The Time Bubble Box Set 2
of which he wasn’t proud of. He also hadn’t told her exactly howlong he had been gone. As far as she was concerned it had only been a few days.Eventually he had managed to get back to his right time andplace and wasn’t about to waste this second chance. The genuine fear he hadfelt when he had been facing the very realistic possibility that he might neversee her again had made him realise just how important she was to him.
“We’re proof that a husband and wife can work together andnot get sick of the sight of each other,” said Alice.
“That’s true,” replied Josh. “As for them, who knows howthey ended up in this state, but it’s not exactly the sort of thing we canbring up over dinner, is it?”
“We might not have to, if what we saw earlier is anything togo by,” said Alice. “Once they’ve had a few drinks I imagine their tongues willbe even looser than this morning. I wonder what sort of fireworks we can lookforward to tonight.”
“Hopefully not too many,” replied Josh. “I’m eager to findout why they are so keen to involve us in all this and it’s not going to be apleasant conversation if they are going to keep sniping at each other.”
“It’s not so much him as her,” replied Alice. “Henry seemsfriendly enough, but I didn’t warm to her at all. Even so, I am just as keen asyou are to find out what all this is about, and clearly it’s something to dowith the work we’ve been doing. Exactly how much have you told Henry about ourtime travel experiments?”
“I guess I may have let the odd thing slip.”
“I knew it!” exclaimed Alice. “You just can’t resist it, canyou?”
“Relax,” replied Josh. “It’s fine. I may have hinted thattime travel is possible, but I haven’t given him any information as to how it’sdone. He doesn’t know about the time bubbles or tachyometers or any of thedetail.”
“Right, good. Just be careful what you say. After what wewitnessed earlier, I’m a little wary about these two. Don’t go giving all oursecrets away, especially not without consulting the rest of the team. I take ityou haven’t told Charlie or Peter about any of this?”
“No, and don’t worry, I know what I’m doing,” replied Joshloftily, as they reached the large double doors of Madison’s, one of Canberra’snewest and swankiest restaurants.
Not only was it the top-rated restaurant in the city lessthan two years after launch, but it also had the attraction of aMichelin-starred chef-in-residence who was a big star on Australian TV.Madison’s was the place that all the top people were eager to be seen.
They had both dressed for the occasion. Alice had chosen along, blue summer dress, whilst it was one of the rare occasions that Josh hadmade the effort to wear a suit and don a tie, not wanting to look scruffy insuch an esteemed establishment.
As soon as they entered the leafy green reception area, theyrealised that formal dress wasn’t a requirement. The other diners millingaround waiting to be seated were pretty casually dressed, with the agelessjeans and T-shirt combo seemingly being the order of the day.
Alice wasn’t bothered about being overdressed. She had beenlugging her dress around in her suitcase for weeks and had been waiting for anopportunity to wear it.
It was crowded in the bright and airy, conservatory-stylereception room, but Henry was easy to spot. He stood out like a lighthouse inanother of his Hawaiian shirts. This one was a bright sky blue, predominantlyfeaturing coconuts. As Josh and Alice approached, he eagerly rushed over andgreeted them in the same manner as he had at the institute earlier that day.
“Delighted to see you again,” he gushed enthusiastically, asif he hadn’t seen them for months. “My goodness, you look quite the part,” hesaid to Josh.
“I fear I may have overestimated the dress code here,”replied Josh.
“I forgot how formal you English are,” replied Henry. “Thisis Australia – we don’t stand on ceremony here. Besides, it’s too hot for suitsand ties most of the time.”
“Where’s Vanessa?” asked Alice.
“Just powdering her nose,” replied Henry, just as shere-emerged through the crowd. “Ah, speak of the Devil, here she is now. Shallwe go through? The table’s ready.”
They passed through a small archway into a spacious roomlined with native plants on all sides. The restaurant had gone for an arboreallook and this was borne out by the tables, which were plain, old, circular oak,with no tablecloths. Henry led them over to one of the larger tables at theback of the room, close to where waiters and waitresses were scurrying in andout of the doors leading to the kitchens beyond.
“This makes me think of King Arthur and his Round Table,”remarked Alice.
“I guess that must make me King Henry, then,” remarked theirhost.
“Not the Eighth, I hope,” quipped Alice.
“Don’t give him any ideas,” remarked Vanessa. “If he hadbeen Henry the Eighth, I suspect my head may have been chopped off by now.”
“Just kidding,” said Alice hurriedly, not wanting to giveeither of them any ammunition that could lead to an argument, and she hadpractically given Vanessa an open goal already with her Henry the Eighthcomment.
The waiter was a young perma-tanned man with bleached blondhair who looked as if he had been out surfing all day. He handed them theirmenus and asked if they wanted anything to drink.
Josh was delighted to discover that Henry was a red wine manlike himself and they ordered two bottles, while the ladies ordered from thecocktail menu. As they waited for their drinks, they eagerly perused the menus.
“The seafood here is to absolutely die for,” remarkedVanessa, “if you like that sort of thing, of course. Henry here prefers hismeat, don’t you, Henry?”
“I certainly do,” replied Henry. “You have to try thesesteaks, Josh, they’re out of this world.”
“I’ll try some fish, Vanessa,” said Alice, who rarely atered meat. “What would you recommend?”
“I’m going for the garlic and ginger king prawns, pan-friedand tossed with chilli and spring onion batons,” declared Vanessa, closing themenu emphatically. “Though I am not sure I would recommend that for you.