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Friday night my love and set out for dinner and a play. It was raining on the left coast and we enjoyed sharing an umbrella as we worked out way up Hollywood Boulevard. I thought I knew where the place was and I thought I knew what it's name was, but nothing was written down. After dinner we were to continue on to the theatre to see West Side Story. What could go wrong?
I found the restaurant on a little side street. It was a red brick building half covered with vines. We went out the steps thru the door an stepped back in time. It was dark and rich. Yeah, it definitely had been in business since 1942. The maitre 'd greeted us. I swear he looked as Silvio of The Sopranos would be looking 30 years in the future. He moved with grace and a genuine appreciation of our coming in.
Yes, he said in response to my request, I have the perfect table for you, and he took us thru a narrow dining area which had a raised section at the end. It was encircled with wrought iron. Two huge stain glass arched windows were attached to the wall and lit from behind, hanging above the room wide high backed intricately carved bench which was padded in red leather---the sort at which you would see a row of church cardinals be seated.
He showed us to a small table in the very corner which allowed us to sit perpendicular to each other rather than across from each other. Yes, the table cloth was red checked. From our perch we could look across the dining room and see all the elegantly attired waiters taking care of business. The food and wine were great. I had to hunt through the mounds of shrimp, scallops, peppers and onions to find the bed of pasta. It was perfect.
About halfway thru our main course another couple was seated to my right. She sat no more than 3 feet from me and he sat across from her---they were probably in their mid-twenties. being in such close proximity it was impossible not to hear them. First the little buzzwords...
Child protective services...district attorney's office.
Isn't this bread delicious? It's shame we can't take some of this home to my father---he would love this.
Well, dad has a record but it hasn't been anything violent...
Do you want another glass of wine? No, me neither. It is getting on and we don't want to be late for the show.
Well, you have to have motive and opportunity.... Yes, they said they had seen bruises before... I don't think the other children saw anything...
The young man was really getting animated by this time.
Look, no one dies from a broken arm.... Who called 911... What was the condition of her body... Well, her eyes had rolled back and she was excreting a brown mushy liquid from her mouth...
By this time the perfect romantic dinner had turned into a Law and Order episode.
As I was about to call for the check when the waiter brought it. I plunked down the cash and told my love to grab her coat and head for the door, I would be there shortly.
I stood up, turned and stared at the young couple.
"You know, I would love to know where you two will be having Christmas dinner so I could come by and regale you with stories of child rape and other debauchery just so I could ruin your meal as much as you ruined mine."
She turned absolutely white. That was good enough for me, so i turned and left.
I found the restaurant on a little side street. It was a red brick building half covered with vines. We went out the steps thru the door an stepped back in time. It was dark and rich. Yeah, it definitely had been in business since 1942. The maitre 'd greeted us. I swear he looked as Silvio of The Sopranos would be looking 30 years in the future. He moved with grace and a genuine appreciation of our coming in.
Yes, he said in response to my request, I have the perfect table for you, and he took us thru a narrow dining area which had a raised section at the end. It was encircled with wrought iron. Two huge stain glass arched windows were attached to the wall and lit from behind, hanging above the room wide high backed intricately carved bench which was padded in red leather---the sort at which you would see a row of church cardinals be seated.
He showed us to a small table in the very corner which allowed us to sit perpendicular to each other rather than across from each other. Yes, the table cloth was red checked. From our perch we could look across the dining room and see all the elegantly attired waiters taking care of business. The food and wine were great. I had to hunt through the mounds of shrimp, scallops, peppers and onions to find the bed of pasta. It was perfect.
About halfway thru our main course another couple was seated to my right. She sat no more than 3 feet from me and he sat across from her---they were probably in their mid-twenties. being in such close proximity it was impossible not to hear them. First the little buzzwords...
Child protective services...district attorney's office.
Isn't this bread delicious? It's shame we can't take some of this home to my father---he would love this.
Well, dad has a record but it hasn't been anything violent...
Do you want another glass of wine? No, me neither. It is getting on and we don't want to be late for the show.
Well, you have to have motive and opportunity.... Yes, they said they had seen bruises before... I don't think the other children saw anything...
The young man was really getting animated by this time.
Look, no one dies from a broken arm.... Who called 911... What was the condition of her body... Well, her eyes had rolled back and she was excreting a brown mushy liquid from her mouth...
By this time the perfect romantic dinner had turned into a Law and Order episode.
As I was about to call for the check when the waiter brought it. I plunked down the cash and told my love to grab her coat and head for the door, I would be there shortly.
I stood up, turned and stared at the young couple.
"You know, I would love to know where you two will be having Christmas dinner so I could come by and regale you with stories of child rape and other debauchery just so I could ruin your meal as much as you ruined mine."
She turned absolutely white. That was good enough for me, so i turned and left.
, being a vet my discussions with other vets often included pet vomit, feces, other excreta including amount, appearance, etc. We can't help but laugh at it sometimes. I do have to admit that my friends and I have been to group dinners which stray into the conversation of the worst/craziest cases we have seen. We make an effort to keep it hushed but on a number of occasions we have had to change topics and apologize when other customers overheard us.
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