Comic Convention

Dinner

Marshall is back in the green room after his interview. Hayden and Alexandra are chatting on one of the couch. He joins them, sitting in the chair adjacent to the couch.

"So, dude, was your girl here?" Hayden asks him.

"She was."

"And?"

"I invited her and her sister to dinner tonight at the hotel."

Hayden and Alexandra both raise their eyebrows. "Dinner with her and the sister?"

Marshall shrugs. "I panicked. I had to get to an interview and didn't have much time to think about it. I think inviting the sister helped getting her to agree to come."

"What are you planning to do? We're only here for a few days before we have to head to LA for the final American press stop."

It's not something he had thought about. His thoughts have always been will he see her again and, if he does, how can he see her again after that? Does he want to attempt something else? Not much can be done with her sister tagging along tonight. She could not want anything to happen.

He decides not to worry about it. Things have been easy and going well. Why worry about it?

"Mr. Fox? It's time for the next session," Timtim says, saving him from answering Alexandra's question.

Marshall follows the staffer out of the room, trying to keep some distance between them. Unfortunately for Marshall, his assigned staffer doesn't only have a strange name, he also doesn't understand the concept of personal space. He hurries to the space, creating a mental countdown to his dinner with Clara and Rose to distract him from the odd fellow.

There's an hour and half left until the dinner when Clara finally puts her book down. It's more than enough time to get ready, make sure Rose is ready, and leave for The Starling Hotel to be there by 8 pm.

"Rose?" Clara asks, knocking on her door. Rose calls her in. She's in bed with a movie playing. "We need to start getting ready to leave."

"I'm not going."

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"I feel sick," she says, faking a cough. "You go without me."

"I'm not going without you. He invited both of us. I'll just call the hotel and leave him a message telling him you're sick and we can't make it."

"Clara, you have to go. He wants you to go. He only asked me to be polite. Go get ready, wear that black dress you just bought, and have a good time."

Clara wants to argue with her. There's no way she can go without Rose. Sure, the grocery store went okay but that was just a passing encounter. Things at the Comic Convention weren't great. What if things went badly at the restaurant?

She wants to go, though. So, she listens to Rose. She digs out her black dress from the back of her closet and changes. A few touch ups of her makeup later, all she has left to do is put on her shoes. She chooses a pair of gold strappy heels. She goes back to Rose's room to get her opinion. With a seal of approval, Clara collects her purse and keys. Checking the time on her phone, she finds she has 45 minutes to make a 20-minute drive. Maybe getting there early will help her calm her nerves before Marshall arrives.

There's a huge crowd of people outside the entrance of the hotel. Burly security holds people at bay, leaving a small opening on either side to the doors. They aren't going to let her in. They'll think she's just some crazy fan, lying to try and get inside.