Dinner at Vergers de Pommes

"Well, I can understand that. You want to help and support your family, but putting.your safety and the safety of your children first is important. And she's a grown woman, after all."

When the car came to a stop, Roldan popped the door open and offered a quiet thanks to Marduk, reminding him when they expected to be done so he could pick them up.

Stepping out of the car, he offered Celeste his hand with a smile. "Are you ready? Our table should be ready for us." The table was in fact ready, with a bottle of French rosé chilling beside it. Settled near one side of the dining area, their table was directly beneath one of the fragrant apple trees that the restaurant kept eternally in bloom.

Roldan helped Celeste into her seat before taking his own, unbuttoning his suit coat as he sat down. "I'm glad you like it. I'd like to say this is one of my favorite places, but truthfully I don't get to come that often. I might take Iesha here for her birthday though. The menu is quite accommodating."

"Ah, that's good. I figured it wouldn't be too sweet or too dry. I'm more keen on drier reds, but I enjoy this one as well." Roldan thanked the waiter and held his glass close to his face to take in the aroma of the wine.

"How do you feel about trying the tasting menu? Give us a little surprise and cut down on the indecision of what to eat."

"Perfect. The tasting menu it is then." Roldan took a sip from his glass and smiled. He was nervous and doing his level best to not seem it. He wanted to make a good impression even though they already had a good rapport going. But this was their first date and frankly he was scared of making an ass of himself.

"Oh Iesha is just fine," he said when Celeste brought it up. "She's really shy so it takes her some time to warm up to people. Frankly that's why I want to wait before I formally introduce the two of you. If she knows I'm comfortable around you it might make her slightly less anxious."

"Oh have no doubt," Roldan said plainly. "If Iesha ever expresses discomfort with me dating, I will step back. I'd have a nice long talk with her about why she's feeling that way. But I'd definitely step back. But I am going to put her first no matter what. She's not as alone as you might think though. She's got a lot of good friends. I caught one sneaking out of a window one night: turns out she's been coming over regularly just to talk and spend time with Iesha whenever she's feeling down."

That had prompted Roldan to install some better security on the house. Not exactly to keep the spider girl out, but the notion of a child being able to break into his house made him uncomfortable. When it was just him living alone it was fine. He could handle an intruder and all of his belongings were insured so getting robbed wasn't the worst thing in the world. But with Iesha now he had to take better care to prevent things from happening in the first place.

"We're quite the pair, huh? Two single parents trying to juggle work, taking care of our kids, and now trying this thing out together." Roldan laughed a little and took another sip from his wine glass. The first course and he gave a quiet thanks to the waiter as he departed. "How is the school term going so far? Kids giving you too much trouble?"

"Work has been great, actually. I mean, it's quieted down since we dealt with some issues we were having." The recent fiasco with corrupt police officers had left a bad taste in Roldan's mouth, but it had only doubled his insistence on keeping pushing forward. Roldan picked at his food and smiled across the table at Celeste.

"You're amazing for taking in three very different kids though like that. I can't imagine it's very easy, with their various temperaments and diets and such. If you ever need any help don't hesitate to call on me, yeah?"

Roldan ate a bit more, not exactly wanting to rush things along but also not wanting to let the food get cold.