Page 28 of Origins of Eternity

“What do you sleep in, beautiful Arwen?”

“Usually, an old T-shirt that has a spaghetti sauce stain on it and a pair of old sweats that I cut off into shorts when I tore the left leg too much to sew them back up.”

“Perfect,” Iro replied.

“Hardly.” Arwen laughed.

Iro squeezed her hand and asked, “Do you need to lock all those locks before we go?”

“Oh, yeah. One sec.” Arwen nervously locked all four locks and turned to her. “So, where are we going, exactly?”

“You are not great with surprises, are you?” Iro laughed and held out her hand for Arwen to take.

CHAPTER 9

Arwen

“I hope this place is all right,” Iro said.

Arwen turned to look out her window then. She hadn’t bothered to glance outside the entire twenty-minute ride. She had been too busy staring at the woman next to her to even notice that they were driving anywhere.

“Where are–” Arwen stopped when she saw the name of the restaurant and recognized it immediately. “It’s a vegan restaurant. It’sthevegan restaurant.” She looked back at Iro. “It’s the best vegan restaurant in the city. Well, there aren’t all that many, but it’s won awards. All of them, I think. I tried to walk in once, and they said they were booked out for weeks.”

“I made a reservation.”

“When? Today?”

“Yes,” Iro replied.

“And they had a table?”

“They did, yes. Shall we?” Iro said, nodding to the door that was opened for Arwen by the driver.

“I hate to say this, but I could get used to that.”

Iro climbed out after her and said, “We could’ve taken the subway, but I wanted to at least pick you up for our first date. If you want to do that on the way back, though, we can.”

“I’ll let you know,” Arwen said with a little smile. “I’ve never been here before, but I’ve looked up the menu online, andit looked amazing. Do you even eat vegan food? Can you find something here to eat for yourself?”

“I’ll be fine,” Iro replied and took Arwen’s hand.

Then, her free hand moved to open the door for Arwen, and she let go to motion for Arwen to walk in first. Her hand landed on the small of Arwen’s back as they arrived at the host stand.

“Reservation,” Iro said.

“Name?” the woman asked.

“Iro.”

They were sat at a table by the window, and the hostess handed them their menus before she walked off, leaving them alone.

“What should I get?” Iro asked. “You’re the expert.”

“Can I ask you something first?”

“Of course.”

“Just then, you gave her your first name, but normally people make reservations under their last name.”