Spreading the news

[nica_hepcat]

WHO: Nicam tag Katie and whoever else might be around
WHEN: Thursday afternoon
WHERE: Katie and Chester's house

Nica spent her school day talking to Lynn about what had happened at the camping spot, and about the dead man who wasn't dead, and then wouldn't die. She didn't talk about it with anyone else; she hadn't seen Rex or she might have flirted with him again, poor guy. He was nice ... And there was Juice, but she would go see him later and give him all the gory details. Literally, gory details, complete with blood and ichor. She didn't know exactly what ichor was, but if anything she'd ever seen was ichorous, it was poor Stu.

Anyway, it crossed her mind that maybe not everyone she knew and liked in Pleasantdale had heard about what happened. So, on the way home, she stopped off at Katie and Chester's house, hoping that Katie was around. Books clutched firmly in her left hand, she knocked at the front door.

Comments

[time_goes_by]

"It's up to you." agreed Janie "Would you like me to set the table for you? I am a maid, after all. Whatever makes it easier for you."

[katherine_the_great]

"Well, it would be nice to have guests over," Katie began, a little hesitantly.

"Fine," Chester magnaminously acceded, "they can stay." He'd make sure Katie made up for this later when guests weren't around... and besides, they were potential customers, and one of them reminded him of that cute little secretary in New York. This might not be so annoying.

"Thank you, darling. Yes, Janie, if you wouldn't mind setting the table, and I can get started on on a nice large batch of potato salad to help make sure we have enough for everyone. Nica, if you're staying over, you should go ahead and give Vito a call so he doesn't think you've been abducted by hospitality. And what would you all like to drink? Chester prefers a lovely red wine with supper after a big day." Katie headed for the refrigerator to start fetching ingredients, back to all smiles. "The roast should be coming out shortly, and the pie will be ready just after dinner, I think."

[nica_hepcat]

Nica's expression brightened. "Thank you Miss Katie ... Thank you, Mr Cester!" she added, raising her voice a little, and she picked up the phone's handset and dialed the gas station's main number.

[max_ine]

"Thanks," Maxine said, though mostly to Katie. Chester reminded her of some of the guys at the factory - guys who thought women's place was beneath a man in a variety of ways. "Wine is fine."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

[katherine_the_great]

"Certainly -- if you can do me a favor and get the potatoes out of the cabinet next to the stove, please?" Katie started setting out ingredients. "And there's a large bowl on the top of the cabinets, if you could get that down, please."

Chester nodded to Nica at the mention of thanks, mostly out of politeness, but made no offer to help. Instead, he turned and headed back to the living room. "Just call me when dinner's ready, dear, I'm famished and it's already late."

Katie waited until he left, and apologetically added, "He's had a hard day today. They're going over the new product lines and what they expect sales figures to be like for the new year and all, and that always puts him in a foul mood when he gets home."

[nica_hepcat]

Nica told Vito where she was and reassured him that she would be home in plenty of time to make him something to eat, finish her homework and get some sleep, and turned to Katie again.

"You need me to set the table or anything?"

[katherine_the_great]

"You can help get the dishes for Janie; plates and glasses are right up there, and silverware's in the drawer," Katie instructed.

[max_ine]

While Maxine got the potatoes and serving dish Katie requested, she figured that it would be a good time to talk about something else that had been bugging her.

"So... ah... Founder's Day is coming up. Katie, I'm sure you and Chester are going, aren't ya? But--- Janie, Nica, how about you? You, erm... either of you have dates for it?"

Maxine had a special someone she was thinking of asking to accompany her to Founder's Day.

[nica_hepcat]

"Oh, umm ... Nobody's asked me, yet," Nica said with a little blush. "Maybe Georgio will say something before then, or ... I don't know. Rex seemed really nice and he's single."

[time_goes_by]

Janie quickly got to work in setting the table.

"I... Well, Nica and Lynn will probably end up going together, which means Vito and I will be on chaperone duty." Janie frowned, though, when she realized that Nica might have a date. She might end up going alone.

"Do you have a date, Maxine?"

[max_ine]

"Wellll... no one's asked me."

Maxine set the potatoes and container down, then looked at the ladies sheepishly. "Buttt.... I was thinking about asking someone."

She looked away, before mumbling his name. "Eric."

[katherine_the_great]

"The mechanic guy?" Katie commented, moving over to start preparing potato salad. "He seems nice enough, I suppose."

[nica_hepcat]

"Yeah, he's really a great guy," Nica said. "I like his accent. He doesn't have a sweetheart that I know of."

[time_goes_by]

"You should ask him." Janie said "That would be wonderful, if you two went there together. Especially if he doesn't have a sweetheart."

[max_ine]

"I know he doesn't have a sweetheart," Maxine said, then took a deep breath. "He lost his family in the war. Like I lost my Joe."

She looked down at her hands, where she still wore her wedding ring. "I've been missing Joe a long time. But-- well. This Christmas, Eric came to my family dinner with me. He fit right in with everyone. And we get along good as friends it's just-- I'm a little nervous about the whole business."

[katherine_the_great]

"Well, it's not like you can just keep hanging out with someone and not telling them how you feel about them," Katie advised. "The worst he can say is 'no thank you. He's British. They're polite."

[nica_hepcat]

"Yeah, you gotta let people know how you feel about 'em," Nica said, but she frowned a little, too. "It's not good to just keep things bottled up."

[time_goes_by]

"I'm sure we'll see both of you there together." said Janie "And smiling"

Well, she hoped so, anyway. Maxine was a nice lady, and she liked to see nice people in situations where they were happy.