Charlene was heavily annoyed by the call that her mother-in-law made. Much of it stemming from the fact that her husband DIVORCED her, not the other way around, when Rachel had to admit that she was a lesbian. The fact that her mother-in-law made claims that she had jumped to divorce her husband was baseless and also made Charlene think that her ex was playing some sort of political game behind the scenes with his parents at the same time. None of that made sense and essentially treated Rachel, Jasmine, and Michelle as pawns on a chessboard, which only irritated Charlene further. For, had her in-laws behaved with respect and at least care for their grandchildren, she might have considered some arrangement that would let them see their grandchildren from time to time, as they were blood family to Charlene's daughters, but they hadn't operated that way and Charlene reserved the right to "refuse service," if only to protect her daughters.
And between Rachel adjusting to being a werecat and the family getting used to a new town, and one where most of the population was a were-beast of some kind, and even the normal humans who lived in Moon Lake knew it, that was another reason not to have her mother in law's distractions going on. Charlene had a lot to do, and after handling the mail and picking up the subscription to Moon Lake's local paper, she decided to essentially drive around the proverbial block in order to then park across the street to handle her local voter registration and thus avoid having to dash in and out of traffic. Which was relatively steady, despite Moon Lake's small size. Charlene attributed that to Moon Lake's unique layout. It may give the town's weres the ability to better "commune with nature," but it also changed traffic patterns and affected how they flowed, and it was during that part of her drive that the first call came in.
"Bought in prejudiced lies and is probably why her son is the way he is," Charlene thought to herself as the phone rang again and she could see the phone number on the screen.
She ignored the phone, expecting things to go to voicemail and would stay there until she could have time for it. She then kept her focus on her mission and eventually managed to get a spot where she could park in front of City Hall. If she had time for this at the moment, she might answer to explain things, but she didn't have the time at the moment, and thus she continued not to answer. She let the phone ring out and go to voicemail again. That took a moment or two, and once it did, Charlene quickly reset the phone to vibrate. Moving her voter registration was something that would be difficult, partially as Florida demanded she report to Florida that she wouldn't be a Florida resident and thus taking herself off the rolls. Charlene figured it was to assure "voter integrity," but it also added complications that probably weren't intended and helped create the situation where she didn't have time to argue with her ex's mother over her political frustrations with her granddaughter. Though, Charlene could soon hear the softer sound of the phone vibrating as someone called again, and it was likely her ex's mother again.
The walk into the building was relatively quiet, aside from the sound of her phone vibrating in her purse. Charlene sighed at that as it wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. She noted that the area she entered was a large atrium type area that led into couple of areas and had a slight of stairs that went up to a second floor on the north side of the building. There were some signs that gave some designations on who's room was who's, including the mayor's office, deputy mayor's office, and town chancellor's office, along with some of the other agencies that related to the city's governing administration. Many seemed rather small, all things considered, and so Charlene approached window that was in the interior wall that would allow people to interact with city staff working in the room on the other side of the wall.
"Hello, could I get some help with directions, please?" Charlene spoke, "I've recently moved to town from Florida and need to handle the paperwork related to voter registration and things like that."
The person on the other side of the "window" sniffed in Charlene's direction, and Charlene sighed, ignoring the continued sound of her phone vibrating.
"I'm Charlene Covaks," Charlene spoke and then whispered, "my daughter Rachel is a werecat, she is why we moved here."
The person blinked and then nodded, "sorry... There are a lot of things we're supposed to be quiet on until one has met with the Town Chancellor and is aware of things and can be trusted to keep them secret, and not everyone knows that sort of schedule. Your daughter joined a pride already?"
"Her girlfriend in Florida was a werecat... and raped her," Charlene spoke.
The person's face paled, "that's horrid..."
Charlene held up a hand to dismiss the person's stance. To a degree, with the people she'd met in Moon Lake and who knew of what had happened to Rachel, the response was supportive. That wasn't a problem for her, and Charlene didn't need to hear the voiced support come again and again.
"It's okay," Charlene spoke, "I just need directions on where to go to register to vote here."
"Oh, yes," the person nodded, and then leaned forward to point to a door on the southwest side of the atrium that Charlene was in, "just go through that door. It'll take you into a hallway that will like you with the courthouse on the other end of the building. Along that hallway and on your right will be the city records office. They handle everything like that... and to make sure that you're appropriately registered in the state of Washington. Though, we also allow for other means to register as well. Though..."
The person paused as Charlene's phone began to vibrate again. Charlene assumed that she was conversing with a were at the moment and was able to pick up the sound of her phone vibrating.
"Sorry... it's a rather... annoying ex-mother-in-law who is pressuring things while I'm running errands," Charlene spoke, "I have it on vibrate so it isn't too much of a distraction... and I didn't want it cooked in my car or stolen."
The person nodded and simply waved Charlene on, "well... at least it's on vibrate... and you do know where to go, so I won't hold you here. And the forms shouldn't take too long to fill out."
Charlene nodded and then moved on her way. She had the means to keep the food she'd just bought fresh, but she did want to be home before her daughters returned from their respective schools. It wasn't that she couldn't trust them to take care of themselves, as Rachel was in college and Michelle and Jasmine were old enough to take care of themselves, at least for a while, but they were still in a new place and getting their feet under them again. Though the annoyance of her ex's mother continuing to call was still there. For the moment the phone had stopped vibrating, but the fact that these calls were being made repeatedly made Charlene wonder just what the woman was up to.
She continued on her way and went through the door that she'd been pointed to. She did come to the door to the City Records Office and walked in to find a young woman seated at a booth-like table and with a doorway to its side. Charlene noted that the woman didn't have the build that most everyone else did and so she assumed the young woman was a Moon Lake normal... though she couldn't be fully sure and was quiet on that. She introduced herself and went through the explanation on who she was and why she was there.
"You didn't have to come all this way to make it a special trip," the woman answered, "Washington state hasn't passed the sorts of draconian restrictions on voting and registration as other states have."
"I was in the area on some other errands," Charlene answered while her phone began to vibrate again, thankfully the young woman didn't seem to notice it, "so I came in while I was here. Not to mention that my oldest daughter will need to register to vote here too... and right now, she's just adjusting to things that make Moon Lake special. I'm hoping that this can then make things easier for her later."
Charlene then took the paperwork and noted that the information was fairly straightforward and rather easy. She noted the woman nodded in reply and she set about filling out that paperwork.
"Well, this will be good for Moon Lake immediately," the young woman explained, "it may take us a little while to assure that these registrations then go on to county offices that handle things for bigger elections and all that... though, Moon Lake schedules its city elections to be on the same day as other elections, so everything should be fine."
"Things will be done before the next set of elections?" Charlene asked.
"Yes," the young woman answered, "some ballots may need to be provisional, depending on when they get the paperwork, but that would only apply to the next election and assuming that things are going slow with the paperwork... which shouldn't happen. Though, would your daughter also be registering today... or?"
"No, she may register on another day when there is the free time and I can bring her down," Charlene answered as her phone began vibrating again, and this brought a man into the doorway behind the woman.
"Is something wrong with your phone, ma'am?" the man asked to Charlene.
"It's my mother-in-law... or rather ex-mother-in-law," Charlene spoke, "and likely wanting to push something that would go after my daughter for something stupid... like her son jumped to divorce... it's an annoyance that right now, I don't have time for."
"How many times has she called?" the man asked, clearly hearing the muffled sounds of her phone vibrating.
"At least five times, if not more," Charlene spoke, "I'm sorry if it annoys you."
"I can't hear anything," the young woman said.
"It's not annoying," the man said politely, and Charlene thought she saw an apologetic smile, something that reminded her of her own father when he tried to help her with something, "I was just coming by the door when I heard that faint buzzing... though, if this relative is that determined to make the call... it may be best to take it outside. It may be an annoyance, but it'll only continue to build the longer you push it off."
"I'm almost done," Charlene spoke as she finished the last few pieces and looked over the form to make sure everything was in order..."There."
She handed in the finished document and was grateful... and as the phone stopped vibrating, which meant that her ex's mother was again leaving a message or something else. The young woman looked it over and then motioned over to the door. Charlene slowly approached and followed the woman as she led Charlene to another area and before one of the staff members.
"This is a voter registration, sir," the young woman spoke as she handed it to another man who then nodded. The first man had followed them, and Charlene got the sense that this was like an official witness and this new man had the clearance to make things official. The new man stamped it and then placed it on top a cabinet with a post-it note with the words "to do" written on it. Charlene felt some relief and soon felt the first man pat her on the back.
"Things will be fine, ma'am," that first man said to her, "and regardless of what this in-law may want... know that you'll have support here."
"Thank you," Charlene managed, though her phone was soon vibrating again and that left her a question what to do.