Let's watch Paul and Mary

“What do you mean, our reservation was ‘cancelled’?”

“I’m sorry, monsieur, but there was a problem in the dining area and we no longer have enough space to seat you. We can offer you a refund or move your reservation to another time, but we cannot seat you at this time.”

“How long would it be until we could get a spot?” Mary asked.

“We’re already having to cancel other reservations- we can’t pre-empt someone else right now. We can have you ready for seven on a different day, if that would please you?”

“Can we think about it?” Paul asked. “Right now, we need to focus on where we’re having dinner. How long do we have to reschedule?”

“If you can respond by seven in the evening tomorrow, we will see what we can do, monsieur,” said the nervous waiter. He didn’t seem like he spoke a lick of french- he just did the accent to match the fancy atmosphere of the restaurant.

Le Miroir was probably the fanciest place in town- Paul had been planning this night for months now. And now it was all ruined.

“Sorry about this, Mary,” he said, walking her back to the car.

“Oh, it’s not your fault. Let’s just find somewhere else to get some quick food, and we can discuss it at home.”

She said that, but Mary had been just as excited for the evening as Paul was- wearing a black dress, getting her hair done up, ready for a night of fine dining.

Unfortunately, fine dining at this time of night was a hard find- As they drove around, everything was either full, closed, or probably unsanitary. Eventually, as their standards lowered, Paul saw somewhere that would do what they needed- feed them.

“‘The Ancient Crown’,” he pointed out. “I was in this part of town yesterday, buying a gift for Duncan, and I saw this place. Looked to be classy-ish, and pretty spacious.”

“If they’ll seat us and feed us, that’s all I care about right now,” Mary said.

Parking the car, the two walked inside, and were greeted by an interior of polished wood and green leather, with a hostess seated behind a counter.

“Welcome. Do you have a reservation with us?” she asked, smiling warmly.

“Oh- no. Do we need one? Our reservation at a different place got cancelled, so we were looking for somewhere to eat for the night.”

“Not a worry, sir. The Ancient Crown welcomes all who wish to come. I take it you haven’t dined here before?”

“No, we haven’t,” Maria said. Most restaurants don’t ask things like that…

Oh, well.

“Well, we do have a table we can seat you at right now. A waiter will be along after a few minutes to take orders for drinks and appetizers.” Grabbing a pair of menus, the host lead the couple to a U-shaped booth along the side of a large, curved room with a stage in the center.

Some sorta live entertainment place?

“Here are your menus, your server will be along shortly.” As Paul and Mary sat down, they opened the menus and began looking through them.

“I say we just start with some hors d'oeuvres and some water,” Paul said. “Don’t want to be drinking before the meal arrives.

“Alright, then.”

After a few minutes, the waitress arrived.

“Thank you for dining with us tonight. What can I start you out with?”

“Could we have two waters, and some goat cheese flatbreads?”

“Certainly. I’ll be right along with that.”

Soon enough, a plate of bread and two glasses of water were set in front of the couple. “Should I give you a little while to decide on your main courses?”

“Yes please, thank you. These look delicious.”

“Well. I can assure you, they taste even better.” And with that, the waiter left again.

After a bit of eating and drinking (even the water was delicious, somehow), another couple came by.

“Hey, do you two already have a team?” Asked an Asian woman in a bright red dress.

“A team?” Paul and Mary had no clue what she was talking about.

“It’s trivia night,” the woman’s partner explained. “The winning team gets free food. Neither of us know much about sports, though.”

“A place this classy does trivia night?” Paul asked.

“This part of town has a lot of nerds. The trivia night’s a way to draw people in, and give them something to do while the band’s unavailable.”

“Well, it’s your choice,” Paul said, looking to Mary.

“Sure, why not? Could be fun. And if the flatbreads are this good, free food sounds wonderful.”

“Perfect!” Sliding into the other side of the booth, the woman introduced herself. “I’m Yuki. This is my fiancee, Carlos. Don’t worry- if we lose, we’ll pay for our own stuff.”

“Nice to meet you too. Hey, do you have any suggestions on what to order? Everything looks really good, I’m spoiled for choice.”

“Try the sausage risotto,” the woman said. “It’s really good. It’s got garlic, and onion, and really nice sausage in it.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

After a few minutes of chatting, the waitress returned. “Have you decided what to order?”

“I’ll have the pastissada, and he’ll have the mussels fra diavolo,” Yuki said, pointing to Carlos.

“I’ll try the sausage risotto,” Paul said.

“Penne alla vodka, please.”

“Got it! Anything to drink?”

“Not for us, yet,” Paul said.

“I’ll have a boulevardier,” Yuki said.

“Pisco sour,” added Carlos.

“Coming right up. Will you all be participating in trivia night?”

“Yes, we will,” Yuki said.

“Then you’ll need one of these,” the waitress said, sliding an electronic pad onto the table. “When the person onstage reads a card, enter your answers onto the pad.” At this last statement, the waitress’s eyes seemed to flash pink- but then it was gone.

Soon enough, an unfamiliar woman went onstage- were there only women working at this place?

“Thank you, one and all, for coming to trivia night at the Ancient Crown. Now, are you ready to get started?”

The restaurant roared with affirmation. These people were really eager for trivia, it seemed.

“Great. First card: What are your names, and what’s the name of your team?”

“I’ll put in our names,” Yuki said, almost immediately. “Team name?”

“Not sure,” Mary said. “I didn’t know we needed a team name.”

“Most trivia nights do this. Easier than calling out everyone at a table’s name. MPYC, maybe?”

“MPCY,” Yuki said. “Rolls off the tongue better.”

“If you say so,” Carlos said, as Yuki typed everything into the tablet.

“Well, that looks like everyone, so let’s get started with Round One!”