When my grandmother heard I was going on a date, she sent over a car that week. It was apparently one my mother had used when she was my age, in Stamboul. It was some monster of a sports car with a massive engine burbling behind you when you drove. Naturally, when Constance saw it arrive she was jealous and called the Governor, so it must have been pretty good for a thirty year old car.
Unfortunately, it was effectively a two seater, even if it did have a little padded area with a seatbelt between the two actual bucket seats, so picking Rebecca, Honesty, and a garment bag up was a bit uncomfortable.
"Mistress, are you sure you don't want me to call a cab?" Honesty said, as she looked at it.
"No, I'll just squeeze in the middle." Rebecca replied.
And she did. She was stuck, shoulder to shoulder between the two of us, and enjoyed every minute of it. Especially because I had to repeatedly put my hand in her lap to reach the gear shift between her legs.
"Honesty, why don't you play with me this much when I'm wearing the strap-on?" Rebecca said as I shifted into second for the third time since I'd picked them up.
Honesty ignored her, and hoped she would stop.
She did not the entire time I drove back to the condo, or the entire time I drove to the restaurant.
"So you've really never been to Soggy Joe's?" I said, as my date and I got out of the car.
"My dads only go to kosher restaurants, so we didn't go when they were here." She said. "Plus it's all the way out here. We usually just eat at Zalman's."
Having finally gotten a good look at her outfit as we walked into the restaurant, I noticed that she had tied her hair back, and wore a long sleeved blouse and a knee length skirt over what were either tights or stockings. "You look great tonight." I said, as she turned to look at me.
"You know, I thought about wearing pants tonight, but I'm glad I listened to Honesty and went with the skirt." Rebecca replied. "And you look good enough to eat. Are you sure you don't have a personal stylist? Between the way you and Marie are dressed, I had a hard time going to dinner."
"We have one, but she doesn't come by that often." I said, "so I usually just have some outfit choices to cycle through. Marie actually mostly dressed herself."
"Huh."
"Anyway," I said, as I opened the door, "What's your favorite kind of fish?"
"Snapper, Butterfish and Wahoo." Rebecca said as she entered. "What about you?"
"Mullet and Mackerel." I said as I followed her in, before turning to the host. "Reservation for Petersen. Table for two, eight o clock?"
"I've got it right here sir, if you two would just follow me." The host said.
Soggy Joe's was the sort of place that had hardwood everything, maps or nautical prints on the walls and epoxied to the tables, and a roll of paper towels next to the bucket for the salt, pepper and sauces on the table. So when the host sat us at our table by the edge of the deck, he just pointed at the laminated menus and left.
Rebecca filled the void of conversation. "I'm going to get the grits and grunts for my entrée, but what are you thinking about for an appetizer?"
"They have an appetizer that's smoked fish spread, skordalia, and taramosalata with pitas and cuban bread." I said.
"I take the pita, you take the cuban bread?"
"Sure."
After ordering, we chatted about smaller things until after our appetizers came.
"So if we do decide to keep doing this, how is it going to work out with Marie? Are you going to put her aside?" Rebecca said, pointing her spoon at me.
"Are you worried that she'd compete with you? I don't think I'd ever put her aside, but she wouldn't compete with you. Besides, you like her too much to let me put her aside." I replied after putting my drink down. "What about Honesty?"
"I'm oath-bound to adopt all of her children as my own. Published it in the paper and notified vital statistics and everything." Rebecca replied. "That's how much I love her. She's not going anywhere, and I'd leave you and Marie in a heartbeat if you even suggested doing otherwise."
"You're oath-bound?" I said.
