SAPIENCE

CHAPTER 11

"Can I please have your map book?" She asked me and I knew that the time had come where she would ask for the book.

I was sweating but I also had to keep in mind that I had nothing to hide, except the entire perimeter of Jerome and its secret tunnels and landmarks.

Breathing slowly I reached for the carriage driver and told him to go to the requested restaurant before closing the divider.

"Abiah Restaurant." I called to Troy and they followed suit with their carriage.

The ride to the restaurant was surprisingly far as it took more than half an hour to get there. Shiphrah and I remained in comfortable silence as she playfully tapped on the carriage cushions.

The Abiah Restaurant was extremely lavish with an affordable menu.

We were seated by male waiters this time and I noticed that Shiphrah captured the sight of everyone.

"What would you like to order madam and sir?" Jack the waiter stood before us with a notepad and pen.

He was shorter than I by a few inches and possessed dark curls. His eyes were dark brown and lips thin.

He seemed to be a well put together young man with very high customer service skills.

"Can we have the seafood platter for 2 no mussels, the barbeque pulled pork with steamed rice, creamy garlic prawns, buttered salmons and the cobb salad with extra parmesan cheese." Shiphrah smiled at the waiter as he quickly wrote our order down.

"Is this all for two?" He asked cheerfully.

"Of course. As for drinks I would like the tropical mocktail." Shiphrah leaned back into her seat.

"And for you sir?" Jack asked me.

"I too will have the same. Can you also attend to those two gentlemen over there please?" I pointed towards Troy and Luke who slyly assessed the restaurant.

"Not a problem sir." Jack hurried away.

"Thank you for ordering for me." I thanked Shiphrah.

"Not a problem, I figured you would like to eat something good." She twirled her hair and I smiled.

"Sooo." I started after a moment of silence. "What is your favourite colour?"

Shiphrah laughed as she shook her head. "Seriously? Is this how you start a conversation?"

Blushing, I leaned forward. "The Prophet and Puah did tell us to get to know each other. Why not start with the basics?" I answered as Jack brought in our drinks.

"Fair enough. I like emerald green." She sipped her drink before looking out the skylights to see that the sun had long disappeared. The stars instead twinkled in its place. "And yours?"

"Red." I replied as I stirred my drink with my straw.

"Why red?" She asked me and I couldn't help but shrug.

"My Kingdom's national colours are gold and red. I couldn't help but admire the combination. But on it's own, it is a remarkable colour." I reasoned as she grinned.

"I would have never dreamed of this moment happening so soon." Shiphrah looked around and I nodded.

"Neither would I have. What made you so content with this anyways? I mean with us?" I pried intrigued by her response.

"Well, you could say that it had already somehow been foretold in a dream." She murmured and I was surprised. "I was also given a prophecy some years ago."

"Really? I actually also had a dream. Actually I have had the same recurring dream since I was a small boy." I chuckled and sipped my drink again.

"Really? What did yours consist of?" She piped.