Page 64 of Paradigm

“I can’t believe we’re having dinner on the water. It’s so nice out here,” Eline said after a minute.

“I can’t believe we’re here together after all this time,” she replied.

Eline shifted to lean against her, so Arlowe placed her arm over her shoulders, and finally, they were holding on to each other. Eline’s arm was on Arlowe’s stomach, her head was on Arlowe’s shoulder, and all felt right in the world for the first time in the longest time.

“Hello. My name is Chris. I’ll be your steward this evening. May I get you started with something to drink? We have the selection on your menu.”

Arlowe hadn’t even noticed the small piece of cardstock on the table in front of them.

“Red?” she asked Eline.

“Whatever you want is fine,” Eline said softly.

“Can we have the merlot?” Arlowe asked.

“Of course. I’ll bring out some waters for you as well. Lemon?”

Eline nodded against her.

“Yeah,” Arlowe said with a smile.

“I’ll have that right out and then your appetizer.”

“Thanks,” Arlowe replied before he walked back down the stairs into the belly of the boat or whatever the belly of a boat was actually called.

“Appetizer?” Eline asked.

“They have a set menu, so if you don’t like something, don’t feel like you have to eat it. If you’re hungry after this, we can grab something on the way home. I think the appetizer is crostini, if I remember correctly. The main course is chicken. I’m sure it’ll be okay, but nothing amazing. Dessert is a cheesecake with strawberries or a chocolate torte thing. I went with the cheesecake because I know how much you love the stuff.”

“You remember so much,” Eline noted.

“I remember everything,” she said. “I remember how your hair smelled whenever you used my shampoo, how you looked when you would borrow my clothes and only sleep in one of my shirts that was a little too long on you. I remember how you yelled at the TVs at the bar whenever we watched soccer and your team messed up. I remember how you felt every time I hugged you, and I… I still remember how you taste.” She pressed her cheek to the side of Eline’s head that she could reach. “Every part of you.”

“Arlowe!” Eline exclaimed with a little laugh.

“What? It’s true.”

“I remember everything, too,” Eline said. “I remember how you got annoyed in class when you knew more than the professor.”

Arlowe chuckled.

“I remember how cute I thought it was because I could always tell. I remember how your clothes always smelled like the laundry detergent you bought that was so cheap; I’m surprised it actually cleaned anything.”

Arlowe laughed again.

“I remember how it felt to sit on the side of a bed and pull you into me so that I could kiss you anywhere I could reach because I couldn’t not kiss you. I remember how you sounded when I kissed you so deeply. You’d do this moan-and-groan thing like you couldn’t hold it in. And I definitely remember how you taste.”

Chris walked up then and likely didn’t hear them over the sound of the boat and the water around them, but they paused their conversation all the same as he placed their drinks down and walked back inside to get their appetizers.

“This is an amazing date, Arlowe.”

Eline snuggled in closer, and Arlowe no longer wanted to eat dinner. She wanted to lie on the deck of the boat, holding Eline and staring up at the stars, and Eline seemed to want the same thing by the way she was holding on to her.

“Want to eat fast and push this table out of the way? I bet we can fit if we lie down on the bench.”

“No, we can’t,” Eline said with a chuckle and lifted her head up to look at her.

“We can if you lie half on top of me. All the way on top of me is also an option.”