Chapter 4

John stared at his reflection in the mirror, before undoing the tie that had been confounding him for the past half hour. He was getting ready for dinner, where he would finally meet the Johnsons, and couldn't seem to manage to tie it correctly. He was about to give up in frustration when there was a knock on the door. He walked over and opened it.

"Hey John," Mary said as she entered the room, "still getting dressed?"

"Yeah." He sighed, "I can't seem to get this tie tied correctly." John replied.

"Here, let me," she said, before taking the tie from John and proceeding to put it on him. "So, are you nervous?" she asked, concentrating on the tie, her face inches from John.

"Umm, kind of," John said, unable to look away from the gap in Mary's dress. He could make out the dark lace cupping her breasts, and forced himself to tear his eyes away when she smoothed out the tie, finished.

"There, all set," she said, smiling radiantly at John.

John mumbled thanks, unable to get the image of Mary's soft mounds out of his head.

Mary mistook his response as an indication of his nervousness, and walked up to John, taking his arm, and pulling him to the bed, where they both sat down.

"John, I know that a lot has happened in the past week, but now is a good a time as any to meet the Johnsons. At this point, it's all in the hands of Social Services, as well as the lawyers that are involved. But we still need to find you a place to stay and this hotel certainly isn't it. If you're not comfortable with the Johnsons after you meet them, then the next step will be to find you a place for yourself. But I think you'll like the Johnsons; they good people."

John looked sideways at Mary, studying her face. "You know, that's what I was told too, right before I moved in with the Westwoods."

Mary took John's hand, replying, "I can't say how sorry Joanne and I are for not realizing the situation you were in there. We thought we knew the Westwoods from the few times we've met them." She paused, looking into John's eyes, before continuing, "The Johnsons are a very respected family. From all accounts, they are a very loving and caring family. Neighbors, associates, and employees have only good things to say about them."

"Only good things, huh?" John said. "Guess seeing is believing."

"That's almost always is the case." Mary said, smiling. "Don't worry too much about it. There's no pressure here for you to make a decision the moment you see them. Have dinner, and take time to get to know them. If you feel in any way uncomfortable, then that's that. Otherwise, who knows?"

"I guess I shouldn't judge them before I get to know them. Besides, after living with the Westwoods, I don't think I could ever turn down dinner invitations." John said, with a slight grin on his face.

Mary leaned over and gave John a one-armed hug. "That's the spirit. C'mon, Joanne's waiting in the lobby downstairs."

Tim was sitting in the restaurant, absentmindedly fidgeting with a spoon in his right hand. His whole family was with him, and they were all facing the three empty seats at the other side of the table. Their waiter had already come by twice to refill their water glasses, and Tim was beginning to wonder if John decided not to show for dinner.

As he continued to fidget, his wife was reminding Danielle and Junior not to ask John about his parents, and not to talk about his foster family unless he brought it up. She was about to remind them that John might not want to talk, but stopped when she reached over and took Tim's spoon from his hand. She placed it back down on the tabletop in front of him, before reprimanding him with a stern, "behave!" The kids started to grin, but stopped short as their mother's eyes fell back upon them.

Sue was about to continue on when the waiter returned to once again refill the water glasses. Junior took this opportunity to quickly lean over towards his sister. "Geez, mom seems so uptight tonight," he remarked.

Danielle leaned over and said, "If you haven't realized, this is very important to both mom and dad. If you think she's uptight now, imagine how she would be if either one of us tried to pull something."

Junior winced, and the kids quickly settled down as the host approached the table, bringing along two ladies and a teenaged boy.

Tim stood, reaching out his hand to the ladies. "Joanne, Mary, glad you could make it." He shook their hands. "And you must be John. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

John shook his hand, before looking around the table at those already present.

Tim continued. "Allow me to introduce my family. This lovely lady on my left is my wife, Susanne, and on my right is my daughter, Danielle, and my son, Tim Jr., but we just call him Junior."

Everybody exchanged pleasantries, before the newcomers sat down. John sat in the center chair, while Joanne sat next to Sue, and Mary sat next to Junior. As they sat down, the waiter arrived, filling their glasses with water, before presenting each person with a menu. Although everybody was looking at their menu, it seemed to John as though it was an awkward silence. He continued flipping through the menu, before remembering how his father had initiated conversation with a client over dinner.

"Mr. Johnson, I was wondering: I've never been here before, is there anything on the menu that you recommend?"

"Please, just call me Tim. Well, I know that the dry-curry pork chops are especially delicious here, as well as the scallops in butter and garlic. If you're a meat lover, the dry-aged NY strip is just outstanding."

"Wow, that all just sounds delicious. My mouth is watering already!" They all shared a laugh over this. "So, do you come here with your family often?" John asked.

"Once in a while, as a change of pace. We have a restaurant that we normally go to, but we thought that it'd be easier to meet here. Plus we haven't been here in a while."

"Where do you folks normally go?" Joanne asked.

"It's a small restaurant that I take interest in." Tim replied, before Junior snickered.

"Sure, dad, it's real small!" he said, laughing for a second, before he saw his mother's withering stare directed at him, shutting him up quickly.

Sue broke her eye contact with her son, turning towards John and smiling warmly at him. "What Junior is trying to imply is that Tim's being humble in regards to his restaurant. It is actually quite spacious, and has about 80 tables, with seating up to 300 for parties and such.

Joanne nodded, before asking "So, you're in the restaurant business?"

Tim shook his head. "It's just an interest of mine. I'm actually semi-retired. I just do some freelance consulting work for friends and previous clients. It allows me to stay in touch with the people I've worked with before."

"Computer industry, right?"

"Sure. Although the way businesses and corporations are nowadays, it's not limited to just the blue chip companies. Every company, and most businesses, requires the use of computers and other things such as inventory control, ordering, and shipping, among others. Design and implementation is key to a smooth-running company, and I just give them a nudge in the right direction, and pass along the right contacts to make it happen."

John listened intently. Although he didn't have much exposure to computers, he still had opportunities to use them at school, and was fascinated with them. He spent hours on the laptop that the Johnsons provided, playing the games that they had bought for it. And the sheer amount of information on the internet was astounding. It would be something that he was determined to learn more about, now that he had the means to.