Текст книги "Tempted"

Автор книги: Claire Adams

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"That sounds great,” I said, heading down the hallway.

I felt much better twenty minutes later, toweling off my hair, having changed into jeans shorts and a tee shirt. The firm had let us go early, and I was thinking of something to do for the rest of the day when the doorbell rang.

When I opened the door, the sight before me shocked me. The bouquet of brightly colored flowers nearly eclipsed the young girl carrying it. Her voice drifted up from behind the mountain of the arrangement.

"Blair Michaels?" she said.

"That's me, but...wow,” I said taking the bouquet from her.

The flowers consisted of a collection of sweet smelling wild flowers in a rainbow of colors spilling out over the edge of a small blue porcelain flower pot. I carried it over to the coffee table and signed for the delivery.

"Thanks," I told the girl, handing her the signed slip.

"Any indication who it's from?" Kelsey asked.

"Like I said, probably my mom." Kelsey reached over my shoulder and plucked the card from the holder. "Hey!" I said, pulling the card back and opened the envelope.

The words printed on the small white card, made my stomach drop out from under me. It didn’t bare a name, but I knew instantly who had sent the flowers.

"What's it say?" Kelsey asked, trying to peer over the edge of the card.

I passed her the card, giving up on the attempt to subvert any information. She looked at the message and read the words out loud.

"You kissed me back. Good luck tomorrow." Kelsey's eyes grew wide as her mouth dropped open. I rolled my eyes as she began to apply playful punches to my arm. "No way!"

"Shut up, Kelsey,” I insisted.

"No way!" she continued. "These are from Aiden!"

"You think?" I said with a dead pan voice.

"And you did kiss him back!" she squealed with enthusiasm. "I can see it all over your face! At least, I hope these flowers aren't from your mom."

I felt no point in denying it at that point. "Yeah, so,” I said.

"Well this changes everything,” she exclaimed.

"How so?" I asked.

"You like him! Come on, Blair this is so meet-cute it's ridiculous."

"What is 'meet-cute'?" I asked.

"That's the story that you will one day tell your grandchildren on how you met. Usually the story is cute. Meet-cute."

"I see,” I said.

"So you kissed him back. Details, details,” she demanded while motioning for me to sit down and tell her the story.

"There's really nothing to tell," I insisted. "I only kissed him back for like a second. Okay, maybe more than a second. Okay, I don't know how long it was, but come on! I've wanted to kiss him for like ever. Literally my entire life since puberty. So he kissed me, big deal. I just don't want to go down that road right now."

"It's just so tragic,” Kelsey said.

"Tragic?" I asked. "That's a bit much."

"No, true love is within your grasp and yet you let it slip away." She sighed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on."

"You have to call him."

"I do not."

"At least to thank him for the flowers," she said. "It's only polite."

"I'm not going out with him!" I insisted.

"Fine, just let him down easy,” she said. "It seems to me that he really likes you."

“Ugh.”

I waited a full half an hour after receiving the flowers before I called him from my cell phone. In my mind I went back and forth, wondering if this was a genuine gesture on his part, or just another attempt to shatter my resolve, to distract me from the true prize and sweep the job at the firm right out from under me.

I even considered hanging up after I had hit 'send' but I figured he would have already seen that it was my number, and hanging up might be a little bit too much like junior high school.

"Hello, Blair,” he said before I had a chance to speak. "I knew you would call."

"Don't get a big head, Aiden,” I said. "I just wanted to call and thank you for the flowers. That's all."

"That's all? Really?" he asked. Before I could answer he continued. "Actually don't answer that. I figured you would call. I'd like for you to go on a date with me. A real one. I like you, Blair and based on the evidence, I think you like me. I don't think you can say no."

He. Just. Wouldn’t. Give. Up.

Jesus.

I took a deep breath, feeling the familiar edge of confusion engulfing me once more.

"Aiden, I just don't think it's appropriate. We are work colleagues. Regardless of our past friendship it just wouldn't be right for us to go out," I lied, hoping it would persuade him though.

"You have to go out with me, Blair,” he said.

"And why is that?" I asked.

"Because I already made the reservations for us in two weeks."

Reservations?

“I don’t know. I’m kind of busy.”

“Busy? You got another boyfriend… Or girlfriend I don’t know about?”

I tried to play his stupid game. “Maybe.”

I obviously didn’t.

“Shit,” he said. I couldn’t stop myself from laugh. “Oh, you’re playing me.”

“It’s only fair.”

“Come on. You had a good time with me when we had dinner last time, didn't you?" he pressed.

"That's not relevant,” I said, taking on my best lawyer tone.

"Wow," he replied. "You’re good. I can't wait to see how you perform tomorrow."

"Likewise," I said.

“So, how about that day? I already made reservations.”

“Ugh. Fine! All right, I gotta go. See you tomorrow.”

“See you then… Beautiful,” he said, and hung up the phone.

I hung up the phone while shaking my head, and turned only to discover Kelsey hovering at the kitchen door having heard my whole side of the conversation.

"Are you going out with him?" she asked.

I shrugged. "It's only to get him to leave me alone,” I explained. "Once the case is over one of us is going to be offered this job. I have to behave with the assumption that it's going to be me. I'm going to say it's a celebratory dinner, to celebrate out victory with the case."

Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Right," she said. "Just keep telling yourself that, Blair."

The next day we gathered our case files and headed over to the courtroom, just half a block from our building. As the senior partners walked ahead of us, I hung behind to catch Aiden as he brought up the rear.

"I wanted to talk to you about our date,” I began.

He quickly held his finger to his lips in an effort to silence me.

"We shouldn't talk about that,” he said in a cool tone.

I felt confused.

"But," I began. "When you sent me the..."

"Shh," he interrupted my thoughts again. "We can't talk about it. Let's just focus on the case okay?"

I wondered what he might be up to as we followed the lawyers down the winding hallway to the room where we would wait.

Was he scared something would happen if one of the partners found out?

What did he think, they were going to get rid of us both?

Maybe they would.

So, I didn’t say anything more and moved on to the case.

The first step in the process, we had been told would be the jury selection. I had experienced this process myself, several years ago from the other perspective, as I had received a summons in the mail sometime during early college. I knew this was an arduous but necessary process that we had no choice but to sit through.

A random pool of citizens had been sent a letter requiring them to be present today. Each of the lawyers would then ask a series of questions. If any of them felt that someone in the pool would not be a good candidate they were then cut from the selection.

Mr. Mahoney explained that for this first case we should observe and learn while the senior lawyers asked the questions. I felt more than happy to do so. I had learned that building a case like we had been doing these past weeks was far more about layering facts and much less about high speed car chases and gun fights, like the television detective shows would have us believe.

I felt excited to get started with the case, having already learned so much from the senior partners.

Finally the judge came and collected us from the waiting area. The jury pool was seated and it was our time to begin the selection process.

I watched in fascination as Mr. Mahoney and his partners asked various questions, and took notes. Across from us on the other side of the courtroom the victim's family sat stoically watching the proceedings.

It hadn’t occurred to me that behind what we were doing held very real consequences.

The family of the victim wanted justice, but we had built a strong case to defend the man accused of that murder. My feelings of confidence began to wane and the butterflies returned. I didn’t want to show my nervousness, so I sat up straight and took a deep breath, trying to pay attention to the proceedings.

I turned slightly to try and catch Aiden's eye, but he remained still, looking straight ahead and watching the primary lawyers. Even having him ignore me made me feel small and nervous. I didn’t understand why Aiden was ignoring me, and I was beginning to feel the pressure of the implications if our case was wrong. If the man were truly guilty then we had been working all this time to defend him. If he is innocent, as our case indicates then the family across the way would not have closure on the death of their loved one.

"You guys doing okay?" Mr. Mahoney asked under his breath during a lull in the proceedings.

"Yes, fine," I whispered, though the truth felt very different.

Aiden also answered in the affirmative, still not showing any indication of attention towards me.

The jury pool had started out with a large group of about fifty people. As the lawyers had asked various questions, they had decided one by one which jurors could go and which would remain. Most of the day had been spent dedicated to this process, but the judge interrupted and asked both sets of lawyers to the bench. They talked for a few minutes and I could see the look of concern on all of their faces.

When Mr. Mahoney returned to their table his eyebrows were drawn together.

"It looks like we are going to have to delay the proceedings," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What's happened?"

"The remaining jurors are too few," he said. "Several of them had to be released because of various reasons. You witnessed the questions we asked throughout the day. This helps us to select the most impartial panel of jurors. This happens sometimes that those randomly selected fall into a category that makes them ineligible. They'll have to gather another jury pool."

"How long will that take?" Aiden asked.

"At least two weeks,” Mr. Mahoney explained. "The judge will have to contact us with a new court date."

Aiden nodded and I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes.

What was he up to?

I found out, later that night, when Aiden called me on my cell phone. After being dismissed from the jury selection we had all gone our separate ways. I returned home, leaving the courtroom without so much as a second glance from Aiden. I felt more confused than ever, then when I looked at my phone I saw his name.

"Hello," I answered in a cool tone, trying to sound like I had been in the middle of something important.

"I'll have to change our reservation,” he explained. "The new court date falls on the night we were going to go out. I'd like for us to be able to relax and enjoy ourselves. Even if we are just going out as friends."

This was a new angle, I noticed. I also noticed the slight twinge of disappointment I felt at the implication that the date was just as friends.

"Okay," I said.

"How about Friday,” he suggested. "We'll make it a more casual event. Maybe go for pizza or something."

"Friday," I said. "Actually, I'm going to the movies with Kelsey on Friday night."

That part was true.

"Hmm,” he considered. "Assuming that that's true, then it's not a big deal at all. Logan and Travis are going to be in town then."

"Really?" I asked. I hadn’t seen any of his brothers since childhood. "What are they up to these days?"

"Logan is a professional Poker player in Vegas, if you can believe it,” he said.

I remembered his brother's ability to fake us out during our epic battles of practical jokes. "That doesn't surprise me a bit. Gives a new meaning to the last name, Player."

"I guess you’re right," he laughed.

"I heard Travis went into the Army some time back. How's he doing?"

"I think pretty good,” Aiden said.

"That is fantastic,” I said.

We talked for a while longer and when I hung up the phone I realized that I had relaxed my tone with him without realizing it. Every time I talked to him I felt as if we were those same kids, so easy and comfortable with each other. Taking away the imminent pressure of the case, made me feel a bit confused as to whether or not I should be so stringent on my resolve to avoid going out with Aiden.

Chapter Four

By the time Friday rolled around I felt quite ready for a girl’s night out. We had just received confirmation on the new court date being in a week and a half since a few days had already passed by since our previous court session, and the senior partners had all been scrambling to find work for us.

Kelsey had decided to forgo inviting her actor friends, since she and I hadn’t had much time to hang out since starting at the firm.

I didn’t think much about what to wear and just threw on a cream colored sun dress and a pair of sandals. Kelsey looked spectacular as always in her forest green sleeveless blouse, and trendy cutoff jeans.

We thought about going to see the romantic comedy, but ended up discovering that we both really wanted to see the sci-fi blockbuster. We had both suggested the other movie out of politeness for the other, and we laughed about it as we pulled up to the movie theater.

Much to my surprise I saw just beyond the large group of people entering the lobby, a group of familiar faces. I recognized Aiden of course, and though I hadn’t seen his brothers in years I knew their faces instantly. A couple of girls that I didn’t immediately recognize hung on the arm of each brother.

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed as we exited the car narrowing my eyes towards them.

"What's wrong?" Kelsey asked.

"That's Aiden,” I said while gesturing to the group through the glass. "I mentioned that you and I were going to the movies. I wonder if he's stalking me."

"Oh my god,” Kelsey said. "Just relax. Now, which one is Aiden? I don’t remember what he even looked like back in the day.”

"The one at the back of the line, in the blue shirt."

For the first time since we had reconnected I saw that he wore a short sleeved casual shirt, fully exposing his tribal tattoos on his forearm.

Kelsey turned towards me and raised her eyebrow.

"And you’re turning him down?" she asked, with an incredulous tone. "Um... why?"

"You know why,” I said without further comment.

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m still going to the movie,” she informed me, hopping out of the car.

I guess I was too. At least Kelsey would be there for moral support. I jumped out of the car and quickly caught up to her.

We stepped inside and waited in line to gather our tickets. We had pre-ordered so we didn’t have to wait long, and once we had them in hand we headed over to the counter for refreshments.

"Well, it looks like you’re stocking me,” Aiden said as Kelsey and I neared his group.

He smiled at me and I tried to ignore the tingle along my spine.

"Shocking,” I mumbled.

I turned to greet his brothers. The girl with Travis I then recognized as the same that he had dated in high school. They had both been a few grades ahead of us. We greeted each other, and I was introduced to Logan’s date also, someone I had never met before.

"Why don't we all sit together?" Aiden suggested after we all loaded our arms with huge buckets of popcorn and soda's.

I had always been partial the chocolate malt candies and had a box stashed in my purse.

"Actually Kelsey and I were—” I began, only to be interrupted.

"That would be great!" Kelsey said. "Almost like a group date."

I glared at her and she flashed me a mischievous grin as we followed the group into the darkened theater. In all the shuffling for seats somehow the brothers each managed to get next to their dates, but since Aiden was the fifth wheel, he landed on the end. Of course Kelsey insisted on positioning me next to him. I glared at her once more as we all got settled.

"What?" she said while raising her eyebrow innocently as she nibbled on her popcorn. "I have to sit on the end in case I have to pee. You know how sensitive my bladder is."

I rolled my eyes and faced the screen.

"You look beautiful tonight," Aiden whispered in my ear as the previews began.

"You aren't supposed to talk during the movie,” I whispered back.

"The movie hasn't started yet,” he said.

"Shh," I replied.

We all settled in as the opening credits rolled and the movie started in earnest. I couldn’t help but find myself incredibly aware of his presence next to me even as I tried to stay engulfed in the plot.

His knee hovered about an inch away from mine, and his elbow grazed against my forearms as we had settled on the armrest. He offered me some of his popcorn, which I accepted laughing to myself about the irony of our situation.

Despite my protest we had still wound up together in a date like scenario, watching a movie and sharing popcorn in a darkened room. Out of my periphery I noticed that he sometimes glanced in my direction if something significant had happened on the screen, as if quietly assessing my reaction.

The sight of his tattooed arm so close to mine distracted me on some level. I had never seen him dressed casually since we had reconnected and I decided that I much preferred him in a suit, mainly because more of his skin was covered and therefore less distracting.

WAY less distracting.

His presence did nothing to calm my confusion. I had spent the last weeks building my resolve to bury the attraction that I felt for him and now it was all rushing back in.

I needed to bury it again.

I wondered if my body language betrayed my inner turmoil, because about two thirds of the way through the movie, having endured the achingly close presence of Aiden next to me and resolved not to do anything about it, he reached over and grazed the side of my bare knee with the back of his fingers.

I froze, mesmerized by his touch which had sent shivers through my entire being.

I took a sharp intake of breath that I hoped he didn’t notice. If he did he made no indication.

Luckily he didn’t but throughout the movie his fingers would continue to softly graze my knee.

Thankfully the movie finally ended a little while later, and Kelsey and I exited the row. Once out in the lobby, Aiden caught up with me, touching his hand on my elbow to get my attention.

I needed him to stop touching me.

It only made me more tempted.

"I wanted to let you know, I was able to reschedule the reservations since you couldn’t go out with me tonight like I had asked you to the other night,” he said speaking as matter of fact.

So now we were back to reservations.

"Okay," I answered.

I actually thought I had gotten out of this when I couldn’t reschedule the first time and hadn’t thought much about it since, but the butterflies in my stomach betrayed my feelings of hesitation.

"If you’re still up for it," he said.

"Are you trying to give me an out?" I asked.

"Of course not," he said. "If you wanted out, you'd find a way."

He vanished back with his brothers and their girlfriends.

Just what did he mean by that, I wondered.

We all said goodbye and parted ways.

"What was that all about?" Kelsey asked after we both closed our car doors. She had seen Aiden and I talking alone, I assumed.

"What was what all about?" I said.

She and I had decided to drive down the road to the health shake place. We had heard about it but neither of us had been since arriving in California.

"I heard him mention a date," Kelsey said.

"Yeah, the one that we had to cancel but it's not really a date,” I clarified.

"I don't know what your deal is,” she said. "Just admit that you like him and go from there."

I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. "Let's just see what happens. I don't want to jump the gun. Besides, my primary focus is work right now."

"Yeah, yeah," she said with a grin. "Whatever."

The following week passed without incident. Our activities at the firm had been relegated to learning what the partners did when not building cases. Filing paper work, updating information in various databases, and other general office work. We did spend a few hours each day reviewing the case so we would be ready when the court date arrived.

My confidence level increased as the days passed and I found myself interacting comfortably with the other partners. I was starting to like it at Mahoney and Klein, which added to my frustration at my increased attraction to Aiden.

At least the two of us managed to behave professionally while at work.

He reduced his flirtation and I warmed some of my professional distance. He didn’t mention anything about our date, except to confirm with me the day of, that Sunday.

The night before court. We had spent the last two days going over the case again with the partners.

"What time is he picking you up?" Kelsey asked from her curled up perch on the couch.

"Seven I think. That's in, what, about half an hour,” I said as I emerged from the hallway.

She whistled as I spun to let her look over my outfit. I had gone out and bought the perfect little black dress, fitted knee length, and accented with rhinestone earrings and my small black clutch purse. I made a mental note to take it to my grave that I had bought a new dress for this date.

It’s not a date, I reminded myself.

"I feel like I’m playing dress up,” I said.

"Well, you look amazing,” Kelsey said.

"It's not too much?" I asked.

She shook her head in earnest. I stepped back to the bathroom to check my make up one last time. I had pulled my hair up and back, in a high bun and I nervously fiddled with the small rhinestone charm resting at the base of my neck.

The doorbell rang, and I opted to wait a few minutes to make my entrance. I was able to hear them talking in the other room.

Kelsey welcomed him in and said I should be out in a few minutes. I took a breath. "It's just Aiden," I whispered to my image in the mirror. “It’s just Aiden.”

I opened the door and walked down the hallway, stepping into the living room. Instantly, I saw him gaze me up and down with a look of disbelief.

I probably looked tons better not wearing my work dresses that went well below my knee.

"Wow,” he said, clearing his throat.

I laughed under my breath.

“She’s fuckin gorgeous, huh,” Kelsey spat out.

He looked good also, wearing a suit jacket and a small black tie, he looked a little bit more formal than I was accustomed to in the office. In one hand he held a single long stemmed red rose. Almost as if he had forgotten he had it, he looked down at the rose and then handed it over to me.

"This is for you," he said.

He was trying hard to get me to cave to him.

"Thanks."

We were acting like a couple of awkward teenagers. I took the rose and found a suitable vase in the kitchen, placing it on the counter top through the pass through window.

"You ready?" I asked, smoothing the skirt of my dress.

"Yep."

He extended his arm to me and I tentatively tucked my hand into his elbow, noticing once more the flexing bicep beneath the sleeve

Was he going to act like a gentleman all night? It just made it seem…cheesy…and that he was trying too hard.

"Have fun," Kelsey said, leaning on the wall with her arms crossed. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Not happening.

Otherwise we would be sleeping together before the date.

He opened the car door for me, a move that I have never seen from him, at least not towards me.

"So just so we are clear," I said with a playful smile. "This isn't a date. Not a real one."

"So you say," he insisted as the car pulled out of the parking lot. "But you’re still going to get the full Aiden Player date treatment."

"Oh, so I get the 'date' treatment?" I said raising my eyebrows. "Does that mean I get all the perks that the girls in high school did back when you had the reputation of your last name?"

He flashed me a grin and said, "I guess you'll find out. Won't you."

I laughed, and had to admit to myself that it felt pretty good to be out with him. It had been hard to separate our current circumstances to our past friendship. I decided that at least for tonight, I would not be so hard on him.

A few minutes later we arrived at the restaurant, an opulent location with bright lights reflecting from the crystal chandeliers that I could see through the open front door. I felt a bit taken aback by the posh appearance of the other guests, but I took comfort in the fact that Aiden and I had both dressed the part. At least to outward appearances we looked like we fit in.

The Maitre D', a stuffy looking older man who looked as if he had spent more time on his mustache than I had on my entire outfit, asked our last name and a sharply dressed server led us to our reserved table. I tried not to feel self-conscious as we walked through surrounded by white table cloths and gleaming crystal. We were seated next to the large window overlooking the beach. I had never felt so spoiled.

By anyone.

"This is beautiful," I whispered to Aiden as the server filled out glasses with the white wine that had been preordered to our table. We both smiled politely as the waiter explained the vintage of the wine.

"You may start out with an Aperitif, in order to cleanse your palate before the appetizers,” he explained in a calm voice.

I couldn’t help but feel as if even the servers were looking down on us. This one looked as if he had just stepped out of a magazine.

"That would be fine," Aiden said. "The house special."

The server nodded and exited.

I leaned forward so only Aiden could hear me. "What's an aperitif?" I asked.

He whispered his reply. "I have no idea."

"I didn’t know that there was an extra course before the appetizers,” I said.

We both erupted into suppressed chuckles, trying not to draw the attention of the upper crust society folk that surrounded us.

"I'm just going with it. I didn’t realize this place was so ritzy. But order what you want definitely,” he said.

We looked at the menu which seemed to be written in French and there were no prices listed.

"Can you read this?" I asked, trying not to burst into further laughter.

"You may have to order for me." His answer came in with the bewildered look on his face.

I glanced around at the other patrons. The plates looked like small bizarre art projects that may have represented food to someone who had only read about it in an encyclopedia. When the server returned with our aperitif I was pleased to discover that he presented us with what looked like tiny wine glasses no larger than a shot glass.

"Have you decided on your order?" The waiter asked in a soft spoken tone.

My guess was that they behaved with an air of servitude to make the money set feel better about themselves. I panicked a bit thinking that we had no idea what the menu said, but to my surprise Aiden closed his menu with a flourish and spoke with confidence.

"Do you have any chef recommendations?" he said, matching the tone of the other patron.

I lifted my napkin to hide the smirk on my face that I had difficulty suppressing as I watched his performance.

"But of course," the server said. "For our appetizer we can bring you the fromage with caviar, served alongside our toasted baguette. Tonight’s entrees include your choice of the Chef's special Cordon Bleu, or the Steak tartar." He nodded when he finished speaking.

"We will have one of the appetizers that you described, and the lady and I will both have the steak." Aiden sounded as if he had been to this kind of restaurant for all of his life.

"Thank you sir,” the server said as he took our menus.

Once he had left I looked down at the small glass in front of me. "What is this supposed to do?" I asked.

Aiden answered in an effected French accent. "It is the aperitif to cleanse our palate, so as to better taste the eloquent combinations of flavours that are to be presented to us."

I snickered and picked up the tiny glass. "Do we sip it or just shoot it?" I wondered.

"Is it booze?" Aiden said. "I say we shoot it."

"Okay, I guess." I touched the edge of the glass to my lips.

"Bottoms up," he said, lifting his glass to his mouth and then threw his head back in the classic college student method.

I followed suit finding the liquid refreshing and smooth on my tongue. I also noticed some of the other patrons around us giving us a side glance. It was then that I noticed one of the other women across the restaurant sipping delicately on her small glass. Oh well.

"What did we get as an appetizer?" I asked.

"I have no idea. Whatever the guy said,” he answered as we both suppressed laughter once more.

The evening continued and I felt quite at ease with him. We were both pleasantly surprised to find the appetizers consisted of toasted bread and a nice cheese spread alongside the caviar, which I had never had before. I found the taste wonderful, clear and smooth with hind of saltiness. When the entrees arrived however, we were both surprised to find a small dome of something pink, surrounded by a green garnish, and some water crackers.

"I thought we ordered the steak,” I said.

"I think we did," he answered, peering down at his plate.

"Wait," I said. "Did he say steak tartare?"

"Yeah, why?" Aiden asked.

"Aiden, this is raw meat."

I watched him peer down at the presentation on his plate with serious consideration as he realized my statement was true. Once more we both erupted into laughter.

"Oh, wow,” he said. "Well, I hope this doesn’t ruin your night."

"Of course not," I said. "I'm having fun." He looked relieved at my words. "So what do you say, should we give it a try?"

"Might as well,” he said.

I picked up a morsel with my fork and placed it on my tongue. The taste wasn’t unpleasant and I nodded towards Aiden.

"Not bad," I said.

He tried a bite and agreed.

"Though I will say that the food is not bad here, I think we can both agree on one thing."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Next time we are going back to that oyster bar."

"Definitely." I nodded.

I took another sip of wine, having lost count how many glasses I had already had. We finished our meal, continuing to enjoy ourselves and making quiet fun of the upper crust patronage of the restaurant.