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The city center was packed which meant there was absolutely no street parking available. Silvia drove around for a few minutes until she found a parking garage a couple blocks away. Once she grabbed a ticket and drove up to the second level where there was an open parking space, we began walking to the restaurant and I asked Melody, “What food… do they have?”

“I think it’s vegetarian,” Silvia answered after Melody shrugged.

Vegetarian? Why? “Is… Fara or Elle vegetarian?”

“Nope,” Melody answered as we rounded a corner, passing by a busy grocery store. Grocery stores in the middle of cities always felt weird to me. I know everyone needs groceries, but they just feel so… out of place. I think I’m just used to giant standalone buildings that are a little farther out from the city center since that’s where my family always went. “Probably only chose this restaurant for the view.”

Anyway… Luxury vegetarian food. What’s that like? Actually, what do vegetarians even eat? Salads all day or something? I don’t think I could survive like that. Not being able to devour a juicy chunk of fried chicken… I love animals, but chicken is just… really tasty… sorry, activists.

We approached the target skyscraper and entered through the glass spinning doors, whatever those are called, I can’t remember, then walked straight ahead, passing by a security guard and following the trail of people to the elevators. The first floor seemed pretty empty. It’s probably administration stuff since there weren’t any advertisements or anything; it was all boring office building colors. The only thing that stood out was the long rug that went toward the elevators, where everyone walked.

There were a total of eight elevators, four on each side, along with a ninth labeled ‘Staff Only’ at the far back so we didn’t need to wait long to enter one. The elevator’s walls were transparent, which is something I never understood when elevators are in the center of the building, since the sight was just a bunch of random metal poles and stuff, but whatever. The ceiling was also glass, which did look a little cool, seeing an endless black void above you. The floors were not glass though.

Our elevator was joined by three other people who took care of pressing the buttons, seemingly going to the same top floor as us, and then the shiny metal doors shut and the elevator began its journey.

Once we reached the top floor, floor ninety, after around a minute, the elevator opened up and we entered the floor. After turning right, away from the elevators, there were large blocky words on top of a wooden backdrop with giant arrows below them, one pointing to the left displaying ‘Observation Deck’ where the other people that shared our elevator went, and the other pointing to the right, displaying ‘Le Jardin Étoilé,’ where we went. After turning right, there were low benches against either side of the wall with a few people sitting on them and leaning against the wooden walls. Straight ahead, there was a podium with a waiter dressed in all black standing behind it and behind her another wooden wall. As we approached, she asked, “Hello, do you have reservations?”

Melody took charge, replying, “We’re meeting friends, I believe the reservation is Aufidius.”

Aufidius… I’ve never heard that name before. After checking on a tablet, the waiter nodded, then glanced up, smiling. “Right this way.”

She led us to the right and we entered the very open restaurant, despite how closed the entrance felt. She continued leading us in a straight line, only turning to the left once we stood right beside the glass floor overhang, and before long we saw a circular glass table, minus the wooden sticks holding it up, with glass chairs around it. A lot more glass than I expected… I guess they really want to make you feel like you’re in the sky?

Of the six seats, two were occupied by Fara and Elle chatting happily, both dressed in their usual styles, Fara with a loose leather jacket and Elle wearing a cozy green sweater. Once they saw us, they waved and the waiter quickly set down three big black menus, Fara and Elle already had theirs open, then left. We sat down, Silvia beside Elle, Melody beside Fara, and me beside Melody. The final open spot was between Silvia and I.

“We already ordered,” Fara began, closing up her menu. “Told them to wait for you three.”

We opened up our menus and… well the first two pages were dedicated to drinks, skipped over that, then the next two pages had the food choices… and this isn’t à la carte. There was a list of four appetizer options, four main courses, and four desserts. There were no pictures and I couldn’t tell what half the stuff was.

Melody, however, closed the menu immediately, then looked over at me. I made a slight plea for help with my eyes and she spoke. “Soup is probably the safest option.”

Pea and Mint Soup.

It does sound pretty innocent… at least compared to the other options. There was a Mushroom Pate… but I hate pate. The sandy weird texture, yeah, no thanks. Then there was a Mushroom Risotto. I’ve never had risotto… to be honest it just seems like another pile of mushy stuff. Next option was an Avocado Caprese Salad. I guess that’s also pretty safe. Although… avocado is okay in like, sushi, but it’s a little… creamy. And I don’t usually like creamy things. Also what’s a caprese?

This whole menu seems pretty creamy

Okay moving on, the main courses. Another four options: Ratatouille, I have no idea what that actually is, although I’ve heard of it, Creamy Butternut Squash Ravioli, what is it with cream? A mushroom wellington. What’s a wellington? I’ve heard of all of this stuff… I just have no clue what it is. And the final option… Roasted Vegetable Quiche. I don’t know what a quiche is.

Do normal people know this stuff? Am I just behind on everything? How is a menu making me feel insecure…

Anyway, I’m lost. I don’t know what to get. Ravioli is probably safe, I guess?

Finally, the desserts. And finally, a normal sounding thing. Chocolate ice cream! Yep. I’m having that. Don’t even need to look at the other options, otherwise I’ll get stuck in indecision.

A different female waiter arrived at our table soon after and asked if we wanted any drinks. Having completely ignored the drinks menu… I decided to order whatever Melody ordered.

“I’ll have a strawberry passion fruit lemonade,” Melody said, flipping her menu back open.

“Okay, and you miss?” the waiter turned to me after noting Melody’s order.

“The… same…” I answered. The waiter smiled at me and wrote it down, then shifted over to Silvia.

“And you miss?”

“Just water,” Silvia replied, closing her menu, only to open it again a couple seconds later.

“Perfect.” the waiter nodded, then leaned back a little. “Are you all ready to order or would you like a few more minutes?”

Melody looked at Silvia, who nodded, then me, and I too nodded. “We’re ready. I’ll have the avocado caprese salad, the roasted vegetable quiche, and the chocolate ice cream.”

Then the waiter took my order, which I totally didn’t need to repeat twice for being too quiet, and finally took Silvia’s order, who ordered the soup, like me, the ravioli, like me, but decided to order a cheesecake instead of the superior dessert called ice cream. Then, the waiter collected all of our menus, including Fara’s and Elle’s, and left us alone to chat. We all mentioned some stuff about classes, nothing too interesting happened for anyone. Apparently Elle’s studying architecture so Melody got her to promise to design a building for her some day.

After a little our drinks arrived along with water, and I finally noticed that both Elle and Fara actually had drinks the whole time. Fara’s was just some soda and Elle’s was a bright blue color… not sure how I missed it. The drinks landing on the table also made me finally look at the table and the floor beneath it which I somehow managed to ignore so far. I guess I’m really not afraid of heights. In fact, none of us seem to be.

The glass table and glass floor allowed a gorgeous view of a road beneath us. And that was about it. When looking to the side however, the glass allowed a view of the cityscape, which was nice. A bunch of skyscrapers, but no light or anything yet. We were also on the wrong side to get a clear view of the sunset so… yeah. It was a nice view, but just a city I’ve seen a billion times. Not too special.

Back to the drinks, Melody’s, and mine, had a strawberry shoved on the edge of the tall thin glass, and the drink’s color shifted from a yellow-orange at the bottom into a pretty vibrant red at the top. It tasted pretty good too. Really good. Super refreshing. I would totally love to drink this on a hot summer day… that would be heaven. It might even beat ice cream on some occasions.

While I was admiring my drink, something popped up that made me jolt a little, bumping the glass slightly and making a few little splashes, which brought everyone’s attention to me and a blush on my face. Fuck my life. Stupid Melody…

I immediately glanced over at her as I pushed my chair out and began standing up. She smirked. Dummy. “I’m… uh… gonna go to the bathroom.”

Before anyone could reply, I spun around and began walking, staring at the ground… except there is no fucking ground—HOLY SHIT! Everyone can see up my skirt! Who the fuck designed this place?! What the actual fucking fuck! What if there’s some pervert just walking the streets with a camera pointed up at the sky… oh my god. And now they’d be getting a view of wet panties. Even better.

Instantly, I switched directions, turning right so I could get back onto the main floor, where there actually was a floor, then I glanced up to find a bathroom sign. I saw one just to the left of the entrance area and sighed. I wouldn’t have to go ask someone. Once I arrived, I pushed open the black door and walked in, into the wooden room with tiled floors, causing the quest to update.

Simple enough… but… what type of punishment is this going to be? Obviously I’m going to do something to myself… then probably hide it with clothes… somehow. Maybe she’ll pass me something through the spatial storage? That’d be really cool actually.

I entered a stall and locked it behind me. I was really tempted to leave it unlocked but unfortunately the door wouldn’t really stay closed… so… that’s… good for me, I guess? I sat down on the toilet and then the quest updated.

Well this can’t be good.