Our Arranged Love Story

Chapter -9-

Luffy and Nami walked back to the house; Luffy carried the same basket with a few extra oranges for the others inside and some to take home to his dad. Nami on the other hand, hummed merrily to herself since they decided to go out for brunch. She was excited because it was their first date together- she just needed to shower and have a quick change.

"Hey, Nami. How are those maps you've been working on coming along?" asked Luffy.

"I'm surprised that you remembered about that."

"Of course I remember. They're important to you, right?"

"Right," she smiled, "I have actually started on some pieces but they're mostly drafts... let's have a look at them when we get back. I'll show you what I've been working on."

Nami had a passion for re-creating maps accurately, drawn strictly by hand. She freelances and her very own work has been in high demand due to its seamless precision which enables her to be rewarded with first-rate commision. She takes her cartography seriously and she hopes that her maps would become more recognised around the globe.

Nami stepped out of Luffy's convertible car into the carpark of the Baratie Restaurant wearing a gray, quarter length sleeved blouse with cut-out shoulders along with jeans and chunky heeled sandals. Her hair was fixed into a loose textured bun.

Luffy locked the car and they both walked hand in hand to the main entrance.

He saw a brown-skinned man with a headband over his short, spiky, black hair, sporting a blue track suit coming down the same path. He was carrying a take-out container in a plastic bag evidently coming from the restaurant.

"Yo, Gin!" Luffy greeted him after recognizing his old friend.

Gin acknowledged him with a nod of the head and went along his way.

"Who was that?" Nami asked. The man's dark circles under his eyes and his natural scowl indicated that he was a not-so friendly person.

"That's Gin; an ex gang member of the Don Krieg Family. It was not easy for him to quit at first being a loyal member and all but a few things happened and now he's working on getting his life back together.

"That's good. I've heard a lot about that gang; going around harming people and their random acts of pillaging stores in the city."

"Yeah. It's admirable when people make something of themselves after going through out of hard times. It takes a lot of guts to do that."

They entered the building and were guided to a table located at a window where all the carrying-ons of the street could be viewed.

The stand in waiter, Patti, noticed the presence of the chief chef's companion, also one of their most regular customers, Monkey D. Luffy. Usually he would be causing a commotion, ordering every meat item off the menu but today was different. He had a guest with him and was not being all loud and annoying about getting food. Last thing he heard was that he had gotten married.

He believed that the customers were gods and he cared about offering exceptional service. He stoned himself after finishing with the collection of the previously seated guests and approached the two who seemed to be engrossed in a conversation.

"May I have your order?" he intervened.

The lady turned to him and looked at him like he had interrupted an extremely important discussion. His welcoming smile strained as sweat beaded down his face. Luffy addressed him with his usual high spirited self then told him that they were not ready as yet to order and resumed the conversation.