First Friendly Face

What Do You Do For Fun?

Tomorrow is the first Saturday without Doctor Who, ugh, I hate these days. Enjoy this next part, I hope it makes you want a banana split as much as it made me want one! :)

He just sort of blurted it out.

Jenny looked over at everyone else at the table. She wanted to see their expressions. She knew that Alec didn't seem the type to have a daughter.

Ellie's face was smeared with shock. Joe was looking down at his plate and was twirling his potatoes with his fork. Tom just continued to eat.

"Oh..." Joe said. Alec nodded.

"Do you know who killed Danny DI?" Tom finally spoke up. It really wasn't a great time to ask that. Alec thought about it for a moment.

"No, Tom, I do not," Alec said. He then sat forward in his chair looking at Tom.

"But I will find out who did. Your mom and me, ok?" He finished. Tom looked Alec in the eye and nodded. Ellie watched them closely.

"Ok, everyone done?" Ellie asked as she stood up. She reached down and picked up her plate. Alec leaned back and let Ellie take his plate. Jenny, Joe and Tom did the same.

"That was good, thanks." Jenny told Joe. Joe smiled at her.

"No need to thank me, I didn't do anything." He said to her with a chuckle. Jenny laughed. She still felt uncomfortable but she thought she should try to seem more comfortable.

"So what do you do Mr. Miller?" Jenny asked him. Joe shook his head.

"Stay at home, for the kids." He answered. Jenny thought he seemed a little ashamed of it but everyone carries something they regret.

"Oh well that's good." Jenny said. Joe nodded. Then Ellie walked back into the room. She was carrying a few banana splits.

"Here! Desert!" She said very cheerfully. She placed each one in front of everyone. Jenny thought it looked delicious and she dove right in.

Alec looked nervously at his. He glanced over at Jenny and noticed that she was enjoying hers. 'Well, it does look good.' He thought to himself. He then decided to try it. He picked up his spoon and took a bit. He then tasted it, it was great!

Everyone ate in silence for a bit. The silence was filled with the sound of forks hitting plates. Jenny looked over at Joe. He was looking at his empty plate while spinning his fork. He was in deep thought. Jenny decided to ignore this and finished off her desert and then placed her fork on her plate. She leaned back in her chair and waited for everyone else to finish.

One by one everyone finished. Tom was the last one to finish and as he did Ellie and Joe got up and collected the plates. They both took them out to the kitchen. Alec, Tom and Jenny were left alone for a few minutes.

"So Tom, what do you do for fun around here?" Jenny asked him. She hadn't lived here at all until now and she tended to think that the town was boring; all she could think of to do was go to the beach.

"Um... well there's the skate park and the arcade. Those are the most popular things to do here, other than bingo for, you know, older people." Tom told Jenny. He and Jenny laughed for a bit over the last bit.

"Nice, so you're sort of out of luck if you don't skateboard or like arcade games I guess." Jenny came to a conclusion. Tom laughed as he nodded.

Alec leaned back in his chair as Tom and Jenny talked. He found it relaxed him, just listening to them talk. He had never heard Jenny talk to a child before and he found that she was rather comfortable with it. He thought that she wouldn't want to talk to Tom while she was here; he guessed he was wrong.

Ellie and Tom came back into the room and stood by the door. Jenny and Tom finished up their conversation and then looked up at them. Alec did the same.

"Well thank you for coming over you two." Ellie said to Jenny and Alec. Both of them stood up and pushed in their chairs. They followed Ellie and Joe to the door.

"Thanks Miller." Alec thanked Ellie as he turned to leave. Jenny held off a moment and waved to Tom whom was heading up the stairs behind Ellie and Joe. He waved back then moved out of sight.

"Thanks Ellie, it was great." Jenny thanked Ellie.

"No problem, I had a great time." Ellie replied. Jenny nodded her head to Ellie and Joe and then she turned and followed Alec down the street.

Alec and Jenny walked down the road in silence. Jenny was holding her jacket around her shoulders to block out the cold. Alec had his hands in his pockets and he was looking at the ground as he walked. Jenny soon decided to break the silence. To her every moment she spent in silence made her feel alone.