Hi, Gertie! It turns out that one of my investors will be in town on Thursday, so I've got a meeting with her that'll keep me from making it to Red Lobster by six. I'm not sure where you're located, but what if we switched to the Shellfish Grotto? That's near Hornbeam Ridge, so I know you've driven out that way before. :) Not that I'm a snob, but it's much better seafood and it's not a chain. If that doesn't work for you, we can figure something else out. Sorry for the inconvenience! –Warren

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I hadn't heard of The Shellfish Grotto, but I just read some online reviews and it sounds fantastic. A lot more expensive than Red Lobster, though. Are you sure? We can always just push our meeting back to later in the evening. I have nowhere else to be.

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Hi, Gertie! Thank you for thinking about my pocketbook. (Do people say "pocketbook" anymore? Do you even know what that is? LOL.) Though I'd like to pretend that I'm such a sweetheart that I'm paying for this fine expensive meal out of my own bank account, it's actually counted in the production costs of the show, so my investors are picking up the tab! I should've suggested it in the first place. –Warren

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Sounds great, then. Looking forward to it!

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Ken waved to Gertie as the server led her to his booth. He'd arrived at the restaurant half an hour early to increase his chances of getting a table in the back, without Gertie knowing that he'd specifically requested one. He agreed with Vivian that there could be absolutely no suspicion on Gertie's part if he was going to get away with this, so he wasn't taking any chances. And if he had to abandon the plan...well, he'd probably do it. His criteria for when it was time to let her escape might not be as stringent as Vivian's, but he wasn't going to be careless about it.

She was wearing a fancy dress and make-up, like she was out on a date or wanted to look like she was ready for the cameras. She was actually pretty damn hot when she wasn't wearing that stupid wig.

Ken stood up to greet her. "Hi, I'm Warren," he said, shaking her hand. "Great to meet you."

"Great to meet you, too. I'm Gertie, obviously."

They slid into opposite sides of the booth. Ken gestured to the drink menu that was on her side. "Order whatever you want."

"Thanks." Gertie glanced up at the server. "Think I'm just going to have a Diet Coke."

The server nodded and left.

"Keeping my budget reasonable already," said Ken. "Did you have any trouble finding the place?"

"Nope. The GPS took me right here. Found a parking spot, no problem. Off to a promising start." Gertie opened the menu. "What's good here?"