Nolan took me to see a musical comedy show. I'm just as surprised but unfortunately he didn't leave his teasing self at the palace. We were in disguises which helps us blend in. Guards, casually dressed, followed at a distance.

We went to a Games Con and played virtual and arcade games. Nolan won every round setting a new high score. I lost a hundred bucks to him. I swear I'm never betting with anyone ever again.

“Why don't you come try out our lovers game?” A lady walked up to handing us a flyer. “There's a prize for whoever wins and our local brewery offers a free wine  tasting after.”

“Uh no. We're not-”, I gestured to the two of us, “-a couple.”

“Your rings tell a different story."  She glanced at our hands.

Ugh. The wedding bands.

“We'll be there.” Nolan gave her dazzling smile.

She blushed and thanked us. “Bye.”

“'We'll be there?' What do you mean by that?" I said.

“Aww, come on. It can't be that bad.” He started walking ahead.

“What happened to responsibility and maturity?” I asked when I caught up with him.

“They went on a hike. Come on, loosen up. Look, there's a comic shop up ahead.”

We bought a couple of books and continued on our adventure with no destination. Some part of the roads were locked down because of the Costume Parade. We rubbed paints on our cheeks, giggling like four year olds. I waved at the  parade circus. Clowns juggled balls, ladies danced to the music playing in the background; monkeys danced around in another vehicle and a choir of men sang in another.

Excited, Nolan pointed at every amusing personality. I found myself infected with it and stared at him.

“I know I'm handsome but you shouldn't stare too much.” he winked.

I rolled my eyes. “I'm thinking hard for a savage reply.”

He snorted. “Where would you like to go next?”

“The beach. It's been so long, Come on,” I pulled him away from the festivities. Nolan called for his Lamborghini. It arrived in a few minutes with two other sleek black jeeps. The driver got off the car and Nolan and I got in. Nolan drove to a private beach. We parked the car at a distance and walked the rest of the way. There were very few people present.

The sea was like a rippling blanket of brochure-blue , the waves rollers of gem-blue dashed the sand. The air was pregnant with the smell of salt. I could see dolphins flipping into the air like crackling popcorn. Their bodies flashed in steel-grey and I could almost touch their glee. It was quiet except for the occasional cawing of the seagulls.

“I wanna get in.” I took off my shoes.

He cleared his throat and shook his head, “I-I can't swim.”

“The almighty Crown Prince can't swim?” Astonished I asked.

“I'm not perfect.”

“Gee, and here I thought you were.”

“Must you be sarcastic?”

I nodded, “yes”. I laughed at his glare directed at me, “look, I can't swim either. We'll just dip our legs in and run out.”

“Er.. no. Let's stay here.”

“And here you were preaching loosening up. Nolan, I dare you to come in the water with me else... ”

“Else what?”, he said folding his arms across his chest.

“You don't wanna know,” I said folding my arms too. Honestly I had nothing to threaten him with and I'm pretty sure he knows. “Ugh.” I let my arms fall frowning. I sigh and put on my best puppy look and flutter my lashes. I bit my lower lip and gently grab his arm. “Please.”

His resolve slowly loose. Yes baby, the art of seduction. Watching Cupid's Arrow is a good thing.

“What are you doing?” He asked brow raised.

I hit his chest. “Fine, be that way. I'm going in myself.” I head for the water.

His booming laughter followed my ears. Knee deep in the water, I glance back at him. He didn't move a spot. Seriously? I wade further into the water until it was above my waist.

“Anna, what are you doing? Why are you going further?” he asked moving closer.

“I'm not talking to you.” To be fair, I was scared too. If I moved any further I'd be carried away by the current.

“Okay. I will come in, if you come closer to shore.”

“No, you come to me.”

He hesitated before coming in only to stop when the waters reached above his knee. “I'm in the water now. Can we go back? And come closer.”

I kick my legs and drew myself to him. “See, it isn't that bad.”

“Says someone who swims terribly. Babies swim better than you.”

I rolled my eyes and kiss his cheek. “Let's go now.”

He pursed his lips. “First you made me get into the water and now we just out and go?”

“I thought you said you like me.” I said smirking. He cupped his hands and splash water at me. I laughed and do the same to him. Our clothes stuck to our body, wigs dripping wet. We came out of the water and laid on the cool sand.

“We should have packed back up wigs.” he said.

“And clothes.” I added.

“I think there's a thrift store near by.” He held my hand. “Is it just me or I don't just want to get up?”

“I like it this way too.” I squeezed his palm.

“ What was the most memorable family trip you took as a kid?”

“We didn't go out much”, I said, "but there was this one time, I was six or seven, we went on a hike on Mount Tifi. Dad kept complaining about the horrors of the outdoors. Mom and I took pictures. She was so excited talking about its history and the first people who reached the top.” I smiled at the memory, “Vic was distracted with his video games and then he fell. Everyone was so terrified. He nursed a bump for a week and we never got to the top. Still, it was a fun day. What about you?”

“I never really spent time with my parents, just that once in a lifetime family dinner.” He was silent for a while, I turned my head to look at him. He smiled a bit, “but there was this one time when Grandma Penelope threw a bowl of beans stew at the King. He was furious but in that brief one minute, I think I connected with the Queen. She was trying hard to hold back from laughing.”

“Nolan, why don't you call them 'Mom' and 'Dad'?”

He cleared his throat. “Let's go change out of these clothes.” He got to his feet and pulled me up. He didn't look at me, he bent and  grabbed his shoes from the sand.

I think I might have gone too far with that one. As much as I wanted to know, I followed quietly beside him. We changed into matching white short sleeved tops and shorts and ditched the wigs for glasses and face caps.

I came out of the shop with Nolan who was staring at the flyer in his hand. “Wine tasting is up next.”

“Do we have to? You haven't told me yet why you took me out.”

“Even a seven years old knows this is a date.” He put his arm around my shoulders.

“This is not a date. You are supposed to ask me if I would go on a date with you. We are just hanging out.”

“You have watched too many Soap Operas. Expectation is different from reality.”

“Says the person who has his way with everything.”

“And I'm proud of it.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on, let's go to that wine tasting.”

The sun was slowly sinking low when we got to the brewery. People gave us strange looks, perhaps wearing sunglasses at evening draws more attraction than necessary.

Some people were plucking grapes and some pressing them with their feet (hope they washed them well), some were filling the wine in jars and others were tasting.

We signed in using fake names. Nolan - Brian and me - Nora. I glared at him when he wrote down Brian. Curse my masculine  middle name. We plucked grapes and berries, sneaking some into our mouths and keeping the rest in our baskets.

After a while, an attendant called us all together while three others brought oak barrels. “These have been fermented and filtered. You may drink from them. The couple games starts in a few minutes. Thank you all for coming.”

“I'll go grab ours.” Nolan said and headed for the line in front of the first barrel.

Someone bumped into me letting my glasses shift down the bridge of my nose. “I'm so sorry,” they said.

“It's alright." I said and fixed my glasses back on. I looked at the person who bumped into me. A petite brunette gave me a cheeky smile, she removed her ear pods and tuck them in her pocket.

“I'm Sloane and you are?”

“A- um I'm Nora. Are you here alone or... ”

“Nah, my boyfriend is over there.” She nodded towards the queue.

“Mine too.”

“I'm sorry but why are you wearing sunglasses? It's evening.”

I shrugged and said, “Oh, it's just a stupid game my uh husband and I are playing.”

“Awwn, that's cute.” She said.

Nolan came back with two glasses of red wine, “I see you've made a friend.” He said giving me my drink.

“Brian, this is Sloane. Sloane, Brian”, I gestured back and forth between them. I watched as they shook hands and took a sip of my wine. The smooth texture of the wine ran down my throat. It tastes so good.

“Hmmm now that I see you too together, you look familiar.”  Sloane said deep in thought.

Uh oh. Nolan and I exchanged a glance.

“Uh what do you mean?” Nolan asked taking another sip of his wine.

“Do you guys feature in reality shows or movies?” Sloane asked

“No. We have never.” I said chuckling nervously.

“I swear I've see you two on tv.” she said. A male red head called her name. “Babe.” she answered and collected her glass from him. “Thanks. These are Brian and Nora. Guys this is my boyfriend, Adam.”

We shook hands with Adam, “Pleasure to meet you.”

“The games start now.” A male attendant said from a raised platform, saving us from whatever next was going to come out from Sloane's mouth. Nolan and I walked away from them pretending to hurry to the front. Tiny lights lit the area and the decor was filled with heart shaped images.

“Phew! That was close.” I said.

“Looks like she is one of those who spend all day in front of TV and that's bad. For us.” Nolan said.

“Told you we shouldn't have come here.”

“I thought you said this was fun some minutes ago.”

“I take it back now.” I said and fold my arms across my chest.

“Stop being a baby and let's win this game.” He hugged me to his chest.

“All couples interested should step right up”, the female attendant said. Nolan and I, and five others came forward. “I'm Zee, ” she said, “and this is Matt. We are your host for tonight's couple games.”

Everyone applauded, some whistled. Six dart boards were brought forward and we were handed a dart each. “For the first category,” Matt began, “we have a dart game. Each of you have to hit the red dot at the center of the board. Seems easy, right?” People mumbled their agreement. “You are going to piggyback your partner.”

“What?” I said. “This keeps getting better and better.”

“I know, right?” Nolan seemed excited than dismayed. He gave me a once over. “You aren't heavy. We should be fine.”

A familiar figure stepped in beside us. It was the girl who gave us the flyner. Zee said, “Piggback your partners.”

Nolan bent and gestured for me to climb his back. I lean on his back, place my arms around his shoulders and pressed my legs to his sides. He stood up and I wrap my legs around him. “We could forfeit, you know.” I suggested.

“Shut up”, he snapped.

“Okay. Everyone set?” Matt asked “Ready, set, go.”

Nolan went first holding his arm back, “Don't lean too much on my right hand, I need it.”

I rolled my eyes and did as he said. He threw the dart forward and it hit the bull's eye. “Wow.” I said.

“Your turn.” he breathed heavily and pushed me up a bit. “Focus on that dot. Don't lean too far to the lean. Steady your hand, woman. Don't hold the dart that way.”

I sighed frustrated. If he wants me to hit the bull's eye, he really needs to stop making me lose focus. “Nolan, shut up.”

“Brian.”

“I'm going to stab you with the dart.” I threatened.

Someone cleared their throat. It was the girl gesturing to the board, “Please focus.”

“See, she agreed with me,” Nolan said, “Focus.”

It took all my willpower not to hit his head. I focus on the board, held my arm back a bit and let the dart go. It hit below the bull's eye. Nolan sighed disappointed before putting me down.

“You guys did better than most.” the girl said.

Thats true. Two couples didn't even hit the red dot. They were eliminated. People applauded, shaking hands with the eliminated couples.

“The next category is called Rings. You throw this rings into that pole. If you can get all four rings into it, you win.” Zee  said. We were given two plastic rings each and a pole was placed few feets away.

“You go first.” Nolan said.

I nod and bent a little. The sunglasses were a bit of a problem but I threw the rings away. I put the two rings in and so did Nolan when it was his turn.

“This is kind of fun.” I said.

“Told you so.” He gave a smug look.

The couple next to us got eliminated.

“And then there were two. Okay, the next category is called 'Shots'. The couple who can finish all eight shots of wine without getting drunk wins. These wine has been extra fermented, has more wine yeast and can make you very drunk.” Matt said.

“May the best couple win!” Zee said.

“Let's split. Four each. We don't wanna get drunk. I get drunk after two.” I said.

We sat at a table and had the drinks poured in the cups. We raised our glasses, clicked them and gulped it down. It had a very strong tangy flavour to it and I found myself wanting more. I successfully downed three glasses but at the last one, everything looked double. My sunglasses didn't even help at all. I want to take it off.

Nolan held my hand down and shook his head. “Drink the last one.” I looked at his glasses, he had finished them. I gasped amazed, Nolan didn't even look drunk. My surroundings were tipsy and the last glass seemed so far away.

“Nolan, I think I'm drunk.” I mumbled.

“And we have a winner.” Zee said. Did we win? She shook hands with the other couple instead of us. No. That's not right. I took more than two glasses and I'm still standing.

“But I'm not drunk.” I whinned and fumbled while grabbing the last glass. It fell to the floor and broke into million pieces.

“You are drunk.” Nolan grabbed me pulling me away from the broken glass.

“We should have won. It's all my fault. I'm sorry.” I sobbed, clutching his shirt. Why does eveerwhere look so jumpy?

“It's okay. Shhh, you are drawing attention to us.”

People were laughing and applauding us. “Good job guys.” Sloane yelled.

The hosts gave the couple that won a prize. “Tickets for a cruise across the Caribbean and twenty five thousand dollars.”

“We have a prize for you guys too.” Zee said and gestured for a crate to be brought forward. “A puppy.”

A mop of reddish brown fur laid in the crate looking at us with her adorable brown eyes. It was a Spaniel. I cooked holding her up, “Soo cute and soo soft.”

Nolan collected the crate and thanked the hosts while I cuddled the little cutie. “What should I call you? Taffy? Ruby? Babe? Sophie? Cutie? Softie?”, I said rubbing her ears.

“What about Choco?”

“Choco? Choco. Your name is Choco.”

“You guys were amazing.” Sloane said. Her boyfriend gave us a little smile. “That's an adorable little pup.”

I was a little unsteady on my feet. I leaned on Nolan for support.

“Thank you,” Nolan said, “but we should get going. It's a little late.”

“Sure. No problem, you need help?” Adam asked.

“No. We'll be fine. It was nice meeting you guys.”

“Same here.” They said.

I bent a bit, woozy and nauseous. My glasses fell. “I don't feel so good.”

I heard someone gasp while someone else pulled me along with them. I clutched Choco close to me taking her scent it. A mixture of animal and cream.

I heard​ a car beep and was pushed inside. The door closed and soon the driver's door opened and closed too. I look at the driver who removed his glasses.

“Nolan, I think I'm going to puke.”

“No, No, you are not going to puke.”

“But I want to.” I yelled. I opened the door and stepped out, my legs shaky. My stomach turned over and over. I could feel the wine threaten to pour out. I bent over and retched.

“Ugh. Gross, no.” I hear Nolan say. He brush my hair away from my face when I took up straight, “You okay?”

“That was fun. Let's do it again.” I said before falling into a deep chasm known as sleep.

Tap the star please. Thank you.