Mark had been looking through the omeletes when he took a sip of his black coffee. No sugar, no creamer, just hot black liquid gold. While it was no beer, it did a good enough job at satisfying his system for the time being. What happened next would likely have made the casual observer think he didn't like the coffee or that it was too hot, though both assumptions were wrong. The word 'reporter' left her mouth and the mouthful of coffee sprayed out onto the menu he was holding up.<br/><br/>Thankfully it was laminated so he just used some napkins to clean up the mess, and he didn't get a chance to respond as the waitress showed up. "Denver Omelete with hashbrowns and Sourdough toast please, a side of apple butter if you have any."<br/><br/>The waitress shook her head to confirm they did not and Mark nodded with some mild disappointment. If he had not been so desperate for a good hot meal he might have walked out right then, but he was here now so he might as well as sit through her spiel. He figured it would be like going to a timeshare meeting, some free food, a lot of fancy figures and "facts", some bullshit rubbed in-berween it all, and then the option of saying no despite how amazing it all sounded.<br/><br/>The problem was that the interesting proposition just never really arrived. He listened to Claire's threats and it nearly made him smile. "Me? Quit drinking beer? Why? Because the queen of Seattle Magazine says so?  Because you intend to tell the world what I am?" Now he did laugh, and not some half-hearted laugh from the throat, no this was a good belly laugh that was deep and boistrous.<br/><br/>He calmed himself down pretty quickly and the smile disappeared. "Look here missy and listen up, I don't need your idle threats, you and I both know your boss won't run that shit, no one gives two shits. Besides you are three years too late for that article. Jane Ridley with the New York Post wrote a scathing article that nearly cost her her job. She was forced to write an apology, and I had nothing to do with that. So try harder if you want me to," at this point he did air quotes, "sober up."