Scott followed the directions Henry gave him and they drove to a place just at the edge of the industrial sector. It was about two hours from sunset; the parking lot was only half full.
Scott got out of the car and looked at the warehouse, there were obvious signs that it had been renovated and the outside painted over, but it still looked like a warehouse. "So, this is Maxine's." He said, not quite impressed. "I had expected more from all you've told me."
"Don't let the exterior dictate what you think of the place. I'm confident you'll be suitably impressed." Henry said as he closed the door. He smoothed the wrinkles of his jacket and pants and headed toward the side of the building, Scott in tow.
As they came near a beautiful wooden door, looking completely out of place in the middle of the sheet metal wall, they noticed the couple standing there. Jean was wearing a red strapless gown, with a slightly darker red wrap over her shoulders. Her hair was tied in a simple pony tail with an orange ribbon.
Scott stood still for a moment at the sight. "You look amazing," he finally managed to say, crossing the last few steps separating them and kissing her.
Henry had to agree that she looked great, but he only had eyes for Thomas, in his dark green suit, with fine gold lines sewed at the cuff and collar. He smiled at his man, and received the same in return while they both fought the desire to hold and kiss each other. While Maxine's was known for its tolerance, they were still outside, in public, where anyone could see them. They could easily take care of anyone who decided the 'fags' had to be put down, but they didn't want to ruin the evening by tempting fate.
Inside, the restaurant was a different world, the walls were covered in old wood, the ceiling was only ten feet in height and the light was kept low. It had an old world feel to it. In the security of the restaurant Henry took Thomas in his arms and kissed him passionately.
The maitre d' gave them a full minute before clearing his throat. Jean blushed, it was one thing to know one of your friends was gay, and even catch a glimpse from his mind once in a while, but it was something else entirely to see him in an embrace with the love of his life and feel the very raw emotion coming from them. Their self control hid the fact that their physical desire for each other was completely mixed in with the emotional love.
Scott simply shook his head in amusement at the sight. As the two men let go of each other, a silly smile on their faces.
"I am sorry for interrupting," The maitre d' said smiling, with a faint trace of French in his words, "but you can not block the entrance for so long. I do hope I gave you enough time for it to be satisfactory."
Thomas looked at Henry and then at the maitre d' with a wide grin, "you have no idea. We have a reservation, Thomas Black."
The man looked at his list. "Ah, yes. If you could wait a moment I shall make sure your table is ready." A few seconds later he was back. "This way please." He led them through the restaurant. It was much larger than Scott expected a restaurant to be, but still didn't seem to occupy more than a fifth of the warehouse's floor space.
The tables were spaced so that even side by side the four of them could move around without even coming close to bumping into the chairs. Theirs was toward the back, with a chandelier over it providing extra light. From there they could get a good view of the whole restaurant.
They sat down, Henry and Thomas moving their chairs to be closer to each other, Scott followed their lead a moment later. They talked and looked over the menu, when the waitress arrived with water they were ready to place their order.
"Henry?" someone called in French while they waited.
Henry looked up to see a tall and somewhat lanky man whisper something to his companion and then walk toward them, while the other man followed the maitre d' to a table. It only took a moment for recognition to sink in "Jean Claude!" Henry stood to hug him "comment ca vas? It's been years, what have you been up to?"
The man returned the hug. "I have been well," he replied with a heavy French accent, "I left de Renegade one year ago and I have a business now." He handed Henry a business card: 'Northstar Expedited, bonded small package courier, Express delivery.'
Henry hugged him again, "congratulation JP. I knew you were too good for those guys." When he let go of him he turned to his companions. "You've met Scott, this is his date, Jean and the handsome man on the other side of the table is my boyfriend, Thomas."
Jean Claude nodded to Scott in greetings and took Jean's hand, kissing it, "enchanté," he said afterward. He then gave Thomas a hearty handshake.
Scott looked at the card Henry handed to him. "I'm glad to hear you're out of the Renegades." He told Jean Claude his tone slightly cautious, "how are you finding being in the work force?"
Jean Claude studied Scott for a moment while he decided how to answer, every meetings the two had participated in had always ended on a stressed note. Scott could be very passionate about what he believed in, and he could also be blunt. It was one of the multiple reasons why the Renegades were always reluctant to meet with him. Even if Jean Claude had left the Renegades because of this man, they still looked at each other with weariness.
"It was difficult. I tried to work for someone else at first, but dey refused to take advantage of my speed. Dey only wanted me to drive for them. So I followed your example and created my company. It is new, I am not making much money yet, but I am getting more clients."
"What are you doing in town?" Henry asked before Scott could quiz Jean Claude more.
The man smiled "I did a delivery this afternoon, and decided to spend the night here with a friend before going back to Montréal." He indicated the man at the other table, "I should go back to him. Have a good evening."
Jean put her hand on Scott's to distract him.
"You shouldn't be so suspicious of him Scott," Thomas commented as Henry sat back down, "he has left the Renegades."
"That's hard to believe, that man was one of my harshest opponents. Every time we met he did everything he could to make me feel like I didn't even deserve their pity." Scott couldn't decide if he should be amazed at the change in Jean Claude or suspicious.
Jean squeezed his hand. "He didn't say it, but he really is grateful for what you did."
Scott wasn't quite convinced, "if he still had contacts with the renegades, you'd know about it wouldn't you?" he asked Thomas.
Thomas nodded. "I wouldn't tell you, but I would place a call to the office so they could pick him up for breaking the terms of his amnesty."
"Henry," Jean said before Scott could ask more question about what Thomas might know, "You and Jean Claude seemed rather friendly . . ." She let the rest trail off
And Henry picked it up. "I don't share Scott's suspicious mind, I met him outside of 'business' we are both mutants, we are both gay. It didn't take long for us to get to know each other rather well. That was years ago, we didn't stay in touch, but we remained friends."
The three of them looked at Scott to see his reaction. He looked back at them, getting the unsaid message. He took a drink for his glass, "Right, no work, no Renegades, just us for the rest of the evening."
"Good man," Henry replied as their dinner arrived.