The Chosen - Part 5f - by Nova

Everyone thought that was funny or at least pretended too. I pretended to smile too.  Tyler said to Amy "Go ahead and tell him what you have on the menu." That made her happy. She was one of those who liked talking about what they did and then would expect to be showered with praise cookies.   She told me " A nice salmon, not a farm raised one either. This is a genuine Icelandic salmon." She stopped and I threw her a cookie. Telling her "That sounds good."  She bobbed her head and smiled like a grateful child adding "Also we have wild rice and a fresh field greens salad with a balsamic dressing."  Everyone agreed we were going to be feasting tonight. I wondered if the driver was going to be invited. I doubted it.

So we chattered away. Well they did. Actually Tyler did. He was a Jabberwocky. He talked to talk and he talked to feed on the approval his talking generating.  He was a word vampire. The sentences went out of his mouth skinny and he waited for them to come back as fat as ticks with others approval juice plumping them up for his snacking pleasure. I was sure he was a lawyer now.

We pulled into a driveway of house not very far, if I was right about where I thought we were, from Chain Bridge and the good part of DC.  That meant this would be one of the older parts of Arlington.   It looked like it too. The houses were red brick and not as big as the castles that had sprung up further out.  It was quiet here too and I could smell the lawns. I had only driven through here a few times and it always struck me as being a different part of the DC area.  Different in that I half way expected to see cars with fins and "Nixon in 72" bumper stickers.

We all got out of the SUV and after I closed my door I knocked on the drivers window.  It slid down smoothly to reveal a dark carefully impassive dark face.  "Yes sir" was his greeting to me. It was not said as a question. Rather an acknowledgment that he had to acknowledge me because life was a bitch and often unfair.  I told him "Would you like to have dinner with me?" His eyes flickered. With surprise partially, and also because he understood what I meant when I asked him to join "Me."

"No sir. Thank you for asking."

Dennis hadn't closed his door and was leaning in watching this.  When Driver had told me that I had seen what Dennis and the rest hadn't seen. A flicker of a smile.  He knew, and now I knew he knew. Amy was already calling my name so I walked around the front and slapped the hood lightly as I passed.  The driver wasn't a demon. He was camouflaging himself from them.