looked quite mad at the moment, but it amused her that she had such a short temper. She could have merely repeated herself louder because Melanie was so caught up with the planning. After all, she was a carpenter for the food court and must know exact details of the layout of the food court.

Were those woman's eyes...red? That creeped Melanie out for a second, but she thought for another minute that she may have kept them to scare off her co-workers. Not a smart move considering no one liked to see red eyes especially during a meeting. Melanie took a deep breath to she wasn't erked by the sudden movements the woman was having and walked over to her, who was now seated in a chair.

"Hi. My apologies, but I had just seen that you were in the meeting room as well. I'm Melanie Caparelli, one of the carpenters of the maintenance area...and you are?", she said as she took out her hand for a handshake with the red eyed woman. Those eyes were really creeping her out at the moment and Melanie couldn't help, but to look down on the ground with a blush on her face. She brushed down her chocolate brown hair to cover her blush from the woman.

Drew was being relatively quiet during the meeting. Then again this was no shocker as he wasn't very talkative to begin with. But even more so because everybody was talking about clothes house elves should wear and how was he suppose to know that? For one he was a guy...and two he was an architect so what house elves should wear, really wasn't his area of expertise.

But then he noticed a woman's hair and eyes change to red. Uhhh...well that was creepy, actually it was very creepy. This whole thing was interesting...

Ah yes, Ruby had almost forgotten that little note. In fact it stopped her from her sipping of her delicious drink. How dare she?! Well rather than get upset about it, she took just a smidgen to ponder if over.. DECISIONS DECISIONS... until... AHA! YES!

"Well, house elves normally wear... rags, but we could see charm them to look like fancy clothing to everyone but them." It was worth the effort in Ruby's eyes. Her note taking continued as she listened to her suggestions, "Alrighty, then, that's the Italian side I believe." Look at Ruby acting all professional, her late mother would be proud of her.

But now she had to keep the appearance up, allowing her elevated thirst to start chugging on the juice bottle..



Ruby's eyes then traveled around the audience to see if anyone else had another suggestion. Suddenly, her eyes locked on one woman who appeared gorgeous.. until her golden locks transformed to a fiery red with her eyes to match. EEEEEEEEEKK! Ruby's juice bottle flew out of her hands onto the floor. "Oh!" Lowering her files, paper list to rest on the table so she could fetch the falling bottle.

What happened to that woman?! Ruby caught the bottle in time yes, but slowly she got back up gulping heavily as she watched her. "M-m-ma'am, is there a problem?" Her stutter returned, perhaps the dear lady needed some TLC right away. Looking around to see if the others have taken notice.

She couldn't help smirking at the responses when they FINALLY noticed her. Ruby Bell seemed the most shoccked. Her bottle flew. Literally. Maybe she had been a BIT rude, but only a little. They did completely ignore her. She changed her hair back once again. Becky had calmed down a little, so it remained blonde. The eyes, they should just get used to, 'cause she wasn't going to change them. It made her look like a snake. Epic. Good look. Sort of. Maybe.

Now she had to repeat herself. She resisted the urge to say 'No problem'. "My name is Becky Patterson, personal assistant to the Minister. I am here to take notes on the new Food Court to present to Mr. Greingoth." She tried to remain calm while saying it. At least she had their attention. Which they didn't have much of. That was good. Becky smirked again. Hehehe.

"Would this...charm make the elves uncomfortable though." Melanie started. "are they against wizards or witches putting our magic on them?" The charm was a good idea, but they may want consent first before putting on anything they do not want. Now on to the food and drinks portion of the food court. That seemed like the most important part of building a new food court.

"I believe we should recruit some people to do a short survey so we know exactly what the employees prefer to eat and drink." Melanie nodded at her own suggestion. She wasn't going to make any food decisions for the food court. At home, she was always a poor cook and seemed to always catch everything on fire even with her superb magic. House jobs were never a thing for Melanie.

Her eyes then widened as Ruby's eyes widened and she literally spewed her drink all over the floor while almost dropping the delicate bottle as well. That creepy woman in the behind them was scaring all the people in the meeting room.


Melanie turned around again and faced the red-eyed woman again. "Ahh..I see. So personal assistant to the Minister? Well..all the items that we have been discussing during this meeting you may write down." She smiled nervously and twirled with her chocolate brown hair to calm herself down. "We may be doing a survey for all the employees in the ministry to see what different foods they prefer." She kept twirling her hair until it became wavy down her back. "You can also tell your boss about the possible hiring of house elves since we will need workers in the kitchen. They are cheaper to hire. You may ask him to consider these options..and that is all so far."

She gave a small smile to the woman. She was actually quite pretty with her blonde hair, but her eyes were still bright red which still gave Melanie goosebumps along her arms.

For while Ruby bent under the desk to clean said spilled juice,her nerves were threatening to strike her. WHHHHHHHHHHYYY OHHH WHYYYYYYYY MUST HER JUICE BE THREATENED... Gulping in hopes to save her tears, she was the new head for goodness sakes. Silently she mourned the spilled juice that was on the floor as she used her wand to conjure it up nice and clean.

Ahem. She had to blink once again to fully register what just went on.. Oh yes, the House Elves attire. Nodding in agreement, though she really didn't see the big deal on having them look nice for everyone. But oh well, perhaps there should be another voice on this. But her idea on the survey was fantastic though. "An e-excellent suggestion!" Ruby nodded before turning tentatively to the fiery banshee woman that had threatened Ruby's beloved juice.



She was.. smiling?! Smiling?! That juice wasn't free dear lady! Ruby blinked furiously in effort not to shed tears. No, no. The juice had been mourned and Ruby was moving on! Yes. Listening to her introduction, she wondered how long she had been sitting there beforehand.. But no matter! Ruby shuffled her papers back into her hands regaining her ahem, professional look. "Wel-Welcome dear Patterson.." She mentioned being the personal assistant to the Minister.. Well, bless her heart for her position. This could be a good use, and with that Ruby had an idea since she was closer to the other upper ranks.. But it appeared someone else had shared the same thought before the words could leave her mouth.



Closing her lips, almost resembling a fish, Ruby gave a nod of approval. "A splendid thought, let us also ask for the possibilities for adding.." Then Ruby's eyes twinkled in excitement. "A music box." Who wouldn't enjoy some nice music playing while they dined? Ruby awaited for the others ideas.

"I'm sorry," she said with a little smirk, clearly not in the slightest bit sorry. Just juice, she could buy/make/magic up some more. Dear Patterson, charming. Now that the all knew she didn't actually have a Hufflepuff side, Becky could get down to buisness. Best to shut up and write for a while. She'd make it all neat and pretty on fancy paper later. Now she just had to catch up with what they were going on about, all these ideas for the pretty Food Court ideas, so she had something to present.

She began to scribble in her notebook in her messy scrawl, some random notes. A survey to see what food Ministry employees enjoyed. Hiring house elves because they were cheaper. House elves wearing charmed rags that looked like clothes so they wouldn't be set free. A music box to play soothing music in the Food Court. Maybe House elves could be trained to play music. It sounded quite nice to her so far. But maybe best not to show her face because Tim would almost certainly be there. Then Becky would just turn her eyes the scary red again. It seemed to have an effect. Hopefully he'd run screaming.

Becky changed her eyes back, staring intently at the Maintenence people for any more ideas. She was meant to write them down, not create them, so she remained silent. She looked much better without the scary eyes. She pushed a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled. Why she was smiling, the woman didn't know. She just smiled. Which she hadn't for a while. Since the Tim thing. She'd even heard he was dating now. With the matchmaking thing. Well, he could date, she didn't care. Sort of.

Melanie just nodded her head slightly when the woman apologized for scaring them, but it looked like the woman was not sorry at all for her actions. It seemed to..amuse her slightly. Melanie was not enjoying this woman at all, but she kept her smile and the twinkle in her eye. "Should we be carrying out these plans now since we've discussed over the food problem as well as the workers that will be there." She brushed her chocolate brown hair away from her face. Goodness. She needed to get a trim soon. "How about now we should discuss about the design of the food court. Any architects in this meeting right now?" Melanie looked around the meeting area to see if anyone would acknowledge their job position. She was, only a carpenter, so, but some interior designing she was okay at.

Ruby believed the lady, for she was the type to forgive and forget. Yes! Smiling as if she had taken a drink of delicious koolaid, watching as she wrote everything down. Great! There was progress. And she wasn't the only one to notice it..


And now Ruby seemed that now was the best time to show the potential designs. "Yes yes, the room design.." Checking the folder of her many files she laid out one picture. Mainly for the architects, though it was important for the others present to see.. "Perhaps if we have everything set up as a buffet.." Then another picture appeared. "Or have it with a lovely green, fabulous chairs, and a small kitchen in the back!" But just one more will do then, yes? Whipping out another picture she smiled as this had her most prized section. "Another green room, with a juice bar in the back." Oh yes, they could indeed have everything included, but which layout was the most appropriate? Hmm.. hmm.. Ruby began to refill some of the other empty cups with more juice. This time it was kiwi flavored. *Grin*