~After the grand opening of Betwixt & Between, Dita had finally settled into a normal schedule, thanks to her lovely assistant Raina. The woman was a doll, truly, and Dita wanted to do something special for her. She agreed to meet for lunch with Raina after she ran the queen of burlesque's errands.~

~The white Rolls Royce slowly pulled up to the curb outside of Stella's; a bright glare glinting from the clean, smooth polish that winked to all who gazed out the window of the restaurant. Dita's driver stepped out from the car, and rushed to the passenger back, holding the door and his hand out to her. A black, silk gloved hand was delicately placed into the man's palm, and two black, diamond studded stiletto heels clicked onto the pavement. She slid from the seat to stand, smoothing out the wrinkles in her black pencil skirt while the driver closed the door behind her. She also tugged down her sparkly, quarter-sleeved vintage top, and fluffed those thick, black curls upon her partially nude shoulders.~

"Thank you my darling. Lunch may take awhile, so feel free to roam the city, and I'll call you as soon as we're ready to leave."

~Those full, raspberry glace lips creased into a warm, bright smile; her soft, heavenly blue eyes dazzled beneath the black, fishnet half-face veil. She walked up to the doors as the concierge opened them, and she followed the hostess to Raina's table. The hostess pulled the cushioned chair for the queen, and Dita sat, traversing her long, smooth stems over the other, smiling at Raina.~

"Hope you didn't wait too long, my darling. I had such a disaster with a dancer's costume!"

~She inclined, prancing a gloved hand. When their waitor approached, Dita tiled her angelic features full on, and smiled.~

"Yes darling, two glasses of Bourgeois Sancerre Rose Les Baronnes, and two cups of shrimp and corn maque choux for our appetizers, please."

~She said to the waiter; every French word rolling from her pink wet muscle so perfectly as if she was a native of France.~

"Oh! Let me call a few people and see if they would like to meet us for lunch so you can get to know the staff a little more, hm?"

~Slender digits reached into her black, diamond studded purse, and retrieved her cell phone, making a few calls before closing the phone, and putting it back into it's place politely.~

"So how are the errands coming? Did you have any trouble getting everything I needed on the list?" 

(In response to Dita's call : http://wickedlabyrinth.activeboard.com/t46689238/call-to-mr-duncan/ )

::::Chad hadn't really expected to get an immediate reply to his ad in the newspaper, but when two weeks passed without word he was a little bit disappointed.  He was beginning to give up hope that he would ever find someone who could help him understand his powers and what they meant.  In the meantime though he had his work to keep him busy.  That day when Dita called to invite him to lunch he was already in the French Quarter at Betwixt and Between doing some work on the front of house books.::::

"Lunch?" :::He contemplated the offer and laughed at his own insecurities at joining them.::: "Alright.....I'll head right over."

::::Finishing up the books he put them back in the safe and then locked up the office that he shared with Geller.  The restaurant was quiet since they didn't open for several hours.  Locking up on his way out he headed across the street towards Jackson Square where Stella's was adjacent.  The lunch crowd was forming a knot outside where hungry tourists were waiting to be led to seats.  Chad slipped past the milling people and let his gaze scan the crowd inside until he saw Dita's sleek black hair.:::

"My party's right over there." ::::He pointed it out to the hostess so that she would hand him a menu and let him go join Dita and Raina at their table.  Moving between the packed tables he smiled confidently at the girls as he got closer to the table.:::: "Hey there, thanks for inviting me."

:::Pulling out one of the chairs at the table he looked at the other empty spaces.::: "Who else is joining us?

"Oh, the boning cracked inside the corset, so we had to make a new one on a very short notice. Honestly, I don't know how the whale bone cracked because it is very unlikely that it does. I'm assuming one of the dancers stepped on it pretty hard with her stiletto."

~A silk, gloved hand delicately wrapped around the stem as she lifted the glass of Bourgeois to her raspberry glace lips. She sipped on the wine slowly, allowing the light red liquid soak her tongue, and beam down that slender throat. She smiled with delight.~

"That's wonderful my darling! I'm very happy to hear that you found everything. That's one less disaster we do not have to worry about."

~In a few moments, Chad arrived at the table. Dita stood from her chair, placing her hands upon his shoulders as she planted a soft kiss on his cheek.~

"Hello my darling! So good to see you. I invited Steven, Adam, and Geller. Geller said he is not able to come due to being buried in paper work, but I'm assuming Steven and Adam are still coming. Oh! I would like you to meet my assistant. Raina Maxwell, this is Chad Duncan, the front of house manager."

~And just in the nick of time, Steven and Adam arrived, taking the other two vacant chairs left for them. A warm, bright smile creased her lips when they arrived. A lunch with her co-workers was the perfect idea before the holidays.~

"Oh good Steven! And I am so delighted to have you and Adam join us for lunch. Steven, Adam, this is my assistant Raina Maxwell. Raina, this is Steven and Adam. Steven is the sous-chef, and Adam is the patisserie."

~After introductions were made, and the drinks and appetizers arrived, Dita reached into her studded purse, and pulled out four envelopes. Each envelope had their own names in caligrophy, sealed with her lip indention. Inside each envelope, they would find $500 in cash.~

"Well, one of the reasons why I wanted this lunch because I wanted you all to meet my assistant. She has been with me for years, ever since I started in New York, and she is a wonderful asset to our team. Another reason why is because I thought this would be absolutely fantastic to see each other for the holidays. And..."

~She handed them their envelopes, the names matching to each person.~

"I'm sure Geller has set up a Christmas bonus for all of us, but this is just my own personal Christmas gift to each of you in gratitude of my appreciation for all that you do."