Annie I


The reservations Deliah scored for the Fosters were for lunch. She apologized that the special meal she’d promised them was so early, but the place was going to be packed during the broadcast.

Everyone assured her that they anticipated a fabulous lunch. When she left the room, Annie smugged loudly. “Remember, this girl likes to show off to friends.”

“And that’s US!” Pet cheered.

“Some of us,” Denise said with a smile, patting Annie’s head.

“No,” Ray said, taking Denise by the hand. “She didn’t get as sappy as Sam did the other night, but she does consider you a friend.”

“How do you know?” Denise asked in a dangerous tone.

“Because she greets you with her sincere smile,” he said. “Not her ‘I’m barely tolerating you’ smile.”

“He’s very familiar with that one,” Annie told Denise. “You know that one time he swung by a computer store on one of your first dates?”

“Yes,” Denise and Pet said, rolling their eyes in tandem.

“Well, Ray once took Deliah to a computer store AS their date.”

“I was going to help her shop for one,” he said defensively.

“That poor girl!” Denise protested.

“She wanted to buy one!”

“Then YOU wait until SHE says she’s going shopping and offer to tag along! God! Even my FATHER knows better than that!”

“I dunno about that,” Pet said. “Chuck took Carol to a hardware store on their anniversary…”

“That’s cool,” Ray said.

“No, it’s not,” Annie told him.

“No, no, he told me they met in a hardware store. So going back was romantic.”

“But one of his promises was that if she married him, she’d never have to go into a hardware store ever again,” Denise said.

“Oh. And she said yes.”

“Duh!” Pet said.

“Now I know why she wouldn’t take you guys back,” Denise snorted.

“HEY!” Annie protested.

“Sorry, Annie. She won’t take HIM back. If she could separate you two, she’d probably take you.”

“Damn straight.”

“So,” Ray desperately tried, “we have four hours before lunch. What shall we do?”

-----

As they were getting ready for lunch, there was a knock on the sylph door. Annie ran to answer it.

Delli was outside, sporting a simple smock and a complicated expression. Happy and exasperated and tired.

“You guy gonna be-“

“Y’all,” Annie said softly.

“Heh. Y’all gonna be in Portion Control this afternoon?”

“Our reservation’s in half an hour, if that helps.”

Delli nodded. “Dress sharp.”

“What? Why?”

“Dress sharp.” She placed a finger alongside her nose and winked. Then she turned to stride down the hallway.

Annie turned to the rest of her family. “Something’s up.” She looked over at where Denise was adjusting Ray’s tie. Pet waited in her best dress to be zipped up, and held Annie’s best. She shrugged. “But I think we can proceed as planned.”

-----

The hostess found their reservations and welcomed them as ‘Friends of Deliah’s.’ They had a lovely table in the center of the room, next to a fountain that had koi.

Their table even had a viewing stand that stretched out over the water so they could look down on the fish.

They waited patiently for their server. “Odd place,” Ray said after a moment. “Usually the hostess gives us menus when they seat us.”

“Maybe this is one of those places that doesn’t have menus?” Denise guessed.

“The other tables have menus,” Pet said.

“And the hostess does seat them with menus,” Ray said, watching a group of four being led to a table.

“She’s showing off,” Annie said quietly. “We’re in great hands, so relax, and keep your arms inside the table until the lunch comes to a complete halt.”

“Is that a camera?” Pet asked.

The table that was catty-corner around the fountain had been isolated with velvet ropes. Ray had assumed a VIP guest was attending.

But there were no place settings. Instead, a box sat in the center of the table. What might be a camera lens was visible on the nearest side.

“OOOH!” Annie said. “Don’t stare! Don’t stare! Act normal!”

“Does that EVER work?” Denise asked.

“It IS a camera!” Annie said. She ran next to Ray, where his torso blocked the camera’s view of her. “They’re filming Portion Control!

“And Delli said to dress up!”

“We were going to dress nicely, anyway, Annie,” Denise pointed out.

“OH!” Pet cooed. She ran over to where Annie stood. “You guys haven’t been in Electra’s house! She’s got windows she can set for different scenes! And if they get a long film of Portion Control, then when they’re on the show, they can make it look like when you look out the windows, you see that you’re on top of that table!”

“We’re going to be on Electra’s show!” Annie giggled.

“Okay. Then we’ll just act naturally,” Ray nodded. They all nodded.

Their waitresses finally arrived and poured ice water for all of them. A sylph waitress rode on the same tray as the pitcher and dipped drinks for Pet and Annie.

“Don’t stare at the roped off table,” Sheryl, the human, said quietly.

“It’s a camera,” Ray said. “Annie figured it out.”

“Excellent! Then your dinners will be right out.”

“We, uh, we haven’t ordered,” Denise said.

“Deliah asked that you trust her,” the sylph waitress, Tallee, said. She turned to Annie. “And I’m to ask, has she ever steered you wrong?”

“No!” Annie said cheerfully. They sipped their waters and waited impatiently. Other people at other tables were discussing options with their waiters, getting dishes and eating.

“It all looks good,” Denise said.

“It all smells amazing/” Pet added.

“The ventilation here,” Ray observed. “It just moves the scents around and around.”

“Is that bad?” Pet asked.

“No, it’s why I set the grilled meat to rest where everyone can smell it,” Ray smiled. “So the appetites go wild and everything tastes even better.”

Sheryl brought out the first dish. There were plates set before each diner and one platter set in the middle of the table.

“May I present,” she said, lifting the lid, “Spring.

-----
Index

121. Annie H

123. Annie J