te surprised, should I be scared" I placed the phone to my ear. "Not really, I was wondering if you've heard from Grandmother" I shoved my hand into my pocket slightly raising my s

d headed straight for our table. "This is nice, how did you know about here?" her eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked at me. I almost slipped up but I held my tongue. "Had some of my coworkers give me a reservation, this was close by so I chose it." "Oh! This looks so so expensive. I bet a bottle of "cheap" wine costs a couple thousand dollars." she laughed at her joke. "It's twenty thousand dollars actually" I said casually opening the menu like I didn't already know what was there. "What?!" I looked up to find her mouth opened in shock. Ah yes, she would be obviously shocked. "How did you know?" "I did my research before coming here" the lie came out smoothly. "Oh my god" she went from looking shocked to looking genuinely distressed. "I won't afford a glass here" "Calm down Zaria" I saw her visibly calm down. "I invited you here so I'm doing the paying, just pick what even you want." I handed the menu over to her. She took it from me and I noticed that her hands were shaking. She was tensing as she went through the menu. Luckily enough the waiter passed by our table and I flagged him. "Good day sir" he greeted me and turned to Zaria "Ma. What can I get you, that is if you are ready to order? "I'll take the medium rare stake, extra toppings at the side with a glass of the classic red wine, and for the pretty lady-," we both turned to her. I don't know if her face was red from her nervousness or if another factor played a role in that. "I'll take the pasta with extra cheese on it. That's all" she stuttered. I smiled at her and faced the waiter. "Add a side of fries and ketchup. Thank you" "You chose the best possible option." he smiled as he complimented before walking away. " I can tell you are freaking out" I called her out. I saw her shock when I mentioned to the waiter that he should add a side of fries, I was surprised I said that too. "It's nothing, I just wasn't expecting you to add an order for me." Suddenly the waiter was back with our food, he placed them on the table with cutleries and turned to Zaria. "Ma'am would you like a drink to go? "Yes, please. Orange juice." I smiled at her, calmly nodding to the waiter. "You know my name, but I don't know yours" she said, twirling a pasta on her fork before eating it. I choked on my steak, that was a harmless question that I should have anticipated. Chuckling, I took a sip of my wine before answering her. "That's surprising, I would have sworn I mentioned it to you" She pursed her lips. "If you did, I would have remembered." "You can call me Dorian" I munched on the steak, savorin