Fee Fi Fo Fum

"I haven't been to either Greece or Spain," Khaat said. "That sounds wonderful. I'll talk to Brian. I think it sounds marvelous. Maybe we can get something by the Mediterranean. A beachside place. I think Brian has a muggle driver's license. We could look into renting a car. I think that would be great. Mediterranean sunsets by the shore? I think it sounds amazing."

She listened to Jess talk about ideas about the menu items. It made perfect sense.

"I think that would work. Or we could run them as specials and let the customers vote on which ones go on the fall menu. I think my vote goes to the salmon for one, and maybe either the chicken or the pork as the other. We could offer the other two for colder weather, more towards December, maybe.

Jess nodded at Khaat's suggestion " there perfect cold weather foods." she said " oh, that sounds perfect do you think Brian would hire a car? " she asked " beach time could be fun " she said with a grin forming " we could get our own back on the guys..show them what there missing..well Jack would be missing not Brian since your married." she chuckled then thought for a moment.

"oh I know the perfect two piece, not too revealing but just the right amount of sexy to heat him up" she now grinned " ho, this will be so much fun, tomorrow I'm going to start getting my things together, sexy but just the right amount of class..unless you think that would be too much for Jack to handle?" she asked Khaat then shook her head "No, I need him to know what he could have if he committed, right."

Once again she tapped her lips with her pen then smiled thinking of all the things she could tease Jack with. " if I was to pick one I'd say Greece, warm sands warm sun and friendly people too."

"Now that's the spirit. A woman on a mission," she laughed. "Yes, I have no doubt Brian would rent a car. And if I know him, it'l be some sporty thing. He loves flashy, speedy cars. I'm guessing he's been to both places., but I don't know. I know he had a lot of years working on the continent for my father after we graduated Hogwarts, so I'm presuming he's been a lot of places I haven't been. But I definitely would enjoy an afternoon on a warm sandy beach. I was actually thinking Greece too. And as much as I love Abbey, I think my parents would leap at a chance to have her for the whole weekend."

"Listen to us. I'm thinking of how to bribe my parents to watch Abbey, and you're dreaming up the right travel outfits. Sounds like we've made up our minds--for all four of us. Alright, shall we proceed to dessert?"

She told Lizzie to bring dessert, and the dessert flights didn't disappoint. There was a Snickerdoodle Creme Brulee, a orange and spice honey cake, a triple chocolate trifle, and Maple Bourbon Banoffee Cake. Lizzie served it with the tea flight--a cranberry spice tea, an autumn harvest tea--with a blend of fall fruits, a plum cider tea, and a vanilla maple cream tea. They smelled wonderful.

Khaat tried the teas first, taking sips of water in between so that she gave each tea a fair chance, and she made notes as she went.

"I don't know that I've found many teas that I dont like," she said. "They all have their strong suits. I think I rather like the plum cider tea because it is so different. But we need two. What do you like?"

She sampled the desserts and she liked them all. She had her own biases towards chocolate, but that wasn't very fall-like. Still, chocolate always sold well. She tasted them all a second time, making some notes.

"What do you think about the desserts?" she asked Jess.

Jess laughed at Khaats description but could not deny it. " you need this trip , its been ages since you and Brian got away just the two of you, beside I have a feeling Robert and Kate will not mind one bit at having Abby for a weekend, she might be spoiled when you get back though" she said smirking. " but think of how relaxed you'd be and the Greek Adonis we'd see .." she fanned her face and chuckled.

"ow all right, back to business, hum.. they all look good but I agree chocolate is a good seller, the Snickerdoodle Creme Brulee, sounds a weird combo but..hey if they work." she took some of the orange and spice honey cake and a cup of vanilla maple cream tea.

"Now this is a combo, orange and spiced honey, yum and the tea, the blend of fall fruits just makes it" she said sitting back a little to savor the flavor of the tea. " though it would be perfect on cold days to warm up to." she added.


Jack ported to Brian and Khaat's home and walked to the garden to find him. " Hello, any one home?" He shouted as he rounded a corner where the fire pit and grill sat. He could smell the aroma of cooking meat and it sent his stomach growling, loudly and he hoped nobody heard it.

"Brian and I haven't gone anywhere as a married couple. We postponed our honeymoon because neither of us wanted to be away from Abbey that long. We took a couple of weekends before we got married but we haven't gone anywhere after we got married. We keep talking about a honeymoon but there's always some reason why we shouldn't go. The ministry calls or Paris calls. Or St Mungos calls. There's always something," she sighed. "We might get our honeymoon when we retire, when we're too old to enjoy it. My mom thinks we should just make the time, and let all those obligations take care of themselves for a week or so, and my father agrees. And yet. here we still are. Brian deserves more."

She knew that if she told her parents they wanted to do a weekend in Greece that they would step right in, no questions asked. And, they now had Angus, and he was a huge help with Abbey. And Abbey adored him. Either way, she would be well spoiled for a couple of days.

They still had a task to do. She listened to Jess's assessment of desserts. "Alright. Snickerdoodle creme brulee and the orange and spiced honey cake, and the plum cider tea, and the autumn harvest tea. I think we have our fall menu. Thank you, Jess. I'm so glad you came with me. I've had a great time, and we've had a wonderful meal. This has been a lot of fun. We need to do these things more often."

"Come on out, Jack," Robert called. "You're just in time. Angus has just finished grilling some top notch steak and ribs. No salads or veggies. Just meat. We'll leave the salads for the girls to enjoy in town. Come grab a plate and a steak and a pint."

Jess listened and nodded at Khaat " So do you, do it now while shes still young." she said " she'll most likely think of all the gifts you'll bring back for her. " Jess then laughed and patter her stomach.

"Oh best yet I'd say" she said " I'd have to work out in the gym to burn off all the calories I've eaten in this one meal alone and I agree, It's been a good afternoon, relaxing for both of us." She smiled thinking of Jack being back. " so should we head home?" she asked finishing her glass of water and pushing back her chair.


"before Jack eats you out of house and home" she added with a soft chuckle.

"Yes, I think so," Khaat said. "We can drop off these clipboards in my office and then head on out." She picked up the clipboards and her clutch bag that she'd brought and stood up motioning Jess to follow her. Khaat went back into the busy kitchen.

"You did a marvelous job, Lizzie," Khaat said. "It was a tough choice, but we made some notes. I'll leave our thoughts in the office for you."

"Glad you enjoyed it, Khaat," Lizzie called. She and the other cooks were still very busy, busier than normal for this time of night, and busier than the number of customers they had.

"What's the rush about?"

"Large catering order for a late night meeting at the Ministry," Lizzie said. "We're a bit in the weeds with it."

"Can we help at all?"

"No, no thanks. We'll get it. It's just going to be a bit of a push."

"Alright, if you're sure."

"I'm sure. Thanks anyway."

"Okay," Khaat said, going back and opening the office and dropping off the clipboards. She saw two large garbage bags by the back door that needed to go out. They certainly were blocking the back kitchen door, and that really was a fire hazard. "I need to set these outside, Jess," she said, intending just to set the bags outside and then be on her way. She picked up the bags and went out the back door, leaving the restaurant door ajar. She set the bags and her clutch on the ground near the bin and opened the bin to put the bags inside when she smelled a stench that smelled like dirty, wet dog and then she heard a sound like someone eating. She looked around and saw some sort of a shadow against the dim alley light. An arm came between her and her way back to the bistro--a huge muscular arm. She looked up to see James there--and he had a piece of some sort of raw meat that he was eating much the same way anyone else would eat an apple.

"Well, well," he sneered, "look who's here. If it isn't Blondie. Hello, Lovie."

[jess will need to be out in the alley before i can have james move against them, so you'll need to post, and then i'll have james move again.]

Jess watched Khaat pick up a black bag and she moved to pick up a second to take out to the dumpster. As Jess walked behind Khaat she stopped in her tracks dropping the bag to one side of her.

"oh look Khaat trash eating trash, how rare." She said to James not taking her eyes off him for one second learning from Jacks words about not trusting James or taking her eyes off him for even one second or he'd take it as an opportunity. "Why are you here James, other than dumpster diving."

Her hands moved down to her holster that sat against her thigh and she slowly undid the clasp holding her wand in place. She anticipated him doing something stupid.

"I'm not the one playing in the bins, now, am I?" James sneered. "As for you, be careful about daydreaming about a perfect life with my baby brother. He might look fairly normal now, but being a werewolf is about survival of the fittest, and right now? He just doesn't make the cut. He always was the wimp in the family, and didn't know much at all about discipline. Watch my words. The day will come when he'll forget his precious wolfsbane, and he'll kill you and everyone else in your house. Hooking up with a werewolf? That's a death wish all its own."

James drew his own wand with all the speed and finess of a gunslinger and leveled it at Jess.

"Don't move, Pee Wee," he scowled at her. "You're dessert. I need to deal with my entree first." He looked back at Khaat as he finished the last bite of his snack, he grinned at Khaat.

"Let's play, Blondie," he laughed menacingly. "Remember how it goes? You run and I'll catch you." She hadn't moved. He grabbed around her throat, tightening it to force her to make a choice. "Stay and die. Or run. Your choice." Khaat slid out of his grasp, and she thought perhaps she could draw James away from Jess. She made a quick look towards Jess, hoping Jess would pick up on the fact that she was going to make a move. She hesitated only a moment and decided that she needed to perhaps run around the other way, around the to the other alley and out to Diagon Alley. If James would follow, Jess would have time to get away.

She made a sprint along the back of Sparks and rounded the corner to come up the other side towards Diagon Alley. She could hear James behind her, his loud huge steps echoing on the brick streets. He was gaining on her.

She had forgotten there was a set of outdoor cellar stairs on the neighboring building, but James hadn't. He caught her and tossed her down the stone steps. Something in her leg made multiple snapping sounds. She gathered herself up just as he reached her and he snatched her up by the front of her shirt.

"Now, as I was saying..." he began. All of a sudden a blinding green light blasted from the green pendant around her neck, sounding a shrill, high pitched sound. James screamed, let go of her and covered his eyes with one hand to shield his eyes.

Jess sneered at James as she listened to him talk " Jack is the better man, at least he big where it counts and doesn't have to have an ego to compensate, so I'm told" she said adding the last part in just to get at James.

" I might be small but like the scorpion, I have a sting in my tail." she snapped back at him catching Khaats look as she ran Jess slipped out her wand and firing off Bombarda at him as she best she could to stop him.

Hearing Khaat cry out Jess ran faster soon she caught the faint glow of green and ran down the steps dodging around James as dug into her pocket for her keys holding them in one hand she scooped Khaat up in her arms. her back now to James as she held the key in Khaats hand as well as her own.