RP: Dinner out

[jake_abernathy]

Date: October 6, 2011
Characters: Star Abernathy, Miranda Jackson
Location: home and then a restaurant
Status: Private
Summary: Miranda takes her niece to dinner.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[miranda_jackson]

“Oh, is this the first year you and Kimberly have had different classes?” Miranda asked, sympathizing somewhat. She could remember the first year she and Davis hadn’t shared classes, it hadn’t been her favorite year of schooling. “I’m sure you’ll be able to see each other outside of school though, and yes, I know that isn’t the same.” She glanced at Star, giving her niece a little smile. She was trying to be careful to not belittle Star’s feelings, because even if it seemed a small thing to Miranda it could be very important for her niece.

Miranda laughed softly, scrunching her nose up in distaste. “Math was never my favorite either. But I never minded too much homework. Suppose that would make me a nerd, yes?” At least she had academic accomplishments to show for it and managed to escape most of the stereotype. “And dad’s are good at helping with homework. Mine was always my go-to when I didn’t understand something.”

Miranda was glad when she pulled up to park at Piola’s that they had missed most of rush hour traffic because she didn’t want to have to hurry through dinner to make sure she got her niece returned at the time she agreed on with Jake. It was a school night after all, and making sure Star was back when she should be was important to Miranda; she wanted to be kept in good opinions with her ex-brother-in-law.

[jake_abernathy]

"Yeah. It's a real bummer," Star said with a gusty sigh. she missed having her best friend with her in classes, because this year they were not all in the same classroom all the time again. Next year, they should be in all different classes for everything, she thought. "We will, but it's different."

"Don't mind some of the homework. Just don't like having so mucccch," she said, grinning slightly over at her. "Dad's always been good with homework. He knows a lot." She was always a fan of her Dad, and even with his previous job with its wonky schedule, he had always made time for her. There had been several times she'd gone to the firehouse and they'd done her homework at the table there while he was on duty.

"So have you been here before?" she asked curiously as they pulled up, craning her head to look at the sign. She couldn't remember ever coming here before.

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda laughed softly as the corners of her mouth turned up in a small smile. “Mmmm. Just wait until you’re in college, sweetie. They take assignments very seriously.” Though, she supposed that was assuming that Star was interested in college. Miranda wasn’t actually sure. But then she also couldn’t see Jake or any of the grandparents not encouraging Star to further her education. “He does. But I’m sure you’ll know as much as he does when you’re that old.” Maybe it wasn’t fair to call Jake old; he wasn’t that much older than Miranda was.

“I haven’t. It came recommended from one of my coworkers.” Miranda replied with a shake of her head as she turned the car off. “But, if the food is terrible I’ll make it up to you with ice cream.” She stepped out of the car and smoothed her skirt down, “Or whatever you’d like.”

[jake_abernathy]

"Yeah, Dad's doing that now. But 'cept for math he doesn't seem to mind his homework." There was something kinda cool about doing homework with her dad, even if one of her friends thought it was really weird. She was proud of him, though, because she knew it was something he had always wanted to do.

"Oh, cool," she said with a grin. "Hee, win win, then," she chirped. She hopped out of the car and closed the door, tucking her hair back behind her ears and coming around to Miranda, smiling up at her as they made their way into the restaurant.

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda laughed softly as she opened the door, letting Star through first. “Yes, exactly.” She said before making her way to the hostess and requesting a table for two. Turned out her coworker had at least given her sound advice in not needing to make a reservation; she would’ve if she had needed to, but it was nice to have not needed to make the phone call. She wasn’t at the level yet where she was allowed to push off her personal tasks on the assistants.

Her coworker hadn’t told her that the restaurant was housed in a renovated home, but looking around she could tell she would like the atmosphere. It was nice without being too stiff. Once they were seated she flipped her menu open, glancing over the top of it to look at Star. “So, are you doing any extra curricular activities, Star?” She asked curiously, “Or is the amount of homework curtailing that?”

[jake_abernathy]

Star let Miranda handle everything, hanging just behind her elbow as she did when most grown ups did this sort of thing. She looked around with interest, paying more attention to the surroundings than anything, and ooh, it did smell good.

she took her menu and started looking at it as they sat. "I do band," she said. "Though I'm not sure I'll keep doing it next year. And I have dance lessons once a week, and Dad still lets me do the kickboxing classes from this summer." She'd always been into more active things.

[miranda_jackson]

Miranda nodded, she had tried a few things (though never band) growing up that she hadn’t been well suited for or hadn’t enjoyed. “Dance lessons? Would that be formal ballroom?” She inquired, her eyebrows raised slightly. Lauren had enrolled her in formal lessons when she was just a few years younger than Star; she could still remember the instructor to this day. “And that’s good, so you’re enjoying that then?”

She smiled and ordered a water with lemon when their waitress came by to take their drink orders. Usually she would have ordered a glass of wine, but didn’t feel it was appropriate to drink in front of her niece; she wasn’t sure what was and was not acceptable.

[jake_abernathy]

"Yeah, Grandma wanted me to," Star said with half a shrug. "I like the instructor, she makes things fun," she said. "Re is really cool, and a good dancer. And she teaches me some Latin dances as well as the other stuff." With her father's permission, of course.

Star ordered water with lemon because she didn't know if she should order soda. The rules were always differentn when she was out with different people, and though her dad might let her for an occasion like eating out, she didn't want to seem to take advantage of her aunt.

[miranda_jackson]

“For cotillion?” Miranda asked, curious. The Abernathy’s were old money; it was possible that Star’s grandparents would expect her to go through all that. “Well, I would hope she’s a good dancer, sweetie, if she’s teaching others.” Sometimes that wasn’t the case though. “Does she have her own studio?”

Miranda went back to looking over the menu; she wasn’t particularly hungry so she would probably just order a main dish. Even though the Lobster Avocado Salad did sound good. “You can order whatever you’d like, Star.” She said, remembering belatedly that her niece might have been waiting for guidelines. Miranda wasn’t overly wealthy, but she had a good job and only herself to be concerned with, so she could afford to splurge on a few meals.

[jake_abernathy]

Star wrinkled her nose slightly. "Yeah, I think so. She doesn't really say so right out anymore, 'cause Dad isn't sure he likes it, but I think she wants me to be a debutante someday." Star herself wasn't sure what she thought about it, didn't really think she'd like it, but for now she was enjoying it.

Star mmmed softly and nodded, looking it over. She liked her Dad's lasagna, so not that. "Mm, so much to choose from," she said, a little indecisive. She wanted something she rarely had, so maybe something with more sea food or something. Or oooh, veal parmegiana, she had liked that the last time she'd had it.

[miranda_jackson]

“Mmm.” Miranda hummed, careful to keep her own opinions to herself. She personally felt it was antiquated, but it was also southern tradition with wealthy families. Though as a former sorority girl, Miranda maybe didn’t have a leg to stand on when it came to arguments over antiquated traditions. “ I would think they would take what you wanted into consideration also.” She pointed out carefully.

Miranda smiled behind her menu at Star’s statement. “Yes there is.” She agreed, tapping her fingertips softly against the menu. She could just order the typical dish that she ordered at Italian restaurants, but there was a few dishes on the menu that just sounded too unique not to consider. “Suspect it’s a test in decision making.” She added with a soft laugh.

[jake_abernathy]

"Dad will, yeah. He says I don't have to do it if I don't want to. I'm just not sure yet." She didn't want to displease her grandmother, to be certain, but she knew her dad would stand up for her no matter what.

She grinned. "Prolly right," Star replied. "Veal parmegiana?" she suggested almost hopefully. Miranda had said anything, of course, but it was always best to double check, especially since it wasn't the cheapest thing on the menu, though neither was it the most expensive.

[miranda_jackson]

“I think that’s okay, sweetie.” Miranda replied with a smile, “You don’t need to know what you’ll do yet, it’s still a few years away.” Which was a bit surreal if Miranda was being honest; when she’d left for Tulane her niece had still been in grade school, and now she was almost in high school.

Miranda closed her menu and set it aside, having made her own decision. “Sounds really good,” She answered, “You’ll tell me what you think of it?” she stopped short of reiterating that Star could order whatever she pleased, since she was sure that her niece had heard her the first time, and was just double checking it was actually okay.

[jake_abernathy]

"Mmm, yeah, I guess so," Star agreed. Soemtimes it seemed forever away, sometimes it seemed like everything was moving so fast and she couldn't make decisions fast enough. They'd asked her what she wanted to be at school again the other day; she hadn't answered them.

"You can try some if you want," she said helpfully. She and her dad did that sometimes, tasted each other's food to see what it was like. "What are you getting?" she asked curiously.

[miranda_jackson]

“I might, if you don’t mind.” Miranda replied, not accustom to sharing food with anyone lately. Most of her dinners out were with clients or coworkers, and neither of those situations were the kind where you tried each other’s meal. Though it had been commonplace with her friend’s at college. “Oh, the lobster ravioli.” She answered, “There is a restaurant in New Orleans that makes the same dish and it’s wonderful, so I couldn’t resist the opportunity to compare.”

When their waitress came back Miranda went ahead and ordered, then let Star. It was nice to be able to have a dinner where she wasn’t expected to be the public face of a company, where she could relax and just enjoy the evening without being concerned about making a misstep. Again, her mind came back around to how she needed a social circle in Texas, people to enjoy dinners with and what little free time she possessed; a year and a half was too long to go without friends.

[jake_abernathy]

"I don't mind," Star said, used to sharing her food at people at times. She and her friends did it a lot at school, and Dad never minded if she tasted something of his so long as it didn't have alcohol, and he never hardly had anything like that anymore, not since the accident.

Star was enjoying her evening with her aunt, who was treating her mostly like a grown up. She was enjoying it. "So Dad says you work a lot," she said, smiling faintly and remembering her manners. "You like where you work?" she asked curiously.