“Is your question regarding my last name, Arwen?”
“Yes. What is it? I tried to find you online, but I couldn’t. Even with your rare first name, I couldn’t find you.”
“You tried to find me online?” Iro smirked.
“Yes. I wanted to know more about this mystery woman who was taking me out on a date.”
“No mystery, I assure you. But if you were looking for Iro, you wouldn’t have found anything on me because that’s the name I choose to go by, and I always have, but my given name is Irabella.”
“Irabella?” Arwen smiled. “That’s beautiful.”
“It is. But it doesn’t exactly suit me, does it?” She motioned to theactualsuit she was wearing. “And my last name is Black. If you were trying to find me through my company, that would be Black, Garnier, and Lopez Investments. We’re global, and youcan check out our website and holdings at any time. Or, if you prefer to be bored, I can walk you through all of it now.”
“You have partners?”
“No. I thought it would sound better if it looked like I had partners, so I chose Spanish and French names to go next to mine. I have staff and offices all over the world, but I am the sole owner of the business.”
“Wow,” Arwen said. “Successfulandgorgeous.”
Iro smiled coyly and asked, “What should I eat now that we have that settled?”
“How are you about sharing food?”
“What do you mean?”
“If I order something and you order something different, do you share?”
“Oh. If you’d like, yes,” Iro replied.
“Then, we should get the roasted beet hummus and the avocado crispy rice for appetizers. I heard they’re both amazing. Do you like pizza? They have pizza here.”
Iro smiled and said, “Whatever you want.”
“I’m a little excited. Sorry.” Arwen giggled.
“Don’t apologize to me. I like it.”
“What if we got a pizza and something else to share?”
“I’ll try anything once,” Iro replied.
Arwen swallowed and tried to keep her mind focused on the food.
“Barbecue chicken pizza?”
“Chicken?” Iro asked, surprised.
“Not real chicken, obviously.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Their roasted tofu. They cook it in a cast-iron skillet, and it looks so good.”
“Okay. I’m in.”
“You’re not judging me for ordering this much food, are you?”
“No, I like a woman who eats,” Iro replied. “Food is a necessity of life. We all need it to survive, but it can also be delicious and come with great company. Why shouldn’t we eat as much as we want and enjoy it?”
