Lights flood the dark parking lot at you shield your eyes. Arianna's car is pulling up. It parks next to yours and she steps out. 'Hey, Blair!" she says, smiling. "Are you ready to have a nice dinner?" she asks. "Of course! May I take your arm?" you ask. Smiling, she grabs it and you two walk into the restaurant together. Mandy is still there. "Here she is!" you say, laughing. Mandy beams and says, "Of course! Right this way!"
She leads you and Arianna into the main dining room, a large room with dark paneling and wall-to-wall windows. Soft green carpet covers the room's floor. A number of wood dining tables with place settings already on them (with free water glasses) stand about. Mandy seats you two in one near a window and leaves to go get her notepad. As Arianna scans the menu, you scan the room, and see five other people in the restaurant: A young couple making out at a table near the left wall, an older couple of about 30 holding hands across the table at one in the center, and a lone male college student sitting solemnly at a table near the kitchen doors.
Arianna's gasps break you out of your thoughts. "They have so many kinds of meat here!" she says. 'Beef, lamb, pork, chicken, venison..." she looks confused for a second. "Rabbit, tiger, lion, jaguar, elephant, rhino, horse, dog, cat, donkey, eagle?" she asks, looking concerned. "Aren't most of the those animals endangered?" she asks looking worried. Before you can say anything, Mandy rushes back in with her notepad. "Can I get you anything to drink?" she asks brightly. "We have many specials tonight. Wine crushed by different animals! You see, the cultivators have each animal crush a large quantity of grapes, then sell the wine under that animal's name!' You scan the wine list and see a very long list of animals.
After much deliberating, Arianna settles on the Panther. "I guess I'll go for.... the Cougar." You say. "Excellent!" Mandy says. "I'll be back with your drinks in a minute!" She then rushes off before you can ask any questions about the strange menu.
"I don't like this place..." Arianna says. "Let's go somewhere else." You begin to panic, seeing this as an excuse to get out of this date. "No, no, let's give it a little while longer." You say. She looks worried, but agrees.
"Here's your wine!" Mandy says airily, setting down two big glasses. "Can I get started on your entrées?" she asks. "No, I think we need a little more time..." Arianna says. Mandy once again looks severely disappointed but walks off without sayin anything. "Boy, I'm thirsty." She says, picking up her wine glass and taking a big gulp.
You look at your wine. It's not the right color. It's leaning more toward a dark yellowish-beige color than red. Arianna's is pitch black. Picking up your glass, you decide too...