With a drink in my hand, I leant back against the comfy backrest and sipped away while we waited for our little plate of saxophone music. The atmosphere in the bar was still relaxed, despite the server forcing free drinks on us because of our uniforms. I’ll tip her graciously as Luna had recommended, that will teach her.

Luna was also rejoicing in the relaxed environment as she lent back as well against the seat. These boots we’d chosen were perfectly suited for that.

The silence in our little boot didn’t last too long though, as buzzing from my belt pulled my attention. At the same time, Luna’s holostick started buzzing too.

“That… doesn’t sound like good news if we both got something…” Luna said as she put down her glass.

“And just when I was starting to relax again.” I shook my head and did the same, taking my holostick from my belt afterwards. Instead of a video message or a call, the only thing that I saw when I opened it was a message, however. It was addressed by the Admiralty. I straightened my back as I opened the message.

“Commander Lauren Davis, you are hereby ordered to report to Admiralty Headquarters in three weeks time. Here, you and your crew will receive further instructions.” It read.

“Three weeks time…” I said softly.

“I take it you got the same message?” Luna asked and showed me her holostick.

I quickly compared the two, apart from our names and a couple of minor differences the message was identical. “Yep, it’s the same thing. Looks like if we want to have that little beach holiday, we probably should plan it sooner rather than later.”

“Are you not concerned?” She asked.

I put my holostick away. “No, I’m actually kind of relieved that we have gotten a timeline now that we can work with. I am, however, a bit more concerned about how much money the short-term booking costs of the holiday will be.” That last part was a joke, it would all be rather affordable. “If they were going to punish us, we’d have long since been detained by the military police.”

“That’s true…”

“But anyway, let’s not worry about that right now, we have more things to worry about at the moment.”

“And what would that be?”

“How we could possibly eat all that delicious food that’s being served to us in just a moment.” I nodded over to the doorway behind which the kitchen was located, just as the server walked out again with a huge plate of food.

“Wha… how did you know?”

“It’s a secret.”

Luna pouted. “Did the server send you a message too or something?”

I shook my head and leaned in to Luna, beckoning her to come closer too, which she did. “No, see that mirror there? It’s actually angled just right so that I could see our food in it’s reflection.” When Luna turned her head, I took the opportunity to kiss her on the cheek. A sneak attack, if you will.

She started blushing and brought her hand to her cheek. “There’s no mirror there at all, is there?”

“No, there actually is.”

Luna looked over again, now keeping her guard up, judging by her reaction she did notice the mirror this time.

The server put the plate of food in front of us with a big smile. “If you need anything else, just call me over.”

“We will.” I replied and looked at all the different kinds of dishes on the plate. A couple of small vegan pizzas with loads of veggies. A seasonal croquette, no clue what’s inside of it yet, grilled bread with aioli and olives, very nicely smelling samosas’s, grilled corn with herbs strewn over it, and then a whole bunch of nachos with home-made salsa. I rubbed my hand in contentment.

“Can we start eating already?” Luna asked.

“We better if we want to also eat our burger afterwards.”

“I’m starting to think that ordering the burger might have been a bad idea. My stomach will have issues eating this all.”

“It’s going to be okay. Another advantage about vegan food is that it’s generally not as heavy as ‘normal food’.” I replied, although I had to also admit that it was a lot more food than I remembered. But then again, there was two of us now and last time I ate this, I finished it by myself.

We both started to dig into the food, it all tasted as good as it looked. My favorite was still the nachos with dip, but the samosas were definitely a close second.

The plate was about 80% empty when my holostick started to vibrate again, I had left it on the table so it was rather easy for me to see that it was Eva who was calling me this time. I picked up without further ado.

“Hey Lauren, I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“Luna and I are eating at a restaurant at the moment. But go ahead, you are not really that much of a nuisance.” I joked.

“Well… thanks.” She chuckled. “I take it you already know why I’m calling?”

“Yeah, we got the message as well.”

“Three weeks is not a lot, is it?”

“It isn’t, but a part of me had expected that we’d have to return sooner or later.”

“Mhmm.” Eva hummed on the other side of the line. “Are you still going on your sunny holiday?”

“Yeah, we were going to look into it when we came home from visiting my parents. It’s gonna be a bit of a hassle getting things arranged on a short term, but I can’t leave Earth before seeing my girlfriend in a bikini, right?”

“Lauren.” Luna punched my arm and pouted.

Eva chuckled once more. “Do give me a call when you get home, so I can get in on the planning as well, ok?”

“Sure, that was pretty much the plan anyway.”

“In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and make a bit of a shortlist. Additions are always allowed, of course.”

“We are looking forward to what you’ll find, Eva.” Luna commented.

“I will only select the best of the best.” She replied. “Anyway, enjoy your meal and talk to you later.”

“See you.” And with that, the swift call we had, had ended.

“With Eva looking for hotels, we will definitely be golden.” I commented and put another nacho in my mouth.

“She did say we could suggest a couple of destinations, too.”

“Knowing her, though, that would be a waste of energy. The first things she’s going to suggest to us is the one we will agree on going to.”

“Then why did she say that?”

“Because that’s the casual dance of the conversation.” I smiled. “Hey, I’m not stopping you from looking up some stuff as well. I would gladly peruse the destinations together as well. But you’ll see that what Eva suggests is going to be magnificent.”

“Hmm, challenge accepted to beat the doctor!” Luna looked very battle ready, maybe I had underestimated her a little, but then again, underestimating Eva was also not a terribly great idea. But in the end, this would all lead to a great holiday, so a bit of friendly competition while fun is being had is always a great option.

We managed to finish the meal and were given a bit of reprieve before we got the main dish served in front of us. The burger looked largely indistinguishable from a meat burger, but I could tell from the smell that it wasn’t going to be anything but on-par or above in tastiness.

“Let’s do our best not to let any of the food go to waste.” I raised my balled fist at Luna.

Luna on the other hand looked like she was already about to give up. “I’m not so sure. That WAS a lot of food we just ate. I don’t know if I can eat more.”

“I don’t think they’ll mind if you ask to put the leftovers in a takeaway box.”

“Mhmm.” She nodded, but then took the burger in her hands anyway. “I’ll try to eat a little bit more.”

Luna made a valiant effort in eating her burger. But when she had eaten about a quarter, she was ready to call it quits. For me, I still had some room to finish it all.

Luna raised her hand and the server quickly came over. “Could I please take this home with us. I don’t think I can finish it right now, but it’s way too delicious to just leave.”

“That’s no problem.” The friendly server smiled. “I’ll take your plate and I’ll put the burger and the salad in a box for you.” She then looked over to me. “And your plate, Miss?”

“I’ll finish this, but thank you for asking.” I smiled.

She gave me a nod and walked off once more.

“See, it was no problem at all.” I winked at my girlfriend. -It’d honestly surprise me quite greatly if a vegan restaurant didn’t allow you to take the leftovers with you.-