She looked up at the extremely tall and large black tuxedo-clad man with a red cummerbund and said with flinty yellow sparks of anger flashing in the irises of her hazel eyes, “I know exactly what I’m doing and have ordered. I have the wherewithal to pay for what I am asking. I have pre-prepared my household for the changes that will ensue from this meal. Is that enough for you, or must I speak to the manager? I made reservations with yourself in good faith and you agreed to the terms for the reasons I gave you! Money is not an object! Please show me to my table immediately!”

Maurice the Maitre-de bowed deeply in deference to her determination and preparations she had made before marking her name off on his very short list of expected diners for the afternoon. After taking a red leather-bound menu from the shelf inside the back of his podium-like station, Maurice led her to her seat as a mark of honor instead of delegating the menial task to the waiter who was assigned to the area as was the restaurant’s usual procedure.

Louise was pleased by the unctuous civility of the Maitre-de as he pulled back her chair for her and courteously seated her at her table. The staff had indeed prepared the table just for them. Her name was >

The Maitre-de smiled at the woman’s interest in the true meanings of the mundane. It was an interest that had consumed him since he was quite young and had first been introduced to the study of the obscure. Since his own origins were more than a little obscure to him, it was natural that he should feel so, but in the woman’s case, it indicated an active, questing mind. The job of a Maitre-de did not favor him with many contacts with such people. He savored the moments when he could. “White has many meanings in many cultures, Madam,” the Maitre-de explained without condescension as if he was discussing a learned subject with an attentive and devoted scholar, “In the West, it is generally taken to mean virtue or purity of purpose. Occultists and Western Pagans often associate it with the heraldic metal it represents, i.e., silver. Silver is representative of the Moon among both groups and the Mother Goddess of the second group. Astrologically speaking, the Moon represents both the home and the unconsciousness.”

“And which meaning does Louder’s Café espouse?”, Louise asked with a hint of amusement in her voice at trapping such an overeducated waiter.

“Why, to be sure, Madam, the restaurant wishes to foster the feelings of homeyness to ensure that every patron will have an unconscious desire to return! But is this not so of every restaurant? Symbols are only gateways to the meanings that each individual discovers in his environment. In short, they are signposts to the meaning of a person’s life. As such, the management has decided that it is wholly inappropriate for the employees of Louder’s to delineate the meaning of the restaurant’s symbolisms as they can only be properly interpreted by the patron’s themselves,” the Maitre-de said with the crushing logic of an ancient philosophy professor who’s tenure and arcane knowledge had made him undisputable.

The Maitre-de bowed and departed for a time to allow her to consider his words as well as the menu in peace.