Here's to Christmas - Skulduggery Pleasant FanFic

Chapter 3: Jamie Oliver's

"The crudites is one hundred and thirty five calories." she said quickly, and sure enough, the skater seemed to get happier. The rest of the table seemed relieved. She half smiled.

"Oh. Right. That's good. What's in it?"

"It's things like carrot sticks, celery, baby asparagus, things like that. It comes with a garlic and chive dip."

She smiled, looked at the menu one last time before looking up and nodded. "Yes. I'll have those please."

She went round the table again and took the orders for the mains. The dark haired woman looked up at the specials board.

"What does the sausage risotto have in it? I can't quite read from here."

"Oh." Valkyrie said, surprised Natalie didn't run them through the specials. "Has no one been through the specials with you? Right, the sausage risotto has sausage, obviously, fennel, green beans, roasted corn and edamame beans. The fish of the day today is pan fried plaice in a lemon and herb sauce and the exclusive meal is steak cooked to your preference with slow roasted vegetables marinated in a lime and vinegar dressing."

Everyone's mouth seemed to be watering, even the calorie girl. The dark haired woman chewed her lip.

"I think I'll have the risotto please."

Round the table she went, and the girl who ordered the chicken liver pate also ordered what she called 'the sausage thingy'. The calorie girl hesitated, looking down at the menu.

"Erm...what's a bruchetta?"

"It's crusty garlic and olive oil bread with a crushed crab topping instead of the usual tomatoes. It comes with an avocado paste and a seafood paste."

"How many calories is that?"

"That's one hundred and eighty calories."

The girl hesitated. "Could I have the bruchetta and the crudy things as two starters?"

"Yes, or you could have the crudites as a starter and the bruchetta as a main?"

The girl nodded again, clearly happy. "Yes I'll do that, please. Thank you."

"No worries."

Valkyrie walked away from the table smiling. Despite some of the things she'd done in her past, she rather enjoyed making people feel happy; it used to be something that just didn't come naturally to her.

It was getting easier to do at Jamie's. 

Most of the other tables seemed to be eating and the other tables were being serviced by Natalie and Jacob, a tall, handsome Canadian who had a very dry sense of humour. To pass the time, she went over to the cutlery draw and put some of the clean cutlery back in. Then she took the clean serviettes from the used tables and put them back in the napkin cupboard and took the used serviettes away to be washed. She got herself a glass of water and waited by the kitchen door.

Her head turned slightly, trying to identify a noise. It seemed familiar. A familiar voice...several familiar voices in fact.

Suddenly, Dexter, Saracen and Skulduggery appeared at the top of the stairs and she smiled so widely she thought she might swallow her own head. She approached them from behind and jabbed her hands lightly into Dexter's ribs. He drew his arms in wuickly, bent backwards and turned at the same time, probably ready to punch his assailent, but he relaxed when he saw it was only Valkyrie Cain. She hugged him.

"Missed me, Vex?"

"Not at all, Cain."

She pulled bac again and smiled at Saracen. He had rejoined the gym (after much coercion) and he'd taken on a far stronger form. He looked completely charming.