Diner Date
~~Denver, Colorado, March 2068 ~~
She sat quietly sipping from her drink as she slowly ate her dinner. Her tablet, propped neatly on the salt and pepper shakers let her continue reading. The small hole-in-the-wall diner was mildly packed, with only a few empty tables. Her gaze lifted when the chime over the door rang out, a man and his little girl entered. The little girl looked around for a moment and then her eyes brightened and she darted towards the table, "Miss H! Miss H! You eat dinner here too?" She bounded over and crawled up on the chair at the table.
Trinity smiled at the girl, moving her tablet to one side, "Yes, Miss Victoria, it's a lovely restaurant and I enjoy having dinner here. How are you this evening?"
"I'm good Miss H." She beamed up at her with a gap-toothed smile, "This is my Daddy. Daddy this is Miss H."
The young man walked over, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry, miss. That one managed to slip my grip again," he said in a mock-serious tone, looking at Victoria. The corners of his mouth were twitching as he tried not to smile. "I hope she didn't bother you too much." His head cocked to the side and he murmured, "Miss H... Where do I..."
"She's my teacher, Daddy," Victoria said almost impudently, then looked at Trinity, "May we sit with you? I promise I'll be good."
Trinity smiled at her, then looked up at the young man, giving him another gentle smile, "That would be fine with me, Miss Victoria, if your father is OK with it. I wouldn't want to intrude on a family meal." She finished looking at Victoria.
An expression of recognition crossed his face followed by one of embarrassment at having forgotten. "Of course. Miss Holbreck. God, I'm so terrible with names, it's a wonder I can even do my job sometimes." He paused, then added, "It's not an intrusion. You're... looking at the family meal, so... If you're not bothered by little Miss precocious here...," he trailed off with a smile as he pulled out a chair for Victoria, who perfunctorily hopped into it. He sat down next to her and helped scoot her chair in.
Trinity gave him another gentle, kind smile, "I am not bothered, Victoria often helps in the classroom and is almost always quite well-behaved. You may call me Trinity, Mister Kinney."
"Well then, Trinity, I insist you call me Will. Only my mother calls me William anymore, and then only when I've inevitably done something wrong," he smiled broadly at her as he sat.
"Yes, Will," she murmured. She raised her glass slightly and less than a moment later a waiter was beside the table with his pad. "Jorge, Will, and Victoria are joining me for dinner."
"Yes, Miss H." He turned and gave Will and Victoria a beaming smile, "What can I do you for?"
Victoria hesitated only a moment, then quickly ordered her dinner, Will was a few beats behind her. Jorge bowed his head and then vanished, returning a few seconds later with their drinks and utensils for them. "Enjoy, I will return with your food soon."
Trinity watched him go with a fond smile before turning back to Will and Victoria, "So, if I recall correctly, you are a programmer, Will?"
He chuckled. "Only in my spare time now, though, that's how I got my start. Now I... coach... other programmers. Help them navigate getting their projects and companies off the ground. Sort of giving back, you know?"
Trinity nodded slightly, "I understand that, I just recall Victoria telling me that you were making the computer do work." She gave him a sheepish smile, "I understand the desire to give back, that's part of why I teach." She looked at Victoria, who gave her a cherub beaming grin, "That and adorable little mischief-makers like this one."
Victoria spoke up, "Miss H should come home with us, she could help you with me, Daddy. She's the one that fixes my hair after naptime."
Will chuckled nervously, "Victoria, I'm sure Trinity here has better things to do than wait around for you to finish your nap on a Saturday afternoon just so that she could fix your hair. It's already kind enough that she is having lunch with us..."
Victoria pouted slightly, then looked up at Trinity with hopeful sad eyes. Trinity smiled softly and rubbed a hand over Victoria's head, "Let us have lunch together first and see where the day takes us, yes?"
"Yes, Miss H," Victoria sighed, then sat back as her food was delivered. "What are you reading?" She changed the subject, resolving to bring it up again later.
"A news article about Moorwind Industries, and the advances they have made in the robotics field," Trinity stated simply, giving Victoria a soft smile.
Will looked up quickly before letting his eyes drop back to his plate. He knew exactly what Moorwind industries did. He'd even met their CEO, Michael Moorwind once at a seminar. "They're an interesting company. I know some people that have worked with them from a company out of Silicon Valley. Future Power Designs? An old client and friend of mine wrote some software and they liked it so much they bought his company and set him up out there."
Trinity smiled at him, "I enjoyed their display in Vegas when I was able to go last year. A friend of mine was accepting an award for her costume work." She smiled down at Victoria, "Now, how has your reading been coming along? Did you enjoy the story I suggested?"
Victoria nodded eagerly and began talking about it, dominating the conversation while she ate giving the two adults a chance to study each other. Trinity had a soft smile on her face as she listened to Victoria. As the lunch wound down, Victoria started yawning sleepily, then turned and crawled into Trinity's lap, curling against her chest. Trinity simply shifted her seat slightly to make room and then smiled up at Will, "How are you holding up?" She asked softly, her voice barely loud enough for him to hear.
He smiled a raw and genuine, but tired smile. "I'm all right. I'm not sure how you do it, though. One is exhausting...," he breathed.