“I’m so sorry Isla that I’m late”, apologizes Raiden taking off his jacket in the comfort of the small dining room of the upscale restaurant. “Have you ordered?”
“I already scanned the menu, I’m ordering the usual” quips Isla taking a rather large sip of her drink and in an accusatory tone. “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting hours.”
Feeling slightly annoyed, Raiden looks at her contemplating what to say, “It hasn’t been hours. I’m only about twenty minutes late. You usually run late, so I shouldn’t be scolded.”
“Let me tell you about my day. I had my hair done at Juliet’s Salon and then took the air-pod over to Wynn’s for a manicure. Look, don’t you love the digital coloring for this season. I need to get a new set of nano nails, I’ve had these for over a year. The new ones now will change into four options of colors rather than only two. They are still a little on the expensive side, but I’m worth it!”
In response, Raiden politely nods his head not entirely convinced that this is where he wants to be while hearing about the flexibility of nail color. “Sure” Raiden finds himself non-committedly saying out loud.
“Did you have a bad day?” asks Isla crossing her legs so that Raiden will notice her long lines and slightly pouting while stroking his arm “You don’t seem like yourself. Did everything go all right at work? Were you making millions for me or only a million for yourself?”
“I had a good day”, contradicts Raiden contemplating if he should mention seeing Adele again but decides against it. “I was busy with several meetings. The Elyson Foundation would like to work with us which we are considering.”
“Is that the same company as the Elyson Resorts? I loved staying there! They have such beautiful hotels with so many different amenities. I haven’t been to one lately though. They started to close down”, reflects Isla feeling the disappointment of not finding a good local spa that compares to the ones provided by the Elyson Resorts.
“Not the same company, but related as part of one of their enterprises", Raiden explains in case anything were to ever come up concerning Adele. “A distant cousin by marriage of the owner of the Elyson resorts runs the Foundation. His name is Argon Elyson – Wynn. His former wife was an Elyson. He is a widower for a few years now. She was traveling with the owner’s wife of Elyson Resorts on the hover train that derailed a few years back during the storm. Argon’s wife and Mr Elyson are second cousins but there is a bit of an age difference. Argon is my age. I knew Argon Wynn as he was known then quite well in college but that was a long time ago.”
“Oh, so they are related. You could have just said that”, annoyingly replies Isla on hearing too many details at one time liking to remember connections that will serve to her advantage later, “What do you want to do this weekend?”
“I haven’t given it much thought”, exasperated responds Raiden not sure that he wants to commit any more time to her right now. “What are your plans?”
“I would like to go to Oragone Falls” exudes Isla recounting many memories of vacations there as a child “I haven’t been in ages, its so beautiful this time of year too! I don’t think there is any area quite as lovely in the entire Upper Crestwood Region.”
“It has greatly improved since they created the lake areas for a more natural state”, remarks Raiden wondering if there might be a chance that Adele has ever visited this park area too, suddenly hoping that there might be a chance to invite her at some point.
“What are you smiling about?” asks Isla miffed that his focus seems removed from solely herself, “Are you considering going with me this weekend?”
“I don’t know that I’m available right now. Maybe some other time”, sincerely excuses Raiden not wanting to hurt Isla’s feelings but not wanting to commit any further time to her.
“We definitely have to make plans. You can’t make any excuses and leave me with my friends while you stay in your office all weekend again”, pouts Isla feeling that he offers more attention to his work than to her.
“Hello, my name is Katie and here is your food”, announces the AI with a tray of delicious looking heat enhanced food and then slowing nodding to each of them, “Can I help you with anything else? Would you like more to drink?”
“Yes, some strawberry juice would be nice”, replies Isla tossing back her hair to one side and moving her chin up for a view of her long neck, and then smiling up at Raiden providing a better view for him.
“Here you go” offers Katie the AI after filling the glasses from her storage compartment that dispenses drinks for table service.
“Did you see the new lipstick I purchased? It’s called “Moonlit Glow” from Acculine. When I touch the corner of my lip, it colors both lips perfectly. I’m hoping they come out with more colors soon, this is so easy to apply”, shares Isla amazed by the recent advances in cosmetics.
Not paying too much attention to the conversation, Raiden yawns “I think that I may need to call it a night. It’s been a long day at work. I’ll drop you off.”
“Okay. Maybe I’ll call Jayden and see if he wants to go out dancing since you seem too tired to do anything else tonight”, playfully states Isla trying to make Raiden jealous or at least hoping for an offended reaction.
Completely oblivious to her attention agenda, Raiden responds “That sounds like a good idea. I like Jayden, he’s a good guy.”
Staring him down, Isla swiftly stands up and heads to the door to wait for Raiden to pay with his account and take her home. He gently swipes his hand at the restaurant emblem embossed at the corner of the table not raising his eyes to look at her.
In the Air-Glider, Isla lays back and relaxes while the vehicle navigates itself to her home. Raiden checks his schedule for the next day. There is no conversation until they reach Isla’s home and she offers, “Call me tomorrow. I’ll let you know our plans for the weekend.” Raiden compliantly nods not sure if he will make time on his schedule to call or not.
As the glider starts to move towards his home, Raiden reviews Adele’s resume. Looking at the information, his heart instinctively leaps and feels a sense of excitement at the possibility of working together again.
Meanwhile, Adele is at home making some hot chocolate and relaxing in her living room. The floor wallpaper actively moves, creating living scenes of the oceans with whales and dolphins swimming in the floor beneath her. She changes her selection to an inner forest of redwoods with birds and squirrels moving among the branches with sounds of the wind blowing through the leaves. After a few more minutes, she changes the scene to one of snowcap mountains with the fresh scent of pine filling the room. At of all the renovations in her new home, this has been the one that has brought the most pleasure. Her home only offers three different scenes in the living room, but she knows others who have up to fifty different choices throughout their home for each room.
“Vera, please open the memory portal. Find Raiden Worthington. 2021” requests Adele sighing “I wish they had memory technology then. Rather than looking at these old photos and videos that although somewhat automated with help from an AI, I could actually see an image of him standing here in my living room.” Images flash and float in front of her which she can pause to admire before moving onto the next one. “At least I can see these for now and remember a few of the experiences we had together.”
“Vera, please open articles. Find Raiden Worthington. 2040-2047”. Multiple articles and images pass in front of her. Interviews come to life in 3D imagery. Short screen images of ten to thirty seconds offer commercials of longer storage capacities of information. “Hey, isn’t that the woman I saw on the palm of his hand when she called this afternoon?” asks Adele out loud to her pet Labadour resting next to her.
Holding her palm upright and pushing on the reflected image, the article enlarges to nearly four feet tall as she magnifies the picture in the article to have a closer look at the person in the photo. “That’s Isla Grove! I babysat her when she was a little one and I think that I was a junior in high school. Wow, she’s grown up to be a very pretty woman. I wonder what she is doing now. It seems like she has been dating Raiden this past year or so. How very disappointing … I hope they are happy together though. They look like a beautiful couple together. Well, at least we can be friends even if the future is already taken for anything serious.”
Resting in the comfy pillows of her sofa, Adele continues to read and look through the different media sources on the life of Raiden Worthington. “We’ve both gotten older, but his smile has remained the same. I wish that I had reached out sooner when he was still available. Who am I kidding? He probably was dating someone else then too and why would he choose to date me instead" considers Adele in her thoughts but then unintentionally speaks out loud to her empty home, "It was a nice dream for a moment”.
“Vera, close the memory portal. Turn off the lights. Prepare the temperature to 69 degrees in my bed”, requests Adele ready for a good night sleep, satisfied with the events of the day and excited for the possibilities of tomorrow.
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