Fine Dining

Miserable. There was no other word to describe it. Gone was the fine-cut crystal and white-gloved waiters serving refined diners gourmet delights of the day. To be sure, the meals were fine enough in setting, but few diners really understood proper dress or behavior. The rancher from Texas could not button his polyester jacket and his wife looked like she had been melted and poured into her dress that looked like ruffled meringue. “Ethan-boy!” Ethan’s hand tightened on the glass of cognac he had been holding and, though he had just met the man, Ethan suddenly understood the desire to drink. The man continued to bellow, “What d’ ya say we take these pretty gals to the casino and let them blow on dice for luck!”

Setting the glass aside, Ethan replied, “Quite impossible, I’m afraid.” The Texan couple stared. Obviously they felt entitled to an excuse. Ethan did not offer one.

After a long silence, Brit chimed in, “Our evenings are so limited.”

Ethan nodded quickly interjecting, “And we are honeymooners.” His words caused Brit to beam brightly and to remember to keep silent regarding his nature.

The woman patted Brit’s hand with her large, heavily-ringed hand as she exclaimed to her husband, “Aw, Ray. Ain’t that sweet! Doncha remember our honeymoon?” Ray gave a brief tip of his head and looked immediately disinterested. The lady sat back causing the chair to squeak. “It wus just the most romantic thang! Ray had come to Vegas and I wus working as a cocktail waitress in the Bellagio and he wus winning big! And I blew on his dice and he won more! And then we went out later. And then…we knew it was just the most perfect thang and got married in Elvis’s Blue Suede Shoes Wedding Chapel.” Brit sat with Ethan who was blinking in time with her as they listened. “Yup, I said to myself, ‘Tracy…this here is a right fine man’.” Ethan raised his drink moistening his lips before setting it back down on the table as Tracy continued to loudly reminisce. Tracy yammered every uncensored detail of the wedding and wedding night to an attentive Brit while Ethan’s expression informed the cruise director that she would be making yet another table change for the following night.

Midway through dinner, Ray had taken to hard drinking. Ethan was still clutching his glass, and Brit continued to nibble her dinner while listening with wide-eyes as Tracy detailed her difficulties finding hair spray that left her hair both touchable and big. Ethan swirled his cognac while Brit chewed a piece of prime rib as Tracy described her mother’s polyp surgery. When music started, Ethan looked as relieved as if he were a prisoner who had just received his pardon moments before the warden pulled the switch. Holding out his hand to Brit, Ethan said, “Pardon us, but I should dance with my princess.” Without waiting for a response, they moved to the dance floor where Ethan swirled Brit around twice and then danced her through the door saying, “We shall talk soon” as he passed the cruise director.

“They are way nice,” said Brit. Her words caused him to grin, which gave way to a chuckle as she expressed sincere concern regarding Tracy’s mother’s recovery. Ethan directed her toward the deck where he removed his jacket to slide around her shoulders. While the cruise held little of the elegance of eras long gone, he had to admit that Brit was having a fun time and the ship’s controlled environment allowed her more independence. For the first time, she had shopped and explored on her own. True that he would not have selected the burgundy-colored mini-dress she intended to wear to the nightclub, but he was not so blind that he could not admit that she looked pleasing in it. It was interesting to him to see what she selected on her own. Bright colors, he noted as they neared a poolside snack stand where he ordered a large sundae.

He lured her to a secluded area on the deck with the promise of ice cream and playfully negotiated triads of kisses for bites of the creamy dessert. Brit never quite understood that the purpose of the game was to not give kisses until ice cream was delivered. To her, even playful kisses should always given to him freely. The quiet water and pretty moon created a charming environment. Again, her hair fluttered slightly as it did the night on the top of the rooftop where he first kissed her. Just as he did that night, he pulled her to him and kissed her softly. And just as he did that night, more kisses quickly followed each one more passionate than the one before though the playfulness remained. The ice cream melted within arms reach as he brushed her hair back. Feeling his fangs lengthen, he heard someone greet them by name. As Brit rushed to give Omega a warm hug, Ethan crossed his arms in amusement at Omega’s mischievous smirk that told him that Omega knew exactly what she had interrupted; and his returning smirk told Omega that he had all night.