the harbor filled me with wonder. I’d moved to Seattle three years earlier and questioned my decision so many times over the years, but this night showed how stunningly picturesque this city could be, even during the nonsummer months.
Candace pointed downward. “Whoa, look at that!” The view of Elliott Bay had diverted my attention and I hadn’t looked down at the dining room floor. Our table and chairs stood atop see-through plexiglass covering a maze of minirivers, where hundreds of exotic, brightly colored fish swam to and fro.
“Oh my goodness, is that koi?” Jane jumped from her spot and landed above some coral reef.
“They’re moving so fast! It’s hard to figure out the fish genus and species,” I said.
Candace and Jane glanced at each other, and then they looked at me. “Oh my god, Mel. Who would have guessed you were a fish nerd? This may turn out to be the highlight of my evening!” Jane giggled.
My muscles tensed as I tiptoed to the table. These fish darted around without being bothered by our looming presence, but I still didn’t like the idea of stepping so closely above them. It also made me self-conscious to walk on top of living things wearing a skirt. Sure, these fish weren’t capable of peering upward, but they could totally see my underwear if they flopped sideways. But maybe this was the champagne talking.
Her Royal Highness Jane had ordered the wine ahead of time, and our dedicated waiter had poured out two glasses. “The red wine had time to breathe!” Jane said gleefully as we toasted to the evening. Candace raised her glass of sparkling grape juice.
“Cheers!” We clinked glasses and, no pun intended, I drank like a fish.
It took me a while to figure out why restaurant reviewers loved Canteen, because both the ambiance and the patrons looked so pretentious. The restaurant recommended sharing all items on the menu. Canteen’s culinary shtick was gourmet “mess hall food,” served in wooden bowls that you passed around to your tablemates. But even though it was family-style summer camp fare, that didn’t mean it was cheap. This place charged twenty-two dollars for a medium-size bowl of tater tots. The mac and cheese was double that price. The freezer aisle at the grocery store had the same thing for maybe six dollars, tops.
Jane had already precalled in our dinner order. We continued drinking as we waited for the food to come out in installments.
First, the pitcher of “Grown-Up Gluten-Free Vodka Kool-Aid Punch” arrived at our table, along with two red Dixie cups. The mini–tofu dogs and sprouted organic potato salad came next. To me they tasted fine, but Candace took a bite of each one and spit them into her napkin.
Vegan baked beans soon followed, and then for dessert we had campfire s’mores that we could roast tableside. I ate about a dozen charred s’more bites, while interspersing toasts to the bride-to-be with the never-ending supply of spiked grape Kool-Aid. Aside from the astronomical bill and the fear of floors cracking and us falling into the koi swarms, the night turned out to be much more fun than expected.
Jane fell into me with a lazy smile plastered on her face. “Our limo is outside, we should head out.”
Candace whispered, “Wow, even though she’s completely hammered, she’s still keeping us on schedule! I need to run to the bathroom before we go. Sorry, pregnancy makes me pee a ton!”
I turned to Jane. “Are we really going to a club with a frequently peeing pregnant woman?”
“Ab-so-fucking-lutely! This might be one of Candace’s last crazy nights out in a long time.”
I hadn’t considered this was Candace’s last hurrah before having kids. Jane would be getting married soon and settling down too. And as for me, well, I took the night off and wasn’t working on that cursed video game. The game that would make or break my production career. The game that put a bull’s-eye on my back for all those online trolls.
More drinks, anyone?
WE JUMPED INTO the limo and I poured two glasses of champagne and made Candace a sparkling apple juice cocktail with maraschino cherries and a lime garnish.
I gave a toast. “To Queen Jane. May all her drinks be paid for tonight. And may she pass those free drinks over to me.”
We giggled and clinked glasses. Candace went next.
“Cheers to my girls! We’ve been through a lot together.” A flash of melancholy spread across her face, and then she burst into tears.