Dinner at The Elderflower PV Paige Chase Closed

Outfit


Paige had found the letter from Simon amusing. He sounded like this was his first time doing this. When she showed it to her mom, her mom smiled.

She raised her eyebrows and smiled. "Ah, Simon. Lovely friend that one is, huh, sweetly?" She nudged Paige. Paige rolled her eyes. "Could you drop me off?" Paige's mom nodded. Paige looked through her clothes. She could tell by the letter that she should wear something nice. She found the perfect thing and put it on. A while later her brother came in. "Are we going to dinner?" Paige shook her head. "Just me." Her brother frowned.

Paige grabbed her coat as her mom started the car. Paige hopped into the front seat and buckled up. Simon chose a place that Paige had only been once. It was nice of him to come to her. Once they got there, Paige unbuckled and got out. Paige's mom leaned across the seat and rolled down the window. "How are you Simon, dear?" Paige sighed and smiled at her friend. Her mom looked around for Simon's aunt. "Oh, should I stay with you guys?" Paige widened her eyes and Simon and tried to warn him with her eyes.

@Simon Kincaid

Outfit


"Good to see you again, Ms. Chase and no, that won't be necessary. I'll make sure Paige gets home safely." His plan was to take a cab with her to her house to make sure she got home alright and then take that same cab to the train station to return to London. He had it all planned out. He may have only been eleven but he was pretty independent and mature for his age.

"Thank you though," he smiled warmly and gave her a bit of a wave. "I hope you'll substitute dinner for lunch." This worked out nicer. Lunch was midday anyway, when the sun was near its most highest point in the sky. Dinner in the winter meant dark. "Nice outfit," he complimented her. "I've got a reservation. This way," he took her hand and led her away from the car before her mother could protest and he opened the door to the restaurant, allowing her in first.

They came to the host and the man looked up to him. "Kincaid, party of two," he told the man. The man seemed a little skeptical due to their age just because this was a high scale restaurant but he looked down at his list of reservations anyway and there it was. Kincaid, party of two.

He then picked up his pen and made a mark on his list next to the name, ensuring that the guest had been there and would be seated, then gathered two menus and led the two inside. They were seated by a table that was near the window but also a fireplace which was nice, it offered the warmth as well as some coolness from the windowpane. Simon did the gentleman thing by pulling out her chair and then thanking the host, who said their waitress should be with them shortly.

"Have you been here before?"

"Once. My parents brought us here. You know, before they..." Paige straightened up. She didn't want to ruin their fun time. "Anyway! What are you going to get?" She glanced at the menu. Paige was probably going to get steak. It seemed good. She looked up at the waiter who came for their drinks. "Water, please." Paige liked to play it safe. If she didn't, her mom would tell for sure. She turned to Simon, smiling as the waitress walked away. "You didn't have to come to Hampshire, that is a lot of work." Paige shrugged. "It's not your fault I'm so good at snowball fights." She playfully boasted.

"So, how are things with you? I've been reading some more. Not much of a surprise." She remembered something and reached into her bag. She pulled out a sketch of a full moon over a lake. It was colored in. She handed it to Simon. "Our first adventure." She had no idea why, but she felt like this was an important memory for her. Simon had asked her to sketch the full moon. She did, but never gave it to him. Over the break before the party at her house, she was thinking of him. She colored it in. She forgot to give it to him at Christmas, so she brought it here.

@Simon Kincaid

"

Water, as well. Thank you," he told the waitress who smiled to Simon. How simple the two probably sounded ordering their waters for the fancy restaurant but really, water was mostly all that Simon drank with maybe an occasional tea. Most drinks were just too sweet or artificial tasting so it made water his preference.

"It was actually quite easy to be honest. I boarded South Western Railways from Waterloo Station towards Weymouth, got off at Winchester, and bam...about an hour and a half later and here I am." Simon enjoyed the train commute and while he loved the company of his aunt, he adored when she let him go out and about on his own. It made him feel more grown up than he was.

Paige then handed him over a paper which he recognized pretty quickly and smiled because it was now colored in and perfected. "Wow, you did a really good job on this." He remembered that night well. It had been their first adventure, back when they were both just new to Hogwarts and new to figuring out things. They still had a long way to go but at least they each had a good friend to rely on now. "Thanks, Paige."

The waitress came and brought the two waters, setting them down to take their orders. He ordered a steak, rare, no salad, with potatoes and green beans. "No garlic butter," he emphasized. Garlic was gross and he never had much of a taste for it.

"Things with me are going pretty well. I had a nice holiday break. Got to see my friends, go to church, sing Christmas carols, have a big holiday meal. Still, it'll be kind of nice to get back to school. It's been weird not being able to go to the school library and research things. How've you been?"

After ordering pretty much the same as Simon, she turned to him. "Wait wait wait, did you say sing? " Paige looked around as she took a drink of her water. "You sing?" Paige smiled some more. "Or... we're you just forced into by your Aunt Maggie." She liked Simon's aunt. Paige liked to sing, but she never gets the chance to anymore. But Simon singing? She just, who knows, couldn't see it? She shook her head. "I never expected that, Simon. You really are full of surprises."

She sighed and leaned back. "I haven't told anyone yet, but my sister is in the hospital. She got in a car accident. It was out of no where and I was so scared when we got the message." Her voice had started to quiver. "Sorry, I dont mean to bring anyone down. This is supposed to be a fun time. Um, well. Things have been good, otherwise. I visited my dad and we went to see some horses, which was fun."

A while later the waitress came back with their food. Paige smiled and sat up. "I really missed the steak here. Let's see of its still as good as I remember."

@Simon Kincaid

"Hey now, I sing," he said and laughed a little. One of little faith over there across the table. "I was in choir back at my other school for years." And it was something he enjoyed while playing the guitar. It wasn't something he really planned on pursuing though. Maybe the frog choir at Hogwarts, but definitely not joining a band or something.

She mentioned her sister being in the hospital and instantly he felt for her. His own grandparents had passed away from an accident before he was born and he never knew them. His mother had been in the hospital time and time again through her sickness. He didn't remember that either, but he still knew the pain well. "You're not bringing anyone down. This is what friends are for," he comforted her. Simon brought his hand across the table out to her, hoping she'd take it. "I'm sorry to hear about Amelia. Have you been able to see her?" He was hoping that Paige might share more details because sometimes - especially in times where it was difficult to know what to do - talking about things helped when nothing else did.

Horses. They were such pretty creatures. Simon had never been close enough to actually pet one before. "Horses are incredible," he added, wanting to bring up that subject too just in case it was too painful for her to talk about her sister. "I've only seen them a handful of times. We went once as a class to the Changing of the Guards." Some of those in the ceremony were on horseback.

Simon was glad that she got some time with her father as well over the holidays. Being a split family like that couldn't be easy. And, as with any time someone talked about their fathers, wayyyyy deep in the back of his head he wondered what his was like, what he did, what his hobbies were, his personality, his looks, his name. It was still such a small idea though and not something he was ready to venture and search out.

Paige took Simon's offered hand. Paige nodded. "I got to see her once." She looked at her friend. "Thanks for understanding." She slid her hand out of Simon's and placed it on her lap. Simon recognized the need to change the subject. Mentioning that he liked horses, he was able to make Paige feel better really quickly. He is a great friend. There is no way I could thank him. After some more talking, Paige felt a lot better. She picked up her fork and began to eat. She sighed. "I really missed this steak." She said, smiling. "It feels strange, to be eating with..." lowering her voice, she continued with a small laugh. "Owls and floating candles and all that."

"It's nice out. Maybe after we eat we can go do something." Paige sat up. She tapped the menu in front of Simon. "You paid for the dinner, I pay for the desert." She said. She knew there wasn't much Simon wanted. "Or... I'll pay for something fun, sense you don't really like treats." She looked at her plate, and realized how full she was. She placed her fork and knife on the plate. Just then, her phone buzzed. She took it out and saw it was from her mom.

@Simon Kincaid

His steak was rather rare. So much that most people probably would have sent it back saying it wasn't edible in that manner but that was the sort of thing these fancy steakhouses did - and one of the reasons he picked it. It was one of the best things he had in years, honestly.

He picked a bit at the green beans and the potatoes as Paige spoke when finished with his main course. She had offered up dessert but that didn't so much interest him. "Maybe we could try fitting in some ice skating if there's anywhere around here," he suggested, throwing it out there. The evening was still young for her to get back home and he to get back to the train station to head back to London.

Her phone rang, or rather, buzzed on the table's surface and it caused them both to stop talking momentarily. Simon didn't mean to pry but basic curiosity sent his eyes downward and he saw it was from her mother. He wondered if it was about her older sister and feared the worse. What if she had gotten worse or something? If that were the case, Simon was just glad he would be there for her when she got the news.

Mom: Just got a call from the hospital...

Oh?

They are releasing Amelia!!!!-

Paige looked up from her phone, happy tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't realise how stressed she was and that she was holding her breath. Now that all the stress was gone, she took a big breath. She rubbed her eyes. Her voice was a whisper, yet the happiness in her voice was so loud. "They released Amelia. She's okay!" She looked up and laughed.

After they ate and the dinner was paid for, Paige held Simon's hand and lead him to a cab. She told the driver where to go. Once the cab came to a stop, Paige played the driver and got out. They were at an outdoor ice skating park. She pulled him over to a booth. She asked for ice skates of her size, then once Simon got his, they sat down on a bench getting the ice skates on. As she tied the skates, she looked at her friend. "Simon. I just, it's that... your a great friend, you know that?" She smiled at him. He really was. "So... I don't know how to say this. Err... what I'm trying to say is... thank you."

@Simon Kincaid