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We walked back home as Mark smiled back at me like the good man he always is. He always smiles so cutely; I sometimes feel like stretching his cheeks. He was still young, so he still had that youthful appearance of a teenager sometimes, despite being way over that age.
"Elayne, I wanted to thank you for inviting me today to have lunch with you." He said. "Personally, this time…"
"Oh, I-I did it on a whim without thinking about it too much…" I said. "But I am glad that you're happy about it, Mark."
Mark suddenly blushed a bit more. He was a very shy man sometimes, and although he showed a braver face before others, when he was around me, he was always like this. Perhaps because I am his friend, he's more open.
"I-I see… Well, sometimes little accidents can bring a lot of new possibilities to the future…" He said. "A-Anyways, how's… erm, how's your daughter?"
"Elena? She's with Anna in their room playing this VR Game…" I said.
"VR?" He wondered. "Which one?"
"I think it is…" I said. "Brand New Life Online. Do you know about it? It is often played by teens, but there are some adult people who play it… I-I… of course I don't play it…"
I had to keep it a secret that I played the game to not sound awkward or weird; that's a game that young people play. If he were to know I played such a thing, he would have a bad impression of me, most likely.
"O-Oh, yeah, it is something that… young people play." He said while averting his gaze and getting a bit nervous all of a sudden. "A-Anyways, I guess she's enjoying it, but wasn't it a bit expensive?"
"Yeah! I had to pay a lot for that thing…" I sighed. "But my girl really liked it, even though she's always calm and says a few words, I am sure she liked it."
"I-I am sure of it!" Said Mark. "She seems to be a good girl…"
"Sorry if she said something weird to you; she's not usually like that." I said.
"Oh, no, it doesn't matter; please don't worry about it." Said Mark.
We walked back home, and we quickly got inside. I quickly walked back to my daughter's room while Mark put the wine over the table.
"Elena! Anna!" I said. "Come eat lunch now; you said you wanted to eat lunch."
The two girls were still inside the game, but the headset has a function that sends messages to the player when there is somebody calling them to come out, which is a pretty convenient technology. The two girls quickly took out their helmets after logging out.
"Mom, I was about to reach Level 190…" Sighed my daughter. "Couldn't you wait a bit longer?"
"Elena, real life is more important than games, dear…" I sighed. "Come eat with the rest of us; Mark is already here, and he's waiting for you all to come eat."
"Ok…" I ignored her complaints, which were very childish; eating lunch is more important than just leveling up.
"Nice, I was getting hungry already." Said Anna. "Eating in the game feels nice, but there's nothing better than actually filling your real stomach!"
The two girls quickly sat down around the table with Mark in there as well. Mark decided to sit down near my left side, Elena at my left side, and Anna on the right side of Elena.
"Today there are croquets and mashed potatoes with tartar sauce and a nice and fresh salad…" I said. "Mark, do you like it?"
"Yeah, I love mashed potatoes." Said Mark. "I am sure anything you would cook would be tasty, Elayne."
"Oh my, you always are so nice." I said. I quickly served him a plate with food. The croquets were freshly deep-fried and crunchy outside, as I had added some panko to them as well. The mashed potatoes were creamy but not liquid at all.
And lastly, I put a small pot with tartar sauce for everyone to add to their croquets. I also put some mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
"Tartar Sauce…" Elena said she seemed to have missed this sauce. She quickly took a spoonful and put it over her two croquets, while adding some to her portion of salad as well.
"I don't like it, but I do like ketchup~" Said Elena, quickly adding ketchup to her croquets and a bit over the mashed potatoes and mixing it up until the mashed potatoes turned slightly red. I suppose she liked that flavor.
Mark waited for the two girls to serve themselves before acting, as he served himself some tartar sauce over his croquets as he decided to serve some wine.
"Wine?" he asked.
"Sure! Can you open it?" I wondered.
"Yeah, I brought one of these." Said Mark, taking out a special tool to take out the wooden cap that wine bottles had and taking it out.
POP!
With a small sound, the compressed air of the wine came out of the bottle, and the delicious smell of a wine that has been resting for a while filled our nostrils. The smell was quite good, and it seemed to be an expensive wine at that. Mark really shouldn't have bought such an expensive wine.
"Here…" Mark said, serving my cup with some wine. And then he served himself.
The girls were drinking the soda they bought in the minimarket.
"This is a fine wine I bought some time ago; I was saving it for a special occasion, but I believe it is a good occasion to use it now…" Said Mark.
"I-Is that so?" I was surprised. "I am glad you think that!"
I decided to give it a go as I tasted the wine. Rich flavor, aromantic, and fragrant; it was a bit sweet too, and the aroma it had was similar to strawberries. It was quite citric, yes… Ah, it was sweeter than I thought! However, it is still quite spicy, and the strong flavor makes me want to eat the food to see how it all comes together.
"Ooh, this is good!" I said. "It tastes nice."
"I am glad you like it…" Said Mark, taking a sip. "Hm?! It is really good! Yeah…"
"It doesn't taste at all like the cheap wine we find around the minimarket; this is really nice." I said.
"Indeed… The flavor is really encompassing; my mouth is filled with it now. Well, thanks for the meal." He said that as he quickly began to dig in, he used a fork to cut down a piece of the croquets, which had tender cooked meat inside mixed with many veggies and spices, and then he ate it with the tartar sauce.
Crunch, crunch…
He looked like a cute hamster, stuffing his cheeks with food; he looked very happy, and his face grew progressively more impressed, raising his eyebrows.
"This is so flavorful... I never thought I would eat such croquets in my life." He said. "They're better than the ones my grandmother used to make; this is amazing, Elayne; you're really good at this."
"Really?" I asked. "I just made them on a whim because I wanted to eat them, but I am glad you liked them!" I said.
I looked at Anna and Elena; the two were concentrating on eating while looking at their phones. I guess the girls are in their own world at that.
"Is the food good?" I asked.
"Yeah…" Elena said as she looked angrily back at Mark. "It is…"
"Hehe, I am glad! And don't be rude; don't look at our guest like that." I sighed.
"…"
Elena averted her gaze from Mark and continued looking at her phone. Anna smiled nervously back at us; she was acting surprisingly more polite now, perhaps even more polite than Elena sometimes.
"Would you turn off your phone while there are guests, dear?" I asked. "You should interact more."
"…"
Elena looked very pissed, furrowing her eyebrows even more. She then turned off her phone and saved it in her pocket.
"Ok…"
She began eating with a grumpy face, but at least she obeyed me. That's what matters—the intention! Yes… Mark seemed a bit nervous. Elena generated some sort of dark aura around her that made her hard to approach. I am still wondering how Anna got so close to her.
We enjoyed the food while talking in between bites; although my daughter barely spoke, Anna was quite active in the conversation sometimes.
"So we are already in the middle of the year, huh?" Said Mark. "We are getting close to vacations... Do you have any plans?"
"Yeah, I was planning on going to visit my mom's house; Elena misses her grandma as well." I said.
"…"
Elena didn't say anything but seemed a bit surprised.
"I wanted to spend the vacations with Anna." She said it after a while.
"Eh? Me?" Asked Anna. "Elena, go visit your grandma; don't be like this."
"Ugh…" Elena seemed to not want to go see my mother! But I will force her anyway.
"I see…" Said Mark. "If you have any free time, do you want to go out? With… me?"
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"Ah?!"
All three of us looked at Mark with surprised faces. Did Mark just ask me to go out with him? Like, wait, that's a date, isn't it?
My daughter suddenly began to look at Mark with a death stare; her eyes could almost glow red from how suddenly angry she got, and her aura was progressively growing darker. Was she becoming the embodiment of darkness or something?!
Anna was surprised, though, while raising an eyebrow.
"Wow, did you just ask Elena's mom on a date?" She asked.
"Eh?! Ah… N-No! It wasn't like that!" Said Mark. "I just thought it would be nice to go out... Like friends… Friends always go out and do stuff together. Like you two girls, right?"
"R-Right!" I said. "So that's what it is... Sure thing, Mark! It has been a while since I even went out. It would be nice. I could bring my friend Rita too; you'll love her; she's such a nice woman."
"Sure, if you want to... But I thought something between the two—Ah!" Mark barely managed to say some words before he noticed Elena staring at him even more furiously than before. He quickly stopped talking and decided to accept what I said.
"It is okay; I am glad." He said. "I just feel it is boring to spend my vacations inside my apartment... Sorry if that came out of nowhere."
"Oh no! Don't worry about it, Mark." I said. "We friends have to help each other if we can! I am also most of the time alone; Elena is always in her own world most of the time, you see.
"Sounds like a plan, then..." Said Mark.
"Sure, I will try to find some time for it, though." I said. "I hope you can understand."
"I do! Sure thing, thank you for considering it." He said.
Mark was bolder than I thought, but he seems to have good intentions and nothing weird. I am glad; he's a nice man. I've never had male friends before, but I should just treat them like my female friends, right? Friends are friends, no matter the gender.
After we were done having lunch, we were all stuffed, and Anna and Elena decided to go back to Elena's room.
"Thanks for the meal, Lady Elayne! It was pretty tasty!" Said Anna.
"Hm," said Elena, walking away.
I wish I could spend some more time with her and talk more with her, but she escaped the moment we finished eating. Ugh. But maybe in the game we'll be able to connect some more together, right?
At the end, Mark and I were the only ones sitting around the table, and we drank a bit of wine while talking about whatever.
"I should really go now; I don't want to bother you anymore." He said.
"Oh, you're not a bother, Mark." I said. "Take care."
I hugged him and kissed his cheek as he blushed a bit and felt embarrassed.
"Y-Yeah, you too." He walked away rather nervously but happily.
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