Dressed for the day, we headed out to a waiting car and on to a local restaurant I had never heard of. “What if they don’t have anything I like?” I playfully whined.
“Oh, I’m sure they have something. If you want, I’ll order something I think you’ll like.” She offered as we waited to be seated.
“As long as it doesn’t have a bunch of raw onion or peppers. Bet!” I felt a surge of giddy energy at the thought that she wanted to pick for me, but also made sure it was okay. I took in our surroundings. They were playing some folk sounding music with what I thought was a balalaika. The walls were a deep red that was contrasted by the soft white wood furnishing and art. As we were led to an unfinished wooden table I looked up to see an art installation in similar woods that looked like someone had set up for a kinetic energy show. This might have been the most elegant restaurant I had ever been in.
My attention was brought back to the table as Liliana pulled out a chair for me. Blushing, I took my seat before she sat across from me. “Let’s see… oh look! A kids menu! Would you like the nuggies?” She chuckled as my cheeks grew more flushed.
“I don’t… I could if that’s what you want to order me.” I could tell her teasing was meant to be flirty, but a part of me wondered if I had made a bad first impression with that.
“I’m kidding. And chicken nuggets are delicious, you don’t need to worry.” I lifted my menu to try and hide my pink cheeks. ‘Volt i yagnenok’ I didn’t speak Russian, but looking down the menu, I could recognize the alphabet to an extent. On one side they had everything in Russian and the English version was on the other. I quickly skimmed down taking in a bit as Liliana lowered her menu. Blini, Pelmeni, Borscht, Okroskha… I put my menu down. Just so many new things, I wouldn’t have even known where to get. I hadn’t had much Russian food before, so this was going to be an adventure.
“Ah yes, I’ll have the shaslik with a baked potato and for my lovely lady friend…” a grin has crept across my face as she spoke. Her Russian accent sounded much deeper now. It had a powerful ring to it that I was falling for. “… we’ll get the lamb stroganoff, easy on the onions if you could.” She tilted her head at me for approval to which I nodded.
“Could I get some perogies as well?” I wanted to show her I knew at least a little about Russian, but I also just loved those little potato dumplings.
“Of course you can, add an appetizer of perogie please.” She said, handing the menus back to our waitress, whom is barely noticed. Liliana was just too breathtaking for me to really notice much else. “You know, they were always a favorite of mine growing up? Grandmother would make them for family dinner and she would let me help as I got older. Maybe I could show you sometime?”
My heart swelled. “I honestly would love that. I’ve always loved to cook for and with people. I’ve been told I make outstanding beef and broccoli, if you like Chinese?” I felt excited. I had known this woman for maybe twelve hours and I was already offering to cook her dinner. I was infatuated in a way I had never been before and then my phone started to ring. I groaned, pushing back from the table. “Excuse me, I’ll try and be quick.”
“Hello?” I put the phone to my ear as a walked away from the table a bit.
“Yes, is this Rachel?” Came a very no nonsense voice I didn’t recognize.
“Ummm, yuh? Who is this?”
“My name is Jennifer, I believe you spoke with my brother. He said you’re trying to find the Werewolf I saw…” I began to answer, but was quickly cut off. “… stop. Don’t poke around in the supernatural.” And with that the phone clicked off. I tried to call back, but it just rang without going to an answering message or anything. I took my seat and must have looked confused.
“Everything okay?” Liliana asked, looking at me with concern.
“Yea, it’s just… you know how I told you about a werewolf sighting outside that club?”
“Of course, was that the girl you said was supposed to contact you?”
“It was, but she was very serious and just told me to stop looking for werewolves. She hung up before I could ask why. I think she blocked me.”
“Oh, she sounds like loads of fun. I’m sorry about the dead-end though.” Just then the waitress was back with the perogies, so we started eating, the subject going back to food and cooking. Everything was so delicious. After lunch we went out to find the same car waiting for us. Liliana took me around town for the rest of the day. Showing me some of her favorite spots as well as checking out the ones on my map. None seemed to have any signs that would lead me anywhere.
~~~~~~~~~~~
In the late afternoon we pulled into the parking lot of a mall. “Oh! I haven’t been to a mall in years!”
“Well that’s great! I love shopping and figured we could have some fun with a little spree?”
“Oh, I don’t think I can…”
“My treat.” I was going to protest, but somewhere in my subconscious I heard ‘yes ma’am.
“Yes ma’am, thank you.” I said with a smile as the voice in the back of my mind praised ‘good girl’.
<Edited by @Aliceko_chan over on Twitter!>
Playpen of Ko 