Adam leaned back slightly in his chair, his expression neutral despite the shifting tension around the table.
Olivia was still standing.
Melissa was still seated.
Daniel glanced between all three of them like he'd just walked into a conversation halfway through and decided he might as well enjoy it.
"So," Daniel said casually, slipping his hands into his pockets, "are we interrupting something?"
"Not really," Adam replied.
Melissa smiled faintly. "We just got here."
Olivia's gaze lingered on Melissa for a second longer before she pulled out a chair from a nearby table and sat without asking. Daniel followed suit, dragging another chair over.
Now it was a four-person table.
Adam sighed at how the simple dinner escalated.
He exhaled quietly.
"Is everything okay? I heard what happened earlier today," Olivia said vaguely, her tone tense and full of concern.
Adam couldn't possibly tell her that he needed to act arrogant at the time. There were two strangers here after all. So he could only divert the question, "I didn't know you came to places like this."
Daniel chuckled. "She doesn't. I dragged her here."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "It's not that serious."
"It is," Daniel said. "You need to experience decent food at least once in a while. Your taste buds shouldn't get used to those crap you eat."
A waiter approached, slightly confused by the sudden change in seating but professional enough not to question it.
"Would you like to add anything to your order?" he asked.
Daniel nodded. "Yeah, bring us—" he glanced at Olivia, "—you still don't know what you want, do you?"
"Just order something normal."
He smirked and gave the order. It was the surprisingly not most expensive item on the menu.
Adam was prepared to have a battle of arrogance.
The waiter left their table and immediately, silence settled briefly.
"So," Olivia said, resting her elbow lightly on the table, "how have you been?"
"Fine."
"That's it?"
Adam shrugged slightly. "What else should I say?"
Olivia watched him for a moment, then leaned back.
"You're different."
Adam didn't respond immediately because she wasn't wrong.
"I know. People change," he said finally.
He could feel it. The system wasn't coming out but he felt something in him trying to make this a matter of pride.
There wasn't a clear target and there was no obvious direction.
It took him a moment to place his finger on what was the issue.
I want to impress her. Adam concluded.
He wanted to wow the girl he had feelings for but not for her to submission with the system.
'It seems the system had its own issues.'
"So how do you two know each other?" she asked, breaking the tension that hung around their table brought by the two.
Olivia answered first. "We should have known each other for a while. But-"
"A while," Adam interrupted not wanting her to give away his past information.
Looking at him with sudden realization, it seemed Olivia finally understood that Adam didn't want to talk about some things in front of Melissa.
"We have a lot to catch up on." she could only say.
The food arrived, breaking the moment. Plates were set down and drinks followed.
Daniel picked up his fork. "Alright, let's at least enjoy the food before whatever this is turns into a full interrogation."
Melissa laughed lightly while Olivia gave Adam a simple smile of reassurance.
For a few minutes, the conversation shifted to lighter topics.
Daniel and Melissa carried most of it. You'd think they had known each other for years.
Topics on relationships, music and sports, flowed freely. Adam noted that they both avoided bringing up personal topics after Daniel casually skipped some questions related to his family.
In contrast, Adam and Olivia tried to avoid speaking to each other, and only did so when necessary.
Then–
"Nice place," Daniel said, glancing around. "Not cheap either."
Melissa nodded. "It's decent."
"Decent?" Daniel scoffed. "I don't think the average person can eat here for a week."
"That's because it isn't for the average person," Melissa replied.
Daniel smirked. "Fair enough."
Then his gaze shifted to Adam.
"So what do you do?"
There it was. Adam didn't rush his answer; he had been preparing for this question since he decided to follow Melissa to the restaurant.
So rather than deflect or lie, Olivia knew the truth after all, he gave the obvious truth.
"I make money," he said.
Daniel blinked once. Then laughed. "That's one way to put it."
Melissa didn't react while Olivia's eyes narrowed slightly.
"That doesn't really answer the question," Daniel said.
"It answers enough." Olivia interrupted. "do you want to know his exact work position?"
Daniel studied him for a moment, unconvinced but not pushing the matter. He leaned back on the chair with his hands raised in surrender and a laugh.
"Alright, alright. I can never win an argument with her"
But Olivia wasn't looking at him she held Adam's gaze.
She seemed to be searching for something that made sense in his transformation.
Daniel exhaled softly. "If I didn't know better, I'd think I was in the midst of a lovers spat."
Melissa smiled faintly. "You're not the only one."
Olivia looked away first. Adam felt heat climbing his neck but nonchalantly tore a piece of meat like he wasn't the topic of conversation.
"You two seem comfortable," Olivia said to the only other female at the table. "How long have you know each other?"
Melissa tilted her head slightly. "We just met."
"Just met," Olivia repeated. She and Daniel sharing a glance.
Adam didn't respond to the question left hanging.
Because anything he said could tilt things the wrong way or in the worst scenario, lead to a mission being generated.
Daniel leaned forward slightly, resting his chin on his hand.
"I'm starting to think I walked into something way more interesting than dinner."
Melissa laughed. "You're not wrong."
Adam finally set his fork down.
"This isn't complicated," he said causing the three pairs of eyes to turn towards him.
"It's just dinner."
No one argued but no one fully believed it either.
***
After the group of four left the place, Olivia bid the rest farewell while, as expected, held Adam back.
Leaving behind a flirtatious smile, Melissa followed Daniel towards another direction but not before slipping her card into his pocket in a showy manner.
"You're acting like a different person," Olivia eventually said when the duo were alone.
"You couldn't pay for food earlier."
Adam didn't have a clean answer to the implied question.
"Some things happened." he could only reply, "it's fair to say I have been reborn."
Her gaze seemed to contain multiple questions and Adam could feel himself getting distracted with just the both of them in close proximity.
His answer which was supposed to put her concerns to rest only seemed to increase her concern to fear.
Her face blanched with horror and she suddenly took a step back.
"M-my god," she stammered, "y-y-you didn't do something risky right? You still have your kidneys?"
Adam was stunned at the switch in conversation topic.
"Sorry, what?"