Jackie and Declan were sitting at a table near the brick façade at one side of the restaurant. The greenery motif was subdued in their vicinity unlike some of the other tables which were overhung with branches. It gave an outdoor feel to the room.
Declan ate a bite of his Moussaka and asked Jackie, "How are your grape leaves?"
The Dolmathes are fine, would you like one?" Jackie asked.
"No thank you," Declan said, "So, are you getting into the swing of the new semester?"
"I have a few classes, but mostly I'm writing grant applications for my plant project. I have it all written up and I want to see if I can get the funding for a pilot program. My test plot is almost mature. When it is, I will still need to harvest the seeds."
"Do you think you'll have any trouble getting a grant?" Declan asked.
Jackie smiled hopefully, "Brian Taylor – he's the guy who took over from Grace Kingsley – said that he didn't think there would be any trouble getting the funding. It isn't really very much money."
"I know all about Brian Taylor," Declan said in passing. "So what happens when you get the grant?"
"You seem to know a lot of things," Jackie observed with a puzzled expression, then continued, "anyway, the next thing I have to do is to take the seeds I harvested and plant an acre or two – as much as I have seed for. That will give me sufficient yield to have plenty of seed and some product for larger scale nutritional tests and some animal testing. If that goes well then we move to larger scale. That won't happen for months, though."
"Is it still looking as good as you thought?" Declan asked.
"It grows really fast and has a great nutritional profile," Jackie nodded. "It's pretty amazing." She paused for a moment and then frowned, "You always ask about me, what about you? How is your semester going?"
"It's high school," Declan shrugged. "It's not like I'm changing the world."
"This is your senior year," Jackie said. "Where do you want to go to college when you graduate?"
"When I was going to be a basketball star, it was going to be wherever I got a scholarship," Declan said. "Now that's no longer an option."
"Are you going to have trouble going to college without a scholarship?" Jackie asked.
"My grades may be the problem," Declan smiled tilting his head. "I'm not exactly a dedicated student. No, the scholarship was just part of being on a team. My dad has plenty of money. He can afford to send me."
"What does your father do," Jackie asked. "You never talk about him."
"He's a senior partner at his law firm. To be honest, I rarely see him. He's away a lot or working late," Declan shrugged. "He used to pretend to be interested in what I do. He came to a couple of my basketball games when I was playing well. Mostly we just pass each other in the hallway from time to time."
"Do you want to be a lawyer like him?"
"No, I don't really have the brains, or the interest," Declan shook his head. "He gave up on that long ago."
"I think you have plenty of brains," Jackie smiled. "You just need to use them. So where are you going to go? You have to go somewhere."
"I'll probably go to UDub," Declan said. "I don't know what I'd study, though."
"You don't have to decide right away," Jackie advised. "For at least the first year you can simply do the required subjects and see what interests you."
"I suppose so," Declan smiled. "At the moment, you're what interests me."
"So, you want to study me?" Jackie asked flirtatiously.
"Every chance I get," Declan said with a smile.