After getting out of the cabinet meeting, I decided to take the rest of the day. I asked Larry to take care of things down at the office and I left the Royal Governmental Office Building Complex. ROBC. Again, it doesn't officially have an acronym, but I just like making acronyms for everything.

My father was the same way.

Anyways, I walked down the sidewalk of the busy main street, contemplating my beautiful capital city. Sauropolis was truly "the ideal city of the future, past, and present."

When the first "modern" buildings were made here, they had an architectural design similar to that of Ancient Rome and Greece. As a matter of fact, before 1912 when the modern world "discovered us", the few people who did stumble upon us and left afterwards took those ideas to other cultures . That's how the Romans got their ideas of how to make their buildings.

You could say that the manifestation of our existence was present in different areas of past civilizations.

Also, most of the buildings, especially the ones that were built in the post-MA period were built mostly of marble. MA stands for Mass Extinction. The style buildings were made changed dramatically after the cosmic impact killed off all the non-Amarkian dinosaurs. And since the city was first founded, just about every building, but not all, were made and still are made with fifty-foot tall entrance and arcs so that the largest dinosaurs can enter.

As for humans and smaller dinosaurs, they can enter either through those doors or if possible, through stairways built on the sides of the buildings.

The city is situated by Pliosaur Bay. Therefore, it isn't surprising that our harbor is intricate, beautifully-designed, historically rich, and environmentally friendly. As a matter of fact, back in 1986, it was named a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO, or United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. (Hypocrites!)

Sauropolis is also home to some of the oldest and best schools in Amarkia, both academic and military. We also have hundreds of prosperous Amarkian businesses which contribute a great deal to the stability of the world economy.

Besides all the stuff you'd find in modern cities around the world like high-class hotels, exotic restaurants, and all that stuff, there are also theaters, places to go on the ferry, mini-cruises to go on the river, and several floating business above downtown. I guess Sauropolis wouldn't be such futuristic-looking without those!

But besides the rich heritage and culture, the intricate mix and ancient and modern infrastructure, and where everything is environmentally-friendly, Sauropolis, like all the other places in Amarkia, is proud of its citizens.

The people are courteous, friendly, and very hospitable.

As for Pliosaur Bay, it's an estuary of the Pontholo River which originates upstream in Waterfall City. Since the entire border of Amarkia is basically a continuous mountain ridge, when the river hit it, it formed a natural bay.

There are hundreds of species of marine life not found anywhere else on Earth. But there are also species which have gone extinct in modern times in other places. The bay serves as the main water supply for the city and its surroundings, for water recreation, and helps the entire southwestern portion of Amarkia remain relatively cool during the hottest days in the summer. And it keeps it mild during the winter, though at times when cold winds come down from the mountains, it interacts with the moisture to produce snow.

Well, I just wanted to give you some information about all this. You'll find out more at due time. Let's get back to the story. Where was I?

Oh, yeah.

After walking for about a half hour or so, I entered Arnold's. It was close to four o'clock and the place was about halfway filled. I went to sit down in the middle booth closest to the window.

One of the waiters came. "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. What would you like today?"

I skimmed over the menu. "Uh…let me have…let's see…can I get the dinner pizza, two hot dogs, and a side salad."

"And to drink?"

"I'll have the root beer with cherry syrup and when I get dessert I'll have a chocolate soda."

When he was finished jotting down, he said, "You said you were going to have dessert. What would you like?"

"I'll have the Small Homemade Malt. Chocolate and Black Cherry with a large slice of peach cobbler pie to go with it."

"Okay. That'll be $34.75." I opened my wallet and handed him a $50 bill.

"Keep the change."

"Oh, thank you sir!"

He left me alone to my thoughts. Which were very brief because at that moment, I saw Darla outside coming up on her skateboard and come inside. As always, she carried it with her at all times. I tell you that girl was as stuck to her skateboard as Kylie was stuck on make-up.

Anyways, Darla waved at me and came to sit across from me. "Hey, Spiny! What's up?"

I was tempted to say something sarcastic like, "You know, the ceiling, the sky, the satellites, the sun, the planes, the atmosphere, etc." But I just said, "Oh, nothing. Just enjoying life."

She set her knapsack she always carried and her skateboard beside her. Then she did something I'd never seen her do: she took her off her baseball cap. For Darla, that was huge. That'd be like Fonzie getting rid of his leather jacket. I tell you, sometimes I came to believe that Darla had glued that cap on at birth and her hair just grow out and under it. I don't think she even took it off to sleep or shower.

I wouldn't be surprised if she that thing insured.

It was insuring a lump of sugar you keep around from a past flame.

Anyways, she took off her cap and I caught myself staring. Like I said, I'd never seen her without her cap. Her golden blonde hair was in two ponytails (as usual, very tomboyish) but somehow, she seemed just the faintest bit more…feminine.

I must've been staring, because she looked at me and laughed, "Yeah, I know. I've never done it, but I'm getting sick of this burning heat."

"Oh! Yeah, it's getting pretty bad. But that's why we have our special hangout," I said, gesturing around us.

She nodded. "Yeah. So listen, I came to talk about something."

The waiter came and gave me my pizza, my hot dogs, and my root beer. "Here you are, sir."

"Thank you." I looked at Darla. "You want to eat something? I'll treat."

"Oh, no! I wouldn't impose. I'm okay." What? That was something else odd. Darla was modest in her own way and all, but she never refused an invitation to eat…and much less coming from a guy, even a friend.

What's with her today?

I forced those doubts out of my mind and responded, "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." The waiter left to attend another table and I said to Darla, "You okay, Darla? If you want, you can have on my hot dogs."

"Well….maybe just one."

I grabbed the plate and handed it to her. And…maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed to me that as she was grabbing it, her fingers touched mine just two seconds more than what was actually necessary.

Hmm.

She was very…not-Darla. I didn't tread on those thoughts and said, "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, about yesterday. The way I came in here angry and acted the way I did in front of everyone. I wanted to personally apologize to you for acting so childish. I mean, it's not like somebody got hurt, you know? It was just a vase. I can get another one just like it for half price."

Another thing. Darla almost never apologized for anything! Well, she didn't need to apologize for a lot of things, but when she does she tends to be quite stubborn about it. This plus the finger on the plate was starting to creep me out just a bit.

"Well, it's okay. Like you said, it was yesterday and it's in the past. Just focus on the now."

She smiled and…was she blushing?! Nah! It couldn't be. It's probably just from the heat. Yeah, it's the heat. But, wait! Am I imagining it or she…fidgeting?

"You all right, Darla?"

She looked. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged my…well, my shoulders, obviously. What else can you shrug? "I don't know you seem….kind of edgy. Like you're nervous or something."

She shook her head quickly and stammered. "N-no. I'm not nervous. Why should I?"

"I'm not sure but…you seem different."

She stared at me for a long while. Her eyes were saying…something. I couldn't exactly say what, but you could definitely say that those big, black pupils were trying to speak. She had an expression that I'd never seen before.

She suddenly got up. "I'm sorry, Spiny, but I have to go. Um…bye!" She ran out the door, bumping into a waiter and tripping him with a full load of hot chili soup.

"Wait! You forgot your hot dog!" But she couldn't hear me anymore. She got on her skateboard and disappeared from my view.

O-kay.

What just happened?