David Xanatos (selfmade_man) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2020-05-15 19:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, caroline forbes, david xanatos |
"Why are we here exactly?"
Who: Caroline and Xanatos
What: Dinner
When: Wednesday, a couple hours after this
Where: A fancy restaurant
Rating/Warning: Low/none
Status: Complete
Caroline had dressed nicely for Xanatos’ party, but she hadn’t dressed that nicely. Not nice enough to pass Andrea’s ‘Jacket Required’ dress code, at least, though even if she did have a formal ball gown, Xanatos suspected that she wouldn’t be able to get ready for something like this in just two hours.
And so, he’d dressed accordingly, or rather, didn’t get dressed at all. He was still wearing the casual dark suit that he had worn during the day. Sure, he was wearing a jacket, but he wasn’t wearing a tux and tails, and he definitely wasn’t wearing a tie - he’d wear them when he had to, but he’d always found them stifling.
Could Xanatos have chosen a restaurant with a less strict dress code? Perhaps. But where would the fun be in that?
He had his chauffeur drive him to the restaurant, with instructions to stay in the area for a quick pick-up when it was time to go, and he waited, standing outside the restaurant. And waited. He frowned at his watch. Caroline was late, and Xanatos did not particularly enjoy being kept waiting.
Caroline her best to get ready as quickly as possible. But when she had to search her entire closet for a dress it slowed things down. She decided on a silk green dress that went to the floor, a slit up the side. It was one of the most formal dress she owned. It felt kind of odd getting ready like this to meet a client. But he had picked the restaurant and Caroline was determined to fit in.
Of course searching through her closet left little time for anything else. She touched up her make-up and re-curled her hair so it framed her face, having lost some of it’s luster being at work all day. Then she was off to the restaurant. Between the getting ready and the traffic Caroline was running late. Only by about five minutes, but still it was something she hated. The blonde was always on time, early even. Being late was so unprofessional.
She climbed out of her car spotting David Xanatos waiting outside. Handing her keys to the valet she walked over to him. “So sorry,” she said apologizing immediately. “There was more traffic than I was expecting.”
Xanatos gave Caroline an appraising look as she got out of her car. She had cleaned up better than he thought she would; he should have given her more credit. She lacked the elegant jewels that the restaurant would no doubt be expecting, but if you were to ask Xanatos, she didn’t especially need them.
“It’s no problem,” he said. Even if he had been waiting, five minutes was nothing to lose his cool over. He offered her his elbow, and began walking to the restaurant. “You look lovely, by the way. I hope that it wasn’t too much trouble getting here. I forgot what a bother traffic could be.”
Caroline placed her hand on his arm just as she had at the party, letting him escort her into the restaurant. She still wasn’t sure what to make of this whole thing. It didn’t exactly feel like a business dinner. But she had no idea what else it would be.
“Thank you,” Caroline replied. And again she was back to thanking the guy. He was going to have to stop complimenting her so much. “Oh not it was fine. I just hate that I kept you waiting. I usually try to be on time.” Which he would know from the week she had worked for him. Not that she had that many meetings with him himself. But still, being late if only five minutes was very unlike her.
“Sometimes circumstances force our hand in these things,” Xanatos said. They approached the maitre’d, who gave them both an appraising look. He looked over Caroline, his eyes flicking to her bare neck and her unadorned wrists and frowned, and then over at Xanatos, his eyes lingering as his frown deepened.
“I apologize,” he said, sounding like he didn’t apologize very much at all. “We have a very strict dress code."
“Is that so,” Xanatos said. “And I can’t convince you to let us in otherwise?”
“If we let just anyone in, Sir, we would hardly have the reputation that we do,” the maitre’d sneered.
“I see,” responded Xanatos, all the warmth gone from his voice. He turned to Caroline. “Please wait here for a moment, Caroline,” he said, some of the warmth returned, though there was still an undercurrent of steel in his tone. And then, he turned and left the restaurant.
He was gone only for a minute or two, and the phone on the maitre’d podium rang. The maitre’d only gave affirmations to the voice on the other end, his tone becoming more and more nervous as he did, and he swallowed, before turning to the two of them. “Right this way please, Mr. Xanatos.”
Caroline could feel her cheeks redden at maitre’d’s comment. She was beginning to seriously regret agreeing to this dinner. It was proving to be more stressful and humiliating than anything.
And then she was left alone with the maitre’d giving her a disapproving look. She just wanted to get the hell out of there. Go back to her house and have an even larger glass of wine than she was originally planning on. She was tempted to just walk out like David had. But she had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well with him when he had asked her to wait. So she just stood there feeling very small.
Finally he returned. Caroline was about to suggest they go, do this another time or something. When the phone rang and they were let in. A look of confusion crossed Caroline’s face, brows furrowed for a moment. “What did you do?” she asked voice low practically a whisper as they were led through the restaurant to a table.
“I pulled some strings. When you have enough money, there aren’t very many doors that remain closed to you,” Xanatos responded, leaning in close to Caroline’s ear. Some of the other diners were looking at them as they were shown to their table, but trying to pretend that they weren’t. Rather than make Xanatos more self-conscious, it only seemed to increase his confidence.
He remained standing as the maitre’d pulled her chair out for Caroline, and only sat once his own chair had likewise been pulled out.
“Someone will be right with you. Can I bring you a bottle of wine, Mr. Xanatos?” Xanatos nodded, and the maitre’d scurried away.
Caroline was usually a very confident person. Or at least she pretended to be. Of course she had some insecurities, though they were more profound back then. But this situation was bringing those feelings back up for her. Even though her cheeks were still slightly pink she plastered a smile on her face and acted as though everything was fine, despite the looks they were getting.
“Is that what you do?” Caroline asked once they were seated and left alone. “Just buy your way into things?” or out of situations. However you wanted to look at it.
“Not always,” Xanatos said. “Some things require a more delicate touch. But if I think it’ll be entertaining, then why not buy my way in? Look at the other people in the restaurant,” Xanatos said, gesturing vaguely to the tables around them. Even now a few people were looking at them, some glaring, though only one table seemed to be talking about them. “Every single person in here is jealous of us. There isn’t a single one who could afford to sit here dressed like this, and they know it. I’m nearly certain there isn’t a single one among them that actually enjoys wearing a cumberbund.”
Caroline would be lying if she said she didn’t like attention. But not this kind of attention. She preferred it for things she earned, her hard work, and yeah maybe even her looks from time to time. But not for being on the arm of some billionaire. Especially one who like to flaunt his wealth.
“And you want people to be jealous of you,” Caroline had meant to ask it as a question but it definitely came out as a statement. Maybe she shouldn’t be saying these things to a client, but she couldn’t help but speak her mind sometimes. “You like being the most powerful person in the room and making sure everyone knows it.”
“Caught me red-handed,” Xanatos said. He could have denied it, maybe, but what would have been the point in that? He would have been lying, and they both would have known it. “I’ve worked hard to get to where I am; I think I’ve earned that right. You, Miss Forbes, pulled off the impossible last week, and I think you’ve earned the right to be admired for an evening as well. Have you ever considered a job in psychiatry, by the way?”
“Caroline,” she corrected immediately. For one no one called her Miss Forbes. But also if he was going to insist on her calling him David then he was sure as hell going to call her by her first name too. “Or are we no longer on a first name basis, David?” It was the first time she had used his name since he told her to on the phone a few hours ago.
“I was admired plenty at the party,” which was kind of a lie. No one ever really noticed the help. Other than his compliments of course. But she had heard people talking about how much they were enjoying themselves which was in a way admiring her and her work. “No. I’ve always loved planning things too much. Since middle school,” she shrugged her shoulders. “But understanding a client does come in handy.”
“If you weren’t so obviously good at it, I’d suggest a career change,” Xanatos said, smiling a little to show that he was teasing. “But if you don’t like this kind of attention, then I’ll let you choose the restaurant next time I take you out for dinner.”
Caroline raised a brow at that comment. “Next time?” That was rather presumptuous. Unless of course it was to discuss work. “Why are we here exactly?” She was curious. He didn’t have a party to plan and had no idea why the hell he had taken her to this fancy restaurant. Well fancy to her. She had a feeling this was a normalcy to him. Still why her company?
“For dinner, of course,” Xanatos said, his statement accentuated by the arrival of their server, who came bearing wine and was ready to take their order. “We will have the eggplant parmigiana as a starter, and for my entree I’ll have the chestnut pappardelle. Are you ready to order yet, Caroline?” he asked, turning toward her.
Caroline hadn’t had time to look over the menu yet. She had been too distracted by well everything. The embarrassment from the maitre’d, trying to figure David out and what the hell she was even doing here. It left little time for anything else. Still she quickly glanced at it picking one of the cheaper items not wanting to hold the meal up and she definitely didn’t want David spending too much money on her. “I’ll have the baby kale salad. Please,” she informed the server, not forgetting her manners.
After handing her menu over she turned her attention back to David, getting right back to their conversation. “You take everyone that works for you to dinner?”
Xanatos frowned at her order, a quick scowl that he quickly wiped from his face. He wasn’t going to dictate what she couldn’t eat, but it seemed obvious to him that she had picked one of the cheapest items on the menu, as $30 or $40 made any difference at all to him.
“Not everyone,” Xanatos said. “The short notice for the party was unavoidable, but I know that it must not have been easy. I thought that you deserved a night out to relax after all of your hard work.”
The scowl may have been quick but Caroline still caught it. She didn’t comment on it though, especially with how quickly it vanished. “That’d be a lot of dinners,” Caroline commented with a smile trying to keep things light. “But really you didn’t have to. The tip was more than enough.”
“I’ve never been constrained with what’s necessary,” Xanatos said, smiling a little. He poured a glass of wine for Caroline, and then one for himself. “I think life would be pretty uneventful if we only ever did the things that were needed instead of what we wanted, don’t you?”
“Fair point,” Caroline said picking up the glass David had just poured her and took a sip. She didn’t miss the fact that he wanted to have dinner with her either. Though she had assumed as much or else he wouldn’t have invited her. “This is a lot more than most clients do for me.” Or any really but he probably already knew that.
“I like to show people when they’re appreciated,” Xanatos said. “That, and I had wanted to make sure that I hadn’t scared you off with the last party. It would be a shame if you took to avoiding me afterward.”
“Were you trying to scare me off?” Caroline challenged with a brow raise. She had gotten the distinct impression that he was trying to make the party as challenging and as close to impossible as he could.
“Not as such, no,” Xanatos said. He was trying to test her, in a way. It wasn’t a lie that he had decided to move to the Orange County the day that he contacted her, but it wasn’t as though he had required such a party on his first day there; even if it had resulted in some very intriguing connections. “But I do not hire anyone who is not the best in their field more than once.”
“I assumed you don’t get to be where you are,” Caroline began smile still present on her face. “Without realizing talent.” Yeah she was complementing herschel there too. But whatever. She deserved it after the hell he had put her through and what she was able to pull off in just four days.
Xanatos didn’t try to hide the satisfied smile at hearing Caroline say that. Not only at the compliment to his own refined skills of observation, but hearing her compliment her own skills as well. “You would be correct.”
His smile only grew as the servers arrived with the eggplant parmigiana. “Well then, Caroline, let’s dig in.”