They paused as they gave their orders to the waiter who’d come by.

Tina smiled fondly at her cousin after Jade gave her order. “Healthy appetite there,” Kit said with a smile of her own.

Jade shrugged and blushed slightly. “Growing girl …”

“And you must burn everything off anyway, huh?” Kit cut in. “Felt a pretty solid set of muscles there.” She reached over and playfully swatted Jade by the shoulders.

Jade shrugged again, and finished off the glass of water the waiter had set in front of her.

“So, this girl Rian … not a girlfriend, but you seem close. And apparently a nice girl, judging from what you’re both talking about,” Kit prompted.

“Yes, she’s really nice. And we’ve grown closer,” Jade answered haltingly.

“How in the world did she afford that gift, though?” Tina asked, musing aloud again.

“Beats me,”Jade said as she sat back on her chair.

“What does she do?” Kit asked. “Could she have managed to swing that gift through her job?”

Jade nodded. “She must have gotten that during one of her trips to the middle east. She specializes in Ancient Near East art and works for a reknowned art and museum expert. They’re doing work for the Smithsonian right now. Recently, they were asked by museums or arts institutes abroad to consult or to help organize and set-up a few exhibits, including overseeing or managing the production of books for those exhibits.  Rian is handling the work concerning Near East art and similar art; the woman she works for will handle post-war and contemporary art – related work.”

“Hmmmm….” Tina said after a moment of silence in the table. “I wonder how we can repay her, somehow. It was a very generous gift, all the same …”

Jade shook her head from side to side slowly, and suggested,“I wouldn’t press it, Tina. She’s a generous person, and if she gave you something like that, I really don’t think she was keeping track of it, or that she’d marked it in a ledger or something.”

Tina eyed Jade and kept quiet. Alright, I’ll take my young cousin’s lead on this.

“So not your girlfriend … is she someone else’s?” Kit asked, still confused about why some chick named Ali would feel as threatened by Rian, as far as Jade was concerned – from what she could understand from what Tina and Jade were saying.