A Match Beyond Measure

Chapter 2

What Garret must have meant when he said two blocks, were two giant-sized blocks, because she just now, thirty minutes later, had arrived. She dismounted her bike, panting as she looked up, and up at the gargantuan building. It had to be at the very least a mile tall, probably more! And she could just barely see the neon sign with letters bigger than her reading Beefy Bites. Just looking at the building made her feel lightheaded. Sure, she had lived in the city for a year or so now, but she had mainly stuck to areas most frequented by humans and never really explored anywhere else. She just looked from a distance at the offices, restaurants, and apartments that stretched up into the sky seemingly forever.

Now here she was, standing outside on the pavement, her much larger-than-expected date waiting for her inside. Was this even a date anymore? Garret couldn't possibly see it that way, how could he? And how could she? Yes, his pictures made her heart murmur when she first saw them and she had felt a bit giddy whenever she had seen he had messaged her back, but what about now? Now it just couldn't be that way.

Then why was she here?

Well, she was here now, and she had said she would come, so now.... What choice did she have?

It took her a moment to find the human entrance, it looked nearly invisible compared to its much bigger counterpart. She paused with her hand on the door, breathed, and pushed it open.

To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. Even though she had seen the size of the building on the outside, it was hard to believe that the room before her was this big. She currently stood on a platform that was at the very least fifty feet off the ground that led to a hostess stand the size of a small apartment complex. The room was dimly lit, which made the rest of the restaurant blur the further back she tried to look, giving the illusion that it was even bigger.

Cecilia couldn't even hear herself think. Outside she had been able to hear the muffled commotion inside. Now it was like an orchestra of talking, tableware clattering, and heavy footfalls was being performed before her, and she was in the front row.

She had to move, had to move towards the stand. Slowly, her eyes constantly flicking in all directions, she came forward. The hostess, a giant, appeared from the back after she'd made it halfway there.

"Good evening" she boomed over the chorus of loud voices, "Table for one?"

Cecilia's hands began to fidget with the bottom of her shirt. She opened her mouth to speak but all that came out was a dry murmur.

"Table for one?" the hostess repeated.

"Hey! Over here!"

Both she and the hostess turned to see Garret, standing up in his booth, waving her over. From over here, he looked almost... normal.

"She's with me."

The hostess looked from Garret to Cecilia who shrunk back when she saw the confused look on her face. Almost as soon as it had appeared, it disappeared and was replaced with that classic customer service smile. She bent down and grabbed a menu, a menu Cecilia could have mistaken for a billboard and gestured forward.

Cecilia followed along on the platforms that apparently went throughout the restaurant and were more like elevated paths, leading to all the booths and the restrooms in the back. She found it quite hard to keep up, having to awkwardly jog to the booth where Garret sat there waiting, his eyes following her the whole way which only made her feel like she had to get over there faster, something half of her was saying to do the opposite.

Finally, she made it to the table after covering the perimeter of the restaurant and stumbled down a set of wood stairs onto the table. The sticky residue from the previous patrons stuck to the bottom of her shoes as she made her way over to a table, a normal-sized table, that had been placed on top of the one she was currently standing on.