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.

Comments

[st_clare]

"I've been here since August. It seems like longer than that. And you're the only other Watcher in the area, at least as far as I know. That was why I was so surprised to hear from you when it wasn't long distance."

Perhaps it was because she'd never married, but London had represented safety for Julianna in the wake of her Slayer's death. The chances for travel, including the dig in Peru, had been temporary escapes, but she'd always returned to her flat and teaching afterwards. She wondered if it was fate that had caused her to be here in the present time, trying to re-assume her responsibilities as a Watcher. If everything had a purpose to it, perhaps this had been unavoidable.

"If you do find something of particular interest, I'd like to hear about it," she told Gerald as she signaled the waiter with the dessert cart to come over. "My translating skills are a bit rusty, but I'm slowly blowing the cobwebs away."

[ghargreaves]

"Yes, as I said, it was a last minute decision for me to come here," he explained, with a little more detail about the message that had come through about an item that had surfaced in Las Vegas, which he had now seen. "And the fact that these areas are really some of the largest unexplored regions, archeologically, has always given them an air of intrigue that piques my interest," he added with a small grin. "You know how it is, Julianna, the opportunity to find something that no-one had ever even suspected of existing, a culture in your case perhaps, of a people who had slipped beneath the radar of the regular world."

He lifted his glass and sipped from it, a twinkle in his eye, the prospect of doing that clearly one he still held as possible.

[st_clare]

Julianna smiled warmly at Gerald as she picked up her wine glass and lifted it in a toast. "To new discoveries and old friendships."

The cart supporting the sweets was in range. She was going to be stuffed before this meal was over, which meant paying strict attention to her exercise regimen for the next week or so. Even if nothing came of it, it would be nice to work with someone familiar again. One never knew what tomorrow might bring, after all.