Arianna makes a face and spits the pitch black wine out. "Augh! That tasted awful!" she cries. You eye your own wine, not trusting the unnatural color at all. Suddenly, Mandy rushes back to your table with her notepad. "May I take your order?" she says, giving a Stepford Wives smile that creeps you out. You eye the menu, not liking any of the meat choices. "Ugh... we'll have the..." you say. "Salad!" Arianna says. "Salad. We'll have salad." Mandy's smile falters and she frowns. "All right. I'll be back with your entrées in a while. Drink the water, I guess." She says, and storms off.
While Mandy is gone, you and Arianna bond, talking about each other's interests. She smiles a lot (it's not fake!) and she laughs at your jokes. "I really like you, Blair." She said, smiling. You pick up your water glass and she picks up hers. "A toast." She says "To our first date." You both laugh and down your water. She puts her hand across the table and you take it. You spend the next ten minutes staring into her face as she stares into yours. How did you get so lucky?
But your tranquil moment of romance is interrupted by a clattering plate. Mandy has returned, and she slams huge plates of salad down in front of each of you. "Enjoy." She says, giving a falsely sweet voice. She storms off towards the table with the college student.
You never realized how hungry you were until now. Arianna must be, too, because no one talks for eight minutes as each of you shovel forkful after forkful of salad into your mouths. After it's all gone, with dressing dripping out of the corners of your mouth, you lean back. Arianna does the same. "Save room for dessert? I want something sweet..." Arianna says, giving you a suggestive look. "How about... chocolate?" you say. Snapping your fingers, you yell for Mandy. Mandy comes back, looking extremely agitated.
"One slice of chocolate cake, if you please." You say. "Of course... right away... sir..." she says, speaking through clenched teeth. She looks as if she's about to explode into insults at you both, but she just turns and leaves.
It's then when you look down at your empty salad plate. You never bothered to actually look at it until now. You see runs of dressing all over the plate, and few small lettuce leaves, but what strikes you the most is the color of the dressing. It's neon green, not white or a creamy beige like you'd expect it to be. Arianna's is normal colored. Suddenly, your stomach lurches and you put your hands on the table. You cough a few times and put your hand to your throat. You take a sip of water and lean back. "Blair? You ok?" Arianna says, looking concerned. "I want you to be well for what I have planned later..." she says, giving you a wink.
You try to wink back, but give a weak one. You don't feel so good. What was in that salad?