Chapter Three

~Nothing happens unless first we dream- Carl Sandburg

 

 

 

The restaurant Quilain took her to could not quite be considered fine dining, but it was much pricier then a franchised chain. The golden letters on the antiqued sign that was made to appear as if it were being held in place by a marvellous golden tree read Lakyn. The parking lot was nearly full and there was a crowd of people swarming the front desk as they waited to be put on a long waiting list. The lighting was very dim inside, the furnishings all done in various shades of gold and black and there was a very large, four sided fire place in the very center of the room, soft flames licking gently through the muted light.

 

Quilain squeezed through the cramped space to inform the hostess of their reservation. The young girl smiled brightly and lead them over to a two person table across from one of the fire places corners.

 

They both sat down as the overly cheerful hostess laid the basic, off white menus bordered with a rim of gold in front of each of them.

“Your server today will be Trevor,” She said pleasantly, making eye contact with both of them equally, “and our special today is the Cajun Spice Salad.” With that she turned and walked up to the front where an impatient man was pointing angrily over the counter at the waitlist.

 

“Busy place.” Cadence noted as she flipped open the menu.

Quilain frowned, “it’s not usually this crowded, I prefer quieter places normally, but the food here is good.”

She smiled gently, “It must be, with a turnout like this.” She turned her attention to the menu, there were no pictures illustrating the gourmet foods or simple dishes and none of the food titles stuck out to her in particular.

 

“Hello, how are you this evening?” Cadence looked up to find a tall waiter, dark hair and eyes, grinning down on them. His cheeks held a subtle pink to them, flushed from running around the warm restaurant all night no doubt. He was young, early to mid twenties and presented one slightly crooked canine tooth when he smiled.

“We’re fine thank you.” Quilain responded, flipping his menu open.

“Could I interest you in something to drink to start? Maybe an appetizer?” His tone was casual, not the apparent fake cheerfulness many restaurant- or anyone in the service business really- employees put forth for their customers.

“I’ll just have water to start, thank you.” Cadence smiled, mirroring his own.

“I’ll have the same.”

The waiter hurried off to the kitchen, his tall stature towering over his fellow coworkers he passed along the way.

 

“So, what are you thinking on?” Quilain asked, reading the menu items indecisively.

She scanned the two pages of dishes, “I’m torn between the garlic salmon and the roasted vegetable rice bowl.”

“Ah.” He said appraisingly, “the rice bowl is one of my faves.”

She smiled, closing the menu satisfied, “well then, that’s just what I’ll have.”

“Pressure’s on for my food judgment I guess.” He grinned.

 

The waiter returned with their two ice waters, a wedge of lemon hugging the rim of each, “Did you need a few more minutes with the menus?” He asked routinely and she looked up to Quilain who merely shrugged.

“I think we’re ready.” He said while looking at Cadence.

“I’ll have the roasted vegetable rice bowl.”

The waiter smiled, showing that one crooked tooth, “a very popular dish.” She looked over to Quilain and flashed a mildly impressed grin.

“And I’ll try the Cajun Salad; tonight’s special.” The waiter nodded and removed their menus.

 

“Do you come here a lot?” Cadence asked casually, squeezing the wedge of lemon into her water before dropping the rind in after.

He shrugged, “Not often no, just occasionally when I want to sit in peace.”

She nearly choked on her water, “peace?” She gestured to the full restaurant, the air was filled with constant chatter, laughter and clanking of dishware, the consistent sounds drowning out the soft music. “This is peaceful?”

He couldn’t help but laugh, “Well when I do ever come in here, it’s usually in the morning, while everyone’s out running errands or heading to work.”

 

She sipped on her cold water, she could feel the coolness work its way into down her throat and she shuddered, “I don’t mind crowded places.” She informed.

“No?”

She shrugged, “no. Mind you, I don’t think they are peaceful.” A mutual grin mirrored their faces for a moment, “but I like to sit by myself in crowded areas sometimes, sit and just observe.”

Quilain raised an eyebrow, “observe?”

“Yeah, I mean, I like to see the way people interact with each other.” Cadence paused, shyly glancing up from her glass, “sometimes I like to think of their stories; like if I see two or three people talking on a bus, I like to think what their relationships are with one another is, where they`re going and why.” She noted Quilain’s peculiar expression and blushed embarrassed, “I don’t know, I know it’s silly but I’ve done it since I was a little girl, my father was the one who started it, it was almost a game the two of us had.” She smiled fondly at the memory.

 

“It’s not silly at all.” He said honestly, “it’s real.” She sipped at her water once again. “Sounds like you two are close.”

Cadence nodded in agreement, “very much so.” The thoughts stirring of her father squeezed her chest with regret. Not long after she had divorced Jeremy, her father and her had had a falling out; he had told her to beg Jeremy to come back, to apologize for anything and everything, he wouldn’t admit that it was a two way street, that they just weren’t in love anymore.

 

“What about you, are you close to your parents?”

He shrugged, “somewhat, it’s a love hate thing really.”

She nodded knowingly, “aren’t all relationships?”

He looked up and raised an eyebrow, “sometimes it feels that way.”

Cadence sipped her water through the thin straw, “So. What do you do?”

“You mean other than being my brother’s gofer? I’m a mechanic, have my own little shop on the other side of town.”

Cadence nodded her head impressed, “Oh yeah? You’re your own boss eh?”

Quil smiled gently, “well I don’t know about that, seems like I might as well be working for the big Suits who charge an arm and a leg for me to have my place.” He laughed, “but aren’t we all?”

Cadence smiled, “can’t be much worse than working for someone who threatens your job every chance they get.”

Quil raised an eyebrow, “you?”

“Mhm. She’s one of those small time people who thinks they’re really big.”

“Ah. Those fun types.” He sipped some of his water.

 

“So, you ever been married?” She asked, folding her arms on the table in front of her.

“Married? Nah, never got that far. Thought about it once but obviously that didn’t work out so well.”

 

The waiter approached their table with two dishes garnished with splashes of bright colour and set the items in front of each of them. The aroma of the mingling steamed vegetables rising from Cadence’s rice bowl awakened her rumbling stomach. They thanked the waiter and were left to their conversation.

 

“What about you?” Quil asked as he unwrapped his fork from the neatly folded napkin, “I mean, were you married to your kid’s dad?”

“I was. We married young, had kid’s young, you know that whole theatrical story.”

Quil nodded, piercing his salad with his fork, “Mhm, one of those.“ He looked up and smiled, “at least you got two beautiful children out of it though right?”

Cadence speared a stock of broccoli, “Yeah, and he’s a wonderful guy, he still sees the kids on a regular basis so I can’t really complain too much.”

“I suppose your kid’s weren’t too pleased with you coming here tonight with me then were they?”

Cadence chewed her moist rice, “Kaylie was pretty enthusiastic actually; wish I could say the same about Jaydon.” She frowned, “he’s afraid of losing time with me.”

“Well, I would be afraid too. I am glad you decided to come though, it will be nice having a friend here other than my brother.”

 

Cadence glanced up, “I’m actually surprised you don’t, with having a shop here and all. You must have just opened if you recently came to town?”

Quil nodded, “My brother helped me find the property for the shop; I commuted back and forth for the first while when things were getting all set up then eventually moved here when the shop was ready to be open for business. With being so busy, I haven’t really had much chance to get out and meet many people. That’s another reason I offered to help with the soccer.”

 

Cadence scooped another fork of rice and vegetables in her mouth and swallowed before speaking again, “I often relish the idea of moving back to Quebec, start my own art classes, maybe open a gallery.”

“You’re an artist?”

“I used to be. I just don’t have the time anymore.”

“Well why don’t you move to Quebec then? Chase your dreams- not meaning to sound cliché or anything.”

Cadence drank more water, shrugged, “I couldn’t move my kid’s that far from their dad, it wouldn’t be fair.”

Quil nodded, “You should start teaching here.”

“I’ve thought about it, but being on my own I’ll have to wait until the kid’s are a little older, that way I’ll have more time on my hands.”

 

“You seem like a really good mom. Your kid’s are very lucky.” He took another bite, “I’d love to see some of your artwork sometime if you’re up for it.”

Cadence felt the blood rush to her cheeks, her art was so personal to her, she rarely let anyone ever see her paintings save for one; a portrait of her two kids which hung above the couch in the living room. She never told anyone it was created by her own hand, not unless they directly asked. She smiled, “Maybe.”

 

                                     

           ***

 

Kaylie lay sprawled across her Aunt Genevieve’s lap wrapped up in a warm quilt she had made, her brother sat cross legged on the floor by the fireplace. They were watching the old Disney movie Ferningully while their mother was out with the man from Jaydon’s soccer game. Genevieve gently stroked Kaylie’s forehead soothing her to near sleep in the warm living room.

 

Genevieve was glad her sister had finally decided to put herself out there and plunge into the wonderful and often exciting world of dating. It had been six years since she and Jeremy had separated and she had reserved worries that her older sister would never open herself up and accept the idea of companionship. She also knew, of course, that this was one date and single dates meant almost jack squat, she couldn’t start her celebrating yet, maybe not ever. This last thought brought with it a solemn frown which creased her manicured brows and soured her earlier more positive thoughts. All she could do was wait for her sister to return to pick up the children and find out for herself if a second encounter was sure to follow. She had her fingers crossed.

 

The volume on the T.V was whispery low and that, mixed with the soothing glow the fireplace emitted in the dark living room, made her exceptionally drowsy and apparently had had the same effect on Kaylie who was now off in deep slumber, her mouth hanging open and her left index finger hooked gently around her nose. Jaydon was fixated on the screen where half naked blue and green fairies were taking on a bulldozer full of humans who were hammering into tress.

 

It was one of the older Disney movies, one of the few lacking of crazy, over budgeted computer effects or being un-digitally remastered. It was a shame, she thought, that in a few years kids would only know the computer animated; the classics drawn laboriously by hand would be considered ‘lame’ and ‘outdated.’ She was glad that her niece and nephew found the speciality in the oldies just as she always had.

 

Genevieve leaned over, bracing an arm over Kaylie to keep her steady, and grasped her tea mug from the coffee table her feet rested upon. It had been a gift from carter, her ex boyfriend with whom she had once lived, and she could still see the rough edges in the dark wood where she had angrily carved out the picture that had been inset within the table top of the two lovers. She had replaced the image (two young adults in a club, arms wrapped around each other, big grin on his face, her head tilted back with laughter) with one of her niece and nephew.

 

Genevieve had always had it in her mind that she was going to have a house full of children one day, it had been her one, firm dream ever since she could remember but those fantasies were shattered when her doctor had discovered she was infertile, she would never be able to have kids. She was now even more grateful for the two children that were now lounging in her living room; she loved them as much as she would have loved her own children had she been able to conceive. She kissed Kaylie gently on the top of the head before taking a shallow sip of her now luke warm tea. The girl stirred but settled back into a comfortable position only a moment later.

 

“Gen?” She looked over her shoulder, smiling affectionately as her sister closed the front door behind her and pulled off her shoes, using the wall to brace herself as she did so.

“Hey Caddie.” She put a finger to her lips then pointed down to the little girl napping across her lap. Shhh. Cadence smiled and padded her way to the sofa, hugging her sister from the back of the couch before peering over at her sleeping daughter. Jaydon seemed to not even notice that his mother had come in; he was completely absorbed into the world of Disney entertainment.

“How were they?” Cadence asked, moving around the couch to where Jaydon sat, she bent and kissed him on the cheek while he mumbled some sort of half-hearted greeting, still in his T.V zone.

Genevieve yawned, “Perfect little angels.”

Cadence raised an eyebrow, “Yeah right, how much sugar did you give them?” She asked with a knowing grin.

Genevieve shrugged innocently, “I do not know what you’re talking about.” She flashed her white teeth, “but if I had shared some sweets them, it probably would have been fudge ice cream.”

Cadence rolled her eyes playfully, “right.”

 

“How was your date Caddie?” She patted the small area of couch next to her, “sit down and cuddle your little sister.”

Cadence took the empty spot, lifting Kaylie’s legs over her own. “It was good.”

Genevieve frowned, “Good... Really? That’s what you come up with?”

“What?”

“That’s lame. C’mon, spill the beans.”

Cadence sighed and leaned into the soft back of the sofa, “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”

“Did you have a good time?”

“Well, yeah I guess I did. He seems like a pretty alright guy.”

“Pretty alright? Yawn. I want details sis!”

“I don’t know what to tell ya, we went to dinner. We talked, we laughed, all in all it was a success.’ She paused allowing a small grin to grow, “He’s pretty damn fine, that body...”

Genevieve let out a tiny joyful squawk before covering her wide open mouth, “You little vixen! Did he kiss you?”

Cadence slapped her sister gently on the arm, “No he did not kiss me!”

“Well are you going to go out again?” Cadence could see the shine in her sister’s eyes.

“I don’t know.” She searched for the right words, “I’m not sure if I want anything, I mean I have the kids-“

Genevieve snorted, “Do not use the kids as an excuse to get out of this, dating is healthy.” She lifted her brows, “and besides, a woman’s got her needs... tell me I’m wrong.” Cadence couldn’t.

“I don’t know, I just don’t feel the need to have a man around, it’s not in my priorities.”

“I know. I just want you to be happy.”

Cadence looked at her sister surprised, “I am happy.”

Genevieve smiled sadly, “I know you better than that hon.”

 

Cadence rose to her feet, she didn’t want to admit that her sister was right. She was happy though, happy with her kids but she did feel unfulfilled. Living paycheck to paycheck-barely, thrusting unfair responsibility on her children, kaylie’s illness, her job and, Cadence didn’t fully admit but, she was lonely. She pulled her kids coats from the hooks by the door and handed Jaydon his, helping the still half asleep Kaylie into her own.

 

“Thanks for watching them.” Cadence said a little more curtly then she meat to, “I know they always enjoy seeing you.”