When we'd taken care of those two items, I helped her into the back before getting behind the wheel again. Ready to resume my duties, I asked her "Where to, Ma'am?"
She named another store, and I got us moving. I was perfectly willing to keep my mouth shut and wait to see what, if anything, Katherine had to say about what had happened between us. Sure, I'd likely gotten her settled down then, but now she had the opportunity to go back and think about it some more.
The ride to the next place was quiet, though, and she told me I could wait outside if I wanted; the place was another one she 'had' to visit without any expectation that they'd have anything of interest to her. Sure enough, she wasn't in the place an hour, and it was off to the next one. It was one where she figured to be inside for a bit, and suggested that I come in with her. I did, and got served another couple of tiny cups of bad coffee while she looked at the various evening gowns that they offered. She asked my opinion on a couple of them, and I gave her my honest answer. She ended up buying a couple of things, and by the time we got back out to my cab, it was getting toward late afternoon.
I had asked her for our next destination when she told me "Actually, I think that's it for today, James."
"Yes, Ma'am. Back to the hotel, then?"
"I'm not sure. I'm getting a bit hungry again, but I really don't want to go out, and I don't want to deal with room service, either. Is there someplace that you could recommend?"
I'll admit that I was a little surprised by the question, but told her "There are a couple of places that I like to go to, but they aren't quite up to the standards of where we went for lunch."
"That sounds perfect, then. I don't want to have to change like I would if I went anyplace I usually would."
I asked her if she was interested in anything in particular, and she said that she thought that something a little more substantial than the fettuccine we'd had for lunch would be good. It took me only a moment to decide where to go, and I quickly had us moving.
When we got there, I could see that Katherine was somewhat underwhelmed, but she didn't say or do anything to indicate she wasn't willing to at least give it a try.
It was when we got inside that she realized that although the outside of the place looked a little run-down, the inside was flawless. The hostess recognized me, and quickly showed us to a quiet spot over in one corner. As we waited for our waitress, I told Katherine that the place semi-specialized in steaks, and that her beverage choices were going to be fairly limited: water, coffee, tea, a few soft drink flavors, or one of a limited number of brands of beer. Again, I could tell she was a little surprised, but still game.
Our waitress greeted me by name, and let me know what that nights specials were, before leaving us to consider our options for a few minutes. When she was gone, I looked over at Katherine and pleasantly asked "You took care of me at lunch; will you let me take the lead, now?"
She gave me a smile before answering "Of course, James."
When our waitress came back, I ordered something that the place did particularly well; Katherine followed my lead, though with a smaller portion. For drinks, both of us went with iced tea. When it had arrived, and she'd had a chance to doctor it, Katherine sipped hers and exclaimed "This is excellent – much better than I've had anywhere else!"
I couldn't help grinning as I told her "They make their iced tea by starting with actual tea – not tea BAGS or instant, but real, live tea. Almost NO place does that any more, because it takes time and effort, and a lot of folks either can't tell or don't care about the difference in taste. Faster and easier to use the bulk stuff they get from whatever their supplier can provide. But if you actually like tea, it's worth the few cents more a glass."
As we waited for our meal, the two of us casually chatted about a number of different things; but neither of us got anywhere even close to the events of that afternoon.
Our meal finally arrived, and I could tell that Katherine was looking forward to finding out if the same attention was paid to the food as had been lavished on something as simple as a glass of iced tea. I couldn't help but be amused when she discovered that it was: "This is the best prime rib that I have ever had, anywhere! How in the world do they do it?!"
"For starters, the owner doesn't get his meat supplied by any of the big national outfits. He deals with a small co-op somewhere in Montana, so that he can get the kind of product and service that he wants. Just by himself, he takes nearly a quarter of their output, so they're more than happy to see to it that he gets what he wants. Again, it costs him a little more, but the business he does more than makes up for it."
"I don't doubt that for second!" she said around another bite.
After that, conversation was pretty sparse as we got ourselves wrapped around some damn fine food. When all that was left was some happy memories, I had to laugh when Katherine tried to stifle a soft belch; her ears pinked a little, but she otherwise managed to maintain her composure.
Next on the agenda was what to do about dessert; again, she followed my example of a slice of cheesecake – and found it every bit as tasty as the rest of the meal had been.
When we were finally ready to leave, Katherine was adamant about leaving the tip – half of what the meal had cost me. I tried to tell her that she didn't have to leave that much, but she told me "Nonsense. Even granting that you might have gotten some extra attention because the waitress knew you, it was still excellent service. She was there when we wanted her, but not hovering over us; she was polite and friendly and helpful, but without being cloying. The food was a damn sight better than lunch, and there was plenty of it – I was half afraid I wasn't going to be able to finish that slice of cheesecake! The place was bright and cheery and clean, and I don't doubt that we could have stayed there another hour and they wouldn't have said a word to us; at lunch, I felt like they wanted me to eat and get out so they could serve someone else."
Once we were back in my cab, I told her "I've known the waitress we had for some time now. I wasn't going to say anything in there, but you might be interested to know that she's getting close to getting a law degree – after getting away from an ex-husband that used to beat her, and abuse their two daughters. He came home drunk one night, beat the hell out of her, and was headed for the bedroom where the two kids slept when she nailed him in the head with a cast-iron skillet. She got the kids and some clothes together, and hid out in an abused women's shelter until the divorce was final. First place she had of her own was a one bedroom dump in the worst part of town, but she got a job and started getting her feet back under herself. That was ten years ago, and she graduates college the semester after next."
Katherine sat there quietly for a few seconds before asking "How do you know all that?"
"I give free rides to the shelter to women that need it, and she was one of them. After she got her divorce, we became friendly – as in friends, I mean. She used to talk to me about all the crap that happened to her and the kids, and I kind of helped her understand that none of it was anything that she should be ashamed of. With her and the kids being all alone and not having anything at first, she was in pretty bad shape, and I stayed with her, as a friend she could talk to, through it. She's getting government help with her tuition, but pays for all her books and other stuff herself from what she makes there – on top of taking care of her kids and everything else, of course."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"So that you know that that oversize tip you left is actually going to do something to help someone that deserves it."
"But why?"
"You told me at lunch that you spend a lot of time being bored. I'm letting you know that you don't have to be bored; there are plenty of things that you could do that would not only help fill up your day, but actually accomplish something. You said that you have an 'ungodly' amount of money, and that it makes you wonder about the motives of some of the people you meet. Why not use some of the money that you don't need to help people like that woman in there? Did I mention that the lowest GPA she's had has been 3.51? And she plans to work helping other abused women when she graduates? If I'd asked, she'd have been glad to show you pictures of her girls; they're both pretty as they could be, smart, and good kids – neither one has ever been in trouble at school, or with the cops. If you've got so damn much money that you have to worry about the kinds of guys you're meeting while you kill time, how about doing something to change all that?"