Pearls

Chapter 24

"UWAAAHHHH! THIS IS THE RESTAURANT EDGEWORTH CHOSE?!"

"How romantic! Mr. Eh-ji-worth is a true gen-teel-man!"

Maya and Pearl stood outside the restaurant, fogging up the crystal clear glass windows. Located on the second-top floor of the mall, Food of Eden was beautifully decorated with fake indoor plants that climbed and liven up the walls and corners of the place. Plain white, yellow and pink flowers sat in small bunches on the tables, vibrant enough to warrant some appeal but not to the point that it became gaudy. There was a bubbling water fountain situated in the centre of the room, letting out a calming and reverberant trickle.

Waiters and waitresses roamed back and forth between kitchen and tables. Their attire was a reflection of their environment with each employee wearing shades of dark green and blue, and adorning themselves with at least one of the three flowers found on the dinner tables. As they moved in and out of the kitchen, wafts of delicious, fresh food spread through the air and out the restaurant doors. Thus was the reason for Maya's and Gumshoe's drooling.

"Gee, I wish Mr. Edgeworth would treat me out to dinner like this! I bet the food in there are worth 15... no, 25 instant noodles!"

"Count me in too! I would love to eat in a place that smells as good as it looks! Right, Pearly?"

"Yup! To think, maybe someday you could come here with your special someone~"

"Aw, you're still not going on about that, are you?"

"Of course! As the leader of our village, you need someone who can protect you." Pearl looked away, eyes shining and exclaiming dreamily, "I wonder who'll be your special someone!"

"Ahaha..." I'm a bit young to have a special someone. But she does have a point; do I have someone special?

As my mind began to drift, Gumshoe boisterously shook my shoulder and pointed inside. "I just saw Mr. Edgeworth and Mr. Wright in that booth over there! I don't see any clear tables nearby though, but that's probably for the better."

"Wait, we're going to go inside?!"

"Um..."

"Of course, we are!" Pearly piped up. "We have to make sure Mr. Nick doesn't mess up, remember?"

"Uh, yeah, but don't we need reservations or something...?"

"N-no worries, pal! I've already thought ahead and reserved seats for us!"

"Really? Wow, I'm surprised, Detective. With your salary, I didn't think it was possible to reserve tables at a place like this."

"..........."

"Detective?"

Thursday 12, 1:34 PM
Westland Mall 5F
Food of Eden

"I hope this isn't too much for you, Phoenix. I wanted to choose a place that was neither too fancy nor too casual for your liking."

"Ah, don't worry about it, Miles. I'm happy with anything. But thank you for your consideration."

"My pleasure."

Phoenix and Edgeworth smiled at each other, a slight blush on their cheeks. When their food arrived, Edgeworth carefully dug into his while Phoenix looked on anxiously. His fork midway between the plate and his mouth, Edgeworth stopped to question Phoenix why he wasn't eating but didn't have the time to ask before—

"NICK JUST FED EDGEWORTH! I REPEAT! NICK JUST FED EDGEWORTH!"

"HEY, KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!" Gumshoe clamped a hand over my mouth, pulling me down and out of their vision. "Are you trying to ruin this date?!"