Thirty minutes later, they were pulling up to Le Creuset, one of Plateaux's most favored restaurants.

They served a variety of cuisines but were probably the most well known for their fondue. The car pulled up to the front as the valet opened the door. John looked around as Jayne confirmed the reservation. Nice place, It was like an Olive Garden but without the vines and...well.. grapes. Good lord why did he agree to this? The Maitre D beckoned them to follow him to their table. "Oh good, you made it!" A slender man in a suit stood from one of the corner tables. "Tyler!" Jayne hugged Tyler as they went to sit. He pulled out her chair for her and they began browsing the menus. A few minutes passed and a woman pulled out the chair next to John.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! I'm Leslie."

"John"

"It's nice to meet you John."

"Hey Leslie, why dont you tell John about the thing we talked about earlier?" Jayne subtly guided the conversation forward.

"Oh God, she planned the topic of conversation." John crossed his arms and turned toward Leslie, awaiting her response.

"Oh! Yeah! I was driving home from work and got stopped at this light right? It was one of those lights that's really close to a train track so its got that bar that comes down. Anyways, my car wasn't on the track but it was so close to the bar thing. So I am sitting at this light and I hear the bells going off. I wasn't thinking anything of it until the lady in the car next to me starts pointing. So I look over and the bar is coming down and I'm freaking out! The lady next to me is laughing hysterically and right as it gets close to my tail end, the light turns green and I get away from it. Anyway, so long story short I almost died."

The table erupts in forced laughter. At the sight of the pleading look in Jaynes eyes, John decides to loosen up and try this "socializing" thing. "So tell me Leslie, what do you do for fun?" "I like to rock climb, I do a lot of hiking, and I've been known to kayak once in awhile." She flipped her hair back and rested her head on her fist."What about you?" John opened his mouth to speak when the waitress arrived. The woman took out her notepad and pen.

"Hello, my name is Dawn and I will be your server this evening. Can I start you off with anything to drink?"

"Yes," Leslie begins. "I'll have an ice water with a slice of lemon." Dawn wrote it down and moved on to the next person. Both Jayne and Tyler ordered a red wine and went back to talking among themselves.

"And for you sir?" John shifted his eyes from his sister laughing at some witty retort Tyler had just thrown her way. In an exaggerated southern accent he ordered. "Why yes ma'am I do believe I will have myself an Old Fashioned."

Dawn snickered as she wrote down his drink. Leslie, upon hearing the chuckle, whipped her head around and did a quick look over of this woman. She was probably around 5'8,rich red hair pulledup into a bun, dimples you could hide a penny in, and much to Leslie's dismay, she had a great body. "Excuse me, I'm sorry but did you say your name was Dawn?" Leslie straightened her posture as she eyed her prey.Dawn placed her notepad and pen back in her hip apron. It was obvious by the way her shoulders tensed and how heavy she exhaled that she had heard that particular comment before and she was not a fan.

"Yes ma'am" she responded very respectfully.

"Like the dish soap?"John cringed and shifted his seat a little away from Leslie. He couldn't believe she just said that. The waitress was very professional, but he could tell she didnt find it amusing. Leslie however,looked like she was chomping at the bit to give another clever comment. Not being one to start a conflict, he waited to hear Dawns retort."Yes ma'am, like the dish soap. Let me go put these in for you." Dawn turned on her heels and walked away before Leslie could continue. She did everything with a smile and just walked away. John was impressed. Hopefully the awkward comments would end there. He wasn't going to write off what otherwise was once turning into a nice evening over one poorly worded question. After some light banter, Dawn reappeared with their beverages.

"One water with a lemon wedge, two red wines, and one Old Fashioned." She placed a coaster down before each person and placed their drinks upon them. Leslie's was last. John began to sense there was a spark of mischief in this woman. Once again she pulled out her notepad and pen. "Are you ready to order or do you need a few more moments?" After everyone glanced around, they decided to go ahead and order an appetizer. Jayne sat up straight."We would like a Fondue Sampler, please. Any objections everyone?" Jayne taking charge of food ordering was nothing new to him. When they were kids, she used to do it when her brothers were too busy playing instead of reading the menus. She never steered him wrong though so he let her run with it. Leslie straightened her menu and placed it down in front of her.

"Excuse me, do you have any nondairy or low fat cheese?" This time it was John who tensed his shoulders. This lady had done nothing wrong.

"I'm not sure, I can check if you would like." Dawn made a note to ask the kitchen on her way back. She tried to keep positive. She hadn't had this job long.

"Do you not know the menu?" Leslie clearly had a snooty tone in her voice this time. There was no mistaking it.

Sensing this would only get worse for whatever reason it began in the first place, John came to the poor waitresses defense and interjected. "I'm sure she does. It's probably just not often that someone comes into a fondue restaurant and asks for dairy free cheese. It says here they have a lot of vegetables you can dip too, we can order one of those too, that way there is for sure something you will eat." Leslie almost sneered at the suggestion.

"Why would I come to a fondue restaurant and order salad? They should provide options for alternative diets, or at least employ people who can give me a definite answer. At this point in the conversation, Jayne and Tyler came back to reality and were realizing what was happening.Jayne did not expect Leslie to be the jealous type. She hoped John wasn't miserable. He wasn't the type to put up with that kind of nonsense usually so she was very nervous.. It wasn't a grape sized fiasco, but it had potential.

After they all decided on the veggie option, Dawn left again. Leslie excused herself to the ladies room. "So Leslie is something huh?"Jayne asked nervously. John sat back and ran his fingers through his hair."She is something else, that's for sure.""John," Jayne leaned forward."I am so sorry, I didn't know she was catty like that. Shes always so sweet in spin class." John stood up."Don't worry about it Jay Jay.I'm gonna get some air, I'll be right back. He walked outside and shut his eyes as the breeze brushed his face. He was grateful that Jayne cared enough to try, but he wasn't gonna meet anyone right for him wearing a button down shirt and loafers. Most women he dated behaved the same way. They would pretend to be someone you could brig hoe to mama but would get all snooty when around blue collar folks. Like somehow being with him made them better than who they were before. He was just about to go back inside to rejoin his party when Dawn stepped outside and hailed a cab. She was bundled in a cream colored jacket and her hair was down in long red waves. Her shift must have ended after she took their order.

"Taxi?" She shouted, followed by a whistle. John walked over.

"Hey, it's Old Fashioned" she said, turning to acknowledge him.

"Hey, Its Dish Soap" John put his hands in his pockets as he tried to come up with a decent apology. Dawn chuckled.

"I'm actually named after the phase of the sun rising before it actually comes over the horizon, it's just easier to say I'm named after the soap. "John looked at his feet.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. We didn't get you in trouble did we?"Dawn smiled.

"No, My shift is over so I'm out for the night. Your new server should be with you soon."

"God," John sighed. "I honestly don’t know how much more of her I can take. She was so rude to you. I'm probably just gonna text my sister I'm not feeling good and head home." Dawn hung her head in guilt.

"Don't do that on my account. It'll hurt your girlfriend's feelings." John laughed.

"She's not my girlfriend. My sister is one of those matchmaker types and the family is kinda in the middle of some pretty stressful stuff right now so she didn't use her best judgment." He smiled as he looked at his feet again.

Paparazzi began to accumulate, prompting John to head towards the door. A taxi pulled up and Dawn went to leave as John opened her door for her. "Oh, such a gentleman. Thank you."

As the door closed behind her, she rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "Hey, Old Fashioned?" John had just turned around to go back inside as he heard her call for him.

"Yeah Dish Soap?" Dawn bit her lower lip and squinted her eyes as she thought about what she was fixing to ask. This guy was handsome. He was tall, polite, and had a sense of humor. A bit timid around people perhaps. One thing was for sure. The guy needed to lighten up, and she knew just how to do it. He needed to get away from there. She knew the moment she saw him that he was uncomfortable. She made a devilish grin as he walked up to the window. "You hungry?"John smiled at her question.

" Starving, what day of the week is it?” Dawn thought for a moment, “Saturday, why?” John smiled wide as he undid the top button of his shirt collar. “I know just where to go.”

He had barely reached the cab when cameras started flashing. Dawn pushed the door open and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him into the cab. People crowded the door, continuing to take pictures as the cab began to pull away from the curb. Inside the vehicle, Dawn and John were laughing hysterically.

"God, can you imagine what this is gonna look like? " Dawn kept turning around in her seat to look at the media circus forming behind them."I can see it now, Divine Caught in Curbside Rendezvous with local Waitress." John thought about the accuracy of her statement. His mother would have a field day with this. He looked over at Dawn. She was probably the only woman who hadn't made a big deal out of who he was. The restaurant faded into the distance behind them. Within minutes, those paparazzi would be in their cars in pursuit. Jayne was going to be furious. He pulled his phone from his pocket and shot her a quick text. "Left restaurant with waitress. I love you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening. Will call when on my way back to the house." He paused for a moment before sending. "P.s., Shutterbugs got us, may need to prep for that." He sent the message and put his phone back in his pocket. He couldn't explain his actions to himself much less to his sister. He had never been one to play it safe when it came to public interactions but tonight seemed like it was begging for trouble. He glanced over at Dawn. her hair cascaded in soft curls over her shoulder as she slipped her heels off and put them in her bag, retrieving a pair of blue flip flops. John chuckled as she slipped them on. She was beautiful. "What's so funny?" she asked. "Nothing, I just don't come home often so its always refreshing to see real people." John slid down his seat slightly and rested his hand on his fist as he looked out the window. "What do you mean by that? You mean you don't always jump into random taxicabs with waitresses you just met?" Dawn shot a teasing smile at John. Sitting up straight and placing his hands in his lap, John suddenly became more rigid. "I meant no offence, I just meant that I prefer the company of actual people to that of people my family would prefer I associate with." Dawn found his reaction curious. She related to what he said.

"Let me ask you something Mr. Divine."

"Call me John."

"Let me ask you something John. When you come "home", who do you look forward to seeing?"

John thought for a moment.

"My siblings and nephews mostly. Some old friends, and some folks I hold dear."

"And why do you choose to see them?"John began to loosen up.

"They care. I'm sure the news paints me in a rather unflattering light around here, mostly thanks to my mother. That makes some quick to judge. Makes socializing pretty tough."

Dawn could sense the sneer John made at the mention of the Divine family matriarch. She was familiar with John Divines reputation. Unlike some people, she preferred to form her opinions of people based off of her own interactions with them.

"Well, here is what I suggest. If those people are the only ones who "care" about you, then those are the only people who matter. Fuck the rest of them." John laughed at the crassness of Dawns statement. "I'm serious! You have to make your own family in this world, and family is those whom you call family. Not those who have some blood bond with you. You will drive yourself up a wall crazy if you keep trying to change yourself to fit what others think you should be." John was touched by her comments. She had never met him before, and yet she somehow knew exactly what to say.

"Thank you Dawn." Dawn raised her eyebrow.

"How did you know my name?" John reached a hand out and flicked her name tag. "You introduced yourself at the table, remember?"Laughing in unison, they looked at each other for a moment before John suddenly remembered why they were in the cab in the first place. "Hey." he asked, while giving the driver an address. "How do you feel about barbecue?"