Dinner discussion

[ghargreaves]

The restaurant in the hotel was relatively busy, patrons from both the hotel, and outside, enjoying the cuisine. Gerald had booked a table after confirming a time with Julianna, and was, as usual, early. He had ordered a gin and tonic, and was just finishing it when the sommelier, or at least what Americans thought passed as one, appeared with the bottle of wine Gerald had ordered.

"Yes, that's the one," he confirmed when shown the label, nodding when asked if he would like it opened. "Yes, it needs to breath," he told the young man, figuring that if nothing else, at least the chap would have a better understanding of the role he was employed to fulfill. "And another gin and tonic, if you would be so kind," he told him, pleased he hadn't had to tell the chap that the bottle should be opened in front of him and left to breath on the table. At some ghastly restaurant in New York they'd tried to take the bottle away, and tried to act offended when he clearly pointed out that he wasn't about to give them the opportunity to decant the wine in the bottle and replace it with a cheaper variety.

He nodded his approval of the linen napkin that was correctly draped around the neck of the bottle, as he had instructed, and settled back in his chair, returning to observing the tide of humanity that was dining in the Golden Nugget that evening.

Second Impressions

[wolfs_daughter]

Cian's note had caused Echo to shake off the vestiges of the weird mood she'd been in since the night she'd seen the meteor, and she put the stone he'd left for her where he'd directed her to. Just knowing it was there made her feel more secure.

She'd gotten up at her usual early hour, then had breakfast and did her exercises in the front yard. Sometimes she wondered if her nearest neighbors, the Snyders, ever saw her out there, and if so what they thought of it. Then again, if they thought she was weird, they'd never mentioned anything. That was strangely comforting.

After she did some tidying up, she picked up the keys to the van and locked the trailer up behind her. She wanted to go up the highway to Vegas and catch the Strip before it got crowded. If it was ugly without all the neon, that would make her drawings better, more realistic. She was always looking for ways to expand on her talent, and urban landscapes were good for that in her opinion.

The roads were deserted because of the early hour, and when the hybrid reached the city she parked her vehicle in a metered spot. Dropping coins into the slot, she studied the street. Where was the best vantage point to start from?